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Martin
V. Perley Martin
V. Perley, who is foreman of the Hackley & Hume Lumber Company, of
Muskegon, comes from the northeast corner of the Union, being a native
of Cumberland County, Me. He was born July 23, 1838, and on the paternal
side is of English descent, while on the maternal side he is of Irish ancestry.
His grandfather, Abram Perley, was born in the Pine Tree State, and his
father, George Perley, was also a native of Maine. The mother of our subject
bore the maiden name of Hannah Low. She, too, was born in Maine, and was
a daughter of Judge Low.
We now take up the personal
history of our subject, knowing that it will prove of interest to many
of our readers, for he is widely and favorably known in Muskegon County.
His boyhood days were quietly passed in his native State, and at the age
of twenty-one he obtained a position in the counting-room in the commission
house of his uncle, Jonas H. Perley. The West, however, furnished attractions
for the ambitious and enterprising young man, and in August, 1862, he came
to Michigan, locating in Big Rapids. He formed a partnership with Charles
Merrill, Jonas Perley and Thomas W. Palmer, under the name of Perley &
Co. The firm engaged in the lumber business and the connection was continued
for ten years, when our subject sold his interest and purchased a sawmill,
which he carried on for several years.
In 1864 Martin Perley
was united in marriage with Miss Ellen M. Ruddiman, daughter of George
Ruddiman, one of the pioneer settlers of Muskegon. Their union was blessed
with a daughter, Mary Ellen, who resides with her father at No. 303 Western
Avenue. The mother was called to the home beyond in March, 1889.
In 1868 Mr. Perley was
appointed County Treasurer of Muskegon County for a term of two years,
and so acceptably did he fill that office that he was elected in 1870 for
a term of two years. On leaving that position, he was employed for several
years with the firm of Bushnell, Wallace & Reed in the lumber business,
after which he was superintendent of the shingle mill of O. P. Pillsbury
& Co. for two years. In 1882 he became foreman of the Hackley &
Hume Lumber Company, with which he has since been connected. Mr. Perley
is ever faithful to the interests of his employers and can therefore always
command a good and paying position. He is alike true to every public and
private trust, and his faithfulness and fidelity have won him universal
confidence and esteem.
Our subject exercises
hi right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican
party. He takes considerable interest in Masonry and is a member of Lowell
Lodge No. 182, A. F. & A. M.; Muskegon Chapter No. 47, R. A. M.; and
Muskegon Commandery No. 22, K. T. Educational, social and moral interests
find in him a friend, and his support and co-operation are never withheld
from any worthy enterprise.
Thomas J.
G. Bolt
Thomas
J. G. Bolt, a progressive, public-spirited citizen of Moorland and one
of Muskegon County's large land-owners, was born in Devonshire, England,
April 16, 1848, being the son of George W. and Jemima (Guscott) Bolt, natives
of England. His father, who was a farmer by occupation, emigrated to America
in 1857, and after sojourning in New York City about six months, he removed
to Canada and settled near the city of London. In 1858, having sold his
interests in Canada, he traveled extensively over the Western country with
the view of looking up a suitable location for a home. He finally settled
in Ottawa County, Mich., and there remained until death terminated his
career in 1886. His wife, now eighty-three years of age (1893), resides
on the old homestead in Ottawa County.
Of eleven children, nine of
whom are now living, the subject of this biographical notice is the eighth
in order of birth. He completed his education at Belmont, Canada, and Grand
Rapids, Mich., and at the age of twenty-one commenced to teach school,
continuing thus engaged for a number of years. He has taught twenty-one
successive winters in Kent, Ottawa, and Muskegon Counties, and , being
a good disciplinarian, as well as a man of broad culture and extensive
information, he has achieved the highest success in his profession. His
interest in educational matters has been deep and unflagging, and his influence
has done much toward elevating the standard of education in this community.
He has served as Township Inspector for a number of years and School Commissioner
for two years in Muskegon County.
In 1875 Mr. Bolt was united
in marriage with Miss Ola, daughter of Joseph and Harriet (Wyliss) Minnich,
natives of Ohio. Three children were born of this union, Louis J., Ada
F. and Lucius P., who are bright and intelligent, inheriting the studious
qualities of their father. The daughter, at the age of eleven, received
a first-grade teacher's certificate at Muskegon, and the sons are also
well-informed and studious. In politics a stanch Republican, Mr. Bolt has
for a number of years been prominently connected with all the political
affairs of the county, and has been chosen by his fellow-citizens to represent
them in various local offices of trust and responsibility. His popularity
is proved by the fact that he has represented Moorland Township on the
Board of Supervisors of Muskegon County for a period of ten years, during
nine of which he received every vote in the township.
In regard to social connections,
Mr. Bolt is identified with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and for the past seventeen years has been a member of the
Independent Order of Good Templars. He is the possessor of five hundred
and thirty-seven acres of farming land, the larger portion of which is
well improved. In addition to his landed possessions, he is the owner of
the comfortable and substantial residence he now occupies, and which he
erected in 1892. His business career has been such as to win for him the
confidence of his associates, and, socially, his genial, generous disposition
has won for him a host of warm friends.
Hon. Charles L. Brundage Few possessions are more valued and wished for than
strength, but it is not generally considered that only through long, patient,
and continuous effort can it be obtained. It is thought of rather as a
happy accident, or a native gift to be passively grateful for, than as
a natural and certain result of toil and striving. Bodily strength, for
example, the infant gains through constant motion, the boy through active
play, the man through toil and burden. This is equally manifest in moral
and mental strength. The strong mind is one which has accumulated power
through hard mental activity. Much earnest study, much effort of thought,
have combined to give it that vigorous force and elasticity which to its
possessor is so valuable a boon. We look with pleasure upon the man thus
favored. We admire his clear thought, his sound judgment, his keen discrimination;
we envy the ease with which he detects the points of an argument, or solves
the intricate question, or applies a principle, but we do not see, and
seldom even imagine, what toil and patience may have been the source of
his admired strength. The one whom all men honor for his virtue and integrity,
to whom wrong-doing offers no attraction, and who performs each duty as
it arises, apparently without effort, has not gained this power by treading
paths of ease. The obstacle overcome, the trials which have been so hard
to bear, have called forth the fortitude and heroism which are parts of
every noble nature. It has come to him through effort and sacrifice, and
the more it has cost, the greater the reward.
Hon. Charles L. Brundage, present State Senator for
the Twenty-third District of Michigan, composed of Muskegon and Ottawa
Counties, is a native of the Empire State, born in Bath, Steuben County,
in August, 1836. He is the son of Matthew Brundage and the grandson of
Abram Brundage, who was of English descent. Matthew Brundage was a native
of New York, and was a farmer by occupation. He selected his wife in the
person of Miss Almedia Knickbocker, also of New York, and of Dutch descent.
The original of this notice was the second son in a family of ten children
born to his parents. He passed his youth in Allegany County, N. Y., where
he secured a fair education in the common schools, and in 1849 attended
Alfred Academy, afterward Alfred University, from which institution he
was graduated in 1854. Following this he entered the State Normal School,
at Albany, N. Y., and was graduated in 1855. He then became Principal of
the public schools of Angelica, N. Y., and was thus occupied for several
years. In 1854 Capt. Brundage married Miss Frances A. Platt, of Allegany
County, N. Y., but a native of Connecticut, and the daughter of Joseph
Pratt. Three children have been given them: Fred, a wholesale druggist
in Muskegon, Mich.; Lottie, at home; and Anna, wife of Edward Latimer,
of Muskegon. In 1862 he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Thirtieth
New York Infantry, under Col. Alfred Gibbs, and was assigned to the Army
of the Potomac. On the organization of the regiment in 1862 he was commissioned
First Lieutenant, and on the 9th of November of the same year he was commissioned
Captain of his company.
In 1863 the regiment was transferred to the cavalry
and became the First New York Dragoons. Our subject continued to serve
until 1864, when he was discharged on a surgeon's certificate for disabilities
received in the services. Returning to New York, he was elected School
Commissioner, a position he held for six years. In 1870 he was appointed
railway postal clerk, running from Dunkirk to New York City, and held that
position for three years. The year 1874 found him located in Muskegon,
Mich., where he embarked in the drug trade, which he carried on at the
present time. The stock is always full and complete, pure, fresh, and of
standard quality, embracing everything pertaining to a first-class drug
store.
In his political views the Captain is a Republican,
and his first Presidential vote was for Col. John C. Fremont, in 1856.
He takes a deep interest in local, State and national politics. In 1892
he was elected State Senator, with a majority of eleven hundred and thirty
votes on the Republican ticket, running about four hundred ahead of his
ticket. While in the Senate, he served on a number of important committees.
He is a member of Muskegon Lodge No. 92, I. O. O. F., and is also a member
of Phil Kearney Post No. 7m G. A. R., being a delegate to the National
Encampment at Detroit. For two terms he was a member of the Council of
Administration for the Department of Michigan. He has a good, substantial
residence at No. 80 Terrace Street.
George F. Outhwaite
George F. Outhwaite,
a leading citizen of Muskegon, who entered into rest February 3, 1893,
was for many years one of the prominent lumbermen of the Wolverine State,
and held with fidelity various responsible positions of public trust. In
1872 he was elected City Recorder of Muskegon, and later refused a second
term. In the fall of 1873 he was appointed County Superintendent of the
Poor, and served for thirteen years in that official capacity to the great
satisfaction of the general public, who thoroughly appreciated his excellent
judgment and executive ability.
A native of the Wolverine State, our subject
was born in Plymouth, Wayne County, December 28, 1836. His parents, John
and Alice (Plews) Outhwaite, natives of England, were numbered among the
pioneer settlers of Michigan, locating in Wayne County when the greater
portion of the State was yet a wilderness. George F. acquired a good education
as the result of his own exertions, and may be properly termed a self-made
man. He studied in the common High Schools of Plymouth, and later took
a commercial course in the Chicago Business College. In the mean time,
March 31, 1859, he had removed to Muskegon, and after completing his studies
in Chicago, returned to that city.
Mr. Outhwaite began life for himself, working
for his brother and John Torrent in a small shingle mill, where he remained
in the capacity of an employee until April, 1862. He then formed a partnership
with his brother, the firm being known as J. R. Outhwaite & Bro. He,
however, in the fall of the same year sold out his interest to his brother,
and engaged upon his own account in the lumber and shingle business, which
he prosperously conducted for a great many years. While holding his official
positions, he continued in the lumber business, and gradually amassed a
competence. He was a man of broad intelligence and liberal spirit, and
as a citizen, energetic and enterprising, materially aided in the advancement
of many of the vital interests of his home locality. Firm in his convictions
of right and wrong, and decisive in action, he possessed sterling integrity
of character, and commanded the esteem of all who knew him. He was politically
a Republican and an ardent advocate of the party, giving his earnest efforts
in behalf of the success of the principles in which he believed. Fraternally
a member of the Masonic order, he was a Knight Templar, and had a host
of friends in that organization.
December 28, 1866, George F. Outhwaite and
Miss Helen A. Reed were united in marriage. The estimable wife of our subject
is a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., and is a daughter of Ezra and Catherine
(Storring) Reed, both natives of New York State, the father having been
born in Litchfield, and the mother in the Mohawk Valley. Mr. Reed was one
of the pioneers of Grand Rapids, Kent County, which at the time of his
settlement contained only five white families. The union of Mr. and Mrs.
Outhwaite was blessed by the birth of a daughter, Blanche C., a charming
and accomplished young lady, who has been carefully educated, and is now
a student in the University of Michigan, where she is pursuing a special
course. Mr. Outhwaite resides in a magnificent residence of modern architecture,
containing the latest improvements. The surroundings are beautiful, and
the location, No. 39 Peck Street, one of the finest in the city. Eight
months have come and gone since George F. Outhwaite passed away, but his
memory as a sincere citizen will long live in the hearts of the many who
knew and loved him.
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