Branch County MI

Biography of C. J. Van Doren

C. J. Van Doren’s extended business experience had been almost entirely in connection with the cement industry. He knows the business in every detail, both on the technical and manufacturing side, and also selling end. Mr. Van Doren is now superintendent of the Great Western Portland Cement Company’s plant at Mildred, Kansas. A native of Michigan, he was born at Adrian July 22, 1874. His paternal ancestry goes back to Peter Van Doren who immigrated from Holland and settled on Long Island between 1637 and 1640. Mr. Van Doren’s grandfather, Jacob Van Doren, a native of New York State, was … Read more

Biography of Garner Miner

For thirty-eight years Garner Miner has been a resident of Idaho, having come to the territory in 1861, when the development of this great northwest was in its incipiency and the frontiersmen had to meet many privations and dangers. The Indians were frequently on the warpath, carrying death and devastation wherever they went; and separated from the base of sup-plies, from the comforts and luxuries of the east the pioneers endured hardships undreamed of by the present generation. In those days brave hearts were necessary, indeed, but the same spirit of Anglo-Saxon daring, fortitude and stability, which, has characterized the … Read more

Biography of Hon. William Frederick Sapp

Hon. William Frederick Sapp. It is said that the present democratic national committeeman from Kansas when he came to the state in 1879 arrived on foot. He was young then, and not above such strenuous exercise when the purpose involved was search of location for the beginning of his professional career. He soon afterward obtained admission to the bar before the District Court at Columbus, and as a lawyer and citizen has been identified with Galena almost as long as that town has been on the map. The courage and independence that brought him to Kansas and took him through … Read more

Biography of C. B. McVay

C. B. McVay is secretary and treasurer of the Western States Portland Cement Company of Independence. He has been identified with the manufacture and sale of cement for over fifteen years, that having been the chief work of his life. He was born in Yankton, South Dakota, in 1878. His ancestors, the McVays, were Scotch people who settled in Pennsylvania more than a century ago. The father, William H. McVay, was born at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1839, was reared and married near Warren County, Ohio, his wife, Rebecca Rutan, being a native of Trumbull County, Ohio. In 1876 he moved … Read more

Bowman, Carrie Lampe – Obituary

Carrie (Lampe) Bowman, 91, of 114 Cynthia St., died Sept. 3, 1984, at Froh Community Home, Sturgis, following a four-year illness. She was born Nov. 3, 1892 in Burr Oak Township, a daughter of Helmuth Henry and Ida (Waterstraut) Lampe. On Sept. 3, 1912, she married Frank Athol Bowman in Sturgis. He died in 1951. She was a Bronson resident since 1931. She was of the Evangelical Lutheran faith and attended the Bronson Baptist Church for many years. She was employed by the Sturgis Journal from age 16-20, when the owner was E. A. Ferrier. During World War II she … Read more

Biography of Gen. John H. Stevens

GEN. JOHN H. STEVENS. – This hero of a hundred Western adventures, and a pioneer of the great Inland Empire, was born on a town line in Windham County, Vermont. The son of Asa Stevens, a miller and farmer, he learned to use his hands and brain in practical affairs, and at the village school obtained a good working education. In his youth he followed business in Boston, and was engaged in lumbering in Pennsylvania. In 1832 he came west to Michigan, and at Coldwater, Branch County, kept a hotel, advancing his business also by taking mail contracts, and in … Read more

Biography of Edward P. Ray

Edward P. Ray. Fortunate is the man who finds his work in the world early in life and concentrates all his energies upon discharging his duties and responsibilities with credit and efficiency. One of this fortunate class was Edward P. Ray of Arkansas City. His father and grandfather before him were in the produce business, established one of the early concerns of that kind in Southern Michigan, and the old house is still flourishing and doing a large business at Coldwater, Michigan, today. Edward P. Ray grew up in that business atmosphere and after breaking home ties and family associations … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William J. Pullman

Pullman, William J.; building contractor; born, Bronson, Mich., Aug. 21, 1861; son of Joseph E. and Sarah S. Parsons Pullman; married, Bronson, Mich., Nov. 14, 1880, and Cleveland, O., Aug. 15, 1910, Flora C. Kraimer; issue, first wife, two daughters, Faye and Vera; issue, second marriage, one daughter, Madge; member Masons and Royal Arcanum, Sons of Veterans, and K. of P.

1894 Michigan State Census – Branch County

United States Soldiers of the Civil War Residing in Michigan, June 1, 1894 [ Names within brackets are reported in letters. ] Branch County. Algansee Township. – Henry W. Hungerford, Alexander Purdy, George W. Stewart, William Thompson, Isaac G. Quimby, Stephen Kyser, James S. Hughey, Russel J. Ellis, Peter P. Tendril, Frank Roundy, Jerome B. Tift, Josephus Clark, L. D. Reynolds, Ira Stockwell, William Herrick, George W. Deye, Hazelton Saunders, William M. Cory, William J. McKee, George L. Rice, Anson W. Merrit, George Baits, Sylvester W. McNitt, Arnold Goodman, Albert A. Dodge, George Winter, F. D. Burlingham, Fred Goodwin, William … Read more