Allegan County, Michigan - Chapter 3: Aijjcgax \[llage Axd Vicixity, 1907 (part 1 of 3)

Chapter 3: Aijjcgax \[llage Axd Vicixity

The beginnings at Allegan are later in time than the other localities of settlement previously described, but owing to the enterprise of the projectors of the village and the advantages of its site, coupled with its selection as the county seat, Allegan soon took precedence among the centers of the county. Allegan, perhaps more tlian any other village; was the product of invested capital, whose active representatives, however, were on the ground personally directing and participating in the building of a village.

Nature designed the site of Allegan for village purposes. The Song horseshoe bend in the river, by which the swift current after flowing more than a mile from the entrance of the "horseshoe" is bent back to within a few hundred yards of its beginning, is an ideal situation for the development of water power and was so recognized by the founders of the village. This peculiar adaptability of topography to the enterprise of man must be set down as the originating cause of Allegan's existence. That the judgment of the founders was not at fault is proved by the fact that the "peninsula" within the bend is well covered with manufacturing enterprises of all kinds, the majority of them depending on water power.

George Ketchum, Stephen Vickery and Anthony Cooley were the original purchasers oi most of the land on which AUegan village was built. Their purchases were made in the late summer and fall of 1833. In November of tliat year there came on from Rochester, N. Y.. Elisha Ely, a man of means, who possessed the confidence of other investors and was a capable executive. He bought an undivided third of the land owned by Ketchum, Vickery and Cooley, and also agreed to develop the water power and build a sawmill. In the following spring Mr. Ely turned the active management and ownership of his property and enterprises over to his son, Alexander L., who thereafter figured prominently in village and county affairs. In 1834 these men - Ely, Ketchum, Vickery and Cooley^ projected a village, employing Osliea Wilder to survey the plat. It was due to the irregularities in this first survey that the streets of Allegan run in such bizarre directions and with such intricate angles. In 1837 F. J. Littlejohn was employed to revise the plan and rectify the survey, but owing to the rapid settlement of the two tiers of blocks previously surveyed he was unable to change materially the work of his predecessor.

eastern capital and the promotion of man it f act u ring and village sites in the new regions of Michigan were, as we have seen, favorite methods of capitalistic enterprise at that prosperous period,

George Ketchuni, of Marshall, Michigan, one of the original owners of Allegan site, seems to have been the agent in introducing a change in the proprietorship of Allegan. Having been employed by Samuel Hubbard, a resident of Boston and a judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts, to purchase Michigan lands, Mr. Ketchum besides buying land in his name on various sections in the vicinity of Allegan, also recommended to Judge Hubbard the purchase of an interest in the village site. Several others were interested in the deal, including Charles C. Trowbridge, of Detroit, one of the best known names in the public life of Michigan.

Hubbard, Trowbridge, Edmund Monroe and Pliny Cutler, of Boston, purchased the two-thirds interest in the village owned by Ketchum, Vickery and Cooley, the title being vested in Judge Hubbard. A. L. Ely retained his third interest, but soon after, to secure a loan of several thousand dollars from Judge Hubbard, he surrendered his title to Mr. Trowbridge.

Thus it comes about that Samuel Hubbard and C. C. Trowbridge are named as the proprietors of Allegan village, although the others mentioned had financial or active interests in its development. The association of these men was called "The Allegan Company," which though unincorporated, during its existence furnished the capital and exercised the executive control for Allegan's growth and development. In this respect the early history of Allegan exhibits some points of marked contrast from villages which may be said to have grown up naturally and by the aggregation of individual enterprise and effort - a process described on other pages. The latter type of village formation seems to possess more of the qualities of democracy and individualism, and as a whole more of the elements of continuance and stability. The history of towns and cities that have been "boomed" by railroads, and commercial bodies and other corporate firms exhibits a depressing number of failures. Where they have succeeded, it is generally due to the substantial character of the population, who instead of relying wholly on the resources of the promoting company, have built up independent enterprises and have turned from the pap of outside capital to solid home industry and business. Though the Allegan Company must be given credit for founding the village and bringing in money and settlers to give it a fair start, so far as Allegan's permanent prosperity is concerned the company failed of its ptirpose.

The principals in the Allegan Company about the same time purchased about 20,000 acres of land in AHegan and surrounding counties and for the exploitation of this property carried on operations under the name of the "Boston Company." The two companies were nominally independent though their interests were harmonious and, locally, the people seldom discriminated between the words "Boston" and "Allegan," but referred to the concerns as "the Company." Thus the companies became identified not only with the early growth of Allegan village but with much of the surrounding country, and for this and reasons to be mentioned later it has been deemed proper to consider as one subject the history of "Allegan and vicinity."

T3ie revised Allegan plat, above referred to, was certified to by Samuel Hubbard and C. C. Trowbridge June 23, 1837. On the engraved "Plan of

"Allegan is situated at the foot of the Rapids upon Kalamazoo river at the head of steamboat navigation and 20 miles from Lake Michigan. It is the country seat . . . and surrounded by heavy- timbered farming lands of superior quality. The town is high and healthy and is the natural outlet for the surplus products of the upper Kalamazoo, a district of country eighty in length by fifty in width. There are extensive bodies of excellent pine and whitewood over Allegan which will then be converted into lumber. Its settlement was commenced in 1835 and there are now, April 1837, 700 inhabitants. Mills, furnaces and various kinds of machinery are in operation or being erected upon water power which may be considered as fully equal to that of Rochester, New York. A steamboat is expected to run this season from Aliegan to the mouth of the Kalamazoo river. Several important state roads have already been established centering at Allegan and one or more railroads will terminate at the same point. There are also in its immediate vicinity two fine beds of clay for making brick and extensive marie beds for burning lime and a large body of superior sand for manufacturing glass. Allegan from its various natural and acquired advantages will doubtless rank ere long among the most populous towns of the west."

This rather glowing prospectus is, so far as we are able to learn, the earliest written description of the village. To arrive at its true historical value, one must read it as an advertisement, which was no doubt freely circulated in east and west to induce settlers to locate here and invest capital for the development of "its various natural and acquired advantages." That Allegan was the natural outlet (however, sharing the honor with Saugatuck) for the products of the upper Kalamazoo remained true until the building of the Michigan Central R. R. to Kalamazoo, which reversed the current of traffic. Its important position as a center of the lumber in<lustry continued as perhaps the most valuable asset of the village until the seventies. The estimate of population acquired in two years' time, if accurate, illustrates how rapidly the village grew under the impulse of the Company. But with the total popiUation of the county, at the census of 1837, estimate<l at 1469, it seems hardly probable that half the number were residents of Allegan village. The fact that the Elys and other settlers were from Rochester, New York, furnished a ready comparison between the water power of the two places. No steamboat ran from Allegan to the mouth during the thirties, but the "C. C. Trowbridge" was built at Singapore by the Aliegan Company about 1842 for the piirpose of river navigation. It was found unsuited for its purpose and after two trips was taken off. The state roads mentioned as centering at Aliegan were most valuable aids to the development of the village as a commercial center. But the prospectus safely spoke of the railroads as a future accession. The proprietors had a railroad surveyed from Allegan to Marshall in 1838, but it fared as many other railroad ventures undertaken about that time. Allegan had to wait thirty years for a railroad.

The Company also established a bank (elsewhere described), with the "wild cat" features of paper issues and unsecured capital. Disaster soon overtook this institution, and therewith" the prestige and usefulness of the Company began to decline. The bank and other enterprises were the product of the era of speculation and inflated values then prevailing everywhere.

Relying on the rosy prospects of the future, values were forced far beyond reasonable figures. It is doubtful if some of the prices at which village property was then held could be matched at the present day.

Perhaps the most serious phase of the matter was the relations of dependency between the people and the Company. It was the Company's village, and the inhabitants pinned their faith in the resources and management of the Company. It was said that "everybody owed the Company" and "Company orders" were legal tender throughout the community. This was not a healthy economic condition. The Company was carrying too heavy a load - being not only the financial backers but relieving the inhabitants of much of the initiative and business responsibility which are the foundation of civic as well as individual character. In the end both the Allegan and Boston companies were involved in financial embarrassments little less than bankruptcy. The Boston Company was practically dissolved in 1844 when its lands were inventoried and a division made among the individual owners. In 1849 the village property of the Allegan Company was sold at auction and the proceeds divided.

The passing of the Company was undoiibtedly a good thing for the village. Left to struggle for themselves, without recourse to outside capital, the people soon found their real level and began to progress by individual enterprise. The period of fallacious hopes had passed here as throughout the state, and permanent advancement began.

So far we have presented the Company's relations to Allegan in a rather negative light. The successful issues of its control were by no means inconsiderable. In 1835 and '6 a temporary dam was constructed across the river in the same location as the present one. A race was cut across the narrow neck of land to the opposite channel of the river. A sawmill was erected, converting the pine and hardwood into lumber for the settlers' homes. During the winter of 1835-36 the upper part of the peninsula where the business portion of the village now stands was cleared of its trees and here among the pine stumps, on the village lots which had been first offered for sale the preceding June, many small frame houses sprung up to shelter the rapidly incoming settlers. In 1836 the Company erected a small frame building for the use of the Presbyterian society organized in the spring of that year. It was burned down in a fierce fire two or three weeks after being first occupied. Tn the same spring the large frame schoolhouse elsewhere described, used for church purposes and as the first courthouse, was built.

A ferry was first used to cross the river to the village site, but in 1837 a bridge was built on the site of the present bridge near the Allegan House on the south side of the village.

Through the enteqirise of the Company the village was incorporated in 1838, antedating by nearly thirty years any other village incorporation in the county. At that time, owing to the fact that the Company's enterprises were brisk, that a large number of people were earning their support as employes of the Company, and that the financial stringency had not yet reached the village, Allegan was flourishing. Only a year or so after incorporation, however, the decline of the Company's fortunes brought about a situation where it was clearly seen that Allegan had been advanced more rajjidly than the pioneer conditions of this part of Michigan warranted. There was more produced than could be consumed or marketed. Population had l)een concentrated and organized before the surrounding country was settled. After the panic of 1837 trade all over the country became duil, and demand being confined to the necessities, over-production resulted. This state of affairs bore specially hard on Allegan, which had been founded and promoted as a producing center, whose prosperity depended on a ready market for its output with the outside world. As yet commerce in Michigan had no railroads to carry it east or west. The only route in this county lay down the river, and Chicago being yet a village, and other parts of the west not yet asking for Michigan's products, it is evident that each commvmity was strongest when it was most nearly self-sustaining, offering in the market only so much as necessary to offset its own pioneer needs. In view of these facts, there seems no overstatement in the words of an early writer who said the hard times "produced a paralysis on the growth of the village and entailed much suffering and hardship upon the people." Not only was the growth of the place retarded for several years, but it would seem that its population actually decreased.

In the meantime the bulk of Allegan's pioneers had come and made homes in and about the village. Those who were actively connected with the founding of the village have been mentioned. The first family to come in as settlers was that of Leander S. Prouty, who arrived in April. 1834. Elisha Ely had gone to his old home in Rochester and induced the Proutys. Andy J. Pomeroy and one or two others to return with him to Allegan where the work of improvement lingered through lack of labor. This party came from Kalamazoo to Allegan by rafts, that being a better thoroughfare than the forest trails. The Prouty house was built on what is now Bratly street, between Hubbard and State, and on an acre of ground they planted the first garden crop raised on the village site. I'efore fall the Company had built them a log house, where they lived and kept a sort of public house for boarding the men in the employ of the Company. That first winter in Allegan, when all the peninsula save an acre or two was covered with pine woods, when only two or three mnd-and-stick chimneys sent their smoke aloft into the clear, frosty air, when hardly more than a dozen white persons made up the social community, when luxuries were the necessities, and necessities luxuries, may be remembered with profit by all who live in this time of comfort and enlargement of life's advantages.

In the spring of 1835 the village began growing rapidly. It is stated that the popidation then numbered about 60 persons, so that the increase during the next two years was not far from a thousand per cent. Col. Joseph Fisk, of Rochester. New York, who arrived in 1835. soon made himself a factor of prominence in the place. His first log house was replaced in a few years by the Allegan House, at the corner of Brady and State streets, which is now one of the oldest buildings in the village and after long service as a hotel is now a tenement house. He and Alva Fuller opened a store near the east end of Hubbard street, and in 1837. in partnership with Sidney Ketchimi, resident agent of the Allegan Company, he built the first grist mill, where the Oliver furniture plant is now located.

When the late N. B. West came to Allegan in August, 1836, the Allegan House was the only tavern, but William Booher was then erecting the Michigan Exchange, on the corner of Trowbridge and Walnut streets. The

Michigan Exchange is still standing, though no longer known by that name, and now thoroughly remodeled and used as a tenement house. Mr. West lived in Allegan almost continuously until his death about a year before this writing, nearly seventy years, and from one of the earliest carpenters in the village became a successful manufacturer of doors and other building material, so that he left a considerable fortune to church and educational purposes and his heirs at the time of his death.

In the description of the village accompanying the "Plan of Allegan," already spoken of, mention is made of a furnace among the manufacturers. This was established by Alby Rossman and Hyman Hoxie, pioneers of 1836. Their machine shop and furnace, located on the race, was the first plant of the kind in the village, and served a great variety of wants among the early settlers. Mr. Rossman was identified with manufacturing in the village for thirty years, and was also a farmer and influential citizen.

Little more than nominal mention can be made of those who came in 1835 and 1836. All contributed something to the growth of the village, and some made their activity and influence so useful and conspicuous that their careers are closely interwoven with the subsequent history of the village.

Of those who came in 1835, William Jones was the first minister of the gospel in the village; George Y. Warner was the first attorney; Ira Chaffee at once became useful as a mill operator to the Company, from 1841 conducted the sawmill built by the Company as its owner, and besides leaving a reputation as one of the most successful lumber manufacturers of the county, his name became familiar in the county and this part of the state through the "'Chaffee House," which be built in 1872 and which ranked as the leading hotel of the village for many years. Its site is now occupied by the Masonic Temple. Doane D. Davis came in 1835, was a carpenter and contractor and also served in official positions.

The only living pioneer of 1835 is T. E. Streeter, who, a child of four years when he arrived, has spent practically all his life in the village and .is the only link between the present and the years when Allegan belonged to the Company and all affairs were only beginnings. He and his brothers, J, K. and A. L... accompanied their father, Elias Streeter, to this place from New York, The latter was for a time in the employ of the Allegan Company.

Others who came in 1835 and were long connected with the village were: W. C. Jenner, the tir.st shoemaker; John Askins, the first millwright; James Dawson, a resident of fifty years, and an early carpenter and joiner ; J. W. Bond, a painter. The trades, the professions, and the business callings were soon filled, and in a single year Allegan was almost on a par with villages throughout southern Michigan.

The high tide of immigration was reached in 1836. The following year came the financial panic, and cessation of immigration everywhere. The Littfejohn family were the most conspicuous arrivals in 1836. For seventy years it has been represented in the life of the village, and business and professional ability, close connection with community affairs, and high personal character have marked its individual members. Flavins J. Littlejohn was a college graduate, the first one mentioned among Allegan's pioneers. He re-sitrveyed the village, as already stated, and soon after entere<l the practice of law, and from that time until liis death in 1880, his name is found in connection with public office and affairs. There were

History Oi' Allegax Ccjuxtv 59

Other settlers in 1836 were Lyman W. Watkins, one of the first niercitants- Rev W C H. Bliss, a cabinet mai<er by trade, which he was the first to' follow in the village. For many years he was a circuit rider, and performed many and arduous duties for the sake of religion, being still remembered for his aggressive and wholesome Christianity. Ur u. u. Goodrich the first physician, as mentioned in the chapter on Medicine, arrived in 1836. In this year came Duncan A. McMartin, a worthy citizen for half a century. . 1 n.

A man of substance, enterprise and eminent public spirit arrived in the person of Henry H. Booth, whose name is mentioned in connection with county and village offices, and also as the donor of the Fine Grove Seminary, an educational institution that supplemented Allegans public schools before the organization of the graded schools. Milo Winslow a successful merchant intil his death, Alanson S. Weeks, father of W. C. and H. C. Weeks, J. B. and Leonard Bailey are only a few of the many who came during the "boom" time of 1836. .

Allegan's history since pioneer times may be briefly sketched. Many departments of village life and activity are described in other chapters, and many facts of great interest are to be found in the personal histories Up to the dose of the Civd war, Allegan village and vicinity increased but slowlv in population and business activities. The poijulation of the village in'1850 was httle more than that claimed 111 1838.

The lumber industry and its afKliated business were the main interests of the village, aside from those essential to any center of population. ^ Unti traffic was directed south bv the construction of the Michigan Central Railroad, .Allegan benefited greatly from the river transportation. That fell off during the forties, but as long as the lumber business continued the river remained a source of profit to the village.

During the war the village experienced the setbacks and stagnation along all lines that were feh in ah parts of the country. After the war came a "toom." Railroads were built in, lumbering was still active, manufacturing showed increased prospects, settlers were Hocking m to take up and develop the farming community, and every pursuit and profession found broadened scope and activity. Population figures alone show an almost phenomenal increase. The entire township in i860 had less than a thousand inhabitants. Ten years later the village alone had a population of 2,374, the greater number having come between 1865 and 1870.

The decade from 1870 to 1880 marked the passing of hunbering as a stable resource of the coinitv. In 1880 there were fewer inhabitants in the village than in 1870. From the early seventies until the close of the eighties there was no marked progress. One of the best evidences of the change beginning with the latter tlate is seen in public and private buildmgs and improvement of village apfjearances. It will be remembered that m 1889 the new court house was built - a credit to village and entire county. The best buildings of the village have been erected in the past fifteen years. Two excellent school buildings, a new jail, two beautiful churches, not to mention the residences, can be pointed out with pride as evidences of the material prosperity of the village.

At the present writing Allegan is experiencing a better and more substantial revival of business than at any time iii its history. This is not a fatuous opinion from an enthusiastic citizen, but is a practical judgment formed from the actions of conservative men of hard business sense who do not embark in new enterprises and lend their support to business promotion without substantial reasons. With its many natural advantages, and with a proper degree of progressiveness on the part of the capital and property-owning class, Allegan's future seems to be cast among the wealthproducing and prosperous small cities of Michigan.

Concerning the industrial and business situation in AHegan at this time, the following quotation from the annual address of the president of the board of trade will prove of interest:

"Just one year ago tonight the citizens of Allegan met here for the purpose of becoming unitedly effective in promoting the material welfare of our village, to increase the industries, to add to the number of employes, to encourage in general all that tends to thrift and happiness, and for the purpose of a united co-operation among ourselves for a greater Allegan. I take this opportunitj' to congratulate the association upon the success it has made in the first year of its existence, and herewith extend my thanks to the secretary and directors for their willingness to do their work, so often in demand.

"We have succeeded, as you know, in locating one industry (the French Plate Glass Co., of which Mr. A. Wertzler is president), which we have reason to believe will be of great benefit to the town, and in securing the active co-operation and assistance of many public-spirited citizens in carrying out the object of the association,

The new officers of the board of trade and the committees are named as indicating the men who are behind the movement of progress in the village :

So long as a village consists of a collection of dwelling houses, stores, shops and mills, arranged more or less in order along streets, its class as a center of population must be considered rather that of the hamlet than that of a first-class village. Allegan, as already stated, was incorporated with village government in 1838, so that it was the first center in the county to become independent in a measure of the township system. But for nearly thirty years this village government did not signify the village improvements that it does now. It was not till 1863 that the first practical effort was made to protect the village from fires. Fire protection is one of the first things sought in an organized conimunit)- and without it a village cannot hope to grow or to induce valuable industries to locate. Allegan had many fires in its early history. One in 1836 destroyed some of the first buildings erected on the site. In 1863-4 equipment to the extent of a hand engine, hose, and hook and ladder, was purchased antl installed in an engine house built on the southeast corner of the courthouse square. In 1869 occurred the conflagration which destro}-ed the west side of Brady street. This aroused the authorities to action. First, the fire department was thoroughlv reorganized, and three companies, an engine, a hose, and a hook and ladder company were placed on effective footing and disciplined.

The second result of the fire, was the institution of water works. Xegotiations took place between the village officials and the originator of the Holly system of water works, and in March. 1871. the citizens, by a vote of 225 to 130. favored the installation of the system and the bonding of the village to the amount of $25,000 to carry the proposition into effect. Double turbine-engines were first used for forcing the water, and mains were laid through the business district and graduall\- extende<l to the residence districts. By 1873 the works had been proved satisfactory, and the engine companj- of the fire department was then dispensed with, the pressure in the mains being sufficient. Before the system was complete nearl\- $50,000 had been expended by the village.

Even with water works and alert fire department, the village was not exempt from (ire. March 12, 1884. the most disastrous fire in the village's history swept tip the south side of Hubbard street, driven by a strong wind from its starting place in a wooden building about opposite the new Sherman House, and when its progress was stopped bv the fire wall at the corner of Brady and Locust. leaped to the north siile and consumed most of the structures on both sides of Locust street north to Trowbridge. The fire wall alone is said to have prevented its progress toward the manufacturing; district.

This was the last large fire in Allegan. The burned district was cleared of debris and, like American communities in general, the work of rebuilding soon commenced. Thus it is that the business portion of the village is quite new, most of the brick blocks being less than twenty years old;

The village hall and fire house, on Trowbridge street, dates from 1888. The resolution calling for its eonstruction was offered in the council December 2, 1887, and the following September the contract was awarded at $6,450. The first floor contains the hose carts and hook and ladder and other apparatus, while the upper floor is for council rooms and clerk's office.

The water works have been from time to time improved and extended. In March, 1896, the village voted an issue of bonds not to exceed $7,000 for repairing and improvement. September 11, 1901, at a special election, it was voted (242 to 67) to bond the village to the amount of $15,000 for the installation of new pumps at the water works.

In April, 1903, the proposition carried by popular vote to bond the village $26,000 for the improvement of the water works and tlie water power.

Thomas E. Stkeeter, Sr. - No history of Allegan county would be complete without mention of Thomas E. Streeter. His residence in the village covers a longer period than any other citizen, while his interest in public life and his enterprise in business have constituted an important factor in the substantial upbuilding and improvement of this portion of the state. Wherever he is known he is honored and he is best liked where best known.

He was born in Rocliester, New York, July 9, 1832. His father, Elias Streeter, was a native of Phelps township, Cattaraugus county. New York, where his parents, Thomas and Ruth StrePter, spent a number of years. His early life was passed uneventfully. He had good home training which developed those qualities of fortitude and perserverance which enabled him in later life to fill so successfully the role of a pioneer. He early engaged in lumbering pursuits in the Empire state and while still a resident of the east he was married. It was in 1825 that he wedded Miss Julia Ann Bowen, of Springville, Cattaraugus county. New York. He first came to Michigan in the interests of the Boston Company as its representative in the lumber business and he was also actively connected with building operations and in furthering the interests of the village of Allegan in many substantial ways. He arrived here in 1835 when the county was largely a wilderness, which had been punctured to only a slight degree by the white settlers who had come to the west to plant the seeds of civilization in a region which had hitherto been under the domain of the red race. Mr. Streeter co-operated in many movements for the public good and he left the impress of his individuality upon the general upbuilding and development. He was likewise known as a representative and enterprising business man and was an expert in building dams, constructing many of them in the county during the years of his active business career here. His wife was identified with the Society of Friends or Quakers and was a lady who exemplified in her life the spirit of kindliness and gentleness inculcated by that religious sect. In the family of this worthy couple were five sons and five daughters, but only four of the family are now living: Thomas E., of this review; Mrs. Jane Currie, of Ohio; and Mrs. Nellie Davis and Mrs. Mary Fosdick, twins. The father died in Allegan, July 22, 1868, and thus passed away one of the representative pioneer settlers of the county.

Thomas £. Streeter was only three years of age when brought by his parents to Michigan, at which time there was but one house in the village of Ailegan. Mr. Streeter is without exception the oldest resident of the village, his connection therewith antedating that of any other settler by ten years. He has watched the transformation of this part of the state from a wilderness into a rich farming district and has seen the village developed from a tiny hamlet into a thriving town. There were Indians living in Allegan county at the time of his arrival and there were many wild animals that roamed through the forest, while various kinds of wild game, including deer, and many fowls were to be had in abundance. It was amid such environments and surroundings that Thomas E. Streeter spent his boyhood days, sharing with the family in the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, and also enjoying many pieastirea that are unknown in this day. He acquired his early education in the first school established in Allegan, it being located on what is now Brady street, just north of the City Hotel, the first teacher being a Mr. Warner, Mr. Streeter continued to attend the schools of his time until he reached the age of seventeen years. After coming to young manhood he worked in a sawmill and later, when his financial resources had become sufficiently large, he made purchase of a farm which is now within the village limits. For some time he was thus actively connected with general agricultural pursuits and later he engaged in the hotel business, conducting first the old Exchange Hotel, which be afterward sold and purchased the Allegan House, which he owned for sixteen years, carrying on the business there during most of tiiat time.

In 1859 Mr. Streeter with two companions, furnished an outfit consisting of a team and a saddle horse, which they shipped across the lake to Chicago, and from that point proceeded overland to Denver, Colorado, going by way of the Platte river to Fort Kearney, Wyoming, and thence to their destination. On arriving in Denver their joint capital consisted of one dollar and a quarter. They disposed of their saddle horse for a barrel of whiskey and some plug tobacco and, having tents, they located there and erected a shanty for a store, after which they sold the goods for which they had made the trade. Subsequently Mr. Streeter engaged in building operations there and built many of the crude houses of the early tlay in Denver, residing there for two years. He was very successful in his business undertakings in the west. He returned to Allegan, where he has since lived. He tells of many exciting experiences in the west with the Indians and relates many events connected with tlie establishment of the now prosperous and beautiful city of Denver. He conducted the first trial ever held in Denver, he being instrumental in securing the judge, prosecuting attorney and jury, while he acted as counsel for the defense, who was charged with the theft of a gun. Through Mr. Streeter's efforts he was acquitted. This proceeding was conducted strictly in keeping with pioneer and frontier conditions, and came to pass before the days of the vigilance committee. In 1863 be entered the army as a sutler and so continued for about a year. In all that he undertook hen\et with success and his prosperity is attributable in large measure to the fact of his ready recognition and utilization of opportunities.

He has been particularly prominent in the improvement of the village both through private business interests and also furthering an\' movement instituted for the general good. In 1884 he built the Allegan Opera House, which he still owns, while his son, Thomas E. Streeter, Jr., is now acting as manager. He also has about forty acres of land on Miner Lake in Allegan township, which he has converted into a fine summer resort. He has there a number of boats, also sheds for horses and all conveniences for the entertainment of large or small parties who desire to spend the day there. He is likewise buiiding at this place at the present time a summer residence of cement blocks thirty by thirty-two feet, and containing seven rooms, to be occupied by his family during the summer months.

Mr. Streeter is recognized as one of the most influential and substantial residents in the county and village of Allegan and has long been recognized as a leader in those movements which have had direct bearing upon the welfare and progress of the county. His fellow townsmen also called him to a number of local offices. Prior to the Civil war he was constable of the village of Allegan and also deputy sheriff under Sheriff Benjamin Pratt and Sheriff Jacob Grover. He was likewise marshal of the village of Allegan for two different terms.

On January 24, 1864, in Allegan, was celebrated the marriage of Thomas E. Streeter and Miss Eliza M. Streeter, a daughter of William and Sarah R. (BuUard) Streeter, of New York. They had three children, of whom two are living, Jennie having died in early girlhood. The sons are Thomas E. and Horace V. The former, bom in Allegan, married Nellie Hinton, of Salem township, this county, while Horace V., also a native of Allegan, wedded Jennie Cary, of Mendon, Michigan, who died leaving three children, E'aith, Violette E. and Paul H.

Mr. Streeter has from time to time invested in property here, making judicious sales also, and has always owned more or less real estate. In his business interests he has been usually successful. No man has been more closely associated with the history of the county, and from among the ranks of quiet, persevering, yet prominent citizens - prominent on accoimt of what he has accompli she d^th ere is no man more deserving of mention in a volume of this character. His acquaintance is very wide and he numbers his friends among young and old. rich and poor, for his social nature and a genial disposition have made him popular.

General B. D. pRiTCHARD.^For a life of general and widely varied activity and conspicuous success and pronjinence in his different roles, perhaps no man in Allegan county is better known than Fienjamin D. Pritchard. Past the age of seventy, after fifty years of unremitting activity he stands hale and hearty, the picture of health and vigor in life's decline.

Born in Nelson, Portage county, Ohio, in 1835, he received his early education in the public schools and in Western Reserve College, and in 1856, at the age of twenty-one, came to Allegan. He was one of a remarkable group of men who came to the village before the war, and became active factors in the history of the village in succession to an earlier group that may be called the real pioneers, conspicuous among whom were the Elys and Littlejohns and others. Mr. Pritchard be^n the study of law in 1858, and after graduating from the law departmer"- if the State University in i860 came home to enter a partnership with the m,. "" 'R Williams, who. had also come to the village in the middle fifties and wa,->

Soon the war came on. involving momentous decisions in the life of every man. The natural leaders in civic life were expected to take the lead in directing the people in war, and it was soon a question with the firm of Williams and Pritchard which one should take the field. Though Mr. Williams was urgent in demanding the sacrifice for himself. Mr. Pritchard considered his own independence and comparative freedom from responsibilities as superior reasons for being the first to enter active service, and he was soon engaged in the recruiting of a company of Allegan county men for the cavalry service. This became Company L of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, of which he was commissioned captain August 13, 1862. His military career was brilliant. In active service through the south, he was promoted from captain to lieiitenant-colonel of his famous regiment, and as its acting commander took part in the culminating event of the war, the capture of the deposed president of the Confederacy, for which achievement he was brevetted a brigadier-general of the United States Volunteers. The capture of Jefferson Davis and the subsequent controversy over that episode made General Pritchard a national figure. For some fifteen years after the war the capture of the Confederate president in disguise excited a profuse and often bitter discussion between the partisans in the north and south. In General Pritchard's report to Washington lie told in detail the story of the capture of Davis, and some fifteen years later he felt it proper to say a final word concerning his part in the matter. The article which he then wrote, and which was published in the Allegan Journal, is still in his judgment the most accurate version of the affair. This account, which has not before been published in the history of the county, has been deemed of sufficient importance to be reproduced in its essential details, and is quoted at the conclusion of this personal sketch.

At the close of the war General Pritchard returned to Allegan and resumed practice of law with Mr. Williams. Rut as elsewhere stated. General Pritchard's success had been gained principally in other lines than the law. In public life he has been eminent. In t866 he was elected on the Republican ticket commissioner of the state land office, being re-elected two years later. He was elected state treasurer of Michigan in 1878. also holding this office two terms.

In business General Pritchard is best known as a banker. In 1870 he organized the First National Bank of Allegan and was its president imtil 1905, since which time he has been president of the First State Bank, as mentioned on other pages of this work. He also owns a farm south of the village, and keeps in active touch with these and many other interests.

In 1864 General Pritchard married, in Ohio, Miss Mary B. Kent, a native of that state. Mrs. Pritchard died in 1890, leaving two children. Bertha P., wife of C. R. Wilkes, of Allegan, and Harrv D., cashier of the First State Bank. The latter married Miss Gale Wheeler, of Allegan, and they have two children, Dudley H. and Kent B.

Gen. B. D. Pritchard's Account of the Capture of Jeff Davis. - The orders under which I acted were received from Col. R. H. G, Miiity, commanding the second division of the cavalry corps, military division' of the Mississippi, and from whom, on the afternoon of Sunday, May 7, 1865, I received direct orders to report immediately to him in person for instructions. On my arrival he detailed to me the information received by General Wilson from his forces in the direction of Augusta, regarding the movements southward of the principal parties connected with the Confederate government and the desire to effect their capture, if possible, directing me to proceed with my regiment, the 4th Michigan cavalry, from its crip near Macon, Georgia, down the southerly side of the Ocmulgee river a listance of 75 or 100 miles, to take possession of all the fords arid ferries tJlow Hawkinsvihe, and to picket the river and scout the country north and south of the river as thoroughly as the strength of my command would permit. Certain places appearing upon the maps were thought to be desirable points for establishing the headquarters of my regiment, but that matter was left to my own discretion upon arriving upon the grouiid ; and, if pursuit became necessary, I was authorized to disregard all points and communications, and pursue as far as might be deemed necessary even to the gulf or the ocean. In obedience to the orders above stated, which were verbal and sfrictly secret, I moved with my command from camp at Macon at 8 o'clock the same evening, pursuing the main highway leading down the south side of the Ocmulgee river, in the general direction therewith, leaving everything in camp which might in any way impede our free and rapid movemert. As this article is not intended to describe in detail the incidents of the march, I will simply say that we pressed forward by rapid forced marches, night and day, only halting long enough to feed and rest our horses, until on the 9th day of May at 3 o'clock p. m., when we arrived at Abbyville, 75 miles from Macon, where we first struck the trail of what proved to be the train of the Davis party, and which had gone on in the direction of Irwinsville the night before. Here we also met Lieut. -Colonel Harnden, commanding a detachment of the tst Wisconsin cavalry, with whom a brief consultation was held, when it was decided that we could not plan any concerted action for the two commands, and that each had better act independently ; and then we separated. Col. Harnden with his command pursuing the train on the direct road to Irwinsville with the announced intention on his part of pressing through to that place that night before going into camp. I continued my march down the river after sending Company H of my regiment, under Lieut. Fisk, to take possession of Brown's ferry, one mile and a half above Abbyville.

After moving three miles further we met persons who gave us additional information regarding the character of the train, and also of the roads. Learning that there was another road leading into Irwinsville from a point known as Wilcox's Mills, about 15 miles below Abbyville, I decided to press forward by this road in the direction of Irwinsville, believing that if Mr. Davis was traveling apart from the train, as he was reported as doing, communicating with it from time to time, he would be likely to be traveling on the road which I proposed to take; and if Col. Harnden pressed through to Irwinsville as he expected to when we separated we would place them between us and thus greatly increase the chances of a capture. I accordingly ordered a detail of 150 of the best mounted men of my regiment, and seven officers beside myself, but the full detail of enlisted men was not filled owing to the jaded condition of the horses. At 4 o'clock I put the column in motion, moving still down the river road a distance of 12 miles to Wilcox's Mills, where a halt of one hour was made to feed and cool the horses. From thence we proceeded by a blind woods road through an almost unbroken pine forest for a distance of eighteen miles, to Irwinsville, where we arrived at about i o'clock on the morning of May lOth. The roads were first closely examined in all directions, bnt no traces could be discovered of the passage of a train or a mounted force, at which, we were much surprised, as we had confidently expected to either meet Col. Harnden at that point or fall in rear of his command and concluded at first that the train must have taken some other course ; but, upon inquiry, and passing ourselves as Confederates, we soon learned that a considerable party had gone into camp just at dark the evening before, about a mile and a half out of town on the Abbyville road. I at first thought it must be the ist Wisconsin, but upon furdier inquiry learned that they had tents and wagons which I knew was not the case with Col. Harnden's command. I at once turned the head of the colurnn in that direction, impressing a negro for a guide, moving my command up to within about a half mile of thecamp, where I halted under cover of a small eminence and dismounted 25 men and sent them under command of Lieut. Purinton. with instructionsto make the circuit of the camp and gain a position on the road in rear of the enemy, to cut off escape in that direction, to gain the position designated, undiscovered if possible, hut, if discovered and alarm was raised. I would charge the camp from the front, and he was to move upon the camp from any position he might then hold ; but if no alarm was raised I should take it for granted that he had successfully executed his orders, where he should remain quiet until I should assault the camp, as I had not then decided whether I would attack at once or delay until the appearance of daylight - but finally determined upon the latter course as the moon was getting low and the deep shadows of the forest would render it easy for parties to elude us in the darkness. After waiting in our position about an hour and a half, and until the appearance of early dawn, I put the column quietly in motion and was enabled to approach within a very few rods of the tents before discovery, when a charge was ordered, and in an instant the camp, with its inmates, was wholly within our power without the necessity of firing a shot. The surprise was so complete that not the slightest show of resistance was made. th6 men not even having time to grasp their weapons which were lying at their sides. The camp was located in the thick pine forest close by a small swamp. A chain of mounted sentries, composed of a force specially designated for that duty, swept rapidly around the camp on the instant when the main force dashed into it, thus barring all possibility of escape after the comoletion of the circuit. This chain of sentries, under the command of an officer, were to maintain their position until all of the prisoners were gathered in and placed under guard. Immediately after taking possession of the camp my adjutant, Lieut. Dick- inson, notified me that there were ladies in the tent, when I directed him testation guards at each of the tents and allow none of the men to enter them. All of the men with the party, except Mr. Davis, I believe, were sleeping on their blankets outside of the tents in different parts of the camp, partially undressed, and as soon as they were aroused sprang from their beds and were immediately placed under guard and allowed time to put on the balance of their clothing, which consumed several minutes, after which the prisoners were gathered together and placed under a regular detailed guard. But before this was fully completed, and before any of the persons occup\ing the tents had completed their toilet and come out. or a list of the names of the captured parties had been made up, a volley was fired down the road and across the swamp alluded to. and about eighty or one hundred rods north of the cainp, where the force of twenty-five dismounted men imder Lieut. Purinton were stationed. I at once ordered the men to resume their places in the column. Leaving Adjutant Dickinson with a sufficient force in camp to gather the rest of the prisoners in and guard them until my return, I in person pushed forward across the swamp with the balance of the command to the aid of Lieut. Purinton, whom I supposed to be engaging the force guarding the train, but which proved to be the ist Wisconsin cavalry under Col. Hamden, whose men had come upon the force under Lietit. Purinton. and through a misunderstanding in the challenge and response each had taken the other for the enemy, it still being so dark that they could not distinguish the uniform, and as I came up the road in column, mounted, we received a raking fire from a dismounted force concealed behind trees and logs v.'hich killed one man and severely wounded Lieut. Eoutlle. This sad mistake was not discovered until two men were killed in the 4th Michigan cavalry and eight or ten men wounded in the rst Wisconsin cavalry. As soon as the firing ceased. I returned to the camp and as I recrossed the swamp T was met by Lieut. Dickinson, who, in a hurried way, informed me that he had carried out my order, and who said we had captured an oldish man whom he believed was Jeff Davis, and that he came out of one of the tents dressed up in woman's clothes and attempted to escape as a woman. I got the impression that Mr. Davis had refused to reveal his name up to that time, but will not be positive on that point.

I rode on up to the point where the prisoners were gathered under guard, and, as I approached them, I was accosted by this man, who proved to be Mr. Davis, with the inquiry if I was the oiiiicer in command, I replied that I was, and asked him in return whom I was to call him. He replied that I might "call him what, or whoever I pleased." when I replied that I would call him Davis ; and after a moment's hesitation he said, "That is my name." He then drew himself up in a very dignified and imposing manner and exclaimed, "I suppose you consider it bravery to charge a train of defenseless women and children, but it is theft, it is vandalism," Davis had thrown off the garments constituting his disguise, and was clad in a suit of Confederate gray at the time of my meeting him. I then proceeded to take an inventory of our capture, when I ascertained that we had captured Jeffer.son Davis, wife and four children; John H. Reagan, his po.'^tmaster general ; Cols. Johnson and Lubbock, aides-de-camp on Davis' staff : Burton N. Harrison, his private secretary ; Major Murand, Capt. and Lieut.

Hathaway, Jeff D. Howell, brother of Mrs. Davis, and midshipman in the rebel navy; thirteen private soldiers. Miss Maggie Howell, sister of Mrs. Davis; two waiting maids and several servants. We also captured five wagons, three ambulances, about fifteen horses and twenty-five or thirty mules. The train was principally loaded with commissary stores and private baggage, with a few arms and a few boxes of fixed ammunition. After allowing time for the prisoners to breakfast, we started on our return, taking the direct road back to Abbyville, where we arrived at dark on the evening of the same day and encamped for the night. During the night I recalled the remainder of my regiment, which had been left on the day previous under command of Captain Hathaway to picket the line of the Ocmulgee river and scout the country, at the same time sending carriers forward to Macon announcing the results of our expedition. On the morning of the nth we resumed our march in the direction of Macon, and on the afternoon of that day, when a few miles below Hawkinsville, we met the rest of our brigade just coming out from Macon, and received from them the first knowledge we had of President Johnson's proclamation, accompanied by General Wilson's order offering a reward for the capture of Davis and others. Retaining my independent command I continued my march toward Macon, hatting for the night two or three miles above Hawkinsville. Moving on again early in the morning of the I2th, we arrived within fifteen or twenty miles of Macon, where we again encamped for the night.

At this place occurred some incidents which I deem sufficiently important to warrant a full and specific statement. It will be remembered by tliose acquainted with the fact that the cavalry command under General Wilson had drawn no regular government supplies since leaving camp on the Tennesee river March 22d, and had been dependent wholly upon the resources of the country for substance, and my command was expected to subsist by foraging while on this expedition ; but, as the country through which we passed was very sparsely settled and a great portion of the land covered with pine forests and unproductive, we found it very difficult to gather the necessary supplies for our men and horses, and my men were really in a suffering condition for food, and as there was a surplus of provisions in the train, I decided to distribute that surplus among my men. After we had got settled in camp that evening, I went to Mr. Davis and informed him of my purpose, requesting him to have his cook set apart from his supplies a sufficient quantity to fully supply his party for a certain number of hours, by which time we would reach Macon, when they could be amply provided for, Mr. and Mrs. Davis, who were both present during the conversation, strenuously objected to the course I proposed, arguing that all the supplies in their wagons were private property, and that I had no right to take them in the manner proposed, and Mrs. Davis said she felt certain that when we got to General Wilson's headquarters all their property would be returned to them and they be permitted to proceed on their journey. After discussing the matter in rather spirited manner for a little time, I told Mr. Davis if he did not feel disposed to have his servant set apart the necessary amount of supplies I would direct my commissary to do so, after which I would distribute the remainder. Mr. Davis became very angry at that and said he had never expected to be compelled to undergo such indignities as that, and if he could have got possession of his arms at the time of his cap- ture he would not have been compelled to. To which I replied (perhaps a little acrimoniously, for I had become somewhat irritated at his course) that I did not think the garments worn by him on that occasion were particularly adapted to rapid locomotion or the use of fire arms; to which Mrs. Davis retorted, very sharply, saying: 'T want you to understand distinctly that Mr. Davis assumed that disguise at my instance." This admission of Mrs. Davis in regard to her husband's disguise was wholly voKmtary and drawn out under the circumstances above staled, and was the first conversation which I had with Mr. and Mrs. Davis in person in regard to the disguise worn by the husband at the time of the capture, and is the same conversation referred to by General Wilson in his "Annals of the War," as occurred at the time I first met Mr. Davis in camp, immediately after the capture. General Wilson is correct in regard to the substance but in error as to time and place. On the morning of the 13th we resumed our march and arrived at Macon at three o'clock p. m., and received orders from General Wilson to provide myself with a detail of three officers and twenty men from my regiment and prepare to start for Washington at once in charge of the Davis party. We left Macon by special railway train at seven o'clock p. m., having turned over all private soldiers captured with the Davis party e^xcept two, and receiving an accession of Clement C. Clay and wife. Proceeding by the way of Atlanta we reached Augusta at sunset May 14th, and there received Alexander H. Stephens and General Wheeler and staff, of the rebel army, whom I also took through as prisoners. We then proceeded by boat via Savannah and Hilton Head to Fortress Monroe, where we arrived at noon on the 19th day of May. Anchoring out in the harbor, I proceeded in person on shore and telegraphed the adjutant general notice of my arrival and received orders to remain at anchor off shore and wait further orders. We remained on board ship until the 22d of May, disposing meanwhile of all the prisoners excepting Davis, Clay, and families, as per orders from the secretary of war. On the afternoon of May 22d Davis and Clay were transferred to the casement of Fortress Monroe and mvself and men assigned to quarters within the fort, Mrs. Davis and children and Mrs. Clav still remaining on board the steamer Clyde.

Aley Rossman was for many years a prominent and honored resident of Allegan and his life was one of such signal usefulness to his fellowmen as to cause his death to be the occasion of deep and widespread regret. At all times he was mindful of the public interests and his efforts were of direct benefit in the community. Bom in Aurelius township. Cayuga county, New York, on the 14th of June. 1812, he was a son of George and Ruth (Wood) Rossman, natives of New York and Canada respectively. The father had served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war and his life was devoted to farming and mechanical pursuits. On leaving the Emnire state he removed to Ohio at an early day and his wife died there in Madison county. Subsequently he returned to New York and his death occurred at Mount Morris in Genesee countv.

Alby Rossman, the youngest of the six children, was thus early left an orphan and was eight years of age when he went to live with a sister at Springport, New York, where he remained for a year, during which time lie attended a school that was two miles distant from his home. After leaving his sister he went to Auburn, New York, and was there apprenticed to learn the trade of a machinist. He worked in a furnace and machine shop for three years and afterward continued at his trade as a journeyman until 1836. In that year he came to Michigan, locating first at Marshall, Calhoun county, where he remained for six months, during which time he buiit and operated a furnace. In it iie ran the first iron and cast the first plow made in Michigan. He then came to Allegan and established a furnace, in which he made the first sled manufactured in this county. Subsequently he enlarged the scope of his activities by adding to his plant a machine shop, which he established and conducted in connection with his furnace for twenty-nine years. He was thus a most prominent factor in industrial life of the community and he belonged to that class of representative men who, whiJe promoting individual interests, also advance the general welfare. After continuing in the machinist's business for twenty-nine years he sold out and built a small store and several houses. He was one of a company that erected the Chaffee Block, which at that time was the finest in the village. In 1869, however, the building was destroyed by fire and he thus suffered a severe loss. In that year he removed to his farm which he had purchased of the Boston Company, and he laid out fifteen acres in village lots called the Rossman addition. He was thus connected with the material development of the city and his labors were of immense benefit in its growth and progress. Moreover he figured prominently in other ways in connection with the welfare and progress of the town. He was elected justice of the peace and held the office for five years, rendering decisions which were strictly fair and impartial and won him the commendation of all law-abiding citizens. He also served as aklemian and village marshal and was superintendent of the water works, the building of which was done under his supervision.

Mr. Rossman was married in 1832 to Miss Angeline Dickinson, a native of New York, and unto them were born two children. The son, George W., married Elizabeth Newcomb, of Ganges, Michigan, a daughter of John and Jane (Harrison) Newcomb. who were natives of England. George W. Rossman passed away in January, 1889, and his wife died in September of the same year. They left one daughter, Kate E., who is now the wife of Franz Le Isle, of Allegan and she has two children, Elizabeth Camilla and Mary Rossman. Mary A. Rossman is the widow of Captain Frederick Hart, who was the secretary of the Michigan State In- .surance Company at the time of his death in T877, and he won his titte as captain of the Adrian Guards. He was also prominent in Masonry and attained the Knight Templar degree. In 1848 Mr. Rossman was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife. He afterward wedded Mrs. Electa Dickinson, the widow of George W. Dickinson. Mrs. Ttickinson had a daughter, Cynthia, now the wife of Henry C. Smith. Mrs. Rossman's parents were Chester and Cynthia (Granger) Hooker, natives of Cayuga county, New York. She has three grandchildren. Dr. Charles H. Smith, of Chattanooga, Tennesee, married Edith Hyde and has one son, Lawrence H. ; Annie E., the wife of G. H. Buchanan, by whom she has three children, A. Louisa, Laura E. and Lillian Lucile; and Glenn D,, married Louie Myers, of Springfield, Ohio, and they have one son, Roger L.

Mr. Rossmaii was a strong advocate of Democracy, giving unfaltering support to the party from the time he cast his first presidential ballot for Andrew Jackson. His last vote was cast for Grover Cleveland. He was a most liberal and public -spirited man and contributed largely to the erection of the churches and schools of his community, being deeply interested in everything pertaining to tbe upbuilding and welfare of village and county. He died in Ailegan in 1893, at the age of eighty - a most venerable and honored man, whose life at all times had commanded the confidence, trust and respect of his fellow citizens and who left behind him an untarnished name.

E. C. RovvE, whose intense and well directed activity have made him one of the prominent business men of Allegan county, is one of the stockholders iy the Rowe Brothers Manufacturing Company. This enterprise is of the utmost value in the town as a factor in its commercial and industrial actinty, and in the management of the business Mr. Rowe has displayed thoiough understanding of the trade in its practical branches as well as keen business discernment that residts in securing upon the market a ready sale of the product. His life record began in Hastings township, Barry county, Michigan. FTis father, Joseph Rowe, was a native of England, and when a young man sailed for America. On the voyage he was married on shipboard to Elizabeth Watson, and, bringing his bride to Michigan, he resided for some time in Barry county, where he followed the trade of a stone mason, which he had learned in his native land. He is now engaged in that business in Grand Rapids. In the family are two sons and two daughters, E. G. Rowe being the youngest. The others in order of birth are: Mrs. Minnie Fry, Mrs. Hattie Cable and J, Henry.

At the usual age E. C. Rowe began his education in the public schools near his father's home, and when he had put aside his text-books he learned the trade of spindle carving at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in which he continued for seven years. During the last three years of that time he was in business on his own account as a partner in the Furniture City Dowel Company, at Grand Rapids. At length the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Rowe and brother removed the machinery to Allegan, where he organized the Rowe Brothers Manufacturing Company, being associated with his brother, J. Henry. After a short time, however, the latter sold his interest. The incorporation took place in 1905 with L P. Griswokl as president; J, Henry Rowe, vice-president and manager; Dr. C. W. Young, secretary, and Fred I. Chichester, treasurer. In 1906 the following officers were elected: B. B. Sutphin, president; Dr. William E. Rowe, vice-president; Dr. C. W. Young, secretary; Fred I. Chichester, treasurer, and E. C. Rowe, manager. The company does all kinds of wood work, spindle work and carving, and has a well equipped plant supplied with the latest improved machinery necessary for work along this line. Its product is now quite extensive and is found to be most salable, for there is a constant demand for the output.

Mr. Rowe was married in Grand Rapids, in 1903, to Irene Brannam. who was bom irt Lake City. They now have one daughter, Eva E., whose birth occurred in Allegan. Mr. Rowe is a stalwart Republican, interested in the success and growth of his party, yet not desiring office for himself.

Fraternally he is connected with the Maccabees. He is regarded as one of the leading young men of the village, energetic and enterprising, with keen insight into business conditions and ready recognition of opportunities, all of which characteristics combine to make him a successful man.

Edwy Campbell Reid, whose energy reaches out to many fields of activity wherein the general public has benefited, while at the same time he has promoted individual success, is now editor and proprietor of the Allegan Gazette, and is recognized as a man of influence, who has had much to do with molding pubiic thought and opinion. He has been particularly prominent in locai political circles and at the present writing is serving as postmaster of Allegan. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, he is descended in the paternal line from ancestors who through several generations had lived in New Jersey. His mother was a native of Norfolkshire. England. The parents of Mr. Reid removed from Canada to Michigan when he was eighteen months old, so that his education was acquired in the Peninsular state, which has been the scene of all of his business experience. He attended the schools of Otsego. Allegan comity, to the age of sixteen years, when he put aside his text-books and entered upon an apprenticeship at the Otsego Herald. Since that time his work has been mainly in the newspaper field, in which he has been successively part owner and publisher of the Otsego Record, compositor on the Kalamoj^oo Telegraph, foreman in the office of the Allegan Democrat, foreman of the Allegan Jotimal, and finally partner and publisher, with Don C. Henderson, of the last named paper. Thus he made consecutive advancement, becoming well known in the field of journalism, as each forward step brought him a broader outlook and great opportunities, which he has greatly improved. On the first of April, 1882, the partnership with Mr. Henderson was dissolved and with the aid of friends Mr. Reid established the Allegan Gazette, which he has since built up into a prosperous and influential journal. Allegan is near enough the center of the Michigan southern fruit belt to make horticulture an important interest here, and Mr. Reid has been closely identified with the industry. He has given much attention in his paper to the subject of fruit growing and marketing, and has thus disseminated many useful ideas among the horticulturists of this part of the state. He is, moreover, personally deeply interested in the subject and was for many years secretary of the State Horticultural Society, and has been one of the most efficient promoters of the fine exhibits made by that society at the state fairs and at the Detroit Exposition.

In politics Mr. Reid has always been a Republican. He has been active in committee and convention work in his own vicinity and his opinions have frequently been decisive factors in the settlement of some important questions. He has also been a frequent attendant at state conventions, either as a delegate or in his newspaper capacity. His fellow townsmen have called him to various positions of public trust and honor. He was for eight years a member of the board of trustees of the state asylum for the insane at Ionia and acted as president of the board a portion of that time. In June, 1898, he was appointed by President McKinley oostmaster at Allegan and by re- appointment of President Roosevelt still fills the position to the entire satisfaction of the general public. He is the censor of the county political boss in the Republican party and is a man of much prominence whose influence is widely felt and who always stands for public improvement and progress.

Mr. Reid was married, in 1876, to Miss M. A. Borradaile, of Sodus, New York, who died June to, 1906. leaving two children. Mr. Reid is an active and helpful member of the Congregational church at Allegan, and affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Foresters, the Maccabees and the United Workmen. He is likewise a member of the executive committee of the Michigan Republican Press Association. His clear views and sound judgment, his thorough understanding of existing conditions in business and political circles, and his desire for permanent improvement and development, supplemented by untiring effort along those lines have made Mr. Reid one of the influential and representative men of Allegan county, while a cordial disposition and social nature have rendered him popular with his fellow townsmen,

Frank Hawlky Williams is serving for the third term as judge of the probate court of Allegan county, and is secretary and treasurer of the State Association of Probate Judges. He has a wide and favorable acquaintance throughout Michigan, and is recognized as one of the distinguished citizens of Allegan countv, who has left and is leaving the impress of his individuality upon public thought and action for the betterment of the interests of this part of the state. His record stands in contradistinction to the old adage that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country." and therefore there is particular interest attaching to his career since he is a native son of the place where he has passed his entire life and so directed his ability and force as to gain recognition as one of the representative citizens of the county. He is actively connected with the profession which has important bearing upon the progress and stable prosperity of anv section or community and one which is considered as conserving the Dublic welfare by furthering the ends of justice and lUaintaining individual riehts.

Judge Williams was born in Allegan, July 12, 1864.' and is a grandson of Deacon Erastus Williams, a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of Massachusetts. The grandfather was a farmer by occupation and at one time lived at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, but subsequently removed to Pittsfield, New York, about 1822. He served as captain of a volunteer company at Stockbridge in the war of 1812. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Lumley, was a native of Wales.

Their son. the late William B. Williams, the father of the judge, was born in Pittsfield. Monroe countv. New York. July 28, 1826. and died in Allegan on the 4th of March. lOOS- He acquired a common-school education in his native state and also attended the high school at Pittsfield, In early manhood he followed agricultural pursuits through the summer months, while in the winter seasons he engaged in teaching. In 1850 he entered upon the study of law in Rochester, New York, and in rS^T was graduated from an institution then known as the State and National Law School, at Ballston Spa. In the soring of 1852 he became a partner in a law firm, with which he had studied for two years, and in January, T8s=i, he removed to Allegan, where he remained until his death, continuing in active practice of his profession until about three years prior to his demise. In 1856 he was elected judge of probate of Allegan county and was reelected in i860. In August, 1862, thinking that his first duty was to his country, he enHsted as a private of Company B, 19th Michigan infantry, of which he was elected first lieutenant. Before reaching the rendezvous of the regiment he was ordered to bring a company to Detroit and as Company I of this command was attached to the 5th Michigan cavalry with Captain Williams in command. In 1863 he resigned on account of physical disability caused by serious illness, and in 1864, as commander in camp, he organized the 28th Michigan infantry, of which he w^s in charge until the regiment left for the front, when he was appointed by the governor to take the vote of the regiment and that of Michigan soldiers at Louisville, Kentucky. He was also appointed a member of the Iioard of visitors of the University of Michigan.

In 1866 he was elected on the Republican ticket to represent the Allegan district in the state senate, and in the spring of 1867 he was elected a member of the state constitutional convention and aided in framing the organic law of the commonwealth. He served in that body as chairman of the committee on miscellaneous provisions and was on the committee of the judiciary. As a member of the latter he submitted a proposition for a division of the state into judicial circuits for the purpose of providing three judges for each circuit which should alternate with one another in holding terms of court en banc which would relieve the supreme court of a very large amount of business at a very little expense. After some slight changes this proposition was adopted by the committee and became a part of the ill-fated constitution of 1867. In 1868 Mr. Williams was re-elected a member of the state senate and served in that body as president pro tem and as chairman of the judiciary committee. He was very active in the senate in this term, being recognized as one of its leaders and leaving the impress of his individuality upon the legislation that was enacted during that time. In 1868 he was made a delegate to the national convention at Chicago, and in 1872 he was appointed a member of what is now known as the state board of corrections and charities, in which capacity he served for about two years. Following the death of Congressman Foster he was elected to congress by the Republicans of the fifth district and served for two terms, retiring on the expiration of that period, on the 4th of March. 1877. In 1843 he was a member of the committee of the Pacific Railroad. In May, 1877, he was appointed commissioner of railroads of the state of Michigan and held the office for about six years. He was a Republican from 1855 until his death, and prior to the organization of the partv he was a Whig, casting his first presidential ballot for General Winfield Scott, and loyalty and patriotism guided his every public act and he had the keen common sense that enabled him to use the practical means at hand in working toward the ideal, so that he accomplished results and oromoted the best interests of the commonwealth. He held membership in C. J. Bassett Post No. 56, G. A. R., and was a member of the Protestant Episcooal church. serving as vestryman of the church in Allegan from 1858 until his demise. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the Ackley Institute, a church school at Grand Haven. Michigan, for young ladies, acting in that capacity from the organization of the institution.

In Rochester, New York, in September, 1855, William B. Williams was married to Miss Marietta Osborn, a niece of N'eheraiah Osborn, the buiMer of the city hail in Detroit and of the state capitol in Lansing. In their family were five children: Marian L., the wife of Frank L. Rudd, of Detroit; William B., who is living in Manitoba; Ella, the wife of T. S. Updyke, of this county; Theodore O., of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Frank Hawley.

The last named entered the common schools at the usual age and passed through successive grades until he was graduated from the high school of his native village in 1881. He spent the summers of 1881, 1882 and 1883 in working on his father's farm near Allegan, and in the winter of 1881-2 he was a student under H. W. Foster, preparing for the univer- *sity. He taught in district schools and also as a substitute in the normal and high schooSs at Allegan in the winter of 1882-3, and thus earned enough money to pay his tuition for one year at the university, pursuing an engineering course. Because of limited financial resources he had to leave the institution at the end of the first semester in February, 1885, after which he became a clerk and student in the law office of his father. On the 21st of October, 1886, he was admitted to the bar and became a partner of the law firm of W. B. Williams & Son. He had charge of the Kellogg estate, which he controlled until his election to the office of judge of probate. In the summer vacations he made use of his engineering knowledge, and in the summer of 1887 was employed as transitnian to survey the extension of the Columbus, Lima & Milwaukee Railroad to Saugatuck. He was also appointed village surveyor of Allegan October 3, 1887, and was reappointed each year until March, i8gi, and made a compilation of village surveys and a permanent record of the same. In May, 1891, he was appointed city engineer of Big Rapids, going to that place to do such work as was required, and acting in that capacity until May, 1895. In March, 1894, he was appointed village attorney of Allegan, Michigan, holding the office for one year. In March, 1896, he was re-appointed and served until March, 1898. On the 3d of September, i8g6, after a vigorous campaign Mr. Wdliams was unanimously nominated for the office of probate judge of Allegan county, and was elected by a majority of nineteen hundred and seventytwo. At a meeting of the judges of probate within the district of the Kalamazoo asylum he was elected secretary of a preliminary organization with a view to perfecting a state organization. At Lansing, in March, 1897. he was unanimously chosen as president of the state organization of probate judges and held that office until October, 1899. In 1900 he was made secretary and treasurer of the above society, which office he stil! holds. At the meeting in Detroit in 1898 he recommended that a committee be appointed to revise the probate blanks of the state. The association adopted the recommendation with the provision that Judge Williams should appoint the' committee and act as chairman. Judge Jewell, of Kent county, and Judge Maynard, of Eaton county, were named as his co-laborers on the committee and the second revision was carried through and adopted by the state. Judge Williams was unanimously renominated by the Republicans of Allegan coimty for a second term as judge of probate, August 22, 1900, and re-elected by majority of twenty-fonr hundred and thirty-six. He was again elected in 1904 with a majority of thirty-eight hundred and forty-

Judge Williams was reared in the faith of the Republican party and has always remained as one of its stalwart advocates, casting his first presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison, in 1888. He was secretary of the Republican county committee from 1894 until 1896, was chairman from 1898 until 1900, and was delegate at large from Allegan county to the state convention held at Grand Rapids in June, 1900, tie was made a Mason in 1893 and held many offices in Allegan lodge, No. iii, being elected master in December, 1898, serving for three years. He is now high priest of Eureka Chapter, No. 50, Royal Arch Masons, and chairman of committee on appeals in the Grand Lodge of the state. He has also attained the thirtysecond degree of the Scottish Rite.

The specific and distinctive office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to leave the perpetual record of establishing his character by the consensus of opinion of his fellowmen. That Judge Williams occupies a notable position among the able lawyers of Allegan county is shown by the many times his professional associates have honored him with official preferment in their fraternal organizations, and that the public accords him prominence is demonstrated by his re-elections to the position which he is now filling and also by the respect which is uniformly tendered him.

Ira Chichester was a representative of one of the old families of the county. He was a son of Abijah and Betsey (Olmstead) Chichester, who were farming people. The father removed from Connecticut about 1805, and settled in Otsego county. New York, where, aside from his farm labors, he engaged in teaching school, winning a reputation in his community for strict integrity, as well as ability as an educator. In 1834 he left Unadilla, New York, and made his way westward to the town of (jtsego, in Allegan county, Michigan, settling upon a farm which he had purchased -Jour miles below the village. Here his wife died in 1837. He survived until 1856. when he passed away in Gun Plain, Allegan county. In their family were seven children, three sons and four daughters.

This number included Ira Chichester, who was born in Unadilla, Otsego county. New York, March 6, 1823. He was therefore about twelve years of age at the time of the removal of the family to the farm purchased in Otsego township, Allegan county. Upon this farm he was reared to manhood, acquiring only such education as the early district -schools afforded, but this he supplemented by much private study, and throughout his entire life he added to his knowledge by reading, observation and experience, becoming a well informed man. In common with the other members of the family he experienced the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, and shared with the family in the arduous task of developing a farm. He became also a teacher in the pioneer schools, and otherwise occupied himself as a carpenter and joiner. His brother, Aaron Chichester, who was a surveyor by profession and for several years held the position of county surveyor, instructed Ira Chichester in that science, and he surveyed much of the county of Allegan. He afterward became county surveyor, in which capacity he served for several terms, during which time he made a trip to the Grand Traverse region to inspect and approve the construction of a state road. His home hfe was marked by constant industry. With the exception of the year i860 he represented his township on the board of supervisors from 1858 until 1866, inclusive. During his service occurred the great Civil war, and the duties that devolved upon him were of a most arduous nature. The families of deceased and disabled soldiers received his earnest aid, and all have cause to esteem him with gratitude for the assistance which he rendered in those days of trial and suspense. For ten consecutive years he held the office of county treasurer, being first elected in 1866, followed by four re-elections. In all of the political positions to which he was called he was chosen as a Republican, having joined the party at its formation in 1856. He continued his allegiance thereto until his death, and was always deeply concerned in its welfare and willing to help in party interests financially or otherwise. His interest in education was deep and sincere, and in both towns which he resided he gave much time to the care of the schools. He was director of the Otsego Union schools in 1861, and remained a director, or at least a member of the school board, until his removal to Allegan in 1867. Soon after he took up his abode in the latter place his services were solicited by Allegan people in a similar capacity, and he was a member of the school board for eight or ten consecutive years, resigning in 1887, when he went to Europe with most of his family, spending a year in travel. At the founding of the First National Bank of Allegan in 1871 Mr. Chichester became a stockholder, and so remained until his death. He was also a member of the board of directors, and was many times chosen vice-president. He likewise extf-nded his banking interests to Petoskey, where his interests were cared for by his son Leon. Save for the supervision of his invested interests and his connections in the banking business Mr, Chichester lived practically retired from active business after 1877.

In June, 1854, when thirty-one years of age, Mr. Chichester was married to Mies Ann Mary Ives, daughter of Friend Ives, one of the most prominent citizens of Allegan county of his day. For twenty-six years they remained husband and wife, and Mrs. Chichester then passed away in New Hampshire, losing her life in an accident while traveling. In the family were four children, two of whom died in infancy, while two survive, Leon, of Petoskey, and Fred I. Chiphester, of Allegan, both of whom were associated with their father in banking for some years prior to his death. On the 14th of December, 1882, Ira Chichester wedded Mrs. Esther E. Robinson, of Plainwell, who still survives him. He passed away in August, 1903. One who kne'w'him well said of him: "Mr. Chichester was altogether a man of unique character. He was quiet in his ways of life and little inclined to controversy, yet he was a man of very positive opinions, and he had a highly terse and original way of stating them. He disliked shams as heartily as he was averse to display, and was as honest and unalloyed all through as he appeared to be at the surface. Geniality was a marked characteristic, which was heightened by his quickness of wit and his strikingly pithy ways of expressing his thought. He quickly grasped the fullness of a proposition or condition of things, and as readily formed an opinion, to which he stanchly adhered while manifesting full respect for the views of others. He was generous in his helpfulness to the needy, but of his charities and his assistance of those deserving help one would never hear from his own hps. He was the truest of friends and the gentlest of men in his treatment of others - charitable toward their failings, but with no tendency to condone wrong in them. Accumulating a considerable fortune, and for many years lending the money he gained by hard work and plain living, the writer in more than forty years' acquaintance with him never once heard the charge of oppression, made against him by any debtor, and he never invoked the law until there was no other course remaining, while in many cases he subjected himself to actual loss rather than cause distress. While not accepting some of the dogmas of religious bodies and uniting with no church, he nevertheless was deeply religious in thought and of singular purity of life all his days. He was optimistic about everything, having an abiding faith that all things would work out final good; and as for the future he had that simple faith which Whittier expressed in saying:

Fred I. CnjCHESTtiR, cashier and largest stockowner in the First National Bank of Allegan, was born in Otsego, Michigan. August 28, 1866. Honored and respected by all, there is no man who occupies a more enviable position in financial circles in this county, which fact is due not alone to the success he has achieved but also to the straightforward methods he has ever followed. It is true that he entered upon a business already established, but in the control of this he has enlarged its scope and developed it along modern lines, his success resuhing from close application, indefatigable energy and a thorough mastery of the principles of banking. He was only four months old when his parents removed from Otsego to Allegan, and he acquired his education in the public schools there, passing through successive grades until he had completed the high school course. He afterward pursued a law course in the University of Michigan with the class of 1887, but never engaged in the practice .of his profession. He spent one year in traveling in Europe, and in August, 1888, entered the First National Bank as bookkeeper. Subsequently he became teller and later succeeded his brother. Leon Chichester, in 1891, as cashier, in which capacity he has since served, and has the entire matiagement of the concern.

On the iSth of June, 1890, Mr. Chichester was united in marriage, in Allegan, to Miss Clara B. Sherwood, a daughter of Austin W. and Catherine (Mayhew) Sherwood. By this union there is one child, Leon S., who was born in Allegan. Mr. Chichester is a Republican with intimate knowledge of party issues, yet without aspiration for office. He is a worthy scion of his race, and while keeping in touch with modern conditions of life and of business activity, he yet manifests many of the sterling traits which characterized his father and made Ira Chichester a leading and most respected citizen of Allegan county.

Fred Littlejohn, now engaged in the mortgage, loan and real estate business in Allegan, was born in this village December 30, 1868, and is a representative of one of the old and prominent pioneer families, the name of Littlejohn being associated with the county's history from an early epoch in its development. The father, John Ltftlejohn, was born in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and came to Michigan with his parents in pioneer times. The grandfather was P. O. Littlejohn, a son of Colonel John Littlejohn, who was bom at Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, CJctober lo, 1790. He acquired an academic education, and before he attained bis majority had gained considerable reputation as a teacher in the district schools of his native place. After the outbreak of the war of 1812 he ofTered himself as a volunteer defender of the Union and was commissioned lieutenant. He was wounded at the famous battle of Lundy Lane, and was commended for his bravery by General Scott, the commanding officer. Following the close of hostilities he engaged actively in business, being connected with the construction of the Erie canal and successfully executing large contracts and winning an enviable name for integrity, honesty and upright character. To him belongs the credit of building the most difficult link in the first important railroad in this country - the inclined plane between Albany and Schenectady, New York. He was also conspicuous in the building of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the James river and Kanawha canal. About the year 1840 he removed to Allegan, where he invested considerable capital, taking up the work of developing the resources of this place with his customary energy and enterprise. One of the commendable results of his business capacity and diligence was the building of the first flour mill of considerable size in the county. Impaired health, however, obliged him to live retired from active business during the last decade of his life and he passed away while on a visit in Omaha in January, 1868. Colonel Littlejohn was twice married. He first wedded Miss Amy Dewey, who died seven years later, and in 1833 he wedded Miss Eleanor Newkirk, of Montgomery county, New York, where she was born November 23. 1799. She lived to an advanced age.