j I i i j I I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY, MICIHIGAN COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY OF CELEBRATED AMERICANS J. H. BEERS & CO. CHICAGO 1906 III PREFACE ' -Ad\ z:-i- HE importance of placing in book form biographical history of representative citizens - both for its immediate worth and for its value to coming generations-is admitted by all thinking people; and within the past decade there has been a growing interest in this commendable means of perpetuating biography and family genealogy. That the public is entitled to the privileges afforded by a work of this nature needs no assertion at our hands; for one of our greatest Americans has said that the history of any country resolves itself into the biographies of its stout, earnest and representative citizens. This medium, then, serves more than a single purpose; while it perpetuates biography and family genealogy, it records history, much of which would be preserved in no other way. In presenting this work to its patrons, the publishers have to acknowledge, with gratitude, the encouragement and support their enterprise has received, and the willing assistance rendered in enabling them to surmount the many unforeseen obstacles to be met with in the production of a work of this character. The volume is placed in the hands of the public with the belief that it will be found a valuable addition to the library, as well as an invaluable contribution to the historical literature of the State of Michigan. THE PUBLISHERS. I TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I PART II. Biographical Memoirs of Gratiot County Compendium of Biography of Celebrated Americans INDEX TO PART I. PAGE Acker, George J.......... I96 Ackles, Mrs. Abigail........ I03 Acklcs, Timothy D........ o00 Aldrich, George R.......... 75 Aldrich, George S.......... 205 Amsbury, Seel............ 221 Arnold, Daniel F.......... 286 Bagley, Edgar A., M. D.... 57 Bahlke, William A.......... 29 Baney. John C............ 130 Barnes, Samuel............ 123 Barnes, Samuel M.......... 234 Bartley, William........... 193 Beery Family.............. 158 Beery, John S.............. 157 Behler, John V............. 273 Bobzien, Chriss D.......... 248 Bodfish, Henry............. I15 Bovee, Ira................. I88 Bovee, Woodbury H........ 259 Bradley, William A......... I05 Briggs, John A............. 291 Brooks, Warren J.......... 232 Brown, Caris.............. I8 Brown, Charles F.......... 212 Brown, Hon. Giles T........ 6I Brown, Herbert L.......... 244 PAGE Brulmby, Joeph............ 273 Burns, Newton............ 243 Button, Charles A.......... 97 Cash, Vincent P............ 134 Chaffin, Charles M.......... 133 Chambers, Clifton J......... 82 Cllisholm, Ho-n. Htugh...... 135 Church, Bayard A.......... 76 Church Family............ 22 Church, Isaac H............ I6o Church, Lafayette.......... 87 Church. Gen. Nathan....... 22 Churchill, Edwin J......... 284 Clark, Alvin I)............. 219 Clark, Frank V............ 295 Clark, \Vilbert B., M. D.... 299 Coffin, Binnie MI........... I58 Cohoon, Lyman C.......... 290 Cornwell, Rev. William J.... 164 Cowdrey, Frank E.......... 83 Crandell. Edgerton C....... 290 Crane, C. A., M. D......... I04 Crawford, Thomas......... 29I Culver, William........... 288 Curtis, Albro.............. 8I Curtis, Castle J............ 80 Curtis, Seth J.............. 182 PAGE Curtiss, Francis W......... 217 D1arragh, 1-on. Archibald B.. I7 Darragh Family........... 9 I)elavan, Charles L......... 43 Delavan Family......... 43 Devereaux, Hiram C........ 67 )(oyle, John S..............77 Drake, W. Mortimer, M. D.. 304 Edgar, James.............. 115 Elwell, Col. John A........ 30 Ely, Hion. Townsend A..... 70 Everden. John M........... II Everden, Oscar M.......... 270 Fidler, Lyman W...........45 Fox, Nelson G............. 6 Franks, Millard F.......... 238 Frear, Francis M'.......... I94 Gardner, Justus B.......... 232 Gee, Burton I.............. 26I Gee, Edwin F.............. 305 Gibson, George............ 280 Giddings, Hon. Charles W... 58 Gidley, Hazen.............. 271 Giles, Abraham L........... 260 x INDEX. PAGE Giles, Adelbert U........... 303 Gladstone, Thomas......... 287 Goggin, Daniel............ 292 Grant, Lurley J............ 303 Green, Charles A........... 279 Greenlee, James R.......... I45 Griffith, Jay A.............. 241 Griswold, Frederick W...... 283 Gulick, Henry B............ 98 Guthrie, Jesse L............ 23I Harrison, Thomas.......... 93 Hastings Family........... I36 Hastings, Frank W......... 140 Hastings, Sidney S......... 136 Hetzman, William H........ 301 Hoffman, Adolphus........ 272 Holmes, Hon. John W...... 263 Holton, Frank E........... 176 Holton, Thomas........... 86 Horn, Charles E.......... 305 Horton, William........... 97 Hosenkalnp, John......... 302 How e, Leslie A., M. D...... 288 Howes, Francis H......... 262 Huff, Jesse................ 63 -Hutchinson, William L...... 164 Jeffrey, John............ 67 Jenkins, George W.......... 159 Jessup, Charles H......... 154 Jessup, George L........... 141 Jessup, John H............ 216 Johnstone, Adam.......... 122 Kellogg, Fblenezer W....... 68 Kennedy, Stiles, M. D....... 88 Kernen, John........... 103 Kesling, George........... 239 Kime, Samluel G............ I59 Kleckner, William H........ 218 Lang, Thomas............. 197 Long, Rev. John E......... 215 Long, William........... 147 McCall, Ernest J............ 127 McCall, Jonathan N........ 124 McDonald, Alexander...... 303 McKenzie, Duncan......... 175 McLaughlin, David H...... 74 McLean, Wanton.......... 225 Markham, Wilber F........ 142 Martin, Charles L.......... 275 Maurer, George W.......... 282 MIetcalf, Ephraim.......... 270 Miller, Robert S............ 28I Mitchell, Kenneth.......... Monfort, Frank R.......... Moody, Hon. Silas........ Moore, Adelbert G......... Munson, Harvey R......... Muscott, Ernest............ Naldrett, George S......... Naldrett, William T........ Nelson, Wilbur............ Oakes, Oscar.............. Palmer, Frank G.......... Parling, Jesse............. Peach, Frank.............. Peet, Frank M............ Peet, Odell................ Perkins, Philip A.......... Perkins, Wallace.......... Perrigo, Milton L.......... Pettey, George W., M. D... Pitt, William T............ Pollasky, Marcus........... Pollasky, Michael.......... Porter, Samuel............ Potter, Ellis A............. Potter, Elon P............. PAGE 105 296 36 294 255 300 I95 203 44 92 240 247 206 129 152 237 237 276 56 148 55 52 287 118 17I PAGE. Smith, John W............265 Snyder, Theodore..........122 Somerville, T. Sheridan.... 176 Somerville, William S...... 293 Spaulding, Simeon A....... 233 Sprague, Stephen T......... 88 Squire, Frank E...........200 Stedman, William H........ 65 Stone, Arlan...........266 Stone, Arthur H............300 St-one, George P...........49 Stuart, James............. 289 Sullivan, John D...........297 Sullivan, WVilliam C......... 78 Swope, Barney..............21 Taylor, Joseph H...........302 Tenney, Ozro H............ 262 Tomilin, William A.........242 Torbert, George W......... 220 Tucker, Francis J..........288 Tucker, Willard D.......... 66 Turck, Hon. William S..... 50 Vandercook, Frank M...... 84 Van Deventer, Charles A.... I99 Vedder, Clark.............. 226 Waggoner, Lemuel......... I7 Wagner, Elias M...........282 Warner, Fred G............225 Watson, Charles S., M. D... 146 Watson Family............253 Watson, John C............298 Watson, William 0.........250 Welling, David E...........263 Welling, Frank............16 Wheeler, A. R., M. D....... 64 Wiley, Alton G............87 Williams, Jackson M....... 133 Williams, Willis W......... 90 Wilson, James F...........292 Wilson, Noah.............279 Winton, John H............ 4 Winton, -Ion. William E.... 36 Wolfgang, Jacob...........128 Wolford, Lewis B..........274 Wonders, Christopher C.... I89 Wood, Cephas E............280 Wood, Harrison...........209 Woods, Charles............241 Woodward, Jesse J.........98 Wright, Ammi V.......... 24 Wright, James K.......... I06 Young, George P........... 72 Zimmerman, William H.... 229. Richards, Thomas......... 222 Rolfe, George E............ 293 Rooks, Charles............. 70 Rosa, Frank E.............. 238 Rowell, John B............ 99 Salisbury, J. R............. 218 Sartor, Joseph F., Jr........ 112 Sartor, Joseph F., Sr........ I12 Saviers, Col. Lemuel....... 94 Sawvel, Clinton............ 249 Schick, John E........... 265 Scholtz, Charles A.......... 18r Scott, William D., M. D..... 275 Seamon, William A......... 256 Searl, Hon. Kelly S......... 46 Sensabaugh, Francis A...... 227 Sexton, Alba E............. Sexton, Frank A........... 226 Shaver, James............. 121 Sickels, William........... 42 Slingluff, Charles E......... 304 Smith, Francis J., M. D..... 296 Smith, W. Frank.......... 285 Smith, Fred E............. 80 Smith, George............. 69 Smith, Gordis............ 285 Smith, J. L.................. 294 INDEX TO PART II. PAGE Abbott, Lyman............ 144 Adams, Charles Kendall..... 143 Adams, John................. 25 Adams, John Quincy......... 61 Agassiz, Louis J. R........... 137 Alger, Russell A............ 173 Allison, William B........... 131 Allston, Washington......... 190 Altgeld, John Peter........... 140 Andrews, Elisha B........... 184 Anthony, Susan B............ 62 Armour, Philip D............ 62 Arnold, Benedict............. 84 Arthur, Chester Allen........ 168 Astor, John Jacob............ 139 Audubon, John James....... 166 PA Bailey, James Montgomery... 177 Bancroft, George............. 74 Barnard, Frederick A. P...... 179 Barnum, Phineas T......... 41 Barrett, Lawrence............ 156 Barton, Clara................ 209 Bayard, Thomas Francis..... 200 Beard, William H........... 196 Beauregard, Pierre G. T...... 203 Beecher, Henry Ward........ 26 Bell, Alexander Graham...... 96 Bennett, James Gordon....... 206 Benton, Thomas Hart........ 53 Bergh, Henry................ 160 Bierstadt, Albert............ 197 Billings, Josh................ 166 Blaine, James Gillespie....... 22 Bland, Richard Parks........ 106 Boone, Daniel............... Booth, Edwin.............. Booth, Junius Brutus......... Brice, Calvin S............... Brooks, Phillips.............. Brown, John................. Brown, Charles Farrar....... Brush, Charles Francis....... Bryan, William Jennings..... Bryant, William Cullen....... Buchanan, Franklin.......... Buchanan, James............ Buckner, Simon Boliver...... Burdette, Robert J.......... Burr, Aaron................. Butler, Benjamin Franklin.... Calhoun, John Caldwell...... Cameron, James Donald...... Cameron, Simon............. Cammack, Addison.......... Campbell, Alexander......... Carlisle, John G.............. Carnegie, Andrew........... Carpenter, Matthew Hale..... Carson, Christopher (Kit).... Cass, Lewis.................. Chase, Salmon Portland...... Childs, George W........... Choate, Rufus............... Chaflin, Horace Brigham..... Clay, Henry................ Clemens, Samuel Langhorne.. Cleveland, Grover.......... Clews, Henry................ AGE 36 51 177 181 130 51 91 153 158 44 105 128 188 103 111 24 23 141 141 197 180 133 73 178 86 110 65 83 207 107 21 86 174 153 PAGE. Clinton, DeWitt.............. 110 Colfax, Schuyler............. 139 Conklin, Alfred............... 32 Conklin, Roscoe.............. 32 Cooley, Thomas McIntyre.... 140 Cooper, James Fenimore...... 58 Cooper, Peter................ 37 Copely, John Singleton....... 191 Corbin, Austin................ 205 Corcoran, W. W.............. 196 Cornell, Ezra................ 161 Cramp, William.............. 189 Crockett, David.............. 76 Cullom, Shelby Moore....... 116 Curtis, George William....... 144 Cushman, Charlotte.......1... 107 Custer, George A............. 95 Dana, Charles A.............. 88 "Danbury News Man"........ 177 Davenport, Fanny............ 106 Davis, Jefferson.............. 24 Debs, Eugene V.............. 132 Decatur, Stephen............ 101 Deering, William............ 198 Depew, Chauncey Mitchell... 209 Dickinson, Anna............. 103 Dickinson, Don M............ 139 Dingley, Nelson, Jr........... 215 Donnelly, Ignatius............ 161 Douglas, Stephen Arnold..... 53 Douglass, Frederick.......... 43 Dow, Neal................. 108 Draper, John William........ 184 Xii PAGE Drexel, Anthony Joseph...... 124 Dupont, Henry............... 198 Edison, Thomas Alva........ 55 Edmunds, George F........... 201 Ellsworth, Oliver............. 168 Emerson, Ralph Waldo...... 57 Ericsson, John................ 127 Evarts, William Maxwell...... 89 Farragut, David Glascoe...... 80 Field, Cyrus West............ 173 Field, David Dudley.......... 126 Field, Marshall............... 59 Field, Stephen Johnson....... 216 Fillmore, Millard............. 113 Foote, Andrew Hull......... 176 Foraker, Joseph B............ 143 Forrest, Edwin............... 92 Franklin, Benjamin.......... 18 Fremont, John Charles....... 29 Fuller, Melville Weston...... 168 Fulton, Robert.............. 62 Gage, Lyman J............... 71 Gallatin, Albert.............. 112 Garfield, James A............ 163 Garrett, John Work........... 200 Garrison, William Lloyd...... 50 Gates, Horatio.............. 70 Gatling, Richard Jordan...... 116 (eorge, Henry.............. 203 Gibbons, Cardinal James...... 209 Gilmore, Patrick Sarsfield..... 77 Girard, Stephen.............. 137 Gough, John B............... 131 Gould, Jay................... 52 Gordon, John B.............. 215 Grant, Ulysses S............. 155 Gray, Asa.................... 88 Gray, Elisha................. 149 Greeley, Adolphus W........ 142 Greeley, Horace.............. 20 Greene, Nathaniel............ 69 Gresham, Walter Quintin..... 183 Hale, Edward Everett........ 79 Hall, Charles Francis......... 167 Hamilton, Alexander.......... 31 Hamlin, Hannibal........... 214 Hampton, Wade............ 192 Hancock, Winfield Scott...... 146 Hanna, Marcus Alonzo........ 169 Harris, Isham G............ 214 Harrison, William Henry..... 87 Harrison, Benjamin.......... 182 Harvard, John............... 129 Havemeyer, John Craig....... 182 Hawthorne, Nathaniel......... 135 Hayes, Rutherford Birchard... 157 Hendricks, Thomas Andrew.. 212 Henry, Joseph................ 105 Henry, 'Patrick.............. 83 Hill,David Bennett......... 90 Hobart, Garrett A............ 213 Holmes, Oliver Wendell...... 206 Hooker, Joseph.............. 52 Howe, Elias................. 130 'Howells, William Dean........ 104 INDEX. I PAGE Houston, Sam................ 120 Hughes, Archbishop John..... 157 Hughitt, Marvin.............. 159 Hull, Isaac.................. 169 Huntington, Collis Potter...... 94 Ingalls, John James........... 114 Ingersoll, Robert G........... 85 Irving, Washington........... 33 Jackson, Andrew.............. 71 Jackson, " Stonewall "......... 67 Jackson, Thomas Jonathan..... 67 Jay, John.................... 39 Jefferson, Joseph.............. 47 Jefferson, Thomas............ 34 Johnson, Andrew............. 145 Johnson, Eastman........... 202 Johnston, Joseph Eccleston.... 85 Jones, James K.............. 171 Jones, John Paul............. 97 Jones, Samuel Porter.......... 115 Kane, Elisha Kent............ 125 Kearney, Philip............. 210 Kenton, Simon............... 188 Knox, John Jay.............. 134 Lamar, Lucius Q. C.......... 201 Landon, Melville D.......... 109 Lee, Robert Edward.......... 38 Lewis, Charles B.............. 193 Lincoln, Abraham............ 135 Livermore, Mary Ashton....... 131 Locke, David Ross............ 172 Logan, John A............... 26 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 37 Longstreet, James........... 56 Lowell, Tames Russell........ 104 Mackay, John William........ 148 Madison, James.............. 42 Marshall, John................ 156 Mather, Cotton............... 164 Mather, Increase............ 163 Maxim, Hiram S............. 194 McClellan, George Brinton.... 47 McCormick, Cyrus Hall...... 172 McDonough, Com. Thomas... 167 McKinley, William........... 217 Meade, George Gordon....... 75 Medill, Joseph............... 159 Miles, Nelson A.............. 176 Miller, Cincinnatus Heine..... 218 Miller, Joaquin............... 218 Mills, Roger Quarles......... 211 Monroe, James.............. 54 Moody, Dwight L............ 207 Moran, Thomas............. 98 Morgan, John Pierpont........ 208 Morgan, John T......... 216 Morris, Robert............... 165 Morse, Samuel F. B.......... 124 Morton, Levi P.............. 142 Morton, Oliver Perry.......... 215 Motley, John Lathrop...... 130 "Nye, Bill"................. 59 Nye, Edgar Wilson.......... 59 PAGE O'Conor, Charles.............. 187 Olney, Richard............... 133 Paine, Thomas............... 147 Palmer, John M............... 195 Parkhurst, Charles Henry..... 160 "Partington, Mrs.".......... 202 Peabody, George............. 170 Peck, George W.............. 187 Peffer, William A............ 164 Perkins, Eli.................. 109 Perry, Oliver Hazard.......... 97 Phillips, Wendell............ 30 Pierce, Franklin............. 122 Pingree, Hazen S............ 212 Plant, Henry B.............. 192 Poe, Edgar Allen............ 69 Polk, James Knox............ 102 Porter, David Dixon......... 68 Porter, Noah................ 93 Prentice, George Denison.... 119 Prescott, William Hickling.... 96 Pullman, George Mortimer.... 121 Quad, M..................... 193 Quay Matthew S............. 171 Randolph, Edmund.......... 136 Read, Thomas Buchanan..... 132 Reed, Thomas Brackett...... 208 Reid, Whitelaw............... 149 Roach, John.................. 190 Rockefeller, John Davison.... 195 Root, George Frederick....... 218 Rothermel, Peter F........... 113 Rutledge, John............... 57 Sage, Russell............... 211 Schofield, John McAllister..... 199 Schurz, Carl................. 201 Scott, Thomas Alexander..... 204 Scott, Winfield.............. 79 Seward, William Henry..... 44 Sharon, W illiam.............. 165 Shaw, Henry W............... 166 Sheridan, Phillip Henry...... 40 Sherman, Charles R........... 87 Sherman, John................ 86 Shillaber, Benjamin Penhallow 202 Sherman, William Tecumseh.. 30 Smith, Edmund Kirby......... 114 Sousa, John Philip............. 60 Spreckels, Claus.............. 159 Stanford, Leland.............. 101 Stanton, Edwin McMasters... 179 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady...... 126 Stephens, Alexander Hamilton 32 Stephenson, Adlai Ewing.... 141 Stewart, Alexander T......... 58 Stewart, William Morris....... 213 Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth Beecher................. 66 Stuart, James E. B.......... 122 Sumner, Charles.............. 34 Talmage, Thomas DeWitt.. 60 Taney, Roger Broo..... 129 Taylor, Zacharv.............. 108 Teller, Henry M.............. 127 INDEX. xiii PAGE Tesla, Nikola.................. 193 Thomas, George H........... 73 Thomas, Theodore.......... 172 Thurman, Allen G......... 90 Thurston, John M.......... 166 Tilden, Samuel J.......... 48 Tillman, Benjamin Ryan...... 119 Toombs, Robert............... 205 "Twain, Mark"............. 86 Tyler, John............. 93 Van Buren, Martin............ 78 Vanderbilt, Cornelius........ 35 Vail, Alfred.................. 154 Vest, George Graham......... 214 PAGE Vilas, William Freeman...... 140 Voorhees, Daniel Wolsey...... 95 Waite, Morrison Remich....... 125 Wallace, Lewis.............. 199 \Vallack, Lester............. 121 Wallack, John Lester........ 121 Wanamaker, John............ 89 Ward, "Artemus "............ 91 Washburne, Elihu Benjamin.. 189 Washington, George........... 17 Watson, Thomas E........... 178 Watterson, Henry............ 76 Weaver, James B............. 123 W ebster, Daniel............... 19 PAGE Webster, Noah............... 49 Weed, Thurlow.............. 91 West, Benjamin.............. 115 Whipple, Henry Benjamin.... 161 White, Stephen V............ 162 Whitefield, George........... 150 Whitman, Walt.............. 197 W hitney, Eli................. 120 Whitney, William Collins..... 92 Whittier, John Greenleaf...... 67 Willard, Frances E........... 133 \Vilson, William L............ 180 Winchell, Alexander.......... 175 Windom, William............ 138 PORTRAITS OF NATIONAL CELEBRITIES. PAGE Alger, Russell A.............. 16 Allison, William B............ 99 Anthony, Susan B........... 63 Armour, Philip D............ 151 Arthur, Chester A............ 81 Barnum, Phineas '........... 117 Beecher, Henry Ward....... 27 Blaine, James G...............151 Booth, Edwin................ 63 Bryan, Wm.J...............63 Bryant, William Cullen....... 185 Buchanan, James............. 81 Buckner, Simon B.............16 Butler Benjamin F............ 151 Carlisle, John G.............. 151 Chase, Salmon P.............. 16 Childs, George W............ 99 Clay, Henry................ 81 Cleveland, Grover............ 45 Cooper, Peter................ 99 Dana, Charles A............. 151 Depew, Chauncey........... 117 Douglass, Fred.............. 63 Emerson, Ralph Waldo...... 27 Evarts, William............ 99 Farragut, Com. D. G.......... 185 Field, Cyrus W............... 63 PAGE Field, Marshall.............. 117 Franklin, Benjamin.......... 63 Fremont, (en. John C........ 16 Gage, Lyman J............... 151 Garfield, James A............. 45 Garrison, William Lloyd...... 63 George, Henry............... 117 Gould, Jay.................. 99 Grant, Gen. U. S.............. 185 Greeley, Horace.............. 81 Hampton, Wade.............. 16 Hancock, Gen. Winfield S..... 185 Hanna, Mark A............. 117 Harrison, Benjamin.......... 81 Hayes, R. B.................. 45 Hendricks, Thomas A........ 81 Holmes, Oliver W............. 151 Hooker, Gen. Joseph.......... 16 Ingersoll, Robert G........... 117 Irving, Washington.......... 27 Jackson, Andrew............. 45 Jefferson, Thomas............ 45 Johnston, Gen. J. E........... 16 Lee, Gen. Robert E........... 185 Lincoln, Abraham............ 81 Logan, Gen. John A.......... 16 Longfellow, Henry W........ 185 PAGE Longstreet, Gen. James....... 16 Lowell, James Russell........ 27 McKinley, William........... 45 Morse, S. F. B................ 185 Phillips, Wendell............ 27 Porter, Corn. D. D............. 185 Pullman, George M........... 117 Quay, M. S.................. 99' Reed, Thomas B............ 151 Sage, Russell................ 117 Scott, Gen. Winfield.......... 185 Seward, William H........... 45 Sherman, John.' 99 Sherman, John................ 99 Sherman, Gen. W. T.......... 151 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady...... 27 Stowe, Harriet Beecher....... 27 Sumner, Charles............ 45 Talmage, T. DeWitt......... 63 Teller, Henry M............. 99 Thurman, Allen G............. 81 Tilden, Samuel J.............. 117 Van Buren, Martin............ 81 Vanderbilt, Commodore...... 99 Webster, I)aniel.............. 27 Whittier, John G.............. 2 Washington, George........... 45 Watterson, Henry............. 63 I H I I a ~ ~ ~ ~ I, BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS HON. ARCHIBALD BARD DARRAGH, for thirty-five years a prominent banker of St. Louis, Gratiot county, and now serving his third term in Congress as representative of the Eleventh Michigan District, is a native of the Wolverine State, born in LaSalle township, Monroe county, December 23, 1840, son of Benjamin F. and Catherine (Bard) Darragh. His father, Benjamin F. Darragh, was a native of Fulton county, Pennsylvania, born in I808, and traced his ancestors back to well-known, influential Scotch-Irish residents of eastern and southeastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Darragh was married December 4, 1834, to Catherine Bard, born November I2, I804, near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, who died in April, 1863. They had a family of five children, of whom Archibald is the second child and eldest son. Archibald Bard Darragh began his education in the common schools, which he attended until twelve years old. In 1852 he accompanied his parents to Monroe, where ie attended the academy, and prepared, under the tuition of Hon. Edwin Willits, then at the head of a select school in Monroe, tu enter college. In the fall of I857 Mr. Darragh entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he pursued the classical course for two years. After leaving college he obtained a position as tutor in Claiborie county, Mississippi, and was thus engaged at the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion. Mr. Darragh's return to the North was made possible only through the intervention of the friend through whom he had obtained his position. Though an earnest supporter of the Confederate cause, it is fortunate that the friend was still loyal to Mr. Darragh,. and, with drawn revolver, protected the Yankee schoolmaster until his train bore him in safety toward the North. It was only with difficulty that he eluded the Confederate officials on the journey. On reaching home safely he again entered the University of Michigan, which he then attended for one year, graduating in the classical course, and receiving the degree of A. B., in I868. Meantime MXr. Darragh's patriotism was aroused, and on August 14, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Eighteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, the regiment on the 5th of September joining the United States forces opposing the commland of Kirby Smith. After serving but twenty days, Private Darragh and sixty-two others-belonging to his regiment, the Tenth Kentucky and the Fourth Indiana Cavalry-were captured while on picket duty near Walton, Boone county, Kentucky, in a sudden charge of Rebel cavalry under John Morgan. They were marched double quick to Falmouth, Kentucky, and paroled the day following their arrival by Major Dick Morgan, a nephew of the noted guerrilla commander. Early in January, 1863, Mr. Darragh was exchanged, and immediately joined Company D, Ninth Michigan Cavalry, receiving a commission as second lieutenant. This regiment bore a prominent part in the pursuit and capture of Morgan, their 18 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I first encounter with his forces in this campaign taking place July 5th, when a detachment from the Ninth cut off and captured Col. Robert Alston, Morgan's chief of staff, taking fifty-one prisoners. The Ninth was in the advance when Morgan was brought to bay at Buffington's Island, on the banks of the Ohio, and made such a successful attack that Col. Basil Duke and most of his immediate command was captured, Duke endeavoring to hold the field while Morgan and the main body of his troops fled North. On July 20th a detachment from the regiment was in the engagement at which the greater part of Morgan's command was capturedall but Morgan himself and about five hundred of his men, who were taken prisoners,six days afterward by Companies D, I, C, H and E, of the Ninth Regiment; under,command of Major W. B. Way. The Major's official report to General Burnside, dated Salineville, Ohio, July 26, 1863, read:as follows: "After a forced march yester-,day andl last night, with almost continued,skirmishing, we succeeded this morning, at eight o'clock, in pressing Morgan to an engagement about half a mile from this town. After more than an hour of severe fighting, we scattered his forces in all direc-tions. The following is the result of our engagement: from twenty to thirty killed; about fifty wounded; 255 prisoners. Our loss slight. My command is 250 strong." Within a month Lieutenant Darragh was proceeding with his regiment, under Burnside, over the mountains into eastern Tennessee, where the Ninth did particularly good service at Loudon Bridge, Knoxville, and Cumberland Gap, and took part in the pursuit of the enemy through Strawberry Plains, Morristown, Russellville, Blue Springs, Greenville, Jonesboro and Watauga. "It had watered its horses in every stream from the Cumberland range to the Blue Ridge." The manner in which the men of this command stood the rigors of the dreadful campaign of 1863-64 was greatly to their credit. By the middle of February, 1864, there were but fifty serviceable horses in the entire command, and on the 25th of that month Lieutenant Darragh was ordered to report direct to Brigade Commander General Garrard, with fifty picked men. Until March 25th they were engaged in scouting and reconnoitering, and the command was frequently engaged in skirmishes with the Confederate cavalry. In April the regiment was ordered to Kentucky to remount, and in June took a prominent part in routing Morgan out from Cynthiana, Kentucky, and driving him from the State, being in the advance. In July the regiment marched through Kentucky and Tennessee to Georgia, joining Sherman at Marietta, in the advance on Atlanta. The cavalry was engaged in protecting the'flanks, keeping open communications, scouting, reconnoitering and raiding until after the fall of Atlanta. It participated in the raid around that city under Kilpatrick. On November 14, 1864, the regiment marched out of its camp to take its position in Sherman's army on the march to the sea, being the only Michigan cavalry regiment which 'took part in that celebrated movement. Through Georgia there was continuous skirmishing with the Confederate cavalry under General Wheeler, the Ninth doing noteworthy work at Lovejoy's Station, Macon, Waynesboro and Cypress Camp, and winning special mention from General Kilpatrick in his official report to Sherman: "It has at all times behaved most handsomely and attracted my special attention." It had the honor BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I9 I I of being Sherman's escort in the investment of Savannah, made a gallant charge at Aiken, South Carolina, and was in the thick of the fight at Averysboro and Bentonville. On February 12, 1864, our subject was commissioned first lieutenant, and was promoted to captain June 9, 1865, being honorably discharged from the service with that rank July 21, 1865, at Jackson. After the war Mlr. Darragh decided to fit himself for the legal profession, and subsequently located at Jackson to assume the study of the law under Governor Blair. The experiences of the years which had intervened since his student days, however, caused him to change his mind, and he obtained a position in the West Side Union school at Jackson, having charge of the grammar department for two years. In 1867 he was elected the first superintendent of public schools of Jackson county, discharging the duties of that office two years. In I870 Mr. Darragh located in Gratiot county, and soon afterward established his banking business in St. Louis, in which he has since been continuously engaged. Since I898 he has been president of the Gratiot State Bank, which he was instrumental in organizing. During the long period of his residence in St. Louis he has been intimately connected with the public interests of the village and has given years of service on the board of education, the perfect organization of the Union school being largely due to his efforts and views, made practical by his own experiences as an educator. Politically a stanch Republican, he has been active in local politics, and of late years has become a national legislator. He was elected county treasurer in 1872, and in I882 was chosen to the Legislature as representative from Gratiot county. Mr. Darragh was active in his I I capacity of assemblyman, serving as chairman of the committee on Private Corporations, a position for which he was peculiarly fitted. He also acted on the committees on State Affairs and on State University. His term of service at Washington commenced with the LVIIth Congress, and he has been twice re-elected. His Democratic opponent for the LVIIIth Congress was David J. Erwin, Mr. Darragh taking his seat with I8,174 votes to his credit, as against 7,891 votes cast for Mr. Erwin. Mr. Darragh's course in Congress has been marked by the same industry and faithful care of his constituents' interests which characterized his incumbency of minor offices. Mr. Darragh has attained eminence in the Masonic fraternity, having reached the thirty-second degree and the Shrine, after having been a member since I866; he is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Grand Army of the Republic. On June 8, 1875, Archibald B. Darragh was united in marriage to Miss Annie P. Culbertson, of Monongahela City, Pennsylvania, who was born May 14, 1848, daughter of Albert and Emily (Brown) Culbertson. She passed away September 8, I905, and was interred in the St. Louis cemetery. THE DARRAGH FAMILY, to which Hon. Archibald Bard Darragh belongs, is primarily of Scottish origin, the name being traced back clearly to one of the clans of Scotland, and it has been immortalized by Scott in one of his historical romances. For a number of generations past, however, its members have been of the race known as Scotch-Irish, and show all the distinguishing characteristics of that people. For sturdy physical, mental and moral make-up they have never been surpassed, and their in I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 20 - fluence in the early settlement of Pennsylvania was ever favorable to the best interests of the communities in which their lot was cast. Thomas Darragh came to America from the North of Ireland in the year 1725 and settled in Horsham, now in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. After a few years he removed to Bedminster, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he died in I750, leaving an estate consisting of 800 acres of land, to his five sons and three daughters, namely: Robert, Thomas, Henry, William, James, Susannah, Agnes and Esther. Henry Darragh, the third son of Thomas Darragh, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1737, and married Ann Jamison. They were the great-grandparents of Hon. Archibald B. Darragh. They removed to New Britain, Bucks county, where he subsequently lived and died. They had a family of eight children, five sons and three (laughters, viz.: Mary, James, William, Margaret, Ann, John, George W. and Henry. Henry Darragh served in the Continental army, in which he was a captain. He (lied in 1782, at the age of forty-five years, from disease contracted in the military service, and was buried at Deep Run. His wife, who long survived him, reached the age of seventy-three, dying in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, April 15, 1814. George W. Darrah (as he spelled it), fourth son of Henry and Ann (Jamison) Darragh, was born July 12, 1778, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He was long a resident of Fulton county, Pennsylvania, in 1834 migrating westward to Michigan, where he passed the remainder of his days. Although past middle life at this time he was active and useful in the affairs of his adopted home, doing good service as an of ficer in the Second Regiment of Infantry, which was organized and called out by Governor Mason to resist the attempted jurisdiction of Ohio over Michigan territory. He died March 6, 1839, in Monroe county, Michigan, aged sixty-one years. On January 7, I803, Mr. Darrah married Rebekah More, and they had the following named children: Lewis, Benjamin F., Mary A., George W., James, John and Martha. Benjamin F. Darragh was born February 22, I808, in Fulton county, Pennsylvania, and on December 4, 1834, married Catherine Bard, who was born November I2, I804, near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Darragh passed away in April, 1863, and Mr. Darragh on December 13, 1892. Five children were born to this union, namely: Maria E., who married William S. McDowell; Archibald Bard, present representative in Congress from the Eleventh Michigan District; James C.; and 'two sons who died in infancy. Of the Bard family, Mr. Darragh's ancestors in the maternal line, we have records back to the first ancestor in this country, John Bard, who came from Ireland in the latter part of the seventeenth century, settling in Maryland, whence his descendants have scattered all over the Union. From him Mr. Darragh traces his ancestry through William Bard and Archibald Bard to Richard Bard, his great-grandfather, who married Catherine Poe December 22, 1756. He was born near Philadelphia December 26, 1726, and settled in that part of York county, Pennsylvania, which was afterward set off as Adams county. His experiences in that wild region during the period of the French and Indian war were harrowing in the extreme. "In I744 the war between England and I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 21 France terminated the historic peace established by the Quakers between the colonistsi and Indians, and Braddock's campaign, with its disastrous results, seemed to let loose upon the borders many of the possibilities of savage warfare. Assaults on the frontier settlements were frequent and resulted in murder of the whites, or what was in most instances worse-capture. These hostilities grew less frequent as time progressed, but did not wholly cease until 1759. "In 1758 the Indians sent their marauding parties into York county, and killed and abducted the frontiersmen and their families. On the I3th of April, in that year, nineteen Delawares invested the home of Richard Bard. The inmates were Mr. Bard, his wife, Lieutenant Potter (brother of General Potter), a babe of six months, and a bound boy. The Indians made an entry into the house and were repulsed. But they were too numerous to be successfully resisted, and capitulation was determined on by the whites. They surrendered on promise of their lives being spared. The house was rifled of all valuables and the other buildings fired. Lieutenant Potter was murdered soon after they had taken up their line of march, and not long after the infant child shared the same.fate. On the fifth day Mr. Bard resolved to escape, as the brutality of his captors and the hardships he encountered were fast disabling him and incapacitating him from travel. He was sent to a spring for water but a short time after his resolution was formed and communicated to his wife; he took advantage of the opportunity his errand afforded to make his escape. The character of the wife may be inferred from the fact that she not only approved of his determination, but diverted the attention of the Indians until her fleeing husband was beyond the reach of their vengeance. Can the women of this period adequately picture to their understandings the qualities of a woman who could deliberately choose to be left to such chances as lay before Mrs. Bard, isolated and alone in the power of the most implacable of savages-the Delawares? This volume is honored in recording her name and perpetuating the fame of her act of self-sacrificing, womanly devotion. It is probable that her native strength of character and superiority inspired her savage captors with respect, for her life was spared and she was subjected to no indignities beyond the hardships of the march and its incidental privations. She was formally adopted by the tribe, but refused to learn or use their language, as she would have been obliged, in that event, by their customs, to choose or accept a husband. She was in captivity two years and five months, and was ransomed by the payment of $200 by her husband, who never ceased his efforts to find her after he attained his own freedom. The story of his escape would grace the pages of romance. His sufferings rivaled those of the Unionists who came out of the jaws of death in making their escape from the stockade prison at Andersonville. He subsisted on buds and raw rattlesnakes, and finally reached Fort Pitt (Pittsburg), where he began his search and negotiations for his wife. After their reunion, they settled in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where they reared their family." The record of their experiences was writ-.ten out in detail by their second son, Archibald, and compiled in a volume now in the possession of Mr. Archibald B. Darragh, "Mirror of Olden-Time Border Life." He 22 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. also has the first volume of "Henry's Exposition," which contains explicit and full records of the births, deaths and marriages of the generation to which his grandfather, Archibald Bard, belonged. Richard Bard died February 22, I799, his wife surviving until August 30, 8I I. Archibald Bard (2), son of Richard, was born June 27, 1765, near Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and was a man of considerable prominence in his day. He was extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was prominent in public life, serving for a number of years as judge of the county court of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. His biographical writings and essays on religious topics brought him considerable renown in literary circles. On July 2, I799, he marrie(l Elizabeth Beatty, who was born January 17, 1774, and the following named children were born to them: Richard, Maria, William Beatty, Catherine (Mrs. Benjamin F. Darragh), Margaret, Elizabeth, Archibald, Eliza Jane and Martha Olivia. Mr. Bard died October I8, 1832, and Mrs. Bard in January, I852. G EN. NATHAN CHURCH, ex-member of the banking firm of Church, Bills & Company, Ithaca, was born in Ionia county, Michigan, November 22, 1840. He is of English ancestry, and is the son of Lafayette and Sophronia (Benjamin) Church. His father was born in July, I816, in Niagara county, New York, near the shore of Lake Ontario, and was the youngest of nine children, seven sons and two daughters. Willard Church, the father of Lafayette, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, serving under "Mad Anthony" Wayne, and was one of the few survivors of the hardships endured by the prisoners of war on the prison ship "Jersey." He was a near relative of Col. Benjamin Church, famous in King Philip's war. Lafayette Church (who has a more detailed sketch elsewhere) came to Michigan in I836, and was one of the pioneers of Ionia county. In 1847 he removed to Wheatland township, Hillsdale county, and in 1854 he made his final location in Arcada township, Gratiot county, upon land purchased of the Government, being one of the earliest pioneers of the county. While engaged in agriculture he was ordained a minister of the Baptist Church. He was thus doubly occupied until the fall of 1862, when patriotic impulses led him to offer his services to his country,, receiving authority from the Governor of the State. With his son Nathan, he and Mr. Turck, of Alma, raised a company of volunteers, and this was made Company D, Twenty-sixth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, of which he was commissioned captain. On reaching Washington, the regiment was assigned to provost duty at Alexandria, and it was thus engaged until the following spring, when it was ordered to Suffolk to aid in resisting the advance of General Longstreet. Its services in the field from that time until the close of the warnotably from the Wilderness to Appomattox-made it one of the best known organizations in the service, particularly famous as "skirmishers." Captain Church served with his company until April 2, 1864, when he was appointed Chaplain of the regiment, a position he held until the close of the war. Since his muster-out, he has led a quiet life at his home in Arcada township. Nathan Church attended the common schools of Hillsdale and Gratiot counties, BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 23 until he was sixteen years old, when he entered Kalamazoo College. After a partial course of study in that institution, he became assistant in the office of his father (who had been elected County Treasurer), and for some time had entire charge of the business of that office. After three years with his father, he taught school for a time at Ithaca and St. Louis, one term in each village. He was also for a short time clerk in the store of John Jeffrey, one of the earliest in the county, in which was also located the postoffice. It was, however, in the late Civil war that he found the opportunities for which he was most naturally fitted, and three months before he was of age he was enrolled in the volunteer army. On August 12, I86I, he enlisted in Company C, Eighth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and when the organization of the company was perfected he was made sergeant. He served in that company until January 17, I862, when, suffering from rheumatism, he was discharged for disability at Beaufort, South Carolina. The next summer, having partially recovered his health, he, his fathier and \William S. Turck raised a company by their joint efforts, which was mustered in as Company D, Twentysixth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and of this company Nathan Church was made first lieutenant. Lieutenant Church's commission was dated September I, i862. On the arrival of the regiment at the seat of war it was assigned to provost cduty at Alexandria, Virginia, and soon after Lieutenant Church was detailed as Aide-de-camp upon the staff of General Slough, Military Governor of Alexandria, which position he held until his regiment was ordered to Suffolk. On April 15, 1863, he was promoted to be adjutant of his regiment, and one year from that (late he was commissioned captain. He served with his regiment at the Siege of Suffolk, Virginia, in the Blackwater expeditions, the second campaign of the Peninsula. in I863, and in the Second Army Corps (Hancock's) through the memorable campaigns of 1864 and I865. In the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, Virginia, May 12, I864, his regiment was in the front line in the assault and was the first to reach the enemy's works, which were carried after a desperate hand-to-hand fight. Adjutant Church (not having yet been mustered in as Captain) was with two two or three non-commissioned officers the frst to scale the works. His regiment lost abollt one-third of its men in this battle, seven of the nine color guards being killed or wounded. His conduct on this occasion attracted the attention of General Nelson A. Miles, then commanding the First Brigade, First Division, Second Corps, who detailed him at once upon his staff. IHe served upon this gallant General's staff until the close of the war, except some portions of the time when in command of his regiment, holding successively the positions of Aide-de-camp, Brigade Inspector, Division Inspector, Engineer Officer First Division, an(l Adjutant General of the Military District of Fortress Monroe. He was appointed to the rank of Major, September I2, 1864, having previously been brevetted as Major of United States Volunteers "for gallant services before Petersburg, Virginia;" and Lieutenant-Colonel, March 7, I865, for "conspicuous gallantry and meritorious services" in the campaign terminating in Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The Twentysixth regiment, under his command, occupied intrenchments before Petersburg, and, I I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 24 during the closing months of 1864 and the,early part of I865, was engaged in almost daily fighting, except while in winter quarters. His regiment was mustered out June 4, I865, but he was retained in the service -of the United States by special order of the War Department, and assigned to duty as Assistant Adjutant General of the Military District of Fortress Monroe. This position he held until November 7, I865, when he was relieved at his own request. A newspaper account by an eye-witness *states that at Sailor's Creek, Colonel Church, mounted upon a white horse, led two regiments, his own and the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, in an assault upon intrenchments occupied by a superior force of the enemy, and that, being the only mounted officer, he reached Ithe works several yards in advance of his men. The prisoners captured in the works outnumbered the attacking party. His gallant conduct in this affair elicited riuch comment. On the suggestion of General Miles, he was appointed a captain in the regular army at the close of the war, but this commission he declined. Returning to the employments of peace, General Church formed a partnership with Wilbur Nelson, and the two opened a general merchandise store at Ithaca. This connection was prosperous and lasted until 1872,. when, having become interested in lumbering and real estate speculations, he sold his interest in the store to Gilbert C. Smith. In I866, soon after entering mercantile life, he founded the Gratiot Journal, of which for one year he was editor and joint proprietor with Daniel Taylor. The banking house of Church, Bills & Company, was founded in 1877, the first of the two firms doing a banking business at Ithaca. General Church has been an earnest supporter of the various railroads projected for Gratiot county. He has devoted both time and money to bring Ithaca into communication with the outer world. He held the position of postmaster at Ithaca for seven years,' and county clerk two terms, or four years. He was largely instrumental in organizing the Gratiot County Agricultural Society, and was its first president. On December 25, I866, at Tecumseh, Lenawee county, General Church was united in marriage to Miss Mary H., daughter of Hon. Perley and Caroline (Brown) Bills. She was born May 17, 1848, in that village, and graduated at the State Normal School, Ypsilanti, in the class of i866. To this marriage five children have been born: Carrie Helen, Mrs. E. C. Marsh, of New York City, whose husband is a magazine editor and a member of the publishing firm; Leroy B., who married Miss Malissa Davis; Clarence N. and Gaylord P., twins; and Edgar N. Gaylord P. died when about a year old. General Church is politically a Republican. His title as General is given him by reason of his having been appointed quartermaster general on the staff of Governor Jerome, in I88I, which rank he held for two years. MMI WILLARD WRIGHT, one of the pioneer residents and business men of Alma, Gratiot county, Michigan, is the citizen to whom that place is indebted for the greater number of its attractions, material and otherwise. Beyond what he has accomplished by personal effort and expenditure toward the expansion and beautifying of the I I I II I;., I 5, ", I - - - — 7 K I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY 27 town, and toward the enhancement of its growth as an educational center in this part of the State, he has (lone much by his influence, which is considerable, for his business operations have made him known in more than one section of the United States. Though he has always been a man of unusual activity he is still, at the age of eightythree, physically and mentally alert, a fact undoubtedly due to his simple tastes and personal habits. Having risen to his present position from the humblest beginnings, he is a self-made man, yet he possesses none of the boastful consciousness that often characterizes those of this class. All his enterprises, whether those be considered which are calculated to advance his own interests, or those which have brought blessing and benefit to others, are on the most liberal scale. Yet he remains the plain, unassuming man he always has been, nothing in his bearing indicating pride of wealth or achievement. Mr. Wright's sturdy constitution and uprightness of character are doubtless attributable to the hardy New England race from which he springs. He is a native of Grafton, Windham county, Vermont, born July 5, 1822, and his parents, Nathan and Mary (Lamson) Wright, were also born in the Green Mountain State, where Ammi W. Wright passed the years of his life previous to I850. Ammi W. Wright obtained his education in the common schools of his native State, and engaged in farming some years before migrating to the West. -He came to Detroit, where he remained one year, learning all he could of the various industries then in the early stages of development in the new State. In 1851 he made his way to Saginaw, where he engaged in the, lumber business, which was then just entering its era of prosperity in Michigan. He entered into partnership with Miller & Paine, under the firm name of Miller, Paine & Wright, this firm continuing six years, after which he formed an association with J. H. Pearson, of Chicago, under the firm name of A. W. Wright & Co. This connection continued until January I, 1883, when the firm became the A. W. Wright Lumber Company, capitalized at $1,500,000. Meantime Mr. Wright had entered into many other business connections, among which may be mentioned his interests in the firms of Wright & Davis, who owned and operated a lumber mill on the Mackinaw division of the Michigan Central railroad; Wright & Ketchum, who owned a railroad utilized for the purpose of getting out logs for themselves and others; Wells, Stone & Co., dealers in lumbermen's supplies, and the Saginaw Manufacturing Company, whose various avenues of business were almost unlimited in extent, and which was an incorporated company with a paid-up capital of $I50,ooo, Mr. Wright being its chief officer. He was also president of the First National Bank at Saginaw. In fact, his interests expanded steadily until he was regarded as one of the leading men in the Saginaw valley, both in the matter of wealth and influence. His business judgment was rarely at fault, and so perfect was his grasp of the prospects of those days that he rarely met with reverses-none, indeed, of any consequence. In the management of his various interests Mr. Wright frequently had occasion to visit Alma, and his faith in the future of the place was strong from the very beginning. The quiet atmosphere of the little town, as it was at that time, strongly I 28 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. attracted him when he decided to establish his home away from his disturbing surroundings in the larger city, and in I886 he built the handsome residence near the center of Alma which he has ever since occupied. Having acquired a fixed interest in the place, he immediately gave evidence of it in his efforts to improve and beautify his adopted town, making constant additions to his real estate investments and connecting himself with numerous business enterprises which added to the importance of the growing city. He has been identified with everything conducive to its healthy development and progress. The Wright block, one of the first buildings of the kind to be erected, was followed by the "Wright House," begun in January, I882-a hotel which would be a credit to a city of much larger size, being one of the finest houses in northern M'ichigan, and second in grade to none in the entire State. In 1887 he erected the beautiful Alma Springs Sanitarium, having accommodations for three hundred people, and was interested in building the Alma Roller Mills and the plant of the Electric Light and Power Company. Through his influence (he being president of the company) one of the largest beet sugar factories in Michigan was established at Alma in I899, as well as the cold storage plant of the Central Michigan Produce Company and the plant of the Alma Manufacuring Company, which was launched in I903. Among his extensive real estate holdings in the town and surrounding country are a dozen or more large farms within driving distance of Alma, in which he takes particular pride, all being models in their class. He has converted a ten-acre tract of land adjoining the sanitarium into I a delightful park, just as he improves all property which comes under his care. In addition to the interests mentioned Mr. Wright has been a member of the lumber firm of George D. Barton & Co., at Alma, and was largely interested in the banking house of W. S. Turck & Co., now the First State Bank, of which he is president. Though Mr. Wright's interests in and around Alma are extensive, they by no means require or receive all his attention. He is justly regarded as one of the leading spirits in the development of the State, and his name is familiar in different sections of the Union. His manufacturing interests extend to nearly every portion of the country. He has large holdings of business property in Kansas City, Missouri, extensive sheep ranches in Texas, and considerable mining property in different localities.. In Michigan he is particularly well known as president of the Cincinnati, Saginaw & Mackinaw railroad; he is a director of the Grand Trunk Western Railway Company and in the old Detroit National Bank, president of the Advance Thresher Company, of Battle Creek, Michigan, and of the Peerless Portland Cement Company of Union City, Mlichigan, and still has large business interests in Saginaw. Mr. Wright's public spirit has carried him beyond material interests and improvements and into the educational and religious life of the community, and though he does not pose as a philanthropist he may properly be ranked among benefactors of that nature. It was through his generosity that the Presbyterian Synod of Michigan was able to establish Alma College, he himself donating the site and main building besides contributing liberally to its endowment.. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 29 I He has given faithful service as trustee and has shown a continued interest in the welifare of the institution, the erection of a number of the handsome buildings that now surround the campus being largely the result of his benevolence. His charities and benefactions have also been liberally extended to other worthy causes and institutions, religious and otherwise. Mr. Wright has always been irreproachably honest in his dealings, and his unbroken career of success may be attributed principally to keen business instinct and his well known faculty of recognizing in his employees fitness for any special work, and giving them the opportunity to apply it. A number of comfortable fortunes now enjoyed by others are due to association with him. Perhaps this ability to judge human nature has been as important a factor in the able management of his varied business ventures as any one trait which could be mentioned. His own executive powers are great, but without the same quality in those to whom he must intrust the details of his many interests some of them would have suffered but for his rare judgment of character. His business partners have been chosen with the same unerring judgment, amounting almost to intuition. Mr. Wright has had a remarkable career, crowned with equally remarkable success. Though now a multi-millionaire, he was in humble circumstances when he ventured West, and his first work at lumbering yielded him only a scant living. His rise, however, was steady as well as rapid, and has brought blessing and benefit to many besides himself. In the town of his adoption he is universally regarded as a public benefactor, having participated in its growth I I and the promotion of its welfare to an extent unusual even for one of his position and influence. Alma was practically just emerging from the wilderness when he settled here, and the site of the "Wright House' was occupied by a small schoolhouse, which is still standing in Alma and used as a blacksmith shop. On March 6, 1848, Mr. Wright was married, in Rockingham, Vermont, to Miss Harriet Barton, a native of that State, born September 24, 1824, daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah (Willoughby) Barton, also natives of Vermont. Five children were born to this union, Sarah H., George N., Annie B., Caroline S. and Arthur P. Only one survives, Sarah H., now the wife of Dr. James Henry Lancashire, a prominent resident of Alma-not a practitioner, but engaged in attending to his business interests. Dr. and Mrs. Lancashire have a family of four children, Harriet, Ammi, Helen and Leila. Mrs. Harriet (Barton) Wright passed away June 30, I884, and on December 21, I885, Mr. Wright married Miss Anna Case, of Exeter, Canada. Mr. Wright will ever live in the memory of the people of Alma, for whom he has (lone so much. He has hosts of friends wherever he goes, and his sound judgment and sterling character have won him a place in the front rank of men of refinement and education. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, and in politics he is a Republican. W;ILLIAM A. BAHLKE, attorney at Alma, Michigan, is prominent in many financial, industrial and public enterprises which are a part of the life of that city, as well as in various departments of the local government. He was born on a farm I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNT'. 30 near Pewamo, Michigan, July 4, I86I, and is, therefore, in the very prime of his career, and, in view of his marked abilities, has far greater honors in store for him. Mr. Bahlke is of German parentage, the son of Anthony and Mary (Hundt) Bahlke, natives of Mecklenburg, Germany. In 1856, after their marriage there, the parents came to America and commenced their new life in Detroit, Michigan. After a residence of one and a half years in that city, during which period the husband was busy at his trade as a blacksmith, they removed to Lyons township, Ionia county, Michigan. Rightly concluding that in such a country his prospects would be improved by turning to agriculture, he finally abandoned his trade and devoted his undivided attention to farming. The results were so satisfactory that in I893 he retired from active labors and removed to Pewamo. Mr. Bahlke is the youngest of a family of five children. Until he reached the age of twenty-two years William A. Bahlke remained upon the family homestead. In the meantime he had not only mastered the practical details of husbandry but had perfected himself in the modern science of it. At the age named he graduated from the Michigan Agricultural College with the idea of following agricultural pursuits along broad, modern lines. In 1883, however, he began teaching, and during the succeeding two years his inclination toward the law drew him more and more in that direction. Finally he assumed his legal studies with such earnestness and effectiveness that on February 20, I886, he was admitted to the bar at Ionia, Michigan. In the following month he located at Alma for the practice of his profession. Mr. Bahlke has been signally successful as a practitioner; he has a fine practice and is regarded as one of the leading men in his profession. He is the owner of a fine farm and takes much interest in its management and improvement. It is natural, also, that a man of his education, abilities and general caliber should be in demand as a public functionary. For two years he served as president of Alma, was postmaster of Alma during President Cleveland's second term, and as a Democrat is prominent and influential in the councils of his party. He was its nominee for Congress in the Eleventh District of Michigan in the election of I904. He is the legal and executive head of the Alma State Savings Bank and is interested and an officer in the Union Telephone Company, Alma Building and Loan Association, Alma Manufacturing Company (of which he is vice-president) and the Alma Sugar Company and other corporations. He affiliates with the Presbyterian church. He is a hard worker, and he takes an active interest in everything that tends to build up and improve his home city and its local interests. On October 7, I89I, Mr. Bahlke was united in marriage at St. Clair, Michigan, to Miss Mary C. Carpenter. His wife was born in Port Huron, Michigan, the daughter of Leonard and Hannah Carpenter, both natives of Michigan. Mrs. Bahlke is an active and influential woman in church, educational and literary work, and prominent in all social functions and highly esteemed. Mr. and Mrs. Bahlke have no children. C OL. JOHN A. ELWELL. The inspiration, the magnetic force, the motive power of any successful enterprise or corporation, always rests primarily upon the enthusiastic faith and executive ability I...: -3 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 33 I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ of some individual. St. Louis, Michigan, stands to-day in its progressive spirit and substantial prosperity a monument to the abiding faith and personality of Col. John A. Elwell, wvho, more than thirty years ago, relinquished a home in the eastern metropolis to cast his fortune with, and to bend his energies to the development of, what was then the little village of St. Louis, uninviting in aspect, located in a sparsely settled region, almost without any of the evidences of civilization. Colonel Elwell is a native of Sweden, born near the ancient city of Goteborg December 13, 1832. His father was a graduate of a Swedish university and an officer in the Swedish army, dying in I869, aged sixty-six years. Colonel Elwell's mother died in 1878, aged seventy-two years. John A. Elwell passed his early boyhood days with his parents in his native land, and attended the excellent schools of that country until he was fourteen, then graduating from the high school near Goteborg. From the school room he passed into the office of a mercantile establishment, and at the end of a year his uncle, located in New York City, sent for him to come there. As an office boy he entered his uncle's establishment, which was devoted to a general shipping business, and from that position he gradually advanced until, at the end of seven years, he became junior member of the firm of Ryberg, Pentz & Company. This connection continued from 1857 to 18/2, years of almost uninterrupted prosperity in which the firm became interested in a fine line of vessels. While he maintained an office in the Home Insurance building, in New York City, he had his residence in Elizabeth, New Jersey. During the years he lived in that city he showed his public spirit on many occasions, often at a great personal sacrifice. He was twice elected a member of the city council, where his sound business sense often proved of great public benefit. In 1874, in company with his personal friend, Benjamin Richardson, a New York capitalist, Colonel Elwell became interested in the promising land around St. Louis, Michigan, and together they came West to look over the country. The (late of his arrival in the then little unkempt village was a red letter day, but the people did not know it until later. It had long been (as it now is) the habit of eastern capitalists to lend their means to western enterprises, but to spend their profits in their own section. Not so with Colonel Elwell. He saw the possibilities, lie realized the need, and he cast his lot with the new town. He brought with him capital-and more, his trained business judgment-and he at once became the hub on which St. Louis's wheel of prosperity turned and lie occupies the same position to-day. lWhether it meant the building of railroads or telegraph lines, schools or churches, street lighting or other public improvements, he was active and interested-giving financial aid or security, advising, directing, working, he was always found in the front rank. His investments were successful for himself and for the town, and of his abundance he gave freely to those less fortunate and to charitable institutions. When Colonel Elwell came West with Mr.Richardson it was at the solicitation of E. L. Craw, the promoter of the Chicago, Saginaw & Canada railroad. Before the end of 1875 certain of the eastern bondholders, who had pledged further financial contribu BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 34 i tions in aid of the completion of the railroad as then planned, failed to fulfill their obligations. Hence during the year 1876 steps were taken to have a receiver appointed, and at that time Colonel Elwell made application to the United States Circuit court at Grand Rapids, Michigan, "to lease the roadl;" to furnish all necessary rolling stock, engines, etc., at his own risk and expense, and to operate it (the railroad) as lessee, at a fixed rental. The application was granted, and he continued as its lessee and general manager until the property was sold, in 1883, to the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad Company, he having during that period built, at his own expense, extensions amounting to nearly twenty miles of road. During his occupancy and management of this little railroad line he established the United States mail service, the post offices at every station west of Alma to Lake View, and the American Express, appointing his station agents, as agents for the Express Company, for whom he stood as a surety. He built, also at his own expense, a telegraph line from St. Louis to Lake View, and had the railroad surveyed and partially graded for a further extension from Lake View to Howard City, there to connect with the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad from Saginaw to Grand Rapids. Though the latter was completed by the Colonel's successors, it had its inception in his marvelous comprehension of the future of this region, and to him must be given the credit for the perseverance that furnished a through line from Saginaw to Grand Rapids. In the development of the town, no one has done more by erecting good and substantial dwellings, as is attested by his own late residence and that of his son-in-law, Dr. A. R. Wheeler. Colonel Elwell aided in the establishment of the First National Bank, and was one of the largest stockholders and its first president, holding the latter position several years. He was twice elected president of the St. Louis board of trustees. Politically Colonel Elwell is independent. Originally he was a Gold Democrat, but lately, with few exceptions, has voted the Republican ticket. He is a communicant of the Episcopal Church, and Emanuel parish finds in him a hearty and liberal supporter, who did much toward the erection of the beautiful church edifice. Besides the large amount of property he possesses, he is also a stockholder in the Chemical Company and the beet sugar ifactory. For one who hears even the faintest call to duty, public or private, it could not be supposed that the great crisis of the Civil war should pass without Colonel Elwell taking an active part in its operations. From his father he inherited a love of military affairs, as well as a personal bravery that has won high commendation from superior officers. In 1855 he joined the Brooklyn City Guard, known as Company G, Thirteenth Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., one of the finest military organizations in that State, and of which company he is still a veteran member. From private to corporal, second sergeant, and orderly sergeant, his promotions were rapid, and on April 23, I86I, he was appointed second lieutenant. His regiment was then at the front in active service. In the year 1862 he was elected first lieutenant, and during that year, together with several of the officers and men of the old Thirteenth, he organized the Twenty-third Regiment of the New York State troops; he was then raised to the rank of major, and before the end of BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 35 I the year to that of lieutenant-colonel. During the months of June and July, i863, his regiment was ordered to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to aid in repelling Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee had then advanced with his cavalry and artillery as far as Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and there burned the United States barracks, and his troopers had plundered and largely devastated the country in that vicinity. Colonel Elwell had at that time been placed in command of the outposts and picket lines, with a detachment of three regiments-his own, the Fifty-third New York and the Fiftysixth New York-at Oyster Point, distant about four miles from the temporary fortification at Harrisburg. On the 28th of June, 1863, he encountered the advance guard of Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, commanded by General Jenkins, who, being supplied with artillery, commenced shelling the outposts and camp. Colonel Elwell's command was well posted. The skirmish continued during that day until evening, when the Confederates withdrew. Result-two dead and four wounded of the Confederates, and several prisoners taken; no casualties on the Union side. Thence the regiment proceeded under special orders, under command of Maj. Gen. "Baldy" Smith, toward Gettysburg. During that campaign, from constant exposure and lack of proper supplies from the quartermaster and commissary departments, his health failed him, and he therefore tendered his resignation during the latter part of the year 1863, the field, staff and line officers of his regiment unanimously petitioning him to reconsider his action. The handsomely embossed and framed set of complimentary resolutions embodying a unanimous request from the officers I of the regiment, soliciting Colonel Elwell at that time to continue his connections as the commander, reads as follows: Twenty-third Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y. BROOKLYN, Dec'b. I7th, 1863. LIEUT. COL. JOHN A. ELWELL, Dear Sir:-The undersigned, officers of the Twenty-third Regiment, N. G., have learned with feeling of deep and sincere regret your contemplated retirement from the service and feel impelled, not alone by motives of strong personal attachment but also by deep regard entertained for the well being of their regiment, to urge upon you, in the most earnest manner, a further consideration of this proposed step. The regiment has already lost too many of its older and most prominent officers, the men who united in its organization and to whose fidelity and care it owes to-day much of its peculiar character and distinction. The effect of these changes is not to be mistaken; officers and men alike perceive their discouraging influence and are alarmed at the prospect of further withdrawals, which seriously threaten the disintegration of the entire body. You, dear sir, stand as the one connecting link to unite the future with the past. Among our officers there is none in whom the regiment has been so accustomed to rely as in yourself, and no one more identified with its growth and reputation from the beginning; for these reasons especially it is felt that you should be urged to relinquish, for the present at least, your plan of retiring. We cannot escape the conviction that you are. not to be spared at this time, and that however urgent private claims may be, the claims of the regiment, for your continued services, have never been more pressing than at this very moment. Be good enough, then, to receive the unanimous solicitation of your fellow officers to defer your resignation at least until the regiment becomes more fully consolidated, which course is the more strongly urged upon you in the persuasion that it is alike the desire of every member of the organization. With expressions of the greatest personal regard, we remain, dear sir, Yours very truly, (Signed) JAMES H. FROTHINGHAM, Pres. and Capt. [Here follow the signatures of all the regimental officers-field, staff and the line.] On April 8, 1857, in New York City, Col. John A. Elwell was united in marriage to Miss Catherine N. Jenkins, who was born in New York, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Beekman) Jenkins, the former a contractor and builder of prominence there. I 36 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Mrs. Elwell died in St. Louis, Michigan, March 27, I898, aged sixty-three years. To this union were born children as follows: (i) Elizabeth A. married W. W. Collin, a lumber merchant at Buffalo, New York; (2) Susan Anna died April 25, 1902; (3) Helen L. is the wife of Dr. A. R. Wheeler, a successful physician at St. Louis, mentioned elsewhere in this volume; (4) Amy E. married Dr. F. Edgar Farley, a professor in Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts. Colonel Elwell is a Mason, his membership being in Montauk Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Brooklyn, New York. Although he has retired from active participation in many of the enterprises that formerly engaged his attention, he still retains a keen interest in all public matters. His health is not of the best, but loving children and many friends minister to him, and are helping him to bear bravely such afflictions as have come with the advancing years. His life has been spent for the public good, and every citizen of St. Louis wishes him many happy years in which to reap the utmost benefits of his wellspent life. HON. SILAS MOODY, ex-member of the Legislature, a substantial man and prominent farmer of Pine River township, Gratiot county, was born on a farm in Medina county, Ohio, May 30, 1839, son of Rev. William Moody. Rev. William Moody was a preacher of the Christian Church and was also engaged in farming. He died at the residence of his son, in Pine River township, at the age of eighty-nine years. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Maria Ross, died in Pine River township, when seventynine years old. This worthy couple had a family of seven children, and of this family our subject was the eldest. He was reared in Medina county, Ohio, on his father's farm, and was educated in the common schools. He also attended the high school at Chatham, Ohio. Silas Moody was married in Medina county, Ohio, April 6, I86I, to Miss Ellen M. Clapp, a native of that county. Mr. Moody came to Gratiot county and settled on the farm where he now lives, in April, I86I, and here he has since been a resident. He has always followed farming, and in this occupation he has been very successful, and as a man of good judgment and large means, he is prominent in all public matters in his township, and may always be found casting his influence in the direction of progressive movements which promise to be of permanent benefit to his community. He has held the office of township clerk of Pine River township, and various other offices. He was elected to the Legislature in the fall of I892, serving for one term, during which time he served efficiently on the committees on Religious and Benevolent Societies, the Deaf and Dumb, and Prisons of Michigan. He has taken an active interest in church work, and for twenty-five years has been superintendent of the Sundayschool of the Disciples, or Christian, Church, in Pine River. ON. WILLIAM E. WINTON, of Ithaca, for many years an eminent legal practitioner of Gratiot county, retired from the practice of his profession in the early autumn of I904, after a continuous service of forty-six years before the Bar and in various official positions connected with the county, of a legal, executive and judicial nature. He was born December 17, I820, V BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 39 son of William Winton, a native of Dunning, Perthshire, Scotland. William Winton was born June o, I779, son of James and Ann Winton. Both his parents died about the year i8oo, which strengthened his already formed (lesire to visit America an(t try his fortunes therein. On May 12, I802, he therefore set sail from Greenock, on the ship "Draper" of New York, arriving at the metropolis on the 4th of July, and passing on west to Madison county, New York, where (at Chittenango) he met and married Desdemona Leach in 1817. Later he located on a homestead in the town of Sullivan, in that county, a few miles northeast of Syracuse, where his wife died in April, 1823, leaving three sons: James, William E. and David L. James Winton married a second time, removed to Michigan in December, 1845, and died at Manchester, that State, on January 21, I858. William E. Winton attended the village school at Bridgeport. and spent his vacations at the Chittenango Sulphur Springs, on account of ill health. When nineteen years of age he went to Albany on a sight-seeing tour, visiting the museum, theater and other places of amusement, and there, for the first time, he saw 'a steamboat, passing up the Hudson on its way to Troy. When sixteen years of age, in the winter of I837, Mr. Winton came to Michigan with the family of Daniel Boutell, and, after a journey which consumed twenty-one days, they reached their destination-Section 30, in Town 4. north, range 5, east, afterward organized as the township of Deerfield, Livingston county. The journey was by no means devoid of blood-stirring adventure and narrow escapes from death. I The trip was overland via Syracuse, Rochester, the Ridge Road to Youngstown (Niagara county), thence over the line to Canada, where the journey was contiilled(l along the Mountain road. After a rainy tlhaw tle vweather hald )ecome extremely cold, and the covered wagon, drawn l)y two horses, advanced with difficulty over tlhe icy thoroughfare. In it were Mr. and Mrs. Boutell, witih their three children, in a hack seat, their oldest son, John, in front with tle driver, Mr. Winton. On the road at the rear of the prairie schooner, were six other emigrant teams andl two loads of Indians, who remained belind as Mr. Winton urged his horses up the glassy ascent of Battle Hill. At this point the road ran along a mountain, the side next to the 200-foot precipice being edged and protected by a ridge of slilghtly elevated logs. All went well until the team reached the summit of the hill, when both horses fell, the wagon slipped lack dragging them with it i and young Winton leaped over the precipice, while the spectators at the foot of the hill remained spellbound with horror. When lie was able to regain his feet lie looked tip and found to his temporary relief that the wagon, with all its occupants, was hanging over the precipice, and, regaining the road, fearful every moment that the fallen horses would attempt to get upon their feet, discovered that the heavy vehicle was caught by one fore wheel between the ridge of logs and the road. Help from the spectators below arrived in time to avert a fatal accident. The party reached Windsor, opposite Detroit, after the ferry had made its last trip, and, in attempting to cross the river on some new ice formed near Sandwich another narrow escane is to be recorded-Mepra Boutell and Winton with 40 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. their team nearly sliding into a reach of icy water, the woman and children having previously been piloted over from Windsor to Detroit on the broken ice which had come down from the lakes. But the dangers were finally all passed, and, as stated, the travelers located in what is now the township of Deerfield, Livingson county, Michigan. Mr. Winton remained with Mr. Boutell until he had reached the age of twenty-one years, and in the fall of I839 returned to New York to transact some business for him. While there he had a chance to visit his father's family, but the rough-and-ready life which he had been leading had so changed his appearance for the better that he was not recognized by the family. On November 27, 1842, Mr. Winton married Miss Sarah Ramsdell, who was born October 2, 1821, at Fairport, New York, a daughter of Noah and Polly (Mary) Ramsdell, of Livingston county, that State. Mrs. Winton died June 22, 1852, having borne her husband three children: Sarah J., born December 9, 1843, died September 23rd of the following year; Mary D., born October 10, 1845, is deceased; and John H. was born May 31, I852. Within the following five years Mr. Winton participated in not a few important events. In 1853 he visited the world's exhibition at the Crystal Palace in New York, and in July, 1858, was introduced to Gen. Winfield Scott, at the West Point Military Academy. In the following August he attended the celebration at New York City of the laying of the first Atlantic cable. Mr. Winton, having had only the advantages of a common-school education, spent six years in teaching, attending school and reading law, and in August, I858, graduated from the State and National Law School, at Poughkeepsie, New York, and was admitted to the Bar of Michigan September io, 1858, at Howell, Michigan. In October, I858, he received the nomination for prosecuting attorney of Livingston county, on the Republican ticket, but was defeated with the balance of the ticket. On April 4, I859, Mr. Winton married (second) Miss Mariette Thompson, born March 15, 1831, at Columbia, Herkimer county, New York, daughter of Joseph R. and Mary J. Thompson, of Corunna, Michigan. On March 28, I860, Mr. and Mrs. Winton removed to Ithaca, Gratiot county, where, in November of that year, Mr. Winton was elected Circuit court commissioner. He was appointed deputy county clerk in Ja-vunry, I86I, and, having received his commission, enrolled all persons liable for military duty in I863 who resided in the south half of Gratiot county. and continued to hold that position until the conclusion of the war. During the same period he served as superintendent of the county poor, and, as such, was called upon to make provision for a large number of families left destitute by the patriotic service of their male members. In November, I864, Mr. Winton was elected to the offices of Circuit court commissioner and prosecuting attorney; was re-elected to the latter office in I866; was a delegate to the Congressional Convention in I866 and 1868, and was elected Judge of the Probate court in November, 1872, for a term of four years. Mr. Winton was also the first presi(ent of the village of Ithaca, being elected to that office in November, I869. During his years of practice Judge Winton was successfully connected with many of the most important suits in the county, both BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 41 of law and equity, but retired from active practice in the autumn of 1904. For people of their years both Mr. and Mrs. Winton are possessed of remarkable vigor and activity. In I890, at an age when most couples are content to remain by their own warm firesides-and often are in no state of health to do otherwise-the Judge and his wife started on a European trip, their itinerance embracing Scotland, England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and return to Great Britain. They reached their Michigan home in October of that year, even reinvigorated by their trip abroad. MTr. Winton is a member of the A. F. & A. M., belonging to the Blue Lodge, and both he and his wife are connected with the Order of the Eastern Star. They are both examples of a remarkable preservation of the mental and physical activities into the evening of lives which even in years are far beyond the average. Mr. Winton for many years has been a very active member of the Presbyterian Church, to which he has given liberally of his time and money. Both he and Mrs. Winton have been teachers of the Bible in the Sabbath-school for many years, and still continue their work in that capacity. JOHN H. WINTON, a legal practitioner of note, who follows his profession at Ithaca, Gratiot county, was born May 31, 1852, at Cohoctah, Livingston county, Michigan, the only son of Judge William E. and Sarah (Ramsdell) Winton. William E. Winton came to Michigan in 1837 with the family of Daniel Boutell, locating in Deerfield, Livingston county, and remained with him until he was twenty-one years of age. He engaged in teaching and attended school, studying law in his leisure time. He was admitted to the Bar in September, I858, at Howell, Michigan, and in October of the same year was nominated on the Republican ticket for prosecuting attorney of Livingston county, but was defeated with the balance of the ticket. Mr. Winton's first wife, the mother of John H., died in 1852, and in I859 he married (second) Mhriette Thompson. Mr. Winton became very prominent in politics, and was elected Circuit court commissioner in November, I86o; deputy county clerk in January, I86I; was drafting officer and superintendent of the poor throughout the period of the Civil War; Circuit court commissioner and prosecuting attorney in 1864, being reelected to the latter office in I866; delegate to the Congressional Convention in I866 and I868; judge of the Probate court from 1872 to 1876, and the first president of the village of Ithaca, being elected in November, I869. Judge Winton still makes his home in Ithaca, where he is highly honored and esteemed. In March, I860, John H. Winton came with the family to Ithaca, Michigan. He attended school until he was eighteen years of age, and then taught for several terms, at the end of which period he entered the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, Michigan. He then pursued his legal studies in the office of his father, and was admitted to the Bar April 8, I88I, at Ithaca, and in March of the following year was appointed village attorney. He retained that office for three years, and was afterward appointed by Governor J. T. Rich a Circuit court commissioner to fill out an unexpired term of two, years. He has also served for one year as moderator of the school board. In all his 42 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. public functions he has conducted himself with such tact and ability that his future preferment is assured. In his private practice he has met with a success both gratifying to himself and his friends. He has been engaged in several important suits involving interesting questions of law and equity, and has been very successful in matters affecting real estate, of which specialty he has made a thorough study. On May 31, I88I, John H. Winton and Annie S. Sickels were united in marriage. She was born at Northville, Wayne county, Michigan, August IO, 1854, daughter of William and Isabel B. Sickels. To Mr. and Mrs. Winton have been born one son and one daughter: William, a graduate of the Ithaca high school and Alma College, is at present district manager of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of New Jersey; he resides at Ithaca, and in the near future intends to fit himself for the ministry. Beulah, the daughter, is a graduate and a member of the faculty of the Detroit Conservatory of Music. Mr. Winton and his entire family are active members of the Presbyterian Church at Ithaca, Mr. John H. Winton having served as elder for many years. W,ILLIAM SICKELS (deceased), formerly one of the leading business men of Sickels, and a representative man of Gratiot county, was born in Palmyra, Wayne county, New York, May 30, I824, son of John F. Sickels, a native of the same State, whose ancestors settled on the Mohawk river over two hundred years ago. Until he was twelve years of age William Sickels received his education in the common schools of his native place, when with his parents he settled in Wayne county, Michigan, where he attended the Northville Academy. At the death of his father, in 1839, he took charge of the farm, which he conducted for a year, and then returned to Northville Academy to finish his education. Again locating on the farm, he remained until I849, when he settled in Howell township, Livingston county, and there remained until I854. In the latter year Mr. Sickels removed to what is now Wyandotte, Wayne county, at which place he erected the first store and dwelling and established the first post office. There he remained until I856, and in that year removed to what is now Elsie, Clinton county, where he also established the first office, becoming deputy postmaster. In that capacity he continued at Elsie until I86I, when he removed to St. Johns, same county, and there held the position of register of deeds until I863; deputy register, from 1863 to 1865; judge of Probate, from I865 to I869; and from I865 to I88I was chief of a division in the post office department at Washington, D. C. In May of the latter year he resigned his government position and joined his family at Sickels, this county, whither he had removed in September, I873. For a short period ML. Sickels was a soldier in the Civil War, enlisting in Company E, Twenty-third Volunteer Infantry. He was appointed first lieutenant and had command of the company most of the time for about six months, when, contracting typhoid pneumonia, he was compelled to resign. In 1883 Mr. Sickels erected a steam flouring-mill at Sickels, and equipped it with the best and most modern machinery. In addition to his other business he devoted considerable time to the propagation of fine live stock, and handled, with success, a BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 43 species of the Shorthorn breed of cattle known as the "Rose of Sharon." He at one time owned a two-year-old from the herd of H. M. Vale, of Independence, Missouri, which was considered one of the finest and most celebrated herds in the United States. Mr. Sickels and his entire family were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which faith he died September 3, I904. Fraternally he was connected with the Freemasons and the I. O. O. F. Mr. Sickels was married November 8, 1846, to Isabel B., the estimable daughter of Dennis Kingsley (deceased), a native of Vermont and one of the early settlers of Wayne county. Mrs. Sickels was born in Orleans county, New York, March 13, 1828. Four children were born to her and her husband: Dennis K., clerk of the Probate court at Seattle, Washington; Annie S., Mrs. John H. Winton; Hettie E., deceased, who married (first) Warren Abbott and (second) Dr. Roy Weaver; and William C., a farmer residing at Maple Rapids, Michigan, and a supervisor of the town of Essex. C HARLES L. DELAVAN, mayor of Alma and member of the well-known mercantile firm of C. L. & G. M. Delavan, is one of Alma's prominent and public-spirited citizens. He was born in Jonesville, Hillsdale county, Michigan, March 17, 185I, son of Henry A. and Mary T. (Leake) Delavan, the former of whom died in Alma, September 5, 1903, and the latter in Jonesville, in August, I870. They were the parents of nine children, six of whom grew to maturity, and of these six, Charles was the fifth in order of birth. Henry A. Delavan was the son of Tompkins C. and Esther (Jessup) Delavan, and was born August I, I8io, in Seneca county, New York. His father was a native of Dutcless county, New York, and his mother was born in Norwalk, Connecticut. After marriage they settled in Seneca county, where they resided forty years, and became, after that long period, residents of Jonesville, Michigan. Of thirteen children born to them ten reached maturity. Henry A. Delavan was the third son. His parents were pioneers of the county where he was boin, settling there about the close of the eighteenth century, and the son obtained his preliminary education in the common schools, whose sessions were held in a primitive log house. He finished his studies at the Academy at Ovid, in Seneca county. At the age of sixteen years the privilege of self-support devolved upon him, and he embraced the opportunity to become an assistant in the country store at eight dollars a month. He soon became an expert and efficient helper, and after eight months made a contract with his employer to serve at $200 yearly, receiving this compensation two years, after whiclh his salary was $300 for a year's services. He remained in the same establishment until he was nineteen years old, after which he clerked for his brother-in-law two years and then went into business at Jefferson, now Watkins, where he operated a general store and ran a warehouse, respectively, in the counties of Schuyler, Steuben and Chemung. He continued to operate from that stand seven years, when in October, i838, he forced a sale of the bulk of his stock, and transferred the remainder to Jonesville, Hillsdale county, Michigan, where he established himself in traffic in general merchandise. I-e continued to operate there until 1844, speculating in land to a considerable extent. He purchased two thousand acres BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 44 44BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. of land in Hillsdale, Branch and Jackson counties, and engaged in farming near Jonesville, continuing there about ten years when lie sold his farm and moved into town. In ]86i he was appointed, by the government, assessor of Internal Revenue in what was then the First Michigan District, and discharged the duties of the position until 1865, when he again turned his attention to farming. In 1870 he removed to Alma, where he resumed his former occupation of merchant, and in I876 erected an elevator at Alma, having a capacity of seven thousand bushels. Four years later he associated himself with his two sons, Charles and George. Mr. Delavan was married in Watkins, New York, December 8, 1835, to Mary T., daughter of Isaac Q. and Catherine (Tillinghast) Ieake, and nine children were born to them: Cornelia, Anna L., and Julia, deceased; and Mary C., Catherine, Agnes E., William A., Charles L. and George M. Mary C., Catherine and George M. are all unmarried and reside together at Alma. Mrs. Delavan died August I8, I870. Politically Mr. Delavan was a Whig. Charles L. Delavan grew to manhood in Tonesville, Michigan, attending the common school and assisting his father on the farm. In October, 1870, he located at Alma, and after being employed in his father's store for three years became associated with him and an el(ler brother in a mercantile business, under the name of EH. A. Delavan & Co. This partnership continued until 1878, when William retired and George took a place in the firm. This partnership was dissolved in I89I and Charles engaged in farming until 1893 in Arcada township. In that year he again engaged in a mercantile business with his brother, George M. Dela van, and has continued in that line ever since. The firm of C. L. & G. M. Delavan has a xell established reputation, the business covers a wide territory, and under the enterprising management of the partners is prospering. Mr. Delavan is much esteemed, and the firm enjoys the confidence of the public. Mr. Delavan was married in Chelsea, Washtenaw county, Michigan, October 2I, 1885, to Miss Belle C. Tuttle. Mrs. Delavan was born in that county June 28, 1858, a daughter of Frank B. and Jane L. (Chase) Tuttle, the former of whom died in Chelsea, Michigan, aged seventy-two years. Mr. and Mrs. Delavan have had three children: Paul T., Carlyn C. and Marjorie. Mr. Delavan has been prominently identified w-ith the success of the Republican party, being a strong adherent to that party's principles, and has been supervisor of Arcada township since I899, first being appointed and subsequently elected to that position; he has also served several terms on the council of Alma. In April, 1905, Mr. Delavan was elected first mayor of Alma. W 1ILBUR NELSON, president of the Nelson Grain Company (organized in I899), dealers in grain and other farm products, at Ithaca, Michigan, is a native of this state, born January I5, 1839, in Madison, Lenawee county, son of Francis and Deborah (Cotton) Nelson, natives of New York State, where the former was born in I808. Francis Nelson served as the first supervisor of Arcada township, and was also judge of the Probate court for several terms. He was a man of ability, clear judgment and upright character, and his value as a citizen was understood and appreciated by his fellow townsmen. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 45 - Wilbur Nelson attended the common schools of his locality and supplemented the training there received with a course at Gregory's Business College, at Kalamazoo. He returned to Ithaca in August, I86I, and enlisted under the second call for troops after the disaster at Bull Run. His company-C, of the Eighth Michigan Volunteer Infantry-was commanded by Captain Ely, and took part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Before he left the State Mr. Nelson was promoted to sergeant of his company, was in the engagement at Coosaw Ferry, South Carolina, and in the action at James Island received a wound in the left side from a musket ball. He was disabled for two months, and on rejoining his command was promoted to first sergeant. He was under fire at the second battle of Bull Run, Chantilly and Fredericksburg, after which he was promoted to second lieutenant. He was at Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi, and in the engagement at Campbell's Station, Tennessee, he was again wounded, by a minie ball, this time in the knee. He resigned his commission and came home January I, 1864. On March 20th of the same year he re-entered the service of the Union with a captain's commission, in command of Company I, One Hundred and Second United States Colored Troops (First Miichigan Colored Infantry), organized at Detroit. The regiment was in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and engaged in many important raids and skirmishes. In November, I865, Mr. Nelson returned to Ithaca, and formed a partnership with Gen. Nathan Church, in the mercantile business, and they opened a general store at that place, which they conducted until July, I872, when General Church sold his interests in I I I the business to G. C. Smith. Two years later Mr. Nelson became sole proprietor and for one year continued alone. In August, 1875, he formed the partnership with A. S. Barber, andl they erected the presen!t building in I879. Their business interests were extensive, and in addition to their traffic in general merchandise of all kinds they purchased and shipped all kinds of produce, including grain, wool and pork. Mr. Nelson had also engaged extensively in lumbering, in the private banking house of Church, Bills & Co., and in real estate dealing, discontinuing these lines in I899 and organizing a grain business under the name of Nelson Grain Co., Mr. Barber remaining with the general store. Mr. Nelson was appointed assistant assessor of Internal Revenue in I867, and served four years in his district. He has served two years as president of the village of Ithaca, and in the fall of I880 was elected on the Republican ticket to represent his district in the Legislature of Michigan. While serving in that body Mr. Nelson was a member of the committee of the State Public School at Coldwater, and on Drainage; was chairman of the committee on Mianufactures, and served his constituents very satisfactorily. He was tendered the nomination to succeed himself, but refused to accept. Wilbur Nelson was married, November 22, 1865, in Arcada township, to Cornelia, daughter of Rev. Lafayette and Sophronia Church. She was born August 3, 1842, in Ionia county, Michigan, and died March 23, I878, at Ithaca, leaving two daughters: Mary, MNrs. Harvey Morrison, of Traverse City, Michigan, who is the mother of six children; and Nellie, a school teacher of that place. Mr. Nelson was married (second) June I3, 1882, to Mary H. Hamilton, daugh 46 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUN7I Y. ter of Rev. D. D. Hamilton, and five children have been born to this union, namely: Arthur, Gladys, Gaylord, Theodore and Miles. HON. KELLY S. SEARL, Judge of the Circuit Court of the Twentyninth Judicial District, one of the most prominent Republicans of central Michigan, now a resident of Ithaca, was born at Fairfield, Shiawassee county, in that State, February 4, I862. He was elected by the voters of Gratiot and Clinton counties in the spring of I905, his term of six years commencing January I, I906. Judge Searl comes from the substantial middle classes, most of his ancestors and his immediate relatives being of yeoman stock. His parents, Chauncey D. and Harriet E. (Kelly) Searl, migrated from Ohio to Shiawassee county in I854. The mother, who was a native of the Buckeye State, died October 6, I890, at the age of fifty-six years; the father, born in Vermont, on December 10, I83I, is still residing on his farm in Shiawassee county. The paternal grandfather of the Judge, Phineas Searl, also a native of the Green Mountain State, was a carpenter and contractor. He migrated to Michigan, settling in Fairfield, Lenawee county, where he died December 25, 1875, at the age of seventy-five years. Besides Kelly S., there were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey D. Searl the following children: Frank C., now a farmer of Ashley, Gratiot county, and Anna M., Mrs. James W. Hayley, a resident of Bay City, Michigan. Judge Searl attended the village schools at Elsie and Ovid, Clinton county, until he was about sixteen years of age, completing his literary education at the Indiana Normal School, Valparaiso. For several years thereafter he taught school, his aim being to form a private educational fund which should defray his expenses in the law department of the Michigan State University. In 1884 he commenced his legal course at that institution, graduating in I886. In March of the following year he opened an office,for the practice of his profession at Ashley, Gratiot county, continuing there for the succeeding three years. His continuous residence at Ithaca dates from April, I890, since which time he has enjoyed a practice which has made him a leader at the Michigan Bar and brought to the public a realization of those substantial and analytical qualities which have finally been the means of his elevation to the Bench. Although a Republican ardent in the defense of party principles, Judge Searl never allowed his political zeal or his personal inclinations to blind his legal judgment. He was always able to appreciate the justice even of an opponent's arguments, and, at an individual sacrifice, often harmonized instead of promoting the legal disputes between contending parties. Before he ascended the Bench he became especially noted, aside from such judicial qualities, for his broad knowledge of the law and practice, his concise statement of legal propositions and his skill and courtesy as a pleader. When to such requisites were added unimpeachable honesty, it is evident that it was most fitting that he should be selected for judicial honors. At the time of his elevation he was the senior member of the firm of Searl & Monfort, resigning from the partnership in September, I905. As a practitioner Mlr. Searl was associated with the trial of many important cases in the district over which he now presides as judge. Among others may be instanced I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 49 that of the Portsmouth Savings Bank vs. the Village of Ashley (91 Mich. 670). The question involved was whether the president and clerk of a village had the legal right to deliver waterworks bonds, without the authority of the council, and whether the innocent purchasers of such bonds could hold the village for their payment. Mr. Searl was attorney for the defendant, and his contention was sustained by the State Supreme Court, which decided that the village was not liable and that the bonds were void. One of the foremost Republicans of his section of the State, Judge SearI was so absorbed in the practice of his profession that upon several occasions he refused to be a candidate for political offices. But when the people of Gratiot county insisted, in the spring of 1899, that he should allow his name to be used for the Circuit judgeship, he gave his consent. The judicial convention was held at St. Johns, Clinton county, the Republicans of that county presenting as their candidate Judge S. B. Daboll, who had already occupied the position for about ten years. The twelve delegates of each county refused to desert their respective candidates, and, after remaining in deadlock for two weeks, the convention was obliged to adjourn sine die without making a choice. This remarkable state of affairs was the means of placing upon the Circuit Bench the candidate of the Silver ticket, Hon. George P. Stone, of Ithaca, who was elected without opposition. In the summer of I900 Mr. Searl was urgently requested to allow the presentation of his name as a candidate for Congress in the Eleventh District. He declined on the ground that Hon. A. B. Darragh was entitled to the honor, and immedi ately interested himself in the canvass, having the gratification of assisting to make the nomination of that gentleman unanimous, at the convention subsequently held at Traverse City. In April, I905, the Republicans of Gratiot county again united upon Judge Searl as the candidate for the Circuit Bench, his opponent being Judge Stone, the incumbent of the previous six years. The result was a complete victory for the former, who was elected by a majority of 550, nearly twenty per cent of which was given by the voters of Clinton county. Judge Searl has had little opportunity or inclination todevote to interestsoutsideof his profession, although he is a Knight Templar and has a membership in the I. O. O. F., K. of P., Maccabees and Modern WVoodmen. In his religious belief he is a Methodist, and his domestic relations are those calculated to round out the life of a Christian, honorable man. On September 30, I885, he was united in marriage to Miss Maggie A. Smith, daughter of William W. Smith, of Mason, Michigan. Their children are Ethel Maud, Hazel Belle and Willie Chauncey. EORGE P. STONE. This sketch of George P. Stone is written by himself at the request of the publishers hereof. He resides at Ithaca, Michigan, and is a lawyer of modest attainments. He was born at Wheatland, Monroe county, New York, August I8, 1848. His father was Levi Stone, son of Elias Stone, Jr., of Colerain, Franklin county, Massachussets. His mother was Phila Preston, daughter of Capt. Salmon Preston, of Oneida county, New York. Levi Stone moved to Bowne, Kent county, Michigan, in 1855, and the sub 50o BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. ject of this sketch had the benefit of a pioneer life. He honestly thinks he had the best father and mother that ever lived, and he knows he could not be half as good as they were if he tried, and he learned long since that it was a mistake to try a hopeless case if the trial can be avoided. He was never educated anywhere. He attended the district schools and afterward taught them; has seen and noticed a few things, and remembered some of them. He read a few law books while teaching, afterward sat in a law office at Lowell and studied some, and was admitted to the Bar in I873 by Judge Lovell, who was too kind to refuse anything requested of him. He opened an office in Carson City, Michigan, in 1873, and in 1874 was married to Isabella Colton, daughter of Dr. T. B. Colton, of Carson City, Michigan. He was nominated in 1884 on the Republican ticket in Montcalm county for Judge of Probate, but on account of a singular spasm of the voters to lay aside politics, and vote for the best man, he was defeated. In I885 he moved to Ithaca, Michigan, and followed his profession at this place until I899, when by reason of his nomination for Circuit Judge on the Democratic ticket, and the inability of the Republicans to agree on a candidate, he was elected. In I905 he was again nominated for Circuit Judge on the Democratic ticket, but by reason that on this occasion the Republicans did agree on a candidate he was defeated. As a Circuit Judge his rulings and decisions were invariably pronounced fair, impartial and singularly wise by those litigants in whose favor he ruled and decided. He lives on a small farm on the outskirts of town, and has a whole host of the best friends on earth. HON. WILLIAM S. TURCK, the vicepresident of the First State Bank ot Alma, Michigan, formerly conducted by the firm of W. S. Turck & Co., is one of the foremost citizens not only of that place but of the State. He is a pioneer of Gratiot county, has a record for splendid service and bravery in the Civil War, and has won general recognition for his ability in the field of industry and finance. He has also the honor of being a Mason of the longest continuous standing in the county, joining the order in i86i. William S. Turck was born in Port Hope, Canada, August 7, 1839, the son of Zachariah and Rebecca (Decker) Turck. His father, a tanner and currier, was a native of the State of New York, as was his mother, who was born in Schoharie county. The boy's education was only elementary, but at the age of sixteen he was apprenticed as a tanner to his brother Henry, who operated an establishment in Clark township, Durham county, Canada. After four years of that employment he removed to Shelby, Orleans county, New York, where he remained until I860, when he obtained employment as foreman of the gristmill at Indian Mills, Isabella county, Michigan, which was owned by the United States government. In the fall of I86i he rented a saw and grist mill standing upon the present site of Alma, the incipient settlement then consisting of three log houses in the midst of a dense forest. He thus continued until the fall of 1862, when his patriotic spirit forced him from the channels of industry into the military field. Mr. Turck was mustered into the Union service as second lieutenant of Company D, Twenty-sixth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, Capt. Lafayette Church, and BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 5I was fortunate in being thus attached to one of the most famous bodies of skirmishers in the Federal armies. It went into rendezvous at Jackson, and in December was assigned to provost duty at Alexandria, Virginia, and in the spring following was ordered to Suffolk, then threatened by General Longstreet. The regiment was highly commended for its discipline, intelligence and soldier-like work displayed at New York City during the progress of the draft riots in 1863, and for the balance of the war it was attached to the Army of the 'Potomac, First Brigade (General Miles), First Division, Second Army Corps. The regiment was mustered out June 4, I865. In following Captain Turck's private fortunes the records show that he was promoted to the first lieutenancy April I5, 1863, and to the captaincy of Company D August I2, 1864. He participated in twenty-eight engagements, and at the battle of Spottsylvania was wounded in the head by a minie ball, which necessitated a retirement from duty for ten days. Upon the occasion of Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House Captain Turck was in charge of the brigade skirmishers. Captain Turck returned to Alma and engaged in lumbering during the winter ot I865-66. From I866 to I872 he held the position of county treasurer, but his army experience had so impaired his health that he found it necessary to buy a farm and en, gage in outdoor occupations. He passed the succeeding eight years in its improvement, then returning to Alma, where, in association with A. W. Wright and others, he founded the banking house of W. S. Turck & Co. He was one of the stockholders and held the positions of cashier and manager. In 1883 the bank was reorganized, and upon I the formation of the establishment of Steel, Turck & Co., at Ithaca, he became a stockholder therein. In 1901 the bank at Alma was merged into the institution known as the First State Bank of Alma, of which, as stated Mr. Turck is vice-president. In I88I Mr. Turck built a flouring-mill at Alma, the business being conducted under the name of the Alma Milling Company. He sold his interest in the enterprise in 1885. William S. Turck has always been a Republican, his career as a State leader and a member of the House of Representatives of the Legislature commencing with his nomination to that position in the fall of I876. He was chosen by a handsome majority and his service on the committees on Local Taxation and Drainage, as well as in the general chamber, was of so high a standard that he was re-elected in 1878, again running in advance of his ticket. At that session he wan appointed chairman of the Railroad committee and member of the board of managers of the State school at Coldwater. For four years he has also served as a member of the board of management of the Michigan Soldiers Home. Brief reference has been made to Mr. Turck's Masonic career. It may be added that since I86I he has taken twelve degrees, acted as high priest of Chapter No. 70, of Ithaca, and finally reached the office of grand high priest of the grand chapter of Michigan. On September 15, 1864, Mr. Turck was married to Miss Louisa R. Ely, a native of New York State, born July I8, 1845, the daughter of Gen. Ralph and Mary E. Ely. General Ely was acknowledged to be the founder of Alma, was immortalized for his bravery in connection with the famous Eighth Michigan Regiment during the Civil 52 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. War, and afterward became prominent in the public service of the State. To Mr. and Mrs. Turck have been born four children: Ralph, born June 26, 1865, who died in I866; Ruby, born June 28, I869, who died in I872; Lena, M'., born September 9, 1872, who died December I6, I905; and Raymond C., born October 12, 1874. The last named married Miss Bertha Bouton, of Chicago, Illinois, and is a resident of Alma, where he is the physician and surgeon, manager and medical director of the Alma Springs Sanitarium. Dr. and Mrs. Turck have two children, namely: Mary P. and Louisa E. M ICHAEL POLLASKY, a native of Hungary-as were his parents, Michael and Rebecca (Blitz) Pollasky-has been for many years a prominent commission merchant of Alma, Michigan, as well as foremost in works of charity. He is also the owner of the finest block in the city, built of brick handsomely trimmed with stone and concrete, and comprising four large stores with offices above. When he became a resident of Alma, over forty years ago, his first business venture was made in a small frame house, and although he has since passed through many reverses and has suffered the loss of the good wife who sustained him so stanchly, he has reached a position of comparative ease and prosperity, still active and elastic despite his experiences and his years. Mr. Pollasky was born November I6, I833, and like other young men of spirit joined the Hungarian "volunteers," socalled Howayds, in the struggle for independence and self-government. After the failure of the rebellion, in which he bravely participated as second lieutenant, he deter mined to emigrate to America. He was accompanied by his wife and children (Rosa and Max), his parents and his sister Hannah. On landing, the party made a stay of eight months at Newark, New Jersey, after which they passed on to Detroit, Michigan, where the mother died long afterward, December 25, 1879. When Mr. Pollasky assumed these heavy responsibilities he was but twenty-three years of age. His first permanent location was in Wayne county, Michigan, where he became a farmer and, to a considerable extent, a dairyman. After being engaged in these lines for two and onehalf years he removed to Detroit and manufactured shoes for a year and a half. The venture did not prove remunerative, and he next engaged in mercantile pursuits in the Lake Superior country, continuing thus for two years. In the fall of 1863 Mr. Pollasky became a resident of Alma. His first business enterprise in the village was a failure from a strictly practical standpoint, but he paid his liabilities in full, and issued from the ordeal with a name which was the synonym for strict honesty and manly dealing. From the latter point of view his business failure was a splendid success. He again faced the world with a cheerful and determined spirit, upheld by a faithful and helpful wife whose confidence in her husband never weakened. To another mercantile venture he added lumbering, conducting his joint interests with satisfactory results until I873. But the great shrinkage of values, caused by financial legislation, so affected his business that, in conjunction with the necessary drafts of a large family, he was obliged to add the manufacture of tubs and pails to his other activities. or Of I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY 55 Afterward, for four successive times, his stock and establishment suffered heavy losses by fire, and he was forced to sell his interests. His son purchased the store and fixtures, Mr. Pollasky removing his business to St. Joseph, Michigan. Circumstances were again unfavorable, and in 1877 he returned to Alma and established a produce and commission business which finally, after these many trials and adversities, eventuated in a continuous and substantial prosperity. For the past sixteen years he has been extensively engaged in the buying and selling of wool and hides. Mr. Pollasky is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being secretary and past master of Alma Lodge, No. 244, A. F. & A. M., high priest of Alma Chapter, No. I23, R. A. M., and worthy patron of Alma Chapter, No. 43, 0. E. S.; he is also a member of Fitz James Lodge, No. 95, K. of P., of which he is past chancellor. Politically he is a Republican of the stanchest kind, and has held various local offices, including the village presidency for three terms. On March 15, 1852, Mr. Pollasky was married, in Hungary, to Miss Celia Wix, like her husband a native of that country. Mrs. Pollasky was born April 12, 1832, daughter of Emanuel and Sarah Wix, also Hungarians by birth. To Mr. and Mrs. Michael Pollasky were born the following children: Moses, who died in infancy; Rosa, who lived to be but thirteen years of age; Max E.,of Buffalo, New York,who married Miss Cecilia Links and is the father of four children, Gladys, Vera, Lois and Norman; Frank E., one of the leading merchants of Alma, who married Miss Cora Robinson (deceased) and is the father of one daughter, Bernice; Marcus, mentioned below; and Anna, living at home. The widely lamented death of Mrs. Pollasky occurred July 12, I90I, and the loss was most keenly felt by the poor of the community, who for years had looked upon her as their most sympathizing and helpful friend. Her thoughtful and constant acts of charity have been continued by her estimable daughter, Anna, who now presides over the household. MARCUS POLLASKY, the son mentioned above, was born September 6, I86I, at Detroit, Michigan. In 1863 he was brought by his parents to Alma, and there attended the district schools until he was ten years of age, when he was sent to Detroit to attend the English and German schools of that city for three years. He returned to Alma. and worked as his father's assistant for a time, and in I876 entered the high school at Ann Arbor, where he remained for two years. He attended the University for one year, and then settled in Detroit to accept a position as traveling salesman for J. H. Burnham & Co., with whom he continued two and one-half years. He then returned to the University, entering the law department, from which after a two years' course he was graduated in 1883 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. At the end of his first year he was admitted to the Bar of Michigan, at Ithaca; during his vacation he was accorded the same privilege by the Supreme court of the State, and was afterward admitted to practice in the United States court at Detroit. Politically Mr. Pollasky is a Republican, and in April, 1883, was elected village attorney of Alma. On January 16, 1884, Marcus Pollasky was married, at Adrian, Michigan, to Miss Nellie A. Waldby, the only daughter of Ebenezer I. and Emmeline (Backus) Wald 56 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I by, her father being one of the pioneer bankers of Michigan. Mr. Pollasky is very popular in Alma, and is highly esteemed for many of those characteristics which his honored father possesses. EORGE W. PETTEY, M. D. A soldier of the Civil War, health officer of the city for a dozen years, prominent in professional, fraternal and social circles, proficient, popular and honorable-there are few citizens of Gratiot county who hold a larger or more secure place in its confidence and high regard than Dr. George W. Pettey, physician and surgeon of St. Louis, Michigan. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, January 6, 1844, son of Ephraim and Alvira (Sawtell) Pettey, of Jefferson county, New York, and New Hampshire, respectively. In early life Ephraim Pettey was a Cleveland grocer, but longing for a more healthful out-of-door life he purchased forty acres of land in Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, and in May, 1869, removed thither with his family for the purpose of engaging in truck gardening. He was the pioneer in that line of agriculture in Gratiot county, and pushed his venture to such happy results that, in 1885, he retired from active labors and located at St. Louis. There he and his wife passed many years in comfort and quiet, his death occurring May I, I9OI, at the age of eighty-two, and hers at the same age, on December I5, 1899. MYr. Pettey was originally a Democrat; in later years he was a firm advocate of Prohibition. Both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church. Five children were born to their union: Martha J., wife of Dr. A. J. Rosenberry, of Chicago, Illinois; George W.; Harriet E., who died aged fifteen years; I Madison E., who died aged twenty-seven; and Maria G., deceased, who was married to Henry E. Hayes. Michael and Elizabeth (Avery) Pettey, the paternal grandparents of Dr. George W. Pettey, were born respectively in Vermont and New York. The grandfather was a jobber and contractor. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812. The paternal greatgrandfather, who was a son of the Green Mountain State, was in his younger years a sailor, and later was a farmer in Jefferson county, New York; he passed his last days in Ashtabula county, Ohio. William Hobart, Dr. Pettey's greatgrandfather on his mother's side, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving under Washington. Dr. George W. Pettey was born and reared in Cleveland, Ohio, and received his education in its public schools. For three years he engaged in farming in Lorain county, Ohio, prior to his return to Cleveland for the purpose of studying medicine. He was matriculated in the medical department of the Western Reserve University in 1867, but in I869 accompanied his parents to Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, returning to the institution named, however, and completing his professional education. In 1873 he graduated with the time-honored degree and located for practice in Bethany township, near St. Louis. He remained there for three years, removing thence to Fremont, Ohio, where for the ensuing decade he engaged in most creditable professional work. His close attention and strenuous labor having affected his health, he then settled on his farm in Bethany township continuing to employ himself in agricultural pursuits for four years, when he sold the property and re BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY 57 moved to St. Louis to resume the practice of medicine. Dr. Pettey's marriage to Miss Emma L Quidort occurred in Fremont, Ohio, in January, 1878. She is a native of Williams county, Ohio, and her father, Peter Quidort, was born in France, whence he came to America in early life. He was for a number of years a piano maker in New York City. Later he migrated to Williams county, Ohio, engaging there in farming pursuits, and in 1870 located as a farmer in Gratiot county. Children as follows were born to Dr. and Mrs. Pettey: William ML, who died aged fourteen years; Jennie B., now Mrs. R. Boyd Cawthorpe, of Grand Rapids; and Blanche M., now Mrs. Hallett Curtis, of Pine River, lMichigan. The Doctor is a member of the F. & A. M.-St. Louis Lodge, No. I88, and St. Louis Chapter, No. 87, R. A. M. He is identified with the G. A. R., having enlisted in May, I864, in Company D, One Hundred and Fiftieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for one hundred days' service around Washington, D. C. Professionally he has served for twelve years as health officer of St. Louis, and in April, I905, was appointed a member of the Board of Examining Surgeons of the Alma Pension Board. EDGAR A. BAGLEY, M. D., the well known physician and surgeon of Alma, Michigan, has achieved prominence because the results of his practice have conclusively proved that he has mastered his profession in all its details. He comes of yeoman stock-of common-sense ancestors who were accustomed not only to manage their own affairs well but to participate in the conduct of the public business of their commu nities. The Doctor has therefore inherited popular and social qualities which enable him to associate easily with his fellows and draw them to him, in addition to having proved his professional worth by the results of his medical and surgical work. The paternal grandfather of Edgar A. Bagley was David Bagley, a farmer of New York State. His father was Saxton S. Bagley, also of the Empire State, who accompanied his parents to Hillsdale county, Michigan, and there met a family named Center, whose daughter Minerva he later married. Both families were pioneers of that section of Michigan. The husband was a mechanic, and after his marriage removed to Pulaski township, Jackson county, where their son, Edgar A., was born on May 23, I848. Not finding his trade a sufficient means of livelihood in such a new country, then slowly developing, Mr. Bagley returned to Hillsdale county, bought land and engaged in farming where he continued his residence, becoming a man of public affairs. For many years he was almost continuously in the township service, among other offices holding those of supervisor and township clerk and treasurer. His death occurred at Horton, Jackson county, Michigan, in March, I9OI, at the age of seventy-nine years; his wife died in I879, aged fifty-three. Mr. Bagley was always identified with the Anti-Slavery party, and never voted anything else; in later years he was a Republican. Mrs. Bagley was identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and they were both earnest, honest, useful members of the pioneer communities in which their lots were cast. Dr. Edgar A. Bagley was the only child born to Saxton S. and Minerva (Center) Bagley. The boy remained on the farm with 58 BIOGRAPHICAL MJEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. his parents until he was eighteen years of age, acquiring in the meantime a thorough education-measured by the advantages of the time and place. At the age named he commenced to hire his already valuable services to neighboring farmers in the busy seasons and to teach in the district schools during the winter. For six years he was a teacher in Hillsdale county and for one year in Jackson county, later studying medicine both privately and at the Homeopathic College of Detroit, Michigan. In 1874 he graduated from that institution, and has practiced at Mosherville, Michigan, for a period of seven years, at Horton, Michigan, for five years, and at Alma since I886. His reputation is high and firmly established, his clientage being among the best and most substantial citizens, while his standing with the profession is evinced by the fact that for the past year he has held the secretaryship of the Gratiot County Medical Society. He is also an active and prominent member of the State and American Medical Associations. With the exception of three years, since I890 the Doctor has been identified with the Pension Examining Board of Surgeons, and both as a physician and surgeon he stands in the fore ranks of the modern progressive school. He is a Republican in politics, although too keenly professional to be a politician. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and has advanced in the fraternity of A. F. & A. M. to participation in the council (tenth degree). In October, 1875, Dr. Bagley was married in North Adams, Hillsdale county, Michigan, to Miss Lella E. Russ, born in New York State on April 27, 185I, the daughter of Lucius E. and Kate (Burrows) Russ. The parents were also natives of the Empire State, being considered as among the pioneers of Michigan. Dr. and Mrs. Bagley have two children: Lucius S., assistant cashier of the Alma State Savings Bank; and Gretta M., living at home. HON. CHARLES W. GIDDINGS. Among the members of the legal profession that have practiced before the Bar of Gratiot county there has been none to excel in thoroughness and efficiency the Hon. Charles W. Giddings, ex-State Senator and ex-member of the State board of pardons. Mr. Giddings was born February 9, 1847, in Sherman, Fairfield county, Connecticut, in the same house where occurred the birth of his father, Jonathan C. Giddings, on October 5, 1822. His mother, Mary E. (Conn) Giddings, was born in the town of New Milford, Litchfield county, Connecticut, August 31, 1822. In the fall of 1848 Jonathan C. Giddings removed with his family to Palmyra, Portage county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming 'for a time, and later in mercantile pursuits, to which latter he had been trained in his boyhood days. Throughout a considerable period of the Civil war he served faithfully and unostentatiously as a private and sergeant in the Union army. The family came to St. Louis, Michigan, in I866, and Mir. Giddings purchased a sixty-acre tract of land within the present limits of the city, which was subsequently platted and recorded as "Giddings' Addition." Jonathan C. Giddings was elected supervisor the year following his removal thither, being chosen to the office for seven successive years. He also served as chairman of the board of supervisors; was a member of.the village council for two terms, and for eight years .0 I I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 61 held the office of justice of the peace. After locating in St. Louis he devoted considerable attention to transactions in real estate, in which he continued interested until his death, which occurred January 14, I883. Mr. Giddings was a man of ability and influence. His wife, Mary E., survived him for nearly twenty years. She was a woman of strong and attractive character, was generally beloved, and died January I9, 1902. Charles W. Giddings acquired his education in the common schools of Palmyra, Ohio, supplemented by three years' study in select schools. Coming with his parents to Michigan in I866, shortly after arriving in St. Louis he learned the carpenter's trade, and at the age of twenty-two years engaged in business as a builder, combining with that the furniture and undertaking branches. In 1873 he was appointed under sheriff of the county by Sheriff Pratt, and occupied that position for four years, during which period he also held an appointment as deputy United States marshal of the Eastern District of Michigan. After his appointment as under sheriff he closed his other business interests and concentrated his entire energies upon the duties of his office and the study of the law becoming a student in the office of James K. Wright, of St. Louis. In March, 1877, he was admitted to the Bar, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession as the junior member of the firm of Whitney & Giddings, which existed one year. He then opened an independent office, laboring zealously in his professional field, but for a time was associated with Judge Paddock in the real estate business. Six of Gratiot county's young lawyers were at different times students in Mr. Giddings' office, two of whom were associated with him in business after their admission to the Bar. Since his admission to the Bar Mr. Giddings has been a member of the village and city councils, and corporation attorney for many years; was elected Circuit court commissioner in 1878 on the Republican ticket, and served his district as State senator in 1899 and I900. He was also a member of the State board of pardons, in I902-03. Fraternally Mr. Giddings is connected with the Freemasons, and has taken fourteen degrees in the Scottish Rite. On November 26, 1871, at St. Louis, Charles; W. Giddings and Lovila Higby, daughter of Horace Higby, were united in marriage. MArs. Giddings was born September 14, 1852, in Youngstown, Niagara county, New York, of which State her parents were also natives, migrating to Michigan at an early day. Mr.. Giddings is a most excellent gentleman, and commands universal respect and esteem. His understanding of the law is largely intuitive, his knowledge acquired by long and careful study, and early in life he established a reputation as a trial lawyer and safe counselor which he has maintained to the present day. He has always taken a lively interest in the growth and prosperity of St. Louis, and is the owner of some very desirable residence property, in the "Giddings' Addition" to the city. He has one brother, Hiram B. Giddings, in the mercantile business in St. Louis, and another brother, Clarence, now living in Pasadena, California. HON. GILES T. BROWN was born January 28, 1837, in Green Oak, Livingston county, Michigan, and died at his 3 62 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. home in Ithaca, May 20, I903. Mr. Brown was one of the most widely known and popular residents of Gratiot county. His name is inseparably connected with its history and his best years were given to the development of its educational, literary and legal forces, exerting an influence more potent and far reaching than can be estimated. He was of Scotch-Irish, Puritanic and Revolutionary stock. Peter Tyler, his great-grandfather (on the maternal side), served in the war of the Revolution, and at its close located in Steuben county, New York, Mr. Brown's immediate ancestors being pioneers in that section of country. The subject of this sketch was the eldest of four children born to James M. and Betsy (Borden) Brown, who in 1836 were among the first settlers of Livingston county, Michigan. On the death of his father, in 1851, the boy assumed charge of the home farm of eighty acres, and directed its affairs for three years. His thirst for knowledge had been fostered in his home and in the district school, and by this time he had decided literary aspirations. For more than four years he attended the seminary and the State Normal at Ypsilanti, and became a teacher of marked ability. There are many in southern Michiigan and in Franklin county, Missouri, who yet speak of his dignified bearing and inspiring leadership in the schoolroom. Mr. Brown was first married, March I6, I86I, to E. Jennie Hewitt, of Oakland county, Michigan. She was born in Windham, Connecticut, and was a daughter of Benjamin and Annie (Perry) Hewitt, the mother being a second cousin of Commodore Perry, of Lake Erie fame. Mrs. Brown was universally beloved, and when she died in Ithaca, in 1871, leaving four little children, her loss was most deeply deplored. On August I7, 1873, Mr. Brown married Sara L. Watson, daughter of John T. and Harriet (Wilcox) Watson. Mrs. Brown's grandfather, John Watson, of Scotch ancestry, was a Revolutionary soldier, and her maternal grandfather was Col. Wilcox, in the War of I8I2. The grandparents on both sides lived in New York, her parents coming to Michigan in I837. Mrs. Brown was born in Marion, Livingston county in 185I, and still lives in Ithaca. From this later union there were six children, all living except Giles T., Jr., their first-born, who died at the age of two and one half years. Mr. Brown enlisted in August, I862, as a soldier in the Civil War. He was a member of Company G, Twenty-second Michigan Infantry, but never robust he was unable to endure the strenuous life of the army, and was discharged for disability, the following year, at Lexington, Kentucky. Previous to his enlistment, he had studied law with R. G. Depuy, of Ann Arbor, and in I863, he entered the law department of the State University, graduating in the class of I865, and was admitted to practice, in the Supreme Court, in session in Detroit. Mr. Brown came to Ithaca in the spring of I866, entered upon the practice of law, and began at once a career of public usefulness. In the same year he officiated as superintendent of the poor and Circuit Court Commissioner. He was elected county superintendent of schools in the spring of 1867, which office he held for four years with high honor, and with generous labor and self-sacrifice gave to the teachers and schools of Gratiot county their first impulse for higher ideals. He published in I868 the "Gratiot School Journal," an educational BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 63 quarterly, and during his superintendency, conducted normal classes of great value in fitting teachers for their work. He was reelected to the same position, two years later, and continued most zealously in raising the standard of pedagogy. In 1876 he was elected Probate Judge, serving four years, and doubtless would have been re-elected had he not received-entirely unsought-the nomination for and election to the office of State senator, in I880. In 1884 he was again secretary of the county board of school examiners (the law providing for superintendents having been abolished). In I868 he organized the Gratiot County Teachers' Association, of which he was the motive power for many years, and which survives to-day a potent influence, and a witness to his earnest zeal for the public good; the teachers of that day remember him with the deepest gratitude. Mr. Brown organized Moses Wisner G. A. R. Post, No. ioi, in January, I883, and was its revered commander for eight years. He was the organizer and promoter of the Citizens' Memorial Association, which has provided from year to year the splendid observance of May 30th for which Ithaca is justly noted. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were on the State G. A. R. and W. R. C. joint committee which secured from the Legislature, in I893, the appropriation, to build the Woman's Building on the Soldier's Home grounds at Grand Rapids, which is a noble monument of love and patriotism, to which any citizen may point with pride and satisfaction. He was the second president of Ithaca village, second secretary of the county agricultural society-holding both positions more than once in later years, many times I a member of the school board and trustee of the Baptist Church, and justice of the peace for many terms. He was a member of the Baptist Church and of the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities. In politics he was a Republican, and being a persuasive and convincing speaker, he did his party excellent service during many campaigns. A man of judicial mind, of fine instincts, his wide information, his keen analysis of melt and affairs, his fine sense of humor, his rare literary and poetic gifts, made up an unusual personality and no gathering seemed complete without a contribution from his tongue or pen, all ungrudgingly given. He left a large collection of poems, a volume of which will soon be published by the family, who most tenderly cherish the memory of the husband and father. Mr. Brown was a domestic man, taking infinite pride in his family, and was never so happy as when some of the absent ones returned to make the family something "as it used to be." Nine sons and daughters survive him. They are: Bayard T., an attorney at law in Detroit; Annie M., a teacher in the Ithaca schools; Theodore N., a business man in Jackson; Bessie J., wife of Rev. N. T. Hafer, of Mansfield, Massachusetts; Rev. J. Brainard, late of Camden, New Jersey, now acting pastor of Broadway Baptist Church, Bay City; Laura V., wife of Mr. Louis H. Braddock, Tawas City; Rev. Alanson W., just graduating from Rochester, New York, Divinity School, who has already accepted the pastorate of the Second Baptist Church of Grand Rapids; Beatrice B., wife of Robert P. Ward, Mt. Pleasant; and Lucile, a little girl of eleven years, still at home. 64 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I A R. WHEELER, M. D. Eminently successful as a physician and surgeon, a natural scientist of note, four terms mayor of St. Louis, of which he is the present postmaster, honored with a long official connection with its boards of education and health, and one of the leading Masons in the State of Michigan, Dr. A. R. Wheeler has, with all his varied and pressing duties, been an unassuming man-easy of approach and ever ready to assist worthy causes and individuals. He was born in York, Washtenaw county, Michigan, December 20, I858, son of Charles and Eliza J. (Miller) Wheeler, being one of three children. Naturally bright, and studious as well, he made such rapid progress in his studies that when only fourteen years of age he entered the State Normal School, at Ypsilanti, from which, after pursuing the full course of four years, he graduated in 1876. In the fall of that year he was matriculated in the medical department of the University of Michigan, graduating therefrom in the class of I879. While at the university he held the office of assistant to the chair of surgery for one year, and was the first resident physician at the new State hospital opened in I880, holding that position until October I, I882. During this period Dr. Wheeler's close studies and investigations in the botanical field were bearing 'fruit in the shape of important contributions to the university and the State Medical Society. He made noteworthy additions to an already extensive list of the flora of Washtenaw county (published in I88I), among which were two species of Dicentra-one of them thought to be extinct. He collected and arranged a herbarium for the Medical Department of the State University, the specimens being de signed for use in the lectures of the medical faculty. He had already made material progress in his private collection, which is now acknowledged to be one of the most valuable in the State, comprising thousands of specimens, indigenous and foreign, the latter collected by correspondence and exchange. The flora of the Pacific coast and of the Lake Superior region is specially complete. In 1882 he presented to the State Medical Society an exhaustive list of medicinal plants indigenous to Michigan, an addition to the botanic knowledge of the State and the country which is of the utmost value. In April, 1883, Dr. Wheeler located in St. Louis, succeeding to the practice of Dr. C. H. Lutes. His experience in the State hospital had afforded him unusual facilities for the broad study and treatment of surgical diseases, in which field he was at once recognized as specially skillful. Altlough during the more than twenty years of his professional career passed in St. Louis he has given considerable of his time to general practice and consultation, his specialty has continued to be surgery, and within recent years diseases of the eye and ear. Dr. Wheeler stands not only in the van of practitioners, considered from the point of success in his profession, but his ability is recognized by his fellow citizens and associates. He is a member of the county and State medical societies, of the State Board of Health, and of the American Medical Association, and has served for four years as president of the United States Pension Board. Neither does the Doctor's high standing in his profession measure the breadth of his prominence in the community. In civic and e A~~~ Y I ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 67 educational affairs he has always been a leader. He was the first mayor of St. Louis, being at the head of its municipal service for four terms, and for the past nine years has been president of the board of education. He has been the postmaster of St. Louis since January Io, I898. Reference has been made to Dr. Wheeler's prominence as a Mason. He is a member of the St. Louis Blue Lodge, of which for seven years he served as master; also a member of the Chapter, R. A. M., of which in I897 and 1898 he was high priest; of Ithaca Commandery, Knights Templar; Michigan Sovereign Consistory, thirtysecond degree and the Shrine (Moslem Temple). For many years he has been a leader in the I. O. O. F., of which in I886 he was major and assistant surgeon general for the State of Michigan, department Patriarchs Militant and Uniform Ranks. He is also affiliated with the Royal Arcanum, the Foresters and Woodmen of the World. On November 19, I890, Dr. Wheeler was married in St. Louis to Miss Helen L., daughter of Col. John A. Elwell, a retired capitalist of that city who is elsewhere mentioned in this volume. They have one child, Robert I., born October 13, I894. The correct conclusion to be drawn from the above mentioned facts is that Dr. Wheeler is a man'of rounded character, whose marked abilities extend into many fields. But hiss numerous interests extraneous to his profession do not prevent him from keeping in close touch with the most modern advance in surgery and medicine. In I889 he pursued a post-graduate course in New York City, and has always been a liberal subscriber to the standard professional literature of the day. HIRAM C. DEVEREAUX, justice of the peace of Lafayette township, is the owner of a 240-acre farm, and a highly esteemed citizen of Gratiot county. He was born September 5, 1858, on his father's farm in Lafayette township, son of Theo(lore and Caroline (Braley) Devereaux. Theodore Devereaux came from Oakland county to Gratiot county during the fifties, and settled on Section 19, where he has always been a resident. His wife died here in her forty-eighth year, and they were the parents of eleven children, of which family Hiram C. was the sixth. Hiram C. Devereaux received his education in Lafayette township, where he was reared to manhood. He has followed agricultural pursuits all of his life, and is the owner of a 240-acre farm, of which IOO acres are improved. He was married in Ithaca, Michigan, December 17, i88I. Judge Devereaux is a member of the I. O. O. F., and Ithaca Grange, No. 787, in both of which he takes a great interest, and in which he is a valued comrade. OHN JEFFREY (deceased) was one of the pioneer settlers of Gratiot county to whom the township and village of Ithaca are largely indebted, and with whose name their growth and progress are indissolubly connected. He was a native of Monmouth county, New Jersey, born August 26, I812. Little is now known of John Jeffrey's early life. His earliest known occupation was freighting on the Erie canal, where he was engaged some years, meeting, however, with only moderate success. In 1836, in the early days of civilization in that locality he went to Niagara county, New York, and purchased a considerable tract of land, and for a 68 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. number of years devoted his energies to the improvement and cultivation of his farm. He took possession of property in Ithaca, Gratiot county, Michigan, in 1855, and in 1856 platted the village of Ithaca, the board of supervisors establishing there the county seat on the 3rd day of March, in the same year. Mr. Jeffrey at first purchased 1,120 acres of land in Gratiot county, to this adding continually, until, at the time of his death, he owned 5,000 acres. His early days were often filled with much hardship, the country in every direction being an unbroken wilderness. There were no roads, no mills, no churches nor schools, and the. position in which he found himself called for untiring energy and exertion. Mr. Jeffrey was twice married, marrying for his first wife, on March 28, 1832, in Niagara county, New York, Finetta Swick. He was married December io, I868, in St. Louis, to Mrs. Louisa (Smith) Baney, and to them were born two children: John, born October 21, 1869, and Ira, born December 24, 1871. Mrs. Jeffrey has remarried, being now the wife of Joseph H. Seaver, of Ithaca. EBENEZER W. KELLOGG, for many years a prominent agriculturist of Gratiot county, is now living retired at his home in Ithaca, Michigan. His birth occurred at Hadley, Massachusetts, February 6, I815, and his father, Giles C. Kellogg, was also a native of Hadley. Mr. Kellogg attended the common schools of his native town, and subsequently took a course at Hopkins Academy. On leaving school he turned his attention to farming, and he came to Michigan to prospect, leaving Hadley in I839. He settled in Cambridge, Lenawee county, Michigan, I o:1 a farm of ninety acres which he later sold, purchasing 320 acres of wild land in Gratiot county in I854. Mr. Kellogg began life in Gratiot county in true pioneer style, erecting a small log cabin in the woods to which he removed his family in May, 1855. There he continued to farm until his retirement from active life, in 1885, in that year removing to Ithaca, where he has since resided. Politically Mr. Kellogg is a Republican, and from the first has been identified with county and township matters. He was elected second supervisor of his township in I858, and has been reelected to the position several times, holding the office at one time for seven years in succession. He was at one time township clerk of Newark township, and officiated in most of the minor local positions. Mr. Kellogg was married (first) March 3, 1842, in Cambridge, Lenawee county, Michigan, to Miss Adaline L. Butterfield, born September 17, 1817, the eldest daughter of Abraham and Rebecca (Johnson) Butterfield. She died in March, 1896. Three children were born to this union, two of whom still survive: Mary, wife of Dr. Charles Howland, of Newark, Michigan, and Francis, who married Sarah Howland and resides at the old homestead. Hugh, the third child, died when young. On November I, 1897, Mr. Kellogg married (second) Mrs. Sophronia (Wade) Howland, who was born January 8, 1825, in Orleans county, New York, daughter of Silas A. and Sally (Beers) Wade, natives respectively of New Jersey and New York. By her first marriage, to Chester Howland, of New York State (who died in Newark, Michigan), Mrs. Kellogg had four children: Achsah BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 69 who married Benjamin Hibner, a farmer of Newark; Martha, now living in Alma, Michigan, widow of Ira Crandell, a farmer in North Star township; Sarah, wife of Francis Kellogg (son of Ebenezer W.); and Mary D., who married Emery Dean, a farmer of Newark. EORGE SMITH. one of the representative men of North Star township, Gratiot county, Michigan, the head of a family and the owner of a valuable farm of sixty-five acres, was born February 22, I837, in Onondaga county, New York, eldest of the eight children born to James and Sarah Ann (Barber) Smith. James Smith, the father, was born August 22, 1813, in Cayuga county, New York, and the mother January 15, 1820, in Onondaga county. Her father was Ruluf Barber, who lived and died in Onondaga county. James Smith and wife migrated from Cayuga county, New York, to Hillsdale county, Michigan, in 1843, where they lived until I87I, when they settled in Kalkaska county, Michigan. The mother died while on a visit to her children at the residence of her son, Henry Smith, in North Star township, April Jo, I890, aged seventy years. The father died in Kalkaska county in his eighty-third year. They were people of estimable character, and led quiet, virtuous lives. George Smith was about six years old when his parents came to Hillsdale county, where he grew to manhood. When twentytwo years old he returned to his native State and spent several years engaged in farming in Tompkins county, and during his residence there was married, August I8, I860, to Atlanta L. Shaw. She was born in I I Tompkins county, July 27, 1840, daughter of Erastus and Eliza (Cummings) Shaw. Her father was a son of Benjamin Shaw, and he was born July 3, I806, in Vermont, and died in Groton township, Tompkins county, New York, aged eighty years. The mother of Mrs. Smith was born in I8II in Groton township, where she died in 1842, aged thirty-one years, her father dying at the age of seventy-six years. Mrs. Smith was fourth in their family of five children, and was reared and educated in Groton town-' ship. After his marriage Mr. Smith remained in Tompkins county about eighteen months, and moved to Hillsdale county, Michigan, settling in Ransom township, but conditions did not prove favorable and one year later the couple returned to New York. In the following year they returned to Hillsdale county and settled in Wright township, where they resided until I869. In September of that year Mr. Smith removed with his family to Gratiot county, attracted by the fertile lands and pleasant natural surroundings, and purchased a farm of eighty acres in Section 25, North Star township. The tract was then dense woods, but Mr. Smith succeeded in clearing a large portion of it, and six years later traded for another property in Section 22. He was there engaged in general farming and the manufacture of brick and tile, but in I898 sold the property nlnd removed his residence to the village of North Star. Two years later he exchanged his interests there for his present farm of sixty-five acres in Section 16, on which are a modern brick residence and substantial, convenient out-buildings. He is also the owner of another farm, in Section 23, consisting of forty acres. r t 70 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had seven children, namely: Rosa B.; Emma A., wife of Foshen Hoffman; Eugene J.; Flora V., Mrs. Joseph Gilleo; Addie L., wife of Homer Mulholland; Francis J., and Grant O. Rosa B., the eldest child, died in Hillsdale county, aged one year and four months. Mr. Smith has always been identified with the Republican party, and has been more or less connected with public affairs for a number of years. For fifteen years he was the efficient township clerk and for two terms a justice of the peace. In whatever position he is found, he gives complete satisfaction, being a man of both capacity and responsibility. Mrs. Smith is a valued member of the United Brethren Church, and Mr. Smith is socially connected with Heath Lodge, No. 22, I. O. O. F. HON. TOWNSEND A. ELY, State Senator from the Nineteenth Senatorial District, a leading business man, the son of a veteran officer of the Civil war twice brevetted for bravery, and himself a gallant young officer in that struggle, is a splendid representative of Gratiot county, both politically and in every other particular. He was born August 27, 1843, at Wabash, Indiana, the only son of General Ralph and Mary E. (Halstead) Ely, and grandson of Armenius and Electa (Munger) Ely, natives of New York. After their marriage the grandparents ofTownsend A. Ely settled in Oneida county, New York, where they remained but a few years before removing to Chautauqua county. There Armenius Ely was a farmer and a dairyman until the year of his death, in I863; his wife passed away in 1836. The children of Armenius and Electa Ely who lived to mature age were: Lucy, Ralph, Derwin and Flavius. Until he was nineteen years old Ralph Ely attended the common schools, assisting his father on the farm in the summer months. In I839 he left home and settled on a government claim in Wabash, Indiana. Later he sold the tract, returned to Chautauqua county, spent two years on his father's farm, and in 1846 purchased 320 acres of land in Ionia county, Michigan. There he resided seven and one-half years, selling the place in 1854 to settle in Arcada township, Gratiot county, where he purchased a quarter section of land for a homestead, which is now embraced by the site of the flourishing city of Alma. His family constituted the first settlers on the north side of Pine river, he himself building a log house, platting the original village and, by personal participation and encouragement, furthering in every way the advancement of the place, He erected the first saw and grist mills at that point, and continued to be engaged in lumbering and farming operations until the outbreak of the Civil war. On the second call for troops he raised a company of soldiers, and upon its organization, August 12, 186I, was made captain; his company was known as C, Eighth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry. On the 2ISt of the same month the regiment went to Grand Rapids, being mustered into the service of the United States on the 23rd of September. On the Ioth of November it went into camp with the other regiments of Sherman's brigade. The regiment took part in about forty notable engagements of the Civil war and was certain to be detailed for especially hard duty, receiving therefor the appellation of "the Wandering Reginment." 4 4-N I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 73 Captain Ely was wounded June I6, 1862, at Secessionville, South Carolina, the action of the day being better known as James Island. Major Watson resigned his position September 10, I862, and the same day Captain Ely was promoted to that rank. Fourteen days later he was in command of the regiment, Colonel Fenton having charge of the brigade. Lieutenant-Colonel Graves then resigned his post, on February I, 1863, and Major Ely was commissioned to the vacancy, and when Colonel Graves was killed May 6, I864, at the battle of the Wilderness, Lieutenant-Colonel Ely was made brevet colonel, United States Volunteers, his commission to date from July 6, 1864, for "gallant and meritorious services at the battle of the Wilderness, Virginia." He was afterward commissioned Colonel, to rank from May 7, 1864, the day following the action for which he was brevetted. On April 2, I865, he was promoted to be brigadier general, United States Volunteers, by brevet, for "conspicuous gallantry before Petersburg, Virginia." He remained in the service until after the close of the war, and was mustered out May I9, i866. After the war General Ely received the appointment of superintendent of the Freedman's Bureau in South Carolina, and also engaged for a time in settling freedmen on government lands in Florida. He purchased 130 acres of land near Jacksonville, about one hundred miles south of that city, and spent one year in setting out an orange grove. The second year all the young trees were killed by the frost and he returned to Gratiot county, Michigan, in I869, to engage again in farming and lumbering. In I873 he was.elected senator from the Twenty-sixth District, and in the fall of 1874 was chosen auditor general of Michigan, being re-elected to the latter office in 1876. In the fall of 1879 he located in Emmet county, where he engaged extensively in lumbering until his death, April 14. 1883. He was buried at Cross Village, but in February, I884, his remains were brought to Alma and re-interred. His wif-. the mother of Townsend A. Ely, resided in the village continuously from I854 until the (late of her death, August 28, I905. On September 22, 1842, General Ely married, in Brookville, Franklin county, Indiana, Miss Mary E. Halstead, who was born February I6, 1823, in Waterloo, Seneca county, New York, the fifth daughter of Elisha O. and Phebe M. (Woodworth) Halstead. Her parents were natives, respectively, of New Jersey and New York, Mr. Halstead dying in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 24, 1876, and Mrs. Halstead, while on a visit to her children in Gratiot county, July I6, I875. Six children were born to General and Mrs. Ely, as follows: Townsend A.; Louise A., married to W. S. Turck, a banker of Alma, Michigan: Electa, wife of Henry Brubaker, an Alma (Michigan) farmer; Josephine E., Mrs. G. S. Ward, whose husband is a bookkeeper at Alma; Lucy L., deceased, Mrs. C. H. Coats, who resided in Buffalo, New York; and Kate E., wife of George A. Royce, an accountant Cf Hancock, Michigan. When seventeen years of age Townsend A. Ely assumed charge of the home farm, his father having enlisted in the army, and lie continued to manage it, as well as his father's business interests, until nearly the close of the war. In February, I865, he enlisted in the Eighth Michigan Infantry, DT T / /- Ar A T TT AT 7 T AP 71 / \ T /~' / 7' r T A / ' ' /' I T7r T \ T'~T7 /4 D1IULT/rI1i /~ CAL IVIIVi(Ju1i t)ec:ame sergeant of Company C, and was tladle second lieutenant April 25, 1865. He reina'ned in the service until August I4, 1865. and was under fire at Fort Steadman and before Petersburg. He received his honorable discharge at Detroit, Michigan. At the age of twenty-three years, Mr. Ely embarked on an independent career, purchasing a tract of 240 acres of land in Arcada township, to which he afterward added Ioo acres. Thus he continued three years, and then sold his property to accept the position of mail messenger between St. Louis and Saginaw, and in that capacity he was engaged two years and nine months, after which he became a conductor on the Saginaw Valley & St. Louis railroad. After holding that position for three years and three months he resigned to establish himself in the hardware business at Alma. One year later he disposed of his store and was appointed postmaster at Alma, succeeding to the place August 6, I88I, by appointment under Postmaster-General James, and serving for a period of four years, later being appointed by President Harrison and holding the office for a like term. His entire incumbency was marked by prompt service, business-like management and administrative ability. In his political affiliations Mr. Ely is firmly Republican, having never deviated in his loyal support of the party. In November, I904, he was elected State Senator from the Nineteenth Senatorial District, which office he still holds. Senator Ely was married at Alma, September 25, i866, to Miss Maggie C. Chapin, born at Chicago, Illinois, June 27, 1845, daughter of DeWitt C. and Edna F. (Utley) 3 t tr (Al 11 u1 ) tJl U Y. Chapin, and of this union there is one son, Ralph C., born March 5, I870. DAVID H. McLAUGHLIN, ex-justice of the peace of Seville township, is one of Gratiot county's energetic and publicspirited men, and has spent the greater part of his life in this section, engaged in lumbering and farming. He was born in Pittsfield, Washtenaw county, Michigan, October 23, I846, son of Thomas and Bridget (Hines) McLaughlin, both natives of Ireland, the former of whom died in Washtenaw county, while the latter passed away in Isabella county, Michigan. They had seven children, and of this family our subject was the third member. David H. McLaughlin was reared in Washtenaw county, where he remained until about seventeen years old. He then located in Gratiot county, where for about a year he worked out, then settling on the farm which he now occupies. He purchased I20 acres of wild land, upon which he has erected good buildings, and has added forty acres to the original tract, making in all a farm of I60 acres, of which 135 acres are cleared. Judge McLaughlin was married in Gratiot county, July I, I867, to Miss Bridget Battle, who died in Seville township, April 12, I895, the mother of eight children: Franklin, John, Andrew, Celia (the wife of John Duffy), James, Daniel, Charles and Nathaniel. Of the above family John died, September 26, I9oI, aged twenty-six years. David H. McLaughlin was again married, February 22, 1898, to Mrs. Mary Lentz Ha" gon, widow of Theodore Hagon. Mr. McLaughlin held the office of jus BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 75 tice of the peace of Seville township for twenty-four years, sixteen years of that time in succession. He has taken an active part in all township affairs and has always been identified with the Democratic party. He has been a member of the Catholic Church ever since coming to Seville township in 1864. For some twenty seasons during the winter months Mr. McLaughlin worked at lumbering in the woods. Farming, however, has been his chief occupation in life, and at this he has become very successful, acquiring a handsome competency. For seven years Mr. McLaughlin also operated a threshing machine. At one time he took up a homestead in the Upper Peninsula, in Ontonagon county, but this he sold after having improved it. GEORGE RILEY ALDRICH, former supervisor of Lafayette township, has been a leader in both the agricultural and political interests of that section. He was born in Oakland county, Michigan, November 29, 1854, son of George W. and Martha A. (Sturgis) Aldrich, natives of Michigan, who, came to Gratiot county in the spring of 1865 and settled in Lafayette township, where they lived for many years; then spent a short time in Ithaca, and later settled in Hamilton township, where they now reside. George R. Aldrich is the eldest in a family of eight children. George W. Aldrich, the father, is a son of Asquar and Betsy (Tarbell) Aldrich, natives of Vermont and Massachusetts, respectively. He was born May 27, 1828, at Detroit, and was married August I6, I853, to Martha A. Sturgis, born April 4, 1836, a daughter of Benjamin and Caroline (Olmstead) Sturgis. Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich be gan housekeeping in Oakland county, where the husband was engaged in farming for a year and a half. They then lived two years in Livingston county, and a short time in Shiawassee, Genesee and Clinton counties, and later located in Lafayette, Gratiot county. M'r. Aldrich served one year during the Civil War, enlisting in Company D, Sixtl Cavalry, September 6, I862, and was discharged August 29, I863, at "Convalescent Camp," near Alexandria, Virginia. He has been township clerk, highway commissioner, special commissioner and justice of the peace, and has held various school offices. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a valued comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich had a family of eight children; George R.; Anna D., Mrs. Charles Green, whose husband is a farmer of Lafayette township; Ira B., a Saginaw county farmer; Emma J., wife of C. A. Thomas, a farmer living in Lafayette township; Nora B., Mrs. Joseph Turner, wife also of a Lafayette township agriculturist; R. T., a farmer of Saginaw county; Charles E.; and Robert G., who died in Lafayette township July 23, I88o. George Riley Aldrich came to Gratiot county with his parents in the spring of I865, and has been a resident of Lafayette township since that time, with the exception of one year, when he lived with his parents in Elsie, Michigan. He has always been engaged in agriculture, in which he has enjoyed unusual prosperity. He owns 320 acres of farm land, nearly all of which is under cultivation, and which, with his vaTuable building improvements, constitutes one of the finest pieces of property in that section of Gratiot county. 76 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. George Riley Aldrich and Miss Olive A. Thomas were united in marriage, January I, 1879, in Lafayette township. She was born in that township, the estimable daughter of David Thomas, a very highly respected citizen and one of its earliest settlers, being one of the thirteen men who organized the township, and prominent in its public affairs. Mrs. Aldrich's mother was Ann (Maples) Thomas, who still survives. Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich have had these children: Martha A., Emma V., Irvin R., Olive B., Cyrus G., George D., Bert, Dewey, Gordon and Arthur J., all living, and one child who died in infancy. Mr. Aldrich has held the office of justice of the peace for four years, and that of township treasurer three years. He was supervisor four years, and has held many minor offices in both county and township. He is prominently identified with the Republican party. Fraternally he affiliates with the I. 0. O. F. and the K. O. T. M. M. Mr. Aldrich is highly regarded throughout Lafayette township, and his knowledge of agricultural matters is thorough, broad and practical. He has many warm friends who, without envy, applaud his business success and his social and political prestige. BAYARD A. CHURCH, cashier of the Gratiot County State Bank, at St. Louis, Michigan, and a successful promoter, as well as a substantial supporter of several of the city's most flourishing industries, was born on a farm near Naples, Maine, November Io, 1865, a son of John M. and Cordelia A. (Hasty) Church. The mother of Mr. Church was a native of Portland, Maine. For a number of years before coming to Michigan, in 1873, the father was deputy sheriff of his county and a man of firm and high standing in the public esteem. He first settled at Elsie, and in 1876 located in St. Louis, building a sawmill on the site now occupied by the chemical works, and operating it for a number of years. Subsequently he engaged in a grocery business and for about three years prior to the administration of Presideat Cleveland was postmaster of the city. John M. Church and wife had three children, one son and two daughters. Bayard A. Church, the eldest of the family, accompanied his parents to Elsie and to St. Louis, the latter having been his home since 1876, with the exception of two years which he spent in travel in the West. Even when a boy he was his father's "right hand man," assisting him in his mill, in his grocery store and in the postoffice, giving his services to the government work, out of school hours, quite constantly from I88I to 1884. In the latter year he graduated with the first class of the St. Louis high school, and has ever since taken a prominent part in the doings of the Alumni Association as well as in the general progress of the city schools. During 1885 he was assistant postmaster under Rev. Theodore Nelson and practically had charge of the office. After leaving the post office Mr. Church took a trip South, spending one winter in Florida, and upon his return in I886 he entered the employ of F. G. Kneeland in the Bank of St. Louis, which was a private institution. After serving as a clerk there for three years he resigned his position, and during I889 and I890 traveled through the West. On January I, I89I, Mr. Church became a clerk in the First National Bank at St. f - %101 I I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 79 I~~. Louis, a position he filled until December 13, I898. During that period the business was reorganized, the First National becoming the Gratiot County State Bank, and on the above date he became cashier. He thus became, in many respects, the leading executive officer of an institution which has passed triumphantly through not a few financial crises in the history of the country and stanchly supported the business and industrial interests of this section of the State. It was organized in 1870 as a private bank by Hon. A. B. Darragh. Known for the first three years as the Gratiot County Bank, its business thereafter until 1884 was conducted under the name of Darragh & Co., bankers. It was then organized as the First National Bank, with A. B. Darragh as cashier, and in July, 1897, reorganized as the Gratiot County State Bank with Mr. Darragh cashier, and F. M. Thedgar, assistant cashier; capital stock, $25,ooo. Mr. Darragh soon succeeded to the presidency, a position which he still holds, B. A. Church becoming cashier. Mr. Church's long connection with this bank has made him well known to almost every capitalist in Gratiot county. As a financier he stands high, while his personal character has gained him the confidence of all who have dealings with this old and well established institution. He is identified with the city's leading interests and is the only resident director of the St. Louis Sugar Company, the largest business enterprise of the city. It was largely through his exertions and influence that the plant was located in St. Louis. The works, which are equipped with the most modern machinery, are valued at $500,000 and rank with the best in the State. They employ one hundred and fifty men, disburse $60,000 annually in wages, and buy $200,000 worth of raw material from the producers of sugar beets. These facts prove their importance as an element in the prosperity of St. Louis and Gratiot county, and redound directly to the credit of Bayard A. Church. Politically Mr. Church is identified with the Republican party, and has always taken a deep interest in political matters in Gratiot county, although he has not found time to accept office. He is one of the leading members of the Masonic fraternity in the State of Michigan and has been advanced to some of its most honorable and important positions. He is past master of St. Louis Lodge, No. 188, F. & A. M., St. Louis; past high priest of St. Louis Chapter, No. 87, R. A. M., St. Louis; past thrice illustrious master of St. Louis Council, No. 68, R. & S. M., St. Louis; eminent commander of Ithaca Commandery, No. 40, K. T., Ithaca, Michigan; past worthy patron of St. Louis Chapter, No. 144, 0. E. S., St. Louis; most illustrious grand master of the Grand Council of Michigan, and representative of the Grand Council of California. He has attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite Masonry, and belongs to the Shrine. Mr. Church was married March Io, I89I, to Miss Carrie M. Thedgar, who was born February 27, i866, in Kent county, Michigan, a daughter of John L. and Josephine L. Thedgar. They have two children: Felix M. and Conrad N. Mr. and Mrs. Church are members of the First Baptist Church at St. Louis. 80 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. CASTLE JOHN CURTIS, one of the leading farmers and influential citizens of Gratiot county, resides upon a finely cultivated and improved farm, known as "Locust Lawn", situated in Section I, Pine River township. Mr. Curtis was born August 9, 1845, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, son of John and Ann (Hill) Curtis, natives of England, who died in Ann Arbor, leaving three children. Of these Castle J. was the eldest, the other children being Thomas, of Lansing, Michigan; and Charlotte, widow of Charles Gardner, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mr. Curtis was reared to manhood in his home in Ann Arbor, and learned the harnessmaker's trade, at which he worked four years. He then engaged in farming for two years, at the age of twenty-one going to Pennsylvania, where he was engaged in book canvassing for about a year and a half. He then went to Saginaw, Michigan, and was employed by the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad, as fireman, for a year and a half, and as engineer for about two years. Mr. Curtis then became connected as engineer for the B. C. R. & N. Railroad, and after two years spent in this service returned to the Flint & Pere Marquette, with which company he remained five years. At the end of this period in October, I88I, he went to Gratiot county, and bought forty acres of farm land in Section I, Pine River township, where he has since resided. He has erected good buildings on his farm, and made general improvements, and his farm, besides being productive, presents an attractive appearance and compares favorably with others in the township. In November, 1872, Mr. Curtis was married, at Cedar Falls, Iowa, to Miss Ella Schuyler, a native of New York State, born in 1853, daughter of James and Catherine (Smith) Schuyler, the former of whom died at Tiffin, Ohio, and his wife at Washington, D. C. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis have had five children: Charles C. married Jessie Behler; Catherine married Louis Behler and has four children; Benjamin married Ella Callaghan, and lives at Foley, Minnesota; Marie lives in Washington, D. C.; and Hallet, a mail agent, married Blanche Pettey, and lives at "Locust Lawn." Mr. Curtis has actively participated in the public affairs of Pine River township, having held several of the school offices. Politically he is a Republican, and fraternally is identified with the I. O. O. F., the local Grange and the Pine River Farmers' Club. FRED E. SMITH, the careful, conscientious treasurer of Gratiot county, is one of the public officials whose services have met with the universal approval of the public. He was born in Erie county, New York, June 22, 1857, son of Horton and Adaline (Berry) Smith, natives of that county, who came to Michigan the same year that Fred E. Smith was born and settled on a farm in Washington township, Gratiot county, where they are at present residing. Fred E. Smith came to Michigan with his parents and has lived on a farm all of his life. He was educated in the common schools of the township. Mr. Smith served his township two years as treasurer and four as supervisor, resigning two years ago to accept his present position. He is quiet, careful, a watchful guardian of the people's money and in every way admirably fitted for this important trust. During his incumbency more money has passed through his hands BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. than through those of any of his predecessors, yet in the hundreds of accounts he has been required to keep, not a single cent has been short, nothing has been neglected, nothing overlooked. The people know this and have the utmost confidence in the safety of the funds committed to Mr. Smith's safekeeping. It was only by nominating a man who was not present at the Democratic convention that anyone was found to go on the ticket in opposition to Mr. Smith for a second term. The people are to be congratulated on having had an opportunity to again elect so excellent a county treasurer, and on having grasped that opportunity. Mr. Smith was married February 17, I9oI, to Miss Eva Alice Ladd, a daughter of Ellison and Elizabeth (Largent) Ladd, and to this union two children have been born: Kenneth H., and F. Willard. Mr. Smith is a popular member of Pompeii Lodge No. 417, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. ALBRO CURTIS. No history of Gratiot county would be complete without the sketch of Albro Curtis, as perhaps no one man in his section has done more to mold public opinion. He was born October 17, 1839, in Weathersfield, Wyoming county, New York, son of Waterman F. and Sylvia (Cronkite) Curtis, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Vermont, who removed from New York to Michigan in 1857 and settled in Ionia county. Here the father died on August 2, I86I, aged fifty-five years, his wife passing away while on a visit to friends in Illinois, on December I6, 1894, at the age of eighty-eight years. They were the parents of eleven children, as follows: Francis, a farmer of Emerson township; Ardelia, who died aged twentytwo years; Elizabeth, Mrs. William Hall, of Wyoming county, New York; Jane, wife of William Cleveland, residing in Winnebago county, Illinois; Seneca, a farmer of Breckenridge, Michigan; Helen, widow of John Hall, living in Wyoming county, New York; Albro; Waldo, a farmer of Breckenridge, Michigan; Martha, Mrs. T. W. Muscott, of Emerson township; Mary, unmarried, residing in the same township; and William, living in the State of Iowa. The paternal grandparents of Albro Curtis were Amison and Eunice Curtis, of Vermont, his grandfather on his mother's side being Jacob Cronkite, a native of Germany. Albro Curtis was the seventh in a family of eleven children, and reached the period of youth in Wyoming county, New York, where he received his education in the schools and on his father's farm. He was eighteen years old when he located in Ionia county, Michigan, where he lived until February, 1862, at that time removing with his mother's family to Gratiot county. They located on Section 12, Emerson township, where Mr. Curtis has been a resident ever since, with the exception of the two years he was serving his country as a soldier. Mr. Curtis enlisted in Company A, Eighth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and served gallantly with that regiment until the close of the war. At the battle of the Wilderness he was wounded in the right arm, and at Petersburg was slightly wounded by spent balls in the foot and between the shoulders. He was a participant in the battle of Weldon Railroad, and was at Lee's surrender, after which he was honorably discharged and returned to his home in Emerson township. When he left for the 82 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. front Mr. Curtis had but ten acres of his land cleared of timber, while now he has I60 acres cleared and improved. He is the owner of 320 acres in Emerson and Bethany townships, and' his farms are highly improved and furnished with modern substantial buildings. Albro Curtis was married in Emerson township June 29, 1876, to Miss Lucy L. Woodward, daughter of the late Allen Woodward, a native of New York State, and a survivor of the Civil War. In I86I Mr. Woodward had located in Washtenaw county, Michigan, and in June, I86I, after the death of his wife, Almira (Lewis), at the age of thirty-seven, he returned to New York, settling in Erie county, whence he enlisted in the Tenth New York Cavalry. After serving three years he returned to his home in Erie county, thence removing to Ionia county, Michigan. In April, I874, Allen Woodward came with his family to Gratiot county, Michigan, and settled in Section 2, Emerson township, where he died March 5, 1884, aged seventy-three years. He and his wife were the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Curtis was the fourth, named as follows: Augusta C., deceased, Mrs. Neal D. Ford; Christina E., deceased, Mrs. Asher Williams; Alice R., deceased, wife of Frank Cronkite; Lucy L., Mrs. Albro Curtis; and Francis A., who died in infancy. Mr. Woodward married as his second wife Miss Elizabeth Cronkite, who resides in Emerson township at the age of seventy-five. Of this union there was one son, Jesse J., a farmer of the township named. Mr. and Mrs. Albro Curtis are the parents of three children: Blanche A.; Roy W., who married Fanny A. Jarvis, and has I I one daughter, Helen O. (he is an Emerson township farmer); and Grace A. For a number of years Mr. Curtis has been a justice of the peace in Emerson township, and he has also served as school director and treasurer. In his political sympathies he is a Republican. Mr. Curtis and his estimable wife belong to the First Baptist Church of Emerson township. He is a member of Billy Cruson Post, No. 347, G. A. R. CLIFTON J. CHAMBERS, county clerk of Gratiot county, resident at Ithaca, Michigan, is a leading Republican of wide experience in public affairs, as well as a man of thorough education, of practical ability and of clear ideas and sound judgment. He was born in Crawford county, Ohio, September 23, 1864, son of Aaron J. and Harriet (McKee) Chambers. His parents were natives of the Buckeye State, where they were married and remained until the year I878, when they removed to North Shade township, Gratiot county, Michigan, and soon after their arrival purchased a farm on Section 3, upon which they resided with their family for two years. Later they moved to New Haven township, where they still live, and where they witnessed the growth to maturity of a family of three children, viz.: Carrie, now Mrs. B. J. Saxton, of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Birdella, unmarried and a resident of Carson City, Michigan, and Clifton J., the subject of this sketch. Aaron J. Chambers, the father, is an industrious, prosperous farmer, and has always been alive to the best interests of the community in which he has lived. He was retained by his constituents as supervisor of I I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. his township for the perior of seven years, and has held other township and school offices in the gift of the people. He was born in Crawford county, Ohio, on December 9, I840. Mrs. Chambers, his wife, is two years his junior, and was brought up and educated in Crawford county, Ohio. For the last twenty-five years she has been an invalid and a constant sufferer from rheumatism, yet she has never complained of her lot but has directed and managed the affairs of the household, forgetting her own affliction in her eagerness to make her home a pleasant one. Clifton J. Chambers remained with his parents until his marriage. Until he was seventeen years of age he assisted his father in the usual occupations pertaining to a farmer's life. But being of a mechanical turn of mind, he learned the carpenter's trade and found ready employment until there came to him a desire to acquire a more complete education than was afforded by the district schools of his locality. After pursuing a course in the Valparaiso (Indiana) Normal School, he commenced to teach during the winter months and worked at his trade in the summer. At about this time he also purchased a piece of wild land on Section 27, in New Haven township, which he afterward transformed into a homestead, and upon which he resided and still owns. On October 8, I890, Mr. Chambers was united in marriage to Miss Emma A. McWilliams, a member of an old and respected Ohio family. She was born in Morrow county, that State, and her parents, Gabriel and Susanna (Sampsell) McWilliams, were also natives of the Commonwealth named. Mr. McWilliams was a farmer. 4 Both he and his wife died in Gratiot county. Emmna was the eighth in a family of nine children, eight of who are now living. She was reared and educated under the watchful care of fond and loving parents. Possessed of a mind capable of rapid cultivation, and a large amount of energy and determination, she soon attained a point in her studies which qualified her to enter upon the duties of a teacher. Commencing at the age of seventeen, she taught continuously to, the time of her marriage to Mr. Chambers, except (luring the year of her attendance at the Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio. Two children, Carlton D. and Helen M., have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Chambers. For a number of years after his marriage Mr. Chambers continued to teach school in the winter and to work at his trade during the summer, but in I894 his political associates and the citizens generally recognized his honesty and ability by electing him treasurer of New Haven township, from which time his energies were directed toward the duties devolving upon him as a servant of the people and the improvement of his homestead. So satisfactorily did he perform the duties of the office that, in 1895 and 1896, he served as supervisor. In the fall of the latter year he received the Republican nomination for register of deeds, but he went down with the landslide which buried all the candidates on the ticket. Desiring to devote more time to the improvement of his farm, Mr. Chambers refused the nomination for supervisor the next year, but in the spring of I898 he was again elected to that position, and continued to hold it until the fall of I902, when he resigned and moved to Ithaca, he having been elected county clerk that year. Mr. Chambers was re 86 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. elected in I904 for another term of two years, and has given such prompt and efficient service to the county that his tenure of office seems to depend upon his own pleasure largely. He is a member of the M. E. Church, his ability and honesty as a man being grounded upon firm religious convictions. THOMAS HOLTON, a prominent resident of Bethany township, is deserving of special mention in this volume not only because of his high standing as a citizen but for his honorable record as a soldier in the Civil War. He was born in Buckingham-:shire, England, September 28, 1846, son ot Joseph Holton. Joseph Holton married in England Miss Elizabeth Barnes, and they came to the United States in the early winter of 1848. They settled in Jackson county, Michigan, and lived there for many years before coming to Gratiot county, in the spring of I866. After that year they made their home in Bethany township, and there Mr. Holton -died in 1882, at the age of sixty-six years. His wife died about ten years later, aged seventy. They had a family of eleven children. Thomas Holton was the third child and his boyhood and early youth were passed in Jackson county. When the Civil War broke out he was filled with patriotic fervor and in October, 1862, although only sixteen years old, he enlisted in Company E, Eighth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and served three years. He was with his regiment in the battles of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and at Jackson, Mississippi. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he was mustered out, and returning to Jackson coun ty was engaged there in farm labor for nearly eight years. In March, 1874, he came to Gratiot county and settled in Bethany township, Section io, on land which he had previously purchased. Originally he bought seventy-six acres, and this tract he increased to 238 acres. He remained upon this homestead from I874 until the spring of I892, when he sold it and came to his present farm in Section 24, in the same township, then purchasing 103 acres which is now all under cultivation. His farm has a number of substantial buildings and is in fine working condition. In 1874 Mr. Holton abandoned the ranks of bachelorhood, on March 5th being married to Miss Mary Lewis, a native of Jackson county, of English parentage. To this union have come nine children, of whom the following six are living: Richard, William, James R., Nellie, Anna B. and Emma I. A son, John R., died in Bethany township, in his twenty-first year; an infant son, Frank E., was scalded to death when eighteen months old; and a daughter, Mary May, died when only sixteen years old, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, whither she had gone on account of her failing health. Mrs. Mary Holton ended her earthly pilgrimage in Bethany township, where she died November 20, I893, in the forty-first year of her age. Five years later, in the spring of 1899, Mr. Holton married again, his second wife being Miss Rachel Taylor Burgess. Mr. Holton is among those citizens of Gratiot county who do not shirk their municipal duties, but take their part in the local government. He has held the office of justice of the peace for several years, filling the position with an ability and efficiency which have fully demonstrated his natural fitness BIOGRAPHICAL IMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 87 for such responsibilities. He is also a member of the township committee. As an old soldier Mr. Holton is naturally a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, connected with Billy Cruson Post, No. 347, and his popularity with his old comrades is shown by the fact that he has been chosen its commander. He also belongs to Monitor Grange No. 555. One of the old settlers, he has long been prominent in his locality by reason of his many worthy traits and his abiding interest in all that affects the public welfare. AFAYETTE CHURCH, a leading agriculturist of Section 2, Arcada township, was born in July, I816, in Wayne county, New York, son of Willard and Sally (Davis) Church. Willard Church, who was descended from the old Puritan stock, served through the Revolutionary war and his cousin, Captain Church, was one of the leaders on the side of the Colonists in King Philip's war. Our subject's mother was of English parentage, her family coming from the other side of the water some time later than the Churches. All of the nine children of the parents of our subject grew to maturity, were married and had families around them. Lafayette was the youngest of this family, and his educational advantages were decidedly limited, he beginning work on the home farm at an early age. He left the parental roof when sixteen years of age to seek a living, and was first employed in a drug store at Providence, Rhode Island, for about three years, during which time he attended school to a certain extent, and being ambitious put in his spare time in study, acquiring thereby the education that had been previously de I nied him. He returned home for one year, and in I836 came to Michigan, spending the following winter in Oakland county. The next spring he went to Ionia, which was then a mere village of a hundred inhabitants, and was afterward employed in Clinton county, and again in Ionia. Mr. Church was married January 29, 1840, at Lyons, Ionia county, to Sophronia, daughter of Nathan and Chloe (Tyler) Benjamin, both of wAhoml were born in New York, of English and Irish extraction. Mrs. Church was born October 26, 1823, in Wayne county, Ohio, and came with her parents to Oakland county, Michigan, when a year and a half old. From Oakland county the Benjamins removed to Ionia county, where Mrs. Church resided until her marriage. Mr. Benjamin drove the first wagon over East Plains, and the first wagon into Maple Rapids. Our subject and his wife lived at Lyons for a period of seven years, and from there went to Wheatland township, Hillsdale county, remaining there until 1854, in the winter of which year they came to Gratiot county, purchasing land from the Government. This eighty-acre tract was located in what is now Arcada township. Since that time Mr. Church has added I20 acres to this farm, but having divided it up among his family, now owns sixty acres, which is finely cultivated. Lafayette Church assisted to start the town of Ithaca, building a house and saw and grist mill with Francis Nelson and John Jeffrey. Mr. Church was chosen county treasurer at the first general election held in Gratiot county, and this position he held for four years, also being the first treasurer of Arcada township. He organized the first Sundayschool started in Gratiot county, in May, 88 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 1855, meeting at the home of F. Way, midway between Alma and St. Louis. He received a commission from the Governor ot the State, July 19, 1862, as second lieutenant, with authority to raise a company of volunteers, and when a sufficient number had been raised they were mustered in as Company D, Twenty-sixth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, Lieutenant Church being immediately made captain of the company. He held that rank for eighteen months, and on recommendation of the principal officers of the regiment, was then commissioned regimental chaplain. He continued to hold that position until the surrender of Lee, which historical event our subject witnessed. He distinguished himself on numerous occasions and was at the head of his company at Mine Run. His son, Nathan, held the rank of first lieutenant in the same company, the two remaining together until June, 1865, when they were honorably discharged. Since the war Captain Church has lived a quiet and retired life at his home in Arcada township, highly respected by his numerous friends. His long residence and gallant services have won him a place in the front rank of Gratiot county's representative citizens. In his political sympathies he is a Republican, and has always been influential in local matters. Mr. and Mrs. Church had ten children, two of whom are now deceased. Those who still survive are as follows: Nathan, born November 22, 1840; Susan, August 22, 1849; Marie E., October 9, 1851; Avolin, December 22, 1853; Julia, September 7, 1856; Flora, March 25, I860; Willard, May I9, I86I; and Fred, June 2, 1863. S. Cornelia was born August 3, 1842, and died March 23, 1878, and Frances A., born August 5, 1844, died September 17, I865. At the present writing Mr. and Mrs. Church have been married sixty-six years, and Mr. Church, although he is approaching the age of the patriarchs, is still an alert citizen, with all his faculties unimpaired, and apparently in the full enjoyment of mental and physical life. STILES KENNEDY, M. D., a prominent and influential citizen of St. Louis, Michigan, and a skilled physician and surgeon-the oldest practitioner of the city engaged in active professional work-. was born April I, I838, in Lebanon, Kentucky, son of Rev. George W. and Ellen (Jennings) Kennedy. Rev. George W. Kennedy was born in I805, in New London, Pennsylvania, and received his education at Princeton College, from which institution he was graduated with honor. Selecting the preaching of the Gospel as his life work, he studied theology and entered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, in whose interests he labored chiefly in Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware. On the paternal side Dr. Kennedy is descended from Scotch-Irish stock, inheriting from his ancestors both perseverance and brilliancy. Accompanied by two brothers, his grandfather emigrated to America just before the American Revolution, and all three engaged in the war, one of them holding the rank of major. After the war the three settled at New London, Pennsylvania, founding the Academy at that place, and continued its management for a number of years. On his mother's side the Doctor is a lineal descendant of John Jennings, Duke 'N /lr 00,oIC. .4O BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNNTY 91 of Ghent, the historic John of Gaunt. Humphrey Jennings, son of the Lancastrian ancestor, resided in Birmingham, England, and was the father of five sons and two daughters. Three of these sons-Daniel, Augustin and William-emigrated to America. The daughters (Sarah, the wife of the Duke of Marlborough, and Frances, Duchess of Tyrconnel) were women of world-Tenowneld beauty. Daniel Jennings was born in I690, in Suffolkshire, England. In I722 he sold his estate and became a resident of the United States, first settling in Maryland, and later in Virginia. His sons, Daniel and James, served in the Colonial army throughout the Revolution. The former was born October 3, I737, in Fairfax, Virginia, and died in 1783, and James was born in 1735 and (lied in i8II. Daniel Jennings (III) was )orn in Virginia in 1769, was married in I799 and died at Lebanon, Kentucky, in I846. He married Sarah Jennings, a descandant from a collateral branch of the same family, who was born in Virginia in I776 and (lied in I852. Their daughter, whose full name was Mary Elinor Foster Jennings, was the mother of Dr. Kennedy. She was born in Virginia in I808, and died in Lebanon, Kentucky, in I840. In his boyhood Dr. Kennedy accompanied his parents to Delaware, and soon became a pupil at the Milford Academy, where he was a student until his seventeenth year. He commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Alexander Hardcastle, of Denton, Maryland, with whom he remained three years, at the same time attending lectures in the University of Pennsylvania and being graduated from its medical department in I859. He then spent two years in prospecting through the West and Southwest, after which he settled in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, where he engaged in practice about one year, when he was appointed surgeon in the Confederate army, in the corps of Stonewall Jackson. He was afterward assigned to the command of Beauregard, and later to that of Gen. Robert E. Lee. At Newbern, North Carolina, in I864, he was taken prisoner, was confiened at Washington for about one month, and after the war returned to his private practice in Newark, Delaware. That Dr. Kennedy was considered a competent surgeon is shown by the fact that, after the battle of Antietam, under a flag of truce he was sent to Frederick City, Maryland, by General Lee, with a corps of surgeons, to cooperate with the surgeons of the Federal army in relieving the wounded of both armies. The special order of General Lee prescribed that all bills created by Dr. Kennedy, in the line of his official duty, should be paid in gold by the secretary of the Confederate treasury at Richmond. He was at Fre(lerick six weeks, and on his return, as as mark of appreciation of his services, was appointed inspector of hospitals. Dr. Kennedy came to St. Louis in I871. He has taken a conspicuous part in the establishment of all public improvements, and is a member of the county and State medical societies and the American Medical Association. He is prominent in local politics, and for several years was chairman of the Democratic County Committee. He is examiner for such life insurance companies as the New York Life, the Equitable, the Phoenix, the Connecticut Life and the Penn Mutual, with some of which he has been connected for over thirty years. In 92 BIOGRAPHICAL MlEMOIRS OF GRA TIOT COUNTY. public affairs Dr. Kennedy is considered one of the most public-spirited men in central Michigan, being one of the originators of the Lansing & St. Louis Electric railway, as well as an energetic promoter of the municipal water-works, electric lighting plant and sewerage system. He was one of the earliest promoters of the St. Louis sugar factory and the St. Louis chemical workstwo of the largest and most successful industrial concerns in the State. Dr. Kennedy has also rendered valuable service to the cause of medical literature, his first noteworthy contributions being a series of papers in the Medical and Surgical Reporter of Philadelphia on "Mistakes in Surgical Diagnosis," published in I866-67. In 1869 he published a statement of his experience in treating scarlet fever by means of the cool regime, which met with much criticism then, but which in these clays would be generally upheld by the foremost practitioners. The "Mineral Springs of Michigan," an unpretentious and valuable work of 1872, and contributions to periodical literature of a later date, such as "The Direct Abstraction of Heat in the Treatment of Typhoid Fever," and the "Philosophical Treatment of Diphtheria," have established his standing as a clear thinker and a skilled diagnostician. Fraternally Dr. Kennedy is a member of the A. F. & A. M., having taken the eighteenth degree. As an Odd Fellow he has filled all the chairs including noble grand, being now a past grand. Dr. Stiles Kennedy was married January 22, 1872, in Delaware, to Miss Mary Reybold, daughter of William Reybold. The Reybolds have long been known for their energy, enterprise, integrity and wealth. She died at St. Louis March 22, I878, leaving three children: William, born May 28, I873, who married Harriet Hastings of St. Louis, Michigan; George, born May 23, I876; and Mary, born March 17, 1878, who died in 1895. Dr. Kennedy married (second) October I6, I883, at Ghent, Kentucky, Amanda Froman, daughter of Hon. Hiram Froman, one of the most honorable, enterprising and successful agriculturists in the Ohio Valley. Mrs. Kennedy was born in 1859, in Kentucky. By this marriage there are three children: Stiles C., Daniel J. and Alice Amanda: OSCAR OAKES, a prominent and substantial farmer and highly esteemed resident of Wheeler township, was born on a farm in Aurelius, Ingham county, Michigan, September, September 30, 1841, son of Darius and Maria P. (Royston) Oakes. Darius Oakes was born in Vermont, while his wife was born in New Jersey. They were married at Seneca Falls, New York, whence they came to Ingham county, and settled on wild land, where Mr. Oakes died in October, I860, aged about forty-six years. His widow survived until her eightyfirst year, and died at the home of her son Oscar, February 21, I894. This good couple were the parents of four children, and of this family Oscar was the eldest; Robert W., deceased, was the second born; George A. resides with Oscar; and Sarah E., deceased, was the wife of George Battley. Oscar Oakes was reared on his father's farm and received a thorough education. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in Company B, Second Regiment, Berdan's Sharpshooters, his enlistment papers bearing (late of September 20, I86i. After spending six months and two days in the service, Mr. BIOGRAPHICAL MlEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 93 Oakes was honorably discharged on account of disability, and returned to the farm in Tngham county. In I863 he removed to Minnesota and in August, 864, again enlisted, joining Company K, Eleventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. Mr. Oakes returned to Winona county, Miinnesota, and engaged in farming for about four years, at the end of which period he returned to Ingham county, purchasing the old homestead upon which he was born. There he lived until 1876, in that year selling the property and removing to Mitchell county, Kansas, where he purchased a farm and operated it for four and one-half years. He then sold this farm and returned to Michigan, and, after living near Lansing for one and one-half years, in June, 1885, came to Gratiot county, purchasing forty acres of woodland which he has since cleared and improved. He has added to the original purchase, now owning eighty acres, forty acres of which are cultivated. Mr. Oakes has been twice married. His first marriage was to Miss Maretta Sifert, at Eaton Rapids, Michigan, September 24, I86i, and by her he had one son-Frank E., living at home. Mr. Oakes's second union was in Aurelius township, Ingham county, December 17, 1874, when he was married to Miss Emma E. Springer, who was born in Aurelius, Michigan, August 4, I859, daughter of Abraham and Lura (Collins) Springer, natives of New York, who died in Ingham county, Michigan. Mrs. Springer was the youngest of five children. To her and her husband have been born: Olive I., wife of W. F. Smith, of Lafayette township, Gratiot countv, and the mother of three clildren, Zelma E., Elmer O. and Clarence W.. and D. Martin, who married Della M. East man, and has two children, Oscar D. and Thelma. All are living on the family homestead. Oscar Oakes has been a member of the Board of Review of Wheeler township, was supervisor of that township for some time, and has been highway conmmissioner for a number of terms. He was formerly a Democrat, but since I892 has been identified with the Republican party. He is an honored Comrade in Billy Cruson Post, No. 347, Grand Army of Republic, and also associated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Monitor Grange. MIr. Oakes is one of the substantial and authoritative farmers of his section of the county, its prosperity and continual advancement being due to such residents as he-men of practical abilities, industry, perseverance and progressive ideas. THOMAS HARRISON, who owns a fine farm of Ioo acres of well improved land in Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, was born in the County of Perth, Ontario, June Io, 1857, the eldest of the five children of John and Margaret (Lawson) Harrison, also natives of Canada. John Harrison was born January I9, I833, in Kitley township, County of Leeds, Ontario, son of Thomas and Eliza (Hunter) Harrison. The elder Harrison was a farmer by occupation, and John remained at home following the same vocation, until sixteen years of age. He was married April 17, 1853, to Miss Margaret Lawson, daughter of Andrew and Mary (Thompson) Lawson. She was born in Elmsley township, County of Leeds, Ontario, June 30, 1839, and to her and her husband were born five children: Thomas; Walter, deceased; Eliza 94 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. J., of South Haven, Michigan, who married V. B. Ludwig; James H., deceased; and John A., deceased. In I866 Mr. Harrison and his family migrated to Michigan, and located at St. Louis, Gratiot county, where he was variously engaged for some time. In the spring of I869 he purchased eighty acres of land in the section of his present residence, lived on it for two years, then removed to St. Louis, and afterward returned to the farm. When he first took up the land it was heavily timbered, but, through his energetic labors, it has been cleared, put under cultivation, and furnished with good buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison are valued and consistent members of the Congregational Church. They are very highly esteemed in the township in which they have so long resided, and are accounted among Gratiot's representative citizens. Mr. Harrison has held the office of township drain commissioner. Thomas Harrison was but nine years old when he accompanied his parents to Gratiot county. For two years they lived in St. Louis and then settled in Bethany township, where they resided for many years before removing to Ludington, Michigan, their present place of residence. Thomas lived with his parents until his marriage, March 21, I88I, to Miss Angeline Quidort, a native of Pennsylvania, the daughter of Peter and Louise (Pushaw) Quidort. To Mr. and Mrs. Harrison the following children have been born: Laura E., who died when thirteen years of age; Harry L., who died in his twelfth year; and Wright, living at home. When Mr. Harrison settled on his own farm he bought forty acres of land, and has added to it from time to time until he now owns Ioo acres, having seventy-five acres cleared and improved. He has made agriculture his life business, and under his excellent management his farm has become very productive. For four years Mr. Harrison held the office of township treasurer, and he was justice of the peace for the same length of time. He is an active member of the Union Silver party and has the best interests of his section at heart. He has been prominently identified with religious work and belongs to the Congregational Church in his township. He shows his interest in matters agricultural by his membership in the Ancient Order of Gleaners. COL. LEMUEL SAVIERS, president of the Commercial Savings Bank, and one of the leading capitalists at St. Louis, Michigan, was born December 12, I840, at Antrim, Guernsey county, Ohio, a son of Cyrus and Matilda (Dean) Saviers, and a descendant of Revolutionary stock and French ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Gen. John Saviers, accompanied General LaFayette to America during the Revolutionary war, and his services, like those of his distinguished leader, were of the greatest benefit to the struggling patriots. Colonel Saviers was a child of four years when, in I844, his parents settled at Tecumseh, Michigan, where he attended school until the age of fourteen. He then completed his apprenticeship to the carpenter's and millwright's trade, at which he was employed until he was twenty years old. At the outbreak of the Civil war he was a member of a local company, an independent organization known as the Adrian Light Guards, and thus had had some military training. He therefore enlisted in Berdan's Sharpshooters, of which organization he was COL. LEMUEL SAVIERS BIOGRAPHICAL iMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 97 I afterward appointed first sergeant. On October 8, 1861, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, and by I862 had won his commission of captain of the Twenty-sixth Infantry. On May 15, 1863, he was made major, and on March 30, 1864, lieutenant-colonel. On account of disalility caused by serious wounds the gallant soldier was honorably discharged on September 27, I864. He holds his title of colonel on account of gallantry on the field of battle, and also is entitled to that of general because of service on the staff of Gov. C. M. Croswell, serving thereon as quartermaster-general from I877 to 188I. After returning home with all his military honors, Colonel Saviers realized that his early education did not qualify him for the duties of the career which he desired to follow, and he entered a large class of students at the Tecumseh high school, where he was graduated. He then spent a year teaching higher mathematics in that institution. On December 25, i866, in Tecumseh, Colonel Saviers married Miss Caroline M. Bills, daughter of Hon. Perley Bills, of that place, and they have one daughter, Alice, wife of W. G. West. During I866-67 Colonel Saviers acted as special agent in the United States mail service, and was then appointed postmaster at Tecumseh. In I874 he resigned the office, on account of ill health, and subsequently removed to St. Louis, attracted thither by the justly celebrated remedial waters. In his case they proved all that was claimed for them and, restored to health, he soon entered into business, becoming identified with the greater number of the leading enterprises which have served to make St. Louis the important point it now is. Colonel Saviers invested extensively in pine lands and engaged in the manufacture of lumber. In 1874, he organized the Merchants' and Farmers' Bank, which later became Harrington, Saviers & Co. In 1892 this became a State institution, reorganized under the title of the Commercial Savings Bank. Colonel Saviers has been its president since its reorganization and still manages its affairs. He is also interested in the L. Saviers & Co. bank at Harrison, Michigan. In addition to his large banking interests Colonel Saviers owns farming lands and has has been one of the most active citizens in promoting the city's material prosperity along the line of modern improvements. In I888, with other capitalists, he built the plant of the electric light and power company at St. Louis, and still later purchased the entire stock and capably managed the enterprise until I899, when he sold the plant to the city. Politically Colonel Saviers is a Republican, fraternally he is an Odd Fellow, and generally a man of bravery, determination, executive ability and broad financial experience, which would make him a leader in any community. C HARLES A. BUTTON, postmaster at Sumner, Gratiot county, M\ichigan, has for a number of years been prominent in business and political circles of that place. He was born in Bloomfield township, Oakland county, May 5, I842, son of Leonard E. and Olivia (Case) Button, both of whom died in Oakland county. They had seven children, and of this family our subject was fourth in the order of birth. Charles A. Button was reared and educated in the village of Milford, Oakland t 98 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. county. In September, i86I, Mr. Button enlisted in Company A, First United States Lancers, in which he served seven months, the regiment at the end of this time disbanding, and in September, 1862, he re-enlisted in Company D, Fourth Michigan Cavalry, in which he served until the close of the war. At the battle of Noonday Creek he was slightly wounded. Mr. Button has an excellent war record, and is justly held in esteem by those who recall with gratitude those who so willingly offered their lives to their country in the perilous times of I86I. After the war M'r. Button returned to Michigan, locating in Livingston county, where he engaged in lumber milling, and also followed that line in Ingham county for seven years. He then drove a stage between Pinckney and Dexter for four years, at the end of this time locating in Hubbardston, Ionia county, where he operated a hotel for three years. He then located in Gratiot county, in the spring of I88I, and for three years operated a hotel at Elm Hall. He was the proprietor of a hotel at Vestaburg, Montcalm county, in March, I889, locating in Sumnier, where he has since remained. Mr. Button was appointed postmaster in President Harrison's administration, and he has held that office to the present time, with the exception of four years. He was also justice of the peace of Sumner for fourteen years, and for one year was township clerk of Sumner township. Mr. Button has always been a stanch Republican, and is an ardent advocate of his party's principles in this section. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also belongs to Charles Sumner Post No. 329, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Button was (first) married at Leroy, Ingham county, December 24, 1865, to Miss Lucy Rubert, born in Wall Lake, Oakland county, and to this marriage four children were born: Amos A.; Rose A., who married J. H. M'cGreanor; Lucy, the wife of Charles Ferris, and Adella, who died in infancy. Mrs. Lucy Button (lied in Sumner, December 14, 900o, and Mr. Button was married (second) to Mrs. Christian Miller, a native of Canada, the ceremony taking place at St. Louis, Michigan, October 20, I90I. ENRY B. GULICK is well-known among the leading agriculturists of Bethany township, Gratiot county, where he owns and operates a sixty-acre farm, also owning land in Midland county. He was born October 12, I86o, in Hillsdale county, Michigan, son of the late Dr. Thomas J. and Mary (Barber) Gulick, who came to Gratiot county in 1873, and settled in Lafayette township, where they died, she in her fifty-eighth year, November I8, I890o and he on March I, I892, when seventy-two years old. Thomas J. Gulick, the father of our subject, was born in Daviess county, Indiana, September 4, I820. Until twenty-four years of age he worked hard on his father's farm, and his education was consequently very limited. He had three uncles who were physicians, one of whom, Hon. Jehiel H. Halsey, an ex-Congressman from New York, rendered Mr. Gulick assistance by good advice and pecuniary loans. On leaving home he went to Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where he was principally engaged in agricultural pursuits for two years. The next eight years he passed in Seneca county, New York, and came to Hillsdale county in Feb BIOGRAPHICAL MEMlOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 99 ruary, I854, and there followed farming until I867, when he went to Iowa. He returned to Hillsdale county, and remained there until I874, and then located in Gratiot county, where the rest of his life was spent. He married (first) in 1844, Phoebe Jane Pollard, and they had two children. MIr. Gulick's second marriage was to Mary E. Barber, a native of New York, and four children were born to this union: Henry B., Rachel E., Thomas J. and George N. Dr. Gulick was a Jacksonian Democrat, and he served as health commissioner for three years and as State road commissioner one year. He was a member of the Masonic Order. For fifteen years he was an efficient minister of the Gospel, though he at the same time followed other occupations as a means of livelihood. Dr. Gulick was a self made man, close application winning him success. Henry B. Gulick came to Gratiot county with his parents and lived at home until he was married, when he settled on a farm in Lafayette township, on Section 27. Here he lived about two years, when he traded his farm and moved to Tennessee, carrying on farming there for about three years, at the end of which time he returned to Gratiot county and settled on his farm in Bethany township, where he has since been a resident. His sixty-acre farm is well improved and he also owns a tract in Midland county, which is under the plow. Most of his attention is given to fruit growing and horticulture, and he has been very successful in these lines. Mr. Gulick was married August 28, 1879, in Lafayette township, to Anna D. Moye, born in St. Clair county, Michigan, daughter of Albert and Louise Moye, and to this union have been born these children: Mary L., the wife of Adelbert Foster; Henrietta and Annetta, twins, who are both school teachers; Albert H.; Charles and Arthur. Mr. and Mrs. Gulick are members of the Mlethodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Gulick is a thrifty, industrious and self-reliant man, who thoroughly understands the science of farming. He is also a most highly respected citizen and enjoys the good will of all who know him. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of Am-erica. JOHN B. ROWELL, who is widely known in Gratiot county as an auctioneer, owns and operates I60 acres in Section i, Hamilton township. He was born in Lysander township, Onondaga county, New York, October 12, 1852, son of Major E. and Betsey A. (Tator) Rowell, natives of New York, the latter of whom is deceased. The mother died in December, I895, aged sixty-four, while the father (born in January, I835) still resides in Onondaga county, New York. Besides John B., the other children were Eli D. and Joel E. John B. Rowell is the eldest of the family and was reared on his father's farm, upon -which he remained until he was twenty years old. He was married December I, 1872, in Onondaga county, New York, to Miss Helen Betts, a native of that county, and two children were born to this union: Pearl A., the wife of Harold Mikesell, of Boston, Massachusetts, and mother of one daughter, Frances: and Frances, at home. Mr. Rowell continued to reside in New York until I88o, when he migrated. to Michigan and located in Gratiot county, settling on Section 35, Lafayette township, where he worked one -ear. He then returned to New York for two years, at the end of which time he again 100 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. came to Michigan, this time settling in Ithaca, where he engaged in the hotel business for about three years, operating what is now the "Imperial Hotel." He also engaged in a similar line at Alma, operating for one year the "Arcada Hotel." One year thereafter Mr. Rowell engaged in lumbering in Wexford county, and in December, I902, purchased a farm in Hamilton township, Gratiot county, which he sold before going to California, where at San Pedro he was ehgaged in the grocery business for about one year. He then returned to Gratiot county, and in March, I904, settled in Hamilton township, Section 2, purchasing forty acres, which he operated for one year, trading it in the purchase of his present farm of I60 acres. Mr. Rowell's second marriage occurred in Gratiot county, to Miss Agnes Derry, a native of Michigan, and to their union three children were born: Grace, Basil and Rex. Mr. Rowell began auctioneering soon after coming to Gratiot county, has followed that business, irregularly, ever since, and is well and favorably known in the line mentioned. He has held the office of township treasurer of Hamilton township, and has been justice of the peace since April, I904. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, Edgemont Lodge, No. 257, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to the lodge and to Ithaca Camp. He is also a member of the K. O. T. M. M. TIMOTHY D. ACKLES (deceased), one of the highly respected pioneers of North Star township, Gratiot county, was born in Onondaga county, New York, August 13, 1835, son of Terttules and Charlotte (Doolittle) Ackles, natives of the same State. He was the youngest of twelve children, all except the following dying in early infancy: Othenial; Charles; Moses; John died at the age of two years; Sarah married Andrew Newell; Mary became Mrs. George Stephens; Elizabeth was the wife of Leonard Robinson; Hannah became Mrs. Joseph Wright; and Timothy D. The father died when Timothy D. was about two years old. The mother, who accompanied her son from York State and made their home in the forest, with only three families as "neighbors" for miles around, survived her husband for nearly forty years, her death occurring January 31, 1875, at the age of seventy-nine. Mr. Ackles remained at home with his mother, attending the district schools in the winter and assisting in the support of the family during the summer. When he was nineteen years old he determined upon an independent venture. With foresight beyond his years, he perceived that the State of Michigan was the locality in which he was mostly likely to succeed, and which offered favorable opportunities for young men of perseverance and energy. Both of these qualities the youth possessed in great abundance. Resolved to win, he arrived in Clinton county in the spring of 1854, and in the fall of that year became a resident of Gratiot county, settling in what is now North Star township, afterward assisting in its organization. All the hardships and trials of the pioneer were experienced by him, but in the end he was successful, and at the time of his death was the owner of a fine tract of 375 acres of land in North Star. Toward the latter period of the Civil war Mr. Ackles was engaged in Canada in buying horses for the United States government and while thus employed in County Essex, I .j ~::i: -::::: i ~_ i;::::~ ";~::;::i:_~:i:::.i:-:5:::i j::;~;: -:::::-:~~::~:ri:x:::;. i~ i:-::-;: _:::::-s_::_l:~:-,:,;a:r:$:i: ":'::.R1 —i:::`:: r TIMOTHY D. ACKLES. I BIOGRAPHICAL iMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I03 Ontario, met his future wife. On August 20, I865, he married the lady-Miss Abigail Fox-born in the county named, September 7, I845, the youngest of the three children born to Jacob and Elizabeth (McLean) Fox. Her brothers, George and Peter, are both farmers of County Essex. Her family is of Dutch and Irish extraction, and both parents were members of the Church of England. They were married in County Essex, where Jacob Fox prospered as a farmer for many years, dying on July I9, I869, at the age of seventy-nine. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Ackles, lived to the advanced age of ninety years, the date of her death being June 9, I895. Jacob Fox had been twice married, his first wife, a Miss Wigle, of County Essex, dying in 1825, at the age of thirty-five, mother of the following: Julia Ann, deceased, Mrs. John Snyder; John I. and Jacob (deceased), residents of County Essex; Susan, Mrs. George McLean, of the county named; Sarah, Mrs. John Arner, living in the same county; Ann, deceased, MIrs. George Noble; and William, also a resident of County Essex. That the father attained to an unusual degree of prosperity may be safely inferred in that he reared all the children spared to him to maturity, and that to all of his sons and one daughter, Ann, he presented farms of one hundred acres each, still retaining at the time of his death a fine homestead of 360 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Ackles were the parents of four children: Terttules J., who died when eight years old; George Timothy, deceased at the age of three months and six days; Floyd J., who died when three years and eleven months old; and Charlotte, who married Charles Moon, a promising citizen of the township, now operating the family farm; they have one son, William Timothy, born November 15, I905-the only grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy D. Ackles. Mr. Ackles was an honest, earnest, industrious and unassuming man, representative of the yeoman element which is an assurance of the continuous prosperity of the township andl the county. He was an active Republican, and creditably performed the duties of several township and school officers. He also held membership in the Masonic fraternity. He was, moreover, a man of Christian character, reared as was his mother in the Baptist faith, but later attending the Presbyterian Church and being a supporter of not only all the religious organizations of his community, but of charitable and benevolent works in general. Mrs. Ackles, widow of the deceased, is an active, well-preserved lady, lively in conversation and of pleasant manners, and, as stated, is residing with her daughter and son-in-law upon the attractive family homestead in North Star township. She is identified with the Baptist Church, and is most highly esteemed for her many estimable qualities and her Christian character. JOHN W. KERNEN, supervisor of Ithaca township, Gratiot county, is well and favorably known in that locality, where he is successfully engaged in the agricultural implement business. He was born in Charlotte, Michigan, July 24, 1863, son of Rudolph and Margaret (Thoenen) Kernen, natives of Switzerland. The parents of John W. Kernen emigrated to America in August, I850, and first settled in Batavia, New York, where they lived for some six years, later coming to Mount Clemens, Michigan, and two years 104 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I later coming to Charlotte, Michigan, where they lived until 1872. In this latter year they located in Gratiot county, and settled in Arcada township, where they spent eighteen years, at the end of which time they settled in Ithaca township, where they have since resided. Rudolph Kernen was a shoemaker by trade, but has followed agricultural pursuits chiefly since coming to this country. John W. Kernen was the eighth member of a family of twelve children, and came with his parents to Gratiot county in 1872, and has been a resident of this county ever since with the exception of two years, when he resided in Lansing, Michigan, engaged in the ice business. He was educated in the common schools of his district. When he started out in life for himself he engaged in the dray business in Alma, Michigan, but only continued in this line one year, engaging in farming in Pine River township for two years, and then engaged for two years in the ice business at Lansing, Michigan. He returned to Pine River township and farmed one year, and in August, I893, located in Ithaca, where he engaged with his brother Frank in the ice business, in connection with his dray business, and in this they continued for nine years. In December, 1903, they sold this interest and embarked in the agricultural implement business, the firm trading under the name of Kernen Brothers. John W. Kernen also operates the cold storage plant as agent for the Grand Rapids Brewing Company, and has operated the street sprinkler since I894. In I904 Mr. Kernen was elected supervisor of Ithaca township and he has been chief of the fire department since I902. He is a member of Ithaca Lodge, No. I23, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Modern \Woodmen of America, Ithaca Camp, No. 4713. He has been a member of the Village Council for seven years. Mr. Kernen was married in Alma, Michigan, December 31, I886, to Miss Sevila A. Boyer, a native of Gratiot county, daughter of George and Ella Boyer, the former ot whom died in Alma February 22, I887. Mr. and Mrs. Kernen have had these children: Rolla B.; Ruby M.; and Eddie, who died aged sixteen months. C A. CRANE, M. D., a successful practitioner of medicine and surgery, and a most valued citizen of North Star, North Star township, Gratiot county, was born September 12, 1865, in County Elgin, Ontario, son of Anthony and Mary (McVicar) Crane, the former of whom was a farmer of Ontario, who died in I898, at the age of eighty-six years, and the latter of whom was a native of Ontario, who died in County Elgin, in 1870, when upwards of forty years of age. Dr. Crane was the sixth member of a family of seven children. He received a good education in County Elgin, in the high school at St. Thomas and the Detroit College of Medicine, from which latter institution he was graduated with the class of I89I. He practiced for a time in Detroit, and then located in North Star, where he remained one year. He then removed to Harriette, Wexford county, Michigan, where he remained for four years, and in I897 returned to North Star, where he has since remained, successfully engaged in the practice of his profession. His practice has grown encour BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Io5 I agingly, as his ability has become recognized, while his pleasing personal characteristics have won him many friends. Dr. Crane was married in Lansing, Michigan, June 17, I903, to Miss Addie M. Bayley, a native of Ontario, and a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Glew) Bayley. They have one child, Helen L., born December 29, I904. Dr. Crane is a member of the Michigan State Medical Society and the Gratiot County Medical Society, and also affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the K. O. T. M. M. and the M. W. A. He has been the health officer of North Star township for several years, and was nominated coroner of Gratiot county on the Democratic ticket in the summer of I904. W ILLIAM A. BRADLEY for the past eight years postmaster at Riverlale, Seville township, was born in Liberty, Sullivan county, New York, August 27, I845, son of William and Harriet J. (Fisk) Bradley, natives respectively of Connecticut and Vermont. The parents both died in Brooklyn, New York. There were four, sons and four daughters in the family. William A. Bradley was the youngest son and fourth child. He was reared on the farm in Sullivan county and passed the first thirteen years of his life there, after which he moved with his parents to Brooklyn and lived there for some years. At the age of twenty-two he returned to Sullivan county and engaged in farming there till October, I870, when he went to Michigan, and spent a year in Grand Rapids looking after his father's affairs. From there he went to Gratiot county, and located on 320 acres of wild land in Section 30, Seville township, where he was occupied in lumbering and farming. - He remained there thus employed till I897, and then moved to Riverdale and engaged in the manufacture of shingles. He carries on quite an extensive business, and has mills in both Riverdale and in Isabella county. His appointment as postmaster of Riverdale was one of the causes of his change of residence, and he has ever since been discharging the duties of that office. Mr. Bradley is a supporter of the Republican party. He has also served as road commissioner in Seville township, and is regarded as a reliable and trustworthy official, of much ability. Mr. Bradley was married in Lenawee county, December 29, 1873, to Miss Mary E. Whitney, a native of that county, and a daughter of Chauncey B. and Mary (Birmingham) Whitney. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bradley, Willington, Chandler and Forrest. Mr. Bradley is a member of the order of the Maccabees. Both he and his wife are active in church work. When hardly more than a boy, Mr. Bradley enlisted for service in the Rebellion and continued in the army for about six months. He enlisted in September, I86I, in Company F, Fifty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, and was with his regiment on detached duty with the Eastern army at Washington most of the time. They participated in two engagements which nearly annihilated the regiment and the remnant were finally discharged in New York, with due honors. Mr. Bradley is connected now with Ely Post, Grand Army of Republic. ENNETH MITCHELL. Ability and energy are at a premium in any line of effort, and Kenneth Mitchell, a well io6 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. known agriculturist of Bethany township, Gratiot county, has given abundant evidence of possessing those admirable qualities, and, having made judicious use of every advantage or opportunity, has established himself as one of the substantial farmers of the region. The parents of Kenneth Mitchell, John and Ann Mitchell, were both born in Scotland, the father February 22, 1822, and the mother July I4, 1832. They emigrated from their native land to Canada in 1854, being married in the Dominion, but after about two years' trial of life under the new conditions which faced them there they migrated to the United States. They settled in Michigan, in Gratiot county, where Mr. Mitchell bought land in Lafayette township in Sections 6 and 7, and where the aged couple still make their home. The farm at present comprises 215 acres, of which 175 acres have been brought under a high state of cultivation. Of the five children in the family, all but the eldest were born after the parents left Canada. They are as follows: Kenneth; John, born in I860, who has charge of his father's farm; Anna, Mrs. Jotham Allen; James, a professor of history in Alma College; and Margaret, wife of Rev. Abram J. Van Page, a Presbyterian minister of Chicago. Kenneth Mitchell was born in Ontario, Canada, August 28, 1857, and consequently had not completed his first year when his father and mother removed from Canada to Michigan. He grew to manhood in Lafayette township, and, as he had become accustomed to farm life, naturally gravitated toward that as his permanent occupation. His removal to Bethany township did not occur until after his marriage, in I898, since which time he has resided there on a farm. He is now the owner of I60 acres, and of this tract I20 have already been brought under cultivation. Mr. Mitchell has prospered because of his tireless energy, his wise foresight and prudence, and his progressive spirit and methods. His property bears a number of good buildings and the entire place is kept in fine condition. The marriage of Kenneth Mitchell was solemnized September 15, I898, when he was united to Miss Edith Foster, of Emerson township, whose birthplace was in Shiawassee county, Michigan. Her parents were James and Azelia Foster. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell one child has been born-John Foster. A type of the publicspirited citizen who is alive to every interest of his section and ready to further every movement for its improvement, Mr. Mitchell has naturally taken some part in local affairs, although the only offices which he has held have been in connection with school matters. Some years ago he was initiated into the Masonic fraternity and has remained a stanch member of it. Mr. Mitchell and his wife are both members of the Presbyterian Church. They are popular among their neighbors and are well known and highly esteemed residents of Bethany township. JAMES K. WRIGHT is one of the most popular and successful lawyers of Gratiot county, where he has spent nearly his entire life. He was frequently called upon to fill positions of trust at an earlier day, being for several years a valued official of the United States Land Office at Grayling, Michigan, but has substantially devoted his later years to the practice of his profession. Mr. Wright was born in Parma, Jackson I I1 SI BIOGRAPHICAL MIEMIOIRS OF GRA TIOT COUNTY. 109 county, Michigan, March 3, 1844, son of Deodatus and Serena (Fox) W\right. Deodatus Wright was born April 27, I812, in Williamston, Massachusetts, and when a boy accompanied his,parents to Wayne county, New York, there developing to manhood on his father's farm. In 1837 the fanily migrated to Michigan, leaving the State of New York in the pioneer prairie schooner-in this case drawn by horses. After the long and tedious journey they settled on I60 acres of heavily timbered land included in the present village of Parma. Detroit, one hundred miles away, was the nearest wheat market, and oftentimes, when ready for sale, the grain brought but sixty cents per bushel. Deodatus Wright became prominently identified with the affairs of his township, was justice of the peace for thirty years, and was elected supervisor twelve times. His marriage to Serena Fox occurred October 26, 1836, in Huron, Wayne county, New York, and to their union were born tell children. James K. Wright reached adolescence upon his father's farm, upon which he worked in the summer months, while attending school in the winter terms. At the age of seventeen years he located in Pine River township, of which his uncle, Frederick Wright, was then a resident, and taught a term of school in the "Wright" district. The next summer he passed on his father's farm, and in the winter he again taught school in Pine River township, returning in the summer to the family homestead. The following winter he went to Albion College, where he studied six terms. He employed three years in this manner, and as the family were in modest circumstances the youth was obliged to be his own cook and otherwise 5 practice the strictest economy in order to complete his course there. Mr. Wright was admitted to the bar at Jackson, and in I865 was in the law office of Thomas G. Pray, of Albion. He was admitted to practice in the State courts September 26, 1867, and opened his office at St. Louis December 2d of the same year. Since that time he has continued the prosecution of a large and prosperous practice, which has been interrupted only by his assumption of the public duties incident to the various offices to which he has been called. Mr. Wright is politically a Democrat, but he is popular with men of all parties, as is evidenced by the results at his various elections. In I869 he was elected supervisor of Pine River township, and in the fall of I870 was chosen prosecuting attorney and circuit court commissioner on the Democratic ticket. He was reelected prosecuting attorney in 1874, I876 and 1882, the official term being two years, and discharged the duties of that position to the entire satisfaction of the people. As public prosecutor and private attorney Mr. Wright continued at St. Louis in the prominent practice of his profession until April 14, I888, when he was appointed register of the United States Land Office at Grayling, Michigan. He held that position until October, I890, and in October, I893, was honored with the receivership of the office, discharging its dutiejs until April, I897, when he returned to St. Louis to resume his private practice. Since that date his fellow citizens have chosen him city attorney for two terms. Consequently, Mr. Wright has been honored with his full share of city, township, county and national offices. Besides devoting his abilities to the discharge of a flourishing general practice, Mr. I I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Wright is the proprietor and superintendent of a farm of I60 acres, located about one mile from the city, to the management of which he gives the greater portion of the summer seasons. Fraternally he is connected with the Blue Lodge of Masons, the Royal Arcanum (of which he was a charter member) and the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Wright was married February 20, I870, at Parma, Jackson county, Michigan, to Miss Lorinda Housman, born February 2I, I842, daughter of Henry Housman. Mr. and M\rs. Wright came to St. Louis shortly after their marriage, and there continued to live until the time of MIrs. Wright's death, May Io, 1883. On November 12, 1884, Mr. Wright married Miss Carrie E. Reed, of Chicago, and one daughter, Florence S., has been born to them. JOHN M. EVERDEN, the subject of this sketch, resides in the village of Ithaca, Michigan, where he has lived continuously since 1884. He was born in the township of Wheatfield, Ingham county, this State, on October 5, I854. His parents were married in the State of New York, and two years later came to Michigan, and located in Ingham county. In the spring of I855, they removed to Emerson township, Gratiot county, where Oscar A. Everden, the father of John M., had located one hundred and twenty acres of land, upon which the family continued to reside till I859, when they moved to St. Louis, Gratiot county, where the father entered the employ of Clark & Hillyer, who were then operating a sawmill at that point. The family remained at St. Louis till the year 1867, when they returned to the farm in Emerson township. This farm was subsequently sold', and another purchased in the same township upon which the subject of our sketch resided with his parents until the time of his marriage. Oscar A. Everden, the father of John M. Everden, died at St. Louis, Gratiot county, March 26, 1903, at the age of eighty-three years. At the time of his death he was living with his son, Oscar M. Everden, the editor and proprietor of the RCpltblicant Lcader. Oscar A. Everden was the second supervisor of Emerson township, and, as such, assisted largely in distributing provisions which were sent in from the older portions of the State to assist those who were in want during the period known as "the donation times." John M. Everden began teaching school at the age of twenty and taught during the winters until he was thirty years of age. He was married to Jennie E. Van Buskirk, at Saginaw, Michigan, on April I9, 1883. She was a daughter of Ira and D. A. Van Buskirk, natives of New York, and was born in Syracuse, New York, on September 20, I862. In I884 they moved to Ithaca, where they continued to reside until the death of his wife, which occurred October 29, I891. Mr. Everden has one sister, Mrs. Cassie Smith, now a resident of Salem, Oregon, and had one brother, Oscar M\., who died in May, I904, at St. Louis, where he had been engaged for several years in the newspaper business. His mother, Harriet J. Everden. now seventy-eight }years old, resides in her own home in Ithaca, near the home of her son. She is in full possession of all her faculties, and gives but little evidence of the privations of pioneer life in Gratiot county through which she has passed. On November 12, I895, Mr. Everden was married (second) to Frances G. Husted, of BIOGRAPHICAL iMElMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY, II Buffalo, New York. She was born in the city of Buffalo in 1869, and is a daughter of Frank and Angie Husted, of that city, and is a cousin to Mr. Everden's first wife. She is a graduate of the Buffalo high school, the State Normal School of Buffalo, and at the time of her marriage was a teacher in the public schools of Lockport, New York. Mr. Everden has one child, a daughter, Jennie Edith, seven years of age. Politically Mr. Everden is a stanch Republican. and has held several offices, having been elected supervisor of Emerson township for the years I877-78-79, and also for the year I883. He has also held the office of justice of the township of Ithaca eight years, and supervisor one year. In 1892 he was elected Judge of the Probate Court of Gratiot county and held the office four years. Mr. Everden is a member of several fraternal organizations, and especially the Masonic order, he having been \Vorshipfttl Master of Ithaca Lodge, No. 123, Free and Accepted Masons, for eight years; Thrice Illustrious M\aster of the Council one year; High Priest of Ithaca Chapter, No. 40, for three years; and Eminent Commander of Ithaca Conmandery, No. 40, for three years. Mr. Everden began the study of law while he was teaching school, and in the year I887 was admitted to the Bar of Gratiot county, since which time he has been in the active practice of the law, and has a large and lucrative practice. ALBA E. SEXTON, highway commissioner of Bethany township, was born on a farm in Huron county, Ohio, October 29, I853, son of Hiram and Adeline (Root) Sexton, natives of the State named. The parents came to Gratiot county, Michigan, in the winter of 1872, and settled in Wheeler township, where the village of Breckenridge now stands. There Mrs. Sexton died, August 3, I879, when upward of forty years of age, -while Mr. Sexton still survives, a resident of that place, seventy-three years of age. He was born in 1832. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Sexton, besides Alba E., the eldest, were as follows: Frank, a stock buyer of Breckenridge; Alice, married to Philip McCallum;, of London, Ontario; Elver, living at Breckenridge; Cora, wife of Jack McFarlane, of Glencoe, Ontario; and Cassie, Mrs. Arthur Stetzler, also a resident of Breckenridge. Of the paternal grandparents, Platt Sexton was a native of Vermont and removed to Ohio, where he (lied; Adelia (Webb) Sexton, his wife, passed her last years in Breckenridlge, M ichigan. Alba E. Sexton spent the early years of his life on his father's farm in Huron county, Ohio, and came to Gratiot county when nineteen years old. For several years he assisted his father in his sawmill in Breckenridge, working in the woods during the winter months, and then removed to Lake View, Montcalm county, Michigan, and engaged in the livery business, in which he continued for about six months. He then located in Wheeler township, Gratiot county, four years later removing to St. Louis, where he also resided one year. Mr. Sexton next settled on a farm on Section 22, Bethany township, which he still owns, and for several years he conducted farming during the summers, while working in the mill and in the woods in the winters. In I895 he purchased the farm which he now owns,, a well improved, Ioo-acre 112 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. tract on Section 26. Mr. Sexton's land is nearly all under the plow, and its appearance is greatly improved by one of the finest sets of buildings in the township. Mr. Sexton was married in St. Louis, Michigan, December 3, 1875, to Miss Hattie Wheeler, born in August, 1855, in Chautauqua county, New York, daughter of Aaron and Lucy (Landon) Wheeler, old settlers of Gratiot county, who located in Bethany township. Mr. Wheeler died July 26, I896, at the age of seventy-five years, and he left seven children, of whom Mrs. Sexton was the fourth child. To Mr. and Mrs. Sexton have been born: Seth C., Maude M., Blanche L. and Jessie. Alba E. Sexton has been school director for three years and also highway commissioner, holding the latter office at the present time. He takes much interest in the affairs of his township and upholds the principles of the Democratic party. He and his wife and children are members of the First M. E. Church. Mr. Sexton is a man of practical ideas and has found that they have brought him success. As a business man and as a citizen he is held in the highest esteem in his home community. JOSEPH F. SARTOR, SR., one of the highly esteemed residents of Alma, Michigan, is a survivor of the Civil war. He was born July 17, I838, in Wurtemberg, Germany, son of Joseph Sartor, and came to America with his mother and step-father. They first settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where Joseph F. reached mature years. In July, I862, at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Regiment, Penn I sylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served about ten months. Mr. Sartor had learned the miller's trade, and after receiving his discharge from the army took up that occupation, following it in Canada and later in Elgin, Illinois, where he operated a mill for ten years. In 1877 he settled in Alma, Michigan, and engaged in the same business until his retirement, in I893. Mr. Sartor was married in Elgin, Illinois, October I6, I866, to Selma Hartel, also a native of Germany, and they had the following named children: Emma, Christine, Selma, Joseph F., Jr., Bertha, Mary, and Henry. The two last named died in infancy. Mr. Sartor is a charter member of Alma Lodge, No. 238, I. O. O. F., and is a past grand, having passed all the chairs. JOSEPH F. SARTOR, JR., a progressive young business man of Alma, Michigan, is the junior member of the firm of Brown & Sartor, publishers of the Alma Journal. Mr. Sartor was born July 17, I870, in Elgin, Illinois, son of Joseph F. and Selma (Hartel) Sartor. In 1877 Mr. Sartor came to Alma with his parents, and there he has since resided. He received his education in the common schools and the Alma high school, and learned the printer's trade of Charles F. Brown, under the supervision of Caris Brown, his present partner. He was employed in the office of the Alma Record for eleven years, in June, I904, forming the partnership with Caris Brown by which he became one of the publishers of the wellknown Alma Journal. Mr. Sartor was married in Alma, December 3I, I894, to Miss Leva Dean, who was ont, 2: -'11 — l/ I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I I5 born in Alma September 13, I875, a daughter of James and Mary (Merchant) Dean, both of whom are deceased. To this union have been born the following named children: Caris V., Charles B. and Stanley L. Fraternally Mr. Sartor is connected with the I. O. 0. F. and the Knights of Pythias, and is past chancellor of FitzJames Lodge, No. 95, K. P. For six years lie was foreman of Hose Company No. 2, Alma fire (lepartment, being an active volunteer fireman, and is still in the city service. HENRY BODFISH, ex-supervisor of Bethany township, is a highly esteemed and representative citizen of Gratiot county, Michigan. HIe was born on a farm in Onondaga county, New York, April I8, 1843, son of Oliver and Sarah (Walker) Bodfish, both of whom died in Onondaga county, New York, leaving two children, namely: Mary Ann and Henry, who was the youngest. Mary Ann Bodfish became the wife of David Southard, of Madison county, New York. Henry Bodfish was reared on his father's farm and lived at home until twenty years of age, when he enlisted, in December, 1863, in Company A, Tenth New York Cavalry, serving until the close of the war. He then returned to his home, where he remained about one year, and in April, 1867, located in Midland county, Michigan. He worked at sawmilling until I878, and then located in Gratiot county, settling on the farm which he now occupies. This land he had previously purchased and it was in a wild state when our subject settled down to cultivate it. Not only has he cleared and improved this eighty-acre tract, but he also owns I60 acres of land in Gladwin county. Mir. Bodfish was married, in St. Louis,:Michigan, September 8, I874, to Miss Emma Gould, born in Canada, a daughter of Seth Gould, also a native of Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Bodfish are the parents of seven surviving children: John; George; Sarah, the wife of John Husted; Mattie, the wife of Charles Watson, a merchant of Breckenrilge; Frank; Lida, and Burr. Two children, Lura and Emma, died in infancy. Mr. Bodfish was supervisor of Bethany township for three years, and takes a great interest in township affairs, voting with the Democratic party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. JAMES EDGAR, the owner of a finely cultivated farm of 128 acres in Emerson township, is one of the good farmers and substantial citizens of Gratiot county. He was born November 14, I857, in County Elgin, Ontario, son of Stewart and Margaret (Dunn) Edgar, natives of Scotland, who came from County Elgin, Ontario, to Gratiot county, Michigan, in the fall of I865, and settled on Section 2, Emerson township, where they spent the remainder of their lives, Mr. Edgar dying when about seventy-six years old, and his wife passing away when about seventy years old. They had seven children: Ellen, Jane, Stewart, James, William, Mary and John. James Edgar came to Gratiot county with his parents, since which time he has been a resident of Emerson township. He has always followed agricultural pursuits, and is the owner of a fine farm of 128 acres, Ioo acres of which he has under cultivation. He has erected good, substantial buildings, and a well-situated, comfortable home, and he is classed with the leading farmers of his I16 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. section. He was married in St. Louis, Michigan, November 14, I88I, to Miss Susan White, born in England, dalughter of the late Robert and Anna White, of Vheeler township. To this marriage have been born these children: William T., Archie, Walter, Anna, Ada and Richard. Mr. Edgar is a Republican in politics. He is one of the honest, upright and much esteemed citizens of his township, and withal a good farmer. FRANK WELLING, one of the representative farmers of Wheeler township, Gratiot county, has a fine farm of eighty acres on Section 14. He was born in Oregon township, Lapeer county, Michigan, May 19, 1854, son of John and Leapha (Hunt) \Velling, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of New York. John Welling (lied in Genesee county, Michigan, and his wife in Lapeer county, same State. Our subject was the third member of their family of five children, his brothers and sisters being as follows: Eugene, a farmer of Bethany township; Mary, wife of E. B. Clark, a resident of Oklahoma; Marcellus, who (lied at the age of five; and Zulema, who married A. O. Bacon, and lives in Lapeer county, Michigan. Frank Welling was reared in Lapeer county on his father's farm, upon which he lived until sixteen years of age, in I876 taking up I60 acres of government land in Wheeler township, Gratiot county, on Section I4. He was married March 8, I877, to Miss Kittie Eager, daughter of James and Hulda (Kemp) Ealger, who were among the earliest settlers of Gratiot county. He died in Gratiot county at the age of sixty-one years, while his wife passed away in Isa age. They had six children, and of this family Mrs. Welling was the fourth child. She was reared in St. Louis, Michigan, where she was educated in the common schools. Mrs. WNelling is a woman of many personal charms, and enjoys the friendship of many who love her many estimable traits of character. These children have been born to her and her husband: Clarence S., Eugene J., Lottie B. and Francis B. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. WVelling located on his farm in Wheeler township, where they have since resided. He owns eighty acres of good land, sixty acres of which are cultivated, and his farm is improved with a good set of buildings. Mr. Welling has held the office of highway commissioner and school treasurer, and is a public spirited citizen, taking an earnest interest in all that pertains to the development of the community. He is a member of the Maccabees. ELSON G. FOX, one of the well known citizens and extensive farmers of North Star township, Gratiot county, Michigan, where he owns a fine farm of 240 acres, was born M\ay 14, I844, at Bristol, Ontario county, New York, son of John W. and Martha P. (Hatch) Fox. John W. Fox was born in Connecticut and (lied in Kent county, Michigan, aged sixty-six years. His wife was born in New York and (lied in Essex township, Clinton county, Michigan, in I885, aged seventyseven years. Both John W. Fox and his brother Henry served in the war of I812. Nelson G. Fox was the fifth in a family of eight children, the others being as follows: Christopher C. is a carpenter resid bella county in the thirty-third year of her I ing in Steuben county, New York; Freelove BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRA 'O10T COUNTY. II7 A. married Frank Lee and lives in Bristol, New York; Esther Ann, deceased, married William Miller; Abbie is the wife of Isaac F. Donaldson, a farmer of Essex, Michigan; George V. is a prominent farmer living at Maple Rapids, Michigan; Marilla P., deceased, married L. H. Pees, who served with her brother Nelson G. in the army; and Allie J. is Mrs. Isaac Warren, her husband being a farmer and resident of Maple Rapids, Michigan. Nelson G. Fox passed his boyhood in Ontario county, New York, and was sixteen years old w-hen he accompanied his parents to Grattan, Kent county, MIichigan, in the fall of I86o. The change was not beneficial to his father, the latter dying March 6, I86i. After the death of the father the mother (lecidled to return to her friends in Ontario county, and Nelson G., then a youth of screnteen, accompanied her; but he immediately returned to Kent county, and in the fall of I86i enlisted in Company C, Thirteenth MIichigan Volunteer Infantry, and served from October until April, 1862, when he was discharged for disability. By the following fall he had regained his normal health, and, re-enlisting in Company M, Sixth Mlichigan Volunteer Cavalry, he served until July 9, I865, when he was honorably (lischarge(l at Leavenworth, Kansas. Mr. Fox returned to Kent county, Michigan, where lie and his mother, who had returned to that State, lived on a farm for two years, his health being delicate during all that period. On complete recovery he was employed at farm work for a time, and then as a clerk at Greenville. In the fall of I872 he remnovedl to Clinton county, \lichigan, where he purclhased a farm of eighty acres in Essex township, remaining there until \March, I893, when he sold the property and came to Gratiot county. He purchased 240 acres in North Star township and has resided on this farm ever since, devoting his time to its development and improvement. Mr. Fox was married February 22, I874, in Clinton county, to Miss Hattie A. Eldridge, born May 27, I855, in Essex township, a daughter of Rodney and Henrietta (Nearing) Eldridge. Rodney Eldridge was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, a member of Company A, Twentythird Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and was killed at Stone Mountain, Tennessee, in Septelmber, I864, while engaged on a foraging expedition. Mrs. Fox was the eldest of his four children. Mr. and Mrs. Fox have had four children, namely: Martha L. is the wife of Edward E. Unger; they live on part of the present homestead, and are the parents of two children, Ethel M. and Hattie L. Cora -. is the wife of John R. Allen, residing on an adjoining farnl, and they have two daughters, Elsa M. and Jennie B. Dora A. married Henry Hull, who has a harness shop at Aslhley, Michigan. Leon A. died in infancy. Mr. Fox has always affiliated with the Republican party. He is a member of Charles E. Grison Post, G. A. R., of St. John's, Michigan. Since taking up his residence in the county he has served as school inspector and has been identified with all movements looking to the welfare of his section. He has been connecteld, as collector and solicitor, with the Farmers MIutual Fire Insurance Comipany of Gratiot and Clinton counties, and has been a notary public since January, Ic05. ii8 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUlNTY. CARIS BROWN, senior member of the well-known firm of Brown & Sartor, publishers of the Alma Journal, is a very prominent and enterprising citizen of Alma, Michigan, and was born July 25, I869, in Eagle township, Clinton county, Michigan, the only child of Henry and Carrie A. (Roberts) Brown. The early years of his life were passed in Clinton county, and in Portland, Michigan, where he attended school and assisted his father on the farm. Alt the age of nineteen years he located at Alma and commenced work as "printer's devil" in the office of the Alna Record, of which C. F. Brown was proprietor. He learned the printing business and remained in the employ of Mr. Brown until the latter disposed of the paper, in I903. Caris Brown had, in the meanwhile, become local editor and manager, and he remained as such until June, I904, when he resigned to form a partnership with Joseph F. Sartor, Jr., and purchased the Alma Journ1al from I. J. Goodenow & Son. The Jolurnal is a strictly Republican paper, and under Mr. Brown's management has become one of the most influential organs in that section of the State, having well-written editorials and reliable news ga'thered from all over the world. It has a circulation of over twelve hundred, and it is the aim of the proprietors to make the publication a necessity in every household, there being every reason to believe that their efforts will prove entirely successful. Mr. Brown was appointed the agent of the Pacific Express Company in June, I904. He has also served as township clerk in Arcada township, being elected ini the spring of I904. Fraternally he is a member of Fitz James Lodge, No. I 95, Knights of Pythias, in which he has held most of the offices, and he is past chancellor of the local organization. It was through Mr. Brown's efforts that a company of the Uniformed Rank of the Knights was organized in Alma. He remained its captain until the spring of I905, when, on account of other duties of a pressing nature, he was obliged to refuse another term. Politically Mr. Brown has always acted with the Republican party, being a strong adherent to its principles, and contributing in no small measure to its local success. Caris Brown was married in Riverdale, Gratiot county, June 7, I902, to Miss Florence Strong, born in Seville township, that county, August 31, I88o, a daughter of xV. D. and Ola (Adams) Strong. ELLIS A. POTTER, the able supervisor ot Sumner township, Gratiot county, and one of its best known citizens, owns a fine farm of I6o acres, in Section I, and was born in Cortland county, New York, March I7, 1854, son of Jonathan and Betsy (Pierce) Potter, both of whom died in New York State. The father passed away in September, i865, at the age of sixty-two, and the mother in I902, aged eighty-seven years. They were both identified with the Christian Church. Besides Ellis A., the children of Jonathan Potter and his wife, were as follows: George H., deceased; Orrin, a farmer of Cortland county, New York; Lucinda, deceased wife of Cortland Clapp of Kalamazoo, M\ichigan; Reuben, an agriculturist of Tioga county, New York: Mary Ann, 'Mrs. \allace Norwood, living in Cortland county, New York; Stephen, engaged in the hotel business at Mt. Pleas N A BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNT3Y. 121 I ant, Michigan; and Lindon, a gardener residing at Waverly, Pennsylvania. Ellis A. Potter was the youngest in the family, and he received his education in the commnon schools of his native place. He remained at home until I87I when he located in St. Louis, Michigan, where for one year he was employed by his brother as clerk in his hotel, passing the same length of time in his brother's Mt. Pleasant hostelry, and then removing to Alma. There he remained one year and returned to Mt. Pleasant, later purchasing forty acres of land in Section I I, Sumner township, upon which he has since resided, and which he has improved with commodious barns and out-buildings. Mr. Potter was married April 4, 1875, in St. Louis, Michigan, to Miss Nettie Townsend, (laughter of Homer L. and Ruby (Pierson) Townsend. MIrs. Potter was born in Sumner township, July 14, I859, and her parents were among the pioneers of Gratiot county, her father being the first sheriff thereof. Mr. and Mrs. Potter have had two children: a daughter that died in infancy; and Myron A., a farmer of Sumner towniship, who married Lotta Woodard. Mr. Potter has held the office of justice of the peace for fifteen years. He has also filled the position of township treasurer for two years. He was appointed supervisor of Sumner township in December, I902, and elected in the spring of 1903, I904 and I905. As a man of means and good judgment, he is prominent in all the public matters of his township, and may always be found casting his influence in favor of progressive movements which promise to be of permanent benefit to his locality. Fraternally he affil iates dent neer with Alma Lodge, No. 238, IndepenOrder of Odd Fellows, and with PioGrange, Patrons of Husbandry. JAMIES SHAVER. Among the selfmade men of Gratiot county, who have won their way in the world through their tireless energy and force of character, may be mentioned James Shaver, the owner of an eighty-acre farm in Emerson township. He was born March 17, 1855, in County Middlesex, Ontario, son of Robert and Anna (Riddle) Shaver. Robert Shaver was born in County Middlesex, and (lied there, while his wife, who was born in Scotland, still survives. They had twelve children, of which family our subject was the fourth member. Mr. Shaver was reared on his father's farm in County Middlesex and lived there unltil twenty-five years of age, when lie located in Gratiot county, Michigan, at the time being the possessor of but twenty-five cents. He found employment at farm labor, at which he worked for about two years. On September 15, I880, he was united in marriage with Miss Nancy J. Pepple, born March 13, I86t, in HIancock county, Ohio, daughter of Jesse and Ellen (Bibler) Pepple, natives of Pennsylvania. Of a family of three children Mrs. Shaver was the second child. A'fter marriage Mr. and Mrs. Shaver located on his present eighty-acre farm, which he has now nearly all improved. He has put up fine buildings, and is classed among the good, practical, hustling farmers of Gratiot county. These children have been born to him and his wife: Anna E., the wife of Robert Gamble; Susie I., the I22 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. wife of John Stahl; Mary E.; Maggie J.; Robert J.; Archie W. and Ella M. Fraternally Mr. Shaver is connected with Emerson Lodge, No. 375, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Peterman Tent, No. 290, Knights of the Modern Maccabees. T HEODORE SNYDER, who is engaged in carrying on agricultural operations on his farm of sixty acres in Lafayette township, Gratiot county, was born August 27, I844, in Cattaraugus county, New York, son of Lorenzo and Julia Ann (Brown) Snyder, the former of whom died aged fifty years, wvhile the latter survives at an advance(l age. They had six children, of which our subject was the third. When he was two years old Theodore Snyder was brought by his parents from Cattaraugus county, New York, to Calhoun county, Michigan, where he grew to manhood, and engaged in farming. He was married in Calhoun county, January I, 1863, to Anthunett Vanness, born in Orlens county, New York, September 5, 1842, and to this union these children w-ere born: Merion, the wife of Wenciell \Vorth; Daniel; George; Viola, the wife of John Eastman, and Adelbert. Mrs. Snyder is the daughter of William Henry and Nancy Maria (Pease) Vanness, the former of whom (lied aged sixty-five years, in Eaton county, Michigan, while the latter died aged seventythree years, at the home of her (laughter, Mrs. Snyder, in Lafayette township. They had eight children, and of this family SMrs. Snyder was the second child. In February, I885, Theodore Snyder came to Gratiot county, and settled on Section 2, where he bought eighty acres of land. He now owns sixty acres, which he has improved wtith substantial buildings. Mr. Snyder has held the office of justice of the peace for three terms, and takes a great deal of interest in the affairs of his township. He is a member of Breckenridge Lodge No. 406, Free and Accepted MIasons. Mr. Snyder has devoted his whole life to agricultural pursuits, and is considered one of the progressive farmers of Gratiot county, his practical methods having been productive of excellent results. He enjoys an enviable reputation as a man of integrity and reliability. ADAM JOHNSTONE, the progressive and enterprising proprietor of a mercantile business, and supervisor of Wheeling township, a position he has held since I900, was born in County Leeds, Ontario, May 22, I862, son of Adam and Ann (Moran) Johnstone, natives, respectively, of Scotland and Canada, the family being of Scotch-Irish extraction. The father died in Caro, Tuscola county, Michigan, in the year I88i, at the age of seventy-one years; the mother still resides there aged seventy-two. Mr. Johnstone was a Presbyterian; his widow is a stanch Methodist. These children were born to their union: James, a miner at Dawson City, Alaska; John, a blacksmith of Cripple Creek, Colorado; Grace, who married Robert Oliver, and died at the age of thirty; Adam; and Marguerita, Mrs. Frank B. Ransford, of Tuscola, Michigan. Adam Johnstone was brought to Michigan when an infant of two years, his father conducting a blacksmithing business in Tuscola county. He was reared in Caro, that county, until he reached the age of eighteen years, and received a common school education. After leaving Caro le located in BIOGRAPHICAL MElMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 123 Kansas City, Missouri, where he opened a blacksmith shop, having learned the trade with his father. He remained in Kansas City only one year, leaving there for Wheeler township, Gratiot county, Michigan, where he was employed in a stave-mill for six years. In I887 he engaged in a mercantile business in \Vheeler township, in which he has since continued. For four years Mr. Johnstone was connected with the Breckenridge Milling Co. He has also been engaged in the hay and grain business, and owns and cultivates 200 acres of improved land, of which forty acres are in Wheeler township, and IG6 acres in Mason county, Michigan. In the spring of 900o Mr. Johnstone was elected supervisor of \Wheeler township, antd still holds that office. He was township clerk for seven years and township treasurer for one year, and has always been identified with the Democratic party in this section. Fraternally he is associated with the Miasonic order (Chapter and Council) and the Knights of the M\odern Maccabees. His agricultural interests connect him with the Ancient Order of Gleaners. Mr. Johnstone was married in Wheeler township, January I, 1888, to Mrs. Lois J. Blackman, widow of Orrin Blackman, and has one son, Harold A. M!r. Johnstone is a business man of the highest rank, and is pronounced by his friends and associates an able and honest citizen. SAMUEL BARNES, one of the leading farmers of North Star township, Gratiot county, owns a fine farm of I6o acres in Section 20, which lie has improved with attractive buildings of modern architecture and substantial character. Mr. Barnes was born May I9, 1854, near Jackson, Jackson county, Mlichigan, son of William and Susanna (Bates) Barnes, natives of England, who came to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania, where they lived ~for two years before coming to Gratiot county. William Barnes died at the age of forty-five years, while his wife was one year younger at the time of her demise. They were the parents of eleven children, of wlhom our subject was the next to the youngest. Samuel Barnes was reared in North Star township. He grew up on a farm and has been an agriculturist all his life. His parents having both died when hle was twelve years of age, Mr. Barnes started out in life for himself working by the month and year at farm labor until his twenty-secondl year. At the end of that time he married and settled on forty acres of land, which had been left him by his father, on Section 19, North Star township. After four years Mr. Barnes sol(l this farm, and purchased eighty acres in Section 20, wliclh Ilis perseverance, taste andl indlustry have converted into one of the most attractive and valuable homes in the township. AMr. Barnes was married May 5, 1877, to Miss Sophronie Barnes, born in England, daughter of John and Susan (\Vatson) Barnes, and one child has been born to this union, Hazel. Of Mr. Barnes' I6o acres, about 130 are under a fine state of cultivation. He is one of the responsible men of his locality, one wlholm his fellow citizens admire and trust. He has filled a number of the township offices with much credit. Mr. Barnes is well known throughout North Star townsllhip and justly bears a reputation which a life of integrity and public usefulness has given him. The appreciation shown him by 124 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. his fellow citizens is grateful to him, as it is to anyone who has done his full duty. He is one of North Star township's representative men. JONATHAN NICHOLSON McCALL was born on the 28th of September, 1857, in Nelson, Portage county, Ohio. His father was William Wallace McCall, a farmer, and his mother, Mary A. McCall. His grandfather, Joseph McCall, came from Middletown, Connecticut, in I820, and settled in Nelson township, where he resided until the time of his death. His grandfather on his mother's side, James Knowlton, came with his parents from Blandford, Massachusetts, and settled in the same township. The McCalls were descendants of Scotch ancestry, who came to the New England States in an early day, a branch of the family subsequently settling in New York. The subject of this sketch obtained his elementary education in the public schools of his native township. Subsequently he attended Nelson Academy and Garrettsville High School, and in 1875 entered Mount Union College, at Alliance, Ohio, in which institution, with the exception of the first two terms, he bore the entire expense of his own education, which he did by teaching school winters and working on the farm in the summer. After four years of collegiate instruction he graduated with the class of I88I, of which he was valedictorian. In his Senior year he was managing editor of the class publication, the "Unonian" and during part of his college course he acted as a tutor. Immediately after graduation, he was engaged as principal of the Northfield schools; the following year accepted a position as superintendent of the schools at \Vindham, Ohio, and the next year was elected superintendent at Newton Falls, Ohio, which position he held until the spring of I885, when he was elected superintendent of the schools at Ithaca, Michigan, where he has ever since resided. He continued to hold this position until the spring of I892, when he resigned to enter the newspaper field, and purchased the Gratiot County Herald. This was a Democratic paper, which he transformed into an independent paper, and so continued it until September 14, I894, when it became a stanch Republican organ, in conformity with the lifelong principles of its editor. Two years later, the Gratiot County Journal, for many years the Republican paper of the county, espoused the cause of Bryan, and renounced its former Republicanism, thus leaving the Herald the only Republican paper in Gratiot county, located at the county seat. With the field thus open to him, by persistent application to business, wide acquaintance and systematic effort, Mr. McCall has succeeded in constantly increasing the circulation of the Herald, until from having one thousand subscribers when he took the paper, in 1892, it now has four thousand, and is recognized not only as the leading newspaper of Gratiot county, but one of the largest and most influential county weeklies in the State. Mr. McCall has repeatedly been a delegate to county and State Republican conventions, and was alternate delegate at large from the State of Michigan to the national convention at Philadelphia in I900. He has taken part in every political campaign in the discussion of political questions in his own county, and for the last ten years has been employed by the State Central Com J. N. McCALL. A BIOGRAPHICAL MEIMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 127 mittee as one of the State speakers. He has served for ten years as a member of the County Republican Committee, during a part of which time he was its secretary. He was a delegate to the Eleventh District Congressional Convention in 1900, and presented to the Convention the name of Hon. A. B. Darragh, the successful candidate. In I904 he was again chairman of the delegation to the Congressional convention, and again nominated Mr. Darragh, and succeeded for the first time in the history of the district in breaking the two-term rule. He is at present chairman of the Congressional committee. In the winter of I905 he was chairman of the delegation to the Twentyninth Judicial Convention, and presented the name of Kelly S. Searl, the successful candidate, to this convention. He is chairman of the Judicial committee. For ten years Mr. McCall has been a member of the Republican Newspaper Association of Michigan, of which organization he has been vice-president, and for several years a member of the Executive committee. Since entering the newspaper profession, fourteen years ago, he has been a member of the Michigan Press Association, of which organization he was president in 900o, and has been continuously a member of the Executive committee for many years. In the spring of 900o he was a delegate from the State Press Association to the National Press Association at New Orleans; in the summer of 1905 Mr. McCall and his son, Webb, took the celebrated trip to Halifax with this association. He has never sought election to any political office, but has served as a member of the school board; as a member of the village council; as president of the village, and is greatly interested in all edu cational enterprises and undertakings which tend to build up his home town. On March 3, I903, he became postmaster of Ithaca, receiving his commission from President Roosevelt. Mr. McCall is a member of Ithaca Lodge No. 123, Free and Accepted Masons, in wlhich he has held all the offices, including that of Master. He is also a member of Ithaca Chapter, No. 70, Royal Arch Masons, of which he has been high priest. He is a past chancellor of Ithaca Knights of Pythias Lodge; a member of the Odd Fellows, belonging to Rising Star Lodge; of Ithaca Tent, Knights of the Modern Maccabees; the Loyal Guards; and the Modern Woodmen of America. On August 24, I882, Mr. McCall was married (first) to Margaret Frances Webb at Tallmadge, Ohio. She died on March 31, I893, the mdther of one child, Wallace Webb McCall, who was born August 20, 1890, and still survives. On November I3, I894, Mr. McCall was again married, to Harriet Watson Richardson, from which union there have resulted six children: Harriet Irene, born August 22, 1895; Thelma Margaret, born December 25, 1896; Jonathan Watson, born September 28, 1898; Rolnayne, born August 8, 900o; George, born July 13, I902, and Genevieve, born October 3, I904. ERNEST JAMES McCALL, business manager of the Gratiot County Hcrald, residing at Ithaca, was for several years in the teaching profession before he entered the field of journalism. He is the youngest son of William Wallace and Mary A. McCall, and was born in Nelson, Ohio, August 30, 1873. I28 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUN7TY. Mr. McCall's youthful years were spent on his father's farm and in attending the country school near his home. In the fall of I886 he entered the Nelson high school. from which he was graduated with the class of 1890. In the following autumn he entered Mount Union College, at Alliance, Ohio, where he completed his school work. Soon after his father's death in May, I893, Mr. McCall, accompanied by his mother, came to Gratiot county, they making their home with his brother, J. N. McCall, of Ithaca. For a short time he was in the employ of the latter, who was publisher of the Gratiot County Herald. During the winter of I893-94 Mr. McCall was a teacher in the North Shade center school, but was a student at Mount Union College during the summer and fall terms. Returning to Gratiot he taught the Washington center school in the spring of 1894-95, and then assumed the principalship of the Breckenridge schools for two years. On August 4, 1898, Mr. McCall was united in marriage to Miss Luella M. \Watson, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. C. S. Watson, of Breckenridge. They have one child, Almon Watson, born on January 29, I905. Mr.l and Mrs. McCall located first at Alliance, Ohio, but in the same fall moved to Edinburg, Ohio, where Mr. McCall was engaged as principal of the public schools. There they remained until November 9, I900, when Mr. McCall resigned his position to enter the newspaper business, for which work he had formed a liking in his brother's office, and also while business manager of "The Dynamo," a publication of Mount Union College. Hie entered into a partnership with W. M. Comstock, of Ithaca, Michigan, and bought the Oconto County Reporter, the leading paper of Oconto, Wisconsin. There by hard work and able management the firm established an excellent business. In the fall of I904 Mr. McCall sold his interest in the Reportcr and associated himself with his brother, J. N. McCall, buying an interest in the Gratiot Counlty Hcrald, and on December I, 1904, assuming the business management of the paper. ACOB WOLFGANG, a well-known citizen and successful farmer of Wheeler township, Gratiot county, was born in Wells county, Indiana, December 2, 1848, third of the five children of Jacob and Mary (Foust) Wolfgang, the former of whom died in April, I902, in his eighty-second year, while the mother still survives. Jacob Wolfgang was reared in Wells county, Indiana, where he spent the early years of his life working on a farm, and attending school during the winter months. In 1863, when fifteen years old, Mr. Wolfgang enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served seven months, being honorably discharged with his regiment. After the war he returned to Wells county, and continued to engage in farm work. In September, 1872, le was married to Miss Mary Staver, born in Montgomery county, Ohio, June 27, I85I, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Rhodes) Staver. After marriage Mr. Wolfgang engaged in farming on his own account, and also worked in a hub and spoke factory at Hartford City, Indiana, prior to I876, in November of which year he came to Gratiot county, and, locating in North Shade township, rented a farm upon which he resided BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I29 for nearly a year. Mr. Wolfgang, then located in \\heeler township, where he has since been a resident. He owns I40 acres of land, Ioo of which are under the plow, and he has erected a good, modern residence on the premises. Mr. Wolfgang lost a fine barn by fire in November, I9oI. To Mr. Wolfgang and his estimable wife have been born these children: Estella M., the wife of Fred \Voodcock; Jonathan H.; Annetta E., the wife of George E. Brown; Bessie B., the wife of Frank Seymour; Murray E.; Dora, and Alger, who died in infancy. For many years Mr. Wolfgang has h1eld the office of school director in his district. He is a member of Billy Cruson Post No. 347, Grand Army of the Republic, and is a valued comrade of that post. His shrewd business methods have placed him among the foremost business men of his township, and he is highly respected by all who know him. F1RANK M. PEET,,the owner of a fine farm of eighty acres on Section 32, Lafayette township, Gratiot county, Michigan, was born November 22, 1852, in Rochester, Lorain county, Ohio, son of Rolla A. and Mary (Odell) Peet, the latter of whom died September 24, I88I, in Lafayette township. The grandparents of our subject, John and Betsey (Clark) Peet, were natives of Connecticut and New York, respectively. The former was a farmer by occupation, but also engaged in working at the trade of shoemaker. Rolla A. Peet was born August I8, I830, in New York State, and until nearly twentyone years of age worked on his father's farm. In 1834 he went to Ohio with his parents, and there worked on a farm until he had reached his majority. He married Mary Odell, daughter of Nathan and Betsey (Wright) Odell, and resided for a time at Lorain, Ohio. While there he enlisted in Company B, First Ohio Light Artillery, in 1864, being mustered out in 1865 at Camp Dennison, Ohio. Returning home he engaged in the dairy business for one year, when he sold his farm and came to Michigan. He first settled on 300 acres in Kent county, and in 1875 became a resident of Gratiot county, settling in Lafayette township. Mr. Peet had six children by his first wife, namely: Frank M.; Odell, mentioned elsewhere; Gertrude, wife of Elezer Russell, a farmer of Lafayette township; Lois M., who married Wilson Broadbeck, a farmer of Hamilton township; Benjamin J.; and Anna, wife of Jackson Russell, also a farmer. The mother of this family died in I88I, and Mr. Peet married (second) Miss Ida M. Fuller, born in Eaton county, Michigan, September 17, 1865, daughter of James and Polly (Shance) Fuller. Frank M. Peet came with his parents to Kent county, Michigan, in 1867, and lived in Caledonia township and the vicinity thereabouts until I880. He engaged in farming there, and while in that county married, May 2, 1875, Miss Lena Vandenberg, born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, March I6, 1856, daughter of John and Ida (VanHousen) Vandenberg, natives of the Netherlands. In January, I88o, Mr. Peet came to Gratiot county, and settled on Section 32, Lafayette township, upon which he has lived ever since, with the exception of two years he spent in the hotel business at Ithaca, where he operated the old "Commercial House," destroyed by fire many years ago. 130 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Mr. Peet's farm is one of the finest in his district, being well cultivated, and improved with substantial buildings, and under his careful management has become very productive. To Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Peet the following children have been born: Ida D., who became the wife of Burdett Muffley, and at his death married (second) Wilson Schaub; Rolla I.; Mary A.; Gertrude L., and Cordelia E. Mr. Peet has held the office of justice of the peace for seven years; has been a member of the board of review for two years; township treasurer for two years, and has been school director for twenty-two years. He has also been deputy sheriff for six years. He is one of the stanch Democrats of this section and takes a great interest in township and county affairs. Mr. Peet is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in both of which he is a valued member. Mr. Peet has hosts of friends in every section of the county, who have been attracted to him by his strong, fearless and resolute character, and by the unswerving integrity of his conduct. JOHN C. BANEY is the well known township clerk of Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, a position he has held since 900o. He was born at Newfane, Niagara county, New York, November 30, I864, son of John and Jane (Jennings) Baney, natives of New York. The parents of John C. Baney located in Gratiot county in 1865, residing in St. Louis for two years, and thence removing to Bethany township, where the father still lives, in his seventyninth year, having been born March I9, 1828. Mrs. Baney died in Bethany township January 21, I902, aged sixty-nine years. The following children were born to this union: William J., deceased, aged forty-three years; Frank, who died at the age of two; John C.; Nettie, wife of Henry Bauer, a farmer of Bethany township; and Charles, who died in infancy. John C. Baney was the third in the family of five children, and was about one year old when his parents came to Gratiot county. He reached manhood in Bethany township, being educated in the common schools and at the high school in St. Louis, and farming and horticulture have been his life occupations. He resided at home until his marriage, November 26, i885, to Miss Jennie M. Granger, who was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan, August 28, 1865, a daughter of William and Margaret (McCurdy) Granger. To their union five children have been born: Bert L., Lena M., Gladys E., Howard and Bernice. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Baney located upon his forty-acre farm in Bethany township, where they have since resided. Mr. Baney has held the office of township clerk since 900o, and upon several occasions has been chosen a delegate to the county conventions. He is a Democrat, and a man of political influence in his township. Prominent in fraternal societies, he is associated with the Ancient Order of Gleaners of Bethany, of which he has been secretary and treasurer for the past ten years, and with Bethany Grange, No. 508, of which for three years he served as master. Both Mr. Baney and his worthy wife are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of St. Louis. r I I BIOGRA-PHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I33 JACKSON M. WILLIAMS, ex-supervisor of North Star townslhip, Gratiot county, has for a number of years been prominently identified with the political affairs of that township. He was born in Jackson township, Seneca county, Ohio, January 29, 1853, son of Andrew M. and Nancy (Iler) Williams, who located in Gratiot county, in I878, settling in North Star township, one mile north of the center. There they lived until their deaths, his occurring in December, I89I, in his eightyfirst year, while his widow survived until August 8, I900, dying in her seventy-first year. They had these children: Mary, who marrie(l Samuel Lambright, died in Hamnilton township in I88i; Susanna is the wife of A. Signs, of North Star township; Jacob is of North Star township; Jackson M.; Elizabeth is Mrs. John Hoffman, of North Star township; and Lodema is the wife of Nicholas Azelborn, of North Star. Jackson M. \Villiams was reared in Seneca county, Ohio, where he resided until his twenty-fifth year engaged in farming. In 1878 he located in Gratiot county, living at home with his parents until several years after his marriage. In I892 he purchased eighty acres of land where he now lives, and has fifty-two acres of this under cultivation. Mr. Williams was married September 4, I88I, to Miss Sarah Jane Bresee, born in Broome county, New York, August 12, I865, daughter of the late Henry and Mary (Coss) Bresee, the former of whom died in Broome county, New York. Of a family of six children, Mrs. Williams was the fifth child. She and her husband have these children: Esther V., the wife of William Ulrich, a butcher of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin; and Viola A. Mr. WVilliams is a public-spirited man and has serveld his county and township well. For five terms he was supervisor of North Star township, and held the office of highxay commissioner for two terms. He was township treasurer and served as a member of the board of review for one year. He was always active in support of any measure of a nature beneficial to his township, and is rated among the prominent men of his locality. Fraternally he is affiliated with Heath ILodge No. 222, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife is a member of Chulah Lodge No. 38, Daughters of Rebekah. HARLES MARION L CH-IAFFIN. - -Among the prominent and substantial citizens of Gratiot county, Michigan, is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, who has been closely identified with the advancement of the material interests of this section for a number of years. Charles Marion Chaffin was born August 29, I849, in HIancock county, Ohio, son of John Wesley and Clara Ann (Evitts) Chaffin, the former born in West Virginia, in 1822, and the latter in 1826, a native of Ohio. The parents of Charles Marion Chaffin came to Gratiot county in I854, settling in North Star on Section 30, where John Wesley Chaffin followed farming and stock buying until his death, which occurred in November, I874, at the age of fifty-two years. In the fifties he was largely engaged in buying furs for Detroit dealers. His wife departed this life in January, I905. They had eight children, six of whom are now living, as follows: Charles M., Homer W., Theodore A., Clara L., Perry F., and Edith L. Charles Marion Chaffin was but five 6 I34 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. years of age when his parents brought him to Gratiot county. He was reared in North Star township, where he has always resided, and received his education in the common schools of that township, and at Ithaca, and the Agricultural College at Lansing, Michigan, which latter place he attended but a short time, being called home on the death of his father to take charge of the farm. He taught school for twenty years during the winter seasons, including also several summer seasons, and became well and favorably known throughout the township as an educator. Farming has been his chief occupation, but for the past seven years he has been largely engaged in photography, taking views of farm residences, teams, stock, family reunions, schools, portraits and interior views. Charles M. Chaffin owns thirty acres of highly improved farm land in North Star township. He has been a justice of the peace for four years, township clerk for two years, school moderator for a time, township superintendent of schools under the old system, and has been school inspector and truant officer for the last two years. He has always been identified with the Republican party. He and his wife are members of the United Brethren Church, with which he has been connected for nearly a quarter of a century, and at present is superintendent of the Sunday-school. Charles Marion Chaffin was united in marriage in North Star township, June 25, 1876, with Miss Sarah Barnes, born in England, September 30, 1844, daughter of the late John and Susannah (Watson) Barnes, natives of England, and sister of State Senator George Barnes, of Howell, Michigan. To Mr. and Mrs. Chaffin one child was born, Bessie A., in 1883, who married H. Henry Wright, a resident of North Star, in I905. Mrs. Charles Marion Chaffin died in October, I898, in North Star township. She had been a school teacher in Gratiot county, and had been educated in the public schools of this county, and at the State Normal School at Ypsilanti. She was a loving wife and mother, and a good Christian woman. Mr. Chaffin is a generous and charitable citizen and is esteemed and respected for his many sterling traits of character. Mr. Chaffin is, we might add, a veritable pioneer, as he attended the first Fourth of July celebration held in the county, and also the first county fair, being a life member of the association. He is a charter member of the Gratiot Teachers' Association, and is secretary of the Ohio Picnic Association. VINCENT P. CASH, treasurer of Seville township, is a prosperous business man of Riverdale, that township, and president of the Riverdale Manufacturing Company. Mr. Cash is a native of Michigan, born in Norvell, Jackson county, M\ay 30, 1862, son of Peter and Elizabeth (Coney) Cash, both of whom died at Norvell. They had a family of eleven children, of which Vincent P. was the seventh member. Vincent P. Cash was reared on his father's farm, and received his education in the district schools, and at the Manchester (Michigan) high school. At the latter institution he finished all but twno months of the four years' course, giving up on account of poor health, for which reason he also gave up a contemplated course at the University. Shortly after leaving school Mr. Cash engaged in the grain and produce business at Manchester, Washtenaw county, BIOGRAPHICAL IMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I35 continuing same for about six years, at which time he removed to Portland, Ionia county, where he purchased an elevator and continued in the grain business until I90I. In June of that year he located in Riverdale, Seville township, Gratiot county, and engaged in the grain business, in which he has since continued, and he is also serving in the capacity of president of the Riverdale M1anufacturing Company. Mr. Cash has been a leading business man in every community in which he has settled, and his enterprises have been uniformly successful. Mr. Cash was elected treasurer of Seville township in the spring of I903 and re-elected in the following spring, on the Democratic ticket. He has taken an active part in all public affairs wherever he has lived, and has made an efficient, popular public official. He was only twenty-one years old when elected to his first position, that of school inspector, and the fact that he was the only successful Democrat on the ticket argues well for his popularity. Then he filled the office of city treasurer at Mlanchester and immediately after locating in Portland he also became interested in the local government, being elected president of the village in I889, although the Republicans were normally in the majority. In I898 he was again elected to that office, in which he gave excellent satisfaction all around. Mr. Cash was married at Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, July 20, I89I, to Miss Lucy M. Terry, a native of New York State, and to this union have been born four children,' Agnes C., Paul R., Mildred L. and Justin C. Mr. and Mrs. Cash are members of the Catholic Church. Fraternally he is connected with the Maccabees and B. P. 0. Elks. ON. HUGH CHISHOLM, ex-member of the Michigan Legislature, junior member of the well-known firm of Chisholm Brothers, merchants, of Breckenridge, and a substantial citizen and representative farmer of Wheeler township, was born in Ross-shire, Scotland, April 29, I855. The late Alexander Chisholm, his father, was a native of Scotland. He married Ann McLennan, who was also from that country, and who died in Canada when about thirtyfive years old, Mr. Chisholm surviving until April I, 1904, when he died in Lafayette township, Gratiot county, Michigan, aged eighty-four years. They had four sons, of Awhich family Hugh was the youngest member. Hugh Chisholm was brought by his parents from Scotland to Canada when he was about two years old, and one year afterward from there to Ingham county, Michigan. Here the family lived four years, at the end of which time they located in Gratiot county, settling in Lafayette township, on a farm, where our subject grew to manhood. He purchased an eighty-acre farm of wild land on Sections I and 12, which he cleared and cultivated, and upon which he resided until about 1884, when he located in Breckenridge and purchased the stock of merchandise of L. Wagner & Company in company with his brother Alexander'. Since that time Mr. Chisholm has continued in that line in Breckenridge. In addition to his business interests there he is the owner of a seventyfive-acre farm in Wheeler township, which is finely cultivated and improved with modern, substantial buildings. Mr. Chisholm was elected to the Michigan Legislature in the fall of I890, on the P. of I. ticket, being endorsed by the Demo 136 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. crats and Prohibitionists, and served one term. He has been very active in temperance work in this section, and is also an active worker in the church, attending the First Congregational Church at Breckenridge. Mr. Chisholm was married in Montreal, Canada, September 24, 1884, to Mary McLennan, who was born in Scotland, daughter of John and Jane (McKenzie) McLennan, both of whom died in Scotland. To Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm the following named children have been born: Ellen A., John A. and William H. SIDNEY S. HASTINGS (deceased), the third permanent settler on the present site of St. Louis, was the first county surveyor of Gratiot county and incumbent of that position from its organization in I855 until his death in 1894. He surveyed and platted most of the flourishing villages in Gratiot county, as well as most of the early State roads, and some of the railroads connecting St. Louis with other sections of the State. There is assuredly no character identified with the pioneer era of Gratiot county to whom attach more of the attributes of sturdy and continuous usefulness than to Sidney S. Hastings. For sixty years he was not only acknowledged to be among the strongest men of St. Louis and Gratiot county, but also among the most helpful and charitable, his noble wife sharing with him the honor of this latter prominence. The Hastings family is an old and honorable one in American history, one of its early members, Benjamin Hastings, being an officer in the Revolutionary war. Sidney S. Hastings was born in Champion, Jefferson county, New York, August 25, 1827, the son of Sidney S. and Clarissa (Fitch) Hastings. His father was a mechanic during the early years of his life, but later became a farmer, in 1837 removing with his family to Medina county, Ohio. In Guilford township he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, and there the boy of the same name passed his earlier years. As a dense growth of wood covered the tract, the following decade was given over by the father and his three sons in bringing it under cultivation and erecting the necessary buildings for a farm and homestead, Until he was twenty years old the youth Sidney received but a limited education. The year following his graduation from the village academy, just after he had attained his majority, he taught a district school in a small log house, at eleven dollars per month of twenty-four days. He taught school also through the following two winters, and during the summers followed;the carpenter's trade. In the winter of I852-53, with a young friend, he visited Cincinnati, thence journeyed down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, and after a few days spent in that city proceeded across the Gulf of Mexico to Matagorda Bay, in southern Texas, where they remained four months, working as carpenters and receiving good wages. They returned by the river to Galena, Illinois, where they hired a conveyance to Rockford, the railroad terminus west of Chicago. Mr. Hastings taught school in the winter of 1853-54, and in 1855 came West to look for a location. He remained two months at Lansing, where he learned something of Gratiot county, through A. M. Crawford, who was a landholder there and had platted the village of Pine River, now known as St. Louis. The Legislature of Michigan had passed a meas V~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I BIOGRAPHICAL MIEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I39 ure making Pine River the county seat, and Mr. Hastings accompanied Mr. Crawfordto Gratiot county and located two hundred acres of land on Section 27, Bethany township, going to Flint to enter his claim. He then went to Lansing, and a few days later returned to the present site of St. Louis, where he arrived July 5, I855. He found two log houses erected there, and a sawmill not yet completed which he assisted to build. Mr. Hastings received a lot from Mr. Clapp, the owner of the sawmill, situated on the corner of what is now Mill street and Washington avenue. The land was heavily timbered, but Mr. Hastings cleared a small place and erected a log cabin, the third in the village, upon the site of which, at the time, there were but twenty acres partially cleared. The house was raised by four white men and a dozen Indians, and when it was finished Mr. Hastings sent for his wife, and went in a canoe to Saginaw to meet her. They came by the same conveyance to the "Forks" (now Midland), and after many lrawbacks covering a journey of three days managed to get their household goods to their new home. He at once commenced work as a surveyor and was elected county surveyor at the first county election, held in the fall of the year of his arrival (I855), and pursued that calling until the time of his ldeath. He surveyed and platted the villages of Alma, Ithaca, Riverdale, Estella (now Sumner), Breckenridge and Wheeler, besides ten additions to St. Louis. He accomplished the survey of the State road through the dense forest from St. Louis to Saginaw, also the State roads to Newaygo, Midland and Bridgeville (near St. Johns). He assisted in surveying the route of the Saginaw Valley & St. Louis railroad, and was county surveyor or deputy through all the years from the organization of the county until liis death. He was a mnember of the State Association of Engineers and Surveyors, and leld the various village offices in St. Louis. I-e was a faithful member of the 3Baptist Church, and was made deacon on the organization of the church in St. Louis, a position lie held until his death. The incalculable service rendered by Mr. Hastings to Gratiot county, and its struggling pioneers, has yet to be mentioned and (describedl ill detail. Nearly all the settlemenits in the county were made under a Congressional act of I854, by which the price of land was reduced to fifty cents an acre. It is estimated that fully three-quarters of the claims were located by men of small means within eight months of the passage of the act. On account of their limited means the entries made were for small tracts, and few of the would-be settlers were able to take immediate possession, but had returned to their homes to earn sufficient nioney to buy teams, provisions and other necessities for the maintenance of their families, their farms and their homesteads. In February, I856, the commissioner of the General Land Office issued a circular which threw the settlers into a veritable panic, ordering them upon pain of losing their titles to their land to present testimony in person at the local office (Ionia) within two nonths from the date of the notice, which only would perfect their titles and protect their claims. The circular, hard as were its terms, caused an immediate migration of courageous men, women and children, in the dead of winter, to the dense and dreary forests of Michigan. MIany were poor, and insufficiently supplied with clothing and pro I40 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. visions, and after making their proofs and perfecting their titles had little remaining upon which to subsist. To add to the suffering of the newcomers the summer of I856 was hot and dr!, ruining the small crops of corn and potatoes, and in the fall forest fires raged throughout the county. Many cattle died, as well as the fish in the rivers. When the intense sufferings of the people in the forest districts became known in the large cities, Detroit was made the center of the Michigan relief work and provisions for the region tributary to St. Louis were sent to Saginaw City. MIr. Hastings was appointed the agent for the north half of Gratiot county and all of Isabella county, and, at great personal sacrifice, laid aside his compass and chain, with corresponding hope of personal income, and devoted all his time and energies to the work of relief. Provisions were brought by boat, one hundred miles from Saginaw, Indians and white men working together. On the clays when the supplies were expected the people for miles around flocked to St. Louis, and IMr. Hastings usually weighed out to each man twenty to fifty pounds of flour, ten of pork and a quantity of cornmeal and beans, proportioning the amount to the size of the family and ability to carry. In many instances the people who came for relief were so pinched w-ith hunger that they could never have returned with their provisions had it not been for the Christian work of Mr. Hastings in providing food for them and of his worthy wife in preparing it. Those times will never be forgotten by the early pioneers of Gratiot county, and their gratitude to Mr. and Mirs. Hastings has often in these days been passed down to their children and children's children. Sidney S. Hastings was married in Guilford, Medina county, Ohio, March 2, 1854, to Julia, daughter of David and Harriet Dix. The death of Mr. Hastings occurred November 21, 1894, and he was buried at St. Louis, of which he was one of the founders and where he lived for nearly forty years. To Mr. and Mrs. Sidney S. Hastings were born the following children: Frank W., surveyor, civil engineer and farmer, married Lillian L. Livingstone and has two children; Forest B'., foreman in the construction of cement walks of St. Louis (Michigan) married Emma Smith and has two children; Russell M., a farmer of Midland county, Michigan, married Ida Baird, and has eight children; Fannie H. married George L. Wells, a civil engineer of Salem, Ohio, and is the mother of four children; Charles Si, baggageman of the Pere Marquette Railroad, at St. Louis, Michigan, married Clara Jemarr and has five children; Hattie H., living at Mount Pleasant, Michigan, married William R. Kennedy, of that place, and is the mother of two children; Mary died when an infant. The following tribute to the life and character of Sidney S. Hastings, written at the time of his death by a fellow townsman, seems so true a character sketch as to be a fitting close to this biography. "The death, or rather the life, of the late Sidney S. Hastings is deserving of much more than passing perfunctory notice from the press and pulpit. "The biography of forty years of Mr. Hastings' life is a history of Gratiot county. IHe was one of our earliest pioneers and mingled more with all the people of Gratiot county than perhaps any other man. He was with us through the clamorous and con BIOGRA- PHICAL MEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I41 tentious and pretentious period of our history. We have noticed too often the vociferous and boastful air of the plaudits of our fellow citizens, but now that the wilderness is conlquered, an(l we sit beside our hearthstones recounting the incidents of the conquest. we all feel that the quiet, dignified, conscientious life of Mr. Hastings wielded as great, perhaps greater, influence in the (ievelopmnent and progress of Gratiot county than any other man. "Mr. I-Iastings was a lover of nature and science and he made them the subject of careful ollservation and study. He was a reniarkablnv well informed man. "He was one of the gentlest spirits I have ever known. His gentleness of manner, genuine modesty, anl! utter lack of pretension were his greatest charms. His daily life was such that all men, without an exception so far as I know, were convinced of his deep and abidling piety. "STILES KENNEDY." G EORGE L. JESSUP, proprietor of the elevators at Pompeii and at North Star, has for some years been regarded as one of the able business men of the section. He has been identified with the operation of the elevators since 1892, and their present prosperity may be considered due to his energy, skill and sound business judgment. AMr. Jessup was born September 17, I867, in Newark township, Gratiot county, and received his education in the public schools there and in the Ithaca high school, remailing home, afterward, until he was twenty-five years old. John H. Jessup, father of George L., was born Decemlber 24, 1837, in Rensselaer county, New York, son of Isaac M. and Eleanor (Schermerhorn) Jessup, natives of New York State. John H. Jessup was tv-o years old whlen his father located in l\ichigan, and he obtained his education in the commono schools of this State. On reaching manh0ood he started out in life on his own account, and in December, I86o, located in Gratiot county, becoming the owner of sixty-three acres of unimproved land in Newark township. To his original farm lie added eighty-five acres, and here he continued farming for many years. In October, I864, lhe entered the army and was assigned to serve in the Twenty-tlird Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, being in the army nine months, during which time he participated in the actions at Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, and at Port Anderson, Northll Carolina. He was honorably discharged in June, I865, at Washingltonll, D. C. John H. Jessup was married December 29, 1859, at Lyons, Ionia county, to AIargaret R. Dean, born August 28, I84o, in Yates county, New York, daughter of Amos an(l Betsey (Grant) Dean, and to this union were born eight children: Charles H.; Nettie, the wife of William C. Naldrett; Artltur H.; George L., our subject; Frank A.; William T., who died at the age of sixteen years; Glen O.; and Bertha M., the wife of A. Naldrett. In I892 George L. Jessup purchased a half interest in the elevator at Pompeii, having as a partner James Anstey. After they had been a year together Mr. Jessup purchased the latter's interest and since that time has conducted the business alone, except for two years, when he was in partnership w\ith his brother, Charles H. Jessup. Early in 1900 he also purchased the elevator at North Star and has since then operated BIOGRAPHICAL IMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 142 both. He controls the trade in the two tow-ns in coal, lime, salt, timber and shingles, besides handling all the hay and grain at both points. Mr. Jessup possesses all the qualities of the successful business man of to-day, is energetic, progressive, wide-awake, and; has unusually good judgment. He has been successful in his undertakings, while his affable and courteous manners have won him; a host of friends. On June 2, I895, Mr. Jessup married Miss Dora Vedder, daughter of Clark and Sarah (Deline) Vedder, of North Star township. Mrs. Jessup was born March 19, 1874. She has borne her husband three children, namely: Ivor, Lynn and Forrest. Mr. Jessup is one of the public-spirited men of the township, always ready to promote any measure for the good of the community, although hle is not a politician in the usual sense of the word. Fraternally he is connected with the I. O. O. F. and the M. NV. A. W ILBER F. MARKHAM, supervisor and formerly township clerk of Hamilton township, who is also well known in business circles, being an enterprising merchant of Sickels, Michigan, was born in Duplain township, Clinton county, this State, April 27, 1864, son of Charles and Jane (HIumphrey) Markham, natives of Ohio. In I87I his parents migrated from Clinton county to Gratiot county, Michigan, and settled in Elba township, on the site of the present town of Ashley. Mrs. Markham died while on a visit to Ovid, in July, 1887, aged forty-two years. The father, still engaged in farming, resides with Wilber F., and is a hale old gentleman in his sixty-sixth year, having been born June 4, I840. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Markham were: Wesley, a resident of Middleton, Michigan; Wilber F.; Burtis, living at Forest Hill, Michigan; and Dora, doing missionary work with the Salvation Army in Alabama. Wilber F. Markham was the second child in the family of four, and was seven years old when his parents located in Elba township. There he grew to manhood, assisting his father in the clearing of his farm and other agricultural labors. Mr. Markham was married in St. Louis, Michigan, November 6, I884, to Miss Fannie Farr, a native of New York, and a daughter of Morgan and Minerva (DeWitt) Farr. After their marriage he and his wife settled in Sumner township, where they lived two years, and then returned to Elba township, locating on a tract of forty acres, which he partially cleared and afterward disposed of. There lie continued to live until the fall of I889, when he located in Clinton county and engaged in farming about four miles south of Maple Rapids. Two years later he removed to Shepherd, where lie engaged in the livery business for about six months, after which, for one year, he located on a farm southwest of Clare, in Isabella county. Mr. Markham then returned to Gratiot county and settled on a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 20, Hamilton township. He continued to reside at that location until 900o, clearing and improving his farm, and in that year he became a merchant in Sickels, purchasing his stock of William Sower. Mr. Markham carries a full line of goods, which are carefully selected with a view toward retaining and increasing the generous patronage he already receives. The business is carried on with honest endeavors to please, and the re '41I. 0 4 BIOGRAPHICAL IMEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COUATYT. I45 sults have been most encouraging to the proprietor and creditable to the discernment of his fellow townsmen. To Mr. and Mrs. Wilber F. Markham have been born these children: Lulu P., Maud E., Charles L., Clyde A., and Ethel M., who died at the age of five months. Mr. Markham is a Democrat; was elected township clerk in the spring of I904, and in the following spring was elected supervisor, notwithstanding the township is Re)publican. I-Ie is a member of the Ancient Order of Gleaners, of which he has been secretary and treasurer, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In fact, he is popular fraternally, socially and politically, andl as he is a good business man, as well as a kind husband and father, in the early prime of life, his future promises to be fruitful in personal happiness, material prosperity and public preferment. AMES R. GREENLEE, treasurer of J North Star township, and a prominent and representative citizen of Gratiot county, was born February I4, 1858, in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, son of James and Maria J. (Connor) Greenlee, natives of County Armagh, Ireland, who came to Gratiot county in I859, settling in North Star township, where they both died, the father on December I, I899, at the age of sixtyseven years, the mother dying December 6, 1884, when fifty-three years old. They were both cotton weavers in Pennsylvania, the man coming to America in I842, and the girl who was to be his wife in 1843. They were married in Pennsylvania, their first removal West being to Hancock county, Ohio, where they were engaged in farming for one year, locating afterward in Gratiot county. James R. was fourth in a family of six children, the other members r of which were: M\argaret, Mrs. Ieroy Laughead, of Washington township, Gratiot county; John, of Cadillac, Michigan; Isabel, deceased, who married Delmont Crowell; Addison, also of Cadillac; and Flora, wife of Levi Greenwood. James R. Greenlee received a common school education, and was reared on his father's farm, now owning Ioo acres of good land of his own. He has a beautiful home, the residence being large and attractive and the farm well-kept and cultivated. He has long been considered one of the best farmers of the tow-nship. Mr. Greenlee was married, April 6, I890, to Miss Maggie Mills, born in Wood county, Ohio, \Alarch 2, 1872, daughter of William and Mlargaret (Gillen) Mills, respectively niatives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, who settled in Isabella county, Michigan. Mr. Greenlee and his estimable wife are the parents of these children: Hazel E., born January 12, I890, attends high school at Ithaca; and Delmont E., born September 12, I892, and Vivian B., born April 25, I894, attend the district school. Mlr. Greenlee is a stanch Democrat, and on his party's ticket was elected in the spring of I902 to the office of Iiighway commissioner of North Star township and served three years in that capacity. He has been school moderator, and in the spring of I906 was elected treasurer of North Star township. Mr. Greenlee affiliates with Lodge No. 222, I. O. O. F., and Liberty Grange No. 39I, of North Star. LYMAN W. FIDLER, the efficient highway commissioner of Emerson township, Gratiot county, engaged in culti 146 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. vating his ninety acres in that township, was born October 27, 1857, on a farm in Fulton county, Ohio, son of James L. and Mary S. (Hissong) Fidler. His parents were natives of Knox and Richland counties, Ohio, respectively, and had a family of eleven children: John, a contractor and builder of Columbus, Ohio; Daniel L., following the same lines in Florida; George C., a farmer of Lucas county, Ohio; Mary, married to Ben. Borton, a Lafayette township farmer; Melva, deceasedl; Ella, wife of Samuel Roth, a farmer, residing on the old homestead in Fulton County, Ohio; James, a farmer and stone mason living in Lafayette township; and M:inn;e, Ada aind Harry, all of whom die(l young. Lyman W\. Fidler reached manhood in Fulton county, Ohio, and lived there until he was twenty-seven years old. At that time he commenced farming, which has been his life's occup)ation. He was married in his native county, on October I6, I88I, to Miss Amandla Bish, daughter of Jacob and Barbara Bish. Mrs. Fidler was born in Hancock county, Ohio, October I6, 1857. In the spring of I884 Mr. Fidler located in Gratiot county, Michigan, and settled on the farm upon which he now resides. He owns ninety acres on Section 24, about sixtyfour of which are under cultivation. He has erected a nice set of buildings, and his land, which was all heavily timbered at the time of his arrival in Gratiot county, has all been cleared by MIr. Fidler himself, comparing favorably with other farms in the country. To Mr. and Mrs. Fidler have been born: Mahlon, a farmer of Lafayette township, who married Alma Stahl; Flossie, wife of William Eichorn, a farmer of Emerson township; and Flora (twin of Flossie), Gaylon, Glenn and Mabel, all at home. Mr. Fidler has held the office of highway commlissioner for several terms. He has also leen school director, and has taken an active interest in towinship and county affairs, upholding the principles of the Democratic party. Fraternally he is connected with Ithaca Lodge, No. I78, of the Masonic fraternity; Emerson Lodge, No. 375, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Ithaca Camp, No. 4713, Modern Woodmen of America. He has a standing in his community as a man of honor and integrity, and is one of the leading agriculturists of the township. C HARLES S. WATSON, M. D., a successful practitioner of medicine and surgery and a most valued citizen of Breckenridge, Whleeler township, was born in Fow-lerville, Livingston county, M\ichigan, February 14, 1853. HIe is a son of John T. and Harriet L. (Wilcox) \Vatson, the former of whoml died on his farm in Oakland county, Michigan, July I3, I864. On January 16, 1834, John T. Watson (a New York merchant, born in Genesee county, July 31, I808) was united in marriage to Harriet L. Wilcox (born in Batavia, New York, January 17, I817), and they shortly afterward migrated to Michigan and located at Howell, Livingston county, that State. They were among the pioneers of that locality, and Mr. Watson at once opened a store for the sale of general merchandise. After being thus engaged for a few years he disposed of his business and removed to a farm. He was a man far above the average in education and general intelligence, taught school BIOGRAPHICAL lIMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I47 for many years, and was the first superintendent of schools of Livingston county. After completing his active work as an educator he purchased a hotel in Fowlerville, that county, which he conducted for two years, Nwhen lie traded it for the farm in Oakland county, Michigan, upon which, as stated, he (lied in 1864. Both in Oakland and Livingston counties he was accounted a man of nmarked ability, held many township offices, and was always identified with the school hboard in whatever locality he resided. Mr. and MIrs. John T. Watson were the parents of twelve children, of wlho Charles S. was the tenth. The mother (lied in Breckenridge, Gratiot county, April 2I, 1894. \Wlhen Charles S. Watson was three years old hle was brought by his parents to MAilford, Oakland county, living in the vicinity of that place until lie had reached the age of sixteen years. His father lhad died five years before, and he accompanied his mother to Gratiot county. He received his early education in the conimnon schools which he attended until I87I. From the age of eighteen le studied medicine with Dr. Scott for four years, and entered the medical department of the University of Michigan, which he attended for one year. In the spring of I876 he began practice in Breckenridge, and he has continued there engaged in successful professional work. In 1894 Dr. Watson attended the Kentucky School of Medicine, from which he was graduated in June of that year. Dr. Watson was married, October I2, 1876, to Miss Eugenia L. Comstock, of Ithaca, and to this union three children have been born: Ella M., wife of E. J. McCall, of Ithaca, Michigan, one of the proprietors of the Gratiot Cozulty Hcrald; Willie, who lied in infancy; and Roy S., a graduate of Rush Medical College, class of I904, now a physician practicing with his father. The faimily is identified with the Baptist Church. Dr. Watson is a menil)er of Breckenridge Lodge, A. F. & A. M.. and of tle I. O. 0. F. I is professional membership is with the American Mledical Association, the Miclhigan State [edlical Society and the Gratiot County AMedical Society. Dr. Watson's sta(ling is recognized in that for a number of years he lias served oil tle board of exallilling surgeons for pensions for Gratiot coulnty. He is generally consi(lerel an emiment miellmber of his profession, anii lie has won tlhe complete confidence andl respect of tlhe people of Gratiot couunty. The Doctor ownls 120 acres of landl a(ljoiining the town of Breckenri(lge, most of this tract b)eing un(er cultivation. W ILLIAM LONG, a leading citizen in tlle affairs of WVasllington township, was born in Culiberland county, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1827, son of Samuel Long. His paternal grandparents were Samuel and Catlherine Long, of Pennsylvania, the grandfather, a farmer, dying in western Ohio. Williaim Long was the third in the family of ten children, the other members being as follows: Sanmuel, a resident of Ellsworth, Kansas; Sarah J., deceased, wife of Jeremiah MJyers; Benjamin, living in Kansas City, Missouri; Joseph, Simon and( John, all deceased;; Catherine, Mrs. Peter Ostander, of Lorain county, Ohio; David, living in Ellsworth, Kansas, and Elizabeth, deceased, who was the wife of Henry Starks. Samuel Long was a blacksmith by trade, and both he and his wife, whose maiden name 148 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. was Catherine Goodman, died in Lorain county, Ohio. They came West when William was quite young, settling in Lorain county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood on his father's farm. He lived in Knox county, Ohio, for four years, and one year in the southern part of Illinois, and in I857 came to Ionia county, Michigan, with his wife and son, living there until the spring of I860. In that year he came to Gratiot county, and settling on Section I8, Washington township, engaged in farming, an occupation he has followed ever since. He has erected good buildings on his eighty-three-acre farm, which he improved greatly, and has made a success of his life work. William Long was married in Seneca county, New York, March 7, I855, to Miss Mary Ellen Crawford, who was born in that county March 4, I, 3, daughter of James and Mary (Garner) Crawford, of York State. To this union were born: William C.; Mary C., the wife of Oscar Campbell; Arthur; George; and Florence, the wife of Ezra Eggleston. Mr. Long has held the office of supervisor of Washington township for seven years, and for thirty-two successive years was a justice of the peace. He and his estimable wife are active church workers, and are well known and highly esteemed in Washington township. W ILLIAM T. PITT, now serving his twentieth year as supervisor of Seville township, still resides in the log house on Section 22, which he himself erected in May, I880, when he located there with his wife and eight-year-old daughter. At that time there was but one other dwelling house on the section; now it is quite thickly settled. Mr. Pitt was born May I3, I84I, in a log house on the farm of his grandfather, Alexander Duncan, situated half a mile south of the little village of South Lyon. Oakland county, Michigan. His father, George Pitt, was a native of Salford, Warwickshire, England, born on Christmas Day, I8I5, both he and the grandfather claiming relationship with William Pitt, of Chatham. In I836, in his twenty-first year, George Pitt sailed from Liverpool for America, the voyage to New York City occupying seven weeks. Locating at Northville, Michigan, he assumed the burdens of agricultural life in an unsettled portion of a strange country, and bravely set about the founding of a homestead. In I839, after three years of industry and hard work, he was in a position to be married, his choice being Elizabeth Duncan, daughter of Alexander and Eliza Duncan, and to whom he was united in the year named. Alexander Duncan was a weaver. He was a nephew of Alexander Wilson, a school teacher of unusual scientific attainments, who commenced and partially completed the great work "Ornithology of Birds of America," which was finished and published by Audubon. Messrs. Wilson and Duncan worked together in different sections of the country, collecting and classifying their specimens, but the former died in the midst of his labors, when only forty years old, and the task was completed by the great scientist whose name is identified with it. Both Alexander Duncan and Alexander Wilson were natives of Paisley, Scotland. Four children were born to George and Elizabeth (Duncan) Pitt: William T., Delphene, George and Anna. The three last named were born in Northville, whither the , 0, ye7 4 I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I5I family removed when William T. was two years of age. There they resided until the mother (lied in I85I. Two years later the father married Elizabeth Manchester, the family then settling in Plymouth, WVayne county. By his second marriage George Pitt became the father of two children, Charles and John, who are now residents of Forest Hill, Gratiot county. After the death of his mother William T. Pitt's life was rather irregular, working, as he (lid, for the neighboring farmers in summer and attending school in the winter. By making himself generally useful to the farmers and villagers, and applying an economy to his affairs which was really beyond his years, the boy managed to pay his own board, buy his books and pay for tuition at a country school for the three months of its winter term. Thus passed about eight busy years of his life, when he became ambitious for an experience of great possibilities on the Pacific coast. In April, I859, w\ith four other young men, he started from Plymouth for California. His route was by way of New York and the Isthmus of Panama, his passage being taken on the steamer "Star of the West," which, through after events, proved an historic craft, since while carrying supplies to Fort Sumter it was the first vessel fired upon in the war of the Rebellion. The "Star of the West" stopped at Havana, Cuba, on its way to the eastern coast of the Isthmus, after crossing which the party embarked on the steamer "Golden Gate" for their journey to San Francisco. Two (lays before it reached its destination William T. Pitt was eighteen years old. His first work in California was on Mississippi bar, on the American river (now called Fair Oaks, Sacramento county), a locality now noted for its excellent fruits, which ripen several weeks earlier than in the southern part of the State. He then located on Cache creek, Yolo county, where he engaged in ranching, dairying and freighting, being thus employed until his return to Michigan, in December, I866. His return trip, by way of Nicaragua, was one of keen enjoyment. Small donkeys were the means of conveyance for the twelve miles of land travel from the Pacific to Lake Nicaragua. The next stage of the journey was by steamer, fifty miles across the lake, and thence about one hundred miles down the San Juan river to Greytown, on tle Atlantic coast. There he waited seventeen days for a New York steamer, sleeping at night in a hammock stretched between two trees. He arrived at Plymouth a short time before the holi(lays and spent the winter at home. This experience in California seemed to stimulate a desire for further adventure in the West, and in the following fall he located at what is now the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming. When he arrived there in October only about a dozen tents were pitched, but before spring there had sprung up a town of five thousand people-as he expresses it —"the wickedest town in the entire West." In the winter of I868 Mr. Pitt returned to Michigan, and on March 4, I869, was married to Miss Bettie Lawson, daughter of Moses and Elsie (Beard) Lawson, of Northville, Michigan. Mrs. Pitt is a native of Wayne county, Michigan, born March 7, I845. One child, a daughter, Isabell, was born to this marriage July 14, 1872, in Holly, Oakland county. The daughter mar I52 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. ried William Shong in 1894, and they have four children, George, Ruth, Esther and Leah. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Pitt settled at Holly, Oakland county, Michigan, where he engaged until the spring of I877 in the manufacture of furniture. Seized again with the Western fever, lie then took a trip into the Black Hills of Dakota, where during that summer he engaged in placer mining for gold. He found the metal in paying quantities, but the scarcity of water made the work ultimately unprofitable. He therefore returned home in the fall, removing in 'the following spring to Forest Hill, Gratiot county. After residing there for two years, he bought eighty acres of wild pine stump land on Section 22, Seville township. Mrs. Pitt would put up his dinner, and with an ax on shoulder and dinner pail in hand the husband and father would walk to and from his work-a distance of five and a half miles-until he had cut the logs and his house was ready to move into. \N ith the exception of the two years when he served as register of deeds, Mr. Pitt has lived continuously on his farm. He was the first in Gratiot county to set out a peach orchard for commercial purposes. From the first he has made the raising of fine peaches a specialty, and his experiments and substantial results have proved that the fruit can be successfully grown on the higher elevations of Gratiot county. As a horticulturist Mr. Pitt is both an enthusiast and an authority, and his standing as an agriculturist is evinced by the fact that he is serving his third year as president of the Seville and Sumner Farmers' Club, also his third year as president of the Gratiot County Farmers' Institute. Originally a Republican, since 1873, when silver was demonetized, Mir. Pitt has maintained an independent attitude, but has always actively participated in local affairs. In 1894 he was the Populist candidate for Congress in the Eleventh District. He was first elected supervisor of Seville township in I882, and, as stated, is now serving his twentieth year. ODELL PEET, one of the substantial men, prominent farmers and large landowners of Gratiot county, resides on his finely improved farm of Ioo acres, in Section 32, Lafayette township, and owns another tract of I60 acres, in Hamilton township. He was born in Rochester, Lorain county, Ohio, July 9, 1855, son of Rolla A. and Mary (Odell) Peet, the latter of whom died in Lafayette township September 24, 1881, aged forty-eight years. Rolla A. Peet was born August I8, 1830, in the State of New York, son of John and Betsey (Clark) Peet, natives of Connecticut and New York, respectively. The former was by occupation a farmer, but also worked at the shoemaker's trade. Rolla A. Peet worked on his father's farm until he was nearly twenty-one years old. When four years of age he accompanied his parents to Ohio, where he worked on a farm until he had attained his majority. He then married Mary Odell, daughter of Nathan and Betsey (Wright) Odell, and resided for a time in Lorain, Ohio. Mr. Peet enlisted in Company B, First Ohio Light Artillery, in 1864, and was mustered out at Camp Dennison, Ohio, July 24, 1865. Returning home BIOGRAPHICAL IMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I53 lie engagel in the dairy business one year, and then sold his farm and came to Michigan in the spring of I867. He first settled on three hun(lred acres in Kent county. In 1875 he again removed, this time to Lafayette township, Gratiot county. Mr. Peet's first marriage was blessed with six children, as follow s: Frank M.; Odell; Gertrude, Mrs. Elezer Russell, wife of a Lafayette township farmer; Lois M., married to Wilson Broadbeck, a farmer of I-amilton township; Benjamin J.; and Anna, wife of Jackson Russell, also a farmer of that township. Mr. Peet married (second) Miss Ida M. Fuller, daughter of James and Polly (Shance) Fuller. She was born in Eaton county, Michigan, September 17, I865, and at the age of five came with her parents to Gratiot countv. Odell Peet came with his parents to Kent county, MIichigan, in 867, living at home in Caledonia township and the near vicinity for about eight years. He then came to Gratiot county, and, locating in Lafayette township, worked for his father until he was twenty-three years old. Mr. Peet was married Mlay 26, 1878, in North Star township, to Mliss Emma J. Ridenour, born in Emerson township May 9, I86o, daughter of Benjamin and Catherine (Sower) Ridenour. Benjamin Ridenour was a soldier in the Civil war, and served with the One Hundre(l and Eighty-seventh Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, dying of disease at Nashville, Tennessee, March 12, I865. He was a native of Orange township, Lorain county, Ohio, while his wife was born September 19, I843, in Morrow county, the same State. Mrs. Benjamin Ridenour was a daughter of Dr. Elias Sower, one of the first settlers and most noted characters of Gratiot county, who was obliged to cut seven miles of path through the forest to make his home accessible. He was a native of York county, Pennsylvania, spending his earlier years in Maryland and the Keystone State, and his young and middle-aged manhood in Ohio. In 1854 he entered three hundred and twenty acres of government land in Section I, North Star township, Gratiot county, and on the 9th of December, of that year, reached the site of his future home. Eight inches of snow were on the ground, and his family slept in their wagon for a week before the little log cabin- fourteen by twenty feet-was ready for them. Then began the work of clearing a small patch upon \which to raise a crop. Dr. Sowers had already read medicine, and although at first he had no intention of practicing it his neighbors called upon him for various treatment and he found himself drawn into the work, which he continued through life. He was also a licensed Methodist preacher. Consequently, as farmer, physician and minister of the gospel, there were few more popular or beloved characters than Dr. Elias Sower. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Ridenour had two children, of whom Mrs. Peet was the eldest. The other, Lounetta D., deceased, married Arthur Dean. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Peet lived for a time in North Star township; then he conducted a livery business for one and a half years at Ithaca. Soon after leaving the latter place he settled in Emerson township, where he lived about three years, in I888 locating on the farm of one hundred acres upon which he now lives, in Section 32, Lafayette township; he is also the owner of one hundred and sixty acres in Hamilton. He has erected convenient buildings on his 154 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I farm, and has about sixty acres under the plow. Mr. and Mrs. Peet are the parents of these children: Mabel L., the wife of Ford Salmon; Cassie M., who married Henry Kennett and is the mother of one daughter, Bozena R.; and Orrin Odell. Mr. Peet is identified with the Democratic party, and takes much interest in township and county affairs. Fraternally he affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and shows his interest in things agricultural by his connection with the Ancient Order of Gleaners. CHARLES H. JESSUP is the supervisor and a substantial citizen of Lafayette township, Gratiot county, where he is engaged in general farming on his homestead of one hundred and forty acres. iHe has attained a high position among the leading citizens of his township, and his name is known and respected throughout that section in all circles, whether business, political or social. He was born in North Star township, Gratiot county, March 28, I86I, son of John H. and Margaret (Dean) Jessup, residents of Newark township, who came to Gratiot county in I858, from Ionia county, Michigan. John H. Jessup, of Newark township, is the son of Isaac M. and Eleanor (Schermerhorn) Jessup. The former was born in Tompkins county, New York, April 5, i8Io, and the latter November 20, 18I5, in Rensselaer county, that State. Their marriage occurred in New York, and in I839 they settled in Eaton county, Michigan, going afterward to Wayne county. They continued to reside there for fifteen years, and in the spring of 1853 moved to Ionia county. John H. Jessup's birth occurred December 24, 1837, in Rensselaer county, New York, and he was a very young child when brought by his parents to Michigan. His education was received in the public schools, and on reaching manhood he left home to commence an independent career. In December, I860, he located in Gratiot county, and took up a tract of land, consisting of sixtythree acres, to which he subsequently added eighty-five, thereby composing the homestead upon which Charles H. was born. He built a log house, comfortable but not artistic, in which he resided with his family until I880, when he erected a modern and commodious brick residence. In October, I864, he entered the Union service as a member of the Twenty-third Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and during the succeeding nine months participated in the engagements at Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, and Port Anderson, North Carolina. In June, 1865, he was honorably discharged at Washington, D. C. At Lyons, Ionia county, Michigan, on December 29, I859, John H. Jessup was united in marriage to Miss Margaret R., daughter of Amos and Betsey(Grant)Dean, natives of the State of New York. There they were married, in 1854 removing with their family to Ionia county and seven years later to North Shade township, Gratiot county. Eight children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Jessup, as follows: Charles H.; Nettie E., Mrs. W. C. Naldrett, of Fulton township; Arthur H.; George L., in the grain, lumber and elevator business at Pompeii and North Star, Michigan; Frank A., a farmer of North Star township; William T., (le 00, I / I i I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I57 ceased, aged sixteen years; Glen O., at home; and Bertha M., Mrs. Allen G. Naldrett, of Newark township. As seen, Charles II. Jessup was the eldest of the family, and he spent his early life in North Star and Newark townships. He receiveU his preliminary edlucation in the common schools of his township, after which he attended the Ithaca high school and the Normal school at Valparaiso, Indiana. For seven years he was a teacher in Newark and North Shade townships, gaining quite a reputation as an educator, but aside from that period his life occupation has been farming. In April, I905, he was elected supervisor of Lafayette township, but still gives the bulk of his time and means to the development of his property, and his one hundred and forty acres are highly cultivated and thoroughly improved. He is one of the enterprising an(l progressive farmers of his section of the county, and in the successful operation of his farm uses modern methods and machinery, which he has found best calculated to bring satisfactory results. In this connection 1may be mentioned the scientific (draining of his farm. For this purpose he has already laid over twenty thousand feet of tiling and expects to double that amount before his plans are perfected. His farm is recognized as being the best drained of any in Gratiot county. Mr. Jessup was married in Newark township, July 4, 1885, to Miss Rosa J. Pressley, born June I8, 1864, in Newark township, daughter of the late Timothy and Sarah E. (Earl) Pressley. After marriage Mr. Jessup rented a farm in North Star township for three years, from the late E. 7 C. Cook, at the end of that period purchasing the property upon which he now resides in Lafayette township. To Mr. and Mrs. Jessup these children have been born: Otis W., Hattie M., Lena J. and Clarence P. Mr. Jessup is a nmember of the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp Ithaca, and the Knights of the Modern Maccabees, Tent No. 291, Breckenridge. OLIN S. BEERY, one of the prominent farmers and leading citizens of Pine River township, Gratiot county, resides upon the beautifully situated farm of eighty acres, which he has occupied since I89I. Mr. Beery is a fine type of the progressive, industrious and successful Michigan agriculturist, a class that reflects honor upon the State. He was born on a farm in Allen county, Ohio, September Io, I856, son of \Villiam J. and Eliza E. (Jacoby) Beery, natives of Pennsylvania. William J. Beery and his wife came to Gratiot county in I866 and settled in Pine River township, where they remained about two years, returning then to Ohio and settling in Wyandotte county. This was their home locality for the remainder of their lives, Mrs. Beery dying December 20, I903, in her eighty-second year, while Mr. Beery died at Muir, Michigan, January I8, I878, in his sixty-second year. They had eight children, John S., being fifth in the order of birth. The others were: Susan C., deceased wife of George Loomis; George W., who died at the age of thirty-four; William, deceased at the age of fifteen years; Henry F., president of the Gold Miner Company, Dayton, Ohio; Hattie J., now Mrs. Howard McConahay; Isaac E., who died at the age of BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I58 twenty-nine after a journalistic career in Nebraska and Ohio; and Miss Ella, who died aged twenty-five. John S. Beery remained at home until he was twenty-four years old, and then lolated in Gratiot county, where he was employed in the pine woods during the winter months, and at farm labor in summer, continuing thus about three years. On November 30, I884, Mr. Beery married Miss Minnie M. Buck, born January Io, 1867, in Medina county, Ohio, daughter of James and Hannah (Lewis) Buck, the latter of whom died in her sixty-first year, while the former still survives. Mrs. Beery was third in their family of five children, and to her and her husband have been born these children: Jesse L., James A.. Roy Wayne. Zenith R., who died in infancy, and Austin E. After his marriage Mr. Beery purchased land in Pine River township, in I891 buying the land which he now occupies. His eighty acres are well cultivated and are improved by modern and substantial buildings. Mr. Beery has held the office of justice of the peace for several years, has been health officer and held school offices in his township. He and his estimable wife are valued members of the Methodist Church. The ancestors of John S. Beery are traced to Switzerland, his great-great-grandfather and the founder of the American branch settling originally in New Jersey, migrating thence to Pennsylvania and Virginia, and dying in the Old Dominion. The paternal great-grandfather, Nicholas Beery, was a native of Rockingham county, Virginia, passing the latter years of his life in Fairfield county, Ohio. His son, Jacob, the grandfather of John S., also of Rockingham county, Virginia, married Nancy Ceil; in 800o he removed to Fairfield county, Ohio, where he remained until his death, rearing a family of nine children. The American records of the Beery family indicate that among its members have been many well known preachers of the Dunkard and Mennonite sects. Another marked famnily trait is found in the voice, which is singularly strong and melodious. INNIE M. COFFIN, ex-supervisor of Emerson township, Gratiot county, has won wide recognition as one of the township's most enterprising citizens. He is a leading representative of the farming element of this district, and has always taken an active part in all public movements and enterprises. He was born on the farm on which he now lives, in Emerson township, December 5, 1863, son of Reuben and Hannah (Haight) Coffin, natives of New York State. Reuben Coffin was born September 29, 18og, and his wife June 18, I822. They came from Jackson county, Michigan, to Gratiot county in February, I857, and settled on Section 20, Emerson township, where he took up forty acres of governmnent land. This he cleared and improved, making a home in which he resided until his death, July I, I874. His widow survived until January 9, 1903, when she passed away, the mother of nine children, of which family our subject was the youngest. Binnie M. Coffin was reared on his father's farm, and received a common school education in the schools of his district. He owns eighty acres of good land in Emerson township, is a farmer of the first class, and stands in a high position among the capable business men of his township. Mr. Coffin I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 159 was married in Emerson township, March 26, 1891, to Miss Ella Allen, daughter of Parks and Minerva (Bellows) Allen, and to this union four children have been born as follows: Bernice, March I, I892; Glenn, August 28, I893; Allen, September 19, I900, and Jerrine, August 26, I904. Mr. Coffin has served as supervisor of Emerson township for two terms; township treasurer for two years; township clerk for four years; school trustee for four years, and was the Democratic nominee in the fall of 1904 for clerk of Gratiot county. SAMUEL G. KIME has resided on his fine, well-improved farm on Section 5, Wheeler township, since I880, and is considered one of the prominent and successful farmers of Gratiot county. His birth occurred February 18, I852, in Ingham county, Michigan, and his parents were John and Martha (Minnick) Kime. They were married in Ohio, and from that State removed to Ingham county, Michigan, later locating in Livingston county, this State. In the fall of 1875 they removed from Livingston county, settling in Gratiot county. Mrs. Kime died on the farm in Wheeler township in May, 1884, when between fifty and sixty years of age, while her husband survived until July, I90o, passing away when aged about eighty years. They had six children, of which family Samuel G. was the third child and eldest son. The early life of Samuel G. Kime was spent in farming, an occupation that he has continued all of his life. He worked for others in Livingston county, and was employed for more than seven years by one farmer. On January i, 1880, in Livingston county, he married Miss Eliza E. Clark, a native of that county, born in Putnam township June i8, I85I, daughter of Hugh and Anne (Gilchrist) Clark. The parents of Mrs. Kime were of Scotch decent. They were married in Livingston county. The father died in his eightieth year, but the mother still survives, at an advanced age. Mrs. Kime was the sixth child in a family of eleven children. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kime came to Gratiot county and located on Section 5, Wheeler township, where Mr. Kime purchased eighty acres of wild land. This tract he cleared and improved, and here he has spent his life, engaged in cultivating the soil. He recently purchased forty acres in Section 6. To himself and wife have been born these children: Emily Ethel, Orel C., Earl W. and Norman W\. Mr. Kime is an influential man in township affairs, in which he takes a great interest. Politically he is a Democrat, and he is affiliated fraternally with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of Gleaners. He and his family have always been active workers in the Sabbath-school. G EORGE W. JENKINS, of Lafayette township, Gratiot county, is a well known and most highly esteemed farmer citizen of that section. He was born in Jefferson county, Illinois, June o0, 1858, son of James E. and Hannah (Gates) Jenkins, natives of New York, who had two children, George WV. being the elde st. Up! to his eighth year he was reared by his grandmother, Ann Jenkins, in St. Joseph county, Michigan, and in that year located in Clinton county, Michigan, living with his father and stepmother until he was thirteen years old. He then went to Roscommon county, Michi i6o BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. gan, where he lived until he reached his majority, at that time locating in Gratiot county, purchasing forty acres of farm land in Lafayette township, where he has since resided. He has always followed farming, and now owns sixty acres, forty of which are under cultivation. Mr. Jenkins was married in North Star township, September 3, 1882, to Miss Jennie A. Marshall, who was born in Geauga county, Ohio, a daughter of Nathan N. and Hannah H. (Turner) Marshall. To Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins two children have been born: Charlotte, who died in Lafayette township in her fourteenth year; and Neil. Mr. Jenkins has taken a great degree of interest in all township affairs; he is a Democrat in political faith. ISAAC H. CHURCH, the efficient highway commissioner of Pine River township, Gratiot county, is one of the leading agriculturists of that locality, residing on a valuable farm of eighty acres in Section 3I. He has been identified with the material and governmental progress of the township for many years. Mr. Church was born October 5, I845, on a farm in Wayne county, New York, son of the late Isaac Church, who died in Seville township, October 26, 1902, aged ninety-three years, and Loretta (Williams) Church, whose death occurred in Pine River township March I2, 1882, at the age of sixty-five. The father was a native of Vermont, as was his paternal grandfather, Thomas Church; his mother was a daughter of the Green Mountain State. Besides Isaac H. Church twelve sons and daughters were born to the union of Isaac Church and his wife: Louisa, widow of Sol. Wright, I of Alma, Michigan; Julia, who married the late Esick Whipple, of Eaton county, Michigan; Elisha and Willard, who both died young; Elisha (2) and Willard (2), now farmers of Pine River township; George, a farmer of Seattle, Washington; Harriet, wife of Adam Muhn, a farmer living at Cedar Lake, Michigan; Frank, an agriculturist of Arcada township; and others that died in infancy. Isaac H. Church was the fourth child in the order of birth, and was four years old when brought by his parents to Jackson county, Michigan, where he resided until I858. In the latter year he located in Gratiot county, where for some years he worked in the woods and at farming for others. In I867 he bought eighty acres of land in Section 31, Pine River township, the valuable farm which he now occupies. At that time the land was all wild, but Mr. Church has cleared and cultivated it, and has erected modern, substantial buildings. On October 29, 1868, Mr. Church was married, in Carson City, Michigan, to Miss Susie A. Huff, born in Wood county, Ohio, June 6, 1859, daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth (Smith) Huff, both of whom died in Jefferson township, Hillsdale county, Michigan, the former in May, 1887, aged sixtyseven years, and the latter on January 14, 1882, in her forty-ninth year. To Mr. and Mrs. Church have been born: Walter M., of Gratiot county, Michigan, who married Elizabeth Chambers, of Saginaw, and lives in Pi'ttsburg, Pennsylvania; Emory A., born in Gratiot county, who married Carrie Grover, of Alma, Michigan, and has moved to Seattle, Washington, and settled on a farm; and Charles F., unmarried, who is a telegraph operator living in Petosky, Em ? J, 0 z I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I63 I met county, Michigan. The mother of this family is an active member of 'the United Brethren Church. Mr. Church has held the office of justice of the peace for ten years, and is now serving efficiently as highwl ay commissioner, a position he most acceptably filled for three years from his first election, in 189, and since 1904. In the energetic and methodical discharge of his duties as highway commissioner he has buil't twenty miles of road in Pine River township. Politically Judge Church is a Democrat. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, the Maccabees, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. But Mr. Church's interests have been principally centered in the cultivation of his land and his careful management has resulted in the raising of fine crops. His property is very valuable, and he enjoys all the comforts and advantages possible to the prosperous and progressive farmer. Only once has he deviated from the occupation which has virtually absorbed his life, when from 1895 to I898 he engaged in the hardware and agricultural implement business at Elwell; but even during that short period he resided upon the family homestead. In fact since he left the paternal home, in his young manhood, he has only once changed his home. His life has been fixed and substan'tial; he has been content to be judged by his associates of the olden time, who have assuredly pronounced the man and his work to be good. He is a man who has been highly honored even in his own county. Jesse Huff, father of Mrs. Church, was born March I, I820, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was of German and English I extraction, and was the eldest of seven sons born to Richard and Cathreen (Thralls) Huff. All 'these sons have passed away except J. R. Huff, of Milton Center, Ohio, who is now eighty-one years old. Jesse Huff spent his boyhood at his native place, later migrating to Ohio and locating near Toledo, when that city was so young it boasted of only a double log hotel, a postoffice and a blacksmith shop. He bought a farm of one huntdred acres at Gilead, and owned the transfer canal-boats operating between Toledo alid Cincinnati, giving his personal supervision to both for many years. Mr. Huff was twice married, first to Susanna Welech, by whom he had three children: John, of East Tawas, Michigan; Mrs. Elizabeth Phelps, and Mrs. George Durgee, of Osseo, Michigan. Jesse Huff's second wife, Elizabeth Smith, was born July 20, 1832, daughter of William Smith, of Waterville, Ohio. William Smith was of English and Irish lineage, his father being a soldier of the King's army in the Revolutionary war. But he made havoc with his career and fortune by his marriage with a Rebel Colonist Irish girl, Catherine McLain, of Rhode Island, being promptly cut adrift from his family and fatherland forever. Jesse and Elizabeth (Smith) Huff became the parents of five children, all of whom survive, namely: Susie A., Mrs. I. H. Church, of Gratiot county, Michigan; Mrs. Marion R. Older, of Clarion, Charlevoix county, Michigan; Miss Ida I. Huff, of Hillsdale county, Michigan; and George S. and Jacob D., both of Indianapolis, Indiana, commonly known as Huff Brothers, the wizard inventors of Indiana. I I64 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. W ILLIAM L. HUTCHINSON, former supervisor of Sumner township, is one of the thrifty, practical farmers of that community, and is actively engaged in cultivating one hundred and twenty acres of land in Section io. He was born in the county of Elgin, Ontario, near St. Thomas, August I6, I866, son of Lexy L. and Jane (Anderson) Hutchinson, natives of Canada, both of whom are now deceased. The father died September 12, I866, aged forty-nine, and the mother, in November, 1871, when thirty-five years of age. They were both members of the Baptist Church. William L. was the youngest of their children, the others being: Alice J., Mrs. Thomas J. Turrill, a farmer of Merrill, Michigan; Anna E., wife of Henry Coburn, a farmer living in Seville township, Gratiot county; and Louis J., who died at the age of twelve years. WTilliam L. IHutchinson was about eight years old when he came to Gratiot county to live with his relatives, having lost his father when he was an infant of a few weeks, and his mother when he was in his sixth year. In Sumner township he developed into manhood, receiving there a common-school education and being trained to the healthful and satisfying pursuits of agricultural life. Mr. Hutchinson was married November 20, 1887, to Miss Mary Lanshaw, who was born in Germany September 23, 1863, daughter of the late Henry and Dora Wink Lanshaw, the former of whom died in Sumner township and the latter in Germany. After his marriage Mr. Hutchinson settled on the farm upon which he now resides, in Section 10, Sumner township. The tract consists of one hundred and twenty acres, and ninety acres of it are cleared, forty-five of which Mr. Hutchinson has himself made productive. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson have two children, Dora J. and Annie M. Mr. Hutchinson has served his township as supervisor for three terms with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. Fraternally he associates with the I. O. O. F., K. O. T. M. M. and P. of H. Mr. Hutchinson is industrious and honest, and possesses the primary qualities of a first-class citizen. REV. WILLIAM J. CORNWELL, justice of the peace and one of the most respected citizens of Lafayette township, is in every way one of the representative men of that section of Gratiot county. He was formerly in the active service of the ministry of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Cornwell was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, August 28, 1839, son of Anderson and Eliza Jane (Coulter) Cornwell, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. Both parents died in Hancock county, in the latter State. They had a family of ten children, William J. being the eldest. William J. Cornwell spent his early life in Ohio on a farm. In the fall of I88I he came to Gratiot county and settled in Hamilton township for two or three years, after which he located in Lafayette township, of which he has since been a resident. From I89I until I9I hie was active in the ministry of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Cornwell was married in Ohio to Sarah Lucas, by whom lie had children as follows: Lettie J. (deceased), George A. (deceased), Mary E., John W., Ora and William H. The mother of these died in Ohio. Mr. Cornwell married (second) February 28, I884, Adeline Tewksbury Brown. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 165. widow of Ezra Brown, and by this marriage he had one daughter, Lois, who is deceased. Mrs. Adeline Cornwell was a daughter of Elijah and Matilda (Hinds) Tewksbury, the former of whom died in Ohio and the latter in Mliddleville, Barry county, Michigan. They had seven children, of whom Mrs. Cornwell was the youngest. She was married to Ezra Brown in I866, in Ottawa county, Michigan, and they came to Gratiot county in the fall of S867, locating on Section 34, Lafayette township, where he died in April, I88I. They had a family of six children: Mary, who died at the age of thirteen years; William; Jennie, who (lied when seven years old: Louisa, who became the wife of Edmund Hill. and (ied in Hamilton township December 29, I903; Alice, the wife of Howard Kenney, and Edna, the wife of Albert Davis. Mr. and IMrs. Cornwell have resided since their marriage on the present farm, a fine place of fifty-five acres, which she owned and which is well improved, most of it being under cultivation. M\r. Cornwell built the house on this tract, whiich is supplied with substantial buildings. Mr. Cornwell has held the office of justice of the peace for four years. He formerly took a very active part in township affairs, and has been prominently identified with the Democratic party. W ILLIAM\I II. STEDMAN, who has been prominently identified with the agricultural interests of North Star township, Gratiot county, for a number of years, was born MIarch 29, 1841, in Warren, Warren county, Pennsylvania, son of John \\. an(ld ary P. (Sharp) Ste(lman. John W\r. Stedman was born September 14, I8o8, in Connecticut and his wife in New York, May 5, I813. His death occurred in Ashley, Michigan, about a year and a half after removing from Gratiot county, October 22, 1890. He had settled in North Star township, Gratiot county, in 1857, coming from Livingston county, where his wife had died April 26, 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Stelman were the parents of seven children who grew to maturity, of which family our subject is the fifth member. When he was fifteen years old William H. Stedman came with his father to Gratiot county, and has been a resi(lent of North Star township since that time, with the exception of the time spent in his country's service. Mr. Stedman enlisted August 8, I862, in Company A, Twenty-third Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and servedl gallantly until July 12, I865, when he was mustered out of service. He was a participant of the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, and at Paris, Kentucky, being in the campaigns in East Tennessee. After the war Mr. Stedman returned to North Star township, where he has since engaged in farming. He has a fine farm of eighty acres on Section 25, which he has improved wvith good, substantial buildings. Mr. Stedman was married February 28, I866, in Washington township, Gratiot county, to Miss Lucy Ann Bovee, born December 3, 1842, in Dover township, (laughter of Jacob and Esther (Marlatt) Bovee, natives of Holland. They died in Dover township, Lenawee county, she in her fortyeighth year, while he was seventy-nine at the time of his decease. M\rs. Stedman was tlhe eiglhth member of a family of twelve children. To Mr. and Mrs. Stedman these c'illren were born: Vienna, who is the wife of H. \. W\\right; Marvin N. and Willie A. i66 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Willie A. Stedman was born in North Star township, February 25, I879, and was reared on his father's farm, upon which he has always lived. He was married June 25, I90I, to Maud Lindsey, born in Shiawassee county, Michigan, November 13, I88I, and to this union one child has been born, Wilma I. William I. Stedman has held the office of highway commissioner of North Star for two years, being an ardent Republican. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. W ILLARD DAVIS TUCKER, editor and proprietor of the Gratiot County Nczcs, was born March 25, 1841, in Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York, son of Davis and Catharine (Lake) Tucker, also natives of that State. The family stock on the paternal side originated in England and Wales, the American branch to which Mr. Tucker is related being from Connecticut and Vermont. Davis Tucker, his father, was born in Cherry Valley, Otsego county, New York, August 2I, i808, and was the second of eight brothers, sons of Caleb and Thirza (Foster) Tucker. Mrs. Tucker, the mother of Willard, whose maiden name, as stated, was Catharine Lake, was born in Dutchess county, New York, Sep'tember 24, I8o8, the fifth in a family of eleven children. Her father, John McCord Lake, was a Connecticut Yankee, of French and Irish antecedents, and her mother, Betsy (De La Matyr) Lake, was the daughter of Capt. William De La Matyr, of Brooklyn, descended from Dutch stock and belonging to the family of De La Matyrs who trace their ancestry to one Hollander of that name, an emigrant to the United States, who some time in the seventeenth century loca'ted at what is now Brooklyn, New York. Davis Tucker's family consisted of seven children: Emeline H., Thirza J., Albert C., Sarah V., Amelia C., Willard D. and M. De Ette. Besides Willard D. the only one now living is Albert, who is a resident of Eaton county. In May, I844, the family settled in Michigan, locating at Grass Lake, Jackson county. There the father engaged in farming until the spring of 1854, when he purchased a large tract in the township of Mattison, Branch county, to which he removed with his family, and where he died October 4, I854. The remaining members removed to Springport, Jackson county, and 'to the adjoining townships of Hamlin (Eaton county) and Clarence (Calhoun county), where they purchased farms and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Willard D. Tucker was educated in the common schools, and in the early years taught three terms. In the summer of 864 he enlisted at Springport in Company D, Twenty-eighth MIichigan Volunteer Infantry, being mustered into the service at Marshall, Calhoun county, on September I, 1864. The regimental organization was afterward completed at Kalamazoo, to which point Mr. Tucker was transferred, and in October he was ordered South, being engaged in Kentucky and Tennessee and participating in the battle of Nashville under General Thomas. The regiment was afterward assigned to the Twenty-third Army Corps, which it joined in North Carolina and with which it remained until the close of the war. Ir. Tucker was dis 4) I BIOGRAPHICAL MElMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I69 charged from the service at Beaufort, North Carolina, June 15, I865, returning home with health greatly impaired. In September, I866, after his health had been virtually restored, Mr. Tucker removed to St. Louis, being accompanied by his mother and youngest sister, De Ette. There for a period of fifteen years he engaged in building operations. His sister died November 8, I871, and his mother, August i8, 1882. Mr. Tucker purchased the St. Loulis Hcral( in March, I88I, and continued its publication until December, I887, when he removed the plant and the paper to Ithaca, the county seat. I-e bought the AAdvance, published there, and consolidated the two journals under the name of the Gratiot Coli ty Hcrald, selling the publication in July, I892, to J. N. McCall. In December, I895, he purchased the Gratiot Counlty' Necc's, established at Ithaca lduring September of the preceding year, and, as its e(litor and publisher, has since conducted it. Tlhe paper is Democratic in politics, popular locally, and ranks as one of the best of its class in the State. On December 17, I883, at Jackson, Michigan, Mr. Tucker was married to Miss Mary Louise Briggs, the estimable daughter of Ira R. and Eliza Briggs, of St. Louis, his wife being born in WVales township. St. Clair county, Michigan, June 30, I86o. They have one child, Verne Willard Tucker, born at St. Louis, Michigan, October 25, I884, a graduate of the Ithaca schools (1902) and of the stenographic and typewriting department of the Ferris Institute, Big Rapids; he is at present in the employ of the Sprague Publishing Company, of Detroit, publishers of The Amncrican Boy. I Mr. Tucker has been quite prominent in local politics. In 1868, on the incorporation of St. Louis as a village, he was elected street commissioner; in 1873 he was chosen a member of the village board of trustees, and re-elected when the village was reincorporated; held the village clerkship in I875-77, and in I875 served as clerk of Pine River township; was village marshal in I877, supervisor of Bethany township in 1880-82, and president of the St. Louis village board in 1883 and I884. In I880 and I884 Mir. Tucker was the Fusion candi(late for judge of probate, in the latter year coming within thirty-nine votes of an election. As lie was a candidate of the minority party, however, his failure was but lhe common lot of several of his associates. In 1902, as Democratic candidate for State senator for the Nineteenth District (Gratiot and Clin'ton counties), although he failed of election he ran considerably ahead of his party vote. In the election for the same office, in 1904, he also ran ahead of his ticket in nearly every precinct of the district, Ithaca (his home township) giving him eleven majority, notwiths'tainding that the normal Republican majority is one hundred and seventy-five. Though defeated with his ticket, the result was highly gratifying to Mr. Tucker, as well as to his friends. Mr. Tucker's Democracy is of the radical, progressive 'type. He desires to have it distinctly stated in this sketch that if he could have his way he would inaugurate and maintain governmental measures and methods calculated to bring about a more equal and just distribution of the blessings as well as the evils of life, even though to accomplish this end it became necessary for I70 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. the general government to acquire possession of, and operate, all the so-called public utilities. In his ideal government he would limit the list of millionaires to the least possible number, and he would eliminate pauperism altogether. C HARLES ROOKS, whose fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres is located in Section 26, Bethany township, Gratiot county, is one of that township's leading and influential citizens. He is an honored survivor of the Civil war. Mr. Rooks was born July 13, I840, in Erwin, Steuben county, New York, son of David M. and Sophia (Thompson) Rooks, natives of New York. Mrs. Rooks died in Corning, New York, after which Mr. Rooks came to Gratiot county, Michigan, where he died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Joel Rowley, of Bethany township, at the age of eighty-six years. Charles Rooks, who was the youngest of a family of nine children, was reared in Steuben county, New York, where he remained until eighteen years old. In May, 1859, he came to Gratiot county and worked in St. Louis until he enlisted in the army, August 9, I86I, in Company C, Eighth MIichigan Volunteer Infantry. He served thirteen months with that regiment and was then transferred to the United States Regulars, Engineers Battalion, Company A, at Sandy Hook, Maryland. At the battle of James Island, South Carolina, Mr. Rooks was wounded in the side by a spent musketball. He saw a great deal of active service, and was a participant in some of the most serious battles of the war, among which may be mentioned: The siege of Fort Pulaski, Georgia; Wilmington Island, Georgia; James Island, South Carolina; the second battle of Bull Run; Chantilly, Virginia; South Mountain, Maryland; Antietam, Maryland; two at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December, 1862, and again in the following June; Gettysburg; the Battle of the Wilderness; Spottsylvania Court House; North Anna River; Cold Harbor, and in front of Petersburg. At the latter place Mr. Rooks' time expired, September 26, 1864, and he was mustered out of service. After the war Mr. Rooks returned to Michigan, and on May 12, I869, in Saginaw, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Sarah (Vliet) Harris, widow of William B. Harris, a soldier of the Civil war, who (lied in Bethany township January 8, 1867. The parents of Mrs. Rooks were Nathan and Sarah (Jewell) Vliet, natives of New Jersey, who came to Michigan and settled in Independence township, Oakland county. In 1838 they located in Gratiot county, settling in Fulton township, and a few years later located in Pine River township, north of St. Louis. where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Vliet died when over sixty years of age, in August, 1865, while Mr. Vliet died in his seventieth year, in December, I870. Mrs. Rooks was born May 30, 1839, in Independence, Oakland county, the seventh child in a family of nine, and came to Gratiot county with her parents. By her first marriage she had three children: Cora, the wife of XWilliam G. Ward; Sarah, the wife of Harry Snook, and William B., who married Ida King. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rooks settled on the farm on which they now reside in Bethany township, located on Section 26, and consisting of one hundred and twenty acres, nearly all of which is im BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I7I proved, and upon which have been erected neat, modern buildings. To Mr. and Mrs. Rooks one child has been born, Charlie, who is married to Ella King. Mr. Rooks has held the office of township commissioner. He is a valued comrade of Billy Cruson Post, No. 347, Grand Army of the Republic, and has been commander of that post. Formerly Mr. Rooks was associated with the Union Veterans' Union of St. Louis, Michigan. Mr. Rooks successfully carries on general farming and is continually improving a property which is already very valuable. His standing in the community is that of an honest, upright and public-spirited citizen, as ready now to support good government as he was to preserve it in the (lark lays of the Civil war. LEIMUEL WAGGONER, who conducts one of the best patronized mercantile stores in Breckenridge, Michigan, was born at Saratoga Springs, New York, September 29, 1857, son of Norman and Marilla (Hazelton) \Vaggoner. The parents were natives of New York, and the mother died in Saratoga Springs when in her thirty-ninth year. The father located in 1878 in lonia county, Michigan, where he lived two years, and then removed to Clinton, county and settled on a farm near Fowler for two years. He then went to Petosky for a few months. from there to xVheeler township for two years, and then located in Breckenridge, where he died September I, I896, aged sixty-eight years. Lemuel Waggoner was the youngest of the two children born to his parents and came to Gratiot county with his father. On locating in Breckenridge he engaged in a mercantile business, which he has continued to the present time, and he also owns a fortyacre farm in Wheeler township, which is well cultivated. Mr. Waggoner has held the office of township treasurer. Fraternally he is a member of the Free Masons and the In(lepen(lent Order of Odd Fellows. Ir. Waggoner was married in Saratoga county, New York, to Mary J. Stanton, who was born in New York, a daughter of Archibald Stanton. Txwo children were born to this union: One who died in infancy, and' Rhoda M., the wife of Dr. R. W. Drake, of Breckenridge. Mrs. Waggoner died in Breckenridge, March 20, I904, and M\r. \Vaggoner has since married Miss Helen Monlroe. LON P. POTTER, county drainage commissioner and ex-chairman of the board of supervisors of Hamilton township, Gratiot county, Michigan, is one of the prominent men of his section, and was a member of the board for a period of fifteen years, and was the presiding officer of same. He was born in Onondaga county, New York, May 30, 1854, son of John and Mary (Preston) Potter, who came from New York to Hillsdale county, Michigan, in 1869. In 1876 thev removed to Eaton county, where they remained and both died-the husband October I8, 1903, aged eighty-three, his widow October 2I, I904, aged eighty. The chil(Iren born to Mr. and Mlrs. John Potter, besides Elon P., who is the fifth, were as follows: Myron A., a farmer of Eaton county, Michigan; J. Edgar, who died in July, I903; Fidelia J., Mrs. James Jones, of Coldwater, Michigan; Desiah H., deceased at the age of eight years, and Jane, who married A. J. Sebring, of Grand Ledge, Michigan. Elon P. Potter accompanied his parents I72 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. to Michigan in 1869, living at home until he was twenty-six years of age. He was married in Hillsdale county February 13, 1876, to Miss Catherine Gittings, and the couple came to Gratiot county in I880 and settled on Section Io, Hamilton township, where they have since resided. Mr. Potter owns eighty acres of good farming land, seventy of which are improved, and the fact that he has been an agriculturist since he was fifteen years old indicates an unfailing persistence and accounts for his success as a practical farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Potter three children have been born: Howard A.; Maud D., wife of Claude Hill, a farmer of Hamilton township, who has two sons, Forest and Elon; and Mabel E. Mr. Potter held the office of supervisor of Hamilton township continuously from 1890 to I905, being elected on the Republican ticket. In the latter year he received the appointment of county drainage commissioner. He has taken an active part in all township and county matters and has been chosen a number of times as delegate to county conventions. In every capacity he has proved himself an efficient and faithful official, is popular with both parties, and has many warm friends who are gratified at his business success and political prominence. Fraternally Mr. Potter is a member of Lodge No. 256, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Sickels Tent, No. 803, K. O. T. M. M., both of Edgewood. EORGE P. YOUNG, postmaster of Breckenridge, Michigan, has been prominently identified with the political and business interests of that section for a number of years. He was born February 17, I855, in Jackson county, Michigan, 'the son of James and Lucretia (Howland) Young, the father being a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of York State. They were married in Brooklyn, Michigan, where Mr. Young pursued the tailor's trade and where his son George P. was educated and advanced sturdily and naturally to manhood. There the mother was quite prominent in the work of the Presbyterian Church, being one of its charter members. She (lied in North Adams, Michigan, her husband passing away in St. Louis, Missouri. Both parents were members of the Eastern Star Lodge. The other children, besides George P., born to this union were as follows: Howard, who died in I895; Eugene, furniture dealer and undertaker at North Adams, Michigan; Edward, a bookkeeper with the Illinois Steel Company, Joliet, Illinois; and Nellie, living in Brooklyn, Michigan. After completing a common school edlucation in Brooklyn, George P. Young worked on a farm until he settled in Hillsdale county, where for three years he was employed by his brother, at North Adams, in a furniture and undertaking business. After leaving his brother's establishment, for two years, at Jackson, Michigan, he was connected with the Smith Purifier Company, and in the fall of I883 located at Breckenridge. As a resident of Breckenridge Mr. Young first engaged in an undertaking and furni'ture business, in which he continued for five years, after which he formed a partnership with H. M. Bonemnan, purchasing the hardware and implement stock of D. NV. Breckenridge. In this business Mr. Young continued until the spring of I900, when he sold his interest, and six months later purchased a stock of merchandise in Mar QI I~~~~~~ BIOGRAPHICAL IMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I75 lette, Michigan, where he remained only a few months before returning to Breckenridge. In I9OI he was appointed postmaster, and has since performed the duties of the position in a business-like and able manner. Mr. Young is a director of the First State Savings Bank of Breckenridge, and of 'the Breckenridge Canning Company. For one year Mr. Young was clerk of Wheeler township. He is very prominent fraternally, being a member of the Masonic order, Breckenridge Lodge, No. 406; St. Louis Chapter, No. 87; St. Louis Council, No. 68; and Ithaca Commandery, Knights Templar, No. 40; Bay City Consistory, to the eighteenth degree, and the Detroit Consistory to the thirty-second degree; and the Detroit Mystic Shriners. He also belongs to the Knights of the Modern Maccabees. On January 6, I88I, Mr. Young was married in Brooklyn, Michigan, to Miss Mary Boneman, who was born in New York and reared in the Wolverine State. Mrs. Young was a daughter of Henry and Anna Boneman, and she and her husband have had 'three children: Guy S., Glenn B. and one son that died in infancy. D UNCAN McKENZIE, who is highway commissioner of Emerson township, where he is successfully engaged in the cultivation of his farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Section 12 and forty acres in Section i, was born in Ross-shire, Scotland, January I, I851, and is one of the most highly esteemed agriculturists of the county, where he has resided over thirty years. He is a son of John and Jessie (McDonald) McKenzie, who had six children and died in Scotland-the father in 1894, at the age of eighty-four, and the mother in 1898, aged eighty-two. Duncan was the second of their children, the others being: Jessie, Mrs. Rodrick McKinzie, resides in Ross-shire, Scotland; Mary, deceased, was the wnife of John McGregor; Alexander is a farmer of Bethany township, Gratiot county; Mlartha and Donald, both unmarried, live on a farm in Ross-shire, Scotland. Duncan McKenzie was reared in Scotland, wVhere he received his education and engaged in farming. At the age of twentyone years lie emigrated to America and on landing came to Gratiot county, since which time lie has been a resident of Emerson township. He was united in marriage in Emerson township, February 28, I879, to Miss Mary Edgar, who was born in County Elgin, Ontario, April 15, I860, daughter of Stewart and Margaret (Dunn) Edgar, natives of Scotland, who migrated from County Elgin, Ontario, to Gratiot county, Michigan, in the fall of I865, and settled on Section 2, Emerson township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mrs. McKenzie's father (lied October 12, 1889, aged seventy-six years, while her mother passed away in February, 1898, when seventy years of age. Of a family of seven children Mrs. McKenzie was the sixth child. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie settled on Section 12, Emerson township, where he had purchased forty acres of land, which, by his industry, has since been added to until he now has one hundred and sixty acres, forty acres of which are in Section II, and all is under cultivation. He has at present one of the best improved farms in the township; the farm buildings are very substantial and his dwelling is attractive and homelike. To himself and wife have been I76 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY'. born these children: John, William, Margaret V., Elsie R. and Ernest E. Mr. McKenzie has been a member of the board of review of Emerson township for several years, as well as a school director. In April, I905, he was elected highway commissioner. His estimable wife is a member of the First Presbyterian Church. He is a man of high standing in his locality, both personally and in a financial way. T SHERIDAN SOMERVILLE is one of the prominent men of Emerson township, being identified with its agricultural interests to a large degree. He was born May 14, I865, in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, son of David and Rebecca (McKee) Somerville. David Somerville was a native of the Keystone State, born in 1833, and he and his wife removed from Indiana county, Pennsylvania, to DeKalb county, Indiana, and thence to Gratiot county, Michigan, where they settled in the spring of I884. Mr. Somerville (lied in Emerson township, July 4, I896, aged sixty-three, his wife surviving him until December 11, I904, when she followed him at the age of seventy-four. They were the parents of seven children, viz.: Crissie, wife of Edmon Loughery; Martha, widow of John Strong; Stella, Mrs. Charles Coston; Thomas Sheridan; William S.; Mary, who married R. N. Miller; and Ella, widow of William Purdy. Mr. Somerville came with his parents to Gratiot county in 1884, and lived at home until his marriage, when he settled on the farm upon which he now resides. On November 24, I89I, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Wiles, born October I, 1864, in Shelby county, Ohio, daughter of James and Penina E. (Emerich) Wiles, natives of Ohio. The parents of Mrs. Somerville came to Gratiot county in 1883, and settled in Emerson township, where the mother (lied in the fall of I89I, leaving these children: Mary, Mrs. Richard Benham; Emma, Mrs. Somerville; Martha, Mrs. Melvern Sanders; Clinton; and Franklin. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Somerville: Nellie, Edith and Cecil. Mr. Somerville has always engaged in farming and has been very successful. He owns I60 acres of land, of which 143 are under cultivation, and improved with good buildings. His land is very productive and under his attentive management has brought him large returns. His reputation in his neighborhood is that of one of the progressive farmers, as well as reliable citizens of Emerson township. Fraternally he affiliates with Emerson Lodge, No. 375, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. FRANK E. HOLTON, a well-to-do agriculturist of Bethany township, Gratiot county, has been a resident of that section for nearly forty years. He was born in Jackson county, Michigan, May 25, I857, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Barnes) Holton, being the seventh child in their family of eleven children. Mr. Holton came to Gratiot county with his parents in the spring of I866, and here grew to manhood and attended the district schools. He has always followed farming, and owns a fine I6o-acre tract, upon which he is successfully carrying on general agricultural pursuits. His buildings are large and conveniently situated and his farm well kept and highly improved. Frank E. Holton was married in Tomp BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I77 kins Center, Jackson county, Michigan, in December, 1878, to Miss Sarah Jane Lewis, a native of England, who died in Bethany township, M\ay 23, 189I. She was the mother of four children: Frankie, Edgar M., Sarah E. and Lynn H., the last named dying on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1896, aged seven years. Mr. Holton's second marriage, to Miss Hattie L. Webster, took place on October 27, I896, in Ovid, Michigan. Mrs. Holton was born in Genesee county, Michigan, November 12, 1867, daughter of Albert J. and Eveline (Perry) Webster. Politically Mr. Holton is a Republican. HIe has served as school treasurer of his district for six years. As a man of sterling character, progressive and public-spirited, he is much esteemed by his fellow citizens. JOHN S. DOYLE. Among those w ho have been identified for a number of years with the agricultural interests of this section of the country may be mentioned John S. Doyle, of Lafayette township, Gratiot county. Mr. Doyle's birth occurred April 21, I851, at Sodus Point, Wayne county, New York, and he is a son of Francis and Sallie M. (Phelps) Doyle, the former a native of Ireland, and the latter of New England parentage. James Doyle, the paternal grandfather, was also born in the Emerald Isle, but emigrated to America and died in New York City. Francis Doyle died at Sodus Point, New York, in January, 1862, when about forty-two years of age, while his widow passed away in Ingham county, Michigan, in March, 19oI, aged seventyeight years. They had a family of eleven children, of whom John S. was the fifth member, the others being as follows, named in the order of their birth: Catherine died in infancy; James died in I86I, while a soldier in the Civil war; Rose, who died in I893, married Milton Wortman; Eunice died when two years old; Lewis is a Wheatfield (Michigan) farmer; Freeman is an agriculturist of Muskegon county, Michigan; Ward C., a farmer, lives at Alpena, Michigan; George and Mary both died in infancy; Frances is now Mrs. James Carpenter, of Alpena. John S. Doyle spent the early years of his life at Sodus Point, New York, and at the age of fifteen years came with his mother's family-his father having died when John was eleven years old-to Ingham county, Michigan, where they settled on a farm. He was reared to the life of an agriculturist, and here he married April 9, 1879, Miss Lucelle Frost, who was born in Wheatfield, Ingham county, Michigan, January 19, 1857, daughter of James B. and Lydia (Austin) Frost. James B. Frost was born in Cambridgeshire, England, and died in April, I899, in his sixty-fourth year, while his wife was born in Livingston county, Michigan, and passed away aged fifty-two. They had nine children, of whom Mrs. Doyle was the eldest. Mr. and Mrs. Doyle lived in Ingham county until November, I88i, when they came to Gratiot county, and, settling in Lafayette township, purchased forty acres of land in Section I6, which he cleared from the timber, and upon which he lived until the spring of 1904. In that year Mr. Doyle sold a part of his land, and purchased eighty acres in Section 7, where he now resides. He is the owner of I20 acres, of which he has eighty-five under cultivation. To Mr. and Mrs. John S. Doyle have been born these children: J. Frank; Alice I78 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. - - -. - I J., the wife of Archie Walter; Edna A.; J. Ward and Della L., twins; Minnie F.; Genevieve M.; Madge L., and Erma I. Mr. Doyle held the office of supervisor of Lafayette township for two years, from I899 to 19oI. He was treasurer of Lafayette township in I900 and township clerk in 1887-88-89-90, and appears to have been well qualified. He was township treasurer of Alaiedon township, Ingham county, for one term, and school director of that county. Since coming to Lafayette township he has been school trustee for many years. He takes a great deal of interest in county and township affairs and is a stanch Democrat. He was nominated on the Democratic ticket, in August, I904, for county treasurer. He and his estimable wife are members of the M. E. Church, in which he has held the offices of treasurer and steward. Fraternally he affiliates with Breckenridge Lodge, No. 406, Free and Accepted Masons. W ILLIAM C. SULLIVAN, a substantial citizen of Pine River township, Gratiot county, Michigan, and the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres, is a member of a prominent Michigan family, and was born on Section 33, Pine River township, December 25, i866, the eldest son of 'the late Daniel R. Sullivan, and brother of J. D. Sullivan, whose sketch appears elsewhere. Daniel R. Sullivan was born in Newport, Rhode Island, June 8, 1830, son of Cornelius and Margaret (Murphy) Sullivan, natives of Ireland. In 1829, soon after their marriage in the Emerald Isle, they emigrated to America, first locating in Boston for one year, and 'then removing to Newport, Rhode Island, where, as stated, Daniel R. was born. In 1836 they moved to Michigan, settling in Washtenaw county, and in 1842 went to Jackson county, where they both (lied. When his parents first settled in Michigan Daniel R. Sullivan was six years of age, and he remained at home much of the time until he was thirty-two years old. He received a common school education, and at the age of eighteen years wen't to New Orleans, Louisiana, where for thirteen years he was chiefly engaged in steamboating. In August, I854, he located one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Pine River township, Gratiot county, and in the fall of I86I, on his return from New Orleans, he settled on 'the tract named. He first built a frame house, but in 1877 he completed a fine brick residence, which he first occupied on the day before Christmas of that year. There Mr. Sullivan died on the g9th of January, I895. In December, 1862, in Arcada township, Daniel R. Sullivan married Miss Jeannette Adams, daughter of Emery and Maria (Lewis) Adams, and four children were born to this union: William C., who is mentioned below; John D.; Mary, who died in infancy; and Margaret, deceased wife of Dr. Nelson F. McClinton, of Alma, the son of a veteran practitioner, and himself a young practitioner of thorough education and great promise. Mr. Sullivan was repeatedly honored with public office, serving for one year as supervisor and for several terms as highway commissioner. In the spring of 1883 he was elected treasurer of his township. He was a Democrat and a Masonin good standing with both his party and his fraternity-and he was universally esteemed in the community of which he had been a valued member for more than thirty 7 4( - I., I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I - - — 7- -!- ' t-, i! -T —11-77 ;Fl t CIII,,,~~~~~~~~~~~~~_~~~~_~~~, ______~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *_ ----c --- —.i_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0-~~~~i~ —_-i-_ __ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I8I years. Mrs. Sullivan, who is identified with the Episcopal Church, is still a resident of Alma. William C. Sullivan was reared in Pine River township, the place of his birth, and has always resided there, with the exception of two years spent in Jackson county:, Michigan. He received his education in the common schools and was early trained to the occupation he has made his life work. Mr. Sullivan was married in Alma, Michigan, July 3, I887, to Miss Annette Kate Pontine, born May 29, 187I, in Port Burwell, Dominion of Canada, daughter of Albert and Rosa (Millard) Pontine. Her paternal grandfather, George Pontine, -wh1 was a Canadian ship carpenter, at an early date removed to Port Huron, Michigan, where he died in 1905, and where his widowl still resides. Albert Pontine, her fatler, was born February I7, I849, and her mother, August I6, I854. Their marriage took place in Canada. Mr. Pontine was a carpenter and builder, and in I875, when Annette was four years of age, migrated to the United States, locating one mile north of Ithaca, Gratiot county. After being employed there as a mill hand for about a year, he resumned his trade as a carpenter and builder, removing for that purpose to the village of Alma. He is still thus engaged, he and his wife being respected residents of,that place. Besides Mrs. Sullivan, who is the eldest of their children, they were the parents of Miss Minnie Florence, at home; and Ida May, wife of George Farrough, a farmer of Arcada township, Gratiot county. Mr. and Mrs. William C. Sullivan have been blessed with two children, Maude Pauline and Rowena Belle. They are socially popular, and especially identified with the religious and charitable work of the Christian Church. Fraternally Mr. Sullivan has affiliated himself with Forest Hill Tent, No. 526, Knights of the Modern Maccabees, and has filled most of its chairs. He has been a prominent participant in township affairs, being now an incumbent of the position of township treasurer for his second term, his last election being in April, I905. As he is also the prosperous proprietor of a one-hunlldred-a(nd-sixty-acre farm, ninety acres of which are under thorough cultivation and improved by substantial and modern buildings, there is abundant reason for placing Mr. Sullivan among the best representatives of Pine River township and Gratiot county. CHARLES AUGUST SCHOLTZ, of Wheeler township, Gratiot county, has for a number of years been engaged in cultivating his fine farm in Section 32. He was born October 3, I858, in the city of Saginaw, Michigan, being the eldest son of Johann Joseph and Henrietta (Ecarius) Scholtz. His parents were born in Lippehne, Prussia, Johann Joseph Scholtz on March 3, I83A, and his wife on June 3, I830 and there they w-ere married., They came to America in I857, with their daughter Bertha, and settled in the city of Saginaw, Michigan, where Mr. Scholtz established himself as, perhaps, the leading carpenter, builder and contractor in that growing burg. He became very prominent, especially as the framer of large buildings, and during his twenty years of residence and energetic work erected a large portion of the structures in Saginaw, and the surrounding country. In 1877 he abandoned these lines and repaired to a farm in Thomastown township, about four miles 8 I82 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. - ~ —;~ —1;,-. from the city, and there, with his wife, he still remains. Both are faithful members of the Lutheran Church. On August 24, 1904, they had the gratification of celebrating their golden wedding at the Thomastown homestead. Five children were born to them: Bertha, who (lied in Saginaw; Charles August; Matilda, wife of Ferdinand Moldenhauer, of San Jose, California; Louis, who died in Thomastown; and Otto, living in Saginaw, Michigan. The parents of Johann Joseph Scholtz (the grandparents of Charles A.) were Johann Joseph and Amelia (Noak) Scholtz, who lived and died in the Fatherland. Charles A. Scholtz was reared in the city of Saginaw, and received his education in the city and paroclial schools and by private instruction, making a special study of civil engineering. After leaving school Mr. Scholtz mastered telegraphy, being employed by the Michigan Central, Flint & Pere MIar-.quette, and the Saginaw Valley & St. Louis railroads. He pursued that calling for eight or ten years, afterward engaging with his father in carpentry and contracting. Mr. Scboltz then gave his time and attention to farming in Saginaw county, where he remained until I882. In I890 he located in Gratiot county, and settled on Section 32, Wheeler township, where he had purchased eighty acres, all woodland, two years previously. Since that time he has resided in AWheeler township, has cleared his original farm of timber, bought forty acres adjoining, and erected most creditable buildings, supplied with modern arrangements, both for domestic use and heating. Mr. Scholtz was married August 22, I886, in Saginaw, Michigan, to Miss Wilhelmina i\aas, who was born in Kempen dorf, Pomerania, Germany, January 17, 1865. To this union the following named children have been born: Louis, Julius and Joseph J., of whom Julius died in infancy. Since locating in Gratiot county Mr. Scholtz has engaged in civil engineering and surveying in connection with farming operations. He has been prominent in town affairs, in vwhich he has taken an active and practical interest. While in Thomastown township, Saginaw county, he served as school director and justice of the peace, and since becoming a resident of Wheeler township he has been school director for many years, drain commissioner of Gratiot county for two years, and of Wheeler township for four years. Politically he is a Republican, and both he and his wife are members of the German Lutheran Church. Mr. Scholtz is fraternally identified w ith the Masonic Lodge of Breckenridge, Michigan, Blue Lodge, No. 406, and with the Maccabees, Peterman Tent No. 290, of Breckenridge. SETH J. CURTIS is influential in the field of politics, business and agriculture in Hamilton township, Gratiot county. He served in the capacity of township treasurer, an office he filled very efficiently. Mr. Curtis was born on his father's farm in Hamilton township, January 12, I859, and has made this locality his home, with the exception of three years when he was engaged in a mercantile business at Sickels. The late Daniel Curtis, the father of Seth J., was born near London, Ontario, and was one of the first settlers of Hamilton township. He and his wife, Eliza Golden, w-ho was born in Illinois, came to Gratiot county at an early day and settled on Section 3, Hamilton township, where they spent the re BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I83 mainder of their lives, Mr. Curtis dying in Carthage, New York, while on a visit to that place, in 1882, at the age of fifty-six years. The mother died in I875, aged forty-five. In the order of their birth, their children were as follows: Mrs. Eli Jump, deceased; Henry, a resident of Ithaca, Michigan; Seth J., whose biography follows; Elam and Cora, both deceased; Melvin Curtis, of Idaho; and Edith, married to Alfred Spear, and residing in Lafayette township. Seth J. Curtis was reared in Hamilton township. Farming has been his life work, and he is the owner of I20 acres of good land, about eighty-five of which are under cultivation. Mr. Curtis has been twice married, his first wife being Helen Leona Cornwell, the daughter of Rev. William Cornwell. To this union two children were born, Milton A. and Ruth, the latter of whom died aged two years. Mrs. Helen L. Curtis died in Hamilton township in November, I899, and Mr. Curtis married December 23, I900, Mrs. Mina Derry, a daughter of Abraham \Veaver, and the widow of Frank A. Derry. To Mr. Curtis and his second wife one child has been born, Carl A. Seth J. Curtis has held the office of school inspector for several terms, served as township treasurer from 1903 to 1905, and was elected supervisor April 2, I906. He is a prominent member of the Ancient Order of Gleaners. FRANK EDWIN COWDREY, of Newark township, is a representative type of the intelligent, thrifty and prosperous agriculturists, who make up the community in which he lives. By his systematic and progressive management he has produced admirable results and his farm, which, while not one of the large properties of the county, is nevertheless above the average because of its high state of cultivation. With the exception of a few years Mr. Cowdrey has been a lifelong resident of the township, where he was born on the very farm he now owns, December I6, I865. The parents of Frank E. Cowdrey were \Villiam P. and Frances (Greer) Cowdrey. The earlier years of their married life were passed in Seneca county, Ohio, where Mr. Cowdrey was, as always, engaged in agricultural pursuits. At the time they moved to Gratiot county, Michigan, the country was but sparsely settled, and they were among the earlier residents of Newark township. Their farm was located in section 35 and there they continued to reside for a number of years, although later they removed to North Star toxwnship, and were living there at the time they lied. \Ir. and Mrs. Cow(lrev had a family of eight children, of whom the son, Frank E., was the fifth in order of birth. They were worthy and estimable people and were highly regarded by the people of the various communities in which they made their home at different times. Frank E. Cowdrey has all his life been engaged in farming, for as a boy, even while attending school, he did much at home to assist his father, and as he grew older he naturally became even more and more conversant with the details of farm life and better able to cope with the various problems which confront the farmer. During one period of about eight years he lived in North Star township, but for the rest of the time he has always resided in Newark township on the farm which his father first purchased there. He has been a close student of modern agricultural methods, and has given close I84 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. attention to the operations of his own property. His farm comprises one hundred acres and about eighty-five of these are under cultivation. There are a number of good buildings on the place, which Mr. Cowdrey himself has put up as need arose. It is still less than ten years since Mr. Cowdrey entered the married estate. His wife was Miss Effie B. Minaker, who became the partner of his joys and sorrows, October 18, I896. Mrs. Cowdrey was born in Canada, in Prince Edward county, Ontario, September I8, 1874, and was a daughter of George and Rosabella (Martin) Minaker, the oldest child in a family of seven. Mr. and Mrs. Cowdrey are the parents of two children, Frieda and Clifford. Frank E. Cowdrey is one of the residents of Newark township who has never shirked his responsibilities as a citizen of this great country, but has always manifested an interest in public affairs and taken a part in local politics, supporting the Republican side. Not only is his ability a matter of public knowledge, but his honesty and general uprightness of character have also been so fully recognized by his fellow townsmen that they have shown their confidence in him both as a man and as an official, who would conserve their interests as his own, by electing him to the office of township treasurer, a position which he is filling now for the second term. FRANK M. VANDERCOOK, editor and publisher of the St. Louis Independent, of St. Louis, Michigan, was born June 27, I853, in the village of Fulton, Fulton county, New York. When two years of age he was brought by his parents to Ingham county, Michigan, the family locating on a farm four miles north of Mason, where they resided until 1857, in that year removing to the city. When ten years of age Mr. Vandercook became the "devil" in the office of the Ingham County News, with which he remained until he finished his trade, attending school three years thereafter. On April 7, I870, Mr. Vandercook was married to Elvira Near, and in February, 1877, removed with his family to St. Louis, Gratiot county, where his wife died April 7, 1884, leaving three daughters: Ethel, now Mrs. Floyd Butler, of Wayne, Michigan; Maud, wife of Charles Vandenbergh, of St. Louis, Michigan; and Hattie, Mrs. S. J. Bole, superintendent of schools at Durand, Michigan. In May, 1885, Mr. Vandercook was married (second) to Miss Elsie Livingstone, of Saginaw. In 1882-83 Mr. Vandercook held the office of clerk of Pine River township, to which he was elected on the Republican ticket, a portion of the village of Alma, and the city of St. Louis, being then included in the township named. In 1889 and 1891 he was elected village clerk of St. Louis on the Republican ticket, and in 1894 was appointed by the mayor as the first member of the board of public works, for a term of five years, in I899 being re-appointed for a like period. In I89I he was elected member of the school board and has since served continuously. In 1896 he joined the Silver party, and was elected register of deeds of the county, being re-elected in 1898. In the latter election Mr. Vandercook received a majority of 339 votes in his home city, although the Republican party had an average majority of seventy-five votes. In the newspaper business Mr. Vandercook's experience has been varied. Establishing the St. Louis Spy in 1878, he con 5~~~~4 I i II i BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNATY I87 tinued that publication but a few weeks, then establishing the St. Louis Leader, which he published until I883, when it was sold to E. S. Hoskins. Mr. Vandercook then removed to Ithaca, and established the Ithaca Tiices, which he sold a year later, on account of the illness of his wife, and returned to St. Louis. In I885 he founded the St. Louis Republica,, a semi-weekly, which in I889 was sold to a stock company and consdlidated with the St. Loulis Lcadcr. In I890 Mr. Vandercook again entered the newspaper field with the St. Louis iidepci(dentt, which publication he has since continued. In I893 he established the first daily newspaper of St. Louis, which was published for three years, or until the election of its proprietor to the office of register of deeds. Mr. Vandercook has a fine one hundred and twenty-acre farm near the city of St. Louis, the care of which, in connection with the publication of his paper, engages his time and attention. Mr. Vandercook's comfortable residence is located on Washington avenue. ALTON G. WILEY. This well known resident of Seville township holds in an enviable degree the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, as has been shown by his election to local positions of trust and responsibility, and in each case that confidence has been justified by the ability and fidelity with which he has discharged the duties devolving upon him. Alton G. Wiley was born in Arcada township, Gratiot county, June II, 1858. His parents were the late Alexander Wiley, who died in Arcada township in January, 1902, aged sixty-nine years, and Cordelia (Adams) Wiley. There were five children in the family, Fernando, Frances, Alton G., Mattie and Edwin J., all of whom are living with the exception of the youngest son. Alton G. Wiley grew up with his brothers and sisters on his father's farm, experiencing the usual pleasures and trials incident to the life of a farmer's son, and the quiet routine of his days at home continued unbroken till he reached the age of twenty-three, at which time he assumed the responsibilities of marriage and began the struggle with life which faces every man who would maintain an independent stand. As farming was the work with which Mr. Wiley had had the most experience it was only natural that he should choose that as his vocation and his success in that line has demonstrated the wisdom of his action. He settled at first not far from his father's location, but in I889 he decided that it would further his interests to leave Arcada township and so in that year moved to Montcalm county and resumed his farming operations in Sidney township. Four years passed there and then, in I893, Mr. Wiley returned to the county in which he was born and established himself in Seville township, on the farm where he is found to(lay. This property consists of sixty-five acres of good farming land and practically all of it is now improved. The lady whom Mr. Wiley chose to be the head of his home was a Mrs. Lavina Hillsinger, a native of New York State, who had moved to Michigan with her parents. Isaac and Margaret (Neer) Hillsinger. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Wiley was solemnized April 3, I88I, and has been blessed with three children, although the oldest of these did not live more than a few months. He was named for his father, Alton, and the 188 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. two surviving children are Lena L. and Claude A. Mr. Wiley has ever manifested a marked interest in political conditions and situations and has furthermore put his interest into action, always working on behalf of the Democratic party, whose principles he upholds. His services have been called upon for public positions and he has filled successively the offices of school director, which he held for seven years, and of township treasurer and justice of the peace. The two latter incunibencies he filled for terms of two years each. He is also a lodge man and belongs to Elwell Tent, No. 766, Kni-ghts of the MIodern Maccabees. Mlr. Wiley is popular with his fellow townsmen and is regarded by then with much respect and esteem. IRA BOVEE, a promiiinent farmer of North Star township, Gratiot county, whose well-improved farm compares favorably with any in the locality, was born June I9, ~854, in Scholarie county, New York, son of Cornelius and Eva (Livingston) Bovee, natives of New York. Mr. Bovee's father died in Schoharie county, at the age of thirty-four years, and his nother was married to Elied Bovee. Mrs. Bovee died in Detroit, Michigan, at the age of sixty-five years. Ira Bovee was the youngest member of a family of four children, and was reared in Schoharie county, New York, being eleven years old at the time he came to MIichigan with his mother and stepfather. They settled in Northville, Wayne county, where Ira learned the brick mason's trade, at which he was employed for a time. He then located in Williamston, Ingham county, engaging in the grocery business for about two years, at the end of which period he removed to Ed more, Montcalm county, where he was in the grocery business for six months. He then located in Ithaca, remaining there as a contractor and builder until I893, when he located in North Star township, where he has since been engaged in farming, also doing some masonry work. He owns sixty-four acres of good land in North Star township. Mr. Bovee takes a great deal of interest in township and county affairs, and is known to be a man of strict integrity and reliability, no one in North Star township standing higher in public esteem. He is a member of Ithaca Lodge, No. 64, Knights of Pythias. STEPHEN THEODORE SPRAGUE. A list of the leading farmers of Pine River township, Gratiot county, would be decidedly incomplete without the name of Stephen T. Sprague. Mr. Sprague was born October 23, 1832, in Lysander, Onondaga county, New York, son of Samuel and Phoebe (Secoy) Sprague. He was the seventh imember in a family of ten children, namely: Jonathan, Samuel, David, James, Eli, Henry, Daniel, Amos and Jonas, of whomn, besides Stephen, only Daniel, Amos and Jonas are living. Amos and Jonas are farmers at Adrian, Michigan. Mr. Sprague located with his parents in LenawNee county, Michigan, when thirteen years of age, and there received his education. He remained at home until he was twenty years old, and was then engaged as a farm assistant, working by the nionth one and one-half years. After that he rented a farm, which he conducted two years, and then, in Williams County, Ohio, purchased forty acres of land. He spent two years in improving his property, which he later sold, again renting a farm in Fulton county. In BIOGRA-PHICAL MEMIOIRS OF GR,7'T10T COUNTY. I89 February, 1863, he located in Gratiot county, and purchased eighty acres of land in Sections 10 and 3, Pine River township, upon which he still resides. Mr. Sprague drew lumber from St. Louis with which to build a frame house on the section last named, and continued to cultivate and improve his land. He has contributed in a large measure to the improvement of the entire county, having cleared I I acres of timber with his own hands. Alr. Sprague was married in Lenawee, Miichigan, Mlarch 1, I853, to Miss Susan S. Packer, w\ho was born March 13, I828, in Clinton county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Eli anl Annie (Thomas) Packer, and to this union the following named children have been born: Wrillian T.; Annie, who became the wife of \\illiam Sandall, and lie(l in Pine River township, MIay 23, I895; Hadsell; Dora, who married Charles Dolpl Tlhomnas, who survives, and( Harry, who died in infancy. M[r. Sprague is a prominent Delmocrat, and takes muich interest in the affairs of his township aind county. He and his esteemed wife are melmbers of the Christian Church. HIRISTOPHER C. WONDERS, lwhose residence in Gratiot county covers two periods separated by more than a score of years, has lived in Seville township, since I896. He is a native of Ohio, born in Seneca county, October 17, I842, the only son of Christopher and Electa (Desmonld) Wonders. The latter was left a widow and afterward married David Strouse. Her death occurred in Newark tomwnship, Gratiot county, at the age of seventy years. W\hen Christopher C. Wonders was a child of two years of age, his parents moved from their home in Seneca county, Ohio, to Sal(luslk county, in the same state, and tlere the boy grew up. W\hen he reached the age of eighteen, he left home and began to earn a livelihood on his own account. Going to the adjoining state of Indiana, he spent about five years there engaged in various occupations and at the end of that time in Junie, I866, he removed from,Indiana to Michigan and became a resident of Gratiot counlty for the succeeding ten y-ears, his first sojourn in that section of the State. From 1876 to 1879 lMr. \onders was located in Dushlville, Isabella county, and then tried several different localities until in 1896 he returne(l to Gratiot county, and settled (lownn ill Iis present home in Seville township. During all these years, with their attendant changes, Mr. \Vonders has not been confined to (one employment, but spelt twelve years at work as a blacksmith, another period in running a sawmill and still anotlier in farmingl. At the time of the Civil war lie enlisted in Comnpany H, Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and ser-ved for a term of three mnontlhs. In his political views he has alwavs been a Democrat and active in the local wC-Crk of his party. While in Isabella county lie hleld the office of township drain commissioner for a year, and since becoming a resident of Seville township, las filled the position of highway commissioner for several Nyears. IMr. Wonders' domestic life has had sladows as well as sunshine, for death has visited his home. Married early in the seventies to Miss Lucinda Down, six children were born to them, before the wife and mother was called from this life, February 24, I883, during the residence of the family g90 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. in Sumner township, Gratiot county. They were: Lillian, the oldest daughter, married Burdette Southwell; Laura became the wife of Albertus Johnson; Burrill and Alzada were the next in order of birth; Jennie married Egbert Willett; and Jesse is the youngest. On September 14, I885, Mr. Wonders was married a second time, Mrs. Alma Franklin Emsley becoming his wife; she was the daughter of John and Lucy (Carter) Franklin, and the widow of Emanuel Emsley. By her first marriage she had had three sons, John F., Arthur and George, the two last named being deceased. After her union with Mr. Wonders a son, Ernest AI., was adopted. The family are well-known in Seville township, and are among its esteemed residents. ILLIS W. WILLIAMIS. Occasionally one meets a man whose abilities and force of character have enabled him to make such good use of somewhat limited opportunities during youth that one wonders what might have been achieved under more favorable conditions. To illustrate-\Villis W. Williams, a well-known agriculturist of Washington township, received only a common-school education, but has so successfully borne himself in life that he has won the confidence of the community in a marked degree, and has more than once been called upon to fill positions of trust and responsibility. Mr. Williams was born in Wheatland township, Kenosha county, Wisconsin, December i6, I86I, son of Joseph L. and Elizabeth (Howlett) Williams, natives of New York State and Illinois, respectively. The father was born December 5, 18I4, and the mother, October 28, 1828, their mar riage occurring May 2, I846. After a few years they removed to Wisconsin, where the father engaged in farming. In I884 he retired from agriculture, and located at Burlington, Racine county, where both he and his wife died-the former April 2, 900o, and the latter April 27, I888. Joseph L. Williams, as a man of sound general judgment and practical intelligence, was far above the average, and his fellows readily admitted his superiority, calling upon him to fill such offices as justice of the peace, supervisor, school trustee and town treasurer. Ten children were born to Joseph L. Williams and his wife, as below: Edwin A., November 9, I847, a lawyer of Neenah, Wisconsin; Clarence, May 14, 1849, who (lied March 3, I853; Harvey L., August 7, i85o, who died January 3, I852; Julius P., September 7, 1852, now a South Dakota farmer; Ida E., October iS, 1854, who died August 22, 1856; Lyman A., April 14, 1857, a farmer residing in Kansas; Charles E., October 17, 1859, a farmer of Kenosha county, Wisconsin; Willis W\., December 16, I86I; Herbert N., April I9, 1863, also a farmer of Washington township, Gratiot county; and Mary L., November 7, I868, who married C. L. Gleason, and died Septenmber I6, I902. Willis W. Williams, the eighth of the ten children, was educated in Wisconsin and Illinois, and when of age chose farming as his occupation. For the first six years he was content to un(lertake no responsibilities of his own, but worked for others, thus gaining a sound basis of experience for later independent operations. A further period of seven years was spent on his father's farm in Kenosha county. WVisconsin, a tract 9 orr.4*4i7 — BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUN-7 '". I93 of two hundred and sixty acres which was put entirely under Mr. \Villiams's management, and which he conducted most successfully. In the spring of i888, during his residence in that county, he was elected township clerk, and served one year; subsequently, for two terms, he held the office of supervisor. From Kenosha county, Wisconsin, Mr. \Villiams removed to Gratiot county, Michigan, w\ith which, as a permanent resident, he has since been identified. He owns a fine property in Section 33, Washington township, consisting of eighty acres of specially good arable land. The place is well equipped wvith all the buildings required for carrying on farming operations, andl most of them have been erected bv Mr. Williamls himself. On February 21, I888, Mr. Williams was married to Miss Mary Hibbard, then a resident of Washington township. MIiss Hibilard was the only daughter of George and Rhoda (Harrison) Hibbard, the former a native of New York, and the latter of the State of Ohio, where the (laughter also was born, in Mlorrow county, June 8, 1867. The family removed to Gratiot county, Michigan, in I880, and settled in Washington township, remaining there until the fall of 1894, when they located in Clinton county, Michigan, where they now reside in peaceful retirement. The fa'ther was born July I I, 838, and the mother March 27, 1834, and they have therefore reached the age which entitles them to relief from the heavy burdens of life. They are both faithful members of the Evangelical Church. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have one child, Ethel, born October I, I896. Both are nmembers of the Evangelical Church and are entirely in accord as to its work, being, perhaps. especially active in the Sunday-school. Mrs. Williams is a woman of rare character, and her husband has been unusually fortunate in his (lomestic relations. A strong Republican on all political issues, MIr. \\illiamns has always proved his faith by his useful party work, and the value of his services has been recognized by his appointment as supervisor of the township. The ability and straightforwardness which he has evinced in the conduct of that office have earned him general confidence and popularity. He was first appointed to the position in 1902, to coml)lete an unexpired term, and was so acceptable to his constituents that he was elected in 1903 and I904, and w-as obliged to refuse the nomination in I905. Mr. Williams has also served as school trustee for District No. 4, of \\ashington township, and for a period of two years was a member of the board of reviewers. His interest in all tow-nship affairs is keen and intelligent, and his many warm friends and constituetn's alike recognize in him a public spirited and able citizen. W ILLIAM BARTLEY. Among the representative farmers of Gratiot county William Bartley stands prominently as a good citizen, an enterprising business man, and a farmer of the first class. He resides on his II9-acre place in Lafayette township, situated in Sections 6 and 7. He was born January IO, I843, in Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, son of Anthony and Catherine (Young) Bartley. Anthony Bartley was born in Germany, while his wife was a native of Pennsylvania. They had three children, of whom William is the only surviving member, and they died 194 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania. William Bartley was reared in that county, and when nineteen years of age enlisted in Company C, Seventy-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, serving with that regiment from August, I862, until June 19, I865. He participated in the battles of Chattanooga and Chickamauga; many minor engagements and skirmishes; was in Sherman's campaign through Georgia, when he received a slight bullet wound; and served gallantly throughout the war, receiving his honorable discharge. After the war Mr. Bartley returned to Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, where he remained a short time, and in the spring of I866 he located in MIichigan, where for two years he lived in Newark township, Gratiot county. He then took up his home on Sections 6 and 7, in Lafayette township, where he owlns one hundred and nineteen acres, highly improved and supplied with good, substantial buildings. Mr. Bartley was marrie(l in Lafayette township, August 8, I87I, to Jane Edgar, born in Scotland July 30, 1849, daughter of Stewart and Margaret (Dunn) Edgar, natives of Scotland. Mr. an(l MIrs. Bartley have had these children: WAilliam E., who married Lena Halbert and has three children; James A.; Maggie E., the wife of Frank Clegg and mother of three children; MIary E., who married Peter McAdam and has had three children, one of whom is deceased; Katie; Janie; and Amanda Florena, who died at the age of three months. Mr. and Mrs. Bartley are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a man of the strictest integrity and a high sense of honor, and gains the confidence and respect of all with whom he has business dealings. FRANCIS M. FREAR, one of the prominent residents of Pine River township, Gratiot county, and an honored survivor of the Civil war, was born in Simcoe, Ontario, May 12, I843. He is a son of James and Clarissa (Shaver) Frear, natives of New York, who died in Grass Lake, Jackson county, MAichigan, the father September 3, 1869, at the age of sixty-three, and the mother, March 6, 1874, aged fifty-eight years. James Frear was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and he and his wife were both members of the Baptist Church. Their children were: Harvey J., killed in the Civil war; Michael N., a resident of Jackson county, Michigan; James I., an undertaker at Henriette, Oklahoma; George W., a carpenter at Junction, Oregon; Francis MI.; Harriet N., widow of H. M. Ward, of Bath, Michigan; and Clarissa I., MIrs. William Simmons, of Westfield, New York. Joshua M. Frear, the paternal grandfather of Francis AI., was a native of New York, of French extraction. Francis AM. Frear, in I849, as a boy of six, accompanied his parents to Ilichigan. \Vhile living at home on his father's farm, inll arch, I862, Mr. Frear enrolled himself in that grand army of young men who with one impulse arose in defense of their country's flag and union. He enlisted in Company K, First Regiment, United States Sharpshooters, and served three years, being mustered out of service at Petersburg, Virginia, March I6, I865. Mr. Frear participated in many serious battles and important campaigns, including Yorktown, the Peninsular campaign under General McClellan, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Spottsylvania. It would be un BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTTY. I95 likely that a soldier should pass through so much danger without injury, and Mr. Frear still bears the marks and effects of wounds. On June 4, IS64, at the battle of Cold Harbor, not mentioned in the above list, he received a wound in the head, and was confilned to the hospital for some time, rejoining 1his regiment in front of Petersburg at the timle of the capture of the WVeldon railroad; lie also participated in many minor engagements. After the close of his army service Mr. Frear returned to Jackson county, Michigan, in the winter of I865, locating in Gratiot county, where he worked in the lumber camps. In June, I866, he returned to Jackson county, where he was a farmer and carpenter for two years, attending school during the winter months, after rwhich lie spent a year in Osceola county. On December 24, 869, Mr. Frear was niarried to Miss Frances E. Reeves, born in Lyons, Ionia county, Michigan, November 4, 1847, daughter of William and Lucy Jane (Miller) Reeves, natives of New York, the former of whom (lied in Gratiot county, while his wife passed away in Tennessee. They were the parents of three children, of which family MIrs. Frear was the second member. She was reared in Ingham county, at the age of fourteen years locating in Gratiot county with her parents, who settled in Piie River township, being among the pioneers of that locality. One year after marriage Mr. Frear settled in Gratiot county anii purchased the farm which he now occupies. He has erected substantial buildings on his property, and the land is fertile aind productive. The farm is a tract of one hundred and fifty-three acres, and compares favorably with any in the townIship. Mr. and Mrs. Frear have been the parents of five children, viz.: Lida J. (wife of NV. S. Osborn), James W., Martin E., Floyd E. and Frankie M. Mr. Frear has been highway commissioner of Pine River township for two terms and has also served as constable and school director of his district. He belongs to the Union Veteran Union and is a mlember of the Masonic fraternity. Both as a business mlan and as a citizen he is generally and highly esteemed and is considered one of the substantial and representative men of Pine River. EORGE S. NALDRETT, one of the large land owners anl prominent agriculturists of Gratiot county, Michigan, who has been a resident of this section for many years, is a native of England, born October I, I834, son of Clement and Hannah (Hiscock) Naldrett, also natives of that country. The parents caime to America in I849, and settled in Livingston county, -Michigan, -whence they removed three years later to Newark to-wnvship, Gratiot county. There they lived about twenty-three years, at the end of which time they removed to Eaton county, where the remainder of their lives was spent. George S. Naldrett was but fifteen years of age Nwhen he accompanied his parents to the New World, and on locating in Michigan he worked on his father's farm until twentyone years of age. At that time he purchased eighty acres of wild land in Section 31, Newark township, and to this he has since addedl by purchase, now owning 253 acres of land. Vhen lie located on his farm in Newark he erected a small frame house, which his family occupied until I88I, in which year lhe erected a fine brick residence. He has I96 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. been in former years extensively engaged in stock raising, and is now one of the leading agriculturists of his township. In his political sympathies he is a Democrat, but has always declined to hold public office, preferring to give his time and attention to his farming interests. Mr. Naldrett is a member of the Mlasonic fraternity. On January 15, I857, Mr. Naldrett married, in Gratiot county, Miss Caroline Jones, youngest daughter of Simon and Lydia (Kirby) Jones, natives of Vermont and Massachusetts, respectively, who settled in New York State and later went to Ohio. In I856 they became residents of Fulton township, Gratiot county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Naldrett was born in Seneca county, Ohio, July I8, 1839, and lived at her father's home until her marriage to our subject. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Naldrett, namely: Charles S., Ida M., Clement, Laura J. (deceased), and Lydia J. EORGE J. ACKER, who is actively engaged in the cultivation of the soil in Pine River township, Gratiot county, where he owns and operates a fine tract of one hundred and twenty acres of land on Section 12, was born on a farm in Crawford county, Ohio, April I2, I848, son of George and Catherine (Gebhart) Acker. George Acker was a native of Bavaria, Germany, while his wife was of German parentage. She died in Crawford county, Ohio, aged twentyone years, George J. being then two and one-half years old. George Acker settled in Gratiot county in the early eighties, and died in Bethany township at the age of sixty-one years. his father's first marriage. George Acker's second marriage was to Catherine Laib, who died October I8, I905, the fruits of this union being the following children: Mary C., deceased, marrie( Isaac Clough: John NI., single, resides with George J.; William C., is a farmer of Pine River township; Sophia L., deceased, married Edward Stebbins: Miss Eliza, resides in Isabella county, Michigan; Caroline is the wife of William Cleland, of Ingham county, Michigan; Franklin is a farmer in Bethany township, Gratiot county; David E. is engaged in farming in Isabella county, Michigan; Edward C. died at the age of eighteen years. At the age of five years George J. Acker was taken by his father to Kent county, M\ichigan, settling in Lowell township, where the boy reached manhood. He attended the common schools of his district and learned the carpenter's trade and in the fall of I868 married Miss Ann Graham, daughter of William K. and Margaret (Bolton) Graham, natives of England, where Mrs. Acker was born in the year I845. Soon after his marriage Mr. Acker located in Gratiot county, and for seventeen years lived in St. Louis, where he followed his trade. While living in St. Louis he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Section 12, Pine River township, upon which lhe settled and which he has since cultivated. Most of his time is given to agricultural pursuits, although he has followed his trade to some extent. He has improved his farm, erected a fine brick house and a substantial barn forty by sixty feet in dimensions and planted numerous shade trees and fruit trees around his residence and grounds. To George J. and Ann (Graham) George J. Acker was the only child by Acker these children have been born: BIOGRAPHICAL MEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COU\NTY I97 Charles E., Percy W. and Sarah E., who died at the age of thirty years, the wife of Dennis Woodmansee. Mrs. Ann (Graham) Acker died October 17, I876, at the age of thirty-one years, and Mr. Acker married in January, 1878, Mrs. Frances (Stewart) Gamble, widow of John Gamble, born in Ireland in I853. Two children were born to this second marriage: Gracie E., wife of Charles Mapes, of Pine River township, and George, Jr. George J. Acker is prominent in township affairs, having been justice of the peace several terms and held numerous minor offices. Politically le is a Prohibitionist. He and his estimable wife are valued members of the First Presbyterian Church, in which Mlr. Acker is an elder. He is a member of the Court of Honor. Mr. Acker has been a hard worker, a consistent economist and a wise manager, and is worthy of all the respect and esteem in which he is held. THOMIAS LANG, treasurer of Sumner township, and a representative and influential farmer of Gratiot county, is a man widely known throughout his community, and is held in high esteem by his acquaintances as a man of integrity and sound principles. He was born in Devonshire, England, March 15, 1863, son of John and Jane (Clevenden) Lang, who came to Gratiot county in June, 1869, and settled on Section 20, in Sumner township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Lang died in September, 1884. Thomas Lang was the third member of a family of six children, and came from England to America with his parents. He was reared in Sumner town ship, and at the age of eighteen years he went to Hart, Oceana county, Michigan, and was employed in the construction of the Pere Marquette Railroad, at that point, then known as the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad. He remained there but one summer, and then wenlt to Newaygo county, and was employed in Woodville several months. Mr. Lang next went to the Straits of Mackinac, being employed in building the locks at that point, for about four months, at the end of which time he removed to Saginaw county and, in company with his brother Richard, rented a farm and remained one year. He then returned to Stumner township, and since then has been engaged in farming and threshing. In company with his brother he owns two hundred and twenty acres of land, one hundred and eighty of which are under cultivation. Since locating in Sumner township Mr. Lang has been quite prominent in politics. He held the office of highway commissioner one year, and was elected treasurer of the township in the spring of I904. He was elected justice of the peace, but failed to qualify. Mr. Lang is a stanch Republican and has always been active in the ranks of that party. He is a member of North Star Lo(dge No. 306, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. W ILLIAM HORTON was born in the State of New York, on a farm in Oswego county, December 31, 1852, son of William MI. and Mary A. (Williams) Horton. William M. Horton was also born in New York State, and in Scriba, Oswego county, that State, met his wife. Her par I98 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. ents were both of Irish lineage, and the daughter was born on the Atlantic during their voyage from their native land to America. They are still living in their New York home. William Horton was the second of their six children. \William Horton grew up in Oswego county, and was sent to the public schools to acquire as good al education as was to be obtained there. On attaining the age of eighteen years he left New York for Michigan and was employed for a couple of years in the lumber regions of the latter State, but at the expiration of that time he went back to his home in Oswxego county, and remained there for another period of two years. He then a second time sought Michigan, spent one winter at Port Huron, and thence removed to Saginaw county. While still with his father Mr. Horton had learned from him the cooper's and stave joiner's trades, and he followed these occupations exclusively for several years in this last location. In I882 he accepted a position as bookkeeper for the firm of Hood & Parsons, of the village of Merrill, Michigan. IHe continued in their employ for seven years, then for two years was in the employ of P. J. Conlan, who kept a large general store in Merrill, two years more at stave jointing, and then took a position as bookkeeper with Gardner, Peterman & Company, for whom he worked as bookkeeper and manager of stave, heading and lumber mill during the decade from 1892 till I902. This firm was engaged in the manufacture of staves, headings, hoops, lumber and shingles and ran four establishments, located at Riverdale, Onaway, Millersburg and Santiago, in Gratiot, Presque Isle, and Arenac counties. Mr. Horton had the general over sight of both the Riverdale and Santiago mills. In 1902 he returned to Riverdale to take up his permanent residence. Mr. Horton has been twice married. His first wife was a Miss Ida M. Wallace, who was born in Bay City, Michigan, and died in Merrill in I899. Their marriage was solemnized in Saginaw July 3, I883, and to them were born four children, Nellie G., Mabel, Maud and a son that died in infancy. On December 9, I892, AMr. Horton was iunited in marriage with Miss Anna L. Turner, like himself a native of New York. To them also three dlaughters and a son were born, Isabella, Pauline, Esther and Charles. On matters of public import and on political questions Mr. Horton has always held decided opinions and his interest along such lines has always translated itself into action. Formerly a follower of the Republicans, he has for some time been independent in his stand. While a residenit of Saginaw county he was elected supervisor of Jonesfield for two terms, and in Merrill he was chosen the first president of that village when its form of government was organized, and held the position for two terms. On moving to Seville township he displayed the same interest in local affairs, and in the spring of I904 his services were recognized by his election to the offiice of township clerk, a post he is still filling. Mr. Horton is a keen, intelligent man and represents a fine type of citizenship. JESSE J. WOODWARD, who is well and favorably known in Emerson township, Gratiot county, is actively engaged in cultivating his farm in that township. Alien Woodward, the father of Jesse BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOlIRS OF GRA TIOT COUNTY. I99 J. \\oocdlxard, was a soldier of the Civil W\ar, who (liedl in Emerson township, March 5, I884. He was born in Ontario county, New York, December 17, I819, and enlisted in Company B, Tenth New York Volunteer Cavalry, serving gallantly throughout the war. He married (first) Almira Lewis, who died in Washtenaw county, Michigan, in June, I861. Mr. Woodward's second marriage, which occurred December 12, I866, was to Mrs. Elizabeth (McCall) Cronkite, the widow of Francis Cronkite, the latter also a soldier in the Civil war, lwho died after the battle of the Wilderness. Mrs. \Woodlward wvas born November 17, I830, in Argyle. New York, (laughter of John and Susanna (Kay) McCall. By her first marriage she had one son Franklin Cronkite, now dleceased. Jesse J. Woodward was the only son of his parents, and he was born November 12, I867, in Berlin township, Ionia county, MIichigan. He came with his parents to Gratiot county in 1874, and ever since that time has resided in Emerson township. Farming has been his life's occupation, and he has been very successful in this line, owning about forty acres, all of which is imIroved. He is a man of ability, and is a prominent factor in the public life of the town. He is a progressive, public-spirited young man, and a most worthy representative of the old pioneer stock of which Michigan is proud. CHAR-LES A. VAN DEVENTER. Among the substantial farmers and esteemed citizens of Emerson township, Gratiot county, may be mentioned Charles Van Deventer, who owns and operates a farm of eighty acres. He was born Janu ary 8, 1868, in Macon township, Lenawee countyT, Michigan, son of Benjamin E. and Martha (Linn) Van Deventer, who came to Gratiot county in 188I, and settled in Emerson township, where they lived until I897, in that year removing to Ithaca, where they now reside. They had four children, of which family Charles A. is the youngest. Charles A. Van Deventer came to Gratiot county with his parents when he was thirteen years old, and was reared to manhood in Emerson township, receiving his education, however, in Ithaca. He was married in Arcada township, MIay 4, I897, to Lena Sharrar, born in Lenawee county, Michigan, daughter of Daniel L. Sharrar. Mr. Van Deventer's interests have always been centered in farming, with every branch of which he is familiar. His fine eightyacre farm bears evidence of the care and attention it receives, and stands among the best in the township. Mr. Van Deventer is identified with the Republican party, and has been school inspector and justice of the peace of Emerson township. He was a candidate on the Republican ticket for Registrar of Deeds, in the fall of I898. Fraternally he is connected with Ithaca Tent, No. 12, Knights of the Modern Maccabees, and, Ithaca and Pomona Grange. He was master of the Pomona Grange, and has been master of Ithaca Grange for one year. Mr. and Mrs. Van Deventer are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca, and Mr. Van Deventer has been superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is one of the upright and reliable citizens of the township in whom much trust is placed, and he is held in general esteem. 200 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. FRANK E. SQUIRE. New Haven township is fortunate in having on its board of supervisors men who unite substantial ability with public spirit, and of the number none takes a more vital interest in all matters pertaining to the township, or is more truly representative of its best progress, than Frank E. Squire. He is one of Michigan's own sons, born in Hillsdale county March 6, 1853, his parents being Franklin and Eliza (Herrington) Squire, natives of Ohio. Franklin Squire was born in the county of Geauga, Ohio, February 15, I827, son of Aaron Squire, deceased, a native of Connecticut. Until he had reached manhood the son remained with his parents, assisting his father with the farm work and attending the neighboring schools. On February 23, 1851, he married Miss Eliza Ann, daughter of John Herrington, deceased, and he and his wife found a home in Lenawee county, Michigan. They remained there for three years and in 1854 located in Gratiot county, Mr. Squire entering a one hundred and sixty-acre homestead. His early settlement teemed with all the average pioneer hardships, common, but no less difficult to bear. But he finally mastered them, became prominent in local affairs, and was honored by election to the offices of clerk, supervisor and school director of the township, in all which positions he served ably and conscientiously. In religious sentiment Mr. Squire is an ardent adherent of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Squire had eight children born to them, six of whom are still living, as follows: Frank E., of New Haven township, Gratiot county; Eli E., of A[ontcalm county; Alice L., wife of Nehemiah Hainer, of Clinton county; John A., of Clinton county; Lucy, wife of Herbert Jeffers, of Battle Creek, Michigan; and Sarah E., wife of Albert Robinson, of Butternut, Montcalm county, Michigan. Adell, who married Clarence Harpham, died in her twenty-first year, leaving two children, who were reared by Franklin Squire; and Helen, who married Henry Greenlee, died in July, I889, leaving three children, who also found a home with their grandfather. From the time of his settling in this county in I854, until the year I892, Mr. Squire was a resident of North Star township, on the farm upon which he first located. Selling the old homestead, he bought a forty-acre farm well located near Butternut, Montcalm county, where he and his last wife now reside, his first wife having passed away in Gratiot county in April, I867. Frank E. Squire was in his second year when he accompanied his fa'ther's family to North Star township, Gratiot county, where he passed his boyhood and his youth until he had attained the age of nineteen years. After leaving home he first located in Kent county, Michigan, afterward lumbering in Muskegon and Mecosta counties. After gaining considerable experience in this line Mr. Squire experimented at various occupations for some time. He then decided on a business career, and, believing there should be a demand for agricultural implements, opened an establishment of that kind in Ithaca and for eight or nine years carried on a flourishing business. In November, 1884, on removing to New Haven township, Mr. Squire did not entirely relinquish that line of trade, but continued to deal in farming implements, in connection with his own eZ T BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 203 agricultural operations. His property in New Haven township now consists of one hundred acres of valuable land, and he has about seventy acres of it under cultivation. He is one of the energetic, scientific farmers of the section, and by his progressive methods secures results both sure and profitable. Mr. Squire has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Mary Myers, of New Haven township, to whom he was wedded in August, I875. Of the two children born to them, Delbert, the only survivor (the other died in infancy), married December 24, I902, Lillian Mi. Rummer. He is a farmer of New Haven township and has one child, Rhea Louise. The domestic happiness of Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Squire, however, lasted but for a brief time, as Mrs. Squire was only twenty-four years of age when death claimed her. On July 17, I882, MIr. Squire married again, his second wife being Miss Violet A. Holmes, a daughter of Myron R. and Caroline J. (MAarshall) Holmes, of North Star township. Mrs. Squire was born in that locality April 4, 1863. Their only child, Bernice A., was married November 26, I902, to Irvin -H. Dintaman. of Kent county, Michigan, and is the mother of two children, Hazel Le Mae and How-ard Holmes. In political matters Mr. Squire has always supported the Democratic party, and as he is a man who takes a keen interest in questions of public import he has been prominent in local affairs and has wielded considerable influence. In the spring of 90o3 he was elected one of the board of supervisors of New Haven township, and so ably (lid he meet the responsibilities of the position and such confidence did his consti9 tuents place in him that he was again chosen in 1904 and I9o5-a fitting recognition of his services in behalf of the public welfare. Fraternally Mr. Squire is a member of the Knights of the Modern Maccabees. W ILLIAM T. NALDRETT. There are few men in Gratiot county who have had a more varied business experience, and who have passed through it all with credit and honor, than William T. Naldrett, of Ithaca. His rugged manhood has been thoroughly tested by misfortune, and he has met every ordeal with bravery, forcing his way to substantial success. At the present time he is lumber manufacturer. farmer and (lairyman, a dealer in coal, cement and all kilnds of building material, and banker, having been vice-president of the Ithaca National Bank from its organization. Mr. Naldrett was born in Alma, Gratiot county, Alichigan, on January 5, I863, the son of Hugh and Sarah Jane (Jones) Naldrett, natives respectively of England and the State of Ohio. When about fifteen years of age the father emigrated to America with his plarents, who were among tlhe pioneers of Gratiot county, their first location beilg Newark. There, upon the State Road, he took up one hundred and sixty acres of land, but in I858 removed to a tract which embraces the site of the present thriving city of Alma. After remaining at that locality for about five years Hugh Naldrett sold his farm to Lyman Cahoon, after which, for four years, he was a resident of Washtenaw county, Michigan. His next and final abiding place was Ionia county, where he died in April, 1871, at the age of thirty-eight years. Farming was his lifelong occupation. The wife of Hugh Naldrett married as 204 BIOGRAPHICAL MIEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. her second husband Henry Bailey, the family returning to Gratiot county in 1876 and locating on the old Jones farm. There she had passed her early years, and there she died on the ist of April, I900, aged sixtyeight years. Mr. Bailey also resided with \Villiam T. Naldrett, at his home in Ithaca, dying there in December, I904, at the age of eighty years. The deceased were both old and firm members of the Baptist Church. Besides William T. Naldrett (the second born) the children of Hugh Naldrett and wife were: Thomas, who died at the age of eighteen months, and Joeb, a merchant of Durand, Michigan. The paternal grandparents were Clement and Hannah (His-cock) Naldrett, natives of England, who came to the United States in I849 and settled in Livingston county, M;ichigan. Three years later they removed to Gratiot county, township of Newark. They -continued to reside there about twenty-three years, x-when they removed to Eaton cotnty, and there completed their lives. Returning to their descendant in whom the interest of the present chiefly centers, it is to be stated that in October, 1883, William T. Naldrett was married to Dora, daughter of Henry and Annette (Pike) Stitt, of Fulton township, Gratiot county, formerly fromn Ohio. One child was born to the -union, Bion H. Mr. Naldrett's first wife died December 24, 1885, at the age of twenty-one, and his seconid marriage occurred in Ionia, Michigan, on the I5th of October, I888, to Emma iM. Keefer. His second wife was born in Orange township, Ionia county, on September 24, 1865, the daughter of William and Julia (Carbaugh) Keefer, natives of Ohio and Virginia, respectively. Mrs. Naldrett's parents were married in Ionia county, August 13, I862, and are still residents of Orange township. The mother was born September 14, 1838, and the father December I6, I837. The latter came to Michigan with his parents when a boy of ten, has been a farmer all these years, and has not only intelligently conducted his own affairs, but been called upon by his fellow citizens to manage various branches of the public service. He has served as supervisor, justice of the peace and treasurer of the township schools for many years past, and still resides on the farm where he passed the years of his boyhood. At present he is the owner of more than six hundred acres of productive land. To Mr. and Mrs. William Keefer have been born the following: Ulysses Grant, a farmer of Ionia county, Michigan; \\illiam S. and Sheridan S., also farmers, residing in Portland township. that county; Emma M., wife of \illiam T. Naldrett; Ida E., Mrs. William Kneudson, her husband being a farmer of Lyons, Michigan. The paternal grandfather, Abraham Keefer, of Pennsylvania, migrated to Michigan in I847, locating in Ionia county on the farm upon which his youngest son resides. The maternal grandpa-ents, George and Magdalena (Foreman) Carbaugh, also natives of the Keystone State, became residents of Ionia county in I856. William T. Naldrett lived wxith his mother until he was nineteen years of age, afterward marrying and settling on his farm of sixty acres in Fulton township. There he remained for three years, when, upon the death of his wife, he removed to California. After residing in that State for one year, he returned to Gratiot county, locating on a farm in Fulton township. He afterward BIOGRAPHICAL MEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COU-NTY. 205 platted a portion of his farm, and founded the village of Middleton. In 889 he removed to Ithaca as a sawmill operator, and continued in the same industry at Saginaw, M\ichigan, becoming proprietor of a sawmill there. In the following year the establishment was completely destroyed by fire and Mr. Naldrett returned to Ithaca, two thousand dollars in debt, to begin life anew. His first employment was as a lumber inspector, and various companies continued to engage his services in that capacity for a period of six years. By economy and good business management he was then enabled to establish himself as a retail lumber merchant. His trade in that line has continually increased and, as noted, he has also added other departments to his business. His agricultural interests are centered in a fine tract of four hundred and fifty acres of land, scientifically tiled and drained at a cost of four thousand dollars, and most advantageously located about one mile from Ithaca. Besides engaging in general farming operations Mr. Naldrett is a raiser of live stock, keeping fifty cows constantly on hand. The Ithaca National Bank, of which he has been vice-president since its organization, has made steady and prosperous growth from the start. All of which indicates unusual energy and perseverance and marked executive and business ability. To these facts may be added that Mr. Naldrett is up-to(late in the methods employed in the conduct of his varied interests-one of the most substantial and progressive citizens of Ithaca. He is independent in politics, as in all other activities of human life. He attributes a large portion of his business success to his wife, who acts as bookkeeper in his office, and who takes a keen interest in all business transactions. By his second marriage M\Ir. Naldrett is the father of the following children: Dora M., who (lied September 28, 1895, aged five years; Jessie I.; Dorothy M., and Bessie M. G EORGE S. ALDRICH. In every community, great or small, there are found men -who by reason of their personal attributes, enterprising spirit and natural ability have risen above their fellows in business, social or public life. St. Louis, Michigan, has an example in George S. Aldrich, of the real estate, loan and law firm of Aldrich & Mev. Mr. Aldrich was born at Clareiice, Erie county, New York, September 4, I853, son of tle Reverend Sidney and Lydia (York) Aldrich, -who located in Jackson county, Michigan, in 1864. Sidney Aldrich (lied at Spring Arbor in his seventysixth year, -while his wife (lied when about sixty-five years old. George S. Aldrich was the sixth member of a family of eight children, and came with his parents to Jackson county, Michigan, where he remained until 1872. He received his prelimlinary education in the common schools andl graduated from the Jackson high school in the spring of 1873. He then taught school for one year in Ingham county, and in the fall of 1874 entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which lie was graduated in the class of I876, receiving the degree of LL. B. For about one and one-half years thereafter he was in the office of the prosecuting attorney of Jackson county, and then located in Vermontville, Eaton county, Michigan, practicing law for one year. Mr. Aldrich then 206 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. went to Richmond, Virginia, where for three years he engaged in the law, real estate and loan business, at the end of which time he returned to Jackson county, Michigan, in I886 coming to Gratiot county. His health having become impaired he purchased a farm in Arcada township, which he operated for about five years, during which time he served for two years as the secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company and also served as circuit court commissioner for two years. He then sold his farm and came to St. Louis, forming a law partnership with Newell Smith, which continued for about four years. He also engaged in the real estate, insurance and loan business with George W. Long, and the firm remained this way for eight years. Mr. Otto F. Mey has since purchased Mr. Long's interest in the business, and since that time the firm has continued as Aldrich & Mey. Mr. Aldrich was married, at South Jackson, Michigan, December 24, I88I, to Miss Alice Angevine, who was born in Dutchess county, New York, daughter of Smith P. Angevine, and to this union have been born these children: Iva D., Vern S. and George F. Mr. Aldrich has been a member of the school board of St. Louis for three years and was elected mayor of St. Louis in I90I, I903 and I904. He has always acted with the Republican party. His services have reflected honor upon the city and his efforts for the honest and economical administration of government and the peaceable adjudication of disputes will long be recalled by the citizens of St. Louis. Mr. Aldrich and his estimable wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of St. Louis, of which Mr. Aldrich is a trustee. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Royal Arch Mason, and of the Knights of Pythias (of which he was chancellor commander). Mr. Aldrich was one of the first five incorporators of the Union Telephone Company, of which for four years he was president, and is now one of the directors of this company. Mr. Aldrich is president of the St. Louis Manufacturing Company, of which he is also treasurer. FRANK PEACH, supervisor and extreasurer of Bethany township, is one of Gratiot county's representative citizens, as well as a Democratic leader of local influence. He is a son of the Buckeye State, born January I, 1857, in Williams county, and his parents were the late John and Laura (Lutz) Peach, natives of Summit county, Ohio. His father died in Williams county, that State, October 20, I898, aged sixty-nine, and his mother in the same county, November 4, I864, at the age of thirty-five. They were the parents of five children: William, a resident of Omaha, Nebraska; Laura, who died at the age of seven; Luella, who died in infancy; Frank, whose sketch follows; and Charles, who died an infant. Frank Peach was rearead in Williams county, on his father's farm, and received his education in the common schools of his native township. When he was seven years of age his mother died, and he was brought up by David Loutzenhouser. When he reached the age of thirteen years he commenced to work by the month on farms in the vicinity, and at this occupation he continued until he was nineteen years of age, when he located in Bay City, Michigan, _~1 I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~l l~~~~~~~~___i~~__~l_~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ a~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTTY. 209 I -where he was employed in a sawmill on the river, trimming logs. He was thus engaged for five years. Mr. Peach was married February 23, i88I, to Miss Mary Myer, a native of \\illiams county, Ohio, daughter of the late Peter and Julia (MIiller) Myer, old settlers of Bethany township, who came from \Villiams county in I868. Both are deceased. Mrs. Peach was born January 25, 1863, the youngest member of a family of six children. To this union the following named children have been born: Amanda E., the wife of Leland Lanning, a farmer of Jasper township, Midland county, and the mother of Clair F.; John W.; Elsie M.; Mary Ellen, and Lloyd F. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Peach rented a farm in Section 9, Bethany township, upon which they remained for two years, and then removed to a tract in Section 4, which he rented for two years prior to purchasing a homestead of sixty acres. Mr. Peach has resided on this farm since I885, and has made many improvements, including the erection of convenient and substantial buildings. When the land was purchased it was all wild, and covered with timber. This Mr. Peach cleared, and has so increased the original purchase that he now owns one hundred and sixty-two acres, nearly all of which is improved. Frank Peach has held the position of school director of his township; served as highway commissioner for four years, and school assessor for nine years, and was township treasurer from April, I903, to April, I905, when he was elected supervisor, which office he holds at present. He is a strong Democrat, and, in view of the above record, his influence in county p-olitics' is concedled. Fraternally he is a Blue Lodge Mason, belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Ancient Order of Gleaners. Mr. Peach is one of the most popular citizens of Bethany township, in which lie is recognized as an incorruptible public official and a publicspirited man of affairs. HARRISON WOOD. To none of the citizens of this great country is more honor due than to those who risked their lives in tle niighlty struggle between the North and the South, and the survivors are still scattered thickly over the length andi breadth of the land, many of them even yet serving their country as faithfully as of -ore, though in less hazardous posts. One of Michigan's old soldiers, Harrison Wood, has held various civil positions, and in each has displayed the same manly and upright qualities that made him a good soldier in years gone by. AIr. Wood is a native of the State, born in Rome township, Lenawee county, January 3, 1843. James Wood, the father of Harrison \Vood, was from Onondaga county, New York, as was his wife, whose maiden name was Adeline Eggleston. They came to Michigan in 1837, but it was not until 1853 that they settled in Gratiot county, on a farm in Section 30, Newark township. There the parents both died, the father March 2, I898, in his eighty-eighth year, and the mother February I8, 1897, at the age of eighty-five years. Their family consisted of five sons and one daughter, Harrison being the fourth in order of birth. Besides himself, there were the following children, mentioned in the order of their birth: Luther, a retired 210 BIOGRAPHICAL IMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. farmer of Arcada township, Gratiot county; Sarah, residing at Ithaca, Michigan, widow of John Shaffer; Myron, a farmer of Newark township; Henry, deceased; John, a farmer of Montcalm county; and Theodore, deceased. The early years of Harrison Wood were passed in Lenawee county, Michigan, and he had reached his tenth year when his father moved to Newark township, Gratiot county. There he grew to manhood, having secured what education the common schools afforded. When he was seventeen years old he was a mail carrier for about a year between Greenville, Montcalm county, and Gratiot Center, which is now Ithaca, being obliged to perform much of the service on foot. In Newark township he gained the experience in practical farming, under his father, which afterward enabled him to make his own way in the world successfully, his experience as a mail carrier immediately preceding his military service. In November, I86I, when he was in his seventeenth year, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Ninth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, but, after three months' service, was discharged on account of disability. His patriotism still burned brightly, however, and in September, 1864, he enlisted again, this time in Company F, New Third Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and followed the fortunes of his regiment until it was mustered out at Victoria, Texas, in June, I866. He saw much hard service and was in the battles of Decatur, Alabama, Stone River, Murfreesboro and Nashville, and was advanced from corporal to first duty sergeant. After leaving the army Mr. Wood returned to Newark township and to the regular occupations of a farmer. This has been his calling ever since, and his operations have been crowned with a good degree of success. He owns I60 acres, and has erected a number of good buildings on his property. Not many months after his return from the army Mr. WVood was united in marriage to Miss Wilhelmina Willart, who was born July 6, I849, in Germany, daughter of Christopher and Mary (Daman) Willart, the youngest of their eight children. The family emigrated to America early in the fifties and after making their home for some time in Clinton county, Michigan, settled in Fulton township, Gratiot county. There Mrs. Willart (lied, on November Io, I865, aged fifty-two, but her husband lived until July 6, I885, having reached the age of eighty-two. His last (lays were spent in North Shade township. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Wood have been born eleven children, viz.: Ada, wife of Harvey Wood, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Augusta, Mrs. F. Peabody, of Montcalm county; Arthur J., a farmer of North Shade township; Harvey J., a rural mail carrier and mechanic of Pompeii, Fulton township; Mary A., the wife of Frank Martin, a farmer of Newark township; Cary E., a farmer of Newark township; Ira G.; Nore T.; Nina, who died when only ten months old; Freddie and Flora B. Mr. Wood has fourteen grand-children, living. Mr. Wood is active in several lines of general public interest. He is quite prominent in church work and a member of the Masonic fraternity, while in local politics he is -ell known as a loyal supporter of the Republican party. Several township offices have been tendered him, at various times, and he has served as constable for some years, as justice of the peace for a considerable period, and as health officer. He has BIOGR.4PHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRA4TIOT COUNTY. 211 ever been efficient in the discharge of the duties devolving upon him, and rests secure in the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. ARNEY SWOPE, one of the representative citizens of Wheeler township, Gratiot county, owner of a large and productive farm, an old and wounded soldier of the Civil war and prominently identified with the local government and sectional progress, was born on what later became the battlefield of Antietam, in Washington county, Maryland, June 12, I840. He is the son of Barnhardt and Elizabeth (Neff) Swope, of that State, -who removed to Michigan in 1852, locating on a farm in Jackson county, where his father (lied in 1854, aged sixty-two years. The latter was a farmer, and (luring the two years of his residence in M:ichigan (levoted himself to the improvement of his land. The following children were born to this couple: Barney; Lanah, Irs. Richard Blodgett, of Eaton Rapids, Michigan (M\r. Blodgett was a Civil war veteran and is a retired farmer); William J., who served in the war of the Rebellion as a member of Berdan's Sharpshooters; and( Jacob. The two last named are deceasel. The paternal grandfather of Barney Swope was born on the ocean while his parents were on their voyage from Germany to the United States. As a young man he served in the patriot army of the Revolution, and his son in turn (the father of Barney) was a soldier in the war of I812. The mother of Barney Swope was married a second time, John Yeager becoming her second husbandl, and in January, I 86, the family I removed to Wheeler township, Gratiot county, where AMrs. Yeager passed the rest of her days, dying May I4, I899, at the age of eighty-four years. Mr. Yeager had died in I897. From the age of twelve years until he enlisted in the Union army, Mir. Swope was reared in Jackson county on the farm. In December, 1859, he assisted his stepfather to build the first log cabin in Wheeler township. At the outbreak of the Civil war he offered his services to his country, and participated in such important engagements as those at Pass Manchac, Benton Ferry, Baton Rouge, Poncllatoula, Amite River and Port Hudson, all in Louisiana. At Amite River over $400,000 worth of property was seized and destroyed, aind at Port Hudson, Alay 27, 1863, Mr. Swope was wounded in the arm by a minie ball, four and one-half inches of bone being removed from the injure(l member. HIe was taken to the hospital at New Orleans, where he remained until September 7, I863, when he was honorably disclarged. He returned to Jackson county, attending school for a few months, and then came to Gratiot county, for a year assisting his stepfather in the clearing and cultivation of the family tract. He tlen removed to the farm in Wheeler township, Gratiot county, which was to be his homestead for so many years. MIr. Swope's marriage to Miss AMargaret Parrish occurred in Wheeler township, August 20, I865, anld he at once began his domestic life upon his present homestead. This now consists of a tract of I60 acres; he owns two other farms, one eighty acres and one thirty-three and one-third acres in said township; all except twenty acres of which I 212 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNITY. he has brought to a splendid state of cultivation. By the union mentioned above he became the father of these children: William J., unmarried and living at home; John H., a farmer of Wheeler township, who married Miss May Gunsolus; Agnes, wife of Thomas Crawford, who is in the elevator business at Breckenridge, Michigan, and who has one daughter, Margurite; Edgar, single, at home; Walter, principal of the Breckenridge (Michigan) school, who married Miss Helen Rosa, and is the father of Dorathena; Bessie and Frank, living at home. Mr. and Mrs. Swope are also rearing the two children of Frank and Esther Joslin. Mrs. Swope was born in Jackson county, Michigan, October 3, 1845, daughter of William and Harriet (Tompkins) Parrish, of York State. Her parents settled in the county named when Michigan was yet a Territory, and Mrs. Parrish died there. For his second wife Mr. Parrish married Mrs. Betsey (Choat) Sutfin, and in I862 removed upon a farm in Section 7, Wheeler township, where he was living at the time of his dlaughter's marriage to Mr. Swope. For thirty-five years Mr. Swope has held the office of justice of the peace, has served five years as clerk of Wheeler township and as supervisor for eighteen. In company with General Ely he was delegated to the honor of "staking out" the old court house at Ithaca, and he is otherwise identified with the pioneer period of Gratiot county. Outside his justiceship, his farm and his family, there is, perhaps, no subject in which he takes a deeper and more unvarying interest than in the G. A. R. He is a valued comrade in Billy Crusen Post, No. 347, of which he is past commander. C HARLES F. BROWN, postmaster of the city of Alma since I898, agent of the American Express Company since 1892, proprietor of a fine two-hundred-acre farm since I902, and from I886 until I903 publisher of the Almia Record, is one of the ablest, most substantial and generally honored residents of Central Michigan. The son of George WV. and Avis (Bunker) Brown, he was born in Leslie, Ingham county, Michigan, September 13, I862. George W. Brown was born in Carmel, Putnam county, New York, and his death occurred in Hastings, Barry county, Michigan, July 14, I893, when he was aged sixtynine years. He was a teacher by profession and served as the first county superinten(lent of schools of Ingham county. He married Avis Bunker, a native of Jackson county, Michigan, and five children were born to this union-four sons and one daughter-of which family Charles F. was the eldest. Fred L. is a farmer of Kalamazoo county, Michigan; George R. is editor of the Otscgo (Michigan) Unionz; Edwin E. is editor of the NTcws, at Grass Lake, Michigan; and Lou Bell is engaged as compositor with her brother at Otsego, Michigan. Mrs. Brown died March 30, 1872, aged thirtysix years, Charles F. at the time of his mother's death being ten years of age. Until then he had remained at home with his parents, bu he seemed now to be suddenly matured and self-reliant. During the succeeding four years he worked upon a farm near Williamston, Ingham county, when he settled in the village itself for the purpose of learning the printer's trade under E. S. Andrews, the publisher of the IVillianzistol Enterprise. He remained with Mr. An I &dYd BIOGRAPHICAL lMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 215 dlrews for four years, at the end of which time he engaged as a traveling salesman with a wholesale paper house in Detroit, and continued in that line for two years. He then purchased the Sheridan (Michigan) News, operating that paper for about one year. In January, I886, he located at Alma and assumed the business management of the Record, purchasing the paper in the following April. He successfully conducted it until January I, I9o3, when he sold his interest in that publication and retired from the newspaper field. Mr. Brown was appointed agent for the American Express Company, in February, I892, and has since filled that position at Alma. In 1898, during President McKinley's administration, lie was appointed postmaster of Alma, and has since held that office continuously, being now in his third term. Mr. Brown was village clerk of Alma for one term, chairman of the cemetery board, and a member of the city council for two years. For sixteen years he has been a member of the Republican county commnittee, for four years being secretary of that organization. Mr. Brown has also served as chairman of the township committee, is an earnest advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and has done much to extend its influence in Gratiot county. On July I, I902, Mr. Brown purchased the William H. Brower and the B. S. Webb farms, comprising two hundred acres in Pine River and Arcada townships, and has since conducted quite extensive operations in dairying (keeping thirty cows) and the raising of live stock. In the latter line his specialty is blooded hogs and draft horses. Among his other business interests may be mentioned his connection with the Union Telephone Company, of which he was one of the five organizers and original owners, and for two years its secretary; he also held the secretaryship of the Michigan Independent Telephone Association. Charles F. Brown was married in Sheridan, Montcalm county, Michigan, December I9, I885, to Miss Nellie Gray, who was born in Steuben county, New York, April 22, I868, daughter of MIulford and Emily (Tompkins) Gray, who settled in Ionia, Michigan, in April, I876. He was a miller by trade, and he and his wife located in I895 in Alma, where 'Mrs. Gray lied April 21, I904. REV. JOHN E. LONG, a retired clergyman of the Presbyterian Church, who is spending the evening of a long and useful life in his comfortable rural home, which is situated in Section 32, Emerson township, is a native of Ohio, born at Unity, September 7, 1832. Charles Long, father of John E., was a substantial farmer in Ohio. There he married Christina Hartzel, and both lived to the age of eighty-five years, both dying at Unity. The father was born May I5, I798, the mother, November 4, 800o. They reared a family of eight children, John E. being fourth in order of birth. The other seven were: Josias, a retired farmer of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; Catherine, deceased, who was the wife of Samuel Bayless and mother of eight children; Anna, widow of John Martin, of Ottawa, Kansas; Addison, a retired farmer of Chetopa, Kansas; Alice, who died when twelve years of age; Henry, a lumber dealer of Chetopa, Kansas; and Mary, widow of Adrian Egbert, of Cleveland, Ohio. 216 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Rev. John E. Long spent his boyhood on his father's farm and obtained his early education in the local schools. When about twenty years old he began to teach, and also to prepare for a theological college, it being his object to enter the Presbyterian ministry. After sufficient preparation at a Presbyterian academy at Poland, Ohio, in 1855 he entered Williams College, Massachusetts, where he was graduated in I859, and subsequently spent three years at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Mr. Long entered upon his ministerial labors at Spring Alills, Center county, Pennsylvania, where he remained over seven years. Anxious for a change of climate and location he resigned this pleasant charge and accepted one at Truxton, Cortland county, New York, over which he remained three years. His subsequent charges were: Preble, New York, for a short time; one year at Akron, Erie county, New York; and from I880, sixteen years as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca, Michigan. Failing health finally caused his retirement from a pastorate which was altogether congenial, resulting, in I896, in his settling on a farm of eighty acres in Section 32, Emerson township, which he had purchased when he first came to Gratiot county. MAr. Long may be s'aid to have been one of the pioneers there, as his farm at that time was all wild woodland. This he succeeded in clearing and developing into a good property, on which he has placed substantial buildings and made many desirable improvements. Mr. Long was married September 7, I870, in Truxton, New York, to Mrs. Helen A. Pierce Stewart, born in that place May 30, I84I. Mrs. Long had two children by her first marriage, Frederick and Reuben R., the former of whom is deceased. Her parents were Albert and Eliza (Cheesborrow) Pierce, old and respected residents of that part of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Long have three sons: William H., who is a Presbyterian clergyman of Ludington, Michigan, and who married Alice Iseman, now deceased; John A., a prosperous farmer living on the homestead, married to Antoinette Kirker, by whom he has one child, Lillias K.; and Charles A., a student of medicine. Mr. Long is not only one of the oldest clergymen in Gratiot county, but he is also one of the most highly esteemed. Aside from his faithful and able career as a pastor he has become favorably known through his contributions to the public press, and is the author of a work entitled "Natural Geology and Genesis," published in I905. He has served on the high school board for six years, is a Republican in politics, and is proud to be known as a good and useful citizen. JOHN H. JESSUP, of Newark township, Gratiot county, is the son of Isaac M. and Eleanor (Schermerhorn) Jessup, born respectively in Tompkins county, New York, April 5, i8Io, and in Rensselaer county, New York, November 15, I8I5. A few years after their marriage the parents of Mr. Jessup left New York and migrated, in I839, to Michigan. Settling first in Eaton county, they moved on to Wayne county, and then, after fifteen years, to Ionia county. The son, John H., born in Rensselaer county, New York, December 24, 1837, was two, years old when his father located in Mich BIOGRAPHICAL SMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 217 igan, and he obtained his education in the public schools of this State. At the age of twenty-one years John H. Jessup started out in life to seek success in the world through his own efforts. In December, I86o, he came to Gratiot county, took up sixty-three acres of improved land in Newark township, and built a log house, in w\hich lie lived until I880. He added eighty-five acres to his original farm, and erected a handsome brick residence in which he has since lived. He saw nearly a year's service in the Civil war, entering the army in October, 1864, and being assigned to the Twenty-third regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry; he was discharged in June, I865. IHe saw action at Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, and also participated in the engagement at Port Anderson, North Carolina. John H. Jessup was married December 29. I859, at Lyons, Ionia county, Michigan, to Miss Mlargaret R. Dean, who was born in Italy, Yates county, New York, August 28, 1840, daughter of Amos and Betsey (Grant) Dean, of New York State. Mrs. Jessup was the sixth in a family of nine children. To her union with Mr. Jessup there were born eight children, namely: Charles H., of Lafayette township, mentioned elsewhere; Nettie E., wife of William C. Naldrett, a farmer of Middleton, Michigan; Arthur H., who was married April 13, 1890, to Emma J. Heath, of North Star, and has two sons, Claude E. and Nyle; George L., mentioned elsewhere in this work; Frank A., a farmer of North Star township, who married Miss Alice Crooks; William T., who (lied aged sixteen years; Glen O., unmarried and living with his parents; and Bertha M., the wife of A. Naldrett, a farmer of Newark township. FRANCIS \V. CURTISS, one of the prosperous farmers of Emerson township, Gratiot county, Michigan, residing on his fine well-improved farm of forty acres, was born February 12, I829, in Genesee county, New York, son of Waterman F. and Sylvia (Cronkhite) Curtiss, natives of New York State. The parents of Mr. Curtiss came from Wyoming county, New York, to Ionia county, Michigan, in I857, and there the father died, the mother passing away in Illinois, while on a visit. Francis W. Curtiss was the eldest member of a family of eleven children, and until he was ten years old he lived in Genesee county, New York. He then accompanied his parents to Wethersfield, \Vyoming county, New York, where he resided for a number of years. He was married in Eagle, W\yoming county, New York, September 12, 1852, to Miss Luceba Rugg, born in Eagle township, that county, November 29, 1832, daughter of Lyman and Almeda (Howe) Rugg, who died in New York State. They were the parents of seven children, of whlom Mrs. Curtiss was the sixth. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Curtiss located in Illinois, settling in Seward, Winnebago county, in I856. There they remained till February, I86o, when they located in Michigan, two years later settling in Section 2, Emerson township, where they have since resided. On his arrival Mr. Curtiss took up one hundred and twenty acres of land, which he cleared of timber, but has since disposed of much of the original tract to his sons, nowv owning only forty acres. Mr. and Mrs. Curtiss were the parents of these children: Marion F., who married Mary H. Hetzman; Mary E., wife of William Edgar and mother of one child, Pearl; 2I8 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Henry W., who married Altha Sheldon and is the father of Francis T.; Almeda, wife of Rev. William T. Woodhouse, a Baptist clergyman, and mother of Grace, George, Olive, William and Richard; and Laura C., wife of Guy Davids. Mr. Curtiss held the office of justice of the peace for two terms, was highway commissioner for one term, and was township treasurer two terms. He and his esteemed wife are members of the Emerson Baptist Church. Mr. Curtiss is a man of marked industry and unassuming honesty and has earned the name of a firstclass citizen. W ILLIAM H. KLECKNER, a retired farmer of North Star township, Gratior county, Michigan, was born in Tuscarawas township, Stark county, Ohio, October 4, I840, a son of Daniel and Mary ((Kerstetter) Kleckner. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of Stark county, Ohio, and both died in Sumnmit county, that State, leaving three children: Joseph M., of Akron, Ohio, superintendent of the poor house, was a school teacher for sixteen years; William H.; and Marietta, widow of Alfred Sorrick, resides in Summit county, Ohio. William H. Kleckner was reared in Stark county until the age of thirteen years and then accompanied his parents in their removal to Summit county, where he was educated and reached maturity, trained thoroughly as a farmer. In the county named he married July 20, I864, Rebecca Row, born September 27, 1847, in Summit county, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Hartong) Row, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. They both died in Summit county. William H. Kleckner continued to live in Summit county for seven years after his marriage;and then removed to Wayne county, where he lived eight years, thence returning to the old homestead in the former county. After three years, in March, I884, he came to Gratiot county, Michigan, and purchased a farm in Section I6, North Star township, on which he has resided ever since. Mr. Kleckner owns a fine farm of one hundred and forty-two acres and has made many substantial improvements thereon. He carried on a general line of farming, until he retired from active work and transferred the labor to younger hands. Mr. and Mrs. Kleckner have had eight children, namely: Elmer A., living on the homestead; Warren W., cashier of the Chicago & North Western Railway at Wausau, Wisconsin; Clara M., wife of William Clark, of Jackson, Michigan; Cora E., wife of Frank Lott, of North Star township; Ada B.; Oliver F., a jeweler of Miland, Michigan; Mary, who died aged about three years; and Charles M., a meat dealer at North Star, Michigan. Mr. Kleckner has never taken any active part in politics, but has always stood up for the principles of right. He has been a member of the school board of North Star township for many years, overseer of highways, and has held other minor township offices. Mr. and Mrs. Kleckner are active members of the United Brethren Church, in which he has filled the office of trustee for thirteen consecutive years, and has been superintendent of the Sunday-school for nineteen years. J R. SALISBURY, a highly esteemed resident of Bethany township, was born in Eagle Harbor, Orleans county, New BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 2I9 York, August 15, 1838, son of Royal S. and Sally Ann (Annis) Salisbury, natives of New York. Mrs. Salisbury died in Orleans county, aged seventy-three years. Royal S. Salisbury was a doctor of medicine, and a very prominent man, beloved by all who knew him. He died in Rochester, New York, in his sixty-fifth year. They had these children: Ann at the time of her death was beginning to win fame in the literary world; Joseph is a fine musician, composer and author; J. R., is our subject; Guy M., is a successful business man; and William is a musician and composer. J. R. Salisbury was reared on his father's farm in Orleans county, New York, where he lived until he reached his majority. He was married in that county, November I7, 1858, to Miss Helen M. Buchanan, born in Niagara county, New York, May IO, I838, daughter of James and Mary Ann (Wheeler) Buchanan. James Buchanan diel in Niagara county, New York, and his widow married Richard Eaton. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton came to St. Louis, Michigan, in the fall of I86o, and settled in Bethany township the same year, where he died, the mother of Mrs. Salisbury dying May 2, I905. Soon after marriage Mr. and Mrs. Salisbury came to Gratiot county, Michigan, and settled in Bethany township, January I, I86I, where they have since been residents. Farming has been his chief occupation, but lie has also engaged in the drug business and mercantile business in Alma, in all of which he has been successful. He owns a fine country residence situated on twenty acres of land in Bethany township. He and his estimable wife have had three children. Claude E., a musician and successful business man; Glenn D., a musician and successful business man; and Grace, a musician and composer, the wife of Louis R. Robinson. Mr. Salisbury assisted in the organization of the Patrons of Industry, of which he was county secretary for five years. He has held the office of justice of the peace for nearly twenty years, highway commissioner for one term, and is the present efficient health officer of Bethany township. He has taken a great interest in township and county affairs and has been active in the work of the Democratic party in this section. Mr. Salisbury is well known and very highly respected in the section he has made his home for so many years. ALVIN D. CLARK, one of the most active and progressive men of Gratiot county, has attained a wide reputation in the business and political circles of North Star township. He was born November 4, I851, in Monroe county, Michigan, son of Watson D. and Elizabeth (Tracy) Clark, natives of Pennsylvania, who died in that county leaving eight children, of whom Alvin D. was the fifth. His father was a farmer of prominence and so prosperous in his undertakings that he was enabled to pass the last years in retirement. Besides successfully managing his farming properties he filled many local offices such as township treasurer, justice of the peace and offices connected with school affairs. He died in February, i886, at the age of seventy-two, and his wife, the mother of Alvin D., precededl him in September, I884, aged sixtynine years. Besides Alvin D., the other members of the family born to Mr. and Mrs. \Vatson D. Clark were: Lorenzo, a carpenter of North Star, Michigan; Amanda, 220 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. who married Clark McKinzie, both deceased; Watson J., living in retirement in Ithaca, Michigan; Erastus, formerly postmaster, now a real estate dealer at West Branch, Michigan; Elizabeth A., Mrs. Horace Aseltvne, of Newport, Michigan; Frank, deceased; and Alwilda, wife of Charles Thorne, a farmer of Newport, Michigan. Alvin D. Clark was reared in Monroe county, Michigan, and educated in its common schools. He clerked in a store at Newport, Monroe county, for two years, after which he engaged in the insurance business for several years. He then purchased the old homestead upon which he was born and engaged in farming until April, I889, when he sold the farm and located in Gratiot county with his wife and two children. He settled on Section 22, North Star township, residing there three years, erecting substantial buildings, and making general improvements. In 1892 he sold his farm, engaging in a mercantile business on Front street, in comniany with his brother, Watson J. Clark, the firm trading under the name of Clark Brothers. This partnership continued for about three years when Alvin D. purchased his brother's interest, and engaged in business alone. In I902 he sold his stock and retired from active work. Mr. Clark is the owner of a fine eighty-acre farm. While in the mercantile business, Mr. Clark, built, with his brother, a brick store, now occupied by Homer Snyder, which the former still owns. Alvin D. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Adda Rowley, in Plymouth, Wayne county, October i8, 1877. Mrs. Clark is a daughter of James H. and Lois (Knapp) Rowley, and she and her husband have tlese children, Olga Burr, George R. and Edna Dell. Mr. Clark was appointed postmaster of North Star in President Harrison's administration, holding the office for four years, and was again appointed in President McKinley's administration, resigning from the position in I904. He has been notary public for twelve years, clerk for one term, and while living in Monroe county was elected township superintendent of schools, serving two terms. He has always taken an active interest in all measures that promise to be of benefit to his township or county, as well as giving his time and attention to matters religious and educational. He is a member of Heath Lodge No. 222, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. GEORGE AV. TORBERT, one of the foremost of the enterprising citizens of Breckenridge, Michigan, is a justice of the peace, and the proprietor of the Breckenridge Planing Mill. He was born in Milford, Delaware, June 29, I847, son of Nathaniel P. and Mary A. (Johnson) Torbert. His father was a millwright, born January I4, 1814, and died in Milford in June, 1849, at the early age of thirty-five; his mother (lied in Franklin, Delaware, June 12, I896, aged eighty years. They were both Mlethodists. Five children were born to them, viz.: Josephine A., deceasedl, Mrs. James K. Townsend, of Philadelphia; John T., a merchant of Lewes, Delaware; William E., a builder and contractor of Frankford, Delaware; James K., a merchant of Philadelphia; and George WN. The paternal grandparents were John and Nancy Torbert. The youngest member of a family of five BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 221 children, George AV. Torbert left home when ten years old, and began a career on the water, becoming a cabin boy on a coasting vessel and later being engaged as steward. At this he continued for about ten years, and then came West and for one season was employed on the Great Lakes as steward. After abandoning a sea-faring tife IMr. Torbert locajted at Savannah, Georgia, where he engaged in the boot and shoe business, but continued there but one year, returning North and locating at Fremont, Michigan. He was employed in a shingle and stave mill for several years, and then engaged in mining at Evart, M\ichigan, in which he continued for six months, about I88I coming to Breckenridge, Gratiot county. where he worked in a stave mill and at other occupations until 1892, when he engaged in the lumber and planing mill business. Since that year he has built three lplaning mills, his present establishment being one of the finest in the section, elnbracing, moreover, a complete line of lumber. During both terms of President Cleveland's administration Mr. Torbert served efficiently as postmaster of Breckenridge. With the exception of one year he has been justice of the peace since I883, and has been notary public for several years. He has erected and sold thirteen residences in Breckenridge, and is therefore specially identified with its growth. Mr. Torbert has also taken an active interest in all township and village affairs, and has always been identified with the Democratic party. Judge Torbert was married January 25, I878, in Fremont, MIichigan, to Miss Mary L. Miller, a native of Canada, daughter of Hugh and Mary M. (Callighan) Miller, of York State, and to this union one son has been born, Hugh, now assistant cashier of the First State Savings Bank of Breckenridge. The Judge has always taken a public spirited interest in the welfare of the town, and has generously supported every movement which his judgment has led him to regard as beneficial. He is universally esteemed and occupies a high social position. Fraternally he is a Master AIason in Breckenridge Lodge. SEELY AMSBURY, a prosperous agriculturist of Seville township, Gratiot county, is a man known for his good judgment in public affairs as well as his private business, and is one of the representative men of the section, having been active in local politics. He was born in Jackson county, Mlichigan, January 14, 1853, son of Ira and Sarah (Patch) Amsbury. Ira Amsbury was a native of \Vayne county, New York, and came to Michigan when a child. He was a farmer by occupation but was also prominent in local politics, filling the office of supervisor of Seville township for four years, and of township clerk for two years. In 1864 he enlisted in Company C, Eighth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and was present when Lee surrendered at Appomattox. He was discharged July 30, I865. Mr. Amsbury had removed to Gratiot county, in February, i86I, and he made his honme in Seville township from that time until his death February 5, 1873. His widow, born May 23, 1834, resides in Standish, Michigan. There were six children in the family, Seely being the eldest. The others were: Joseph, a farmer of Emerson township, Gratiot county; Wallace, a carpenter living at Alma, 222 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Michigan; William, a grocer of Standish, Michigan; Frederick, a farmer residing in Alma; and Eda, who married Fred Keller, and died aged thirty-eight years. Seely Amsbury was eight years old when his parents came to Gratiot county and has lived in Seville township ever since, with the exception of one year during his father's absence in the war, when the family moved to Carson City, Michigan. As a boy he attended the public schools and received the usual education of that time and place. He has been engaged in agricultural pursuits all his life and is now the owner of a productive farm of forty-three acres, with a number of good buildings on it. He is a progressive farmer, employing modern, improved methods and has been very successful. Politically Mr. Amsbury is independent, but is active in the affairs of the township and has been elected to several local offices. For three years he was treasurer of the township, clerk for ten years, and served three terms as supervisor. His constituents have the greatest confidence in his ability and integrity, and he is one of the popular and influential men of the community. Mr. Amsbury has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Izora Phelps, daughter of Ira and Jane Phelps. She was born in I86o, and married Mr. Amsbury in 1878, but lived only three years after the union, (lying April 3, I88I. On September I4, I886, Mr. Amsbury was wedded to Miss Jessie Keller, daughter of Gilbert and Eunice (Wilcox) Keller, residents of Standish, Michigan. Mrs. Amsbury was born in Onondaga county, New York, November 22, i86i. She and her husband have had one dlaughter, Theo Maud, born January i 22, I889. Mrs. Amsbury and daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. THOMAS RICHARDS, a prominent citizen, a leader in the sugar beet industry of Gratiot county, and proprietor of a one-hundred-and-eighty-acre homestead in Bethany township, was born on a farm in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, June I, I856. He is the only child of Thomas and Charlotte (Clark) Richards, the former dying in the county named, aged fifty years, before the birth of our subject, while the latter died in Bethany township in I880, at the age of sixty. Thomas Richards was but seven years of age when he accompanied his mother from Pennsylvania to Ashtabula county, Ohio, where they resided for three years. They then removed to Erie county, Pennsylvania, and remained for five or six years, at the end of which period they returned to Ohio for four years. In the fall of I87.6 they settled in Gratiot county, Michigan, residing in Emnerson township for three years. While a resident of Emerson township, on March 14, 1878, Mr. Richards was married to Miss Delphine McLean, born in Steuben county, New York, March 20, 1858, a daughter of Wanton and Sarah (Allen) McLean, the former of whomn still survives, while the latter died in Bethany township. They had eleven children, and of this family Mrs. Richards was the third member, and came with her parents to Gratiot county when about fifteen years old. Mr. and Mrs. Richards have five children: Charles T., who married (first) Harriet Brower and (second) May Thonpson, and resiles at Plainwell, Michigan; Jesse M., a e BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 225 graduate of the law department of the University of Michigan; Glenn L., who married Laura Schultheiss and lives on the family homestead; Ralph E., and Url S. After marriage M\r. and Mrs. Richards lived in Emerson and Bethany townships for about five years and then removed to 7Montcalm county, Michigan, where they resided for a year. Later they passed a year and a half in Minnesota, whence they returned to Gratiot county, soon afterward removing to Newaygo county, where they spent the following two years. In 'lhe fall of 1887 they returned to Gratiot county, purchasing forty acres in Emerson township, and since that time they have lived in Emerson and Bethany townships. Farming has been Mr. Richards' occupation for the last eighteen years, and he has made it a success. He owns one hundred and eighty acres of land, about one hundred and fifty of which are under cultivation, and he usually devotes between twenty and sixty acres to the raising of beets, in which occupa'tion he has taken a great interest. In 1903 Mr. Richards was appointed supervisor of Bethany township; in 1904 was elected on the Union ticket to that office for one year, and in g905 was chosen treasurer of the township. He has held the office of justice of the peace for several terms and takes much interest in township and county affairs. In 1892 his son, Charles T. Richards, was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for representa'tive to the Legislature. Fraternally Mr. Richards is a member of the Maccabees and of the A. O. 0. G. Mr. Richards is one of the reliable and public-spirited men of Bethany township and is held in the highest esteem by his fellow citizens. 10 W \ANTON McLEAN, one of the pioneers and among the most highly esteemed residents of Bethany township, Gratiot county, was born in Cortland county, New York, December 25, I828, son of Daniel McLean, a native of New York and of Scotch ancestry. His mother was Diana Corey McLean, a native of New York, and both she and her husband died in Cortland county. Wan'ton McLean was reared in Cortland county and lived there until the fall of I871, when, with his family, he came to Gratiot county, Michigan, and settled in Bethany township, where he has since resided. Ie bought eighty acres of farm land in Section 33, which he cleared and improved, and upon which he erected suitable buildings. Before departing for Michigan he was married, in Cortland county, New York, to MIiss Sarah Allen, a native of Steuben county, that State, and her death occurred in Bethany township, GratioL county, Michigan, July I, I895, in her fiftyninth year. To Wanton McLean and his wife were born the following children: Henry; Ada; Delphine, the wife of Thomas Richards, ex-supervisor and present treasurer of Bethany township; Charles; Helen, who died aged six years; Frank; Edward; Ella, deceased, who married Robert Monroe; Fred; Bertie, who died at the age of six years; and Clarence, who is on the old homestead with his father. FRED G. WARNER, a prominent and substantial farmer of Emerson township, Gratiot county, who owns and operates a fine farm of eighty acres, located on Section 6, was born in Niagara county, New York, July 5, I854, son of William L. and 226 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Angeline (Staples) Warner, the former of whom was a Methodist clergyman, who died in Clarkson, New York, July 5, I903. Fred G. Warner was the eldest of a family of eight children, and remained with his parents until he was twenty years of age, when lie engaged in farming. In I880 he came to Gratiot county, Michigan, and lived in Nortl Shade township, until the spring of I900, when he settled on his present eightyacre farm in Section 6. Mr. Warner has cleared about sixty acres of his land, which is highly improved, and which compares favorably with other farms in the township. Mr. Warner was married (first) in Niagara county, New York, April 14, 1875, to Miss Mary A. Judson, and she died in Gratiot county, in 1885, leaving these children: Clara \M., wife of Ludt(ig J. Fockler; \illiam L.; Roy E.; and Mary A. *On March 23, 1898, Mr. Warner married (second) Alice Sague, of Sanborn, New York. Mr1. anld Mrs. Warner are members.of the M[ethodist Episcopal Church, of St. Louis, \Iichigan. FRANK I. SEXTON, one of the substantial and representative farmers and cattlemen of Gratiot county, resides in Wheeler township and has a well cultivated farm of one hundred acres, located in Bethany township. Mr. Sexton was born in Clarksfield, Huron county, Ohio, March 21, I855. Hiram Sexton, the father of our subject, is a resident of Breckenridge, in which village the mother, whose maiden name was Adeline Root, died August 3, I879. Of their six children Frank A. is the second. Until he was nineteen years old Frank A. Sexton lived with his parents in Ohio, at that time coming to Gratiot county and settling in Wheeler township. Here he was married March 26, I878, to Miss Ida A. Campbell, a native of Charlotte, Eaton county, Michigan, born January) 3, 1858. After marriage Mr. Sexton continued to live in Wheeler township for two years, at the end of which time he settled in Bethany township, where he cleared a farm, upon which he lived until I902, returning in that year to WVheeler township. He settled in Breckenridge, and has been extensively engaged in the stock business, and in general farming. He owlns a fine one hundred acre farm, all of which is cleared and improved, and erected a fine ten-room house in Breckenridge, in which he resides. While in Bethany township Mr. Sexton held the office of highway commissioner. He is a prominent member of the Mlasonic fraternity. Mr. and Mrs. Sexton have two children. Dorr H. and Bertha A. The father of Mrs. Sexton, Lewis Campbell, died in Olivet, Eaton county, Michigan. The mother, Helen (Kocher) Campbell, died when quite young. They had three children, of which family MIrs. Sexton was the second member. C LARK VEDDER, a veteran of the Civil war, lwho has a farm of eighty acres in Section 28, North Star township, is one of the representative agriculturists of Gratiot county, Michigan. He is of German extraction, his paternal grandfather being Aaron Vedder of New York State. He was born April 2, I844, in Dover township, Lenawee county, son of Harmon and Anna (Bordine) Vedder, natives of New York, both of whom died in Dover township, the father in 1885, aged seventy-nine, and the BIOGRAPHICAL MIEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUANTY. 227 mother in I889, at the age of eighty years. Thirteen children were born of their marriage, viz.; Cordelia, widow of David Cross, of Pontiac, Michigan; Aaron, deceased; Sophronia, deceased, who married John Bryant; Clark; Ransom, a resident of Adrian, Michigan; Eliza A., deceased, Mrs. Charles Rehms; lMary, wife of John Doig, of Pontiac, Michigan; Electa, Mrs. Wellington Deline, of Lenawee, Michigan; Jennie, who married Burr Deline, of Lenawee, Michigan; Charles, of Adrian, Michigan; and three who (lied in infancy. Clark Vedder was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Dover township. He was united in marriage January 20, 1867, with Sarah Deline, born January II, I848, in Dover township, daughter of Abraham and Millie (Balch) Deline, and to this union were born six children: Nettie. wife of W. H. Bovee, who is mentioned elsewhere; Jesse, of North Star township; Carrie B., wife of Robert Crandell, of North Star township; Dora, wife of George Jessup, of Newark township; MIillie, wife of Warren Dillsworth, of North Star township; and Harmon, living at home. Mr. Vedder enlisted August I, I862, in Company I, Eighteenth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, in which he served faithfully for two years and ten months. He took part in the engagements at Athens, Alabama, and Decatur, Alabama. his regiment being on provost duty much of the time. Clark Vedder engaged in agricultural pursuits at an early age and has been a lifelong and successful farmer. After his marriage he pursued his chosen calling in Dover township, later removing to Hillsdale county, Michigan, where he remained two years, and from tlat time until he located in Gratiot county in 1876, farmed in Lenawee county. On settling in Gratiot county he bought fifty acres of land in Section 28, North Star township, which he greatly improved, and which by various additions has been increased to eighty acres of fine farm land. On this tract he has erected a modern commodious brick residence, with convenient up-to-date out-buildings. He is a careful business man, manages his affairs judiciously, is possessed of tireless energy, and is, moreover, exceedingly popular. Mr. Vedder is a stanch advocate of any measure that is beneficial to the community, and takes a great interest in township and county affairs. FRANCIS A. SENSABAUGH was born December 25, I857, in Cayuga county, New York, the son of the Rev. Peter H. Sensabaugh anld Mlary (Brigden) Selsabaugh, the former of whomn was born in Canada, of German parentage, and the latter in Connecticut, of Puritan ancestry. The father of our subject died in Tioga, Pennsylvania, at the age of eighty-one, while Mrs. Sensabaugh still survives. Francis A. Sensabaugh was the youngest member of his parents' family, and as his father was a Methodist clergyman, he lived in many different places. Our subject remained with his parents until seventeen years of age. On June 17, 1875, he was married to TIiss Louisa Moore, born in Steuben county, New York, where she was reared. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sensabaugh removed to a farm in Potter county, Pennsylvania, where he had purchased a farm, and there they lived until the spring of 1887, when he sold his farm and 228 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. located in Vassar, Tuscola county, Michigan. There he worked at carpentering, which trade he had learned in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, and he remained at Vassar about nine months, at the end of which time he located in Ashley, Gratiot county, for about six months being employed as a clerk in a store. Mr. Sensabaugh's next location was Lennon, Shiawassee county, where he engaged in a mercantile business for three years. At the end of that time he removed his stock to Durand, where he remained in business for two and one-half years, when he sold out and purchased eighty acres of good land on Section 2, Hamilton township, locating there in July, I893. He has improved about fifty acres of his property and has erected good, substantial buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Sensabaugh had these children: Edward F., Ora L. (wife of Herbert Cramer), Peter H., Lena M., George W., and Charles L. Mrs. Louisa Semsabaugh died on the farm in Hamilton township, February 22, 1895. Mr. Sensabaugh's second marriage was on April 24, I897, to Miss Eva C. David, born in Bengal township, Clinton county, Michigan, September 25, 1871, a daughter of Byron C. and Sarah K. (Georgia) David, residents of Lafayette township. To this union have been born: Ithiel L. and Ernest C. Mr. and Mrs. Sensabaugh are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Sensabaugh has held several of the church offices, and has been superintendent of the Sundayschool for several years. ILLIAM H. ZIMMERMAN, a prominent and substantial farmer of Lafayette township, Gratiot county, who is also well known as an auctioneer, was born March 10, 1854, in Stark county, Ohio. His parents, Joseph and Louisa (Rodgers) Zimmerman, were also natives of that State, 'the former dying in Knox county, Ohio, in August, I867, at the age of sixty-five, while his wife passed away in Stark county, that State, in May, 1856, aged thirty-six. Their family of four children consisted of the following: Joseph, a farmer of Midland county, Michigan; John, an agriculturist residing in Knox county, Ohio; Margaret, wife of Henry Shontz, an expert engineer living in Bloomville, Ohio; and William H., the youngest. When William H. Zimmerman was very young his father removed to Knox county, Ohio, and there he died when the boy was thirteen years of age. William then v-ent to Sandusky county, Ohio, with an uncle, with whom he remained until he reached manhood. He was married November I8, 1873, to Sarah Jane Huff, a native of that county, and there he resided until I88I, in the spring of which year he migrated to Michigan and settled in Breckenridge, Gratiot county, where for one year he was employed in a sawmill. At this period of his career his affairs were at a very low ebb; it is stated that when he located in Breckenridge his earthly possessions were reduced to five dollars, four of which he at once paid for house rent. From Breckenridge he moved to a farm in Wheeler township, which he worked for one year, and then bought forty acres in Hamilton township. After paying for the farm he had the misfortune to lose it, on account of a defective title. This is but one of the many hardships which Mr. Zimmerman has bravely and successfully buffeted. After spending several years in Hamilton township he removed to 4111L) 4 i I i I i I II i i i i i i i II i i i i I I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 231 Lafayette township, where he has since resided. Farming has been Mr. Zimmerman's chief occupation since locating in Lafayette township, but he has also engaged in auctioneering, at which he has been very successful. He owns one hundred and fifty acres of good land, of which about one hundred and thirty acres are under cultivation. His property is xwell managel, and has been improved wi'Lh a fine set of farm buildings, which are substantially built and conveniently situated. From about October 30th to May ist of each year he devotes to his auctioneering business. Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman are the parents of the following children: Ida J., wife of Frank Smith, a farmer of Hamilton township, and the mother of Harry A., Harvey, Lena, Milton and Ruby; Robert Vilson, who married Miss Edna Christler, of New York, who (lied leaving three children, lIertie, Bertha and Louisa; Wealthy E., wife of Wesley Reed (a cigar manufacturer of Cadillac, Michigan), and the mother of a son, Rollo; William R., a farmer of Lafayette township, who married Miss Vera Fleegle and is the father of one daughter, Loretta; Joseph Franklin, who married Nora Colema; Ina May, James Walter, Edna Jane and Mabel Alice. Fraternally Mr. Zimmerman is associated with the I. O. O. F., in which he is a popular comrade. In his general political belief he is a Republican. but for several terms has efficiently served all classes in his district in the capacity of school director. He takes a common-sense stand upon temperance, as on all other vital questions; personally he does not use tobacco in any form, and liquor only for medicinal purposes. JESSE L. GUTHRIE, who owns a fine farm of eighty acres in Emerson township, Gratiot county, Michigan, is one of the substantial and representative citizens of his section. He was born in Antrim township, Shiawassee county, Michigan, September 9, 1850, son of Joseph A. and Emma M. (Convis) Guthrie. The parents of Mr. Guthrie were natives of New York, who removed from Shiawassee county to Gratiot county in nMarch, I856, settling in Section 15, where Joseph A. Guthrie died, in December, 1892, aged seventy-seven years. Hiis widow, born April 29, 1829, resides at Ithaca, Michigan. H-e was the father of three children, and of this family Jesse L. Guthrie was the second member. Justus N., his elder brother, resides in Ithaca, Michigan, his younger sister, Ella A., being the wife of John Fitzgerald, a farmer of Isabella county, Michigan. Jesse L. Guthrie accompanied his parents to Gratiot county and was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Emerson township, where he resided until October, 1879, when he moved to an eightyacre farm in Section I, Emerson township, which he now owns and actively operates. He learned the carpenter's trade, which he pursued to some extent, but farming is his chief occupation. Mr. Guthrie was married November 30, 1872, to Miss Anna Sutton. born in Orleans county, New York, daughter of Thomas and Kitty (Brown) Sutton, who located in Gratiot county in I865. Thomas Sutton had a farm in Emerson township, in Section I, where he died in 1892, aged seventy-eight years. To AMr. and Mrs. Guthrie have been 232 BIO GRAPHICAL MlElMOIRS OF GRA TIOT COUNTY. born: Kitty M., the wife of William Muscott; Joseph T.; Hetty A., Mrs. William Purdy; and Earl E. Mr. Guthrie takes a good citizen's interest in the affairs of his township, and in politics he is a firm Republican. He is a member of the K. O. T. M. MI., at Breckenridge, Michigan. USTUS B. GARDNER, whose fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres is situated in North Star township, Gratiot county, is one of the prominent and successful farmers of the locality. Mr. Gardner was born June 8, I857, in Jefferson county, New York, son of David and Naomi (Belcher) Gardner, natives of New York State, who came from the county named to Ionia county, Michigan, and thence to Gratiot county. In 1873 they settled in New Haven township, where they lived some time prior to locating in North Shade township, where the father still resides at the age of seventy-seven years (born April 24, I829). The wife and mother died January 30, I905, at the age of sixtyseven. Besides Justus B., who was the eldest, they were the parents of three children: Dora is the wife of Joseph Jarvis, a farmer of North Shade township; Charles H. is in the livery business at Middleton, Michigan; and James A. is also a farmer of North Shade township. The boyhood, youth and young manhood of Mr. Gardner were spent on his father's homestead, where he learned the practical methods of farming which have made his operations in Michigan particularly successful. He was twenty-four years of age when he left his father's farm, being first employed as a clerk in Carson City for eight months, and then he engaged in the mer I cantile business at Brice for ten and onehalf years, at the end of that time trading his stock of goods for a farm in North Star township. There he remained two years, when he purchased the property he now occupies. This was in the spring of I893, and he has since been engaged there in farming, erecting good buildings, and making general improvements. He owns one hundred and sixty acres, ninety-five of which are under cultivation. On July 23, 1882, Mr. Gardner was married, in New Haven township, to Miss Cora L. Vail, born October o1, I860, in Jefferson county, New York, daughter of Simeon and Jane (Fradenburgh) Vail. They had one child, Ford R., who died August 31, I889, at the age of three years. While in North Shade township Mr. Gardner held the office of treasurer for three terms, performing its duties to the entire satisfaction of the people and with credit to himself. He and his estimable wife are active workers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is one of the trustees and a class leader, while his wife has for some time been one of the stewards and has for several years been president of the Sowers Memorial Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of North Star township. W HARREN J. BROOKS is a leading and highly esteemed farmer and business man of Pine River township, Gratiot county, owning and cultivating a productive farm of sixty acres. He was born in De Kalb county, Indiana, September I5, 1848, son of Elisha H. and Laura Jane (Bartlett) Brooks, natives of Trumbull county, Ohio. In the fall of 1854 Elisha H. Brooks BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTTY. 233 removed to Michigan and located one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section I, Pine River township. He spent the following winter with his family at Maple Rapids, Clinton county, and in the spring of I855 installed his family in the little log cabin he had built when he located the farm. There he rived engaged in the cultivation of his land until his death, September Io, 1890; his wife still survives him at the advanced age of seventy-six years. They had seven children: Daniel, deceased; Warren J.; Jessie I., who married Charles J. Dutt; Callie and Lincoln, both (leceased; Flora, wife of Chester Alexander; and Nellie, Mrs. Anson Fowler. Warren J. Brooks was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Pine River township, where he has always resided. His life has been spent in agricultural pursuits, and he owns a farm of sixty acres, forty of which have been improved. He was married in Pine River township, March 4, I870, to Miss Emeline Payne, born December 29, 1849, in Greene county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Amos and Eleanor (Reeves) Payne, the latter of whom died in Pennsylvania, and the former in Gratiot county (in which he had located in the late sixties) at about seventy years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks have had five children: Angeline A., wife of Conrad V. Reese; Alta D., wife of Thomas Leonard; Elsie A., wife of John Thomas; AMintie R., who died at the age of eight years; and Willie B. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks are true Christian people, although belonging to no particular religious sect. They are representative people of Pine River township, and generally esteemed for their substantial and kindly qualities. I SIMEON A. SPAULDING, a prominent and well-to-do farmer of Lafayette township, Gratiot county, where he owns a fine farm of eighty acres, was born Septenmber 5, I847, in Leona, Jackson county, M\ichigan, son of Alonzo and Louisa (Rudd) Spaulding, the former of whom (lied in Jackson, Michigan, and the latter, who was of English parentage, in Woodhull, Shiawassee county, Michigan. The parents of our subject had six children, and of this family he was the second member and eldest son. He was quite young when his parents located in Ingham county, MAichigan, where they lived a short time prior to remnoving to Shiawassee county, Michigan. While living in the latter county Alr. Spaulding enlisted, February 4, I864, at the age of sixteen years, in Company F, Ninth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with which regiment he serve(d gallantly for twenty months, at the en(l of which time, the war being over, he returned to his home in Shiawassee county. Here he worked for three years at farm labor, and then l5ought forty acres in Woodhull township, that county, which he continued to work until March, I884. He then tradle(l his farm for eighty acres in Lafayette township, Gratiot county, where he has resided ever since. His farm is located on Section I2, and is in a good state of cultivation, and supplied with commodious farm buildings. NMr. Spaulding has been married three times. His first wife was Lamyra Green, of Shiawassee county, Michigan, by whom he had two children: Inez, who died at the age of twenty months; and Hattie, who died in Lafayette township, aged eighteen years. Mlr. Spaulding was married (second) in 234 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Sciota, Shiawassee county, to Miss Eliza Hudson, of Sciota township, and she died in Shiawassee county, leaving two children: Katie, who died young; and Martha E., who survives. Mr. Spaulding's third marriage took place in Saginaw county, Michigan, and was to Miss Maggie McDonald, by whom he has had four children, the first two dying in infancy, and Jeanie L. and Simeon A., Jr., surviving. Mr. Spaulding has held the office of justice of the peace for several terms, having been elected on the Republican ticket, and has also served one term as school director. He is a member of Billy Cruson Post, No. 347, Grand Army of the Republic. He has always been active in church work and is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally he affiliates xwith the Masonic fraternity, Breckenridge Lodge, No. 406, and Breckenridge Lodge, No. I62, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. S AMUEL M. BARNES, who is extensiv-ely engaged in agricultural operations on his fine farm in Bethany tow\nslhip, is a substantial and representative farmer citizen of Gratiot county, Michigan. He was born in Lorain county, Ohio, August 3, I849, son of Henry and Mary (Day) Barnes. The former is still a resident of Lorain county, a retired farmer of Rochester, where his wife died in I883, aged sixty years. Henry and Mary Barnes had five children besides Samuel M., who was the eldest, viz.: Eliza married Avery Fisher, of Wellington, Ohio; Alvira (deceased) was Mrs. John Dagnan; Matilda became the wife of Nelson Robinson, of Ashtabula, Ohio; Henry is a resident of Rochester, Ohio; Wright died when six years of age. The paternal grandpaerits, Moses and Eliza (Stone) Barnes, were Massachusetts farming people who migrated to Ohio at an early day and became part of the pioneer life of the middle west, or, as the region was known in their day, the "far west." Samuel M. Barnes was reared on his father's farm in Rochester township, Lorain county, Ohio, where he sturdily progressed to manhood, and was married March 5, I870, to Miss Emeline Rogers. His wife was born in Huntington township, that county, January 26, I848, daughter of Samuel G. and Azuba (Hills) Rogers, the former of whom died in Lorain county, when over eighty years old, while the latter passed her last (lays in Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, dying aged seventy-seven years. Mrs. Barnes was the third member, in a family of six children. For the first year after his marriage Mr. Barnes lived in Ashtabula county, Ohio, and then returned to his native county. He later located in Huron county, Ohio, and in the spring of 1879 removed to Gratiot county, Michigan, in the following autumn settling on the farm where he now resides, on Section II, Bethany township. There he owns one hundred acres, of which ninety acres are improved, and his buildings are as finely constructed and conveniently situated as any in this section of the county. Mr. Barnes has been very successful in his farming operations, and is ra'ted among the best agriculturists of Bethany township. Mr. and Mlrs. Barnes have become the parents of the following children: Wilbur Url, lwho married Linnie Doan, and is the father of a daughter, Gladys; Minnie G., wife of Arthur Welling, and mother of P. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 237 Lola L., Ivan, Ross and Eva; Morris Wright, who married Eva McDonald and has one daughter, Melva I.; Clayton V.; Ray A., married 'to Pearl Cramer, by whom he has had three children, Melvin R., Erma, and one not named; Mary A., Mrs. Le\wis Schulthiess; Matilda,M.; S. Ienry, and George E. Fraternally Mr. Barnes affiliates with the K. O. T. M. MI., of which he is a valued comrade. HIe has always been a supporter of any movelment of benefit to the commnunitv and is one of Be'lhany towNnship's respected, popular and public-spirited citizens. W ALLACE PERKINS, who owns a magnificent farm of one hundred and fifty-three acres in Bethany township, is one of the Substantial and representative agriculturists of Gratiot county. He was born on a farm in Steuben county, New York, December 9, 1847, son of Philip V. and Susan A. (Rathbun) Perkins. The father of our subject, who was a distant relative of Daniel Webster, was born 'in Canada, while Mrs. Perkins was a native of Pennsylvania, and they both died in Steuben county, New York. They left twelve children, of which family our subject was the eldest member. W\allace Perkins was reared in Steuben county, New York, where he received a conmmon school education. He was married in his native county, March 26, I87I, to Miss Alice L. Aldrich, born in Addison, Steuben county, New York, March I, I852, daughter of Aden T. and Caroline L. (Coon) Aldrich, natives of New York, w;ho came to Midland county, Michigan, thence to Saginaw and finally to Gratiot county, settling, in I884, in Bethany township. Mrs. Perkins was the eldest of a family of four children. To Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Perkins five children have been born: Lena R., the wife of Adelbert Giles, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere; Susan A., the wife of Fred IcLean; Philip A.; and Guy A. and Nina B. died young. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Perkins lived in Steuben county, New York, for seven years, and then remove(l to Midland county, Michigan, where they remained but one year, at the end of which time they located in Saginaw county. In 1884 they came to Gratiot county, where Mr. Perkins purchased forty acres of farm land on Section 2I, Bethany township, and this he cleared and improved. He has added to the original purchase until he has now one of the finest farms in the county, consisting of one hundred and fifty-three acres, and supplied with a good set of modern buildings. Mr. Perkins has held the office of highway commissioner for one term, and has always taken an active interest in township affairs. He and his estimable wife are consistent and valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He belongs to the Loyal Guards. Mr. Perkins is a practical business man and a reliable citizen, and he is well known and highly esteemed throughout the community. PHILIP A. PERKINS, an enterprising young farmer of Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, was born in Addison, Steuben county, New York, January 25, I877, son of Wallace and Alice L. (Aldrich) Perkins. Philip A. Perkins was quite young when brought to Gratiot county by his parents, and was reared to manhood in the town 238 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. ship of Bethany, being educated in the St. Louis schools. Mr. Perkins was reared to a farmer's life and has always followed agricultural pursuits. He was married in Bethany township June 14, I903, to Miss Blanche A. Gardham, born in the county of Norfolk, Ontario, July 2, 1882, a daughter of John A. and Annie E. (Moore) Gardham, of Bannister, Gratiot county. To Mr. and Mrs. Philip A. Perkins one child has been born: Carolyn A. He is also connected with the fraternal order of Gleaners. He has inherited his father's sterling traits of character, and is becoming recognized as one of Bethany township's good farmers, and is respected and liked by all. RANK E. ROSA, who is engaged in agricultural operations on his farm of sixty-six acres on Section 5, Wheeler township, Gratiot county, was born July 27, I859, in Oberlin, Ohio, son of James and Helen (Bates) Rosa, natives of New York, who died in Kipton, Lorain county, Ohio. Frank E. Rosa was the seventh of the nine children born to his parents, and he was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools of his district. He lived at home until eighteen years of age, when he started out in life for himself. He was married February 24, 1878, to Miss Hattie Mapes, born 'in Vermillion, Erie county, Ohio, October 5, I860, daughter of Frank and Mary (Conover) Mapes. Frank Mapes was a native of New York, and died in Vermillion, Ohio, while his wife was born in New Jersey. Mrs. Rosa was the next to the eldest child of her parents' family of seven children. Mr. and Mrs. Rosa have had these children: Helen A., the wife of Walter C. Swope; Harvey M.; George H.; Frances E. and Hattie M. After marriage Mr. Rosa located in Henrietta, Lorain county, Ohio, and rented a farm for ten years. In the spring of I888 they came to Gratiot county, Michigan, and here Mr. Rosa bought forty-four acres on Section 5, Wheeler township, where he has since lived. He has added to the original purchase, and among other improvements has erected a fine set of buildings. His farm of sixty-six acres is nearly all cultivated and compares favorably with any in the township. Mr. Rosa has held the office of school inspector of Wheeler township, and has taken an active interest in the success of the Republican party in this section. He and his family belong to the Free Methodist Church. Mr. Rosa is one of the public-spirited citizens and substantial business men of the township, and is held in the highest esteem by his neighbors and all with whom he comes in contact. M ILLARD F. FRANKS. Among the prominent and substantial farmers of Gratiot county, Michigan, may be mentioned Millard F. Franks, whose fine onehundlre(l-alnd-seventy-acre farm, located in Bethany township, was his home until his death, January 25, I906. He was born in Spencer, Medina county, Ohio, September 4, I85I, son of Ezra and Ellen (Brown) Franks, natives of the Buckeye State, the former of whom (died in Springfield, Missouri, when seventy-six years old. They had four children, viz.: Oran, a retired farmer living in Topeka, Kansas; Millard F.; Josephine, Mrs. W. C. Calland, of Springfield, Missouri, and William, pro BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 239 prietor of a fruit ranch at Wichita, Kansas. WNhen AMillard F. Franks was eight years old his parents left Medina county, Ohio, and located in Lorain county, that State, where he reached manhood. He received a common school education in Oberlin and near that city, and was reared to his life work of farming. He was married in Lorain county, Ohio, November 24, 1875, to M:iss Flora P. Pelton, a native of Oberlin, Ohio, and a daughter of Alvin and Caroline Pelton. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Franks lived in Lorain county until I88o, in February of that year coming to Gratiot county. For about fifteen years they resided in St. Louis, where Mr. Franks was employed at various occupations, and in April, I895, settled on the farm in Bethany, which he had )urchased when first locating in Michigan. He erected a convenient set of buildings on his fine farm, and nearly all of the one hundred and seventy acres are under cultivation. To Mr. Franks and his first wife these children were born: Fred F., who died in I903; Louis A., who married Mary E. Claig; and Ellena C. Mrs. Flora P. Franks (lied May 12, I89I, in St. Louis, in her thirty-fourth year. Mr. Franks' second marriage was to Miss Mary B. Strong, and took place in St. Louis December 14, 1892. She is a native of Miami county, Ohio, and a daughter of James F. and Anna (Shunk) Strong, the latter of whom died in Covington, Kentucky. To this union were born: Harry McKinley and Josephine E. Mr. Franks was street commissioner of St. Louis for two terms, and was a Republican in politics. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as is his estimable widow. He affiliated with the Ancient Order of Gleaners and the Knights of the IModern Maccabees. When a young man Mr. Franks was greatly interested in bee culture and traveled extensively in the interest of science. In his travels he visited Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Isle of \Vight, and Canada, and nearly every State in the Union. His late home is one of the finest and most highly cultivated farms in Gratiot county, and besides being a first-class farmer he was a man of enterprise and public spirit and had manv warm friends. Death came to him after a painful illness of several months duration. His funeral was conductedc by Rev. Wolfe, and tle remains were laid to rest in the city cemetery. G EORGE KESLING, a well known resident of Hamilton township, Gratiot county, Michigan, engaged in operating his eighty-four acre farm on Section I8, was born in Columbia. Columbia county, Pennsylvania, November 9, 1852, son of George and Margreete Niner Kesling, natives of Germany, who came West from Pennsylvania to Seneca county, Ohio, where they both died. George Kesling was the third child in a family of seven children, and came with his parents to Seneca county, Ohio, where he lived until coming to Gratiot county, Michigan. He was married (first) in Seneca county, Ohio, December 25, 1873, to Miss Lucinda Hampshire, a native of Seneca county, daughter of Adam and Margaret Hampshire. In March, 1875, Mr. and MNrs. Kesling came to Gratiot county, Mlichigan, where he purchased eighty-four 240 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. acres of land on Section I8, Hamilton township. The farm was covered with timber and bush, which Mr. Kesling proceeded to clear, sixty acres of his land now being under the plow, highly improved and supplied with good buildings. Mr. Kesling also owns I02 acres of land in Elba township, most of which is wild land. MIr. Kesling and his first wife had three children: Irving F., Leota E., and Sylvia M., the last named being now deceased. The second marriage of George Kesling was to Mary Rachel Odell, April IO, I898, and to this union two children were born: Clarence W. and Winona D. Mrs. Kesling was born February 22, I879, in Elba township, Gratiot county, Michigan, the daughtera of Wilbur and Sarah (Shellenbarger) Odell. Mr. Kesling is one of the good, practical farmers of Hamilton township, and is highly esteemed by all who know him. FRANK G. PALMER, a prominent citizen of North Star township, Gratiot county, who is identified with all agricultural and educational movements, was born on the farm which he now occupies, August I, 1856, son of the late William W. and Lydia M. (Savage) Palmer, natives of New York. His parents removed from Lenawee county to Gratiot county in I854, and settled on Section 28, North Star township. There Mr. Palmer bought one hundred and sixty acres of good land, which he cleared and improved, and upon which he erected substantial buildings, and where he continued to reside until his death, March 24, I903, at the age of eighty years. His widow, born May IO, 1823, resides with her son, Frank G., and is remarkably active for one of her years. Mr. and Mrs. William Palmer were the parents of these children: Ida, the wife of Edwin E. Palmer, of Mecosta county, Michigan; Rufus M., a farmer of North Star township; Frank G.; Roscoe C., a carpenter of North Star township; and Vere D., an electrical engineer of Detroit. Michigan. Frank G. Palmer was reared on his father's farm, and received his education in the common schools of his district. For some time during the winter seasons he was a school teacher in Gratiot county, and became well and favorably known as an educator. Most of his time, however, has beeh spent in agricultural pursuits, in which he has been fairly successful. Mr. Palmer was married in May, I879, to Miss Luella Huson, a native of Ohio, who died April II, I887, in North Star township, leaving these children: Victor H., Velma and Faye C. Mr. Palmer's second marriage occurred September 25, I889, to Miss Eva Cheney, of Ohio, by whom he has had the following children: Ethel and Vincent W. Mr. Palmer has held the offices of school inspector and treasurer of North Star township. He is an ardent Democrat, and has proved to be a popular and highly efficient public official. He has always taken an active part in erldcational matters, and has held offices in School District No. 8, for many years. Fraternally he is a member of Liberty Grange No. 391, and has been master of it for several terms, holding that office at present. In Io55 he was elected a member of the executive committee of the Michigan State Grange, and he has been secretary of the Grange Fire Insurance Company of Gratiot county since its organization in March, 1902. He is also a member of the BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 24I Ancient Order of Gleaners. Mr. Palmer is the owner of a well-situated, highly cultivated eighty acre farm, upon which he has erected a fine residence and substantial buildings. He is one of the representative men of North Star township. JAY A. GRIFFITH, one of the leading citizens of Emerson township, Gratiot county, Michigan, who has been prominently identified with the agricultural development of this section for many years, is a son of Daniel and Nancy M. (Burgess) Griffith, pioneers of Gratiot county. Daniel Griffith was born January 9, 1820, in Montgomery county, New York, and his wife in Cattaraugus county, New York, November 4, I83I. They were married in Oakland county, Michigan, where they resided for a time and then settled in Wayne county for several years. They then removed to Gratiot county and settled in Pine River township for two years, after which they removed to the site of St. Louis, Michigan, where they lived four years, Mr. Griffith being employed in a sawmill. In 1862 they settled on Section 8, Emerson township, on wild land, where he cleared a one-hundred-and-twenty-acre farm and here they resided until I890, when they again located in St. Louis. Since that time they have lived a retired life. Jay A. Griffith was the third child in a family of twelve children, and was born in Wayne county, Michigan, January 3, 1854, being but nine months old when his parents located in Gratiot county. Here he has lived ever since. He was reared in Emerson township, working in the woods in the winters and at clearing and improving land in the summer months. He was married October I6, 1882, to Miss Maggie A. Hudnutt, of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. She was born May 22, 1862, in Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Judson and Elizabeth (Secord) Hudnutt. Judson Hudnutt met his death in Hillsdale county, Michigan, by being thrown from a buggy, and his wife died in Isabella county, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Griffith are the parents of two children: Raymond A., born in Emerson township, November I8, I884, was a graduate of the St. Louis high school; he died April 4, I905. Alva L. was born January 25, 1886, in Emerson township. Mr. Griffith has held the office of school inspector for two terms, and has taken a great deal of interest in all township and county affairs. Politically he is a Republican. He affiliates with Bethany Grange, No. 370, and is a member of the Ancient Order of Gleaners. MAr. Griffith has been a farmer all of his life. His interests have been centered in the cultivation of his land, and his careful management has made his eighty-acre farm produce fine crops. His property is valuable and he enjoys all the comforts and advantages possible to the prosperous and progressive farmer. CHARLES WOODS, who enjoys the distinction of being one of the oldest citizens in Newark township in length of residence, was born in Hamburg, Livingston coAinty, Michigan, whence his parents moved to Gratiot county only a few months later. William Woods, the father, was born and reared in England, as was also his wife, whose maiden name was Ellen Smith. Their marriage took place in Ringstead, County of Norfolk, April I6, I85I, and as England 242 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNT'. at that time seemed to offer the young couple fewer opportunities for advancement than the New World, they set sail the day after their marriage for the United States. Making their way westward to Michigan, they settled on a farm in Hamburg and this was their home until August, I854, when Mr. Woods decided to remove to Gratiot county, which henceforth was their abiding place. In November, 1864, Mr. Woods entered the army and only a few months later, January 4, I865, was killed at Chattanooga, Tennessee, while on guard duty. At the time of his death he was but forty years of age. He left a family of five children, two sons and three daughters: Mary J., who died aged twenty; Charles; Ellen L., Mrs. John Arnold, of Bethany township; Ralph, a farmer of Newark township; and Viola J., who (lied at the age of thirty-seven. The widow afterward married Luke W\oods, a brother of her first husband, and lived out the full measure of her years, passing away in Newark township MIarch 8, I895, in the sixty-ninth year of her age. Charles Woods was only six months old when the family moved to Gratiot county, and by far the greater portion of his life has been spent in his present home, for he now owns the farm which his father took up from the government on his arrival in Michigan. There the boy was reared, inured to a farming life from his earliest years, and it is but a natural sequence that he has continued in that line permanently. His farm consists of 136 acres of land which has nearly all been brought under a complete state of cultivation and greatly improved. Mr. Woods has erected a number of good buildings, gives practically his whole attention to the farm, and has an attractive and I valuable place. It is located in Section I9, Newark toxwnship, and is given over to general farming and stock raising combined. At Ithaca, Michigan, March I6, I880, Mr. \Voods was united in the bonds of matrimony to Miss Ellen J. Kagy, who was born in Green Springs, Seneca county, Ohio, January 6, I855, daughter of Andrew and Hannah (Jones) Kagy. The latter was born in New York, while the father was a native of Pennsylvania, but died in Union Mills, Iowa. Mrs. Woods was one of a family of eleven children, as follows: Mary E., Ellen J., Franklin P., Emeline M., Fannie C., Robert, Lucinda F., Frances A., Delmon F., Caroline and Roscoe. Her early life was spent in Ohio and Iowa. To her and Mr. Woods three children have been born: William Andrew, Flora and Belle. While Mr. Woods' activities have been largely absorbed in the management of his own property, he has always found time to do the full duty of a good citizen and assume his share of public affairs. He is a man of intelligence and good judgment and his opinion bears weight in the community. A Republican is politics, he has been for a number of years an overseer of highways and was a member of the board of review for one term, while his continued interest in educational questions has resulted in his holding the offices of township school moderator and school assessor. Mr. Woods is an upright, honorable man, and commands the sincere good-will of his associates. W ILLIAM A. TOMLIN, whose beautiful home in Sumner township is situated on Section 28, is one of Gratiot county's successful farmers, and has ad BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNT.Y. 243 vanced to prominence by perseverance, thrift and good management. He was born August I7, 1847, in Bedfordshire, England, on his father's farm, son of Joseph and Eliza (Gilbert) Tomlin, both of whom died in their native place. The other members of the family were as follows: Gilbert, who died in England; Alice, who married John Mitchell, and died in her native land; Mary, who died young; and Charles, who resided at Marquette, Michigan, where he died January 27, I906. William A. Tomlin was the youngest in the family. He came from England to America in I865, located in New Jersey for a year, and then settled in Ohio, where he worked for four years on a farm in Geauga county. W\hile in that county he was married, December 25, I868, to Miss Louisa Clark, who died August 20, I902, in Sumner township, aged fifty-four. She was the daughter of John and Sophia (Storey) Clark, of Gravely, Cambridgeshire, England, the former of whom was a farmer, who emigrated to Ohio, Awhere he died. Mrs. Tomlin, at her death, left four children: Ackley E., now a farmer of Summer township, Gratiot county, who is married to Winnie E. Older, and has had three children, Howard A., Pearl M. and Marian WV., of whom the last named died March 21, I906; George NV., who married MTyrtle Johnson, who died April 25, I904, leaving a daughter, Myrtle R., who with her father resides with our subject; Jesse J., married to Mae Garton, and residing at Sumner; and Ray WV. Soon after his marriage Mr. Tomlin came to Gratiot county, and, settling in Sumner township, bought eighty acres of land, which was covered with heavy brush. Mr. Tomlin now owns one hundred and twenty acres of land, seventy-five of which are under cultivation. He has erected convenient and commodious buildings on his farm, and around his fine residence he has placed many fruit and shade trees, making one of the finest and most comfortable homes in the county. When Mr. Tomlin landed in this country he was the possessor of eighteen pence, part of which sum he still keeps as a souvenir of by-gone days and a reminder of his modest beginnings in what to him has certainly proved a land of opportunities and realizations. N EWr TON BURNS. A history of Gratiot county would be incomplete without extended mention of Newton Burns, who has been identified with the educational and agricultural development of Bethany township for a number of years. He was born in Pekin, Niagara county, New York, July 18, 1853, the fifth in the family of eight children born to Samuel and Abigail (Hubbard) Burns. The father of Newton Burns, a farmer by occupation, died in Niagara county, New York, February Io, I889, aged about eighty years. The mother, who was born December 26, I819, resided in Pekin, New York, until her death, December 21, I905. Like her husband she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of their children, Dennis H. died at the age of thirty-eight years; Martin is a resident of Lincoln, Nebraska; Sophia, deceased, was the wife of H. H. Wilcox; Lucia is the widow of W. O. Kellam and resides at the old home at Pekin, New. York; Newton is the next in the family; Irving is a physician, located in Illinois; Rev. Herman was pastor of the Grand River 244 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I Avenue Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan; l:lmer is a graduate of Columbia College, New York City, and is now engaged as a civil, mining and electrical engineer at Niagara Falls, New York. Newton Burns was reared on his father's farm in New York and received his education in the common schools. For a number of years he engaged in teaching, becoming well and favorably known as an educator. He remained in his native county until the fall of 1887, spending a portion of his time in farming and in the year named coming to Gratiot county, Michigan, and settling on the farm upon which he now resides, in Bethany township. He is the owner of eighty acres, most of which is improved, and has engaged very successfully in general farming. Since coming to Gratiot county Mr. Burns has spent two years in Wheeler village, where he taught in the public schools; for four years he was also a teacher in Bethany township. On April 22, I874, in Niagara county, New York, Mr. Burns was united in marriage to Miss Mary P.Maxon, born in Niagara county, New York, daughter of Stephen B. and Sarah (Ray) Maxon. Mrs. Burns was born October 5, 1851. These children have been born to Mr. Burns and his estimable wife: M. Estelle, wife of George W. Moore, and the mother of two sons, Harold D. and Arlan W.; Wilber N., an attorney at Niles, Michigan, who married Grace Bartrum; R. Myra; and Edna M., who died in Bethany township, aged about six years. Mr. Burns has held the office of county drainage commissioner for two yearsJanuary, 1900, to January, 1902; is one of the school inspectors, has been township clerk of Bethany township, and was a candi date for the Legislature on the Populist ticket from Gratiot county in I894. In the spring of 1905 he was elected justice of the peace. He takes a great interest in all township affairs and supports all good movements. He and Mrs. Burns are members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he has been an official and was superintendent of and a teacher in the Sunday-school, having filled the last named position for more than thirty years. Fraternally he affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of the Modern Maccabees, the Ancient Order of Gleaners and the Bethany Grange, being master of the last named and having twice served as representative from Gratiot county to the State Grange. Mr. Burns is highly respected by his neighbors for his good citizenship and for the efforts he has put forth in assisting to build up and improve the community. H ERBERT L. BROWN, one of the most prominent citizens of Gratiot county, is probably best known as the efficient postmaster of North Star, having al-.ready achieved a national reputation among the officials of his class in the government service. He was born in Fulton county, Ohio, September I5, 1862, son of William J. and Nancy (Sears) Brown, both of whom died in Blissfield, Lenawee county, Michigan-the father, September 14, 1872, aged fifty-nine, and the mother, August 17, 1883, at the age of fifty-eight years. William J. Brown was a member of the A. F. & A. M., and a highly respected, unassuming man. To him and his good wife were born seven children, of whom Herbert L. was the fourth. The others were: Melissa, deceased wife of the late George B. , 4 If BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 247 Smith, both dying in March, I905, within two hours of each other; George J., a mechanic in the State of Washington; Frances, residing in Los Angeles, California; Elenora, who married E. H. Ellsworth, a farmer of Bellingham, Washington; and Charles (deceased) and Chauncey, twins, the latter a machinist of Norfolk, Virginia. Herbert L. Brown was two years old when his parents located in Blissfield, and there he was educated lboth in the common schools and through the training to a life of industry. At the age of ten years he commenced work in a mill, at which he continued for twently-nine years. In I883 he located in Gratiot county, where he was employed in heading mills until 'the spring of 190I. I-e then followNed carpentering for about one year, at the end of which time he engaged in the furniture business in North Star. Since November, 1903, he has served as postmaster of North Star. In April, I902, lie was elected township clerk, which office he still fills satisfactorily, and he has consistently contributed to the success of the Republican party. In June, I904, he was elected president of the Gratiot County League of fourth-class postmasters; in July, I904, president of the State League of fourth-class postmasters; and at St. Louis, Missouri, October 12, I904, was greatly honored by the national convention of fourth-class postmasters by being elected treasurer of that organization. Herbert L. Brown was married in Ithaca, Michigan, December 25, I883, to Miss Frances M. Brady, a native of Gratiot county, daughter of Hiram and Louisa (\Wood) Brady, and a direct descendant of the Pilgrim Father Wood of the "Mayflower." Mr. and Mrs. Brown have had 11 I these children: Clyde E., Elsie L., Ned and Bessie, of whom the last named died when fifteen months old. Mr. Brown is a member of Ithaca Tent, No. I28, K. O. T. M. M. Mr. Brown bears an excellent reputation in the community in which he resides, and can be truthfully called one of North Star's representative men. JESSE PARLING, one of the prominent ' and substantial farmers of North Star township, Gratiot county, Michigan, who has made his own way in the world, was born October 17, 1853, in Rochester, New York, son of James and Harriet (Goward) Parling, natives of England who located in Rochester, New York. His paternal grandfather, also James Parling, never left England, while his maternal grandfather, likewise an Englishman by birth, emigrated to America and located at Rochester. After residing there for twelve years he migrated to Shiawassee county, Michigan, of which he became a permanent resident. As stated, the parents of Mr. Parling also located at Rochester. They afterward removed to Washtenaw county, Michigan, where they lived several years, and later became residents of Shiawassee county, where they passed the balance of their lives. The father, James Parling, was accidentally killed, June 21, I866, at a barn-raising, passing away in the prime of life at the age of thirty-eight years. His wife, the mother of Jesse, died on March 17, I894, aged sixty-four years. Their children were: Lucy, who died in infancy; Jesse; Affie, deceased wife of Eugene Scott; Ida B., who married Otis S. Mead, a farmer of Shiawassee county, Michigan; and Ellen, who died young. 248 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Jesse Parling was but thirteen years old when his father died, and, being the eldest of the family, he took charge of the farm, and paid up for the homestead, upon which he resided until March 30, I895. Mr. Parling was married October 3, 1872, to Miss Mary J. Young, born July 8, 185I, in Shiawassee county, Michigan, daughter of Thomas R. and Nancy M. (Hart) Young, natives of New York, who died in Shiawassee county, Michigan. They were the parents of seven children, and Mrs. Parling was the sixth in order of birth. To Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Parling these children were born: James R. married Bertha Alliton, and resides at Akron, Ohio; Nancy H. died December I4, I890, in Shiawassee county, Michigan, aged fifteen years; Edith M. (lied November I2, 1895, in North Star township, aged eighteen years; Thomas E., a Washington township farmer, married Carrie Stockwell, and they have one son, Murl,C.; John C., a farmer of North Star township, married Mlertie Bovie, and has two -children, Vernie Iven and Arthur L.; and Jesse W., living on the family homestead, married Hattie E. Rivett, and has one son, -Clayton W. When Mr. Parling located in Gratiot <county, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in North Star township, upon -which he started farming and there he has -since resided. Mr. Parling has been very successful in his agricultural ventures, and has also been prominent in township and county affairs, having held the office of highway commissioner for a year, and has been,school assessor of District No. 2, for some,time, being chiefly identified with the Republican party. He is a popular member of -Heath Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Mahar Tent, No. 640, Knights of the Modern MIaccabees. Mr. Parling is a self made man, and the excellence of the work he has turned out bears evidence of his efficiency. He is well known and highly esteemed throughout North Star township. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Jesse Parling was William C. Young, a sturdy blacksmith of New York State, while her grandfather on the maternal side was Horace Hart, a farmer of the Empire State. Her father, Thomas R. Young, was a sailor in his early manhood, from I836 to I839, but in the latter year located on the farm in Shiawassee on which he lived continuously for sixty years. He died November 3, I899, at the age of eighty-five; his good wife had preceded him, November I5, I889, at the age of sixty-six years. To the union of this esteemed and respected couple were born these children: W\Nilliam, who died young; Albert, now a farmer living in Shiawassee county, Michigan; Lucinda, who lied in I889, the wife of Edward Vail; Malinda, wife of Ira Angus, of Shiawassee county; Sarah M., who died at the age of t-enty-three; Alary J., wife of Jesse Parling; and Adelia A., who lived to be but six years of age. C HRISS D. BOBZIEN, a substantial farmer and prominent citizen of Gratiot county, residing on his fine eightyacre farm in Bethany township, was born August I, I849, in Prussia, Germany, son of John and Hannah (Buck) Bobzien, natives of Prussia who died in Niagara county, New York. The father, a farmer, was born in I804, as was his wife, the family locating in that county in I863, and there they BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT CO UNATY. 249 both (lied in the year I888. Six children were born to them, viz.: Fred, deceased; Mary, widow of John Albright and a resident of Niagara county, New York; William, also of that county; Lena, deceased, who married William Kreuger; John, deceased, and Chriss D. Mr. Bobzien was thirteen years old when he came with his parents from Prussia to America, and they settled north of Lockport, Niagara county, New York, in the town of Newfane. He received a commonschool education. At the age of sixteen years he started for Saginaw county, Michigan, going soon afterward to Oakland county. He had but a ten-dollar bill as capital, and later discovered that it was a counterfeit, but soon found work at lumbering, following that occupation in the winter and farming during the summer season. He continued at these occupations until 1877, when he settled on the farm he now occupies, having accumulated enough to warrant its purchase, although the changes he has made in his twenty-nine years of occupancy have completely transformed it. He has engaged in general farming and brought his land to a condition where it produces some of the finest crops in the township. His orchards compare favorably with others, and his fruit is excellent. Mr. Bobzien was married September 6, 1874, to Miss Frances Reed, who was born in Pine River township, Gratiot county, October 29, 1857, daughter of Watson P. and Elizabeth (Caldwell) Reed, of New York and Ohio, respectively. Her parents were among the earliest settlers of Pine River township, where they were married. To Mr. and Mrs. Bobzien was born June 17, 1875, a daughter Lillie, the wife of Adolph Greening (a farmer of Bethany township) and the mother of Carl and Bernice; in the year 1876, May 7th, was born Elizabeth, and in the year 1877 was born Robert, now a farmer of lMidland county, Michigan, who married Alta Zimmerman and is the father of Chris, Clarence and Edith Irene; and in the year I88o was born John. Mr. Bobzien is fraternally connected with the Knights of Pythias. As has been seen, he has won his own way in the world, and has not only acquired much property, but also the respect and esteem of all his associates. He is now the owner of two fine farms-the one in Gratiot county upon which he resides, and which he has the satisfaction of having reclaimed from the wilderness, and the tract in M\idland county occupied by his son Robert. C LINTON SAWVEL. While the quiet routine of country life seems to many a man only a hard, monotonous round of toil, to others it offers the surest road to contentment and a peaceful happiness that accompanies home life. Among tlhe many residents of Gratiot county who have deliberately chosen an agricultural career is Clinton Sawvel. He was born in DeKalb county, Indiana, June 20, 1849, son of George Sawvel. George Sawvel passed the earlier portion of his life in Ohio and was there united in matrimony to Miss Anna Clark. Mrs. Sawvel became the mother of six children, of whom Clinton was the eldest. The happy wedded life of this couple was cut short by the untimely death of the wife in 1859, when she was still a young woman, having reached the age of only thirty-two years. After her death Mr. Sawvel remained in his 250 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. home for some years longer, but finally in 1865 he broke away from the scene of his earlier associations and, moving to Michigan, selected Gratiot county as his future abode. He settled down there in Bethany township, which was then sparsely settled and has ever since been identified with that locality. Clinton Sawvel spent his boyhood in Indiana, which in those early days offered only limited opportunities for an education. Some time too was passed in Steuben county and when he joined his father in Gratiot county, Michigan, he was eighteen years old. From that date, 1867, to the present, he has continued to be a resident of Bethany township. For some years after his arrival, in order to become sufficiently independent to start out for himself, he worked for others, and either on the farms near his home, in the lumber woods or on the river Tillibowassee and its tributaries, he earned the means to establish himself later in his own home. He was also engaged by the day or month to work on various farms in Clinton and Midland counties as well as in Gratiot. His perseverance and industry reaped their due reward and about I870 he attained the goal toward which he had been working, and was able to buy a farm of his own. His first purchase was a tract of forty acres, situated in Section 25 of Bethany township, and he has added to this at different times till he is now the possessor of some one hundred and twenty acres, and of these he has seventy acres improved and under cultivation. The soil is rich and productive, and Mr. Sawvel has been successful in his operations, as is indicated by the good buildings which he has put up on his property. While engaged in Arcada township at one period Mr. Sawvel met the young lady who was to become his wife, and the attraction bet.ween them soon led to their marriage. Her maiden name was Phoebe J. Graham and she was born in Canada, the daughter of Robert and Mary M. (Grass) Graham. The parents were among those who had settled in Gratiot county in an early day, and there the rest of their lives was spent. Mr. Graham died in Arcada township at the age of sixty-five years. The union of Clinton Sawvel and Miss Phoebe J. Graham was celebrated September 26, I869, about a year before they settled down in their own home. Two children have been born to them, Robert and Olive Ann, but the little daughter lived less than two years, being taken from them when only nineteen months old. Mr. Sawvel and his wife are both members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. They are simple, unostentatious people, as indeed their creed demands, and have many admirable traits of character which have made them warm friends among those with whom they have been associated. W ILLIAM OLIVER WATSON, one of 'the most energetic, versatile and able business men of Gratiot county, as well as a prominent Republican for two decades, is at present a farmer and druggist of Breckenridge. He has been a member of the Republican County Committee almost continuously for the past twenty years, and its treasurer for eight years. From 1884 until I896 he was engaged in a prosperous grain commission business. He has also been active in the management of several of the banking institutions of the county, has been identified with the township govern AI BIOGRAPHICAL IMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 253 ment, is a leading Mason, and a liberal supporter of the churches, and in a number of other ways has evinced a broad and remarkable activity-physical, executive, intellectual, moral and religious. Mr. Watson's physical and mental traits of vigorous persistency are derived from his Scottish ancestry, his paternal grandparents having both been natives of Scotland. About the year I743 his greatgrandfather emigra'ed with his two sisters and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. In the year I753 he married Rebecca, daughter of Aaron Torrence, of Mt. Pleasant, Adams county, Pennsylvania, and to them were born six sons and five daughters, all of whom lived to maturity. John \Watson, son of William Watson, was born October 15, I755, the year of the defeat of Braddock, on accounit of which the settlement was exposed to the depredations of the Indians. In I775 lie volunteered in defense of his country and served as an officer in the army during the years of 1776 and I777. In 179I he married his cousin, Jennie, daughter of William Torrence. They had six children,, of whom John T. Watson was the youngest. John T. Wa'tson was born July 3I, I808, and in 1834 married Harriet Lavinia Wilcox, daughter of Colonel \Vilcox, of Batavia, New York, where she was born January 17, I8I7. Shortly after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. John T. Watson migrated westward and located at the little settlement of Howell, Livingston coun'ty, Michigan, they being among the pioneers of that region. The husband at once opened a general store, which he conducted for about four years; but being a college graduate, and far above the community in education and general intelligence, his services as a 'Leacher were in demand for, many years and he had also the honor of serving as the first superintendent of the Livingston county schools. Later he purchased a hotel at Fowlerville, that county, which after operating for two years lie exchanged for the farm in Oakland county, Michigan, upon which he died July 13, I864. In whatever locality lie settled he came into promninence, holding many township offices and continually serving on the school board. His widow survived until April 2I, I894, her death occurring in Breckenridge, Gratiot county, whither she had removed in I876. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Watson were born the following children: David B., who died aged twenty-six years; John A., a soldier in the Union army, who died a prisoner at Florence, South Carolina, at the age of twenty-six; R. Franklin, deceased at nine years of age; Jennie, wife of George Richardson, a retired dlruggist of Ithaca, Michigan; Mary E., deceased, who marrie( Thomas Crawford; Cora F., deceased aged four years; William Oliver; Sarah, widow of the late G. T. Brown, attorney of Ithaca, Michigan; Charles S., M. D., mentioned elsewhere; Belle, deceased, aged twenty-two; and Ada, wife of Irvin S. Phipney, a general merchant of Manistique, Michigan. William Oliver Watson was born in Livingston county, Michigan, December 15, 1848. He was educated in the district schools, and locating at Ithaca when he was twenty-one years of age, held various clerkships in that village. On December 31, 1874, at Ithaca, he was united in marriage with Ella F., dlaughter of Dewitt C. and Ella F. (Utley) Chapin, both natives of New York 254 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. State. The former was a lawyer, as was his father before him, being admitted to the bar in New York State before he was,twenty-oneo years old. Shortly afterward he located in Cass county, Michigan, and after a residence of several years in southern Illinois returned to the Wolverine State to remain the balance of his life. Prior to I864 he had served as clerk of Clinton county and prosecuting attorney and judge of probate of Allegan county, and in December of that year became a resident of Alma, Gratiot county, where he continued to practice his profession. In the fall of 1870 he was elected register of deeds, locating then at Ithaca, and he continued to fill that position until his death, January 29, 1873. During 'the balance of that year, and 1874, his daughter, Ella F. Chapin (now Mrs. Watson), performed the duties of the position with marked efficiency, being the first woman to hold a county office in the State of Michigan. She had been a school teacher from the age of fif'een to twenty-seven, and was then, as now, a lady of remarkable intelligence and executive force. Mrs. Watson has been prominent in the social activities of the place, as well as in the work of the secret and benevolent societies in which her sex is allowed a membership. She is past worthy matron of the Eas'tern Star Chapter, and past noble grand of the Rebekahs, also being associated with the Maccabees and the Grangers. Mrs. Watson was born in Allegan, Michigan, April Io, 1851; moved to Dewitt, Clinton county, three years la'ter, and. at the age of thirteen came with her parents to Alma, Gratiot county. After attending the common schools there she trained her self for her educational career by a course of study at the State Normal School, at Ypsilanti, Michigan. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Watson located on a farm in Pine River township, removing four years later to Arcada township, and purchasing an eightyacre farm in Sections 7 and 8. In March, I884, he removed to Breckenridge, Wheeler township, where he has since engaged in various lines of business-mercantile, grain and drug-as well as cultivated an extensive farm. The latter now consists of one hundred and seventy acres adjoining Breckenridge, about one hundred and thirty-five acres being under cultivation. In connection with his drug business Mr. Watson also carries a line of wall paper, paints, oils and furniture, and is doing considerable in the way of undertaking. In I896 he disposed of his grain business. It should also be added that he is vice-president of the Firs't State Savings Bank, of Breckenridge, and one of the directors and stockholders of the Gratiot County Bank, of St. Louis, Michigan. To Mr. Watson and his wife these children have been born: John C., register of deeds of Gratiot county and mentioned elsewhere; Fred, who died in infancy; Charles E., a business partner of his father, who married Madie Bodfish, a former school teacher; Byron S., postmaster at Breckenridge, living at home; Edna B., a school teacher; Laura Bess, Dewitt C. and H. Lawrence, all residing with their parents. Since his location in Breckenridge, in 1884, Mr. Watson has held the office of township treasurer for three terms, and has been a member of the school board of Breckenridge for a period of twenty years. BIOGRAPHICAL MIEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 255, In politics he is a Republican. For nine years he was master of the local Masonic lodge, and he is a member of Ithaca Commandery, Detroit Consistory and Moslem Temple, as well as the Order of the Eastern Star; he is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Breckenridge. H ARVEY R. MUNSON. "A little farm, well tilled" makes an ideal home in the opinion of most men, and where good judgment and industry combine to make the most of its resources, as comfortable a competency can be gained as from a larger estate where less business like methods prevail. Such has been the experience of Harvey B. MAunson, a man who has gained the esteem and confidence of the community by his success in business, sound judgment as to men and affairs, and hearty sympathy with all forms of progress. Mr. Munson was born on a farm in Medina county, Ohio, February IO, I859, son of Erastus R. and Caroline (Poorman) Munson, both natives of the Buckeye State. The family came to Gratiot county in the spring of I866 and settled in Newark township, where they made a permanent home. Erastus R. Munson died there October 30, I89I, aged sixty-five years, and his wife June 6, I900, at the age of seventy-one. Of their seven children the following five reached maturity: Lewis K., who died in Newark township in MIarch, I903; J. Frank, of Ithaca; Susan D., Mrs. James C. Lepley, of Newark township; Harvey R.; and Orange W., a farmer in Hamilton township. Harvey R. lMunson was seven years of age when, with the family, he settled in Gratiot county, and his education was acquired in its public schools. Growing up on his father's farm, his youth differed little in essential respects from that of tile other farmers' sons around him and, as he reached maturity, an agricultural life offered to him the greatest and most permanent advantages. In it, therefore, his main efforts centered, although he also learned the carpenter's trade and for a time followed that occupation. He spent the first five years after his marriage on a farm in Section 18, owned by his father-in-law, Jacob Eyer, and he displayed the same qualities in his work there that have ever characterized him. Mr. Munson moved to his present home in I888. It is not a large farm, comprising only about forty acres, of which some twenty-five have been improved, and it is located near the line of Section 21. Mr. Munson was a young man of only twenty-four years of age when he assumed the responsibilities of domestic life; the partner of his joys and sorrows was Miss Lydia A. Eyer, to whom he was united September 26, 1883. Mrs. Munson was a native of Newark township, born November I8, I858, the daughter of Jacob and M(aud (Beck) Eyer. On the paternal side she was of German descent, as her father was born in Baden, Germany. Her mother was a native of Ohio and there met her future husband. The family transferred their homestead from Fulton county, Ohio, to Gratiot county, Michigan, about the year 1854, and settled in Newiark township, where Jacob Eyer still lives. His wife was called from this world in August, I889, at the age of fiftysix years. Mrs. Munson was the third child in a family of eleven. She is a lady of many estimable qualities and has been a true helpmate to her husband. She is a member of the United Brethren Church and one of the 256 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. most active, faithful and efficient of its workers, being very capable and practical, with much executive ability. Mr. Munson has always been a prominent man in his locality, as he takes a keen interest in township and county affairs and is foremost in the promotion of movements of real utility. He is well informed, progressive and modern in his ideas and a citizen from whom many lessons may be learned. Always a supporter of Republican principles, Mr. Munson has been a member of the Republican County Committee for the past ten years, and has frequently been an office holder, filling positions on the school board for several years, and being township clerk for one year. In February, 1903, he was appointed township supervisor, to complete an unexpired term, and at the following election was chosen by his follow townsmen as the regular incumbent. In I903, 1904 and I905 he was re-elected and deservedly so, for his services on the board have been untiring, disinterested, ably performed and most satisfactory to his constituents. W ILLIAM A. SEAMON. For the successful discharge of the duties of certain positions a peculiar combination of qualities seems required, and while the work may be accomplished in a fashion by men not specially adapted to it, yet the happy union of the man and the place results in an economy of time, effort and money, together with an absence of friction, that secures most gratifying results, not otherwise attainable. This tru'th is forcibly illustrated in the case of William A. Seamon, the overseer of the Gratiot County Home, who seems to be naturally fitted for the office which he holds. The poor farm which he superintends comprises one hundred and ninety acres of land, and the building for the inmates is a two-story brick structure of fifty-two rooms, accommodating an average of forty persons. Although he has been in charge of the home for less than two years his care and thoughtfulness are manifest in the considerable improvemen't which he has brought about. He has already laid over three miles of drain tiling on the farm, has erected about five hundred and fifty rods of wire fencing, and plans are under way, to take effect during the next building season, for enlarging the building to accommodate twenty more people. Both building and grounds have an elegant appearance, fully up 'to the best standard of such institutions, and Mr. Seamon is justly praised for his creditable work and management. William A. Seamon was born in Darke county, Ohio, January 20, I86i, son of Rudolph and Huldah (Supinger) Seamon, the father a native of Germany, while the mother was born in Pennsylvania. For a time they lived in Darke county, but afterward removed to Plainfield township, Kent county, Michigan, where they are still residing. William A. was the second child in a family of six, the other members being: George A., a farmer of Kent county, Michigan; Elizabeth, wife of Frank Fowler, and Rachel, Mrs. John Cady, both husbands being Kent county farmers; Isaac, of Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Maggie, married to John Cross, a Grand Rapids machinist. The parents of William A. Seamon were in straitened circumstances and he had few opportunities for enjoying any of the advantages that fall to so many boys. 0 1 % I BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 259 During one period of two and a half years he was "bound out" in order to assist the family at home. His youth was passed in Darke county andl he had reached the age of 'twenty-six when, in 1887, he removed to Gratiot county. By his unaided efforts through years of labor lie had at length accumulated enough to buy a farm of his own, located in Emerson township, and this continued to be his home until I9OI, when he sold the property and removed,to Ithaca. In one way and another Mr. Seamon had acquired a good working knowledge of the carpenter's trade, and (luring his residence in Ithaca devoted most of his attention to that line of work. But farming has been his main occupation thus far, and his operations have been out of the beaten track. He has bought and improved several farms since coming to Michigan, with the purpose of selling them again at an advanced figure after he had brought the properties into good shape. Two of these tracts in particular proved to be especially favorable for his purposes, and were transformed by Mr. Seamon into highly productive farms. The appointment to his present position in charge of the County Home was made in the spring of I904, and he has already demonstrated in a number of specified ways that he is the proper man for the place. On September I8, I88I, in Darke county, Mr. Seamon was united in marriage to Miss Mary Horner, who was born in that county July 4, 1862, and was a daughter of Mack and Elizabeth (Reck) Horner, of Pennsylvania. Politically Mr. Seamon is a Republican, and during his years of residence in Emerson township he took an active part in local affairs, becoming one of the prominent men of that part of the county. Fraternally he is a member of Emerson Lodge, No. 375, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Ithaca Encampment, No. 187; he also belongs to Grange No. I85, of Ithaca. Another organization with which he has been identified for some time, and of which lie is a popular member, is the Ancient Order of Gleaners. Finally, as his industry, honesty and ability go hand in hand with his popularity, it is fair to prophesy that his future will be marked by the same honorable progress which has signalized his past. W OODBURY H. BOVEE, a representative and substantial farmer, residing on Section 27, North Star township, Gratiot county, where he owns a thoroughly cultivated and intelligently improved tract of one hundred and sixty acres, was born October I, 1859, on the farm which he now owns and upon which he resides. He is a son of the late Hiram and Adaline A. (Austin) Bovee, the former of whom was born in New York State, October 27, I83I, the latter September 30, I832, in Vermont. The parents came to Gratiot county March 4, 1857, and settled on Section 27, North Star township, where they spent their days, with the exception of one year in Lenawee county. Hiram Bovee had visited Gratiot county, Michigan, some time before bringing his family, and was employed by the late W. W. Palmer. He was so pleased with the country that he purchased eighty acres from the government on Section 27, where he became very prosperous, and died in his seventy-first year, owning at the time of his death, in January, I902, one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land, upon which he had erected the 260 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. best of buildings. There, also, his wife had died in I899, aged sixty-seven years. Their children were: Woodbury H.; and Clara A., wAho married Calvin A. Crandell, a farmer, and resides in Washington township. Woodbury H. Bovee was educated in the common schools of his district, and assisted his father on the farm upon which he has always lived. He was married in Ithaca, Michigan, February 6, 1887, to Miss Nettie Vedder, daughter of Clark and Sarah (Deline) Vedder, mentioned elsewhere. Mrs. Boveei was born February 6, i868, and to her and her husband these children have been born: Agnes (who died in infancy), Florence A., Lois L., Cecil W., Glenn H., Hiram C. and Royal 0. Mr. Bovee is prominent in township affairs, and for two terms has held the office of township treasurer on the Republican ticket, which party he has always zealously supported. He and his wife are members of Liberty Grange, No. 391, Patrons of Husbandry, andl he is also connected with the Ancient Order of Gleaners. Mr. Bovee is a broad-minded, practical farmer, his buildings exhibiting both taste and thrift, and the entire homestead is admirably arranged and improved. Mr. Bovee engages in a general line of farming and his efforts have met with much success, placing him with the really substantial men of his township. BRAHAM L. GILES, one of the most successful farmers and a well-known citizen of Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, where he owns a well improved farm of one hundred acres, was born February 8, I86i, in Jefferson county, Pennsylvania. His paternal grandfather, Palmer Giles, originally a farmer of New York State, died in Ohio. The parents of Mr. Giles, Ray and Marilla (Clark) Giles, came to Gratiot county in 1883 and settled in Bethany township, where the father died in April, I889, aged sixty-eight years. His widow, born March 4, I829, resides in St. Louis, Michigan. Their children were as follows: Alice M. is the widow of Isaac M. Anderson and lives in St. Louis, Michigan; Cynthia L. died in infancy; Isabel, Mrs. Amlo Waterman, is deceased; Henry A. and Wellington R. died in infancy; Frances, of St. Louis, is the widow of F. A. Morse; Minnie E. married Enos Bacon, of Kane, Pennsylvania; Abraham L.; Nellie G., unmarried, lives in St. Louis with her mother; Jennie L. married Claud Salisbury, of St. Louis, Michigan. Of the family of ten children, Abraham L. Giles was the eighth member, and he was quite young when his parents removed from Pennsylvania and settled in Ashtabula county, Ohio. In the latter place he grew to manhood and received a common-school education, coming to Gratiot county in December, I883. Here he has since resided. With the exception of one year when he taught school in Ashtabula county, Ohio, Mr. Giles' interests have been centered in farming all his life, and he is familiar with every branch of that occupation. He owns one hundred acres of land, and of this tract ninety acres are improved. He is one of the honorable and upright citizens of the township, in whom trust is placed, and is held in general esteem. Mr. Gilesi was married, in St. Louis, Michigan, September 8, I896, to Miss Susie Donnan, born May 17, I869, daughter of BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRAT71OT COUNTY. 26I William and Margaret Donnan. Mrs. Giles is a native of Clinton county, Michigan. Politically Mr. Giles is a Republican, and has been identified with the success of his party in this section. BURTON I. GEE, one of the extensive farmers, stock raisers and prominent citizens of Gratiot county, Michigan, is serving his third term as highway commissioner of Sumner township, where he was born September 1, I862, son of Isaac and Orpha R. (Gargett) Gee. The latter was of English descent, but the Gee family is of German extraction, father and paternal grandparents, Joseph and Eleanor (Seaton) Gee, however, being natives of New York State. The grandfather died in New York. Isaac Gee and his wife were pioneers of Sumner township, locating in Gratiot county early in the fifties on half of Section I5, Sumner township. When he first came to the county Isaac Gee was accompanied by his brother, the late George Gee, and they cut their way through the timber, crossing the Pine River April i, 1855, at a time when the snow was two and one-half feet deep, covered with a crust thick enough to sustain a man. Isaac Gee improved a farm in Section 15, where he spent the remainder of his life, engaging in mercantile business in addition to looking after his agricultural interests. He died on his farm in June, I886, while his widow still survives, making her home in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. They were the parents of two children: Burton I., mentioned below; and Zua, born April Io, I869, who married Joseph Wilson, of Saginaw. Isaac Gee was chosen supervisor in 1859, and also held the offices of justice of the peace and highway commissioner. Politically Mr. Gee was a firm Republican. Burton I. Gee was reared in Sumner township, where he received his education in the common schools. His whole life has been spent in agricultural pursuits, and lle is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of good farm land, one hundred and twenty acres of which he has improved. His buildings are modern and substantial, and his farm is equipped with the latest agricultural machinery. Mr. Gee is also largely engaged in stock, hog and sheep raising, and he has sold as high as $I,Ioo worth of hogs in one year. He is a practical, progressive and prosperous farmer, and has succeeded far above the average in his operations. But he had not always been in such comfortable circumstances, for he is a self-made man. For fifteen years he lived on a rented farm for share rent and when he commenced on his own account his worldly possessions consisted of a pair of horses and a few household goods. Burton I. Gee was married in Alma, Michigan, December 3, I883, to Miss Jennie M. Losey, born in Wayne county, Michigan, October 9, I865, daughter of Asa and Eliza (Van Houten) Losey, the latter of whom died in Arcada township, April 14, I89I. Mr. Losey resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is a veteran of the Civil war. Mrs. Gee was the sixth of eleven children, her brothers and sisters, in the order of birth, being as follows: Frank, living in Bellaire, Michigan; Edward, a resident of Thompsonville, Michigan; AMinnie, Mrs. George Clark, of Sumner township; Fred and William, both deceased; Charles and George, both living in Bellaire, Michigan; Robert, 262 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. -of Sumner township; Isabell, wife of Charles Brown, of Perry, Michigan; and Fred, of Sumner township. Through the Atchinsons Mrs. Gee is able to trace the ancestors of her family to the Revolutionary heroes of Valley Forge. She accompanied her parents to Gratiot county when she was three years old, the family settling in Arcada township. Mr. and Mrs. Gee have had these children: Leo I., Sarah B., Clifford J., Lynn B., Orpha E., Tressell Z., Laurel, Hubert and Buhl. Mr. Gee held the office of township treasurer for two terms, and has also been school director. He is at present serving his third term as highway commissioner, and has always taken an active interest in the progress of the Republican party. He is a member of Alma Lodge of the Masonic fraternity. OZRO H. TENNEY, justice of the peace of Lafayette township, Gtatiot county, Michigan, was born in Livingston county, August I6, I866, son of Henry M. and Auselia J. (Carson) Tenney, the former a native of New York, and the latter of Michigan. They came to Gratiot county in 1887 and settled in Lafayette township, where they lived for several years. They then removed to St. Louis, Michigan, where they still reside. They were the parents of three children, of which family our subject was the second member. Ozro H. Tenney has been a resident of Lafayette township since 1887. He was married in Ithaca, October Io, 1894, to Miss Alice E. Powell, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Salter) Powell, natives of England. Mr. and Mrs. Tenney have had four children: Lynton H., Laura E., Irene A. and Marjorie J. Mr. Tenney has held the office of township clerk for three years. In the spring of I904 he was elected justice of the peace, on the Republican ticket, which office he has held ever since. His estimable wife is a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. Judge Tenney is a valued member of Edgewood Lodge No. 257, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Rising Star Lodge, Ancient Order of Gleaners. He is a man representative of the highest type of citizenship, and has many friends throughout Lafayette township. RANCIS HENRY HOWES, who owns and occupies a fertile, well-cultivated farm of eighty acres in North Star township, was born May I, 1835, in Onondaga county, New York. His parents were Francis and Betsey E. (Bogardus) Howes, the former a native of New England, and the latter of New York. They died in Granby, New York, leaving five children, of whom Francis Henry was the fourth. Mr. Howes was reared in Oswego county, New York, where he was living at the time of his enlistment, in April, I86I, in Company E, Twenty-fourth New York Infantry. He remained two years in his country's service and as a soldier always did his duty promptly and cheerfully, making a war record of which anyone might well be proud. After the war he returned to Oswego county, and followed farming. He was married in that county in April, I864, to Mrs. Jerusha Amelia (Neal) Morton, the widow of Lewis Morton and about a year and a half after marriage left his native State and located in Gratiot county, Michigan, settling in North Star township, on a farm which he had previous BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 263 ly purchased, and upon which he has resided ever since. His interests have been centered in farming all of his life, and he has been very successful, being one of the prominent agriculturists of his section. When he settled on his farm the land was all wild and had to be cleared before cultivation could be undertaken, a task which meant years of incessant labor. Mr. Howes has been a tireless worker and a practical man of business, acquiring a handsome competency during his long and active career. He is a man of the highest type and has many stanch friends in the community, where he is regarded as a leading citizen. To Mr. Howes and his first wife two children, Lewis A. and Frank R., were born. Mrs. Jerusha A. Howes died June 7, i888, in her fiftieth year. Mr. Howes married (second) June 30, I889, Mrs. Ida E. (Harmon) Cooper, a native of New York, the widow of Harold D. Cooper, of Jackson county, by whom she had one child, Hallie Emily. Mr. Howes has been a member of the Adventist Church for about thirty years and has served for some time as deacon and treasurer of the church. D AVID E. WELLING, who is successfully engaged in the cultivation of his farm of forty acres in Bethany township, was born in Richfield, Genesee county, Michigan, April 22, I846, son of John and Lepha (Hunt) Welling. The larents were natives of Vermont and New York, respectively, and the father died in Richfield township in his seventy-fifth year, while the mother died in Oregon township, Lapeer county, Michigan, aged forty years. They had five children, of whom David E. was the eldest. David E. Welling was reared on his father's farm and was educated in the schools of his district. In I869 he came to Gratiot county, and settled on Section i, Bethany township, where for about three years he worked at lumbering in the woods. In the spring of I872 he removed to Section I, Bethany township, where he has since resided. For a number of years he engaged in the sawmill business, but since 190o has. devoted his time and attention to working his forty-acre farm. Mr. Welling was married, in St. Louis, Michigan, October I, 1871, to Miss Elizabeth Frary, who was born in Braceville, Trumbull county, Ohio, July 24, 1847, daughter of Joseph L. and Hannah (Brooks) Frary, the former at native of Massachusetts and the latter of Ohio. They canie from the latter State and settled in Gratiot county, locating in Pine River township. Mrs. Frary died in St. Louis aged about sixty years, while Mr. Frary died at the home of Mr. Welling, when eighty-three years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Welling have had children as follows: Arthur E., Marcellus J., Lloyd B. and Lepha M. Mr. Welling has held the office of highway commissioner of Bethany township for two years, and has also held school offices. Fraternally he affiliates with the K. O. T. M. M. HON. JOHN W. HOLMES. One of the most prominent men connected with the public, business and agricultural interests of Gratiot county, and a leader in the Republican politics of the State of Mich 264 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. igan, John W. Holmes is accorded a foremost place in these annals. He represents the Gratiot district in the State Legislature, is engaged in farming, is proprietor of a flourishing depot where he has a line of carriages and agricultural implements and machinery, and is, in all respects, a citizen of whom Alma and Michigan are proud. John xV. Holmes was born on a farm in Spring Water township, Livingston county, New York, on January 21, I840, son of Milton and Maria (Chesebro) Holmes, of Massachusetts. Their marriage occurred June I7, I825, in that State, and five years later the couple removed to Livingston county, where, in the pursuits of agriculture, they passed the balance of their (lays. Milton Holmes was not only a good farmer, but a Democrat prominent in township affairs. He was born April 22, 1805, and died October 20, 1849; his wife, born February 29, I808, (lied December 27, I885. They were both menmbers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Milton Holmes were as follows: Daniel C., a farmer of Jackson county, Michigan; Myron, who (lied October 22, I850; Nancy, deceased wife of Frank Rathbun; Sarah A., Mrs. Edwin Brown, of Syracuse, New York; Warner I., lwho died November 9, I869; Harriet M., who died in I9OI; John W.; Lucy, Mrs. Norman Gibbs, living on the old homesitead; Emily I., who married Frank Root, and died in I902; William E., a farmer of Steuben county, New York; Frances E., widow of William Jones, residing in Indiana. John W. Holmes remained on the family homestead until he was seventeen years of age, when he had acquired a fair educa tion in the district schools. Entering the high school at Jonesville, Hillsdale county, Michigan, he remained there until his enlistment, June 9, I86I, in the Seventh Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry. After serving with his regiment for one year he was honorably discharged at Camp Benton, Maryland, being at the time in hospital, incapacitated because of sickness. It was while participating in the engagement at Ball's Bluff that he was taken ill and sent to the hospital. After his discharge and return home he continued his course in the Jonesville high school, from which he graduated, subsequently teaching ten years in the schools of Jackson and Hillsdale counties. The last four years of his career as an educator were spent in Mosherville and Horton, two years being passed in each place. He then removed to Mosherville and for six years engaged in mercantile pur4 suits, and passed the same period in similar lines at Horton. Disposing of his business at the latter point he removed to Remus, Michigan, where for one year le operated a general store. At Alma he next established a produce trade, purchasing also a farm of 120 acres, which he operate(l in connection with his business. Three years later he sold his produce business and founded his agricultural machinery and carriage depository, which he still conducts in connection with his farm. On December 24, I874, in Horton, Michigan, Mr. Holmes was united in marriage to Miss Eva E. Ayres, born on a farm in Jackson county, July 29, I854, daughter of Albert I. and Harriet Ayres, of New York State. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Holmes, viz.: Lena, who died aged sixteen years: Milton A., in part BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 265 nership with John W., who married Ada P-atterson and has two children, Elizabeth and John NV.; and Bessie L. and Conway, both living at home. Mr. Holmes has been president and treasurer of the village board of trustees for twe terms each, and for several years both )resident of the board of education and of the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Since its organization he has also been a member of the cemetery board, having at different times served as president of that body. Since 901 hle has been a representative of the State Legislature, now serving his third term. OHN E. SCHICK, one of the substantial farmers and self-made men of Pine River township, Gratiot county, was born in Monroeville, Huron county, Ohio, July 9, I862, son of Emil and Elizabeth (Swabley) Schick, natives of Germany. He was reared on his father's farm in that county, and remained at home until he was thirteen years of age, when he started out in life for himself. He worked at farm labor for two years in his native county, and then came to Gratiot county, Michigan, locating in St. Louis, which city he reached with one trade dollar in his pocket. Naturally he sought employment at once, and, after a season of "(loing odd jobs" he secured regular work of C. I. Stanton, on his stock farm in Isabella county, where he was engaged one month before being mnade foreman. He continued in Mr. Stanton's employ for a little over two vears. In November, 1884, Mr. Schick was united in n-nrriage to Miss Estella D. Frost, nnd rented a farm in Coe township for three years, at the end of that time purchasing eighty acres in the same township, where he lived for one year. He rented this farm and bought fifty-four and one-half acres on Section 2, Pine River township, Gratiot county, whlere he has since resided. He has convenient substantial buildings on his farm, and he utilizes all modern improvements in machinery. His farm has increased considerably under his careful managenment and he now owns ninety-seven acres of landl, all of vwhich is improved. Mr. Schick, by his first marriage, wvas the father of three children-Floy, Delta and Lela. His secondl wife, to whom he was united July 21, 19oo, was Mrs. Addie (Baugham) Sperry, by whom he has one child, Mildred. Mr. Schick is a Republican, has served as chairman of the township commissioners and declined other offices. He keeps well abreast of the times, and may be justly regarded as a representative citizen of an important section of Gratiot county, being honorable, able anld pul)lic-spirited. He is a member of Tent No. 526, Knights of the Modern Maccabees, of Forest Hill. John E. Schick is the eldest of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Emil Schick, the others being: Mina, deceased, Mrs. Joe Pfeiffer: George, a resident of Denver, Colora(lo: M.nrv, in Chicago; Cecelia, wife of Samuel Gill. of Toledo. Ohio; Tracy, of Chicago: Frank, of Toledo: Rose, who niarried Louie Ball, of Toledo: Robert, of Colorado: and Lane, wife of a Mr. Beery, of Chicago. JOHN WESL FY SMITH, postmaster of Whleeler, treasurer of Wheeler township, and one of the substantial and representative farmers of Gratiot county, was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, Jan 266 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. uary 25, 1846, son of Noah and Lucinda (Hudson) Smith, natives, respectively, of New York and Ohio. Both parents are deceased-the father dying while living with John W., on November 25, I890, aged seventy years, and the mother, in May, 1885, at the age of sixty, while residing in Trumbull county, Ohio. Noah Smith was a carpenter, and after the death of his wife lived with his son. The couple were lifelong members of the Methodist Church, and to them were born the following children: Charles R., a jeweler of Marinette, Wisconsin; John W.; Edwin, who died in Leroy, consin; Frank, a machinist living in Leroy, Michigan; Julia, widow of James Ellsworth, of Wheeler, Michigan; and Amanda, deceased wife of John Coleman. John W. Smith was reared in Trumbull county, Ohio, and lived there until his enlistment in June, I862, in the Trumbull Guards, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving three years in Ohio and West Virginia. After the close of the war Mr. Smith returned to Michigan, locating in Ionia county, where for a few months he engaged in farming, and in the fall of I865 he took up a tract of forty acres of land in Wheeler township, Gratiot county. There on Section 28 he has lived ever since, with the exception of a few months. Mr. Smith is the owner of seventy acres, all of which is improved, and his farm is well-located, his Innd fertile and productive, and his buildings large and substantial. Since 1807 Mr. Smith has been postmaster of Wheeler. He has also served as highway commissioner, school inspector, and townhip treasurer, and has held other offices of his township, in the discharge of I efficient. He is now in his third term as township treasurer, having served in 1892 and 1893, and being elected for his present term in 1905. Mr. Smith was married in Canfield, Mahoning county, Ohio, January I6, I864, to Miss Charlotte A. Pickett, a native of the Buckeye State, daughter of Peter and Rebecca (Rohrer) Pickett, of Ohio, who both (lied in Michigan. Mr. Smith and his wife have no children of their own, but have adopted and reared Wesley O. Smith (now a farmer of Pine River township, married to Maud Bailey) and Jennie Smith (wife of B. T. Muscott, a Wheeler township farmer). Mr. Smith has never deviated from the principles of the Republican party, and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. ARLAN W. STONE, junior member of the widely known firm of Stone Brothers, dealers in agricultural implements and musical instruments (organs, pianos, etc.) at Breckenridge, Michigan, was born in Lebanon township, Clinton county, Michigan, December 29, I869, son of Warren H. and Susan (Murwin) Stone, the father being born near Rochester, New York, and the mother in Lenawee county, Michigan. Warren H. Stone, who is now a resident of Breckenridge, was born February 23, 1825, and few have had a more diversified life, or shown greater versatility. Soon after graduating from the Rochester (New York) schools he commenced the study of medicine. He was licensed to practice but decided that he would rather preach, and preach for a time he did. Then for a sea the duties of which he has been careful and i I son he was a farmer, and, having a nechani a 7/ nto% d-aoL wy% 01 ~./?0 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 269 cal gift, conducted a wagon and cooper shop for a few years. In the meantime his active mind had been wrestling with the law, and he relinquished the tools of his shop for the legal profession, in which practice he was engaged for ten years. When the crusade against slavery was at its height, he was among the most ardent of the Abolitionists, and became a politician as well as a lawyer. During the Civil war he was a deputy provost marshal, although as a rule he refused offers of public preferment. He did, however, hold a number of township offices in Clinton county. He finally disposed of a large law practice and returned to farming. In I879 Mr. Stone sold his farm in Clinton county, Michigan, and purchased a large tract of land in Wheeler township, bringing his family to live upon the new homestead, and continuing to operate the farm until I905, when he retired and located at Breckenridge. He is a member of the United Brethren Church. Four children were born to him and his wife: Herbert, who is deceased; Arthur H., senior member of Stone Brothers; Arlan W.; and Alice E., Mrs. Alvin C. Wyant, of Breckenridge. The mother died in Wheeler township, Gratiot county, March 27, 1892, at the age of fifty-eight years. Until he was ten years of age Arlan W. Stone lived upon his father's farm in Lebanon township, Clinton county, in 1879 being brought by his parents to Wheeler township, Gratiot county, where he grew to manhood. He was educated in the common schools and by private tuition. He continued to live on the home farm in Wheeler township until March, I90I, when he removed to Breckenridge and engaged in the implement business with his brother, Arthur H. Stone. The brothers were very successful in their enterprise, and in I904 they broadened its scope by adding musical instruments to the implement business already established. Arlan W. Stone is also the owner of one hundred and forty-six acres of land, one hundred and thirty-four acres of which are improved, and his agricultural ventures have proved as successful as his business enterprise. On September 4, 1894, in Wheeler township, Mr. Stone was married to Miss Lillie A. Clemens, a native of Park Hill, Ontario, where she was born October 3, I877, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth A. (Williamson) Clemens, and the second of three children. She was two years old when brought from Canada to Midland county, Michigan, by her parents, who settled in Porter township, whliere she developed to womanhood. To Mrs. Stone and her husband have been born these children: Olive M., Lulu V., Herbert F. (who (lied when alout fifteen months old) and Ruth. Mr. Stone has taken an active part in all township affairs, has always taken an active interest in politics (but has never cared for office) and is a member of the board of school trustees of Breckenridge. He and his estimable wife have always been active church workers, and he is superintendent of the Baptist Sunday-school, in which he has b1een an active worker since his sixteenth year. Mr. Stone is a liberal, public-spirited citizen, and, while he has always devoted close attention to the uplifting of his own enterprises, has always been interested in the development of other industries in this section. His progressive, energetic methods have encouraged others and the result has been very beneficial to all concerned. 12 270 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. EPHRAIM METCALF, an honored survivor of the Civil war, is a most highly esteemed resident of Sumner township, Gratiot county, where he owns one hundred acres of land. He was born in Massachusetts, September 25, 1838, son of Nelson and Eliza (Kjes) Metcalf, the former of whom was also a native of the Old Bay State, while the latter was born in Connecticut. The parents of our subject came west from Massachusetts to Seneca county, Ohio; from Ohio to Indiana, thence to Wisconsin, where in Clark county they died. Ephraim Metcalf was three years old when brought West by his parents. For a number of years lie lived in Seneca, Wood and Sandusky counties, Ohio, being engaged in a lumber mill in \Vood county for sixteen years. In the spring of I866 Mr. Metcalf came to Gratiot county, Michigan, with his wife, formerly Miss Ruth Ann Forest, whom he had married in Fremont, Ohio, of which State she was a native. They settled in Arcada township, where they lived until 1892, at that time locating in Sumner township, on the farm which he nowr occupies. He owns one hundred acres of land and of this eighty acres are cleared. Mr. Metcalf has erected good buildings and his farm compares favorably with others in the townlship. To Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf have been born these children: Ida A., the wife of Charles Day; Charlie; Minnie, wife of George Culver; Hyra; and Amy P., wife of Claude Phelps. In September, I86I, Ephraim Metcalf enlisted in Company I, Seventy-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served one year, being shot through the right wrist at the battle of Shiloh, which wound incapac itated him for further army service, he consequently being honorably discharged. Mr. Metcalf is a member of Moyer Post, Grand Army of the Republic. The Grand Army is worthy of the respect of every citizen in the land. It represents a body of men, rapidly growing smaller and smaller, who responded to the call of duty when their country needed them and who faltered not when the trying times came. These men suffered:that their country might live; they were heroes of the greatest strife the world has ever known; they fought for principle and not for conquest, and it is because of their noble deeds of heroism that our country tolay is the greatest and best on the face of 'the globe. O SCAR M. EVERDEN (deceased) was one of the best known citizens of St. Louis, Michigan, and publisher of the Rcpublican Leader of that city, in that connection being for a number of years an important factor in township and county politics. He was born in Emerson township, Gratiot county, Michigan, January Io, I86I, a son of the late Oscar A. and Harrietta (Phelps) Everden, natives of New York, who migrated to Michigan in I854 and settled in Emerson township. The father died in St. Louis, March I8, 1903, leaving three children, of w-hom Oscar M. Everden was the youngest. Oscar M. Everden was reared in Emerson township, and educated in the common schools and at Ithaca high school. At the age of nineteen years lie commenced teaching, in 1883 removing to Montana, where he spent one year. He then returned to Gratiot county and taught school until I888, when he entered the newspaper field, BIOGRAPHICAL MIEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 27I purchasing a one-half interest in the AlIma Rccor(d. In I893, selling his interest in that publication, he removed to Ithaca and took charge of the Gratiot County Jolurnal, continuinog with that publication until I896, when he purchased the Rcpublicaut Lcader, of which he was the publisher at the time of his death, which occurred in St. Louis, June I4, 1905. He was buried in the city cemetery. The interests of the paper were assumed by his widow. The Leader is an official organ of the Republican party in this section and reaches a great number of readers, the subscription list having over twelve hundred names. Mr. Everden's services were in a measure recognized by his party in his appointment to the office of deputy State oil inspector in I899 and I9oI, a position that he admirably filled. He took a deep and practical interest in all movements which promised to advance the industrial and commercial standing of his city, serving as the first secretary of the St. Louis Sugar Beet Company, and for four years as secretary of the St. Louis Board of Trade. Locally he also took a very prominent part in educational and reformatory movements, and on all occasions was ready to perform his part in advancing the interests of the community. He served from I884 to 1887 as a member of the county board of school examiners. Mr. Everden was married, June 24, I890, to Miss Anna M. Bahlke, a native of M\ichigan, and to them was born one son, Raymond J. Fraternally he was a member of the Masonic order. H AZEN GIDLEY, wlho is living somewhat retired on his farm in Section 2, Bethany township, Gratiot county, Mich igan, has been identified with the agricultural interests of this section for twenty-two years. Mr. Gidley was born November 29, I845, on a farm in MIorrow county, Ohio, son of Moses and Ruth (Wood) Gidley, natives of New York State. The parents of our subject came to Ingham county, Michigan, in 1865, where the father followed farming until his death, at the age of forty-six years. Mrs. Gidley died at Grand Lodge, MIichigan, being seventy years old at the time of her death. They had ten children, of which family Hazen was the fourth member. While in Morrow county, Ohio, Hazenl Gidley enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and( servel with that regiment until June I7, I865, when he was honorally discharged with a good war record. After the war he came to Ingham county, Michigan, and found ellmploymlent at farm work, at which he continued until August, I883, when, having accumulated enough money, he came to Gratiot county and purchased eighty acres in Section 2, Bethany township, mostly wild land, where he now resides. He has erected good buildings, and farming has been Mr. Gidley's life work, and he has been successful. Years of labor were required to clear his farm, but under Mr. Gidley's good managemenit about sixty acres are now thoroughly improvel. Hazen Gidley was married in Ingham county, October 24, I869, to Miss Helen L. White, born in Poolville, Madison county, New York, January 20, I846, daughter of Merritt and Jane (Hunt) White, natives of New York. The parents of Mrs. Gidley came to Michigan in the latter part of the sixties and settled in Ing 272 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. I ham county, where they still reside. They had three children, Mrs. Gidley being the eldest of this family. To our subject and wife three children have been born: Anna L., the wife of Martin J. Holton; Arthur R., and Jennie L., the wife of Herbert McLean. Mr. Gidley has held the office of justice of the peace for four years, and for fifteen years has been school assessor. He is a valued comrade of William D. Wilkin Post, Grand Army of the Republic. ADOLPHUS HOFFMAN, one of the old and honored residents of North Star township, is engaged in farming his eighty-acre tract in Section 30. His birth occurred June 19, I848, in Sandusky county, Ohio, and he is a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Kay) Hoffman. Peter Hoffman was born in Germany, and came to the United States when he was fourteen years old, locating in Sandusky county, Ohio. Here he married Elizabeth Kay and they removed to Hillsdale county, Michigan, where they lived for, several years, later locating in Gratiot county. In the spring of I854 they settled in what is now North Star township, and Mr. Hoffman gave the township its name. Here they resided the rest of their lives, Mr. Hoffman dying in Ithaca while on a visit to his son, our subject, in I9oI, aged eighty-six years. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Eliza, the wife of John Trask;' Charles, a brick manufacturer of North Star; Adolphus; Ann M., the wife of Thomas Street; Mary, the wife of George Houseman; and Foshen, a'merchant of Pompeii. Adolphus Hoffman was about one year old when he was brought to Hillsdale county by his parents, and he came with them to Gratiot county. He resided at home until twenty-five years of age, and then settled on a farm of his own in North Star township, on Section 28, where he lived for sixteen years. He then removed to the village of North Star and engaged in the manufacture of brick, at which he continued for six years, and then lived retired for three years in St. Louis, afterwards settling on a farm in Pine River township, between St. Louis and Alma, where he remained three years. He next settled on a farm in Emerson township for sixteen months, later removing to Ithaca, where he engaged in the sale of agricultural implements, in which line he continued for several months. In the spring of I904 he located on the farm where he now lives, on Section 30, where he owns eighty acres of good land. Mr. Hoffman vwas married, March 26, 1872, in North Star 'township, to }Miss Aurilla Ward, born in Huntington, Lorain county, Ohio, March 24, 1847, daughter of Eli and Aurilla (Graves) Ward. Eli Ward was a native of Massachusetts, while his wife was of Vermont, and after marriage they located in Lorain county, Ohio, where they passed the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of twelve children, Mrs. Hoffman being the youngest. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman one child was born, namely: Guy A., who married Nellie McCarthy, and resides in St. Louis. Adolphus Hoffman is one of the oldest settlers of North Star township. He is well known for his honesty and integrity, and is highly respected in the community. BIO GRAPHICAL IMEMOIRS OF GRA TIOT COUNTY. 273 JOSEPI BRUMBY, who resides on an improved farm of eighty acres, situated in Section I6, WVheeler township, Gratiot county, is a prosperous farmer and a survivor of the Civil war. He was born in Lincolnshire, England, October 29, I837, son of Thomas and Hannah (Bateman) Brumby, and was fourth in their family of ten children. Joseph Brumby was reared in Lincolnshire, and spent his early life there, working on a farm. At twenty years of age he came to America, and locating in Lorain county, Ohio, worked at farm labor until the spring of I86I. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving for three years. With his regiment he took part in many great battles, including South Mountain, Antietam and Buffalo Gap, and many minor engagements. After the war he returned to Lorain county, Ohio, and there he remained until April, i866, when he came to Gratiot county, Michigan, and bought eighty acres of wild land on Section I6, Wheeler township, where he has since resided. He has improved his farm greatly, and has erected good substantial buildings. Mr. Brumby was married in Lorain county, Ohio, April II, I865, to Miss Clara C. Comstock, born in Wellington, that county, July 25, I847, daughlter of John B. and Sarah (Williams) Comstock, the latter of whom died at Camden, Ohio, while it is supposed that Mr. Comstock died in battle. Mrs. Brumby was the only child of her parents. To Mr. and MIrs. Brumby one child has been born, Elsie, the wife of Frank Powell, of Wheeler township. Mr. Brumby has been highway commissioner, township treasurer and justice of the peace, and has always been prominently idlentified with the Republican party in township affairs. He is actively connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, while his wife belongs to the Congregational Church. He is a valued comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic. JOHN V. BEHLER. Among the agriculturists of Pine River township, most widely and favorably known, is John V. Behler, whose farm of one hundred and sixty acres is located on Section I. He was born on a farm in Crawford county, Ohio, October 2I, 1848, son of Leonard and Margaret (Meck) Behler, who left the homesteadl to settle in Kent county, Michigan, when John V. was five years of age. He died on the old Michigan farm at the age of seventy-five, his widow (born in 1822) still residing there, a veneralle and honored member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. John V. Behler was reared on his father's farm in Lowell township, Kent county, and lived there until he was twenty-five years old. He had learned the carpenter's trade, and worked at that occupation in conjunction with farming. Mr. Behler was married, December 25, 1873, to Miss Sarah E. Graham, a native of England and a laughter of William Graham, deceased. In February, 18.74, Mr. and Mrs. Behler settled in Pine River township, where he has followed farming ever since, with the exception of one year, when he was employed at his trade. In August, I877, le located on the farm which lie now occupies, the tract consisting of one hundred and sixty acres on Section I. His property is well 274 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. located, his buildings commodious and convenient, and his home surroundings indicative of taste, thrift and good management. Mr. Behler has set out a number of shade and fruit trees around his home, thereby greatly beautifying his grounds, as well as increasing the value of the property. To Mr. and Mrs. Behler these children have been born: Louis M., who lives on a part of the homestead, married Catherine Curtis and has four children, Freda, Catherine, Ruth and Lois; Jessie married Charles Curtis, of Midland county; and Elmer lives at home. Mr. Behler has held the office of highway commissioner for two terms; was a member of the board of review of Pine River township and a school director thereof for four years, township treasurer, and has always taken a noteworthy interest in township matters. He is independent in politics. He and his wife are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of St. Louis, Michigan. Fraternally he affiliates with the Loyal Americans of the Republic. Mr. Behler has an unimpeachable standing in the community as a man of honor and integrity, and as one of the first-class agriculturists of the township. LEVIS B. WOLFORD, the owner of a one-hundred-acre farm on Section 22, New Haven township, is one of Gratiot county's well known agriculturists, and was born November I, 1847, in Cayuga county, New York, son of David and Lavenia (Conger) WVolford, natives of New York. The parents of our subject came to Gratiot county in April 1859, and settled on Section 22, New Haven township, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying in No vember, i866, the mother surviving until August, 1892, when she passed away, aged seventy-six years. They had five children, and of this family our subject was the fourth member. Lewis B. Wolford came with his parents to Gratiot county, where he received a common school education. He was reared to a farmer's life, although for several years he was engaged in lumbering. He has always made his home in New Haven township, where he owns the one-hundred-acre homestead, and his careful management and strict attention to business have made his agricultural operations an unqualified success. Mr. Wolford was married (first) in New Haven township, January 14, I88i, to Ellen M. Wiles, a daughter of the late Peter and Mary (Babcock) Pendell, and to this marriage one child was born, a daughter, who diel when sixteen years old. Mr. Wolford's second marriage occurred January 19, I895, when he married Mrs. Anna Dumas, whose maiden name was Woodward. She was born in Simcoe, County Norfolk, Ontario, and to her union with Mr. Wolford one child was born: Artie L., November 26, I896. Mr. Wolford is greatly interested in educational matters and has held various school offices. He has been a member of the board of review for several terms, is a member of the Republican County Committee, and at one time was a candidate for sheriff of Gratiot county. For many years he has taken an active interest in the success of the Republican party in this section, and is considered one of the stanch supporters of that organization in Gratiot county. Fraternally he affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a Maccabee, and BIOGRAPHICAL iMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 275 - belongs to the Ancient Order of Gleaners. He and his estimable wife are connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which Mr. Wolford contributes liberally. C HARLES L. MARTIN, a well-to-do agriculturist of Emerson township, Gratiot county, living on his farm of eighty acres, was born October S8, I859, in Sandusky county, Ohio, son of George and Mary (Slaughter) Martin, the former a native of Sandusky county, Ohio, and the latter of New York, both still residing in Ohio. They were the parents of seven children, of w-hom our subject was the eldest. Charles L. Martin received his education in the common schools of his native township, and was reared on his father's farm, making his home with his parents until his marriage, October 2, I884, to Miss Caroline Bloom, born in Sandusky county, Ohio, December 3, I862, daughter of George and Anna (Coleman) Bloom. The parents of Mrs. MIartin are natives of Germany and still reside in Sandusky county. Of a family of eight children, Mrs. Martin was the eldest. After marriage Charles L. Martin settled on a farm in Sandusky county, where he continued to resile until I90I, when he came to Gratiot county, M[ichigan, and settled on an eighty-acre farm in Emerson township, where he now resides. To him and his estimable wife these children have been born: Ralph L., Blanche A., Vinnie F., Mabel M., Iva A., W\alter E., Irene E. and Velma M. MIr. and -Mrs. MIartin are both greatly interested in church work, he being of the Lutlleran faith, while she is a valued member of the United Brethren Church. W ILLIAM D. SCOTT, M. D.. who, for many years has been a prominent physician of Ithaca, Michigan, is one of the well known and highly respected members of the profession in Gratiot county. He was born November 15. 1841, in Essex, Clinton county, Michigan. son of Samuel M. Scott, a native of New Hampshire. Dr. Scott's mother, whose maiden name was Sarah S. Gilmore, died in Essex, Michigan, in September, 863, her husband having passed away April 26, 1850. Dr. Scott passed his early sclool days in the common schools, and also spent a few years at a select school. \Vhen eighteen years of age, after a preparatory course of reading, he entered the office of Dr. C. \V. Brown, of MIaple Rapids, with whoml he was connected until that gentleman's death in May, 1863. Dr. Scott had entered the University of M\ichigan in October, I862, and had taken one course of lectures. He returned to Maple Rapids, where he remained until October, I863, and in that year removed to Bridgeville. Gratiot county, remaining there until January, I865. He then became a resident of Ithaca, and in the fall of I865 went to Chicago, to attend Rush Medical College, graduating therefrom as a physician and surgeon in the class of I866. lie at once returned to Ithaca, where he has since devoted his entire time to professional work, building up a large and lucrative practice. He is a man of great strength of character, and stands high in public esteem. Dr. Scott -was married at Ithaca April 25, I868, and to him and his wife have been born four children, Ella M., Sarah J. and Blanche surviving. One son, William MA., died when five months old. Soon after 276 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. locating in Ithaca Dr. Scott was appointed United States Examining Surgeon for, Gratiot county, a position he held until the spring of i88I, when he resigned and went South for a few months, owing to poor health. The Doctor is a member of the State MIedical Society and is a Knight Templar Mason and an Odd Fellow. Politically he is Democratic and has been prominently identified wNith the workings of that party in his section. He is a physician and surgeon of skill, and possesses the confidence of the people to a marked dlegree. M ILTON L. PERRIGO, clerk of Pine River township, has held that office continuously since I89I, and has been a resident of Gratiot county for twenty-two years. Ie was born in Niagara county, New York, June 2, I873, son of John J. and Mary E. (Fishback) Perrigo, now residents of Pine River township-his father's birthyear being 1843, and his mother's, I850. They have been lifelong and firm adherents to the MIethodist Episcopal Church. Milton L. was their first-born, their others children being: Charles L., now residing in St. Louis, Michigan; Frank, living in Grand Traverse county, Michigan; and Marvey, a resident of northwestern Michigan. The paternal grandparents were natives of Pennsylvania, where they married and whence they moved to New York, remaining in the Empire State as substantial members of various agricultural communities. Milton L. Perrigo was ten years old when he came w/ith his parents to Gratiot county, and he was educated in the common schools and at Gerrington College, St. Louis, Michigan. He served an apprenticeship of four years to the blacksmith's trade, also learning carriage painting, and was employed at different shops for seven years, in August, I899, locating at Forest Hill, Pine River township, and selecting his present location. He purchased his blacksmith shop from E. L. Vilett, and has since added to his facilities and increased his business. At the present time he is not only prepared to accommodate his patrons with all kinds of blacksmith work, but deals in hardware, buggies, wagons, harnesses and agricultural implements. Mr. Perrigo was united in marriage April 25, 1895, at St. Louis, Michigan, to Miss Florence A. Griffith, born in Emerson township, Gratiot county, June 2, I870, (laughter of Daniel and Nancy M. (Burgess) Griffith, who still reside in St. Louis, Michigan. Daniel Griffith is a native of Montgomery, New York, born January 9, 1820. Trained irregularly in the district schools and most thoroughly in all agricultural matters, when he was twenty years of age he traveled alone to far-away Michigan, locating at Marshall. There he remained for about five years, when he returned to New York, and in May, 1846, at the outbreak of the Mexican war, enlisted in Company F, Eighth New York Infantry. Although he escaped unhurt he participated in the actions at Cherubusca, Molino del Rey, and the storming and capture of the City of Mexico, being honorably discharged at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, with the rank of orderly sergeant, in August, I848. He then returned to MIichigan and located as a farmer in Oakland county. On December 19, I849, le was married to Miss Nancy M. Burgess, who was born in Allegany county, New York, and whose parents had settled in that county in 1837. She her /1, 4 49 p 4. 4d BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUArTY. 279 self was educated in Oakland and Livingston counties. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Griffith, of whom Mrs. Perrigo was the tenth. Two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Perrigo, Iva G., born March 4, I896, and Fern C., born December 27, I902. In 1901 Mr. Perrigo was elected township clerk of Pine River township, and, as proof of his popularity, has been his own successor at each subsequent election. Mr. Perrigo is progressive, enterprising, popular, highly esteemed, and has a bright as well as a substantial future. C HARLES A. GREEN, whose fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres, situated in Lafayette township, Gratiot county, has been his home all his life, was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan, June I9, 1858, son of Joseph and Miranda (Popple) Green, who came from Saginaw county, Michigan, to Gratiot county, and settled in Lafayette township in I869. Joseph Green died aged sixty-four years and his wife passed away aged seventy-two. They had five children, and of this family, Charles A. Green was the fourth member. Charles A. Green was brought to Gratiot county by his parents and was reared to manhood in Lafayette township, where he has spent the greater part of his life. He has given his entire attention to farming and has been successful in all of its branches. Sixty acres of his one hundred and twenty-acre farm are improved and Mr. Green has erected a fine set of buildings, and a comfortable, well-situated home. He was married in Lafayette township, April 28, I879, to Miss Annie D. Aldrich, born in Michigan, June 9, I859, - daughter of George W. and Mlartha (Sturgis) Aldrich, old settlers of Lafayette township. To this union two children have been born: George B. and Bert. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Green settled on the old homestead, where they have since resided. Mr. Green is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a good farmer, a kind husband, a careful father and an excellent citizen of Lafayette township. NOAH WILSON, who owns and operates a farm of seventy-three acres in Section 7, Bethany township, is one of Gratiot county's substantial farmers and good business men. 'He was born in Ottawa county, Ohio, December 25, 1846, son of John 0. and Mary (Jones) \\ilson, the former of whom died in Ottawa county, Ohio, January I8, I859, in his sixty-fourth year. The mother of our subject came to Gratiot county, Mlichigan, to live with her daughter, Mrs. Mary Boggs, in I879, and she died in BIethany township December 28, I88I, when seventy-nine years old. Our subject was the youngest member of a family of thirteen children. Noah Wilson was reared in Ottawa county, Ohio, where he attended school and lived until nineteen years old, when he came to Michigan, locating in Monroe county, where he spent one year. In December, I867, he came to Gratiot county and soon afterwards purchased sixty acres of wild land on Section 7, Bethany township, where he has since resided. He has increased his farm, now owning seventy-three acres, of which seventy are improved, and under his good management the farm has proved pro 280 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. ductive and his operations have been quite successful. Mr. Wilson was married in Ottawa county, Ohio, February 14, I869, to Miss Frances Essig, born in Stark county, Ohio, October I4, 1839, daughter of William and Rebecca (Rymers) Essig, the former of whom died in Ottawa county, Ohio, while the latter passed away at the residence of her daughter, the late Hester A. Manahan, of St. Louis, Michigan. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were: William J.; Martha, the wife of Dr. H. M. Piper, of Denver, Indiana; Edith M.; Dean N., and MIary, who died il infancy. Mr. Wilson has held the office of township treasurer of Bethany township for two terms. He has taken a great deal of interest in all township and county affairs, is a stanch temperance man, and a strong adherent to the principles of the Prohibition party. In August, I904, at Ithaca, Mr. Wilson was nominated on the Prohibition ticket for the office of county treasurer. He has served as school director. Since fourteen years old MIr. Wilson has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and, with his estimable wife, is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of St. Louis. CEPHAS E. WOOD (deceased) was born August 31, I862, in Greene county, Pennsylvania, son of James N. and Elizabeth (Leonard) Wood, natives of the Keystone State. The parents of our subject came to Michigan about i866, and settled in Pine River township some two or three years later. The mother died in Isabella county, leaving nine children, of which family our subject was the fourth member. They were as follows: William L., now of Ioley, Minnesota; Archibald H., deceased; Levi L., a resident of Isabella county, Michigan; Cephas E.; Lena L., wife of C. D. Perrine, of Pine River township; Sarah B., Mrs. Arthur Baldwin, of Midland county, Michigan; Ada H., living in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and George T. and Henry F., jewelers of Charles City, Iowa. Cephas E. Wood was reared chiefly in Pine River township, where he spent most of his life. He was married in St. Louis, Michigan, September 29, I888, to Miss Etta Smith, who was born in Bethany township February 3, 1862, daughter of David P. and Harriet (Hoisinton) Smith. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wood settled on his father's farm, where they resided for several years, at the end of which time they settled on the forty-four-acre farm upon which he resided until his death, August 25, I905. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wood-Eva and Leota Belle. Mr. Wood was a Republican in politics, and took a very active part in all township and county affairs. He and his estimable wife united wvith the Christian Church, of which he was (eacon at the time of his death. He was fraternally connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he was a popular member. G EORGE GIBSON, one of the substantial residents of Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, owns and conducts a fine farm of eighty acres, situated in Section 35. He was born in County Kent, England, June 27, 1856, son of George and Mary (Wallace) Gibson, na BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 281 I tives of County Kent. They had three children, our subject being the eldest. George Gibson, our subject, was reared and educated in his native place, and for three years was employed by the British government in building dry docks, and was apprenticed to learn the blacksmith's trade for seven years. He only continued at this for eighteen months, however, and not being satisfied with his employment, came to the United States, landing at Portlandl, Maine. He came west to Jackson county, Michigan, where he found employment at farm labor, receiving eight dollars per month for the first season. In I88i he came to Gratiot county, having accumulated enough to buy a farm of eighty acres of wild land on Section 35, Bethany township, and Mr. Gibson has been a resident of this township since that (late. His property is well located, his buildings commodious and convenient, and his home surroundings indicative of thrift and good management. His success tells its own lesson of the advantage of perseverance and industry. Mr. Gibson was married in Jackson, Michigan, to Miss Cornelia Clark, a native of Jackson county, daughter of the late William Clark. To this union these children have been born: Charlie, Ted and Roy. ROBERT S. MILLER, a well known and highly respected farmer of Seville township, Gratiot county, makes his home in the pleasant village of Elwell, where he has been prominent in agricultural matters and political affairs. He was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, January 22, I840. When nine years old Mr. Miller was brought to America by his uncle, John Miller, and for a short time lived with him in New York City. He then went to Paterson, New Jersey, where he resided with his mother for about a year, at this time leaving home to work on a farm near Paterson, where he continued three years. Mr. Miller traveled extensively in the next few years of his life. I-te spent one year in a harness factory in New York City; two years at farm labor in Oakland county, Michigan; two years on a new farm in Shiawassee county, Michigan, and two years in Lake county, Ohio, on a farm. He then went to County Lambton, Ontario, where he worked in the oil region near Petrolia, and assisted in putting dlown- one of the first wells in that region. There he remained about two and one-half years, at the end of which time he returned to Lake county, Ohio, remaining but a short time, however, before going to the oil fields of Pennsylvania. There he remained some three years, again returning to Lake county, Ohio, where for some years he followed railroading. After leaving this occupation Mr. Miller located in Tuscola county, Miclhigan. Iarming there a short time, he returned to Ohio, living in Hancock county about six years, engaging in railroading. In 878 hle located in Gratiot county, Michigan, settling on the farm upon which he now resides, in Elwell. He first purchased eighty acres, which he improved, and started the village of Elwell, selling the first village lot. Since locating in Gratiot county, MIr. Miller has engaged in agricultural pursuits, and in:this he has been very successful. Mr. Miller was married in Lake county, 282 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Ohio, to Miss Mary H-utchins, born in that county, and to this union one son has been born-John R. Mr.. Miller has held the office of township clerk, and was justice of the peace for nine years. He has always taken an active part in township affairs and is a stanch adherent of the principles of the Republican party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. ELIAS M. WAGNER, a resident of Breckenridge and previously a prominent and successful farmer of Bethany township, Gratiot county, has been prominently identified with the agricultural interests of that section of the country, owning a fine one hundred-and-twenty-acre farm which he successfully operated for a number of years. He was born January 25, I862, in Sandusky county, Ohio, son of Jonathan and Margaret (Myer) Wagner, the former a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Pickaway county, Ohio. The father of our subject (lied in Hamilton county, Indiana, aged seventy-one years, and left a family of ten children, Elias M. being the sixth member. Elias M. Wragner spent the early years of his life in Sandusky county, Ohio. At the age of sixteen years he left home and went to Seneca county, Ohio, where he was employed at farm work for five years, and while in that county he was married, May I8, I88I, to Miss Amanda E. Neederhouser, who was born in Seneca county, Ohio, January 15, I862, (laughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Kinsley) Neederhouser, both of whom died in that county. Mrs. Wagner was the twelfth member of a family of thirteen children. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wagner remained in Seneca county for several years, and then returned to Sandusky county, remaining there until July, I890, when they came to Gratiot county, Michigan, and settled on the farm upon which they reside(l until recently. There they remained, with the exception of four years spent in St. Louis, where Mr. \Vagner was employed in an agricultural implement store until January, Igo6, when he and his family moved to Breckenridge, Michigan. There he is employed as salesman for agricultural implements lby Stone Brothers. Mr. W\agner owns one hundred and twenty acres of land in Bethany township, one hundred bleing highly improved, and he has been very successful in his farming operations. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner have children as follows: Orlo J., Ethel M. and Nina G. One child, Clarence L., died in childhood. Mr. Wagner is a member of the board of review of Bethany township, and has been school moderator for several years. For some time he has been connected with the Gratiot and Clinton Counties Fire Insurance Company, and is collector for the townships of Wheeler and Bethany. He and his estimable wife are very active in church work. Elias M. Wagner is one of the good, practical farmers of Bethany township, and bears the reputation of being a man of integrity and honor. G EORGE \V. MAURER, a good, practical farmer of Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, is one of the useful citizens and reliable men of that township, belonging ito that class which gives a section its honorable standing before the world. Mr. Maurer xwas born in Thompson township, Seneca county, Ohio, BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 283 March 31, I856, son of Samuel and Elizabeth S. (Suter) Maurer, both of whom died in Seneca county, Ohio. The other children of the family were: Samuel, who is deceased; Frederick, an electrician and a resident of Ohio; Rudolph; and Elizabeth, wife of Daniel Stout, of Seneca county, Ohio. George W. Maurer was the fourth member of the family of five children. He was reared on his father's farm in Ohio, where he remained until coming to Gratiot county, Michigan, in the spring of 1883. He first settled in Pine River township, where he purchased a farm and remained eleven years, at the end of which time he disposed of his land and located on his present farm in Bethany township, purchasing fifty acres. He has added to his farm from time to time, and is now the owner of one hundred and twenty-nine acres, of which eighty are improved. Mr. Maurer's farm is furnished with conveniently situated buildings and a good, homelike residence. Mr. Maurer was married September I6, 1878, to Miss Barbara Schneider, born in Medina county, Ohio, July 24, I854, and to this union these children have been born: Albert S.; Merilla A., the wife of Roy Oster, who has two children, Rena A. and \Iargaret; Edwin R., and Irvin V. Mr. Maurer has taken an active interest in educational matters in his township, and has served as a careful, interested school director of his district for nine years. Politically he is independent, voting rather for the man than the party. He and his vorthy wife are connected with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Maurer bears among his neighbors the reputation of being an hon orable man, whose word is as good as his bond. He is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Gleaners and the Grange. FREDERICK W. GRISWOLD, editor of the Gratiot Coluty Journal, Ithaca, is a native of the Wolverine State, and, although still comparatively a young man, has fairly earned his way to prominence. He is active, able and progressive, and is not only conducting the Journal with decision and editorial enterprise, but is coming into prominence as a member of the town council, to which he was elected in 1905. The Gratiot Cozunty Journal is no experiment in newspaperdom, having been established since I858. In that year type and other material were blrought from Owosso, and Frank Miller was installed as its first editor. Originally its politics was neutral, but before the end of the first journalistic year the paper was distinctly Republican, and it has not since swerved from that standard. In 1865 the Jourzial was discontinued for a short time, but was revived and imbued with new vigor by Nathan Church. It lhas been continued uninterruptelly ever since, Mr. Griswold purchasing the plant from C. H. Chase. The paper has a distribution of three thousand copies, and is influential both in Gratiot county and the State of Michigan. Frederick W. Griswold was born in Chesaning, Saginaw county, Michigan, on May 2, 1870, son of William and Adelia (Ortner) Griswold, both of Michigan. The father (lied in that place, in the year I888, at the age of sixty-four. His active life he passed in the sawmills, being at times the foreman of various gangs. The mother re 284 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. sides in Ithaca, aged fifty-six. Frederick W. was the third and youngest of the children, his brother Ray I. (the second born) being his partner in the newspaper business, and the oldest, Charles H., is an insurance man in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Until he was seventeen years of age Frederick W\. Griswold attended school at Chesaning and St. Charles, Michigan, afterward being employed as a clerk or in an) other honorable capacity. For twelve years he was connected with a clothing store in Ithaca, after which business experience he purchased the Gratiot County Journal. It was in Ithaca that Mr. Griswold was united in marriage, January 24, I894, to Minnie J. Smith, the daughter of Gilbert C. and Celia Smith, of York State. They were early settlers of the village of Ithaca, where their daughter Minnie was born and where Mrs. Smith died. Mrs. Griswold's father removed to California, where he is still engaged in mercantile pursuits. It should be added regarding Mir. Griswold, of the Joutrnal, that besides being personally popular and sociable, his fraternal association with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias gives him a rwide and influential acquaintanceship. As to the genealogy of the family, it is known that the Griswolds were of English extraction and originated in Wales. Its members were among the earliest settlers of Owosso, settling there when the region was a wvilderness, and one of them was a hardware merchant in that place for many years. It was therefore quite fitting that Frederick W. Griswold should come into possession of a newspaper which had its real origin in Owosso. DWIN J. CHURCHILL, a prominent business man of Gratiot county, supervisor of North Star township, and a resident of that place, vhere he owns twenty-five acres of good land, was born December 12, 1854, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, son of Edwin and Ann Jane (Martin) Churchill, natives of England. Edwin Churchill died at Shirland, Winnebago county, Illinois, in his thirty-eighth vear, while his wife still survives him, a resident of the same place. They had four children, of whom Edwin J. was the eldest; Lucy Ann, the second, married Henry Maurett, a farmer of Knox county, Nebraska; Walter resides at Hastings, Nebraska; and Nellie, Mrs. Floyd Carter, is living in Rock county, Wisconsin. Edwin J. Churchill was reared to the age of fourteen years in \isconsin and Illinois, and in January, I867, located in Gratiot county, Michigan, making his home with his grandparents, Joseph J. and Elizabeth Mlartin, on Section I8, North Star township, where he has resided ever since. Mr. Churchill has been engaged in farming, contracting and building, most of his time being devoted to the latter. Mr. Churchill was married in North Star township April 2, 1876, to Miss Mary J. Heath, born in Portage county, Ohio, October 3, I854, daughter of William H. and Emily (Heath) Heath, natives of Massaclhusetts, who located in Gratiot county in 1865, settling in North Star township, where they died, leaving five children, of whom Mrs. Churchill was the third. To Mr. and Mrs. Churchill have been born these children: Harry E. married Nellie Hapgood, of Beloit, Wisconsin; Elsie BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 285 A. is the wife of B. J. Quick, of Newark township; and Walter J. and William A. were twins, the latter marrying Emma Lott, and residing on the homestead. Mr. Churchill was elected supervisor of North Star township in the spring of I904, on the Democratic ticket. He held the office of township treasurer for two terms, and was school director and( assessor for twelve years. He and his estimable wife are members of Liberty Grange, No. 39I, Patrons of Husbandry. Mr. Churchill has won his way through his energetic and able personality, and has not only acquired a handsome competency but general respect and esteem. F IRANK SMITH. Although comparatively a newcomer to Ithaca, Mr. Smith is already well and favorably known as the genial proprietor of the "Imperial Hotel." He is a native of Michigan, hIorn at Three Rivers on June 21, I857, tlhe son of Dr. John NV. and Mary E. (Boyer) Smith. At present his parents are residents of Macon, Georgia, where his father still practices his profession.' V. Frank is the youngest of three children, his oldest brother living in Hughesville, Pennsylvania, where he is employed as a railroad engineer, while Clarion was last heard from in the Black Hills about I878. From the time he was three years of age until he was eighteen W. Frank Smith passed his life in Meadville. Pennsylvania, removing thence to Buffalo, New York, where for five years he was employed at various railroad occupations. His experience dlemonstrated that he was adapted to mercantile pursuits, however, and he con I. I cuse, New York, until the year I89I. In the year, named he located at Jackson, Michigan, to embark in the hotel business, continuing there until I896, and later engaging, in the same field at South Bend, Indiana. For two years, at the latter place, he operated the "Sheridan House," and extended his hotel experience subsequently at Pontiac (one year) and South Lyon, both places in Michigan. On July 24, I905, he located at Ithaca as proprietor of the "Imperial," which he completely remodeled and refurnished, transforming it into one of the best and most popular hotels in the State. Mr. Smith has been twice married, first at Buffalo, New York, in the year I877, to Miss Josephine A. Nerrick. Two children, a son Clarion and a daughter Flossie, were born to this union. The second marriage, in I898, was to Mrs. Nettie Sanford, and of this there has been no issue. Fraternally Mr. Smith is identified with Jackson Lodge, No. 17, Free and Accepted Masons, and Syracuse (New York) Lodge, No. 607, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a Republican but, before all, a good blAsiness man and a first-class hotel proprietor. G ORDIS SMITH, supervisor of Pine River township, has served efficiently in that office since I890. He was born in Onondaga county, New York, in 'the village of Skaneateles, September 7, 1832, being the son of Ira and Sadie (Hitchcock) Smith, of Connecticut. His parents were married in that State and nigrated to Michigan in I856, the father locating as a farmer in Pine River township. Thus he was engaged until the date of his death, February 20, 1878. He had just sequently engaged in those lines at Syra I 286 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. passed his eighty-fifth birthday, having been born February 2, I793. His wife, born March 20, 1793, died on the 8th of October, i883. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church. To their union were born besides the subject of this sketch: Andrew, Abigail and Henry, all deceased; Elizabeth, Mrs. S. E. Matteson, living at Napoleon, Michigan; Cephas E.; Mary, widow of Allen H. Reed, of Clinton county, Michigan; and Luther, a resident of Portland, Oregon. Mr. Smith passed his early life on a farm in Onondaga county, and one in Cayuga county, New York, living there until about eighteen years old. He then came West, traveling in different States for several years until he came to Gratiot county, Michigan, locating here about 1857. He worked in the woods and on the river driving logs, and was also employed in Saginaw in the mills and on the Saginaw river, driving logs. He followed that business for a few years, when, in April, 1864, he married Mrs. Jane M. (Badger) Rice, who was born in Cambridge, Washington county, New York, April 13, 1828. She came to Gratiot county with her husband, Elijah B. Rice, and settled in Pine River township, where he died. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Smith settled on a farm on Section 27, which land was taken from the Government, being in a wild condition. Mr. and Mrs. Smith improved eighty acres, and the old log houses which had been built when the farm was first occupied have given way to good modern frame structures. By her first marriage Mrs. Smith had one son, George T., deceased. Mr. Smith has been director of his school district for the past twenty years, has been supervisor of the township since 1890, and has also served his constituents as commissioner of highways. He is well known both as man and public official throughout Pine River township, and he bears an enviable reputation for honesty and integrity. DANIEL FRANK ARNOLD, the owner and operator of a farm of eighty acres, located in Section I4, Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, was born on a farm in Defiance county, Ohio, September I7, I8'57, son of Jacob and the late Mary Ann (Shook) Arnold. The parents of our subjejct came to Michigan early in the sixties, and settled in Eaton county, where they lived for several years and then returned to Ohio, settling in Williams county, where Mrs. Arnold died, aged about thirty years. Her husband still survives. This good couple had three children, and of this family our subject was the second member. The early years of Daniel F. Arnold's life were spent at home with his parents, but after the death of his mother he came to Michigan, and lived in Eaton county for about five years. In I876 he came to Gratiot county and engaged in farming in Newark township, continuing quite successfully for six years, at the end of which time he located in Bethany township on Section 14, where he has since been a resident. He owns eighty acres of good land, all of which he has improved, and his farm buildings are well situated and substantially built. Daniel Frank Arnold was married in Bethany township, Gratio't county, March BIOGRAlPHICAL 1MEMOIRS OF GRi-TIOT COUNTY. 287 I, 1883, to Miss Ellen D. Holton, born in Bethany township, October 20, I866, (laughter of the late Joseph and Elizal:eth (Barnes) Holton, and a sister of Thomas Holton, of Bethany township. To our subject and his estimable wife these children have been born: Ruth L.; Mary G.. who (lied when two years old; and Leo, who died when nine months old. Daniel Frank Arnold takes a dlue amount of interest in the affairs of his township, and supports all good movements. He casts his vote with the Democratic party. THOMIAS GLADSTONE. one of the substantial farmers of Gratiot county. Michigan, resides on his well cultivated farm of eighty acres, located in North Star township. Mr. Gladstone was blorn March 22, 1850, in Oakland county. Thomas Gladstone's father (lied when the former was very young, and lie was reared in Clinton county, and has spent his life in Clinton and Gratiot counties. Mr. Gladstone was (first) married in North Star township to Ida M. Toles. a native of that township, and a daughter of IMatthew and Sarah Toles. Mr. Gladstone and his wife settled on the farm, where Mr. Gladstone has always engaged in agricultural pursuits, and where he has lived since I877. He owns eighty acres, of which he has cleared and improved about sixty-five acres, and has erected good substantial buildings on his land. Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone were the parents of these children: Gertie MI. is the wife of Louis Lepley; Adelaide married William Bowen; and Ida is the wife of Alden Devereaux. Mrs. Ida Gladstone died in North 13 Star township when about twenty-two years of age, and Mr. Gladstone married for his second( wife Miss Mary Beck, lorn MIarchl 3, I853, in Fulton county, Ohio, daughter of John and Catherine (Eckley) Beck, the latter of w1hom die( in Newark townshllip, while her husband still survives. S:\IAUEL PORTER. Among the practical farmers of Pine River township, Gratiot county, is Sanmuel Porter, who is operatiing a fine eighty acre farm on Section Ii. He was born in Lorain townslhip, Lorain county, Ohio, July 17, I835, son of Nathaniel and Clarissa (IKneeland) Porter. Nathaniel Porter was a native of Ireland, while his wife was born in Connecticut, an1( they both (lie(l in Lorain, Lorain county. Ohio, she age(l ablout fifty years, while lie was eighty-four at the time of his (leath. They were the parents of eight children, Samuel being third in the order, of li rtlh. Samuel Porter was reared in Lorain county, Ohio, and was married there, October 25, I857, to Miss Martha A. Foster, who was born in Lorain township, June 20, 84I, dlaughter of Elisha and Anna M. (MIason) Foster. Mrs. Porter's parents died in Lorain county, the mother being ninety-six years of age, while the father had passed away aged thirty-seven. They had five children, three sons and two daughters, and of this family Mrs. Porter was the youngest. She was reared in her native county, and there received her education. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Porter settled in Lorain county, on a farm which he had purchased, and continued to reside there until April, I884, when they came to Gratiot county, Michigan, and settled in Pine River 288 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. township. For the first three years Mr. Porter rented land, and then purchased eighty acres on Section I, where he has since made his home. He has carried on general farming, in which he has been quite successful, and has improved his land with good, substantial buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Porter have two children: Devillo B., of Lorain county, Ohio; and Mamie A., the wife of John AW. Doyle, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. FRANCIS J. TUCKER, the clerk of Sumner township, is one of Gratiot county's prominent and enterprising young business men. Mr. Tucker was born May 23, S88o, in Detroit, Michigan, son of Irett F. and Emma (Hicks) Tucker, residents of Sumner, who had two children, of whom Francis J. was the youngest and is the only survivor. Mr. Tucker was about three years old when he was brought by his parents to Sumner township, where he received his early education. He attended Yerrington's College, in 899 and 900o. He was reared in Sumner, and has been associated with his father in the mercantile business since 1897. In April, I904, Mr. Tucker was elected clerk of Sumner township, a position he has since held with great credit. Hle has also served as school inspector for two terms. Fraternally he is connected with the M. W. A. and the K. O. T. M. M. He is well known and is very popular in Sumner township. LESLIE A. HOWE, M. D., who was elected in I905 for his fourth term as coroner of Gratiot county, was born in Allen, Hillsdale county, Michigan, October I6, I866, son of George N. and Melvina (Todd) Howe. George N. Howe was an officer in the state prison for eight years at Jackson, Michigan, and was superintendent of the prison school. He was a teacher by profession, in which occupation he spent most of his life, dying October 22, 1900, in his sixtyfourth year. Leslie A. Howe was taken by his parents to Jackson, Michigan, when fifteen years old, and he attended the high school in that city, graduating therefrom in I886. He then entered the Homeopathic Department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with great credit in I890. He spent three months practicing with a physician at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and then located in Breckenridge, Michigan, and has been in practice here since January, I89I. He is a member of the State Medical Society and the Gratiot County Medical Society. Fraternally he belongs to the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Foresters. The record which Dr. Howe made in his first three terms as coroner entitled him to the support not only of his own party-the Republicain -but of all good citizens, and he was re-elected by a large majority. W ILLIAM CULVER, a prominent and substantial farmer citizen of Bethany township, Gratiot county, who owns and operates a fine tract of land on Section 32, consisting of eighty acres, was born in Schuyler county, New York, May 29, 1836, son of Enos and Grace (Evans) Culver, the former of Connecticut and the latter of Massachusetts. Both of the parents died in Schuyler county, New York, BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 289 I leaving a family of eight children, of which William was the third member. William Culver was reared on his father's farm, upon which he remained until the early seventies, when he came to Gratiot county, Michigan, with his wife and two children. He lived about two and one-half years in St. Louis, MIichigan, where he worked at the carpenter's trade, and then purchased eighty acres on Section 32, Bethany township, upon which he settled, and where he has made his home ever since. At the time of its purchase the land was wild, and resembled little the fine farm Mr. CulveL now owns. Mr. Culver was married April I7, 1862, in Schuyler county, New York, to Miss Lecta Louisa Leonard, who was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, October 6, I840, and to this union two children have been born: Minnie (the wife of Frank McLean) and Newell Leonard. Mr. Culver has been a justice of the peace in Bethany township for twelve years, and has always taken an active interest in all township and county affairs. Fraternally he is a member of the Grange and for many years was associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, resigning his membership in that order. JAMES STUART. One of the fine farms of Bethany township, Gratiot county, is the one owned and operated by James Stuart, consisting of two hundred acres, and located on Section ii. Mr. Stuart's birth occurred January I9, I843, in County Cavan, Ireland, and he is a son of Alexander and Margaret (Ellis) Stuart, the former of whom was born in Scotland and reared in Ireland, where he died. The paternal grandfather, also named Alexander Stuart, re I mained in Scotland, his native country. The mother of James Stuart was a native of England and died in Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, in November, 1878, aged sixty-five years. She and her husband had six sons and two daughters, James being the fifth child in the family. The otiler members were: Samuel, a farmer of the County of Perth, Ontario; Ellen, also of that county, wife of Samuel Baker, a farmer; Jolin, a blacksmith residing in \Vhiteside county, Illinois; Irwin, a Bethany townlship farmer; Arthur, living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; Fanny, living in Pine River township, who married George Acker, a farmer; and \Villiam, a banker of Grundly county, Iowa. James Stuart came with his mother from Ireland to America, landing at New York, whence they traveled to the County of Perth, Ontario, residing there until I865. In October of that year the family settled in Michigan, where Mr. Stuart was employed in the sawmills and in the woods for three years. On coming from Canada Mr. Stuart was the possessor of but ten dollars in Canadian money, a pair of strong and willing hands and indomitable courage. After. working three years in the woods he was able to purchase forty acres of land on Section I6, Bethany township, near St. Louis. This was wild land and, after he had cleared thirty acres of it, he traded it for the farm upon which lie now lives, then consisting of one hundred and twenty acres. Since that time (April I1882) Mr. Stuart has addded steadily to the original purchase, and he now owns one of the finest farms in the township -two hundred acres of well-improved land, a fine brick residence and substantial barn and outbuildings. He has been a hard I 290 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. worker, an intelligent saver and a good manager, and is worthy of the respect and esteem in which he is held in Bethany township. His successful career very clearly shows what may be accomplished by energy, industry and thrift. Mr. Stuart was married in Bethany township April i6, 1869, to Miss Maria Gamble, born in Vaughan, Ontario, June 8, 1848, daughter of Robert and Esther (Musselman) Gamble, also natives of the Dominion, and to this union these children have been born: John I., living in Bethany township, who married Lovina Husted and is the father of one daughter, Essie M.; Alexander; William, who married Edith Sandy, of Belding, Michigan; Fannie; Walter, and Sankey. Politically Mr. Stuart is a Republican and takes a great interest in township and county affairs. He and his estimable wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has been steward. EDGERTON C. CRANDELL, who has been engaged in business in North Star for a number of years, is the efficient treasurer of North Star township, Gratiot county. Mr. Crandell's birth occurred July 19, 1862, in County Brant, Ontario, son of Laban B. and Margaret (Trimble) Crandell, residents of Ithaca, the former of whom was born in County Brant, while the latter was a native of Ireland. They were the parents of nine children, all of whom are living, and our subject was the second member of the family. Edgerton C. Crandell received a common school education, and up to the age of eighteen years, remained in his native county. He then came, with his parents, to Gratiot county, settling in North Star township, where Mr. Crandell resided for several years. He had learned the harness maker's trade in Ontario, and followed that line in different places. Since I889 he has lived in North Star; township, part of that time being spent in farming on his eighty acres of finely improved land. In Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 29, 1888, Mr. Crandell was united in marriage with Minnie Hassalbach, a native of New York City, daughter of Frederick and Ellinora (Brauer) Hassalbach, the former of whom died in Cincinnati, Ohio, in I865, while the latter still survives. To Mr. and Mrs. Crandell have been born two children, Laura and Paul. Mr. Crandell is a prominent member of the Democratic party, and held the office of township clerk for three years. Since the spring of I904 he has been township treasurer. He is a member of Ithaca Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Heath Lodge, No. 252, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; of the Knights of the Modern Maccabees; and the Ancient Order of Gleaners. He and his wife are valued members of the Baptist Church. LYMAN C. COHOON, who owns a fine farm of eighty acres, of which he has improved seventy, is one of the old settlers of Gratiot county, Michigan, and has resided in Arcada township since the spring of I904. Mr. Cohoon was born May 28, 1832, in Oakland county, Michigan, and was about eleven years old when his parents removed to Jackson county. Mr. Cohoon was reared in Jackson county, and had a few limited educational advantages. He remained there until, in 1854, he came to Gratiot county. He settled in the north part of Pine River township and BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 291 I bought a farm which is now included in the site of the flourishing little village of Alma. Through many pioneer experiences Mr. Cohoon made his way at that early date, and continued to live on that farm for some forty years. In the spring of 1904 he bought his present farm from D. R. Sullivan, a valuable piece of property which will continue to increase in value every year. Mr. Cohoon and family have a very comfortable home here. In I857 Mr. Cohoon was married in Pine River township, to Nancy Holmes, who died in I898, in Alma, Michigan. Their six children were: Alfred; Nettie, wife of Charles Lindsay; Henry; Bert; Pearl; and Nina, wife of Charles Williams. Mr. Cohoon was married (second) at Alma, Michigan, February 28, I900, to Mrs. Belle D. Hulbert. THOMAS CRAWFORD, who is prominent among the successful farmers and business men of Gratiot county, resides jin Breckenridge, he and his son A. F. Crawford having a well-improved farm of eighty acres in Wheeler township. He was born in Milford, Oakland county, M\ichigan, November 13, I837. Mr. Crawford was reared to manhood in Milford, and when a young man purchased a farm in Livingston county, Michigan, where he lived from I859 to I865, selling out in the latter year, when he located in Milford, following farming until I87I. He then engaged in the grain and lumber business there, continuing in that location until 1884, when he engaged in the same business at Breckenridge, forming a partnership with Clarence Hopkins in the spring of 900o, and with his son, Alfred F. Craw14 ford, cashier of the First State Savings Bank, purchased a farm of eighty acres in \Vheeler township. Mr. Crawford was one of the founders of the bank in Breckenridge, of which he is a director. Thomas Crawford was married (first) in I86o to Mary E. Watson, a sister of Dr. Charles Watson, and she died in Milford, Michigan, in the spring of 1884. The following children were born to this union: James B., of Ithaca, Michigan, secretary and manager of the Ithaca Milling Company, president of the Commercial State Bank, Ithaca, director of the Ithaca Savings Bank and president of the First State Savings Bank, Breckenridge; Fred E., superintendent of the Chicago and Milwaukee Telephone Company; Cora W., the wife of James Downie; Herbert J.; and Alfred F. Mr. Crawford was again married in December, I896, to Agnes E. Swope, daughter of Barney Swope, of Wheeler township, and to this union one child has been born, Marguerite A. Mr. Crawford is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Royal Arcanum, being connected with St. Louis Council, Ithaca Chapter and Breckenridge Blue Lodge. JOHN A. BRIGGS, who is engaged in the successful operation of his eightyacre farm in Bethany township, Gratiot county, was born in Shelby, Orleans county, New York, April 5, I850, son of Giles and Rebecca (Wilson) Briggs, natives of New York State, who came from Orleans county, New York, to Jackson county, Michigan, and in 1856 removed to Ingham county, where the mother died. Giles Briggs died in Gratiot county in his seventy-eighth year. 292 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. John A. Briggs was the youngest member of his parents' family of three children, and he was six years old when the family located in Ingham county, where he grew to manhood. In the spring of I886 he came to Gratiot county and rented a farm in Bethany township for one year, removing to another farm for two and one-half years, at the end of that time settling on the land which he now occupies. This land, an eighty-acre tract, he had purchased on first coming to Gratiot county, since which time he has improved over half of it, and has erected good, substantial farm buildings. Mr. Briggs was married to Melissa Rounds, a native of New York, and they have had three children: Olive, the wife of Hermon Hufford; Louis J., and Jennie M. Mr. Briggs is a citizen who has the best interests of the section at heart. ANIEL GOGGIN, who owns and operates a farm of one hundred and twenty acres on Section 31, Pine River township, Gratiot county, has been a resid(ent of that county since 1877, and is rated among its substantial citizens. His birth occurred August 29, 1853, in Auburn, New York, sixth child of the ten born to his parents, David and Elizabeth (Coughlin) Goggin, natives of Ireland. When he was about four years old, Daniel Goggin's parents removed to the Province of Ontario, Canada, where he resided until about seventeen years old, at which time he came to Michigan. He worked in the pine woods for about seven years during the winters, while during the summer, months he was engaged in handling logs on the Saginaw river. He located in Gratiot county about 1877, working out among the farmers, for about two years, and at the end of that time he purchased eighty acres in Pine River township. On October 2, 1878, he was married to Miss Josephine Sloan, born in MIontcalm county, Michigan, August 31, I86I, daughter of William and Diana (Caldwell) Sloan. Mrs. Goggin was the younger of their two children, and was about three years old when her parents located in Pine River township, where she was reared to womanhood. After marriage Mr. and MIrs. Goggin settled on the farm in Pine River township, on Section 3. The land was wild, but Mr. Goggin has improved and cultivated it and supplied it with good buildings, and it is now one of the finest in this section. Mr. and Mrs. Goggin have two children, Charles A. and Ralph L. JAMES F. WILSON, a well-to-do and influential farmer of Gratiot county, residing on his farm of fifty acres in Wheeler township, was born in Richland county, Ohio, on his father's farm in Worthington township, November 2, 1849, son of Samuel and Zeriah (Flaharty) Wilson, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Ohio. Our subject's mother died in Wheeler township, aged between fifty and sixty years, while her husband still survives at the remarkable age of ninety-nine years. James F. Wilson was reared in Richland county, Ohio, where he lived until eighteen years of age, and then located in Gratiot county, where he made his home in I868, purchasing a farm in Wheeler township. Mr. Wilson owns thirty acres of the old homestead, and his own farm consists of fifty acres, all of which is improved. Mr. Wilson was married November 4, I875, in BIOGRAPHICAL lMEMIOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 293 f Wheeler township, to Miss Ida Bradford, a native of Jackson county, Michigan, daughter of William and Cornelia (Vedder) Bradford, who came to \\heeler township at quite an early day. Mr. Bradford died in July, I903. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have had these children: Hattie B., who died when two years old; Bert: Jennie, the wife of Lynn Perry; and Lena. Mr. Wilson was highway commissioner for several terms, township drain commissioner for two terms, and school director for six years. He has been very successful in his farming operations, and ranks among the best farmers of Wheeler township. W ILLIAM SHERMAN SOMERVILLE, of Emerson township, Gratiot county, is a progressive farmer and one of the first-class citizens of that community. He was born January 20, i868, in Cambria county, Pennsylvania. the fifth member in a family of seven children. Mr. Somerville's ancestral history will be found elsewhere, in the sketch of liis brother, Thomas S. Somerville. William Sherman Somerville came to Gratiot county with his parents and resided at home until his marriage. He was reared to the life of a farmer and has always followed that occupation, in which he has been eminently successful. He was married March 24, I897, to Miss Carrie Shook, who was born September 3, I878, in Bethany township, daughter of John and Eliza (Chase) Shook, the former of whom, a pioneer of Gratiot county, died in Emerson township March 30, I904, in his seventyfifth year, while the latter still survives. They had five children, as follows: Albert, Walter, Bessie, Mortimer and Carrie (the wife of Mr. Somerville). After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Somerville settled in Emerson township, where he owns one hundred and twenty acres, most of.which is improved. Mr. and Mrs. Somerville have had three children: Raymond (deceased), David C. and Donald. Mrs. Somerville is a member of the Methodist Church, while he attends the church at Beebe. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, No. 47I3, and!to the Ancient Order of Gleaners. Mr. Somerville has been very successful in his farming operations and is classed with the substantial men of the township. G EORGE EDWIN ROLFE, a prosperous and enterprising young farmer of Gratiot county, Michigan, owns and operates a farm of eighty acres in Lafayette township. Mr. Rolfe was born April 4, I869, in Eaton county, Michigan, son of Henry Rolfe. Henry Rolfe and his wife, whose maiden name was Charlotte Bracey, came to Gratiot county in I88I, from Eaton county, Michigan. He was a native of New York, and died in Lafayette township, December I2, I9OO, in his sixty-fourth year. Mrs. Rolfe was born in Ohio, and still survives. She and her husband had three children, of whiom our, subject was the second. George Edwin Rolfe lived with his parents until I88I in Eaton county, Michigan, and came with them in that year to Gratiot county, since that time residing in Lafayette township. He owns eighty acres of land, sixty of which are in a good state of cultivation, and his farm is improved with good 294 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. substantial buildings. Mr. Rolfe was married May 8, I890, to Miss Addie May Austin, born in Clinton county, Michigan, February 10, 1874, daughter of Benjamin and Effie (Post) Austin, natives of New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Rolfe these children have been born: Iva, July 28, I89I; Inez, June 14, I897; Forrest, June I, I900 (died May 4, I90); and Irene, October 4, I904. Mr. Rolfe is a member of Edgewood Lodge No. 257, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Mrs. Rolfe belongs to Forrest Lodge No. I46, Daughters of Rebekah. ADELBERT G. MOORE, the senior member of the Cabinet Company, one of the leading and representative business organizations of Breckenridge, Michigan, was born September 27, 1871, in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, near Cleveland. Mr. Moore was reared to the life of a farmer. In the fall of 1885 he came with his parents to Gratiot county, Michigan, settling in Emerson township, where he lived until the spring of I89I. In that year he returned to Lorain county, Ohio, and worked for his grandfather, on the farm, during the summer and fall of the year. Returning to Michigan, he was married November 21, I89I, in Emerson township, to Miss May M. Bailey, who was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan, daughter of James H. and Melissa (Cunningham) Bailey. After marriage Mr. Moore engaged in carpentering and farming until locating in Breckenridge, in I896, when he engaged in the planing and saw mill business in partnership with George W. Torbert, being thus engaged until the mill was burned. In company with Mr. Torbert he built a new saw and planing mill, which they operated to gether. for about six months, and then Mr. Moore sold his interest but continued in Mr. Torbert's employ for one year. Mr. Moore was then employed in a hardware store in Breckenridge for several months, at the end of which time he re-engaged with Mr. Torbert, and was still in the latter's employ when the Cabinet Company was formed. In I891 A. G. Moore, L. J. Bailey and F. A. Bailey, all young men of ability, formed the Cabinet Company. This company carries lumber, lath, shingles and builders' hardware, is the agent for the McVicker Gasoline Engine, manufactured at Alma, Michigan, also engages quite extensively in contracting and building, and owns one hundred and twelve acres of land in Wheeler township. Mr. Moore is a type of the class of men who succeed in life, one who knows how to join a working arm to a thinking head, and one who also has the ability to make and keep warm friends. He is highly esteemed throughout Wheeler township. To Mr. and Mrs. Moore two children have been born, Lorena and Howard. Mr. Moore is a member of Peterman Tent, No. 290, Knights of the Modern Maccabees, of which he is commander, and of which he has been record keeper for several years. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, and are active in its work in Breckenridge, Mr. Moore being one of the deacons and superintendent of the Sundayschool. JL. SMITH, supervisor of Emerson township, Gratiot county, who is generally and highly esteemed in that section, has been a resident of Emerson township since July, 1872. He was born in Morayshire, BIOGRAPHICAL MEMAOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 295 Scotland, February 9, I856, son of John L. and Rachel (Fernside) Smith, both ot whom died in Scotland, the parents of five children, as follows: James, nowr a resident of Edinburgh, Scotland; Jane, who married Prof. John Bocock, principal of schools at Bedale, Yorkshire, England, and is the mother of eleven children; J. L.; Margaret, wife of William Cameron, a farmer with extensive interests in Roberts county, South Dakota; and Bessie, who (lied an infant. J. L. Smith was reared in Scotland, and came to the United States when lie was sixteen years old, settling in Michigan in 1872. Hle located in Gratiot county in July, 1872, and for five years resided with James Riddle, of Emerson township. Since his location in that township his residence there has been continuous, with the exception of two years spent in the county of Oakland, and two years in the State of Washington, and he has always followed agricultural pursuits, owning at the present time eighty acres in Section 14. It was through persistent work that his land became the productive farm that it is, Mr. Smith cutting the timber, clearing the land and erecting the buildings himself. Mr. Smith was married in Oakland county, Michigan, March 15, 1882, to Miss Katie R. Foote, a native of Milford, Oakland county, that State, and to this union one son, Clair, has been born. Mrs. Smith was a daughter of William H. and Emmeline (Hastings) Foote, residents of Oakland county. Since reaching his majority Mr. Smith has been prominently identified with county and township affairs, and has held a number of township offices, being treasurer of Emerson township for three years, school director for, many years, and supervisor of the township for three terms, a position which he still holds, and to which he has just been re-elected for a fourth term. For a number of years Mr. Smith was a Republican, but later joined the Democratic party, and since that time has been a firm supporter of its principles. He is very public-spirited and has the interests of Gratiot county and Emerson township at heart. Personally he is a cordial, genial gentleman, who enjoys the confidence of his fellow townsmen. He and his wJife are valued members of the Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Smith is an elder. Fraternally he affiliates with Emerson Lodge, No. 375, Independent Order of Oddl Fellows; Peterman Tent, No. 290, Knights of the Modern M'accabees; and Union Camp, No. I, Woodmen of the World, of Niles, Michigan. FRANK W. CLARK, of Sumner township, Gratiot county, was born in that township August 29, I870, son of the late WVilliam D. and Lydia E. (Dunham) Clark. The parents of Mr. Clark were among the early settlers of Gratiot county, and they passed their first winter in Sumner township at the home of the late George Gee. William D. Clark died in Sumner township, March 26, I899, while his wife passed away in Alma, February 13, I903. They were the parents of five children, of whom Frank WV. was the youngest, the others being: Emma M. and Albert K., both deceased, the latter in Nebraska; Harry, of Sumner township, Gratiot county; and Eva M., deceased. Frank W. Clark was reared on his father's farm in Sumner township, and received his education in the common schools. His life has been spent in agricultural pursuits, in which he has met with signal suc 296 BIOGRAPHICAL llMEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. cess, now owning one hundred and twenty acres of good land in Sumner township, which includes the old homestead. He has about eighty-five acres in a thorough state of cultivation, and is regarded as one of the prominent and enterprising farmers of his section. For some time Mr. Clark was employed as carrier on Rural Free Delivery Route No. I, from Alma. He was connected for about eight years with the Alma Creamery. Mr. Clark was married in Ithaca, Michigan, July 20, I894, to Miss Jessie M. Godfrey, born in Arcada township, daughter of the late Benjamin and Amanda (Nevins) Godfrey, and to this union have been born: Emma M., De Wayne B., Anna L. and Erma M. Mr. Clark was elected school director in July, I904, and re-elected in I905; he had previously been appointed to fill a vacancy in that capacity. FRANCIS J. SMITH, M. D.,a prominent young medical practitioner of Sickels, Michigan, who has been the efficient health officer of Hamilton township since 1902, was born on his father's farm in North Star township, Michigan, June 26, 1877, the sixth child of a family of seven children, born to George and Atlanta (Shaw) Smith, residents and old settlers of North Star township. Dr. Smith was reared to manhood on the farm, and received his preliminary education in the common schools of his county. In 1894 he took up the study of medicine with Dr. B. N. Gardner, formerly of North Star township, with whom he remained three years, and then entered the Detroit College of Medicine, from which he was graduated in I901. He immediately began the practice of his profession at Sickels, where he has since remained. He has gained the confidence of the community, having shown his skill in a number of cases, and his practice is steadily increasing. Since I902 he has very efficiently filled the position of health officer of Hamilton township, and by his membership in the American Medical Association, the Michigan State Medical Society, and the Gratiot County Medical Society, keeps himself up-to-date and to the standard of the times. Fraternally Dr. Smith belongs to Edgewood Lodge, No. 257, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Dr. Smith was married in Sickels, December 2, 1903, to Miss Mabel Welch, daughter of Madison A. and Carrie I. (Waterhouse) Welch. Mrs. Smith's father died November 5, I900. FRANK R. MONFORT, a rising young attorney of Ithaca, Michigan, was born December 25, 1876, in Utica, Macomb county, Michigan, but has been a resident of Ithaca nearly all his life. He is a son of Dr. Isaac N. Monfort, one of the leading physicians of Gratiot county, who was born in Disco, Macomb county, Michigan. The father began the practice of his profession when he was thirty years of age, and has enjoyed a large patronage and much prominence since his location in Gratiot county in I880. His family consisted of three children. Frank R. Monfort attended the common schools of his locality, and later entered the Ithaca high school, from which he was graduated in I896, in the fall of the same year entering the literary department of the University of Michigan. After a year in this BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 297 department Mr. Monfort took!the law course at the same institution, from which he graduated in the year, I900. He commenced the practice of his profession immediately at Ithaca, and in the fall of I900 was elected Circuit court commissioner, a position he filled very efficiently. In 90oI he removed to Lake City, Missaukee county, where he practiced for one and one-half years. While a resident of that place he was a candidate for. prosecuting attorney, and although his opponent had held the office six terms Mr. Monfort was defeated by only thirty-seven votes. In 1902 he returned to Ithaca and entered into partnership with Kelly S. Searl, under the firm name of Searl & Monfort. Mr. MIonfort was united in marriage July 15, I903, w\ith Miss Anna E. Barber, daughter of A. S. Barber, the well known merchant of Ithaca. Mr. Monfort affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic fraternity, in both of which he is a valued comrade. Mr. Monfort is very wellknown and very popular in Ithaca. JOHN D. SULLIVAN, a prominent, practical and well-to-do farmer of Pine River township, Gratiot county, Michigan, is the owner and operator of "Elmwood" farm, a magnificent three-hundredandl-twenty-acre tract. He was born in Pine River township, November 28, I869, son of the late Daniel R. Sullivan. Daniel R. Sullivan was a son of Cornelius and Margaret (MIurphy) Sullivan, natives of Ireland. He was the eldest of the family, and was born in Newport, Rhode Island, Jiine 8, I830. Coming with his parents to Michigan when six years old he received a common school education, and at I the age of eighteen years went to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he spent thirteen years in steamboating. In August, 1854, he located one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Pine River township, Gratiot county, Michigan, and in the fall of I86I he returned from the South and located on this tract. His first house, of frame, was superseded by one of brick in 1877, lwhich he moved into December 24th of that year. In December, 1862, in Arcada township, Mr. Sullivan married Miss Jeannette, daughter of Emery and Maria (Lewis) Adams. She was born in Liberty township, Jackson county, Michigan, December 28, I842, and to her and her husband were born four children: William C., mentioned elsewhere; John D., our subject; Pearl, who died in infancy; and Maggie M., deceased, who was the wife of Dr. McClinton of Alma, Michigan. Mr. Sullivan was prominent in township affairs and held many of the local offices. He was identified with the Democratic party. His fraternal affiliations were with the Masonic Order, in which he was very popular. Mrs. Sullivan is a consistent member, of the Episcopal Church. Of the family of four children, John D. Sullivan was the second member, and was nine years old when his parents removed to Arcada township. Here he grew to manhood, being educated in the high school at Alma, Michigan, and the commercial department of the Alma College. Although most of his life has been spent in agricultural pursuits, Mr. Sullivan was employed by the Gratiot County Savings Bank for some time. He was married in Arcada township, January i, I894, to Miss Nellie J. Snyder, born in North Huron. Wayne county, New York, December 31, I871, the 298 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. daughter, of John W. and Sarah J. (Derby) Snyder, and to this union the following children were born: D. Ross, J. Donald and Muriel J., the latter of whom died when five years old, February 5, I89I. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan settled in Arcada township, where they spent two years, and then settled on the place upon which they now reside, which is known as "Elmwood" farm. Mr. Sullivan owns three hundred and twenty acres of land, and of this about two hundred acres are under the plow. Mr. Sullivan has served in the capacity of township treasurer of Pine River township for two terms, being identified with the Democratic party. In fraternal circles he is very popular, and is a valued member of Forest Hill Tent, No. 526, Knights of the Modern Maccabees. Although his own interests are large Mr. Sullivan is always ready to give his time and attention to the service of his township, having its best interests at heart. He is well known and highly respected throughout the community. JOHN CLINTON WATSON, the efficient young register of deeds of Gratiot county, Michigan, has held that office since January, 1905, having been elected the previous November by a large majority. Mr. Watson's birth occurred January 28, 1878, in Pine River township, Gratiot county, Michigan, and he is a son of William 0. and Ella (Chapin) Watson, and a grandson of John T. and Harriet (Wilcox) Watson, natives of Genesee county, New York, the latter born in Batavia. William 0. Watson was born at Brighton, Livingston county, Michigan, December I5, I848. He was educated in the dis trict schools, and came to Ithaca in I870, where he clerked in different stores. On December 31, I874, at Ithaca, he was married to Ella F., daughter of DeWitt C. and Edna F. (Utley) Chapin, natives of New York. Mrs. William O. Watson was born in Allegan, Michigan, in April, I851, and removed to DeWitt, Clinton county, Michigan, three years later. At the age of thirteen years she came with her parents to Alma, this county, and here attended the public schools, afterward pursuing a course of study at the State Normal School at Ypsilanti. She commenced teaching at the age of fifteen, and continued for a number of years. Her father became register of deeds in 1871, and died while in office, the duties of the office devolving on Mrs. Watson, who had been his deputy. Therefore it is seen that both our subject's mother and grandfather were incumbents of the office which he now holds. Mr. and Mrs. William O. Watson located on a farm in Pine River township, and four years later removed to Arcada township. In 1884 they removed to Breckenridge, where they now reside. John C. Watson received his education in the district school in Arcada township, the public school at Breckenridge and four years at the preparatory and collegiate departments at Alma College. Mr. Watson then entered the University of Michigan, from which institution he was graduated in I898, wvith the degree of Ph. B. He then returned to Ann Arbor, taking one year in the Law Department. also receiving one year of instruction in the Law Department of the Columbian (now George Washington) University, at \Washington, D. C. In March, 19go, Mr. Watson was appointed private secretary to Congressman BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 299 A. B. Darragh of the Eleventh Michigan District, which position he resigned to assume the office of register of deeds. Mr. Watson has shown himself a most efficient, thorough and systematic worker. He has taken a prominent part in several Gratiot county campaigns, and is known as a pleasing and convincing campaign speaker. He is a plain, friendly, earnest, honest, everyday Republican, and his thorough training in systematic office work, promptness in discharge of duty, genial manners and rare power of accurate judgment especially fit him to command the confidence and goodwill of all lwho have business with the register's office. While in Washington Mr. Watson met Miss Doris Van Doren, who was then private secretary to Congressman H. C. Smith of the Second Michigan District, and they were married August 17, I902. Mrs. Watson is the daughter of Charles S. and Elizabeth (Northrop) Van Doren, of Adrian, where her father still resides, her mother being deceased. Mrs. Watson is now deputy in the register's office. Politically John C. Watson is a Republican. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, being a member of Breckenridge Lodge, No. 406, F. & A. M.; St. Louis Chapter, No. I88, R. A. M.; and St. Louis Council, No. 68, R. & S. M. He is also a member of Peterman Tent, No. 290, K. 0. T. M. M.; Ithaca Camp, No. 47I3, M. W. of A.; and of Ithaca District Court, No. 6Io, C. of H. W ILBERT B. CLARK, M. D., an able young practitioner of medicine and surgery, until recently located in the town of St. Louis, Michigan, and now in Saginaw, that State, was born November 26, I868, in Newport, Monroe county, Michigan, son of Watson J. and Adella (McDonald) Clark, of whose family of five children he was the eldest. The early years of Doctor Clark's life were spent in Newport, where he attended the public schools. At the age of fifteen years he attended the Union school at Flat Rock, Michigan, and afterward the Detroit Business University, from whvich he was graduated with honors. He then took up the study of medicine, and, after preparing himself, entered the Michigan College of Medicine and Surgery, at Detroit, from which he graduated with the class of I894. The last year of his term in college, the Doctor was the able and efficient ambulance surgeon of Detroit. Doctor Clark began the practice of his profession at \Vheeler, Gratiot county, where he remained two years, in I896 locating in St. Louis, where he was engage(l in the enjoyment of an ever increasing practice until his removal to Saginaw, where he has in a comparatively short time gained the confidence and good will of the citizens. The Doctor is at home in every line of his profession, is a close student, a careful practitioner and a steady-handed surgeon. He is a member of the State Medical Society, the Gratiot County Medical Society and the American Medical Association. His skill has been recognized in that he was appointed United States pension examiner, an office he filled for some years. Fraternally the Doctor is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner, and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias. Dr. Wilbert B. Clark was married at Flint, Michigan, May i6, I894, to Miss Lizzie Pettingill, daughter of L. N. and 300 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Alma (Ashley) Pettingill. Mrs. Clark is a native of Flint, Michigan. She and her husband have had these children: Kenneth W., Leland and Esther, the latter of whom died January 20, 1902, aged two years. Politically Dr. Clark is a Republican, but has never sought office. ERNEST MUSCOTT, former township treasurer of Emerson township, was born on his father's farm in that township, April 22, 1877, son of Theodore W. and Martha B. (Curtis) Muscott. His father was born July 25, 1843, in Huron county, Ohio, while his wife was a native of Wyoming county, New York, born September Io, I845. He was a soldier in the Civil war, serving three years with Company A, Twentieth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, being wounded in the right thigh at the battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia. Soon after the war he located in Gratiot county, and after his marriage settled in Section 12, Emerson township, where he has since been a resident. He owns eighty acres of improved land, and is well known and highly respected in the locality. To him and his wife were born these children: Bert T., a farmer of Wheeler township, who married Jennie Richardson and has two children, Wesley and Sylvia; Minnie, who died aged ten years; William M., who married Kittie M. Gutherie, and has one daughter, Bernice; Fred, engaged in the railroad business; and Ernest, who lives at home. Ernest Muscott was reared on his father's farm and received his education in the common schools of his district. He was married in Emerson township to Miss Temperance L. Davis, who was born in Lafayette township, and died in Emerson town ship May 29, 1902. Mr. Muscott was married a second time, January 24, I905, in Gratiot county, to Miss Florence G. Strong, born in Greenville, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1882, the daughter of John and Martha (Somerville) Strong, natives of the State named. There Mr. Strong died. Mrs. Muscott was the second in the family of six children. Mrs. Strong now resides in Emerson township. Mr. Muscott was elected township treasurer of Emerson township in the spring of 1903, and re-elected in the following spring. Prior to 1903 he had served as township clerk for two terms and was appointed State census enumerator in I904. He has always been identified with the interests of the Republican party in this section and has several times been chosen as delegate to the county conventions. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, affiliating with Breckenridge Lodge, No. 406, and St. Louis Chapter, No. 87, as well as the Eastern Star, and he is also identified with Peterman Tent, No. 290, Knights of the Modern Maccabees. Since he was eighteen years old he has managed the homestead of eighty acres, and under his capable management the farm has been very productive. ARTHUR H. STONE, one of the progressive young business men of Breckenridge, Wheeler township, Gratiot county, senior member of the implement firm of Stone Brothers, and township clerk of Wheeler township, was born September I, 1867, in Lebanon township, Clinton county, Michigan, son of Warren H. and Susan (Murnin) Stone. The mother of our subject died March 27, I892, in Wheeler township, at the age of fifty-eight years. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 30i Arthur H. was second in the family of four children born to his parents. Mr. Stone was reared on his father's farm in Clinton county, and at the age of twelve years was brought by his parents to Gratiot,county, settling in XWieeler township, where he grew to manhood. He made his home on the farm until May I, 900o, when he located in Breckenridge, and engaged in the implement business, forming a partnership with George P. Young and H. M. Boneman, under the firm name of Young, Boneman & Stone. On August 20, I90O, Mr. A. C. Wyant bought the interest of Messrs. Young and Boneman and the firm became known as Stone & Wyant, which firm was continued until March, 1901, when Arlan W. Stone purchased Mr. WVyant's interest in the business, since which time the firm has traded under the name of Stone Brothers. The business has grown annually, reaching large proportions, and it requires the whole attention of both brothers, who are men of practical methods, able to handle a large amount of business. Mr. Stone was married in Wheeler township, April 7, I89I, to Miss Thora A. Fowler, a native of Amboy, Hillsdale county, Michigan, daughter of Elihu and Lydia Ann (Ferrier) Fowler, and to this union one child has been born: Emma A. Mr. and Mrs. Stone are active members of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Stone was elected township clerk of Wheeler township in April, I904, I905, and again in I906. For four years he had held the office of justice of the peace, and for one term was highway commissioner. He is a thorough business man, honest and upright in all his dealings, public-spirited and of much ex ecutive ability. He supports all good movements in the community. Mr. Stone is the owner of one hundred acres of good land in Wheeler township, which he has improved. W ILLIAMI H. HETZMAN was born January I, 1872, on the farm upon which he now resides, in Emerson township, Gratiot county, and which comprises eighty acres of good land. He is one of the prosperous and enterprising young farmers of that section. Louis Hetzman, the father of William H., was born in Belfort, France, March 8, 1827. He married Martha Hands, who was born June 8, I833, in Banmbury, England, and they came to Gratiot county in I865 from Concord, MAichigan, settling on Section 13, Emerson township, where Mr. Hetzman purchased forty acres of State land, which he cleared and cultivated. Here he resided until his death, February 23, I898. Mr. and Mrs. Louis Hetzman had these children: Mary E., the wife of Marion F. Curtiss; Alice E., the wife of Oramel Maxson; Frank M.; Amos V.; John L.; William H.; and Emma, who (lied in infancy. William H. Hetzman was reared on the old home farm, and received his education in the common schools of his district. He was brought up to agricultural life, and has always followed farming. He was married August 31, I898, to Miss Eva C. McClure, who was born in Logan county, Ohio, July I8, I868, daughter of Alonzo C. and Sarah J. (Leggitt) McClure, the former of whom was born in Michigan and reared in Canada, while the latter was a native of Logan county, Ohio, where she 302 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. died aged twenty-seven years. She and her husband had five children, of which family Mrs. Hetzman was the third member. To Mr. and Mrs. Hetzman have been born children as follows: Martha, Marion C., Ruth A. and William Lowell. Mr. Hetzman has taken a great deal of interest in township affairs, and is inclined to be independent in politics, preferring to vote for the man instead of the party. He is a strong temperance man. He and his estimable wife are valued members of the First Presbyterian Church of Emerson, of which they are regular attendants. The Hetzmans are well known and highly respected in the community. JOHN HOSENKAMP, an enterprising and well-to-do resident of Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, is engaged in general farming on his eighty-acre farm in that township. He was born in Ottawa county, Ohio, September 6, I869, eldest of the eight children born to Fred and Minnie (Kuller) Hosenkamp, natives of Germany. John Hosenkamp was reared on his father's farm in Ottawa county, Ohio, receiving his education in the common schools of his township, and at the Toledo (Ohio) Business Colle'ge. He remained on his father's farm until September, 1893, when he located in Gratiot county, Michigan, and settled on the farm in Bethany township which he now occupies, known as Butternut Grove. It consists of eighty acres, of which Mr. Hosenkamp has cultivated about thirtyseven acres. His farm compares favorably with others of the section, and is well supplied with good buildings, erected by himself. Mr. Hosenkamp was married in Ottawa county, Ohio, in April, 1892, to Miss Anna Beyer, who was born in that county, and in the same house in which the birth of our subject occurred, August 7, I869, daughter of August and Christina Beyer. To MIr. and Mrs. Hosenkamp have come three children: Cora, born October 26, 1893; George, February 22, I895; and Clarence, July 27, I898. Mr. Hosenkamp is generally considered one of the best farmers in the neighborhood and the appearance of his fine farm upholds the statement. He is a man of integrity, and enjoys the esteem of his fellowcitizens. JOSEPH H. TAYLOR has been a resident of Wheeler township since 1879. He was born in Wells county, Indiana, January i, I867, one of the younger members of a family of thirteen children. His father was the late Joseph Taylor, while his mother was Flora (Bragg) Taylor, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of Virginia. The parents of our subject moved from Wells county, Indiana, to Maple Rapids, Clinton county, Michigan, in I878, and there followed farming for one year, at the end of which time they located in Gratiot county, settling on Section 12, Wheeler township, where Mr. Taylor died March I, 900o, aged seventy-two years. His widow survived until October, I902, when she, too, passed away. Joseph H. Taylor was about twelve years old when brought to Gratiot county by his parents. He received a common school education, and has always followed agricultural pursuits. He owns the old homestead of one hundred and twenty acres, about one hundred acres of which are im BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 303 proved, and since taking charge of the farm Mr. Taylor has made a number of improvements, mentionable among them being the erection of a fine set of new buildings. He is one of the substantial farmers of the township. ADELBERT U. GILES, whose fine farm of sixty acres is located in Bethany township, Gratiot county, Michigan, is one of the successful farmers and well known citizens of his locality. He was born April 12, i868, in Elk county, Pennsylvania, son of Joshua Allen and Mary (Fox) Giles, natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Giles died in Elk county, Pennsylvania, when thirty-five years of age, having been the mother of seven children, of which family our subject was the fifth member. Adelbert U. Giles came to Gratiot county with his father when he was nine years old, and settled in Bethany township. Here they have both resided since. Our subject received a common school education, and has followed agricultural pursuits all of his life. He is the owner of sixty acres of land in Bethany township, and of this fifty acres are improved and supplied with good buildings. He is a well informed citizen, and takes an active part in the support of movements for the benefit of the community! Mr. Giles was married March I8, I89I, to Miss Lena R. Perkins, daughter of Wallace ancf Alice (Aldrich) Perkins, of Bethany township. Mrs. Giles was born in New York, February I4, 1872, an(l to ler and her husband have been lorn: Guy Al1en and Mary Alice. Mr. Giles has been identified with the Republican party in all county and township affairs. He and his estimable wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is affiliated with the Ancient Order of Gleaners. LURLEY J. GRANT, engaged in agricultural operations on his forty-acre farm in Seville township, is one of Gratiot county's good, up-to-date farmers. His birth occurred on a farm in Wood county, Ohio, May 2, 1871, and is a son of Samuel and Susan (Burkhead) Grant. The parents of Mr. Grant came to Gratiot county early in the eighties and settled in Pine River township, afterward removing to Seville township, then to Arcada township, from whence they returned to Seville township. They now reside in Sumner township. Lurley J. Grant came with his parents to Gratiot county, and made his home with them until his marriage, June 21, I892, to Miss Bertha Ludw(ick, a native of Ionia county, Michigan, and a (laughter of George and Carrie (Greenhoe) Ludwick. Mr. and Mrs. Grant have two children-Otto and Hazel. When he was married Mr. Grant settled in Arcada township, where he remained for two years, later removing to Seville township. Here he also lived two years, at the end of which time he returned to Arcada township, residing there until the fall of 900o, when he purchased forty acres of good land on Section 26, Seville township, where he has since remained. He has erected good, substantial buildings on his farm, which is cultivated to the best degree. ALEXANDER M\cDONALD was born on the farm upon which he now resides, in Emerson township, Gratiot county, March 20, 1872, son of Alexander and 304 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. Ellen (Edgar) McDonald. His parents were natives of Scotland, and were among the early settlers of Emerson township, locating on Section 12. Here Alexander McDonald, the father, died in his fiftieth year, and his widow married Robert J. McClure, now residing in the State of Washington. Our subject had one sister, Margaret, who became the wife of Alexavder McKinzie and died in Chicago. Illinois. Alexander McDonald, our subject, was reared upon the farm, and has always followed agricultural pursuits. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of fine land, one hundred and ten of which he has improved, and upon which he has erected a fine set of good buildings. He is a well known and representative farmer of his neighborhood. Mr. McDonald was married in Emerson township, September I, I895, to Miss Ethel L. Case, who was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in what is now Schoolcraft county, September 17, 1875, daughter of Newton L. and Mary (Blackwell) Case, and the third member in their family of ten children. To Mr. and Mrs. McDonald the following children have been born: Ralph A., Anna 0., Gertrude L., Margaret E., Mary B., and one who died in infancy unnamed. Mrs. McDonald is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Emerson, and the family is well known and highly respected in the township, where Mr. McDonald interests himself in all matters beneficial to his section of the State. w R MORTIMER DRAKE, M. D., one of the younger medical practitioners of Gratiot county. now located in Breckenridge, Michigan, was born in the county of Lincoln, Ontario, September i, 1875. Dr. Drake passed the early years of his life in his native country, at the age of twelve years coming to Michigan with his parents, and settling in Grand Rapids. For two years he attended Albion College, and then prepared himself to begin 'the study of medicine, entering the Detroit College of Medicine, which he attended for four years, graduating with the class of 1902. He at once began the practice of his profession in Delray, Michigan, where he remained but a short time, in August, I902, locating in Breckenridge, where he has since been in practice. Dr. Drake has the confidence of the people of Breckenridge, and his practice is as large as he can handle. His suite of offices are second to none in Gratiot county. He keeps up to date by his membership in the various medical societies, among which may be mentioned the Gratiot County MIedical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the Practitioners' Study Club of Detroit. He also is connected with the Foresters and Court of Honor. Dr. Drake was married in Detroit, Michigan, March 25, 1902, to Miss Rhoda M. Waggoner, daughter of Lemuel and Mary Jane Waggoner, of Breckenridge, and one child has been born to this union. CHARLES E. SLINGLUFF, one of the good, practical farmers of Gratiot county, is engaged in operating a wellcultivated farm of eighty acres, in Sumner township. Mr. Slingluff was born December 3, I854, in Crawford county, Pennsyl BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. 305 vania, son of Joseph and Mary Ann (Bell) Slingluff, the former of whoim died in Craw ford county. Of a family of ten children-five sons and five daughters-our subject was the second. He was reared on his father's farm in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and was educated in the district schools of his native township. He remained at home until March, I878, when he came to Michigan, and, locating in Gratiot county, worked at farming by the month, continuing in this occupation for one year. On March 13, 1879, he was married to Miss Bina Medler, a native of Canada, daughter of the late John and Mary R. Medler, and to this union one child has been born-Marlie. After marriage Mr. Slingluff settled on the farm of eighty acres which he still occupies. He has been prominent in township affairs, was school director and justice of the peace for four years, and is to be rated among Gratiot county's substantial men. CHARLES EDWIN HORN. The successful modern photographer, to meet the cultivated tastes of the day, must be artistic as well as mechanically skilled. In line with the requirements of the times both Charles E. Horn and his wife, who is associated with him, have established a profitable photographic gallery in St. Louis, Michigan, locating at that point July 24, 1905. Charles E. Horn was born in Barry county, Michigan, October 25, i868, the son of Moses and Phoebe (Wortman) Horn, natives of Ohio. His father was a farmer, both parents still living in Barry county. To their union were born: Ida, deceased, Mrs. Morris Stanton; Charles E.; Alice, wife of William P. Kelly, of Barry county, Michigan; and Ernest, living on the old homestead in that county. Until he was twenty years of age Charles E. passed his life upon his father's farm and in acquiring a fair education. His tastes, however, were not in harmony with his surroundings, simple and healthful though they were. He therefore removed to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and for six years was employed there in a photographic studio. During that period he mastered thoroughly all the details of the art and business, so that he was prepared to establish a business for himself. This he did in Belding, Michigan, after a short time removing to South Bend, Indiana, and thence, after some fifteen months, to St. Louis, Michigan. As stated, he has there made a decided success of his work, being a master of all its details and sociable and popular as a man. In politics he is independent. On October 6, I899, Mr. Horn was united in marriage, in Cedar Creek, Michigan, to Miss Grace M. Chandler, daughter of Martin D. and Jane A. (Hall) Chandler, both natives of Ohio. Her father is a farmer of Barry county, Michigan, Mrs. Chandler dying there on July 3, I904. Four children were born to their union. EDWIN F. GEE, a prominent young farmer of Sumner township, Gratiot county, Michigan, is actively engaged in cultivating his two-hundred-and-twentyacre farm. He was born March 4, 1878, on the farm which he now owns, son of 306 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY. George E. and Rachel A. (Kress) Gee, natives, respectively, of New York State and Michigan. George E. Gee was born in Lyons township, Wayne county, New York, and at the age of six years was left to fight life's battles without the guiding hand of a father. For three years he was with a Mr. Gardner, of his native county, attending school in 'the winter months and working on the farm during the summers. From this time until he was eighteen years old he worked by the month for two substantial farmers of his neighborhood, and then went home and worked the homestead for three years. In the summer of I854 he went to Cleveland to join his brother, Isaac, and in the fall of that year located in Gratiot county, locating four hundred acres on the corners of Sections Io, I, 14 and I5. There he continued to live until his death. He married, April 25, 1858, Miss Rachel A. Kress, daughter of James and Mary (Hultz) Kress, natives of New York, and four children were born to this union: Jay; Lulah, deceased; Eulah; and Edwin F. Edwin F. Gee received a common school education, and at the age of sixteen years took charge of the farm, which consists of two hundred and twenty acres, one hundred and ninety of which are improved. Mr. Gee has been very successful in his agricultural ventures, and has acquired a handsome competency. While most of his attention is given to his farm, he is never too busy to serve his township, and is an earnest advocate of any measure which promises to be of good to the community. PART II S LON65TREL, JC5EPH HOOKE -N T-Og -Ak 1\21 5ALMON PCHAS J 011 N A. L 66-A III R,FREM R.A. A LG E R. conC id CELI *@g>~~~ MPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. OF.. EBRATED AMERICANS......................-.- _ GJ GiEORG E WASHINGTON, -i -u ~ the first president of the UnitIs r: ed States, called the "Father ~s of his Country" was one of the most celebrated characters in history. He was born February 22, 1732, in Washington Parish, Westmoreland county, Virginia. His father, Augustine Washington, first married Jane Butler, who bore him four children, and March 6, I730, he married Mary Ball. Of six children by his second marriage, George was the eldest. Little is known of the early years of Washington, beyond the fact that the house in which he was born was burned during his early childhood, and that his father thereupon moved to another farm, inherited from his paternal ancestors, situated in Stafford county, on the north bank of the Rappahannock, and died there in I743. From earliest childhood George developed a noble character. His education was somewhat defective being confined to the elementary branches taught him by his mother and at a neighboring school. On leaving school he resided some time at Mount Vernon with his half brother, Lawrence, who acted as his guardian. George's inclinations were for a seafaring career, and a midshipman's warrant was procured for him; but through the opposition of his mother the project was abandoned, and at the age of sixteen he was appointed surveyor to the immense estates of the eccentric Lord Fairfax. Three years were passed by Washington in a rough frontier life, gaining experience which afterwards proved very essential to him. In I751, when the Virginia militia were put under training with a view to active service against France, Washington, though only nineteen years of age, was appointed adjutant with the rank of major. In 1752 Lawrence Washington died, leaving his large property to an infant daughter. In his will George was named one of the executors and as an eventual heir to Mount Vernon, and by the death of the infant niece, soon succeeded to that estate. In 1753, George was commissioned adjutant-general of the Virginia militia and performed important work at the outbreak of the French and Indian war, was rapidly promoted and at the close of that war we find him commander-in-chief of Copyright 1897, by Geo. A. Ogle & Co. 18 COMPENDIUM OF BIO GRAPHYT. all the forces raised in Virginia. A cessation of Indian hostilities on the frontier having followed the expulsion of the French from the Ohio, he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces, and then proceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in the Virginia Assembly, of which,he had been elected a member. January 17, 1759, Washington married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Curtis, a young and beautiful widow of great wealth, and devoted himself for the ensuing fifteen years to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, interrupted only by the annual attendance in winter upon the colonial legislature at Williamsburg, until summoned by his country to enter upon that other arena in which his fame was to become world-wide. The war for independence called Washington into service again, and he was made commander-in-chief of the colonial forces, and was the most gallant and conspicuous figure in that bloody struggle, serving until England acknowledged the independence of each of the thirteen States, and negotiated with them jointly, as separate sovereignties. December 4, 1783, the great commander took leave of his officers in most affectionate and patriotic terms, and went to Annapolis, Maryland, where the congress of the States was in session, and to that body, when peace and order prevailed everywhere, resigned his commission and retired to Mount Vernon. It was in I789 that Washington was called to the chief magistracy of the nation. The inauguration took place April 30, in the presence of an immense multitude which had assembled to witness the new and imposing ceremony. In the manifold details of his civil administration Washington proved himself fully equal to the requirements of his position. In 1792, at the second presi I dential election, Washington was desirous to retire; but he yielded to the general wish of the country, and was again chosen president. At the third election, in 1796, he was again most urgently entreated to consent to remain in the executive chair. This he positively refused, and after March 4, 1797, he again retired to Mount Vernon for peace, quiet, and repose. Of the call again made on this illustrious chief to quit his repose at Mount Vernon and take command of all the United States forces, with rank of lieutenant-general, when war was threatened with France in 1798, nothing need here be stated, except to note the fact as an unmistakable testimonial of the high regard in which he was still held by his countrymen of all shades of political opinion. He patriotically accepted this trust, but a treaty of peace put a stop to all action under it. He again retired to Mount Vernon, where he died December 14, I799, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His remains were deposited in a family vault on the banks. of the Potomac, at Mount Vernon, where they still lie entombed. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, an eminent American statesman and scientist, was born of poor parentage, January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was apprenticed to his brother James to learn the printer's trade to prevent his running away and going to sea, and also because of the numerous family his parents had to support (there being seventeen children, Benjamin being the fifteenth). He was a great reader, and soon developed a taste for writing, and prepared a number of articles and had them published in the paper without his brother's knowledge, and when the authorship became known it resulted in difficulty for the CO jllP'EDIUll' OF 3'0IOGlRA -IHT. 13 young apprentice, although his articles had been received with favor by the public. James was afterwards thrown into prison for political reasons, and young Benjamin conducted tie paper alone during the time. In I823, however, he determined to endure his bonds no longer, and ran away, going to Philadelphia, where he arrived with only three pence as his store of wealth. With these he purchased three rolls, and ate them as he walked along the streets. He soon found employment as a journeyman printer. Two years later he was sent to England by the governor of Pennsylvania, and was promised the public printing, but did not get it. On his return to Philadelphia he established the "Pennsylvania Gazette," and soon found himself a person of great popularity in the province, his ability as a writer, philosopher, and politician having reached the neighboring colonies. He rapidly grew in prominence, founded the Philadelphia Library in I842, and two years later the American Philosophical Society and the University of Pennsylvania. He was made Fellow of the Royal Society in London in I775. His world-famous investigations in electricity and lightning began in I746. He became postmaster-general of the colonies in 1753, having devised an inter-colonial postal system. He advocated the rights of the colonies at all times, and procured the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. He was elected to the Continental congress of I775, and in 1776 was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, being one of the coinmmittee appointed to draft that paper. He represented the new nation in the courts of Europe, especially at Paris, where his simple dignity and homely wisdom won him the admiration of the court and the favor of the people. He was governor of Pennsylvania *our years; was also a member of the con I I i I vention in 1787 that drafted the constitution of the United States. His writings upon political topics, antislavery, finance, and economics, stamp him as one of the greatest statesmen of his time, while his "Autobiography" and "Poor Richard's Almanac" give him precedence in the literary field. In early life he was an avowed skeptic in religious matters, but later in life his utterances on this subject were less extreme, though he never expressed approval of any sect or creed. He died in Philadelphia April 17, I790. ANIEL \WEIISTER. Of world wide reputation for statesmanship, diplomacy, and oratory, there is perhaps no more prominent figure in the history of our country in the interval between I815 and I861, than Daniel Webster. He was born al' Salisbury (now Franklin), New Hampshire, Janluary iS, I782, and was the second son of Ebenezer and Abigail (Eastman) Webster. He enjoyed but limited educational advantagces in childhood, but spent a few months in I197, at Phillip Exeter Academy. He completed his preparation for college in the famnily of Rev. Samluel Wood, at Boscawen, and entered Dartmouth College in the fall of 1797. lie supported himself most of the timne during these years by teaching school and ig-raduated in 1801, having the credit of being tlle foremost scholar of his class. He entered the law office of Hon. Thomas WV. Thomlpson, at Salisbury. In I802 he continlued his legal studies at Fryeburg, Maine, where he was principal of the academy and copyist in,the office of the register of deeds. In the office of Christopher Gore, at Boston, he completed his studies in I804-5, and was admitted to the bar in the latter year, and at Boscawen and at Portsmouth soon rose to eminence in his profes 20 C OOMPENDIEUM OF BIOGRAPIHr. sion. He became known as a federalist but did not court political honors; but, attracting attention by his eloquence in opposing the war with England, he was elected to congress in I8I2. During the special session of May, 1813, he was appointed on the committee on foreign affairs and made his maiden speech June IO, 1813. Throughout this session (as afterwards) he showed his mastery of the great economic questions of the day. He was re-elected in I814. In I816 he removed to Boston and for seven years devoted himself to his profession, 'arning by his arguments in the celebrated 'Dartmouth College Case" rank among the most distinguished jurists of the country. In I820 Mr. Webster was chosen a member tf the state convention of Massachusetts, to revise the constitution. The same year he delivered the famous discourse on the " Pilgrim fathers," which laid the foundation for his fame as an orator. Declining a nomination for United States senator, in 1822 he was elected to the lower house of congress and was re-elected in 1824 and 1826, but in 1827 was transferred to the senate. He retained his seat in the latter chamber until 1841. During this time his voice was ever lifted in defence of the national life and honor and although politically opposed to him he gave his support to the administration of President Jackson in the latter's contest with nullification. Through all these years he was ever found upon the side of right and justice and his speeches upon all the great questions of the day have besome household words in almost every family. In I841 Mr. Webster was appointed secretary of state by President Harrison and was continued in the same office by President Tyler. While an incumbent of this office he showed consummate ability as a diplomat in the negotiation of the "Ash burton treaty" of August 9, I849, which settled many points of dispute between the United States and England. In May, 1843, he resigned his post and resumed his profession, and in December, 1845, took his place again in the senate. He contributed in an unofficial way to the solution of the Oregon question with Great Britain in I847. He was disappointed in 1848 in not receiving the nomination for the presidency. He became secretary of state under President Fillmore in I850 and in dealing with all the complicated questions of the day showed a wonderful mastery of the arts of diplomacy. Being hurt in an accident he retired to his home at Marshfield, where he died October 24, 1852. HORACE GREELEY. -As journalist, author, statesman and political leader, there is none more widely known than the man whose name heads this article. He was born in Amherst, New Hampshire, February 3, I8 i, and was reared upon a farm. At an early age he evinced a remarkable intelligence and love of learning, and at the age of ten had read every book he could borrow for miles around. About I821 the family removed to Westhaven, Vermont, and for some years young Greeley assisted in carrying on the farm. In I 826 he entered the office of a weekly newspaper at East Poultney, Vermont, where he remained about four years. On the discontinuance of this paper he followed his father's family to Erie county, Pennsylvania, whither they had moved, and for a time worked at the printer's trade in that neighborhood. In I83r Horace went to New York City, and for a time found employment as journeyman printer. January, 1833, in partnership with Francis Story, he published the Morning Post, the first penny COMPENDIU~iZ OF WBIOG GRAPHr. 21 paper ever printed. This proved a failure and was discontinued after three weeks. The business of job printing was carried on, however, until the death of Mr. Story in July following. In company with Jonas Winchester, March 22, I834, Mr. Greeley commenced the publication of the NVcw Yor/kr, a weekly paper of a high character. For financial reasons, at the same time, Greeley wrote leaders for other papers, and, in 1838, took editorial charge of the JeffcrsoliialZ, a Whig paper published at Albany. In 1840, on the discontinuance of that sheet, he devoted his energies to the Log Cabin, a campaign paper in the interests of the Whig party. In the fall of 1841 the latter paper was consolidated with the New Yorkcr, under the name of the Tribune, the first number of which was issued April o1, 1841. At the head of this paper Mr. Greeley remained until the day of his death. In 1848 Horace Greeley was elected to the national house of representatives to fill a vacancy, and was a member of that body until March 4, 1849. In 85 he went to Europe and served as a juror at the World's Fair at the Crystal Palace, London. In I855, he made a second visit to the old world. In I859 he crossed the plains and received a public reception at San Francisco and Sacramento. He was a member of the Republican national convention, at Chicago in I86o, and assisted in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President. The same year he was a presidential elector for the state of New York, and a delegate to the Loyalist convention at Philadelphia. At the close of the war, in I865, Mr. Greeley became a strong advocate of universal amnesty and complete pacification, and in pursuance of this consented to become one of the bondsmen for Jefferson Davis, who was imprisoned for treason. In I867 he was a delegate to the New York state convention for the revision of the constitution. In I870 he was defeated for congress in the Sixth New York district. At the Liberal convention, which met in Cincinnati, in May, 1872, on the fifth ballot Horace Greeley was nominated for presi. dent and July following was nominated for the same office by the Democratic convention at Baltimore. He was defeated by a large majority. The large amount of work done by him during the campaign, together with the loss of his wife about the same time, undermined his strong constitution, and he was seized with inflammation of the brain, and died November 29, 1872. In addition to his journalistic work, Mr. Greeley was the author of several meritorious works, among which were: "Hintq toward reform," "Glances at Europe,' " History of the struggle for slavery exten sion," "Overland journey to San Francisco," "The American conflict," and " Recollections of a busy life." ENRY CLAY.-In writing of this eminent American, Horace Greeley once said: "He was a matchless party chief, an admirable orator, a skillful legislator, wielding unequaled influence, not only over his friends, but even over those of his political antagonists who were subjected to the magic of his conversation and manners." A law, yer, legislator, orator, and statesman, few men in history have wielded greater influence, or occupied so prominent a place in the hearts of the generation in which they lived. Henry Clay was born near Richmond, in Hanover county, Virginia, April 12, I777, the son of a poor Baptist preacher who died when Henry was but five years 22 CC OMPENZDI)U.l O0,b'() Gt'IFHLIT.. old. The mother married again about ten years later and rnemoved to Kentucky leaving Henry a clerk in a store at Richmond. Soon afterward IHenry Clay secured a position as copyist in the office of the clerk of the high court of chancery, and four years later entered the law office of Robert Brooke, then attorney general and later governor of his native state. II 1797 Henry Clay was licensed as a lawyer and followed his mother to Kent,,uck, opening an office at Lexington and soon built up a profitable practice. Soon afterward Kentucky, in separating from Virginia, called a state convention for the purpose of framing a constitution, and Clay at that time tool a prominent part, publicly urging the adoption of a clause providing for the abolition- of slavery, but in this he was overruled, as he was fifty years later, when in the height of his fame he again advise-l the same course when the state constitution was revised in I850. Young Clay took a very active and conspicuous part in the presidential campaign in I8oo, favoring the election of Jefferson; and in ISo3 was chosen to represent Fayette county in the state legislature. In i8o6 General John Adair, then United States senator from Kentucky, resigned and Henry Clay was elected to fill the vacancy by the legislature and served through one session in which he at once assumed a prominent place. In 1807 he was again a representative in the legislature and wvas elected speaker of the house. At this time originated his trouble with Humphrey Marshall. Clay proposed that each member clothe himself and family wholly in American fabrics, which Marshall characterized as the " language of a demagogue." This led to a duel in which both parties were slightly injured. In 1So9 Henry Clay was again elected to fill a va i I. years later elected representative in tie lower house of congress, being chosen speaker of the house. About this time war was declared against Great Britain, and Clay took a prominent public place during this struggle and was later one of the commissioners sent to Europe by President Madison to negotiate peace, returning in September, IS 5, having been re-elected speaker of the house during his absence, and was re-elected unanimously. He was afterward reelected to congress and then became secretary of state under John Quincy Adams. In I831 he was again elected senator fromn Kentucky and remained in the senate most of the time until his death. Henry Clay was three times a candidate for the presidency, and once very nearly elected. IHe was the unanimous choice of the Whig party in I844 for the presidency, and a great effort was made to elect him but without success, his opponent, James K. Polk, carrying both Pennsylvania and New York by a very slender margin, while either of them alone would have elected Clay. Henry Clay died at Washington June 29, I852. AMES GILLESPIE BLAINE was one of the most distinguished of American statesmen and legislators. He was born January 31, 1830, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and received a thorough education, graduating at Washington College in 1847. In early life he removed to Maine and engaged in newspaper work, becoming editor of the Portland 'Advertiser." While yet a young man he gained distinction as a debater and became a conspicuous figure in political and public affairs. In I862 he was elected to congress on the Republican ticket in Maine and was re-elected five times. In cancy in the United States senate, and two I March, i 869, he was chosen speaker of the C OiIPENDIU2M OF; B 0 CGRAP PT.I 23 house of representatives and was re-elected in 1871 and again in 1873. In 1876 he was a representative in the lower house of congress and during that year was appointed United States senator by the Governor to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Morrill, who had been appointed secretary of the treasury. Mr. Blaine served in the senate until March 5, I88I, when President Garfield appointed him secretary of state, which position he resigned in December, i88I. Mr. Blaine was nominated for the presidency by the Republicans, at Chicago in June, I884, but was defeated by Grover Cleveland after an exciting and spirited campaign. During the later years of his life Mr. Blaine devoted most of his time to the completion of his work "Twenty Years in Congress," which had a remarkably large sale throughout the United States. Blaine was a man of great mental ability and force of character and during tile latter part of his life was one of the tiost noted men of his time. IHe was the originator of what is termed the " reciprocity idea" in tariff matters, and outlined the plan of carrying it into practical effect. In 1876 Robert G. Ingersoll ni making a nominating speech placing Blaine's name as a candidate for president before the national Republican convention at Cincinnati, referred to Blainle as the 'Plumed Knight" and thi's title clung to him during the remainder of his life. His death occurred at Washington, January 27, I893. OHN CALDWELL CALHOUN, a distinguished American statesman, was a native of South Carolina, born in Abbeville district, March iS, I782. He was given the advantages of a thorough education, graduating at Yale College in 1804, and adopted the calling of a lawyer. A Demo crat politically, at that time, he took a foremost part in the councils of his party and was elected to congress in IS I, supporting the tariff of 1816 and the establishing of the United States Bank. In 8I17 he became secretary of war in President Monroe's cabinet, and in 1824 was elected vice-president of the United States, on the ticket with John Quincy Adams, and re-elected in 1828, on the ticket with General Jackson. Shortly after this Mr. Calhoun became one of the strongest advocates of free trade and the principle of sovereignty of the states and was one of the originators of the doctrine that " any state could nullify unconstitutional laws of congress." iMeanwhile Calhoun had become an aspirant for the presidency, and the fact that General Jackson advanced the interests of his opponent, Van Buren, led to a quarrel, and Calhoun resicned the vicepresidency in I832 and was elected United States senator from South Carolina. It was during the same year that a convention was held in South Carolina at which the " Nullification ordinance" was adopted, the object of which was to test the constitutionality of the protective tariff measures, and to prevent if possible the collection of import duties in that state which had been levied more for the purpose of " protection " than revenue. This ordinance was to go into effect in February, 1833, and created a great deal of uneasiness throughout the country as it was feared there would be a clash between the state and federal authorities. It was in this serious condition of public affairs that Henry Clay came forward witll the the famous 'tariff compromise" of 1833, to which measure Calhoun and most of his followers gave their support and the crisis was averted. In I843 Mr. Calhoun was appointed secretary of state in President Tyier's cabinet, and it was under 24 C O2JPENVDIUAf OF BIOGRAPHr. his administration that the treaty concerning the annexation of Texas was negotiated. In 1845 he was re-elected to the United States senate and continued in the senate until his death, which occurred in March, 185o. He occupied a high rank as a scholar, student and orator, and it is conceded that he was one of the greatest debaters America has produced. The famous debate between Calhoun and Webster, in 1833, is regarded as the most noted for ability and eloquence in the history of the country. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER, one of America's most brilliant and profound lawyers and noted public men, was a native of New England, born at Deerfield, New Hampshire, November 5, i8i8. His father, Captain John Butler, was a prominent man in his day, commanded a company during the war of 1812, and served under Jackson at New Orleans. Benjamin F. Butler was given an excellent education, graduated at Waterville College, Maine, studied law, was admitted to the bar in I840, at Lowell, Massachusetts, where he commenced the practice of his profession and gained a wide reputation for his ability at the bar, acquiring an extensive practice and a fortune. Early in life he began taking an active interest in military affairs and served in the state militia through all grades from private to brigadier-general. In 1853 he was elected to the state legislature on the Democratic ticket in Lowell, and took a prominent part in the passage of legislation in the interests of labor. During the same year he was a member of the constitutional convention, and in I859 represented his district in the Massachusetts senate. When the Civil war broke out General Butler took the field and remained at the front most of the time during that bloody struggle. Part of the time he had! charge of Fortress Monroe, and in February, 1862, took command of troops forming part of the expedition against New Orleans, and later had charge of the department of the Gulf. He was a conspicuous figure during the continuance of the war. After the close of hostilities General Butler resumed his law practice in Massachusetts and in I866 was elected to congress from the Essex district. In I882 he was elected governor of Massachusetts, and in 1884 was the nominee of the " Greenback" party for president of the United States. He continued his legal practice, and maintained his place as one of the most prominent men in New England until the time of his death, which occurred January Io, I893. EFFERSON DAVIS, an officer, statesman and legislator of prominence in America, gained the greater part of his fame from the fact that he was president of the southern confederacy. Mr. Davis was born in Christian county, Kentucky, June 3, 1808, and his early education and surroundings were such that his sympathies and inclinations were wholly with the southern people. He received a thorough education, graduated at West Point in I828, and for a number of years served in the army at western posts and in frontier service, first as lieutenant and later as adjutant. In I835 he resigned and became a cotton planter in Warren county, Mississippi, where he took an active interest in public affairs and became a conspicuous figure in politics. In 1844 he was a presidential elector from Mississippi and during the two following years served as congressman from his district. He then became colonel of a iviississippi regiment in the war with Mexico and participated in some of the most severe oat COM3PENDIUMl OF b'IOGRAPHR. 25 I ties, being seriously wounded at Buena Vista. Upon his return to private life he again took a prominent part in political affairs and represented his state in the United States senate from 1847 to I851. le then entered President Pierce's cabinet as secretary of war, after which he again entered the United States senate, remaining until the outbreak of the Civil war. He then became president of the southern confederacy and served as such until captured in May, I865, at Irwinville, Georgia. He was held as prisoner of war at Fortress Monroe, until 1867, when he was released on bail and finally set free in I868. His death occurred December 6, 1889. Jefferson Davis was a man of excellent abilities and was recognized as one of the best organizers of his day. He was a forceful and fluent speaker and a ready writer. He wrote and published the " Rise and Fall of the Southern Confederacy," a work which is considered as authority by the southern people. OHN ADAMS, the second president of the United States, and one of the most conspicuous figures in the early struggles of his country for independence, was born in the present town of Quincy, then a portion of Braintree, Massachusetts, October 30, 1735. He received a thorough education, graduating at Harvard College in I755, studied law and was admitted to the bar in I758. H-e was well adapted for this profession and after opening an office in his native town rapidly grew in prominence and public favor and soon was regarded as one of the leading lawyers of the country. His attention was called to political affairs by the passage of the Stamp Act, in 1765, and he drew up a set of resolutions on the subject which were very popular. In 1768 he re I I moved to Boston and became one of the most courageous and prominent advocates of the popular cause and was chosen a member of the Colonial legislature from Boston. He was one of the delegates that represented Massachusetts in the first Con, tinental congress, which met in September, I774. In a letter written at this crisis he uttered the famous words: "The die is now cast; I have passed the Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish with my country, is my unalterable determination." He was a prominent figure in congress and advocated the movement for independence when a majority of the members were inclined to temporize and to petition the King. In May, 1776, he presented a resolution in congress that the colonies should assume the duty of self-government, which was passed. In June, of the same year, a resolution that the United States "are, and of right ought to be, free and independent," was moved by Richard H. Lee, seconded by Mr. Adams and adopted by a small majority. Mr. Adams was a member of the committee of five appointed June I to prepare a declaration of independence, in support of which he made an eloquent speech. He was chairman of the Board of War in I776 and in 1778 was sent as commissioner to France, but returned the following year. In 1780 he went to Europe, having been appointed as minister to negotiate a treaty of peace and commerce with Great Britain. Conjointly with Franklin and Jay he negotiated a treaty in I782. He was employed as a minister to the Court of St. James from 1785 to 1788, and during that period wrote his famous "Defence of the American Constitutions." In 1789 he became vice-president of the United States and was re-elected in 1792. In 1796 Mr. Adams was chosen presi 26 C OOMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHr. dent of the United States, his competitor being Thomas Jefferson, who became vicepresident. In I8oo he was the Federal candidate for president, but he was not cordially supported by Gen. Hamilton, the favorite leader of his party, and was defeated by Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Adams then retired from public life to his large estate at Quincy, Mass., where he died July 4, I826, on the same day that witnessed the death of Thomas Jefferson. Though his physical frame began to give way many years before his death, his mental powers retained their strength and vigor to the last. In his ninetieth year he was gladdened by.the elevation of his son, John Quincy Adams, to the presidential office. ENRY WARD BEECHER, one of the most celebrated American preachers and authors, was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, June 24,1813. His father was Dr. Lyman Beecher, also an eminent divine. At an early age Henry Ward Beecher had a strong predilection for a sea-faring life, and it was practically decided that he would follow this inclination, but about this time, in consequence of deep religious impressions which he experienced during a revival, he renounced his former intention and decided to enter the ministry. After having graduated at Amherst College, in 1834, he studied theology at Lane Seminary under the tuition of his father, who was then president of that institution. In I847 he became pastor of the Plymouth Congregational church in Brooklyn, where his oratorical ability and original eloquence attracted one of the largest congregations in the country. He continued to served this church until the time of his death, March 8, I887. Mr. Beecher alsc found time for a great amount of literary work- For a number of years he was editor of the "Independent" and also the "Christian Union. " He also produced many works which are widely known. Among his principal productions are "Lectures to Young Men," " Star Papers," "Life of Christ," "Life Thoughts," "Royal Truths" (a novel), "Norwood," "Evolution and Revolution," and "Sermons on Evolution and Religion." Mr. Beecher was also long a prominent advocate of anti-slavery principles and temperance reform, and, at a later period, of the rights of women. OHN A. LOGAN, the illustrious statesman and general, was born in Jackson county, Illinois, February 9, I824. In his boyhood days he received but a limited education in the schools of his native county. On the breaking out of the war with Mexico he enlisted in the First Illinois Volunteers and became its quartermaster. At the close of hostilities he returned home and was elected clerk of the courts of Jackson county in I84,9. Determining to supplement his education Logan entered the Louisville University, from which he graduated in 1852 and taking up the study of law was admitted to the bar. He attained popularity and success in his chosen profession and was elected to the legislature in 1852, 1853, 1856 and I857. He was prosecuting attorney from 1853 to 1857. He was elected to congress in I858 to fill a vacancy and again in I86o. At the outbreak of the Rebellion, Logan resigned his office and entered the army, and in September, I86I, was appointed colonel of the Thirty-first Illinois Infantry, which he led in the battles of Belmont and Fort Donelson. In the latter engagement he was wounded. In March, 1862, he was promoted to be brigadier-general and in the following month participated in the battles of Pittsburg Landing. In November, I862, 11 w 4. 4. I I M-z, TP............. t COMlPENArDIUM7rf OF B'IOGRA PHr. 29 for gallant conduct he was made major-general. Throughout the Vicksburg campaign he was in command of a division of the Seventeenth Corps and was distinguished at Port Gibson, Champion Hills and in the siege and capture of Vicksburg. In October, 1863, he was placed in command of the Fifteenth Corps, which he led with great credit. During the terrible conflict before Atlanta, July 22, I864, on the death of General McPherson, Logan, assuming command of the Army of the Tennessee, led it on to victory, saving the day by his energy and ability. I-e was shortly after succeeded by General O. O. Howard and returned to the command of his corps. He remained in command until the presidential election, when, feeling that his influence was needed at home he returned thither and there remained until the arrival of Sherman at Savannah, when General Logan rejoined his command. In May, I865, he succeeded General Howard at the head of the Army of the Tennessee. He resigned from the army in August, the same year, and in November was appointed minister to Mexico, but declined the honor. He served in the lower house of the fortieth and forty-first congresses, and was elected United States senator from his native state in I870, 1878 and I885. He was nominated for the vice-presidency in 1884 on the ticket with Blaine, but was defeated. General Logan was the author of "The Great Conspiracy, its origin and history," published in I885. He died at Washington, December 26, I886. OHN CHARLES FREMONT, the first Republican candidate for president, was born in Savannah, Georgia, January 2I, I813. He graduated from Charleston College (South Carolina) in I830, and turned his attention to civil engineering. He was shortly 2 I afterward employed in the department of government surveys on the Mississippi, and constructing maps of that region. He was made lieutenant of engineers, and laid before the war department a plan for penetrating the Rocky Mountain regions, which was accepted, and in 1842 he set out upon his first famous exploring expedition and explored the South Pass. He also planned an expedition to Oregon by a new route further south, but afterward joined his expedition with that of Wilkes in the region of the Great Salt Lake. He made a later expedition which penetrated the Sierra Nevadas, and the San Joaquin and Sacramento river valleys, makiIng maps of all regions explored. In 1845 he conducted the great expedition which resulted in the acquisition of California, which it was believed the Mexican government was about to dispose of to England. Learning that the Mexican governor was preparing to attack the American settlements in his dominion, Fremont determined to forestall him. The settlers rallied to his camp, and in June, I846, he defeated the Mexican forces at Sonoma Pass, and a month later completely routed the governor and his entire army. The Americans at once declared their independence of Mexico, and Fremont was elected governor of California. By this time Commodore Stockton had reached the coast with instructions from Washington to conquer California. Fremont at once joined him in that effort, which resulted in the annexation of California with its untold mineral wealth. Later Fremont became involved in a difficulty with fellow officers which resulted in a court martial, and the surrender of his commission. He declined to accept reinstatement. He afterward laid out a great road from the Mississippi river to San Francisco, and became the first United States senator from Califor 80 C OOIPEiVNZIU31 Or, BIOGRA PYT. nia, in 1849. In 1856 he was nominated by the new Republican party as its first candidate for president against Buchanan, and received I 4 electoral votes, out of 296. In I86I he was made major-general and placed in charge of the western department. He planned the reclaiming of the entire Mississippi valley, and gathered an army of thirty thousand men, with plenty of artillery, and was ready to move upon the confederate General Price, when he was deprived of his command. He was nominated for the presidency at Cincinnati in 1864, but withdrew. He was governor of Arizona in 1878, holding the position four years. He was interested in an engineering enterprise looking toward a great southern trans-continental railroad, and in his later years also practiced law in New York. He died July 13, 1890. W,ENDELL PHILLIPS, the orator and abolitionist, and a conspicuous figure in American history, was born November 29, I8 II, at Boston, Massachusetts. He received a good education at Harvard College, from which he graduated in I83I, and then entered the Cambridge Law School. After completing his course in that institution, in I833, he was admitted to the bar, in 1834, at Suffolk. He entered the arena of life at the time when the forces of liberty and slavery had already begun their struggle that was to culminate in the Civil war. William Lloyd Garrison, by his clearheaded, courageous declarations of the antislavery principles, had done much to bring about this struggle. Mr. Phillips was not a man that could stand aside and see a great struggle being carried on in the interest of humanity and look passively on. He first attracted attention as an orator in I837, at a meeting that was called to protest against the murder of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. The meeting would have ended in a few perfunctory resolutions had not Mr. Phillips by his manly eloquence taken the meeting out of the hands of the few that were inclined to temporize and avoid radical utterances. Having once started out in this career as an abolitionist Phillips never swerved from what he deemed his duty, and never turned back. He gave up his legal practice and launched himself heart and soul in the movement for the liberation of the slaves. He was an orator of very great ability and by his earnest efforts and eloquence he did much in arousing public sentiment in behalf of the anti-slavery cause-possibly more than any one man of his time. After the abolition of slavery Mr. Phillips was, if possible, even busier than before in the literary and lecture field. Besides temperance and women's rights, he lectured often and wrote much on finance, and the relations of labor and capital, and his utterances on whatever subject always bore the stamp of having emanated from a master mind. Eminent Clitics have stated that it might fairly be questioned whether there has ever spoken in America an orator superior to Phillips. The death of this great man occurred February 4, I884. W ILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN was one of the greatest generals that the world has ever produced and won immortal fame by that strategic and famous t march to the sea," in the war of the Rebellion. He was born February 8, 1820, at Lancaster, Ohio, and was reared in the family of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, as his father died when he was but nine years of age. He entered West Point in I836, was graduated from the same in 1840, and appointed a second lieutenant in the Third: C OiAIPEN'DIUi OF 'IO GRAPHr. 81 Artillery. He passed through the various grades of the service and at the outbreak of the Civil war was appointed colonel of the Thirteenth Regular Infantry. A full history of General Sherman's conspicuous services would be to repeat a history of the army. He commanded a division at Shiloh, and was instrumnental in the winning of that battle, and was also present at the siege of Vicksburg. On July 4, I863, he was appointed brigadier-general of the regular army, and shared with Hooker the victory of Missionary Ridge. He was commander of the Department of the Tennessee from October 27th until the appointment of General Grant as lieutenant-general, by whom he was appointed to the command of the Department of the Mississippi, which he assumed in March, I864. He at once began organizing the army and enlarging his communications preparatory to his march upon Atlanta, which he started the same time of the beginning of the Richmond campaign by Grant. He started on May 6, and was opposed by Johnston, who had fifty thousand men, but by consummate generalship, he captured Atlanta, on September 2, after several months of hard fighting and a severe loss of men. General Sherman started on his famous march to the sea November 15, 1864, and by December Io he was before Savannah, which he took on December 23. This campaign is a monument to the genius of General Sherman as he only lost 567 men from Atlanta to the sea. After resting his army he moved northward and occupied the following places: Columbia, Cheraw, Fayetteville, Ayersboro, Bentonville, Goldsboro, Raleigh, and April I8, he accepted the surrender of Johnston's army on a basis of agreement that was not received by the Government with favor, but finally accorded Johnston the same terms as Lee was given by General Grant. He was present at the grand review at Washington, and after the close of the war was appointed to the command of the military division of the Mississippi; later was appointed lieutenant-general, and assigned to the military division of the Missouri. When General Grant was elected president Sherman became general, March 4, I869, and succeeded to the command of the army. His death occurred February 14, I891, at Washington. A LEXANDER HAMILTON, one of the most prominent of the early American statesmen and financiers, was born in Nevis, an island of the West Indies, January II, I757, his father being a Scotchman and hismother of Huguenot descent. Owing to the death of his mother and business reverses which came to his father, young Hamilton was sent to his mother's relatives in Santa Cruz; a few years later was sent to a grammar school at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and in 1773 entered what is now known as Columbia College. Even at that time he began taking an active part in public affairs and his speeches, pamphlets, and newspaper articles on political affairs of the day attracted considerable attention. In I776 he received a captain's commission and served in Washington's army with credit, becoming aide-de-camp to Washington with rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1781 he resigned his. commission because of a rebuke from General Washington. He next received command of a New York battalion and participated in the battle of Yorktown. After this Hamilton studied law, served several terms in congress and was a member of the convention at which the Federal Constitution was drawn up. His work connected with "The Federalist" at about this time attracted much attention. Mr. Hamilton 82 COMPEENDIUMIL OF BIOG aG. P11r. was chosen as the first secretary of the United States treasury and as such was the author of t!e funding system and founder of tlhe United SStates Bank. In I798 he was nmade inspector-general of the army with the ralk of nmajor-gcneral and was also for a short time commnnander-in-chief. In I804 Aaron Burr, then candidate for governor of Newxv York, challenged Alexander Hamilton to fight a duel, Burr attributing his defeat to Hamilton's opposition, and Hamilton, though declaring the code as a relic of barbarism, accepted the challenge. They met at Weehawken, New Jersey, July 1, 1804. Hamilton declined to fire at his adversary, but at Burr's first fire was fatally wounded and died July 12, I804. ALEXANDER HAMILTON STEPHENS, vice-president of the southern confederacy, a former United States senator and governor of Georgia, ranks among the great men of American history. He was born February I, 1812, near Crawfordsville, Georgia. He was a graduate of the University of Georgia, and admitted to the bar in 1834. In 1837 he made his debut in political life as a member of the state house of representatives, and in 1841 declined the nomination for the same office; but in 1842 he was chosen by the same constituency as state senator. Mr. Stephens was one of the promoters of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. In 1843 he was sent by his district to the national house of representatives, which office he held for sixteen consecutive years. He was a member of the house during the passing of the Compromise Bill, and was one of its ablest and most active supporters. The same year (1850) Mr. Stephens was a delegate to the state convention that framed the celebrated 4 Georgia Platform," and was also a dele gate to the convention that passed the ordinance of secession, though he bitterly opposed that bill by voice and vote, yet he readily acquiesced in their decision after it received the votes of the majority of the convention. He was chosen vice-president of the confederacy without opposition, and in 1865 he was the head of the commission sent by the south to the Hampton Roads conference. He was arrested after the fall of the confederacy and was confined in Fort Warren as a prisoner of state but wvas released on his own parole. Mr. Stephens was elected to the forty-third, forty-fourth, forty-fifth, forty-sixth and forty-seventh congresses, with hardly more than nominal opposition. He was one of the Jeffersonian school of American politics. He wrote a number of works, principal among which are: "Constitutional View of the War between the States," and a ( Compendium of the History of the United States." He was inaugurated as governor of Georgia November 4th, 1882, but died March 4, I883, before the completion of his term. ROSCOE CONKLING was one of the most noted and famous of American statesmen. He was among the most finished, fluent and eloquent orators that have ever graced the halls of the American congress; ever ready, witty and bitter in debate he was at once admired and feared by his political opponents and revered by his followers. True to his friends, loyal to the last degree to those with whom his interests were associated, he was unsparing to his foes and it is said ''never forgot an injury." Roscoe Conkling was born at Albany, New York, on the 30th of October, 1829, being a son of Alfred Conkling. Alfred Conkling was also a native of New York, CO 1IP'E-NDIUJiI O017 IOG10 GRl fPt Z 83 born at East Hampton, October I2, 1789, and became one of the most eminent lawyers in the Empire state; published several legal works; served a term in congress; afterward as United States district judge for Northern New York, and in I852 was nminister to Mexico. Alfred Conkling died in 1874. Roscoe Conkling, whose name heads this article, at an early age took up the study of law and soon became successful and prominent at the bar. About I346 he removed to Utica and in I858 was elected mayor of that city. He was elected representative in congress from this district and was re-elected three times. In S67 he was elected United States senator fromn the state of New York and was re-elected in IS73 and I879. In hMay, I88r, he resigned on account of differences with the president. In March, I882, he was appointed and confirmed as associate justice of the United States supreme court but declined to serve. His death occurred April 18, S888. I.-ASHING`TON IRVING, one of the V ost eminent, talented and popular of American authors, was born in New York City, April 3, 1783. I-is father was William Irving, a merchant and a native of Scotland, who had married an Englisl lady and emigrated to America some twenty years prior to the birth of \ashington. Two of the older sons, \Villiam and Peter, were partially occupied with newspaper work and literary pursuits, and this fact naturally inclined Washington to follow their example. Washington Irving was given the advantages afforded by the common schools until about sixteen years of age when he began studying law, but continued to acquire his literary training by diligent perusal at home of the older English writers. When nineteen he made his first literary venture by printing in the ''Morning Chronicle," then edited by his brother, Dr. Peter Irving, a series of local sketches under the I;,;:-dc-plizunc of "'Jonathan Oldstyle." In 1804 he began an extensive trip through Europe, returned in I8o6, quiclly conpleted his legal studies and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced the profession. In I807 he began the amusing serial "Salmagundi," which had an immnediate success, and not only decided his future career but lorng determined the character of his writings. In IS08, assisted by his brother Peter, he wrote I Knickerbocker's H-istory of New York," and in 18 I an excellent bioglraphy of Cam:pbell, the poet, After this, for some time, Irving's attention was occupied by mercantile interests, but the commercial house in which he was a partner failed in 1817. In Ir14 he was editor of the Ph iladellphia I Analectic Magazine. " About I818 appeared his " SketchBook, " over the;toIz —'t'-p/l/,;ic of ''Geoffrey Crayon," whicil laid the foundation of Irvins's fortune and permanent fame. This was 'soon followed by the legends of _ Sleepy Hollow," and I T Rip Van Winkle," which at once took high rank as literary productions and Irving-'s reputation was firmly established in both the old and new worlds. After this the path of Irving was smooth, and his subsequent writings appeared with rapidity, including "Bracebridge Hall," "The Tales of a Traveler," " History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus," "'The Conquest of Granada," "The Alhambra," "Tour on the Prairies," "Astoria," '"Adventures of Captain Bonneville," "Wolfert's Roost," "Mahomet and his Successors," and '"Life of Washington," besides other works. Washington Irving was never married.. B4 COLMPENDIUMi1 OF BIOGRAPHr. He resided during the closing years of his life at Sunnyside (Tarrytown) on the Hudson, where he died November 28, I859. CHARLES SUMNER.-Boldly outlined on the pages of our history stands out the rugged figure of Charles Sumner, statesman, lawyer and writer. A man of unimpeachable integrity, indomitable will and with the power of tireless toil, he was a fit leader in troublous times. First in rank as an anti-slavery leader in the halls of congress, he has stamped his image upon the annals of his time. As an orator he took front rank and, in wealth of illustration, rhetoric and lofty tone his eloquence equals anything to be found in history. Charles Sumner was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January 6, I811, and was the son of Charles P. and Relief J. Sumner. The family had long been prominent in that state. Charles was educated at the Boston Public Latin School; entered Harvard College in 1826, and graduated therefrom in I830. In I831 he joined the Harvard Law School, then under charge of Judge Story, and gave himself up to the study of law with enthusiasm. His leisure was devoted to contributing to the American Jurist. Admitted to the bar in 1834 he was appointed reporter to the circuit court by Judge Story. He published several works about this time, and from I835 to 1837 and again in 1843 was lecturer in the law school. He had planned a lawyer's life, but in 1845 he gave his attention to politics, speaking and working against the admission of Texas to the Union and subsequently against the Mexican war. In 1848 he was defeated for congress on the Free Soil ticket. His stand on the antislavery question at that time alienated both friends and clients, but he never swerved from his convictions. In 1851 he was elected I to the United States senate and took his seat therein December I of that year. From this time his life became the history of the anti-slavery cause in congress. In August, 1852, he began his attacks on slavery by a masterly argument for the repeal of the fugitive slave law. On May 22, 1856, Preston Brooks, nephew of Senator Butler, of South Carolina, made an attack upon Mr. Sumner, at his desk in the senate, striking him over the head with a heavy cane. The attack was quite serious in its effects and kept Mr. Sumner absent from his seat in the senate for about four years. In 1857, 1863 and I869 he was re-elected to the office of senator, passing some twenty-three years in that position, always advocating the rights of freedom and equity. He died March II, I874. THOMAS JEFFERSON, the third president of the United States, was born near Charlottesville, Albemarle county, Virginia, April 13, 1743, and was the son of Peter and Jane (Randolph) Jefferson. He received the elements of a good education, and in 1760 entered William and Mary College. After remaining in that institution for two years he took up the study of law with George Wythe, of Williamsburg, Virginia, one of the foremost lawyers of his day, and was admitted to practice in I767. He obtained a large and profitable practice, which he held for eight years. The conflict between Great Britain and the Colonies then drew him into public life, he having for some time given his attention to the study of the sources of law, the origin of liberty and equal rights. Mr. Jefferson was elected to the Virginia house of burgesses in I769, and served in that body several years, a firm supporter of liberal measures, and, although a slave COMIlPENDIUIUIf OF BIOGRAPFTHr. 85 holder himself, an opponent of slavery. With others, he was a leader among the opposition to the king. He took his place as a member of the Continental congress June 21, 1775, and after serving on several committees was appointed to draught a Declaration of Independence, which he did, some corrections being suggested by Dr. Franklin and John Adams. This document was presented to congress June 28, I776, and after six days' debate was passed and was signed. In the following September Mr. Jefferson resumed his seat in the Virginia legislature, and gave much time to the adapting of laws of that state to the new condition of things. He drew up the law, the first ever passed by a legislature or adopted by a government, which secured perfect religious freedom. June I, I779, he succeeded Patrick Henry as governor of Virginia, an office which, after co-operating with Washington in defending the country, he resigned two years later. One of his own estates was ravaged by the British, and his house at Monticello was held by Tarleton for several days, and Jefferson narrowly escaped capture. After the death of his wife, in 1782, he accepted the position of plenipotentiary to France, which he had declined in I776. Before leaving he served a short time in congress at Annapolis, and succeeded in carrying a bill for establishing our present decimal system of currency, one of his most useful public services. He remained in an official capacity until October, 1789, and was a most active and vigilant minister. Besides the onerous duties of his office, during this time, he published "Notes on Virginia," sent to the United States seeds, shrubs and plants, forwarded literary and scientific news and gave useful advice to some of the leaders of the French Revolution. Mr. Jefferson landed in Virginia Novem ber I8, I789, having obtained a leave of absence from his post, and shortly after accepted Washington's offer of the portfolio of the department of state in his cabinet. He entered upon the duties of his office in March, 1791, and held it until January I, 1794, when he tendered his resignation. About this time he and Alexander Hamilton became decided and aggressive political opponents, Jefferson being in warm sympathy with the people in the French revolution and strongly democratic in his feelings, while Hamilton took the opposite side. In 1796 Jefferson was elected vice-president of the United States. In I8oo he was elected to the presidency and was inaugurated March 4, I80o. During his administration, which lasted for eight years, he having been re-elected in I804, he waged a successful war against the Tripolitan pirates; purchased Louisiana of Napoleon; reduced the public debt, and was the originator of many wise measures. Declining a nomination for a third term he returned to Monticello, where he died July 4, I826, but a few hours before the death of his friend, John Adams. Mr. Jefferson was married January I, 1772, to Mrs. Martha Skelton, a young, beautiful, and wealthy widow, who died September 6, 1782, leaving three children, three more having died previous to her demise. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT,known as " Commodore " Vanderbilt, was the founder of what constitutes the present immense fortune of the Vanderbilt family. He was born May 27, I794, at Port Richmond, Staten Island, Richmond county, New York, and we find him at sixteen years running a small vessel between his home and New York City. The fortifications of Staten and Long Islands were just in course of 86 C OOIIPENDIU~Iif OF bIOGRA P H. construction, and he carried the laborers from New York to the fortifications in his " perianger, " as it was called, in the day, and at night carried supplies to the fort on the Hudson. Later he removed to New York, where he added to his little fleet. At the age of twenty-three he was free from debt and was worth $9,ooo, and in ISI7, with a partner he built the first steamboat that was run between New York and New Brunswick, New Jersey, and became her captain at a salary of $1,ooo a year. The next year he took command of a larger and better boat and by 1824 he was in complete control of the Gibbon's Line, as it was called, which he had brought up to a point where it paid $40,000 ayear. Commodore Vanderbilt acquired the ferry between New York and Elizabethport, New Jersey, on a fourteen years' lease and conducted this on a paying basis. He severed his connections with Gibbons in I829 and engaged in business alone and for twenty years he was the leading steamboat man in the country, building and operating steamboats on the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, on the Delaware River and the route to Boston, and he had the monopoly of trade on these routes. In I850 he determined to broaden his field of operation and accordingly built the steamship Prometheus and sailed for the Isthmus of Darien, where he desired to make a personal investigation of the prospects of the American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company, in which he had purchased a controlling interest. Commodore Vanderbilt planned, as a result of this visit, a transit route from Greytown on the Atlantic coast to San Juan del Sud on the Pacific coast, which was a saving of 700 miles over the old route. In 1851 he placed three steamers on the Atlantic side and four on the Pacific side to accommodate the enor mous traffic occasioned by the discovery of gold in California. The following year three more vessels were added to his fleet and a branch line established from New Orleans to Greytown. In I853 the Cornmodore sold out his NicarauguaTransit Company, which had netted him $,ooo,ooo0 and built the renowned steam yacht, the "'North Star." He continued in the shipping business nine years longer and accumulated some $ro,ooo,ooo. In I86I he presented to the government his magnificent steamer " Vanderbilt, " which had cost him $8oo,ooo and for which he received the thanks of congress. In 1844 he became interested in the railroad business which he followed in later years and became one of the greatest railroad magnates of his time. He founded the Vanderbilt University at a cost of $I,ooo,ooo. He died January 4, I877, leaving a fortune estimated at over $oo, 000,ooo to his children. ANIEL BOONE was one of the most famous of the many American scouts, pioneers and hunters which the early settlement of the western states brought into prominence. Daniel Boone was born February II, I735, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, but while yet a young man removed to North Carolina, where he was married. In I769, with five companions, he penetrated into the forests and wilds of Kentucky -then uninhabited by white men. He had frequent conflicts with the Indians and was captured by them but escaped and continued to hunt in and explore that region for over a year, when, in I77I, he returned to his home. In the summer of 1773, he removed with his own and five other families into what was then the wilderness of Kentucky, and to defend his colony against the savages, he built, in I775, a fort at Boonesborough, CO1Pif-EA DJUi OF BIO G GR'A Atar. 87 on the Kentucky river. This fort was attacked by the Indians several times in 1777, but they were repulsed. The following year, however, Boone was surprised and captured by them. They took him to Detroit and treated him with leniency, but he soon escaped and returned to his fort which he defended with success against four hundred and fifty Indians in August, I778. His son, Enoch Boone, was the first white male child born in the state of Kentucky. In I795 Daniel Boone removed with his family to Missouri, locating about forty-five miles west of the present site of St. Louis, where he found fresh fields for his favorite pursuits -adventure, hunting, and pioneer life. His death occurred September 20, I820. ENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, said to have been America's greatest "poet of the people," was born at Portland, Maine, February 27, I807. He entered Bowdoin College at the age of fourteen, and graduated in I825. During his college days he distiiiguished himself in modern languages, and wrote several short poems, one of the best known of which was the " Hymn of the Moravian Nuns." After his graduation he entered the law office of his father, but the following year was offered the professorship of modern languages at Bowdoin, with the privilege of three years study in Europe to perfect himself in French, Spanish, Italian and German. After the three years were passed he returned to the United States and entered upon his professorship in 1829. His first volume was a small essay on the " Moral and Devotional Poetry of Spain" in 1833. In 1835 he published some prose sketches of travel under the title of " Outre Mer, a Pilgrimage beyond the Sea." In I835 he was elected to the chair of modern languages and literature at Harvard University and spent a year in Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, cultivating a knowledge of early Scandinavian literature and entered upon his professorship in I836. Mr. Longfellow published in 1839 Hyperion, a Romance," and "Voices of the Night," and his first volume of original verse comprising the selected poems of twenty years work, procured him immediate recognition as a poet. ' Ballads and other poexms" appeared in 1842, the "Spanish Student" a drama in three acts, in I843, "The Belfry of Bruges " in I846, "Evangeline, a Tale of Acadia," in I847, which was considered his master piece. In I845 he published a large volume of the "Poets and Poetry of Europe," 1849 " Kavanagh, a Tale," " The Seaside and Fireside" in 1850, "The Golden Legend " in i85, "The Song of IHiawatha " in I855, "The Courtship of Miles Standish " in I858, " Tales of a Wayside Inn " in 1863; "Flower de Luce" in I866;" "New England Tragedies" in I869; "The Divine Tragedy" in I87I; "Thrree Books of Song" in 1872; "The Hanging of the Crane" in 1874. He also published a nmasterly translation of Dante in I867-70 and the " Morituri Salutamus," a noem read at the fiftieth anniversary of his class at Bowdoin College. Prof. Longfellow resigned his chair at Harvard University in 1854, but continued to reside at Cambridge. Some of his poetical works have been translated into many languages, and their popularity rivals that of the best modern English poetry. He died March 24, I882, but has left an imperishable fame as one of the foremost of American poets. ETER COOPER was in three particulars-as a capitalist and manufacturer, as an inventor, and as a philanthropistconnected intimately with some of the most C OAIPEIVDIUMi1 OF BIOGRAPI2'I. important and useful accessions to the industrial arts of America, its progress in invention and the promotion of educational and benevolent institutions intended for the benefit of people at large. He was born in New York city, February 12, 179r. His life was one of labor and struggle, as it was with most of America's successful men. In early boyhood he commenced to help his iather as a manufacturer of hats. He attended school only for half of each day for a single year, and beyond this his acquisitions were all his own. When seventeen years old he was placed with John Woodward to learn the trade of coach-making and served his apprenticeship so satisfactorily that his master offered to set him up in business, but this he declined because of the debt and obligation it would involve. The foundation of Mr. Cooper's fortune was laid in the invention of an improvement in machines for shearing cloth. This was iargely called into use during the war of 1812 with England when all importations of cloth from that country were stopped. The machines lost their value, however, on the declaration of peace. Mr. Cooper then turned his shop into the manufacture of cabinet ware. He afterwards went into the grocery business in New York and finally he engaged in the manufacture of glue and isinglass which he carried on for more than fifty years. In 1830 he erected iron works in Canton, near Baltimore. Subsequently he erected a rolling and a wire mill in the city of New York, in which he first successfully applied anthracite to the puddling of iron. In these works, he was the first to roll wrought-iron beams for fire-proof buildings. These works grew to be very extensive, including mines, blast fdrnaces, etc. While in Baltimore Mr. Cooper built in motive engine ever constructed on this continent and it was successfully operated on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He also took a great interest and invested large capital in the extension of the electric telegraph, also in the laying of the first Atlantic cable; besides interesting himself largely in the New York state canals. But the most cherished object of Mr. Cooper's life was the establishment of an institution for the instruction of the industrial classes, which he carried out on a magnificent scale in New York city, where the "Cooper Union " ranks among the most important institutions. In May, 1876, the Independent party nominated Mr. Cooper for president of the United States, and at the election following he received nearly I00,000 votes. Sis death occurred April 4, 1883. ENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE, one of the most conspicuous Confederate generals during the Civil war, and one of the ablest military commanders of modern times, was born at Stratford House, Westmoreland county, Virginia, January I9, I807. In 1825 he entered the West Point academy and was graduated second in his class in 1829, and attached to the army as second lieutenant of engineers. For a number of years he was thus engaged in engineering work, aiding in establishing the boundary line between Ohio and Michigan, and superintended various river and harbor improvements, becoming captain of engineers in I838. He first saw field service in the Mexican war, and under General Scott performed valuable and efficient service. In that brilliant campaign he was conspicuous for professional ability as well as gallant and meritorious conduct, winning in quick 1830, after his own designs, the first loco- I succession the brevets of major, lieutenant C OJEII'E1ADIUll F0 BIO GIRAPH-IT. 89 colonel, and colonel for his part in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Cherubusco, Chapultepec, and in the capture of the city Mexico. At the close of that war he resumed his engineering work in connection with defences along the Atlantic coast, and from I852 to I855 was superintendent of the Military Academy, a position which he gave up to become lieutenant-colonel of the Second Cavalry. For several years thereafter he served on the Texas border, but happening to be near Washington at the time of John Brown's raid, October 17 to 25, I859, Colonel Lee was placed in command of the Federal forces employed in its repression. He soon returned to his regiment in Texas where he remained the greater part of I860, and March 16, i86I, became colonel of his regiment by regular promotion. Three weeks later, April 25, he resigned upon the secession of Virginia, went at once to Richmond and tendered his services to the governor of that state, being by acclamation appointed commander-inchief of its military and naval forces, with the rank of major-general. He at once set to work to organize and develop the defensive resources of his state and within a month directed the occupation in force of Manassas Junction. Meanwhile Virginia having entered the confederacy and Richmond become the capitol, Lee became one of the foremost of its military officers and was closely connected with Jefferson Davis in planning the moves of that tragic time. Lee participated in many of the hardest fought battles of the war among which were Fair Oaks, White Lake Swamps, Cold Harbor, and the Chickahominy, Manassas, Cedar Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Malvern Hill, Gettysburg, the battles of the Wilderness campaign, all the campaigns about Richmond, I I Petersburg, Five Forks, and others. Lee's surrender at Appomatox brought the war to a close. It is said of General Lee that but few commanders in history have been so quick to detect the purposes of an opponent or so quick to act upon it. Never surpassed, if ever equaled, in the art of winning the passionate, personal love and admiration of his troops, he acquired and held an influence over his army to the very last, founded upon a supreme trust in his judgment, prescience and skill, coupled with his cool, stable, equable courage. A great writer has said of him: "As regards the proper measure of General Lee's rank among the soldiers of history, seeing what he wrought with such resources as he had, under all the disadvantages that ever attended his operations, it is impossible to measure what he might have achieved in campaigns and battles with resources at his own disposition equal to those against which he invariably contended." Left at the close of the war without estate or profession, he accepted the presidency of Washington College at Lexington, Virginia, where he died October I2, I870. OHN JAY, first chief-justice of the United States, was born in New York, December 12, I745. He took up the study of law, graduated from King's College (Columbia College), and was admitted to the bar in I768. He was chosen a member of the committee of New York citizens to protest against the enforcement by the British government of the Boston Port Bill, was elected to the Continental congress which met in 1774, and was author of the addresses to the people of Great Britian and of Canada adopted by that and the succeeding congress. He was chosen to the provincial assembly of his own state, and AO C OJlIPENVDIUI.[ OF BIOGRA PHl. resigned from the Continental congress to serve in that body, wrote most of its public papers, including the constitution of the new state, and was then made chief-justice. He was again chosen as a member of the Continental congress in 1778, and became president of that body. He was sent to Spain as minister in 1780, and his services there resulted in substantial and moral aid for the struggling colonists. Jay, Franklin, and Adams negotiated the treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1782, and Jay was appointed secretary of foreign affairs in I784, and held the position until the adoption of the Federal constitution. During this time he had contributed strong articles to the "Federalist" in favor of the adoption of the constitution, and was largely instrumental in securing the ratification of that instrument by his state. He was appointed by Washington as first chief-justice of the United States in 1789. In this high capacity the great interstate and international questions that arose for immediate settlement came before him for treatment. In 1794, at a time when the people in gratitude for the aid that France had extended to us, were clamoring for the privilege of going to the aid of that nation in her struggle with Great Britain and her own oppressors, John Jay was sent to England as special envoy to negotiate a treaty with that power. The instrument known as "Jay's Treaty" was the result, and while in many of its features it favored our nation, yet the neutrality clause in it so angered the masses that it was denounced throughout the entire country, and John Jay was burned in effigy in the city of New York. Thetreaty was finally ratified by Washington, and approved, in August, I795. Having been elected governor of his state for three consecutive terms, he then retired from active life, declining an appointment as chief-justice of the supreme court, made by John Adams and confirmed by the senate. He died in New York in I829. HILLIP HENRY SHERIDAN was one of the greatest American cavalry generals. He was born March 6, i831, at Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, and was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated and was assigned to the First Infantry as brevet second lieutenant July I, I853. After serving in Texas, on the Pacific coast, in Washington and Oregon territories until the fall of I86I, he was recalled to the states and assigned to the army of southwest Missouri as chief quartermaster from the duties of which he was soon relieved. After the battle of Pea Ridge, he was quartermaster in the Corinth campaign, and on May 25 he was appointed colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry. On July I, in command of a cavalry brigade, he defeated a superior force of the enemy and was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. General Sheridan was then transferred to the army of the Ohio, and commanded a division in the battle of Perrysville and also did good service at the battle of Murfreesboro, where he was commissioned majorgeneral of volunteers. He fought with great gallantry at Chickamauga, after which Rosecrans was succeeded by General Grant, under whom Sheridan fought the battle of Chattanooga and won additional renown. Upon the promotion of Grant to lieutenantgeneral, he applied for the transfer of General Sheridan to the east, and appointed him chief of cavalry in the army of the Potomac. During the campaign of 1864 the cavalry covered the front and flanks of the infantry until May 8, when it was with I C OMJPENVDIUMf OPF lO GBIA1 t4AI 41 drawn and General Sheridan started on a raid against the Confederate lines of communication with Richmond and on May 25 he rejoined the army, having destroyed considerable of the confederate stores and defeated their cavalry under General Stuart at Yellow Tavern. The outer line of defences around Richmond were taken, but the second line was too strong to be taken by assault, and accordingly Sheridan crossed the Chickahominy at Meadow Bridge, reaching James River May 14, and thence by White House and Hanover Court House back to the army. The cavalry occupied Cold Harbor Mlay 31, which they held until the arrival of the infantry. On General Sheridan's next raid he routed Wade Hampton's cavalry, and August 7 was assigned to the command of the Middle Military division, and during the campaign of the Shenandoah Valley he performed the unheard of feat of " destroying an entire army." He was appointed brigadier-general of the regular army and for his victory at Cedar Creek he was promoted to the rank of major-general. General Sheridan started out February 27, I865, with ten thousand cavalry and destroyed the Virginia Central Railroad and the James River Canal and joined the army again at Petersburg March 27. He commanded at the battle of Five Forks, the decisive victory which compelled Lee to evacuate Petersburg. On April 9, Lee tried to break through Sheridan's dismounted command but when the General drew aside his cavalry and disclosed the deep lines of infantry the attempt was abandoned. General Sheridan mounted his men and was about, to charge when a white flag was flown at the head of Lee's column which betokened the surrender of the army. After the war General Sheridan had command of the army of the southwest, of the gulf and the depart I ment of Missouri until he was appointed lieutenant-general and assigned to the division of Missouri with headquarters at Chicago, and assumed supreme command of the army November I, 1883, which post he held until his death, August 5, I888. PHINEAS T. BARNUM, the greatest showman the world has ever seen, was born at Danbury, Connecticut, July 5, i8 o. At the age of eighteen years he began busi. ness on his own account. He opened a re. tail fruit and confectionery house, including a barrel of ale, in one part of an old carriage house. I-e spent fifty dollars in fitting up the store and the stock cost him seventy dollars. Three years later he put in a full stock, such as is generally carried in a country store, and the same year he started a Democratic newspaper, known as the "Herald of Freedom." He soon found himself in jail under a sixty days' sentence for libel. During the winter of 1834-5 he went to New York and began soliciting business for several Chatham street houses. In I835 he embarked in the show business at Niblo's Garden, having purchased the celebrated "Joice Heth" for one thousand dollars. He afterward engaged the celebrated athlete, Sig. Vivalia, and Barnum made his "first appearance on any stage," acting as a "super" to Sig. Vivalia on his opening night. He became ticket seller, secretary and treasurer of Aaron Turner's circus in 1836 and traveled with it about the country. His next venture was the purchase of a steamboat on the Mississippi, and engaged a theatrical company to show in the principal towns along that river. In I840 he opened Vaux Hall Garden, New York, with variety performances, and introduced the celebrated jig dancer, John Diamond. to the public. The next year he quit the show 42 CO4 1PE 1IVNDIUJl OP BIO GRAi -'JH. business and settled down in New York as agent of Sear's Pictorial Illustration of the Bible, but a few months later again leased Vaux Hall. In September of the same year he again left the business, and became i puff " writer for the Bowery Amphitheater. In December he bought the Scudder Museum, and a year later introduced the celebrated Tom Thumb to the world, taking him to England in 1844, and remaining there three years. He then returned to New York, and in I849, through James Hall Wilson, he engaged the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind, to come to this country and make a tour under his management. He also had sent the Swiss Bell Ringers to America in I844. He became owner of the Baltimore Museum and the Lyceum and Museum at Philadelphia. In I850 he brought a dozen elephants from Ceylon to make a tour of this country, and in I185 sent the "Bateman Children" to London. During I85r and I852 he traveled as a temperance lecturer, and became president of a bank at Pequonnock, Connecticut. In I852 he started a weekly pictorial paper known as the "' Illustrated News." In 1865 his Museum was destroyed by fire, and he immediately leased the Winter Garden Theatre, where he played his company until he opened his own Museum. This was destroyed by fire in I868, and he then purchased an interest in the George Wood Museum. After dipping into politics to some extent, he began his career as a really great showman in 187I. Three years later he erected an immense circular building in New York, in which he produced his panoramas. He has frequently appeared as a lecturer, some times on temperance, and some times on other topics, among which were "Humbugs of the World," "Struggles and Triumphs," etc. He was owner of the im mense menagerie and circus known as the "Greatest Show on Earth," and his fame extended throughout Europe and America. I-e died in I891. AMIES MADISON, the fourth president of the United States, 1809-17, was born at Port Conway, Prince George county, Virginia, March I6, I75I. H-e was the son of a wealthy planter, who lived on a fine estate called " Montpelier," which was but twenty-five miles from Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Madison was the eldest of a family of seven children, all of whom attained maturity. He received his early education at home under a private tutor, and consecrated himself with unusual vigor to study. At a very early age he was a proficient scholar in Latin, Greek, French and Spanish, and in 1769 he entered Princeton College, New Jersey. He graduated in 1771, but remained for several months after his graduation to pursue a course of study under the guidance of Dr. Witherspoon. He permanently injured his health at this time and returned to Virginia in 1772, and for two years he was immersed in the study of law, and at the same time made extended researches in theology, general literature, and philosophical studies. He then directed his full attention to the impending struggle of the colonies for independence, and also took a prominent part in the religious controversy at that time regarding so called persecution of other religious denominations by the Church of England. Mr. Madison was elected to the Virginia assembly in 1776 and in November, 1777, he was chosen a member of the council of state. He took his seat in the continental congress in March, I780. He was made chairman of the committee on foreign relations, and drafted an able memoranda for the use of COMIPENDIUIZM OF BI OGIRA z'It. 43 the American ministers to the French and Spanish governments, that established the claims of the republic to the territories between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi River. He acted as chairman of the ways and means committee in 1783 and as a member of the Virginia legislature in 1784-86 he rendered important services to the state. Mr. Madison represented Virgiana in the national constitutional convention at Philadelphia in 1787, and was one of the chiei framers of the constitution. He was a member of the first four congresses, I789-97, and gradually became identified with the anti-federalist or republican party of which he eventually became the leader. He remained in private life during the administration of John Adams, and was secretary of state under President Jefferson. Mr. Madison administered the affairs of that post with such great ability that he was the natural successor of the chief magistrate and was chosen president by an electoral vote of 122 to 53. He was inaugurated March 4, 8o09, at that critical period in our history when the feelings of the people were embittered with those of England, and his first term was passed in diplomatic quarrels, which finally resulted in the declaration of war, June I8, I812. In the autumn of that year President Madison was re-elected by a vote of 128 to 89, and conducted the war for three years with varying success and defeat in Canada, by glorious victories at sea, and by the battle of New Orleans that was fought after the treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent, December 24, 1814. During this war the national capitol at Washington was burned, and many valuable papers were destroyed, but the declaration of independence was saved to the country by the bravery and courage of Mr. Madison's illustrious wife. A commercial treaty was negotiated with Great Britain in I815, and in April, 816, a national bank was incorporated by congress. Mr. Madison was succeeded, [March 4, 18 7, by Jamncs Monroe, and retired into private life on his estate at Montpelier, where he died June 28, 1836. 4REDERICK DOUGLASS, a noted A.m;riican character, was a protege of the great abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, by whom he was aided in gaining his education. Mr. Douglass was born in Tuckahoe county, Maryland, in February, IS17, his mother being a negro woman and his father a white man. He was born in slavery and belonged to a man by the name of Lloyd, under which name he went until he ran away from his master and changed it to Douglass. At the age of ten years he was sent to Baltimore where he learned to read and write, and later his owner allowed him to hire out his own time for three dollars a week in a shipyard. In September, I838, he fled from Baltimore and made his way to New York, and from thence went to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Here he was married and supported himself and family by working at the wharves and in various workshops. In the summer of I841 he attended an anti-slavery convention at Nantucket, and made a speech which was so well received that he was offered the agency of the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society. In this capacity he traveled through the New England states, and about the same time he published his first book called ' Narrative of my Experience in Slavery." Mr. Douglass went to England in I845 and lectured on slavery to large and enthusiastic audiences in all the large towns of the country, and his friends made up a purse of seven hundred and fifty dollars and purchased his freedom in due form of law. 44 C Ol3OPEiNDIUM OF rIO GRA PHrr. Mr. Douglass applied himself to the delivery of lyceum lectures after the abolition of slavery, and in I870 he became the editor of the " New National Era " in Washington. In 1871 he was appointed assistant secretary of the commission to San Domingo and on his return he was appointed one of the territorial council for the District of Colorado by President Grant. He was elected presidential elector-at-large for the state of New York and was appointed to carry the electoral vote to Washington. He was also United States marshal for the District of Columbia in I876, and later was recorder of deeds for the same, from which position he was removed by President Cleveland in I886. In the fall of that year he visited England to inform the friends that he had made while there, of the progress of the colored race in America, and on his return he was appointed minister to Hayti, by President Harrison in I889. His career as a benefactor of his race was closed by his death in February, 1895, near Washington. W ILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.-The ear for rhythm and the talent for graceful expression are the gifts of nature, and they were plentifully endowed on the above named poet. The principal characteristic of his poetry is the thoughtfulness and intellectual process by which his ideas ripened in his mind, as all his poems are bright, clear and sweet. Mr. Bryant was born November 3, 1794, at Cummington, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, and was educated at Williams College, from which he graduated, having entered it in I 8o. He took up the study of law, and in I815 was admitted to the bar, but after practicing successfully for ten years at Plainfield and Great Barrington, he removed to New York in 1825. The following year he became the editor of the "Evenini, Post," which he edited until his death, aiind under his direction this paper maintained, through a long series of years, a high standing by the boldness of its protests against slavery before the war, by its vigorous support of the government during the war, and by the fidelity and ability of its advocacy of the Democratic freedom in trade. Mr. Bryant visited Europe in I834, I845, I849 and I857, and presented to the literary world the fruit of his travels in the series of "Letters of a Traveler," and "Letters from Spain and Other Countries." In the world of literature he is known chiefly as a poet, and here Mr. Bryant's name is illustrious, both at home and abroad. Hte contributed verses to the "Country Gazette " before he was ten years of age, and at the age of nineteen he wrote " Thanatopsis," the most impressive and widely known of his poems. The later outgrowth of his genius was his translation of Homer's "Iliad" in I870 and the "Odyssey" in I87I. He also made several speeches and addresses which have been collected in a comprehensive volume called " Orations and Addresses." He was honored in many ways by his fellow citizens, who delighted to pay tributes of respect to his literary eminence, the breadth of his public spirit, the faithfulness of his service, and the worth of his private character. Mr. Bryant died in New York City June 12, 1878. W ILLIAM HENRY SEWARD, the secretary of state during one of the most critical times in the history of our country, and the right hand man of President Lincoln, ranks among the greatest statesmen America has produced. Mr. Seward was born May I6, I80I, at Florida, Orange county, New York, and with such I I..7- — -: I i ZI 4 K~V; 4. I I I i -k i i. II I i i I, I N X L N 4ftaWT14 Z- 111%Z L —L — "0071- `- ILL = — - - - I COAPEIVDIUM1 OF BIO GRAPHTr. facilities as the place afforded he fitted himself for a college course. He attended Union College at Schenectady, New York, at the age of fifteen, and took his degree in the regular course, with signs of promise in I820, after which he diligently addressed himself to the study of law under competent instructors, and started in the practice of his profession in 1823. Mr. Seward entered the political arena and in IS28 we find him presiding over a convention in New York, its purpose being the nomination of John Quincy Adams for a second term. He was married in I824 and in I830 was elected to the state senate. From I838 to 1842 he was governor of the state of New York. Mr. Seward's next important position was that of United States senator from New York. W. H. Seward was chosen by President Lincoln to fill the important office of the secretary of state, and by his firmness and diplomacy in the face of difficulties, he aided in piloting the Union through that period of strife, and won an everlasting fame. This great statesman died at Auburn, New York, October Io, 1872, in the seventy-second year of his eventful life. JOSEPH JEFFERSON, a name as dear as it is familiar to the theater-going world in America, suggests first of all a funloving, drink-loving, mellow voiced, goodnatured Dutchman, and the name of "Rip Van Winkle " suggests the pleasant features of Joe Jefferson, so intimately are play and player associated in the minds of those who have had the good fortune to shed tears of laughter and sympathy as a tribute to the greatness of his art. Joseph Jefferson was born in Philadelphia, February 20, I829. His genius was an inheritance, if there be such, as his great-grandfather, Thomas 3 Jefferson, was a manager and actor in Eng, land. His grandfather, Joseph Jefferson, was the most popular comedian of the New York stage in his time, and his father, Joseph Jefferson, the second, was a good actor also, but the third Joseph Jefferson outshone them all. At the age of three years Joseph Jefferson came on the stage as the child in "Pizarro," and his training was upon the stage from childhood. Later on he lived and acted in Chicago, Mobile, and Texas. After repeated misfortunes he returned to New Orleans from Texas, and his brother-in-law, Charles Burke, gave him money to reach Philadelphia, where he joined the Burton theater company. Here his genius soon asserted itself, and his future became promising and brilliant. His engagements throughout the United States and Australia were generally successful, and when he went to England in 1865 Mr. Boucicault consented to make some important changes in his dramatization of Irving's story of Rip Van Winkle, and Mr. Jefferson at once placed it in the front rank as a comedy. He made a fortune out of it, and played nothing else for many years. In later years, however, Mr. Jefferson acquitted himself of the charge of being a one-part actor, and the parts of "Bob Acres," "Caleb Plummer" and "Golightly " all testify to the versatility of his genius. EORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN, a noted American general, was born in Philadelphia, December 3, IS26. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and in I846 from West Point, and was breveted second lieutenant of engineers. He was with Scott in the Mexican war, taking part in all the engagements from Vera Cruz to the final capture of the Mexi 48 C O4PEPDINUfIM OF BIOGRA PHr. can capital, and was breveted first lieutenant and captain for gallantry displayed on various occasions. In I857 he resigned his commission and accepted the position of chief engineer in the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, and became president of the St. Louis & Cincinnati Railroad Company. He was commissioned majorgeneral by the state of Ohio in I86I, placed in command of the department of the Ohio, and organized the first volunteers called for from that state. In May he was appointed major-general in the United States army, and ordered to disperse the confederates overrunning West Virginia. He accomplished this task promptly, and received the thanks of congress. After the first disaster at Bull Run he was placed in command of the department of Washington, and a few weeks later of the Army of the Potomac. Upon retirement of General Scott the command of the entire United States army devolved upon McClellan, but he was relieved of it within a few months. In March, 1862, after elaborate preparation, he moved upon Manassas, only to find it deserted by the Confederate army, which had been withdrawn to impregnable defenses prepared nearer Richmond. He then embarked his armies for Fortress Monroe and after a long delay at Yorktown, began the disastrous Peninsular campaign, which resulted in the Army of the Potomac being cooped up on the James River below Richmond. His forces were then called to the support of General Pope, near Washington, and he was left without an army. After Pope's defeat McClellan was placed in command of the troops for the defense of the capital, and after a thorough organization he followed Lee into Maryland and the battles of Antietam and South Mountain ensued. The delay which followed caused general dissatisfaction, and he was relieved of his command,and retired from active service. In I864 McClellan was nominated for the presidency by the Democrats, and overwhelmingly defeated by Lincoln, three states only casting their electoral votes for McClellan. On election day he resigned his commission and a few months later went to Europe where he spent several years. He wrote a number of military text-books and reports. His death occurred October 29, I885. AMUEL J. TILDEN.-Among the great statesmen whose names adorn the pages of American history may be found that of the subject of this sketch. Known as a lawyer of highest ability, his greatest claim to immortality will ever lie in his successful battle against the corrupt rings of his native state and the elevation of the standard of official life. Samuel J. Tilden was born in New Lebanon, New York, February 9, I814. He pursued his academic studies at Yale College and the University of New York, taking the course of law at the latter. He was admitted to the bar in I84I. His rare ability as a thinker and writer upon public topics attracted the attention of President Van Buren, of whose policy and administration he became an active and efficient champion. He made for himself a high place in his profession and amassed quite a fortune as the result of his industry and judgment. During the days of his greatest professional labor he was ever one of the leaders and trusted counsellors of the Democratic party. He was a member of the conventions to revise the state constitution, both in 1846 and I867, and served two terms in the lower branch of the state leg COlP'IZ~'ZDI)IiI O' O P0 IOGRA PHIIr. 49 islature. IHe was one of the controlling spirits in the overthrow of the notorious "Tweed rinr " and the reformation of the government of the city of New York. In 1874 he was elected governor of the state of New York. While in this position he assailed corruption in high places, successfully battling with the iniquitous "canal ring " and crushed its sway over all departments of the government. Recognizing his character and executive ability Mr. Tilden was nominated for president by the national Democratic convention in I876. At the election he received a much larger popular vote than his opponent, and 184 uncontested electoral votes. There being some electoral votes contested, a commission appointed by congress decided in favor of the Republican electors and Mr. Hayes, the candidate of that party was declared elected. In I88o, the Democratic party, feeling that Mr. Tilden had been lawfully elected to the presidency tendered the nomination for the same office to Mr. Tilden, but he declined, retiring from all public functions, owing to failing health. He died August 4, I886. By will he bequeathed several millions of dollars toward the founding of public libraries in New York City, Yonkers, etc. OAH WEBSTER.-As a scholar, lawyer, author and journalist, there is no one who stands on a higher plane, or whose reputation is better established than the honored gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He was a native of West Hartford, Connecticut, and was born October 17, I758. He came of an old New England family, his mother being a descendant of Governor William Bradford, of the Plymouth colony. After acquiring a solid education in early life Dr. Webster entered Yale College, from which he graduated in I778. For a while he taught school in Hartford, at the same time studying law, and was admitted to the bar in I781. He taught a classical school at Goshen, Orange county, New York, in I782-83, and while there prepared his spelling book, grammar and reader, which was issued under the title of "A Grammatical Institute of the English Language," in three parts, — so successful a work that up to I876 something like forty million of the spelling books had been sold. In I786 he delivered a course of lectures on the English language in the seaboard cities and the following year taught an academy at Philadelphia. From December 17, I787, until November, I788, he edited the "American Magazine," a periodical that proved unsuccessful. In I789-93 he practiced law in Hartford having in the former year married the daughter of William Greenleaf, of Boston. He returned to New York and November, I793, founded a daily paper, the "Minerva," to which was soon added a semi-weekly edition under the name of the " Herald." The former is still in existence under the name of the "Commercial Advertiser." In this paper, over the signature of "'Curtius," he published a lengthy and scholarly defense of "John Jay's treaty." In I798, Dr. Webster moved to New Haven and in I807 commenced the preparation of his great work, the "American Dictionary of the English Language," which was not completed and published until I828. He made his home in Amherst, Massachusetts, for the ten years succeeding 1812, and was instrumental in the establishment of Amherst College, of which institution he was the first president of the board of trustees. During I824-5 he resided in Europe, pursuing his philological studies in Paris. He completed his dictionary from the libraries of Cambridge University in I825, and de 50 COCO 1ZPENDIUi1 OF 1' /OGI. i A /l'l-. voted his leisure for the remainder of his life to the revision of that and his school books. Dr. W\ebster was a member of the legislatures of both Connecticut and Massachusetts, was jucdge of one of the courts of the former state and was identified with nearly all the literary and scientific societies in the neighborhood of Amherst College. He died in New Haven, May 28, I843. Among the more prominent works emanating from the fecund pen of Dr. Noah W\ebster besides those mentioned above are the following: "Sketches of American Policy," "Winthrop's Journal," "A Brief History of Epidemics," " Rights of Neutral Nations in time of War," " A Philosophical and Practical Grammar of the English Language," "Dissertations on the English Language," "A Collection of Essays," "The Revolution in France," "Political Progress of Britain," "Origin, History, and Connection of the Languages of Western Asia and of Europe," and many others. W ILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, the great anti-slavery pioneer and leader, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, December 12, 1804. He was apprenticed to the printing business, and in I828 was induced to take charge of the "Journal of the Times" at Bennington, Vermont. While supporting John Quincy Adams for the presidency he took occasion in that paper to give expression of his views on slavery. These articles attracted notice, and a Quaker named Lundy, editor of the "Genius of Emancipation," published in Baltimore, induced him to enter a partnership with him for the conduct of his paper. It soon transpired that the views of the partners were not in harmony, Lundy favoring grad-,uai emancipation, while Garrison favored immediate freedom. In I850 Mr. Garrison was thrown into prison for libel, not being able to pay a fine of fifty dollars and costs. In his cell he wrote a number of poems which stirred the entire north, and a merchant, Mr. Tappan, of New York, paid his fine and liberated him, after seven weeks of confinement. He at once began a lecture tour of the northern cities, denouncing slavery as a sin before God, and demanding its immediate abolition in the name of religion and humanity. He opposed the colonization scheme of President Monroe and other leaders, and declared the right of every slave to immediate freedom. In 183I he formed a partnership with Isaac Knapp, and began the publication of the "Liberator" at Boston. The "immediate abolition " idea began to gather power in the north, while the south became alarmed at the bold utterance of this journal. The mayor of Boston was besought by southern influence to interfere, and upon investigation, reported upon the insignificance, obscurity, and poverty of the editor and his staff, which report was widely published throughout the country. Rewards were offered by the southern states for his arrest and conviction. Later Garrison brought from England, where an emancipation measure had just been passed, some of the great advocates to work for the cause in this country. In I835 a mob broke into his office, broke up a meeting of women, dragged Garrison through the street with a rope around his body, and his life was saved only by the interference of the police, who lodged him in jail. Garrison declined to sit in the World's Anti-Slavery convention at London in I840, because that body had refused women representation. He opposed the formation of a p,litical party with emancipation as its basis. COPII'E'iVNDIUI[ OFI B'10 GRiAPHr. 51 He favored a dissolution of the union, and declared the constitution which bound the free states to the slave states ( A covenant with death and an agreement with hell." In I843 he became president of the American Anti-Slavery society, which position he held until I865, when slavery was no more. During all this time the "' Liberator" had continued to promulgate anti-slavery doctrines, but in 1865 Garrison resigned his position, and declared his work was completed. He died May 24, I879. JOHN BROWN (" Brown of Ossawatomnie"), a noted character in American history, was born at Torrington, Connecticut, May 9, iSoo. In his childhood he removed to Ohio, where he learned the tanner's trade. He married there, and in I855 settled in Kansas. He lived at the village of Ossawatomie in that state, and there began his fight against slavery. He advocated immediate emancipation, and held that the negroes of the slave states merely waited for a leader in an insurrection that would result in their freedom. I-e attended. the convention called at Chatham, Canada, in I859, and was the leading spirit in orgarnizing a raid upon the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His plans were well laid, and carried out in great secrecy. He rented a farm house near Harper's Ferry in the summner of I859, and on October I6th of that year, with about twenty followers, he surprised and captured the United States arsenal, with all its supplies and arms. To his surprise, the negroes did not come to his support, and the next day he was attacked by the Virginia state militia, wounded and captured. He was tried in the courts of the state, convicted, and was hanged at Charlestown, December 2, I859. The raid and its results had a tremendous effect, and hastened the culmination of the troubles between the north and south. The south had the advantage in discussing this event, claiming that the sentiment which inspired this act of violence was shared by the anti-slavery element of the country. EDWIN BOOTH had no peer upon the American stage during his long career as a star actor. He was the son of a famous actor, Junius Brutus Booth, and was born in 1833 at his father's home at Belair, near Baltimore. At the age of sixteen he made his first appearance on the stage, at the Boston Museum, in a minor part in "Richard III." It was while playing in California in I851 that an eminent critic called general attention to the young actor's unusual talent. Iowever, it was not until 1863, at the great Shakspearian revival at the WVinter Garden Theatre, New York, that the brilliancy o( his career began. His Hamlet held the boards for 0oo nights in succession, and from that time forth Booth's reputation was established. In I868 he opened his own theatre (Booth's Theater) in New York. IMr. Booth never succeeded as a manager, however, but as an actor he was undoubtedly the most popular man on the American stage, and perhaps the most eminent one in the world. In England he also won the greatest applause. Mr. Booth's work was confined mostly to Shakspearean roles, and his art was characterized by intellectual acuteness, fervor, and poetic feeling. His Hamlet, Richard II, Richard III, and Richelieu gave play to his greatest powers. In I865, when his brother, John Wilkes Booth, enacted his great crime, Edwin Booth re. solved to retire from the stage, but was pursuaded to reconsider that decision. The odium did not in any way attach to the .52 COlPE'NEADIU'Ulf OF BIOGRA PHi.2 great actor, and his popularity was not affected. In all his work Mr. Booth clung closely to the legitimate and the traditional in drama, making no experiments, and offering little encouragement to new dramatic authors. His death occurred in New York, June 7, 1894. OSEPH HOOKER, a noted American officer, was born at Hadley, Massachusetts. November 13, 1814. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1837, and was appointed lieutenant of artillery. He served in Florida in the Seminole war, and in garrison until the outbreak of the Mexican war. During the latter he saw service as a staff officer and was breveted captain, major and lieutenant-colonel for gallantry at Monterey, National Bridge and Chapultepec. Resigning his commission in 1833 he took up farming in California, which he followed until I86I. During this time he acted as superintendent of military roads in Oregon. At the outbreak of the Rebellion Hooker tendered his services to the government, and, May 17, I86I, was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. He served in the defence of Washington and on the lower Potomac until his appointment to the command of a division in the Third Corps, in March, I862. For gallant conduct at the siege of Yorktown and in the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Frazier's Farm and Malvern Hill he was made major-general. At the head of his division he participated in the battles of Manassas and Chantillv. September 6. I862, he was placed at the head of the First Corps, and in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam acted with his usual gallantry, being wounded in the latter engagement. On rejoining the army in November he was made brigadier-general in the regular army. On General Burnside attaining the command of the Army of the Potomac General Hooker was placed in command of the center grand division, consisting of the Second and Fifth Corps. At the head of these gallant men lie participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. In January, I863, General Hooker assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, and in May following fought the battle of Chancellorsville. At the time of the invasion of Pennsylvania, owing to a dispute with General Halleck, Hooker requested to be relieved of his command, and June 28 was succeeded by George G. Meade. In September, 1863, General Hooker was given command of the Twentieth Corps and transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, and distinguished himself at the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Ringgold. In the Atlanta campaign he saw almost daily service and merited his wellknown nickname of " Fighting Joe." July 30, 1864, at his own request, he was relieved of his command. He subsequently was in command of several military departments in the north, and in October, I868, was retired with the full rank of major-general. He died October 31, I879. AY GOULD, one of the greatest financiers that the world has ever produced, was born May 27, I836, at Roxbury, Delaware county, New York. He spent his early years on his father's farm and at the age of fourteen entered Hobart Academy, New York, and kept books for the village blacksmith. He acquired a taste for mathematics and surveying and on leaving school found employment in makingthe surveyor's map of Ulster county. He surveyed very extensively in the state and accumulated five thousand dollars as the fruits of his labor. He COMP1_, ENDIU(1[ OF,]10GRAPI't'Y. was then stric':<n with typhoid lever but recovered and ma(iC the acquaintance of one Zadclockl Pratt, who sent him into the western part of the state to locate a site for a tannery. HI-e chose a fine hemlock grove, bttilt a sawmill and blacksmith shop and wNas soon doing a large lumber business with Mr. Prati Mr. Gould soon secured control of the entire plant, which he sold out just before the panic of I857 and in this year he became the largest stockholderinthe Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, bank. Shortly after the crisis he bought the bonds of the Rutland & Washington Railroad at ten cents on the dollar, and put all his money into railroad securities. For a long time he conducted this road which he consolidated with the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad. In I859 he removed to New York and became a heavy investor in Erie Railroad stocks, entered that company and was president until its reorganization in 1872. In December, I88o, SMr. Gould was in control of ten thousand miles of railroad. In I887 he purchased the controlling interest in the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Co., and wvas a joint owner with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Co. of the western portion of the Southern Pacific line. Other lines soon came under his control, aggregating thousand of miles, and he soon was recognized as one of the world's greatest railroad magnates. He continued to hold his place as one of the master financiers of the century until the time of his death which occurred December 2, I892. THOMAS HART BENTON, a very prominent United States senator and statesman, was born at Hillsborough, North Carolina, March 14, 1782. He removed to Tennessee in early life, studied law, and began to practice at Nashville about 18Io. During the war of 1812-11 5 he served as colonel of a Tennessee regiment under General Andrew Jackson. In ISI 5 he removed to St. Louis, Missouri, and in I820 was chosen United States senator for that state. Having been re-elected in I826, he supported President Jackson in his opposition to the United States bank and advocated a gold and silver currency, thus gaining the name of "( Old Bullion," by which he was familiarly known. For many years he was the most prominent man in Missouri, and took rank among the greatest statesmen of his day. He was a member of the senate for thirty years and opposed the extreme states' rights policy of John C. Calhoun. In I852 he was elected to the house of representatives in which he opposed the repeal of the Missouri compromise. He was op. posed by a powerful party of States' Rights Democrats in Missouri, who defeated him as a candidate for governor of that state in I856. Colonel Benton published a considerable work in two volumes in I854-56, entitled "Thirty Years' View, or a History of the Working of the American Government for Thirty Years, 1820-50." He died April Io, I858. TEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS. One of the most prominent figures in political circles during the intensely exciting days that preceded the war, and a leader of the Union branch of the Democratic party was the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He was born at Brandon, Rutland county, Vermont, April 23, I813, of poor but respectable parentage. His father, a practicing physician, died while our subject was but an infant, and his mother, with two small children and but small means, could give him but the rudiments of an education. 54 C OMPENDIUM, OF B/IOGRAPHr. At the age of fifteen young Douglas engaged at work in the cabinet making business to raise funds to carry him through college. After a few years of labor he was enabled to pursue an academical course, first at Brandon, and later at Canandaigua, New York. In the latter place he remained until 1833, taking up the study of law. Before he was twenty, however, his funds running low, he abandoned all further attempts at education, determining to enter at once the battle of life. After some wanderings through the western states he tooK up his residence at Jacksonville, Illinois, where, after teaching school for three months, he was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in 1834. Within a year from that time, so rapidly had he risen in his profession, he was chosen attorney general of the state, and warmly espoused the principles of the Democratic party. tIe soon became one of the most popular orators in Illinois. It was at this time he gained the name of the "Little Giant." In I835 he resigned the position of attorney general having been elected to the legislature. In I84 he was chosen judge of the supreme 'court of Illinois which he resigned two years later to take a seat in congress. It was during this period of his life, while a member of the lower house, that he established his reputation and took the side of those who contended that congress had no constitutional right to restrict the extension of slavery further than the agreement between the states made in 1820. This, in spite of his being opposed to slavery, and only on grounds which he believed to be right, favored what was called the Missouri compromise. In 1847 Mr. Douglas was chosen United States senator for six years, and greatly distinguished himself. In 1852 he was re-elected to the same office. During this latter term, under his leader ship, the Kansas-Nebraska bill " was carried in the senate. In I858, nothwithstanding the fierce contest made by his able competitor for the position, Abraham Lincoln, and with the administration of Buchanan arrayed against him, Mr. Douglas was re-elected senator. After the trouble in the Charleston convention, when by the withdrawal of several state delegates without a nomination, the Union Democrats, in convention at Baltimore, in I86o, nominated Mr. Douglas as their candidate for presidency. The results of this election are well known and the great events of I86I coming on, Mr. Douglas was spared their full development, dying at Chicago, Illinois, June 3, I86I, after a short illness. His last words to his children were, "to obey the laws and support the constitution of the United States." JAMES MONROE, fifth president of the United States, was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, April 28, 1758. At the age of sixteen he entered William and Mary College, but two years later the Declaration of Independence having been adopted, he left college and hastened to New York where he joined Washington's army as a military cadet. At the battle of Trenton Monroe performed gallant service and received a wound in the shoulder, and was promoted to a captaincy. He acted as aide to Lord Sterling at the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth. Washington thei sent him to Virginia to raise a new regiment of which he was to be colonel. The exhausted condition of Virginia made this impossible, but he received his commission. He next entered the law office of Thomas Jefferson to study law, as there was no opening for him as an officer in the army. in C OMI}IPE.NDIUlI~ OF BIO GRAPHRT. 55 1782 he was elected to the Virginia assembly, and the next year he was elected to the Continental congress. Realizing the inadequacy of the old articles of confederation, he advocated the calling of a convention to consider their revision, and introduced in congress a resolution empowering congress to regulate trade, lay import duties, etc. This resolution was referred to a committee, of which he was chairman, and the report led to the Annapolis convention, which called a general convention to meet at Philadelphia in I787, when the constitution was drafted. Mr. Mlonroe began the practice of law at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and was soon after.'-cted to the legislature, and appointed as one of the committee to pass upon the adoption of the constitution. lIe opposed it, as giving too much power to the central government. He v,,as elected to the United States senate in 1789, vwhere he allied himself with the Anti-Federalists or "Republicans," as they were sometimes called. Although his views as to neutrality between France and England were directly opposed to those of the president, yet W\ashington appointed him minister to France. His popularity in France was so great that the antagonism of England and her friends in this country brought about his recall. He then became governor of Virginia. He was sent as envoy to France in I802; minister to England in 1803; and envoy to Spain in 1805. The next year he returned to his estate in Virginia, and with an ample inheritance enjoyed a few years of repose. He was again called to be governor of Virginia, and was then appointed secretary of state by President Madison. The war with England soon resulted, and when the capital was burned by the British, Mr. Monroe became secretary of war also, and planned the measures for the defense of New Orleans. The treasury being exhausted and credit gone, he pledged his own estate, and thereby made possible the victory of Jackson at New Orleans. In 1817 Mr. Monroe became president of the United States, having been a candidate of the "Republican" party, which at that time had begun to be called the " Democratic" party. In I820 he was re-elected, having two hundred and thirty-one electoral votes out of two hundred and thirty-two. HIis administration is known as the "Era of good-feeling," and party lines were almost wiped out. The slavery question began to assume importance at this time, and the Mi[ssouri Compromise was passed. The famous "' Monroe Doctrine" originated in a great state paper of President Monroe upon the rumored interference of the Holy Alliance to prevent the formation of free republics in South America. President Monroe acknowvledged their independence, and promulgated his great " Doctrine," which has been held in reverence since. Mr. Monroe's death occurred in New York on July 4, 1831. THOMAS ALVA EDISON, the master wizard of electrical science and whose name is synonymotts with the subjugation of electricity to the service of man, was born in I847 at Milan, Ohio, and it was at Port Huron, Michigan, whither his parents had moved in 1854, that his self-education began-for he never attended school for more than two months. He eagerly devoured every book he could lay his hands on and is said to have read through an encyclo* pedia without missing a word. At thirteen he began his working life as a trainboy upon the Grand Trunk Railway between Port Huron and Detroit. Much of his time was now spent in Detroit, where he found increased facilities for reading at the public libraries. 56 C OzCIPENPDIUIIM OF BIO GRAPHlY. He was not content to be a newsboy, so he got together three hundred pounds of type and started the issue of the " Grand Trunk Herald." It was only a small amateur weekly, printed on one side, the impression being made from the type by hand. Chemical research was his next undertaking and a laboratory wras added to his movable publishing house, which, by tie way, was an old freight car. One day, however, as he was experimenting with some phosphorus, it ignited and the irate conductor threw the young seeker after the truth, chemicals and all, from the train. His office and laboratory were then removed to the cellar of his father's house. As he grew to manhood he decided to become an operator. He won his opportunity by saving the life of a child, whose father was an old operator, and out of gratitude he gave Mr. Edison lessons in telegraphy. Five months later he was competent to fill a position in the railroad office at Port Huron. Hence he peregrinated to Stratford, Ontario, and thence successively to Adrian, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Memphis, Louisville and Boston, gradually becomingan expert operator and gaining experience that enabled him to evolve many ingenious ideas for the improvement of telegraphic appliances. At Memphis he constructed an automatic repeater, which enabled Louisville and New Orleans to communicate direct, and received nothing more than the thanks of his employers. Mr. Edison came to New York in 1870 in search of an opening more suitable to his capabilities and ambitions. He happened to be in the office of the Laws Gold Reporting Company when one of the instruments got out of order, and even the inventor of the system could not make it work. Edison requested to be allowed to attempt the task, and in a few minutes he had overcome the difficulty and secured an advantageous engagement. For several years he had a contract with the Western Union and the Gold Stock companies, whereby he received a large salary, besides a special price for all telegraphic improvements he could suggest. Later, as the head of the Edison General Electric company, with its numerous subordinate organizations and connections all over the civilized world, he became several times a millionaire. Mr. Edison invented the phonograph and kinetograph which bear his name, the carbon telephone, the tasimeter, and the duplex and quadruplex systems of telegraphy. AMES LONGSTREET, one of the most conspicuous of the Confederate generals during the Civil war, was born in I820, in South Carolina, but was early taken by his parents to Alabama where he grew to manhood and received his early education. He graduated at the United States military academy in I842, entering the army as lieutenant and spent a few years in the frontier service. When the Mexican war broke out he was called to the front and participated in all the principal battles of that war up to the storming of Chapultepec, where he received severe wounds. For gallant conduct at Contreras, Cherubusco, and Molino del Rey he received the brevets of captain and major. After the close of the Mexican war Longstreet served as adjutant and captain on frontier service in Texas until 1858 when he was transferred to the staff as paymaster with rank of major. In June, I86I, he resigned to join the Confederacy and immediately went to the front, cornmanding a brigade at Bull Run the following month. Promoted to be major-general in 1862 he thereafter bore a conspicuous COAIJIPENDIUQMJ OF b GIO GRA tI-It5. 5'~ part and rendered valuable service to the Confederate cause. I-e participated in many of the nmlogst severc battles of the Civil war including B1ll Riun (first and second), Seven Pines, Gaines' Mill, Fraziers Farm, Malvern Iill, Antietam, Frederickburg, Chanccllorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, the Wilderness, Petersburg and most of the fighting about Richmond. When the war closed General Longstreet accepted the result, renewed his allegiance to the government, and thereafter labored earnestly to obliterate all traces of war and promote an era of good feeling between all sections of the country. He took up his residence in New Orleans, and took an active interest and prominent part in public affairs, served as surveyor of that port for several years; was commissioner of engineers for Louisiana, served four years as school commissioner, etc. In I875 he was appointed supervisor of internal revenue and settled in Georgia. After that time he served four years as United States minister to Turkey, and also for a number of years was United States marshal of Georgia, besides having held other important official positions. JOHN RUTLEDGE, the second chiefjustice of the United States, was born at Charleston, South Carolina, in I739. He was a son of John Rutledge, who had left Ireland for America about five years prior to the birth of our subject, and a brother of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. John Rutledge received his legal education at the Temple, London, after which he returned to Charleston and soon won distinction at the bar. He was elected to the old Colonial congress in 1765 to protest against the "Stamp Act," and was a member of the South Carolina convention of 1774, and of the Continental congress of that and the succeeding year. In 1776 he was chairman of the committee that draughted the constitution of his state, and was president of the congress of that state. I-e was not pleased with the state constitution, however, and resigned. In 1779 he was again chosen governor of the state, and granted extraordinary powers, and he at once took the field to repel the British. He joined the army of General Gates in 1782, and the same year was elected to congress. He was a member of the constitutional convention which framed our present constitution. In I739 he was appointed an associate justice of the first supreme court of the United States. He resigned to accept the position of chief-justice of his own state. Upon the resignation of Judge Jay, he was appointed chief-justice of the United States in I795. The appointment was never confirmed, for, after presiding at one session, his mind became deranged, and he was succeeded by Judge Ellsworth. He died at Charleston, July 23, I8oo. RALPH WALDO EMERSON was one of the most noted literary men of his time. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, May 25, 1803. He had a minister for an ancestor, either on the paternal or maternal side, in every generation for eight generations back. His father, Rev. William Emerson, was a native of Concord, Massachusetts, born May 6, I769, graduated at Harvard, in I789, became a Unitarian minister; was a fine writer and one of the best orators of his day; died in I 8 I. Ralph Waldo Emerson was fitted for college at the public schools of Boston, and graduated at Harvard College in I821, winning about this time several prizes for es 68 C Oi1MPENUDIZUS OF BIOGRAPHY. says. For five years he taught school in Boston; in 1826 was licensed to preach, and in 1829 was ordained as a colleague to Rev. Henry Ware of the Second Unitarian church in Boston. In I832 he resigned, making the announcement in a sermon of his unwillingness longer to administer the rite of the Lord's Supper, after which he spent about a year in Europe. Upon his return he began his career as a lecturer before the Boston Mechanics Institute, his subject being I"Water." His early lectures on " Italy" and "IRelation of Man to the Globe " also attracted considerable attention; as did also his biographical lectures on Michael Angelo, Milton, Luther, George Fox, and Edmund Burke. After that time he gave many courses of lectures in Boston and became one of the best known lecturers in America. But very few men have rendered such continued service in this field. He lectured for lorty successive seasons before the Salem, Nlassachusetts, Lyceum and also made repeated lecturing tours in this country and in England. In I835 Mr. Emerson took up his residence at Concord, Massachusetts, where he continued to make his home until his death which occurred April 27, I882. Mr. Emnerson's literary work covered a wide scope. He wrote and published many works, essays and poems, which rank high among the works of American literary men. A few of the many which he produced are the following: "Nature;" "The Method of Nature;" " Man Thinking;" "The Dial;" "Essays;" "Poems;" 'English Traits;" "The Conduct of Life;" "May-Day and other Poems " and " Society and Solitude;" besides many others. He was a prominent member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of the American Philosophical Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society and other kindred associations. ALEXANDER T. STEWART, one of the famous merchant princes of New York, was born near the city of Belfast, Ireland, in I803, and before he was eight years of age was left an orphan without any near relatives, save an aged grandfather. The grandfather being a pious Methodist wanted to make a minister of young Stewart, and accordingly put him in a school with that end in view and he graduated at Trinity College, in Dublin. When scarcely twenty years of age he came to New York. His first employment was that of a teacher, but accident soon made him a merchant. Entering into business relations with an experienced man of his acquaintance he soon found himself with the rent of a store on his hands and alone in a new enterprise. Mr. Stewart's business grew rapidly in all directions, but its founder had executive ability sufficient for any and all emergencies, and in time his house became one of the greatest mercantile establishments of modern times, and the name of Stewart famous. Mr. Stewart's death occurred April Io, 1876. AMES FENIMORE COOPER. - In speaking of this noted American novelist, William Cullen Bryant said: " He wrote for mankind at large, hence it is that he has earned a fame wider than any American author of modern times. The creations of his genius shall survive through centuries to come, and only perish with our language." Another eminent writer (Prescott) said of Cooper: "In his productions every American must take an honest pride; for surely no one has succeeded like Cooper in the portraiture of American character, or has given such glowing and eminently truthful pictures of American scenery." James Fenimore Cooper was born Sep COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. tember 15, 1789, at Burlington, New Jersey, and was a son of Judge William Cooper. About a year after the birth of our subject the family removed to Otsego county, New York, and founded the town called " Cooperstown." James Fenirnore Cooper spent his childhood there and in I802 entered Yale College, and four years later became a midshipman in the United States navy. In I8 l he was married, quit the seafaring life, and began devoting more or less time to literary pursuits. His first work was " Precaution," a novel published in 1819, and three years later he produced "The Spy, a Tale of Neutral Ground," which met with great favor and was a universal success. This was followed by many other works, among which may be mentioned the following: "The Pioneers," "The Pilot," "Last of the Mohicans," "The Prairie," "The Red Rover," " The Manikins," ' Homeward Bound," "Home as Found, " (' History of the United States Navy," ''The Pathfinder," "W'ing and Wing," "Afloat and Ashore," 'The Chain-Bearer," "OakOpenings," etc. J. Fenimore Cooper died at Cooperstown, New York, September 14, 1851. M ARSHALL FIELD, one of the merchant princes of America, ranked among the most successful business men'of the nineteenth century. He was born in I835 at Conway, Massachusetts. He spent his early life on a farm and secured a fair education in the common schools, supplementing this with a course at the Conway Academy. His natural bent ran in the channels of commercial life, and at the age of seventeen he was given a position in a store at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Field remained there four years and removed to Chicago in I856. He began his career in Chicago as a clerk in the wholesale dry goods house of Cooley, Wadsworth & Company, which later became Cooley, Farwell & Company, and still later John V. Farwell & Company. He remained with them four years and exhibited marked ability, in recognition of which he was given a partnership. In 1865 Mr. Field alnd L. Z. Leiter, who was also a nember of the firm, witlhdrew and formed the firm of Field, Palmer & Leiter, the third partner being Potter Palmer, and they continued in business until 1867, when Mr. Palm-er retired and the firm became Field, Leiter & Company. They ran under the latter name until 188I, when Mr. Leiter retired and the house thas since continued under the iname of IMarshall Field & Company. The phenomenal success accredited to the house is largely due to the marked ability of Mr. Field. The house had become one of the foremost in the West by 1870, and lost heavily during the Chicago fire. It rapidly recovered from the effects of this and to-day the annual sales are enormous. Mr. Field's real estate holdings were very extensive. He was one of the heaviest subscribers to the Baptist University fund, although he was a Presbyterian, and gave $r,ooo,ooo for the original endowment of the Field Columbian Museum-one of the greatest institutions of the kind in the world, for which he made further handsome provision in his will. He died in New York City January, 15, 1906. DGAR WILSON NYE, who won an imL- mense popularity under the pen name of "Bill Nye," was one of the most eccentric humorists of his day. He was born August 25, I850, at Shirley, Piscataqua county, Maine, '' at a very early age " as he expresses it. He took an academic course in 60 C O1lPEzVDIUNlM OF BIOGRAPTr. River Falls, Wisconsin, from whence, after his graduation, he removed to Wyoming Territory. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1876. He began when quite young to contribute humorous sketches to the newspapers, became connected with various western journals and achieved a brilliant success as a humorist. Mr. Nye settled later in New York City where he devoted his time to writing funny articles for the big newspaper syndicates. He wrote for publication in book form the following: "Bill Nye and the Boomerang," "The Forty Liars," "Baled Hay," "Bill Nye's Blossom Rock," "Remarks," etc. His death occurred February 2I, I896, at Asheville, North Carolina. THOMAS DE WITT TALMAGE, one of the most celebrated American preachers, was born January 7, 1832, and was the youngest of twelve children. He made his preliminary studies at the grammar school in New Brunswick, New Jersey. At the age of eighteen he joined the church and entered the University of the City of New York, and graduated in May, I853. The exercises were held in Niblo's Garden and his speech aroused the audience to a high pitch of enthusiasm. At the close of his college duties he imagined himself interested in the law and for three years studied law. Dr. Talmage then perceived his mistake and prepared himself for the ministry at the Reformed Dutch Church Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, New Jersey. Just after his ordination the young minister received two calls, one from Piermont, New York, and the other from Belleville, New Jersey. Dr. Talmage accepted the latter and for three years filled that charge, when he was called to Syracuse, New York. Here it was that his sermons first drew large crowds of people to his church, and from thence dates his popularity. Afterward he became the pastor of the Second Reformed Dutch church, of Philadelphia, remaining seven years, during which period he first entered upon the lecture platform and laid the foundation for his future reputation. At the end of this time he received three calls, one from Chicago, one from San Francisco, and one from the Central Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, which latter at that time consisted of only nineteen members with a congregation of about thirty-five. This church offered him a salary of seven thousand dollars and he accepted the call. He soon induced the trustees to sell the old church and build a new one. They did so and erected the Brooklyn Tabernacle, but it burned down shortly after it was finished. By prompt sympathy and general liberality a new church was built and formally opened in February, I874. It contained seats for four thousand, six hundred and fifty, but if necessary seven thousand could be accommodated. In October, I878, his salary was raised from seven thousand dollars to twelve thousand dollars, and in the autumn of 1889 the second tabernacle was destroyed by fire. A third tabernacle was built and it was formally dedicated on Easter Sunday, I89I. OHN PHILIP SOUSA, conceded as being one of the greatest band leaders in the world, won his fame while leader of the United States Marine Band at Washington, District of Columbia. He was not originally a band player but was a violinist, and at the age of seventeen he was conductor of an opera company, a profession which he followed for several years, until he was offered the leadership of the Marine Band at Washington. The proposition was repugnant to him at first but he accepted the CO/MPE-NDIU11 OF IO GRAAPIt i'. 61 offer and then ensued ten years of brilliant success with that organization. When he first took the Marine Band he began to gather the national airs of all the nations that have representatives in Washington, and compiled a comprehensive volume including nearly all the national songs of the different nations. He composed a number of marches, waltzes and two-steps, prominent among which are the "Washington Post," "Directorate," "King Cotton," "High School Cadets," "Belle of Chicago," "Liberty Bell March," "Manhattan Beach," "On Parade March," "Thunderer March," "Gladiator March," "El Capitan March," etc. He became a very extensive composer of this class of music. OHN QUINCY ADAMS, sixth president of the United States, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, July II, 1767, the son of John Adams. At the age of eleven he was sent to school at Paris, and two years later to Leyden, where he entered that great university. He returned to the United States in 1785, and graduated from Harvard in 1788. He then studied law, and was admitted to the bar in I79I. His practice brought no income the first two years, but he won distinction in literary fields, and was appointed minister to The Hague in I794. He married in 1797, and went as minister to Berlin the same year, serving until i8OI, when Jefferson became president. I-e was elected to the senate in 1 So3 by the Federalists, but was condemned by that party for advocating the Embargo Act and other Anti-Federalist measures. He was appointed as professor of rhetoric at Harvard in I805, and in I8O9 was sent as minister to Russia. He assisted in negotiating the treaty of peace with England in I814, and became minister to that power the next year. He served during Monroe's administration two terms as secretary of state, during which time party lines were obliterated, and in I824 four candidates for president appeared, all of whom were identified to some extent with the new " Democratic" party. Mr. Adams received 84 electoral votes, Jackson 99, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. As no candidate had a majority of all votes, the election went to the house of representatives, which elected Mr. Adams. As Clay had thrown his influence to Mr. Adams, Clay became secretary of state, and this caused bitter feeling on the part of the Jackson Democrats, who were joined by Mr. Crawford and his following, and opposed every measure of the administration. In the election of I828 Jackson was elected over Mr. Adams by a great majority. Mr. Adams entered the lower house of congress in 1830, elected from the district in which he was born and continued to represent it for seventeen years. He was known as " the old man eloquent," and his work in congress was independent of party. He opposed slavery extension and insisted upon presenting to congress, one at a time, the hundreds of petitions against the slave power. One of these petitions, presented in 1842, was signed by forty-five citizens of Massachusetts, and prayed congress for a peaceful dissolution of the Union. His enemies seized upon this as an opportunity to crush their powerful foe, and in a caucus meeting determined upon his expulsion from congress. Finding they would not be able to command enough votes for this, they decided upon a course that would bring equal disgrace. They formulated a resolution to the effect that while he merited expulsion, the house would, in great mercy, substitute its severest censure. When it was read in the house the old man, then in his seventy-fifth 62 C Oi1PENiDIIUJz OF BIO GRAPPHI. year, arose and demanded that the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence be read as his defense. It embraced the famous sentence, "'that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to those ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, etc., etc." After eleven days of hard fighting his opponents were defeated. On February 2 I, IS48, he rose to address the speaker on the Oregon question, when he suddenly fell from a stroke of paralysis. He died soon after in the rotunda of the capitol, where he had been conveyed by his colleagues. USAN B. ANTHONY was one of the most famous women of America. She was born at South Adams, Massachusetts, February 15, I820, the daughter of a Quaker. She received a good education and became a school teacher, following that profession for fifteen years in New York. Beginning with about 1852 she became the active leader of the woman's rights movement and won a wide reputation for her zeal and ability. She also distinguished herself for her zeal and eloquence in the temperance. and anti-slavery causes, and became a conspicuous figure during the war. After the close of the war she gave most of her labors to the cause of woman's suffrage. HILIP D. ARMOUR, one of the most conspicuous figures in the mercantile history of America, was born May i6, I832, on a farm at Stockbridge, Madison county, New York, and received his early education in the common schools of that county. He was apprenticed to a farmer and worked faithfully and well, being very ambitious and desiring to start out for himself. At the age of twenty he secured a release from his I indentures and set out overland for the gold fields of California. After a great deal of hard work he accumulated a little money and then came east and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. lie went into the grain receiving and warehouse business and was fairly successful, and later on he formed a partnership with John Plankinton in the pork packing line, the style of the firm being Plankinton & Armour. Mr. Armour made his first great ''deal " in selling pork "short" on the New York market in the anticipation of the fall of the Confederacy, and Mr. Armour is said to have made through this deal a million dollars. He then established packing houses in Chicago and Kansas City, and in I875 he removed to Chicago. He increased his business by adding to it the shipment of dressed beef to the European markets, and many other lines of trade and manufacturing, and it rapidly assumed vast proportions, employing an army of men in different lines of the business. Mr. Armour successfully conducted a great many speculative deals in pork and grain of immense proportions and also erected many large warehouses for the storage of grain. He became one of the representative business men of Chicago, where he became closely identified with all enterprises of a public nature, but his fame as a great business man extended to all parts of the world. He founded the "Armour Institute " at Chicago and also contributed largely to benevolent and charitable institutions. ROBERT FULTON.-Although Fulton is best known as the inventor of the first successful steamboat, yet his claims to distinction do not rest alone upon that, for he was an inventor along other lines, a painter and an author. He was born at Little Britain, Lancaster county, Pennsyl 22 C-0 cn 0 COMlIPE2NDIUJfI 0tW BIOGRAP rI. vania, in I765, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. At the age of seventeen he removed to Philadelphia, and there and in New York engaged in miniature painting with success both from a pecuniary and artistic point of view. With the results of his labors he purchased a farm for the support of his mother. He went to London and studied under the great painter, Benjamin West, and all through life retained his fondness for art and gave evidence of much ability in that line. While in England he was brought in contact with the Duke of Bridgewater, the father of the English canal system; Lord Stanhope, an eminent mechanician, and James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. Their influence turned his mind to its true field of labor, that of mechanical invention. Machines for flax spinning, marble sawing, rope making, and for reroving earth from excavations, are among his earliest ventures. His "Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation," issued in 1796, and a series of essays on canals were soon followed by an English patent for canal improvements. In 1797 he went to Paris, where he resided until 80o6, and there invented a submarine torpedo boat for maritime defense, but which was rejected by the governments of France, England and the United States. In I 803 he offered to construct for the Emperor Napoleon a steamboat that would assist in carrying out the plan of invading Great Britain then meditated by that great captain. In pursuance he constructed his first steamboat on the Seine, but it did not prove a full success and the idea was abandoned by the French government. By the aid of Livingston, then United States minister to France, Fulton purchased, in 18o6, an engine which he brought to this country. After studying the defects of his own and other attempts in 4 this line he built and launched in 1807 the Clermont, the first successful steamboat. This craft only attained a speed of five miles an hour while going up North river. His first patent not fully covering his invention, Fulton was engaged in many law suits for infringement. He constructed many steamboats, ferryboats, etc., among these being the United States steamer Fulton the First," built in 181 4, the first war steamer ever built. This craft never attained any great speed owing to some defects in construction and accidentally blew up in I829. Fulton died in New York, February 21, I815. SALMON PORTLAND CHASE, sixth chief-justice of the United States, and one of the most eminent of American jurists, was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, January 13, I808. At the age of nine he was left in poverty by the death of his father, but means were found to educate him. He was sent to his uncle, a bishop, who conducted an academy near Columbus, Ohio, and here young Chase worked on the farm and attended school. At the age of fifteen he returned to his native state and entered Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1826. He then went to Washington, and engaged in teaching school, and studying law under the instruction of William Wirt. He was licensed to practice in 1829, and went to Cincinnati, where he had a hard struggle for several years following. He had in the meantime prepared notes on the statutes of Ohio, which, when published, brought him into prominence locally. He was soon after appointed solicitor of the United States Bank. In 1837 he appeared as counsel for a fugitive slave woman, Matilda. and sought by all the powers of his learing and eloquence to prevent her owner C OMPENDI9UMT OF BIOGRAPHr. from reclaiming her. He acted in many other cases, and devolved the trite expression, "Slavery is sectional, freedom is national. " He was employed to defend Van Zandt before the supreme court of the United States in 1846, which was one of the most noted cases connected with the great struggle against slavery. By this time Mr. Chase had become the recognized leader of that element known as " free-soilers." He was elected to the United States senate in 1849, and was chosen governor of Ohio in 1855 and re-elected in I857. He was chosen to the United States senate from Ohio in I86I, but was made secretary of the treasury by Lincoln and accepted. He inaugurated a financial system to replenish the exhausted treasury and meet the demands of the greatest war in history and at the same time to revive the industries of the country. One of the measures which afterward called for his judicial attention was the issuance of currency notes which were made a legal tender in payment of debts. When this question came before him as chief-justice of the United States he reversed his former action and declared the measure unconstitutional. The national banking system, by which all notes issued were to be based on funded government bonds of equal or greater amounts, had its direct origin with Mr. Chase. Mr. Chase resigned the treasury portfolio in I864, and was appointed the same year as chief-justice of the United States supreme court. The great questions that came up before him at this crisis in the life of the nation were no lessthan those which confronted the first chief-justice at the formation of our government. Reconstruction, private, state and national interests, the constitutionality of the acts of congress massed in times of great excitement, the construction and interpretation to be placed upon the several amendments to the national constitution,-these were among the vital questions requiring prompt decision. He received a paralytic stroke in 1870, which impaired his health, though his mental powers were not affected. He continued to preside at the opening terms for two years following and died May 7, I873. ARRIET ELIZABETH BEECHER STOWE, a celebrated American writer, was born June 14, 1812, at Litchfield, Connecticut. She was a daughter of Lyman Beecher and a sister of Henry Ward Beecher, two noted divines; was carefully educated, and taught school for several years at Hartford, Connecticut. In 1832 Miss Beecher married Professor Stowe, then of Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, and afterwards at Bowdoin College and Andover Seminary. Mrs. Stowe published in I849 "The Mayflower, or sketches of the descendants of the Pilgrims," and in I851 commenced in the " National Era" of Washington, a serial story which was published separately in 1852 under the title of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." This book attained almost unparalleled success both at home and abroad, and within ten years it had been translated in almost every language of the civilized world. Mrs. Stowe published in 8 5 3 a "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin" in which the data that she used was published and its truthfulness was corroborated. In I853 she accompanied her husband and brother to Europe., and on ner return published "Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands " in I854. Mrs. Stowe was for some time one of the editors of the "Atlantic Monthly " and the "Hearth and Home," for which she had written a number of articles. Among these, also published separately, are " Dred, a tale of the Great Dismal Swamp " (later published under the title of " Nina C OMPENDIUM OF BIO GRAPHT. 67 Gordon "); " The Minister's Wooing;" "The Pearl of Orr's Island;" "Agnes of Sorrento;" I Oldtown Folks;" " My Wife and I;" " Bible Heroines," and "A Dog's Mission." Mrs. Stowe's death occurred July I, I896, at Hartford, Connecticut. THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON, better known as "Stonewall" Jackson, was one of the most noted of the Confederate generals of the Civil war. He was a soldier by nature, an incomparable lieutenant, sure to execute any operation entrusted to him with marvellous precision, judgment and courage, and all his individual campaigns and combats bore the stamp of a masterly capacity for war. He was born January 21, 1824, at Clarksburg, Harrison county, West Virginia. He was early in life imbued with the desire to be a soldier and it is said walked from the mountains of Virginia to Washington, secured the aid of his congressman, and was appointed cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point from which he was graduated in 1846. Attached to the army as brevet second lieutenant of the First Artillery, his first service was as a subaltern with Magruder's battery of light artillery in the Mexican war. He participated at the reduction of Vera Cruz, and was noticed for gallantry in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Moline del Rey, Chapultepec, and the capture of the city of Mexico, receiving the brevets of captain for conduct at Contreras and Cherubusco and of major at Chapultepec. In the meantime he had been advanced by regular promotion to be first lieutenant in I847. In 1852, the war having closed, he resigned and became professor of natural and experimental philosophy and artillery instructor at the Virginia State Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia, where he remained until Virginia declared for secession, he becoming chiefly noted for intense religious sentiment coupled with personal eccentricities. Upon the breaking opt of the war he was made colonel and placed in command of a force sent to sieze Harper's Ferry, which he accomplished May 3, i86i. Relieved by General J. E. Johnston, May 23, he took command of the brigade of Valley Virginians, whom he moulded into that brave corps, baptized at the first Manassas, and ever after famous as the " Stonewall Brigade." After this "Stonewall" Jackson was made a major-general, in i86i, and participated until his death in all the famous campaigns about Richmond and in Virginia, and was a conspicuous figure in the memorable battles of that time. May 2, I863, at Chancellorsville, he was wounded severely by his own troops, two balls shattering his left arm and another passing through the palm of his right hand. The left arm was amputated, but pneumonia intervened, and, weakened by the great loss of blood, he died May Io, 1863. The more his operations in the Shenandoah valley in I862 are studied the nore striking must the merits of this great soldier appear. OHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.Near to the heart of the people of the Anglo-Saxon race will ever lie the verses of this, the "Quaker Poet." The author of "Barclay of Ury," "Maud Muller" and "Barbara Frietchie," always pure, fervid and direct, will be remembered when many a more ambitious writer has been forgotten. John G. Whittier was born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, December 7, I807, of Quaker parentage. He had but a commionschool education and passed his boyhood days upon a farm. In early life he learned the trade of shoemaker. At the age of COJIfPENDIUl lf OF BIOGRAIPi-IF. eighteen he began to write verses for the Haverhill " Gazette." He spent two years after that at the Haverhill academy, after which, in 1829, he became editor of the "American Manufacturer," at Boston. In 1830 he succeeded George D. Prentice as editor of the "New England Weekly Review," but the following year returned to Haverhill and engaged in farming. In I832 and in 1836 he edited the " Gazette." In I835 he was elected a member of the legislature, serving two years. In I836 he became secretary of the Anti-slavery Society of Philadelphia. In 1338 and 1839 he edited the "Pennsylvania Freeman," but in the latter year the office was sacked and burned by a mob. In I840 Whittier settled at Anesbury, Massachusetts. In 1847 he became corresponding editor of the " National Era," an anti-slavery paper published at \Vashington, and contributed to its columns many of his anti-slavery and other favorite lyrics. Mr. Whittier lived for many years in retirement of Quaker simplicity, publishing several volumes of poetry which have raised him to a high place among American authors and brought to him the love and admiration of his countrymen. In the electoral colleges of I86o and I864 Whittier was a member. Much of his time after i8y6 was spent at Oak Knoll, Danvers, Massachusetts, but still retained his residence at Amesbury. He never married. His death occurred September 7, I892. The more prominent prose writings of John G. Whittier are as follows: "Legends of New England," "Justice and Expediency, or Slavery Considered with a View to Its Abolition," '" The Stranger in Lowell," ''Supernaturalism in New England," ' Leaves from Margaret Smith's Journal," "'Old Portraits and Modern Sketches" and "Literary Sketches." DAVID DIXON PORTER, illustrious as admiral of the United States navy, and famous as one of the most able naval offi.. cers of America, was born in Pennsylvania, June 8, I814. His father was also a naval officer of distinction, who left the service of the United States to become commander of the naval forces of Mexico during the war between that country and Spain, and through this fact David Dixon Porter was appointed a midshipman in the Mexican navy. Two years later David D. Porter joined the United States navy as midshipman, rose in rank and eighteen years later as a lieutenant he is found actively engaged in all the operations of our navy along the east coast of Mexico. When the Civil war broke out Porter, then a commander, was dispatched in the Powhattan to the relief of Fort Pickens, Florida. This duty accomplished, he fitted out a mortar flotilla for the reduction of the forts guarding the approaches to New Orleans, which it was considered of vital importance for the government to get possession of. After the fall of New Orleans the mortar flotilla was actively engaged at Vicksburg, and in the fall of I862 Porter was made a rear-admiral and placed in command of all the naval forces on the western rivers above New Orleans. The ability of the man was now conspicuously manifested, not only in the battles in which he was engaged, but also in the creation of a formidable fleet out of river steamboats, which he covered with such plating as they would bear. In I864 he was transferred to the Atlantic coast to command the naval forces destined to operate against the defences of Wilmington, North Carolina, and on Jan. I5, I865, the fall of Fort Fisher was hailed by the country as a glorious termination of his arduous war service. In I866 he was made vice-admiral C OJ1iPENDIUJ[~ OF B'0OGIA.l /'.]J and appointed superintendent of the Naval Academy. On the death of Farragut, in I870, he succeeded that able man as admiral of the navy. H!is death occurred at Washington, February 13, I89I. N ATHIANIEL GREENE was one of the best known of the distinguished generals who led the Continental soldiery against the hosts of Great Britain during the Revolutikonary war. H-e was the son of Qutaker parents, and was born at Warwick, Rhode Island, May 27, 17,2. In youth lie acquired a good education, chiefly by his own efforts, as he was a tireless reader. In 1770 he was elected a member of thie Arse,-mly of his native state. The news of the battle of Lexing;ton stirred his blood, and he offered his services to the government of the colonies, receiving the rank of brigadier-general and the command of the troops from Rhode Island. He led thern to the camp at Cambridge, and for thus violating the tenets of their faith, he was cast out of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. He soon won the esteem of General \Washington. In August, I776, Congress promoted Greene to the rank of major-general, and in the battles of Trenton and Princeton he led a division. At the battle of Irandywine, September I, 1777, he greatly distinguished himself, protecting the retreat of the Continentals by his firm stand. At the battle of Germantown, October 4, the same year, he commanded the left wing of the army with credit. In March, I778, he reluctantly accepted the office of quartermaster-general, but only with the understanding that his rank in the army would not be affected and that in action he should retain his command. On the bloody field of Monmouth, June 28, I778, he commanded the right wing, as he did at the battle of Tiverton Heights. He was in command of the army in I780, during the absence of Washington, and was president of the court-martial that tried and condemned Major Andre. After General Gates' defeat at Camden, North Carolina, in the summer of 1780, General Greene was appoin:ted to the command of the southern army. He sent out a force under General Morgan who defeated General Tarleton at Cowpens, January 7 I 78. On joining his lieutenant, in February, he foundl hiniself out numbered by the British and retreated in good order to Virginia, but being reinforced retu'rned to Nortih Carolina where he fought the battle of Guilford, n ad few days later co-mpelled the retreat of Lord Cornwallis. The LBritsi \ere followed by Greene part of the way, w\hen the A merican army marched into Soul th Carolina. After varying success he fo;,rght the battle of Eutaw Springs, September 8, I781. For the latter battle and its glorious consequences, which virtually closed the war in the Carolinas, Greene received a medlal from Congress and many valuable grants of land from the colonies of North and South Carolina and Georgia. On the return of peace, after a year spent in Rhode Island, General Greene toolk up his residence on his estate near Savannah, Georgia, where he died June I9, S786. EDGAR ALLEN POE.-Among the many great literary men whom this country has produced, there is perhaps no name more widely known than that of Edgar Allen Poe. He was born at Boston, Massachusetts, February 19, I809. His parents were David and Elizabeth (Arnold) Poe, both actors, the mother said to have been the natural daughter of Benedict Arnold. The parents died while Edgar was TO COM.IZPENDIUJI OF BIOGlRAPHl.: still a child and he was adopted by John Allen, a weally anld influential resident of RichImond, \'i',,' t. Edar was sent to sco)l t. St e, in -gton, England, lwher'e i..,. re.;..::.i.c( until he was thirteen years ol]'h; i:'s prcpared for college by privae t!t;Wtrs, tard ir l 182.6 entered the Virginia niversity at Ch rlottesville. He made r.pild iror-.-:s i; his studies, and was disti;l!nished for his scholarship, but was expelled within a year for gambling, after which for several years he resided with his benefactor at Richmond. He then went to Baltimore, and in 1829 published a 7I-page pamphlet called "Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems," which, however, attracted no attention and contained nothing of particular merit. In I830 he was admitted as a cadet at West Point, but was expelled about a year later for irregularities. Returning to the home of Mr. Allen he remained for some time, and finally quarrelled with his benefactor and enlisted as a private soldier in the U. S. army, but remained only a short time. Soon after this, in 1833, Poe won several prizes for literary work, and as a result secured the position of editor of fhe " Southern Literary Messenger," at Richmond, Virginia. Here he married his cousin, Virginia Clemm, who clung to him with fond devotion through all the many trials that came to them until her death in January, 1848. Poe remained with the "Messenger" for several years, writing meanwhile many tales, reviews, essays and poems. He afterward earned a precarious living by his pen in New York for a time; in 1839 became editor of "Burton's Gentleman's MTagazine"; in I840 to 1842 was editor of "Graham's Magazine," and drifted around iromn one place to another, returning to New York in I844. In 1845 his best known production, "The Raven," appeared in the "Whig Review," and gained him a reputation which is now alm-ost world-wide. He then acted as editor and contributor on various magazines and periodicals until the death of his faithful wife in I848. In the summer of I849 he was engaged to be married to a lady of fortune in Richmond, Virginia, and the day set for the wedding. HIe started for New York to make preparations for the event, but, it is said, began drinking, was attacked with dilirium tremens in Baltimore and was removed to a hospital, where he died, October 7, I49. The works of Edgar Allen Poe have been repeatedly published since his death, both in Europe and America, and have attained an immense popularity. HORATIO GATES, one of the prominent figures in the American war for Independence, was not a native of the colonies but was born in England in 1728. In early life he entered the British army and attained the rank of major. At the capture of Martinico he was aide to General Monkton and after the peace of Aix la Chapelle, in I748, he was among the first troops that landed at Halifax. He was with Braddock at his defeat in 1755, and was there severely wounded. At the conclusion of the French and Indian war Gates purchased an estate in Virginia, and, resigning from the British army, settled down to life as a planter. On the breaking out of the Revolutionary war he entered the service of the colonies and was made adjutant-general of the Continental forces with the rank of brigadier-general. He accompanied \Washington when he assumed the command of the army. In June, I776, he was appointed to the command of the army of Canada, but was superseded in May of the following C OMi!PE~NDIUI1 OF 1BIO GRA PII. year Lby General Schuyler. In August, I777, however, the commnand of that army was restored to General Gates and September 9 he fought the battle of Bemnis Heights. October 7, the samle year, he won the battle of Stillwater, or Saratoga, and October 17 received the surrender of Genler1l Burgoyne and his army, the pivotal point of the war. This gavel him a brilliant rcFcTtation. June 13, I780, General Gates was appointed to the command of the soutIhcn military division, and Aulgust I6 of that year suffered defeat at the hands of Lord Cornwaliis, at Camden, North Carolina. In December following he wvts superseded in the command by General Nathaniel Greene. On the signing of the peace treaty General Gates retired to his plantation in Berkeley county, Virginia, where he lived until 1790, when, emancipating all his slaves, he removed to New York City, where he resided until his death, April io, 80o6. YMAN J. GAGE. - hen President McKinley selected Lyman J. Gage as secretary of the treasury he chose one of the most eminent financiers of the century. Mr. Gage was born June 28, I836, at De Ruyter, Madison county, New York, and was of English descent. He went to Rome, New York, with his parents when he was ten years old, and received his early education in the Rome Academy. Mr. Gage graduated from the same, and his first position was that of a clerk in the post office. When he was fifteen years of age he was detailed as mail agent on the Rome & Watertown R. R. until the postmaster-general appointed regular agents for the route. In 1854, when he was in his eighteenth year, he entered the Oneida Central Bank at Rome as a junior clerk at a salary of one hundred dol lars per year. Being unable at the end of one year and a half's service to obtain an increase in salary he determinied to seek a wider field of labor. MIr. Gage set out in the fall of 1'55 and arrived in Chicago, I]linois, on October 3, and soon obtained a csi uatio, in Niathan Cobb's lu.mber yard and pb i;i'; -i i i~l1 He: remained there three years ras La i;oke, -. eper, teamrster, etc., and left on acc'ut:t cf ch'ng in the management. But not bLi'g. able to fiad anything else to do he acce;)lted the-l pleostionl of night watchman in the place for a period of six vweeks. He then becalme a bookk.seeper for the Merchants Saving, Loan and Trust Company at a salary of five hundred dollars per year. He rapidly advanced in the service of this company and in I863 he was made cashier. Mr. Gage was next offered the position of cashier of the First National Bank and accepted the offer. He became the president of the First National Bank of Chicago January 24, I 891, an.d in 1897 he was appointed secretary of the treasury. 1 is -bility as a financier and the proninent pdrt he took in the discussion of financial affYrs while president of the great ChicaLgo b':?. ave him a national reputation. ANDREW JACKSON, the seventh president of the United States, was born at the Waxhaw settlement, Union county, North Carolina, March 15, r767. His parents were Scotch-Irish, natives of Carr, ickfergus, who came to this country in I665 and settled on Twelve-Mile creek, a tributary of the Catawba. His father, who was a poor farm laborer, died shortly before Andrew's birth, when the mother removed to Waxhaw, where some relatives lived. Andrew's education was very limited, he showing no aptitude for study. In I780 when but thirteen years of age, he and his t'2 C OMMPENDIU~N I OF BIOGRAPHYr. brother Robert volunteered to serve in the American partisan troops under General Sumter, and witnessed the defeat at Hanging Rock. The following year the boys were both taken prisoners by the enemy and endured brutal treatment from the British officers while confined at Camden. They both took the small pox, when the mother procured their exchange but Robert died shortly after. The mother died in Charleston of ship fever, the same year. Young Jackson, now in destitute circumstances, worked for about six months in a saddler's shop, and then turned school master, although but little fitted for the position. He now began to think of a profession and at Salisbury, North Carolina, entered upon the study of law, but from all accounts gave but little attention to his books, being one of the most roistering, rollicking fellows in that town, indulging in many of the vices of his time. In 1786 he was admitted to the bar and in 1788 removed to Nashville, then in North Carolina, with the appointment of public prosecutor, then an office of little honor or emolument, but requiring much nerve, for which young Jackson was already noted. Two years later, when Tennessee became a territory he was appointed by Washington to the position of United States attorney for that district. In 1791 he married Mrs. Rachel Robards, a daughter of Colonel John Donelson, who was supposed at the time to have been divorced from her former husband that year by act of legislature of Virginia, but two years later, on finding that this divorce was not legal, and a new bill of separation being granted by the courts of Kentucky, they were remarried in 1793. This was used as a handle by his opponents in the political campaign afterwards. Jackson was untiring in his efforts as United i I States attorney and obtained much influence. He was chosen a member of the Constitutional Convention of I796, when Tennessee became a state and was its first representative in congress. In 1797 he was chosen United States senator, but resigned the following year to accept a seat on the supreme court of Tennessee which he held until I804. He was elected major-general of the militia of that state in I8oI. In I804, being unsuccessful in obtaining the governorship of Louisiana, the new territory, he retired from public life to the H-ermitage, his plantation. On the outbreak of the war with Great Britain in II 82 he tendered his services to the government and went to New Orleans with the Tennessee troops in January, I813. In March of th.at year he was ordered to disband his troops, but later marched against the Cherokee Indians, defeating them at Talladega, Eruckfaw and Tallapoosa. I-aving now a national reputation, he was appointed major-general in the United States army and was sent against the British in Florida. I-e conducted the defence of Mobile and seized Pensacola. He then went with his troops to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he gained the famous victory of January 8, I8I5. In I8i7-I8 he conducted a war against the Seminoles, and in I82I was made governor of the new territory of Florida. In I823 he was elected United States senator, but in 1824 was the contestant with J. Q. Adams for the presidency. Four years later he was elected president, and served two terms. In 1832 he took vigorous action against the nullifiers of South Carolina, and the next year removed the public money from the United States bank. During his second term the national debt was extinguished. At the close of his administration he retired to the Hermitage, where he died June 8, 1845. I COJIPENDICUMI OF BIOGRAPLIHY. A NDREW CARNEGIE, the largest manuA facturer of pig-iron, steel rails and coke in the world, well deserves a place among America's celebrated men. He was born November 25, 1835, at Dunfernmline, Scotland, and emigrated to the United States with his father in 1845, settling in Pittsburg. Two years later Mr. Carnegie began his business career by attending a small stationary engine. This work did not suit him and he became a telegraph messenger with the Atlantic and Ohio Co., and later he becanme an operator, and was one of the first to read telegraphic signals by sound. Mr. Carnegie was afterward sent to the Pittsburg office of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., as clerk to the superintendent and lmanager of the telegraph lines. While in this position lhe made the acquaintance of Mr. Woodruff, the inventor of the sleeping-car. Mr. Carnegie immediately became interested and was one of the organizers of the company for its construction after the railroad had adopted it, and the success of this venture gave him the nucleus of his wealth. He was promoted to the superintendency of the Pittsburg division of the Pennsylvania Railroad and about this time was one of the syndicate that purchased the Storey farm on Oil Creek which cost forty thousand dollars and in one year it yielded over one million dollars in cash dividends. Mr. Carnegie later was associated with others in establishing a ro!1ingmill, and from this has grown the most extensive and complete system of iron and steel industries ever controlled by one individual, embracing the Edgar Tho mso Steel Works; Pittsburg Bessemer Steel Works; Lucy Furnaces; Union Iron Mills; Union Mill; Keystone Bridge Works; Hartman Steel Works; Frick Coke Co.; Scotia Ore Mines. Besides directing his iimmense iron industries he owned eighteen English newspapers which he ran in the interest oi the Radicals. He has also devoted large sums of money to benevolent and educational purposes. In I879 he erected commodious swimming baths for the people of Dunfermline, Scotland, and in the following year gave forty thousand dollars for a free library. Mr. Carnegie gave fifty thousand dollars to Bellevue H-ospital Medical College in I884 to found wAhat is now called 'Carnegie Laboratory," and in 885 gave five hundred thousand dollars to Pittsburg for a public library. I-iH also gave two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a music hall and library in Allegheny City in 1886, and two hundred and fifty thoulsand dollars to _Edinburgh, Scotland, for a free library. I-ie also established free libraries at Braddock, Pennsylvania, 1and other places for the benefit of his employes. I e also published the followingo works, " An Amlerican Four-in-hand in Lritaia;-" " Round the World;" "Triumpha'nit Dnmocracy; or Fifty Years' March of the Republic." EORGE H. THOMAS, the " rock of Chickanmaluga," one of the best known commanders during the late Civil war, was born in Southampton county, Virginia, July 31, 18, his parents being of Welsh and French oriqin respectively. In 1836 young Thomlnas wasT appointed a cadet at the Military Acadelmy, at West Point, from which he graduated in 1840, and was promoted to the office of second lieutenant in the Third Artil1ley. Shortly after, with his company, he wvent to Florida, where he served for two years against the Seminole Indians. In I184 he was brevetted first lieutenant for gallant conduct. I-Ie remained in garrison in the south and southwest until 1845, at which date with the regiment he joined the army under General Taylor, and participat C O3LPEVNDIUJL~ OF BIO GRAPHAZF. ed i"f the defense of Fort Brown, the storming of Monterey and the battle of Buena Vista. After the latter event he remained in garrison, now brevetted niajor, until the close of the Mexican war. After a year spent in Florida, Captain Thomas was ordered to West Point, where he served as instructor until 1854. He then was transferred to California. In May, 1855, Thomas was appointed major of the Second Cavalry, with whom he spent five years in Texas. Although a southern man, and surrounded by brother officers who all were afterwards in the Confederate service, Major Thomas never swerved from his allegiance to the government. A. S. Johnston was the colonel of the regiment, R. E. Lee the lieutenant-colonel, and W. J. Hardee, senior major, while among the younger officers were Hood, Fitz Hugh Lee, Van Dorn and Kirby Smith. When these officers left the regiment to take up arms for the Confederate cause he remained with it, and April I7th, I86I, crossed the Potomac into his native state, at its head. After taking an active part in the opening scenes of the war on the Potomac and Shenandoah, in August, I86I, he was promoted to be brigadier-general and transferred to the Army of the Cumberland. January I9-20, 1862, Thomas defeated Crittenden at Mill Springs, and this brought him into notice and laid the foundation of his fame. He continued in command of his division until September 20, I862, except during the Corinth campaign when he commanded the right wing of the Army of the Tennessee. He was in command of the latter at the battle of Perryville, also, October 8, I862. On the division of the Army of the Cumberland into corps, January 9, I863, General Thomas was assigned to the command of the Fourteenth, and at the battle of Chick amauga, after the retreat of Rosecrans, firmly held his own against the hosts of General Bragg. A history of his services from that on would be a history of the war in the southwest. On September 27, I864, General Thomas was given command in Tennessee, and after organizing his army, defeated General Hood in the battle of Nashville, December 15 and I6, 1864. Much complaint was made before this on account of what they termed Thomas' slowness, and he was about to be superseded because he would not strike until he got ready, but when the blow was struck General Grant was the first to place on record this vindica-.tion of Thomas' judgment. He received a vote of thanks from Congress, and from the legislature of Tennessee a gold medal. After the close of the war General Thomas had command of several of the military divisions, and died at San Francisco, California, March 28, 1870. EORGE BANCROFT, one of the most eminent American historians, was a native of Massachusetts, born at Worcester, October 3, I8oo, and a son of Aaron Bancroft, D. D. The father, Aaron Bancroft, was born at Reading, Massachusetts, November 10, I755. He graduated at Harvard in 1778, became a minister, and for half a century was rated as one of the ablest preachers in New England. He was also a prolific writer and published a number of works among which was " Life of George Washington." Aaron Bancroft died August 19, I839. The subject of our present biography, George Bancroft, graduated at Harvard in I817, and the following year entered the University of Gottingen, where he studied history and philology under the most eminent teachers, and in I820 received the de C OMfPENADIUMI gree of doctor of philosophy at Gottingen. Upon his return home he published a volume of poems, and later a translation of Heeren's "Reflections on the Politics of Ancient Greece." In 1834 he produced the first volume of his "History of the United States," this being followed by other volumes at different intervals later. This was bis greatest work and ranks as the highest authority, taking its place among the greatest of American productions. George Bancroft was appointed secretary of the navy by President Polk in 1845, but resigned in 1846 and became minister plenipotentiary to England. In I849 he retired from public life and took up his residence at Washington, D. C. In I867 he was appointed United States minister to the court of Berlin and negotiated the treaty by which Germans coming to the United States were released from their allegiance to the government of their native land. In 1871 he was minister plenipotentiary to the German empire and served until 1874. The death of George Bancroft occurred January 17, 1891. G EORGE GORDON MEADE, a faJ mous Union general, was born at Cadiz, Spain, December 30, 18 5, his father being United States naval agent at that port. After receiving a good education he entered the West Point Military Academy in I831. From here he was graduated June 30, 1835, and received the rank of second lieutenant of artillery. He participated in the Seminole war, but resigned from the army in October, 1836. He entered upon the profession of civil engineer, which he followed for several years, part of the time in the service of the government in making surveys of the mouth of the Mississippi river. His report and results of some experiments made by him in this service OF I0 GRA PHT. 75 gained Meade much credit. He also was employed in surveying the boundary line of Texas and the northeastern boundary line between the United States and Canada. In 1842 he was reappointed in the army to the position of second lieutenant of engineers. During the Mexican war he served with distinction on the staff of General Taylor in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma and the storming of Monterey. He received his brevet of first lieutenant for the latter action. In I85I he was made full first lieutenant in his corps; a captain in I856, and major soon after. At the close of the war with Mexico he was employed in lighthouse construction and in geodetic surveys until the breaking out of the Rebellion, in which he gained great reputation. In August, I86I, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers and placed in command of the second brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves, a division of the First Corps in the Army of the Potomac. In the campaign of I862, under McClellan, Meade took an active part, being present at the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill and Glendale, in the latter of which he was severely wounded. On rejoining his command he was given a division and distinguished himself at its head in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. During the latter, on the wounding of General Hooker, Meade was placed in command of the corps and was himself slightly wounded. For services he was promoted, November, I862, to the rank of major-general of volunteers. On the recovery of General Hooker General Meade returned to his division and in December, 1862, at Fredericksburg, led an attack which penetrated Lee's right line and swept to his rear. Being outnumbered and unsupported, he finally was driven back. The same month Meade was assigned to the COlIPENIVDIUJ~ OF ZIO GRAPrr. comnand of the Fifth Corps, and at Chancellorsville in May, I863, his sagacity and ability so struck General I-ooker that when the latter asked to be relieved of the command, in June of the same year, he nominated Meade as his successor. June 28, I863, President Lincoln commissioned General Meade commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac, then scattered and moving ha.zily through Pennsylvania to the great and decisive battlefield at Gettysburg, at which he was in full command. With the victory on those July days the name of Meade will ever be associated. From that time until the close of the war he commanded the Army of the Potomac. In I864 General Grant, being placed at the head of all the armies, took up his quarters with the Army of the Potomac. From that time until the surrender of Lee at Appo. matox Meade's ability shone conspicuously, and his tact in the delicate position in leading his army under the eye of his superior officer commanded the respect and esteem of General Grant. For services Meade was promoted to the rank of major-general, and on the close of hostilities, in July, 1865, was assigned to the command of the military division of the Atlantic, with headquarters at Philadelphia. This post he held, with the exception of a short period on detached duty in Georgia, until his death, which took place November 6, 1872. DAVID CROCKETT was a noted hunter and scout, and also one of the earliest of American humorists. He was born August 17, I786, in Tennessee, and was one of the most prominent men of his locality, serving as representative in congress from 1827 until I83I. He attracted considerable notice while a member of congress and was closely associated with General Jack son. of whom he was a personal friend. He went to Texas and enlisted in the Texan army at the time of the revolt of Texas against Mexico and gained a wide reputation as a scout. He was one of the famous one hundred and forty men under Colonel 'W. B. Travis who were besieged in Fort Alamo, near San Antonio, Texas, by General Santa Anna with some five thousand Mexicans on February 23, I836. The fort was defended for ten days, frequent assaults being repelled with great slaughter, over one thousand Mexicans being killed or wounded, while not a man in the fort was injured. Finally, on March 6, three assaults were made, and in the hand-to-hand fight that followed the last, the Texans were wofully outnumbered and overpowered. They fought desperately with clubbed muskets till only six were left alive, including W. B. Travis, David Crockett and James Bowie. These surrendered under promise of protection; but when they were brought before Santa Anna he ordered them all to be cut to pieces. ENRY WATTERSON, one of the most conspicuous figures in the history of American journalism, was born at Washington, District of Columbia, February I6, I840. His boyhood days were mostly spent in the city of his birth, where his father, Harvey M. Watterson, was editor of the "Union," a well known journal. Owing to a weakness of the eyes, which interfered with a systematic course of study, young Watterson was educated almost entirely at home. A successful college career was out of the question, but he acquired a good knowledge of music, literature and art from private tutors, but the most valuable part of the training he received was by associating with his father and the throng ot COMzl~PENDIUMzl OF BIOGRAPHr. public men whom he met in Washington in the stirring days immediately preceding the Civil war. He began his journalistic career at an early age as dramatic and musical critic, and in I858, became editor of the "Democratic Review" and at the same time contributed to the "States," a journal of liberal opinions published in Washington. In this he remained until the breaking out of the war, when the "States," opposing the administration, was suppressed, and young Watterson removed to Tennessee. He next appears as editor of the Nashville "Republican Banner," the most influential paper in the state at that time. After the occupation of Nashville by the Federal troops, Vatterson served as a volunteer staff officer in the Confederate service until the close of the war, with the exception of a year spent in editing the Chattanooga " Rebel." On the close of the war he returned to Nashville and resumed his connection with the "Banner." After a trip to Europe he assumed control of the Louisville I"Journal," which he soon combined with the "Courier" and the "Democrat" of that place, founding the well-known "Courier-Journal," the first number of which appeared November 8, I868. Mr. Watterson also represented his district in congress for several years. ATRICK SARSFIELD GILMORE, one of the most successful and widely known bandmasters and musicians of the last half century in America, was born in Ballygar, Ireland, on Christmas day, I829. HIe attended a public school until apprenticed to a wholesale merchant at Athlone, of the brass band of which town he soon became a member. His passion for music conflicting with the duties of a mercantile that of musical instructor to the young sons of his employer. At the age of nineteen he sailed for America and two days after his arrival in Boston was put in charge of the band instrument department of a prominent music house. In the interests of the publications of this house he organized a minstrel company known as " Ordway's Eolians," with which he first achieved success as a cornet soloist. Later on he was called the best E-flat cornetist in the United States. He became leader, successively, of the Suf. folk, Boston Brigade and Salem bands. During his connection with the latter he inaugurated the famous Fourth of July concerts on Boston Common, since adopted as a regular programme for the celebration of Independence Day. In I858 Mr. Gilmore founded the organization famous thereafter as Gilmore's Band. At the outbreak of the Civil war this band was attached to the Twenty-Fourth, Massachusetts Infantry. Later, when the economical policy of dispensing with music had proved a mistake, Gilmore was entrusted with the re-organization of state military bands, and upon his arrival at New Orleans with his own band was made bandmaster-general by General Banks. On the inauguration of Governor Hahn, later on, in Lafayette square, New Orleans, ten thousand children, mostly of Confederate parents, rose to the baton of Gilmore and, accompanied by six hundred instruments, thirty-six guns and the united fire of three regiments of infantry, sang the Star-Spangled Banner, America and other patriotic Union airs. In June, I867, Mr. Gilinore conceived a national musical festival, which was denounced as a chimerical undertaking, but he succeeded and June I5, IS69, stepped upon the stage of the Boston Colosseum, a vast structure erected for the life, his position as clerk was exchanged for occasion, and in the presence of over fifty 78 COJAPENDIUI~. OF BI OGRAPY.IT thousand people lifted his baton over an orchestra of one thousand and a chorus of ten thousand. On the I7th of June, 1872, he opened a still greater festival in Boston, when, in addition to an orchestra of two thousand and a chorus of twenty thousand, were present the Band of the Grenadier Guards, of London, of the Garde Republicaine, of Paris, of Kaiser Franz, of Berlin, and one from Dublin, Ireland, together with Johann Strauss, Franz Abt and many other soloists, vocal and instrumental. Gilmore's death occurred September 24, 1892. M ARTIN VAN BUREN was the eighth president of the United States, I837 to 1841. He was of Dutch extraction, and his ancestors were among the earliest settlers on the banks of the Hudson. He was born December 5, 1782, at Kinderhook, New York. Mr. Van Buren took up the study of law at the age of fourteen and took an active part in political matters before he had attained his majority. He commenced the practice of law in I803 at his native town, and in I809 he removed to Hudson, Columbia county, New York, where he spent seven years gaining strength and wisdom from his contentions at the bar with some of the ablest men of the profession. Mr. Van Buren was elected to the state senate, and from 1815 until 18 9 he was attorney-general of the state. He was reelected to the senate in I8 6, and in I818 he was one of the famous clique of politicians known as the "Albany regency." Mr. Van Buren was a member of the convention for the revision of the state constitution, in 1821. In the same year he was elected to the United States senate and served his term in a manner that caused his re-election to that body in 1827, but resigned the following year as he had been elected governor of New York. Mr. Van Buren was appointed by President Jackson as secretary of state in March, I 829, but resigned in I831, and during the recess of congress he was appointed minister to England. The senate, however, when it convened in December refused to ratify the appointment. In May, 1832, he was nominated by the Democrats as their candidate for vice-president on the ticket with Andrew Jackson, and he was elected in the following November. He received the nomination to succeed President Jackson in I836, as the Democratic candidate, and in the electoral college he received one hundred and seventy votes out of two hundred and eighty-three, and was inaugurated March 4, I837. His administration was begun at a time of great business depression, and unparalled financial distress, which caused the suspension of specie payments by the banks. Nearly every bank in the country was forced to suspend specie payment, and no less than two hundred and fifty-four business houses failed in New York in one week. The President urged the adoption of the independent treasury idea, which passed through the senate twice but each time it was defeated in the house. However the measure ultimately became a law near the close of President Van Buren's term of office. Another important measure that was passed was the pre-emption law that gave the actual settlers preference in the purchase of public lands. The question of slavery had begun to assume great preponderance during this administration, and a great conflict was tided over by the passage of a resolution that prohibited petitions or papers that in any way related to slavery to be acted upon. In the Democratic convention of 1840 President Van Buren secured the nomination for re-election on that ticket CO1MPEiJ)DIUJ1 OF BIOGRA lPHt. without opposition, but in the election he only received the votes of seven states, his opponent, W. H. Harrison, being elected preside-:t. In I848 Mr. Van Buren was the candidate of the " Free-Soilers," but was unsuccessful. After this he retired from public life and spent the remainder of his life on his estate at Kinderhook, where he died July 24, I862. W1 INFIELD SCOTT, a distinguished American general, was born June 13, I786, near Petersburg, Dinwiddie county, Virginia, and was educated at the William and Mary College. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, and in 1808 he accepted an appointment as captain of light artillery, and was ordered to New Orleans. In June, I812, he was promoted to be lieutenantcolonel, and on application was sent to the frontier, and reported to General Smyth, near Buffalo. He was made adjutant-general with the rank of a colonel, in March, 1813, and the same month attained the colonelcy of his regiment. He participated in the principal battles of the war and was wounded many times, and at the close of the war he was voted a gold medal by congress for his services. He was a writer of considerable merit on military topics, and he gave to the military science, "General Regulations of the Army " and " System of Infantry and Rifle Practice." He took a prominent part in the Black Hawk war, and at the beginning of the Mexican war he was appointed to take the command of the army. Gen. Scott immediately assembled his troops at Lobos Island from which he moved by transports to Vera Cruz, which he took March 29, I847, and rapidly followed up his first success. He fought the battles of Cerro Gordo and Jalapa, both of which he won, and proceeded to Pueblo where he was preceded by Worth's division which had taken the town and waited for the coming of Scott. The army was forced to wait here for supplies, and August 7th, General Scott started on his victorious march to the city of Mexico with ten thousand, seven hundred and thirty-eight men. The battles of Contreras, Cherubusco and San Antonio were fought August I9-20, and on the 24th an armistice was agreed upon, but as the commissioners could not agree on the terms of settlement, the fighting was renewed at Molino Del Rey, and the Heights of Chapultepec were carried by the victorious army of General Scott. Hle gave the enemy no respite, however, and vigorously followed up his advantages. On September 14, he entered the City of Mexico and dictated the terms of surrender in the very heart of the Mexican Republic. General Scott was offered the presidency of the Mexican Republic, but declined. Congress extended him a vote of thanks and ordered a gold medal be struck in honor of his generalship and bravery. tIe was candidate for the presidency on the Whig platform but was defeated. He was honored by having the title of lieutenant-general conferred upon him in 8 5 5. At the beginning of the Civil war he was too infirm to take charge of the army, but did signal service in behalf of the government. He retired from the service November I, I861, and in I864 he published his "Autobiography." General Scott died at West Point, May 29, i866. E1DWXARD EVERETT HALE for many years occupied a high place among the most honored of America's citizens. As a preacher he ranks among the foremost in the New England states, but to the general public he is best known through his writings. Born in Boston, Mass., April 3, 80 C OMPENDIUM OUlF BIO GRA Pir. 1822, a descendant of one of the most prominent New England families, he enjoyed in his youth many of the advantages denied the majority of boys. He received his preparatory schooling at the Boston Latin School, after which he finished his studies at Harvard where he was graduated with high honors in I839. Having studied theology at home, Mr. Hale embraced the ministry and in I846 became pastor of a Unitarian church in Worcester, Massachusetts, a post which he occupied about ten years. He then, in I856, became pastor of the South Congregational church in Boston, over which he presided many years. Mr. Hale also found time to write a great many literary works of a high class. Among many other well-known productions -f his are " The Rosary," " Margaret Percival in America," "Sketches of Christian.distory," "Kansas and Nebraska," "Let-;ers on Irish Emigration," " Ninety Days' Worth of Europe," " If, Yes, and Perhaps," "Ingham Papers," "Reformation, " Level Best and Other Stories," "Ups and Downs," "Christmas Eve and Christmas Day," " In His Name," ' Our New Crusade," \Vorkingmen's Homes," "Boys' Heroes," etc., etc., besides many others which might be mentioned. One of his works, "In His Name," has earned itself enduring fame by the good deeds it has called forth. The numerous associations known as ' The King's Daughters," which has accomplished much good, owe their existence to the story mentioned. D AVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT stands pre-eminent as one of the greatest naval officers of the world. He was born at Campbell's Station, East Tennessee, July 5, I8So, and entered the navy of the United States as a midshipman. He had the good fortune to serve under Capt'-i.n David Porter, who commanded the "Essex," and by whom he was taught the ideas of devotion to duty from which he never swerved during all his career. In I823 Mr. Farragut took part in a severe fight, the result of which was the suppression of piracy in the West Indies. He then entered upon the regular duties of his profession which was only broken into by a year's residence with Charles Folsom, our consul at Tunis, who was afterwards a distinguished professor at Harvard. Mr. Farragut was one of the best linguists in the navy. He had risen through the different grades of the service until the war of I861-65 found him a captain residing at Norfolk, Virginia. He removed with his family to Hastings, on the Hudson, and hastened to offer his services to the Federal government, and as the capture of New Orleans had been resolved upon, Farragut was chosen to command the expedition. His force consisted of the West Gulf blockading squadron and Porter's mortar flotilla. In January, I862, he hoisted his pennant at the mizzen peak of the " Hartford" at Hampton roads, set sail from thence on the 3rd of February and reached Ship Island on the 20th of the same month. A council of war was held on the 20th of April, in which it was decided that whatever was to be done must be done quickly. Thesignalwas made from the flagship and accordingly the fleet weighed anchor at 1:55 on the morning of April 24th, and at 3:30 the whole force was under way. The history of this brilliant struggle is well known, and the glory of it made Farragut a hero and also made him rear admiral. In the summer of 862 he ran the batteries at Vicksburg, and on March 14, I863, he passe.d through the fearful and destructive fire from Pott Hudson, and opened up communication with Flag-officer Porter, who f `I / L ~ 'I 7I V;~ Z7, A.4 I.Ilk. W:, , 7t j V/I V.I A. 1: I C OMiPENDIUMI OF BIO GRAPHr. 83 had control of the upper Mississippi. On May 24th he commenced active operations against that fort in conjunction with the army and it fell on July 9th. Mr. Farragut filled the measure of his fame on the 5th of August, 1864, by his great victory, the capture of Mobile Bay and the destruction of the Confederate fleet, including the formidable ram Tennessee. For this victory the rank of admiral was given to Mr. Farragut. He died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 4, 870. GEORGE W. CHILDS, a philanthropist wI hose remarkable personality stood for the best and highest type of American citizenship, and whose whole life was an object lesson in noble living, was born in 1829 at Baltimore, Maryland, of humble parents, and spent his early life in unremitting toil. He was a self-made man in the fullest sense of the word, and gained his great wealth by his own efforts. He was a man of very great influence, and this, in conjunction with his wealth, would have been, in the hands of other men, a means of getting them political preferment, but Mr. Childs steadily declined any suggestions that would bring him to figure prominently in public affairs. He did not choose to found a financial dynasty, but devoted all his powers to the helping of others, with the most enlightened beneficence and broadest sympathy. Mr. Childs once remarked that his greatest pleasure in life was in doing good to others. He always despised meanness, and one of his objects of life was to prove that a man could be liberal and successful at the same time. Upon these lines Mr. Childs made a name for himself as the director of one of the representative newspapers of America, "The Philadelphia Pubiic Ledger," which was owned jointly by 5 himself and the Drexel estate, and which he edited for thirty years. He acquired control of the paper at a time when it was being published at a heavy loss, set it upon a firm basis of prosperity, and he made it more than a money-making machine-he made it respected as an exponent of the best side of journalism, and it stands as a monument to his sound judgment and upright business principles. Mr. Childs' charitable repute brought him many applications for assistance, and he never refused to help any one that was deserving of aid; and not only did he help those who asked, but he would by careful inquiry find those who needed aid but were too proud to solicit it. He was a considerable employer of labor, and his liberality was almost unparalleled. The death of this great and good man occurred February 3d, I894. ATRICK HENRY won his way to undying fame in the annals of the early history of the United States by introducing into the house of burgesses his famous resolution against the Stamp Act, which he carried through, after a stormy debate, by a majority of one. At this time he exclaimed "( Cesar had his Brutus, Charles I his Cromwell and George III" (here he was interrupted by cries of " treason ") (may profit by their example. If this be treason make the most of it." Patrick Henry was born at Studley, Hanover county, Virginia, May 29, I736, and was a son of Colonel John Henry, a magistrate and school teacher of Aberdeen, Scotland, and a nephew of Robertson, the historian. I-e received his education from his father, and was married at the age of eighteen. He was twice bankrupted before he had reached his twenty-fourth year, when after six weeks of study he was admitted to 84: C O[1PENDIU TIM OFy B]IO GRAPHT. the bar. He worked for three years without a case and finally was applauded for his plea for the people's rights and gained immense popularity. After his famous Stamp Act resolution he was the leader of the patriots in Virginia. In 1769 he was admitted to practice in the general courts and speedily won a fortune by his distinguished ability as a speaker. He was the first speaker of the General Congress at Philadelphia in I774. He was for a time a colonel of militiain 1775, and from 1776 to 1779 and 1781 to 1786 he was governor of Virginia. For a number of years he retired from public life and was tendered and declined a number of important political offices, and in March, I789, he was elected state senator but aid not take his seat on account of his death which occurred at Red Hill, Charlotte county, Virginia, June 6, I799. BENEDICT ARNOLD, an American general and traitor of the Revolutionary war, is one of the noted characters in Amecican history. He was born in Norwich, Connecticut, January 3, I740. He ran away and enlisted in the army when young, but deserted in a short time. He then became a merchant at New Haven, Connecticut, but failed. In 1775 he was commissioned colonel in the Massachusetts militia, and in the autumn of that year was placed in command of one thousand men for the invasion of Canada. He marched his army through the forests of Maine and joined General Montgomery before Quebec. Their combined forces attacked that city on December 31, I775, and Montgomery was killed, and Arnold, severely wounded, was compelled to retreat and endure a rigorous winter a few miles from the city, where they were at the mercy of the Canadian troops had they cared to attack them. On his re I turn he was raised to the rank of brigadiergeneral. He was given command of a small flotilla on Lake Champlain, with which he encountered an immense force, and though defeated, performed many deeds of valor. He resented the action of congress in promoting a number of his fellow officers and neglecting himself. In I777 he was made major-general, and under General Gates at Bemis Heights fought valiantly. For some reason General Gates found fault with his conduct and ordered him under arrest, and he was kept in his tent until the battle of Stillwater was waxing hot, when Arnold mounted his horse and rode to the front of his old troop, gave command to charge, and rode like a mad man into the thickest of the fight and was not overtaken by Gates' courier until he had routed the enemy and fell wounded. Upon his recovery he was made general, and was placed in command at Philadelphia. Here he married, and his acts of rapacity soon resulted in a courtmartial. I-e was sentenced to be reprimanded by the commander-in-chief, and though Washington performed this duty with utmost delicacy and consideration, it was never forgiven. Arnold obtained command at West Point, the most important post held by the Americans, in I780, and immediately offered to surrender it to Sir Henry Clinton, British commander at New York. Major Andre was sent to arrange details with Arnold, but on his return trip to New York he was captured by Americans, the plot was detected, and Andre suffered the death penalty as a spy. Arnold escaped, and was paid about $40,000 by the British for his treason and was made brigadier-general. He afterward commanded an expedition that plundered a portion of Virginia, and another that burned New London, Connecticut, and captured Fort Trum COJIIPENVDIU~il OF BIOGRAPRI A i 85-. bull, the commandant of which Arnold murdered with the sword he had just surrendered. He passed the latter part of his life in England, universally despised, and died in London June 14, I8oI. ROBERT G. INGERSOLL, one of the most brilliant orators that America has produced, also a lawyer of considerable merit, won most of his fame as a lecturer. Mr. Ingersoll was born August 24, 1833, at Dryden, Gates county, New York, and received his education in the common schools. He went west at the age of twelve, and for a short time he attended an academy in Tennessee, and also taught school in that state. He began the practice of law in the southern part of Illinois in 1854. Colonel Ingersoll's principal fame was made in the lecture room by his lectures in which he ridiculed religious faith and creeds and criticised the Bible and the Christian religion. He was the orator of the day in the Decoration Day celebration in the city of New York in I882 and his oration was widely commended. He first attracted political notice in the convention at Cincinnati in I876 by his brilliant eulogy on James G. Blaine. He practiced law in Peoria, Illinois, for a number of years, but later located in the city of New York. He published the following: "The Gods and other Lectures;" " The Ghosts;" "Some Mistakes of Moses;" "What Shall I Do To Be Saved;" "Interviews on Talmage and Presbyterian Catechism;" The "North American Review Controversy;" "Prose Poems;" "A Vision of War;" etc. OSEPH ECCLESTON JOHNSTON, a noted general in the Confederate army, was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, in I807. He graduated from West Point I and entered the army in 1829. For a number of years his chief service was garrison duty. He saw active service, however, in the Seminole war in Florida, part of the time as a staff officer of General Scott. He resigned his commission in 1837, but returned to the army a year later, and was brevetted captain for gallant services in Florida. He was made first lieutenant of topographical engineers, and was engaged in river and harbor improvements and also in the survey of the Texas boundary and the northern boundary of the United States until the beginning of the war with Mexico. He was at the siege of Vera Cruz, and at the battle of Cerro Gordo was wounded while reconnoitering the enemy's position, after which he was brevetted major and colonel. He was in all the battles about the city of Mexico, and was again wounded in the final assault upon that city. After the Mexican war closed he returned to duty as captain of topographical engineers, but in I855 he was made lieutenant-colonel of cavalry and did frontier duty, and was appointed inspector-general of the expedition to Utah. In I860 he was appointed quartermaster-general with rank of brigadiergeneral. At the outbreak of hostilities in I86I he resigned his commission and received the appointment of major-general of the Confederate army. I-He held Harper's Ferry, and later fought General Patterson about Winchester. At the battle of Bull Run he declined command in favor of Beauregard, and acted under that general's directions. He commanded the Confederates in the famous Peninsular campaign, and was severely wounded at Fair Oaks and was succeeded in command by General Lee. Upon his recovery he was made lieutenantgeneral and assigned to the command of the southwestern department. He attempted 86 C O8INPENDIUi~[ OF I10 GAP'Hl i'il'2-. to raise the siege of Vicksburg, and was finally defeated at Jackson, Mississippi. Having been made a general he succeeded General I3rag, in command of the army of Tennessee and was ordered to check General Sherman's advance upon Atlanta. Not daring to risk a battle with the overwhelming forces of Sherman, he slowly retreated toward Atlanta, and was relieved of command by President Davis and succeeded by General Hood. Hood utterly destroyed his own army by three furious attacks upon Sherman. Johnston was restored to command in the Carolinas, and again faced Sherman, but was defeated in several engagements and continued a slow retreat toward Richmond. Hearing of Lee's surrender, he communicated with General Sherman, and finally surrendered his army at Durham, North Carolina, April 26, 1865. General Johnston was elected a member of the forty-sixth congress and was appointed United States railroad commissioner in 1885. His death occurred March 21, I891. AMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS, known throughout the civilized world as "MARK TWAIN," is recognized as one of the greatest humorists America has produced. He was born in Monroe county, Missouri, November 30, I835. He spent his boyhood days in his native state and many of his earlier experiences are related in various forms in his later writings. One of his early acquaintances, Capt. Isaiah Sellers, at an early day furnished river news for the New Orleans " Picayune," using the nzomdc-plume of "Mark Twain." Sellers died in I863 and Clemens took up his nzom-deplume/ c and made it famous throughout the world by his literary work. In 1862 Mr. Clemens became a journalist at Virginia, Nevada, and afterward followed the same profession at San Francisco and Buffalo, New York. He accumulated a fortune from the sale of his many publications, but in later years engaged in business enterprises, particularly the manufacture of a typesetting machine, which dissipated his fortune and reduced him almost to poverty, but with resolute heart he at once again took up his pen and engaged in literary work in the effort to regain his lost ground. Among the best known of his works may be mentioned the following: "(The Jumping Frog, " " Tom Sawyer," "R oughingit," " Innocents Abroad," "Huckleberry Finn," "Gilded Age," "Prince and Pauper," "Million Pound Bank Note," "A Yankee in King Arthur's Court," etc. C HRISTOPHER CARSON, better known as "KIT CARSON;" was an American trapper and scout who gained a wide reputation for his frontier work. He was a native of Kentucky, born December 24th, I809. He grew to manhood there, developing a natural inclination for adventure in the pioneer experiences in his native state. When yet a young man he became quite well known on the frontier. He served as a guide to Gen. Fremont in his Rocky Mountain explorations and enlisted in the army. He was an officer in the United States service in both the Mexican war and the great Civil war, and in the latter received a brevet of brigadier-general for meritorious service. His death occurred May 23, I868. OHN SHERMAN.-Statesman, politician, cabinet officer and senator, the name of the gentleman who heads this sketch is almost a household word throughout this country. Identified with some of the most COMIPENDIUMl OF BIO'GRAPHTr. 87 important measures adopted by our Government since the close of the Civil war, he may well be called one of the leading men of his day. John Sherman was born at Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio, May Ioth, 1823, the son of Charles R. Sherman, an eminent lawyer and judge of the supreme court of Ohio and who died in 1829. The subject of this article received an academic education and was admitted to the bar in 1844. In the Whig conventions of 1844 and 1848 he sat as a delegate. He was a member of the National house of representatives, from iS55 to I86I. In I86o he was reelected to the same position but was chosen United States senator before he took his seat in the lower house. He was re-elected senator in i866 and I872 and was long chairman of the commlittee on finance and on agriculture. He took a proninent part in debates on finance and on the conduct of the war, and was one of the authors of the reconstruction measures in I866 and I867, and was appointed secretary of the treasury March 7th, I877. Mr. Sherman was re-elected United States senator from Ohio January i8th, I88I, and again in IS86 and I892, during lwhich time he was rearded as one of the most prominent leaders of the Republican party, both in the senate and in the country. He was several times the favorite of his state for the nomination for president. On the formation of his cabinet in March, 1897, President McKinley tendered the position of secretary of state to Mr. Sherman, which was accepted. W ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, ninth president of the United States, was born in Charles county, Virginia, February 9, I773, the son of Governor Benjamin Harrison. He took a course in HampdenSidney College with a view to the practice of medicine, and then went to Philadelphia to study under Dr. Rush, but in 179r he entered the army, and obtained the commission of ensign, was soon promoted to the lieutenancy, and was with General Wayne in his war against the Indians. For his valuable service he was promoted to the rank of captain and given command of Fort W\ashington, now Cincinnati. He was appointed secretary of the Northwest Territory in I797, and in 1799 became its representative in congress. In I8OI he was appointed governor of Indiana Territory, and held the position for twelve years, during which time he negotiated important treaties with the Indilns, causing them to relinquish millions of acres of land, and also won the battle of Tippecanoe in I811. He succeeded in obtailing a change in the law which did not permit purchase of public lands in less tracts than four thousand acres, reducing the limit to three huindred and twenty acres. He became major-general of Kentucky militia and brigadier-general in the United States army in 1812, and won great renown in tllc defense of Fort Meigs, and his victory over the British and Indians under Proctor and Tecumseh at the Thames river, October 5, 8I 3. In 1816 General Harrison was elected to congress from Ohio, and during the canvass was accused of corrupt methods in regard to the commissariat of the army. He demanded an investigation after the election and was exonerated. In I819 he was elected to the Ohio state senate, and in I824 he gave his vote as a presidential elector to Henry Clay. He became a member of the United States senate the same year. During the last year of Adams' administration he was sent as minister to Colombia, but was re 88 C OM3PENDIUM3 OF BIOGRAPHY. called by President Jackson the following year. He then retired to his estate at North Bend, Ohio,a few miles below Cincinnati. In 1836 he was a candidate for the presidency, but as there were three other candidates the votes were divided, he receiving seventythree electoral votes, a majority going to Mr. Van Buren, the Democratic candidate. Four years later General Harrison was again nominated by the Whigs, and elected by a tremendous majority. The campaign was noted for its novel features, many of which have found a permanent place in subsequent campaigns. Those peculiar to that campaign, however, were the " log-cabin" and " hard cider" watchwords, which produced great enthusiasm among his followers. One month after his inauguration he died from an attack of pleurisy, April 4, IS41. HARLES A. DANA, the well-known and widely-read journalist of New York City, a native of Hinsdale, New Hampshire, was born August 8, I819. He received the elements of a good education in his youth and studied for two years at Harvard University. Owing to some disease of the eyes he was unable to complete his course and graduate, but was granted the degree of A. M. notwithstanding. For some time he was editor of the " Harbinger," and was a regular contributor to the Boston i' Chronotype." In 1847 he became connected with the New York " Tribune," and continued on the staff of that journal until I858. In the latter year he edited and compiled "The Household Book of Poetry," and later, in connection with George Ripley, edited the "New American Cyclopaedia." Mr. Dana, on severing his connection with the " Tribune" in 1867, became editor of the New York "Sun," a paper with which he was identified for many years, and which he made one of the leaders of thought in the eastern part of the United States. He wielded a forceful pen and fearlessly attacked whatever was corrupt and unworthy in politics, state or national. The same year, 1867, Mr. Dana organized the New York " Sun " Company. During the troublous days of the war, when the fate of the Nation depended upon the armies in the field, Mr. Dana accepted the arduous and responsible position of assistant secretary of war, and held the position during the greater part of 1863 and 1864. He died October 17, I897. SA GRAY was recognized throughout the scientific world as one of the ablest and most eminent of botanists. He was born at Paris, Oneida county, New York, November i8, I8 o. He received his medical degree at the Fairfield College of Physicians and Surgeons, in Herkimer county, New York, and studied botany with the late Professor Torrey, of New York. He was appointed botanist to the Wilkes expedition in I834, but declined the offer and became professor of natural history in Harvard University in 1842. He retired from the active duties of this post in 1873, and in 1874 he was the regent of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, District of Columbia. Dr. Gray wrote several books on the subject of the many sciences of which he was master. In 1836 he published his "Elements of Botany," I" Manual of Botany" in I848; the unfinished "Flora of North America," by himself and Dr. Torrey, the publication of which commenced in 1838. There is another of his unfinished works called "Genera Boreali-Americana," published in 1848, and the "Botany of the United States Pacific Exploring Expedition in i854." He wrote many elaborate papers COMIIPENVDIU1i OF ]BIOGRAPH Y. 89 on the botany of the west and southwest that were published in the Smithsonian Contributions, Memoirs, etc., of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which institution he was president for ten years. Ile was also the author of many of the government reports. "How Plants Grow," " Lessons in Botany," "Structural and Systematic Botany," are also works from his ready pen. Dr. Gray published in I86I his "Free Examination of Darwin's Treatise " and his "Darwiniana," in I876. Mr. Gray was elected July 29, I878, to a membership in the Institute of France, Academy of Sciences. His death occurred at Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 30, I889. W ILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS was one of the greatest leaders of the American bar. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, February 6, 1818, and graduated from Yale College in I837. He took up the study of law, which he practiced in the city of New York and won great renown as an orator and advocate. He affiliated with the Republican party, which he joined soon after its organization. He was the leading counsel employed for the defense of President Johnson in his trial for impeachnent before the senate in April and May of 1868. In July, I868, Mr. Evarts was appointed attorney-general of the United States, and served until March 4, I869. He-I was one of the three lawyers who were selected by President Grant in I87I to defend the interests of the citizens of the United States before the tribunal of arbitration which met at Geneva in Switzerland to settle the controversy over the " Alabama Claims." He was one of the most eloquent advocates in the United States, and many of his public addresses have been preserved and published. He was appointed secretary of state March 7, I877, by President Hayes, and served during the Hayes administration. He was elected senator from the state of New York January 21, I885, and at once took rank among the ablest statesmen in Congress, and the prominent part he took in the discussion of public questions gave him a national reputation. OHN WANAMAKER.-The life of this great merchant demonstrates the fact that the great secret of rising from the ranks is, to-day, as in the past ages, not so much the ability to make money, as to save it, or in other words, the ability to live well within one's income. Mr. Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia in I838. He started out in life working in a brickyard for a mere pittance, and left that position to work in a book store as a clerk, where he earned the sum of $5.oo per month, and later on was in the employ of a clothier where he received twenty-five cents a week more. He was only fifteen years of age at that time, but was a "' money-getter " by instinct, and laid by a small sum for a possible rainy day. By strict attention to business, combined with natural ability, he was promoted many times, and at the age of twenty he had saved $2,000. After several months vacation in the south, he returned to Philadelphia and became a master brick mason, but this was too tiresome to the young man, and he opened up the " Oak Hall " clothing store in April, I86I, at Philadelphia. The capital of the firm was rather limited, but finally, after many discouragements, they laid the foundations of one of the largest business houses in the world. The establishment covers at the present writing some fourteen acres of floor space, and furnishes 90 C OlIPENNDIUU I OF BIOGRAPHft. employment for five thousand persons. Mr. Wanamaker was also a great church worker, and built a church that cost him $60,000, and he was superintendent of the Sundayschool, which had a membership of over three thousand children. He steadily refused to run for mayor or congress and the only public office that he ever held was that of postmaster-general, under the Harrison administration, and here he exhibited his extraordinary aptitude for comprehending the details of public business. AVID BENNETT HILL, a Democratic politician who gained a national reputation, was born August 29, 1843, at Havana, New York. He was educated at the academy of his native town, and removed to Elmira, New York, in 1862, where he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in I864, in which year he was appointed city attorney. Mr. Hill soon gained a considerable practice, becoming prominent in his profession. He developed a taste for politics in which he began to take an active part in the different campaigns and became the recognized leader of the local Democracy. In I870 he was elected a member of the assembly and was re-elected in 1872. While a member of this assembly he formed the acquaintance of Samuel J. Tilden, afterward governor of the state, who appointed Mr. Hill, W. M. Evarts and Judge Hand as a committee to provide a uniform charter for the different cities of the state. The pressure of professional engagements compelled him to decline to serve. In I877 Mr. Hill was made chairman of the Democratic state convention at Albany, his election being due to the Tilden wing of the party, and he held the same position again in I88I. He served one term as alderman in Elmira, at the expiration of which term, in 1882, he was elected mayor of Elmrira, and in September of the same year was nominated for lieutenant-governor on the Democratic state ticket. He was successful in the campaign and two years later, when Grover Cleveland was elected to the presidency, Mr. Hill succeeded to the governorship for the unexpired term. In I885 he was elected governor for a full term of three years, at the end of which he was reelected, his term expiring in I891, in which year he was elected United States senator. In the senate he became a conspicuous figure and gained a national reputation. A LLEN G. THURNMAN.- -" The noblest Roman of them all" was the title by which Mr. Thurman was called by his compatriots of the Democracy. lHe was the greatest leader of the Democratic party in his day and held the esteem of all the people, regardless of their political creeds. Mr. Thurman was born November I3, I813, at Lynchburg, Virginia, where he remained until he had attained the age of six years, when he moved to Ohio. He received an academic education and after graduating, took up the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1835, and achieved a brilliant success in that line. In political life he was very successful, and his first office was that of representative of the state of Ohio in the twenty-ninth congress. He was elected judge of the supreme court of Ohio in 85 I, and was chief justice of the same from I854 to I856. In I867 he was the choice of the Democratic party of his state for governor, and was elected to the United States senate in I869 to succeed Benjamin I. Wade, and was re-elected to the same position in. I874. He was a prominent figure in the senate, until the expiration of his service i.l I88I. Mr. Thurman was also one of the CO JPENJDIUI~ OF PIO GRA Ptrr. 91 principal presidentai possibilities in the Democratic convention held at St. Louis in 1876. In I888 he was the Democratic nominee for vice-president on the ticket with Grover Cleveland, but was defeated. Allen Granberry Thurman died December 12, 1895, at Columbus, Ohio. HARLES FARRAR BROWNE, better known as I' Artemus W\ard," was born April 26, 1834, in the village of Waterford, Maine. He was thirteen years old at the time of his father's death, and about a year later he was apprenticed to John M. Ri>x, who published the "Coos County Democrat " at Lancaster, New Hampshire. Mr. Browne remained with him one year, when, hearing that his brother Cyrus was starting a paper at Norway, Maine, he left Mr. Rix and determined to get work on the new paper. He worked for his brother until the failure of the newspaper, and then went to Augusta, Maine, where he remained a few weeks and then removed to Skowhegan, and secured a position on the "Clarion." But either the climate or the work was not satisfactory to him, for one night he silently left the town and astonished his good mother by appearing unexpectedly at home. Mr. Browne then received some letters of recommendation to Messrs. Snow and Wilder, of Boston, at whose office Mrs. Partington's (B. P. Shillaber) "Carpet Bag " was printed, and he was engaged and remained there for three years. He then traveled westward in search of employment and got as far as Tiffin, Ohio, where he found employment in the office of the "Advertiser," and remained there some months when he proceeded to Toledo, Ohio, where he became one of the stafr of the "Commercial," which position he held until 1857. Mr. Browne next went zo Cieveland, Ohio, and became the local editor of the "Plain Dealer," and it was in the columns of this paper that he published his first articles and signed them "Artemus Ward." In I86o he went to New York and became the editor of " Vanity Fair," but the idea of lecturing here seized him, and he was fully determined to make the trial. Mr. Browne brought out his lecture, "Babes in the Woods" at Clinton Hall, December 23, 186I, and in 1862 he published his first book entitled, " Artemus Ward; His Book." IIe attained great fame as a lecturer and his. lectures were not confined to America, for he went to England in I866, and became exceedingly popular, both as a lecturer and a contributor to "Punch." Mr. Browne lectured for the last time January 23, I867. He died in Southampton, England, March 6, I867. THURLOW WEED, a noted journalist and politician, was born in Cairo, New York, November 15, I797. He learned the printer's trade at the age of twelve years, and worked at this calling for several years in various villages in central New York. lie served as quartermaster-sergeant during the war of I812. In I818 he established the "Agriculturist," at Norwich, New York, and became editor of the "Anti-Masonic Enquirer," at Rochester, in I826. In the same year he was elected to the legislature and re-elected in I830, when he located in Albany, New York, and there started the " Evening Journal," and conducted it in opposition to the Jackson administration and the nullification doctrines of Calhoun. He became an adroit party manager, and was instrumental in promoting the nominations of Harrison, Taylor and Scott for the prepidency. In I856 and in I86o he threw his svpport to W. H. Seward, but when defeated in his object, he gave cordial support to ,i2. COJPEN'ADIUM 01 BIOGRAP]IH-. Fremont and Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln preval;ed upon him to visit the various capitals of Europe, where he proved a valuable aid tc the administration in moulding the opinions of the statesmen of that continent favorable to the cause of the Union. Mr. Weed's connection with the "' Evening Journal" was severed in 1862, when he settled in New York, and for a time edited the "Commercial Advertiser." In I868 he retired from active life. His " Letters from Europe and the West Indies," published in 1866, together with some interesting " Reminiscences," published in the "Atlantic Monthly," in 1870, an autobiography, and portions of an extensive correspondence will be of great value to writers of the political history of the United States. Mr. Weed died in New York, November 22, I882. W ILLIAM COLLINS WHITNEY, one of the prominent Democratic politicians of the country and ex-secretary of the navy, was born July 5th, 1841, at Conway, Massachusetts, and received his education at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts. Later he attended Yale College, where he graduated in 1863, and entered the Harvard Law School, which he left in I864. Beginning practice in New York city, he soon gained a reputation as an able lawyer. He made his first appearance in public affairs in 1871, when he was active in organizing a young men's Democratic club. In I872 he was the recognized leader of the county Democracy and in 1875 was appointed corporation counsel for the city of New York. He resigned the office, 1882, to attend to personal interests and on March 5, 1885, he was appointed secretary of the navy by President Cleveland. Under his administration the navy of the United States rapidly rose in rank among the navies of the world. When he retired from office in I889, the vessels of the United States navy designed and contracted for by him were five double-turreted monitors, twe new armor-clads, the dynamite cruiser "Vesuvius," and five unarmored steel and iron cruisers. Mr. Whitney was the leader of the Cleveland forces in the national Democratic convention of 1892. DWIN FORREST, the first and greatest American tragedian, was born in Philadelphia in I806. His father was a tradesman, and some accounts state that he had marked out a mercantile career for his son, Edwin, while others claim that he had intended him for the ministry. His wonderful memory, his powers of mimicry and his strong musical voice, however, attracted attention before he was eleven years old, and at that age he made his first appearance on the stage. The costume in which he appeared was so ridiculous that he left the stage in a fit of anger amid a roar of laughter from the audience. This did not discourage him, however, and at the age of fourteen, after some preliminary training in elocution, he appeared again, this time as Young Norvel, and gave indications of future greatness. Up to 1826 he played entirely with strolling companies through the south and west, but at that time he obtained an engagement at the Bowery Theater in New York. From that time his fortune was made. His manager paid him $40 per night, and it is stated that he loaned Forrest to other houses from time to time at $200 per night. His great successes were Virginius, Damon, Othello, Coriolanus, William Tell, Spartacus and Lear. He made his first appearance in London in 1836, and his success was unquestioned from the start. In 1845, on his COJIPENDIJ UJi O-F b'OG GAPIzr. 93 second appearance in London, he became involved in a bitter rivalry with the great English actor, Macready, who had visited America two years before. The result was that Forrest was hissed from the stage, and it was charged that Macready had instigated thle plot. Forrest's resentment was so bitter that he Ihimself openly hissed Macready from his box a few nights later. In 1848 Macready again visited America at a time when American admiration and enthusiasm for Forrest had reached its height. Macready undertook to play at Astor Place Opera I-Iouse in May, 1849, but was hooted off the stage. A few nights later Macready made a second attempt to play at the same house, this time under police protection. The house was filled with Macready's friends, but the vioolence of the mob outside stopped the play, and the actor barely escaped with his life. Upon reading the riot act the police and troops were assaulted with stones. The troops replied, first with blank cartridges, and then a volley of lead dispersed the mob, leaving thirty men dead or seriously wounded. After this incident Forrest's popularity waned, until in I855 he retired from the stage. i-e re-appeared in I860, however, and probably the most remunerative period of his life was between that date and the close of the Civil war. His last appearance on the stage was at the Globe Theatre, Boston, in Richelieu, in April, 1872, his death occurring December 12 of that year. OAH PORTER, D. D., LL. D., was one of the niost noted educators, authors and scientific writers of the United States. HI-e was born December 14, ISII, at Farminiiton, Connecticut, graduated at Yale College in I83I, and was master of Hopkins Grammar School at New Haven in 1831-33. During 1833-35 he was a tutor at Yale, and at the same time was pursuing his theological studies, and became pastor of the Congregational church at New Milford, Connecticut, in April, 1836. Dr. Porter removed to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1843, and was chosen professor of metaphysics and moral philosophy at Yale in I846. He spent a year in Germany in the study of modern metaphysics in 1853 -54, and in 1871 he was elected president of Yale College. He resigned the presidency in 1885, but still remained professor of metaphysics and moral philosophy. IHe was the author of a number of works, among which are the following: "1 Historical Essay," written in commemorationofthe200th aniversary of the settlement of the town ol Farmington; GI Educational System of the Jesuits Compared;" "' The Huuman Intellect," with an introduction upon psychology and the soul; " 13ooks and Reading;" "American Colleges and the American Public;" l' ilements of Intellectual Philosophy;" " The Science of Nature versus the Science of Man;" II Science and Sentiment;" ' Elements of Moral Science." Dr. Porter was the principal editor of the revised edition of Webster's Dictionary in I864, and contributed largely to religious reviews and periodicals. Dr. Porter's death occurred March 4, 892, at New Haven, Connecticut. OHN TYLER, tenth president of the United States, was born in Charles City county, Virginia, March 29, I79o, and was the son of Judge John Tyler, one of the most distinguished men of his day. When but twelve years of age young John Tyler entered W\illiam and Mary College, graduating from there in I8o6. Iie tookl up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in ISog, when but nineteen years 94 C OIPEIVDIUM OF BIOGRAPHr. of age. On attaining his majority in 18II he was elected a member of the state legislature, and for five years held that position by the almost unanimous vote of his county. He was elected to congress in I816, and served in that body for four years, after which for two years he represented his district again in the legislature of the state. While in congress, he opposed the United States bank, the protective policy and internal improvements by the United States government. I825 saw Mr. Tyler governor of Virginia, but in 1827 he was chosen member of the United States senate, and held that office for nine years. He therein opposed the administration of Adams and the tariff bill of 1828, sympathized with the nulliPers of South Carolina and was the only senator who voted against the Force bill for the suppression of that state's insipient rebellion. He resigned his position as senator on account of a disagreement with the legislature of his state in relation to his censuring President Jackson. He retired to Williamsburg, Virginia, but being regarded as a martyr by the Whigs, whom, heretofore, he had always opposed, was supported by many of that party for the vice-presidency in I836. He sat in the Virginia legislature as a Whig in I839-40, and was a delegate to the convention of that party in I829. This national convention nominated him for the second place on the ticket with General William H. H. Harrison, and he was elected vice-president in November, 1840. President Harrison dying one month after his inauguration, he was succeeded by John Tyler. He retained the cabinet chosen by his predecessor, and for a time moved in harmony with the Whig party. He finally instructed the secretary of the treasury, Thomas Ewing, to submit to congress a bill for the incorporation of a fiscal bank of the United States, which was passed by congress, but vetoed by the president on account of some amendments he considered unconstitutional. For this and other measures he was accused of treachery to his party, and deserted by his whole cabinet, except Daniel Webster. Things grew worse until he was abandoned by the Whig party formally, when Mr. Webster resigned. He was nominated at Baltimore, in May, 1844, at the Democratic convention, as their presidential candidate, but withdrew from the canvass, as he saw he had not succeeded in gaining the confidence of his old party. He then retired from politics until February, I86I, when he was made president of the abortive peace congress, which met in Washington. He shortly after renounced his allegiance to the United States and was elected a member of the Confederate congress. He died at Richmond, January 17, I862. Mr. Tyler married, in 1813, Miss Letitia Christian, who died in 1842 at Washington. June 26, 1844, he contracted a second marriage, with Miss Julia Gardner, of New York. OLLIS POTTER HUNTINGTON, one of the great men of his time and who has left his impress upon the history of our national development, was born October 22, 1821, at Harwinton, Connecticut. He received a common-school education and at the age of fourteen his spirit of getting along in the world mastered his educational propensities and his father's objections and he left school. He went to California in the early days and had opportunities which he handled masterfully. Others had the same opportunities but they did not have his brains nor his energy, and it was he who overcame obstacles and reaped the reward of his genius. Transcontinental railways CO0li/PENDIUM~ Of' 1P 0 GAIOGNAP'r. 9e5 were inevitable, but the realization of this masterful achievement would have been delayed to a much later day if there had been no Huntington. He associated himself with Messrs. Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker, and they furnished the money necessary for a survey across the Sierra Nevadas, secured a charter for the road, and raised, with the government's aid, money enough to construct and equip that railway, which at the time of its completion was a marvel of engineering and one of the wonders of the world. Mr. Huntington became president of the Southern Pacific railroad, vice-president of the Central Pacific; trustee of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, and a director of the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company, besides being identified with many other business enterprises of vast importance. EORGE A. CUSTER, a famous Indian fighter, was born in Ohio in 1840. He graduated at West Point in I86I, anserved in the Civil war; was at Bull Run id I86I, and was in the Peninsular campaign, being one of General McClellan's aides-de, camp. He fought in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam in I863, and was with General Stoneman on his famous cavalry raid. He was engaged in the battle of Gettysburg, and was there made brevetmajor. In 1863 was appointed brigadiergeneral of volunteers. General Custer was in many skirmishes in central Virginia in I863-64, and was present at the following battles of the Richmond campaign: Wilderness,Todd's Tavern, Yellow Tavern, where he wasbrevetted lieutenant-colonel; Meadow Bridge, Haw's Shop, Cold Harbor, Trevillian Station. In the Shenandoah Valley 1864-65 he was brevetted colonel at Opequan Creek, and at Cedar Creek he was made brevet major-general for gallant conduct during the engagement. General Custer was in command of a cavalry division in the pursuit of Lee's army in 1865, and fought at Dinwiddie Court House, Five Forks, where he was made brevet brigadier-general; Sailors Creek and Appomattox, where he gained additional honors and was made brevet major-general, and was given the command of the cavalry in the military division of the southwest and Gulf, in I865. After the establishment of peace he went west on frontier duty and performed gallant and valuable service in the troubles with the Indians. He was killed in the massacre on the Little Big Horn river, South Dakota, June 25, I876. ANIEL WOLSEY VOORHEES, celbrated as " The Tall Sycamore of the Wabash," was born September 26, 1827, in Butler county, Ohio. When he was two months old his parents removed to Fountain county, Indiana. He grew to manhood on a farm, engaged in all the arduous work pertaining to rural life. In 1845 he entered the Indiana Asbury University, now the De Pauw, from which he graduated in 1849. He took up the study of law at Crawfordsville, and in I851 began the practice of his profession at Covington, Fountain county, Indiana. He became a law partner of United States Senator Hannegan, of Indiana, in I852, and in I856 he was an unsuccessful candidate for congress. In the following year he took up his residence in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was United States district attorney for Indiana from 1857 until I86I, and he had during this period been elected to congress, in 1860. Mr. Voorhees was re-elected to congress in 862 and 864, but he was unsuccessful in the election of I866. However, he was returned to con 96 C O1CfPENIDIU 01 OF JIO GRAPilT. gress in I868,where he remained until I874, having been re-elected twice. In 1877 he was appointed United States senator from Indiana to fill a vacancy caused by the death of 0. P. Morton, and at the end of the term was elected for the ensuing term, being reelected in 1885 and in 189I to the same office. He served with distinction on many of the committees, and took a very prominent part in the discussion of all the important legislation of his time. His death occurred in August, 189. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, famous as one of the inventors of the telephone, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 3rd, I847. He received his early education in the high school and later he attended the university, and was specially trained to follow his grandfather's profession, that of removing impediments of speech. He emigrated to the United States in 1872, and introduced into this country his father's invention of visible speech in the institutions for deaf-mutes. Later he was appointed professor of vocal physiology in the Boston University. He worked for many years during his leisure hours on his telephonic discovery, and finally perfected it and exhibited it publicly, before it had reached the high state of perfection to which he brought it. His first exhibition of it was at the Centennial Exhibition that was held in Philadelphia in 1876. Its success is now established throughout the civilized world. In 1882 Prof. Bell received a diploma and the decoration of the Legion of Honor from the Academy of Sciences of France. W ILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT, the justly celebrated historian and author, was a native of Salem, Massachusetts, and was born May 4, I796. He was the son of Judge William Prescott and the grandson of the hero of Bunker Hill, Colonel William Prescott. Our subject in I8o8 removed with the family to Boston, in the schools of which city he received his early education. tie entered Harvard College as a sophomore in 8 11, having been prepared at the private classical college of Rev. Dr. J. S. J. Gardijner. The following year he received an inury in his left eye which made study through life a matter of difficulty. He graduated in I814 with high honors in the classics and belle lettres. He spent several months on the Azores Islands, and later visited England, France and Italy, returning home in I817. In June, I818, he founded a social and literary club at Boston for which he edited "The Club Room," a periodical doomed to but a short life. May 4, I820, he married Miss Susan Amory. He devoted several years after that event to a thorough study of ancient and modern history and literature. As the fruits of his labors he published several well written essays upon French and Italian poetry and romance in the " North American Review." January 19, 1826, he decided to take up his first great historical work, the "(History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella." To this he gave the labor of ten years, publishing the same December 25, I837. Although placed at the head of all American authors, so diffident was Prescott of his literary merit that although he had four copies of this work printed for his own convenience, he hesitated a long time before giving it to the public, and it was only by the solicitation of friends, especially of that talented Spanish scholar, George Ticknor, that he was induced to do so. Soon the volumes were translated into French, Italian, Dutch and German, and the work was recognized C' OMPENDITUM1 OF BIOGRAPI2H. 97 throughout the world as one of the most meritorious of historical compositions. In I843 he published the "Conquest of Mexico," and in I847 the "Conquest of Peru." Two years later there came from his pen a volume of "Biographical and Critical Miscellanies." Going abroad in the summer of I850, he was received with great distinction in the literary circles of London, Edinburgh, Paris, Antwerp and Brussels. Oxford University conferred the degree of D. C. L. upon him. In I855 he issued two volumes of his "History of the Reign of Philip the Second," and a third in I858. In the meantime he edited Robertson's "Charles the Fifth," adding a history of the life of that monarch after his abdication. Death cut short his work on the remaining volumes of " Philip the Second," coming to him at Boston, Massachusetts, May 28, I859. O LIVER HAZARD PERRY, a noted American commodore, was born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, August 23, 1785. He saw his first service as a midshipman in the United States navy in April, I799. He cruised with his father, Captain Christopher Raymond Perry, in the West Indies for about two years. In I804 he was in the war against Tripoli, and was made lieutenant in 1807. At the opening of hostilities with Great Britain in 1812 he was given command of a fleet of gunboats on the Atlantic coast. At his request he was transferred, a year later, to Lake Ontario, where he served under Commodore Chauncey, and took an active part in the attack on Fort George. He was ordered to fit out a squadron on Lake Erie, which he did, building most of his vessels from the forests along the shore, and by the summer of I81 3 he had a fleet of nine vessels at Presque Isle, now Erie, Pennsylvania. September Ioth he attacked and captured the British fleet near Put-in-Bay, thus clearing the lake of hostile ships. His famous dispatch is part of his fame, " We have met the enemy, and they are ours." He co-operated with Gen. Harrison, and the success of the campaign in the northwest was largely due to his victory. The next year he was transferred to the Potomac, and assisted in the defense of Baltinore. After the war he was in constant service with the various squadrons in cruising in all parts of the world. He died of yellow fever on the Island of Trinidad, August 23, I819. His remains were conveyed to Newport, and buried there, and an imposing obelisk was erected to his memory by the State of Rhode Island. A bronze statue was also erected in his honor, the unveiling taking place in I885. OHN PAUL JONES, though a native of Scotland, was one of America's most noted fighters during the Revolutionary war. He was born July 6, I747. His father was a gardener, but the young man soon became interested in a seafaring life and at the age of twelve he was apprenticed to a sea captain engaged in the American trade. His first voyage landed him in Virginia, where he had a brother who had settled there several years prior. The failure of the captain released young Jones from his apprenticeship bonds, and he was engaged as third mate of a vessel engaged in the slave trade. He abandoned this trade after a few years, from his own sense of disgrace. He took passage from Jamaica for Scotland in I768, and on the voyage both the captain and the mate died and he was compelled to take command of the vessel for the remainder of the voyage. He soon after became master of the vessel. He returned to Virginia about 1773 to settle up the estate C OMPENIDIUMAI OF BIO GRA PHi. of his brother, and at this time added the name "Jones," having previously been known as John Paul. He settled down in Virginia, but when the war broke out in 1775 he offered his services to congress and was appointed senior lieutenant of the flagship "Alfred," on which he hoisted the American flag with his own hands, the first vessel that had ever carried a flag of the new nation. He was afterward appointed to the command of the "Alfred," and later of the "Providence," in each of which vessels he did good service, as also in the "Ranger," to the command of which he was later appointed. The fight that made him famous, however, was that in which he captured the "Serapis," off the coast of Scotland. He was then in command of the "Bon Homme Richard," which had been fitted out for him by the French government and named by Jones in honor of Benjamin Franklin, or " Good Man Richard," Franklin being author of the publication known as " Poor Richard's Almanac." The fight between the "Richard" and the "Serapis" lasted three hours, all of which time the vessels were at close range, and most of the time in actual contact. Jones' vessel was on fire several times, and early in the engagement two of his guns bursted, rendering the battery useless. Also an envious officer of the Alliance, one of Jones' own fleet, opened fire upon the " Richard " at a critical time, completely disabling the vessel. Jones continued the fight, in spite of counsels to surrender, and after dark the " Serapis" struck her colors, and was hastily boarded by Jones and his crew, while the "Richard" sank, bows first, after the wounded had been taken on board the "Serapis." Most of the other vessels of the fleet of which the " Serapis" was convoy, surrendered, and were taken with the "Serapis" to France, wE-hre Jones was received with greatest honors, and the king presented him with an elegant sword and the cross of the Order of Military Merit. Congress gave him a vote of thanks and made him commander of a new ship, the "America," but the vessel was afterward given to France and Jones never saw active sea service again. He came to America again, in I787, after the close of the war, and was voted a gold medal by congress. He went to Russia and was appointed rear-admiral and rendered service of value against the Turks, but on account of personal enmity of the favorites of the emperor he was retired on a pension. Failing to collect this, he returned to France, where he died, July I8, 1792. THOMAS MORAN, the well-known painter of Rocky Mountain scenery, was born in Lancashire, England, in 1837. He came to America when a child, and showing artistic tastes, he was apprenticed to a wood engraver in Philadelphia. Three years later he began landscape painting, and his style soon began to exhibit signs of genius. His first works were water-colors, and though without an instructor he began the use of oils, he soon found it necessary to visit Europe, where he gave particular attention to the works of Turner. He joined the Yellowstone Park exploring expedition and visited the Rocky Mountains in I871 and again in I873, making numerous sketches of the scenery. The most noteworthy results were his "Grand Canon of the Yellowstone," and " The Chasm of the Colorado," which were purchased by congress at $Io,ooo each, the first of which is undoubtedly the finest landscape painting produced in this country. Mr. Moran has subordinated art to nature, and the subjects he has chosen leave little ground for fault , 'II -f 'I COMA0PENDIUM1i OF BIO GRAPHY. 101 finding on that account. "The Mountain of the Holy Cross," "The Groves Were God's First Temples," "The Cliffs of Green River," " The Children of the Mountain," "The Ripening of the Leaf," and others have given him additional fame, and while they do not equal in grandeur the first mentioned, in many respects from an artistic standpoint they are superior. LELAND STANFORD was one of the greatest men of the Pacific coast and also had a national reputation. He was born March 9, 1824, in Albany county, New York, and passed his early life on his father's farm. He attended the local schools of the county and at the age of twenty began the study of law. He entered the law office of Wheaton, Doolittle and Hadley, at Albany, in 1845, and a few years later he moved to Port Washington, Wisconsin, where he practiced law four years with moderate success. In I852 Mr. Stanford determined to push further west, and, accordingly went to California, where three of his brothers were established in business in the mining towns. They took Leland into partnership, giving him charge of a branch store at Michigan Bluff, in Placer county. There he. developed great business ability and four years later started a mercantile house of his own in San Francisco, which soon became one of the most substantial houses on the coast. On the formation of the Republican party he interested himself in politics, and in I86o was sent as a delegate to the convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln. In the autumn of I86I he was elected, by an immense majority, governor of California. Prior to his election as governor he had been chosen president of the newly-organized Central Pacific Railroad Company, 6 and after leaving the executive chair he devoted all of his time to the construction of the Pacific end of the transcontinental railway. May Io, I869, Mr. Stanford drove the last spike of the Central Pacific road, thus completing the route across the continent. He was also president of the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company. He had but one son, who died of typhoid fever, and as a monument to his child he founded the university which bears his son's name, Leland Stanford, Junior, University. Mr. Stanford gave to this university eightythree thousand acres of land, the estimated value of which is $8,ooo,ooo, and the entire endowment is $20,000,000. In I885 Mr. Stanford was elected United States senator as a Republican, to succeed J. T. Farley, a Democrat, and was re-elected in I89I. His death occurred June 20, 1894, at Palo Alto, California. TEPHEN DECATUR, a famous commodore in the United States navy, was born in Maryland in I779. He entered the naval service in I798. In I804, when the American vessel Philadelphia had been run aground and captured in the harbor of Tripoli, Decatur, at the head of a few men, boarded her and burned her in the face of the guns from the city defenses. For this daring deed he was made captain. He was given command of the frigate United States at the breaking out of the war of I812, and in October of that year he captured the British frigate Macedonian, and was rewarded with a gold medal by congress. After the close of the war he was sent as commander of a fleet of ten vessels to chastise the dey of Algiers, who was preying upon American commerce with impunity and demanding tribute and ransom for the release of American citizens captured. Decatur 102 C OI3PENADIUi~l OF MBIO GRA Ptr. captured a number of Algerian vessels, and compelled the dey to sue for peace. He was noted for his daring and intrepidity, and his coolness in the face of danger, and helped to bring the United States navy into favor with the people and congress as a means of defense and offense in time of war. He was killed in a duel by Commodore Barron, March 12, I82o. JAMES KNOX POLK, the eleventh president of the United States, I845 to 1849, was born November 2, 1795, in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, and was the eldest child of a family of six sons. He removed with his father to the Valley of the Duck River, in Tennessee, in I806. He attended the common schools and became very proficient in the lower branches of education, and supplemented this with a course in the Murfreesboro Academy, which he entered in 1813 and in the autumn of I815 he became a student in the sophomore class of the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, and was graduated in 1818. He then spent a short time in recuperating his health and then proceeded to Nashville, Tennessee, where he took up the study of law in the office of Felix Grundy. After the completion of his law studies he was admitted to the bar and removed to Columbia, Maury county, Tennessee, and started in the active practice of his profession. Mr. Polk was a Jeffersonian "Republican " and in 1823 he was elected to the legislature of Tennessee. He was a strict constructionist and did not believe that the general government had the power to carry on internal improvements in the states, but deemed it important that it should have that power, and wanted the constitution amended to that effect. But later on he became alarmed lest the general government might become strong enough to abolish slavery and therefore gave his whole support to the " State's Rights" movement, and endeavored to check the centralization of power in the general government. Mr. Polk was chosen a member of congress in 1825, and held that office until 1839. He then withdrew, as he was the successful gubernatorial candidate of his state. He had become a man of great influence in the house, and, as the leader of the Jackson party in that body, weilded great influence in the election of General Jackson to the presidency. He sustained the president in all his measures and still remained in the house after General Jackson had been succeeded by Martin Van Buren. He was speaker of the house during five sessions of congress. HIe was elected governor of Tennessee by a large majority and took the oath of office at Nashville, October 4, I839. He was a candidate for re-election but was defeated by Governor Jones, the Whig candidate. In I844 the most prominent question in the election was the annexation of Texas, and as Mr. Polk was the avowed champion of this cause he was nominated for president by the proslavery wing of the democratic party, was elected by a large majority, and was inaugurated March 4, 1845. President Polk formed a very able cabinet, consisting of James Buchanan, Robert J. Walker, William L. Marcy, George Bancroft, Cave Johnson, and John Y. Mason. The dispute regarding the Oregon boundary was settled during his term of office and a new department was added to the list of cabinet positions, that of the Interior. The low tariff bill of I846 was carried and the financial system of the country was reorganized. It was also during President Polk's term that the Mexican war was successfully conducted, which resulted in the acquisition of Califor COI~PEJVINTZ)IU-JI OF BIOGR.,4PHIJ'. 103 nia and New Mexico. Mr. Polk retired from the presidency March 4, I849, after having declined a re-nomi nat.ion, and was succeeded by General Zachary Taylor, the hero of the Mexican war. Mr. Polk retired to private life, to his home in Nashville, where he died at the age of fifty-four on June 9, 1849. ANNA DICKINSON (Anna Elizabeth Dickinson), a noted lecturer and public speaker, was born at Philadelphia, October 28, 1842. Her parents were Quakers, and she was educated at the Friends' free schools in her native city. She early manifested an inclination toward elocution and public speaking, and when, at the age of 18, she found an opportunity to appear before a national assemblage for the discussion of woman's rights, she at once established her reputation as a public speaker. From I86o to the close of the war and during the exciting period of reconstruction, she was one of the most noted and influential speakers before the American public, and her popularity was unequaled by that of any of her sex. A few weeks after the defeat and death of Colonel Baker at Ball's Bluff, Anna Dickinson, lecturing in New York, made the remarkable assertion, "Not the incompetency of Colonel Baker, but the treachery of General McClellan caused the disaster at Ball's Bluff." She was hissed and hooted off the stage. A year later, at the same hall and with much the same class of auditors, she repeated the identical words, and the applause was so great and so long continued that it was impossible to go on with her lecture for more than half an hour. The change of sentiment had been wrought by the reverses and dismissal of McClellan and his ambition to succeed Mr. Lincoln as president. Ten years after the close of the war, Anna Dickinson was not heard of on the lecture platform, and about that time she made an attempt to enter the dramatic profession, but after appearing a number of times in different plays she was pronounced a failure. OBERT J. BURDETTE. —Some personal characteristics of Mr. Burdette were quaintly given by himself in the following words: "Politics? Republican after the strictest sect. Religion? Baptist. Personal appearance? Below medium height, and weigh one hundred and thirty-five pounds, no shillings and no pence. Rich? Not enough to own a yacht. Favorite reading? Poetry and history-know Longfellow by heart, almost. Write for magizines? Have more ' declined with thanks' letters than would fill a trunk. Never able to get into a magazine with a line. Care about it? Mad as thunder. Think about starting a magazine and rejecting everbody's articles except my own." Mr. Burdette was born at Greensborough, Pennsylvania, in 1844. He served through the war of the rebellion under General Banks " on an excursion ticket" as he felicitously described it, "good both ways, conquering in one direction and running in the other, pay going on just the same." He entered into journalism by the gateway of New York correspondence for the "Peoria Transcript," and in 1874 went on the " Burlington Hawkeye" of which he became the managing editor, and the work that he did on this paper made both himself and the paper famous in the world of humor. Mr. Burdette married in 1870, and his wife, whom he called " Her Little Serene Highness," was to him a guiding light until the day of her death, and it was probably the unconscious pathos with which he described her in his work that broke the barriers that had kept him out of the maga 104 C O1PE/VDNIUIM OF BIO GALl P -7I2 zines and secured him the acceptance of his "Confessions" by Lippincott some years ago, and brought him substantial fame and recognition in the literary world. ILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, one of the leading novelists of the present century and author of a number of works that gained for him a place in the hearts of the people, was born March I, 1837, at Martinsville, Belmont county, Ohio. At the age of three years he accompanied his father, who was a printer, to Hamilton, Ohio, where he learned the printer's trade. Later he was engaged on the editorial staff of the "Cincinnati Gazette " and the "i Ohio State Journal." During I861-65 he was the United States consul at Venice, and from I87I to 1878 he was the editor-inchief of the "Atlantic Monthly." As a writer he became one of the most fertile and readable of authors and a pleasing poet. In I885 he became connected with "Harper's Magazine." Mr. Howells was author of the list of books that we give below: "Venetian Life," "Italian Journeys," "No Love Lost," " Suburban Sketches," "Their Wedding Journey," "A Chance Acquaintance," "A Foregone Conclusion," "Dr. Breen's Practice," "A Modern Instance," "The Rise of Silas Lapham," "Tuscan Cities," "Indian Summer," besides many others. He also wrote the " Poem of Two Friends," with J. J. Piatt in I860, and some minor dramas: "The Drawing Room Car," "The Sleeping Car," etc., that are full of exqusite humor and elegant dialogue. AMES RUSSELL LOWELL was a son of the Rev. Charles Lowell, and was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 22, 18 19. He graduated at Harvard College in 1838 as class poet, and went to Harvard Law School, from which he was graduated in 1840, and commenced the practice of his profession in Boston, but soon gave his undivided attention to literary labors. Mr. Lowell printed, in 1841, a small volume of poems entitled " A Year's Life," edited with Robert Carter; in 1843, "The Pioneer," a literary and critical magazine (monthly), and in 1848 another book of poems, that contained several directed against slavery. He published in 1844 a volume of "Poems" and in 1845 "Conversations on Some of the Old Poets," "The Vision of Sir Launfal," " A Fable for Critics," and "The Bigelow Papers," the latter satirical essays in dialect poetry directed against slavery and the war with Mexico. In 1851-52 he traveled in Europe and resided in Italy for a considerable time, and delivered in 1854-55 a course of lectures on the British poets, before the Lowell Institute, Boston. Mr. Lowell succeeded Longfellow in January, 1855, as professor of modern languages and literature at Harvard College, and spent another year in Europe qualifying himself for that post. He edited the " Atlantic Monthly " from 857 to 1862, and the "North American Review" from I863 until 1872. From 1864 to I870 he published the following works: " Fireside Travels," "Under the Willows," 'The Commemoration Ode," in honor of the alumni of Harvard who had fallen in the Civil war; "The Cathedral," two volumes of essays; "Among My Books" and "My Study Windows," and in I867 he published a new series of the " Bigelow Papers." He traveled extensively in Europe in 1872-74, and received in person the degree of D. C. L. at Oxford and that of LL. D. at the University of Cambridge, England. He was also interested in political life and held COMPENDIUMg OF BIOGRAPHT. 105 many important offices. He was United States minister to Spain in I877 and was also minister to England in I880-85. On January 2, 1884, he was elected lord rector of St. Andrew University in Glasgow, Scotland, but soon after he resigned the same. Mr. Lowell's works enjoy great popularity in the United States and England. He died August 12, I89I. OSEPH HENRY, one of America's greatest scientists, was born at Albany, New York, December 17, 1797. He was educated in the common schools of the city and graduated from the Albany Academy, where he became a professor of mathematics in I826. In 1827 he commenced a course of investigation, which he continued for a number of years, and the results produced had great effect on the scientific world. The first success was achieved by producing the electric magnet, and he next proved the possibility of exciting magnetic energy at a distance, and it was the invention of Professor Henry's intensity magnet that first made the invention of electric telegraph a possibility. He made a statement regar'ding the practicability of applying the intensity magnet to telegraphic uses, in his article to the ' American Journal of Science " in 1831. During the same year he produced the first mechanical contrivance ever invented for maintaining continuous motion by means of electro-magnetism, and he also contrived a machine by which signals could be made at a distance by the use of his electro-magnet, the signals being produced by a lever striking on a bell. Some of his electro-magnets were of great power, one carried over a ton and another not less than three thousand six hundred pounds. In 1832 he discovered that secondary currents could be produced in a lolr co;-ductor by the induction of the primary current upon itself, and also in the same year he produced a spark by means of a purely magnetic induction. Professor Henry was elected, in 1832, professor of natural philosophy in the College of New Jersey, and in his earliest lectures at Princeton, demonstrated the feasibility of the electric telegraph. Hevisited Europe in 1837, and while there he had an interview with Professor Wheatstone, the inventor of the needle magnetic telegraph. In 1846 he was elected secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,being the first incumbent in that office, which he held until his death. Professor Henry was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciencp, in I849, and of the National Academy of Sciences. He was made chairman of the lighthouse board of the United States in I871 and held that position up to the time of his death. He received the honorary degree of doctor of laws from Union College in I829, and from Harvard University in I85I, and his death occurred May 13, I878. Among his numerous works may be mentioned the following: "Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism," "American Philosophic Trans," and many articles in the "American Journal of Science," the journal of the Franklin Institute; the proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in the annual reports of the Smithsonian Institution from its foundation. FRANKLIN BUCHANAN, the famous rear-admiral of the Confederate navy during the rebellion, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He became a United States midshipman in I815 and was promoted through the various grades of the scrvice and became a captain in I855. Mr. Buchanan resigned his captaincy in order to join 106 C OJIPENDIZUlZ OFP IO GRIA P'it?, the Confederate service in I86I and later he asked to be reinstated, but his request was refused and he then entered into the service of the Confederate government. He was placed il command of the frigate " Merrimac " after she had been fitted up as an ironclad, and had command of her at the time of the battle of Hampton Roads. It was he who had command when the "Merrimac" sunk the two wooden frigates, " Congress" and "Cumberland," and was also in command during part of the historical battle of the " Merrimac" and the ''Monitor," where he was wounded and the command devolved upon Lieutenant Catesby Jones. He was created rear-admiral in the Confederate service and commanded the Confederate fleet in Mobile bay, which was defeated by Admiral Farragut, August 5, 1864. Mr. Buchanan was in command of the "Tennessee," an ironclad, and during the engagement he lost one of his legs and was taken prisoner in the end by the Union fleet. After the war he settled in Talbot county, Maryland, where he died May II, I874. ICHARD PARKS BLAND, a celebrated American statesman, frequently called "the father of the house," because of his many years of service in the lower house of congress, was born August 19, 1835, near Hartford, Kentucky, where he received a plain academic education. He moved, in I855, to Missouri, from whence he went overland to California, afterward locating in Virginia City, nowin the state of Nevada, but then part of the territory of Utah. While there he practiced law, dabbled in mines and mining in Nevada and California for several years, and served for a time as treasurer of Carson county, Nevada. Mr. Bland returned to Missouri in I865, where he engaged in the practice of law at Rolla, Missouri, and in I869 removed to Lebanon, Missouri. He began his congressional career in I873, when he was elected as a Democrat to the forty-third congress, and he was regularly re-elected to every congress after that time up to the fifty-fourth, when he was defeated for re-election, but was returned to the fifty-fifth congress as a Silver Democrat. During all his protracted service, while Mr. Bland was always steadfast in his support of democratic measures, yet he won his special renown as the great advocate of silver, being strongly in favor of the free and unlimited coinage of silver, and on account of his pronounced views was one of the candidates for the presidential nomination of the Democratic party at Chicago in 1896. FANNY DAVENPORT (F. L. G. Davenport) was of British birth, but she belongs to the American stage. She was the daughter of the famous actor, E. L. Davenport, and was born in London in I85o. She first went on the stage as a child at the Howard Athenaeum, Boston, and her entire life was spent upon the stage. She played children's parts at Burton's old theater in Chambers street, and then, in 1862, appeared as the King of Spain in ( Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady." H-ere she attracted the notice of Augustin Daly, the noted manager, then at the Fifth Avenue theater, who offered her a six weeks' engagement witl her father in "London Assurance." She afterwards appeared at the same house in a variety of characters, and her versatility was favorably noticed by the critics. After the burning of the old Fifth Avenue, the present theater of that name was built at Twenty-eighth street, and here Miss Davenport appeared in a play written for her by CO 3PEi.?DIJUfJ OPF 0I ') GRA RP-I. 107 Mr. Daly. She scored a great success. She then starred in this play throughout the country, and was married to Mr. Edwin F. Price, an actor of her company, in I88o. In I882 she went to Paris and purchased the right to produce in America Sardou's great emotional play, "Fedora." It was put on at the Fourteenth Street theater in New York, and in it she won popular favor and became one of the most famous actresses of her time. ORACE BRIGHAM CLAFLIN, one of the greatest merchants America has produced, was born in Milford, Massachusetts, a son of John Claflin, also a merchant. Young Claflin started his active life as a clerk in his father's store, after having been offered the opportunity of a college education, but with the characteristic promptness that was one of his virtues he exclaimed, "No law or medicine for me." He had set his heart on being a merchant, and when his father retired he and his brother Aaron, and his brother-in-law, Samuel Daniels, conducted the business. Mr. Claflin was not content, however, to run a store in a town like Milford, and accordingly opened a dry goods store at Worcester, with his brother as a partner, but the partnership was dissolved a year later and H. B. Claflin assumed complete control. The business in Worcester had been conducted on orthodox principles, and when Mr. Claflin came there and introduced advertising as a means of drawing trade, he created considerable animosity among the older merchants. Ten years later he was one of the most prosperous merchants. He disposed of his business in \Vorcester for $30,000, and went to New York to search for a wider field than that of a shopkeeper. Mr. Claflin and William M. Bulkley started in the dry goods business there under the firm name of Bulkley & Claflin, in I843, and Mr. Bulkley was connected with the firm until I85i,when he retired. A new firm was then formed under the name of Claflin, Mellin & Co. This firm succeeded in founding the largest dry goods house in the world, and after weathering the dangers of the civil war, during which the house came very near going under, and was saved only by the superior business abilities of Mr. Claflin, continued to grow. The sales of the firm amounted to over $72,000,000 a year after the close of the war. Mr. Claflin died November 14, I885. CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN (Charlotte Saunders Cushman), one of the most celebrated American actresses, was born in Boston, July 23, I816. She was descended from one of the earliest Puritan families. Her first attempt at stage work was at the age of fourteen years in a charitable concert given by amateurs in Boston. From this time her advance to the first place on the American lyric stage was steady, until, in I835, while singing in New Orleans, she suddenly lost control of her voice so far as relates to singing, and was compelled to retire. She then took up the study for the dramatic stage under the direction of Mr. Barton, the tragedian. She soon after made her debut as " Lady Macbeth." She appeared in New York in September, I836, and her success was immediate. Her " Romeo" was almost perfect, and she is the only woman that has ever appeared in the part of "Cardinal Wolsey." She at different times acted as support of Forrest and Macready. Her London engagement, secured in 1845, after many and great discouragements, proved an unqualified success. 108 C O.lPENCVDIU.,lM OF BIOGRA P'H r. Her farewell appearance was at Booth's theater, New York, November 7, I874, in the part of " Lady Macbeth," and after that performance an Ode by R. H. Stoddard was read, and a body of citizens went upon the stage, and in their name the venerable poet Longfellow presented her with a wreath of laurel with an inscription to the effect that "she who merits the palm should bear it." From the time of her appearance as a modest girl in a charitable entertainment down to the time of final triumph as a tragic queen, she bore herself with as much honor to womanhood as to the profession she represented. Her death occurred in Boston, February 18, I876. By her profession she acquired a fortune of $600,000. NEAL DOW, one of the most prominent temperance reformers our country has known, was born in Portland, Me., March 20, 1804. He received his education in the Friends Seminary, at New Bedford, Massachusetts, his parents being members of that sect. After leaving school he pursued a mecrantile and manufacturing career for a number of years. He was active in the affairs of his nativecity, and in I839 became chief of the fire department, and in I85 was elected mayor. He was re-elected to the latter office in I854. Being opposed to the liquor traffic he was a champion of the project of prohibition, first brought forward in I839 by James Appleton. While serving his first term as mayor he drafted a bill for the "suppression of drinking houses and tippling shops," which he took to the legislature and which was passed without an alteration. In 1858 Mr. Dow was elected to the legislature. On the outbreak of the Civil war he was appointed colonel of the Thirteenth Maine Infantry and accompanied General Butler's expedition to New Orleans. In I862 he was made brigadier-general. At the battle of Port Hudson May 27, I863, he was twice wounded, and taken prisoner. He was confined at Libby prison and Mobile nearly a year, when, being exchanged, he resigned, his health having given way under the rigors of his captivity. He made several trips to England in the interests of temperance organization, where he addressed large audiences. He was the candidate of the National Prohibition party for the presidency in I880, receiving about ten thousand votes. In I884 he was largely instrumental in the amendment of the constitution of Maine, adopted by an overwhelming popular vote, which forever forbade the manufacture or sale of any intoxicating beverages, and commanding the legislature to enforce the prohibition. He died October 2, I897. ZACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth president of the United States, was born in Orange county, Virginia, September 24, I784. His boyhood was spent on his father's plantation and his education was limited. In I8o8 he was made lieutenant of the Seventh Infantry, and joined his regiment at New Orleans. He was promoted to captain in I8io, and commanded at Fort Harrison, near the present site of Terre Haute, in 1812, where, for his gallant defense, he was brevetted major, attaining full rank in I814. In I815 he retired to an estate near Louisville. In I816 he re-entered the army as major, and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and then to colonel. Having for many years been Indian agent over a large portion of the western country, he was often required in Washington to give advice and counsel in matters connected with the Indian bureau. He served through the Black Hawk Indian war of 1832, and in 1837 was ordered to the command of the CO0IIPENDIUAZ OF BIOGRAPHrY. 109 army in Florida, where he attacked the Indians in the swamps and brakes, defeated them and ended the war. He was brevetted brigadier-general and made commander-inchief of the army in Florida. He was assigned to the command of the army of the southwest in I840, but was soon after relieved of it at his request. He was then stationed at posts in Arkansas. In 1845 he was ordered to prepare to protect and defend Texas boundaries from invasion by Mexicans and Indians. On the annexation of Texas he proceeded with one thousand five hundred men to Corpus Christi, within the disputed territory. After reinforcement he was ordered by the Mexican General Ampudia to retire beyond the Nueces river, with which order he declined to comply. The battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma followed, and he crossed the Rio Grande and occupied Matamoras May i8th. He was commissioned major-general for this campaign, and in September he advanced upon the city of Monterey and captured it after a hard fight. Here he took up winter quarters, and when he was about to resume activity in the spring he was ordered to send the larger part of his army to reinforce General Scott at Vera Cruz. After leaving garrisons at various points his army was reduced to about five thousand, mostly fresh recruits. He was attacked by the army of Santa Anna at Buena Vista, February 22, 1847, and after a severe fight completely routed the Mexicans. He received the thanks of congress and a gold medal for this victory. He remained in command of the " army of occupation" until winter, when he returned to the United States. In 1848 General Taylor was nominated by the Whigs for president. He was elected over his two opponents, Cass and Van Buren. Great bitterness was developing in the struggle for and against the extension of slavery, and the newly acquired territory in the west, and the fact that the states were now equally divided on that question, tended to increase the feeling. President Taylor favored immediate admission of California with her constitution prohibiting slavery, and the admission of other states to be formed out of the new territory as they mighit elect as they adopted constitutions from time to time. This policy resulted in the " Omnibus Bill," which afterward passed congress, though in separate bills; not, however, until after the death of the soldierstatesman, which occurred July 9, I850. One of his daughters became the wife of Jefferson Davis. MELVILLE D. LANDON, better known as " Eli Perkins," author, lecturer and humorist, was born in Eaton, New York, September 7, I839. He was the son of John Landon and grandson of Rufus Landon, a revolutionary soldier from Litchfield county, Connecticut. Melville was educated at the district school and neighboring academy, where he was prepared for the sophomore class at Madison University. He passed two years at the latter, when he was adnmitted to Union College, and graduated in the class of I86I, receiving the degree of A. M., in 1862. He was, at once, appointed to a position in the treasury department at Washington. This being about the tin:e of the breaking out of the war, and be fore the appearance of any Union troops at the capital, he assisted in the organization of the "(Clay Battalion," of Washington. Leaving his clerkship some time later, he took up duties on the staff of General A. L. Chetlain, who was in command at Memphis. In I864 he resigned from the army and engaged in cotton planting in Arkansas 110 C C1OMPEN.,.iDIUM'L OF 'IOGRAPH-. and Louisiana. In 1867 he went abroad, making the tour of Europe, traversing Russia. \Vhile in the latter country his old commander of the " Clay Battalion," General Cassius M. Clay, then United States minister at St. Petersburg, made him secretary of legation. In 1871, on returning to America, he published a history of the Franco-Prussian war, and followed it with numerous humorous writings for the public press under the name of " Eli Perkins," which, with his regular contributions to the Commercial Advertiser," brought him into notice, and spread his reputation as a humorist throughout the country. He also published "Saratoga in 1891," "Wit, Humor and Pathos," ' "Wit and Humor of the Age," "Kings of Platform and Pulpit," '" Thirty Years of W\it and Humor," "Fun and Fact," and iI China and Japan." EWIS CASS, one of the most prominent statesman and party leaders of his day, was born at Exeter, New Hampshire, October 9, I782. He studied law, and having removed to Zanesville, Ohio, commenced the practice of that profession in 1802. He entered the service of the American government in I812 and was made a colonel in the army under General William Hull, and on the surrender of Fort Malden by that officer was held as a prisoner. Being released in 1813, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and in 1814 appointed governor of Michigan Territory. After he had held that office for some sixteen years, negotiating, in the meantime, many treaties with the Indians, General Cass was made secretary of war in the cabinet of President Jackson, in 1831. He was, in 1836, appointed minister to France, which office he held for six years. In 1844 he -vas elected United States senator from Michigan. In 1846 General Cass opposed the Wilmot Proviso, which was an amendment to a bill for the purchase of land from Mexico, which provided that in any of the territory acquired from that power slavery should not exist. For this and other reasons he was nominated as Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States in 1848, but was defeated by General Zachary Taylor, the Whig candidate, having but one hundred and thirty-seven electoral votes to his opponent's one hundred and sixtythree. In I849 General Cass was re-elected to the senate of the United States, and in I854 supported Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska bill. He became secretary of state in March, I857, under President Buchanan, but resigned that office in December, I86o. He died June 17, I866. The published works of Lewis Cass, while not numerous, are well written and display much ability. He was one of the foremost men of his day in the political councils of the Democratic party, and left a reputation for high probity and honor behind him. DE WITT CLINTON.-Probably there were but few men who were so popular in their time, or who have had so much influence in moulding events as the individual whose name honors the head of this article. De Witt Clinton was the son of General James Clinton, and a nephew of Governor George Clinton, who was the fourth vicepresident of the United States. He was a native of Orange county, New York, born at Little Britain, March 2, 1769. He graduated from Columbia College, in his native state, in 1796, and took up the study of law. In 1790 he became private secretary to his uncle, then governor of New York. He entered public life as a Republican or antiFederalist, and was elected to the lower C O11iPE7NDIU.iQ OF b'IO GR4APHT. 111 --- house of the state assembly in 1797, and thie senate of tihat body in I7T8. At that time he was lookled on as ( the most rising man in the tUnin." In I80o he was elected to the United States senate. In I803 he was appointed by the governor and council mayor of the city of New York, then a very important and powerful office. Havi:Sg been re-appointed, he held the office of mayor for nearly eleven years, and rendered great service to that city. Mr. Clinton served as lieutenant-governor of the state of New York, I8I-I3, and was one of the commissioners appointed to examine and survey a route for a canal from the Hudson river to Lake Erie. Differing with President Madison, in relation to the war, in 18I2, he was nominated for the presidency against that gentleman, by a coalition party called the Clintonians, many of whom were Federalists. Clinton received eight-nine electoral votes. His course at this time impaired his popularity for a time. He was removed from the mayoralty in 18I4, and retired to private life. In I815 he wrote a powerful argument for the construction of the Erie canal, then a great and beneficent work of which he was the principal promoter. This was in the shape of a memorial to the legislature, which, in 1817, passed a bill authorizing the construction of that canal. The same year he was elected governor of New York, almost unanimously, notwithstanding the opposition of a few who pronounced the scheme of the canal visionary. He was re-elected governor in 120. IHe was at this time, also, president of the canal commissioners. Hle declined a re-election to the gubernatorial chair in 1822 and was removed from his place on the canal board two years later. But he was triumphantly elected to the office of governor that fall, and his pet project, the Erie canal, was finished the next year. He was re-elected governor in 1826, but died while holding that office, February I, I828. AARON IURR, one of the many brilliant figures on the political stage in the early days of America, was born at Newark, New Jersey, February 6, I756. lie was the son of Aaron and Esther Burr, the former the president of the College of New Jersey, and the latter a daughter of Jonathan Edwards, who had been president of the same educational institution. Young Burr graduated at Princeton in 1772. In I775 he joined the provincial army at Cambridge, Massachusetts. For a time, he served as a private soldier, but later was made an aide on the staff of the unfortunate General Montgomery, in the Quebec expedition. Subsequently he was on the staffs of Arnold, Putnam and Washington, the latter of whom he disliked. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and commanded a brigade on Monmouth's bloody field. In I779, on account of feeble health, Colonel Burr resigned from the army. He took up the practice of law in Albany, New York, but subsequently removed to New York City. In 1789 he became attorney-general of that state. In 1791 he was chosen to represent the state of New York in the United States senate and held that position for six years. In I800 he and Thomas Jefferson were both candidates for the presidency, and there being a tie in the electoral college, each having seventy-three votes, the choice was left to congress, who gave the first place to Jefferson and made Aaron Burr vice-president, as the method then was. In I804 Mr. Burr and his great rival, Alexander Hamilton, met in a duel, which resulted in the death of the latter, Burr losing thereby con 112 CO MPEIVDIUNI OF iJ 0 O GRAPl Ift. siderable political and social influence. He soon embarked in a wild attempt upon Mexico, and as was asserted, upon the southwestern territories of the United States. He was tried for treason at Richmond, Virginia, in 1807, but acquitted, and to avoid importunate creditors, fled to Europe. After a time, in 1812, he returned to New York, where he practiced law, and where he died, September 14, I836. A man of great ability, brilliant and popular talents, his influence was destroyed by his unscrupulous political actions and immoral private life. LBERT GALLATIN, one of the most distinguished statesmen of the early days of the republic, was born at Geneva, Switzerland, January 29, I76I. He was the son of Jean de Gallatin and Sophia A. Rolaz du Rosey Gallatin, representatives of an old patrician family. Albert Gallatin was left an orphan at an early age, and was educated under the care of friends of his parents. He graduated from the University of Geneva in 1779, and declining employment under one of the sovereigns of Germany, came to the struggling colonies, landing in Boston July 14, I780. Shortly after his arrival he proceeded to Maine, where he served as a volunteer under Colonel Allen. He made advances to the government for the support of the American troops, and in November, 1780, was placed in command of a small fort at Passamaquoddy, defended by a force of militia, volunteers and Indians. In 1783 he was professor of the French language at Harvard University. A year later, having received his patrimony from Europe, he purchased large tracts of land in western Virginia, but was prevented by the Indians from forming the large settlement he proposed, and, in I786, purchased a farm in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. In 1789 he was a member of the convention to amend the constitution of that state, and united himself with the Republican party, the head of which was Thomas Jefferson. The following year he was elected to the legislature of Pennsylvania, to which he was subsequently re-elected. In 1793 he was elected to the United States senate, but could not take his seat on account of not having been a citizen long enough. In 1794 Mr. Gallatin was elected to the representative branch of congress, in which he served three terms. He also took an important position in the suppression of the "whiskey insurrection." In I80o, on the accession of Jefferson to the presidency, Mr. Gallatin was appointed secretary of the treasury. In I809 Mr. Madison offered him the position of secretary of state, but he declined, and continued at the head of the treasury until 1812, a period of twelve years. He exercised a great influence on the other departments and in the general administration, especially in the matter of financial reform, and recommended measures for taxation, etc., which were passed by congress, and became laws May 24, I813. The same year he was sent as an envoy extraordinary to Russia, which had offered to mediate between this country and Great Britain, but the latter country refusing the interposition of another power, and agreeing to treat directly with the United States, in I814, at Ghent, Mr. Gallatin, in connection with his distinguished colleagues, negotiated and signed the treaty of peace. In I815, in conjunction with Messrs. Adams and Clay, he signed, at London, a commercial treaty between the two countries. In I816, declining his old post at the head of the treasury, Mr. Gallatin was sent as minister to France, where he remained until 1823. COJIPENDIUJ, OF BIO GRAP1r. 113 I After a year spent in England as envoy extraordinary, he took up his residence in New York, and from that time held no public office. In 1830 he was chosen president of the council of the University of New York. He was, in I831, made president of the National bank, which position he resigned in 1839. He died August 12, I849. ILLARD FILLMORE, the thirteenth president of the United States, was born of New England parentage in Summer Hill, Cayuga county, New York, January 7, 18oo. His school education was very limited, but he occupied his leisure hours in study. He worked in youth upon his father's farm in his native county, and at the age of fifteen was apprenticed to a wool carder and cloth dresser. Four years later he was induced by Judge Wood to enter his office at Montviile, New York, and take up the study of law. This warm friend, finding young Fillmore destitute of means, loaned him money, but the latter, not wishing to incur a heavy debt, taught school during part of the time and in this and other ways helped maintain himself. In 1822 he removed to Buffalo, New York, and the year following, being admitted to the bar, he commenced the practice of his profession at East Aurora, in the same state. Here he remained until I830, having, in the meantime, been admitted to practice in the supreme court, when he returned to Buffalo, where he became the partner of S. G. Haven and N. K. Hall. He entered politics and served in the state legislature from I829 to 1832. He was in congress in I833 -35 and in I837-41, where he proved an active and useful member, favoring the views of John Quincy Adams, then battling almost alone the slave-holding party in national politics, and in most of public oies — I I I tions acted with the Whig party. While chairman of the committee of ways and means he took a leading part in draughting the tariff bill of I842. In 1844 Mr. Fillmore was the Whig candidate for governor of New York. In I847 he was chosen comptroller of the state, and abandoning his practice and profession removed to Albany. In I848 he was elected vice president on the ticket with General Zachary Taylor, and they were inaugurated the following March. On the death of the president, July 9, I85o, Mr. Fillmore was inducted into that office. The great events of his administration were the passage of the famous compromise acts of I850, and the sending out of the Japan expedition of I852. March 4, 1853, having served one term, President Fillmore retired from office, and in i855 went to Europe, where he received marked attention. On returning home, in I856, he was nominated for the presidency by the Native American or "Know-Nothing" party, but was defeated, James Buchanan being the successful candidate. MIr. Fillmore ever afterward lived in retirement. During the conflict of Civil war he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed, however, that his sympathy was with the southern confederacy. He kept aloof fro'm the conflict without any words of cheer to the one party or the other. For this reason he was forgotten by both. He died of paralysis, in Buffalo, New York, March 8, I874. _ DETER F. ROTHERMEL, one of America's greatest and best-known historical painters, was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1817, and was of German ancestry. He received his earlier education in his native county, and in Philadelphia 114 COl'MPENDIUMV OF BIOGRAPHi.l learned the profession of land surveying. But a strong bias toward art drew him away and he soon opened a studio where he did portrait painting. This soon gave place to historical painting, he having discovered the bent of his genius in that direction. Besides the two pictures in the Capitol at Washington-' 'DeSoto Discovering the Mississippi" and "Patrick Henry Before the Virginia House of Burgesses"-Rothermel painted many others, chief among which are: "Columbus Before Queen Isabella," "Martyrs of the Colosseum," "Cromwell Breaking Up Service in an English Church," and the famous picture of the "Battle of Gettysburg." The last named was painted for the state of Pennsylvania, for which Rothermel received the sum of $25,ooo, and which it took him four years to plan and to paint. It represents the portion of that historic field held by the First corps, an exclusively Pennsylvania body of men, and was selected by Rothermel for that reason. For many years most of his time was spent in Italy, only returning for short periods. He died at Philadelphia, August I6, 1895. DMUND KIRBY SMITH, one of the, distinguished leaders upon the side of the south in the late Civil war, was born at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1824. After receiving the usual education he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in 1845 and entered the army as second lieutenant of infantry. During the Mexican war he was made first lieutenant and captain for gallant conduct at Cerro Gordo and Contreras. From 1849 to 1852 he was assistant professor of mathematics at West Point. He was transferred to the Second cavalry with the rank of captain in I855, served on the frontier, and was wounded in a fight with Comanche Indians in Texas, May 13, I859. In January, I86I, he became major of his regiment, but resigned April 9th to follow the fortunes of the southern cause. He was appointed brigadier-general in the Confederate army and served in Virginia. At the battle of Bull Run, July 21, i86i, he arrived on the field late in the day, but was soon disabled by a wound. He was made major-general in 1862, and being transferred to East Tennessee, was given command of that department. Under General Braxton Bragg he led the advance in the invasion of Kentucky and defeated the Union forces at Richmond, Kentucky, August 30, I862, and advanced to Frankfort. Promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, he was engaged at the battle of Perryville, October 10, and in the battle of Murfreesboro, December 31, I862, and January 3, I863. He was soon made general, the highest rank in the service, and in command of the trans-Mississippi department opposed General N. P. Banks in the famous Red River expedition, taking part in the battle of Jenkins Ferry, April 30, I864, and other engagements of that eventful campaign. He was the last to surrender the forces under his command, which he did May 26, I865. After the close of the war he located in Tennessee, where he died March 28, 1893. JOHN JAMES INGALLS, a famous American statesman, was born December 29, 1833, at Middleton, Massachusetts, where he was reared and received his early education. He went to Kansas in I858 and joined the free-soil army, and a year after his arrival he was a member of the historical Wyandotte convention, which drafted a free-state constitution. In I860 he was; COMJPENDIUMJ~ OF BIOGRAPHY. made secretary of the territorial council, and in I86I was secretary of the state senate. The next year he was duly elected to the legitimate state senate from Atchison, where he had made his home. From that time he was the leader of the radical Republican element in the state. He became the editor of the " Atchison Champion " in I863, which was a "red-hot free-soil Republican organ." In I862 he was the antiLane candidate for lieutenant-governor, but was defeated. He was elected to the United States senate to succeed Senator Poineroy, and took his seat in the forty-third congress and served until the fiftieth. In the forty-ninth congress he succeeded Senator Sherman as president pro tem., which position he held through the fiftieth congress. BENJAMIN \VEST, the greatest of the early American painters, was of English descent and Quaker parentage. IHe was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, in 1738. From what source he inherited his genius it is hard to imagine, since the tenets and tendencies of the Quaker faith were not calculated to encourage the genius of art, but at the age of nine years, with no suggestion except that of inspiration, we find him choosing his model from life, and laboring over his first work calculated to attract public notice. It was a representation of a sleeping child in its cradle. The brush with which he painted it was made of hairs which he plucked from the cat's tail, and the colors were obtained from the war paints of friendly Indians, his mother's indigo bag, and ground chalk and charcoal, and the juice of berries, but there were touches in the rude production that he declared in later days were a credit to his best works. The picture attracted notice, for a council was called at once to pass upon the boy's conduct in thus infringing the laws of the society. There were judges among them who saw in his genius a rare gift and their wisdom prevailed, and the child was given permission to follow his inclination. He studied under a painter named Williams, and then spent some years as a portrait painter with advancing success. At the age of twentytwo he went to Italy, and not until he had perfected himself by twenty-three years of labor in that paradise of art was he satisfied to turn his face toward home. However, he stopped at London, and decided to settle there, sending to America for his intended bride to join him. Though the Revolutionary war was raging, King George III showed the American artist the highest consideration and regard. His remuneration from works for royalty amounted to five thousand dollars per year for thirty years. West's best known work in America is, perhaps, "The Death of General Wolf." West was one of the thirty-six original menbers of the Royal academy and succeeded Joshua Reynolds as president, which position he held until his death. His early works were his best, as he ceased to display originality in his later life, conventionality having seriously affected his efforts. He died in I820. SAMUEL PORTER JONES, the famous Georgia evangelist, was born October i6, 1847, in Chambers county, Alabama. He did not attend school regularly during his boyhood, but worked on a farm, and went to school at intervals, on account of ill health. His father removed to Cartersville, Georgia, when Mr. Jones was a small boy. He quit school at the age of nineteen and never attended college. The war inter. fered with his education, which was intended 116 C OM6PECE NDIUMt OF BIOGRAPHr. to prepare him for the legal profession. After the war he renewed his preparation for college, but was compelled to desist from such a course, as his health failed him entirely. Later on, however, he still pursued his legal studies and was admitted to the bar. Soon after this event he went to Dallas, Paulding county, Georgia, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession, and in a few months removed to Cherokee county, Alabama, where he taught school. In 1869 he returned to Cartersville, Georgia, and arrived in time to see his father die. Immediately after this event he applied for a license to preach, and went to Atlanta, Georgia, to the meeting of the North Georgia Conference of the M. E. church south, which received him on trial. He became an evangelist of great note, and traveled extensively, delivering his sermons in an inimitable style that made him very popular with the masses, his methods of conducting revivals being unique and original and his preaching practical and incisive. SHELBY MOORE CULLOM, a national character in political affairs and for many years United States senator from Illinois, was born November 22, 1829, at Monticello, Kentucky. He came with his parents to Illinois in 1830 and spent his early yearson a farm, but havingformed the purpose of devoting himself to the lawyer's profession he spent two years study at the Rock River seminary at Mount Morris, Illinois. In 1853 Mr. Cullom entered the law office of Stuart and Edwards at Springfield, Illinois, and two years later he began the independent practice of law in that city. He took an active interest in politics and was soon elected city attorney of Springfield. In 1856 he was elected a member of the Illinois house of representatives. He identified himself with the newly formed Republicman party and in I860 was re-elected to the legislature of his state, in which he was chosen speaker of the house. In 1862 President Lincoln appointed a commission to pass upon and examine the accounts of the United States quartermasters and disbursing officers, composed as follows: Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois; Charles A. Dana, of New York, and Gov. Boutwell, of Massachusetts. Mr. Cullom was nominated for congress in I864, and was elected by a majority of 1,785. In the house of representatives he became an active and aggressive member, was chairman of the committee on territories and served in congress until I868. Mr. Cullom was returned to the state legislature, of which he was chosen speaker in I872, and was re-elected in I874. In I876 he was elected governor of Illinois and at the end of his term he was chosen for a second term. He was elected United States senator in 1883 and twice re-elected. RICHARD JORDAN GATLING, an American inventor of much note, was born in Hertford county, North Carolina, September 12, I818. At an early age he gave promise of an inventive genius. The first emanation from his mind was the invention of a screw for the propulsion of water craft, but on application for a patent, found that he was forestalled but a short time by John Ericsson. Subsequently he invented a machine for sowing wheat in drills, which was used to a great extent throughout the west. He then studied medicine, and in I847-8 attended lectures at the Indiana Medical College at Laporte, and in I848-9 at the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. He later discovered a method of transmitting power through the medium of compressed air. A SSELL i6iE. Al M. D E P E W.' AR-KA.IiANN 51.77 i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMPENDIUM~f OF BIO GRA PAT. 119 I double-acting hemp break was also invented by him. The invention, however, by which Dr. Gatling became best known was the famous machine gun which bears his name. This he brought to light in I861-62, and on the first trial of it, in the spring of the latter year, two hundred shots per minute were fired from it. After making some improvements which increased its efficiency, it was submitted to severe trials by our government at the arsenals at Frankfort, Washington and Fortress Monroe, and at other points. The gun was finally adopted by our government, as well as by that of Great Britain, Russia and others. BENJAMIN RYAN TILLMAN, who won a national fame in politics, was born August I, 1847, in Edgefield county, South Carolina. He received his education in the Oldfield school, where he acquired the rudiments of Latin and Greek, in addition to a good English education. He left school in I864 to join the Confederate army, but was prevented from doing so by a severe illness, which resulted in the loss of an eye. In 1867 he removed to Florida, but returned in I868, when he was married and devoted himself to farming. He was chairman of the Democratic organization of his county, but except a few occasional services he took no active part in politics then. Gradually, however, his attention was directed to the depressed condition of the farming interests of his state, and in August, I885, before a joint meeting of the agricultural society and state grange at Bennettsville, he made a speech in which he set forth the cause of agricultural depression and urged measures of relief. From his active interest in the farming class he was styled the " Agricultural Moses." He advocated an industrial school for women and for a separate agri7 cultural college, and in 1887 he secured a modification in the final draft of the will of Thomas G. Clemson, which resulted in the erection of the Clemson Agricultural College at Fort Hill. In I890 he was chosen governor on the Democratic ticket, and carried the election by a large majority. Governor Tillman was inaugurated December 4, I890. Mr. Tillman was next elected to the United States senate from South Carolina, and gained a national reputation by his fervid oratory. EORGE DENISON PRENTICE. No journalist of America was so celebrated in his time for the wit, spice, and vigor of his writing, as the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. From Atlantic to Pacific he was well known by his witticism as well as by strength and force of his editorials. He was a native of Preston, Connecticut, born December 18, I802. After laying the foundation of a liberal education in his youth, he entered Brown University, from which he was graduated in 1823. Taking up the study of law, he was admitted to the bar in I829. During part of his time he was editor of the " New England Weekly Review," a position which he relinquished to go south and was succeeded by John Greenleaf Whittier, the Quaker poet. On arriving in Louisville, whither he had gone to gather items for his history of Henry Clay, Mr. Prentice became identified with the I Louisville Journal," which, under his hands, became one of the leading \Whig newspapers of the country. At the head of this he remained until the day of his deaith. This latter event occurred January 22, 1870, and he was succeeded in the control of the "Journal" by Colonel Henry Watterson. Mr. Prentice was an author of considerable celebrity, chief among his works being 120 COillPECNDIUl1I OF BIOGRAPHt. "The Life of Henry Clay," and "Prenticeana," a collection of wit and humor, that passed through several large editions. SAM. HOUSTON, in the opinion of some critics one of the most remarkable men who ever figured in American history, was a native of Rockbridge county, Virginia, born March 2, I793. Early in life he was left in destitute circumstances by the death of his father, and, with his mother, removed to Tennessee, then almost a boundless wilderness. He received but little education, spending the most of his time among the Cherokee Indians. Part of the time of his residence there Houston acted as clerk for a trader and also taught one of the primitive schools of the day. In 1813 he enlisted as private in the United States army and was engaged under General Jackson in the war with the Creek Indians. When peace was made Houston was a lieutenant, but he resigned his commission and commenced the study of law at Nashville. After holding some minor offices he was elected member of congress from Tennessee. This was in 1823. He retained this office until 1827, when he was chosen governor of the state. In 1829, resigning that office before the expiration of his term, Sam Houston removed to Arkansas, and made his home among the Cherokees, becoming the agent of that tribe and representing their interests at Washington. On a visit to Texas, just prior to the election of delegates to a convention called for the purpose of drawing up a constitution previous to the admission of the state into the Mexican union, he was unanimously chosen a delegate. The convention framed the constitution, but, it being rejected by the government of Mexico, and the petition for admission to the Confederacy denied and the Texans told by the president of the Mexican union to give up their arms, bred trouble. It was determined to resist this demand. A military force was soon organized, with General Houston at the head of it. War was prosecuted with great vigor, and with varying success, but at the battle of San Jacinto, April 2I, I836, the Mexicans were defeated and their leader and president, Santa Anna, captured. Texas was then proclaimed an independent republic, and in October of the same year Houston was inaugurated president. On the admission of Texas to the Federal Union, in I845, Houston was elected senator, and held that position for twelve years. Opposing the idea of secession, he retired from political life in I86i, and died at Huntsville, Texas, July 25, 1863. ELI WHITNEY, the inventor of the cotton-gin, was born in Westborough, Massachusetts, December 8, I765. After his graduation from Yale College, he went to Georgia, where he studied law, and lived with the family of the widow of General Nathaniel Greene. At that time the only way known to separate the cotton seed from the fiber was by hand, making it extremely slow and expensive, and for this reason cotton was little cultivated in this country. Mrs. Greene urged the inventive Whitney to devise some means for accomplishing this work by machinery. This he finally succeeded in doing, but he was harassed by attempts to defraud him by those who had stolen his ideas. He at last formed a partnership with a man named Miller, and they began the manufacture of the machines at Washington, Georgia, in I795. The success of his invention was immediate, and the legislature of South Carolina voted the sum of $50,ooo for his idea. This sum he had great difficulty in collecting, after years of C OII'PENVDIUflI OF BIO GRAPRIT. 121 litigation and delay. North Carolina allowed him a royalty, and the same was agreed to by Tennessee, but was never paid. While his fame rests upon the invention of the cotton-gin, his fortune came from his improvements in the manufacture and construction of firearms. In 1798 the United States government gave him a contract for this purpose, and he accumulated a fortune from it. The town of Whitneyville, Connecticut, was founded by this fortune. Whitney died at New I-Haven, Connecticut, January 8, I825. The cotton-gin made the cultivation of cotton profitable, and this led to rapid introduction of slavery in the south. His invention thus affected our national history in a manner little dreamed of by the inventor. LESTER WALLACK (John Lester Wallack), for many years the leading light comedian upon the American stage, was the son of James W. Wallack, the "i Brummell of the Stage." Both father and son were noted for their comeliness of feature and form. Lester Wailack was born in New York, January I, I819. He received his education in England, and made his first appearance on the stage in 1848 at the New Broadway theater, New York. He acted light comedy parts, and also occasionally in romantic plays like Monte Cristo, which play made him his fame. He went to England and played under management of such men as HIamblin and Burton,and then returned to New York with his father, who opened the first Wallack's theater, at the corner of Broome and Broadway, in I852. The location was afterward changed to Thirteenth and Broadway, in I86I, and later to its present location, Broadway and Thirteenth, in I882. The elder Wallack management, jointly with Theodore Moss. Lester Wallack was commissioned in the queen's service while in England, and there he also married a sister to the famous artist, the late John Everett Millais. While Lester Wallack never played in the interior cities, his name was as familiar to the public as that of our greatest stars. He died September 6, I888, at Stamford, Connecticut. EORGE MORTIMER PULLMAN, the palace car magnate, inventor, multi-millionaire and manufacturer, may well be classed among the remarkable self-made men of the century. He was born March 3, 183I, in Chautauqua county, New York. His parents were poor, and his education was limited to what he could learn of the rudimentary branches in the district school. At the age of fourteen he went to work as clerk for a country merchant. He kept this place three years, studying at night. When seventeen he went to Albion, New York, and worked for his brother, who kept a cabinet shop there. Five years later he went into business for himself as contractor for moving buildings along the line of the Erie canal, which was then being widened by the state, and was successful in this. In I858 he removed to Chicago and engaged in the business of moving and raising houses. The work was novel there then and he was quite successful. About this time the discomfort attendant on traveling at night attracted his attention. He reasoned that the public would gladly pay for comfortable sleeping accommodations. A few sleeping cars were in use at that time, but they were wretchedly crude, uncomfortable affairs. In I859 he bought two old day coaches from the Chicago &Alton road and remodeled them something like the general plan of the sleeping died in I864, after which Lester assumed 122 CO2OfPENDIU1I OF RIO G.Amt., /'112,cars of the present day. They were put into service on the Chicago & Alton and became popular at once. In 1863 he built the first sleeping-car resembling the Pullman cars of to-day. It cost $I8,000 and was the " Pioneer." After that the Pullman Palace Car Company prospered. It had shops at different cities. In I880 the Town of Pullman was founded by Mr. Pullman and his company, and this model manufacturing community is known all over the world. Mr. Pullman died October I9, 1897. AMES E. B. STUART, the most famous cavalry leader of the Southern Confederacy during the Civil war, was born in Patrick county, Virginia, in 1833. On graduating from the United States Military Academy, West Point, in 1854, he was assigned, as second lieutenant, to a regiment of mounted rifles, receiving his commission in October. In March, 1855, he was transferred to the newly organized First cavalry, and was promoted to first lieutenant the following December, and to captain April 22, I86I. Taking the side of the south, May 14, I861, he was made colonel of a Virginia cavalry regiment, and served as such at Bull Run. In September, I86I, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-generai, and major-general early in 1862. On the reorganization of the Army of Northern Virginia, in June of the latter year, when R. E. Lee assumed command, General Stuart made a reconnoissance with one thousand five hundred cavalry and four guns, and in two days made the circuit of McClellan's army, producing much confusion and gathering useful information, and losing but one man. August 25, 1862, he captured part of Pope's headquarters' train, including that general's private baggage and official correspondence, and the next night, in a descent upon Manasses, capturing immense quantities of commissary and quartermaster store, eight guns, a number of locomotives and a few hundred prisoners. During the invasion of Maryland, in September, 1862, General Stuart acted as rear guard, resisting the advance of the Federal cavalry at South Mountain, and at Antietam commanded the Confederate left. Shortly after he crossed the Potomac, making a raid as far as Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, I862, General Stuart's command was on the extreme right of the Confederate line. At Chancellorsville, after " Stonewall " Jackson's death and the wounding of General A. P. Hill, General Stuart assumed command of Jackson's corps, which he led in the severe contest of May 3, 1863. Early in June, the same year, a large force of cavalry was gathered under Stuart, at Culpepper, Virginia, which, advancing to join General Lee in his invasion of Pennsylvania, was met at Brandy Station, by two divisions of cavalry and two brigades of infantry, under General John I. Gregg, and driven back. During the movements of the Gettysburg campaign he rendered important services. In May, 1864, General Stuart succeeded, by a detour, in placing himself between Richmond and Sheridan's advancing column, and at Yellow Tavern was attacked in force. During the fierce conflict that ensued General Stuart was mortally wounded, and died at Richmond, May II, I864. FRANKLIN PIERCE, the fourteenth president of the United States-from 1853 until 1857-was born November 23, 1804, at Hillsboro, New Hampshire. He came of old revolutionary stock and his father was a governor of the state. Mr. Pierce entered Bowdoin College in 1820, C OJIPEYVDI UJI O ' BIO GRA PH.. 123. was graduated in 1824, and took up the study of law in the office of Judge Woodbury, and later he was admitted to the bar. Mr. Pierce practiced his profession with varying successes in his native town and also in Concord. He was elected to the state legislature in 1833 and served in that body until 1837, the last two years of his term serving as speaker of the house. He was elected to the United States senate in 1837, just as President Van Buren began his term of office. Mr. Pierce served until 1842, and many times during Polk's term he declined important public offices. During the war with Mexico Mr. Pierce was appointed brigadier-general, and he embarked with a portion of his troops at Newport, Rhode Island, May 27, I847, and went with them to the field of battle. He served through the war and distinguished himself by his skill, bravery and excellent judgment. When he reached his home in his native state he was received coldly by the opponents of the war, but the advocates of the war made up for his cold reception by the enthusiastic welcome which they accorded him. Mr. Pierce resumed the practice of his profession, and in the political strife that followed he gave his support to the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic party. The Democratic convention met in Baltimore, June 12, 1852, to nominate a candidate for the presidency, and they continued in session four days, and in thirtyfive ballotings no one had secured the requisite two-thirds vote. Mr. Pierce had not received a vote as yet, until the Virginia delegation brought his name forward, and finally on the forty-ninth ballot Mr. Pierce received 282 votes and all the other candidates eleven. His opponent on the Whig ticket was General Winfield Scott, who only received the electoral votes of four states. Mr. Pierce was inaugurated president of the United States March 4, I853, with W. R. King as vice president, and the following named gentlemen were afterward chosen to fill the positions in the cabinet: William S. Marcy, James Guthrie, Jefferson Davis, James C. Dobbin, Robert McClelland, James Campbell and Caleb Cushing. During the administration of President Pierce the Missouri compromise law was repealed, and all the territories of the Union were thrown open to slavery, and the disturbances in Kansas occurred. In I857 he was succeeded in the presidency by James Buchanan, and retired to his home in Concord, New Hampshire. He always cherished his principles of slavery, and at the outbreak of the rebellion he was an adherent of the cause of the Confederacy. lie died at Concord, New Hampshire, October 8, I869. AMEES B. WEAVER, well known as a leader of the Greenback and later of the Populist party, was born at Dayton, Ohio, June 12, 1833. He received his earlier education in the schools of his native town, and entered the law department of the Ohio University, at Cincinnati, from which he graduated in I854. Removing to the growing state of Iowa, he became connected with "The Iowa Tribune," at the state capital, Des Moines, as one of its editors. He afterward practiced law and was elected district attorney for the second judicial district of Iowa, on the Republican ticket in 1866, which office he held fbr a short time. In 1867 Mr. Weaver was appointed assessor of internal revenue for the first district of Iowa, and filled that position until sometime in I873. He was elected and served in the forty-sixth congress. In 88So the National or Greenback party in convention at Chicago, nominated James B. Weaver as. 124 C OJPENDIMUMl OF BIO G.RAPH2. its candidate for the presidency. By a union of the Democratic and National parties in his district, he was elected to the forty-ninth congress, and re-elected to the same office in the fall of I886. Mr. Weaver was conceded to be a very fluent speaker, and quite active in all political work. On July 4, I892, at the National convention of the People's party, General James B. Weaver was chosen as the candidate for president of that organization, and during the campaign that followed, gained a national reputation. ANTHONY JOSEPH DREXEL, one of the leading bankers and financiers of the United States, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1826, and was the son of Francis M. Drexel, who had established the large banking institution of Drexel & Co., so well known. The latter was a native of Dornbirn, in the Austrian Tyrol. He studied languages and fine arts at Turin, Italy. On returning to his mountain home, in I809, and finding it in the hands of the French, he went to Switzerland and later to Paris. In I I812, after a short visit home, he went to Berlin, where he studied painting until 18 7, in which year he emigrated to America, and settled in Philadelphia. A few years later he went to Chili and Peru, where he executed some fine portraits of notable people, including General Simon Bolivar. After spending some time in Mexico, he returned to Philadelphia, and engaged in the banking business. In 1837 he founded the house of Drexel & Co. He died in 1837, and was succeeded by his two sons, Anthony J. and Francis A. His son, Anthony J. Drexel, Jr., entered the bank when he was thirteen years of age, before he was through with his schooling, and after that the history of the banking business of which he was the head, was the history of his life. The New York house of Drexel, Morgan & Co. was established in 1850; the Paris house, Drexel, Harjes & Co.,in I867. The Drexel banking houses have supplied iand placed hundreds of millions of dollars n government, corporation, railroad and other loans and securities. The reputation of the houses has always been held on the highest plane. Mr. Drexel founded and heavily endowed the Drexel Institute, in Philadelphia, an institution to furnish better and wider avenues of employment to young people of both sexes. It has departments of arts, science, mechanical arts and domestic economy. Mr. Drexel,Jr.,departed this life June 30, I893. AMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE. inventor of the recording telegraph instrument, was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, April 27, I791. He graduated from Yale College in i8io, and took up art as his profession. He went to London with the great American painter, Washington Allston, and studied in the Royal Academy under Benjamin West. His " Dying Hercules," his first effort in sculpture, took the gold medal in 81 3. He returned to America in 1815 and continued to pursue his profession. He was greatly interested in scientific studies, which he carried on in connection with other labors. He founded the National Academy of Design and was many years its president. He returned to Europe and spent three years in study in the art centers, Rome, Florence, Velice and Paris. In I832 he returned to America and while on the return voyage the idea of a recording teiegraph apparatus occurred to him, and he made a drawivng to represent his conception. He was the first to occupy the chair of fine arts in the University of New CO0i/Pi'E7tD/IUli OF B-IO G.A'APH ". 125 York City, and in 1835 he set up his rude instrument in his room in the university. But it was not until after many years of discouragement and reverses of fortune that Iie finally was successful in placing his invention before the puTIlic. In 1844, by aid of the United States government, he had constructed a telegraph line forty miles in length frcnr Walshington to Baltimore. Over this line the test was made, and the first teleg;raplhic message wNas flashed May 24, 1844, fronmthe United States supreme court rooms to Baltimore. It read, "What hath God wrought!" His fame and fortune were established in an instant. Wealth and honors poured in upon him from that day. The nations of Europe vied with each other in honoring the great inventor with medals, titles and decorations, and the learned societies of Europe hastened to enroll his name upon their membership lists and confer degrees. In 1858 he was the recipient of an honor never accorded to an inventor before. The ten leading nations of Europe, at the suggestion of the Emporer Napoleon, appointed representatives to an international congress, which convened at Paris for the special purpose of expressing gratitude of the nations, and they voted him a present of 400,000 frtancs. Professor Morse was present at the unveiling of a bronze statue erected in his honor in Central Park, New York, in I87I. His last appearance in public was at the unveiling of the statue of Benjamin Franklin in New York in IC72, when he made the dedicatory speech and unveiled the statue. He died April 2, i 87, in the city of New York. M ORRISON REMICH WAITE, seventh chief justice of the United States, was born at Lyme, Connecticut, November 29, 18I6. He was a graduate from Yale Col lege in I837, in the class with William M. Evarts. His father was judge of the supreme court of errors of the state of Connecticut, and in his office young Waite studied law. He subsequently removed to Ohio, and was elected to the legislature of that state in I849. tle removed from Maumee City to Toledo and became a prominent legal light in that state. He was nominated as a candidate for congress repeatedly but declined to run, and also declined a place on the supreme bench of the state. Hie won great distinction for his able handling of the Alabama claims at Geneva, before the arbitration tribunal in 1871, and was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of the United States in 1874 on the death of Judge Chase. When, in 1876, electoral commissioners were chosen to decide the presidential election controversy between Tilden and Hayes, Judge Waite refused to serve on that commission. His death occurred March 23, I888. ELISHA KENT KANE was one of the distinguished American explorers of the unknown regions of the frozen north, and gave to the world a more accurate knowledge of the Arctic zone. Dr. Kane was born February 3, I820, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a graduate of the universities of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and took his medical degree in I843. He entered the service of the United States navy, and was physician to the Chinese embassy. Dr. Kane traveled extensively in the Levant, Asia and Western Africa, and also served in the Mexican war, in which he was severely wounded. His first Arctic expedition was under De Haven in the first Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin in 1850. He commanded the second Grinnell expedition 126 C OIPENIDIUNIU OF BIOGRAPHYF. in 1853-55, and discovered an open polar sea. For this expedition he received a gold medal and other distinctions. He published a narrative of his first polar expedition in 1853, and in 1856 published two volumes relating to his second polar expedition. He was a man of active, enterprising and courageous spirit. His health, which was always delicate, was impaired by the hardships of his Arctic expeditions, from which he never fully recovered and from which he died February I6, 1857, at Havana. ELIZABETH CADY STANTON was a daughter of Judge Daniel Cady and Margaret Livingston, and was born November 12, 1815, at Johnstown, New York. She was educated at the Johnstown Academy, where she studied with a class of boys, and was fitted for college at the age of fifteen, after which she pursued her studies at Mrs. Willard's Seminary, at Troy. Her attention was called to the disabilities of her sex by her own educational experiences, and through a study of Blackstone, Story, and Kent. Miss Cady was married to Henry B. Stanton in 1840, and accompanied him to the world's anti-slavery convention in London. While there she made the acquaintance of Lucretia Mott. Mrs. Stanton resided at Boston until 1847, when the family moved to Seneca Falls, New York, and she and Lucretia Mott signed the first call for a woman's rights convention. The meeting was held at her place of residence July I9-20, I848. This was the first occasion of a formal claim of suffrage for women that was made. Mrs. Stanton addressed the New York legislature, in I854, on the rights of married women, and in I860, in advocacy of the granting of divorce for drunkenness. She also addressed the legislature and the constitutional con vention, and maintained that during the revision of the constitution the state was resolved into its original elements, and that all citizens had, therefore, a right to vote for the members of that convention. After 1869 Mrs. Stanton frequently addressed congressional committees and state constitutional conventions, and she canvassed Kansas, Michigan, and other states when the question of woman suffrage was submitted in those states. Mrs. Stanton was one of the editors of the " Revolution," and most of the calls and resolutions for conventions have come from her pen. She was president of the national committee, also of the Woman's Loyal League, and of the National Association, for many years. DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, a great American jurist was born in Connecticut in I805. He enicda Williams College when sixteen years old, and commenced the study of law in I825. In I828 he was admitted to the bar, and went to New York, where he soon came into prominence before the bar of that state. He entered upon the labor of reforming the practice and procedure, which was then based upon the common law practice of England, and had become extremely complicated, difficult and uncertain in its application. His first paper on this subject was published in I839, and after eight years of continuous efforts in this direction, he was appointed one of a commission by New York to reform the practice of that state. The result was embodied in the two codes of procedure, civil and criminal, the first of which was adopted almost entire by the state of New York, and has since been adopted by more than half the states in the Union, and became the basis of the new practice and procedure in England, contained in the Judicature act. He C OIMPENDIUMI OF BIOGRAPHY1. 127 was later appointed chairman of a new commission to codify the entire body of laws. This great work employed many years in its completion, but when finished it embraced a civil, penal, and political code, covering the entire field of American laws, statutory and common. This great body of law was adopted by California and Dakota territory in its entirety, and many other states have since adopted its substance. In I867 the British Association for Social Science heard a proposition from Mr. Field to prepare an international code. This led to the preparation of his " Draft Outlines of an International Code," which was in fact a complete body of international laws, and introduced the principle of arbitration. Other of his codes of the state of New York have since been adopted by that state. In addition to his great works on law, Mr. Field indulged his literary tastes by frequent contributions to general literature, and his articles on travels, literature, and the political questions of the hour gave him rank with the best writers of his time. His father was the Rev. David Dudley Field, and his brothers were Cyrus WN. Field, Rev. Henry Martin Field, and Justice Stephen J. Field of the United States supreme court. David Dudley Field died at New York, April 13, I894. ENRY M. TELLER, a celebrated American politician, and secretary of the interior under President Arthur, was born May 23, I830, in Allegany county, New York. He was of Hollandish ancestry and received an excellent education, after which he took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in the state of New York. Mr. Teller removed to Illinois in January, I858, and practiced for three years in that state. From thence he moved to Colorado in I86I and located at Central City, which was then one of the principal mining towns in the state. His exceptional abilities as a lawyer soon brought him into prominence and gained for him a numerous and profitable clientage. In politics he affiliated with the Republican party, but declined to become a candidate for office until the admission of Colorado into the Union as a state, when he was elected to the United States senate. Mr. Teller drew the term ending March 4, 1877, but was re-elected December II, I876, and served until April 17, I882, when he was appointed by President Arthur as secretary of the interior. He accepted a cabinet position with reluctance, and on March 3, 1885, he retired from the cabinet, having been elected to the senate a short time before to succeed Nathaniel P. Hill. Mr. Teller took his seat on March 4, 1885, in the senate, to which he was afterward re-elected. He served as chairman on the committee of pensions, patents, mines and mining, and was also a member of committees on claims, railroads, privileges and elections and public lands. Mr. Teller came to be recognized as one of the ablest advocates of the silver cause. He was one of the delegates to the Republican National convention at St. Louis in I896, in which he took an active part and tried to have a silver plank inserted in the platform of the party. Failing in this he felt impelled to bolt the convention, which he did and joined forces with the great silver movement in the campaign which followed, being recognized in that campaign as one of the most able and eminent advocates of "silver" in America. OHN ERICSSON, an eminent inventor and machinist, who won fame in America, was born in Sweden, July 3 1, 803. In early childhood he evinced a decided in i 128 COAIPEADZUfIU OF BIOGRAPHY. ciination to mechanical pursuits, and at the age of eleven he was appointed to a cadetship in the engineer corps, and at the age of seventeen was promoted to a lieutenancy. In I826 he introduced a "flame engine," which he had invented, and offered it to English capitalists, but it was found that it could be operated only by the use of wood for fuel. Shortly after this he resigned his commission in the army of Sweden, and devoted himself to mechanical pursuits. He discovered and introduced the principle of artificial draughts in steam boilers, and received a prize of two thousand five hundred dollars for his locomotive, the "Novelty," which attained a great speed, for that day. The artificial draught effected a great saving in fuel and made unnecessary the huge smoke-stacks formerly used, and the principle is still applied, in modified form, in boilers. He also invented a steam fire-engine, and later a hot-air engine, which he attempted to apply in the operation of his ship, "Ericsson, " but as it did not give the speed required, he abandoned it, but afterwards applied it to machinery for pumping, hoisting, etc. Ericsson was first to apply the screw propeller to navigation. The English people not receiving this new departure readily, Ericsson came to America in 1839, and built the United States steamer, "Princeton," in which the screw-propeller was utilized, the first steamer ever built in which the propeller was under water, out of range of the enemy's shots. The achievement which gave him greatest renown, however, was the ironclad vessel, the "Monitor," an entirely new type of vessel, which, in March, 1862, attacked the Confederate monster ironclad ram, " Virginia," and after a fierce struggle, compelled her to withdraw from Hanmrton Roads for repairs. After the war one of his most noted inventions was his vessel, " Destroyer," with a submarine gun, which carried a projectile torpedo. In I886 the king of Spain conferred on him the grand cross of the Order of Naval Merit. He died in March, I889, and his body was transferred, with naval honors, to the country of his birth. AMES BUCHANAN, the fifteenth president of the United States, was a native of Pennsylvania, and was born in Franklin county, April 23, 179I. He was of Irish ancestry, his father having come to this country in 1783, in quite humble circumstances, and settled in the western part of the Keystone state. James Buchanan remained in his secluded home for eight years, enjoying but few social or intellectual advantages. His parents were industrious and frugal, and prospered, and, in 1799, the family removed to Mercersbur Pennsylvania, where he was placed in school. His progress was rapid, and in I80o he entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle, where he took his place among the best scholars in the institution. In 1809 he graduated with the highest honors in his class. He was then eighteen, tall, graceful and in vigorous health. He commenced the study of law at Lancaster, and was admitted to the bar in I812. Hte rose very rapidly in his profession and took a stand with the ablest of his fellow lawyers. When but twenty-six years old he successfully defended, unaided by counsel, one of the judges of the state who was before the bar of the state senate under articles of impeachment. During the war of 1812-15, Mr. Buchanan sustained the government with all his power, eloquently urging the vigorous prosecution of the war, and enlisted as a private COJPENA'DIUIf OF IOGRAPHrY. 129 'volunteer to assist in repelling the British who had sacked and burned the public buildings of Washington and threatened Baltimore. At that time Buchanan was a Federalist, but the opposition of that party to the war with Great Britain and the alien and sedition laws of John Adams, brought that party into disrepute, and drove many, among them Buchanan, into the Republican, or anti-Federalist ranks. He was elected to congress in I828. In I83I he was sent as minister to Russia, and upon his return to this country, in 1833, was elevated to the United States senate, and remained in that position for twelve years. Upon the accession of President Polk to office he made Mr. Buchanan secretary of state. Four years later he retired to private life, and in I853 he was honored with the mission to England. In I856 the national Democratic convention nominated him for the presidency and he was elected. It was during his administration that the rising tide of the secession movement overtook the country. Mr. Buchanan declared that the national constitution gave him no power to do anything against the movement to break up the Union. After his succession by Abraham Lincoln in I86o, Mr. Buchanan retired to his home at Wheatland, Pennsylvania, where he died June I, I868. OHN HARVARD, the founder of the Harvard University, was born in England about the year I6o8. He received his education at Emanuel College, Cambridge, and came to America in I637, settling in Massachusetts. He was a non-conformist minister, and a tract of land was set aside for him in Charlestown, near Boston. He was at once appointed one of a committee to formulate a body of laws for the colony. One year before his arrival in the colony r the general court had voted the sum of iour hundred pounds toward the establishment or a school or college, half of which was to De paid the next year In 1637 preliminary plans were made for starting the school. in 1638 John Harvard, who had shown great interest in the new institution of learning proposed, died, leaving his entire property, about twice the sum originally voted, to the school, together with three hundred volumes as a nucleus for a library. The institution was then given the name of Harvard, and established at Newton (now Cambridge). Massachusetts. It grew to be one of the two principal seats of learning in the new world, and has maintained its reputation since. It now consists of twenty-two separate buildings, and its curriculum embraces over one hundred and seventy elective courses, and it ranks among the great universities of the world. OGER BROOKE TANEY, a noted jurist and chief justice of the United States supreme court, was born in Calvert county, Maryland, March 17, 1777. He graduated fiom Dickinson College at the age of eighteen, took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in I799. He was chosen to the legislature from his county, and in I8oI removed to Frederick, Maryland. He became United States senator from Maryland in I816, and took up his permanent residence in Baltimore a few years later. In I824 he became an ardent admirer and supporter of Andrew Jackson, and upon Jackson's election to the presidency, was appointed attorney general of the United States. Two years later he was appointed secretary of the treasury, and after serving in that capacity for nearly one year, the senate refused to confirm the appointment. In 1835, upon the death oi 1 0 CO1lItPEIVDUIUC l OF BIOGR APIIr. Chief-justice Marshall, he was appointed to that place, and a political change having occurred in the make up of the senate, he was confirmed in 1836. He presided at his first session in January of the following year. The case which suggests itself first to the average reader in connection with this jurist is the celebrated " Dred Scott" case, which came before the supreme court for decision in I856. In his opinion, delivered on behalf of a majority of the court, one remarkable statement occurs as a result of an exhaustive survey of the historical grounds, to the effect that " for more than a century prior to the adoption of the constitution they (Africans) had been regarded so far inferior that they had no rights which a white man was bound to respect." Judge Taney retained the office of chief justice until his death, in 1864. OHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. -This gentleman had a world-wide reputation as an historian, which placed him in the front rank of the great men of America. He was born April 15, I814, at Dorchester, Massachusetts, was given a thorough preparatory education and then attended Harvard, from which he was graduated in 183I. He also studied at Gottingen and Berlin, read law and in 1836 was admitted to the bar. In 1841 he was appointed secretary of the legation at St. Petersburg, and in I866-67 served as United States minister to Austria, serving in the same capacity during I869 and I870 to England. In I856, after long and exhaustive research and preparation,he published in London "The Rise of the Dutch Republic." It embraced three volumes and immediately attracted great attention throughout Europe and America as I I868 he produced "The History of the United Netherlands," in four volumes. Other works followed, with equal success, and his position as one of the foremost historians and writers of his day was firmly established. His death occured May 29, I877. LIAS HOWE, the inventor of the sewing machine, well deserves to be classed among the great and noted men of America. He was the son of a miller and farmer and was born at Spencer, Massachusetts, July 9, I819. In 1835 he went to Lowell and worked there, and later at Boston, in the machine shops. His first sewing machine was completed in 1845, and he patented it in 1846, laboring with the greatest persistency in spite of poverty and hardships, working for a time as an engine driver on a railroad at pauper wages and with broken health. He then spent two years of unsuccessful exertion in England, striving in vain to bring his invention into public notice and use. He returned to the United States in almost hopeless poverty, to find that his patent had been violated. At last, however, he found friends who assisted him financially, and after years of litigation he made good his claims in the courts in 1854. His invention afterward brought him a large fortune. During the Civil war he volunteered as a private in the Seventeenth Connecticut Volunteers, and served for some time. During his life time he received the cross of the Legion of Honor and many other medals. His death occurred October 3, 1867, at Brooklyn, New York. DHILLIPS BROOKS, celebrated as an eloquent preacher and able pulpit orator, was born in Boston on the I3th day of a work of unusual merit. From I86I to I December, I835. He received excellent C OM1PENDIUM OF BIO GRA PH1. 131 educational advantages, and graduated at Harvard in 1855. Early in life he decided upon the ministry as his life work and studied theology in the Episcopal Theological Seminary, at Alexandria, Virginia. In 1859 he was ordained and the same year became pastor of the Church of the Advent, in Philadelphia. Three years later he assumed the pastorate of the Church of the Holy Trinity, where he remained until 1870. At the expiration of that time he accepted the pastoral charge of Trinity Church in Boston, where his eloquence and ability attracted much attention and built up a powerful church organization. Dr. Brooks also devoted considerable time to lecturing and literary work and attained prominence in these lines. W zILLIAM B. ALLISON, a statesman of national reputation and one of the leaders of the Republican party, was born March 2, 1829, at Perry, Ohio. He grew up on his father's farm, which he assisted in cultivating, and attended the district school. When sixteen years old he went to the academy at Wooster, and subsequently spent a year at the Allegheny College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania. He next taught school and spent another year at the Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio. Mr. Allison then took up the study of law at W\ooster, where he was admitted to the bar in 1851, and soon obtained a position as deputy county clerk. His political leanings were toward the old line Whigs, who afterward laid the foundation of the Republican party. He was a delegate to the state convention in I856, in the campaign of which ie supported Fremont for president. Mr Allison removed to Dubuque, Iowa, in the following year. He rapidly rose to prominence at the bar and in politics. In I86o he was chosen as a delegate ao the Republican convention held in Chicago, o2 which he was elected one of the secretaries, At the outbreak of the civil war he was appointed on the staff of the governor. His congressional career opened in I862, when he was elected to the thirty-eighth congress; he was re-elected three times, serving from March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1871. He was a member of the ways and means committee a good part of his term. His career in the United States senate began in 1873, and he rapidly rose to eminence in national affairs, his service of a quarter of a century in that body being marked by close fealty to the Republican party. He twice declined the portfolio of the treasury tendered him by Garfield and Harrison, and his name was prominently mentioned for the presidency at several national Republican conventions. M ARY ASHTON LIVERMORE, lecturer and writer, was born in Boston, December 19, 1821. She was the daughter of Timothy Rice, and married D. P. Livermore, a preacher of the Universalist church. She contributed able articles to many of the most noted periodicals of this country and England. During the Civil war she labored zealously and with success on behalf of the sanitary commission which played so important a part during that great struggle. She became editor of the " Woman's Journal," published at Boston in 1870. She held a prominent place as a public speaker and writer on woman's suffrage, temperance, social and religious questions, and her influence was great in every cause she advocated. OHN B. GOUGH, a noted temperance lecturer, who won his fame in America, was born in the village of Sandgate, Kent, 132 C OMlfPENDIUM~ OP BIOGRA PHF. England, August 22, I817. He came to the United States at the age of twelve. He followed the trade of bookbinder, and lived in great poverty on account of the liquor habit. In 1843, however, he reformed, and began his career as a temperance lecturer. He worked zealously in the cause of temperance, and his lectures and published articles revealed great earnestness. He formed temperance societies throughout the entire country, and labored with great success. He visited England in the same cause about the year 1853 and again in 1878. He also lectured upon many other topics, in which he attained a wide reputation. His death occurred February I8, I886. HOMAS BUCHANAN READ, author, sculptor and painter, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1822. He early evinced a taste for art, and began the study of sculpture in Cincinnati. Later he found painting more to his liking. He went to New York, where he followed this profession, and later to Boston. In 1846 he located in Philadelphia. He visited Italy in 1850, and studied at Florence, where he resided almost continuously for twenty-two years. He returned to America in 1872, and died in New York May 1 of the same year. He was the author of many heroic poems, but the one giving him the most renown is his famous "Sheridan's Ride," of which he has also left a representation in painting. UGENE V. DEBS, the former famous president of the American Railway Union, and great labor leader, was born in the city of Terre Haute, Indiana, in I855. He received his education in the public schools of that place and at the age of sixteen years began work as a painter in the Vandalia shops. After this, for some three years, he was employed as a locomotive fireman on the same road. His first appearance in public life was in his canvass for the election to the office of city clerk of Terre Haute. In this capacity he served two terms, and when twenty six yearsof age was elected a member of the legislature of the state of Indiana. While a member of that body he secured the passage of several bills in the interest of organized labor, of which he was always a faithful champion. Mr. Debs' speech nominating Daniel Voorhees for the United States senate gave him a wide reputation for oratory. On the expiration of his term in the legislature, he was elected grand secretary and treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fireman and filled that office for fourteen successive years. He was always an earnest advocate of confederation of railroad men and it was mainly through his efforts that the United Order of Railway Employes, composed of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen and Conductors, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association was formed, and he became a member of its supreme council. The order was dissolved by disagreement between two of its leading orders, and then Mr. Debs conceived the idea of the American Railway Union. He worked on the details and the union came into existence in Chicago, June 20, I893. For a time it prospered and became one of the largest bodies of railway men in the world. It won in a contest with the Great Northern Railway. In the strike made by the union in sympathy with the Pullman employes inaugurated in Chicago June 25, I894, and the consequent rioting, the Railway Union C OMIPENDIUMl OF BIOGRAPHT. lost much prestige and Mr. Debs, in company with others of the officers, being held as in contempt of the United States courts, he suffered a sentence of six months in jail at Woodstock, McHenry county, Illinois. In I897 Mr. Debs, on the demise of the American Railway Union, organized the Social Democracy, an institution founded on the best lines of the communistic idea, which was to provide homes and employment for its members. OHN G. CARLISLE, famous as a lawyer, congressman, senator and cabinet officer, was born in Campbell (now Kenton) county, Kentucky, September 5, 1835, on a farm. He received the usual education of the time and began at an early age to teach school and, at the same time, the study of law. Soon opportunity offered and he entered an office in Covington, Kentucky, and was admitted to practice at the bar in 1858. Politics attracted his attention and in I859 he was elected to the house of representatives in the legislature of his native state. On the outbreak of the war in I861, he embraced the cause of the Union and was largely instrumental in preserving Kentucky to the federal cause. He resumed his legal practice for a time and declined a nomination as presidential elector in 1864. In I866 and again in I869 Mr. Carlisle was elected to the senate of Kentucky. He resigned this position in 1871 and was chosen lieutenant governor of the state, which office he held until 1875. He was one of the presidential electors-at-large for Kentucky in 876. He first entered congress in 1877, and soon became a prominent leader on the Democratic side of the house of representatives, and continued a member of that body through the forty-sixth, fortyseventh, forty-eighth and forty-ninth con I gresses, and was speaker of the house during the two latter. He was elected to the United States senate to succeed Senator Blackburn, and remained a member of that branch of congress until March, 1893, when he was appointed secretary of the treasury. He performed the duties of that high office until March 4, I897, throughout the entire second administration of President Cleveland. His ability and many years of public service gave him a national reputation. FRANCES E. WILLARD, for many years president of the -Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and a noted American lecturer and writer, was born in Rochester, New York, September 28, I839. Graduating from the Northwestern Female College at the age of nineteen she began teaching and met with great success in many cities of the west. She was made directress of Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, Ohio, in 1867, and four years later was elected president of the Evanston College for young ladies, a branch of the Northwestern University. During the two years succeeding I869 she traveled extensively in Europe and the east, visiting Egypt and Palestine, and gathering materials for a valuable course of lectures, which she delivered at Chicago on her return. She became very popular, and won great influence in the temperance cause. Her work as president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union greatly strengthened that society, and she made frequent trips to Europe in the interest of that cause. RICHARD OLNEY.-Among the prominent men who were members of the cabinet of President Cleveland in his second administration, the gentleman whose name 134 C OMPENNDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. heads this sketch held a leading place, occupying the positions of attorney general and secretary of state. Mr. Olney came from one of the oldest and most honored New England families; the first of his ancestors to come from England settled in Massachusetts in I635. This was Thomas Olney. He was a friend and co-religionist of Roger Williams, and when the latter moved to what is now Rhode Ifsland, went with him and became one of the founders of Providence Plantations. Richard Olney was born in Oxford, Massachusetts, in 1835, and received the elements of his earlier education in the common schools which New England is so proud of. He entered Brown University, from which he graduated in I856, and passed the Harvard law school two years later. He began the practice of his profession with Judge B. F. Thomas, a prominent man of that locality. For years Richard Olney was regarded as one of the ablest and most learned lawyers in Massachusetts. Twice he was offered a place on the bench of the supreme court of the state, but both times he declined. He was always a Democrat in his political tenets, and for many years was a trusted counsellor of members of that party. In 1874 Mr. Olney was elected a member of the legislature. In 1876, during the heated presidential campaign, to strengthen the cause of Mr. Tilden in the New England states, it was intimated that in the event of that gentleman's election to the presidency, Mr. Olney would be attorpey general. When Grover Cleveland was elected president of the United States, on his inauguration in March, I893, he tendered the position of attorney general to Richard Olney. This was accepted, and that gentleman fulflled the duties of the office until the death of Walter Q. Gresham, in May, I895, made vacant the position of secretary of state. This post was filled by the appointment of Mr. Olney. While occupying the later office, Mr. Olney brought himself into international prominence by some very able state papers. OHN JAY KNOX, for many years comptroller of the currency, and an eminent financier, was born in Knoxboro, Oneida county, New York, May I9, I828, He received a good education and graduated at Hamilton College in 1849. For about thirteen years he was engaged as a private banker, or in a position in a bank, where he laid the foundation of his knowledge of the laws of finance. In 1862, Salmon P. Chase, then secretary of the treasury, appointed him to an office in that department of the government, and later he had charge of the mint coinage correspondence. In 1867 Mr. Knox was made deputy comptroller of the currency, and in that capacity, in 1870, he made two reports on the mint service, with a codification of the mint and coinage laws of the United States, and suggesting many important amendments, These reports were ordered printed by resolution of congress. The bill which he prepared, with some slight changes, was subsequently passed, and has been known in history as the " Coinage Act of 1873." In 1872 Mr. Knox was appointed comptroller of the currency, and held that responsible position until I884, when he resigned. He then accepted the position of president of the National Bank of the Republic, of New York City, which institution he served for many years. He was the author of " United States Notes," published in I884. In the reports spoken of above, a history of the two United States banks is COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 135 given, together with that of the state and national banking system, and much valuable statistical matter relating to kindred subjects. ATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.-In the opinion of many critics Hawthorne is pronounced the foremost American novelist, and in his peculiar vein of romance is said to be without a peer. His reputation is world-wide, and his ability as a writer is recognized abroad as well as at home. Hie was born July 4, 1804, at Salem, Massachusetts. On account of feeble health he spent some years of his boyhood on a farm near Raymond, Maine. He laid the foundation of a liberal education in his youth, and entered Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in 1825 in the same class with H W Longfellow and John S. C. Abbott. He then returned to Salem, where he gave his attention to literature, publishing several tales and other articles in various periodicals. His first venture in the field of romance, "Fanshaw," proved a failure. In I836 he removed to Boston, and became editor of the "'American Magazine," which soon passed out of existence. In I837 he published " Twice Told Tales," which were chiefly made up of his former contributions to magazines. In 1838-41 he held a position in the Boston custom house, but later took part in the "Brook farm experiment," a socialistic idea after the plan of Fourier. In 1843 he was married and took up his residence at the old parsonage at Concord, Massachusetts, which he immortalized in his next work, "Mosses From an Old Manse," published in I846. From the latter date until I850 he was surveyor of the port of Salem, and while thus employed wrote one of his strongest works, "The Scarlet Letter." For the succeeding two 8 years Lenox, Massachusetts, was his home, and the " House of the Seven Gables" was produced there, as well as the " Blithedale Romance." In 1852 he published a "Life of Franklin Pierce," a college friend whom he warmly regarded. In 1853 he was appointed United States consul to Liverpool, England, where he remained some years, after which he spent some time in Italy. On returning to his native land he took up his residence at Concord, Massachusetts. While taking a trip for his health with exPresident Pierce, he died at Plymouth, New Hampshire, May I9, I864. In addition to the works mentioned above Mr. Hawthorne gave to the world the following books: " True Stories from History," "The Wonder Book," "The Snow Image," "Tanglewood Tales," "The Marble Faun," and "Our Old Home." After his death appeared a series of "Notebooks," edited by his wife, Sophia P. Hawthorne; " Septimius Felton," edited by his daughter, Una, and "Dr. Grimshaw's Secret," put into shape by his talented son, Julian. He left an unfinished work called " Dolliver Romance," which has been published just as he left it. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, sixteenth president of the United States, was born February 12, 1809, in Larue county (Hardin county), Kentucky, in a log-cabin near Hudgensville. When he was eight years old he removed with his parents to Indiana, near the Ohio river, and a year later his mother died. His father then married Mrs. Elizabeth (Bush) Johnston, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who proved a kind of foster-mother to Abraham, and encouraged him to study. He worked as a farm hand and as a clerk in a store at Gentryville, and was noted for his athletic feats and strength, fondness for debate, a fund of humorous 1386 C O3IIMPEVDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. anecdote, as well as the composition of rude verses. He made a trip at the age of nineteen to New Orleans on a flat-boat, and settled in Illinois in I830. He assisted his father to build a log house and clear a farm on the Sangamon river near Decatur, Illinois, and split the rails with which to fence it. In I85I he was employed in the building of a flat-boat on the Sangamon, and to run it to New Orleans. The voyage gave him a new insight into the horrors of slavery in the south. On his return he settled at New Salem and engaged, first as a clerk in a store, then as grocer, surveyor and postmaster, and he piloted the first steamboat that ascended the Sangamon. He participated in the Black Hawk war as captain of volunteers, and after his return he studied law, interested himself in politics, and became prominent locally as a public speaker. He was elected to the legislature in 1834 as a ' Clay Vhlig," and began at once to display a command of language and forcible rhetoric that made him a match for his more cultured opponents. He was admitted to the bar in 1837, and began practice at Springfield. He married a lady of a prominent Kentucky family in 1842. He was active in the presidential campaigns of I840 and 1844 and was an elector on the Harrison and Clay tickets, and was elected to congress in I846, over Peter Cartwright. He voted for the Wilmot proviso and the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and opposed the war with Mexico, but gained little prominence during his two years' service. He then returned to Springfield and devoted his attention to law, taking little interest in politics, until the repeal of the Missouri compromise and the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill in I854. This awakened his interest in politics again and he attacked the champion of that measure, Stephen A. Douglas, in a speech at Springfield that made him famous, and is said by those who heard it to be the greatest speech of his life. Lincoln was selected as candidate for the United States senate, but was defeated by Trumbull. Upon the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill the Whig party suddenly went to pieces, and the Republican party gathered head. At the Bloomington Republican convention in 8 56 Lincoln made an effective address in which he first took a position antagonistic to the existence of slavery. He was a Fremont elector and received a strong support for nomination as vice-president in the Philadelphia convention. In I858 he was the unanimous choice of the Republicans for the United States senate, and the great campaign of debate which followed resulted in the election of Douglas, but established Lincoln's reputation as the leading exponent of Republican doctrines. He began to be mentioned in Illinois as candidate for the presidency, and a course of addresses in the eastern states attracted favorable attention. When the national convention met at Chicago, his rivals, Chase, Seward, Bates and others, were compelled to retire before the western giant, and he was nominated, with Hannibal Hamlin as his running mate. The Democratic party had now been disrupted, and Lincoln's election assured. He carried practically every northern state, and the secession of South Carolina, followed by a number of the gulf states, took place before his inauguration. Lincoln is the only president who was ever compelled to reach Washington in a secret manner. Hie escaped assassination by avoiding Baltimore, and was quietly inaugurated March 4, 86i. His inaugural address was firm but conciliatory, and he said to the secessionists: "You have no oath registered in heaven COJIPENDIIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 137" to destroy the government, while I have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.' He made up his cabinet chiefly of those political rivals in his own partySeward, Chase, Cameron, Bates-and secured the co-operation of the Douglas Democrats. His great deeds, amidst the heat and turmoil of war, were: His call for seventy-five thousand volunteers, and the blockading of southern ports; calling of congress in extra session, July 14, I86I, and obtaining four hundred thousand men and four hundred million dollars for the prosecution of the war; appointing Stanton secretary of war; issuing the emancipation proclamation; calling three hundred thousand volunteers; address at Gettysburg cemetery; commissioned Grant as lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States; his second inaugural address; his visit to the army before Richmond, and his entry into Richmond the day after its surrender. Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth in a box in Ford's theater at Washington the night of April 14, I865, and expired the following morning. His body was buried at Oak Ridge cemetery, Springfield, Illinois, and a monument commemorating his great work marks his resting place. QTEPHEN GIRARD, the celebrated philanthropist, was born in Bordeaux, France, May 24, I750. He became a sailor engaged in the American coast trade, and also made frequent trips to the West Indies. During the Revolutionary war he was a grocer and liquor seller in Philadelphia. He married in that city, and afterward separated from his wife. After the war he again engaged in the coast and West India trade, and his fortune began to accumulate I from receiving goods from West Indian planters during the insurrection in Hayti, little of which was ever called for again. He became a private banker in Philadelphia in I812, and afterward was a director in the United States Bank. He made much money by leasing property in the city in times of depression, and upon the revival of industry sub-leasing at enormous profit. He became the wealthiest citizen of the United States of his time. He was eccentric, ungracious, and a freethinker. He had few, if any, friends in his lifetime. However, he was most charitably disposed, and gave to charitable institutions and schools with a liberal hand. He did more than any one else to relieve the suffering and deprivations during the great yellow fever scourge in Philadelphia, devoting his personal attention to the sick. He endowed and made a free institution, the famous Will's Eye and Ear Infirmary of Philadelphia-one of the largest institutions of its kind in the world. At his death practically all his immense wealth was bequeathed to charitable institutions, more than two millions of dollars going to the founding of Girard College, which was to be devoted to the education and training of boys between the ages of six and ten years. Large donations were also made to institutions in Philadelphia and New Orleans. The principal building of Girard College is. the most magnificent example of Greek architecture in America. Girard died December 26, I831. OUIS J. R. AGASSIZ, the eminent naturalist and geologist, was born in the parish of Motier, near Lake Neuchatel, Switzerland, May 28, I807, but attained his greatest fame after becoming an American citizen. He studied the medical sciences at. 188 C OMfPENDIUAI1 OF BIO GRAPJJI '. Zurich, Heidelberg and Munich. His first work was a Latin description of the fishes which Martius and Spix brought from Brazil. This was publis'hed in I829-3. He devoted much time to the study of fossil fishes, and in 1832 was appoiited professor of natural history at Neuchatel. He greatly increased his reputation by a great work in French, entitled ' Researches on Fossil Fishes," in I832-42, in which he made many important improvements in the classification of fishes. Having passed many summers among the Alps in researches on glaciers, he propounded some new and interesting ideas on geology, and the agency of glaciers in his "Studies by the Glaciers." This was published in I840. This latter work, with his "System of the Glaciers," published in I847, are among his principal works. In 1846, Professor Agassiz crossed the ocean on a scientific excursion to the United States, and soon determined to remain here. He accepted, about the beginning of 1848, the chair of zoology and geology at Harvard. He explored the natural history of the United States at different times and gave an impulse to the study of nature in this country. In 1865 he conducted an expedition to Brazil, and explored the lower Amazon and its tributaries. In I868 he was made non-resident professor of natural history at Cornell University. In December, 1871, he accompanied the Hassler expedition, under Professor Pierce, to the South Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He died at Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 14, I873. Among other of the important works of Professor Agassiz may be mentioned the following: 'Outlines of Comparative Physiology," " Journey to Brazil," and "Contributions to the Natural History of the United.States." It is said of Professor Agassiz, that, perhaps, with the exception of Hugh Miller, no one had so popularized science in his day, or trained so many young naturalists. Many of the theories held by Agassiz are not supported by many of the naturalists of these later days, but upon many of the speculations into the origin of species and in physics he has left the marks of his own strongly marked individuality. XWAILLIAM WINDOM.-As a prominent V and leading lawyer of the great northwest, as a member of both houses of congress, and as the secretary of the treasury, the gentleman whose name heads this sketch won for himself a prominent position in the history of our country. Mr. Windom was a native of Ohio, born in Belmont county, May IO, 1827. He received a good elementary education in the schools of his native state, and took up the study of law. He was admitted to the bar, and entered upon the practice of his profession in Ohio, where he remained until 1855. In the latter year he made up his mind to move further west, and accordingly went to Minnesota, and opening an office, became identified with the interests of that state, and the northwest generally. In I858 he took his place in the Minnesota delegation in the national house of representatives, at Washington, and continued to represent his constituency in that body for ten years. In I87I Mr. Windom was elected United States senator from Minnesota, and was re-elected to the same office after fulfilling the duties of the position for a full term, in I876. On the inauguration of President Garfield, in March, I88I, Mr. Windom became secretary of the treasury in his cabinet. He resigned this office October 27, I88I, and was elected senator from the North Star state to fill the va. COMlPENDIUM~ OF BIOGRAPHr. 139 cancy caused by the resignation of A. J. Edgerton. Mr. Windom served in that chamber until March, I883. William Windom died in New York City January 29, 1891. DON M. DICKINSON, an American politician and lawyer, was born in Port Ontario, New York, January 17, 1846. Hie removed with his parents to Michigan when he was but two years old. He was educated in the public schools of Detroit and at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one. In I872 he was made secretary of the Democratic state central committee of Michigan, and his able management of the campaign gave him a prominent place in the councils of his party. In I876, during the Tilden campaign, he acted as chairman of the state central committee. He was afterward chosen to represent his state in the Democratic national committee, and in I886 he was appointed postmastergeneral by President Cleveland. After the expiration of his term of office he returned to Detroit and resumed the practice of law. In the presidential campaign of I896, Mr. Dickinson adhered to the ( gold wing" of the Democracy, and his influence was felt in the national canvass, and especially in his own state. JOHN JACOB ASTOR, the founder of the Astor family and fortunes, while not a native of this country, was one of the most noted men of his time, and as all his wealth and fame were acquired here, he may well be classed among America's great men, He was born near Heidelberg, Germany, July 17, 1763, and when twenty years old emigrated to the United States. Even at that age he exhibited remarkable business ability and foresight, and soon he was investing capital in furs which he took to London and sold at a great profit. He next settled at New York, and engaged extensively in the fur trade. Hte exported furs to Europe in his own vessels, which returned with cargoes of foreign commodities, and thus he rapidly amassed an immense fortune. In I811 he founded Astoria on the western coast of North America, near the mouth of the Columbia river, as a depot for the fur trade, for the promotion of which he sent a number of expeditions to the Pacific ocean. He also purchased a large amount of real estate in New York, the value of which increased enormously All through life his business ventures were a series of marvelous successes, and he ranked as one of the most sagacious and successful business men in the world. He cied March 29, 1848, leaving a fortune estirnated at over twenty million dollars to his children, who have since increased it. John Jacob Astor left $400,000 to found a public library in New York City, and his son, William B. Astor, who died in I875, left $300,000 to add to his father's bequest. This is known as the Astor Library, one of the largest in the United States. CHUYLER COLFAX, an eminent American statesman, was born in New York City, March 23, 1823, being a grandson of General William Colfax, the commander of Washington's life-guards. In I836 he removed with his mother, who was then a widow, to Indiana, settling at South Bend. Young Schuyler studied law, and in 1845 became editor of the "St. Joseph Valley Register," a Whig paper published at South Bend. He was a member of the convention which formed a new constitution for Indiana in I850, and he opposed. .140 CO1MPECNDIUM OF BIOGRAPH2. the clause that prohibited colored men from settling in that state. In 1851 he was defeated as the Whig candidate for congress but was elected in 1854, and, being repeatedly re-elected, continued to represent that district in congress until I869. He became one of the most prominent and influential members of the house of representatives, and served three terms as speaker. During the Civil war he was an active participant in all public measures of importance, and was a confidential friend and adviser of President Lincoln. In May, I868, Mr. Colfax was nominated for vice-president on the ticket with General Grant, and was elected. After the close of his term he retired from office, and for the remainder of his life devoted much of his time to lecturing and literary pursuits. His death occurred January 23, I885. He was one of the most prominent members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in America, and that order erected a bronze statue to his memory in University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana, which was unveiled in May, I887. W ILLIAM FREEMAN VILAS, who attained a national reputation as an able lawyer, statesman, and cabinet officer, was born at Chelsea, Vermont, July 9, 1840. His parents removed to Wisconsin when our subject was but eleven years of age, and there with the early settlers endured all the hardships and trials incident to pioneer life. William F. Vilas was given all the advantages found in the common schools, and supplemented this by a course of study in the Wisconsin State University, after which he studied law, was admitted to the bar and began practicing at Madison. Shortly afterward the Civil war broke out and Mr. Vilas enlisted and became colonel of the Twenty-third regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers, serving throughout the war with distinction. At the close of the war he returned to Wisconsin, resumed his law practice, and rapidly rose to eminence in this profession. In 1885 he was selected by President Cleveland for postmaster-general and at the close of his term again returned to Madison, Wisconsin, to resume the practice of law. THOMAS McINTYRE COOLEY, an eminent American jurist and law writer, was born in Attica, New York, January 6, 1824. He was admitted to the barin I846, and four years later was appointed reporter of the supreme court of Michigan, which office he continued to hold for seven years. In the meantime, in I859, he became professor of the law department of the University of Michigan, and soon afterward was made dean of the faculty of that department. In I864 he was elected justice of the supreme court of Michigan, in 1867 became chief justice of that court, and in I869 was re-elected for a term of eight years. In I881 he again joined the faculty of the University of Michigan, assuming the professorship of constitutional and administrative law. His works on these branches have become standard, and he is recognized as authority on this and related subjects. Upon the passage of the inter-state commerce law in 1887 he became chairman of the commission and served in that capacity four years. OHN PETER ALTGELD, a noted American politician and writer on social questions, was born in Germany, December 30, 1847. He came to America with his parents and settled in Ohio when two years old. In I864 he entered the Union army C O11fPENrDIUiIZ OF BIOGRA PHAY. 141 and served till the close of the war, after which he settled in Chicago, Illinois. He was elected judge of the superior court of Cook county, Illinois, in I886, in which capacity he served until elected governor of Illinois in 1892, as a Democrat. During the first year of his term as governor he attracted national attention by his pardon of the anarchists convicted of the Haymarket murder in Chicago, and again in I894 by his denunciation of President Cleveland for calling out federal troops to suppress the rioting in connection with the great Pullman strike in Chicago. At the national convention of the Democratic party in Chicago, in July, I896, he is said to have inspired the clause in the platform denunciatory of interference by federal authorities in local affairs, and "government by injunction." He was gubernatorial candidate for re-election on the Democratic ticket in 1896, but was defeated by John R. Tanner, Republican. Mr. Altgeld published two volumes of essays on " Live Questions," evincing radical views on social matters. ADLAI EWING STEVENSON, an American statesman and politician, was born in Christian county, Kentucky, October 23, 1835, and removed with the family to Bloomington, Illinois, in I852. He was admitted to the bar in 1858, and settled in the practice of his profession in Metamora, Illinois. In 861 he was made master in chancery of Woodford county, and in I864 was elected state's attorney. In I868 he returned to Bloomington and formed a law partnership with James S. Ewing. He had served as a presidential elector in I864, and in I868 was elected to congress as a Democrat, receiving a majority vote from every county in his district. He became prominent in his I party, and was a delegate to the national convention in I884. On the election of Cleveland to the presidency Mr. Stevenson was appointed first assistant postmastergeneral. After the expiration of his term he continued to exert a controlling influence in the politics of his state, and in I892 was elected vice-president of the United States on the ticket with Grover Cleveland. At the expiration of his term of office he resumed the practice of law at Bloomington, Illinois. SIMON CAMERON, whose name is prominently identified with the history of the United States as a political leader and statesman, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1799. He grew to manhood in his native county, receiving good educational advantages, and developing a natural inclination for political life. He rapidly rose in prominence and became the most influential Democrat in PennsyJ1 vania, and in 1845 was elected by that party to the United States senate. Upon the organization of the Republican party he was one of the first to declare his allegiance to it, and in 1856 was re-elected United States senator from Pennsylvania as a Republican. In March, 86 I, he was appointed secretary of war by President Lincoln, and served until early in I862, when he was sent as minister to Russia, returning in I863. In I866 he was again elected United States senator and served until S877, when he resigned and was succeeded by his son, James Donald Cameron. He continued to exert a powerful influence in political affairs up to the time of his death, June 26, I889. JAMES DONALD CAMERON was the eldest son of Simon Cameron, and also attained a high rank among American statesmen. He was born at Harrisburg, 14t C OMiPENDIUM OF BIO GRAPHr. Pennsylvania, May 14, 1833, and received an excellent education, graduating at Princeton College in 1852. HIe rapidly developed into one of the most able and successful business men of the country and was largely interested in and identified with the development of the coal, iron, lumber and manufacturing interests of his native state. He served as cashier and afterward president of the Middletown bank, and in I86i was made vice-president, and in 1863 president of the Northern Central railroad, holding this position until 1874, when he resigned and was succeeded by Thomas A. Scott. This road was of great service to the government during the war as a means of communication between Pennsylvania and the national capital, via Baltimore. Mr. Cameron also took an active part in political affairs, always as a Republican. In May, 1876, he was appointed secretary of war in President Grant's cabinet, and in 1877 succeeded his father in the United States senate. He was re-elected in I885, and again in 1891, serving until 1896, and was recognized as one of the most prominent and influential members of that body. A DOLPHUS W. GREELEY, a famous American arctic explorer, was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts, March 27, 1844. He graduated from Brown High School at the age of sixteen, and a year later enlisted in Company B, Nineteenth Massachusetts Infantry, and was made first sergeant. In 1863 he was promoted to second lieutenant. After the war he was assigned to the Fifth United States Cavalry, and became first lieutenant in I873. He was assigned to duty in the United States signal service shortly after the close of the war. An expedition was fitted out by the United States government in i88i, un der auspices of the weather bureau, and Lieutenant Greeley placed in command. They set sail from St. Johns the first week in July, and after nine days landed in Greenland, where they secured the services of two natives, together with sledges, dogs, furs and equipment. They encountered an ice pack early in August, and on the 28th of that month freezing weather set in. Two of his party, Lieutenant Lockwood and Sergeant Brainard, added to the known maps about forty miles of coast survey, and reached the highest point yet attained by man, eighty-three degrees and twenty-four minutes north, longitude, forty-four degrees and five minutes west. On their return to Fort Conger, Lieutenant Greeley set out for the south on August 9, I883. He reached Baird Inlet twenty days later with his entire party. Here they were compelled to abandon their boats, and drifted on an ice-floe for one month. They then went into camp at Cape Sabine, where they suffered untold hardships, and eighteen of the party succumbed to cold and hunger, and had relief been delayed two days longer none would have been found alive. They were picked up by the relief expedition, under Captain Schley, June 22, 1884. The dead were taken to New York for burial. Many sensational stories were published concerning the expedition, and Lieutenant Greeley prepared an exhaustive account of his explorations and experiences. LEVI P. MORTON, the millionaire politician, was born in Shoreham, Vermont, May I6, I824, and his early education consisted of the rudiments which he obtained in the common school up to the age of fourteen, and after that time what knowledge he gained was wrested from the hard school of experience. He removed to C OM3PENDIUMO OF BrIOGRA APHH. 143 Hanover, Vermont, then Concord, Vermont, and afterwards to Boston. He had worked in a store at Shoreham, his native village, and on going to Hanover he established a store and went into business for himself. In Boston he clerked in a dry goods store, and then opened a business of his own in the same line in New York. After a short career he failed, and was compelled to settle with his creditors at only fifty cents on the dollar. He began the struggle anew, and when the war began he established a banking house in New York, with Junius Morgan as a partner. Through his firm and connections the great government war loans were floated, and it resulted in immense profits to his house. When he was again thoroughly established he invited his former creditors to a banquet, and under each guest's plate was found a check covering the amount of loss sustained respectively, with interest to date. President Garfield appointed Mr. Morton as minister to France, after he had declined the secretaryship of the navy, and in I888 he was nominated as candidate for vice-president, with Harrison, and elected. In I894 he was elected governor of New York over David B. Hill, and served one term. CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS, one of the most talented and prominent educators this country has known, was born January 24, I835, at Derby, Vermont. lie received an elementary education in the common schools, and studied two terms in the Derby Academy. Mr. Adams moved with his parents to Iowa in I856. He was very anxious to pursue a collegiate course, but this was impossible until he had attained the age of twenty-one. In the autumn of i856 he began the study of Latin and Greek at Denmark Academy, and in September, 1857, he was admitted to the University of Michigan. Mr. Adams was wholly dependent upon himself for the means of his education. During his third and fourth year he became deeply interested in historical studies, was assistant librarian of the university, and determined to pursue a postgraduate course. In 1864 he was appointed instructor of history and Latin and was advanced to an assistant professorship in 1865, and in 1867, on the resignation of Professot White to accept the presidency of Cornell, he was appointed to fill the chair of professor of history. This he accepted on condition of his being allowed to spend a year for special study in Germany, France and Italy. Mr. Adams returned in i868, and assumed the duties of his professorship. He introduced the German system for the instruction of advanced history classes, and his lectures were largely attended. In 1885, on the resignation of President White at Cornell, he was elected his successor and held the office for seven years, and on January 17, 1893, he was inaugurated president of the University of Wisconsin. President Adams was prominently connected with numerous scientific and literary organizations and a frequent contributor to the historical and educational data in the periodicals and journals of the country. He was the author of the following: "' Democracy and Monarchy in France," "Manual of Historical Literature," "' A Plea for Scientific Agriculture," " Higher Education in Germany." OSEPH B. FORAKER, a prominent political leader and ex-governor of Ohio, was born near Rainsboro, Highland county, Ohio, July 5, 1846. His parents operated a small farm, with a grist and sawmill, hav 144 C O1IIPEANDIUM OF BIOGRAPHIT. ing emigrated hither from Virginia and Delaware on account of their distaste for slavery. Joseph was reared upon a farm until 1862, when he enlisted in the Eighty-ninth Ohio Infantry. Later he was made sergeant, and in I864 commissioned first lieutenant. The next year he was brevetted captain. At the age of nineteen he was mustered out of the army after a brilliant service, part of the time being on the staff of General Slocum. He participated in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain and Kenesaw Mountain and in Sherman's march to the sea. For two years subsequent to the war young Foraker was studying at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, but later went to Cornell University, at Unity, New York, from which he graduated July I, I869. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. In I879 Mr. Foraker was elected judge of the superior court of Cincinnati and held tha office.for three years. In 1883 he was defeated in the contest for the governorship with Judge Hoadly. In 1885, however, being again nominated for the same office, he was elected and served two terms. In I889, in running for governor again, this time against James E. Campbell, he was defeated. Two years later his career in the United States senate began. Mr. Foraker was always a prominent figure at all national meetings of the Republican party, and a strong power, politically, in his native state. LYMIAN ABBOTT, an eminent American preacher and writer on religious subjects, came of a noted New England family. His father, Rev. Jacob Abbott, was a prolific and popular writer, and his uncle, Rev. John S. C. Abbott, was a noted preacher and author. Lyman Abbott was born December I8, 1835, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He graduated at the New York University, in I853, studied law, and practiced for a time at the bar, after which he studied theology with his uncle, Rev. John S. C. Abbott, and in I86o was settled in the ministry at Terre Haute, Indiana, remaining there until after the close of the war. He then became connected with the Freedmen's Commission, continuing this until I868, when he accepted the pastorate of the New England Congregational church, in New York City. A few years later he resigned, to devote his time principally to literary pursuits. For a number of years he edited for the American Tract Society, its "Illustrated Christian Weekly," also the New York "Christian Union." He produced many works, which had a wide circulation, among which may be mentioned the following: "Jesus of Nazareth, His Life and Teachings," "Old Testament Shadows of New Testament Truths," "Morning and Evening Exercises, Selected from Writings of Henry Ward Beecher," " Laicus, or the Experiences of a Layman in a Country Parish," '"Popular Religious Dictionary," and "Commentaries on Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts." EORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.-The well-known author, orator and journalist whose name heads this sketch, was born at Providence, Rhode Island, February 24, I824. Having laid the foundation of a most excellent education in his native land, he went to Europe and studied at the University of Berlin. He made an extensive tour throughout the Levant, from which he returned home in I850. At that early age literature became his field of labor, and in I851 he published his first important work, C Oi3PEiVDIUTIf OF BIO GRAPHt. 145 "( Nile Notes of a Howadji." In 1852 two works issued from his facile pen, "The Howadji in Syria," and "Lotus-Eating." Later on he was the author of the wellknown " Potiphar Papers," " Prue and I," and "Trumps." He greatly distinguished himself throughout this land as a lecturer on many subjects, and as an orator had but few peers. He was also well known as one of the most fluent speakers on the stump, making many political speeches in favor of the Republican party. In recognition of his valuable services, Mr. Curtis was appointed -by President Grant, chairman of the advisory board of the civil service. Although a life-long Republican, Mr. Curtis refused to support Blaine for the presidency in 1884, because of his ideas on civil service and other reforms. For his memorable and magnificent eulogy on Wendell Phillips, delivered in Boston, in 1884, that city presented Mr. Curtis with a gold medal. George W. Curtis, however, is best known to the reading public of the United States by his connection with the Harper Brothers, having been editor of the "Harper's Weekly," and of the " Easy Chair," in " Harper's Monthly Magazine, "for many years, in fact retaining that position until the day of his death, which occurred August 31, I892. NDREW JOHNSON, the seventeenth president of the United States, served from I865 to I869. He was born December 8, I808, at Raleigh, North Carolina, and was left an orphan at the age of four years. He never attended school, and was apprenticed to a tailor. While serving his apprenticeship he suddenly acquired a passion for knowledge, and learned to read. From that time on he spent all his spare time in reading, and after working for two years as a journeyman tailor at Lauren's Court House, South Carolina, he removed to Greenville, Tennessee, where he worked at his trade and was married. Under his wife's instruction he made rapid progress in his studies and manifested such an interest in local politics as to be elected as " workingmen's candidate " alderman in 1828, and in 1830 to the mayoralty, and was twice re-elected to each office. Mr. Johnson utilized this time in cultivating his talents as a public speaker, by taking part in a debating society. He was elected in 1835 to the lower house of the legislature, was reelected in I839 as a Democrat, and in I84I was elected state senator. Mr. Johnson was elected representative in congress in I843 and was re-elected four times in succession until I853, when he was the successful candidate for the gubernatorial chair of Tennessee. He was re-elected in 1855 and in I857 he entered the United States senate. In I860 he was supported by the Tennessee delegation to the Democratic convention for the presidential nomination, and lent his 'influence to the Breckinridge wing of the party. At the election of Lincoln, which brought about the first attempt at secession in December, 1860, Mr. Johnson took a firm attitude in the senate for the Union. He was the leader of the loyalists in East Tennessee. By the course that Mr. Johnson pursued in this crisis he was brought prominently before the northern people, and when, in March, 1862, he was appointed military governor of Tennessee with the rank of brigadier-general, he increased his popularity by the vigorous manner in which he labored to restore order. In the campaign of I864 he was elected vice-president on the ticket with President Lincoln, and upon the assassination of the latter he succeeded to the 146 C OCOIPENDIUlM OF BIOGRAPHr. presidency, April I5, I865. He retained the cabinet of President Lincoln, and at first exhibited considerable severity towards the former Confederates, but he soon inaugurated a policy of reconstruction, proclaimed a general amnesty to the late Confederates, and established provisional governments in the southern states. These states claimed representation in congress in the following December, and then arose the momentous question as to what should be the policy of the victorious Union against their late enemies. The Republican majority in congress had an apprehension that the President would undo the results of the war, and consequently passed two bills over the executive veto, and the two highest branches of the government were in open antagonism. The cabinet was reconstructed in July, and Messrs. Randall, Stanbury and Browning superseded Messrs. Denison, Speed and Harlan. In August, I867, President Johnson removed the secretary of war and replaced him with General Grant, but when congress met in December it refused to ratify the removal of Stanton, who resumed the functions of his office. In I868 the president again attempted to remove Stanton, who refused to vacate his post and was sustained by the senate. President Johnson was accused by congress of high crimes and misdemeanors, but the trial resulted in his acquittal. Later he was United States senator from Tennessee, and died July 31, 1875. DMUND RANDOLPH, first attorneygeneral of the United States, was born in Virginia, August Io, I753. His father, John Randolph, was attorney-general of Virginia, and lived and died a royalist. Edmund was educated in the law, but joined the army as aide-de-camp to Washington I in 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was elected to the Virginia convention in I776, and attorney-general of the state the same year. In 1779 he was elected to the Continental congress, and served four years in that body. He was a member of the convention in I787 that framed the constitution. In that convention he proposed what was known as the " Virginia plan" of confederation, but it was rejected. He advocated the ratification of the constitution in the Virginia convention, although he had refused to sign it. He became governor of Virginia in 1788, and the next year Washington appointed him to the office of attorney-general of the United States upon the organization of the government under the constitution. He was appointed secretary of state to succeed Jefferson during Washington's second term, but resigned a year later on account of differences in the cabinet concerning the policy pursued toward the new French republic. He died September 12, 1813. W INFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1824. He received his early education at the Norristown Academy, in his native county, and, in 1840, was appointed a cadet in the United States Military Academy, at West Point. He was graduated from the latter in I844, and brevetted as second lieutenant of infantry. In 1853 he was made first lieutenant, and two years later transferred to the quartermaster's department, with the rank of captain, and in I863 promoted to the rank of major. He served on the frontier, and in the war with Mexico, displaying conspicuous gallantry during the latter. Ile also took a part in the Seminole war, and in the troubles in Kansas, in 1857, and in California, at the out COMPENDVIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 147 break of the Civil war, as chief quartermaster of the Southern district, he exerted a powerful influence. In I86I he applied for active duty in the field, and was assigned to the department of Kentucky as chief quartermaster, but before entering upon that duty, was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. His subsequent history during the war was substantially that of the Army of the Potomac. He participated in the campaign, under McClellan, and led the gallant charge, which captured Fort Magruder, won the day at the battle of Williamsburg, and by services rendered at Savage's Station and other engagements, won several grades in the regular service, and was recommended by McClellan for major-general of volunteers. He was a conspicuous figure at South Mountain and Antietam. He was commissioned major-general of volunteers, November 29, 1862, and made commander of the First Division of the Second Corps, which he led at Fredricksburg and at Chancellorsville. He was appointed to the command of the Second Corps in June, 1863, and at the battle of Gettysburg, July I, 2 and 3, of that year, -took an important part. On his arrival on the field he found part of the forces then in retreat, but stayed the retrograde movement, checked the enemy, and on the following day commanded the left center, repulsed, on the third, the grand assault of General Lee's army, and was severely wounded. For his services on that field General Hancock received the thanks of congress. On recovering from his wound, he was detailed to go north to stimulate recruiting and fill up the diminished corps, and was the recipient of many public receptions and ovations. In March, I864, he returned to his command, and in the Wilderness and.at Spottsylvania led large bodies of nen successfully and conspicuously. From that on to the close of the campaign he was a prominent figure. In November, I864, he was detailed to organize the First Veteran Reserve Corps, and at the close of hostilities was appointed to the command of the Middle Military Division. In July, I866, he was made major-general of the regular service. He was at the head of various military departments until 1872, when he was assigned to the command of the Department of the Atlantic, which post he held until his death. In I869 he declined the nomination for governor of Pennsylvania. He was the nominee of the Democratic party for president, in I880, and was defeated by General Garfield, who had a popular majority of seven thousand and eighteen and an electoral majority;of fifty-nine. General Hancock died February 9, I886. THOMAS PAINE, the most noted political and deistical writer of the Revolutionary period, was born in England, January 29, 1737, of Quaker parents. His education was.obtained in the grammar schools of Thetford, his native town, and supplemented by hard private study while working at his trade of stay-maker at London and other cities of England. He was for a time a dissenting preacher, although he did not relinquish his employment. He married a revenue official's daughter, and was employed in the revenue service for some time. He then became a grocer and during all this time he was reading and cultivating his literary tastes, and had developed a clear and forcible style of composition. He was chosen to represent the interests of the excisemen, and published a pamphlet that brought him considerable notice. He was soon afterward introduced to Benjamin Franklin, and having been dismissed from the service on a 148 C O]LPEVNDIU JIL OF BIOGRAPH rY. charge of smuggling, his resentment led him to accept the advice of that statesman to come to America, in I774. tie became editor of the ' Pennsylvania Magazine," and the next year published his "Serious Thoughts upon Slavery" in the "Pennsylvania Journal." His greatest political work, however, was written at the suggestion of Dr. Rush, and entitled "Common Sense." It was the most popular pamphlet written during the period and he received two thousand five hundred dollars from the state of Pennsylvania in recognition of its value. His periodical, the " Crisis," began in I776, and its distribution among the soldiers did a great deal to keep up the spirit of revolution. He was made secretary of the committee of foreign affairs, but was dismissed for revealing diplomatic secrets in one of his controversies with Silas Deane. He was originator and promoter of a subscription to relieve the distress of the soldiers near the close of the war, and was sent to France with Henry Laurens to negotiate the treaty with France, and was granted three thousand dollars by congress for his services there, and an estate at New Rochelle, by the state of New York. In 1787, after the close of the Revolutionary war, he went to France, and a few years later published his " Rights of Man," defending the French revolution, which gave him great popularity in France. He was made a citizen and elected to the national convention at Calais. He favored banishment of the king to America, and opposed his execution. He was imprisoned for about ten months during I794 by the Robespierre party, during which time he wrote the "Age of Reason," his great deistical work. He was in danger of the guillotine for several months. He took up his residence with the family of James Monroe, then minister to France and was chosen, again to the convention. He returned to the United States in I802, and was cordially received throughout the country except at Trenton, where he was insulted by Federalists. He retired to his estate at New Rochelle, and his death occurred June 8, 1809. OHN WILLIAM MACKAY was one of America's noted men, both in the development of the western coast and the building of the Mackay and Bennett cable. He was born in I83I at Dublin, Ireland; came to New York in I840 and his boyhood days were spent in Park Row. He went to California some time after the argonauts of I849 and took to the primitive methods of mining-lost and won and finally drifted into Nevada about I86o. The bonanza discoveries which were to have such a potent influence on the finance and statesmanship of the day came in 1872. Mr. Mackay founded the Nevada Bank in I878. IHe is said to have taken one hundred and fifty million dollars in bullion out of the Big Bonanza mine. There were associated with him in this enterprise James G. Fair, senator from Nevada; William O'Brien and James C. Flood. When vast wealth came to Mr. Mackay he believed it his duty to do his country some service, and he agitated in his mind the building of an American steamship line, and while brooding over this his attention was called to the cable relations between America and Europe. The financial management of the cable was selfish and extravagant, and the capital was heavy with accretions of financial " water" and to pay even an apparent dividend upon the sums which represented the nominal value of the cables, it was necessary to hold the rates COJMPENVDIZU. OF BIOGRiAPHr. 149 at an exorbitant figure. And, moreover, the cables were foreign; in one the influence of France being paramount and in the other that of England; and in the matter of intelligence, so necessary in case of war, we would be at the mercy of our enemies. This train of thought brought Mr. Mackay into relation with James Gordon Bennett, the proprietor of the " New York Herald." The result of their intercourse was that Mr. Mackay so far entered into the enthusiasm of Mr. Bennett over an independent cable, that he offered to assist the enterprise with five hundred thousand dollars. This was the inception of the Commercial Cable Company, or of what has been known for years as the Mackav-Bennett cable. ELISHA GRAY, the great inventor and electrician, was born August 2, I835, at Barnesville, Belmont county, Ohio. He was, as a child, greatly interested in the phenomena of nature, and read with avidity all the books he could obtain, relating to this subject. He was apprenticed to various trades during his boyhood, but his insatiable thirst for knowledge dominated his life and he found time to study at odd intervals. Supporting himself by working at his trade, he found time to pursue a course at Oberlin College, where he particularly devoted himself to the study of physicial science. Mr. Gray secured his first patent for electrical or telegraph apparatus on October I, I867. His attention was first attracted to telephonic transmission during this year and he saw in it a way of transmitting signals for telegraph purposes, and conceived the idea of electro-tones, tuned to different tones in the scale. He did not then realize the importance of his invention, his thoughts being employed on the capacity of the apparatus for transmitting musical tones through an electric circuit, and it was not until 1874 that he was again called to consider the reproduction of electrically-transmitted vibrations through the medium of animal tissue. He continued experimenting with various results, which finally culminated in his taking out a patent for his speaking telephone on February I4, I876. He took out fifty additional patents in the course of eleven years, among which were, telegraph switch, telegraph repeater, telegraph annunciator and typewriting telegraph. From I869 until I873 he was employed in the manufacture of telegraph apparatus in Cleveland and Chicago, and filled the office of electrician to the Western Electric Company. He was awarded the degree of D. S., and in I874 he went abroad to perfect himself in acoustics. Mr. Gray's latest invention was known as the telautograph or long distance writing machine. Mr. Gray wrote and published several works on scientific subjects, among which were: "Telegraphy and Telephony," and "Experimental Research in Electro-Harmonic Telegraphy and Telephony." HITELAW REID.-Among the many men who have adorned the field of journalism in the United States, few stand out with more prominence than the scholar, author and editor whose name heads this article. Born at Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, October 27, 1837, he graduated at Miami University in I856. For about a year he was superintendent of the graded schools of South Charleston, Ohio, after which he purchased the "Xenia News," which he edited for about two years. This paper was the first one outside of Illinois to advocate the nomination of Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Reid having been a Republican since the birth of that party in I856. After taking an active 150 C O5APEiNDIUJI OF BIO GRA Pltr. part in the campaign, in the winter of I860 -6I, he went to the state capital as correspondent of three daily papers. At the close of the session of the legislature he became city editor of the "Cincinnati Gazette," and at the breaking out of the war went to the front as a correspondent for that journal. For a time he served on the staff of General Morris in West Virginia, with the rank of captain. Shortly after he was on the staff of General Rosecrans, and, under the name of "Agate," wrote most graphic descriptions of the movements in the field, especially that of the battle of Pittsburg Landing. In the spring of 1862 Mr. Reid went to Washington and was appointed librarian to the house of representatives, and acted as correspondent of the " Cincinnati Gazette." His description of the battle of Gettysburg, written on the field, gained him added reputation. In I865 he accompanied Chief Justice Chase on a southern tour, and published "After the War; a Southern Tour." During the next two years he was engaged in cotton planting in Louisiana and Alabama, and published "Ohio in the War." In I868 he returned to the " Cincinnati Gazette," becoming one of its leading editors. The same year he accepted the invitation of Horace Greeley and became one of the staff on the "New York Tribune." Upon the death of Mr. Greeley in I872, Mr. Reid became editor and chief proprietor of that paper. In I878 he was tendered the United States mission to Berlin, but declined. The offer was again made by the Garfield administration, but again he declined. In I878 he was elected by the New York legislature regent of the university, to succeed General John A. Dix. Under the Harrison administration he served as United States minister to France, and in I892 was the Republican nominee for the vice-presidency of the United States. Anmon-l other works published by him were the " Schools of Journalism," "The Scholar in Politics," Some Newspaper Tendencies," and "Town-Hall Suggestions." G EORGE WHITEFIELD was one of the most powerful and effective preachers the world has ever produced, swaying his hearers and touching the hearts of immense audiences in a manner that has rarely been equalled and never surpassed. While not a native of America, yet much of his labor was spent in this country. He wielded a great influence in the United States in early days, and his death occurred here; so that he well deserves a place in this volume as one of the most celebrated men America has known. George Whitefield was born in the Bull Inn, at Gloucester, England, December I6, 1714. Ile acquired the rudiments of learning in St. Mary's grammar school. Later he attended Oxford University for a time, where he became intimate with the Oxford Methodists, and resolved to devote himself to the ministry. He was ordained in the Gloucester Cathedral June 20, I836, and the following day preached his first sermon in the same church. On that day there commenced a new era in Whitefield's life. He went to London and began to preach at Bishopsgate church, his fame soon spreading over the city, and shortly he was engaged four times on a single Sunday in addressing audiences of enormous magnitude, and he preached in various parts of his native country, the people crowding in multitudes to hear him and hanging upon the rails and rafters of the churches and approaches thereto. He finally sailed for America, landing in Georgia, where he stirred the people to great enthusiasm. During the balance of P",,, t I fI Ik- 'I z. %zzz — me. I -.M I i I i. N..:.,:!: - 1 4 k I;, 1: f ",,I I., j, t Ox r,. i41 7'. 9; /I I I.. A N N NJ I / 2, 1, - 110- --- I i i I.,., I ,, COMPENDIUMA OF BIO GRAPHr. 153 his life he divided his time between Great Britain and America, and it is recorded that he crossed the Atlantic thirteen times. He came to America for the seventh time in I770. He preached every day at Boston from the I7th to the 20th of September, 1770, then traveled to Newburyport, preaching at Exeter, New Hampshire, September 29, on the way. That evening he went to Newburyport, where he died the next day, Sunday, September 30, I770. "WWhitefield's dramatic power was amazing," says an eminent writer in describing him. His voice was marvelously varied, and he ever had it at command-an organ, a flute, a harp, all in one. His intellectual powers were not of a high order, but he had an abundance of that ready talent and that wonderful magnetism which makes the popular preacher; and beyond all natural endowments, there was in his ministry the power of evangelical truth, and, as his converts believed, the presence of the spirit of God." HARLES FRANCIS BRUSH, one of America's prominent men in the development of electrical science, was born March 17, I849, near Cleveland, Ohio, and spent his early life on his father's farm. From the district school at Wickliffe, Ohio, he passed to the Shaw Academy at Collamer, and then entered the high school at Cleveland. His interest in chemistry, physics and engineering was already marked, and during his senior year he was placed in charge of the chemical and physical apparatus. During these years he devised a plan for lighting street lamps, constructed telescopes, and his first electric arc lamp, also an electric motor. In September, I867, he entered the engineering department of the University of Michigan and graduated in 9 I869, which was a year in advance of his class, with the degree of M. E. He ther: returned to Cleveland, and for three years was engaged as an analytical chemist and for four years in the iron business. In I875 Mr. Brush became interested in electric lighting, and in I876, after four months' experimenting, he completed the dynamoelectric machine that has made his name famous, and in a shorter time produced the series arc lamps. These were both patented in the United States in 1876, and he afterward obtained fifty patents on his later inventions, including the fundamental storage battery, the compound series, shuntwinding for dynamo-electric machines, and the automatic cut-out for arc lamps. His patents, two-thirds of which have already been profitable, are held by the Brush Electric Company, of Cleveland, while his foreign patents are controlled by the AngloAmerican Brush Electric Light Company, of London. In I880 the Western Reserve University conferred upon Mr. Brush the degree of Ph. D., and in I88I the French government decorated him as a chevalier of the Legion of Honor. HENRY CLEWS, of Wall-street fame, was one of the noted old-time operators on that famous street, and was also an author of some repute. Mr. Clews was born in Staffordshire, England, August 14, 1840. His father had him educated with the intention of preparing him for the ministry, but on a visit to the United States the young man became interested in a business life, and was allowed to engage as a clerk in the importing house of Wilson G. Hunt & Co., of New York. Here he learned the first principles of business, and when the war broke out in I86I young Clews saw in the needs of the government an opportunity to 154 CO1MPENDIUMl1 OF BIOGRAPHF. reap a golden harvest. He identified himself with the negotiating of loans for the government, and used his powers of pursuasion upon the great money powers to convince them of the stability of the government and the value of its securities. By enthusiasm and patriotic arguments he induced capitalists to invest their money in government securities, often against their judgment, and his success was remarkable. His was one of the leading firms that aided the struggling treasury department in that critical hour, and his reward was great. In addition to the vast wealth it brought, President Lincoln and Secretary Chase both wrote important letters, acknowledging his valued service. In I873, by the repudiation of the bonded indebtedness of the state of Georgia, Mr. Clewr,, lost six million dollars which he had invested in those securities. It is said that he is the only man, with one exception, in Wall street, who ever regained great wealth after utter disaster. His " Twenty-Eight Years in Wall Street " has been widely read. ALFRED VAIL was one of the men that gave to the world the electric telegraph and the names of Henry, Morse and Vail will forever remain linked as the prime factors in that great achievement. Mr. Vail was born September 25, 1807, at Morristown, New Jersey, and was a son of Stephen Vail, the proprietor of the Speedwell Iron Works, near Morristown. At the age of seventeen, after he had completed his studies at the Morristown Academy, Alfred Vail went into the Speedwell Iron Works and contented himself with the duties of his position until he reached his majority. He then determined to prepare himself for the ministry, and at the age of twenty-five he entered the University of the City of New York, where he was graduated in 1836. His health becoming impaired he labored for a time under much uncertainty as to his future course. Professor S. F. B. Morse had come to the university in 1835 as professor of literature and fine arts, and about this time, 1837, Professor Gale, occupying the chair of chemistry, invited Morse to exhibit his apparatus for the benefit of the students. On Saturday, September 2, 1837, the exhibition took place and Vail was asked to attend, and with his inherited taste for mechanics and knowledge of their construction, he saw a great future for the crude mechanism used by Morse in giving and recording signals. Mr. Vail interested his father in the invention, and Morse was invited to Speedwell and the elder Vail promised to help him. It was stipulated that Alfred Vail should construct the required apparatus and exhibit before a committee of congress the telegraph instrument, and was to receive a quarter interest in the invention. Morse had devised a series of ten numbered leaden types, which were to be operated in giving the signal. This was not satisfactory to Vail, so he devised an entirely new instrument, involving a lever, or " point," on a radically different principle, which, when tested, produced dots and dashes, and devised the famous dot-and-dash alphabet, misnamed the ' Morse." At last the machine was in working order, on January 6, I838. The machine was taken to Washington, where it caused not only wonder, but excitement. Vail continued his experiments and devised the lever and roller. W\hen the line between Baltimore and Washington was completed, Vail was stationed at the Baltimore end and received the famous first message. It is a remarkable fact that not a single feature of the original invention of Morse, as formulated COIIPENDIU/if OF BIOA GRAPHr. 155., by his caveat and repeated in his original patent, is to be found in Vail's apparatus. From 1837 to I844 it was a combination of the inventions of Morse, Henry and Vail, but the work of Morse fell gradually into desuetude, while Vail's conception of an alphabet has remained unchanged for half a century. Mr. Vail published but one work, "American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph," in I845, and died at Morristown at the comparatively early age of fifty-one, on January 19, I859. LYSSES S. GRANT, the eighteenth president of the United States, was born April 27, I822, at Point Pleasant, Clermont county, Ohio. At the age of seventeen he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in June, 1843, and was given his brevet as second lieutenant and assigned to the Fourth Infantry. He remained in the service eleven years, in which time he was engaged in the Mexican war with gallantry, and was thrice brevetted for conduct in the field. In I848 he married Miss Julia Dent, and in 1854, having reached the grade of captain, he resigned and engaged in farming near St. Louis. In I86o he entered the leather business with his father at Galena, Illinois. On the breaking out of the war, in I86I, he commenced to drill a company at Galena, and at the same time offered his services to the adjutant-general of the army, but he had few influential friends, so received no answer. He was employed by the governor of Illinois in the organization of the various volunteer regiments, and at the end of a few weeks was given the colonelcy of the Twenty-first Infantry, from that state. His military training and knowledge soon attracted the attention of his su perior officers, and on reporting to General Pope in Missouri, the latter put him in the way of advancement. August 7, i86i, he was promoted to the rank of brigadiergeneral of volunteers, and for a few weeks was occupied in watching the movements of partisan forces in Missouri. September i, the same year, he was placed in command of the Department of Southeast Missouri, with headquarters at Cairo, and on the 6th of the month, without orders, seized Paducah, which commanded the channel of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, by which he secured Kentucky for the Union. He now received orders to make a demonstration on Belmont, which he did, and with about three thousand raw recruits held his own against the Confederates some seven thousand strong, bringing back about two hundred prisoners and two guns. In February, I 862, he moved up the Tennessee river with the naval fleet under Commodore Foote. The latter soon silenced Fort Henry, and Grant advanced against Fort Donelson and took their fortress and its garrison. His prize here consisted of sixty-five cannon, seventeen thousand six hundred stand of arms, and fourteen thousand six hundred and twenty-three prisoners. This was the first important success won by the Union forces. Grant was immediately made a major-general and placed in command of the district of West Tennessee. In April, 1862, he fought the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and after the evacuation of Corinth by the enemy Grant became commander of the Department of the Tennessee. He now made his first denionstration toward Vicksburg, but owing to the incapacity of subordinate officers, was unsuccessful. In January, I863, he took command of all the troops in the Mississippi Valley and devoted several months to the siege of Vicksburg,. 156 C OAPE' EDIUMlf OF BIOG t'rA PIIY. which was finally taken possession of by him July 4, witn thirty-one thousand six hundred prisoners anti one hundred and seventy-two cannon, thus throwing the Mississippi river open to the Federals. He was now raised to the rank of major-general in the regular army. October following, at the head of the Department of the Mississippi, General Grant went to Chattanooga, where he overthrew the enemy, and united with the Army of the Cumberland. The remarkable successes achieved by him pointed Grant out for an appropriate commander of all national troops, and in February, 1864, the rank of lieutenant-general was made for him by act of congress. Sending Sherman into Georgia, Sigel into the Valley of West Virginia and Butler to attempt the capture of Richmond he fought his way through the \Vilderness to the James and pressed the siege of the capital of the Confederacy. After the fall of the latter Grant pressed the Confederate army so hard that their commander surrendered at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865. This virtually ended the war. After the war the rank of general was conferred upon U. S. Grant, and in I868 he was elected president of the United States, and re-elected his own successor in 1872. After the expiration of the latter term he made his famous tour of the world. He died at Mt. McGregor, near Saratoga, New York, July 23, 1885, and was buried at Riverside Park, New York, where a magnificent tomb has been erected to hold the ashes of the nation's hero. OHN MARSHALL, the fourth chief jusv tice of the United States supreme court, was born in Germantown, Virginia, September 24, 1755 His father, Colonel Thomas Marshall, served with distinction in the Rev f olutionary war, while he also served from the beginning of the war until I779, where he became noted in the field and courts martial. While on detached service he attended a course of law lectures at William and Mary College, delivered by Mr. Wythe, and was admitted to the bar. The next year he resigned his commission and began his career as a lawyer. He was a distinguished member of the convention called in Virginia to ratify the Federal constitution. He was tendered the attorney-generalship of the United States, and also a place on the supreme bench, besides other places of less honor, all of which he declined. He went to France as special envoy in 1798, and the next year was elected to congress. He served one year and was appointed, first, secretary of war, and then secretary of state, and in I80o was made chief justice of the United States. He held this high office until his death, in 1835. Chief Justice Marshall's early education was neglected, and his opinions, the most valuable in existence, are noted for depth of wisdom, clear and comprehensive reasoning, justice, and permanency, rather than for wide learning and scholarly construction. His decisions and rulings are resorted to constantly by our greatest lawyers, and his renown as a just judge and profound jurist was world wide. LAWRENCE BARRETT is perhaps known more widely as a producer of new plays than as a great actor. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1838, and educated himself as best he could, and at the age of sixteen years became salesman for a Detroit dry goods house. He afterwards began to go upon the stage as a supernumerary, and his ambition was soon rewarded by the notice of the management. C O3IPENDIUlI OF BIOGRAPHT. 157' During the war of the Rebellion he was a soldier, and after valiant service for his country he returned to the stage. He went to Europe and appeared in Liverpool, and returning in I869, he began playing at Booth's theater, with Mr. Booth. He was afterward associated with John McCullough in the management of the California theater. Probably the most noted period of his work was during his connection with Edwin Booth as manager of that great actor, and supporting him upon the stage. Mr. Barrett was possessed of the creative instinct, and, unlike Mr. Booth, he sought new fields for the display of his genius, and only resorted to traditional drama in response to popular demand. He preferred new plays, and believed in the encouragement of modern dramatic writers, and was the only actor of prominence in his time that ventured to put upon the stage new American plays, which he did at his own expense, and the success of his experiments proved the quality of his judgment. He died March 21, I891. ARCHBISHOP JOHN HUGHES, a celebrated Catholic clergyman, was born at Annaboghan, Tyrone county, Ireland, June 24, 1797, and emigrated to America when twenty years of age, engaging for some time as a gardener and nurseryman. In I819 he entered St. Mary's College, where he secured an education, paying his way by caring for the college garden. In 1825 he was ordained a deacon of the Roman Catholic church, and in the same year, a priest. Until 1838 he had pastoral charges in Philadelphia, where he founded St. John's Asylum in 1829, and a few years later established the "Catholic Herald." In 1838 he was made bishop of Basileopolis in partibus and coadjutor to Bishop Dubois, of New York, and in 1842 became bishop of New York. In 1839 he founded St. John's College, at Fordham. In 1850 he was made archbishop of New York. In 1861-2 he was a special agent of the United States in Europe, after which he returned to this country and remained until his death, January 3, 1864. Archbishop Hughes early attracted much attention by his controversial correspondence with Rev. John Breckinridge in I833-35. He was a man of great ability, a fluent and forceful writer and an able preacher. RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES was the nineteenth president of the United States and served from 1877 to 188 I. He was born October 4, 1822, at Delaware, Ohio, and his ancestry can be traced back as far as 1280, when Hayes and Rutherford were two Scottish chieftans fighting side by side with Baliol, William Wallace and Robert Bruce. The Hayes family had for a coat of arms, a shield, barred and surmounted by a flying eagle. There was a circle of stars about the eagle, while on a scroll underneath was their motto, "Recte." Misfortune overtook the family and in I680 George Hayes, the progenitor of the American family, came to Connecticut and settled at Windsor. Rutherford B. Hayes was a very delicate child at his birth and was not expected to live, but he lived in spite of all and remained at home until he was seven years old, when he was placed in school. He was a very tractablepupil, being always very studious, and in 1838 entered Kenyon College, graduating from the same in 1842. He then took up the study of law in the office of Thomas Sparrow at Columbus, but in a short time he decided to enter a law school at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where for two years he was immersed in the 158 COMPENDIPUMll OF BIOGRAPHr. study of law. Mr. Hayes was admitted to the bar in 1845 in Marietta, Ohio, and very soon entered upon the active practice of his profession with Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont, Ohio. He remained there three years, and in 1849 removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where his ambition found a new stimulus. Two events occurred at this period that had a powerful influence on his after life. One was his marriage to Miss Lucy Ware Webb, and the other was his introduction to a Cincinnati literary club, a body embracing such men as Salmon P. Chase, John Pope, and Edward F. Noyes. In 1856 he was nominated for judge of the court of common pleas, but declined, and two years later he was appointed city solicitor. At the outbreak of the Rebellion Mr. Hayes was appointed major of the Twenty-third Ohio Infantry, June 7, i86i, and in July the regiment was ordered to Virginia, and October 15, I86I, saw him promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment. He was made colonel of the Seventy-ninth Ohio Infantry, but refused to leave his old comrades; and in the battle of South Mountain he was wounded very severely and was unable to rejoin his regiment until November 30, I862. He had been promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment on October 15, 1862. In the following December he was appointed to command the Kanawa division and was given the rank of brigadier-general for meritorious services in several battles, and in I864 he was brevetted major-general for distinguished services in I864, during which campaign he was wounded several times and five horses had been shot under him. Mr. Hayes' first venture in politics was as a Whig, and later he was one of the first to unite with the Republican party. In 1864 he was elected from the Second Ohio district to congress, re-elected in I866, and in I867 was elected governor of Ohio over Allen G. Thurman, and was re-elected in I869. Mr. Hayes was elected to the presidency in 1876, for the term of four years, and at its close retired to private life, and went to his home in Fremont, Ohio, where he died on January 17, 1893. W ILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN became a celebrated character as the nominee of the Democratic and Populist parties for president of the United States in I896. He was born March I9, I86o, at Salem, Illi-,nois. He received his early education in the public schools of his native county, and later on he attended the Whipple Academy at Jacksonville. He also took a course in Illinois College, and after his graduation from the same went to Chicago to study law, and entered the Union College of Law az a student. He was associated with the late Lyman Trumbull, of Chicago, during his law studies, and devoted considerable time to the questions of government. He graduated from the college, was admitted to the bar, and went to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he was married to Miss Mary Eliza. beth Baird. In I887 Mr. Bryan removed to Lincoln, Nebraska, and formed a law partnership with Adolphus R. Talbot. He entered the field of politics, and in I888 was sent as a delegate to the state convention, which was to choose delegates to the national convention, during which he made a speech which immediately won him a high rank in political affairs. He declined, in the next state convention, a nomination for lieutenant-governor, and in I89c he was elected congressman from the First district of Nebraska, and was the youngest member of the fifty-second congress. He championed the Wilson tariff bill, and served COMIIPENDIZUlI OF BIOGRAPHr. 159 three terms in the house of representatives. He next ran for senator, but was defeated by John M. Thurston, and in I896 he was selected by the Democratic and Populist parties as their nominee for the presidency, being defeated by William McKinley. M ARVIN HUGHITT, one of America's famous railroad men, was born in Genoa, New York, and entered the railway service in I856 as superintendent of telegraph and trainmaster of the St. Louis, Alton & Chicago, now Chicago & Alton Railroad. Mr. Hughitt was superintendent of the southern division of the Illinois Central Railroad from 1862 until 1864, and was, later on, the general superintendent of the road until I870. He was then connected with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad as assistant general manager, and retained this position until 187I, when he became the general manager of Pullman's Palace Car Company. In 1872 he was made general superintendent of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. He served during I876 and up to I88o as general manager, and from 1880 until 1887 as vice-president and general manager. He was elected president of the road in 1887, in recognition of his ability in conducting the affairs of the road. He was also chosen president of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway; the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, and the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Vestern Railroad, and his services in these capacities stamped him as one of the most able railroad managers of his day. OSEPH MEDILL, one of the most eminent of American journalists, was born in New Brunswick, Canada, April 6, I823. In 1831 his father moved to Stark county, Ohio, and until I841 Joseph Medill worked on his father's farm. Later he studied law, and began the practice of that profession in 1846 at New Philadelphia, Ohio. But the newspaper field was more attractive to Mr. Medill, and three years later he founded a free-soil \Vhig paper at Coshocton, Ohio, and after that time journalism received all his abilities. "The Leader," another free-soil Whig paper, was founded by Mr. Medill at Cleveland in 1852. In that city he also became one of the first organizers of the Republican party. Shortly after that event he removed to Chicago and in I855, with two partners, he purchased the " Chicago Tribune." In the contest for the nomination for the presidency in I860, Mr. Medill worked with unflagging zeal for Mr. Lincoln, his warm personal friend, and was one of the president's stanchest supporters during the war. Mr. Medill was a member of the Illinois Constitutional convention in I870. President Grant, in 1871, appointed the editor a member of the first United States civil service commission, and the following year, after the fire, he was elected mayor of Chicago by a great majority. During 1873 and I874 Mr. Medill spent a year in Europe. Upon his return he purchased a controlling interest in the ( Chicago Tribune." CLAUS SPRECKELS, the great " sugar baron," and one of the most famous representatives of commercial life in America, was born in Hanover, Germany, and emigrated to the United States in 1840, locating in New York. He very soon became the proprietor of a small retail grocery store on Church street, and embarked on a career that has since astonished the world. He sold out his business and wenr to California with the argonauts of 1849, 160 C OJZIPENDIUM)1 OF 0 I BO GRA iPlr. not as a prospector, but as a trader, and for years after his arrival on the coast he was still engaged as a grocer. At length, after a quarter of a century of fairly prosperous business life, he found himself in a position where an ordinary man would have retired, but Mr. Spreckles did not retire; he had merely been gathering capital for the real work of his life. His brothers had followed him to California, and in combination with them he purchased for forty thousand dollars an interest in the Albany Brewery in San Francisco. But the field was not extensive enough for the development of his business abilities, so Mr. Sprecklas branched out extensively in the sugar business. He succeeded in securing the entire output of sugar that was produced on the Sandwich Islands, and after I885 was known as the "Sugar King of Sandwich Islands." He controlled absolutely the sugar trade of the Pacific coast which was known to be not less than ten million dollars a year. CHARLES HENRY PARKHURST, famous as a clergyman, and for many years president of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, was born April 17, 1842, at Framingham, Massachusetts, of English descent. At the age of sixteen he was pupil in the grammar school at Clinton, Massachusetts, and for the ensuing two years was a clerk in a dry goods store, which position he gave up to prepare himself for college at Lancaster academy. Mr. Parkhurst went to Amherst in I862, and after taking a thorough course he graduated in I866, and in 1867 became the principal of the Amherst High School. He retained this position until 1870, when he visited Germany with the intention of taking a course in philosophy and theology, but was forced to abandon this intention on account of illness in the family causinL his early return from Europe. He accepted the chair of Latin and Greek in Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, and remained there two years. He then accompanied his wife to Europe, and devoted two years to study in Halle, Leipsic and Bonn. Upon his return home he spent considerable time in the study of Sanscrit, and in I874 he became the pastor of the First Congregational church at Lenox, Massachusetts. lHe gained here his reputation as a pulpit orator, and on March 9, I88o, he became the pastor of the Madison Square Presbyterian church of New York. He was, in I890, made a member of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, and the same year became its president. He delivered a sermon in I892 on municipal corruption, for which he was brought before the grand jury, which body declared his charges to be without sufficient foundation. But the matter did not end here, for he immediately went to work on a second sermon in which he substantiated his former sermon and wound up by saying, "I know, for I have seen." He was again summoned before that august body, and as a result of his testimony and of the investigation of the jurors themselves, the police authorities were charged with incompetency and corruption. Dr. Parkhurst was the author of the following works: "The Forms of the Latin Verb, Illustrated by Sanscrit," "The Blind Man's Creed and Other Sermons," " The Pattern on the Mount," and "Three Gates on a Side." ENRY BERGH, although a writer, diplomatist and government official, was noted as a philanthropist-the founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. On his labors for the dumb creation alone rests his fame. CO MPENADIU3~ OF BIOGRAPHT. 161 Alone, in the face of indifference, opposition and ridicule, he began the reform which is now recognized as one of the beneficent movements of the age. Through his exertions as a speaker and lecturer, but above all as a bold worker, in the street, in the court room, before the legislature, the cause he adopted gained friends and rapidly increased in power until it has reached immense proportions and influence. The work of the society covers all cases of cruelty to all sorts of animals, employs every moral agency, social, legislative and personal, and touches points of vital concern to health as well as humanity. Henry Bergh was born in New York City in 1823, and was educated at Columbia College. In I863 he was made secretary of the legation to Russia and also served as vice-consul there. He also devoted some time to literary pursuits and was the author of "Love's Alternative," a drama; "Married Off," a poem; ''The Portentous Telegram," "The Ocean Paragon;" "The Streets of New York," tales and sketches. HENRY BENJAMIN WHIPPLE, one of the most eminent of American divines, was born in Adams, Jefferson county, New York, February I5, 1822. He was brought up in the mercantile business, and early in life took an active interest in political affairs. In 1847 he became a candidate for holy orders and pursued theological studies with Rev. W. D. Wilson, D. D., afterward professor in Cornell University. He was ordained deacon in 1849, in Trinity church, Geneva, New York, by Rt. Rev. W. H. De Lancey, D. D., and took charge of Zion church, Rome, New York, December i, T849. In I850, our subject was ordained priest by Bishop De Lancey. In I857 he became rector of the Church of the Holy Communion, Chicago. On the 30th of June, 1859, he was chosen bishop of Minnesota, and took charge of the interests of the Episcopal church in that state, being located at Faribault. In I860 Bishop Whipple, with Revs. I. L. Breck, S. W. Mauncey and E. S. Peake, organized the Bishop Seabury Mission, out of which has grown the Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior, the Seabury Divinity School, Shattuck School and St. Mary's Hall, which have made Faribault City one of the greatest educational centersof the northwest. Bishop Whipple also became noted as the friend and defender of the North American Indians and planted a number of successful missions among them. ZRA CORNELL was one of the greatest philanthropists and friends of education the country has known. He was born at Westchester Landing, New York, January II, 1807. He grew to manhood in his native state and became a prominent figure in business circles as a successful and self-made man. Soon after the invention of the electric telegraph, he devoted his attention to that enterprise, and accumulated an immense fortune. In 1865, by a gift of five hundred thousand dollars, he made possible the founding of Cornell University, which was named in his honor. He afterward made additional bequests amountingto many hundred thousand dollars. His death occurred at Ithaca, New York, December 9, 1874. GNATIUS DONNELLY, widely knowi. as an author and politician, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 3, I831. He was educated at the public schools of that city, and graduated from the 162 COMPENDIUMS OF BIOGRAPHr. Central High School in I849. He studied law in the office of Judge B. H. Brewster, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. In the spring of 1856, Mr. Donnelly emigrated to Minnesota, then a new territory, and, at Hastings, resumed the practice of law in partnership with A. M. Hayes. In I857, and again in 1858, he was defeated for state senator, but in 1859 he was elected by the Republicans as lieutenant-governor, and reelected in I86I. In I862 he was elected to represent the Second district of Minnesota in congress. He was re-elected to the same office in I864 and in I866. He was an abolitionist and warmly supported President Lincoln's administration, but was strongly in favor of leniency toward the people of the south, after the war. In many ways he was identified with some of the best measures brought before the house during his presence there. In the spring of I868, at the request of the Republican national committee, he canvassed New Hampshire and Connecticut in the interests of that party. E. B. Washburne about this time made an attack on Donnelly in one of the papers of Minnesota, which was replied to on the floor of the house by a fierce phillipic that will long be remembered. Through the intervention of the Washburne interests Mr. Donnelly failed of a re-election in 1870. In 1873 he was elected to the state senate from Dakota county, and continuously re-elected until I878. In 1886 he was elected member of the house for two years. In later years he identified himself with the Populist party. In I882, Mr. Donnelly became known as an author, publishing his first literary work, "Atlantis, the Antediluvian World," which passed through over twenty-two editions in America, several in England, and was translated into French. This was followed by "Ragnarok, the Age of Fire and Gravel," which attained nearly as much celebrity as the first, and these two, in the opinion of scientific critics, are sufficient to stamp the author as a most capable and painstaking student of the facts he has collated in them. The work by which he gained the greatest notoriety, however, was "The Great Cryptogram, or Francis Bacon's Cipher in the Shakespeare Plays." "Caesar's Column," " Dr. Huguet," and other works were published subsequently. QTEVEN V. WHITE, a speculator of Wall Street of national reputation, was born in Chatham county, North Carolina, August I, 1831, and soon afterward removed to Illinois. His home was a log cabin, and until his eighteenth year he worked on the farm. Then after several years of struggle with poverty he graduated from Knox College, and went to St. Louis, where he entered a wholesale boot and shoe house as bookkeeper. I-e then studied law and worked as a reporter for the "Missouri Democrat." After his admission to the bar he went to New York, in I865, and became a member of the banking house of Marvin & White. Mr. White enjoyed the reputation of having engineered the only corner in Wall Street since Commodore Vanderbilt's time. This was the famous Lackawanna deal in 1883, in which he made a profit of two million dollars. He was sotnetimes called I" Deacon" White, and, though a member for many years of the Plymouth church, he never held that office. Mr. White was one of the most noted characters of the street, and has been called an orator, poet, philanthropist, linguist, abolitionist. astronomer, schoolmaster, plowboy, and trapper. He was a lawyer, ex-congressman, expert accountant, art critic and theo C OMilPENDIUMIf OF BIO GRAPHT. 163 logian. He laid the foundation for a "Home for Colored People," in Chatham county, North Carolina, where the greater part of his father's life was spent, and in whose memory the work was undertaken. AMES A. GARFIELD, the twentieth president of the United States, was born November 19, 1831, in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and was the son of Abram and Eliza (Ballou) Garfield. In 1833 the father, an industrious pioneer farmer, died, and the care of the family devolved upon Thomas, to whom James became deeply indebted for educational and other advantages. As James grew up he was industrious and worked on the farm, at carpentering, at chopping wood, or anything else he found to do, and in the meantime made the most of his books. Until he was about sixteen, James' highest ambition was to become a sea captain. On attaining that age he walked to Cleveland, and, not being able to find work, he engaged as a driver on the Ohio & Pennsylvania canal, but quit this after a short time. He attended the seminary at Chester for about three years, after which he entered Hiram Institute, a school started by the Disciples of Christ in I850. In order to pay his way he assumed the duties of janitor and at times taught school. After completing his course at the last named educational institution he entered Williams College, from which he graduated in 1856. He afterward returned to Hiram College as its president. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in I859. November II, 1858, Mr. Garfield and Lucretia Rudolph were married. In 1859 Mr. Garfield made his first political speeches, at Hiram and in the neighborhood. The same year he was elected to the state senate. On the breaking out of the war, in I86r, he became lieutenant-colonel of the Fortysecond Ohio Infantry, and, while but a new soldier, was given command of four regiments of infantry and eight companies of cavalry, with which he drove the Confederates under Humphrey Marshall out of Ken tucky. January II, I862, he was commissioned brigadier-general. He participated with General Buell in the battle of Shiloh and the operations around Corinth, and was then detailed as a member of the Fitz John Porter court-martial. Reporting to General Rosecrans, he was assigned to the position of chief of staff, and resigned his position, with the rank of major-general, when his immediate superior was superseded. In the fall of 1862 Mr. Garfield was elected to congress and remained in that body, either in the house or senate, until I880. June 8, I880, at the national Republican convention, held in Chicago, General Garfield was nominated for the presidency, and was elected, He was inaugurated March 4, I88I, but, July 2, following, he was shot and fatally wounded by Charles Guiteau for some fancied political slight, and died September I9, I88I. NCREASE MATHER was one of the most prominent preachers, educators and authors of early times in the New England states. He was born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, June 21, 1639, and was g.ven an excellent education, graduating at Harvard in I656, and at Trinity College, Dublin, two years later. He was ordained a minister, and preached in England and America, and in 1664 became pastor of the North church, in Boston. In I685 he became president of Harvard University, serving until I701. In I692 he received the first doctorate in divinity conferred in English 164 COMAPENDIUI3 OF BIOGRAPHr. speaking America. The same year he procured in England a new charter for Massachusetts, which conferred upon himself the power of naming the governor, lieutenantgovernor and council. He opposed the severe punishment of witchcraft, and took a prominent part in all public affairs of his day. He was a prolific writer, and became the author of nearly one hundred publications, large and small. His death occurred August 23, 1723, at Boston. COTTON MATHER, a celebrated minister in the 'Puritan times" of New England, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, February 12, 1663, being a son of Rev. Increase Mather, and a grandson of John Cotton. A biography of his father will be found elsewhere in this volume. Cotton Mather received his early education in his native city, was trained by Ezekiel Cheever, and graduated at Harvard College in 1678; became a teacher, and in I684 was ordained as associate pastor of North church, Boston, with his father, having by persistent effort overcome an impediment in his speech. He labored with great zeal as a pastor, endeavoring also, to establish the ascendancy of the church and ministry in civil affairs, and in the putting down of witchcraft by legal sentences, a work in which he took an active part and through which he is best known in history. He received the degree of D. D. in I7I0, conferred by the University of Glasgow, and F. R. S. in I713. His death occurred at Boston, February 13, 1728. He was the author of many publications, among which were " Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft," "Wonders of the Invisible World," " Essays to Do Good," "Magnalia Christi Americana," and "Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures." Some of these works are quaint and curious, full of learning, piety and prejudice. A wellknown writer, in summing up the life and character of Cotton Mather, says: " Mather, with all the faults of his early years, was a man of great excellence of character. He labored zealously for the benefit of the poor, for mariners, slaves, criminals and Indians. His cruelty and credulity were the faults of his age, while his philanthrophy was far more rare in that age than in the present." W,ILLIAM A. PEFFER, who won a national reputation during the time he was in the United States senate, was born on a farm in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, September Io, I831. He drew his education from the public schools of his native state and at the age of fifteen taught school in winter, working on a farm in the summer. In June, 1853, while yet a young man, he removed to Indiana, and opened up a farm in St. Joseph county. In 1859 he made his way to Missouri and settled on a farm in Morgan county, but on account of the war and the unsettled state of the country, he moved to Illinois in February, I862, and enlisted as a private in Company F, Eighty-third Illinois Infantry, the following August. He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in March, 1863, and served successively as quartermaster, adjutant, post adjutant, judge advocate of a military commission, and depot quartermaster in the engineer department at Nashville. He was mustered out of the service June 26, i865. He had, during his leisure hours while in the army, studied law, and in August, I865, he commenced the practice of that profession at Clarksville, Tennessee. He removed to Kansas in 1870 and practiced there until COMAPENDIUM. OF BIOGRAPHr. 165 1878, in the meantime establishing and conducting two newspapers, the " Fredonia Journal " and I Coffeyville Journal." Mr. Peffer was elected to the state senate in 1874 and was a prominent and influential member of several important committees. He served as a presidential elector in I880. The year following he became editor of the "' Kansas Farmer," which he made a prominent and useful paper. In I890 Mr. Peffer was elected to the United States senate as a member of the People's party and took his seat March 4, I89I. After six years of service Senator Peffer was succeeded in March, 1897, by W\illiam A. Harris. ROBERT MORRIS.-The name of this financier, statesman and patriot is closely connected with the early history of the United States. lie was a native of England, born January 20, 1734, and came to Aencrica with his father when thirteen years old. Until 1754 he served in the counting house of Charles Willing, then formed a partnership with that gentleman's son, which continued with great success until I793. In I776 Mr. Morris was a delegate to the Continental congress, and, although once voting against the Declaration of Independence, signed that paper on its adoption, and was several times thereafter reelected to congress. During the Revolutionary war the services of Robert Morris in aiding the government during its financial difficulties were of incalculable value; he freely pledged his personal credit for supplies for the army, at one time to the amount of about one and a half million dollars, without which the campaign of 1781 would have been almost impossible. Mr. Morris was appointed superintendent of finance in 1781 and served until 1784, continuing to employ his personal credit to facilitate the needs of his department. He also served as member of the Pennsylvania legislature, and from I786 to 1795 was United States senator, declining meanwhile the position of secretary of the treasury, and suggesting the name of Alexander Hamilton, who was appointed to that post. During the latter part of his life Mr. Morris was engaged extensively in the China trade, and later became involved in land speculations, which ruined him, so that the remaining days of this noble man and patriot were passed in confinement for debt. His death occurre, at Philadelphia, May 8, i8o6. W ILLIAM SHARON, a senator anr' capitalist, and mine owner of na tional reputation, was born at Smithfield, Ohio, January 9, 1821. He was reared upon a farm and in his boyhood given excellent educational advantages and in 1842 entered Athens College. He remained in that institution about two years, after which he studied law with Edwin M. Strnton, and was admitted to the bar at St. Louis and commenced practice. His health failing, however, he abandoned his profession and engaged in mercantile pursuits at Carrollton, Greene county, Illinois. During the time of the gold excitement of 1849, Mr. Sharon went to California, whither so many went, and engaged in business at Sacramento. The next year he removed to San Francisco, where he operated in real estate. Being largely interested in its silver mines, he removed to Nevada, locating at Virginia City, and acquired an immense fortune. He became one of the trustees of the Bank of California, and during the troubles that arose on the death of William Ralston, the president of that institution, was largely instrumental in bringing its affairs into a catisfactory shape. C O6IIPEVDNDIUEi O 1 BIOGRAPITr. 166 Mr. Sharon was elected to represent the state of Nevada in the United States senate in 1875, and remained a member of that body until I88I. He was always distinguished for close application to business. Senator Sharon died November 13, I885. ENRY W. SHAW, an American humorist who became celebrated under the inon-dC-plumZe of " Josh Billings," gained his fame from the witticism of his writing, and peculiar eccentricity of style and spelling. He was born at Lanesborough, Massachusetts, in I818. For twenty-five years he lived in different parts of the western states, following various lines of business, including farming and auctioneering, and in the latter capacity settled at Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1858. In 1863 he began writing humorous sketches for the newspapers over the signature of "Josh Billings," and became immediately popular both as a writer and lecturer. He published a number of volumes of comic sketches and edited an " Annual Allminax " for a number of years, which had a wide circulation. His death occurred October 14, 1885, at Monterey, California. JOHN M. THURSTON, well known throughout this country as a senator and political leader, was born at Montpelier, Vermont, August 2I, 1847, of an old Puritan family which dated back their ancestry in this country to 1636, and among whom were soldiers of the Revolution and of the war of 1812-I5. Young Thurston was brought west by the family in 1854, they settling at Madison, Wisconsin, and two years later at Beaver Dam, where John M. received his schooling in the public schools and at Wayland University. His father enlisted as a private in the First Wisconsin Cavalry and died while in the service, in the spring of I863. Young Thurston, thrown on his own resources while attaining an education, supported himself by farm work, driving team and at other manual labor. He studied law and was admitted to the bar May 21, I869, and in October of the same year located in Omaha, Nebraska. He was elected a member of the city council in 1872, city attorney in 1874 and a member of the Nebraska legislature in I874. He was a member of the Republican national convention of 1884 and temporary chairman of that of I888. Taking quite an interest in the younger members of his party he was instrumental in forming the Republican League of the United States, of which he was president for two years. He was then elected a member of the United States senate, in I895, to represent the state of Nebraska. As an attorney John M. Thurston occupied a very prominent place, and for a number of years held the position of general solicitor of the Union Pacific railroad system. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON, a celebrated American naturalist, was born in Louisiana, May 4, I780, and was the son of an opulent French naval officer who owned a plantation in the then French colony. In his childhood he became deeply interested in the study of birds and their habits. About I794 he was sent to Paris, France, where he was partially educated, and studied designing under the famous painter, Jacques Louis David. He returned to the United States about 1798, and settled on a farm his father gave him, on the Perkiomen creek in eastern Pennsylvania. He married Lucy Bakewell in I808, and, disposing of his property, removed to Louisville, Ken C OMAPENDIU-M OF BIO GRA PHr, 167 tucky, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. About two years later he began to make extensive excursions through the primeval forests of the southern and southwestern states, in the exploration of which he passed many years. He made colored drawings of all the species of birds that he found. For several years he made his home with his wife and children at Henderson, on the Ohio river. It is said that about this time he had failed in business and was red&uced to poverty, but kept the wolf from the door by giving dancing lessons and in portrait painting. In I824, at Philadelphia, he met Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who encouraged him to publish a work on ornithology. Two years later he went to England and commenced the publication of his great work, " The Birds of America." He obtained a large number of subscribers at one thousand dollars a copy. This work, embracing five volumes of letterpress and five volumes of beautifully colored plates, was pronounced by Cuvier " the most magnificent monument that art ever raised to ornithology." Audubon returned to America in 1829, and explored the forests, lakes and coast from Canada to Florida, collecting material for another work. This was his " Ornithological Biography; or, An Account of the Habits of the Birds of the United States, Etc." He revisited England in I83I, and returned in I839, after which he resided on the Hudson, near New York City, in which place he died January 27, 1851. During his life he issued a cheaper edition of his great work, and was, in association with Dr. Bachman, preparing a work on the quadrupeds of North America. COMMODORE THOMAS McDONOUGH gained his principal fame from 'he celebrated victory which he gained over the superior British squadron, under Commodore Downie, September I, 18 I4. Commodore McDonough was born in Newcastle county, Delaware, December 23, I783, and when seventeen years old entered the United States navy as midshipman, serving in the expedition to Tripoli, under Decatur, in 18o3-4. In I807 he was promoted to lieutenant, and in July, I813, was made a commander. The following year, on Lake Champlain, he gained the celebrated victory above referred to, for which he was again promoted; also received a gold medal from congress, and from the state of Vermont an estate on Cumberland Head, in view of the scene of the engagement. His death occurred at sea, November I6, I825, while he was returning from the command of the Mediterranean squadron. CHARLES FRANCIS HALL, one of America's most celebrated arctic explorers, was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, in I821. He was a blacksmith by trade, and located in Cincinnati, where later he became a journalist. For several years he devoted a great deal of attention to calorics. Becoming interested in the fate of the explorer, Sir John Franklin, he joined the expedition fitted out by Henry Grinnell and sailed in the ship "George Henry," under Captain Buddington, which left New London, Connecticut, in I86o. He returned in 1862, and two years later published his "I Arctic Researches." He again joined the expedition fitted out by Mr. Grinnell, and sailed in the ship, " Monticello," under Captain Buddington, this time remaining in the arctic region over four years. On his return he brought back many evidences of having found trace of Franklin. In 1871 the "Polaris " was fitted out by the United States government, and Captain 168 COMIPENDIEUM OF BIOGRAPHr. Hall again sailed for the polar regions. He died in Greenland in October, 1871, and the "Polaris" was finally abandoned by the crew, a portion of which, under Captain Tyson, drifted with the icebergs for one hundred and ninety-five days, until picked up by the " Tigress," on the 30th of April, I873. The other portion of the crew built boats, and, after a perilous voyage, were picked up in June, 1873, by a whaling vessel. LIVER ELLSWORTH, the third chief justice of the United States, was born at Windsor, Connecticut, April 29, I745. After graduating from Princeton, he took up the study of law, and was licensed to practice in I771. In 1777 he was elected as a delegate to the Continental congress. He was judge of the superior court of his state in 1784, and was chosen as a delegate to the constitutional convention in I787. He sided with the Federalists, was elected to the United States senate in I789, and was a firm supporter of Washington's policy. He won great distinction in that body, and was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of the United States by Washington in I796. The relations between this country and France having become violently strained, he was sent to Paris as envoy extraordinary in 1799, and was instrumental in negotiating the treaty that averted war. He resigned the following year, and was succeeded by Chief Justice Marshall. His death occurred November 26, I807. M ELLVILLE WESTON FULLER, an eminent American jurist and chief justice of the United States supreme court, was born in Augusta, Maine, in I833. His education was looked after in boyhood, and at the age of sixteen he entered Bowdoin College, and on graduation entered the law department of Harvard University. He then entered the law office of his uncle at Bangor, Maine, and soon after opened an office for the practice of law at Augusta. He was an alderman from his ward, city attorney, and editor of the "Age," a rival newspaper of the "Journal," which was conducted by James G. Blaine. He soon decided to remove to Chicago, then springing into notice as a western metropolis. He at once identified himself with the interests of the new city, and by this means acquired an experience that fitted him for his future work. He devoted himself assiduously to his profession, and had the good fortune to connect himself with the many suits growing out of the prorogation of the Illinois legislature in 1863. It was not long before he became one of the foremost lawyers in Chicago. He made a three days' speech in the heresy trial of Dr. Cheney, which added to his fame. He was appointed chief justice of the United States by President Cleveland in I888, the youngest man who ever held that exalted position. His income from his practice had for many years reached thirty thousand dollars annually. CHESTER ALLEN ARTHUR, twentyfirst president of the United States, was born in Franklin county, Vermont, October 5, I830. He was educated at Union College, Schenectady, New York, from which he graduated with honor, and engaged in teaching school. After two years he entered the law office of Judge E. D. Culver, of New York, as a student. He was admitted to the bar, and formed a partnership with an old room-mate, Henry D. Gardiner, with the intention of practicing law in the west, but after a few months' search for a location, they returned to New York and opened an office, and at once entered CO M0PENDIUM OF BIOGRAPRHA-.1 169 upon a profitable practice. He was shortly afterwards married to a daughter of Lieutenant Herndon, of the United States navy. Mrs. Arthur died shortly before his nomination for the vice-presidency. In I856 a colored woman in New York was ejected from a street car and retained Mr. Arthur in a suit against the company, and obtained a verdict of five hundred dollars. It resulted in a general order by all superintendents of street railways in the city to admit colored people to the cars. Mr. Arthur was a delegate to the first Republican national convention, and was appointed judge-advocate for the Second Brigade of New York, and then chief engineer of Governor Morgan's staff. At the close of his term he resumed the practice of iaw in New York. In I872 he was made collector of the port of New York, which position he held four years. At the Chicago convention in 88o Mr. Arthur was nominated for the vice-presidency with Garfield, and after an exciting campaign was elected. Four months after the inauguration President Garfield was assassinated, and Mr. Arthur was called to take the reins of government. His administration of affairs was generally satisfactory. At its close he resumed the practice of law in New York. His death occurred November I8, I886. SAAC HULL was one of the most conspicuous and prominent naval officers in the early history of America. He was born at Derby, Connecticut, March 9, 1775, being the son of a Revolutionary officer. Isaac Hull early in life became a mariner, and when nineteen years of age became master of a merchant ship in the London trade. In 1798 he became a lieutenant in the United States navy, and three years later was made 10 first lieutenant of the frigate "Constitution." He distinguished himself by skill and valor against the French on the coast of Hayti, and served with distinction in the Barbary expeditions. July 12, 1812, he sailed from Annapolis, in command of the "Constitution," and for three days was pursued by a British squadron of five ships, from which he escaped by bold and ingenious seamanship. In August of the same year he captured the frigate " Guerriere," one of his late pursuers and for this, the first naval advantage of that war, he received a gold medal from congress. Isaac Hull was later made naval commissioner and had command of various navy yards. His death occurred February I3, 1843, at Philadelphia. ARCUS ALONZO HANNA, famous as a prominent business man, political manager and senator, was born in New Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, September 24, 1837. He removed with his father's family to Cleveland, in the same state, in I852, and in the latter city, and in the Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio, received his education. He became an employe of the wholesale grocery house of Hanna, Garrettson & Co., his father being the senior member of the firm. The latter died in I862, and Marcus represented his interest until I867, when the business was closed up. Our subject then became a member of the firm of Rhodes & Co., engaged in the iron and coal business, but at the expiration of ten years this firm was changed to that of M. A. Hanna & Co. Mr. Hanna was long identified with the lake carrying business, beinginterested in vessels on the lakes and in the construction of them. As a director of the Globe Ship Manufacturing Company, of Cleveland, president of the 170 C I0~PEiVDDIUJI OF BIO GRA PHY. Union National Bank, of Cleveland, president of the Cleveland City Railway Company, and president of the Chapin Mining Company, of Lake Superior, he became prominently identified with the business world. He was one of the government directors of the Union Pacific Railroad, being appointed to that position in 1885 by President Cleveland. Mr. HIanna was a delegate to the national Republican convention of 1884, which was his first appearance in the political world. He was a delegate to the conventions of I888 and I896, and was elected chairman of the Republican national committee the latter year, and practically managed the campaign of William McKinley for the presidency. In I897 Mr. Hanna was appointed senator by Governor Bushnell, of Ohio, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Sherman. GEORGE PEABODY was one of the best known and esteemed of all philanthropists, whose munificent gifts to American institutions have proven of so much benefit to the cause of humanity. He was born February I8, I795, at South Danvers, Massachusetts, which is now called Peabody in honor of him. He received but a meager education, and during his early life he was a mercantile clerk at Thetford, Vermont, and Newburyport, Massachusetts. In 1814 he became a partner with Elisha Riggs, at Georgetown, District of Columbia, and in 1815 they moved to Baltimore, Marylan]. The business grew to great proportions, and they opened branch houses at New York and Philadelphia. Mr. Peabody made several voyages to Europe of commercial importance, and in 1829 became the head of the firm, which was then called Peabody, Riggs & Co., and in 1838 he re moved to London, England. He retired from the firm, and established the celebrated banking house, in which he accumulated a large fortune. He aided Mr. Grinnell in fitting out Dr. Kane's Arctic expedition, in I852, and founded in the same year the Peabody Institute, in his native town, which he afterwards endowed with two hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Peabody visited the United States in I857, and gave three hundred thousand dollars for the establishment at Baltimore of an institute of science, literature and fine arts. In 1862 he gave two million five hundred thousand dollars for the erecting of lodging houses for the poor in London, and on another visit to the United States he gave one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to establish at Harvard a museum and professorship of American archaeology and ethnology, an equal sum for the endowment of a department of physical science at Yale, and gave the "Southern Educational Fund " two million one hundred thousand dollars, besides devoting two hundred thousand dollars to various objects of public utility. Mr. Peabody made a final visit to the United States in I869, and on this occasion he raised the endowment of the Baltimore Institute one million dollars, created the Peabody Museum, at Salem, Massachusetts, with a fund of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, gave sixty thousand dollars to Washington College, Virginia; fifty thousand dollars for a "Peabody Museum," at North Danvers, thirty thousand dollars to Phillips Academy, Andover; twenty-five thousand dollars to Kenyon College, Ohio, and twenty thousand dollars to the Maryland Historical Society. Mr. Peabody also endowed an art school at Rome, in I868. He died in London, November 4, I869, less then a month after he had returned from the United States, and his COIIPENDIUJIZ OF.BIOGRAPHT. 171 remains were brought to the United States and interred in his native town. He made several other bequests in his will, and left his family about five million dollars. ATTHE\V S. QUAY, a celebrated public man and senator, was born at Dillsburgh, York county, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1833, of an old Scotch-Irish family, some of whom had settled in the Keystone state in 17I 5. Matthew received a good education, graduating from the Jefferson College at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at the age of seventeen. He then traveled, taught school, lectured, and studied law under Judge Sterrett. He was admitted to the bar in IS54, was appointed a prothonotary in 1855 and elected to the same office in 1856 and 1859. Later he was made lieutenant of the Pennsylvania Re serves, lieutenant-colonel and assistant commissary-general of the state, private secretary of the famous war governor of Pennsylvania, Andrew G. Curtin, colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry (nine months men), military state agent and held other offices at different times. Mr. Quay was a member of the house of representatives of the state of Pennsylvania from I865 to I868. He filled the office of secretary of the commonwealth from 1872 to 1878, and the position of delegate-atlarge to the Republican national conventions of I872, I876, I88o and I888. He wasthe editor of the "Beaver Radical" and the "Philadelphia Record" for a time, and held many offices in the state conventions and on their committees. He was elected secretary of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1869, and served three years, and in 1885 was chosen state treasurer. In 1886 his great abilities pointed him out as the natural candidate for United States senator, and he was accordingly elected to that position and re-elected thereto in I892. He was always noted for a genius for organization, and as a political leader had but few peers. Cool, serene, far-seeing, resourceful, holding his impulses and forces in hand, he never quailed from any policy he adopted, and carried to success most, if not all, of the political campaigns in which he took part. JAMES K. JONES, a noted senator and political leader, attained national fame while chairman of the national executive committee of the Democratic party in the presidential campaign of I896. He was a native of Marshall county, Mississippi, and was born September 29, 1839. His father, a well-to-do planter, settled in Dallas county, Arkansas, in I848, and there the subject of this sketch received a careful education. During the Civil war he served as a private soldier in the Confederate army. From I866 to I873 he passed a quiet life as a planter, but in the latter year was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law. About the same time he was elected to the Arkansas senate and re-elected in I874. In 1877 he was made president of the senate and the following year was unsuccessful in obtaining a nomination as member of congress. In 1880 he was elected representative and his ability at once placed him in a foremost position. He was re-elected to congress in I882 and in 1884, and served as an influential member on the committee of ways and means. March 4, i885, Mr. Jones took his seat in the United States senate to succeed James D. Walker, and was afterward re-elected to the same office. In this branch of the national legislature his capabilities had a wider scope, and he was rec 172 C OMPEADIUM~ OF BIO GRA PHr. ognized as one of the ablest leaders of his party. On the nomination of William J. Bryan as its candidate for the presidency by the national convention of the Democratic party, held in Chicago in 1896, Mr. Jones was made chairman of the national committee. THEODORE THOMAS, one of the most celebrated musical directors America has known, was born in the kingdom of Hanover in 1835, and received his musical education from his father. He was avery apt scholar and played the violin at public concerts at the age of six years. He came with his parents to America in 1845, and joined the orchestra of the Italian Opera in New York City. He played the first violin in the orchestra which accompanied Jenny Lind in her first American concert. In I86I Mr. Thomas established the orchestra that became famous under his management, and gave his first symphony concerts in New York in I864. He began his first "summer night concerts" in the same city in I868, and in I869 he started on his first tour of the principal cities in the United States, which he made every year for many years. He was director of the College of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio, but resigned in I880, after having held the position for three years. Later he organized one of the greatest and most successful orchestras ever brought together in the city of Chicago, and was very prominent in musical affairs during the World's Columbian Exposition, thereby adding greatly to his fame. YRUS HALL McCORMICK, the famous inventor and manufacturer, was born at Walnut Grove, Virginia, February 15, I809. When he was seven years old his father invented a reaping machine. It was a rude contrivance and not successful. In 1831 Cyrus made his invention of a reaping machine, and had it patented three years later. By successive improvements he was able to keep his machines at the head of its class during his life. In 1845 he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and two years later located in Chicago, where he amassed a great fortune in manufacturing reapers and harvesting machinery. In I859 he established the Theological Seminary of the Northwest at Chicago, an institution for preparing young men for the ministry in the Presbyterian church, and he afterward endowed a chair in the Washington and Lee College at Lexington, Virginia. He manifested great interest in educational and religious matters, and by his great wealth he was able to extend. aid and encouragement to many charitable causes. His death occurred May I3, I884. DAVID ROSS LOCKE.-Under the pen name of Petroleum V. Nasby, this well-known humorist and writer made for himself a household reputation, and established a school that has many imitators. The subject of this article was born at Vestal, Broome county, New York, September 30, I833. After receiving his education in the county of his birth he entered the office of the " Democrat," at Cortland, New York, where he learned the printer's trade. He was successively editor and publisher of the 'Plymouth Advertiser," the I" Mansfield Herald," the " Bucyrus Journal," and the "Findlay Jeffersonian." Later he became editor of the "Toledo Blade." In I860 he commenced his " Nasby" articles, several series of which have been given the world in book form. Under a mask of misspelling, and in a ouaiut COMIPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 173 and humorous style, a keen political satire is couched-a most effective weapon. Mr. Locke was the author of a number of serious political pamphlets, and later on a more pretentious work, "The Morals of Abou Ben Adhem." As a newspaper writer he gained many laurels and his works are widely read. Lincoln is said to have been a warm admirer of P. V. Nasby, of "Confedrit X Roads" fame. Mr. Locke died at Toledo, Ohio, February 15, IS88. RUSSELL A. ALGER, noted as soldier, governor, secretary of war and senator was born in Medina county, Ohio, February 27, 1836, son of Russell and Caroline (Moulton) Alger. At the age of twelve he was left an orphan and penniless. For about a year he worked for his board and clothing, and attended school part of the time. In 1850 he found a place which paid small wages, and out of his scanty earnings helped his brother and sister. While there working on a farm he found time to attend the Richfield Academy, and by hard work between times managed to get a fair education for that time. The las two years of his attendance at this institu tion of learning he taught school during the winter months. In 1857 he commenced the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. For a while he found em, ployment in Cleveland, Ohio, but impaired health induced him to remove to Grand Rapids, where he engaged in the lumber business. He was thus engaged when the Civil war broke out, and, his business suffering and his savings swept away, he enlisted in the Second Michigan Cavalry. He was promoted to be captain the following month, and major for gallant conduct at Booneville, Mississippi, July I, 1862. October i6, 1862, he was made lieutenant coldnel of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry, and in February, I863, colonel of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry. He rendered excellent service in the Gettysburg campaign. He was wounded at Boonesboro, Maryland, and on returning to his command took part with Sherman in the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. For services rendered, that famous soldier recommended him for promotion, and he was brevetted majorgeneral of volunteers. In 1866 General Alger took up his residence at Detroit, and prospered exceedingly in his business, which was that of lumbering, and grew quite wealthy. In 1884 he was a delegate to the Republican national convention, and the same year was elected governor of Michigan. He declined a nomination for re-election to the office in t887, and the next year was a candidate for the nomination for President. In I889 he was elected commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and at different times occupied many offices in other organizations. In March, I897, President McKinley appointed General Alger secretary of war, from which office he resigned in 1899. He was appointed United States senator September 27, 1902, to succeed James McMillan, deceased, and was elected in February, 1903, for the term expiring in I907. The Spanish-American, published by Harper Brothers in 190o, was from his pen. CYRUS WEST FIELD, the father of submarine telegraphy, was born at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, November 30, 1819, son of Rev. David D. Field, D. D., a Congregational minister. He was educated in his native town, and when fifteen became a clerk in a store in New York City. Being gifted with excellent business ability Mr. Field prospered and became the head of a 174 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. large mercantile house. In 1853 he spent about six months in travel in South America. On his return he became interested in ocean telegraphy. Being solicited to aid in the construction of a land telegraph across Newfoundland to receive the news from a line of fast steamers it was proposed to run from Ireland to St. John, the idea struck him to carry the line across the broad Atlantic. In I850 Mr. Field obtained a concession from the legislature of Newfoundland, giving him the sole right for fifty years to land submarine cables on the shores of that island. In company with Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor, Marshall O. Roberts and Chandler White, he organized the New York, Newfoundland & London Telegraph Co. In two years the line from New York across Newfoundland was built. The first cable connecting Cape Breton Island with Newfoundland having been lost in a storm while being laid in 1855, another was put down in I856. In the latter year Mr. Field went to London and organized the Atlantic Telegraph Company, furnishing one-fourth of the capital himself. Both governments loaned ships to carry out the enterprise. Mr. Field accompanied the expeditions of I857 and two in I858. The first and second cables were failures, and the third worked but a short time and then ceased. The people of both continents became incredulous of the feasibility of laying a successful cable under so wide an expanse of sea, and the war breaking out shortly after, nothing was done until I865-66. Mr. Field, in the former year, again made the attempt, and the Great Eastern laid some one thousand two hundred miles when the cable parted and was lost. The following year the same vessel succeeded in laying the entire cable, and picked up the one lost the year before, and both were carried to America's shore. After thirteen years of care and toil Mr. Field had his reward. He was the recipient of many medals and honors from both home and abroad. He gave his attention after this to establishing telegraphic communication throughout the world and many other large enterprises, notably the construction of elevated railroads in New York. Mr. Field died July I, I892. ROVER CLEVELAND, the twentysecond president of the United States, was born in Caldwell, Essex county, New Jersey, March 18, 1837, son of Rev. Richard and Annie (Neale) Cleveland. The father, of distinguished New England ancestry, was a Presbyterian minister in charge of the church at Caldwell at the time. When Grover was about three years of age the family removed to Fayetteville, Onondaga county, New York, where he attended the district school, and was in the academy for a short time. His father believing that boys should early learn to labor, Grover entered a village store and worked for the sum of fifty dollars for the first year. While he was thus engaged the family removed to Clinton, New York, and there young Cleveland took up his studies at the academy. The death of his father dashed all his hopes of a collegiate education, the family being left in straitened circumstances, and Grover started out to battle for himself. After acting for a year (I853 -54) as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in the Institution for the Blind at New York City, he went to Buffalo. A short time after he entered the law office of Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, of that city, and after a hard struggle with adverse circumstances, was admitted to the bar in I859. He became confidential and managing clerk for the firm under whom he had studied, and remained with them until 1863. In the latter year he was appointed district attorney C OMlIPENlDIUMS OF BIO GRAPHr. of Erie county. It was during his incumbency of this office that, on being nominated by the Democrats for supervisor, he came within thirteen votes of election, although the district was usually Republican by two hundred and fifty majority. In i866 Grover Cleveland formed a partnership with Isaac V. Vanderpoel. The most of the work here fell upon the shoulders of our subject, and he soon won a good standing at the bar of the state. In I869 Mr. Cleveland associated himself in business with A. P. Laning and Oscar Folsom, and under the firm name of Laning, Cleveland & Folsom soon built up a fair practice. In the fall of I870 Mr. Cleveland was elected sheriff of Erie county, an office which he filled for four years, after which he resumed his profession, with L. K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell as partners. This firn was strong and popular and s ortly was in possession of a lucrative practice. Mr. Bass retired from the firm in 1879, and George J. Secard was admitted a member in ISSI. In the latter year Mdr. Cleveland wAas elected mayor of Buffalo, and in 1S82 he was chosen governor by the enormous majority of one hundred and ninety-two thousand votes. July II, 1884, he was nominated for the presidency by the Democratic national convention, and in November following was elected. Mr. Cleveland, after serving one term as president of the United States, in 1888 was nominated by his party to succeed himself, but he failed of the election, being beaten by Benjamin Harrison. In I892, however, being nominated again in opposition to the then incumbent of the presidency, Mr. Harrison, Grover Cleveland was elected president for the second time and served for the usual term of four years. In 1897 Mr. Cleveland retired from the chair of the first rmagistrate of the nation, and in New York City resumed the practice of law, in which city he had established himself in 1889. June 2, I886, Grover Cleveland was united in marriage with Miss Frances Folsom, the daughter of his former partner. A LEXANDER WINCHELL, for many years one of the greatest of American scientists, and one of the most noted and prolific writers on scientific subjects, was born in Duchess county, New York, December 31, I824. He received a thorough collegiate education, and graduated at the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, in I847. His mind took a scientific turn, which manifested itself while he was yet a boy, and in 1848 he became teacher of natural sciences at the Armenian Seminary, in his native state, a position which he filled for three years. In I851-3 he occupied the same position in the Mesopotamia Female Seminary, in Alabama, after which he was president of the Masonic Female Seminary, in Alabama. In I853 he became connected with the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, at which institution he performed the most important work of his life, and gained a wide reputation as a scientist. He held many important positions, among which were the following: Professor of physics and civil engineering at the University of Michigan, also of geology, zoology and botany, and later professor of geology and paleontology at the same institution. He also, for a time, was president of the Michigan Teachers' Association, and state geologist of Michigan. Professor Winchell was a very prolific writer on scientific subjects, and published many standard works, his most important and widely known being those devoted to geology. He also contributed a large number of articles to scientific and popular journals. 176 C OMIPEVNDIUMi OF BIOGRAPH]tF. ANDREW HULL FOOTE, of the United States navy, was a native of New England, born at New Haven, Connecticut, May 4, I808. He entered the navy, as a midshipman, December 4, 1822. He slowly rose in his chosen profession, attaining the rank of lieutenant in 1830, commander in 1852 and captain in i86i. Among the distinguished men in the breaking out of the Civil war, but few stood higher in the estimation of his brother officers than Foote, and when, in the fall of I86I, he was appointed to the command of the flotilla then building on the Mississippi, the act gave great satisfaction to the service. Although embarrassed by want of navy yards and supplies, Foote threw himself into his new work with unusual energy. He overcame all obstacles and in the new, and, until that time, untried experiment, of creating and maintaining a navy on a river, achieved a success beyond the expectations of the country. Great incredulity existed as to the possibility of carrying on hostilities on a river where batteries from the shore might bar the passage. But in spite of all, Foote soon had a navy on the great river, and by the heroic qualities of the crews entrusted to him, demonstrated the utility of this new departure in naval architecture. All being prepared, February 6, 1862, Foote took Fort Henry after a hotly-contested action. On the I4th of the same month, for an hour and a half engaged the batteries of Fort Donelson, with four ironclads and two wooden gunboats, thereby disheartening the garrison and assisting in its capture. April 7th of the same year, after several hotly-contested actions, Commodore Foote received the surrender of Island No. Io, one of the great strongholds of the Confederacy on the Mississippi river. Foote having been wounded at Fort Donelson, and by neglect it having become so serious as to endanger his life, he was forced to resign his command and return home. June I6, 1862, he received the thanks of congress and was promoted to the rank of rear admiral. He was appointed chief of the bureau of equipment and recruiting. June 4, 1863, he was ordered to the fleet off Charleston, to supercede Rear Admiral Dupont, but on his way to that destination was taken sick at New York, and died June 26, I863. ELSON A. MILES, the well-known soldier, was born at Westminster, Massachusetts, August 8, 1839. His ancestors settled in that state in 1643 among the early pioneers, and their descendants were, many of them, to be found among those battling against Great Britain during Revolutionary times and during the war of 1812. Nelson was reared on a farm, received an academic education, and in early manhood engaged in mercantile pursuits in Boston. Early in I86I he raised a company and offered his services to the government, and although commissioned as captain, on account of his youth went out as first lieutenant in the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry. In 1862 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the Sixty-first New York Infantry. At the request of Generals Grant and Meade he was made a brigadier by President Lincoln. He participated in all but one of the battles of the Army of the Potomac until the close of the war. During the latter part of the time he commanded the first division of the Second Corps. General Miles was wounded at the battles of Fair Oaks, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and received four brevets for distinguished service. During the reconstruction period he commanded in North Carolina, and on the reorganization of the COZ1IPENDICUif OF BIOGRA PH. 177 regular army he was made colonel of infantry. In I88o he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and in I890 to that of major-general. He successfully conducted several campaigns among the Indians, and his name is known among the tribes as a friend when they are peacefully inclined. He many times averted war with the red men by judicious and humane settlement of difficulties without the military power. In I892 General Miles was given command of the proceedings in dedicating the World's Fair at Chicago, and in the summer of I894, during the great railroad strike at the same city, General Miles, then in command of the department, had the disposal of the troops sent to protect the United States mails. On the retirement of General J. M. Schofield, in I895, General Miles became the ranking major-general of the United States army and the head of its forces. UNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH, the great actor, though born in London (1796), is more intimately connected with the American than with the English stage, and his popularity in America was almost unbounded, while in England he was not a prime favorite. He presented "Richard III." in Richmond on his first appearance on the American stage in I821. This was his greatest role, and in it he has never had an equal. In October of the same year he appeared in New York. After a long and successful career he gave his final performance at New Orleans in I852. He contracted a severe cold, and for lack of proper medical attention, it resulted in his death on November 30th of that year. He was, without question, one of the greatest tragedians that ever lived. In addition to his professional art and genius, he was skilled in languages, drawing, painting and sculpture. In his private life he was reserved, and even eccentric. Strange stories are related of his peculiarities, and on his farm near Baltimore he forbade the use of animal food, the taking of animal life, and even the felling of trees, and brought his butter and eggs to the Baltimore markets in person. Junius Brutus Booth, known as the elder Booth, gave to the world three sons of note: Junius Brutus Booth, Jr., the husband of Agnes Booth, the actress; John Wilkes Booth, the author of the greatest tragedy in the life of our nation; Edwin Booth, in his day the greatest actor of America, if not of the world. AMES MONTGOMERY BAILEY, famous as the "Danbury News Man," was one of the best known American humorists, and was born September 25, I84I, at Albany, N. Y. He adopted journalism as a profession and started in his chosen work on the "Danbury Times," which paper he purchased on his return from the war. Mr. Bailey also purchased the "Jeffersonian," another paper of Danbury, and consolidated them, forming the "Danbury News," which paper soon acquired a celebrity throughout the United States, from an incessant flow of rich, healthy, and original humor, which the pen of the editor imparted to its columns, and he succeeded in raising the circulation of the paper from a few hundred copies a. week to over forty thousand. The facilities of a country printing office were not so complete in those days as they are now, but Mr. Bailey was resourceful, and he put on relays of help and ran his presses night and day, and always prepared his matter a week ahead of time. The "Danbury News Man" was a new figure in literature, as his humor was so different from that of the newspaper 178 CO'1iPEND DIUU OF BIOGRAPHI'. I wits-who had preceded him, and he maybe called the pioneer of that school now so familiar. Mr. Bailey published in book form "Life in Danbury" and "The Danbury News Man's Almanac." One of his most admirable traits was philanthrophy, as he gave with unstinted generosity to all comers, and died comparatively poor, notwithstanding his ownership of a very profitable business which netted him an income of $40,000 a year. He died March 4, 1894. M ATTHEW HALE CARPENTER, a famous lawyer, orator and senator, was born in Moretown, Vermont, December 22, 1824. After receiving a common-school education he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, but only remained two years. On returning to his home he commenced the study of law with Paul Dillingham, afterwards governor of Vermont, and whose daughter he married. In 1847 he was admitted to practice at the bar in Vermont, but he went to Boston and for a time studied with Rufus Choate. In 1848 he moved west, settling at Beloit, Wisconsin, and commencing the practice of his profession soon obtained a wide reputation for ability. In 1856 Mr. Carpenter removed to Milwaukee, where he found a wider field for his now increasing powers. During the Civil war, although a strong Democrat, he was loyal to the government and aided the Union cause to his utmost. In I868 he was counsel for the government in a test case to settle the legality of the reconstruction act before the United States supreme court, and won his case against Jeremiah S. Black. This gave him the election for senator from Wisconsin in I869, and he served until 1875, during part of which time he was president pro temnpore of the senate. Failing of a re-election Mr. Carpenter resumed the practice of law, and when William W\ Belknap, late secretary of war, was impeached, entered the case for General Belknap, and secured an acquittal. During the sitting of the electoral commission of I877, Mr. Carpenter appeared for Samuel J. Tilden, although the Republican managers had intended to have him represent R. B. Hayes. Mr. Carpenter was elected to the United States senate again in I879, and remained a member of that body until the day of his death, which occurred at Washington, District of Columbia, February 24, I88.. Senator Carpenter's real name was Decatur Merritt Hammond Carpenter but about 1852 he changed it to the one by which he was universally known. THOMAS E. WATSON, lawyer and congressman, the well-known Georgian, whose name appears at the head of this sketch, made himself a place in the history of our country by his ability, energy and fervid oratory. He was born in Columbia (now McDuffie) county, Georgia, September 5, I856. He had a commonschool education, and in 1872 entered Mercer University, at Macon, Georgia, as freshman, but for want of money left the college at the end of his sophomore year. He taught school, studying law at the same time, until 1875, when he was admitted to the bar. He opened an office and commenced practice in Thomson, Georgia, in November, 1876. He carried on a successful business, and bought land and farmed on an extensive scale. Mr. Watson was a delegate to the Democratic state convention of I88o, and was a member of the house of representatives or the legislature of his native state in i882z In I888 he was an elector-at-large on the C OMIPE2NDIUMg~ OF BIOGRA PHT. 179 Cleveland ticket, and in 189o was elected to represent his district in the fifty-second congress. This latter election is said to have been due entirely to Mr. Watson's "dashing display of ability, eloquence and popular power." In his later years he championed the alliance principles and policies until he became a leader in the movement. In the heated campaign of 1896, Mr. Watson was nominated as the candidate for vice-president on the Bryan ticket by that part of the People's party that would not endorse the nominee for the same position made by the Democratic party. FREDERICK A. P. BARNARD, mathematician, physicist and educator, was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, May 5,1809. He graduated from Yale College in I828,and in I830 became a tutor in the same. From 1837 to I848 he was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in the University of Alabama, and from 1848 to 1850, professor of chemistry and natural history in the same educational institution. In 1854 he became connected with the University of Mississippi, of which he became president in I856, and chancellor in I858. In I854 he took orders in the Protestant lEpiscopal church. In I 861 Professor Barnard resigned his chancellorship and chair in the university, and in I863 and I864 was connected with the United States coast survey in charge of chart printing and lithography. In May, 1864, he was elected president of Columbia College, New York City, which he served for a number of years. Professor Barnard received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Jefferson College, Mississippi, in I855, and from Yale College in 1859; also the degree of S. T. D. from the University of Mississippi in I861, and that of L. H. D. from the regents of the University of the State of New York in 1872. In I86o he was a member of the eclipse party sent by the United States coast survey to Labrador, and during his absence was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In the act of congress establishing the National Academy of Sciences in I863, he was named as one of the original corporators. In 1867 he was one of the United States commissioners to the Paris Exposition. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society, associate member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and many other philosophical and scientific societies at home and abroad. Dr. Barnard was thoroughly identified with the progress of the age in those branches. His published works relate wholly to scientific or educational subjects, chief among which are the following: Report on Collegiate Education; Art Culture; History of the American Coast Survey; University Education; Undulatory Theory of Light; Machinery and Processes of the Industrial Arts, and Apparatus of the Exact Sciences, Metric System of Weights and Measures, etc. EDWIN McMASTERS STANTON, the secretary of war during the great Civil war, was recognized as one of America's foremost public men. He was born December 19, 1814, at Steubenville, Ohio, where he received his education and studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1836, and was reporter of the supreme court of Ohio from I842 until 1845. He removed to Washington in I856 to attend to his practice before the United States supreme court, and in I858 he went to California as counsel for the government in certain land cases, which he carried to a successful conclusion. Mr. Stanton was appointed 183 COMPELNDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. attorney-general of the United States in December, I860, by President Buchanan. On March 4, I86I, Mr. Stanton went with the outgoing administration and returned to the practice of his profession. He was appointed secretary of war by President Lincoln January 20, 1862, to succeed Simon Cameron. After the assassination of President Lincoln and the accession of Johnson to the presidency, Mr. Stanton was still in the same office. He held it for three years, and by his strict adherence to the Republican party, he antagonized President Johnson, who endeavored to remove him. On August 5, I867, the president requested him to resign, and appointed General Grant to succeed him, but when congress convened in December the senate refused to concur in the suspension. Mr. Stanton returned to his post until the president again removed him from office, but was again foiled by congress. Soon after, however, he retired voluntarily from office and took up the practice of law, in which he engaged until his death, on December 24, I869. ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, the eminent theologian and founder of the church known as Disciples of Christ, was born in the country of Antrim, Ireland, in June, 1788, and was the son of Rev. Thomas Campbell, a Scoth-Irish "Seceder." After studying at the University of Glasgow, he, in company with his father, came to America in I808, and both began labor in western Pennsylvania to restore Christianity to apostolic simplicity. They organized a church at Brush Run, Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 181I, which, however, the year following, adopted Baptist views, and in 1813, with other congregations joined a Baptist association. Some of the underlying principles and many practices of the Campbells and their disciples were repugnant to the Baptist church and considerable friction was the result, and I827 saw the separation of that church from the Church of Christ, as it is sometimes called. The latter then reorganized themselves anew. They reject all creeds, professing to receive the Bible as their only guide. In most matters of faith they are essentiallyin accord with the other Evangelical Christian churches, especially in regard to the person and work of Christ, the resurrection and judgment. They celebrate the Lord's Supper weekly, hold that repentance and faith should precede baptism, attaching much importance to the latter ordinance. On all other points they encourage individual liberty of thought. In 1841, Alexander Campbell founded Bethany College, West Virginia, of which he was president for many years, and died March 4, I866. The denomination which they founded is quite a large and important church body in the United States. They support quite a number of institutions of learning, among which are: Bethany College, West Virginia; Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio; Northwestern Christian University, Indianapolis, Indiana; Eureka College, Illinois; Kentucky University, Lexington, Kentucky; Oskaloosa College, Iowa; and a number of seminaries and schools. They also support several monthly and quarterly religious periodicals and many papers, both in the United States and Great Britain and her dependencies. ILLIAM L.WILSON, the noted West Virginian, who was postmaster-general under President Cleveland's second administration, won distinction as the father of the famous " Wilson bill," which became a law under the same administration. Mr. Wilson was born May 3, 1843, in Jeffer C OMAPENDIUMf OF BIO GRAPHfr. 181 son county, West Virginia, and received a good education at the Charlestown Academy, where he prepared himself for college. He attended the Columbian College in the District of Columbia, from which he graduated in I86o, and then attended the University of Virginia. Mr. Wilson served in the Confederate army during the war, after which he was a professor in Columbian College. Later he entered into the practice of law at Charlestown. He attended the Democratic convention held at Cincinnati in I880, as a delegate, and later was chosen as one of the electors for the state-at-large on the Hancock ticket. In the Democratic convention at Chicago in I892, Mr. Wilson was its permanent president. He was elected president of the West Virginia University in 1882, entering upon the duties of his office on September 6, but having received the nomination for the forty-seventh congress on the Democratic ticket, he resigned the presidency of the university in June, I883, to take his seat in congress. Mr. Wilson was honored by the Columbian University and the Hampden-Sidney College, both of which conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. In 1884 he was appointed regent of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington for two years, and at the end of his term was re-appointed. He was elected to the forty-seventh, forty-ninth, fiftieth, fifty-first, fifty-second and fiftythird congresses, but was defeated for reelection to the fifty-fourth congress. Upon the resignation of Mr. Bissell from the office of postmaster-general, Mr. Wilson was appointed to fill the vacancy by President Cleveland. His many years of public service and the prorrinent part he took in the discussion of public questions gave him a national reputation. CALVIN S. BRICE, a successful and noted financier and politician, was born at Denmark, Ohio, September 17, 1845, of an old Maryland family, who trace their lineage from the Bryces, or Bruces, of Airth, Scotland. The father of our subject was a prominent Presbyterian clergyman, who removed to Ohio in I812. Calvin S. Brice was educated in the common schools of his native town, and at the age of thirteen entered the preparatory department of Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, and the following year entered the freshman class. On the breaking out of the Civil war, although but fifteen years old, he enlisted in a company of three-months men. He returned to complete his college course, but re-enlisted in Company A, Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry, and served in the Virginia campaign. He then returned to college, from which he graduated in I863. In I864 he organized Company E, One Hundred and Eightieth Ohio Infantry, and served until the close of hostilities, in the western armies. On his return home Mr. Brice entered the law department of the University of Michigan, and in I866 was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati. In the winter of I870 -7I he went to Europe in the interests of the Lake Erie & Louisville Railroad and procured a foreign loan. This road became the Lake Erie & Western, of which, in 1887, Mr. Brice became president. This was the first railroad in which he had a personal interest. The conception, building and sale of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, known as the "Nickel Plate," was largely due to him. He was connected with many other railroads, among which may be mentioned the following: Chicago & Atlantic; Ohio Central; Richmond & Danville; Richmond & West Point 182 C 1OJIPENDIU i[ OF BIO GRAI PHY. Terminal; East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia; Memphis & Charleston; Mobile & Birmingham; Kentucky Central; Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, and the Marquette, Houghton & Ontonagon. In I890 he was elected United States senator from Ohio. Notwithstanding his extensive business interests, Senator Brice gave a considerable time to political matters, becoming one of the leaders of the Democratic party and one of the most widely known men in the country. BENJAMIN HARRISON, twenty-third president of the United States, was born August 20, I833, at North Bend, Hamilton county, Ohio, in the house of his grandfather, General William Henry Harrison, afterwards president of the United States. His great-grandfather, Benjamin Harrison, was a member of the Continental congress, signed the Declaration of Independence, and was three times elected governor of Virginia. The subject of this sketch entered Farmers College at an early age, and two years later entered Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio. Upon graduation he entered the office of Stover & Gwyne, of Cincinnati, as a law student. He was admitted to the bar two years later, and having inherited about eight hundred dollars worth of property, he married the daughter of Doctor Scott, president of a female school at Oxford, Ohio, and selected Indianapolis, Indiana, to begin practice. In I860 he was nominated by.he Republicans as candidate for state supreme court reporter, and did his first political speaking in that campaign. He was elected, and after two years in that position he organized the Seventieth Indiana Infantry, of which he was made colonel, and with his regiment joined General Sher man's army. For bravery displayed at Resaca and Peach Tree Creek he was made a brigadier-general. In the meantime the office of supreme court reporter had been declared vacant, and another party elected to fill it. In the fall of 1864, having been nominated for that office, General Harrison obtained a thirty-day leave of absence, went to Indiana, canvassed the state and was elected. As he was about to rejoin his command he was stricken down by an attack of fever. After his recovery he joined General Sherman's army and participated in the closing events of the war. In r868 General Harrison declined to be a candidate for the office of supreme court reporter, and returned to the practice of the law. His brilliant campaign for the office of governor of Indiana in I876, brought him. into public notice, although he was defeated. He took a prominent part in the presidential canvass of I880, and was chosen United States senator from Indiana, serving six years. He then returned to the practice of his profession. In 1888 he was selected by the Republican convention at Chicago as candidate for the presidency, and after a heated campaign was elected over Cleveland. He was inaugurated March 4, I889, and signed the McKinley bill October I, 890, perhaps the most distinctive feature of his administration. In I892 he was again the nominee of the Republican party for president, but was defeated by Grover Cleveland, the Democratic candidate, and again resumed the practice of law in Indianapolis. OHN CRAIG HAVEMEYER, the celebrated merchant and sugar refiner. was born in New York City in I833. His father, William F. Havemeyer, and grandfather, William Havemeyer, were both sugar C OMlPENDIUM3 OF BI0 GRA PIrT. 183 refiners. The latter named came from Buckeburg, Germany, in 1799, and settled in New York, establishing one of the first refineries in that city. W\illiam F. succeeded his father, and at an early age retired from business with a competency. He was three times mayor of his native city, New York. John C. Havemeyer was educated in private schools, and was prepared for college at Columbia College grammar school. Owing to failing eyesight he was unable to finish his college course, and began his business career in a wholesale grocery store, where he remained two years. In 1854, after a year's travel abroad, he assumed the responsibility of the office work in the sugar refinery of Havemeyer & Molter, but two years later etablished a refinery of his own in Brooklyn. ThbL 2ft-rwards developed into the immense business co Havemeyer & Elder The capital was furnished by his father, and, chafing under the anxiety caused by the use of borrowed money, he sold out his interest and returned to Havemeyer & Molter. This firm dissolving the next year, John C. declined an offer of partnership from the successors, not wishing to use borrowed money. For two years he remained with the house, receiving a share of the profits as compensation. For some years thereafter he was engaged in the commission business, until failing health caused his retirement. In I87I, he again engaged in the sugar refining business at Greenport, Long Island, with his brother and another partner, under the firm name of Havemeyer Brothers & Co. Here he remained until 1880, when his health again declined. During the greater part of his life Mr. Havemeyer was identified with many benevolent societies, including the New York Port Society, Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, American Bible Society, New York Sabbath School Society and others. He was active in Young Men's Christian Association work in New York, and organized and was the first president of an affiliated society of the same at Yonkers. He was director of several railroad corporations and a trustee of the Continental Trust Company of New York. W ALTER QUINTIN GRESHAM, an eminent American statesman and jurist, was born March 17, 1833, near Corydon, Harrison county, Indiana. He acquired his education in the local schools of the county and at Bloomington Academy, although he did not graduate. After leaving college he read law with Judge Porter at Corydon, and just before the wa: <e: began to take an interest in politics. Mr. Gresham was elected to the 'egislatur': rom Harrison county as a Republican; previous to this the district had been represented by a Democrat. At the commencement of hostilities he was made lieutenant-colonel of the Thirty-eighth Indiana Infantry, but served in that regiment only a short time, when he was appointed colonel of the Fiftythird Indiana, and served under General Grant at the siege of Vicksburg as brigadiergeneral. Later he was under Sherman in the famous "March to the Sea," and commanded a division of Blair's corps at the siege of Atlanta where he was so badly wounded in the leg that he was compelled to return home. On his way home he was forced to stop at New Albany, where he remained a year before he was able to leave. He was brevetted major-general at the close of the war. While at New Albany, Mr. Gresham was appointed state agent, his duty being to pay the interest on the state debt in New York, and he ran twice for congress against ex-Speaker Kerr, but was 184 COMPEND)IUUM OF BIOGRAPHY. defeated in both cases, although he greatly reduced the Democratic majority. He was held in high esteem by President Grant, who offered him the portfolio of the interior but Mr. Gresham declined, but accepted the appointment of United States judge for Indiana to succeed David McDonald. Judge Gresham served on the United States district court bench until 1883, when he was appointed postmaster-general by President Arthur, but held that office only a few months when he was made secretary of the treasury. Near the end of President Arthur's term, Judge Gresham was appointed judge of the United States circuit court of the district composed of Indiana, Illinois and contiguous states, which he held until 1893. Judge Gresham was one of the presidential possibilities in the National Republican convention in I888, when General Harrison was nominated, and was also mentioned for president n I892. Later the People's party lnatde > strenuous effort to induce him to bec.,me their candidate for president, he refusing the offer, howeve':, and a few weeks before the election he announced that he would support Mr. Cleveland, the Democratic nominee for president. Upon the election of Mr. Cleveland in the fall of I892, Judge Gresham was made the secretary of state, and filled that position until his death on May 28, I895, at Washington, District of Columbia. ELISHA B. ANDREWS, noted as an educator and college president, was born at Hinsdale, New Hampshire, January IO, 1844, his father and mother being Erastus and Elmira (Bartlett) Andrews. In i86I, he entered the service of the general government as private and non-commissioned officer in the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, and in 1863 was promoted to the I rank of second lieutenant. Returning home he was prepared for college at Powers Institute and at the Wesleyan Academy, and entered Brown University. From here he was graduated in I870. For the succeeding two years he was principal of the Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield, Connecticut. Completing a course at the Newton Theological Institute, he was ordained pastor of the First Baptist church at Beverly, Massachusetts, July 2, I874. The following year he became president of the Denison University, at Granville, Ohio. In I879 he accepted the professorship of homiletics, pastoral duties and church polity at Newton Theological Institute. In I882 he was elected to the chair of history and political economy at Brown University. The University of Nebraska honored him with an LL. D. in 1884, and the same year Colby University conferred the degree of D. D. In 1888 he became professor of political economy and public economy at Cornell University, but the next year returned to Brown University as its president.:From the time of his inauguration the college work broadened in many ways. Many timely and generous donations from friends and alumni of the college were influenced by him, and large additions made 'to the same. Professor Andrews published, in 1887, "Institutes of General History," and in I888, " Institutes of Economics." JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER, the subject of the present biography, was, during his life, one of the most distinguished chemists and scientific writers in America. He was an Englishman by birth, born at Liverpool, May 5, I8II, and was reared in his native land, receiving an excellent education, graduating at the University of London. In 1833 he came to the United States, and -,. T. i:, ........... i'Z,::.N, >. A l,\,.1 I I v-I.", - 11........ -.. -.1.11, I-, I - -- -- I I I -- I I -'r, I: r V r ' ' ' I1 $1,\-.~ \ K:......... 11.1'. X I;:Z, I -... IV I, COMlIPEVDIUMlf OF BIOGRAPHY. 187 settled first in Pennsylvania. He graduated in medicine at the University of Philadel\phia, in 1836, and for three years following was professor of chemistry and physiology at Hampden-Sidney College. He then became professor of chemistry in the New York University, with which institution he was prominently connected for many years. It is stated on excellent authority that Professor Draper, in 1839, took the first photographic picture ever taken from life. He was a great student, and carried on many important and intricate experiments along scientific lines. He discovered many of the fundamental facts of spectrum analysis, which he published. He published a number of works of great merit, many of which are recognized as authority upon the subjects of which they treat. Among his work were: "Human Physiology, Statistical and Dynamical of the Conditions and Cause of Life in Man," "History of Intellectual Development of Europe," "History of the American Civil War," besides a number of works on chemistry, optics and mathematics. Professor Draper continued to hold a high place among the scientific scholars of America until his death, which occurred in January, I882. GEORGE W. PECK, ex-governor of the state of Wisconsin and a famous journalist and humorist, was born in Jefferson county, New York, September 28, 1840. When he was about three years of age his parents removed to Wisconsin, settling near Whitewater, where young Peck received his education at the public schools. At fifteen he entered the office of the "Whitewater Register," where he learned the printer's art. He helped start the "Jefferson County Republican" later on, but sold out his interest therein and set type in the office of 11 the "State Journal," at Madison. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in the Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry as a private, and after serving four years returned a second lieutenant. He then started the "Ripon Representative," which he sold not long after, and removing to New York, was on the staff of Mark Pomeroy's "Democrat." Going to La Crosse, later, he conducted the La Crosse branch paper, a half interest in which he bought in I874. He next started "Peck's Sun," which four years later he removed to Milwaukee. While in La Crosse he was chief of police one year, and also chief clerk of the Democratic assembly in I874. It was in 1878 that Mr. Peck took his paper to Milwaukee, and achieved his first permanent success, the circulation increasing to 80,000. For ten years he was regarded as one of the most original, versatile and entertaining writers in the country, and he has delineated every phase of country newspaper life, army life, domestic experience, travel and city adventure. Up to I890 Mr. Peck took but little part in politics, but in that year was elected mayor of Milwaukee on the Democratic ticket. The following August he was elected governor of Wisconsin by a large majority, the "Bennett School Bill" figuring to a large extent in his favor. Mr. Peck, besides many newspaper articles in his peculiar vein and numerous lectures, bubbling over with fun, is known to fame by the following books: "Peck's Bad Boy and his Pa," and "The Grocery Man and Peck's Bad Boy." CHARLES O'CONOR, who was for many years the acknowledged leader of the legal profession of New York City, was also conceded to be one of the greatest lawyers America has produced. He was 188 COMP IPENDIUMf OF BIOGRAPHT. born in New York City in I804, his father being an educated Irish gentleman. Charles received a common-school education, and early took up the study of law, being admitted to practice in I824. His close application and untiring energy and industry soon placed him in the front rank of the profession, and within a few years he was handling many of the most important cases. One of the first great cases he had and which gained him a wide reputation, was that of " Jack, the Fugitive Slave," in 1835, in which his masterful argument before the supreme court attracted wide attention and comment. Charles O'Conor was a Democrat all his life. He did not aspire to officeholding, however, and never held any office except that of district attorney under President Pierce's administration, which he only retained a short time. He took an active interest, however, in public questions, and was a member of the state (New York) constitutional convention in I864. In I868 he was nominated for the presidency by the " Extreme Democrats." His death occurred in May, I884. CIMON BOLIVAR BUCKNER, a noted American officer and major-general in the Confederate army, was born in Kentucky in I823. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in I844, served in the United States infantry and was later assigned to commissary duty with the rank of captain. He served several years at frontier posts, and was assistant professor in the military academy in 1846. He was with General Scott in the Mexican war, and engaged in all the battles from Vera Cruz to the capture of the Mexican capital. He was wounded at Cherubusco and brevetted first lieutenant, and at Molino del Rey was brevetted captain. After the close of the Mexican war he returned to West Point as assistant instructor, and was then assigned to commissary duty at New York. He resigned in I855 and became superintendent of construction of the Chicago custom house. He was made adjutant-general, with the rank of colonel, of Illinois militia, and was colonel of Illinois volunteers raised for the Utah expedition, but was not mustered into service. In I86o he removed to Kentucky, where he settled on a farm near Louisville and became inspector-general in command of the Kentucky Home Guards. At the opening of the Civil war he joined the Confederate army, and was given command at Bowling Green, Kentucky, which he was compelled to abandon after the capture of Fort Henry. He then retired to Fort Donelson, and was there captured with sixteen thousand men, and an immense store of provisions, by General Grant, in February, I862. tie was held as a prisoner of war at Fort Warren until August of that year. He commanded a division of Hardee's corps in Bragg's Army of the Tennessee, and was afterward assigned to the third division and participated in the battles of Chickamauga, and Murfreesboro. He was with Kirby Smith when that general surrendered his army to General Canby in May, I865. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the vicepresidency on the Gold Democratic ticket with Senator John M. Palmer in I896. IMON KENTON, one of the famous pioneers and scouts whose names fill the pages of the early history of our country, was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, April 3, I755. In consequence of an affray, at the age of eighteen, young Kenton went to Kentucky, then the "Dark and Bloody Ground," and became associated with Daniel Boone and other pioneers of that region. COiS'PENDIUIl OF B IOGRAPHYT. 189' For a short time he acted as a scout and spy for Lord Dunmore, the British governor of Virginia, but afterward taking the side of the struggling colonists, participated in the war for independence west of the Alleghanies. In 1784 he returned to Virginia, but did not remain there long, going back with his family to Kentucky. From that time until 1793 he participated in all the combats and battles of that time, and until "Mad Anthony" Wayne swept the Valley of the Ohio, and settled the supremacy of the whites in that region. Kenton laid claim to large tracts of land in the new country he had helped to open up, but through ignorance of law, and the growing value of the land, lost it all and was reduced to poverty. During the war with England in 1812-I5, Kenton took part in the invasion of Canada with the Kentucky troops and participated in the battle of the Thames. He finally had land granted him by the legislature of Kentucky, and received a pension from the United States government. He died in Logan county, Ohio, April 29, I836. __ LIHU BENJAMIN WASHBURNE, an American statesman of eminence, was born in Livermore, Maine, September 23, 18I6. He learned the trade of printer, but abandoned that calling at the age of eighteen and entered the Kent's Hill Academy at Reading, Maine, and then took up the study of law, reading in Hallowell, Boston, and at the Harvard Law School. He began practice at Galena, Illinois, in I840. He was elected to congress in I852, and represented his district in that body continuously until March, I869, and at the time of his retirement he had served a greater number of consecutive terms than any other member of the house. In I873 President Grant ap pointed him secretary of state, which position he resigned to accept that of minister to France. During the Franco-Prussian war, including the siege of Paris and the reign of the Commune, Mr. Washburne remained at his post, protecting the lives and property of his countrymen, as well as that of other foreign residents in Paris, while the ministers of all other powers abandoned their posts at a time when they were most needed. As far as possible he extended protection to unfortunate German residents, who were the particular objects of hatred of the populace, and his firmness and the success which attended his efforts won the admiration of all Europe. Mr. Washburne died at Chicago, Illinois, October 22, 1887. W ILLIAM CRAMP, one of the most extensive shipbuilders of this country, was born in Kensington, then a suburb, now a part of Philadelphia, in I806. He received a thorough English education, and when he left school was associated with Samuel Grice, one of the most eminent naval architects of his day. In 1830, having mastered all the details of shipbuilding, Mr. Cramp engaged in business on his own account. By reason of ability and excellent work he prospered from the start, until now, in the hands of his sons, under the name of William Cramp & Sons' Ship and Engine Building Company, it has become the most complete shipbuilding plant and naval arsenal in the western hemisphere, and fully equal to any in the world. As Mr. Cramp's sons attained manhood they learned their father's profession, and were admitted to a partnership. In I872 the firm was incorporated under the title given above. Until I86o wood was used in building vessels, although pace was kept with all advances in the art of shipbuilding. At the opening of 190 CC OIIPENDIU.lI OF OG ACI4 1' ] the war came an unexpected demand for war vessels, which they promptly met. The sea-going ironclad "New Ironsides" was built by them in I862, followed by a number of formidable ironclads and the cruiser "Chattanooga." They subsequently built several war vessels for the Russian and other governments which added to their reputation. When the American steamship line was established in I870, the Cramps were commissioned to build for it four firstclass iron steamships, the "Pennsylvania," " Ohio," "'Indiana " and "Illinois," which they turned out in rapid order, some of the finest specimens of the naval architecture of their day. William Cramp remained at the head of the great company he had founded until his death, which occurred January 6, I879. Charles H. Cramp, the successor of his father as head of the William Cramp & Sons' Ship and Engine Building Company, was born in Philadelphia May 9, I829, and received an excellent education in his native city, which he sedulously sought to supplement by close study until he became an authority on general subjects and the best naval architect on the western hemisphere. Many of the best vessels of our new navy were built by this immense concern. WAT ASHINGTON ALLSTON, probably the greatest American painter, was born in South Carolina in I779. He was sent to school at the age of seven years at Newport, Rhode Island, where he met Edward Malbone, two years his senior, and who later became a painter of note. The friendship that sprang up between them undoubtedly influenced young Allston in the choice of a profession. He graduated from Harvard in I80o, and went to England the following year, after pursuing his studies for a year under his friend Malbone at his home in South Carolina. He became a student at the Royal Academy where the great American, Benjamin West, presided, and who became his intimate friend. Allston later went to Paris, and then to Italy, where four years were spent, mostly at Rome. In I809 he returned to America, but soon after returned to London, having married in the meantime a sister of Dr. Channing. In a short time his first great work appeared, "The Dead Man Restored to Life by the Bones of Elisha," which took the British Association prize and firmly established his reputation. Other paintings followed in quick succession, the greatest among which were "Uriel in the Center of the Sun," "Saint Peter Liberated by the Angel," and "Jacob's Dream," supplemented by many smaller pieces. Hard work, and grief at the death of his wife began to tell upon his health, and he left London in I818 for America. The same year he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy. During the next few years he painted "Jeremiah," "Witch of Endor," and "Beatrice." In 1830 Allston married a daughter of Judge Dana, and went to Cambridge, which was his home until his death. Here he produced the "Vision of the Bloody Hand," "Rosalie," and many less noted pieces, and had given one week of labor to his unfinished masterpiece, "Belshazzar's Feast," when death ended his career July 9, 1843. OHN ROACH, ship builder and manufacturer, whose career was a marvel of industrial labor, and who impressed his individuality and genius upon the times in which he lived more, perhaps, than any other manufacturer in America. He was born at Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ire COM1IPENDIUMI OF BIOGRAPHY. 191 land, December 25, I815, the son of a wealthy merchant. He attended school until he was thirteen, when his father became financially embarrassed and failed and shortly after died; John determined to come to America and carve out a fortune for himself. He landed in New York at the age of sixteen, and soon obtained employment at the Howell Iron Works in New Jersey, at twenty-five cents a day. He soon made himself a place in the world, and at the end of three years had saved some twelve hundred dollars, which he lost by the failure of his employer, in whose hands it was left. Returning to New York he began to learn how to make castings for marine engines and ship work. Having again accumulated one thousand dollars, in company with three fellow workmen, he purchased a small foundry in New York, but soon became sole proprietor. At the end of four years he had saved thirty thousand dollars, besides enlarging his works. In I856 his works were destroyed by a boiler explosion, and being unable to collect the insurance, was left, after paying his debts, without a dollar. However, his credit and reputation for integrity was good, and he built the Etna Iron Works, giving it capacity to construct larger marine engines than any previously built in this country. Here he turned out immense engines for the steam ram Dunderberg, for the war vessels Winooski and Neshaning, and other large vessels. To accommodate his increasing business, Mr. Roach, in I869, purchased the Morgan Iron Works, one of the largest in New York, and shortly after several others. In 187I he bought the Chester ship yards, which he added to largely, erecting a rolling mill and blast furnace, and providing every facility for building a ship out of the ore and timber. This immense plant covered a large area, was valued at several millions of dollars, and was known as the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding and Engine Works, of which Mr. Roach was the principal owner. He built a large percentage of the iron vessels now flying the American flag, the bulk of his business being for private parties. In 1875 he built the sectional dry docks at Pensacola. He, about this time, drew the attention of the government to the use of compound marine engines, and thus was the means of improving the speed and economy of the vessels of our new navy. In I883 Mr. Roach commenced work on the three cruisers for the government, the "Chicago," "Boston"' and "Atlanta," and the dispatch boat " Dolphin." For some cause the secretary of the navy refused to receive the latter and decided that Mr. Roach's contract would not hold. This embarrassed Mr. Roach, as a large amount of his capital was involved in these contracts, and for the protection of bondsmen and creditors, July I8, I885, he made an assignment, but the financial trouble broke down his strong constitution, and January 10, I887, he died. His son, John B. Roach, succeeded to the shipbuilding interests, while Stephen WV. Roach inherited the Morgan Iron Works at New York. OHN SINGLETON COPLEY, one of the two great painters who laid the foundation of true American art, was born in Boston in 1737, one year earlier than his great contemporary, Benjamin West. His education was limited to the common schools of that time, and his training in art he obtained by his own observation and experiments solely. When he was about seventeen years old he had mapped out his future, however, by choosing painting as his pro 192 C OM2PENDIU3M OF BIO GRAPHT. fession. If he ever studied under any teacher in his early efforts, we have no authentic account of it, and tradition credits the young artist's wonderful success entirely to his own talent and untiring effort. It is almost incredible that at the age of twenty-three years his income from his works aggregated fifteen hundred dollars per annum, a very great sum in those days. In I774 he went to Europe in search of material for study, which was so rare in his native land. After some time spent in Italy he finally took up his permanent residence in England. In 1783 he was made a member of the Royal Academy, and later his son had the high honor of becoming lord chancellor of England and Lord Lyndhurst. Many specimens of Copley's work are to be found in the Memorial Hall at Harvard and in the Boston Museum, as well as a few of the works upon which he modeled his style. Copley was essentially a portrait painter, though his historical paintings attained great celebrity, his masterpiece being his " Death of Major Pierson," though that distinction has by some been given to his "Death of Chatham." It is said that he never saw a good picture until he was thirty-five years old, yet his portraits prior to that period are regarded as rare specimens. He died in I815. ENRY B. PLANT, one of the greatest railroad men of the country, became famous as president of the Plant system of railway and steamer lines, and also the Southern & Texas Express Co. He was born in October, I819, at Branford, Connecticut, and entered the railroad service in 1844, serving as express messenger on the Hartford & New Haven Railroad until I853, during which time he had entire -charge of the expressg business of that road. He went south in I853 and established express lines on various southern railways, and in I86I organized the Southern Express Co., and became its president. In I879 he purchased, with others, the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad of Georgia, and later reorganized the Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad, of which he became president. He purchased and rebuilt, in I880, the Savannah & Charleston Railroad, now Charleston & Savannah. Not long after this he organized the Plant Investment Co., to control these railroads and advance their interests generally, and later established a steamboat line on the St. John's river, in Florida. From 1853 until I860 he was general superintendent of the southern division of the Adams Express Co., and in 1867 became president of the Texas Express Co. The "Plant system" of railway, steamer and steamship lines is one of the greatest business corporations of the southern states. W 7ADE HAMPTON, a noted Confederate officer, was born at Columbia, South Carolina, in I818. He graduated from the South Carolina College, took an active part in politics, and was twice elected to the legislature of his state. In I86I he joined the Confederate army, and commanded the "Hampton Legion " at the first battle of Bull Run, in July, I86I. He did meritorious service, was wounded, and promoted to brigadier-general. He commanded a brigade at Seven Pines, in I862, and was again wounded. He was engaged in the battle of Antietam in September of the same year, and participated in the raid into Pennsylvania in October. In 1863 he was with Lee at Gettysburg, where he was wounded for the third time. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and commanded a troop of cavalry in Lee's C OMIIPEN'DIUM~ OF BIOGRAPHAr. 193 army during 1864, and was in numerous engagements. In I865 he was in South Carolina, and commanded the cavalry rear guard of the Confederate army in its stubborn retreat before General Sherman on his advance toward Richmond. After the war Hampton took an active part in politics, and was a prominent figure at the Democratic national convention in I868, which nominated Seymour and Blair for president and vice-president. He was governor of South Carolina, and took his seat in the United States senate in 1879, where he became a conspicuous figure in national affairs. NIKOLA TESLA, one of the most celebrated electricians America has known, was born in 1857, at Smiljau, Lika, Servia. He descended from an old and representative family of that country. His father was a a minister of the Greek church, of high rank, while his mother was a woman of remarkable skill in the construction of looms, churns and the machinery required in a rural home. Nikola received early education in the public schools of Gospich, when he was sent to the higher "Real Schule" at Karlstadt, where, after a three years' course, he graduated in I873. He devoted himself to experiments in electricity and magnetism, to the chagrin of his father, who had destined him for the ministry, but giving way to the boy's evident genius he was allowed to continue his studies in the polytechnic school at Gratz. He inherited a wonderful intuition which enabled him to see through the intricacies of machinery, and despite his instructor's demonstration that a dynamo could not be operated without commutators or brushes, began experiments which finally resulted in his rotating field motors. After the study of languages at Prague and Buda-Pesth, he became associated with M. Puskas, who had introduced the telephone into Hungary. He invented several improvements, but being unable to reap the necessary benefit from them, he, in search of a wider field, went to Paris, where he found employment with one of the electric lighting companies as electrical engineer. Soon he set his face westward, and coming to the United States for a time found congenial employment wth Thomas A. Edison. Finding it impossible, overshadowed as he was, to carry out his own ideas he left the Edison works to join a company formed to place his own inventions on the market. He perfected his rotary field principle, adapting it to circuits then in operation. It is said of him that some of his proved theories will change the entire electrical science. It would, in an article of this length, be impossible to explain all that Tesla accomplished for the practical side of electrical engineering. His discoveries formed the basis of the attempt to utilize the water power of Niagara Falls. His work ranges far beyond the vast department of polyphase currents and high potential lighting and includes many inventions in arc lighting, transformers, pyro and thermo-magnetic motors, new forms of incandescent lamps, unipolar dynamos and many others. CHARLES B. LEWIS won fame as an American humorist under the name of "M. Quad." It is said he owes his celebrity originally to the fact that he was once mixed up in a boiler explosion on the Ohio river, and the impressions he received from the event he set up from his case when he was in the composing room of an obscure Michigan paper. His style possesses a peculiar quaintness, and there runs through 194 C OI'PEIVDIUlIf OF BIO GRA PHT. it a vein of philosophy. Mr. Lewis was born in 1844, near a town called Liverpool, Ohio. He was, however, raised in Lansing, Michigan, where he spent a year in an agricultural college, going from there to the composing room of the "Lansing Democrat." At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in the service, remained during the entire war, and then returned to Lansing. The explosion of the boiler that "'blew him into fame," took place two years later, while he was on his way south. When he recovered physically, he brought suit for damages against the steamboat company, which he gained, and was awarded a verdict of twelve thousand dollars for injuries received. It was while he was employed by the "Jacksonian" of Pontiac, Mich., that he set up his account of how he felt while being blown up. He says that he signed it "M Quad," because "a bourgeoise em quad is useless except in its own line-it won't justify with any other type." Soon after, because of the celebrity he attained by this screed, Mr. Lewis secured a place on the staff of the " Detroit Free Press," and made for that paper a wide reputation. His sketches of the "Lime Kiln Club" and " Brudder Gardner" are perhaps the best known of his humorous writings. IRAM S. MAXIM, the famous inventor, was born in Sangersville, Maine, February 5, 1840, the son of Isaac W. and Harriet B. Maxim. The town of his birth was but a small place, in the woods, on the confines of civilization, and the family endured many hardships. They were without means and entirely dependent on themselves to make out of raw materials all they needed. The mother was an expert spinner, weaver, dyer and seamstress and the father a trapper, tanner, I I miller, blacksmith, carpenter, mason and farmer. Amid such surroundings young Maxim gave early promise of remarkable aptitude. With the universal Yankee jackknife the products of his skill excited the wonder and interest of the locality. His parents did not encourage his latent genius but apprenticed him to a coach builder. Four years he labored at this uncongenial trade but at the end of that time he forsook it and entered a machine shop at Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Soon mastering the details of that business and that of mechanical drawing, he went to Boston as the foreman of the philosophical instrument manufactory. From thence he went to New York and with the Novelty Iron Works Shipbuilding Co. he gained experience in those trades. His inventions up to this time consisted of improvements in steam engines, and an automatic gas machine, which came into general use. In 1877 he turned his attention to electricity, and in 1878 produced an incandescent lamp, that would burn I,000 hours. He was the first to design a process for flashing electric carbons, and the first to "standardize" carbons for electric lighting. In 88o he visited Europe and exbibiting, at the Paris Exposition of I88I, a selfregulating machine, was decorated with the Legion of Honor. In 1883 he returned to London as the European representative of the United States Electric Light Co. An incident of his boyhood, in which the recoil of a rifle was noticed by him, and the apparent loss of power shown, in I88I-2 prompted the invention of a gun which utilizes the recoil to automatically load and fire seven hundred and seventy shots per minute. The MaximNordenfelt Gun Co., with a capital of nine million dollars, grew from this. In 1883 he patented his electric training gear for large guns. And later turned his attention to fly C OMPENDIUMI OF BIO GRA PHr. 195 ing machines, which he claimed were not an impossibility. He took out over one hundred patents for smokeless gunpowder, and for petroleum and other motors and autocycles. JOHN DAVISON ROCKEFELLER, one of America's very greatest financiers and philanthropists, was born in Richford, Tioga county, New York, July 8, I839. He received a common-school education in his native place, and in 1853, when his parents removed to Cleveland, Ohio, he entered the high school of that city. After a two-years' course of diligent work, he entered the commission and forwarding house of Hewitt & Tuttle, of Cleveland, remaining with the firm some years, and then began business for himself, forming a partnership with Morris B. Clark. Mr. Rockefeller was then but nineteen years of age, and during the year I860, in connection with others, they started the oil refining business, under the firm name of Andrews, Clark & Co. Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. Andrews purchased the interest of their associates, and, after taking William Rockefeller into the firm,established offices in Cleveland under the name of William Rockefeller & Co. Shortly after this the house of Rockefeller & Co. was established in New York for the purpose of finding a market for their products,,and two years later all the refining companies were consolidated under the firm name of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler. This firm was succeeded in 1870 by the Standard Oil Company of Ohio, said to be the most gigantic business corporation of modern times. John D. Rockefeller's fortune has been variously estimated at from one hundred million to two hundred million dollars. Mr. Rockefeller's philanthropy manifested itself principally through the American Baptist Educational Society. He donated the building for the Spelman Institute at Atlanta, Georgia, a school for theinstruction of negroes. His other gifts were to the University of Rochester, Cook Academy, Peddie Institute, and Vassar College, besides smaller gifts to many institutions throughout the country. His princely donations, however, were to the University of Chicago. His first gift to this institution was a conditional offer of six hundred thousand dollars in I889, and when this amount was paid he added one million more. During I892 he made it two gifts of one million each, and all told, his donations to this one institution aggregated between seven and eight millions of dollars. JOHN M. PALMER.-For over a third of a century this gentleman occupied a prominent place in the political world, both in the state of Illinois and on the broader platform of national issues. Mr. Palmer was born at Eagle Creek, Scott county, Kentucky, September 13, I817. The family subsequently removed to Christian county, in the same state, where he acquired a common-school education, and made his home until 183I. His father was opposed to slavery, and in the latter year removed to Illinois and settled near Alton. In 1834 John entered Alton College, organized on the manual-labor plan, but his funds failing, abandoned it and entered a cooper shop. He subsequently was engaged in peddling, and teaching a district school near Canton. In 1838 he began the study of law, and the following year removed to Carlinville, where, in December of that year, he was admitted to the bar. He was shortly after defeated for county clerk. In I843 he was elected probate judge. In the constitutional convention of 1847, Mr. Palmer was a delegate, and from I849 to 196 C OMAPENDIUUi OF BIO GRAPHT. 185 he was county judge. In 1852 he becatne a member of the state senate, but not being with his party on the slavery question he resigned that office in 1854. In I856 Mr. Palmer was chairman of the first Republican state convention held in Illinois, and the same year was a delegate to the national convention. In I860 he was an elector on the Lincoln ticket, and on the breaking out of the war entered the service as colonel of the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry, but was shortly after brevetted brigadiergeneral. In August, 1862, he organized the One Hundred and Twenty-second Illinois Infantry, but in September he was placed in command of the first division of the Army of the Mississippi, afterward was promoted to the rank of major-general. In I865 he was assigned to the military administration in Kentucky. In 1867 General Palmer was elected governor of Illinois and s-rved four years. In 1872 he went with the Liberal Republicans, who supported Horace Greeley, after which time he was identified with the Democratic party. In I890 he was elected United States senator from Illinois, and served as such for six years. In 1896, on the adoption of the silver plank in the platform of the Democratic party, General Palmer consented to lead, as presidential candidate, the National Democrats, or Gold Democracy. W AILLIAM H. BEARD, the humorist among American painters, was born at Painesville, Ohio, in 1821. His father, James H. Beard, was also a painter of national reputation. William H. Beard began his career as a traveling portrait painter. He pursued his studies in New York. and later removed to Buffalo, where he achieved reputation. He then went to Italy and after a short stay returned to New York and opened a studio. One of his earliest paintings was a small picture called "Cat and Kittens," which was placed in the National Academy onexhibition. Among his best productions are "Raining Cats and Dogs," "The Dance of Silenus," "Bears on a Bender," "Bulls and Bears," ( Whoo!" " Grimalkin's Dream," "(Little Red Riding Hood," "The Guardian of the Flag." His animal pictures convey the most ludicrous and satirical ideas, and the intelligent, human expression in their faces is most comical. Some artists and critics have refused to give Mr. Beard a place among the first circles in art, solely on account of the class of subjects he has chosen. W. CORCORAN, the noted philanthrophist, was born at Georgetown, District of Columbia, December 27, I798. At the age of twenty-five he entered the banking business in Washington, and in time became very wealthy. He was noted for his magnificent donations to charity. Oak Hill cemetery was donated to Georgetown in 1847, and ten years later the Corcoran Art Gallery, Temple of Art, was presented to the city of Washington. The uncompleted building was utilized by the government as quartermaster's headquarters during the war. The building was completed after the war at a cost of a million and a half dollars, all the gift of Mr. Corcoran. The Louise Home for Women is another noble charity to his credit. Its object is the care of women of gentle breeding who in declining years are without means of support. In addition to this he gave liberally to many worthy institutions of learning and charity. He died at Washington February 24, I888. COZIPENDIUlf OzF BIOGRiAPItr. 197 ALBERT BIERSTAiDT, the noted painter of American landscape, was born in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1829, and was brought to America by his parents at the age of two years. He received his early education here, but returned to Dusseldorf to study painting, and also went to Rome. On his return to America he accompanied Lander's expedition across the continent, in I858, and soon after produced his most popular work, "The Rocky MountainsLander's Peak." Its boldness and grandeur were so unusual that it made him famous. The picture sold for twenty-five thousand dollars. In I867 Mr. Bierstadt went to Europe, with a government commission, and gathered materials for his great historical work, "Discovery of the North River by Hendrik Hudson." Others of his great works were " Storm in the Rocky Mountains," " Valley of the Yosemite," '"North Fork of the Platte," "Diamond Pool," "Mount Hood," '"Mount Rosalie," and "The Sierra Nevada Mountains." His '"Estes Park' sold for fifteen thousand dollars, and "Mount Rosalie" brought thirty-five thousand dollars. His smaller Rocky mountain scenes, however, are vastly superior to his larger works in execution and coloring. DDISON CANMMACK, a famous millionaire Wall street speculator, was born in Kentucky. When sixteen years old he ran away from home and went to New Orleans, where he went to work in a shipping house. He outlived and outworked all the partners, and became the head of the firm before the opening of the war. At that time he fitted out small vessels and engaged in running the blockade of southern ports and carrying ammunition, merchandise, etc., to the southern people. This made him a fortune. At the close Adf the war he quit business and went to New York. For two years he did not enter any active business, but seemed to be simply an on-looker in the great speculative center of America. He was observing keenly the methods and financial machinery, however, and when, in I867, he formed a partnership with the popular Charles J. Osborne, the firm began to prosper. He never had an office on the street, but wandered into the various brokers' offices and placed his orders as he saw fit. In I873 he dissolved his partnership with Osborne and operated alone. He joined a band of speculative conspirators known as the "Twenty-third party," and was the ruling spirit in that organization for the control of the stock market. He was always on the * bear" side and the only serious obstacle he ever encountered was the persistent boom in industrial stocks, particularly sugar, engineered by James R. Keane. Mr. Cam mack fought Keane for two years, and during the time is said to have lost no less than two million dollars before he abandoned the fight. W 7ALT. WHITMAN.-Foremost among the lesserpoets of the latter part of the nineteenth century, the gentleman whose name adorns the head of this article takes a conspicuous place. Whitman was born at West Hills, Long Island, New York, May I3, I809. In the schools of Brooklyn he laid the foundation of his education, and early in life learned the printer's trade. For a time he taught country schools in his native state. In 1846-7 he was editor of the " Brooklyn Eagle, " but in I848-9 was on the editorial staff of the " Crescent," of New Orleans. He made an extended tour throughout the United States and Canada, and returned to j98 C OilPENDIUMI OF BIO GRAPHY. Brooklyn, where, in 1850, he published the ' Freeman. " For some years succeeding tLhis he was engaged as carpenter and builder. During the Civil war, Whitman acted as a volunteer nurse in the hospitals at Washington and vicinity and from the close of hostilities until 1873 he was employed in various clerkships in the government offices in the nation's capital. In the latter year he was stricken with paralysis as a result of his labors in the hospital, it is said, and being partially disabled lived for many years at Camden, New Jersey. The first edition of the work which was to bring him fame, "Leaves of Grass," was published in I855 and was but a small volume of about ninety-four pages. Seven or eight editions of "Leaves of Grass" have been issued, each enlarged and enriched with new poems. "Drum Taps," at first a separate publication, has been incorporated with the others. This volume and one prose writing entitled " Specimen Days and Collect," constituted his whole work. Walt. Whitman died at Camden, New Jersey, March 26, I892. ENRY DUPONT, who became celebrated as America's greatest manufacturer of gunpowder, was a native of Delaware, born August 8, I812. He received his education in its higher branches at the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated and entered the army as second lieutenant of artillery in I833. In 1834 he resigned and became proprietor of the extensive gunpowder manufacturing plant that bears his name, near Wilmington, Delaware. His large business interests interfered with his taking any active participation in political life, although for many years he served as adjutant-general of his native state, and during the war as major-general commanding the Home Guards. He died August 8, 1889. His son, Henry A. Dupont, also was a native of Delaware, and was born July 30, 1838. After graduating from West Point in I86i, he entered the army as second lieutenant of engineers. Shortly after he was transferred to the Fifth Artillery as first lieutenant. He was promoted to the rank of captain in I864, serving in camp and garrison most of the time. He was in command of a battery in the campaign of 1863-4. As chief of artillery of the army of West Virginia, he figured until the close of the war, being in the battles of Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, besides many minor engagements. He afterward acted as instructor in the artillery school at Fortress Monroe, and on special duty at West Point. He resigned from the army March I, I875. W ILLIAM DEERING, one of the famous manufacturers of America, and also a philanthropist and patron of education, was born in Maine in I826. His ancestors were English, having settled in New England in 1634. Early in life it was William's intention to become a physician, and after completing his common-school education, when about eighteen years of age, he began an apprenticeship with a physician. A short time later, however, at the request of his father, he took charge of his father's business interests, which included a woolen mill, retail store and grist mill, after which he became agent for a dry goods commission house in Portland, where he was married. Later he became partner in the firm, and removed to New York. The business prospered, and after a number of years, on account of failing health, Mr. Deering sold his interest to his partner, a Mr. Milner. The COMfPENDIUM OF BIO GRA PHr1. 199 business has since made Mr. Milner a millionaire many times over. A few years later Mr. Deering located in Chicago. His beginning in the manufacture of reapers, which has since made his name famous, was somewhat of an accident. He had loaned money to a man in that business, and in 1878 was compelled to buy out the business to protect his interests. The business developed rapidly and grew to immense proportions. The factories now cover sixtytwo acres of ground and employ many thousands of men. OHN McALLISTER SCHOFIELD, an American general, was born in Chautauqua county, New York, September 29, 183 1. He graduated at West Point in 1853, and was for five years assistant professor of natural philosophy in that institution. In I86I he entered the volunteer service as major of the First Missouri Volunteers, and was appointed chief of staff by General Lyon, under whom he fought at the battle of Wilson's Creek. In November, I86I, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and was placed in command of the Missouri militia until November, 1862, and of the army of the frontier from that time until 1863. In 1862 he was made major-general of volunteers, and was placed in command of the Department of the Missouri, and in 1864 of the Department of the Ohio. During the campaign through Georgia General Schofield was in command of the Twenty-third Army Corps, and was engaged in most of the fighting of that famous campaign. November 30, I864, he defeated Hood's army at Franklin, Tennessee, and then joined General Thomas at Nashville. He took part in the battle of Nashville, where Hood's army was destroyed. In January, I865, he led his corps into North Carolina, captured Wilmington, fought the battle of Kingston, and joined General Sherman at Goldsboro March 22, 1865. He executed the details of the capitulation of General Johnston to Sherman, which practically closed the war. In June, I868, General Schofield succeeded Edwin M. Stanton as secretary of war, but was the next year appointed majorgeneral of the United States army, and ordered to the Department of the Missouri. From 1870 to 1876 he was in command of the Department of the Pacific; from I876 to I88I superintendent of the West Point Military Academy; in 1883 he was in charge of the Department of the Missouri, and in I886 of the division of the Atlantic. In I888 he became general-in-chief of the United States army, and in February, 1895, was appointed lieutenant-general by President Cleveland, that rank having been revived by congress. In September, 1895, he was retired from active service. LEWrIS WALLACE, an American general and famous author, was born ia Brookville, Indiana, April Io, 1827. He served in the Mexican war as first lieutenant of a company of Indiana Volunteers. After his return from Mexico he was admitted to the bar, and practiced law in Covington and Crawfordsville, Indiana, until I86r. At the opening of the war he was appointed adjutant-general of Indiana, and soon after became colonel of the Eleventh Indiana Volunteers. He defeated a force of Confederates at Romney, West Virginia, and was made brigadier-general in September, i86i. At the capture of Fort Donelson in 1862 he commanded a division, and was engaged in the second day's fight at Shiloh. In 1863 his defenses about Cincinnati saved that city from capture by Kirby Smith. At Monocacy in July, 1864, he was defeated, but 200 C OllPElVDIUMI OF BIO GRA PHI. his resistance delayed the advance of General Early and thus saved NWashington from capture. General Wallace was a member of the court that tried the assassins of President Lincoln, and also of that before whom Captain Henry Wirtz, who had charge of the Andersonville prison, was tried. In I88I General Wallace was sent as minister to Turkey. When not in official service he devoted much of his time to literature. Among his better known works are his "Fair God," " Ben Hur," "Prince of India," and a " Life of Benjamin Harrison." HOMAS FRANCIS BAYARD, an American statesman and diplomat, was born at Wilmington, Delaware, October 29, I828. He obtained his education at an Episcopal academy at Flushing, Long Island, and after a short service in a mercantile house in New York, he returned to Wilmington and entered his father's law office to prepare himself for the practice of that profession. He was admitted to the bar in I85I. He was appointed to the office of United States district attorney for the state of Delaware, serving one year. In 1869 he was elected to the United States senate, and continuously represented his state in that body until 1885, and in I88I, when Chester A. Arthurentered the presidential chair, Mr. Bayard was chosen president pro tcmpore of the senate. He had also served on the famous electoral commission that decided the Hayes-Tilden contest in 1876-7. In 1885 President Cleveland appointed Mr. Bayard secretary of state. At the beginning of Cleveland's second term, in I893, Mr. Bayard was selected for the post of ambassador at the court of St. James, London, and was the first to hold that rank in American diplomacy, serving until the beginning of the McKinley admin istration. The questions for adjustment at that time between the two governments were the Behring Sea controversy and the Venezuelan boundary question. He was very popular in England because of his tariff views, and because of his criticism of the protective policy of the United States in his public speeches delivered in London, Edinburgh and other places, he received, in March, 1896, a vote of censure in the lower house of congress. OHN WORK GARRETT, for so many years at the head of the great Baltimore & Ohio railroad system, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, July 31, 1820. His father, Robert Garrett, an enterprising merchant, had amassed a large fortune from a small beginning. The son entered Lafayette College in 1834, but left the following year and entered his father's counting room, and in I839 became a partner. John W. Garrett took a great interest in the development of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He was elected one of the directors in I857, and was its president from 1858 until his death. When he took charge of the road it was in an embarrassed condition, but within a year, for the first time in its existence, it paid a dividend, the increase in its net gains being $725,385. After the war, during which the road suffered much damage from the Confederates, numerous branches and connecting roads were built or acquired, until it reached colossal proportions. Mr. Garrett was also active in securing a regular line of steamers between Baltimore and Bremen, and between the same port and Liverpool. He was one of the most active trustees of Johns Hopkins University, and a liberal contributor to the Young Men's Christian Association of Baltimore. He died September 26, 1884. C OMPENDIU3M OF BIO GRAPRT. 201 Robert Garrett, the son of John W. Garrett, was born in Baltimore April 9, 1847, and graduated from Princeton in 1867. I-le received a business education in the banking house of his father, and in 1871 became president of the Valley Railroad of Virginia. He was made third vice-president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1879, and first vice-president in I88I. He succeeded his father as president in 1884. Robert Garrett died July 29, I896. CARL SCHURZ, a noted German-American statesman, was born in Liblar, Prussia, March 2, 1829. He studied at the University of Bonn, and in I849 was engaged in an attempt to excite an insurrection at that place. After the surrender of Rastadt by the revolutionists, in the defense of which Schurz took part, he decided to emigrate to America. He resided in Philadelphia three years, and then settled in Watertown, Wisconsin, and in 1859 removed to Milwaukee, where he practiced law. On the organization of the Republican party he became a leader of the German element and entered the campaign for Lincoln in I86o. He was appointed minister to Spain in I86, but resigned in December of that year to enter the army. He was appointed brigadiergeneral in 1862, and participated in the second battle of Bull Run, and also at Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg he had temporary command of the Eleventh Army Corps, and also took part in the battle of Chattanooga. After the war he located at St. Louis, and in I869 was elected United States senator from Missouri. He supported Horace Greeley for the presidency in I872, and in the campaign of I876, having removed to New York, he supported Hayes and the Republican ticket, and was appointed secre tary of the interior in I877. In I88I he became editor of the "New York Evening Post," and in 1884 was prominent in his opposition to James G. Blaine, and became a leader of the ((Mugwumps," thus assisting in the election of Cleveland. In the presidential campaign of I896 his forcible speeches in the interest of sound money wielded an immense influence. Mr. Schurz wrote a "Life of Henry Clay," said to be the best biography ever published of that eminent statesman. G EORGE F. EDMUNDS, an American statesman of national reputation, was born in Richmond, Vermont, February i, I828. His education was obtained in the. public schools and from the instructions of a private tutor. He was admitted to the bar, practiced law, and served in the state legislature from I854 to I859, during three years of that time being speaker of the lower house. He was elected to the state senate and acted as president pro tcl/por of that body in I86 and I862. He became prominent for his activity in the impeachment proceedings against President Johnson, and was appointed to the United States senate to fill out the unexpired term of Solomon Foot, entering that body in I866. He was re-elected to the senate four times, and served on the electoral commission in I877. He became president pro te/ipore of the senate after the death of President Garfield, and was the author of the bill which put an end to the practice of polygamy in the territory of Utah. In November, L891, owing to impaired health, he retired from the sen. ate and again resumed the practice of law. LUCIUS Q. C. LAMAR, a prominent political leader, statesman and jurist, was born in Putnam county, Georgia, Sep '202 C 02COPENDIUM1 OF BIOGRAPHT2 tember 17, 1825. He graduated from Emory College in 1845, studied law at Macon under Hon. A. H. Chappell, and was admitted to the bar in I847. He moved to Oxford, Mississippi, in 1849, and was elected to a professorship in the State University. He resigned the next year and returned to Covington, Georgia, and resumed the practice of law. In I853 he was elected to the Georgia Legislature, and in 1854 he removed to his plantation in Lafayette county, Mississippi, and was elected to represent his district in the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth congresses. He resigned in I860, and was sent as a delegate to the secession convention of the state. He entered the Confederate service in I86I as lieutenant-colonel of the Nineteenth Regiment, and was soon after made colonel. In I863 President Davis appointed him to an important diplomatic mission to Russia. In I866 he was elected professor of political economy and social science in the State University, and was soon afterward transferred to the professorship of the law department. He represented his district in the forty-third and forty-fourth congresses, and was elected United States senator from Mississippi in 1877, and re-elected in I882. In I885, before the expiration of his term, he was appointed by President Cleveland as secretary of the interior, which position he held until his appointment as associate justice of the United States supreme court, in I888, in which capacity he served until his death, January 23, 1894. BENJAMIN PENHALLOW SHILLABER won fame in the world of humorists under the name of "Mrs. Partington." He was born in I84I at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and started out in life as a printer. Mr. Shillaber went to Dover, where he secured employment in a printing office, and from there he went to Demerara, Guiana, where he was employed as a compositor in I835-37. In 1840 he became connected with the "Boston Post," and acquired quite a reputation as a humorist by his "Sayings of Mrs. Partington." He remained as editor of the paper until 1850, when he printed and edited a paper of his own called the "Pathfinder," which he continued until I852. Mr. Shillaber became editor and proprietor of the "Carpet Bag," which he conducted during I850-52, and then returned to the "Boston Post," with which he was connected until I856. During the same time he was one of the editors of the "Saturday Evening Gazette," and continued in this line after he severed his connection with the "Post," for ten years. After I866 Mr. Shillaber wrote for various newspapers and periodicals, and during his life published the following books: "Rhymes with Reason and Without," "Poems," "Life and Sayings of Mrs. Partington," "Knitting Work," and others. His death occurred at Chelsea, Massachusetts, November 25, 1890. EASTMAN JOHNSON stands first among painters of American country life. He was born in Lovell, Maine, in I824, and began his work in drawing at the age of eighteen years. His first works were portraits, and, as he took up his residence in Washington, the most famous men of the nation were his subjects. In 1846 he went to Boston, and there made crayon portraits of Longfellow, Emerson, Sumner, Hawthorne and other noted men. In 1849 he went to Europe. He studied at Dusseldorf, Germany; spent a year at the Royal Academy, and thence to The Hague, where he spent four years, producing there his first pictures C OMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 208 of consequence, "The Card-Players" and "The Savoyard." He then went to Paris, but was called home, after an absence from America of six years. He lived some time in Washington, and then spent two years among the Indians of Lake Superior. In 1858 he produced his famous picture, "The Old Kentucky Home." He took up his permanent residence at New York at that time. His " Sunday Morning in Virginia " is a work of equal merit. He was especially successful in coloring, a master of drawing, and the expression conveys with precision the thought of the artist. His portrayal of family life and child life is unequalled. Among his other great works are "The Confab," "Crossing a Stream,' "Chimney Sweep," "Old Stage Coach," "The New Bonnet," "The Drummer Boy," "Childhood of Lincoln," and a great variety of equally familiar subjects. IERCE GUSTAVE TOUTANT BEAUREGARD, one of the most distinguished generals in the Confederate army, was born near New Orleans, Louisiana, May 28, I818. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1838, and was made second lieutenant of engineers. He was with General Scott in Mexico, and distinguished himself at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, and the battles near the City of Mexico, for which he was twice brevetted. After the Mexican war closed he was placed in charge of defenses about New Orleans, and in I860 was appointed superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He held this position but a few months, when he resigned February 20, I86I, and accepted a commission of brigadier-general in the Confederate army. He.directed the attack on Fort Sumter, the first engagement of the Civil war. He was 12 I in command of the Confederates at the first battle of Bull Run, and for this victory was made general. In 1862 he was placed in command of the Army of the Mississippi, and planned the attack upon General Grant at Shiloh, and upon the death of General Johnston he took command of the army and was only defeated by the timely arrival of General Buell with reinforcements. He commanded at Charleston and successfully defended that city against the combined attack by land and sea in 1863. In 1864 he was in command in Virginia, defeating General Butler, and resisting Grant's attack upon Petersburg until reinforced from Richmond. During the long siege which followed he was sent to check General Sherman's march to the sea, and was with General Joseph E. Johnston when that general surrendered in I865. After the close of the war he was largely interested in railroad management. In I866 he was offered chief command of the Army of Roumania, and in I869, that of the Army of Egypt. He declined these offers. His death occurred February 20, I893. ENRY GEORGE, one of America's most celebrated political economists, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1839. He received a commonschool education and entered the high school in I853, and then went into a mercantile office. He made several voyages on the sea, and settled in California in 1858. He then worked at the printer's trade for a number of years, which he left to follow the editorial profession. He edited in succession several daily newspapers, and attracted attention by a number of strong essays and speeches on political and social questions. In 1871 he edited a pamphlet, entitled " Oui Land and Policy," in which he outlined a 204 C OJIPENDIUIIM OF BIO GRA PHT. theory, which has since made him so widely known. This was developed in " Progress and Poverty," a book which soon attained a large circulation on both sides of the Atlantic, which has been extensively translated. In I880 Mr. George located in New York, where he made his home, though he frequently addressed audiences in Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and throughout the United States. In 1886 he was nominated by the labor organizations for mayor of New York, and made a campaign notable for its development of unexpectedpower. In I887 he was candidate of the Union Labor party for secretary of state of New York. These campaigns served to formulate the idea of a single tax and popularize the Australian ballot system. Mr. George became a free trader in i888, and in 1892 supported the election of Grover Cleveland. His political and economic ideas, known as the "single tax," have a large and growing support, but are not confined to this country alone. He wrote numerous miscellaneous articles in support of his principles, and also published: "The Land Question," " Social Problems," "Protection or Free Trade," " The Condition of Labor, an Open Letter to Pope Leo XIII.," and ( Perplexed Philosopher." THOMAS ALEXANDER SCOTT. -This name is indissolubly connected with the history and development of the railway systems of the United States. Mr. Scott was born December 28, 1823, at London, Franklin county, Pennsylvania. He was first regularly employed by Major James Patton, the collector of tolls on the state road between Philadelphia and Columbia, Pennsylvania. He entered into the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1850, and went through all the different branches of work until he had mastered all the details of the office work, and in 1858 he was appointed general superintendent. Mr. Scott was the next year chosen vice-president of the road. This position at once brought him before the public, and the enterprise and ability displayed by him in its management marked him as a leader among the railroad men of the country. At the outbreak of the rebellion in I86I, Mr. Scott was selected by Governor Curtin as a member of his staff, and placed in charge of the equipment and forwarding of the state troops to the seat of war. On April 27, I86I, the secretary of war desired to establish a new line of road between the national capital and Philadelphia, for the more expeditious transportation of troops. He called upon Mr. Scott to direct this work, and the road by the way of Annapolis and Perryville was completed in a marvelously short space of time. On May 3, I86I, he was corimmissioned colonel of volunteers, and on the 23d of the same month the government railroads and telegraph lines were placed in his charge. Mr. Scott was the first assistant secretary of war ever appointed, and he took charge of this new post August I, I86r. In January, 1862, he was directed to organize transportation in the northwest, and in March he performed the same service on the western rivers. He resigned June I, 1862, and resumed his direction of affairs on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Colonel Scott directed the policy that secured to his road the control of the western roads, and became the president of the new company to operate these lines in I871. For one year, from March, 1871, he was president of the Union Pacific Railroad, and in 1874 he succeeded to the presidency of the Pennsylvania Company. He projected the Texas Pacific Railroad and was for many years its president. Colonel Scott's health failed C 031P'EiND1JU1 OF BIO GRAPHr. 205, him and he resigned the presidency of the road June I, I880, and died at his home in Darby, Pennsylvania, May 21, 88 I. ROBERT TOOMBS, an American statesman of note, was born in Wilkes county, Georgia, July 2, i8o1. He attended the University of Georgia, and graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, and then took a law course at the University of Virginia. In I830, before he had attained his majority, he was admitted to the bar by special act of the legislature, and rose rapidly in his profession, attracting the attention of the leading statesmen and judges of that time. He raised a volunteer company for the Creek war, and served as captain to the close. He was elected to the state legislature in 1837, re-elected in I842, and in I844 was elected to congress. He had been brought up as a Jeffersonian Democrat, but voted for Harrison in I840 and for Clay in 1844. He made his first speech in congress on the Oregon question, and immediately took rank with the greatest debaters of that body. In I853 he was elected to the United States senate, and again in I859, but when his native state seceded he resigned his seat in the senate and was elected to the Confederate congress. It is stated on the best authority that had it not been for a misunderstanding which could not be explained till too late he would have been elected president of the Confederacy. He was appointed secretary of state by President Davis, but resigned after a few months and was commissioned brigadier-general in the Confederate army. He won distinction at the second battle of Bull Run and at Sharpsburg, but resigned his commission soon after and returned to Georgia. He organized the militia of Georgia to resist Sherman, and was made I brigadier-general of the state troops. He left the country at the close of the war and did not return until 1867. He died December I5, I885. USTIN CORBIN, one of the greatest railway magnates of the United States, was born July I I, I827, at Newport, New Hampshire. He studied law with Chief Justice Cushing and Governor Ralph Metcalf, and later took a course in the Harvard Law School, where he graduated in 1849. He was admitted to the bar, and practiced law, with Governor Metcalf as his partner, until October 12, 185I. Mr. Corbin then removed to Davenport, Iowa, where he remained until I865. In I854 he was a partner in the banking firm of Macklot & Corbin, and later he organized the First National bank of Davenport, Iowa, which commenced business June 29, 1863, and which was the first national bank open for business in the United States. Mr. Corbin sold out his business in the Davenport bank, and removed to New York in 1865 and commenced business with partners under the style of Corbin Banking Company. Soon after his removal to New York he became interested in railroads, and became one of the leading railroad men of the country. The development of the west half of Coney Island as a summer resort first brought him into general prominence. He built a railroad from New York to the island, and built great hotels on its ocean front. He next turned his attention to Long Island, and secured all the railroads and consolidated them under one management, became president of the system, and under his control Long Island became the great ocean suburb of New York. His latest public achievement was the rehabilitation of the Reading Railroad, of Pennsylvania, and: 206 COJMIPENDIUM OF BIOGIRA1I'Tlr. during the same time he and his friends purchased the controlling interest of the New Jersey Central Railroad. He took it out of the hands of the receiver, and in three years had it on a dividend-paying basis. Mr. Corbin's death occurred June 4, I896. AMES GORDON BENNETT, SR., was one of the greatest journalists of America in his day. He was born September I, I795, at New Mill, near Keith, Scotland. At the age of fourteen he was sent to Aberdeen to study for the priesthood, but, convinced that he was mistaken in his vocation, he determined to emigrate. He landed at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in I819, wahere he attempted to earn a living by teaching bookkeeping. Failing in this he went to Boston and found employment as a proof reader. Mr. Bennett went to New York about 1822 and wrote for the newspapers. Later on he became assistant editor in the office of the "Charleston Courier," but returned to New York in I824 and endeavored to start a commercial school, but was unsuccessful in this, and again returned to newspaper work. He continued in newspaper work with varying success until, at his suggestion, the "Enquirer" was consolidated with another paper, and became the "Courier and Enquirer," with James Watson Webb as editor and Mr. Bennett for assistant. At this time this was the leading American newspaper. He, however, severed his connection with this newspaper and tried, without success, other ventures in the line of journalism until May 6, I835, when he issued the first number of the "New York Herald." Mr. Bennett wrote the entire paper, and made up for lack of news by his *own imagination. The paper became popu lar, and in 1838 he engaged European journalists as regular correspondents. In I841 the income derived from his paper was at least one hundred thousand dollars. During the Civil war the " Herald " had on its staff sixty-three war correspondents and the circulation was doubled. Mr. Bennett was interested with John W. Mackay in that great enterprise which is now known as the Mackay-Bennett Cable. He had collected for use in his paper over fifty thousand biographies, sketches and all manner of information regarding every well-known man, which are still kept in the archives of the "Herald" office. He died in the city of New York in 1872, and left to his son, James Gordon, Jr., one of the greatest and most profitable journals in the United States, or even in the world. LIVER WENDELL HOLMES, a noted American, won distinction in the field of literature, in which he attained a world-wide reputation. He was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 29, 1809. He received a collegiate education and graduated from Harvard in 1829, at the age of twenty, and took up the study of law and later studied medicine. Dr. Holmes attended several years in the hospitals of Europe and received his degree in I836. He became professor of anatomy and physiology in Dartmouth in 1838, and remained there until I847, when he was called to the Massachusetts Medical School at Boston to occupy the same chair, which position he resigned in 1882. The first collected edition of his poems appeared in 1836, and his "Phi Beta Kappa Poems," "Poetry," in 1836; "Terpsichore," in 1843; "Urania," in I846, and "Astraea," won for him many fresh laurels. His series of papers in the "Atlantic Monthly," were: CO.MI~PENDIUMl OF BIOGRAPHY. 207 "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," "Professor at the Breakfast Table," "Poet at the Breakfast Table," and are a series of masterly wit, humor and pathos. Among his medical papers and addresses, are: Currents and Counter-currents in the Medical Science," and "Borderland in Some Provinces of Medical Science." Mr. Holmes edited quite a number of works, of which we quote the following: "Else Venner," "Songs in Many Keys," "Soundings from the Atlantic," "Humorous Poems," 'The Guardian Angel," "Mechanism in Thoughts and Morals," "Songs of Many Seasons," "John L. Motley"-a memoir, "The Iron Gate and Other Poems," ' Ralph Waldo Emerson," "A Moral Antipathy." Dr. Holmes visited England for the second time, and while there the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the University of Edinburgh. His death occurred October 7, I894. RUFUS CHOATE, one of the most eminent of America's great lawyers, was born October I, I799, at Essex, Massachusetts. He entered Dartmouth in I815, and after taking his degree he remained as a teacher in the college for one year. He took up the study of law in Cambridge, and subsequently studied under the distinguished lawyer, Mr. Wirt, who was then United States attorney-general at Washington. Mr. Choatebegan the practice of law in Danvers, Massachusetts, and from there he went to Salem, and afterwards to Boston, Massachusetts. While living at Salem he was elected to congress in 1832, and later, in I84I, he was chosen United States senator to succeed Daniel Webster, Mr. Webster having been appointed secretary of state under William Henry Harrison. After the death of Webster. Mr. Choate was the acknowledged leader of the Massachusetts bar, and was looked upon by the younger members of the profession with an affection that almost amounted to a reverence. Mr. Choate's powers as an orator were of the rarest order, and his genius made it possible for him to enchant and interest his listeners, even while discussing the most ordinary theme. He was not merely eloquent on the subjects that were calculated to touch the feelings and stir the passions of his audience in themselves, but could at all times command their attention. He retired from active life in 1858, and was on his way to Europe, his physician having ordered a sea voyage for his health, but had only reached Halifax, Nova S'cotia, when he died, July I3, 1858. DWIGHT L. MOODY, one of the most noted and effective pulpit orators and evangelists America has produced, was born in Northfield, Franklin county, Massachusetts, February 5, I837. He received but a meager education and worked on a farm until seventeen years of age, when he became clerk in a boot and shoe store in Boston. Soon after this he joined the Congregational church and went to Chicago, where he zealously engaged in missionary work among the poor classes. He met with great success, and in less than a year he built up a Sunday-school which numbered over one thousand children. When the war broke out he became connected with what was known as the "Christian Commission," and later became city missionary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Chicago. A church was built there for his converts and he became its unordained pastor. In the Chicago fire of I871 the church and Mr. Moody's house and furniture, which had been given him, were destroyed. The. '208 C O2IIPEINDIUZMf OF BIOGRAPHr. church edifice was afterward replaced by a new church erected on the site of the old one. In 1873, accompanied by Ira D. Sankey, Mr. Moody went to Europe and excited great religious awakenings throughout England, Ireland and Scotland. In 1875 they returned to America and held large meetings in various cities. They afterward made another visit to Great Britain for the same purpose, meeting with great success, returning to the United States in 1884. Mr. Moody afterward continued his evangelistic work, meeting everywhere with a warm reception and success. Mr. Moody produced a number of works, some of which had a wide circulation. OHN PIERPONT MORGAN, a financier of world-wide reputation, and famous as the head of one of the largest banking houses in the world, was born April 17, 1837, at Hartford, Connecticut. He received his early education in the English high school, in Boston, and later supplemented this with a course in the University of Gottingen, Germany. He returned to the United States, in.857, and entered the banking firm of Duncan, Sherman & Co., of New York, and, in I86o, he became agent and attorney, in the United States, for George Peabody & Co., of London. lie became the junior partner in the banking firm of Dabney, Morgan & Co., in I864, and that of Drexel, Morgan & Co., in I87I. This house was among the chief negotiators of railroad bonds, and was active in the reorganization of the West Shore Railroad, and its absorption by the New York Central Railroad. It was conspicuous in the reorganization of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, in I887, which a syndicate of capitalists, formed by Mr. Morgan, placed on a sound financial basis. After that time many other lines of railroad and gigantic financial enterprises were brought under Mr. Morgan's control, and in some respects it may be said he became the foremost financier of the century. THOMAS BRACKETT REED, one of the most eminent of American statesmen, was born October I8, I839, at Portland, Maine, where he received his early education in the common schools of the city, and prepared himself for college. Mr. Reed graduated from Bowdoin College in I860, and won one of the highest honors of the college, the prize for excellence in English composition. The following four years were spent by him in teaching and in the study of law. Before his admission to the bar, however, he was acting assistant paymaster in the United States navy, and served on the "tin-clad" Sybil, which patrolled the Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi rivers. After his discharge in 1865, he returned to Portland, was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession. lie entered into political life, and in i868 was elected to the legislature of Maine as a Republican, and in I869 he was re-elected to the house, and in I870 was made state senator, from which he passed to attorney-general of the state. He retired from this office in 1873, and until 1877 he was solicitor for the city of Portland. In I876 he was elected to the forty-fifth congress, which assembled in I877. Mr. Reed sprung into prominence in that body by one of the first speeches which he delivered, and his long service in congress, coupled with his ability, gave him a national reputation. His influence each year became more strongly marked, and the leadership of his party was finally conceded to him, and in the forty-ninth and fiftieth C OilPEL'DICUJz OF BIOGR APHTL. congresses the complimentary nomination for the speakership was tendered him by the Republicans. That party having obtained the ascendency in the fifty-first congress he was elected speaker on the first ballot, and he was again chosen speaker of the fiftyfourth and fifth-fifth congresses. As a writer, Mr. Reed contributed largely to the magazines and periodicals, and his book upon parliamentary rules is generally recognized as authority on that subject. CLARA BARTON is a celebrated character among what might be termed as the highest grade of philanthropists America has produced. She was born on a farm at Oxford, Massachusetts, a daughter of Captain Stephen Barton, and was educated at Clinton, New York. She engaged in teaching early in life, and founded a free school at Bordentown, the first in New Jersey. She opened with six pupils, but the attendance had grown to six hundred up to 1854, when she went to Washington. She was appointed clerk in the patent department, and remained there until the outbreak of the Civil war, when she resigned her position and devoted herself to the alleviation of the sufferings of the soldiers, serving, not in the hospitals, but on the battle field. She was present at a number of battles, and after the war closed she originated, and for some time carried on at her own expense, the search for missing soldiers. She then for several years devoted her time to lecturing on " Incidents of the War." About I868 she went to Europe for her health, and settled in Switzerland, but on the outbreak of the Franco-German war she accepted the invitation of the grand duchess of Baden to aid in the establishment of her hospitals, and Miss Barton afterward followed the German army She was deco rated with the golden cross by the grand duke of Baden, and with the iron cross by the emperor of Germany. She also served for many years as president of the famous Red Cross Society and attained a worldwide reputation. CARDINAL JAMES GIBBONS, one oi the most eminent Catholic clergymen in America, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, July 23, I834. He was given a thorough education, graduated at St. Charlec College, Maryland, in I857, and studied theology in St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland. In I86i he became pastor of St. Bridget's church in Baltimore, and in 1868 was consecrated vicar apostolic of North Carolina. In 1872 our subject became bishop of Richmond, Virginia, and five years later was made archbishop of Baltimore. On the 30th of Tune, I88s, he was admitted to the full degree of cardinal and primate of the American Catholic church. He was a fluent writer, and his book, 4 Faith of Our Fathers,'' had a wide circulation. HAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW.This name is, without doubt, one ot the most widely known in the United States. Mr. Depew was born April 23, 1834, at Peekskill, New York, the home of the Depew family for two hundred years. He attended the common schools of his native place, where he prepared himself to enter college. He began his collegiate course at Yale at the age of eighteen and graduated in I856. He early took an active interest in politics and joined the Republican party at its formation. He then took up the study of law and went into the office of the lion. William Nelson, of Peekskill, for that purpose. and in I858 he was admitted to the bar. 210 C OM3PENDIEUM3 OF BIOGRAPH2. He was sent as a delegate by the new party to the Republican state convention of that year. He began the practice of his profession in I859, but though he was a good worker, his attention was detracted by the campaign of I860, in which he took an active part. During this campaign he gained his first laurels as a public speaker. Mr. Depew was elected assemblyman in 1862 from a Democratic district. In 1863 he secured the nomination for secretary of state, and gained that post by a majority of thirty thousand. In I866 he left the field of politics and entered into the active practice of his law business as attorney for the New York & Harlem Railroad Company, and in 1869 when this road was consolidated with the New York Central, and called the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, he was appointed the attorney for the new road. His rise in the railroad business was rapid, and ten years after his entrance into the Vanderbilt system as attorney for a single line, he was the general counsel for one of the largest railroad systems in the world. He was also a director in the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, Michigan Central, Chicago & Northwestern, St. Paul & Omaha, West Shore, and Nickel Plate railroad companies. In 1874 Mr. Depew was made regent of the State University, and a member of the commission appointed to superintend the erection of the capitol at Albany. In I882, on the resignation of W. H. Vanderbilt from the presidency of the New York Central and the accession to that office by James H. Rutter, Mr. Depew was made second vice-president, and held that position until the death of Mr. Rutter in I885. In this year Mr. Depew became the execu tive head of this great corporation. Mr. Depew's greatest fame grew from his ability and eloquence as an orator and " after-dinner speaker," and it has been said by eminent critics that this country has never produced his equal in wit, fluency and eloquence. HILIP KEARNEY.- Among the most dashing and brilliant commanders ill the United States service, few have outshone the talented officer whose name heads this sketch. He was born in New York City, June 2, I815, and was of Irish ancestry and imbued with all the dash and bravery of the Celtic race. He graduated from Columbia College and studied law, but in 1837 accepted a commission as lieutenant in the First United States Dragoons, of which his uncle, Stephen W. Kearney, was then colonel. He was sent by the government, soon after, to Europe to examine and report upon the tactics of the French cavalry. There he attended the Polytechnic School, at Samur, and subsequently served as a volunteer in Algiers, winning the cross of the Legion of Honor. He returned to the United States in 1840, and on the staff of General Scott, in the Mexican war, served with great gallantry. He was made a captain of dragoons in 1846 and made major for services at Contreras and Cherubusco. In the final assault on the City of Mexico, at the San Antonio Gate, Kearney lost an arm. He subsequently served in California and the Pacific coast. In 181i he resigned his commission and went to Europe, where he resumed his military studies. In the Italian war, in I859, he served as a volunteer on the staff of General Maurier, of the French army, and took part in the battles of Solferino and Magenta, and for bravery was, for the second time, decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honor. On the opening of the Civil war he hastened home. and; offering his services to the gynv'-il gov COMPENDIUJL OF BIOGRAPHr. 211 I ernment, was made brigadier-general of volunteers and placed in command of a brigade of New Jersey troops. In the campaign under McClellan he commanded a division, and at Williamsburg and Fair Oaks his services were valuable and brilliant, as well as in subsequent engagements. At Harrison's Landing he was made major-general of volunteers. In the second battle of Bull Run he was conspicuous, and at the battle of Chantilly, September I, I862, while leading in advance of his troops, General Kearney was shot and killed. RUSSELL SAGE, one of the financial giants of the present century and for more than an average generation one of the most conspicuous and celebrated of Americans, was born in a frontier hamlet in central New York in August, 18 6. While Russell was still a boy an elder brother, Henry Risley Sage, established a small grocery store at Troy, New York, and here Russell found his first employment, as errand boy. He served a five-years apprenticeship, and then joined another brother, Elisha M. Sage, in a new venture in the same line, which proved profitable, at least for Russell, who soon became its sole owner. Next he formed the partnership of Sage & Bates, and greatly extended his field of operations. At twenty-five he had, by his own exertions, amassed what was, in those days, a considerable fortune, being worth about seventyfive thousand dollars. He had acquired an influence in local politics, and four years later his party, the Whigs, elected him to the aldermanic board of Troy and to the treasuryship of Rensselaer county. In 1848 he was a prominent member of the New York delegation to the Whig convention at Phi!adelThia, casting his first votes for Henry Clay, but joining the "stampede" which nominated Zachary Taylor. In 1850 the Whigs of Troy nominated him for congress, but he was not elected-a failure which he: retrieved two years later, and in 1854 he was re-elected by a sweeping majority. At Washington he ranked high in influence and ability. Fame as a speaker and as a political leader was within his grasp, when he gave up public life, declined a renomination. to congress, and went back to Troy to devote himself to his private business. Six. years later, in I863, he removed to New York and plunged into the arena of Wall street. A man of boundless energy and. tireless pertinacity, with wonderful judgment of men and things, he soon took his. place as a king in finance, and, it is said, during the latter part of his life he controlled more ready money than any other single individual on this continent. ROGER QUARLES MILLS, a noted United States senator and famous as the father of the "I Mills tariff bill," was born in Todd county, Kentucky, March 30, 1832. He received a liberal education in the common schools, and removed to Palestine, Texas, in 1849. He took up the study of law, and supported himself by serving as an assistant in the post-office, and in the offices of the court clerks. In 1850 he was elected engrossing clerk of the Texas house of representatives, and in I852 was admitted to the bar, while still a minor, by special act of the legislature. He then settled at Corsicana, Texas, and began the active practice of his profession. He was elected to the state legislature in 1859, and in 1872 he was elected to congress from the state at large, as a Democrat. After his first election he was continuously returned to congress until he resigned to accept the position of United States senator, to which he 212 COMAPENVDIUUM OF BIOGRAPHY. was elected March 23, I892, to succeed Hon. Horace Chilton. He took his seat in the senate March 30, I892; was afterward re-elected and ranked among the most useful and prominent members of that body. In 1876 he opposed the creation of the electoral commission, and in 1887 canvassed the state of Texas against the adoption of a prohibition amendment to its constitution, which was defeated. He introduced into the house of representatives the bill that was known as the 'Mills Bill," reducing duties on imports, and extending the free list. The bill passed the house on July 21, I888, and made the name of " Mills" famous throughout the entire country. AZEN S. PINGREE, the celebrated Michigan political leader, was born in Maine in 1842. Up to fourteen years of age he worked hard on the stony ground of his father's small farm. Attending school in the winter, he gained a fair education, and when not laboring on the farm, he found employment in the cotton mills in the vicinity. He resolved to find more steady work, and accordingly went to Hopkinton, Massachusetts, where he entered a shoe factory, but on the outbreak of the war he enlisted at once and was enrolled in the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. He participated in the battle of Bull Run, which was his initial fight, and served creditably his early term of service, at the expiration of which he re-enlisted. He fought in the battles of Fredricksburg, Harris Farm, Spottsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor. In 1864 he was captured by Mosby, and spent five months at Andersonville, Georgia, as a prisoner, but escaped at the end of that time. He re-entered the service and participated in the battles of Fort Fisher, Boyden, and Sailor's Creek. He was honorably mustered out of service, and in I866 went to Detroit, Michigan, where he made use of his former experience in a shoe factory, and found work. Later he formed a partnership with another workman and started a small factory, which has since become a large establishment. Mr. Pingree made his entrance into politics in I889, in which year he was elected by a surprisingly large majority as a Republican to the mayoralty of Detroit, in which office he was the incumbent during four consecutive terms. In November, I896, he was elected governor of the state of Michigan. While mayor of Detroit, Mr. Pingree originated and put into execution the idea of allowing the poor people of the city the use of vacant city lands and lots for the purpose of raising potatoes. The idea was enthusiastically adopted by thousands of poor families, attracted wide attention, and gave its author a national reputation as "Potato-patch Pingree." THOMAS ANDREW HENDRICKS, an eminent American statesman and a Democratic politician of national fame, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, September 7, 1819. In 1822 he removed, with his father, to Shelby county, Indiana. He graduated from the South Hanover College in I84I, and two years later was admitted to the bar. In I85I he was chosen a member of the state constitutional convention, and took a leading part in the deliberations of that body. He was elected to congress in I85I, and after serving two terms was appointed commissioner of the United States general land-office. In 1863 he waselected to the United States senate, where his distinguished services commanded the respect of all parties. He was elected governor of Indiana in 1872, serving four years, and in CO0MIPENVDIU.Mf OF BIOGRAPHT. i876 was nominated by the Democrats as candidate for the vice-presidency with Tilden. 'The returns in a number of states were contested, and resulted in the appointinent of the famous electoral commission, which decided in favor of the Republican candidates. In 1884 Mr. Hendricks was again nominated as candidate for the vicepresidency, by the Democratic party, on the ticket with Grover Cleveland, was elected, and served about six months. He died at Indianapolis, November 25, I885. He was regarded as one of the brainiest men in the party, and his integrity was never questioned, even by his political opponents. ARRETT A. HOBART, one of the many able men who have held the high office of vice-president of the United States, was born June 3, I844, in Monmouth county, New Jersey, and in I860 entered the sophomore class at Rutgers College, from which he graduated in I863 at the age of nineteen. He then taught school until he entered the law office of Socrates Tuttle, of Paterson, New Jersey, with whom he studied law, and in I869 was admitted to the bar. He immediately began the active practice of his profession in the office of the above named gentleman. He became interested in political life, and espoused the cause of the Republican party, and in I865 held his first office, serving as clerk for the grand jury. He was also city counsel of Paterson in 1871, and in May, I872, was elected counsel for the board of chosen freeholders. He entered the state legislature in 1873, and was re-elected to the assembly in 1874. Mr. Hobart was made speaker of the assembly in I876, and and in 1879 was elected to the state senate. After serving three years in the same, he was elected president of that body in 188I, and the following year was re-elected to that office. He was a delegate-at-large to the Republican national convention in 1876 and I880, and was elected a member of the national committee in 1884, which pos;tion he occupied continuously until I896. He was then nominated for vice-president by the Republican national convention, anc was elected to that office in the fall of 1896 on the ticket with William McKinley. W ILLIAM MORRIS STEWART, noted as a political leader and senator, was born in Lyons, Wayne county, New York, August 9, 1827, and removed with his parents while still a small child to Mesopotamia township, Trumbull county, Ohio. He attended the Lyons Union school and Farmington Academy, where he obtained his education. Later he taught mathematics in the former school, while yet a pupil, and with the little money thus earned and the assistance of James C. Smith, one of the judges of the supreme court of New York, he entered Yale College. He remained there until the winter of 1849-50, when, attracted by the gold discoveries in California he wended his way thither. He arrived at San Francisco in May, 1850, and later engaged in mining with pick and shovel in Nevada county. In this way he accumulated some money, and in the spring of 1852 he took up the study of law under John R. McConnell. The following December he was appointed district attorney, to which office he was chosen at the general election of the next year. In I854 he was appointed attorney-general of California, and in I86o he removed to Virginia City, Nevada, where he largely engaged in early mining litigation. Mr. Stewart was also interested in the development of the "Comstock lode," and in I86I was chosen a 214 COMCPEPNDIUMl OF BIOGRAPHT. member of the territorial council. He was elected a member of the constitutional convention in I863, and was elected United States senator in I864, and re-elected in 1869. At the expiration of his term in 1875, he resumed the practice of law in Nevada, California, and the Pacific coast generally. He was thus engaged when he was elected again to the United States senate as a Republican in 1887 to succeed the late James G. Fair, a Democrat, and took his seat March 4, I887. On the expiration of his term he was again re-elected and became one of the leaders of his party in congress. His ability as an orator, and the prominent part he took in the discussion of public questions, gained him a national reputation. G EORGE GRAHAM VEST, for many years a prominent member of the United States senate, was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, December 6, 1848. He graduated from Center College in 1868, and from the law department of the Transylvania University of Lexington, Kentucky, in I853. In the same year he removed to Missouri and began the practice of his profession, In I86o he was an elector on the Democratic ticket, and was a member of the lower house of the Missouri legislature in I860-6I. He was elected to the Confederate congress, serving two years in the lower house and one in the senate. He then resumed the practice of law, and in 1879 was elected to the senate of the United States to succeed James Shields. He was re-elected in 1885, and again in 1891 and 1897. His many years of service in the National congress, coupled with his ability as a speaker and the active part he took in the discussion of public questions, gave him a wide reputation. HANNIBAL HAMLIN, a noted American statesman, whose name is indissolubly connected with the history of this country, was born in Paris, Maine, August 27, 1809. He learned the printer's trade and followed that calling for several years. He then studied law, and was admitted to practice in I833. He was elected to the legislature of the state of Maine, where he was several times chosen speaker of the lower house. He was elected to congress by the Democrats in 1843, and re-elected in I845. In 1848 he was chosen to the United States senate and served in that body until I86I. He was elected governor of Maine in 1857 on the Republican ticket, but resigned when re-elected to the United States senate the same year. He was elected vice-president of the United States on the ticket with Lincoln in I860, and inaugurated in March, i86I. In 1865 he was appointed collector of the port of Boston. Beginning with 1869 he served two six-year terms in the United States senate, and was then appointed by President Garfield as minister to Spain in I88I. His death occurred July 4, I89I. _ SHAM G. HARRIS, famous as Confederate war governor of Tennessee, and distinguished by his twenty years of service in the senate of the United States, was born in Franklin county, Tennessee, and educated at the Academy of Winchester. He then took up the study of law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice at Paris, Tennessee, in 1841. He was elected to the state legislature in 1847, was a candidate for presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1848, and the next year was elected to congress from his district, and re-elected in I851. In 1853 he was renominated by the Democrats of his COMPENDIUM OF 'IOGRAPHr. 215,district, but declined, and removed to Memphis, where he took up the practice of law. He was a presidential elector-at-large from Tennessee in 1856, and was elected governor of the state the next year, and again in I859, and in I86I. He was driven from Nashville by the advance of the Union;armies, and for the last three years of the war acted as aid upon the staff of the commanding general of the Confederate army,of Tennessee. After the war he went to Liverpool, England, where he became a merchant, but returned to Memphis in 1867,.and resumed the practice of law. In 1877 he was elected to the United States senate, to which position he was successively reelected until his death in I897. ELSON DINGLEY, JR., for nearly a quarter of a century one of the leaders;in congress and framer of the famous "Dingley tariff bill," was born in Durham, Maine, in I832. His father as well as all his ancestors, were farmers, merchants and;mechanics and of English descent. Young Dingley was given the advantages first of -the common schools and in vacations helped his father in the store and on the farm. When twelve years of age he attended high 'school and at seventeen was teaching in a *country school district and preparing himself for college. The following year he entered Waterville Academy and in i851 entered Colby University. After a year and a half in this institution he entered Dartmouth College and was graduated in I855.with high rank as a scholar, debater and writer. He next studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1856. But instead of practicing his profession he purchased the "Lewistown (Me.) Journal," which be*came famous throughout the New England states as a leader in the advocacyof Repub lican principles. About the same time Mr. Dingley began his political career, although ever after continuing at the head of the newspaper. He was soon elected to the state legislature and afterward to the lower house of congress, where he became a prominent national character. He also served two terms as governor of Maine. LIVER PERRY MORTON, a distinguished American statesman, was born in Wayne county, Indiana, August 4, 1823. His early education was by private teaching and a course at the Wayne County Seminary. At the age of twenty years he entered the Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, and at the end of two years quit the college, began the study of law in the office of John Newman, of Centerville, Indiana, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. Mr. Morton was elected judge on the Democratic ticket, in 1852, but on tht passage of the "Kansas-Nebraska Bill" he severed his connection with that party, and soon became a prominent leader of the Republicans. He was elected governor of Indiana in I86I, and as war governor became well known throughout the country. He received a paralytic stroke in I865, which partially deprived him of the use of his limbs. He was chosen to the United States senate from Indiana, in I867, and wielded great influence in that body until the time of his death, November I, I877. OHN B. GORDON, a brilliant Confederate officer and noted senator of the United States, was born in Upson county, Georgia, February 6, 1832. He graduated from the State University, studied law, and took up the practice of his profession. At the beginning of the war he entered the Confederate service as captain of infantry, and rapidly 216 C O2CIPENDIUMll OF BIO GRAPHr. rose to the rank of lieutenant-general, commanding one wing of the Confederate army at the close of the war. In I868 he was Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, and it is said was elected by a large majority, but his opponent was given the office. He was a delegate to the national Democratic conventions in I868 and 1872, and a presidential elector both years. In I873 he was elected to the United States senate. In I886 he was elected governor of Georgia, and re-elected in I888. He was again elected to the United States senate in 1890, serving until 1897, when he was succeeded by A. S. Clay. He was regarded as a leader of the southern Democracy, and noted for his fiery eloquence. QTEPHEN JOHNSON FIELD, an illustrious associate justice of the supreme court of the United States, was born at Haddam, Connecticut, November 4, i8i6, being one of the noted sons of Rev. D. D. Field. He graduated from Williams College in 1837, took up the study of law with his brother, David Dudley Field, becoming his partner upon admission to the bar. He went to California in I849, and at once began to take an active interest in the political affairs of that state. He was elected alcalde of Marysville, in I850, and in the autumn of the same year was elected to the state legislature. In 1857 he was elected judge of the supreme court of the state, and two years afterwards became its chief justice. In 1863 he was appointed by President Lincoln as associate justice of the supreme court of the United States. During his incumbency, in 1873, he was appointed by the governor of California one of a commission to examine the codes of the state and for the preparation of amendments to the same for submission to the legislature. f In 1877 he was one of the famous electoral commission of fifteen members, and voted as one of the seven favoring the election of Tilden to the presidency. In I880 a large portion of the Democratic party favored his nomination as candidate for the presidency. He retired in the fall of I897, having served a greater number of years on the supreme bench than any of his associates or predecessors, Chief Justice Marshall coming next in length of service. OHN T. MORGAN, whose services in the United States senate brought him into national prominence, was born in Athens, Tennessee, June 20, 1824. At the age of nine years he emigrated to Alabama, where he made his permanent home, and where he received an academic education. He then took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1845. He took a leading part in local politics, was a presidential elector in I860, casting his ballot for Breckenridge and Lane, and in I86I was a delegate to the state convention which passed the ordinance of secession. In May, of the same year, he joined the Confederate army as a private in Company I, Cahawba Rifles, and was soon after made major and then lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Regiment. In I862 he was commissioned colonel, and soon after made brigadier-general and assigned to the command of a brigade in Virginia. He resigned to join his old regiment whose colonel had been killed. He was soon afterward again made brigadier-general and given command of the brigade that included his regiment. After the war he returned to the practice of law, and continued it up to the time of his election to the United States senate, iv I877. He was a presidential elector in I876, and cast his vote for Tilden and Hendricks C OMPEVNDIUlI OF BIO GRA PHtl. 217 He was re-elected to the senate in 1883, and again in 1889, and I895. His speeches and the measures he introduced, marked as they were by an intense Americanism, brought him into national prominence. W ILLIAM McKINLEY,the twenty-fifth president of the United States, was born at Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, January 29, I844. He was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and received his early education in a Methodist academy in the small village of Poland, Ohio. At the outbreak of the war Mr. McKinley was teaching school, earning twenty-five dollars per month. As soon as Fort Sumter was fired upon he enlisted in a company that was formed in Poland, which was inspected and mustered in by General John C. Fremont, who at first objected to Mr. McKinley, as being too young, but upon examination he was finally accepted. Mr. McKinley was seventeen when the war broke out but did not look his age. He served in the Twenty-third Ohio Infantry throughout the war, was promoted from sergeant to captain, for good conduct on the field, and at the close of the war, for meritorious services, he was brevetted maior. After leaving the army Major McKinley took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar, and in I869 he took his initiation into politics, being elected prosecuting attorney of his county as a Republican, although the district was usually Democratic. In I876 he was elected to congress, and in a call upon the President-elect, Mr. Hayes, to whom he went for advice upon the way he should shape his career, he was told that to achieve fame and success he must take one special line and stick to it. Mr. McKinley chose tariff legislation and he became an authority in regard to import duties. He was a member of congress for many years, became chairman of the ways and means committee, and later he advocated the famous tariff bill that bore his name, which was passed in 1890. In the next election the Republican party was overwhelmingly defeated through the country, and the Democrats secured more than a two thirds majority in the lower house, and also had control of the senate, Mr. McKinley being defeated in his own district by a small majority. He was elected governor of Ohio in 1891 by a plurality of twenty-one thousand, five hundred and eleven, and two years later he was re-elected by the still greater plurality of eighty thousand, nine hundred and ninety-five. He was a delegate-at-large to the Minneapolis Re, publican convention in 1892, and was instructed to support the nomination of Mr. Harrison. He was chairman of the con, vention, and was the only man from Ohio to vote for Mr. Harrison upon the roll call. In November, 1892, a number of prominent politicians gathered in New York to discuss the political situation, and decided that the result of the election had put an end to McKinley and McKinleyism. But in less than four years from that date Mr. McKinley was nominated for the presidency against the combined opposition of half a dozen rival candidates. Much of the credit for his success was due to Mark A. Hanna, of Cleveland, afterward chairman of the Republican national committee. At the election which occurred in November, 1896, Mr. McKinley was elected president of the United States by an enormous majority, on a gold standard and protective tariff platform. He was inaugurated on the 4th of March, I897, and called a special session of congress, to which was submitted a bill for tariff reform, which was passed in the latter part of July of that vear. 218 C O8MPENNIDIUMI OF BIO GRA PHT. C INCINNATUS HEINE MILLER, known in the literary world as Joaquin Miller, "the poet of the Sierras," was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1841. When only about thirteen years of age he ran away from home and went to the mining regions in California and along the Pacific coast. Some time afterward he was taken prisoner by the Modoc Indians and lived with them for five years. He learned their language and gained great influence with them, fighting in their wars, and in all modes of living became as one of them. In 1858 he left the Indians and went to San Francisco, where he studied law, and in I86o was admitted to the bar in Oregon. In I866 he was elected a county judge in Oregon and served four years. Early in the seventies he began devoting a good deal of time to literary pursuits, and about I874 he settled in Washington, D. C. He wrote many poems and dramas that attracted considerable attention and won him an extended reputation. Among his productions may be mentioned "Pacific Poems," " Songs of the Sierras," "Songs of the Sun Lands," " Ships in the Desert," " Adrianne, a Dream of Italy," "'Danites, "''Unwritten History," "First Families of the Sierras " (a novel), "One Fair Woman " (a novel), " Songs of Italy," "Shadows of Shasta," "The GoldSeekers of the Sierras," and a number of others. GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT, a noted music publisher and composer, was born in Sheffield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on August 30, 1820. While working on his father's farm he found time to learn, unaided, several musical instruments, and in his eighteenth year he went to Boston, where he soon found employment as a teacher of music. From 1839 until 1844 he gave instructions in music in the public schools of that city, and was also director of music in two churches. Mr. Root then went to New York and taught music in the various educational institutions of the city. He went to Paris in I850 and spent one year there in study, and on his return he published his first song, "Hazel Dell." It appeared as the work of "Wurzel," which was the German equivalent of his name. He was the originator of the normal musical institutions, and when the first one was started in New York he was one of the faculty. He removed to Chicago, Illinois, in I86o, and established the firm of Root & Cady, and engaged in the publication of music. He received, in 1872, the degree of " Doctor of Music" from the University of Chicago. After the war the firm became George F. Root & Co., of Cincinnati and Chicago. Mr. Root did much to elevate the standard of music in this country by his compositions and work as a teacher. Besides his numerous songs he wrote a great deal of sacred music and published many collections of vocal and instrumental music. For many years he was the most popular song writer in America, and was one of the greatest song writers of the war. He is also well-known as an author, and his work in that line comprises: ' Methods for the Piano and Organ," "Handbook on Harmony Teaching," and innumerable articles for the musical press. Among his many and most popular songs of the war time are: " Rosalie, the Prairie-flower," " Battle Cry of Freedom," "Just Before the Battle," "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching,"" 'The Old Folks are Gone," "A Hundred Years Ago," "Old Potomac Shore," and "There's Music in the Air." Mr. Root's cantatas include "The Flower Queen" and "The Haymakers." He died in I896. (Conservlolr's Repolrt lcinlev listorical.iirariv Title (iratiot County/Michigan/Beers Received: Book bound with tunnel-hack style hindini ('over was full leather. I.eather was abraded. Joints were shaken. Boards were loose. Ifeadhbandts were irIO;I Book was sewn all along over recessed cords. Sewing was sound. Boards wert o( solid binder's board. Treatment: Disbound book. Paste washed spine. Overcast new endsheets. Added new machine-woven headbands. Lined the spine. Rebound in new cover of 1/4 1lealc with cloth sides. Materials: Talas wheat paste. Jade #834-403N PVA adhesive. Barhours lincil irc.Jd PROMATCO heavy duty endsheet paper. Machine-woven headbands. Backing flannel. Davey "Red Label" binder's board. Niger goatskin. Pyroxylin-imnprellatcdJ cotton text cloth. 23K gold. Date work completed: November, 2001 Signe LJts.Vj,.raven and Diana Borel I I 0-0 7WI,~ 7A.,-q ~~~~~AV ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~IOR~T