Selected for his appointment to the postmastership of Paw Paw in 1900, because of his supposed special fitness for the office, Bangs F. Warner has demonstrated in his continuous service in the position since his first appointment that there was wisdom and good judgment in the selection, and that expectations involved in making it have been fully met in the capable and faithful performance of his official duties. He came to the office with his faculties well trained and his knowledge of public affairs expanded to considerable magnitude in a long and varied previous experience in several lines of usefulness, in all of which he has exhibited a high sense of duty and every quality of upright and enlightened manhood in the performance of it in an able and satisfactory manner.
Mr. Warner's life began in Almena township, Van Buren county, Michigan, on June 24, 1858. His parents, Elam L. and Charlotte M. (Bangs) Warner, were born in the state of New York, and further mention of the genealogy of this prominent family is made in the biographical sketch of Jerome C. Warner, uncle of the subject, which is found on other pages of this work. In this locality the father of Bangs F. Warner grew to manhood, was married and reared his offspring. He died in 1902, at the age of seventy-four years. The mother is still living and has now reached the age of seventy-seven. The father was a farmer all his life and at the time of his death he owned one hundred and sixty-six acres of fine farming land in this county, which showed the benefit of his well-applied industry throughout a long series of years in its high state of development and cultivation, the complete and comfortable character of its buildings and other improvements, together with its general attractiveness and value as a farm and a rural home. The mother is still living in Van Buren county and is now the oldest of its people in continuous residence within its boundaries. She is venerated as a veritable "Mother in Israel" on this account and she also enjoys the high regard of all classes of the population because of her integrity of character, uprightness of life and strong American womanhood. She and her husband were the parents of four children, one of whom, Roy E., died an infant. Those living are : Frances A., who resides in Paw Paw; Bangs F., the immediate subject of this brief memoir; and Junia J., who resides in Oakland, California, and is the general passenger and freight agent of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad in that city, having held said position for number of years.
Bangs F. Warner grew to manhood and was educated in this county, having been graduated from a high school in 1876, at the age of eighteen. After completing his education he became a farmer during the summer months and taught school in the winters of several years. He conducted schools at Kendall, Breedsville, and other places in this county and at Middleville in Barry county, continuing in the profession until 1883, when he moved to Paw Paw and turned his attention to insurance as an occupation and means of advancement.
In 1889 he went to Idaho, and there for three years he bought range horses for shipment to the eastern markets. In 1893 he returned to his farm of one hundred acres in Waverly township, this county, where he remained until 1897, and made a specialty of dealing extensively in hay. In the year last mentioned he again moved to Paw Paw, but continued his transactions in hay and has done so to the present time (1911). He has also been the postmaster of the city continuously sine 1900, as has been noted, and enjoys an excellent reputation and general popularity for the manner in which he conducts the office and provides for the comfort and convenience of the people, whose welfare he makes the first consideration in the performance of his official duties within the law and the regulations governing the services which, of course, he is obliged to obey.
Mr. Warner was married on November 2, 1882, to Miss Clara Bray, a daughter of Benjamin and Rebecca (Clark) Bray, and by this marriage became the father of one child, his son Leo E., who is now a bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Paw Paw. The father is a Republican in his political faith and allegiance and always loyal to his party, but he never allows party considerations to interfere with the faithful and impartial discharge of his duties. In fraternal relations he is affiliated with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America.
The people of Van Buren county esteem him highly for his upright and commendable manhood, his enterprise and public spirit as a citizen and his ability and fidelity as a public official. He also ranks high in business circles as a progressive and far seeing dealer, modern in his methods and strictly square in all his transactions. He well deserves the rank they accord him as one of their leading and most representative men and in every feature of his daily life exemplifies it.
The Germans in America from an important class of good, reliable and industrious citizens, who can be depended upon to work hard, save what they earn, and so invest it as to obtain excellent results. The natives of the Fatherland posses those excellent traits of character which go so far in the making of good and prosperous citizens., and they have transmitted to their offspring the habits of industry and thrift which have aided them so materially in the attainment of success. One of the prosperous agriculturists of Van Buren county, Henry F. Weber, of section 6, Bangor township, is an excellent example of the thrifty, hardworking German-American citizen. He was born in the Fatherland, June 17, 1844, a son of Henry and Christina (Muller) Weber, who were also born in the old country.
Mr. Weber is one of the five survivors of the twelve children born to his parents, and he came to America in 1867, settling first in Chicago, where for the next fifteen years he was engaged in the lumber business. He came to Van Buren county in 1882, purchasing one hundred and five acres of good farming land in section 6, Bangor township, and here he has continued to reside to the present time, carrying on general farming and stock raising. He has been consistently successful in his operations, and year by year has added to his farming equipment and livestock, repairing such buildings as were in good condition, and erecting new ones to take the place of those no longer useful, and he now has as fine a property as any of its size to be found in Bangor township. He stands high in estimation of his fellow citizens, who realize that he may be depended upon to support all beneficial movements in his community, and is looked upon as a good representative of the Van Buren county farmer.
On January 14, 1868, Mr. Weber was married to Miss Louisa Depper,who died June 22, 1904, having been the mother of twelve children, as follows: Henry, Louisa, William, Minna, Annie, Freda, Fredericka, John, Herman, Anna, Bertha and Freda. Of these Louisa, the first Freda, Fredericka, and Anna are deceased. In his political views Mr. Weber is a Republican, and he and his children attend the German Lutheran church. The family home is situated on South Haven Rural Route No. 1.
Pursuing the even tenor of his way as a quiet, unostentatious farmer and breeder of fine registered cattle, with comparative indifference to the great, wasting currents of life outside of his peaceful domain; with no desire to mingle in or be a part of the bustle, hurry and distracting cares, yet alert always to the needs of his own community and zealous in his efforts to aid in providing for them, C. Ray Pugsley, of Paw Paw township, on this county, has lived to this time a useful and productive life, and given to those around him a fine example of sturdy manhood and serviceable citizenship of the kind that the welfare of the country mainly depends on him.
Mr. Pugsley was born on a Paw Paw township farm, on fact on the one he now lives on and cultivates, and the whole of his life to this time (1911) has been passed within the boundaries of Van Buren county. The date of his birth was February 12, 1883, and he is the son of William H. and Sarah A. (Harris) Pugsley, the former a native of England and the latter of Jackson county, Michigan. The father came to Michigan in 1857, when he was but ten years of age, and he has been a resident of the state ever since. He has been actively and profitably connected with the farming industry of the state for more than thirty years, and is even now deeply interested in it, although he has turned the management of his home farm over to his son Ray. IN 1880 he bought the eighty acres on which the family is now established, and to the cultivation and improvement of this tract he devoted all his time and energy until 1904, when his son took charge of the place and he retired from active pursuits. He and his wife are the parents of three children, all of whom are living. They are: Verne M., wife of L. H. Weldon, of Battle Creek, Michigan; May, the wife of F. A. Dibble, of Paw Paw; and C. Ray, the interesting subject of this brief review.
The last named obtained a high-school education in Paw Paw and remained at home working for and under the direction of his father on the farm until he reached the age of twenty-one. He then took over management of the farm himself, under and agreement with this father, and since that time he alone has cultivated it and conducted all the operations pertaining to it. His father was a first-rate farmer and he received good instruction while working under his direction. Yet he is a progressive man and studies his business with a view to securing the best possible returns for his labor and keeping in touch with the progress in what he has discovered his business to be--one of the most rapidly improving industries among men.
He is something of an enthusiast on the subject of stock improvement, and in accordance with this theories he makes a specialty of breeding fine registered Guernsey cattle, conducting this department of his enterprise both for his own satisfaction and advantage, and also for the good of the country around him. He also feeds and ships live stock in general, and carries on a general farming industry with the utmost vigor and all the information concerning his operations he can gather from judicious reading and reflective and analytical observation.
On October 25, 1905, Mr. Pugsley was united in marriage with Miss Frances Du Bois, a daughter of J. E. and Lucy Du Bois, highly respected residents of Paw Paw. They have had six children: Milly, who has been dead several years; Frances, the wife of Mr. Pugsley; Claude; J. C., whose home is in Van Buren county; Vernon, who is also a resident of this county; and Gerturde, who is still living at home with her parents.
Mr. Pugsley has always taken an earnest interest and an active part in all commendable projects involving the development and improvement of the township and county of his home. He is a progressive and public-spirited man, and at all times eager to see Van Buren county as far forward in advancement of a wholesome character as judicious efforts can put it. The public affairs of the township and county interest him as a good citizen, but not as a man ambitious for public station or prominence among his fellows. Therefore, although he is a firm believer in the principles of the Democratic party and does his part to secure their adoption of government of the country, general and local, he has never sought or desired a political office for himself. His farming and live stock industries interest and occupy him in a leading way, and he prefers to leave the direction of public affairs to those who like such employment. In church relations he is a Baptist and one of the mainstays of the congregation in which he holds his membership. All who know him esteem him and he is in all respects worthy of their regard, confidence and good will.
The life of the subject of this sketch in Arlington township, Van Buren county, Michigan, spans a period of more than three score years, in which marked developments and improvements have been made. And in this progress Mr. Orton as a prosperous farmer and worthy citizen has taken a place and acted well his part, and in his declining years has the satisfaction of seeing his sons take up the work he has gradually relinquished.
Mr. Orton is a native of the Empire state. He was born in Orleans county, New York, October 1, 1841, a son of Ira and Cornelia (Fitcraft) Orton, the former a native of West Haven township, Rutland county, Vermont, and the latter of New York. When a child of four years he was brought by his parents to Michigan, and the family home was then , 1845, established in Arlington township, in primitive pioneer fashion. Here his father was engaged in farming the rest of his life, and he died July 5, 1893. His mother had passed away in 1876. Edwin P. was the third born into their family of eight children, of whom the first died in infancy; Emeline and Louis are deceased; Emory is a resident of Bangor, Michigan; Samuel lives in Waverly township, Michigan; Milo is deceased; and Priscilla is the wife of J. N. Bigelow, of Bangor.
Mr. Orton remained with the father until he was twenty-five years of age, when he bought forty acres of land in section 21, Arlington township, and began farming on his own responsibility. That was in 1864. Later he bought another forty acres, and still later added a third forty, the last tract being in section 29, and this land, one hundred and twenty acres, he has utilized for general farming purposes and has been fairly successful in his operations.
On April 18, 1867, he and Florence S. Slocum were untied in marriage. Of the children given to them the first born died in infancy; Alice is a resident of Arlington, Michigan; and Lewis and Royal are engaged in farming in Arlington township, Royal being on the home farm of his father.
Lewis E. Orton was born March 7, 1873. On November 18, 1900, he married Miss Ella Krogel, and to them have been given three children: Lewis, who died in infancy; Florence, born August 10, 1902; and Evelyn, born July 3, 1908.
Royal F. Orton was born October 12, 1879, and has always lived on the home farm. On November 8, 1899, he married Miss Bertha Krogel, and to them also have been given four children: Elsie, Edwin, Irving (deceased), and Ethel.
The senior Mr. Orton and his son Royal class themselves with the Independents, politically, while Lewis Orton supports the Democratic ticket.
George Alexander Wallace, one of the enterprising and prosperous young farmers of Arlington township, Van Buren county, Michigan, dates his birth on the farm on which he now lives, October 29, 1879, and is an only son of Seymour and Frances (Worthy) Wallace. He has an only sister, Effie, wife of Samuel Kelly, of Lansing, Michigan. As a boy he attended district school in winter and in summer assisted his father with the work on the home farm, finally assuming the responsibility of the farming operations. He still lives at the old home place with his parents and carries on general farming and stock raising. This farm, comprising two hundred and thirty-five acres, is in Section 26, on the Lawrence Rural Route No. 2.
On October 29, 1898, George A. Wallace and Miss Edna Hinckley were united in marriage. Mrs. Wallace is a daughter of Phillip and Rebecca (Simmons) Hinckley, and is fourth in their family of five children, her brother and sisters being as follows: Hervey, of Cass county, Michigan; Grace, wife of Claud Peck, of Grand Junction; Gertrude, wife of Floyd Lockwood, of Lawrence, Michigan; and Mildred, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace have three children: Neva, born December 10, 1899; Clark, January 6, 1905; and Frances, September 8, 1906.
Mr. Wallace is an Odd Fellow and a Modern Woodman. He votes the Republican ticket.
Having passed the whole of his life to this time (1911) in Van Buren county, and Paw Paw township, Jason J. Lyle has an unusual and impressive interest in its welfare and that of its people. He has mingled with its residents from childhood, obtained his education in its schools, taken his place and faithfully filled it in its industrial life, and contributed his full share to its improvement and advancement and the proper administration of its civil affairs through his activity as a citizen. He is therefore in full sympathy with its people, and one of their most representative and useful men, as well as one their most progressive and successful farmers and live stock breeders and dealers.
Mr. Lyle is a native of Van Buren county and Paw Paw township, and his life began here on August 4, 1879. He is a son of Marshall and Mary (McWilliams) Lyle, also natives of Van Buren county, and a grandson of John and Ann (Armstrong) Lyle, who came to Michigan from their former home in England in 1848. More extended mention of the family may be found in the sketch of Levi N. Lyle elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Lyle's father, Marshall Lyle, passed the whole of his life in the township, and on the farm with his father. They were stock breeders and general farmers, and made steady gains in their business as the years passed by. The father died on April 3, 1899, leaving his father, the grandson of Jason, then well advanced in years, in charge of the business. His widow, Jason's mother, is still living, at the age of over sixty years.
They were the parents of two children: Jason J. and his sister Ethel, who is now the wife of Dr. W. E. Collins, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Jason attended the district school near his home and afterward the high school in Decatur, this county. His course of instruction at the latter was cut short, however, by the death of his grandfather, which laid upon him the burden of taking care of the farm and conducting its operations. He has managed it ever since, and in addition to this two hundred and thirty acres he has one hundred and sixty of his own, which he cultivates according to the best methods of present day farming. On this he is extensively engaged in raising live stock, having ever in view the large and active dairying business he is carrying on in connection with his other industries. For this he breeds Holstein cattle, of which he has a fine herd.
On October 30, 1901, Mr. Lyle was united in marriage with Miss Maud Goodenough, a daughter of Nelson and Adella (Wright) Goodenough, natives of Michigan, and their only child. Her father had been married before, and to his first union one child was born also, his son Ralph, who is a resident of Cass county, this state. The grandparents of Mrs. Lyle came to Michigan and located in Cass county, and were among the most respected residents of that portion of the state, filling their places and performing their duty as builders and improvers of the state in full measure according to their powers and opportunities.
Mr. and Mrs. Lyle have one child, their son Kenneth Marshall, who was born on February 18, 1906. His father is a Republican in politics and earnestly loyal and serviceable to his party. He desires no place on the official roster of the township or county for himself, but takes an interest in public affairs for the purpose of doing what he can to promote the best interests of the people. In church connection he is a Methodist. He is universally recognized as one of the best and most useful citizens of the county.
It have been given to some to help develop the country, to shape their surroundings according to their needs, and to bring forth the present high degree of civilization. Van Buren county, Michigan, became the home of many a sturdy pioneer who did not ask for anything more than wild timber land to work upon. Bravely, uncomplainingly, there forerunners of civilization went to work and now many of them have laid down the burdens of life, although it was given to most of them to see in some measure what they had accomplished. The son of a pioneer and a citizen who has himself developed an excellent farm from what was before only a tract of wild woodland is Levi Nelson Lyle, residing in Paw Paw township.
Levi Nelson Lyle was born in a rough hewn shanty in the woods of Paw Paw township, Van Buren county, March 29, 1846, his birthplace having been about thirty feet from where now stands the home of his nephew, Jay Lyle. His parents were John and Ann (Armstrong) Lyle. His grandfather, John Lyle, Sr., was a native of Cornwall, England, and was born on Christmas Day, 1793. With his family he immigrated to America in 1832 and in the spring of 1835 came to Michigan, locating his home in the wilderness, a mile and a half north of Paw Paw. He died December 4, 1867, leaving a wife, ten children and numerous grandchildren to mourn his loss.
John Lyle Jr. eldest of the ten children of the foregoing, was born in Devonshire, England, January 5, 1818, and came to Michigan with the family. At that time the only fashion in which he could find his way from his farm to Paw Paw was by marking the trees, this primitive method of blazing the trail being the forerunner of the beautiful roads of today. The farm which he cleared became one of the best in the country and was his home until his death, October 5, 1899. He hauled his wheat to St. Joseph with a yoke of oxen, taking three days to make the trip, and received for it fifty cents per bushel, which was considered a very good price in those days. He was married here to Miss Ann Armstrong, who had come to Paw Paw from New York at a time when the village of Paw Paw consisted of two log stores and a hotel. He died on his farm, having survived his wife three years. They were the parents of four children: Levi Nelson; Olive and Oliver, twins, who are deceased; and Marshall, also deceased.
Levi, the eldest of the children, grew to manhood on his father's farm. He first went to school in an old log schoolhouse on the Henry Hinckley place, but later a new schoolhouse was built on the crossroads corner, about forty rods from the family residence, which made it much more convenient. He later attended school for a time in Paw Paw, boarding with a family in the west part of town, and also attended school for a time in Decatur. Professor Bellows being at the head of the high school. At the age of twenty-one years his father gave him eighty acres of land, which at that time was covered with a heavy growth of beech, maple and basswood timber that, were it all standing today, would be more valuable than the land, but not foreseeing its future value Mr. Lyle cut it down mercilessly, and in clearing the land he resorted to what was called "niggering it out," that is, he would lay pieces across each other on the tree and about twenty-five or thirty feet from the butt would build a fire, burning out the limbs and in many instances consuming the larger part of the tree, thus saving a great deal of chopping. Mr. Lyle boasts that he has gone to bed at times leaving as many as thirty "slaves*" working for him, or in other words consuming the fallen timber. The method and the expression were common in pioneer days, though the young people today would scarcely understand the significance of the latter. Both Mr. Lyle's father and his grandfather made a vast amount of maple syrup from the trees now cut down and Mr. Lyle still owns a small grove of maples from which he gets syrup each year, his output last year being about fifty gallons. Mr. Lyle has added to his property from time to time and now owns about two hundred acres, on which he carries on general farming. He is also interested in dairying, owning a fine herd of cattle, at the head of which is Dexter, a three-year old registered Guernesy bull and the registered cow, Belinda Hillcrest. He is considered one of the skilled farmers of his district and is known as a food neighbor and a public-spirited citizen. A staunch Republican in his political views, Mr. Lyle has served as township commissioner and his fraternal affiliation is with the Maccabees. He and his wife are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church. *Objectional word removed. Even though this book is historic and should be left as is, I personally find this word terribly objectionable.
On September 28, 1869, Mr. Lyle was married to Miss Matilda Sherrod, who was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Daniel and Hannah (Cole) Sherrod. Daniel Sherrod was born September 20, 1800. He removed to Paw Paw in 1855 and followed farming until his death, on March 6, 1888. His first wife was Rebecca Kite, born May 5, 1804, and died in February, 1833. To this union were born four children, namely: Michael, Margaret, Philip and Hiram, the daughter alone surviving. His second marriage on February 5, 1836, was to Hannah Cole, born in New York state November 17, 1809, and died February 17, 1884. Their children follow: Hiram J., born November 29, 1836; Jesse A., born October 5, 1837, died April 5, 1897; David A., born February 3, 1840, died August 25, 1896; Lorenzo, born October 22, 1841; Sarah, born August 4, 1844; Almond A., born February 25, 1849; and Matilda, born September 14, 1851, the wife of the subject.
To Mr. and Mrs. Lyle have been born seven children, namely: Melvin, residing in Van Buren county; Nellie, the wife of Frank Patton, of Kalamazoo; Gertrude, who married Fred Webb, of Chicago; Beatrice, wife of Ernest Edgely, formerly employed in Chicago, but now residing on a farm in Decatur; Wave, the wife of Roy Mosier, of Antwerp township; Arlie, residing near home; and Alta, who is still beneath the parental roof-tree. Mr. and Mrs. Lyle rejoice in the possession of eleven grandchildren. Melvin Lyle's children are Leo and Vivian; Mrs. Patton's are Lyle, Catherine, Donald, Max and Virginia; Mrs. Webb's are Howard, Lucile and Sylvia; and Mrs. Mosier has a daughter, Evelyn.
The following appreciation of the character of Mr. Lyle has been given in another publication:
"A more honest, conscientious and upright citizen than Levi Lyle cannot be named. He has lived all his life in one neighborhood and it is not known that he has one enemy. His sense of right is such that he could not take even what is usually considered a fair advantage of a fellow citizen. His life has been quiet and uneventful, but it furnishes an example of true citizenship which will be an influence for good in his community for generations to come."
The venerable and venerated patriarch to whom these paragraphs are dedicated and the story of whose long and highly useful life they briefly chronicle, entered upon the great field of newspaper work at the age of sixteen and continued in it until long after he passed the meridian of life. During the extended period of his connection with that spectacular and sparkling line of human endeavor our country expanded and grew in power and importance as nothing in human history has ever done. It planted new commonwealths of vast expanse and almost boundless resources where but a little while before the Red Man roamed, the panther leaped, the deer disported, in a security that was undisturbed save by the ravages of one upon another. While it was passing, too, opposing political theories and their advocates were making history on our soil with the elevation of Man, the betterment of the race, as the prize of the contests.
The hereditary lord of the soil, although for the greater part of the time sullenly accepting his fate, occasionally rose against the advancing civilization, and our people had to reduce him to subjection, sometimes at a great sacrifice of life and treasure. The majestic march of mind, the advance of science and art, the progress of discovery and invention, the expansion of education for lofty and lowly, and all the other concomitants of a militant and strident civilization kept pace with the flight of time and the sequence of events. And throughout the whole of it Mr. Van Fossen was in touch with the leading thought and some of the leading actors in the great progressive performances. His life is like a mighty bridge, spanning a wide, swift current of running water. Its one abutment rests on the undeveloped condition of the country and its simplicity in life during our earlier days; and the other, when it shall have been completed- for he is still among us- will have its base in the full flower of fruitage of our twentieth century advancement and all that is involved therein.
Mr. Van Fossen was born at Livonia, Livingston county, New York, on July 24, 1826, and is the son of Isaac and Mary (Codding) Van Fossen, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New York. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom only Isaac W. and his brother Thomas D., of Springfield, Missouri, are living. The father and his elder brother, John, owned large mills at Livonia, New York, and were the most prominent men in that locality. Through the failure of banks in 1829 they lost their business and property and then came to Michigan. After a prospecting tour of the wild western territory, which was to be his future home and that of his family, the father returned east and reported conditions and prospects. In 1831 he and his brother William, who lived in Ann Arbor, purchased a section of land where Concord, in Jackson county, Michigan, now stands. He was still in the east and from there shipped the machinery for a new mill to his brother William, who had moved to the new section on Kalamazoo river. In 1833 the family came to this state, where he had erected a new log house, journeying by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo, and thence over Lake Erie by steamboat to Detroit. On their arrival in the Detroit river they found it full of Indian canoes, the day of their arrival being one on which the Indians received their annual allowance of money and presents from the government. The family secured horses and wagons in Detroit and then made the journey overland to their new home in Jackson county, a distance of ninety-five or a hundred miles, as the crow flies, and the greater part of it through an almost unbroken wilderness in which there were no conveniences of travel.
Isaac W. Van Fossen, who was then about seven years of age, stopped with an uncle at what is now Ann Arbor, and which received its name in honor of his uncle's wife, Ann Van Fossen. As soon as the family was settled in its new home the brothers bestirred themselves to get things in order for the beginning of their business as millers. William had already begun damming the Kalamazoo river at Concord to get power for the mill and as soon as the dam was completed and the mill erected operations were begun in a new industry which was soon appreciated as one of the greatest conveniences and benefactions of the region.
Mr. Van Fossen's mother died on November 30, 1839, but his father lived to the age of eighty-seven. He remained at home, aiding in breaking up the farm with ox teams and with the other farm work, until the death of his mother. He then took up his residence with a relative, Mr. Morgan, who lived at Homer in the adjoining county of Calhoun. From Homer he went a few months later to Spring Arbor, riding a two-year old colt as his means of transportation. He worked at Spring Arbor about eighteen months, then move to Jackson, where he secured employment in a window and other woodwork factory for a short time. Here his newspaper career began. He got into the office of the Jackson Democrat, George W. Raney, editor and proprietor, as an apprentice, and remained in connection with the paper three years, having his home with his employers.
They sold the paper to Messrs. Story and Cheney, proprietors of the Jackson Patriot, and Mr. Van Fossen worked for them two years. His father owned a mill in Waterville, Ohio, and he went there on a visit. For about a year and a half he worked on the Maumee City Times and after that his engagements on newspapers were numerous. He was on the Toledo Blade, and later on the Detroit Advertiser. During the campaign of 1848, when General Cass was the Democratic candidate for the presidency, he worked on the Jackson Patriot. While working on the last one named he wrote an Indian story dealing with events in the history of the Ottawa and Pottawattomie tribes, which had been at war between themselves. The story made a great hit, for the war between the Indians had excited universal interest at the time.
During his wanderings Mr. Van Fossen attended school at odd time, when he had the chance, and kept on improving his education. On one occasion he rode from Jackson to Lansing on horseback, stopping over night at Mason. There he found a gentleman who had a Washington iron hand printing press, but did not know how to set it up. Mr. Van Fossen put it in working order for him and it was soon thereafter dispensing the news and keeping the people enlightened. At the request of Messrs. Story & Cheney, of Jackson, his old employers, he went to Leslie, Ingham county, and took charge of a publication to secure the "Tax List," of that county and was successful. The material and appliances he had to work with were very crude, but he did the best he could with them, as he had always done under all circumstances, no matter what the difficulties.
While living in Jackson he was first corporal of the Jackson Light Guards for six years, and was then promoted quartermaster of the Eighteenth Brigade, Ninth Division, of the Michigan Militia, now known as the Michigan National Guard. During a session of the state legislature in 1852 (December 23) he began working on the State Journal, published in Lansing, Michigan, by Hedges & Peck, state printers. He remained with this paper and after the legislature adjourned the assisted in getting out the reports of the work of the legislature during that session as one of the three compositors who were chosen. A position was offered him in Detroit by Bagg, Patten & McDonald, printers, book-sellers and dealers in stationery. Here he had charge as foreman of the book and job office. While here, on November 5, 1853, he joined the Detroit Typographical Union and is today its oldest living member.
He remained with the concern until June, 1854. At that time John R. Baker, the district attorney of Van Buren county, arrived in Detroit, having been sent there by the business men of Paw Paw to secure a man to take charge of the Paw Paw Free Press, which they had recently bought from S. T. Conway. Mr. Baker had been a student with Mr. Patten and he laid the situation before him, and he immediately recommended Mr. Van Fossen for the place and granted him leave of absence to come to Paw Paw and look into the situation. He did so, and as a result of what he saw he, in June, 1854, moved to the village and bought the paper and office.
The Free Press was at that time the organ of the Democratic party and the only paper published in the county then in the control of the political situation in Van Buren county, but in 1855 the state passed into the hands of the Republicans and Mr. George W. Fitch, of Kalamazoo, was induced to send a printer-lawyer named Butler to Paw Paw to edit and print what was then and is still known as The True Northerner, and which was at once given the political and official patronage of the political party then coming into power.
Mr. Van Fossen still continued and being a thoroughly practical man, his business increased and at the end of six months he was compelled to put in another press to take care of his increased business and job printing. In 1858 his office was destroyed by fire, but he succeeded in saving his newspaper files and books and immediately bought new material and continued the paper some months later. This continued until 1875, when he sold the paper to Landphear & Matthews, after which he went to Florida and assisted in establishing a new Democratic paper, The Pensacola Advance. He then returned to Paw Paw, where in the meantime had been formed a central Greenback club, which had begun the publication of a paper-The Michigan Independent- but it had not been a remarkable success and was discontinued. He was solicited to buy an office and start a new paper, which he did on June 1, 1880, called the Paw Paw Herald, and this he continued to publish until December 31, 1889. He then retired from the publication of this and later published for a while a campaign paper called the "People's Alliance" for Sullivan Cook, the editor, of Hartford, Michigan. He also operated a job office up to 1902, when he sold out and retired from active business. His newspaper career covers a period of fifty years, in which time he has seen many advances and reverses in the course of his connection with it, and has established himself firmly in the esteem of newspaper men wherever he and his work are known.
Mr. Van Fossen purchased his present residence and was married on June 23, 1858, to Miss Irene P. Simmons, the first white girl born in Paw Paw, then called the town of Lafayette, and by this union he became the father of three children, namely: Zell, who died in infancy; Vern, who is a dentist and living at home; and Rena R., who is a school teacher in Rossville, Illinois. The father was an ardent Greenbacker in the day when the Greenback issue was a prominent one in our politics, and he still adheres to the doctrines of the party. For some years he had not been active in political matters, but he still retains all his old- time interest in public affairs. In 1858 he was appointed deputy United States marshal for the District of Michigan by U.S. Marshal John S. Bagg. In 1866 he was made Department Collector of Revenue for the Second District. In 1884 he was nominated by the Greenback and Democratic parties for the State Senate, in opposition to C. J. Monroe, Republican, and was defeated by a small majority.
Fraternally he is a Freemason, having been initiated in the Jackson Lodge, No.17., on February 8, 1849, and soon thereafter took the R.A.M. degrees. When he became a resident of Paw Paw he took a demit from the Jackson lodge and joined at Paw Paw, July 15, 1855, and from the chapter in 1860. He holds the rank of past high priest in his chapter and is the only charter member now living. He also was a member of Peninsular Commandery, Knight Templars, of Kalamazoo. His religious connection is with the Episcopal church.
Benjamin A. Murdock having rounded out the full score of years allotted to man by the sacred writer, and almost one more, the late Benjamin A. Murdock, of Paw Paw, who died November 29, 1895, surrendered his trust at the behest of the Great Disposer of Events after working out a career that was interesting in all and remarkable in some of its features. He was for many years a school teacher, and although persons who follow that pursuit, especially those who teach in country or districts schools, usually eke out only a slender living, he became a man of extensive possessions in a worldly way. He was a traveler of some note for the period in his young manhood, yet he passed the greater part of his subsequent life almost wholly in the locality of his home and warmly attached to its attractions. His live began soon after the close of the war of 1812, in fact but nine days after its latest and greatest victory was won for the citizen soldiers of our country, and he lived through two wars of magnitude the arbitrament of fate forced on our people, and in addition through a number of Indian wars, some of them of great atrocity an at times of threatening proportions. He also witnessed the expansion of our territory, the marvelous increase in our population, our wonderful strides in the arts and sciences and all the broadening and improving forces of eduction and to these he did his part to bring about the results that have no parallel in human history.
Mr. Murdock was born in Hamilton, New York, on January 17, 1815, a son of Ariel and Tryphosa (Bonney) Murdock. The father was the captain in a company of volunteers in the war of 1812, but did not long survive the war, dying in September, 1826, when his son was less than twelve years old. His wife belonged to the Bonney family of distinction and had an extension and varied experience. Their children are all now deceased: Sophia, Benjamin A., Hannah and Carey. Benjamin obtained a first-rate education, being graduated from Hamilton College at Clinton, New York, and for some years thereafter taught school in that state. He came to Michigan in 1836 and located in Van Buren county, taking up one hundred and sixty acres of government land near South Haven. During the next two years he taught school in that vicinity, and in 1839 made a visit to his native state and afterward an extended tour through the south.
In 1842 he returned to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and for some months was the companion and chum of James Fennimore Cooper, the celebrated novelist. He again turned his attention to teaching, and continued his devotion to the profession for twelve years. At the end of that period he became a druggist in Paw Paw. In this business he was occupied until failing health induced him to retire and from that time until his death he gave his time and attention to looking after his large farming interests. At one period of his life he owned more than sixteen hundred acres of Michigan land, and at the time of his death possessed between six and seven hundred acres.
On May 1, 1859, Mr. Murdock was married to Miss Mary Victoria Anderson, a daughter of LeGrand and Catherine (Shaw) Anderson, natives of Virginia and the parents of ten children: Cornelius, Lydia Anne, William, George, John, Eliza, Harriet and LeGrand, all deceased, and Mary, who married Mr. Murdock, and Jane, who is now Mrs. Dewey and living in Van Buren county, Michigan. LeGrand Anderson, the father of these children, came to Michigan in 1828 and located near Decatur. In 1832 he brought his family to his new home in the wilderness, and several Ohio families with him, whom he induced to settle in the same neighborhood. He bought five hundred acres of Government land, to which he added by subsequent purchases until at the time of his death, which occurred in July, 1869, he was the possessor of about one thousand acres. His wife died in 1842. Mrs. Murdock was well educated in her youth, living for a time in Ohio and having as her first tutor in that state Professor John Purdue, the founder of Purdue University at Lafayette, Indiana.
Mr. and Mrs. Murdock became the parents of two children, their daughter Mary Eva, who died at the age of a few months, and their son Benjamin LeGrand, who lived to be only two years old. Although their own home was childless, they found comfort in ministering to the happiness of the children of other households and made themselves foster parents to many, so to speak, by their numberless acts of kindness to them and their interest in everything that ministered to the happiness of all who came within the reach of their generosity and proved worthy of it.
Mr. Murdock was a Republican in politics from the founding of the party and prior to that he was a Whig. He was always warmly interested in the success of his party and worked to win it, but he did not care for official station for himself. His regular affiliation was with the Christian church, of which he was a devout and zealous member, and in whose work of making men and women better and happier he was an active participant, a wise counselor and a greatly valued aid.
An incident of special interest in the history of the Murdock and Anderson families should not be overlooked: Mr. Lambert, the private secretary of John Quincy Adams, came to Kalamazoo for a rest. Later tow nephews of George Washington, Spottswood and George by name, who were then being educated at West Point, left there on a vacation and came west looking for Mr. Lambert. The latter in the meantime had moved to the home of Mr. Anderson, and there they found him. They later obtained positions as school teachers in that section. Spottswood Washington taught the school nearest the home of Mrs. Murdock's father, Mr. Anderson, and lived in the family. His brother George taught another school a short time in the same neighborhood, and he also was a member of the Anderson household.
Mr. Robinson's parents were, like so many of the county's best citizens, natives of New York. Both Alfred Robinson and his wife, Esther Baird Robinson, were born in the Empire state and came to Michigan early in life. The father was a soldier in the Civil war and a life-long Republican. Both he and his wife were members of the United Brethren church. The mother is still living in Hartford, Michigan. There were five sons and two daughters in the household to which Almiron Robinson belonged and four of the children are still living. Edward is a resident of Keeler township; Charles lives in Hartford; Alfred is a merchant in Berlamont; and Almiron lives in Keeler township.
The date of Mr. Robinson's birth was March 22, 1875, and this county has been his home all his life. He was educated in the common schools and not until he was twenty-one did he begin working for himself. When he began his career as a wage earner he did not have a dollar to his name. In 1895 he was married to Miss Frankie V. Jackson and together they began to work for a competence. She is the only child of Andrew and Eliza St. John Jackson, of this county, and was born February 15, 1879.
The first home of the young couple is now a part of their present farm. They were obliged to go in debt to buy it, but thrift and good management, as well as hard work, enabled them in time not only to pay for this but to acquire forty acres more. In 1899 they built a tasteful frame house, which has since been enlarged and modified. Three years afterward they erected a large barn, which was destroyed by fire four years later and all its contents lost. Misfortunes are said never to come singly and the Robinson's experience was no exception, for shortly before their valuable barn went up in flames Mr. Robinson was confined to the hospital for five months. Adversity only develops fortitude in strong souls and these two were of that sort who refuse to be discouraged. They built another barn, who dimensions are thirty-six by seventy feet and in 1911 were able to look out on their pleasant estate, "Ingleside" with the satisfying consciousness that there was not a dollar of indebtedness on it. This place is situated four and a half miles from Keeler and five and a half miles from Hartford, and is one of the pleasant homes of the county.
There are four children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson and all are in school. Lloyd is in the eighth grade; Leon D., in the seventh; Glenn, in the fourth; and Laura Belle, in the third grade. It is the intention of the parents to give their children the education which will fit them to carry out their chosen careers to the best advantage. They are deeply interested in the question of education and are especially friendly to the public schools.
Mr. Robinson endorses the political principles for which the Republican party stands and, though he is no politician, he is very much interested in public affairs. Both he and Mrs. Robinson are always prompt to give support and encouragement to all undertakings which are for the general good. They have built up their fortune from nothing and it has been sometimes very much like making bricks without straw, but their satisfaction is all the keener for the conquered difficulties and their record will be a proud tale for their children to tell and to hear.
Henry Moore.- Prominent among the courageous pioneers of Van Buren county was the late Henry Moore, who bravely relinquished the advantages, privileges, comforts and pleasures of life in one of the large eastern cities and settled in the wilds of Michigan. Neither railways, telegraph or telephone lines then spanned these broad acres, and but few evidences of civilization then existed. Little indeed do the people of this day and generation realize what they owe to those energetic spirits of old, who first uprooted the trees, ploughed the sod and made a broad track of the advance of civilization.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Mr. Moore was left an orphan at an early age. He was given excellent educational advantages, having been a college graduate, although he never adopted a profession, his first business venture having been as a merchant in Boston. About 1842 he determined to try the hazard of life on the frontier, and coming to Michigan became on the first settlers of Kalamazoo, where he bought a tract of land that is now included within the limits of the Fair Grounds of that city. The greater part of Michigan was then in its original wildness, land being owned by the government. He subsequently moved to Van Buren county, and having entered a section and a half in Bloomingdale township he was here a resident until his death, in the eighty-fourth year of his life.
Mr. Moore married Sarah Hale, who was born in New York state. She passed to the life beyond soon after coming to Bloomingdale township, leaving two children, namely: Susan, wife of John Hodgson, of Bloomingdale township; and Joseph, who died in California, unmarried, at the age of twenty-seven years. Mr. Moore was identified with the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons.
Lavoisier W. Disbrow was born in Bangor township on October 13, 1865--the three hundred and seventy-third anniversary of the discovery of America. His parents were both natives of the state of New York, who had come to Michigan and settled in Van Buren county, adding to their labors to the development of the new country. There were born to Lodwick and Sarah Whitcomb Disbrow three children: Viola, Lavoisier and Alberta. The father was a farmer and his son followed that calling also.
At the age of twenty-one Lavoisier Disbrow bought forty acres of land and began farming for himself. By his careful management and intelligent methods he has increased this to one hundred acres, upon which he does general farming and stock raising. Success has attended his efforts and he has added many improvements to his estate, including a beautiful and commodious dwelling house.
Mr. Disbrow celebrated his twenty-first birthday by holding his wedding day upon that day. He was then united to Miss Cora Easton, the daughter of Sylvester and Sarah Easton, both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. Disbrow is one of six children. Of the others in her family, Albert, Warren and Annie are deceased. Wilbur and Delbert live in Van Buren county. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Disbrow, but Pearl, the eldest, died in infancy. The others are all still living at home and are Leta, Warren, Albert, Viola, Erwin and Merwin, twins, and Donald.
In political matters Mr. Disbrow is aligned with the Republican party and though not active in the party in the sense of being a practical politician, he takes the greatest interest in public affairs and in matters of national policy. He belongs to the society of the Gleaners and is known as one of the most progressive of the farmers in this county.
George Davey, one of the respected farmers in Arlington township, Van Buren County, Michigan, has lived at his present home since he was ten years of age.
He was born in Kosciusko county, Indiana, July 1, 1855, a son of James and Hannah (Morrison) Davey, the former a native of England and the later of Pennsylvania. James was a farmer all his life. In the spring of 1865 he left the "Hoosier State" and with his family came up into the neighboring state of Michigan, landing in Arlington township, Van Buren county, on April 1st, where in section 4 he purchased ninety-five acres of and where he made his home the rest of his life, carrying on general farming and stock raising. He died February 11, 1890. Of his family of five children, George is the eldest, the others being as follows: Mary Ellen, deceased; Henrietta, wife of Fremont Byers, of Arlington township; James Francis, of Benton Harbor; and Elfaretta, wife of Joseph Martin, of New York city.
In his boyhood George Davey attended the district schools during the winter months and in summer worked in the fields. He continued to assist his father with the farm work until he was twenty-two years of age, when he assumed the management of the farm and cultivated the land on the shares. This he did until his father's death, when there was a division in the property, forty acres being his share.
On November 2, 1898, Mr. Davey married Mrs. Annie (Morse) Green, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of Charles and Lomira (Squires) Morse, natives of Indiana. Charles Morse was a soldier in the Civil war and died while in the service. His widow now lives in Columbia township. She reared four children, Mrs. Davey being the oldest. Her brother Frank is a resident of Columbia township, and her brother Charles resides in the northern part of the state.
Mr. Davey, while he has never taken an active part in politics, has always been a conscientious voter, casting his franchise with the Republican party.
One of the enterprising and progressive general farmers of Van Buren county for a number of years, and now one of the leaders and most successful of its fruit growers, Milton H. Pugsley, of Paw Paw township, is contributing to the advancement of the county and its mercantile and commercial influence in a very material and substantial way, and has been doing so for a long time. He has tried his hand at other occupations and made a success of them, too. But his inclination has always been in the direction of the farm, and notwithstanding strong temptations to remain away from it he returned to the vocation of the patriarchs and has never had occasion to regret his choice.
Mr. Pugsley has a special interest in the welfare and progress of Van Buren county and Paw Paw township, for here he was born, grew to manhood and was educated. Here also he was married and established his domestic shrine, and here he has kept the fires burning brightly on it ever since. His life began in Paw Paw township on December 29, 1856, and he is the son of Henry M. and Mary A. (Prater) Pugsley, the former is a native of England, born in 1823, and the latter of the state of New York.
The father came to Michigan in 1845 and located in Van Buren county. He bought first eighty and then forty acres of land, and to this he added by subsequent purchases until, at the time of his death in 1901, when he was seventy-eight years of age, he owned two hundred and eighty-three acres. His widow survived him five years, passing away in 1906. They were the parents of seven children: William H., who is a resident of this county; Alice E., the wife of Harland P. Waters, of Paw Paw; John K., deceased; M.H., the subject of this writing: Dora M., the wife of Charles Lake, of Paw Paw; Myra A., the wife of L.E. Shepard, of Paw Paw; and Eliza, who died in infancy.
Milton H. Pugsley remained with his father until he obtained a high-school education, pursued a course of instruction at the Normal College at Valparaiso, Indiana, and was graduated from a business college. He had obtained his first certificate after leaving the district school, and began this profession at that time, teaching at intervals up to the time he was graduated from the business college. He then taught school six winters, and at the end of that period was offered an excellent position as a teacher, But he preferred to return to the farm, of which he then took charge, being twenty-four years of age at the time. The next year he married and continued his farming operations, in which there has been no break since, except that he followed general farming in particular, having forty acres of these under cultivation; and keeping from fifteen to forty employees during the fruit season. He has gradually been drawn into this interesting and profitable line of production.
Mr. Pugsley was married on May 24, 1882, to Miss Jennie F. Cash, a daughter of Erastus and Jennie (Pierson) Cash, an account of whose lives will be found in this volume. They were the parents of three children, Mrs. Puglsey and her sister Carrie, who is the wife of C. L. Brown, of this county, and a child that that died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Pugsley have had three children : Earl, who is a lawyer in good practice at Hart, Michigan; Henry Paul, who died at the age of two years; and Clifford Gale, who is still living at home with his parents.
The oldest son, Earl Pugsley, was graduated from the Paw Paw high school and then taught in a district school one year and in the high school two years. While teaching he prepared himself to enter the law department of the University of Michigan, and from that institution he was graduated and admitted to the bar in 1909. The father is a Republican in his political belief and a faithful worker for his party, although he does not seek or desire any of its honors or emoluments for himself. In religious faith and church affiliation he is a Baptist, and has long been active and effective in church work, being associated with the church in Gliddenburg. He also takes an active part in the work of the Sunday-school, and has been the teacher of a class of about twenty-five young people for many years and takes and interest in all that tends to improve the people around him and minister to their welfare in any way.
Mr. Pugsley has taken a very earnest interest and a very active part in matters of importance to the community connected with his business and some that are not. He is the president of the Farmer's Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Van Buren county and the Wolverine Nursery Company, and he is also one of the directors of the Southern Michigan Fruit Association. Wide-awake, alert, progressive and intelligent, devoted to the welfare of his township and county, elevated in his citizenship and useful and loyal in all the relations of life, he is universally conceded to be one of the best and most representative men in Van Buren county, and he is fully deserving of this rank.
The life of the ordinary farmer in this county generally has few spectacular features or incidents of unusual interest. It is a continual succession of attention to daily duties, performed without ostentation or blare of trumpets, and with little or no notice on the part of the great, busy world. Yet these duties are all important in themselves and in the good they do, both for him who performs them and the public in his community, and the man who attends to them faithfully and discharges them as well as he can is entitled to full credit as a sterling and useful citizen, and one of the great body of men who fix the standards by which manhood and citizenship must be judged.
Erastus Cash, of Paw Paw township, this county, is such a man and enjoys the esteem of his fellows in the large measure such a man should win, and always does if the people around him are right in their own conduct and aspirations. He was born in Genesse county, New York, on June 24, 1837, one of the ten children and the third son of Benjamin Franklin and Lucy (Deming) Cash, both of the same nativity as himself. The other children of the family were: Andrew, Eliza and Hiram, all of whom have died; William, who is a resident of New York state; Mary, the widow of William Whitcher who lives in Batavia, New York; Fannie, the wife of Albert White, also of Batavia, New York; Isabelle, the wife of Bennett Waterman, of Genesee county, New York, Stafford township; and Rueben and Benjamin, deceased.
Erastus Cash began life for himself at an early age. When he was twenty-two he associated with one of his brothers in buying and shipping live stock, continuing his connection with this line of mercantile enterprise until some months after his marriage, although that event made him eager for a permanent home and more stable business. Soon after it occurred, therefore, he bought one hundred acres of land in his native county and settled down to general farming. He kept this land and cultivated it five years, then sold it and moved to Michigan, locating in Van Buren county. Here again he bought one hundred acres and began a new enterprise as a farmer and raiser of live stock. He owned this tract only three or four years, however, as he found something that pleased him better. He sold his one hundred acres and bought the eighty he now lives on in section 4, Paw Paw township, and which has ever since been his home and furnished him occupation in farming and raising fruit as a commodity and to aid in supplying an extensive and exacting market. His product, like that of his son-in-law, Milton H. Pugsley, a sketch of whom is to be found in this work, is abundant in quantity and first grade in quality. He gives its culture careful attention at all times, and makes every endeavor to secure the best possible results from his labors in connection with it, as he does in everything else he undertakes.
On November 2, 1859, Mr. Cash was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Pierson, and by this union became the father of three children: Jennie, the wife of Milton H. Pugsley; Carrie, the wife of Chan Bowen, of Kalamazoo county, Michigan; and Lucy May, who is deceased. Their mother died on May 24, 1866, and on March 11, 1867, the father contracted a second marriage, uniting himself this time with Miss Cordelia Phillips, a daughter of Aaron and Trephonia (Chapin) Phillips, respected residents of Decatur. Twelve children were born in the Phillips family, nine of whom are living: Charles, who resides at Arlington; Horace, a resident of Indiana; Mary Ann, the widow of Joseph Edmonds of Goshen, Indiana: Adeline, the widow of Monroe Selby, whose home is in Branch county, this state; Aaron, who is a citizen of Indiana; Mrs. Cordelia Cash; Eliza, the wife of Frank Wood, of Decatur, Michigan; William, who lives at Galesburg, this state; and Alexander, whose home is at Bangor, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Cash have had one child, their daughter Franc A., who was born September 26, 1875, and died on December 9, 1905. Mr. Cash is a pronounced Democrat in his political faith, a firm believer in the principles of his party and an energetic worker in its behalf, but only because he believes in it, and not because he desires for himself anything it has to bestow in the way of public office. In church affiliation he is a Baptist, and while not showy or desirous of prominence in his membership, he is true to the teachings of this sect and devoted in his interest in the welfare of the congregation to which he belongs. Van Buren county has no more sturdy or sterling citizen, and none who is more generally or highly respected by all classes of its people.
An excellent citizen and able farmer is Michael Enlow, who is engaged in the operation of eight acres of land in Covert township, section 11, and who preceded his present occupation by many years in the sawmilling business. He was born in Monroe county, Ohio, June 5, 1850, and is the son of John and Elizabeth (Blair) Enlow, both natives of the Buckeye state and both deceased. In having adopted agriculture, which Daniel Webster has called the most important labor of man, he is following in the paternal footsteps, for John Enlow was a farmer. The family removed to Covert township, Van Buren county, in 1857, when the subject was a small lad, and here the father secured eighty acres, which he improved and cultivated. There were seven children in the family, namely: Amelia, deceased; James of Covert; Mr. Enlow, of this record; Sarah Jane, widow of John Carpenter, of Kansas; Henry, located in Northern Michigan; and Margaret and Elizabeth, twins, the former the wife of A. N. Logan, of Nebraska, and the latter of O. W. Helvy, also of that state.
Having secured such education as the district schools had to offer, Mr. Enlow, at the age of eighteen, secured a position in a sawmill, and continued in this field of industry until 1890. He did the sawing done in the Packard sawmills that were located in Covert township and he was familiar and proficient in every detail of the business. Previous to choosing another line of activity he had made a purchase of eighty acres of land in Covert township, and after finishing his milling affairs he moved into this farm, where he has ever since been engaged. Here he engages in general farming, stock-raising and horticulture, and has been very successful in these lines, being a foremost representative of the great basic industry on which Van Buren county so securely founds its wealth and standing.
On February 26, 1871, Mr. Enlow laid the most important stone in the foundation of his prosperity by his marriage to Lillian Hunt, daughter of A.P. and Cecelia (Frier) Hunt, both natives of the state of New York. Into their happy home have been born five sons and daughters, namely: Eva C., wife of Watson Reed, of Covert; Gertrude, at home; Ralph, deceased; Glendora, at home; and Alice, at home. The Enlow household is a pleasant and popular abode. Mrs. Enlow was one of a family of eight children, as follows: Ella, wife of A. T. Breed, of northern Michigan; Mrs. Enlow; Dennis R., deceased; Charles, of Grand Rapids; Frank, of South Bend, Indiana; Allen, of Michigan; Clara, widow of Dan Lamaroux, of Grand Rapids; and Eugene, of Grand Rapids.
The family are Congregationalists in their religious views and the head of the house is to be found marching beneath the banner of the party which produced Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland. Mr. Enlow has given conscientious service in several minor township offices.
George G. Hall, proprietor of the only agricultural implement establishment in the southeastern part of Van Buren county, located in the village of Lawton, and one of the most progressive and enterprising business men of this community, has resided in Lawton all his life and is well and favorably known to its citizens. His birth occurred in Lawton September 5, 1867, and he is a son of A. J. and Mary (Lee) Hall, the former a native of New York and the latter a Southerner by birth.
A. J. Hall came to Michigan when he was a lad of seven years, was educated in the district schools, and grew up on the farm of his parents in Plymouth. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, which he followed throughout his life and became a well known and successful farmer. He and his wife had three children: Charles G.; Hattie, who is the wife of Calvin Kinney, of Porter township; and Reed, a resident of Seattle, Washington. Charles G. Hall's education was obtained in the district schools in the vicinity of his father's farm and in the Lawton high school, which he attended for one year, and in 1891 he established himself in the restaurant business, continuing therein for one and one-half years. At this time, seeing the opportunity to better himself in a different field, Mr. Hall entered the agricultural implement business in Lawton, starting in a small way and gradually increasing his stock until he now conducts one of the important enterprises of his section. His establishment filled a long needed want, and the farmers of this part of the county were quick to realize the advantages offered in being able to purchase their machinery close at hand instead of having to send a great distance for it or make extended trips to look over stock. Naturally Mr. Hall's business has steadily grown, and he now represents some of the leading implement houses of the country, among which may be mentioned the Syracuse and International Harvester Companies, located at Chicago, and the John Deer Plow Works and Studebaker Brothers of South Bend, Indiana. Progressive ideas, enterprising methods and faithful nd conscientious work, backed by inherent business ability, have made Mr. Hall one of the substantial men of Lawton, and his honest dealings have won him the confidence and patronage of the countryside.
On April 17, 1890, Mr. Hall was married to Miss Jennie Gibson, daughter of Hugh and Mary (Cummings) Gibson. Mrs. Hall's parents had the following children:Jennie; William; Mattie, married and living in Los Angeles, California; Robert, of Chicago; Fred, residing in Lawton; Maud, the wife of Mancil Hough, of Lawton; Belle, of California; and Harry, residing in Lawton. Mr. Hall is a Republican in politics, and has served for two years as township clerk and as a member of the board for three years. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Elks and the Modern Woodmen. With his family he attends the Methodist Episcopal church.
Although he has lived in many places and mingled freely with the residents of them all, manifesting a cordial interest in their welfare and contributing to their advancement by every means at his command, Glenn S. Easton, of Lawrence, this county, had devoted all his years since leaving school to one line of effort, that of newspaper work, with which he has been connected in large cities and several small ones, in this state and New York. He has lived in Lawrence and been the editor and publisher of the Lawrence Times only two years. But even in that short period he has won a high place in the regard of the people as a capable and straightforward newspaper man and a wide-awake, enterprising and progressive citizen.
Mr. Easton was born in Union City, Branch county, Michigan, on February 19, 1878, and is a soon of the late Major D. J. and Della (Stowe) Easton, the former a native of Elmira, New York, and the latter of Coldwater, Michigan. They were parents of seven children, four of whom are living: Ora C.; Glenn S.; Elva, now the wife of H. R. Robedee; and Lynn. The father passed a portion of his boyhood in his native city, and was brought from there to Michigan by his parents while he was yet young. The family located in Coldwater, Branch county, this state, and there he grew to manhood and obtained a part of his education, completing it at some college in the East, from which he was graduated after a full course of academic instruction.
The parents were pioneers in Branch county and took a hearty interest in the progress and development of that portion of the state. When the Civil war began the young man and future military hero of the family was living at Sturgis in St. Joseph county, and was editing the Sturgis Journal, which was published in that city. Prior to this he had shown a very strong support of the principles of the Republican party and taken a great interest in its campaigns. His zeal and fidelity in its behalf brought him a reward in the form of an appointment as internal revenue collector for the district in which he lived, and he filled the office with great acceptability to the government at Washington and the people of the district as well.
In 1860, when the sectional war cloud became very ominous and gave unmistakable signs of bursting with fury over the country, he was impelled by his strong sense of patriotic duty to oppose the dismemberment of the Union and raised a company of volunteers for the purpose of aiding in defending it from that disaster. He went to the field as captain of his company, and remained with it to the end of the sanguinary contest, being promoted major for gallantry in battle and the capacity and faithfulness he showed in other work in the service. The regiment with which he was connected suffered severely in the war. He was severely wounded at the battle of Resaca, and in all received nine bullet wounds. He was taken prisoner and was confined in Libby prison for several months.
After his discharge from the army he returned to Coldwater, and during the next two years he published the Coldwater Republican. At the end of the period mentioned he sold his interests in the Coldwater Republican and moved to Union City, where he founded and for twenty-eight years published the Union City Register. He died in the harness, working on this paper, in August, 1900, and then for one year and a half his son Glenn edited and published it. The Major was postmaster of Union City sixteen years, and represented that town in the state legislature one term.
Glenn S. Easton was reared and received a high school education in Union City, a year in Albion college following, and after leaving school he took up his residence in Detroit. As he had been trained in newspaper work under the direction of his father, he determined to devote himself to that line of endeavor. He worked on the Detroit Free Press, then on the Buffalo (New York) Daily Courier. From Buffalo he returned to Union City and took charge of his father's paper when death ended the labors of that gentleman, as has been already noted. He was connected with other papers for a time after leaving the Union Register, then for four years he published the News at Onsted in Lenawee county. In 1909 he located at Lawrence, Van Buren county, where he has ever since been publishing the Lawrence Times.
On August 17, 1910, Mr. Easton was united in marriage with Miss Lucile Hess, a daughter of S. M. and Jennie (Ridlon) Hess, of Lawrence. One child has been born of the union, Edwin Paul Easton, whose life began on August 16, 1911. Mr. Easton belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding his membership in the former in the lodge at Onsted and in the latter at the one in Lawrence. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church, and in political relations he is a firm and faithful member of the Republican party. To all his duties of citizenship he is steadfastly attentive, and to every commendable enterprise for the good of his community and county he gives ardent and intelligent support, both through the columns of his paper and by his personal influence and helpful services. He is appreciated throughout the county as one of its best and most progressive citizens, and is fully deserving of the rank in this respect so cheerfully and readily bestowed on him by the estimate of the people in whose service he is laboring.
Doubly orphaned at the age of one year by the death of both his father and his mother, who were victims of an epidemic of spinal meningitis which raged with great violence in the city of their home in 1847, George M. Harrison, of Paw Paw, where he has been engaged in general merchandising during the last forty-six years, passed the greater part of his boyhood under the shadow of this great bereavement, and was forced by it to begin the battle of life for himself at a very early age.
Mr. Harrison was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on June 4, 1846, and was the last born of the thirteen children of Benjamin and Jane (Stillwell) Harrison, and one of two of them who are still living. The father was a native of Virginia, born January 21, 1799, and he died December 13, 1847, aged forty-eight years, ten months and twenty-two days, and the mothers life began in Maryland, May 12, 1804, and she died December 13, 1847, on the same day as the father, aged forty-four years, seven months, and one day. They were married on February 21, 1822, and moved to Prairie Ronde, near Schoolcraft, Michigan, in 1830, and remained there four years. In October 1834, they changed their residence to Kalamazoo, which was then called Bronson, and there they met their tragic fate, which hurried them out of the world in the prime of life and left their helpless offspring to the mercy of whatever fate might befall them. Both died in 1847, during a destructive epidemic of spinal meningitis, as has been stated, the disease being of the most violent type and sweeping hundreds of the residents of Kalamazoo and the surrounding country into their graves.
The father was a millwright of skill and ability, and wrought industriously at his trade during all the years of his manhood until his untimely death. He and his wife were the parents of thirteen children: Joseph, who was born on September 6, 1822, and died in October, 1824; Sally or Sarah, who came into being on August 30, 1824, grew to womanhood, became the wife of Liberty H. Bailey, of South Haven, and died in 1868, at he age of forty-four; Nancy, whose life began on April 3, 1826, who became the wife of Walter Russell, of Decatur, this state, and who died in 1895; Benjamin, who was born on March 26, 1828, and died July 3, 1830; John Strange, whose life began on March 4, 1830, and ended in December, 1905; Emily Jane, who lived from February 5, 1832, to October, 1906, and was the wife of John Simmons, of Santa Barbara, California; Henry, who was born on September 26, 1833, and died February 16, 1834; Lucinda, who was born on November 9, 1934, became the wife of Rufus Bigelow, of Arlington township, this county, and died in 1854; Harriet, whose life extended from March 23, 1837, to 1893, and who was the wife of Joseph R. Bonebright, of Constantine, Michigan; Charlotte, who came into being on January 16, 1839, and who is still living and the wife of Rufus Bigelow, of Lawrence, this county; Arvilla, who was born on November 4, 1840, and is the wife of Jefferson Archer, of South Haven; James Madison, who was born on September 3, 1842, and died May 18, 1844; and George M., the immediate subject of this review.
At the age of fourteen Mr. Harrison took up his residence with his brother-in-law, Mr. Russell of Decatur, with whom he found a home for four years. In March, 1864, he secured a position as clerk and salesman in a general store in Constantine, with which he was connected for a year and a half. Then in 1865, on October 1, he arrived in Paw Paw to take a position in the store of E. Smith & Company. From the clerkship which he then accepted and was glad to get, he rose by demonstrated merit and capacity to membership in the firm, and is now the only survivor of those who composed it when he went to it. His residence in the city and his service to the people in mercantile channels has extended over a period of forty-six years, and now all classes of the population respect him highly, and those who know him well have the most cordial esteem for him.
Mr. Harrison was married July 23, 1871, to Miss H. Ella Fraley, and by means of this union became the father of five children, four of whom are living: Julia H., who was born in 1874, and is the wife of Rev. A. J. Holland, of Owosso, Michigan; Jesse G., who was born in 1876, and is the wife of Thomas J. Cavanaugh, a prominent attorney of Paw Paw; Edmund S., who was born on November 30, 1877, and has his home in Paw Paw; and Besse M., who was born on May 28, 1881, and resides in Paw Paw.
Mr. Harrison married a second time, on April 2, 1892, being united on this occasion with Miss Maud Cornell. They have had four children, two of whom are living: Doane C., of Paw Paw, who is a graduate of the high school; and Thomas Cavanaugh, who was born in 1901. Geraldine and Rex Milton died in infancy. The two sons who are living still have their home with their parents.
Although his father was a Whig and he was reared under circumstances of strong bias towards the tenets of his father's party in political affairs, Mr. Harrison is a Democrat in his own political faith and allegiance. His religious connection is with the Baptist church, and he is one of the most loyal and serviceable members of the congregation to which he belongs. In addition to the duties of his business he takes an interest in other matters involving the welfare of his community and does his part toward promoting it in every way open to his efforts. For years he has been the vice president of the First National Bank of Paw Paw, and connected with other enterprises of value in service to the people and in helping to advance the progress and prosperity of the city and county in which he lives.
It is always gratifying to true citizens of this Republic to note the readiness of many men, born under foreign flags, to become loyal and patriotic supporters of the United States Government when they adopt this country as their home. This can never be misconstrued as an act displaying lack of fidelity to their native land, for which they must always hold the warmest affection, but it is evidence that they are men who recognize their duty as citizens in common with the native-born of the Republic, and do not hesitate to perform it. One of these representative men not living in Keeler township, Van Buren county, served faithfully in the Union army during the Civil war, and is now living in quiet retirement, his many years of industrious labor having brought him a comfortable competence. John Martin Klett, was born in Wittenberg, Germany, April 15, 1832, a son of Christopher and Katherine (Nagel) Klett. Mr. Klett has one brother, Christopher, for thirty years a wagon maker and now an agriculturist of Whitehall, Michigan, the four other children of his parents being deceased.
Christopher Klett, father of John M., was a native of Wittenberg, Germany, was reared and educated in the Fatherland, and left his native country only for a short time when he made a visit to America. He and his wife both died in the old country in the faith of the Lutheran church, of which they were devout, life-long members.
John Martin Klett was a young man of nineteen years when he boarded a sailing vessel from Havre, France, and six weeks later he landed in New York city, from whence he made his way to Rochester. He then located in Monroe county, New York, and for three years worked by the month, and after coming to Keeler township, Van Buren county, Michigan, he continued to be thus employed until his enlistment, December 30, 1863, in Company I, Nineteenth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Twentieth Corps of the Army of the Cumberland, and he continued in the service until the close of the war. Under the command of "Fighting Joe" Hooker the regiment participated in the battles of Resaca, Carrville and Dollys Woods, at which latter battle Mr. Klett fell, badly wounded in the hip by a grape shot on inch in diameter. This shot, which was cut from his hip by the surgeon, is still in Mr. Klett's possession. He was disabled from May 25, 1864 until April 1, 1865, when he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, at Johnson's Island, Sandusky, Ohio, where he was kept until his honorable discharge, July 23, 1865, although he was always desirous of rejoining his regiment. For this brave and faithful service Mr. Klett now receives a pension of twenty dollars a month, although it might seem as though a grateful country could afford to reimburse its defenders to a little greater extent, especially when they have endured such suffering as fell to Mr. Klett's lot. On his return to Michigan, Mr. Klett resumed the civilian's garb, and shortly thereafter purchased seventeen acres of land in Keeler township, later adding tracts of forty and sixty acres, and during the remainder of his active life he followed agricultural pursuits, proving just as good a citizen in times of peace as he was a soldier during times of war. Politically a Republican, he cast his first presidential vote for the Martyred President Lincoln, and he has served as township treasurer for two years and as school director for nine years, both he and his wife being active friends of and hard workers in the cause of education. An honored member of Gilbert Post, G. A. R., at Dowagiac, Michigan, Mr. Klett has been as popular with his comrades as he has been esteemed and respected by his fellow citizens, and in every walk of life he has proven himself an upright, law-abiding and public-spirited citizen.
On February 2, 1862, Mr. Klett was married to Miss Mary Klett, in Berrien county, Michigan, she was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, July 31, 1844, and came to the United States when thirteen years of age. She is a prominent member of the Evangelical Association. Mr. and Mrs. Klett have been the parents of seven children, of whom six still survive.
Well educated academically for almost any calling in life, nerved by nature for arduous effort in any department of useful labor that may enlist his interest or engage his faculties, and trained to skill by continued practical experience in several lines of work, Harry A. Martin, one of the leading merchants of Lawrence, this county, and head of the firm of Martin Brothers & Company, has made good use of his endowments, acquisitions and opportunities, and given Van Buren county one of its most impressive examples of progressive citizenship.
Mr. Martin is a native of this county, born in Paw Paw township, where his life began on December 2, 1865. His parents, Oscar and Henrietta (Smith) Martin, were farmers during their years of activity, and energetic and prosperous in their work. Oscar Martin was born, reared to the age of thirteen and partially educated in the state of New York. He is a son of Harry and Emily (Hungerford) Martin, also natives of New York, where they were married and all their offspring were born. When their son Oscar was thirteen years old they moved to Michigan and located near Paw Paw in Van Buren county, and here Oscar grew to manhood and completed his education. Here also he was married, and has passed all his subsequent years, except during three of the Civil war which he passed in the army.
When that memorable contest burst with all its fury on our unhappy country in 1861, he enlisted in Company C, Third Michigan Cavalry, and in his company he served until late in 1864. His regiment was kept most of the time in the West, and was part of the army of General Grant for a time and afterward in that of General Rosecrans. It saw a great deal of very active service and considerable fighting of the hardest kind, and Mr. Martin took part in all its engagements with the enemy and all its other work.
After his discharge from the army Mr. Martin returned to his father's home, and soon afterward was married. He and his wife became the parents of two children: Their son Harry A., the subject of this brief memoir, and their daughter Nellie, who is still living at home with them in Lawrence, they having moved to the township of Lawrence in 1882. The father is now (1911) seventy-three years of age, and the mother is seventy years of age.
Harry A. Martin remained at home with his parents until he was seventeen, working on the farm and attending school in Paw Paw township, and then moved with them to Lawrence township, where he assisted in the farm work three years longer. In 1885, after his graduation from the Lawrence high school, which occurred that year, he began teaching school in the winter and attending the State Agricultural College during the rest of the year, until he completed its full four years' course of instruction in 1889. On October 16 of that year he was united in marriage with Miss Eva C. Sheldon, a daughter of Julian and Melvina (Wallace) Sheldon, of Paw Paw township, and during the first year of his married life he still remained on the farm with his father and worked under his direction, but continued teaching two winters more.
His next move was into mercantile life, but after a trial of ten years and a half in that, as clerk in a store in Lawrence, he returned to farming. For this purpose he bought a farm in Lawrence township, which he cultivated for six years, but lived in the village of Lawrence during the whole period. Since the beginning of this year (1911) he and his sons have had entire ownership and control of the store in Lawrence which they are now conducting, and which they bought just before they took charge of it. They are making this one of the most complete and satisfactory mercantile establishments of its kind in the county, and rapidly building up its trade to large proportions and strengthening and widening its hold on the confidence and good will of the people throughout the surrounding country for many miles in every direction.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin have had six children, all of whom are living and still members of the parental family circle. They are: Marguerita G., who is a graduate of the Lawrence high school and the State Normal College in Kalamazoo; Rex S. and Robert D, who are also graduates of the Lawrence high school, and are now associated in business with their father; Roscoe J. and Ruth, who are attending school at present; and Wayne O., who will begin going to school in 1912.
Mr. Martin has long been prominent in the Masonic order. He belongs to Rising Sun Lodge, No. 119, at Lawrence, and served as its Worshipful Master five years. He also holds membership in a Royal Arch Chapter and a Council of Royal and Select Masters in the order, and has occupied the leading offices in each. He was High Priest of the Chapter several years, and is at this time (1911) Thrice Illustrious Master of the council. In politics he is a Democrat, and has served as township clerk at various times, as a member of the village council, and two years as its president. He was also a member of the school board for nine years in succession. His ancestors were English, Irish and Scotch in their nationalities, and he has exhibited in his highly creditable career the best attributes of the citizenship of each of the countries from which they hailed. In Van Buren county he is regarded as a leading and thoroughly representative citizen.
The treasurer of Lawrence township was born in Van Buren county, Antwerp township, on December 10, 1851. His parents had been married eleven years before and had come to Michigan to begin their wedded life. The father, William B. Spencer, was a native of Connecticut and the mother, Nancy A. Borden Spencer, of New York. There were two other children on the family besides Frank L. These are Mary, the widow of D. C. Rush, and Edith, the widow of David E. Hinman. The family resided in Antwerp township for about fifteen years and then they went to St. Joseph county, Indiana, where they lived for about twenty-four years before returning to this county. In 1875 they bought a farm in Lawrence township and lived there until they died. William Spencer passed away in January, 1891, and his wife in August, 1889.
Frank Spencer attended the district school near his father's farm in St. Joseph county, Indiana, and then the graded school of New Carlisle and that of South Bend, where he was in the high school. After this he worked for his father and on New Year's Day of 1874 was married to Edith E. Stryker, of Berrien county, Michigan. She was born in the state of New York on April 3, 1855, the daughter of G. C. and A. S. Chamberlain Stryker, both of New York state. Mrs. Spencer has lived in Michigan since she was ten and was educated in the district schools of Berrien county. There were three children born to her and Mr. Spencer: Albert E., born December 12, 1877, Carrie M., in 1883, and Edna L., in 1885. All attended the Lawrence schools and the girls both graduated from the high school. Edna is now a stenographer in South Bend, Indiana. The son is a member of the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows and of the Knights of the Maccabees, to both of which lodges his father belongs. In the former organization Frank Spencer is treasurer of the Shady Grove lodge, No. 499. In the Maccabees his tent is No. 205, and he is a secretary of the lodge.
In politics Mr. Spencer is a loyal Democrat and, although the township is predominantly Republican, he was elected treasurer, from which fact one may deduce the correct conclusion that he is a man of unusual personal popularity and high ability. No man stands higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens and his affable manner wins him an easy liking which closer acquaintance deepens into regard.
His farm of eighty acres on sections twenty and twenty-one is a flourishing and profitable estate, conducted on modern principles and, like its owners, representative of the best of the country.
As a sterling citizen who has the interest of the whole community at heart, a veteran of the great Civil war, and as one of the leading hardware merchants, a progressive and thoroughly honest business man, has William Bennett, of Hartford, won the respect and friendly regard of Van Buren county. He holds high place among those whose industry and unselfish interest have laid the foundations of a general prosperity. Mr. Bennett was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, on August 16, 1841, the son of Samuel and Ruth (Hannum) Bennett. The father was a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, the son of James Bennett, well known in that part of the state. Samuel Bennett and his wife were quiet, unassuming people, who lived and died in the state of Ohio. They were the parents of five children, two of whom are living at this date, 1911. Caroline became Mrs. Joshua Whinery. She died, and her husband has since remarried and become the father of a family. Ruth was united in marriage to Hiram Cameron, and her sister Anna married Joseph Whinery. Lee Bennett is deceased. William Bennett was raised on his father's Ohio farm, and educated in the local schools and academy. Before his school days were over the war cloud that had cast its shadow over the nation for so many years finally broke, and the country became "the North" and "the South." William Bennett at once enlisted in Company I, Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, the date being October, 1860. He was appointed a non-commissioned officer, and was later promoted to the rank of orderly surgeon. He was in the Army of the Cumberland and was present at twenty-three engagements. In all his active service he was never wounded and was mustered out in December, 1865. He is now the recipient of a monthly pension of seventeen dollars in recognition of his gallant and faithful service.
At the close of the war Mr. Bennett returned to Ohio, and was there engaged in farming until his removal, in 1870, to Van Buren county, Michigan. In 1867 he was united in marriage to Miss Pheniah Beatty, the daughter of Mahlan Beatty. Mrs. Bennett was born in Carlton, Carroll county, Ohio, where she attended school until her eighteenth year. As a wife she has shown herself a capable helpmeet, a cheery companion and a tender mother. She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star lodge of Hartford, and of the Hartford Ladies Club, of which she was several times an office-holder. Upon his advent in Hartford, Mr. Bennett purchased a stock of hardware. He now owns his place of business, and through his careful management has achieved a large patronage. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are the parents of two sons: Eugene B., born July 23, 1870, was educated in the public schools and later attended a business college. He married Miss Alice L. Babbolt, and has since become the father of two children, Eugene B. Jr., aged nine and Alice L., aged six.Their mother is an Episcopalian. Eugene Bennett is a member of Florada Lodge, No. 309, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, lodge No. 544, at Benton Harbor. George W., the second Bennett son, was born in March 1873, at Hartford, Michigan. He is both a Mason and an Elk; he married Miss Mary O'Brien, of Lansing.
William Bennett is a member of the Charter Oak lodge, No. 231, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is a past noble grand. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and is a past commander of his post. He had the honor to be the first commander of the Elsworth post. In the field of politics Mr. Bennett is found under the standard of the Republican party. He has served as village president, and as township clerk and treasurer, and for five years under the McKinley and Roosevelt administrations held to the eminent satisfaction of all the postmastership of Hartford. Mr. Bennett well deserves the esteem and affection in which he is held by all who know him.
Holding a prominent and well assured place in the affairs of Almena township, Van Buren county, is Anson D. Pease, one of the representatives of the agricultural industry, which more than any other factor contributes to the unusual prosperity of this favored section of the United States. Mr. Pease was born at Eckford, Calhoun county, Michigan, on July 14, 1857. He is the son of John L. and Julia E. (Osborn) Pease. The former was born in Onieda county, New York, and was the son of John W. Pease, a native of Connecticut, who lived to the great old age of ninety-six years. The father survives at the present time, a gentleman of eighty years, still hale and hearty and greatly interested in the progress of the time. He makes his residence at Cadillac, Michigan. He is a veteran of the Civil war and his father John W., carried a musket in the war of 1812. As previously mentioned John L. Pease was born in New York and there resided until the attainment of his majority. Then, favorably impressed with the newly opened northwest, he concluded to cast his fortunes with this section and accordingly took up his residence within the borders of the state. Two years later he was followed by his father, who secured land in the vicinity of Eckford and there resided until his demise in 1879. He then removed to Wexford county, near Cadillac, and farmed there until 1901, when he retired and took up his abode in Cadillac, where he is an honored citizen. He is the father of five children, Anson D. Pease, the immediate subject of this record being the only one surviving at the present time.
The boyhood of Anson D. Pease was passed in Eckford, Calhoun county. When he was about ten years of age his mother's death broke up the home and five children were left without a mother's care. The children found various homes and Anson lived in the neighborhood until he was thirty years of age, when he established an independent home by marriage. He has prospered in very definite manner and is now the possessor of two hundred and ninety acres of Almena township's best land. The entire tract is paid for and almost the whole of it he has gained himself. He is of that typically American product,--the self-made man.
Mr. Pease was married on September 20, 1887, the young woman to become his wife being Euphemia Crofoot, daughter of Asa Crofoot, of Almena township, a native of the state of New York, and a man of considerable affairs in this township. His demise occurred some twenty-four years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Pease are the parents of two children, Roy D., aged twenty-one, holding an excellent position with the American Express Company, of Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Kyle D., aged fourteen (born August 25, 1897), a student in the public schools. The Crofoots are an eastern family. Asa Crofoot married Elenore Erkenbeck. His father's name was Joseph Crofoot.
The subject is a Mason, belonging to Hudson Lodge, No. 325 at Gobleville and to the Chapter at Paw Paw. He is likewise affiliated with the Gleaners. He is a Republican in politics, and he has been honored by the bestowal of public office, he having served as treasurer and highway commissioner, and in an eminently satisfactory manner.
Although a resident of Lawrence, Michigan, only during the last seven years, and unostentatious and retiring in his life during that period, Edwin S. Douglas, now one of the prominent and successful real estate dealers in this part of the state, has won his way to a high place in the confidence and regard of the people, and has shown at every step of his progress that he is fully entitled to their faith in him and the generous manner in which they manifest it, both in patronage for his business and in esteem for his manhood and citizenship.
Mr. Douglas brought to the service of his interests in this county acquisitions secured in the great Empire state, in which he was born and reared, and with whose business he was connected in an important way for many years. He was born in Delhi, Delaware county, New York, on August 12, 1864, and is the son of Robert and Frances (Sheldon) Douglas, also natives of the state of New York, the father of Scotch ancestry and the mother descended from an English family long resident in New York state.
Robert Douglas was the son of Adam and Jennie Douglas, natives of Aberdeen, Scotland, who were reared, educated and married in the old country, but came to the United States at an early date, located in New Kingston, Delaware county, New York where their son Robert was born, grew to manhood and was educated, graduating at the end of his course of academic instruction from the Delaware Academy at Delhi, New York, the curriculum of which he went through from beginning to end. After his graduation from this institution, having no desire to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors for many generations in tilling the soil, he entered mercantile life as the proprietor of a general store, which he conducted for ten years. From general merchandising he turned to the wholesale clothing trade, with his establishment located in Albany, New York, where he remained five years carrying on an active business and winning an excellent reputation as a man and a merchant. From Albany at the end of the period named he moved to Chicago, and in that city also engaged in the clothing trade, remaining until 1894. He then moved to Montague, Muskegon county, in this state, where he died the same year and where his widow died in 1898.
Their son Edwin S. Douglas, was their only child. He moved to Chicago with his parents in 1875. There he attended school until 1884, when he engaged in the real estate business. In 1904 he moved to Lawrence in this county, and here he has ever since been actively and extensively engaged in handling real estate. He is one of the best known and most esteemed men in the business in this part of the state, and his judgment is always relied on by purchasers and sellers who are familiar with his ability and his complete and accurate knowledge of properties and their values, as to which he is a widely accredited authority. He has been engaged in the handling of Michigan real estate for the past twenty years.
Mr. Douglas was married on February 22, 1887, to Miss Mary M. Power, a daughter of Colonel John M. and Lydia A. Power. Colonel Power was a valiant soldier for the cause of the Union during the Civil war, and won his title and military rant in that memorable contest, entering the army from New Castle, Pennsylvania, and making an excellent record in one of the hard-fighting regiments enrolled in that state.
Mr. Douglas and his wife are members of the Episcopal church, holding their membership in one of the congregations in Chicago. He is a Free Mason, belonging to Rising Sun Lodge, No. 119, at Lawrence in this fraternity, and he also belongs to Chicago Lodge, No. 4, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
His great-grandfather on his mother's side of the house was Corporal Job Sheldon in the Revolutionary war and one of the faithful soldiers who captured Major Andre, the British spy, during that struggle for liberty and independence. The grandfather of Mr. Douglas was also a man of prominence and influence in Delaware county, New York, where he passed the greater part of his life, and where he served as county clerk for twenty-four consecutive years. Mr. Douglas also takes an active interest in public affairs, but only in the performance of the duties of citizenship and with no aspiration toward public office or prominence in the affairs of any political party. He and his wife stand well in the county, and are regarded as most worthy, estimable and useful citizens.
Industry, perseverance, intelligence and good judgment are the price of success in agriculture work in these modern days of farming, when the hard, unremitting toil of former years has away to scientific use of modern machinery and a knowledge of the proper treatment of the soil. Van Buren county, Michigan, has many skilled farmers who treat their vocation more as a profession than as a mere occupation, and take a justifiable pride in their accomplishments, and among these may be mentioned David Lytle, the owner of a well-culitvated tract of farming land located in Antwerp township.
Mr. Lytle was born December 11, 1860, in Porter township, Van Buren county, and is a son of Dewitt Clinton and Mary Jane (Wilcox) Lytle.
Dewitt Clinton Lytle, who was a native of the Empire state and a carpenter by trade, came to Michigan in the year 1853, settling on eighty acres of land on which the southern part of Lawton now stands. He engaged in agricultural pursuits, but after holding this property a short time, sold it to buy one hundred and sixty acres Porter township, and to this he added from time to time, being the owner of eight hundred acres of valuable land at the time of his death, which occurred June 27, 1898. His wife, who was a native of Michigan, died February 18, 1904, having been the mother of the following children: Charles S., who resides in Porter township; David; John, also living in Porter township; Wilber, who makes his residence in Lawton; N. Verne, the wife of Woodson N. Shaffer, of Paw Paw; and Robert, who is operating the old homestead in Porter township.
The education of David Lytle was secured in the public schools in the vicinity of the old homestead, and he was reared to the life of an agriculturist, being early taught the value of industry, economy and clean living. He remained on the homestead farm with his parents until he was twenty-eight years old, at which time he started working for himself on a farm, and in 1892 he purchased his present farm of ninety-three acres, situated in section 9, Antwerp township. Mixed farming and fruit raising have claimed his attention, and he is one of the most progressive of farmers, being prompt to experiment with the new methods for devices.
On February 20, 1889, Mr. Lytle was united in marriage with Miss Belle F. Ellison, daughter of Joseph and Mary Ellison, of Lawton, Michigan, and she died April 16, 1904, having been the mother of two children: Gladys M., who died in infancy; and Theo. Belle, who was born July 4, 1899. In his political belief Mr. Lytle is a Republican, and he takes an active interest in those movements which his judgment tells him will be of benefit to his community, although he has never aspired to public office. Fraternally he is a popular member of the M. W. A. He ranks high among the agriculturists of his section, and is known as a good neighbor and public-spirited citizen.
When a man has resided in a community for a number of years and has proven himself always industrious, energetic, responsible and public spirited, his death is keenly felt in the community and his place is not readily filled. Such a man was the late Henry Waite, who for many years was engaged in agriculture pursuits in Antwerp township, and was closely identified with the development of this part of Van Buren county. Mr. Waite was born September 10, 1825, in Washington county, New York, son of Green and Lida (Moon) Waite, also natives of the Empire state.
Henry Waite was one of a family of fifteen children, all of whom grew to maturity, and he was only fifteen years of age when he left home with his blankets on his back and the sum of ten dollars in his pocket. After a long and tedious journey on foot he arrived in Adrian, Michigan, his money meanwhile having dwindled to two and one-half dollars, but after spending about two years and six months at that point he returned to New York. In 1847 he again came to Michigan, remaining only a short time, when he once more went to his home in the East, but in 1855 came to Michigan and purchased seventy acres of wild land in Van Buren county. Here he spent ten years of hard, unremitting toil, and when he succeeded in clearing his land and putting it under cultivation he disposed of it at a good profit and purchased eighty acres in Antwerp township, which he had increased one hundred and thirty acres at the time of his death, January 6, 1888. His father had passed away in 1869 and his mother in 1867. Mr. Waite's whole career was one which should encourage the youth of today in their efforts to gain a competence. Starting in life a poor boy, with but ordinary educational advantages and practically no assistance of a financial nature, he won success through the sheer force of his own industry and perseverance, and made a name and reputation for himself among the substantial men of his community. Always alive to opportunities to better his own condition, he was also considerate of the rights of others, and his honest dealings with those who were associated with him in a business way won for him a respect and friendship of his fellow townsmen.
On March 26, 1850, Mr. Waite was united in marriage with Miss Caroline McCrossen, who was born in New York state, December 5, 1831, daughter of natives of Ireland and New York, respectively, whose other children were : George, who is deceased; Ellen, the widow of George Owen, of Ontario county, New York; and Christopher, living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Waite had no children of their own, but became the parents of an adopted daughter, now the wife of Asa Sheldon, of Van Buren county. Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon have two children : Asa Ford, born February 10, 1896; and Alma Marie, born September 25, 1903. Mr. Waite was a stanch Republican in politics and a consistent member of the Christian church. Mrs. Waite survives her husband, and has reached the advanced age of eighty years, but is in the best of health and spirits and in possession of her full faculties. She is well known in this vicinity as was her esteemed husband, and has many friends and acquittances.
Van Buren county is the home of some excellent citizens who have employed themselves in tilling the soil; many of them have spent their lives on the farm, but there are others who have been engaged in other lines and have returned to an agricultural vocation, and among these may be mentioned Edward Aaron Morehouse, who ranks high among the farmers of Antwerp township, a man of many sterling characteristics, and a public-spirited citizen whose influence is always cast in favor of those movements which have for their object the advancement or development of his county and township along any line. Born in Branch county, Michigan, Mr. Morehouse is a son of Daniel and Elizabeth Ann (Robinson) Morehouse.
Mr. Morehouse is a direct descendant of Ethan Allen, the Revolutionary patriot, and the British spy, Major Andre, was captured on his grandfather's farm. The latter, Aaron Morehouse, was taken prisoner by the British on account of his Revolutionary tendencies and for quite a long period was made to work at making clothes for the British soldiers. Daniel C. Morehouse, the father of Edward Aaron, was born February 13, 1815, in Ballston Spa, Saratoga county, New York, and came to Michigan in 1823, settling at Coldwater. He had begun to study with the idea of entering the legal profession. He was later admitted to the bar in New York state, but returned to Coldwater, where he practiced his profession until 1878, and for ten years served as justice of the peace. In the year mentioned above he purchased a tract of eighty acres of farming land in Antwerp township, and here he continued to engage in farming and fruit growing until his death, May 7, 1896. His first wife, who bore the maiden name of Ann Robinson, died January 16, 1857, at Coldwater, having been the mother of two children: Edward Aaron; and George Amos, the latter born December 31, 1856, and died May 12, 1858. On November 24, 1858, Mr. Morehouse was married to Eunice Gager Graham, who now makes her home with her stepson, there having been no children born to her union with Mr. Morehouse.
Edward Aaron Morehouse was reared to manhood in Coldwater, Michigan, and as a young man took up carriage painting, and occupation which he followed until his father's lost his health, at which time he considered it his duty to return home and take charge of the farm. Since taking over the management, Mr. Morehouse has made numerous improvements, and has set out numerous fruit trees and grape vines. He is an excellent example of the live, progressive, up-to-date farmer of the twentieth century, who knows how to make his land pay him a good profit, and how to enjoy life among congenial surroundings.
On May 3, 1876, Mr. Morehouse was married to Miss Clara Mead, daughter of Henry and Maria Mead, of Genesse county, New York, and she died May 3, 1877, leaving one child: Daniel M., now a resident of Seattle, Washington. On October 5, 1882, Mr. Morehouse was married to Mary Williams, who was born September 15, 1851, at Burr Oak, St. Joseph county, Michigan, daughter of Erastus and Lucy (Cummings) Williams, and a descendant of Chief Justice Waite. Two children have been born to this union; Harry E., born July 28, 1883, superintendent for Thompson & Starritt, contractors of Chicago; and Percy E., who was born July 20, 1900.
Mr. Morehouse's political views are those of the Republican party. His fraternal connections are with the Masons, the Maccabees and the Eastern Star, and he and Mrs. Morehouse are consistent members of the Congregational church.