USA > Michigan > St Clair County > St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people; a narrative account of its historical progress and its principal interests, Vol. II > Part 47
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
Arthur Alvin Sewart acquired his education in the publie school of St. Clair. He was in the livery business with his father until 1901, when he bought his father's interest in the business, at the same time adding to its equipment and increasing the necessary facilities to accommodate
832
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
the growing business. Among other things which he purchased wert automobiles, so that he might be prepared to meet the demands of the most exacting customers and give the very best service in every particular that could be secured. In May, 1906, Mr. Sewart was appointed rural mail carrier out of St. Clair, and was the first party in St. Clair to utilize automobiles in that capacity; in fact he was one of the first carriers in the state of Michigan who delivered mail by auto. Besides owning the controlling interest in his thriving livery business he possesses other valuable property.
It was in 1901 that Mr. Sewart was married to Miss Blanch Maugh, of St. Clair, who was born in Doran, Canada. Her parents were John and Charlott (Harker) Maugh, of Yorkshire, English birth, who after their marriage in England immigrated to the new world, becoming settlers in Canada. The father was a miller by trade but is now retired from active business. Mr. Sewart is fraternally affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, while Mrs. Sewart is a member of the Rebecca lodge.
MARK HOPKINS. Among the residents of St. Clair county who are especially worthy of notice as having been active in the improvement and the prosperity of the county and have built up reputations which shall endure for generations to come, none have figured more promi- nently or exerted a more benificent influence on those about him than the honored gentleman whose history is here presented. Mark Hopkins, a retired capitalist, now of venerable years and honored record, is a native of St. Clair county and has spent the greater part of his life within its pleasant boundaries. In the great drama of life he has figured in many roles, among them those of farmer, steam boat owner and manufacturer. He is one of St. Clair's most liberal men, and he has given abundantly of his means to many good causes, native charity and philanthropy being an important characteristic. The Hopkins home is one of the most beautiful in all St. Clair county, and no residence in the state is situated more ideally, while its hospitality is renowned.
The year of the birth of Mark Hopkins was 1832, and his parents were Samuel and Mary A. (Keeney) Hopkins. The paternal line of his family was founded on American soil as early as the year 1634, and the Hopkinses have usually been prominent in the localities in which they resided. The subject's great-grandfather, Rev. Samuel Hopkins, was the first pastor of the church at Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and he is a direct descendant of Rev. Mark Hopkins, M. D., D. D., LL. D., for many years (from 1836 to 1872) president of Williams College at Williamstown, Massachusetts. Previous to his assuming the presidency of that noted institution of learning he was its professor of moral phil- osophy and rhetoric, and in 1857 he became president of the American board of commissioners of foreign missions. It was in honor of this noted ecclesiastic, educator and author that the subject was named. Mr. Hopkins' line is collateral with that which produced Sir Richard Hop- kins, and for a period of four hundred years the family has been repre- sented in the English parliament.
Samuel F. Hopkins, father of the subject, was born at Hillsdale. Massachusetts, September 15, 1803, and came to Michigan in 1824 with his parents, the family being among the pioneer settlers of this
mark Hopkins
833
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
section. Samuel F. resided in Detroit, where he was in business, until at the death of his father he came to St. Clair. In 1831 he mar- vied Miss Mary Ann Keeney, and soon after this happy event located in the town of St. Clair, where he opened a carpenter and joiner's shop. Mark, the eldest son of the household, learned the trade, and when he reached years of independence he went to Wisconsin for his health. In 1859 he went to Houghton, Michigan, and secured employment as a pattern maker in the iron works at that place, and in course of time he found his way to Chicago, where he made his home for a number of years. In 1876, on a visit to his boyhood home, St. Clair, the natural beauties of the surroundings dawned upon him and he has remained to the present day. He was ever ready to try a new line of enterprise, and he was one of the owners of the well remembered steamer Centurion. He later sold all his shipping interests. He was the organizer of the Diamond Crystal Salt Company and was one of four to put down the first well and building of the company 's first plant, but he subsequently sold his interests in the salt works. He was one of the promoters of the Somerville School for Young Ladies in St. Clair. In the course of events the building was converted into the Somerville Springs Resort and after the discontinuance of the hotel he disposed of the property. Any measure likely to result in benefit and progress to St. Clair and the whole of society has ever been sure of the whole hearted support of Mr. Hopkins. The establishment of a fine system of water works, which has added greatly to the desirability of St. Clair as a residence place, is directly traceable to his enthusiasm and liberality. He is wonderfully loyal to his home city and rejoices in its prosperity, in which all will admit he has been one of the most potent factors. His standing in the community is indicated by the fact that he has frequently been called to assume public office. In his political affiliations he gives heart and hand to the men and measures of the Republican party.
CHARLES McCOMB. a farmer and prominent man of affairs of Clay township since he reached man's estate, and an inhabitant of the place since he was a child of five years, is a native of Michigan, born at Bridge- hampton. Sanilac county, on January 27, 1867. Ile is a son of Patrick and Matilda (Fuller) MeComb. The father was a native of Ireland. born there in 1841, and the mother was born in Canada in the same year. Both are now deceased, the father passing away in 1879 and the mother in 1905. They were the parents of five children, four of whom are now living. Vina, the eldest, is deceased. The others are: Eliza, the wife of Guy Heiniger; Nancy, married to Sylvester Moore; James, who married Lila Beamer; and Charles, of this review.
When Charles was five years old his parents moved to Clay township. He entered the public schools of that community when he became of school age, and continued with his studies until he reached the age of sixteen, when he afterwards gave his attention to farming. His father dying in 1879, he early became responsible for the family, and he re- mained on the farm with his mother until her death in 1905.
In 1893, on February 23d, Mr. MeComb married Almeda Stapley. the daughter of George Stapley, born in Canada, and there reared until the age of eight years, when she came to Clay township with her family. She was a student in the public schools and received her education in
834
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Clay township. One son, James P., has been born to them. He was born June 2, 1903.
Mr. McComb and his family are members of St. Andrew's Episcopal church at Algonac, in which church he is a vestryman. He is a member of Maple Leaf Lodge, No. 405, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Ancient Order of Gleaners, of which latter named order Mrs. Mc- Comb is also a member. Both carry insurance policies in the Gleaners. Mr. McComb is a Republican and has given good service to his town in his capacity as a citizen. He served seventeen consecutive terms as high- way commissioner of Clay township, and declined further election to the office. He has been a member of the school board for six years, and has always been an advocate of all that tended to enhance the value of the school system of his township, as well as to promote the best interests of his community along any lines coming up for consideration. He is a prosperous farmer, owning a valuable farm of eighty acres in private claim No. 200, which he operates as a general farmer in a manner highly creditable to his agricultural ability. He is, on the whole, one of the most valuable citizens of his town and county, in which he and his wife hold enviable positions in the respect and esteem of their fellow citizens and neighbors, and where both of them have spent practically all their lives.
JOSEPH C. MITCHELL is a prominent farmer and stockman of Grant township in St. Clair county, who has, in his agricultural capacity alone, done much for the development of his township. He was born in Can- ada, on the third concession of the town of Marypasse, on May 24, 1858, and is the son of Joseph C. and Elizabeth (Tompkins) Mitchell. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were natives of England, who came to the United States in their early married life, settled in Rochester for a short time, but removing to Canada, and later returning to the United States, when they settled in Iosco county, remaining there until their death. They were the parents of a goodly family of eleven children, five sons and six daughters. At this writing one of the daughters and four sons are living. They are Joseph C .; Samuel, a resident of Grand Marais, Michigan; Amos, of Somers, Montana; Lester, residing in Cros- well, Michigan; and Tillie, who is the wife of W. H. Brokenshire of Port Huron, Michigan.
Joseph C. Mitchell was about twenty-one years old when he came to the United States with his parents. His early education was limited, as after he was fourteen years old he had to help with the farm work, and after that time he attended the village school but little, if any. After coming to this country he determined to learn a trade of some kind that would provide him with a sufficient livelihood, and he accordingly set himself at work to learn the trade of a stationary engineer. He fin- ished his apprenticeship and secured a license as a marine and stationary engineer in Chicago, and from then until 1895 he worked at his trade, always receiving good wages for his time, and in 1895 he had saved sufficient from his labors of the past few years to enable him to buy an eighty-acre farm in section thirty-five. This is the farm on which he with his family now resides, and the time and labor he has expended on the place since then are everywhere apparent in the modern and im- proved place of which he is the proprietor. He was the first man in
COL. WESLEY TRUESDAIL
835
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Grant township to build a block house, and his is a model of convenience and comfort. It is a commodious affair, containing ten rooms, with four generous clothes closets, and a modern basement extends under the en- tire house. It is heated by a hot air furnace equipment and lighted by a gas plant. The house was erected in 1906. In 1901 Mr. Mitchell built a fine barn on his place. In is thirty-six by fifty-four feet in dimensions and has a basement underneath, fully equipped with all the modern con- veniences and apparatus known to the np-to-date stoekman.
On December 20, 1886, Mr. Mitchell married Anna Ellerthorpe, the daughter of Joseph and Egaline (Bettis) Ellerthorpe, both natives of Canada, now living in Blaine, Michigan. Anna, their daughter, was born in Grant township on May 10, 1863, and she was educated in the schools of that place. She later attended Croswell school, and became a teacher in the Grant township schools. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. They are: Sarah E. and Wilfred, aged twenty-three and twenty-one years, respectively, and both single; Mildred 1 .. aged nineteen, who is the wife of Thomas Logan; Mable A., a student of the Port Huron Business College; Elizabeth; Clara B. ; Helen R .; Clemens, and George I. Wilfred is a graduate of the Port Huron Business Col- lege of the elass of 1912.
Mr. Mitchell was twice married ; his first wife was Jane Junklin and she was the mother of two sons: Alfred, who is a graduate of the Dennis Business College and is employed by the Gas Company of Saginaw, where he is lieutenant of the Saginaw Light Gnards, and Herbert, who is in Grand Rapids, employed as a chef in one of the leading hotels of that city. Alfred married Edith Thompson, of Saginaw, Michigan, and Her- bert is unmarried. The Mitehell family are members of the Zion Metho- dist Episcopal church, Mr. Mitchell being president of the official board of the church, while his wife is secretary of the Ladies' Aid Society. Mr. Mitchell is an enthusiastie Prohibitionist in his political allegianee and is active in the cause of the party. He is a member of the Independ- ent Order of Foresters and is financial secretary of that order. IIe also carries insurance in two other fraternal societies. Mrs. Mitchell is a member of the American Nobles, carrying insurance in the order.
WESLEY TRUESDAIL. For many years the most prominent eitizen of St. Clair was Wesley Truesdail, who came here in 1836, and with short exceptions passed here the remainder of his life. He was born in Kinder- hook, New York, the home of Martin Van Buren, October 24, 1812, and after receiving an academic edneation, whose thoroughness left its per- manent imprint upon him, he entered while yet a youth the office of a large commission house in New York City, and. beginning at the lowest position, he passed rapidly up to the highest and in three years became their eashier, which place he held for three years and then left to engage in business for himself.
In the summer of 1836 the people of St. Clair county, influenced by the rapid growth of population and the great sale of publie land, as well as by the need of liquid capital, applied to the legislature and obtained a charter for the Bank of St. Clair. The name in that connection did not refer to the present eity of St. Clair, which was then ealled l'almer. but to the county, and there was a struggle between the influential men of Desmond. as the settlement of Port Huron was then called. and the
836
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
men of Palmer over the location of the new bank, as it was believed it would be a great benefit and draw much business to the point which was fortunate enough to obtain it. St. Clair was successful, and the bank was located there, the organization was completed and sufficient of the $100,000 authorized capital stock was subscribed, but the new institution needed a chief executive head, the cashier. No one of the organizers had had the necessary experience in that time, and after some time spent in looking around for the right man the choice finally fell on the young man from Kinderhook, then twenty-four years of age, and it speaks well for his ability and reputation that so young a man should have been selected for so responsible a position. It seems probable that his name was suggested by Jesse Smith, a New York capitalist at that time having some interests in the village of Palmer and who had large financial dealings with the bank during its entire career.
Leaving New York November 25, 1836, young Trnesdail after a rather fast trip, arrived at his new post December 12, taking as many days to travel the distance as would now be done in hours. Two weeks later the new bank opened for business. The banking methods of that day and this are very different. Then real money was scarce, and the ordinary currency consisted of bank bills of more or less uncertain value, and the profit to be derived from a bank did not depend, as now, upon its success in obtaining deposits which could be loaned out at a higher rate of interest than that paid to the depositors, but upon the amount of bank bills in proportion to its paid in capital, which its char- ter permitted. The charter of the Bank of St. Clair allowed it to issue $80,000, and a report made in November, 1837, showed it had $60,490 bills outstanding and only $2,404 deposits, with a paid in capital of $40,000.
Mr. Truesdail proved an able and efficient bank manager, but it soon became apparent after the panic of 1837 that Palmer, a village of only a few hundred inhabitants, did not furnish a large enough field for the profitable operation of such a bank, and it was removed to Detroit, where it continued under Mr. Truesdail's management until it was com- pell to suspend in May, 1845, due, it was claimed, to the failure of the firm of Jesse Smith and Sons to pay drafts properly drawn upon them. The bank's depositors were promptly paid in full.
Although for some years much of his time was spent in Detroit, Mr. Truesdail's chief interests were in St. Clair county. He probably had brought some capital with him and he had an astonishing faculty in persuading other people to lend him money, and as he was naturally of an enterprising, optimistic disposition, there soon seemed to be no limit to the variety and number and extent of the enterprises with which he was connected and in which he was the chief factor. He was always the head of the house. In 1842 he made his first venture in the saw mill business, buying from Thomas Palmer the latter's mill in the then village of Palmer. Before this he had begun to buy pine land along Pine river, and in 1845 he built just south of the mouth of Pine river another saw mill and also a grist mill. One of the enterprises into which he had gone was the Oakland County Bank, and when that failed in October, 1845, he met the first of his many serious reverses, and to secure the creditors of the bank, gave a deed of trust to much of his property to Augustus S. Porter, of Detroit, who had been appointed receiver, reserv-
837
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
ing the right to manage it himself for a year, and he evidently satisfied the creditors, as he was never interfered with. This was only a tem- porary set-back; he had flouring mills in Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, Jackson and Calhoun counties, a hotel in Branch county and lumber yards in Detroit and Chicago, a glass factory, and in 1846, at a cost of $46,000, he built the first steam barge upon the Lakes, the "Goliath," which was lost with all on board in a storm on Lake Huron the same year.
In 1842 he bought a saw mill of Chamberlain and Ogden in St. Clair, just north of the mouth of Pine river, and as he had not sold the mili bought from Palmer until 1856, he operated the two saw mills and a flouring mill for some years and then two mills.
In 1856 his indebtedness to eastern creditors was very large, and he gave a mortgage of $150,000 on his property to secure then, and from this he never entirely recovered. He was very unfortunate in the matter of fire, five of his mills at various times being destroyed, in addition to much other property, and he estimated his losses from that cause alone at more than $200.000.
In 1854 Mr. Truesdail bought the large farm on St. Clair river below St. Clair which he named "Alta Vista," and upon which he ex- pended a large amount of money, in clearing and buildings, and he stoeked it with valuable horses and cattle. He installed Mr. Mande- ville Poole as manager of the farm, who continued with it until after it passed from Mr. Truesdail's ownership. For many years "Alta Vista" was the show farm of the eastern part of the state.
Mr. Truesdail took an active interest in organizing and promoting the County Agricultural Society, was for several years its president, and gave it the nse at a nominal rental of several bloeks of land in St. Clair eity, for society purposes.
In person Mr. Truesdail was rather under average stature, strongly built, somewhat formal in manner and punetilious in etiquette. Accus- tomed to deal in large transactions, he became autocratic in manner and it is related that he would not permit an employe to address him upon the street upon a business matter, but withal he was liberal and kind- hearted to the unfortunate.
In religion he was Episcopalian and contributed liberally to the church at St. Clair. In polities he was a Whig, then a War Democrat but not in sympathy with the party in its tariff ideas, as he was a Pro- tectionist in feeling.
He was generally called Colonel Truesdail, owing this title to his appointment as aide-de-camp, with rank as colonel. In addition he held two commissions as paymaster, with rank as major. and was also captain of Light Artillery in the State Militia.
When the branch of the Canada Southern to Courtright was built he took an active and influential interest in securing its charter and in bringing it to St. Clair river at its present termination, hoping that there would be a crossing at St. Clair and extension west, making that point an important onc.
The last twenty years of Mr. Truesdail's life were spent in constant and at the last, unavailing struggle, to retrieve his fortunes. Much liti- gation, the foreclosure of old mortgages, the failure of some well laid plans, all combined to leave him a homeless and penniless old man, whose
838
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
last days were spent in comfort through the charity of faithful friends He died in Port Huron, January 3, 1886.
He was a man of great method and of remarkable memory, well read and an interesting talker. His wife, Emily, was a daughter of Judge John Hunt, of Detroit.
EMERSON B. THATCHER. One who has long promoted the artistic activities of St. Clair county, and is honored as one of its representative citizens and business men, is Emerson B. Thatcher, of Marine City, to whose career peculiar interest attaches from the fact that he carries on the only business of its kind within the limits of the county, that of de- signer and constructor of granite monuments. Gifted with artistic perception and wealth of ideas and conscientiously trained in the work to which he has given his life, the evidences of Mr. Thatcher's skill may be found all over the state, and serve not only as monuments to the memories of those who have departed, but to the ability and genius of their builder. Mr. Thateher was born in the Province of Ontario, Can- ada, January 13, 1861, and is a son of Sylvester and Susanna (Rose- brough) Thatcher.
Mr. Thtacher received his education in the district schools, and it was the intention of his parents that he become a farmer, following in the footsteps of his father. However, the youth had other designs for his future, and when he was nineteen years of age left home for Ridge- town, Canada, where he learned the marble-cutting trade, serving a three-year apprenticeship. He then came to the United States as a journeyman, and visited Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Freeport, Illinois ; and Grand Rapids, Michigan, and eventually took up granite cutting and carving, to which he at present gives the greater part of his attention. Engaging first in the marble business in 1885, in a small way, he grad- nally increased his business from year to year, and in 1901 began granite work exclusively. His plant is now equipped with the latest and most highly-improved machinery for lifting, cutting and polishing granite, and compressed air is used as power. Many of the largest cemeteries in the state contain tombs and monuments of his design and construc- tion, and he has been called upon to execute some of the largest con- tracts in his line that have been filled during late years.
In May, 1887, Mr. Thatcher was married to Miss Martha J. Wicks, of Chatham, Canada, daughter of Elijah and Elizabeth H. (Mann) Wicks, agricultural people, and six children have been born to this union : Edith May, now the wife of Willis C. Ray, of Marine City ; Nor- man J., who is a sailor on the Great Lakes; George Harold, who is attending high school; and Vera, Justin E. and Lawrence, students in the public schools.
Mr. Thatcher is independent in his political views, and has endeav- ored to keep out of public life, preferring to give his time and attention to his business interests, but his fellow-citizens have recognized his execu- tive abilities and have prevailed upon him to act as delegate to county and state conventions and as alderman and supervisor of the ward in which he resides. His religion is that of the Seventh Day Adventists, and he was one of the organizers of that denomination at Marine City, assisted in building the church and supporting it and is now one of its leaders. Mr. Thatcher has a clear and distinct title to the honor
839
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
of having been the architect of his own fortune, for he has pushed for- ward to well-won suceess entirely by his own efforts. Ile has a deep and abiding appreciation of the dignity of hard work, and his course has gained the confidence and respect of all who know him. Wherever he has gone his pleasant personality has made him a general favorite, and he has hosts of friends throughout the county.
ALEXANDER MACDONALD. Among the brave and valiant men who efficiently served their country in her time of need is Alexander Mac- Donald, a retired farmer of Grant township, Saint Clair county, who courageously met the enemy in many of the more fiercely contested bat- tles of the Civil war, as a soldier doing his duty wherever placed. He still treasures the carbine, sabre, saddle and spurs which he wore as a soldier. He draws a pension, and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republie, in the affairs of which he takes great interest. A Scotch- man by birth, he was born April 29. 1835, in Perthshire, Scotland, where he lived until six years old.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.