BIOGRAPHIES - Pages 295-310

     GEORGE A. EARLE. Our subject is a man who has had much experience in various directions although he is comparatively a young man. Few men fall into a position at the outset of their career which is suited to them in every way, and few men really settle down to the serious business of life, making anything of it that in the least resembles a success, until they are about forty years of age. It is no sign that because a young man changes his occupation that he is vacillating by nature, for he who knows how to get out of a wrong position and one to which he is not adapted, shows more discretion than be who, knowing he has made a mistake, is too stubborn to acknowledge it by making a change. Previous to (296) settling down in his present lucrative and large business Mr. Earle occupied himself in various ways, and in each he gained an experience that will be of value to him in the general current of commercial life. He is now a member of the firm Earle & Lewis, the largest hardware house in the city of Mason, Ingham County.

     Our subject was born in Ontario, March 20, 1853. He is a son of George and Jane (Maxon) Earle, the former a native of New York and the latter of Canada. Our subject's boyhood days were spent on a farm, and from the district school in the neighborhood he was early trained in the branches common to an English education. After he had finished school he began for himself, first engaging-in teaching, but he soon found he was not adapted to this work. He then followed railroading, being station agent on the Michigan Central road for a number of years. He then was a partner in an elevator for a period of four years, at the end of which time he began clerking in the hardware store in which he is now a partner. He was thus engaged for about three months when he became a partner under the firm name of DuBois & Earle. He has ever since remained in the firm, it being now run under the name of Earle & Lewis, Mr. Lewis having purchased Mr. DuBois' interest June 1, 1891. The firm carry a very good stock of hardware and farming implements, the latter being of the latest and most approved styles.

     The original of our sketch was married in November, 1887, to Miss Mary Seeley, a daughter of Col. John and Caroline (Frederick) Seeley. The lady was born in Ingham County, in June, 1862. By this marriage one little girl has made her advent into the household and is one of the most important members therein. Her name is Earnestine and she was born in Mason December 26, 1889. Our subject is a Republican in politics and has once been Alderman in the first ward of the town. He filled the position of City Clerk for two years, and is now Supervisor of the Second Ward.

     Mr. Earle is the oldest of a family of twelve children, nine of whom are still living. Four brothers reside in this State. John runs a bakery in Owosso. Charles and Frank run a bakery in Adrian, and James is in a bakery at Flint. Mr. Earle's mother still survives, making her home in Canada. His father died in 1878. Mr. Earle is one of the brightest and most progressive business men of Mason and well deserves the confidence and respect of the citizens which are reposed in him. The offices that he has held in the gift of the township have been conferred by reason of his superior intelligence and his good executive ability, and that confidence has never been found to have been misplaced.

     JOB T. CAMPBELL, was born in the township of Onondaga, Ingham County, July 9, 1855, and is a son of Marshall and Maria Campbell, who moved to that township from Buffalo, N.Y., in 1850. At the tender age of seven years he suffered the loss of his mother who died in 1862, and the family of twelve children, of which he was one, was soon scattered. At twelve years of age he began the work of maintaining himself, and was engaged by the month in working upon a farm during the summer and in the winter he attended district school, working before and after hours in order to pay for his board, his first six months' work bringing him $42.

     In December, 1873, our subject went to Erie County, N.Y., and there dwelt one year, during which he spent three months in school in a district on what is known as the Transit road, and during five months of that year he was engaged in work on North Buffalo dock, handling wood and coal for the firm of Chester & Esser, and the remaining four months he was employed as an apprentice molder in the Malleable Iron Works of Pratt & Letchworth in that city. The financially hard winter of 1874 and 1875 reduced wages to such a degree that he could not earn his board there, and he returned to Michigan and was employed as a hired hand on different farms, as before spending his winters in attendance at the district schools.

     In the winters of 1878 and 1879, he taught school  at the brick schoolhouse three miles east of Eaton Rapids, and June 27, 1879, he graduated (297) from Leslie High School after eight months spent at different times at the institution. In the spring of 1880, he was appointed Deputy Clerk of Ingham County, which position he held for three years, having full charge of the office for two years, while his principal C. C. Walker, was engaged ex-officio, as clerk of the Supreme Court at Lansing April 16, 1883, Mr. Campbell became the owner and publisher of the Leslie Local, published at the village of Leslie. He was very successful in this venture, and August 20, 1886, more than three years after he had purchased the paper, he sold out his business at a largely advanced price. Soon thereafter he purchased the Pinckney Dispatch of Livingston County. This he sold in January 1888 and then entered the Law School at Ann Arbor, having given considerable attention to the study of law during his other occupations.

     After spending five months at Ann Arbor, he of whom we write returned to Mason where he was admitted to the bar by Judge Erastus Peck, June 19, 1889. He practiced his profession very successfully at Mason, until November 11, 1889, when finding newspaper work more congenial and an opportunity offering, itself he purchased the Ingham County News, a pioneer paper devoted to the interests of the county, and this he now publishes most successfully. June 16, 1884, Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Eva M. Huntington, of Mason. She was born in that city October 21, 1859. Her father, Collins D. Huntington, was born at St. Albans, Vt., February 25, 1831, and came to Ingham County in his boyhood. He is a member of one the oldest and best known families in this county. Mrs. Campbell's mother, Margaret (Lewis) Huntington, was born in Onondaga County, N.Y., December 31, 1834, and came to Michigan with her parents who settled in Ingham County, when but three years of age. They were married March 26, 1854. Mrs. Campbell is one of the most busy and industrious little housewives, and a decided helpmate to the subject of this sketch. Wherever their home has been he has enjoyed the confidence of the people who have tendered him important positions of trust.

     In the fall of 1882 Mr. Campbell was nominated by the Republicans to the office of County Clerk. He ran far ahead of his ticket but with all the others was defeated by a combination of the Democratic and Greenback parties of the county. While a resident of Leslie, he was three times elected Clerk of the township, and was a member of the Common Council of the village for a time, and was at the time of his removal, a member of the School Board. May 17, 1889, he was appointed Circuit Court Commissioner of Ingham County by Gov. Luce, the term of office expiring December 31, 1890. At the present time our subject is President of the Mason Board of Education, and Supervisor of the First Ward of that city, having been elected to the former position September 2, 1889, and to the latter April 6, 1891.

     Socially his associates testify to his usefulness and draw upon him in many ways. He is Master of the Masonic Lodge, a trustee of the first Presbyterian Church of Mason, and has for years been active in forwarding Sunday-school work. While people of the vicinity frequently call him out for public addresses on social, memorial and patriotic occasions. Since leaving home as a boy, he has been dependent entirely upon his own resources, and the good practical education he enjoys has been obtained at the expense of many privations and hard knocks.

     It will not be amiss here to give a short sketch of our subject's father, Marshall Campbell. He was born in Berks County, Pa., October 13, 1808, and is still living, now a resident of Onondaga, Ingham County. His father was Matthew Campbell, born in 1779, who was left an orphan at a very tender age, having had but little recollection of his parents. Marshall Campbell's mother was Catherine Boyer, who was born in Montgomery County, Pa., and who was one of a large family whose members and connections are scattered throughout the State, and whose ancestors emigrated from Prussia soon after Penn's Treaty. Matthew Campbell was early bound out as an apprentice to learn the manufacture of spinning wheels, and served such apprenticeship until he was twenty-one years of age. In the year 1800, he started out in life for himself, working hard at his trade and in 1807 was married to the above named Catherine Boyer. As man and wife they struggled hard for a fortune but the passing (298) years brought them but little and in 1825, with Marshall and seven other children, they emigrated to Williamsville, Erie County, N.Y., where they arrived after a hard jaunt of fourteen days over the hills and mountains. In 1827, Marshall learned the cooper's trade, at which he worked for several years. In 1831, he went back to Pennsylvania and taught school that winter at a place called Skippackville, near Sumneytown. He was a Baptist in faith, but from the Dunkards and Quakers who lived there, he imbibed a more liberal view of Christianity than he ever before had, and has ever since believed that where true and living faith exists, there is the Church of God.

     In 1832, Marshall Campbell began clerking for a coal, lumber and produce dealer on Schuylkill Canal, but that year the Asiatic cholera made its first appearance on this continent, and was particularly severe at Philadelphia. Mr. Campbell was taken sick and fearing the results he went to his home in New York. He soon returned to Pennsylvania, however, and entered the employ of his uncle Daniel Boyer a general merchant at Boyerstown. From there he entered the employ of the keeper of the poor house of that county, keeping the books of the institution and looking after the wants of the one hundred and fifty paupers. He was there about five years, and was during that time married to Miss Maria Boyer.

     In 1841, the young couple moved to Black Rock now known as North Buffalo, N.Y., where he worked at his trade as a cooper and in the meantime discharged the duties of village and township Clerk. In 1850 they came to Ingham County, Mich. and settled on land in Onondaga, where they built a log house and cleared up a good home. Twelve children were born to them, whose names in order of ages are as follows: Boyer H., Catherine, Sarah, Daniel, Matthew, William, Homer H., Angeline, Charlotte, Job T., Marshall L. and Maria. They are all still living with the exception of Matthew who was drowned in the Kankakee River, in Illinois, March 9, 1890, and Maria (Mrs. Davis), who died in Leslie Township, February 16, 1891.

     After the family came to Michigan they dwelt happily and prosperously at the homestead until the death of the mother in October, 1862, whose cares, augmented by the enlistment of her three eldest sons in the Rebellion, bore her to her grave and deprived the family of her whom they most needed. The three sons served through the War and returned but from the hour of their going and the death of their mother, the family was scattered forever on earth. Mr. Campbell afterward married Mrs. Vashti Cochran, who is still living and who brought with her to the family a daughter, Ella. His life has been one of hard work but a good example to all. Honesty and industry are his virtues and in his declining years, he looks with pride and affection upon his remaining children and hopes for a blessed futurity. Within his recollections are the Wars of 1812, 1845 and 1861, and wherever he could by thought, deed or sacrifice, he has exercised a noble patriotism. In the Township of Onondaga, where his hard work for his county was done, he was a member of the Township Board for many years, and as an early Justice of the Peace, settled many a controversy between his neighbors. By working at his trade, and making his adz and hammer ring from four o'clock in the morning to ten o'clock during the winter, and on the farm from daylight until dark during the summer, he succeeded in rearing his family to take care of themselves and in paying for the farm purchase. At the age of eighty-three he is still hale and hard at work.

     MARTIN J. STABLER. The future of our great commonwealth depends upon the stability and integrity of the young people of to-day, and among those who are contributing to the general progress is the gentleman whose name introduces these paragraphs and whose life thus far has been crowned with success. One of the young and enterprising agriculturists of Lansing Township, Ingham County, his pleasant estate is located on section 7, where he is the fortunate owner of seventy-six acres of fine land. He has embellished his farm with a commodious residence of modern style of architecture, and elegantly furnished with everything that can contribute to (299) the comfort of the household. Mr. Stabler devotes considerable attention to the breeding of stock and has large barns and good stabling, as well as other outbuildings which a progressive farmer now deems essential to the proper management of his estate.

     Mr. Stabler is now in the early prime of life, having been born January 28, 1860. His parents, Charles and Barbara (Roller) Stabler, were natives of Germany, and possessed those qualities of thrift and energy which are prominent characteristics of that nation. About the year of 1848 they emigrated to America, and immediately after landing, proceeded to Michigan and settled in Ann Arbor. That city then bore but few indications of its present high development and was only a little hamlet in the midst of uncultivated surroundings. After residing there three years the parents removed to Lansing, where Martin J., of this sketch, was born. He is proud to claim the capital city as his birthplace and now ranks among the most influential native-born citizens of Ingham County.

     At the age of three years our subject accompanied his parents in their removal to Clinton County, where he was reared to manhood. He received a good education of which he is making practical use, and keeping thoroughly posted upon all events of interest he ranks among the well-informed men of the community. Until he was twenty-four years of age he worked for his father, in the meantime acquiring habits of thrift and prudence. On October 4, 1883, he was happily married to the lady who now gracefully presides over his household. She bore the maiden name of Mary L. Burke and is the daughter of John and Elenora Burke, natives of Germany. In that country Mrs. Stabler was born September 3, 1861, and thence at the age of four years she accompanied her parents to the New World. They sojourned in Ohio until 1872, when they removed to Clinton County, Mich., where they still reside. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stabler, a daughter, Florence E., who was born May 16, 1887.

     Always interested in every movement calculated to advance the general welfare of the county, Mr. Stabler feels that the best interests of the commonwealth are subserved by the Republican party and his vote and sympathies are usually with the candidates pledged to the principles of that party. Realizing his ability his fellow-citizens have often called upon him to aid in the carrying on of public affairs and these duties he has always discharged to the satisfaction of all. He was Treasurer of Lansing Township two years and was there as elsewhere faithful to the trust reposed in him. He and his amiable wife are members of the German Methodist Church and enjoy the esteem of those who have been associated with them since they first located on section 7.

     SETH A. PADDOCK. One of the representative men of Mason, Ingham County, whose financial growth has been synonymous with the history and growth of the town is the gentleman whose name is at the head of this sketch and who is so intimately connected with many of its interests. He is a member of the firm of S. A. Paddock & Son, dealers in lumber, lime, coal, etc., and also of the Electric Lighting Company of Paddock & Henderson. Mr. Paddock has a charming home in the city that is made ideal by the presence of his gracious and lovely wife, and the love that is shed between the members of the family, and the appreciation of each individual effort to bring about the happiness and content of others.

     Seth A. Paddock was born in Commerce Township, Oakland County, Mich., January 6, 1836. He is the son of Charles H. and Huldah M. (Gates) Paddock, both natives of Herkimer County, N.Y. They came to Oakland County in 1834. The head of the family was a merchant and miller. He built the flourishing mills in Oakland County and after they were burned he rebuilt, eventually selling them. In 1852, he with his family moved to Hudson, St. Croix County, Wis.

     The gentleman of whom we write, served an apprenticeship of about three years to the trade of a carpenter and builder, and was then engaged in (300) journeyman's work for a similar space of time, after which he went to contracting and jobbing, in which he was reasonably successful. He was married September 11, 1860 to Miss Mary A. Ayres, of New York City at the time when they were married, although she had formerly lived in Oakland County, Mich., where Mr. Paddock formed her acquaintance previous to going to Wisconsin. On beginning their married life he took his wife to Wisconsin and there they lived until 1863, his eldest child being born there. At the last named date he moved to Jackson, Mich. He followed selling territory for a patent right, and at the same time was engaged in recruiting for the army. He cleared the second and third ward of Jackson, Mich., of draft under contract, and in the fall of 1865, he removed to Mason, and here became engaged in the work of architectural drafting and contracting. He has been the architect for the principal buildings erected in this city. He superintended the building of the first Baptist Church at Portland, Ionia County, and finally became a partner of the firm of Brown, Paddock & Co., builders and contractors, and specialists in architectural drafting. Mr. Paddock was naturally gifted in the line of architectural and artistic drawing and had cultivated this gift assiduously making special preparation for his architectural work.

     Our subject has been particularly fortunate in a business way. A genial, whole souled man, he has commended himself kindly and favorably to all classes of business men. He prides himself on the fact that he never had to ask for a day's work in his life and yet always received the highest wages. After a time he bought out one partner in the firm of contractors to which he belonged, and about five years later he bought out the other. He is not only the builder, but also the owner of the Paddock Block of Mason, which is a fine brick structure that is imposing in dimensions and style of architecture.

      Mr. Paddock is the father of six children, of whom three died young. Those living are Minnie, born March 14, 1865, Harry E. and Fred E. The only daughter and eldest child, Minnie, is now the wife of G. J. Charles. of Lansing, who is engaged in the real-estate and insurance business. They are the parents of one child, Harry E. who was born in April, 1867, is a partner with his father. He has made himself a home, and has a wife to whom he is entirely devoted. He is a pleasant young man and successful in business. The youngest son, Fred E. was born December 16, 1873.

     Our subject was formerly a Democrat, but of late years he has been a Republican, the stand that that party has taken in the advancement and perfection of commercial life, suiting his ideas of government. Mr. Paddock has served two terms as Supervisor of the Second Ward, and also been a member of the School Board for several years. He has been one of the main supports of the Presbyterian Church, aiding it greatly, not only pecuniarily but by example and precept. He is also a member of several secret societies and is a Royal Arch Mason. Although the original of our sketch acquired nothing by inheritance, he has been able to accumulate a handsome little fortune, and this has been accumulated by his own efforts. Mr. Paddock's father's decease occurred at Santa Barbara, and there his mother, only sister, and three brothers still reside. One brother is in business in Wisconsin.

      WILLIAM M. DOBIE. The gentleman whose name is at the head of this sketch is a general farmer, owning a fine tract of land comprising two hundred and forty-five acres on sections 15, 16 and 22, Alaiedon Township, Ingham County. He was born in Adrian, Lenawee County, Mich., October 28, 1838, and is a son of Alexander Dobie, one of the old pioneers of Alaiedon Township. Our subject's mother was previous to her marriage, a Miss Maria Willey. Her decease took place October 20, 1848. Mr. Dobie remained at home until he was nineteen years of age, at which time he went to the Pacific Coast, where he remained for seventeen years, spending most of tile time in farming and stock-raising.

     The first years spent by our subject on the coast was given to California, but the rest of the time (303) was spent in Nevada. He was very successful in his stock business and also had a short experience of mining. On returning from the West he came home and assumed the proprietorship of his father's farm, which he worked for a year or so and then bought the nucleus of his present farm, making the purchase of forty acres in 1877, and to this he added from time to time until he is now the owner of a finely-productive farm of two hundred and forty acres of land lying in a body.

     Mr. Dobie was married April 19, 1877, to Miss Louisa C. Mayer, of Lucas County, Ohio, and a daughter of John Mayer, a farmer and an old pioneer in that section of the country. He was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany. Our subject and his wife are the parents of four children, whose names were as follows: Lulu A., born May 7,1880; Laura Ann, February 7, 1883; William A., February 21, 1885; and Elmo, January 19, 1888. Mr. Dobie has made a success in his efforts in agriculture. He enjoyed the advantage of aid from his father at the outset, but the great portion of his property has been acquired by his individual efforts and constant attention to his calling. Politically, he is a Democrat and has been honored by his party in having been elected Justice of the Peace an office which he held during one term. He has made many improvements on the farm since coming here, having brought the best of judgment and taste to bear in his management. Personally, he is a pleasant man, thoroughly reliable in every way and one of Alaiedon's best citizens.

     CHARLES S. FITZ SIMMONS. The extent to which a community indulges in the delights of the floral world may well serve as a measure of its culture and progress. Lansing, Ingham County, is not behind in this matter and attests, not only in its beautiful homes and the highly cultivated grounds which surround them, but also in its patronage of those who engage in floral culture, to the love of its people for g true beauty and the best things of nature. A fine trade has been built up by our subject in the line of a florist's business, as he is the proprietor of the Riverside Greenhouses which is a flourishing institution and supplies a large amount of first-class work to the people of Lansing. Besides his trade in flowers he has an excellent business in market gardening, having ten acres of garden one mile south of Lansing.

     Mr. Fitz Simmons was born June 26, 1854, in Camden Township, Hillsdale County, Mich. His father, Stephen, was born in Chemung County, N.Y. The grandfather, Thomas, was also a native of Chemung County and in 1837 came to Michigan and located in a log house in the woods near Wheatland, Hillsdale County. With him in this house (measuring 16 x 20 feet) lived also the pioneer who has been familiarly known as old Uncle Henry Humphrey. They were farmers and hunters and at first lived by their guns. About a year later they removed to Camden in the western part of that county, and going into the woods Mr. Fitz Simmons hewed out a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He was a prominent man in his day, being Supervisor, Justice of the Peace, Methodist Episcopal Class-Leader, and served as a delegate to the famous convention which was held under the old oaks at Jackson in 1854, at the time the Republican party sprang into existence. The family is of Norman-French extraction.

     The father of our subject spent his boyhood days in New York. He began working on the Erie Canal as a tow boy and came to Michigan when a young man. He took a course of study in civil engineering and became the County Surveyor of Hillsdale County. At the time when he went into the army he owned a farm of one hundred and sixty acres which he had entered from school lands when he was twenty-one years old. It was in the spring of 1864 that Stephen Fitz Simmons enlisted in Company I, Eleventh Michigan Cavalry. His regiment was ordered South and he never returned home, as he died of pneumonia at Lexington Ky., in 1865. He was an earnest Republican in his political views and a warm supporter of the Government for which he gave his life.

     Elizabeth Stevens was the maiden name of her (304) who became the mother of our subject and Massachusetts was the State of her nativity. Her father was a farmer in the old Bay State, who removed to New York and later to Michigan, where he was one of the early settlers in Lenawee County, locating on the Chicago Pike, west of Tecumseh. After remaining there a few years he removed to Woodbridge, Hillsdale County, where he improved eighty acres of fine land. This family of Stevens was of the best stock of New England and boasted that in their veins ran blue blood, which assertion was well carried out by their true and upright lives and their love for all of the best things of life. The mother died in 1856. Our subject was the only child of his parents, but his father was married a second time to Miss Adeline Beem who was born in New York, and had three daughters. She now resides in Sturgis this State.

     Charles S. Fitz Simmons was born June 26, 1854 and had his early training and education upon a farm, taking what schooling he could acquire in the log schoolhouse with slab benches. After his father's death he remained at home until he was sixteen years old, as from the age of ten years he had the responsibility of looking after the home farm. The old home was disposed of by sale in the family lived on eighty acres in Woodbridge where the youth remained until he reached the age of eighteen years. He spent one winter in the pine woods at Newaygo, working in lumber, and the was for awhile with an uncle in Tecumseh, Lenawee County. He attended school at that place in the old Union High School and put a four years course into three years, taking fifteen months tuition in Latin extra, and at the same time learned the printer's trade, by means of which he supported himself and paid his tuition. He was graduate from that school in 1876.

     After leaving school the young man engaged in various lines of business, in store, saw-mill and other ways until 1879, and then with what money he had accumulated purchased a manufacturing business This, however, did not prove remunerative, so in 1881 he came to Lansing as he already had connections here which drew him to this place. He had married in December, 1880, Miss Delia Dingman, daughter of William H. Dingman, from Schoharie County, N.Y. He was a manufacturer of paper and also had charge of a woolen factory at Leeds, Greene County, N. Y. also at Stuyvesant Falls, where he was an enterprising and successful manufacturer. Later he came to Michigan and located in Tecumseh and a few Years later retired from business and came to Lansing, where for several years he was in the grocery business. He finally retired from active work and died here in 1884 at the age of seventy years. His excellent wife, Phebe Emeline Hinckley, was born in Lee, Berkshire County, Mass., and passed from life in Tecumseh in 1888. Of their eight children four grew to maturity, and the wife of our subject is the oldest now living. She was born in Lee, Mass., reared in New York and completed her education at Ashland Seminary, after which she taught for a short time.

     The young couple located on a farm in Meridian Township where they carried on general farming and gardening, and it was while living there they that they conceived the, idea of starting a greenhouse for the Lansing trade. In 1889 Mr. Fitz Simmons obtained a lot on Kalamazoo Street, but could find no building here which he could make use of as a greenhouse. He began with a small business and has enlarged his place from what it was at first., 18 x 72 feet, until he now has a plant which covers eight thousand square feet and is gradually increasing it. The raising and propagation of plants and cut flowers occupies his energies and he keeps flowers on hand to supply room decorations and floral designs. His greenhouse is heated by hot water and hot air, and he has a fine garden of ten acres to supply stock for his market garden business, as well as a beautiful flower garden in connection with the greenhouse. He devotes three acres to celery, in which he is unusually successful and he is said to have the largest celery bed in the county. He owns a boat house which he rents and also another house.

     A terrible affliction befell this excellent couple in 1889 when, upon January 19 and 23, their only children, Madge D. and Alvin C., were snatched from their arms by that terrible scourge--scarlet fever. Mrs. Fitz Simmons is a devoted member of the Plymouth Congregational Church and is active (305) in the Ladies' Society and other church benevolences. Like his father and grandfather, our subject is attached to the Republican party. In 1876 he joined the First Regiment in the Michigan Militia, in which he did service until 1883, and left it with the rank of Sergeant. This regiment was in 1879 called out to quell the labor riot at Jackson and then proved itself efficient and ready for action.

     Elsewhere in this volume will be found a lithographic portrait of Mr. Fitz Simmons.

     CHARLES H. LEMON. While formerly it was almost considered an opprobrium to speak of a man as a "traveling" man, to-day they have so strong and firm a footing in commercial life and seem so absolutely indispensable that in spite of their reputation for being the "jolliest men on earth" and the best livers, as many gentlemen are found there as elsewhere. Our subject is an ex-traveling salesman and no exception to the rule of traveling men in his temperament and nature. He is now engaged in the dry-goods business, and also deals in clothing, boots, shoes, etc. His two sons are his partners in the business, and they conduct the business under the firm name of Lemon Bros.

     Our subject is a native of this State, having been born in Oakland County, November 27, 1835. His father was John Lemon, who was born in the city of Dublin, Ireland, where he made his living by weaving, being an expert in this business, and doing all sorts of fancy weaving. Mr. Lemon's parents came to Steuben County, N.Y., and settled in the town of Painted Post, when the father was a very young man. He was one of the very first settlers in Avon, taking boat to Detroit, and from there proceeded by ox-team to Avon, where he located on a farm. Being an agent for Maj. Kearsley, he had an excellent opportunity to exam the best land and procure a fine farm engaging in his trade, which is that of weaving, and finding his services at that early day in constant demand. He raised flax and wove it into cloth. In 1842 he removed from Avon and located in Shiawassee Township, Shiawassee County, and there he did the work of weaving for the whole county, and found his business so remunerative that he was able to purchase some of the finest land in the country, and at the time of his death, which occurred in 1843, he was the owner of five hundred and sixty acres of land.

     Our subject's mother was before her marriage a Miss Julia Ann Trowbridge, a native of New Jersey though when a child her parents had taken her to Steuben County, N.Y. Her father was a farmer. He also was an early settler in Avon and there died. Our subject's parents, although both earnest and ardent Christians, were brought up in different churches, the father worshiping with the Presbyterian denomination, and the mother attending the Methodist Church. They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom are still living, and of these our subject is the youngest.

     From the age of six years Mr. Lemon was reared in Shiawassee Township, and there received what education, in the way of school advantages, he enjoyed. During his boyhood there were still plenty of Indians in the State, and from them he learned as much of woodcraft as he learned of farming from his fattier. The school he attended was of the rudest sort, built, as most of them were in those early days, of the most accessible material--logs, with a stick chimney. It was furnished with slab seats and a heterogeneous supply of textbooks. The pens that they used were of quills, and one of the earliest arts and accomplishments that they were required to learn was that of cutting and pointing these quills and making them ready for use.

     When about nine years of age, the original of our sketch went and made his home with a married sister, Mrs. C. Seargent Sharp, and there he remained until sixteen years of age. In those early days sixteen years was considered an age at which (307) any able-bodied young man should be able to support himself, although he was not supposed to have either discretion or judgment enough to be legally responsible. Our subject, like most young men, was at that time thrown upon his own resources, and he went to Byron, Burns Township, and entered a store as clerk, remaining there for three years, during which he gained an insight into the general merchandise business. At the age of nineteen he began business for himself, going into general merchandising, and having as partner Capt. D. G. Royce. This gentleman went to the war on the breaking out of the Rebellion and was killed.

     Mr. Lemon, in 1854 or 1855, went into the gristmill business, and also built a sawmill. These he ran until 1864, and then sold out. In 1862 he had been appointed Postmaster of Byron, and kept that post for sixteen years. In 1879 he purchased the mill and store block, running the former until 1880, and during that time he put in the new roller system, producing one hundred and fifty thousand barrels of flour in a year. Most of his product was shipped to Portland and to the East, his shipping rate being at one time as low is twenty-eight cents a barrel, and it one time as high as eighty-five cents. In 1880 he sold out his milling interest and went upon the road as a traveling salesman, representing Jacob Brown & Co., of Detroit, dealers in furnishing goods and notions. He traveled for this company for ten years, his route being chiefly through the State of Michigan.

     Traveling having become monotonous to our subject, in the fall of 1890 he retired from the road, and has since engaged in the business with his sons, mentioned at the beginning of the sketch. In 1882 he located in the city of Lansing, and in 1887, in the month of May, he opened a dry-goods store, also selling boots and shoes. His sons, who are engaged with him in business, are twins, and are among the most popular business men in the city. Genial, courteous and whole-souled, it is a pleasure to patronize such a firm.

     The gentleman of whom we write owns a very pleasant home in Lansing, on Willow Street, and it is presided over most beautifully by his amiable and accomplished wife. Their marriage took place in the town of Byron in 1860, the lady being a Miss Elizabeth Kelsey, who was a native of the place in which she was married. She is a daughter of Judge Kelsey, who was Probate Judge of Shiawassee County for twelve years. Their union has been blessed by the advent of five children, who are all bright and accomplished. The sons who are in partnership with Mr. Lemon and who are commonly spoken of as the twins, are Earl and Frank. The eldest daughter, Lizzie, is employed also in the store, while the two youngest daughters, Grace and Fanny, remain at home.

     Prior to coming to Lansing, Mr. Lemon had held several local offices, having been the Supervisor of Burns Township, and also Township Clerk. He also has the honor of having been the first President of the village of Byron, and was subsequently Chairman of the Village Board. During the war his patriotism and zeal were so fired that he was anxious to enlist, but was debarred from doing so by an imperfection in his eye-sight. He, however, acted as drill master for three years. Until going on the road he belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, being one of its staunchest and most loyal followers in this city. In religious matters he is liberal. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and he himself is a generous supporter of the same.

     WILLIAM H. POST. Most of the families who have settled in White Oak Township have their descent from lines which have for generations been residents of this country and may be classed among the old families of America. That which is represented by the name at the head of this sketch is one of these, as he traces his lineage on his mother's side back to the early Colonists of Connecticut and feels that in the making of the history of that section of the country his fore-fathers had their share.

     Our subject, who was born in 1853, has since (308) 1854 lived on the old homestead on section 32, having been born on section 13, in White Oak Township. His father, W. C. Post, was born in 1811 in Connecticut and died June 30, 1875, and his early years were spent there with his parents before the removal of the family to New York. In the Empire State they remained for some five years, during which time the boy received his education before removing to Iosco Township, Livingston County, Mich.

     The father of our subject was in 1840 united in the bonds of matrimony with Ursulla Smith, a native of New York who was residing in White Oak Township. Our subject was the youngest of the four children who came to his parents. The two first-born were Corenna and Emma, twin sisters. Corenna married J. A. Sly and is the mother of three children, and Emma married C. H. Wood and resides at Leslie with her husband and five children; the third sister of our subject was named Sallie and she became the wife of James Paddock who resides at Detroit, and is the mother of four children.

      W. H. Post upon reaching manhood agreed most heartily with the Holy Scriptures where it says that it is not good for man to live alone, and united his life with Ella Dakin, who was born in Ingham Township, Ingham County. One child only has brightened this home, and her name is Lottie. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Post was Robert Smith, who was also the progenitor of Mr. Willard Smith, whose sketch is found elsewhere in this volume. The great-grandfather bore the same name, Robert Smith, and was a native of England. There were nine children in this old country family, of whom five were sons, who bore the names of John, William, Robert, Abram and Isaac. It is recorded in the annals of the family that some of these brothers were among the early settlers of Jamestown, N.Y. in 1607. The old family Bible of the Smith family bears the date of 1620. This Bible is in the possession of Willard Smith and is a choice heirloom.

     A flourishing business in general farming is carried on by our subject, and his farm is well stocked. He devotes himself exclusively to his business and has never consented to occupy any township or county offices, although he is sincerely interested in political matters and an intelligent observer of the public movements of the day, being a stanch Democrat and warmly devoted to the prosperity of that party. He is a member of a number of social orders, being identified with the Odd Fellows, the Farmers' Mutual Benefit Association, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Grange. His family are connected with the Protestant Methodist Church and in its work Mr. and Mrs. Post are actively interested.

      SIDNEY O. RUSSELL. It is of interest to record the life of the oldest settler in the village and township of Leslie, who has been one of the most active promoters of this part of the county and has achieved excellent success in business in Leslie. His days of activity, are over now, as he suffered a stroke of paralysis and is now confined to the house and is quite feeble, so that he has to place his business in the hands of a foster son. His superior character, ability and record since coming to this county make him worthy of a prominent place in our annals.

     Our subject was born in East Bloomfield, N.Y., October 1, 1812, his honored parents being James and Electa (Squares) Russell, natives of New Jersey. The family removed to Michigan about the year 1838 and settled in Saline, Washtenaw County, where they spent the remainder of their days. They had eight children and our subject remained at home until about the age of sixteen, when he went away to serve an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade near Seneca Falls. His earlier years were spent on the farm near Seneca Falls and he received a common-school education. He worked at his trade until 1836, when he came to Michigan and settled on a farm on what is now sections 17 and 18, in the township of Leslie. There were only two other white settlers in the township at that time.

     In making the journey to the new West Mr. Russell came by water to Detroit and completed the trip with an ox-team, fording all the streams (309) and often becoming soaked on account of rains and high waters. He first built a log shanty 14 x 18 feet in dimensions and in it he established his wife and one little child, Matilda. Wild game and Indians abounded through all that region and the old Indian chief, "Okemos," was a frequent guest in this cabin. Mr. Russell proceeded to clear his farm and improve it. Even in that early day he was full of determination to succeed, as he came to Michigan with the full intent to make a home and he willingly worked and suffered privations which we of this later generation can scarcely realize.

     After farming a few years our subject moved his family to Leslie and afterward bought and operated a sawmill but somewhat later sold that property and engaged in the mercantile business, being one of the very first merchants of the place, and continuing in business in Leslie for almost fifty years. He began life with nothing, as his father was a man of small means, and he has made all he now possesses by his own efforts, supplemented by the wise co-operation of his faithful and efficient helpmate. His business has steadily grown and is now the largest mercantile house and the only dry-goods house in Leslie.

     This pioneer gentleman has acquired considerable property in real estate and is a heavy stockholder in the People's Bank at Leslie. In his early life he was a strong Jackson man and afterward belonged to the Whig party and was an earnest Abolitionist; later he became a decided Republican. He held some minor town offices and was a delegate to the convention that organized Ingham County, and also helped to lay out the village of Leslie. He has lived in this township for fifty-five years and has accumulated a large property, having been a man of unusual energy and sterling integrity.

     In the early days the nearest trading point was Jackson, which lay at a distance of fifteen miles through the forest. Mr. Russell erected his present residence, a handsome brick structure, in 1889, and it is one of the most beautiful homes in the village. In his younger days he was a great huntsman and still delights in recounting the pleasures of the chase.

     The wife of his youth, to whom he was united in Seneca County, N.Y., was a native of that county and bore the maiden name of Mary Fox. Her parents, William and Hulda Fox, were natives of New Jersey, and lived for many years in Seneca County. Mr. and Mrs. Russell had six children, Matilda, Mary, Emma, Myron, Seward, and a twin who died in early infancy. The mother of these children died some years ago and Mr. Russell was married a second time to Miss Rumina Haynes, August 4,1863. This lady was living in Lansing at the time of her union with Mr. Russell. She was born in Mentz Township, Cayuga County, N.Y., February 22, 1818, being a daughter of William and Abby (Annable) Haynes, natives of New Jersey and Massachusetts respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Haynes came to New York when young and there were married, and resided until his death, after which his wife and children came to Michigan and settled in Onondaga Township, Ingham County, in 1837. Mrs. Haynes, however, came to make her home with her daughter, Mrs. Russell, a few months before her departure to the other world.

      FREDERICK THOMAN. Such a city is Lansing, Ingham County, owes in incalculable debt to those of her business men who have been sufficiently broad and far-sighted to plan such conveniences and improvements in the city as conduce to the prosperity of business and therefore to the growth of the town. Such an one is he of whom we write, who was one of the principal promoters of the building of the Transit Railroad track which runs along by the side of his mill and all other factories of the West Side, connecting them with all the railroads of the city. This, is one of the most valuable improvements to the city and gave a much needed stimulus to the manufacturing interests of the West Side.

     This gentleman, who belongs to the firm of F. Thoman & Bro., proprietors of the Oriental Mill Lansing, was born at old Ft. Hamilton in New York Harbor, May 9, 1843. About three years later he was brought by his parents to Crawford (310) County, Ohio, where he received his education in the common schools of Crestline. His father, John A., was born at Rhine Falls, Germany.

     At the age of sixteen our subject became fireman on the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railroad and two years later took charge of an engine as engineer between Crestline and Pittsburg. During the last year of the war he was in the Government employ as engineer in the South. He was married in Brooklyn, N.Y., in October, 1866, to Miss Mary E. Reitz who was born in Brooklyn, and was there reared and educated. After this event Mr. Thoman went to Indiana as an engineer, still making his home in Crestline until the spring of 1868 when he came to Lansing with his brother-in-law, Mr. F. A. Reitz, with whom he formed a partnership under the firm name of Reitz & Thoman. In May of that year they began the construction of the present mill which was finished during the fall and put in operation on New Year's day.

     These gentleman remained in partnership for eighteen mouths and then Mr. Thoman sold out to Mr. Reitz, and six months later the latter died, after which our subject purchased the whole property and continued sole proprietor until 1885, when he took his brother, J. P. Thoman, into partnership with him under the firm name of F. Thoman & Co. The mill is located in the heart of the city and has a capacity of two hundred barrels a day. They ship large quantities of flour to the Eastern, Southern and foreign markets.

     Mr. Thoman was elected Alderman of the second Ward in 1878 and 1879, and he is now Alderman and Supervisor of the Sixth Ward. He is Vice President of the Central Michigan Savings Bank, having held the office for some eight or ten years. He is one of the incorporators of the Lansing Wagon Works and has been President of that company from 1877, when it was organized into a stock company. He is a member and Director of the Capital Investment, Building and Loan Association, and is also a Director of the Lansing Wheelbarrow Works. He was one of the incorporators of the Lansing Electric Light Company, which was merged with the Gas Company, of which he is one of the Directors. He was one of the prominent men in organizing the Millers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Michigan and has been its Treasurer for the past six years. He is also considerably interested in real estate in Lansing. Mr. Thoman is a member of the Masonic order, which he joined upon reaching his majority, and is a member of Capitol Chapter, No. 9, Royal Arch Masons, which he joined in 1873. His political views have led him to affiliate with the Democratic party, and he is deeply interested in its national issues.