History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

1376

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

progressive measures, and has done much to make the schools of Muskegon, a useful factor in the common life of the people of that city.
Joseph M. Frost was born at Montour Falls, Schuyler county, New
York, March 22, 1859, the oldest of five children four sons and one
daughter, born to LeGrand W. and Isabelle (Prince) Frost. The paternal grandparents were Joseph and Sally (McCarty) Frost, natives of
Connecticut, who came to New York and bought a farm, but the grandfather soon afterwards died of smallpox. The grandmother lived to be
seventy-eight years of age. Originally the Frost family came to America
from England, and had one of its members an American soldier in the
Revolutionary war. The maternal grandparents were James and Army
Prince, natives of England. Both LeGrand W. and Isabelle Frost were
natives of New York. The father, born in 1828, is still living. The
mother was born in 1838, and died in 1904. Until his retirement in I903,
the father.was a successful farmer at Montour Falls, where he now
resides. He was a very young man when he moved to Montour Falls,
and the death of his father from smallpox soon afterwards threw the
burden of family responsibility upon the young man, and he at once took
charge of affairs, paid for the farm and from that time forward prospered, buying much other land and eventually becoming one of the substantial citizens of Schuyler county. All the family were active members of the Episcopal church, and the father is a Republican in politics,
having given his allegiance to that party since its founding, back in the
decade of the fifties. He has taken much interest both in church affairs
and in public life. There are four children still living. Professor Frost
is a twin brother of James P. Frost, who is a resident of Montour Falls
in New York, is one of the state road inspectors, and has served in public office for the past fifteen years. Charles L. is engaged in the insurance business at Montour Falls; Alexander G. is manager of the Sorosis
Shoe Company of Chicago.
Joseph M. Frost attended school in his native locality first in the
Cook Academy of Montour Falls, and later the Hobart College at Geneva.
Subsequently he was a student of the University of Chicago, where he
did post-graduate work. He received his degrees of A. B. and Phi Beta
Kappa at Hobart College in 1884, and was given his Master's degree at
the same institution in I889. In I9I0 he received the degree of M. Pd.
from the Michigan State Normal College. His career as a teacher began
in 1884, when he became principal of the Hudson Academy at Hudson,
New York, where he remained seven years serving as Superintendent of
Schools during the last three years. He then went to Faribault, Minnesota, where he was instructor in English at the Shattuck Military school.
He spent seven years at Faribault, and later for four years was superintendent of schools at Lacon, Illinois. This was followed by a period as
superintendent of schools at Hinsdale, Illinois, and in 1903 he was elected
superintendent of schools at Muskegon.
Mr. Frost in 1885 married Miss Helen B. Hipple, a daughter of George
Hipple. Her father was a merchant at Geneva, New York. Mr. and
Mrs. Frost have one child, Arthur L., twenty-seven years of age, a graduate of Cornell University in the class of I909, and now in the employ
of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company at New Haven, Connecticut
Mr. Frost and family worship in the Episcopal church. He has been
prominent both in the York and Scottish Rites of Masonry, has taken
thirty-two degrees in the latter, and is a Knight Templar. He served as
junior warden of the Blue Lodge at Hudson, New York. In politics he
is a Progressive Republican. He has been an active factor in the civic
and social life of Muskegon, has generously accepted all opportunities
for service both within and without the schools, and the city owes much