Cass County Michigan Biographies
From The History of Cass County by GloverPage B
ARTHUR E. BAILEY
BAILY, KIRBY, SMITH, STOCKDALEArthur E. Bailey, editor and proprietor of the Marcellus News, was born in Liverpool, Medina county, Ohio, in 1864, his parents being James E. and Hannah Sophia (Kirby) Bailey, both of whom were natives of the Buckeye state. The father was of English lineage, was a wagon maker by trade and died three years after the birth of our subject, passing away in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was a consistent member. His wife, who was also of English lineage, survived her husband for but a brief period. She was a member of the Baptist church. In their family were a daughter and a son, the former, Alice, being a resident of Marcellus.
The son, Arthur E. Bailey, largely acquired his education in the schools of Cassopolis, for his mother removed to the vicinity of that city after her husband's death, and the children were reared by relatives. He mastered the branches taught in the high school of that place, after which he learned the printer's trade in the office of the Vigilant of Cassopolis, under the direction of Messrs. Shepard & Mansfield. He entered the office in the capacity of "devil" and gradually worked his way upward until he had become manager of the paper. He was appointed postmaster at Cassopolis under President Harrison, holding the position for four and a half years as a successor of L. H. Glover. After retiring from that position he purchased the Marcellus News of C. E. Davis and is now its editor and proprietor. The paper was founded in 1877 and at present is a six-column quarto, published weekly. It has a large circulation, has a good advertising patronage, is a non-partisan sheet and is ably edited.
In October, 1892, Mr. Bailey was married to Miss Fanchon Stockdale, who was born in Jefferson township, Cass county, in February 1872, and is a daughter of Anthony and Jeanette (Smith)Stockdale. Her father was one of the pioneer settlers of Jefferson township. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have two children: Agnes, who was born in August, 1893; and Harold, born in July, 1896. The parents are consistent and faithful members of the Baptist church, in the work of which Mr. Bailey takes a very active part and is now serving as one of its officers. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and in politics is a Republican. He has held village offices in Marcellus and is now serving as a trustee. He is the champion of everything pertaining to the welfare and upbuilding of this part of the state, and his efforts in behalf of public improvement in Marcellus have been far-reaching and beneficial.
Typed by Darwina Michael
CHARLES G. BANKS
BANKS, DUNBAR, NORTON, OSMERIn the death of Charles G. Banks, Cass county lost one of her most prominent and useful citizens. He was numbered among the early settlers of Cassopolis, and was a citizen whom to know was to respect and honor because of his worth and ability. He was born in Chenango county, New York, on the 13th of January, 1825, a son of Walter O. and Polly (Dunbar) Banks. The father's birth occurred on the Hudson river at New Baltimore, New York, in 1792, and his father, Adam Banks, was a native of Germany. Both Adam and Walter O. Banks were ship builders. The latter was married to Miss Polly Dunbar, who was born in Saratoga, New York, in 1794, and was a daughter of Nehemiah Dunbar. At the time of their marriage the young couple settled near McDonough in Chenango county, New York,in 1813, and Mr. Banks built there a log house, in which his family of ten children were born, including Walter O. Banks, who was the fifth son. The rafters of the log house were round poles from the wood. There was not a sawmill within a distance of forty miles. When removing from the old house, Walter O. Banks blocked out and made a can from a rafter, which he gave to his son, Charles G. This was in 1860 and the cane is still in the possession of the family. Many interesting incidents of pioneer times were related, and Mr. Banks often told a humorous story concerning Ben Wilson, who he said used to drive across the country from the Otselic to the Chenango river, a distance of forty miles, making the journey with a heavy wagon, following a road that was made by blazing trees. The wolves and bears would sometimes follow him, and Mr. Banks related that one time when alone, in his dilemma to keep the wolves out of his wagon, he began singing a song, which was all that was necessary to make the animals leave.
Charles G. Banks was reared in the place of his nativity and was educated in the common and select schools, studying for a time under Mrs. Warren at Macedonia, New York. On leaving that institution he became a student in Oxford Academy, from which he was graduated in the class of 1841. He worked in order to pay his tuition and roomed with a young man, the two boarding themselves. Thus he pursued his college education, and on the completion of the course he made his way westward to Cassopolis, where he engaged in teaching school for several years. It was his intention to build an academy, but on account of ill health he had to abandon his work as an educator. He taught in the district, select and high schools for eight years, and proved a capable teacher, whose ability was widely recognized by all who came under his instruction or know of his methods. In 1848 he began surveying, and was elected county surveyor about that time. The first survey he made was for his father-in-law, Pleasant Norton, in Jefferson township in the vicinity of Mud lake. The plat had forty-three angles. He surveyed the greater part of Cass county, and in this connecton accomplished an important work. He was elected many times as county surveyor, and followed the profession for a half century. No man was more familiar with the county than he, and it was said of him that he knew every crook and corner in Cass county. In 1854 he began keeping books for S. T. & L. R. Read, prominent merchants of Cassopolis, with whom he remained for six years, during which time he frequently went with them to buy goods. He afterward went into business with John Tietsort, under the firm name of Banks and Tietsort, which connection was continued from 1863 to 1873. At a former date he had been associated in business with W. W. Peck for about three years, and after his retirement from commercial life in 1873 he gave his attention largely to surveying. He was without doubt the best informed man on section corners and old survey lines in Cass county. He wrote a fine record and possessed a memory that enabled him to recall and repeat with accuracy early events, and with all he was an honest, upright man. In all of his business transactions he was successful, and as the years passed accumulated a comfortable competence.
On the 14th of November, 1850, Mr. Banks was united in marriage to Miss Amanda Norton, the second daughter of Pleasant Norton. She was born December 22, 1831, in Champaign county, Ohio, and was brought to Michigan by her aunt, Mattie Norton, when she was six months old, the journey being made on a pony to Jefferson township, Cass county. Mrs. Banks remained a lifelong resident of this county, and passed away September 4, 1893. She had become the mother of three children: James K., who is now cashier of the First National Bank of Sheldon, North Dakota; Emma J., the wife of M. L. Howell, a prominent attorney of Cassopolis, whom she married October 11, 1870; and Cora L., who on the 4th of September, 1886, became the wife of Alfred T. Osmer.
Mr. Banks was in former years identified with the Democratic party, but afterward usually voted for temperance men. He served as township superintendent of schools, township clerk and always took an active and helpful interest in public affairs. His death occurred at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Cora L. Osmer, in Dowagiac, where he had been living about a year, June 11, 1906, after an illness of long standing. The body was brought to Cassopolis and placed by the side of his wife in Prospect Hill cemetery. He had a very wide acquaintance in the county, where he had resided almost continuously since the fall of 1844, covering a period of about sixty-two years. He was therefore a witness of almost its entire development and assisted in the work of transition as pioneer conditions were replaced by the evidences of an advanced civilization and modern prosperity.
Typed by Darwina Michael
ANDREW BARNHART
BARNHART, SHOEMAKER, FRAZE, GREENAndrew Barnhart is one of the old settlers of Cass county now living on Section 18, Silver Creek township. many are the changes that have occurred since he took up his abode in this portion of the state and the traveler of today can scarcely realize that it has been within only a few decades that this county was covered with a dense growth of forest trees and that the work of clearing and developing had scarcely been begun. Mr. Barnhart is moreover one of the most venerable citizens of the county, having reached the eighty-fourth milestone on life’s journey. He was born in Preble county, Ohio, about 1822 and was one of a family of ten children, six sons and four daughters, who were born of the marriage of David and Sarah (Shoemaker) Barnhart, both of whom were natives of Indiana, while their respective parents were of German birth. Both Mr. and Mrs. David Barnhart lived to a good old age and all of their ten children grew to years of maturity, although but one sister of our subject is now living, Mrs. Hulda Young, who yet resides in Preble county, Ohio.
Andrew Barnhart remained at home during his boyhood and youth and assisted in the farm work. His education was received in a log schoolhouse in Preble county and he attended school for only a brief period during the winter months, while during the remainder of the year he worked at farm labor, taking his place in the fields at the time of early spring planting and continuing to assist in their cultivation until the crops were harvested in the late autumn. Farm work was also more difficult than at the present time, for the machinery was crude and much of the labor was done by hand. Mr. Barnhart started out in life on his own account at the age of twenty-one years, coming to Michigan on foot. He made his way direct to Cass county and settled in Silver Creek township, where he purchased the farm upon which he now lives, paying two dollars per acre for a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, which was all covered with trees. In the midst of the green trees he began clearing the land. There were no improvements whatever upon the place and he had to cut down the timer and grub out the stumps before he could plow and plant the fields. His first home was a little log cabin about sixteen by sixteen feet and containing only one room. When he had made arrangements for having a home of his own he returned to Ohio and was married in Preble county to Miss Mary Ann Fraze, who was born in Preble county, Ohio. He returned to Cass county with a team and wagon bringing his bride. He also drove two cows. In true pioneer style the young couple began their domestic life together, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its adversity and prosperity, but in 1891 Mr. Barnhart was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 28th of January of that year. They had no children of their own but adopted three: William Mott, who died at the age of thirteen years; Mrs. Sarah E. Strackangast, also deceased; and Mary E. Fraze, who is the only one now living. She was born in Winchester, Indiana, and is the wife of C. A. Green. They reside upon the homestead with Mr. Barnhart.
From the age of twenty-one years to the present time Mr. Barnhart has continuously been a resident of Cass county and is therefore numbered among it pioneer settlers. He is now the owner of one hundred and eighty acres of good land which he rents. He started out in life practically empty-handed but he possessed strong determination and unfaltering enterprise and upon this as a foundation has builded [sic] his success. After working for a time at farm labor he was enabled to make purchase of his land at the very low price at which property sold in those days, and through the intervening years he has improved his farm, converting it into a valuable place. As the years have gone by he has prospered in his undertakings and is now in comfortable financial circumstances. Such a life record should serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others, showing what my be accomplished by unfaltering energy, diligence and perseverance. For long years he gave his political allegiance to the Republican party, but because of his pronounced views on the temperance question and his belief that it is one of the dominant issues before the people, he joined the ranks of the Prohibition party, and has since done all in his power to promote its growth and insure its success. He has for many years been a member of the Christian church, has served for a long period as one of its elders, and has labored effectively and earnestly for the interests of the denomination. His life has indeed been honorable and upright, characterized by devotion to those principles which work for righteousness, justice and truth, and now in the evening of his days he can look back over the past without regret, knowing that he has never taken advantage of the necessities of his fellowmen in any business transaction favored any movement or measure that would prove detrimental to his town or county. He has on the contrary supported all plans for the public good and is justly classed with the representative, respected and honored pioneer citizens of Silver Creek township.
Typed by Carol Foss
E. W. BECKWITH
BECKWITH, LEE, SULLIVANE. W. Beckwith, formerly engaged in merchandising, but now devoting his attention to farming on section 14, Jefferson township, represents one of the pioneer families of this part of the state, the name of Beckwith having been interwoven with the history of the county from 1833 down to the present time. It has always stood as a synonym for business integrity and for loyalty in citizenship, and the record of our subject is in harmony with that of others of the name. He was born in Cassopolis, Michigan, October 12, 1847. His father Walter G. Beckwith, was a native of West Bloomfield, New York, and came to Cass county, Michigan, about 1833. Few settlements had been made in this portion of the state at the time, and as far as the eye could see there were uncut forests and uncultivated tracts of prairie. Only here and there had a clearing been made to show that the work of agricultural development had begun, while the now thriving cities were but small villages, or had not yet sprung into existence. Mr. Beckwith took an active part in molding the early public policy of the county. He was one of the first sheriffs and his activity touched many lines that have led to permanent improvement and benefit here. He was president of the State Agricultural Society for about fourteen years, a position which was indicative of the place which he held as a representative of farming interests and of the high regard reposed in him by his fellow agriculturists throughout Michigan. Far sighted, he extended his time and energies not only to his business affairs but to public interests as well, and his efforts were far reaching and beneficial. He voted with the Democracy, and he kept well informed, not only on political questions, but upon all issues and events relating to the progress and welfare of the country at large. In early manhood he wedded Miss Eliza Lee, a native of West Bloomfield, New York. She lived to be about sixty-five years of age, while Mr. Beckwith reached the advanced age of seventy-six years. They were the parents of only two children, who reached adult age, and E. W. Beckwith, of this review, is now the only surviving member of the family.
Upon the old homestead farm in Jefferson township E. W. Beckwith became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. His early education was acquired in the district schools and was supplemented by study in the Kalamazoo Baptist College. In 1868 he established a shoe store at Dowagiac, in which he continued for ten years, or until 1878, since which time his attention has been given in undivided manner to his farm pursuits. He has ever labored to produce maximum results with minimum effort, which is the basis of all business success.
In 1870 Mr. Beckwith was united in marriage to Miss Clara Sullivan, who died leaving two sons: Charles, an electrician engaged in business in Cleveland, Ohio; and Walter, at home.
Mr. Beckwith was reared in the faith of the Democracy, and his mature judgment has led him to the belief that the party platform contains the best elements of good government. He has labored earnestly for its success and has filled a number of local offices, acting for eighteen years as superintendent of the poor. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and in that order and throughout the county as well he is esteemed as a valued citizen, whose interest in public affairs has been of an active and helpful nature. His co-operation can always be counted upon to further any movement for the general good of the community.
Typed by Linda Curry
PHILO D. BECKWITH
BECKWITH, SCOTTAt the time of his death in 1889 Philo D. Beckwith had given Dowagiac its two most important industries--the drill works and the stove works. He had given them to the city and the world in the sense that he had invented them. But it was even a greater accomplishment when he established the manufacture of the perfected machinery on a permanent business basis. It is the privilege of few small cities to possess institutions of national fame. To say that "Dowagiac is the home of the Round Oak stove" would establish an immediate relationship between many thousands of homes and this little city in the valley of Dowagiac creek. To the millions who dwell beyond the range of Dowagiac's influence as a city, there comes an increasing association of the name of city with name of Round Oak stoves and furnaces. In so far as Dowagiac's development is the result of her largest industry--and citizens never fail to ascribe first place to the stove works in the factors of upbuilding--the late Mr. Beckwith was a founder of the city. Thirty-five years of unremitting industry and business judgment and application of singular inventive genius built a business that is as inseparable from Dowagiac's prosperity as the railroad itself.
The history of the origin and growth of the Round Oak works and Mr. Beckwith's early labors and struggles in establishing his manufacturing enterprises here is recounted in the general history of manufacturing on other pages. It is hoped that in this article the biographer may weave together the details of a life which meant so much for Dowagiac and the world and satisfy the interest which is everywhere felt in the career of a successful man.
When Mr. Beckwith came to Dowagiac in 1854, only half a dozen years after the founding of the village and when the manufacturing along the banks of the creek and the few stores on Front street contained in themselves little promise of the future, he himself had hardly made a fair start on his career, although he was nearly thirty years of age and doubtless had stored up in mind and body the possiblities of the future. His early life could hardly be described as years of opportunity. Although a descendant of New England ancestors whose names were associated with events since the landing on Plymouth Rock, he was not born in affluence, and New England hardihood and rugged honesty and thrift were a full total of his inheritance. He was born in 1825, in what is now the town of Eagle in Wyoming county, New York. A few years later his father died, leaving to the widowed mother the care and bringing up of the son and a younger sister. It was hard labor with the needle by which she endeavored to eke out her slender means and provide for herself and children til they should be self-supporting. Under such circumstances, and the opportunities of public school education not yet having been supplied in that part of New York, the son Philo lacked the training which we now consider essential to the introduction of boys into serious life.
At the age of fourteen he began work in a woolen mill at Eagle, owned by a maternal uncle. He learned a great deal about the business during the next two years, but received little pay. He then went to live with another uncle, near the city of Rochester, and here had the good fortune of attending a district school several months. Many successful men have made such a brief period of education worth as much as an entire college course. Though his school days ended there, the development of his mental culture and appreciation of the world and the best in it continued all his years. As his keen business instinct led him step by step to material success, so he was noted for his thorough valuation of men and affairs, and his culture was of the practical kind that is entirely foreign to the superficial veneer laid on by academic training.
Mr. Beckwith was eighteen years old when he married Miss Catherine Scott, a girl who was also born and brought up at Eagle, New York, and who was his companion and helper throughout the struggles of his early career and the success of later years. In 1844 Mr. Beckwith and wife became residents of Michigan. He became a journeyman in a woolen mill at Battle Creek and later became a workman in a machine shop. Practical in his ideas, thrifty and always looking to future advancement, he managed, from wages of a dollar a day, to save six hundred dollars as the basis for subsequent enterprises. When he came to Dowagiac in 1854 he had this amount of capital and the accumulated skill and experience of the previous years. It is a well-known story, and told in detail on other pages, how Mr. Beckwith built his first small foundry on Front street, and with one assistant began making plows and doing general repair work, at first relying on horse power to run the machinery; how he next developed the water power on the creek and with the first manufacture of a primitive form of the roller grain drill entered upon the first series of the larger manufacturing with which his name and efforts were thereafter associated; how he invented and after many discouragements succeeded in making a market for a new type of stove, which, in all its later improvements for durability and general excellence has not been surpassed; and finally how his factory was removed to its present site and has grown and been enlarged to a mammoth business institution, which, under the title of "P. D. Beckwith Estate" is a worthy monument to the life and work of any man. But that this city might not lose the memory of the man in the material and present business of which he was the founder, his grateful family erected and dedicated to his memory, in January, 1893, the beautiful Beckwith Memorial Theatre, where the expression of art and the uplifting influences of life may always be encouraged, thus beautifully linking the aspirations for the artistic and noble with the results of material and practical accomplishment. The theatre, as one of the important institutions of Dowagiac, has been described on other pages. It is not inapt in this connection to quote some of the sentences with which Col. R. G. Ingersoll dedicated the building to its worthy uses, in memory of one "who lived and labored here and left to those who knew him best the memory of countless loving deeds--the richest legacy that man can leave to man. We are met to dedicate this monument to the memory of Philo D. Beckwith, one of the kings of men. This monument, this perfect theatre, this beautiful home of cheerfulness and joy, this home and child of all the arts, this theatre where the architect, the sculptor and the painter united to build and decorate the stage whereon the drama, with a thousand tongues, will tell the frailties and the virtues of the human race and where music with its thrilling voice will teach the source of happiness--this is a fitting monument to a man whose memory we honor and one who had outgrown the cruel creeds and heartless dogmas of his time, one who had passed from superstition to science, from religion to reason, from slavery to freedom, from the shadow of fear to the light of knowledge, and to one whose heart and hands were in partnership, constituting the firm of intelligence and industry, and whose heart divided the profits with his fellowmen; to one who fought the battle of his life alone and whose heart grew nobler and gentler with success; to one who tried to make a heaven here, who believed in the blessed gospel of cheerfulness, of happy lives, of laughter and love."
In the strong light thrown by his business career and his personal character it is hardly necessary to mention, what will be found stated on other pages, that Mr. Beckwith was closely identified with many matters of citizenship and community interest--as mayor of his city in which he took deepest interest, as a school official, as head of the library association and donor of the lot on which the public library stands, and in all movements during his lifetime which affected the progress of his city. He wrought not for the present years nor for his lifetime, but his life work will remain the cornerstone of Dowagiac when much that now seems enduring has passed entirely away.
Typed by Darwina Michael
J. O. BECRAFT
BECRAFT, BELKNAP, WALLACE, BRITTONJ. O. Becraft, postmaster of Dowagiac and secretary of the Round Oak Stove Company, was born April 27, 1850, in the city in which he yet makes his home. His father, Isaiah S. Becraft, was a native of New York and came to Cass county, Michigan, in 1848, as one of the first settlers of Dowagiac. He was connected with mercantile interests here for many years and contributed in a substantial measure to the material progress and to the upbuilding and advancement of the city. He held many offices and was one of the prominent and influential residents of Dowagiac. At the time of his death, which occurred in 1864, he was serving as deputy provost marshal and special agent for the United States secret service. In politics he was a stalwart Republican from the organization of the party and fraternally was a prominent Mason, who exemplified in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. His death occurred when he was fifty-two years of age. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Caroline Wallace, was a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of James and Betsy (Belknap) Wallace. Mrs. Becraft lived to the advanced age of seventy-two years. In their family were seven children, six of whom reached adult age.
J. O. Becraft is the third child and second son of the family. He was reared in Dowagiac and pursued his education in the schools of this city. He started out upon his business career as a clerk in a grocery store and spent about two and a half years as station agent at Cassopolis and a similar period at Dowagiac. He afterward accepted a clerical position in the post office here and later became assistant postmaster, which position he capably filled for many years. He was first appointed postmaster by Benjamin Harrison, was re-appointed by President McKinley and is now serving for the third term in that office by appointment of President Roosevelt. The consensus of public opinion is altogether favorable concerning the service which he has rendered in this connection, for he has given a businesslike administration, has systematized the affairs of the office and care and promptness are exercised in the performance of all the duties connected with the care of the mails.
Aside from his official service, Mr. Becraft has been identified with business interests in Dowagiac. For about fifteen years he has been connected with the P. D. Beckwith Stove Company and is now acting as secretary of the company, the business being carried on under the style of the round Oak Stove Company. He is also a stockholder in the Farmers & Merchants Bank at Benton Harbor and the Lee Paper Company at Vicksburg, Michigan. His business investments have been well placed and are the source of a gratifying and desirable income.
Mr. Becraft was married in 1870 to Miss Harriet H. Britton, and they have one son, Fred E., who is now assistant postmaster. Mr. Becraft belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp, to the Elks lodge, and is a Mason, a Knight Templar and a Shriner. In his political views he has always been a stalwart Republican, and in addition to the office of postmaster he has served as city recorder for fifteen years, was a secretary of the school board for sixteen years and has filled other offices, to which he has been called by a constituency who recognize that according to the merit system he is entitled to the offices and well deserves the honor and trust thus reposed in him. He is today the oldest native citizen of Dowagiac and one of it most prominent residents.
Typed by Carol Foss
BRUCE BEEBE
BEEBE, YOUNG, LUTES, SATTERLIE, SCHOFIELD, SWEET, MOORE, BONDBruce Beebe is an honored veteran of the Civil war and a citizen well worthy of representation in the history of Marcellus and Cass county, because he displays many sterling traits of character and the qualifications of good citizenship as well. He was born in Huron county, Ohio, August 27, 1840, and has been a resident of Marcellus since the spring of 1848, when he came to Michigan with his parents, Roswell R. and Mary (Young) Beebe. The father was a native of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, born on the 3d of November, 1806. He accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio. Both his father and mother were natives of Connecticut, were of English descent and were representatives of ancestry that was connected with New England history from early colonial days. When a young lad Roswell R. Beebe accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio, where he was reared and married. He devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits, thus providing for his family. His political allegiance was given to the Whig party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the new Republican party, continuing one of its stanch supporters until his death in April, 1893. He had for more than a half century survived his wife, who passed away in 1840, when her son was only two weeks old. The father afterward married again. He had three children by his first marriage and two by the second, and the family record is as follows: Gideon T., now living in Marcellus; Sally Lee, deceased; Bruce, of this review; Byron R., who is also living in Marcellus; and Mrs. Wealthy Currier, who is also living in Marcellus.
As previously stated, Bruce Beebe was a lad of eight years when he came with his father to Michigan. There was no village on the present site of Marcellus, the entire tract being covered with the natural forest growth. The family home was established on section I, Marcellus township, on a farm of two hundred and sixty acres, from sixty acres of which the timber had been cut. Upon that farm Bruce Beebe aided in the arduous task of further developing the land and bringing it under a high state of cultivation. He shared in all the work of the fields and after he had attained his majority continued to engage in general agricultural pursuits. He resided upon the old home place until September, 1897, when he removed to the village of Marcellus. He still owns, however, eighty acres of the farm and his brother, Byron R., also owns eighty acres of it. Bruce Beebe likewise has two acres within the corporation limits of Marcellus, and has a good residence which he erected. His entire life throughout his business career has been devoted to general farming pursuits with the exception of three years which were spent in the army.
It was on the 11th of August, 1862, that Mr. Beebe, prompted by a spirit of patriotism and loyalty, tendered his services to the government and became a member of Company D, Twenty-fifth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, under command of Colonel Orlando H. Moore. He participated in various important engagements, including the battles of Mumfordsville, Kingston, Tennessee, Mossy Creek, Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face, Georgia, Resaca, Cassville, Ottawa River, Altoona, Pine Mountain, Lost Mountain, Culp Farm, Kenesaw, Atlanta, East Point, Otter Creek, the siege of Atlanta and the battles of Jonesboro, Rome and Cedar Bluff. He was thus in many hotly contested engagements and was often in the thickest of the fight, never faltering in the performance of any military duty assigned him, whether it called him to the firing line or stationed him on the lonely picket line. After about three years war service he became ill and was sent to the hospital, from which he was discharged on the 31st of March, 1865. He then rejoined his regiment and was discharged from the army after the close of the war, on the 26th of June, 1865, being at that time in North Carolina. He returned home with a most creditable military record, and he deserves the credit and praise which should ever be bestowed upon the loyal soldier who defended the Union.
On the 11th of October, 1869, Mr. Beebe was married to Miss Gertrude Lutes, who was born in Marcellus, October 11, 1851, a daughter of William H. Lutes. Her father married Mrs. Eugene Satterlie, who was a widow and bore the maiden name of Schofield. She was a native of New York. Mr. Lutes arrived in Michigan in 1844, and they were married in this state. Both died in Cass county, Mr. Lutes at the age of eighty-one years, while his wife passed away when fifty-eight years of age. He was born in Wayne county, New York, October 30, 1824, and died in Marcellus, March 26, 1906. When twenty years of age he removed with his parents to Cass County and largely made his home in the vicinity of Marcellus from that time until his death. When twenty-four years of age he married Mrs. Eugene Satterlie, who died September 7, 1884, and on the 16th of October, 1888, he wedded Mrs. Emily Sweet, who survives him. He was the father of two children, both of whom are living, John and Mrs. Beebe. He also had an adopted daughter, Mrs. Hattie Moore, now of Chicago. An earnest Christian man he joined the United Brethren church in early life, and some years afterward he united with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was ever afterward a devoted and faithful member. At the time of the Civil war, his sympathy being with the Union cause, he offered his services to the government but was rejected. In connection with Mr. Kester and Joseph Cromley he planted the three trees in front of the Methodist Episcopal church, which add so much to its beauty.
Unto Mr. And Mrs. Beebe have been born a son and daughter: William R., who is living upon his father's farm and is married and has one child, Olin; and Grace K., the wife of Edward Bond, a resident of Marcellus. The family is widely and favorably known in this part of the county, Mr. Beebe having long been a worthy and prominent representative of agricultural interests. In politics he is a Republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. In times of peace he has been as faithful to his country as when he followed the old flag upon southern battlefields, and in military service and in private life has made a creditable record.
Typed by Barbara O'Reagan
ALONZO P. BEEMAN
BEEMAN, LIBHART, BOGERT, O'CONNOR, POE, GUY, WALTZAlonzo P. Beeman is a worthy and successful representative of agricultural interests, who has long been identified therewith in Cass county. He owns here a valuable property and in its control and management displays excellent business ability and keen foresight. Moreover he deserves mention in this volume because of the active and helpful part which he has taken in matters of public interest, serving on various occasions in office, the duties of which he has performed with faithfulness, ability and fidelity. He now resides on section 14, Newberg township. His birthplace was in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, his natal day being February 6, 1841. His father, Myram Beeman, was a native of New York and was a son of Gideon Beeman, whose birth occurred in Connecticut and who was of English descent, the family having been established in America in colonial days. In the state of his nativity Myram Beeman was reared and educated, and throughout his entire life followed the occupation of farming. He was married in New York to Miss Lucena Libhart, also a native of New York, and of German descent, her father having been born in Germany, while his death occurred during the infancy of his daughter. Myram Beeman removed from the Empire state to Pennsylvania about 1835, and there resided for twenty-two years, when in 1857 he came to Michigan, settling in Cass county. Here he also carried on farming and his death occurred in Newberg township when he was seventy-nine years of age. He held membership in the United Brethren church and was one of the ministers of that denomination. His acquaintance was a very wide and favorable one and his influence was ever a potent element for good in the communities where he lived. He stood for justice, truth and right under all circumstances, and by example as well as by precept taught the nobler principles which elevate mankind. His wife also passed away in Newberg township, being in her ninetieth year at the time she was called to her final rest. In their family were eight sons and two daughters, and of that number eight reached years of maturity, while six are now living, being residents of various sections of the country.
Alonzo P. Beeman is the only one now residing in Cass county. He is the seventh son and eighth child in the family. His early youth was spent in the state of his nativity, and he is indebted to the public school system of New York for the educational privileges which he enjoyed and which prepared him for life's practical and responsible duties. When a youth of fifteen years, it being necessitous that he provide for his own support, he started out to make his way in the world, and chose the west as the scene of his labors. Accordingly in 1856 he made his way to Centerville, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and in the fall of the same year came to Newberg township, Cass county. Here he worked at the carpenter's trade and assisted in building many houses in the township at an early day. In 1863, in response to the country's call for troops, he enlisted for service in the Union army as a private of Company G, Nineteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and served throughout the remainder of the war with patriotic ardor and undiminished loyalty. He was wounded in the left side at the battle of Resaca, and was in the hospital for eight months, but as soon as possible returned to his regiment and served until the close of the war. He participated in many prominent battles which led up to the final victory that crowned the Union arms, and was always faithful to his duty under all circumstances. When the war was over he participated in the grand review at Washington, D.C., the most celebrated military pageant ever seen on the western hemisphere, where thousands of soldiers of the Union army marched by the reviewing stand on which stood the president and other high officials of the land, greeting the return of the victorious troops.
Mr. Beeman received an honorable discharge at Jackson, Michigan, on the 5th of August, 1865, and immediately afterward returned to his home in Cass county. He soon purchased a farm in Newberg township which he cultivated for about two years and then sold. In 1867 he removed to Kansas, where he remained for a short time, after which he returned to Newberg township, Cass county. Here he purchased a farm upon which he has since resided, his residence here covering more than a third of a century. There were no improvements upon the place when he took possession, but he has wrought a marked change in its appearance by adding good buildings, well kept fences, by tilling the soil and otherwise carrying on the farm work along modern, progressive lines. The place comprises one hundred and sixty acres of good land, which responds readily to the care and cultivation which he bestows upon it, the fields yielding golden harvests in return for the work which he puts thereon.
Before leaving for the front at the time of the Civil war Mr. Beeman was married on the 14th of October, 1862, to Miss Nancy V. Bogert, a daughter of Thomas Bogert, and a native of Adrian, Michigan. She was brought to Cass county when but seven years of age and her girlhood days were passed in Newberg township. Unto this marriage have been born five children: Annie, the wife of Wiley Russie; Lewis, who married Ida O'Connor and is now living in Newberg township; Stella, the wife of Sherman Poe, a resident of St. Joseph county, Michigan; Alonzo Guy, who married Lura Waltz and is living in Newberg township; and Ned, at home.
Mr. Beeman is a stalwart Republican, believing firmly in the principles of his party, and he has been active in its support, doing all in his power to secure its success. His fellow townsmen have rewarded him for his party fealty by electing him to various positions of public honor and trust, the duties of which he has faithfully performed. He was township treasurer for two years, supervisor for fourteen consecutive years, and then resigned that office by reason of his election to the position of county treasurer in 1898. He served for two terms and was then re-elected in 1900, holding the office to the time limit, for no one is allowed to serve for more than two terms in this position. He then retired from the office as he had entered it -- with the confidence and good will of all concerned. He has been school director for eighteen years and the cause of education has found in him a warm friend. He is a member of May post, No. 65, G.A.R., at Jones, in which he has filled all of the chairs, including that of commander. In public office as well as in the field of battle he has displayed his loyalty to his country, and in an active life has portrayed those sterling traits of character which win success and at the same time gain the respect and trust of one's fellow men. Starting out in life on his own account when but fifteen years of age he has steadily advanced through his own well directed efforts and may well be termed a self-made man, for he has been both the architect and builder of his fortunes.
Typed by Barbara O'Reagan
HENRY C. BENSON
BENSON, WEED, ROOTS, BENNETT, ARNOLDHenry C. Benson makes his home on section 3, south Porter township, and was born December 11, 1845, on the farm where he now resides. His father, Joseph Benson, was a native of Livingston county, New York, and came to Michigan in 1843, making his way at once to Cass county and took up his abode upon the farm which is now owned and occupied by Henry C. Benson. He was married in Porter township in 1844 to Miss Harriet Weed, a daughter of Seth and Catherine Weed. Her father was for many years a justice of the peace and held the office of supervisor and other local positions, the duties of which were always promptly, faithfully and capably performed by him. He was a prominent man and teacher in the county and exerted a strong and beneficial influence for the intellectual development and moral progress of his locality, also upholding its legal and political status. Joseph Benson, for many years an enterprising and well known agriculturist of the county, died August 8, 1878, when sixty-six years of age. He was at one time a member of the Masonic fraternity and at all times exemplified in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. His wife long survived him, reaching the age of eighty-eight years. In their family were two sons, Henry C. and Joseph, the latter still a resident of Porter township.
Henry C. Benson spent the days of his boyhood and youth under the parental roof. He was educated in the common schools and for a short time continued his studies in South Bend, Indiana, becoming an apt student and readily mastering the common branches of learning. At the age of seventeen years he began teaching, which profession he followed successfully for five years in Cass, Berrien and St. Joseph counties. He was at the same time engaged in farming and fruit-growing, devoting the winter seasons to educational work, while the summer months were given to agricultural and horticultural pursuits.
January 23, 1881, Mr. Benson was united in marriage to Miss Martha V. Roots, a daughter of Windsor and Mary Ann (Bennett) Roots. Mrs. Benson was born December 5, 1862, in DeKalb county, Indiana, but was reared in Porter township, Cass county, and is the elder of two daughters. At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Benson began their domestic life upon the old homestead farm, living with his father and mother until they were called from this life. Two children grace the marriage of the younger couple, namely; Ida May, now the wife of Lewis Arnold, of Porter township; and Jennie D., who is at home.
Mr. Benson owns a farm of more than two hundred acres, which he is carrying on. He has placed his land under a high state of cultivation and annually harvests good crops as a reward for the care and labor he bestows upon the fields, and in addition to raising the cereals best adapted to soil and climate he also raises some stock, mostly, however, for his own use. He has a well improved place and a glance will serve to indicate to the passerby the progressive and practical methods of the owner. In his political adherence he has always been a stalwart Republican, interested in the party and its success and his investigation into the questions and issues of the day has led him to believe that the Republican platform contains the best elements of good government. He has been twice elected to the office of justice of the peace, his second term expiring in July, 1906. He has filled the position for eight years and has ever been fair and impartial in his movements, basing his decisions upon the law and the equity of the case. After serving as justice of the peace for eight years, he has been importuned by the best element to again assume the onerous position, and without a dissenting voice from any party, which speaks volumes for his integrity and manhood. He has been officially connected with the schools through a long period, serving on the school board for about nine years, and he belongs to the Grange. His entire life has been passed upon the farm which he yet owns and occupies, having lived here for sixty years. The place is endeared to him through the associations of his boyhood as well as those of later years, and the name of Benson has ever stood for progress along agricultural lines, in which regard Henry C. Benson fully sustains the reputation of the family.
Typed by Barbara O'Reagan