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

1574

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

workers is the popular representative citizen of Manistee whose name
introduces this article. He has shown marked initiative and executive'
ability, and this equipment, as coupled with steadfast and worthy purpose, has won for him advancement and specific alliance with large and
important interests, as is evident when it is stated that he is vice-president,
treasurer and general manager of the Manistee Northeastern Railroad.
Mr. Carl was born at Lowell, Kent county, Michigan, on the I8th of
November, I868, and is a son of Ralph L. and Esther (Cooley) Carl,
the former of whom was born in the state of New York, in I830, and the
latter in Michigan, in I836, about one year prior to the admission of the
state to the Union. The father, whose death occurred in I907, was a
millwright by trade but he finally engaged in the furniture business, in
connection with which he achieved success. He lived virtually retired for
several years prior to his death, which occurred at his home in Charlotte, Eaton county, and his widow now resides with her son Perry,
subject of this review. The elder of the two children was Anna, who
became the wife of William G. Wisner, of Charlotte, Eaton county,
where her death occurred in I913. Ralph L. Carl was a staunch Republican was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and was a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, as is also his widow. He was a son of
David Carl, who continued to reside in the state of New York until his
death. Samuel Cooley, the maternal grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, came to Michigan in the territorial days and was here a pioneer
clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Perry R. L. Carl was a child at the time of the family removal from
Lowell to Stanton, Montcalm county, and in the latter place he duly
availed himself of the advantages of the public schools, including the high
school. He then put his scholastic attainments to practical test and
utilization by devoting two years to teaching, principally in the district
schools, and thereafter he was a member of the government surveying
party, in Minnesota, for one year. To supplement his education he then
attended the Ferris Institute, in the city of Big Rapids, Michigan, in
the commercial department of which institution he was graduated.
On the ioth day of May, 1892, Mr. Carl established his residence in
Manistee, where he assumed the position of bookkeeper for the BuckleyDouglass Lumber Company, with which representative corporation he
continued ten years, as a valued and efficient office man. In I902 Mr.
Carl was made auditor of the Manistee Northeastern Railroad, and he
has since been closely identified with the administration of the affairs of
this corporation. In I909 he was made the general manager, and in I911
he was elected vice-president of the company, of which he has been treasurer since I912. It is an effective voucher for his executive ability that
he now serves in these three important offices, the railroad with which he
is thus connected having 230 miles of line and traversing a section that
is rapidly developing along civic and industrial lines. At Traverse City
Mr. Carl is vice-president of the Taylor Coal Company. He is a stalwart adherent of the Republican party, is a Knight Templar Mason and
is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, in which he is past chancellor of the Manistee lodge. He attends and supports the Congregational
church, of which his wife is a zealous member.
January I7, i895, bore record of the marriage of Mr. Carl to Miss
Nora G. Canfield, who likewise is a native of Michigan, and who is a
daughter of the late Judge John Canfield, her father having been a representative member of the bar of Clare county, where he served eight years
as judge of the probate court. Mr. and Mrs. Carl have two children:
Francis C. and Walter L.