John H. May, the popular dealer in nursery stock and real estate, at No. 1261 South Division street, Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, December 2, 1850, a son of John and Katherine M. (Stout) May, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Pennsylvania, and both of German descent.

John May, the father, moved with his wife and children from Ohio to Logansport, Ind., in 1853, where they now live. Of the thirteen children born to this venerable couple, eight still survive, viz: Lewis E., foreman of the repair shop at Logansport, of the Logansport, Detroit & Eel River Railroad company; John H., the subject; William Franklin, a stone-

cutter and operating a business in marble at Logansport; Isabel, wife of William Buchanan and living near Star City, Pulaski county, Ind., George W., a farmer of Champaign county, Ill. ; Katherine, wife of William Enyart, of Logansport; Frederick R., a farmer near Star City, and Levina, wife of William Brown, also a farmer near Star City.

John H. May received his education in the public schools of Logansport, but under somewhat adverse circumstance, as, in the pioneer days of that now thriving city, he was obliged to walk two and half miles to reach a schoolhouse, was chased frequently by wolves en route, and was nine years old when he first attended. Later he supplemented this education by an attendance at the Logansport academy.

In 1870 Mr. May began earning his livelihood as a sewing machine agent, and was next employed for three years as a clerk in a hotel at LaFayette, Ind. In the fall of 1873, during the financial panic, he visited Denver, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne and other points in the far west, returned to LaFayette, and then made a trip south visiting St. Louis, Mo., etc. In the winter of 1874, be bought furs at Galveston, Texas, and in the Indian territory, for the southern branch of the Northwestern Fur company, drove a heavy dray for a wholesale house in New Orleans for three months, and then came north, via Cincinnati, to Circleville, Ohio, and was there married, on his twenty-fifth birthday, to Miss Elizabeth A. Huffer, a native of the town.

January 1, 1876, with his bride and his limited effects, he returned to Logansport and farmed his father’s place of 160 acres for a year, realizing an excellent crop. About this time the Indiana drainage law came into effect, and he secured contracts for making roads, ditches, etc., under this law, and this engaged his time for seven years. He next engaged in the fur business at Star City during one or two winters, but lost money, and for four or five years following carried on an agricultural implement trade in the same city. He next went on the road as an expert for the McCormick Machinery company—starting in Texas, going through to Montana, and also visiting nearly every agricultural state in the south and east, covering a period of four years.

April 3, 1893, Mr. May came to Grand Rapids and engaged in the nursery business, incidentally handling real estate, and also farming on a small scale in the suburbs of the city. In his nursery trade Mr. May handles the stock produced by the Lake Shore Nursery company, of Erie, Pa.,. and works over his territory year after year—this fact showing the virility of his young trees—and in the spring of 1898 disposed of over 27,000. Mr. May also finds time to engage in his old business of grading, and holding contracts for this class of work between Grand Rapids and Holland, and likewise between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, and is, indeed, one of the busiest of busy men.

Of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. May, five died in infancy; the surviving three are Ida Bell, who is married to Frank Jackson, an employee of a wholesale house in Grand Rapids; Adam Fortress is eleven years of age, and John Archibald is four years old. Mrs. May is a member of the United Brethren church, as is also her daughter, while Mr. May was reared in the faith of the Methodist church. In politics Mr. May began with the support of Horace Greeley for presidency in 1872; he later voted for Tilden, Hancock, Blaine, Cleveland for his second term, and Bryan. In local matters he votes for the man of his choice. Socially Mr. and Mrs. May and family are highly respected, and no more useful and enterprising citizen than Mr. May can be found in the city of Grand Rapids.