USA > Michigan > Eaton County > The county of Eaton, Michigan : topography, history, art folio and directory of freeholders > Part 12
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T. M. BİSSELL.
The T. M. Bissell Plow.Co., No. 115 Canal street, was established in 1848 by James Gallery. In 1882 the name
of the plant, owing to the decease of its founder, was changed to James Gallery's Son's foundry and machine shop. A stock company was formed in 1893, for the manufacture of plows, and the new institution received corporated privileges from the Secretary of State in April of the same year. The capital stock is $25,000. The plant gives employment, at good wages, to twenty- five men, and the output, consisting of thirty-eight dif- ferent styles of plows, is about six thousand a year. The Bissell Plow Co's. principal market is the Eastern and Central states.
LYMAN BENTLY.
Lyman Bentley was born in Gustavus, Trumbul Co., Ohio, December 14th, 1838. His father was a cheese manufacturer of Gustavus, and the family, of whom Lyman was the oldest, consisted of four children. Lyman attended the district schools of Ohio, but at the early age of fifteen began life for himself as a maker of cheese boxes. Later he entered a general store in Wayne township, Ohio, where he spent several winters as a clerk, At the age of twenty-one he secured employ- ment in a dry goods store in Warren, Ohio, where he remained as clerk most of the time for about three years. In 1863 Mr. Bently and his father formed a partnership and purchased a good hotel equipment in. Warren and for several years did a successful business. From Warren Mr. Bently went to Louisiana where he spent four years as a farmer. He has resided in Eaton Rapids since 1872, and has given most of his time to the boot and shoe trade. There are many other enterprises however, in which he takes a lively interest. Numerous municipal positions such as city treasurer, president of council, and chief of fire department have been bestowed upon him. He was honored with the presidency of the State Firemen's Association and holds also a seat of membership in the National Association. Mr. Bently was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Decker in March, 1866, at Geneva Falls, Ohio. Mrs. Bently is a cousin of the world renowned William Cody.
MRS. T. D. WILLIAMS.
Mrs. T. D. Williams, of Duttonville, is the widow of T. D. Williams, one of the pioneer physicians of Brook- field. She has, for a number of years, kept the store located opposite the postoffice. Her store is always well stocked with groceries, hardware, boots and shoes, dry goods and necessaries of all kinds. Mrs. Williams has the confidence of her many customers who speak of her as strictly honest and fair in all her dealings with them. She is an earnest worker in the church at Dut- tonville and gives material financial aid. She is popu- lar and successful as a business woman, esteemed by the community in which she lives for her many excellent qualities.
HORACE B. PERRY.
Horace B. Perry, of Brookfield, was born August 28th, 1825, at Murray, Orleans Co., N. Y. He is a descendant of Ebenezer Perry, who, with three brothers, came from England about 1735. One of the brothers settled in a southern state, one in Massachusetts, and one in Rhode Island. Two grandsons of the latter, Oliver Hazard Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry, have placed their names high in the history of our country. Ebenezer, the great grandfather of our subject, settled in Connect- icut and there married Miss Mary Williams about 1765. To them were born Nathaniel, William, Ebenezer, Asaph, James, Fannie and Mary. The youngest son, James, married Miss Fannie Avery, of Vermont, about 1810. They had six sons, James Atkinson, Oliver Williams, Walter Avery, Harrison G., Horace B., and George, and
four daughters, Fannie, Malinda, Sally Amanda, Anna A., and Mary. Horace B. settled in Concord, Michigan, in 1846 and two years later married Miss Lodema Hicks, eldest daughter of Samuel and Betsy (Reynolds) Hicks of Marshall. Of the five children born to them three sur- vive, Cornelia Ann, George Avery and Nathaniel James. The latter has been a school teacher and Inspector of for Brookfield. The former married Dr. W. E. Vanande now of Sunfield. His mother died when Horace was about eight years old, then he was thrown upon his own resources. He refused to be bound out, and by dint of persevering industry he gained a good education for those days. Mrs. Perry, who was born at Newsted, Erie Co., N. Y., January 12th, 1829, was educated at Rockford, Ill., her earlier home.
Mr. Perry has been honored many times with posi- tions of trust, among them being that of supervisor of Brookfield, which office he resigned in his fifth term on account of poor health. His official as well as his pri- vate life will bear closest scrutiny. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Perry has always been a refuge for the unfor- tunate ones. The hungry never pass from their door unfed or unassisted. Charles, a little foster son, finds a substantial home with them. He attends the district school, studies music and is an affectionate and obedient boy. These esteemed pioneers of Brookfield have lived quiet, unassuming lives, and their strict honesty and intelligent industry make them worthy of the good name which is theirs. The world is made better by the influence of such people as Mr. and Mrs. Horace B. Perry.
GEORGE D. PRAY.
George D. Pray was born in the township of Superior, Washtenaw Co., Mich., February 2, 1843. His parents, Nathan H. Pray and wife, settled in Windsor township in 1837. There were only two families living in the township at this time, Mr. Pray being one of them; the other family had come in some time earlier. In 1842 Mr. Pray moved to Washtenaw county, but after a brief stay of three years returned again to Windsor. Mr. Pray's well equipped farm of two hundred acres is a part of the homestead on which he has lived since between two and three years of age. On Friday afternoon, Jan- uary 18, 1895, he was attacked by his bull which he was leading, and was so badly injured that he died the fol- lowing evening. Because of his unselfishness, straight forward honesty, his high purpose in life, and pure char- acter, he was one of the best known and most highly. respected men in Eaton county. He leaves a wife, two daughters, a son and an adopted daughter.
JACOB UPRIGHT.
Jacob Upright is a resident of section twenty-one, township of Benton. His birth occurred in Oil Spring, Maulbron Co., Wertenberg, Germany, November 2, 1839. He was educated in the district schools of his native country. In the spring of 1854, John Upright, the father of Jacob, accompanied by his family, emigrated to Oneida, then to Benton township, where he bought a forty acre farm which is now a part of Jacob Upright's possessions and the site of his present home. Our sub- ject remained at home until the first call for volunteers was issued, when, although foreign born, he determined to enter the service of his new country. He joined the 66th Illinois Regiment, Sharp Shooters, and stayed un- til the close of the war. He is one of the very few men who escaped all the showers of shot and shell, and came out as good a man as when he entered. In May, 1866, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Brunn, also of German extraction, and a native of Lewis Co., N. Y. Five children are the fruit of this happpy marriage. Eva, Clarence, Ray, Estella and Maud; the first men-
RES. OF JAMES BAUGHMAN, CHARLOTTE.
HOKNEK'S WOOLEN MILL, EATON RAPIDS.
S. T. GREEN, IMPLEMENTS, CHARLOTTE.
RES. OF D. D. VAN ALLEN, HAMLIN TWP. PORTRAITS AND OLD RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. WM. B. VAN ALLEN ..
SCHOOL BLDG., GRAND LEDGE, IST WARD.
Hoover Profilo
OLD MAID'S BLOCK, CHARLOTTE.
CASH FOR WOOL
SUNFIELD ELEVATOR, SUNFIELD.
RES. OF REV. W. B. WILLIAMS, CHARLOTTE.
SCHOOL BLDG., GRAND LEDGE, 2ND WARD.
DISTRICT NO. 8, WALTON TWP.
EATON RAPIDS CITY SCHOOLS."
MICHIGAN STATE BANK, EATON RAPIDS.
RES. OF SETH KETCHAM, CHARLOTTE.
STONE QUARRY OF J. VANASDALL, DIMONDALE.
77
tioned is now Mrs. Albert Towe and resides in Charlotte, the other children still residing at home. Mr. Upright's home, as will be seen in the above illustration, is one of Eaton county's finest, and his farm, a well stocked, well equipped tract of two hundred and forty acres, is rich and productive.
J. MIKESELL & COMPANY
Is the title under which the preserving factory of Charlotte is conducted. This institution is situated at the north end of Oliver street, opposite the Michigan Central depot. The plant consists of three large build- ings, the first of which is a two story structure, 35x70 feet. The west end of the first floor is equipped as an office, and the packing, shipping and storage rooms, in their respective appartments, occupies the rest of the building. The second is a one story building and meas- ures 35x85 feet, and contains the cooking department, the heavy machinery and the engine house. The third building is a store room for uncanned stock, measuring in size 20x50 feet.
The plant is modern in every detail; the large boilers are of 70 horse-power and are used for cooking, in their season, berries, tomatoes, apples, peaches and green peas. To give the reader at intelligent idea of the ex- tent and usefulness of their new institution, we will say that its daily capacity to put out its products are as fol- lows: Apples, 5,000 gallons; tomatoes, 18,000 cans; and berries, 8,000 to 10,000 cans, and its market is the unlim- ited territory of the United States.
The force employed is eighty hands, and this number is found inadequate for the business, and the pay-roll per week is $400, and the weekly purchase of stock is at present something like 6,000 bushels of apples at a cost of $1,500. Hereafter the company expect to double its force of hands, likewise its pay-roll and its out put of goods.
The management of the cannery is in the hands of Lundy F. Mikesell, the junior member of the firm, a young and enterprising man, son of J. Mikesell and a native of Charlotte. The book-keeping of the institu- tion, which will be readily seen is no small task, is in the hands of Miss Lula Mikesell, daughter of the senior member of the firm.
Jerrie Mikesell is a native of Ashland, Ohio, where he was born January 28th, 1838. His father, Jos. Mikesell, a native of Pennsylvania, was of German decent, a brick and stone mason in his younger years but a farmer in later life. When our subject was fifteen years old his father emigrated to the present site of Charlotte, Mich .. where he lived to the age of ninety years, his demise occurring August 23, 1892. Jerry has lived an active business life, as a grocer, as a farmer, as a real estate dealer and as a manufacturer. His friends call him broad minded, stirring and enterprising and we do him an injustice to omit the statement that his public spirit has has been a leading factor in putting Eaton county at the head of the list in Michigan.
G. H. FOWLER & CO.
This firm consists of G. H. Fowler and wife, photog- raphers and portrait painters, No. 123 Cochrane avenue. Mr. Fowler was born in New York forty-five years ago. He is the son of Henry Fowler, a farmer of Ontario county. In 1861 he came to Michigan in company with his parents. After several removals they settled in Charlotte in 1874. Mr. Fowler is a selfmade photog- rapher, but he studied portrait painting with leading art- ists of Michigan and it is by this latest mentioned branch of his business that his reputation first became known. He has been proprietor of his present well known gallery since 1889. The superior quality of his work has earned him a splendid reputation as an artist, which was acknowledged by the National Photographers' Associa- tion at the World's Fair convention by the awarding to him of two silver medals. He received another medal in '94 at the National Photographers' Convention held at St. Louis, and is now President of Michigan Photog-
raphers' Association which he helped to organized in January this year.
Mrs. Fowler is a practical and experienced operator of the camera and has been identified with the business for eleven years. She is also one of Charlotte's ener- getic women, and is interested in all enterprises that tend to the best interests of the people. She is a mem- ber of the School Board of Charlotte and also county secretary of the State Sabbath School Association. We will add that a large number of the illustrations con- tained in this work, are engraved from photographs made by Mr. and Mrs. Fowler.
SPENCER C. PHARES.
Spencer C. Phares is the proprietor of the feed barn between Lovett and Lawrence on Bostwick avenue. Every one in the city, and many horse owners in the adjoining neighborhood know where the skating rink was located. Mr. Phares has had this building for two years,and has the finest accommodations for man and beast. He is an industrious gentleman, and treats all his customers with courtesy. He is a native of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, and served in the Union army for nearly five years. He belongs to the G. A. R., and is deserving of patronage. An event in his military career was the part he took in the capture of Jefferson Davis at Irwinville, Georgia, May 10th, 1865, and two hundred and ninety-three dollars of the one hundred thousand paid by the Presieent for the capture of Davis, was received by Mr. Phares as his share. The records of Congress, shown the writer, substantiate his claim.
THOMAS JENSEN.
Thomas Jensen, feather renovator, has lived in Char- lotte for nearly two years and is regarded as absolutely honest in his dealings with his customers. He is an expert as a feather renovator, and no one in Charlotte would hesitate to entrust him with pillows or feather beds. All his customers say he gives perfect satisfaction. He is also the proprietor with Mr. Wilson of a second- hand store. All kinds of new and second-hand goods are bought and sold, of which the firm keeps a great variety constantly in stock. The people of the county are invited to call and see his three hundred dollar reno- vating machine. Mr. Jensen employs reliable agents only.
CHARLOTTE GREEN HOUSE.
Mrs. Emma J. Church, proprietress, corner Cochrane avenue and Henry street. Four large buildings are re quired to accomodate this institution. Hot beds almost without number, using over 4,000 square feet of glass to cover them, nearly three-quarters of a mile of piping is used for heating purposes, and in cold weather over twenty-five bushels of coke are burned each day. Mrs. Church is a practical business woman, with a natural aptitude for the growing of flowers and vegetable plants. She has just filled a single order for 400,000 tomato plants. Attention is immediately given to orders of cut flowers or art work for parties, weddings, funerals, etc., her resources enabling her to supply any demand. Nor does she depend solely upon a home market, as she almost daily ships orders to the eastern and western cities. The accompaning illustration of the interior of her pleasant home, shows a beautiful floral display of her own handiwork.
HON. GEORGE N. POTTER.
In Eaton county it would be difficult to find a man so stalwart, so capable of great ideas, so successful in bring- ing forth results as Geo. N. Potter of Potterville, Char- lotte and Lansing. He is a manufacturer, merchant, and farmer and is more successful in each branch of his busi- ness than the average man who has his attention con- fined to but one of the occupations.
Mr. Potter was born in Cayuga Co., N. Y., but has re- sided in Michigan since three years of age. His early life was beset with all the severe trials that come to poverty-stricken pioneers. In 1844 or '45 his father came to Eaton county and built a log shanty with a roof
of troughs and a puncheon floor, neither nails nor boards having been used. The father died in 1846 and George N., then eighteen years old, supported and protected his widowed mother and orphan brothers and sisters. His school career consisted of one three months' term in Ver- montville, he chopping wood to pay for his board. He earned fifteen dollars, and received thirty-five dollars more from his mother, and with this amount purchased his first farm, a forty acre tract of government land. Upon this he built a log house, and on March 1, 1849, was married to Miss Martha L. Gladding, a native of New York. He has been sheriff of Eaton county four years, was deputy provost-marshal during the war and has served his county in the state legislature. He was the first to introduce the circular sawmill in the county, was one of the prime movers in securing the Grand Trunk and Michigan Central railroads, the first of which he was for years a director. He is at present the owner of nearly a thousand acres of Eaton county land, is in- terested in a large factory in Lansing, and also the Ben- ton Manufacturing Co. of Charlotte. He owns a large brick and tile factory at Potterville, a creamery, a flour- ing mill, a hotel, a brick block and a sawmill in Delta township. His son, John C. of Charlotte, is inter- ested with him in many of his enterprises.
Mrs. Martha L. Potter having died in 1869 he, in 1870, was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Page of St. Lawrence county, New York.
JACOB MICHEL,
Cigar manufacturer, is of German nativity, his birth occurring in Herdingsfelds, Bavaria, Nov. 19, 1857 March 15, 1882, Mr. Michel came to America and found employment with the large cigar firm of Shutwell & Co. in New York. He soon left this place and in a few months came west, arriving in Charlotte January 1st, 1894. Here he established a factory of his own and it ranks the largest of the four similar institutions located in this city.
Mr. Michel's factory employs four men constantly and turns out an average of three thousand cigars per week, of which about one-third are ten cent goods. His brands are among the most popular and are known as Star Unions, Good 'Nough, Honesty, Emblem, Large Hia- watha, Small Hiawatha, and Charlotte Pride. The first four are five cent goods, long filler, hand made mixed with Havana with Sumatra wrappers. The last three are his popular ten cent brands. Large Hiawatha is a clear Havana filler with Sumatra wrapper; it is a five inch cigar and weighs about eighteen and a half pounds per thousand. Small Hiawatha and Charlotte Pride are four and three-eighths inch cigars with other qualities about the same as the Large Hiawatha. They are ex- ceedingly popular and no flavoring is used in any of them.
W. B. OTTO.
This well known farmer was born Jan. 16, 1844, in Wood county, Ohio. The parents of Mr. Otto were Henry and - Bryan Otto, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. William was giv- en a common school education. His father died when he was quite young but he continued to work the farm as the loyal support of his widowed mother until the second call for volunteers was issued from. Washington. To this Mr. Otto responded. He was then barely sixteen when he entered the army in which he remained until the close in 1865. At Knoxville he was taken prisoner and confined in Libby prison for several weeks. An ex- change of prisoners caused his release and he returned to his regiment, the 111 Ohio Infantry. When he returned from the war in 1865 he located in Eaton county, Mich., and engaged in lumbering and farming. In 1878 on the 16th day of January, Mr. Otto was united in marriage to Miss Celia M. Potter, daughter of the Hon. G. N. Potter, a prominent pioneer citizen of the county. The next year after his marriage he purchased a beautiful farm of 240 acres, known as the G. N. Potter homestead.
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American System of Rectangular Survey
The struggle for independence of the thirteen American colonies with Great Britain, although a successful one, left the colonies with a heavy burden of debt to pay. The fact, however, that several of the colonies (now states) had an interest in what was then known of the Northwest Territory, proved one of the most powerful influences which kept the new born nation from dropping to pieces, and a fruitful means to assist in clearing off the burden of debt.
The four states, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Virginia which claimed all the land north of the Ohio river, west to the Missis- sippi, agreed (from 1780-1786) to give it to the United States, to be dis- posed of for the common good, and in 1787 Congress passed an ordinance for the government of this territory, and also for establishing a definite method for the survey and sale of these lands, which were then desig- nated as " Public: Lands," to be placed on the market for sale, the pro- ceeds of which were to be principally applied to the payment of the war debt of the Revolution.
To draw up a definite plan for the survey of these " Public Lands " in the Northwest Territory was a difficult problem, as the methods of sur- vey in the different states differed somewhat. Virginia had her regular plats known as " Tamahawk Surveys." Connecticut had a more uniform plan which she had adopted in her survey of the " Western Reserve " in - Ohio, part of the territory to which she laid claim. And now as all these different states had ceeded all this territory to the general government for the good of all, it became highly necessary that some general and definite method of survey be adopted.
The plan arranged by James Mansfield, surveyor general of the North- west Territory, was adopted by Congress in 1802. It is so simple and practical that it has received very few modifications by any of the land commissioners since. After the adoption of a definite method of survey the government proceeded to have tracts of this territory surveyed off as the demands of the public required; the first tract surveyed being nearly all in the state of Ohio, the second in Indiana.
The United States Rectangular Survey may be briefly stated as follows:
First, a north and south line is run through the tract determined upon to be surveyed. This line begins at some prominent or easily distin- guished point, and is designated as a "Principal Meridian." Then a line running east and west, at right angles with the first line, is run through the tract, called the " Base Line."
The Principal Meridian of our state begins at a point forty-eight miles west of Lake Erie, on a line between Michigan and Ohio, and from there extends north to the City of Sault de Ste. Marie. The Base Line ex- tends from Lake St. Clair to Lake Michigan, forming the south bound- ary of Eaton County. These lines are run with a "Solar Compass," avoiding the errors of a magnetic needle.
Lines are then run north and south parallel to the Principal Meridian and six miles apart, which divide the territory into long north and south strips called Ranges, which are numbered in their order 1, 2, etc., East of the Meridian, also the same west of it. In Michigan there are 17 Ranges East and 47 West. Across these are run lines six miles apart, parallel to the Base Line, cutting the territory into long east and west strips called Towns, and these are numbered North and South from the Base Line. In Michigan there are 47 Towns north and 8 south.
By this " cross-lining " the territory is divided into squares, six miles on a side. Each of these squares is a Congressional Township. Such " Townships" sometimes, but often do not, correspond to the Civil Townships which are known by popular names. The only designation of Congressional Townships is their Range and Town numbers. The system is illustrated by the following diagram:
Principal
Meridian
Correction Line.
Town 4, North
Z
Town 3, North
Town 2, North
Town 1, North
Initial
Base
Town 1, South
-
Town 2, South
Town 3, South
Range 3, W.
Range 2, W.
Range 1, W.
Range 1, E.
Range 2, E.
Range 3, E.
X is Township 2 North, Range 3 East. Y is Township 2 South, Range 2 West. Z is Township 4 North, Range 1 East.
In practice the surveyors did not run the Range and Town Lines their whole length, continuously. The magnetic needle points east of north in Michigan and its variation from north continually changes, Running a line through primeval forests is beset with difficulties. No measure- ments of such great length can be made exactly. Hence the surveyors began on the Base Line six miles east of the Initial Point, ran a Range Line six miles north as nearly as they could, and then ran a " random line " west to the Principal Meridian, to check their work. Then they ran back to their Range line, marking section and quarter-section cor- ners as they went, and so proceeded to lay out the next township north; and so on east and west of the Principal Meridian.
But as they ran north, on account of the fact that all lines running north continually approach each other and come together at the pole, every township was narrower at the north than at the south. To pre- vent this error growing, every fourth Town Line north. and every fifth Town Line south of the Base line is called a "Correction Line," and on these a fresh start is taken with distances full six miles east and west. " Auxiliary Meridians" were also established at every eighth Range Line.
After the tract is thus surveyed into townships six miles square, the townships are divided into thirty-six tracts, called " Sections," each con- taining orie square mile, more or less.
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