William J. Calvert,
M. D., homeopathic physician and surgeon, was born in
St. Clair County, Mich., Feb. 18, 1835; is the third
of 9 children of Joseph and Agnes (McAfee) Calvert.
Soon after his birth they moved to Kingston, Canada,
and in 1862 settled in Dexter, Mich. William being
self-supporting very early in life, at the age of 12
he hired to a farmer for $1.50 a month. Having to
depend upon his own efforts to obtain an education, he
engaged in various avocations, the jeweler's trade,
the photograph business, etc., to procure means.
Doctor read medicine five years in Canada with Dr.
Benjamin Franklin, of Tilsonburg; Dr. S. Joy, Dr. John
Graham, and Dr. Beard, as preceptors. He took two
courses of lectures in the medical department of
Michigan's State University, Ann Arbor, in 1862-'3,
and in 1864. Then, concluding to adopt the homeopathic
system, he went to New York City, and graduated from
New York Homeopathic Medical College, in 1865. While
there, Doctor was physician-in-chief to the dispensary
of the college. He returned to Michigan, and practiced
several years in Washtenaw County, at Chelsea. He
entered the literary department of the State
University, intending to complete the course, but
failing eyesight compelled him to abandon the idea. In
1868 Doctor took the senior course in Hahnemann
Medical College, Chicago, receiving the degree of M.
D. that spring. In December 1868, he located in
Jackson, where he has been in active practice since.
In 1868 Dr. Calvert united with the American Institute
of Homeopathy at St. Louis, Mo.; was delegate to the
Northwestern Homeopathic Institute at Milwaukee, in
1869; went as delegate to the American Institute of
Homeopathy, held at Washington, D. C., in 1872; also
to Put-in-Bay in 1875, and to Lake George in 1879. He
was delegate to the world's Homeopathic Convention at
Philadelphia, in 1876. He was one of the organizers
and incorporators, and for several years was First
Vice-President of the Homeopathic Medical Society, of
Michigan. Doctor is also a member of the Jackson
County Homeopathic Medical Society, organized in 1877;
is President of the society in 1881. Doctor Calvert is
a staunch temperance man; signed the old Washingtonian
pledge when 10 years old, and has belonged to most of
the temperance societies since organized. He has never
drank a glass of liquor in his life, and for 14 years
has not prescribed a drop of alcohol for internal use
in medical practice. During these years Doctor has not
lost a patient from smallpox, scarlet fever or
measles, when called before the disease had reached
its last stage, and he has treated many. In hundreds
of cases of accouchement he has never lost either
mother or child. Doctor Calvert is past counselor and
medical examiner for the Central City Council of the
Royal Templars of Temperance, of Jackson; is a member
of the Masonic order, and of the I. O. O. F. lodge and
encampment. In 1873 and '74 he erected the Calvert
Block on West Main Street, and in 1878 purchased the
Ann Arbor Sanitarium and medical springs, the
buildings of which burned March 29, 1880, involving a
heavy loss. Doctor married Mary Jane Birch, of Canada,
in November 1859. They have 1 son, William B., a
student in the homeopathic department of Michigan's
State University; and a daughter, Agnes, J., in the
third year of Ann Arbor high school. Doctor is five
feet nine inches in height, weighs 190 pounds, and can
inhale 330 cubic inches of air at a single
inspiration. He has ridden 115 miles in a buggy and
prescribed for 40 patients in a day of 18 hours,
tiring out three horses to do the work, in the month
of July, with the mercury at 98 ° in the shade. He
does most of his reading and writing between 8 P. M.
and 2 o'clock A. M. The Doctor has invented several
surgical appliances of value to the profession. He is
a Monotheist and Rationalist in religion; a Republican
Prohibitionist in politics; a hater of shams; a lover
of music, games and dancing; a hygienist in food, and
believes "fun is better than physic."
William M. Campbell, general and local insurance agent, 118 West Main Street, has been in the insurance business in Jackson 13 years. He was born in Monroe County, near Rochester, N. Y., in 1826. His father, Wm. Campbell, was a native of Stonington, Conn., born in 1784, and descended from Scotch parentage. He married Sarah Day. William M. was educated in the academy at Alexandria, N. Y., and taught school from 19 until 24 years of age, two years as Principal of Clarkston schools, Oakland County, Mich. Mr. Campbell went South for his health in the fall of 1850, spent seven years in Nashville, Tenn., in the dry-goods business, in which he prospered, but in 1857 lost everything by fire; then returned to Oakland County, Mich. He crossed the plains to Colorado with an ox team in the spring of 1859; returned and re-crossed in each of the two following years; started again in the spring of 1862, but stopped at Jackson, and has been here since. He became hall-master in the State's prison in the spring of 1863; filled that position a year, and that of conductor three years. He then bought a third interest in the Citizen office; was two years superintendent of the job office; sold out and engaged in his present business in 1868. He represents three leading American and one foreign fire company, and is one of the most successful insurance men in Central Michigan. Mr. C. married Sarah Gregory, of Oxford, Oakland County, Mich., who was brought up in Livingston County, N. Y. He is a member of the Masonic order; believed to have been the first member initiated in Colorado.
Baxter L. Carlton was born in Wyoming County, N. Y., June 3, 1839. His parents, Guy and Elizabeth Carlton, were of English ancestry and among the earliest pioneers of that section. He attended the common schools until he had entered his thirteenth year, when he became an apprentice in the office of the Courier, published at Le Roy, Genesee County. In 1857 Mr. Carlton located in Jackson and was for some years an employee of the Patriot and Citizen, then under the proprietorship of the Messrs. Bonton and C. V. De Land. In 1862 he engaged with slender capital in the publication of the Eagle, a weekly journal of 28 columns, and by persistent effort made the venture a success. The Eagle, established as an independent journal, speedily drifted to the support of Gen. McClellan, against the politicians and afterward as the Democratic nominee for President, and for this able and accomplished officer and statesman Mr. Carlton cast his first presidential ballot. In 1866 the Eagle was consolidated with the Patriot, and the proprietor became the senior of the firm of Carlton & Van Antwerp, which has had a continuous existence of 15 years.
Gaylord G. Case, jeweler and watchmaker,
southwest corner of Main and Mechanic streets, is a
native of the town of Rives, Jackson County, Mich.,
and is 24 years of age. His parents, Lyman C. and Anna
(Kirby) Case came from New York, and settled on a farm
in Rives in an early day. Gaylord began learning the
trade of watch making at the age of 14; completed it
in the Elgin watch factory. He started in business in
Jackson on South Mechanic Street in November 1877,
with no capital but a workbench and a thorough
knowledge of his trade. The business has increased
over 300 per cent, within the past year. He makes a
specialty of selling fine watches; the leading is the
"G. G. Case" manufactured to his order; does a large
business in the finest repair work.
Howard H. Case, grocer, W. Main Street, was
born in the town of Rives, Jackson County, Mich., in
1854; is the son of Lyman and Anna (Kirby) Case,
natives of New England. They married in Jackson County
and were the parents of 6 children, Howard being the
second. He was chiefly educated in Leslie; began
clerking in a store at 17 years of age in Jackson, the
first month without any stipulations as to salary,
leaving it to his employer, who gave him $12 per week;
sold goods a year in Jackson, and a year each in
Detroit and Saginaw. At the age of 20 he started in
the grocery business with a capital of $150, in a
little frame building on the corner of Pearl and
Mechanic streets, selling on the strictly cash basis;
was compelled to close out from ill health six months
after; spent the summer in Nebraska; returned in the
fall and opened a grocery opposite the Union Hotel on
Main Street; at the end of a year removed to larger
quarters on Mechanic Street; and two years later to
his present location, 116 W. Main Street. Mr. Case has
strictly adhered to the plan of selling for cash only,
keeping no books but his cash and bank books. He has
never had any aid whatever, and by energy and close
application his sales have grown to $40,000 a year,
retail. Mr. Case married Anna E. Nichols, of Detroit,
in October 1878. They are members of the First M. E.
Church.
Patrick Casey, grocer, was born in County West Meath, Ireland, Sept. 15, 1831; emigrated to the United States and landed in New York; from there went to Westport, Conn., where he remained a short time, then came to Jackson, where he worked by the month and day until 1865, when he engaged in the grocery trade, and has continued the same ever since; carries a stock of $2,500 to $3,000. He married Miss Mary Falibee, and they have 6 children, - John H., Mary Ann., Margaret Ellen, Martha Jane, Matthew F. J., and J. T. They are members of the Catholic Church. In 1862 Mr. Casey was elected Constable and held the office three years.
John W. Cathcart, jeweler, 146 West Main
Street, established business in Jackson, in the old
Marion House Block in July 1878, remaining there until
it was destroyed by fire, Dec. 31, 1880, in which he
lost nearly $2,000. Feb. 1, 1881, he opened at his
present number. He handles a general line of watches,
clocks, the finer grades of jewelry and diamonds, in
which he has a large trade. Mr. Cathcart is a native
of Toronto, Canada, where he commenced learning the
trade at the age of 12 years, working evenings while
attending school; worked under instructions of master
mechanics in Marshall, Mich., and in 1871 in New Fork
City. He first started in business in Chelsea, Mich.,
in 1875; left there and bought out a firm in Mattoon,
Ill., in 1877; a year and a half later sold out and
came to Jackson. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.,
Chelsea Lodge. His father, William H. Cathcart, died
about three years ago in Toronto, where his widow
still resides. He descended from English parentage,
was born on the ocean, and reared in Canada. In
September, 1877, Mr. Cathcart married Susie E. Royce,
in Chelsea, Mich. He is Secretary of the Jewelers'
Protective Association of Michigan, and 3d
Vice-President of the United States Association.
William W. Child, watch, clock and jewelry
merchant, son of Sylvester and Eliza Child, nee
Carpenter, was born in Wayne County, N. Y. His father
was a native of Providence, R. I., and his mother of
New York State. William enjoyed the schools of his
native County; and when 17 years old went to Syracuse
to learn the jeweler's trade, but in less than three
years went to Newark, N. J., and completed his
apprenticeship; then went to New York City six months;
and after several changes of residence located in
Columbia, S. C., and was employed as a journeyman when
the ordinance of secession was passed; went home for a
short time; returned to Winchester, Va., and upon the
beginning of the war enlisted in the First Virginia
Confederate Cavalry, in May, 1861; was taken prisoner
at Yorktown in 1862, having been in the service about
16 months; was sent to Fortress Monroe, thence to Fort
Delaware, where he took the oath of allegiance, having
been a prisoner three months, and was sent home;
worked a short time in Brooklyn at his trade, then
went to the Bermuda Islands, and conducted the jewelry
business five years, part of the time as partner and
the remainder alone; returned to United States in
1867; carried on his business six months in Baltimore,
Md., at a loss; in November of the same year came to
Jackson, Mich., and in December opened a store, which
is now one of the oldest houses without change in the
city. Mr. Child has the largest and finest stock of
goods in his line in Michigan, with two or three
exceptions, aggregating $25,000 in value, a
considerable of which is in diamonds and other
precious stones. He is a busy worker and may be seen
at the bench when not otherwise employed. He married
Miss Julia B. Hoff, of Frederick County, Va., in 1864,
who is the mother of 1 daughter, Mary E. Child, aged
16 years. Mr. Carlton is a member of the A. F. &
A. M. lodge, chapter and commandery.
Gordon Chittock, M. D., born in the town of
Hamilton, Suffolk County, England, Jan. 15, 1827; was
brought by his parents to America when three years of
age. They settled and lived in New York City five
years; removed to Wayne county, and remained a year;
and in the fall of 1836 came to Jackson county, of
which Doctor has been a resident since. His early
education was obtained in Jackson schools, and at the
age of 17 he engaged as clerk in a drug store, and
began the study of medicine. Three years later he
retired from the store and entered the office of Dr.
M. A. McNaughton, with whom he completed his course of
reading. Dr. Chittock attended his first course of
lectures in the medical department of Western Reserve
College, Ohio, in the winter of 1848-49, and in
1850-51 attended at Kush Medical College, Chicago,
receiving the degree of M. D. that spring. He at once
began practice in Jackson, and has been active in the
profession 30 years. He was associated with Dr. Shank
as examining surgeon for the third Congressional
district during the civil war; and immediately after
the battles of the Wilderness, went in May to
Fredericksburg, Va., as a volunteer surgeon to help
care for the 10,000 wounded men injured in those
engagements. Dr. Chittock is a thorough student and
close observer, and has attained prominence in the
profession; has been a member of the Michigan State
Medical Society since 1867, and of the American
Medical Association for 10 years; has served as a
delegate a number of times, and has attended every
session but two in that time. He married Miss Maria
Murray, of Hillsdale, Mich., July 26, 1854. Wright J.
Chittock, their only child, is attending his second
term in the medical department of Michigan State
University. Doctor's father, Wright Chittock, was a
tailor by trade, and was a pioneer in that vocation in
Jackson. Getting the gold fever, he sailed on a
steamer of the Vanderbilt line, for California, in
1852; was delayed three weeks at San Juan, and while
there had the Panama fever. Continued the journey to
San Francisco on a sail vessel. In the summer of 1853
he sailed for home, but was taken ill, and died in
Rochester, N. Y., in August. His widow resides with
her son, the Doctor, aged 76 years.
William N. Choat, retired hardware merchant, son of John and Eliza (Nelson) Choat, was born in Lansingburg, near Troy, N. Y., and is 66 years old. From the age of two years he was reared and educated in Auburn, where he learned the tinner 's trade, and carried on business two years. He then bought an establishment in Rochester and conducted it two years. In 1842 Mr. Choat came west and settled in Jackson, to embark in the same line. Two years later, he, as a partner, engaged in the foundry business and manufacture of machinery, but not finding it profitable, retired at the end of three years. The firm erected and occupied a part of the building subsequently used by Messrs. Lusk & Co., and employed 20 men. Mr. Choat was in the tin and hardware trade in Jackson more than a quarter of a century; 17 years of the time in the building now occupied by Messrs. Wells & Fuller, and later in a frame building on the northwest corner of Main and Mechanic streets, for which he paid $1,500, and upon retiring from the mercantile business in 1868, sold it for $8,500. Mr. Choat, in company with P. Thuber, at one time owned nearly a quarter section of land bounded on the north by Main, on the west by Mechanic Street and on the east by Grand River. For the past 12 years Mr. Choat has devoted his attention principally to looking after his real estate. He has always felt much interest in the growth and progress of the city, and especially in the schools and the cause of education. He was also prominently identified with the coal mining in this county. Mr. Choat was united in marriage with Marilla Sackett, of Moravia, N. Y., in 1837. They are the parents of 8 children, 6 living, all but 1 in Jackson.
Nelson F. Choat is Cashier of a bank in
Dowagiac, Mich.; the other son, Dr. Edward E. Choat,
graduated from Michigan State University with the
degree of M. D. in 1873, and is now practicing
medicine in Jackson.
Franklin S. Clarke, Clerk and Agent of
Michigan State Prison, has occupied his present
position since April, 1872. He is a native of
Berkshire County, Mass., born April 17, 1812; is the
son of Linus Clarke, of Puritan stock, and Hannah
Remmele, natives of Massachusetts. In 1825 they moved
to Onondaga County, N.Y. Franklin went thence to
Monroe County, and spent several years in the
mercantile business; returned to Onondaga County, and
engaged in the manufacture of machinery. In the spring
of 1843 he came to Calhoun County, Mich., and
continued in the same business until 1847; was a
number of years in a mill he had built, as clerk and
bookkeeper. During 1853, '54 and '55 he was freight
agent for the Michigan Central Railroad Co., one year
at the general office in New York City, and two years
in Battle Creek. In 1856 Mr. Clarke was elected
Register of Deeds for Calhoun County for four years.
In 1863 he became chief clerk and cashier of the
Quartermaster General's office of Michigan. Retiring
from that position in 1867 he spent a year in New
York; about a year in the tobacco trade in Detroit.
Mr. Clarke has been three times married; first to Mary
Symson, of Monroe County, N. Y., in 1833. She died in
1837, leaving 1 child, which soon followed her. He
married Louisa Clark in 1841, who died in 1858, the
mother of a living son and daughter. Miss Mary E.Read,
of Calhoun County, Mich., became his wife in October
1859. They have 3 daughters. Mr. C. is a member of
both lodge and chapter in the Masonic order. In
politics he has always been a Radical, and an active
worker,-in early years in the Whig and later in the
Republican party. Was leader of a campaign glee club
in every Presidential campaign from 1840 to 1860.
Reuben E. Clark, of the fírm of Hitchcock,
Clark & Co., hardware merchants, 175 W. Main
Street, was born in Steuben County, Ind., in 1851. He
is the son of Philo and Elizabeth (Fitzgerald) Clark.
When he was 13 years of age his parents moved to
Albion, Mich., where he graduated at Albion College in
the class of 1872. He began reading law with W. K.
Gibson immediately after, and was admitted to the Bar
in February 1874. He served as clerk for Higby &
Gibson until January 1877, when he formed a
partnership with Mr. Gibson, which relation continued
two years, when he became partner with Hon. Jas. Guild
for one year, when he entered his present relation
with Mr. Hitchcock, in the hardware trade. He, with
Mr. Hitchcock's son, manages the business. They do a
general retail business of $30,000 a year. He is an
active member of the M. E. Church and has been
Recording Steward several years. He was married in
Albion to Ada R. Elow, of that city, Feb. 23, 1875.
They are the parents of 1 son, Clarence, five years
old. Mr. Clark was elected Circuit Court Commissioner
in the fall of 1876, being one of the only two elected
on the Republican ticket that year. At the expiration
of his term in 1878, was Republican candidate for
Prosecuting Attorney, and led the ticket, but was
defeated by the Greenback movement. In the spring of
1879 he was elected a member of the City Council from
the third ward for two years. At the close of his
first year's service he was chosen President of that
body. In the fall of 1880 he was candidate for the
Legislature from the city district.
Charles E. Clement, of the firm of Clement & Brown, grocers, 221 W. Main Street, was born in Seneca County, N.Y., in 1825; is the youngest of 14 children, 10 of whom lived to adult age, of Bartlett S. Clement, of Long Island, and Catherine McLaughlin, of Orange County, N. Y. He was reared on the farm and attended the local schools; came to Jackson after attaining his majority; worked for the railroad company for a time; at the age of 24 married Lovina Scott, of Grass Lake; bought and settled on a farm four miles west of Jackson. Four years after they moved to Jackson, and Mr. C. engaged in the grocery business. The present partnership was formed in September 1878. They keep a general stock of groceries and provisions, and have a fine retail trade. Mrs. Clement died in May 1880, the mother of 3 children, 1 son living, Eli A. Clement, who read law, and was admitted at the age of 21 years, and is now Deputy County Clerk.
Wilber H. Clute is editor and publisher of
the Michigan Industrial Liberator, which was
established in Jackson June 26, 1880, and takes a
front rank among Michigan weekly publications. The
circulation immediately sprang to 1,700 weekly copies.
It is an eight-column, four-page paper, devoted to
political economy and current news. It sides with the
National Greenback party, the editor believing that it
is contrary to experience and the nature of men to
reform the vices of old organizations, led by
self-seekers and politicians instead of statesmen and
philanthropists. Financially, the paper advocates a
national currency based on the entire property of the
country, including the precious metals, instead of on
private credit governed by private lust of gain. The
ideas of Judge Kelly, Andrew Jackson, Henry C. Gary,
Thomas Jefferson, Benj. Franklin, Robert Emmet and
Charles Stewart Parnell are strongly supported in this
paper. Mr. Clute published the Three Hivers Reporter
from 1861 to 1880.
Clark Cole, Keeper at the State prison, has
been officially connected with the institution more
than 85 years, 33 of which he has filled his present
position. He has had several thousand convicts under
his charge during this third of a century, and never
had a man escape. Mr. Cole was born in 18 in Rome,
Oneida County, but was reared in Oswego County, N.Y.,
till 1837,when he came to Jacksonburg, and has been a
resident of the place ever since. Until he entered the
employ of the State, Mr. Cole worked for Ichabod Cole,
a brother, and David Porter, as overseer of hands in
the building business; superintended the work on the
old courthouse in Jackson. At a ratification meeting
over the nomination of James K. Polk in 1844, Mr. Cole
had his left fore-arm badly mangled by the premature
discharge of the cannon he was firing as gunner for
the military company of which he was a member. The
wound crippled his hand permanently. He has been twice
married; first to Adelia White, of Orleans County,
N.Y., when 25 years of age. She died 28 years ago,
leaving a son and a daughter. Little over a year
after, he married Phoebe Sibley, from Macomb County,
Mich., born near Rochester, N, Y. They have 1 son. Mr.
Cole is a Past Master of Lodge IT, A. F. & A. M.
His long contact with men whose characters his
position obliged him to study, has made Mr. Cole a
remarkable reader of human nature, an accomplishment
for which he is quite noted.
James Congdon, tinner, was born in Ireland, March 6, 1833, and emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1843, locating in Ontario County, N. Y. His mother, Julia (Martin) Congdon, died in 1874. Mr. Congdon remained on the farm till he was 17 years old, when he learned his trade. In 1853 he came to Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained one year, then returned to Ontario County, N. Y.; married Miss Ellen G. Martin; she was born in Ireland. They have 1 child - Ellen, now Mrs. Thomas O'Neil. After marrying he came to Jackson and worked at his trade for B. J. Billing 14 years. Then embarked in business for himself opposite Webb's drug store. Three months afterward he was burned out, losing all he had. He then formed a partnership as Congdon & Palmer, afterward as Congdon & O'Neil; remained there nine years, then came to his present place; he carries a good stock, and his property is valued at $3,000. They are members of the Catholic Church.
Thomas Conklin, engineer M. C. K. R., was
born in Livingston County, Ohio, Dec. 15, 1853; was
reared on a farm, and received a district-school
education; came to Jackson in 1871 and worked in a
hotel, and in a mill for Brooks & Adams. In
January 1877, he made his first trip as engineer. He
married Katie Flynn, a daughter of Thomas Flynn, a
native of Ireland; she was born in Jackson, January 3,
1857. There are 3 children - Thomas Frank, born June
29, 1876; Christopher L., born Dec. 25, 1878;
Elizabeth, born June 26, 1880. They are members of the
Catholic Church.
Edwards J. Connable, principal proprietor of
the Jackson Fire Clay Co., was born in Franklin
County, Mass., in 1815, and is the son of Joseph and
Mary (Maxwell) Connable, both of New England birth. He
obtained a good business education for those days at
the common school and academy. In 1838 he went to
Ohio, and while a young man still with his parents,
commenced on his father's farm the manufacture of
agricultural implements, and afterward carried on the
same business, for about four years, as sub-contractor
in the Ohio Penitentiary, with a force of 25 men. In
1847 he came to Jackson as acting partner with Messrs.
Pinney & Samson, of Columbus, Ohio, in the
manufacture of farming tools in the Michigan State's
prison, which business interest was the foundation of
the present house of the Withington & Cooley
Manufacturing Co. Being the only member of the firm
residing in the State, he was actively engaged in the
general supervision of all the interests of the
concern, continuing in this relation for six years,
when failing health obliged him to retire. After
remaining out of active business about 14 years, he
finally drifted, partly by force of circumstances,
into the business of the Jackson Fire Clay Co., in the
year 1867. The present company was then formed,
employing from 40 to 50 men in the manufacture of the
goods, which are sold in this and adjoining States. In
1843 he married Miss Cadelia Newkirk, sister of Mr.
Benjamin Newkirk, Cashier of Jackson City Bank, she
being a native of Xenia, Ohio. The father of Mr.
Connable was always an uncompromising Whig, and his 5
sons, the eldest of whom is the subject of this
sketch, have all their lives been Whigs during the
existence of that party, and since its dissolution,
staunch Republicans.
Charles W. Cook, of the firm of Chapman &
Cook, grocers, was born in Allegany County, N. Y.,
Nov. 28, 1833. In 1839 his people came to Ann Arbor,
where they remained a short time, then returned to
Buffalo, N. Y.; from thence to Toledo and remained a
short time; thence to Fort Wayne and Logansport, Ind.,
and to Clinton, Lenawee County, where he remained for
five years, where he learned the painter's trade. He
lived in Ingham County a short time, then he came to
Marshall, and after about a year enlisted in the 8th
Michigan Cav., Co. A, and remained in the service
nearly three years. He participated in the siege of
Knoxville, Nashville, and several others; after the
war he returned to Indiana, and worked on the railroad
one year, then came to Jackson. In 1879 he formed a
partnership with H. S. Chapman; they carry a general
stock of groceries, and are doing a good business. Mr.
Cook has held several local offices of trust; was
Coroner of Jackson County at the time of the accident
near the Junction when 15 lives were lost, and
appointed the following gentlemen as a jury: C. W.
Pany, H. A. Hayden, Cluster Warrens, N. B. Hall and M.
Shoemaker.
Elijah N. Cooper, physician and surgeon, was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, May 12, 1836; was reared on a farm until he was 16 years of age, and attended school winters; then engaged in mechanical pursuits, and followed the same until he was 26 years of age, when he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Reynolds, of Louisville, Ky., and remained about two years. Being in limited circumstances, he again took up his trade to earn money to finish his professional studies. In 1861 he enlisted in the 87th Reg. Ind. Vol. Inf., Co. K, as a private, but was commissioned as 1st Lieutenant by Gov. Morton; was in several engagements, and with Sherman to the sea. In 1875 he came to Jackson; remained a short time, then went to Ann Arbor and took a course of lectures; afterward returned to Jackson and has been here since. Dr. Cooper has been married twice; his first wife was Miss Esther E. Owen, native of Indiana; she died Oct. 7, 1864, leaving 2 children - Katie A. and William D. For his second wife he married Miss Carrie E. Burch.
William F. Cowham, of Cowham & Scofield,
carriage manufacturers and agricultural implement
dealers, and general State agent of McCormick Reaper
Co., is a native of Racine County, Wisconsin, born
Oct. 15, 1844; son of Robert M. and Louise (Neal)
Cowham. When 15 years old he moved with his parents to
Joliet, Illinois. At the age of 11 he went into a
hardware store, and two years after became cashier of
the concern. After settling in Joliet he traveled
three years selling school furniture in the Western
States; in 1867 entered the employ of the McCormick
Co., and in the winter of 1868-69 became their general
agent for harvesting machinery in Michigan, and
located in Jackson. Their trade was then 100 machines
a year. In 1880 it was 1,700, and 43 per cent over any
previous year. In 1870 Mr. C. engaged in the sale of
farm implements in company with Win. Billings; bought
his partner's interest in 1872; entered into
partnership with Charles O. Scofield, and moved from
the Keystone to the Odd Fellows' Block. The growth of
their business demanded the erection of two large
warehouses, near M. S. depot; and later, their removal
to the Hibbard Block on Courtland Street, occupying
two floors 42x130 feet in area. They began the
carriage manufacturing in 1878; confine them to spring
work, and expect to build 500 carriages and buggies
this year. They started with a gross business of
$5,000, which has grown to $200,000 a year. Mr. Cowham
married Margaret M. Billings in Illinois in 1869, who
died in 1879, leaving 1 son. Mr. C. is a member of the
Masonic order.
Alfred C. Cowherd, proprietor of Jackson book-bindery and paperbox manufactory, son of Thomas and Ellen (Batty) Cowherd, was born in Brantford, Canada, and is 28 years of age. His father was a well to-do hardware merchant and had a large family. Alfred possessed an adventurous spirit; left home and became self dependent at the age of 12 years, and at 16 went to Buffalo, N. Y., and served three years at the book-binding trade. He came to Jackson in April 1872, and in March 1873, married Susan M. Mooney, of Jackson. Upon entering his " teens" Mr. C. laid out a course in life which has been strictly carried out thus far, as to date of becoming established in business, marrying, etc. He started in business without any capital ; now employs about 20 hands and does a business of $15,000 to $20,000 a year.
Abel M. Crawford, M. D., is a native of
Tompkins County, N. Y., born in 1828. His parents,
Abram and Jane Crawford, nee Scott, were New York
people, descendants of Irish and Scotch parents
respectively. They came to Michigan and settled in the
town of Leoni, Jackson County, in 1835, on a farm.
Doctor was educated in Leoni, Hon. J. W. Longyear
being one of his teachers. He read medicine with his
brother, and with Dr. G. W. Gorham, of Jackson; took a
course in Bush Medical College 1846-'7 and another in
1849-'50, receiving the degree from that institution
in the spring of 1850. The Doctor located in practice
two years in Eaton Rapids; seven years in Lansing; was
then appointed Surgeon of the Detroit & Milwaukee
railroad, with headquarters at St. John's, Clinton
County, in which he erected the first brick house.
While there, in 1855, he located, platted and named
the town of St. Louis, Mich., and secured the location
of post offices and mail route from St. John's to
Maple Rapids. Doctor also acted as reviewer under
Capt. Ward in locating the 75,000 acres of land
granted to the Sault de Ste, Marie Canal Co., and was
afterward agent of the lands for the company in seven
counties. He served some time as Postmaster of St.
John's, and was County Treasurer of Gratiot County in
1855 and '56, the county having been organized through
his efforts mainly, at the session of the Legislature
in 1855. He settled in Jackson in 1859, where he has
been in active practice since, save while in the army.
Doctor was appointed Surgeon of the llth Mich. Inf.,
March 16, 1865, and served till it was discharged in
September. In 1864 he spent a season in Bellevue
hospital, New York city, and had charge of a lying-in
ward some months. Doctor Crawford is a member of
Michigan State and Jackson Medical Societies; was one
of the organizers of the former. He married Julett O.
Miller, of Lansing, in 1850. Her father built the
first brick house in that city, and was one of the
contractors for the masonry of the Capítol. Doctor and
wife were the parents of 1 child, Hattie Bell, the
second white child born in St. Louis, Mich. Dr.
Crawford was twice elected Supervisor from the old 3d
ward of Jackson; has been a member of the Masonic
order since 1849.
Philo J. Curtiss, carpenter and builder, was born in Oswego County, N. Y., May 2, 1828; is one of 4 sons and 3 daughters of John and Phebe (Gilson) Curtiss, natives of New York; who came to Jackson County, Mich., in 1836 and setttled in what is now the town of Norvell, then Napoleon, where they farmed nine years; removed to Kalamazoo County in 1844; returned to Jackson three years later and conducted the old Eagle hotel a year. Mrs. C. died some 12 years ago; her husband still resides in the city, aged 81 years. Philo learned the carpenter's trade, carried it on in Kalamazoo County; had active charge of the hotel while his father occupied it; then engaged in the building business and has continued since; went to California in the spring of 1852; three years later returned to Jackson. Mr. Curtiss erected a large planing mill and ran it until 1877, then closed it out. May 19, 1855, he married Elmira Palmer, in Jackson, who died in 1866; two years after, he married Mary L. Parmeter, a sister; has a daughter by the first wife and a son by the second. Mr. C. served as Alderman from the 4th ward in 1864; and was Supervisor from the 5th and 6th wards in 1877; has been a member of the A. F. & A. M. over 30 years; is a charter member of the Knights of Honor in Jackson, and is presiding officer.
