| Hon. William H. McKinstry Hon William
H. McKinstry, Representative from the First District of Muskegon County,
and one of the most prominent members of the State Legislature, was born
in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, Mich., on the 1st of July, 1852. His parents,
Hugh and Sophia (Clare) McKinstry, were natives respectively of Ireland
and London, England, the latter being a daughter of Edward Clare. Emigrating
to America, they sojourned in Canada for a short time, and thence removed
to the United States, making settlement in Washtenaw County, Mich., in
the city of Ypsilanti.
In his boyhood our subject
was a pupil in the public schools of Battle Creek, and afterward attended
the High School in the same place. Upon leaving school, he learned the
trade of a cigarmaker, in which he was engaged for some time in various
places in the State. His marriage occurred on the 21st of October, 1874,
and united him with Miss Delia, daughter of Charles G. Williams, a prominent
citizen of Kalamazoo. Mrs. McKinstry was educated in Kalamazoo, and is
an accomplished and cultured lady, who has ever been a faithful helpmate
to her husband and his counselor in every undertaking.
For many years Mr. McKinstry
has been closely identified with the public affairs of the city and county,
where he has resided since 1886. In politics an ardent Democrat, he is
one of the leaders of his party in this section of the State, and also
takes an active part in State and national politics. In 1891 he was appointed
financial and reading clerk in the State Legislature, and was re-elected
during the following year. He was chosen in 1892 as Representative from
his district for the House, and is still serving in that capacity.
Mr. McKinstry is especially
active in all measures pertaining to labor organization, and took an important
and prominent part in the dissussion of the Congressional appointment and
the re-districting of the State of Michigan. He was the candidate on the
Labor ticket, and was elected largely by the Labor vote. For the past twenty-three
years he has been an earnest advocate of labor organization, and a member
of the Cigar-makers' International Union. For several terms he has served
as President of the Trade and Labor Council.
As a citizen, Mr. Mckinstry
is progressive and public-spirited, and maintains a constant interest in
every enterprise calculated to promote the welfare of his fellow citizens.
He is liberal in his views, keen in judgement, and firm in his convictions;
altogether, one who would attain prominence in any community. He and his
wife have established a pleasant home in Muskegon, and are held in the
highest regard by all who know them. They are the parents of one child,
a daughter, Sophia May, in whose education and training they take the warmest
interest.
William McComb William McComb, a leading photographer and successful
business man, long located in Muskegon, Mich., and a genuine artist, enjoying
a large and rapidly extending patronage, gives general satisfaction to
his custom, and in his style is second to none in the State. Mr. McComb
is a native of Canada, and was born in Toronto August 28, 1844. His parents,
James and Ann (Thompson) McComb, were born and reared in Ireland, and,
the descendants of a long line of honored and useful ancestry, received
excellent educations in their native land, where they attained a mature
age. Young, ambitious and enterprising, they early resolved to emigrate
to America, and later made their permanent home in Canada. The father,
a man of means and superior business ability, entered into mercantile pursuits,
and, prosperous in his venture, amassed a comfortable competence. While
our subject was yet but a young lad, the devoted father and affectionate
husband passed away, entering into rest in the year 1858. The mother, surviving
about seventeen years, and a woman of earnest purpose and high character,
died in Ottawa, Canada, in 1875, mourned by all who knew her. She was the
daughter of James Thompson, a man of broad intelligence, respected for
his qualities as a man and citizen.
Our subject was the ninth in a family of ten sons
and daughters, of whom but four now survive. During his early childhood,
Mr. McComb attended the common schools of his home locality, but later
learned the profession of photography, in which he is now an adept. He
acquired his training in art in Ottawa, Canada, and studied under the most
skillful artists of the Dominion. In 1878, determined to try his fortune
in the States, our subject journeyed to Michigan, and located in Muskegon.
He opened a gallery at No. 19 W. Western Avenue, which he fitted up in
the latest and most approved style, and in his studio uses the modern appliances
and the newest inventions for the exact reproduction of the face and figure.
To the public Mr. McCombs offers a choice variety of photographs, varying
in size and prices, and is now making some of the finest life-size pictures
ever shown in Muskegon or the county. That he has been fully appreciated
by the citizens of Muskegon is evident from the number of familiar faces
of people of note to be seen at various times in his gallery, as well as
through the cabinets sent to friends far and near. From the first of his
establishment here our subject met with gratifying success, and as the
time passes his reputation as an artist especially successful in posing
brings him a new and large variety of custom.
In the year 1864 were united in marriage William
McComb and Miss Ellen Walker, an estimable and accomplished young lady
of Ottawa, Canada, and daughter of James Walker, a lifetime resident of
the Dominion. Our subject, fraternally associated with the Ancient Free
& Accepted Masons, is a Knight Templar and a member of the Consistory
and Mystic Shrine of Grand Rapids. The family residence is pleasantly located
at No. 115 Peck Street, in one of the most desirable portions of the city.
Mr. and Mrs. McComb occupy a social position of influence, and have made
many friends in their adopted home, where our subject is numbered among
the prominent business men and substantial citizens.
Wiliam A. Row
Few citizens of Muskegon
County are more widely known, and none are more highly esteemed, than the
subject of this sketch, who is familiarly known as "Squire" Row. He is
the owner of an eighty-acre farm located on setion 14, White River Township,
and which, through his efforts during the comparatively brief period of
his residence thereon, has been embellished with a number of desirable
and valuable improvements. Sixty acres of the place have been cleared and
are now under excellent cultivation, yielding each year a bountiful harvest
of golden grain.
The parents of our subject,
Sebastian H. and Clarinda (Lewis) Row, resided for some time in the township
of Windom, Dutchess County, N. Y., where the father followed the trade
of a carpenter and joiner. The mother died in Livingston County, N. Y.,
and her remains now lie buried in the woods. By a subsequent marriage of
Sebastian H. Row six children were born, of whom only one now survives:
Clarinda, wife of Owen D. Rodgers, of Indiana, and the mother of three
children. The only survivor of the children born to the first marriage
is the subject of this notice, whose birth occurred in Windom Township,
Dutchess County, N. Y., July 13, 1826.
When a mere lad our
subject accompanied his father to Livingston County, N. Y., the removal
being made with ox-teams, and settlement being made in Portage Township,
where the senior Mr. Row erected the first log house ever built in the
township. Atb the age of seventeen years William A. accompanied his father
to Indiana and settled in Whitley County, upon an unimproved tract of land.
At the age of twenty he returned to New York and there engaged in farming,
threshing, etc. On the 19th of October, 1848, he married Caroline Elizabeth
Hewitt, who was born in Livingston County, N. Y., August 25, 1829, being
a daughter of James B. Hewitt, a farmer of that county.
In 1866 Mr. Row removed
from Livingston County, N. Y., to Michigan and settled in White River Township,
Muskegon County, at the mouth of White Lake. For several years he was employed
in a sawmill, after which he located on his present farm, in 1887. His
first wife died April 28, 1877, and two of their five children are also
deceased. The others are: James Henry, who has been twice married and is
the father of one child by his first union; Mary, wife of Frank Coleman,
of Montague; and Ella A., who married William Hawks, of White River Township.
May 11, 1878, our subject
married Miss Libbie M. Gilbert, who was born in Canada March 4, 1841. She
is the daughter of William and Sarah (Sloan) Gilbert, natives respectively
of England and Scotland. They were married in Nova Scotia, and in 1861
came to Michigan, settling in Newaygo, where Mr. Gilbert engaged in the
wheelwright business. Thence he came to Muskegon and settled at Clay Bank,
where his death occurred. His wife is also deceased, having passed away
in 1863. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom the following
survive: Mrs. Thursa Rose, Mrs. Ellen Dean, Thomas, Charles, Robert and
Mrs. Row. The last-named grew to womanhood in Canada, whence she removed
with her parents to Michigan.
Socially, Mr. Row is
identified with the Patrons of Industry and has served as President of
that organization. He is interested in educational matters and has given
his children excellent opportunities for acquiring liberal educations,
and they have all taught school. While holding the various school offices,
he has been enabled to render efficient services in behalf of the educational
interests of this district. He was Postmaster at the "Mouth" for ten years,
and carried the mail from there to the village of Montague. Politically
a Republican, he has always taken an active interest in politics and has
frequently served as delegate to county conventions. For two years he filled
the office of Township Treasurer, and has also served as Highway Commissioner
of White River Township and as Justice of the Peace almost ever since locating
here. In 1878 he was elected Supervisor and served for nine years consecutively
in that capacity.
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