James F. Knowlton

Page 457-458 - James F. Knowlton, real estate, 44 Division, north, is another native of Grand Rapids who has achieved a noteworthy success in his chosen field. He was born in Grand Rapids on August 26, 1884, a son of Julius B. and Rose Anna (MacDonald) Knowlton. His father is a native of Steubenville, Ohio, born in 1855, and his mother was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1857. She died in 1920. Julius B. Knowlton was a son of James S. Knowlton, a native of New York and who early in his life came to Ohio and later to Grand Rapids. He spent the remainder of his life in this community and died in 1890 at seventy-six years of age. His wife Mary Miller, grandmother of the subject of our sketch, was born in Ohio and was the daughter of a Methodist circuit rider. Rose Anna MacDonald, mother of the subject of this sketch, is a daughter of Alexander MacDonald, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who in about 1853 came to Canada. Her father had worked on the Erie canal and later came to Michigan and did contracting work on the Michigan Central railroad in the early days of the state and while living at Plainwell, Michigan, in about 1871 was killed in a train wreck. He had resided in Grand Rapids for a number of years and his wife Nancy MacDonnell, a native of County Dary, Ireland, died in Grand Rapids in 1883, a faithful member of the Catholic church. The father of the subject of our sketch, Julius B. Knowlton, came to Grand Rapids with his parents and for many years was engaged in the insurance business. He now lives in Kalamazoo and at the age of seventy years is strong and hearty and actively engaged in insurance work. James F. Knowlton, the subject of this narrative, in pursuing his early education first attended St. Andrew School and later attended South Bend, Indiana, high school. Ready to launch upon a business career he then returned to his native city to accept a position with the Michigan Trust Company, in which he displayed such aptitude that he remained there nine years, and with the experience and training at hand thus gained in the financial circles he branched out for himself in the real estate field and therein has met with merited success. He has found time to respond to civic duties through an active affiliation with his chosen party, the Democratic party. He and his wife are devoted members of St. Andrew’s Catholic church. On June 13^th, 1919, he was joined in marriage with Miss Mary Blanche Bauer, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who was educated in the Indiana schools and a young lady highly educated in music. For eight years she sang in the Congregational church of Fort Wayne. Mrs. Knowlton now takes a very active part in the religious work of St. Andrew’s Catholic church of Grand Rapids, and has been the proud mother of three splendid children: Mary Ann, born December 25, 1921; Jane, who died in infancy, and Katherine Therese, born November 18, 1924.