Allegan County, Michigan - Chapter 5: Centers of Population, 1907 (part 7 of 14)

Mr. Burlingame is now retired from active labor, although he keeps occupied with looking after his property. He has done his share in the improvements of this section of Allegan county and has seen its development from a wild forest into as fine a tract of country as can he found anywhere, with excellent farms and thriving cities and villages. He possesses an interesting fund of reminiscence, for, like his father before him, he was in his younger days an ardent sportsman and a good hunter and he has killed all kinds of game throughout this part of the state.

HuMi'HEEY Gardner, - In the death of Humphrey Gardner Allegan county lost one of her- most prominent and useful citizens, and although a number of years have been added to the past since he was called to his reward he is remembered in many a home. He was born in Attica, Wyoming county. New York, December 27, 1819, a son of Daniel and Lorena (Ensign) Gardner, the former a native of Brimfield, Massachusetts, and the latter of New York. The father died when the son Htimphrey was but five years old, and when nineteen years of age the latter went to Kane county, Illinois, there remaining for a number of years, he having reached the age of twentyseven years when he made his advent into Allegan county, Michigan, first locating in Wayland. then a part of Martin township, where he secured government land. His first residence was a little log cabin which he built near the site of his present residence, but this long ago gave place to a more modern and commodious dwelling, and as the years passed hy he added to his original purchase until he was the owner of four hundred and ninety acres in one body, besides owning several other tracts, making in all seven hundred acres. At the time of his location here the land was covered with a dense growth of timber, but as time passed it was cleared and developed, improvements were added to the farm, and all the accessories and conveniences of a model farm were added, Mr, Gardner realized but Httle, however, from the sale of the timber, with the exception of the last lot which he sold, which netted liim six himdred dollars cash. He gave his attention to stock and grain farming, and he continued to actively carry on the work of the farm until his life's labors were ended in death on the 20th of March, 1898.

In Kane county, Illinois, in September, 1844, Mr, Gardner was united in marriage to Mary Brown, a native of that county and a daughter of Obijah Brown, their union being blessed with two children, Loren, who died at the age of twenty-five years, and Florence, who died when thirty-five years of age. On the 24th of October, 1866, Mr, Gardner married Sylvia Brown, a sister of his first wife, and tliey became Uie parents of three children, namely: Olive, who died at the age of fifteen years; Humphrey; and Clay, who received as his inheritance the ok! homestead, but it soon passed into other hands.

Humphrey Gardner, Jr., was born February i, 1872, and remained with his father until the latter's death, when he received two himdred and eighty acres of the old homestead. He makes a specialty of mint growing, a large part of his land being devoted to that commodity, and he is also extensively engaged in the raising of peaches, of which he has twenty-five liiindred trees, eight hundred of which are in bearing. His home eighty acres is well suited to the raising of this fruit, and he is well pleased with the residts of his sales, for his fruit always finds a ready sale on the market on account of its superior quality. He also keeps twenty cows on his farm ,and is conducting a first-class dairy. When twenty-three years of age Mr. Gardner married Elsie May Clark, of Ogle county, Illinois, and they have five children - ]>ernice, Louise, Lucille, Clark and Margaret, He gives his political support to the Republican party, and he is held in high regard in the county in which he lives.

The earh' settlement of Hopkins township, beginning in 7838, and the difficulties of the pioneers in making their first homes, are told in the historie,'^ of the Round and Haffmaster families on following pages. It was not man}" years after the coming of the pioneers that a grouping of poptilation took place, resulting in the formation of three communities which may be described as centers. The first of these was Hopkins, or, as it is usually known at this time, Hopkinsburg, to distinguish it from the railroad station of the former name.

A steam sawmill was the central enterprise of this village. The pioneer Erastus Congdon. who bad located on section 26 about 1838, sold a part of his land in 1856 to Dr. E. H. Wait, and the latter and Robert A. Baird constructed the mill. Various members of the Baird family were connected with the operation of this miU, as is told in their history. In the meantime Dr. Wait opened a store, and in i86i William Richmond built a flouring mill. The hamlet continued to grow, hut the rivalry of villages located on the railroad and the decline of the lumber industry worked the detriment of the village, and since the postoffice was discontinued there has been only a small business activity, which is noted in the sketch of Mr. R. R. Edgell.

The village of Hopkins station, with a population of four hundred, half a dozen stores, a newspaper, has been growing for a number of years, and it is likely that Hopkins will soon be added to the list of incorporated villages. The early history of the site is told in the historv of the Hoffmaster fainily, members of which owned the land from 1854. The beginnings of the village date from the railroad, a station being established in 1874 in John HofTmaster's log house. Burnip and Iliff were the first merchants, and in October. 1874, S. A, Buck recorded the first plat of the village. A postoffice was soon established, mills and stores added to the commercial importance of the place, and Hopkins should be designated as one of the thrivingly progressive villages of the county. Of the early merchants Furber and Kidder con-

HilHards is another settlement that owes its existence to the railroad. About i860 a Canadian lumberman named Lonson Hilliard purchased a large timber acreage in the northwest corner of the township, and during the following ten years before his death devoted his energies to converting its resources into marketable lumber. A station was established along the railroad track, and there two of his sons, William H. and Eugene, had a factory and a store, and several other business enterprises were attracted to that point. The postoffice is still maintained at this point, with a population in the vicinity of about one hundred persons.

John Hoffmaster. - The name of Hoffmaster is inseparably associated with the history of Hopkins, its development and upbuilding, and he of whom we write has been most prominent in the work of advancement here, having laid out four different additions to the city and done much to improve them. A native of Mahoning county, Ohio, he was born near Youngstown, on the 28th of April, 1843, and in 1854 accompanied his parents on their removal from the Buckeye state to Allegan county. His father, Gottlieb Hoffmaster, was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and when eight years of age was brought to the United States, the family home being established in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he remained until twenty-one years of age. He then went to Ohio, and in that state was married to Miss Susannah Eholtz. Gottlieb Hoffmaster was a weaver by trade and later became a shoemaker. His brother, John Hoffmaster, coming to Allegan county, had purchased one hundred and sixty acres on which the village of Hopkins now stands. He had arrived here in the spring of 1854, and in the fall of the same year Gottlieb Hoffmaster came with his family and secured the east half of the same quarter. He then built a log cabin in the midst of the forest, while his brother, John Hoffmaster, had a log house on the present site of the home of our subject. He also had a small clearing where the main portion of the business part of the village now stands. The greater portion of the land, however, was covered with a heavy growth of timber, including beech, maple, ash and elm trees. These were cut down and burned simply to get rid of them, without any regard to the value of the lumber. Gottlieb Hoffmaster remained upon the old home farm until the death of his wife, which occurred when he was more than seventy years of age. He passed away March 21, 1903, when in his ninety-fourth year, his birth having occurred on the 3d of April, 1809. For twenty years he had lived with his daughter, Mrs. John Nicolai, west of Hopkins. He had placed forty acres of land under cultivation and had improved it with good buildings, but eventually he sold his farm to his sons, John and Philip, and they platted five acres of the land, which was known as Gottlieb Hoffmaster's addition to the village of Hopkins. It is now well built over, being one of the populous and attractive residence portions of the city. In the family of Gottlieb Hoffmaster were four sons and a daughter. Philip, who has been blind for ten years, now lives with his nephew near Monroe, Michigan ; Peter, who died at the age of sixtv-four years, was at one time a merchant at Kalamazoo and later at Battle Creek, Michigan. John is the next of the family.

John Hoffmaster was eleven years of age when he came to Allegan county. He assisted in the arduous task of clearing and developing the new farm and also at an early age worked out for wages, which went to the support of the family. Attaining his majority, he and his brother Philip purchased eighty acres of land which was owned by his uncle John, who for a time resided upon a farm in this township but afterward returned to the village, where he passed away November 3, 1893. He had also reached a venerable age, his birth having occurred on the 3d of December, 1818.

John Hoffmaster of this review was identified with business interests in Allegan countly until 1864, when he put aside all personal considerations and enlisted for service in the Civil war. becoming a recruit of Company C, Thirteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He joined the regiment at Lookout Mountain and later went with Sherman on the Atlanta campaign and on to Savannah and to the sea. Subsequently he participated in the Carolina campaign and continued on the march to Washington. He was in activs service with his company from the time of his enlistment until the close of the war and participated in the battle at Bentonville, North Carolina, and was in the grand review in the capital city - the most celebrated military pageant ever seen on the western hemisphere.

Returning to his home, Mr. Hoffmaster joined his brother Philip in a partnership, which was continued for about thirty years, or until 1894, and throughout this period they were engaged in general agricultural pursuits and brought their land under a high state of cultivation. In 1869 the Lake Shore Railroad was built and in 1874 they sold eleven acres from the southwest corner of their eighty-acre tract to S. A. Buck, who platted the original town site. In 1876 the brothers platted the John Hoffmaster addition, comprising about eight acres from the south end of the eighty-acre tract, including the site of the old home. Since that time John Hoffmaster has platted two more additions, the second in 1897 of seven acres, and a third in 1905, comprising nine acres, this making four additions in all to the town platted by Mr. Hoffmaster of this review and covering about twenty-nine acres. He has erected a handsome residence on the site of the old home of his nncle John, and has built other dwellings for rent. His son now operates the home farm.

In 1871 Mr. Hoffmaster was united in marriage to Miss Julia A. Baker, a daughter of Harvey M. Baker, one of the pioneer residents of Hopkins, who came to this township about 1838 from Gun Plains township. Mrs. Hoffmaster was born in Hopkins township in 1843. This marriage has been blessed with a son and daughter: Claud B., who now operates his father's farm, and Floy G., who became the wife of John McKinnon and died three months later, at the age of thirty years. Mrs. Hoffmaster passed away in 1882 after a happy married life of eleven years, A year later Mr. Hoffmaster was married to Miss Sarah A. Hare, of Allegan, where she was engaged in nursing. Their only child died in infancy.

In his political views Mr. Hoffmaster is a stalwart Republican and always keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the dav. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational church and he is identified with Briggs Post No. 80, G. A, R., and the National Protective Legion. He has tried to encourage enterprises for tlie good of tlie town and lias served as supervisor here. He belongs to that class of representative American men who while promoting individual success also advance the general welfare by their co-operation in many movements for the public good.

L. C. Walter. - The business interests of Hopkins find a prominent representative in L. C. Walter, who is engaged in the maniifacture and sale of lumber, also in the manufacture of kitchen cabinets and in the operation of a planing mill. The extent and importance of his business interests make him a leading representative of trade relations here and his ' labors have been of direct benefit in the upbuilding and improvement of the city as well as a source of gratifying individual income.

Mr. Walter was born in Watson township, Aliegan county, July 5, 1S63. His father, Conrad Walter, is now a farmer of that township, where he is extensively engaged in the raising of onions. When sixteen years of age he operated a threshing machine, which was one of the first in Watson township, carrying on this business for his father. He seemed to possess natural aptitude in understanding and operating machinery and was always at work upon some mechanical device. In the early days he did considerable work at repairing clocks and he operated the first seif-binder in Watson township. He was also called upon to operate self-binders for farmers before they became accustomed to the mechanism. He established his present mill in 1894 - a saw and planing mill, which has since been in operation. As a contractor and builder he has done a large and successful business and has thus contributed in substantial measure to the improvement of the city. About four years ago he enlarged the plant by the erection of a two story building fifty by one hundred feet with a one-story addition fifty by fifty-four feet. The building is constructed of cement and the measurements of the entire plant are two hundred and forty by fifty feet. This enterprise is the outcome of a smail factory, which was established for the building of life saving boats. The larger part of the plant is now utilized in the kitchen cabinet department and at a recent date Mr. Walter has installed new machinery and power. He has about fifteen thousand dollars capital invested and the factory employs between forty and fifty men, having a capacity of from twenty to one hundred cabinets daily, according to the grade of the produtt turned out. When the business is enlarged to its fuU capacity it will demand an investment of about twenty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Walter also does interior finish work for the local trade. As a contractor he has erected all kinds of buildings, including churches, schoolhouses and residences in Allegan and Otsego. In this way he has employed from twenty to thirty men. He is an experienced draftsman and architect, making his own plans, and he has had wide experience in this line of activity. For twenty-three years he has been a lumber manufacturer, having operated a sawmill for five years at a siding two miles south of Hopkins, while for two years he was at Bravo. He also conducted a sawmill prior to that time, two years being spent in Oceana county, after which he operated a mill in Minnesota for a year in the employ of another man. Thus throughout the greater part of his life he has been connected with the lumber trade in its various departments. He has various houses in Hopkins that he has built ami rents and he became interested in ail that led to developing the town. He has perhaps built nearly half of the town and has assisted in the development of one entire section of Hopkins, building homes, which he has later sold. He also built a brick church here for the Methodists and rebuilt for the Congregational Society, and erected a brick schoolhouse near the town. He has likewise put up two new store buildings in Hopkins and drew the plans for the new cement block in the village. His life has been one of untiring diligence and unremitting activity and whatever he has undertaken he has accompHshed.

Mr. Walter was married on the 22d of February, 1884, to Miss Hattie Fansler, a daughter of John Fansler, a resident farmer of Allegan township, where she was born. Their family comprises two children, Elsie and Harold Lynn, the latter now twelve years of age. The daughter is the wife of Jesse Kibby, of Grand Rapids, and they have two sons, Basil and Cecil. In his fraternal relations Mr. Walter is an exemplary Mason, true and loyal to the teachings of the craft. His political views are in accord with Republican principles and he has served as township treasurer for two years and has been a member of the school board. Viewed in a personal light he is a strong man, strong in his honor and his good name, strong in his ability to plan and perform. Ever watchful of opportunities he has so directed his labors that success has resulted and his work has proven of the utmost advantage to Hopkins as well as a source of gratifying income to himself.

Robert R. Edgell, residing at Hopkinsburg, has been closely identified with industrial activity in this part of the county for almost a half of a century, doing carpentering, black smithing, wagon-making and painting. He was born in Brecksville, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, December 31, 1839, a son of James and Polly (Newell) Edgell, who were natives of Virginia and New York respectively but were married in Ohio. The father was a mechanic, who largely followed the wheelwright's trade. In the family were the following named: James, who lived .for some years in Buchanan county, Iowa, came to Michigan, settling at Hopkinsburg, where he was employed at his trade of wagon-making. Subsequently he removed to Cadillac, Michigan, where he died May 11, 1895, and where his family still reside. Mason Edgell, the second son, was the third of the family to come to Michigan, arriving in 1857. He had previously spent three years in CaHfornia, and he died in this state at the age of thirty-seven. His widow and family now reside in Ohio. Mary was married in Ohio to David P. Atwater, and in 1856 came to Allegan county, residing upon a farm near Hopkinsburg. Her death occurred there about 1888. when she was fifty-eight years of age. William, who came to this county in 1858, was a carpenter and he secured the second farm west of Hopkinsburg. He was married in 1863 to Miss Mary Moore, and died March 11, 1895, just two months prior to the death of his brother James. Rebecca, who came alone to Michigan in 1857, engaged in teaching school in Allegan county until she became the wife of Edwin Parmalee, with whom she is still living in Hopkins township. Catherine, who came to this county with her parents, married William Frue, and died in early womanhood, Adeline, who came with her par-

In his boyhood days Robert R. Edgell of this review began to learn the wheelwright's trade. He spent two years in Medina county, Ohio, hut afterward removed to Buchanan county, Ohio, where he worked at his trade. He had a brother in that state and remained there until April 17, 1862, when he came to Hopl^insbwrg, where he has since resided. He had visited the vicinity in the fall before. At that time his brother William and two sisters were living here. William was a carpenter by trade but became a farmer and spent the greater part of his life in agricultural pursuits. He died about eleven years ago. Mary was the wife of David P. Atwater and died eighteen years ago, while Rebecca, who married Edwin Parmalee, is still living in Hopkins township. In 1862 the parents also came and tlie father worked at the carpenter's trade, having a shop where he had a turning lathe, etc. Both he and his wife died in this locality, the former in 1887, in his eighty-ninth year, and the latter in 1884, at the age of seventy-nine years.

Robert R. Edgell, after arriving in this county, worked for a few weeks with his brother at the carpenter's trade, and in 1864 built his present shop. He has since been biisy at the bench or in other fields of industrial activity. He soon put in a blacksmithing department and he can do anything connected with wagon-making, including the painting. He possesses much natural mechanical ingenuity, and his skill and ability are manifest on various occasions and in various ways as he executes some task along industrial lines. He has resided continuously since coming to tlie county at the little village of Hopkinsburg, east of the Lake Shore Railroad. The postoffice has been discontinued here but the town contains one store, a blacksmith and wagon shop and a cheese factory.

Mr. Edgell has been three times married. He first wedded Miss Arvilla Dunton, who died ahont eighteen months later just at the close of the Civil war. On the 26th of November, 1867, Mr, Edgell was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Page, who was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and came to Michigan with her parents, who settled at Middleville. For some years she was a successful and able teacher of Allegan county. She traveled life's journey with Mr. Edgell for more than twenty-one years and passed away on the nth of June, 1885. Unto them were horn two sons and a daughter: Fred R., who is now engaged in moving buildings at Hopkins; Addie, the wife of Elmer George, a resident farmer of Watson township, and Earl. All were born in Hopkinsburg. The youftger son is associated with his father in business. He married Miss Edith Barnum, and they have three children, Carl, Ina and Gale. May ri, 1887, Mr. Edgell was again married, his bride being Mrs. Lottie Congdon, who died the following April.

The present family home was erected by Mr. Edgell in 1875. and is one of the best in this locality. In politics he is a Republican with Prohibition tendencies and he works earnestly for the best interests of the county. For years he took an active part in convention work and he has served as township clerk and in other positions of public trust. Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows and the Masons. As the years have passed lie has confined his attention largely to his shop, and his patrons know that he can always be found on hand to attend to his business. As he has carried on his industrial interests he has also made investment in farms, buying and selling and has thus added not a little to his income. He is a man of unfaltering enterprise, accomplishing whatever he undertakes and his labors have been crowned with a gratifying measure of success.

Dr. Nelson E. Leighton, engaged in the practice of medicine in Hopkins, was born in Sodus, Wayne county. New York, on the 2d of March, 1848. His parents were Israel and Susan (Owen) Leighton, the former a native of Maine and the latter of the Empire State. They were married near Lyons, New York, and became residents of Michigan in 1853, settling upon a farm in Wakeshma township, Kalamazoo county. The father was a stone mason and contractor but after coming to this state turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits, which he continuously followed until 1878. He then removed to Kalamazoo, where he lived to be nearly seventy-eight years of age. His death, however, occurred at Milbrook, Michigan, in the home of his eldest son. His wife died upon the old homestead in 1877. They have three sons, who reached years of maturity: Oiarles H., a farmer living near Milbrook, Mecosta county, Michigan ; Nelson E., of this review, and the Rev. Andrew F. Leighton, a minister of the Christian church, now located at Dover, North Carolina.

Nelson E, Leighton was a lad of five summers when brought by his parents to Michigan, and in the public schools he acquired his education, while in the summer months he worked in the fields. He remained upon the home farm until eighteen years of age and then engaged in teaching near the home place. He afterward attended the seminary at Colon, Michigan, for a year and spent two years as a teacher in a private school near the old home. Subsequently he resumed his studies in the Sodus (New York) Academy, and in March, 1873, returned to Michigan. Here he supplemented his more specifically literary education by the study of medicine in Ann Arbor, where he remained as a student for a year. He likewise studied for a time in Rush Medical College, of Chicago, and was graduated from the Long Island Hospital at Brooklyn, New York, with the class of 1881. He had fine hospital experience there, which was a valuable supplement to the theoretical knowledge of the class-room and tJius he was well equipped for the profession which he had chosen as a life-

In the meantime Dr. Leighton had erttered upon the practice of his profession at Hopkins, where he has since remained, with the exception of a brief period of one and a half years. He now has a wide practice and is acknowledged one of the able members of the medical fraternity in this part of the state. He belongs to the State Medical Society, and for twelve years has been a member of the pension examining board for Allegan county. He keeps in touch with the progress of the profession through wide reading and research and is a physician of broad knowledge and superior skill.

On the 2d of October, 1878, Dr. Leighton was married to Miss Frances Butler, a native of New York, who was a telegraph operator at Kalamazoo. They now have one child, Bruce R., who was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy from the Kalamazoo Baptist College, in the class of 1906.

Dr. Leighton is a stalwart Republican and takes an active interest in the work of the party. He has also served as a member of the Republican county committee and does all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of the principles which he advocates. He is likewise prominent in fraternal circles, holding membership with the Masons, the Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in the last named he has filled all of the chairs in the local lodge. He is also connected with the Knights of the Maccabees and has represented the local tent in the grand lodge. Dr. Leighton has spent almost his entire life in this state and he early became imbued with the spirit of enterprise and progress which has been the dominant factor in the rapid and substantial upbuilding of the commonwealth. The same spirit of advancement has been manifest in his professional career, in which he has gained a creditable place.

C. Elmer Wolfinger, postmaster of Hopkins and a prominent representative of its mercantile interests as a member of the firm of Wolfinger & Gilligan, druggists, has been a resident of this town for twenty-seven years and has been closely associated with its progress and upbuilding. He was born at Milton, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the 30th of July, 1857, and when eight years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Fremont, Ohio, where they lived for three years. In 1868 they became residents of St. Joseph county, Michigan, and after three years spent upon a farm there located at Mottville. Mr. Wolfinger is indebted to the public school system for the educational privileges which he enjoyed. He began to clerk when sixteen years of age and continued business life in that way until he embarked in business on his own account. For twentyseven years he has been a resident of Hopkins, at which time he entered the general store of J. W. Braginlon, where he remained for four years. He afterward clerked for three years longer in Hopkins and then opened his present business nineteen years ago, at which time the firm of Wolfinger & Gilligan was formed and has had a continuous existence to the present time. They have a well equipped store and carry a large and carefully selected line of.goods, which find a ready sale, owing to their reasonable prices and straightforward business methods. Mr. Wolfinger not only figtires conspicuously in mercantile circles but has also been prominent in public life as the postmaster at Hopkins, having filled the position for thirteen years under the administrations of Presidents Harrison. McKinley and Roosevelt. There are three rural routes radiating from Hopkins and on their establishment two other postoffices of the county were discontinued. His long continuance in the office proves Mr. Woltinger's capability and fidelity.

When twenty-seven years of age the marriage of Mr. Wolfinger and Miss Oara Baker was celebrated. She is a daughter of Jason Eaker of Hopkins, and was born here. This marriage has been blessed with two children. Pearl and William Oliver, the former engaged in teaching music. The family is prominent socially and has a large circle of warm friends in Hopkins and the surrounding country. For years Mr. Wolfinger has been a devoted and exemplary member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has served as secretary of the local lodge.

William G. McClixtock. - The life history of him whose name heads this sketch is closely identified with the history of Allegan county, Michigan, which has been his homo for many years. He began his career in Michigan in its early pioneer epoch, and throughout the years which have since come and gone he has been closely allied with the interests and upbuilding- of this section of the state, his name being prominently connected with the old stage drivers. He was born in Genesee township, Livingston county. New York, on the ist of September, 1832, a son of Robert and Nancy (Smith) McClintock, of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, where they were married. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and for many years resided in Livingston county. New York, where he cleared and improved a farm, but in 1842 he left that county, where he had lived and labored for so many years, and made his way to Michigan, taking up his abode in Irving township, Barry county. He was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, however, for his death occurred six years after his removal to this state. His widow survived him for inanv years, dying in 18S3.

William G. McClintock, whose name introduces this review-, was but ten years of age when he was brought by his parents to the wilds of Michigan, and throughout nearly his entire life he has therefore been identified with its development and improvement, has aided in transforming its lands into rich farms, and in many other ways promoted the progress and advancement. When but twelve years of age he received five dollars a month for driving a breaking team, and when he had reached the age of fifteen he started out in life on his own responsibility, thus being distinctively the architect of his own fortunes. At that early age he began his career as. a stage driver, first on the line from Constantine to Kalamazoo, which was owned by Patterson & Gerard and on which he continued for three years, thence from Hastings to Battle Creek and next from Kalamazoo to Martin and on to Grand Rapids. But during the first two years on the latter line he lyould only drive half way to Kalamazoo, but after that made the through drive from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids; while during a special rush he would leave Grand Rapids in the morning, reach Kalamazoo and immediately start on the return journey, reaching his destination at the former city at nine o'clock in the evening. The old Concord stages were then in use, drawn by four horses, and for ten years Mr. McQintock continued as a stage driver. During the campaign of 1856 he was placed on a night line, and on one occasion while making his run the coach was overturned on a hill near Martin, and one of the passengers died from the injury which he received in the accident.

On the lo'th of June. 1858. Mr. McClintock was married to Jane E. Whitney, a daughter of Ezra and Hannah H. (Dupuy") Whitney, both of New York. In 1854 they came to Allegan county, Michigan, and for many years thereafter the father conducted a hotel at Bradley. He was well known to all the old residents of this part of the state, and Mr. McClintock often stopped at his hotel as he was passing through tlie country on his stage. Previous to this time, however, Mr. Whitney had conducted a hotel at Caledonia, located on the old stage line from Battle Creek, and after removing to Bradley he continued as the proprietor of a hotel there until the advent of the railroad in 1870. His death occurred about four years ago, when he had reached the age of eighty-four years, and since that time his widow has resided in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Mc- Clintock, being well preserved at the good old age of eighty-four years. All of their sons are living, namely, Fred, Frank and Charles Whitney, and all make their home in Plainwell, Michigan. Two sons and three daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McCltntock: Charles C, who superintends the home farm; Libbie, the wife of Edwin Brewer, of Hopkins Station, Michigan ; Clyde, who operates one of his father's farms ; Mabel, the wife of Charles Baughman, proprietor of a meat market at Martin, Allegan county, and Mina, who died at the age of twenty-two years.

After his marriage Mr. McClintock purchased the farm of forty acres where he now resides, located one mile west of Bradley, which he has transformed from an unbroken wilderness to its present high state of cultivation. As the years have passed by he has also added to his original purchase until bis landed possessions now consist of one hundred and sixty acres, eighty acres of which lies on the opposite side of the old home farm, while forty acres is located two miles west. His business career has been crowned with a well merited success. He has made good use of his opportunities and has prospered from year to year, conducting all business matters carefully and systematically, and now in his declining days he can look back over the past with little occasion for regret.

M, W. Hicks is a prominent representative of industrial interests in Allegan county, being proprietor of the Springdale Cheese Factory at Hopkins, an enterprise which is of much value to the community, furnishing a market to the farmers for their products, and at the same time, proving a source of gratifying revenue to the owner. Mr. Hicks was born in Herkimer county. New York, January 20, 1850. That district has long been celebrated for its cheeses and dairy products and Mr. Hicks became experienced in the manufacture of butter and cheese, and in the dairy business before coming to Michigan. He conducted a dairy in Madison county, New York, for ten years, and following his removal to this state has devoted his entire time and attention to the business, which he is now conducting. The factory was established about thirty years ago and was purchased by Mr. Hicks and his nephew, Charles Carpenter, in March, 1888. The former owner was A. E. Chapman, now of Leighton township. The partners invested fourteen hundred and fifty dollars in the enterprise, which they conducted together until the fall of the same .year, when Mr. Hicks purchased Mr. Carpenter's interest and has since been alone. He utilized an excess of one million pounds of milk in a season, making over one hundred thousand pounds of cheese. Each cheese which he sends out averages about forty pounds. His entire output is known as full cream cheese and is sold mainly to the wholesale trade. His enterprise is the medium whereby much money is placed in immediate circulation in this vicinity among forty milk producers, and has resulted in giving them nearly ten thousand dollars net above all expenses. This has enabled farmers to pay off mortgages and make improvements, keeping up the fertility of the land and no enterprise contributes more directly or largely to the general welfare and prosperity than does the Springdale Cheese Factory.

Miss Pythena Cramer. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he has filled most of the offices in the Masonic lodge, of which he is a member. He is well known in fraternal, business and political circles as a man of worth, enjoying and meriting the esteem and confidence of all who know him. His choice of Hopkins as a favorable business location has been proven a correct one, for he has prospered in his undertakings here. He has recently erected a new residence and he has a splendidly equipped factory, supplied with all modern accessories and facilities for carrying on the business. The factory is characterized by neatness and cleanliness and the quality of its product is such as to insure a ready sale on the market at good prices,

A.\i«iN Shai'kh. whose intense and well directed activity lias been an important element in the improvement and upbuilding of Hopkins, has recently completed a fine business block, which is a valued addition to the village and adds much to the appearance of the bnsiness district. He is a young man thoroughly in touch with the spirit of modern business development and his record reflects credit upon Allegan, his native county. He was born November 23, 1871. upon a farm a part of which he still owns, his parents bein^ George and Margaretha Schafer, who were reared in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The father !iad settled upon the old home farm when it was covered with the original growth of forest trees and there were but two houses in the vicinity. He placed seventy acres of land under cultivation, built three barns upon the place and otherwise improved it. continuing its further development and cultivation until his death, which occurred in September, 1905, when he was sixty-eight years of age.

Aaron Schafer remained at home until twenty-five years of age and in the meantime acquired a good practical education in the public schools and also learned the carpenter's trade. His father was also a carpenter by trade, and for four years had carried on business as a contractor. He erected the buildings upon his own farm and his mechanical ingenuity seems to have been inherited by his son Aaron. The latter's business interests are largely represented by his investments in Hopkins, where he has recently completed a fine block fifty by eighty feet and two stories with basement. It is Iiuilt of cement veneer and is divided into two store rooms, each twentv-five by eighty feet, while the new postoffice is reached through a side entrance. The ceiling is of steel and the floors of hard wood. The second floor, thirty by fifty feet, is divided into six rooms, and the rear, fifty by fifty feet, is arranged for the Masonic hall. The block cost about seven thousand dollars and is heated by steam. It is one of the finest business structures in the village, Mr. Schafer also owns fifteen acres of the old home place, which he has platted, making a good addition to the village. Watchful of business opportunities and possessing enterprise and energy that are not thwarted by obstacles or difficulties in his path he is constantly making progress in the business world and his efforts have been richly rewarded. His political support is given to the Democracy..

William F. Nicol.'it, whose intense and well directed activitv has led to the unbuilding of one of the leading business concerns of Hopkins, has extended the scope of his labors and is now dealing in flour, feed, grain and hay, and operating the elevator at this point. He is one of tlie native sons of the county, having been born in Monterey township, on the 23d of December, 1871. His fatlier, John Nicolai, is still living upon the old home farm in that towiiship and is accounted one of the representative agriculturists of the community. William F. Nicolai spent the days of his boyhood and youth upon the old homestead and after acquiring his education engaged upon his business career as a clerk, spending seven or eight years in the employ of W. H. Dendel in his store at Hopkins. He then started his present business four years ago, opening simply a warehouse with machinery. That was destroyed by fire on the 2d of February, 1905, causing a loss of nearly one thousand dollars, but with characteristic energy Mr. Nicolai at once began rebuilding and erected a cement structure thirty by sixty feet and two stories in height, with new and improved feed machinery and an elevator with twenty-eight horsepower gas engine. He has about four thousand dollars invested in the plant. He handles grain quite extensively, shipping thirty thousand bushels of wheat in 1905. He also handles that much grain which is made into feed for the local trade. He does an annual business of forty thousand dollars and his trade is constantly growing. He has been very successful since starting out on his own account and although he suffered through the fire he has steadily advanced in his business life and is now in control of a profitable enterprise. Mr. Nicolai was married in 1895 to Miss Emma Lohmolder, who died a year and a half later, in 1897, In 1899, Mr. Nicolai was married to Miss Lizzie Schwartz, who was born in Germany, and they have three children, Hulda, Leta and Cleo. In his political views Mr. Nicolai is a stalwart Democrat but without aspiration for office. Fraternally he is connected with the National Protective Legion. He has made a creditable record during his connection with the business interests of Hopkins, displaying enterprise and keen discernment whereby he is enabled to overcome difficulties and obstacles and make steady progress on the high roa<l to success.

John Goodeix, a resident of Hopkins, Michigan, who for many yenrs has figured prominently in the history of the county in connection with its development and growth, was born in Palmyra. Wayne county. New York. March 15. 1824, and has therefore passed the eighty-second milestone on life's journey. His father, Nathaniel Goodell, was a native of Vermont, and served in the war of 1812. He was married in the Green Mountain state and soon after the close of hostilities in the second war with England he settled in New York. His wife bore the maiden name of Ellen Simpson. When their son John was twelve years of age they removed to Erie county. New York, settling on a farm about twenty-four miles south of Buffalo. He secured four hundred acres of land in the midst of the forest and lived a life of activity and enterprise. He died at the very venerable age of eighty-four years. His wife died at the age of seventy-nine, after passing her last days in the home of her son John in Monterey township, Allegan county. Michigan. In their family were ten children, of whom one son died in Ohio, One daughter went to Indiana and one to eastern Michigan, while seven became residents of Allegan county. Samuel, who died in Cheshire township at the age of seventy-six years on the old home farm that he had cleared from the wilderness, was one of the pioneers of this part of the state. He had been a resident of Cheshire township for ten years prior to the arrival of the other members of the family in this county and in fact was one of the first white settlers of the township. His family are all now scattered, none being left in this county. Moses, after living for some years in Allegan county, went to the west but returned to Michigan in his old age and died in Monterey township, at the age of eighty-four. Nathaniel followed farming in Monterey township from 1847 and owned a well developed property. He died at the age of seventy-six years. John is the fourth of the family. Helen became the wife of James Stannard, who followed farming' in Allegan and Van Buren counties, Michigan, but both are now deceased. Lydia is the widow of H. W. Durand, of Heath township, who was a veteran of the Civil war and died in 1906. She survives and is living in Mill Grove, Michigan. Louisa is the widow of Elizer Hogmire, and lives at Matawan, Van Buren county.

As previously stated, John Goodell was a youth of twelve years at the time of the removal of the family to Erie county. When sixteen years of age he went to Geauga county, Ohio, settling thirty miles east of Cleveland, where he was employed at farm labor. In 1844 the family came to Allegan county, settling in what was then Trowbridge township but is now Cheshire township, about fifteen miles southwest of the village of Allegan. John Goodell is the only surviving son of the family and after coming to Michigan he assisted in the arduous task of developing a new farm. In 1845 he married Miss Rosanna Cooley, whose parents were Royal and Sabra Cooiey. both of \'ermont, where Rosanna was born. They removed to Geauga county, Ohio, and were neighbors of the Goodell family there, so that the young couple had been acquainted for fifteen years at the time of their marriage. In 1845 the Cooley family had also come to Allegan county, driving an ox team across the country and settling as near neighbors to the Goodell family in Trowbridge township. Mr. Goodell had but thirty dollars at the time of his marriage but he possessed a stout heart and willing hands and resolutely set to work to make a home for his bride. He worked in the woods, cutting logs by the day or took jobs at clearing land and within two years he matle enough money to buy forty acres of land for one hundred dollars, or two dollars and a half per acre. He and his brother bought eighty acres together. This lay in Monterey township about a mile north of the center. It was rolling land covered with heavy timber, including beech and maple trees. This was a wild and unimproved district. His home was the last on the border and it was sixteen miles to his nearest neighbor on the north. There were only two houses to the east between his home and Wayland. a distance of twelve miles, but Deacon Briggs lived three-quarters of a mile to the south, although the place was reached only by an old Indian trail. Mr. Goodell's first house was a substantial log cabin with a brick fireplace and brick chimney. He hauled the brick from Allegan a distance of nine miles. He worked for others in the winter to gain ready money, and the first winter helped clear forty acres of land. The next spring, when the town of Holland was started twenty miles awav, he helped build the first house there. A shipload of emigrants from Holland, numbering three hundred families, had landed in the woods at the end of Macatawa Bay. Six settlers, including John and Nathaniel Goodell went to the emigrants to help them build their houses there. This was the suni- mer of 1848, and Mr. Goodell worked there diiring the season. As opportunity offered he also cleared his own place and raised potatoes among the stumps. He thus worked for two years until he had cleared a sufficient amount whereon to raise crops that would yield him a living. He would chop down the trees and cut them up and with the exception of assistance received for a half day he did his logging all alone with a yoke of unbroken steers. When a sufficient amount had been cleared he worked on his place all of the time save during the harvest seasons when he would accept employment from others. His family remained upon the farm all through this time and while he and his brother Nathaniel were absent their two wives lived together.

After eight or ten years John Goodell began to buy and sell land and thus he added to his income. He also induced many settlers to locate in this locality, a number of whom came from Ohio. He had written to many of his old friends in that state and induced them to come to Allegan county, after which he would assist them to secure farms and homes here. He also handled land for himbennen and he purchased different tracts all about his original purchase of forty acres until he had one hundred and eighty acres of land, which he still owns. He bought it in its wild state and improved it himself, and he paid as high as twenty-five dollars per acre for uncultivated land. He continued the work of clearing and cultivating until nearly ail of his farm is now well tilled. He realized nothing from the timber, not recognizing its value at that time. In the log cabin which he first built he continued to reside until 1857, when he built what was then the best house in Monterey township. It is still well preserved and is yet a first-class residence. He has four barns upon the place for shelter of hay and grain and he gave considerable attention to the raising of good stock and was a breeder of high grade horses. He carried off several premiums Dn his horses when placed on exhibit at different fairs. He has bred and :rained many fine horses both for the road and the farm and for many >'ears he handled live stock, including cattle, sheep and hogs. He has had over two hundred head of cattle come to his farm in one day. He made a business of bunching stock for many years and he also bought cows for dairy purposes in Ohio for twenty years. Through a long period he was regarded as the principal stock buyer in Allegan county and his operations in that line of business were extensive. In addition to his old homestead he has also bought other improved farms, including the old Briggs farm. He would purchase land and then improve and sell to good advantage, and he also gave a farm to his daughter. In 1884 he left the old home place and removed to Hopkins, although he continued to supervise his farming interests, five and a half miles distant, hiring help to do the actual work of the fields. However, for the past four years he has rented his farm but still keeps stock, having now about thirty head of cattle, horses and hogs. Since taking up his abode in Hopkins he has built a fine residence on Main street, which he occupies, and here he also owns a brick store building, occupied by his son-in-law, Frank Watkins. In the past six years he has erected several houses which he rents, and he also sells many of his houses. For three years he was a partner of L. C. Walter in the lumber business, and together they built a number of houses in the village. However, for the past two years Mr. Gootlell has practically lived retired, having accu-

Unto OUT subject and his wife have been born two sons and two daughters, but only one survives, Ella, the wife of Frank Watkins, who lives near her father's home in Hopkins. Her father gave her an eighty-acre farm located in Monterey township and also built for her a fine home in the village. The two sons of the family died in infancy, while the daughter, Thucey Etna, died at the age of nine years. Besides rearing their own family Mr. and Mrs. Goodell also took into their home Eliza Ferguson, the little daughter of Mr. Goodell's niece. She became a member of their household at the age of two years and remained with them until her marriage to Frank Dettenthaler, of Grand Rapids. Michigan. Martin Reed, a nephew, also became a member of the household when twelve years of age, and remained with them until he reached manhood, when he spent three years in the service of his country, and then returned to their home, where he remained until his marriage. He also gave a home to Fred Miller from the age of eleven years, and Henry Quist from the age of thirteen years, until their marriage.

Mr. Goodell has always given stalwart support to the Republican party. He served as commissioner of IVtonterey township for four years and also as township treasurer for four years, being the first Republican to hold the office in Monterey township as it has always been known as a Democratic stronghold. He belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows until the Monterey lodge was abandoned. Mr. Goodell, coming to Allegan county a poor man, wlien the country was still wild and uncultivated, has labored diligently and persistently in the work of development along agricultural and industrial lines, no man in the county having done more for its upbuilding and progress, and today he is numbered among the well-to-do and influential residents of this section of the state, where he has a wide and favorable acquaintance and enjovs the good will and respect of a host of friends.

Dr. James D. Campbell, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Hopkins, was bom in Elgin county, in the Province of Ontario. Canada. August 27, 1865. His parents were likewise natives of Ontario, where the father is still living, having for many years been engaged in manufacturing there. The doctor has a sister who is now the wife of Fred Edgerton, of Allegan county.

The boyhood days of Dr. Campbell were spent in his parents' home and his early educational privileges were afforded by the public schools and in a collegiate institute. Wishing to enter professional life and determining upon the practice of medicine and surgery, he came to Michigan and pursued a course of study in the medical department of the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor. He completed his course in Long Island College Hospital at Brooklyn, New York, with the class of 1890, after which he was made ambulance surgeon to the Eastern District Hospital in Brooklyn, acting in that capacity for several months, during which time he greatly broadened his knowledge by practical experience. In i8gi he came to Hopkins and opened an office. He had a brother, W. S. Campbell who was then a merchant in the county, and it was through his influence that Dr.

Campbell located here. He has now resided here for fifteen years and has enjoyed an excellent practice, having a large and well merited patronage. He is a member of various medical societies and thus keeps in touch with the onward march of the profession. Anything which tends to bring to man the key to that complex mystery which we call life is of interest to him and his practice occupies nearly his entire time. He is especially fond of fast road horses and is breeding a fine class of roadsters and he owns and occupies a pleasant home in Hopkins and he has built several good houses which he has sold, thus adding to the material development and improvement of the town.

Dr. Campbell was married in Delaware county, Ohio, to Miss Carrie L. Lewis, of that county, where she was reared. She was liberally edticated in music, and prior to her marriage she was a prominent teacher of music in Des Moines, Iowa. She is now acting as church organist and her services in both vocal and instrumental music are frequently in demand. She has constantly been engaged in church and choir work and also in training choral singers in various churches. At one time she was a member of the finest choir in Grand Rapids and her superior talent and ability makes her a vahied addition to musical circles wherever she goes. Dr. Campbell is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, the Masons, the Woodmen and the National Protective Legion and is now president of the local organization of the last named. He is also chairman of the local Republican committee and has been a delegate to the county and state conventions. He takes an active interest in politics as every true American citizen should do, and is a stalwart champion of the principles which he supports. He is not so abnormally developed in any one direction as to become a genius but labors along lines that are of benefit to the community both as a citizen and in a private way but at no time has his outside interest ever caused him to neglect the duties of his profession, which he discharges with a sense of conscientious obligation.

GiLUF.RT M. Stonk, a veteran of the Civil war. engaged in farming in Hopkins township, was born in Lorain county, Ohio. March 4, 1829 - the date on which Andrew Jackson was first inaugurated president of the United States. His father was a mechanic and the family lived in a little village, but Gilbert M. Stone had no school privileges until he was more than nine year of age. He' then went to the home of his brother-in-law in Cleveland, and in thirteen months had two weeks' schooling, so he returned home and worked with his father at the carpenter's trade. When fifteen years of age he went as a sailor on the lakes, being on vessels engagefl in the lumber trade. He sailed before tlie mast for six seasons and on his last trip bought a scow, but on the first trip on this he drove ashore and the vessel was lost, although the crew were saved. He afterward worked with his father for two years and became a very skillful workman at the carpenter's trade.

When about twenty-one years of age Mr. Stone was married to Miss Adeline Lucas, then a young lady of eighteen years, who died two years later. In the meantime his wife's parents and her two brothers and Mr. and Mrs. Stone came to Michigan, settling in Calhoun county about eleven miles south of Battle Creek. Her father was a soldier of the war of 1812 and received a land warrant in recognition of the aid which he had rendered the country. He and his wife afterward, however, returned to Ohio and about that time Mr. and Mrs. Stone removed to Galesburg, Michigan. Her death, however, occurred in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Stone was employed as a pile driver on railroad bridges in Ohio, but afterward again came to Michigan. An old friend, Albert Cheney, who had come with him upon his first trip to this state, had also returned to Ohio, and in February, 1853, Mr. Stone and Mr, Cheney once more came to Michigan, settling this time in Allegan county, where Stevens D. Stone had lived for seven or eight years. The three men took the job of chopping trees into windrows ready for burning for the George Jewett Company and thus cleared about fifty acres of land and also worked in the Dumont mill for Mr. Jewett. Mr. Stone is therefore familiar with the experiences of the lumber camps of the early days, when many hardships and privations were to be endured in connection with clearing the land.

On the nth of May, 1856, he was again married, the lady of his choice being Miss Mabelia Miller, a daughter of Ira R. Miller, of Monterey township, whom he wedded in Allegan. For a year after his second marriage he continued to work in a lumber mill and then spent a year on a farm in Van Buren county. He afterward worked by the day clearing land in 1862, and in the meantime also operated a sawmill in Monterey township. His was a life of intense activity and he was thus closely associated with the labor that has resulted in bringing about the present state of development and progress in the county. He was thus employed until his enlistment for service in the Civil war on the 2d of August. 1862, at which time he became a member of Company L, Fourth Michigan Cavalry, under Captain Pritchard, now of Allegan. He served for a year and a half under Generals Thomas and Rosecrans and participated in the battles of Murfreesboro and Chattanooga, He then went to Atlanta and after the capitulation of that city returned under command of Genera! Thomas to head off Hood at Nashville. They followed Hood on the raid to the Tennessee river and afterward went under command of General Wilson to western Tennes.see and into Alabama and Georgia, being stationed in the latter state at the time of General Lee's surrender. A detachment of the Fourth Michigan was sent from Macon and captured Jefferson Davis. After a year and a half's connection with the army Mr. Stone was detailed for service in the quartermaster's department as forage master for the regiment, in which connection he frequently made raids into the surrounding countiy in order to gain supplies for the army. He was taken prisoner while in the hospital at Luverne by General Joe Wheeler, but was soon afterward paroled, and on the 1st of July, 1865, he received an honorable discharge. He met the usual experiences and hardships meted out to a soldier and knows military life in all its details.

When at the front Mr. Stone saved his money and upon his return pur chased his present place. He afterward worked a farm on shares and in 1876 he came to his present farm. He had also engaged in lumbering to some extent, taking small contracts, and he worked for three seasons in the lumber woods. All of his land was burned over in 1871, at the same time the Chicago fire occurred. There was 3 small hoard house upon the place but he had not moved into it. The fire killed all the timber. Mr.

Stone was an expert with the ax, and few men have done much more in the work of clearing in this county than he, for on one occasion within twentyfive and a half days lie winrowed, chopped and prepared for firing twenty acres of timber of heavy beech and maple, for which he was paid six dollars per acre. Even after locating on the farm he continued to work for others from time to time and thus gained the ready money that enabled him to carry on the work of development on his own place. He has forty acres in the home tract, which is pleasantly situated about three miles north of Hopkins and he also owns forty acres a mile distant. In 1887 his residence was destroyed and the following year he erected his present brick dwelling. In 1905 he suffered the loss of his barn by fire, at which time it contained five head of horses, six head of cattle, wagons and considerable hay. He has since built a new barn on the same wall and he has carried forward the work of improvement and progress until he now has a well developed place.

Unto Mr. Stone by his first marriage was born a daughter, Mary, who became the wife of Uriah Hoffmaster and died at the age of thirty years. The children of the second marriage are: Horton, who died when more than thirty years of age ; Carrie, the wife of Dan McBride ; Earl, a farmer of Hopkins township ; Walter, who is operating the home place ; Ruby, the wife of William Leggett, of Hopkins township, and Harry, who was a member of the regular anny and was wounded at Wounded Knee in battle when Sitting Bull was captured. He died at Pine Tree Agency a few days after the battle, for blood poisoning followed the wound, necessitating amputation. His strength, however, was not sufficient for him to rally after the operation. He was then but twenty-one years of age.

Mr. Stone was a member of Harlow Briggs Post No. 80, G. A. R., and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He gives his political allegiance to the Republican party but has no desire for office. Hunting and fishing have always been to him a delightful source of rest and recreation and he found the greatest enjoyment in hunting when the country was full of game. He killed wild ducks off the ridge of his granary with a ten-foot pole, the country being so full of game at that time. He has intimate personal knowledge of the history of this section of the state from pioneer times down to the present time and has been a co-operant factor in many movements which have resulted beneficially in promoting the material development and progress of this part of the state.

Tacoe F. spirit of self-help is the source of all genuine worth, and it is this that conquers adversity, overcomes obstacles and wins success. Such a spirit has been the dominating influence in the life of Jacob F. Slagel, an enterprising merchant of the village of Hopkins, where he is dealing in lumber, coal, building materials, doors, sash and interior finishings. He has a good trade in these various lines and his efforts are a factor in the commercial development and business prosperity of the village. A native of Marion county, Ohio, he was born on the r4th of April, 1855, his parents being Tobias and Mary (Akom) Slagel, who, in 1863, came to Allegan county, settling two miles west of Salem Center upon a new farm in Salem township. The father improved about eighty acres of land and his place comprised one hundred and twenty acres. He thereon built a brick house and two barns, transforming his property into one of the best farms of Salem township. For many years he successfully carried on general agricultural pursuits but about a year ago he sold his farm and is now living with his children, his wife having died shortly before the sale of the farm. Unto them were horn four children : Jacob, Elizabeth, now the wife of Bert Purdy, of Allegany county. New York ; Carolina, the wife of Charles Miller, who resides upon the old Slagel homestead, and Frederick, who is engaged in farming near Dorr.

Jacob F. Slagel was reared on the old home place until twenty-two years of age and assisted in the various duties connected with the further development and improvement of the farm. He had also learned the carpenter's trade, and after working for some time in the employ of others began contracting on his own account. At a later date he again spent two years upon his farm but with this exception has continued as a contractor and builder, erecting a number of buildings in Allegan and throughout the northern part of the county. He made his home in Salem until about four years ago, when he removed to Hopkins and he owns a farm in Salem township. He employed from two to six men in his building operations and many substantial structures stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise. Coming to Hopkins, he opened a coal and lumber yard in 1903, succeeding Mr. Streeter after his death. He has about four thousand dollars invested in the stock and does an annual business amounting to about ten thousand dollars. He has extended the scope of his activities hy dealing also in building materials, doors, sash and interior finishings, as well as in coal and wood and he has a good trade. Prior to becoming owner of the business he had built the lumber sheds for Mr. Streeter, who died, however, just as the business was being started. Mr. Slagel has met with success from the beginning and his patronage has steadily increased until it has now reached very gratifying proportions. He has also erected a nice residence in Hopkins.

In Salem, at the age of twenty-two years. Mr. Slagel was united in marriage to Miss Mary Punches, a daughter of George Punches, of Salem. She, too, is a native of Ohio, and was brought to Michigan in her girlhood days. They now have a family of two children : Tillie May, who was formerlv a teacher and is now the wife of Pearl Gibson, who is in the hnnber yard, and Laura Etta, the wife of Fritz Christman, of Allegan.

Mr. Slagel gives his political allegiance to the Democracy, He has served as highway commissioner in Salem and has filled various offices in the Odd Fellows' lodge, which he has also represented in the Grand Lodge. He has likewise served as district deputy and for twenty years has been closely associated with this organization. He is also a Mason and is now tyler of the lodge in Hopkins. His business interests have brought him a wide acquaintance through the northern part of the county and the qualities he has displayed in all his relations with his fellowmen, whether of a public or private nature, have won for him uniform confidence and esteem, while his business enterprise and intelligently directed efforts have brought him a gratifying measure of success.

William H. Dendel, well know in business circles in Hopkins, is conducting a general mercantile establishment and also deals In hardware, implements, wagons and carriages, his stock being arranged on the plan of a department store. He occupies a building sixty-four by eighty feet, two stories in height with basement and also a warehouse fifty by sixty feet. The store building is his own property and he is recognized as one of the leading and enterprising merchants of the village, conducting a constantly increasing business.

Mr. Dendel was reared in Monterey township four miles west of Hopkins, and at the age of twenty-two years left the farm, thinking that he would find other pursuits more congenial. He had secured a liberal education, having for two years been a student at Berea, Ohio, and for one year in a business college at Indianapolis, Indiana, after completing his preliminary education as afforded by the common schools in his home locality. After starting out in life for himself he was for two years engaged in the fruit commission business at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and he was also deputy county treasurer at Great Bend, Benton county, Kansas, where his brotherin-law was county treasurer. He then turned his attention to merchandising in Hopkins. In 1885, in company with J. T. Visner, he purchased the store of John Bragington and united that stock with his own, occupying one room twenty-four by iifty feet with five thousand dollars invested in the business. After a year, however, Mr. Visner sold out to Peter Dendel, the father of William H. Dendel, who continued in business until 1894, when his death terminated the partnership. The interest went to his daughter, the wife of Fred Bechtold, who for two years was connected with the store, when he sold out to W. H. Dendel, who has since conducted the business alone. The trade is steadily increasing along substantial lines and the sales of 1905 amounted to over thirty-eight thousand dollars. He carries a fine assortment of goods in all lines usually found in a general department store. For ten years he occupied a one story building, after which he erected a two story brick building, so that he has one of the most substantial and best arranged stores of the county. He employs three male and two lady clerks and attends personally to his own business, considering no detail too unimportant to claim bis personal supervision. This is undoubtedly one of the strong features of his success as he is thoroughly conversant with the trade in every department. There is a harmony throughout the whole establishment and his enterprise and diligence constitute strong features in his success.

In 1886 Mr. Dendel was united in marriage to Lena Loew. who resided near Burney's Corners and who died three years after their marriage, leaving two children, the younger of whom died about a week after the mother's death. The other, Mamie, is now clerking in her father's store. At his second marriage Mr. Dendel chose Miss Emma Loew, a sister of his first wife, and to them has been born a son, Lloyd, who, at the age of thirteen years, is a student in the Allegan high school. He was the youngest pupil to graduate from the Hopkins school and delivered the valedictorian address.

In his political views Mr. Dendel has always been 3 stalwart Republican and frequently attends the conventions of the party. He is secretary of the local lodge of the National Protective Legion, in which capacity he has served for thirteen years. This has a membership of four hundred and is the largest membership in the United States when the size of the town is taken into consideration. A life-long resident of the county Mr. Dendel has a wide acquaintance and is most favorably known as a representative and en-

Dr. Almond H. Wicks who, practicing along scientific lines, has gained recognition as one of the foremost members of the medical fraternity in Allegan county, has been located in Hopkins township for eighteen years. He was bom in Cooper township, Kalamazoo county, Michigan, on the 12th of January, 1861. His father, John H. Wicks, was one of the successful and prominent early teachers of the county and followed his profession in Cooper Center and at Plainwell. Later he located on a farm in Watson township, Allegan county, and continued teaching in connection with general agricultural pursuits until he was nearly sixty years of age. He did much to further educational progress in the community and to advance the public school system to a high standard. He is now living retired at Martin, this county, and is one of its respected and valued residents. A native of New York, he was educated in a seminary of that state and followed teaching prior to his removal to Michigan.

Dr. Wicks was reared under the parental roof, remaining at home until twenty-one years of age. After attending the district schools he became a student in the high school at Otsego, and when he had put aside his textbooks he concentrated his energies upon the farm work until twenty-four years of age. In the meantime he had become imbued with a desire to enter professional circles and determined to make the practice of medicine his life work. He therefore pursued his first course of lectures in the medical department of the State University, at Ann Arbor, where he remained as a student for tliree years, being graduated in the class of 1887, with the degree of M. D. He located for practice in Hopkinsburg, and later removed to the village of Hopkins on the railroad. He has an excellent practice and is thoroughly well qualified to take charge of important cases, for he is a conscientious physician, of wide knowledge and broad experience. He belongs to the Kalamazoo Medical Academy and to the State Medical Society. In company with his brother and with Herman Stroud he assisted in organizing the Hopkins Creamery Company in 1902, and is still financially interested in the enterprise.

In April, 1889, Dr. Wicks was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Du- Chame, of Plainwell, Michigan, who was engaged in the millinery business there. They now have three children, Lola, and Bernard and Bernice, twins. In his political views the doctor is a stalwart Republican and fraternally is a Mason, while he and his wife are members of the Congregational church, of which he was formerly a trustee.

Samuel E. Lovall. - Among the enterprising, progressive and publicspirited citizens of Hopkins is numbered Samuel B. I.ovall, who in his business relations is meeting with creditable and gratifying success. He is conducting a furniture store and undertaking establishment at Hopkins and also has an undertaking establishment at Wayland and Dorr. This is a utilitarian age, and it is the men of business enterprise who are the leaders in the world and the real upbuilders of any community and as such Samuel B. Lovall deserves mention among the representative citizens of Allegan coiinty. He was born at New Haven, Indiana, August 4, 1854. His father, Samuel

Lovall, was a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and, removing; westward, settled near New Haven, Indiana, when twenty-two years of age. He had in his possession a rifle and a few clothes and thus he started hfe in the middle west upon the frontier. He married Miss Nancy Rogers, who had removed to Indiana from Preble county, Ohio, and was a daughter of John Rogers, who owned and occupied a farm on the bank of the Maumee river. Soon after his arrival Mr. Rogers aided in setting out apple trees on the farm, this being the first orchard in Allen county, Indiana, and one tree which he planted attained a girth of nine feet and eight inches and is still living. Mr. Lovall and his wife established a little home in the midst of the forest on the Maumee river and there he cleared and developed a farm. He built a log cabin and Mrs. Lovall frequently went out of the house while he was cutting trees, fearing that they would fall upon the house and do injury to its inmates. The parents continued to reside upon the old homestead farm, which the father developed there until called to their final rest. The mother passed away in 1868 at the age of fifty-five years, when her son, Samuel B., was a youth of fourteen. He was twenty-two years of age when his father died. In the meantime one hundred and twenty acres of land had been cleared and had been converted into one of the ,best farms in Allen county.

Samuel B. Lovall was reared to the arduous task of developing and improving a new farm and at the building of the Wabash & Erie canal, which was one mile south of the farm, hauled the timber for the locks on the canal between Fort Wayne and Defiance, Ohio. At the time when the pioneer home was replaced by a brick residence in 1876 he and his sister had charge of the building, the father being an invalid, and they put a stone in the gable upon which was carved the father's name and also the date - 1876. This was a modem brick dwelling, one of the finest in that section of Allen county. In the family were two children, the subject of this review and his sister, Eliza, who is now the wife of Frank Frisby, a resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The old home property continued to be the residence of the parents until the death of the father, when it was sold.

Educated in tlie public schools and reared to farm life, Samuel B. Lovall continued to aid in the development and improvement of the old homestead until the father's death. Soon afterward he established an undertaking business at New Haven, Indiana, about two miles from the old home, where he continued until his removal to Hopkins in 1888. The fact of having friends in Allegan county induced him to select his present location. Here he opened a furniture store and undertaking establishment, and in a short time he added a harnessmaking establishment, which he conducted for eleven years. He finally determined to extend the field of his operations by establishing branch undertaking establishments, and about ten years ago opened an office at Dorr, ten miles north of Hopkins. He also opened a business at Wayland and carries a stock of caskets at each place, with a man in charge. He also keeps a funeral car in Wayland and two at Hopkins. The Wayland car is said to be the finest in the county, and Mr. Lovall practically has charge of all the funerals in this part of the county. He is a Hcensed embalmer under the state laws, his license being No. 91. His long experience makes him very capable as a funeral director. In Hopkins he has erected a store building and three dwellings and also three barns. The business block is twenty-six by seventy- five feet, and the second story is used as an opera house and public hall for the town. He lias also erected a fine brick dweUing, which is one of the most attractive and modern residences in the village. On the ist of February, 1906, his two sons, Harley and Burl, aged seventeen and fourteen, established a grocery store on their own account in a part of their father's store building, starting with a stock worth four hundred dollars. They have succeeded beyond their expectations and they are the youngest business firm in the county.

On the i2th of February, 1887, ilr. Lovall was united in marriage to Miss Serena A. Miller, of New Haven, Indiana, whose grandparents were among the earliest settlers of that section of the state. Her birthplace was near the Lovall farm, and by their marriage there are now two children, Harley and Bur!, who, as stated, are conducting a grocery store.

In his political views Mr. Lovall is a Republican, having always acted with the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He was coroner for the county for six years and gave such matters his careful attention. Fraternally he has been a Mason since attaining his majority and is very active and helpful in the local lodge. He is also an Odd Fellow and a Knight of the Maccabees, and has further fraternal relations with the Woodmen and the Protective Legion. About eighteen years ago, in connection with Charles Knobloch, he organized the Hopkins band, of which they remained in control for fifteen years, Mr. Knoblock playing the cornet and Mr. Lovall the bass drum and cymbals. The band was called to fairs all over this part of the state and even into Indiana and won wide reputation for Hopkins. Mr. Lovall was only fourteen years of age when his mother died and he was left with the care of an invalid father. His early educational privileges were exceedingly limited, for he had to attend to the work of the farm from the age of twelve years, the father being completely helpless as far as outdoor work was concerned. Whatever success he has achieved has resulted entirely from his own labors and in the face of difficulties and hardships which would utterly have discouraged many a less resolute man he has made .steady advancement toward the goaJ of prosperity, and his business record and private life are alike commendable and exemplary.

Thomas Gilligan, the junior partner of Wolfingcr & Gilligau, and also assistant postmaster at Hopkins, is one of Allegan county's native sons, his birth having occurred in Watson township on the i8th of September, 1862. His parents were Patrick and Mary (Rogers) Gilligan, the former a native of Ireland, and the latter of New York. The father came to Allegan county with his stepfather, Patrick Nolan, and took up his abode in Watson township. He improved a farm in that township and for many years has been accounted one of its leading and representative agriculturists. Both he and his wife are stil! living and they have an excellent farm of two hundred and twenty acres, to which he yet gives his personal supervision and attention.

Thomas Gilligan was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that devolve upon the agriculturist. When twentyfive years of age, however, he started out upon an independent business career and thinlqng that he would find commercial pursuits more congenial than agricultural life, he formed a partnership with Mr. Wolfinger. which connection has since been maintained, and since about 1887 Mr. Gilligan has devoted his energies to the conduct of the drug store. He is also acting as assistant postmaster, his partner being his superior officer in that connection. They have a well appointed store, carefully managed and tastefully arranged, and their efforts have been crowned with a measure of success that indicates their close application and honorable business dealing.

Mr. Gilligan was united in marriage to Miss Viola George, a daughter of Chester George, and a native of Monterey township. They are pleasantly located in Hopkins, where they have a wide circle of friends. Mr. Gilligan is a Democrat in bis political views and socially is connected with the Knights of the Maccabees. Twenty years' connection with Hopkins and its business interests have made him well known in the town and as a native son of the county whose life record reflects credit upon the place of his nativity and the place of his residence he well deserves mention in this volume.

Jackson Baker, one of the venerable residents and pioneer citizens of Allegan county, now living at Hopkins township, has intimate knowledge of conditions which existed here when the work of development and improvement had scarcely been begun. In fact, he aided in planting the seeds of civilization in the forests of Michigan and ever bore his part in the work of general improvement. He was bom in lower Canada March 16, 1829, a son of Harvey N, and Catherine (Schufelt) Baker, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter a representative of a Pennsylvania Dutch family. They were married in Canada and settled in Allegan county near the mouth of Gun river on the 8th of June, 1836. Later they resided in Martin township for two years and in the fall of 1838 came to Hopkins township, being the third family to settle within its borders, their predecessors being Jonathan O. Round and Erastus Congden and his family, who lived near Hopkinsburg. The first death in the township was that of Hopkins Round, who died when two and a half years old and was laid to rest a half mile east of the village of Plopkinsburg. The township of Donwas set off from Watson township and as soon as the population was sufficient to justify another division Hopkins was set off from Dorr township. On that occasion each man of the township dropped a slip into a hat with his choice of a name thereon and the first one drawn was to be the name of the new township. It chanced that Hopkins . was upon the slip which was first taken from the hat and thus the township was named in honor of the little lad whose death was the first within the borders of the township. Harvey N. Baker, on coming to the townsbio, settled on the farm where Gottfried Knuth now resides and there made his home until his death. The buildings which he erected have been removed from their original location, but the house is still standing, being now used' as a bam. Mr. Baker was an expert hewer of timber and was identified with building operations at an early day. He assisted in building the first sawmill, also in the constmction of earlv bridges and other buildings at Otsego and in this part of the county. He placed eighty acres of his land under cultivation and died just prior to his sixty-fifth birthday. His wife, who was some years his junior, survived him for four or five years In their family were fourteen children, of whom thirteen reached adult age, and of these five sons are living in 1906, namely : Jackson, Alonzo, Milo, Edwin and Philander, all in Hopkins township. Of the others Eugene died in middle life. Mary was the wife of Philetus Wood. Minerva married Levi Wilcox. Melissa became the wife of Charles Brown. Emily married Judson Goodwin and both died soon afterward. When she was six years of age she strayed into the forest and was not found until she had been away from home three days and two nights. She was discovered on Bear creek. Mahala became the wife of Frank Kelly and her second husband was William Loomis. Julia married John Hoffmaster, and Amanda became the wife of Philip Hoffmaster. All of the daughters are now deceased.

Jackson Baker remained on the old homestead farm until twenty-one years of age and became an expert with the use of the ax. He took jobs at clearing, logging, teaming and other work in the woods and thus made a start upon his business career. When twenty-four years of age he was married in November, 1853, to Miss Emma Adams, of Hillsdale county, Michigan. He had at that time eighty acres of land, which he had purchased direct from the government at one dollar and a quarter per acre, and it has never been transferred or mortgaged, but still remains in his possession, being one of the oldest settled farms of the township. In May, 1854, he built a log house upon it. He still continued to work out, however, at clearing and logging and in building roads and in other ways. Later he concentrated his energies upon the further development and improvement of his farm, iipon which he continued until about eight years ago, when he removed to Wayland, where he iived for a time, and his son operates the old home place. Mr. Baker placed sixty-five acres under cultivation and carried on the work of tilling the soil, and annually gathered rich and abundant harvests. He removed from the log cabin into the present home which now stands upon the farm, in 1872, and as his financial resources increased he added to his property until the farm comprises one hundred acres of rich and productive land.

To Mr. and Mrs. Baker were born the following named : Mary, who became the wife of Albert Mudget and died when thirty-one years of age; Clinton, a painter of Allegan ; Rosina, the wife of George Kilgore, of Kalamazoo : Truman, who is living in Hopkins township ; Belle, the wife of Silas Hilbert, also of Hopkins township; and John, who is upon the old homestead.

In his political views Mr. Baker is a Republican, but has never been an aspirant for office. He has now passed the seventy-seventh milestone on life's journey and is one of the venerable pioneer citizens of the county. His memory embraces the period of early development here. He well remembers when the entire countryside was covered with a forest growth that was the haunt of many wild animals. Mr. Baker himself has killed more than two hundred deer in this part of the state and he greatly enjoyed the sport of hunting at an early day. Time and' man have wrought many changes and now where once stood the dense forest are seen fields of waving grain or fine fruit orchards, while in their midst here and there are scattered thriving towns and cities, containing all the elements of civilization and improvement known to the older east.

R. C. Round, now living retired upon his farm in Hopkins township, is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Michigan and of a New England ancestry that was established in America in colonial (lays. His paternal great-grandparents were George and Martha (Hopkins) Round, the former a Revolutionary soldier, while the latter was a sister of Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Their son, Oziel Hopkins Round, wedded Anna Olin, and unto them were born fourteen children, including Jonathan Olin Round, the father of R, C. Round, of this review. He was the eldest and was born in Clarendon, Vermont, October lo, 1809. When twenty years of age he married Miss Sallie Congdon, who was born in Clarendon July 10, 1810. In May, 1834, he purchased one hundred and forty acres of land in Kalamazoo township, Kalamazoo county, Michigan, and came to this state with Erastus Congdon, his brother-in-law. In the spring of 1837 he took up his abode in Hopkins township, Allegan county, becoming its first permanent settler. For forty years he carried on general agricultural pursuits and then in 1877 retired from his farm to the village of Hopkins, where he spent his remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. His wife died February 8, 1884, while he survived until August 23, 1890, but had been totally blind for twelve years.