History of Muskegon County, Michigan: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers.

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134

HISTORY OF MUSKEGON COUNTY.

thence to Brockville, Ont., where he was eleven years foreman for
Bell & Booth, contractors, Grand Trunk Railroad conductor three
years, and city contractor three years. In 1879 he returned to
Whitehall, engaging in the hotel business, was burnt out in Mears
House with heavy loss in July, 1881, but has now the new Mears
Hotel, where the Forum was formerly published. Col. Watson is
married and has three children.
CHARLES JOHNSON, shingle mill owner, Whitehall, was born in
Sweden in 1826, and arrived in New York Aug. 11, 1853, where he
worked until the following May at $5.00 a month, when he left for
Chicago; but in August he arrived in White River, working for Mr.
Dalton, and then for Mr. Carleton at lumbering. In 1869 he bought
into a shingle mill in Whitehall, from Miller & Hageman, the firm
being now Johnson & Miller, and the mill cuts 50,000 to 60,000 a
day. The mill is next to Hughes, Linderman & Ames', and his
residence, which is a beautiful place, is on corner of Lake and
Spring Sts. He is also a farmer. He was last married in 1875,
having three children by his first wife and one by the last. Mr.
Johnson is emphatically a self made man. A view of his fine residence and grounds with portraits of himself and wife will be found
inl this work.
JESSE D. PULLI.AN, foreman of Staples & Covell's saw mill, was
born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., March 17, 1833. He married in 1854,
Hannah L. Owen, of Jefferson County, and has two children. In
the following year he came west to Chicago, and there formed the
acquaintance of Rev. W. MLI. Ferry, and engaged to take charge of
the mill and store of Ferry & Co., at White River, the firm consisting then of the present Senator and his brother the late Noah H.
Ferry. After three years service with this firm Mr. Pullman tried
farming for five years in North Oceana, but in that timne sunk the
$8,000 he had made in milling. After various changes, the last of
which was keeping grocery in Chicago, he returned in 1867 to
Montague and took charge of Ferry, Dowling & Co.'s saw mill for
five years; was in charge of Heald & Co.'s one year; partner of
A. B. Bowen & Co. three years; and since 1875 foreman for Staples
& Covell. He has been a very active and efficient public officer,
having held many positions of trust; was Magistrate at White River
for many years in the days when they were clothed with the powers
of a Circuit Judge, when S. J. B. Watson was bailiff, with his cellar
for jail. Mr. Pullman took an active part in the organization of the
county, and was at first almost its only advocate in White River. At
the first election of officers he was elected Judge of Probate. He
has been Justice of the Peace of Whitehall Township, three years
on village Board of Education, Whitehall, and two years Director
of Schools; took an active part in organizing the Presbyterian
church and Union Sunday-school in Montague; and in re-organizing
the Congregational Church in Whitehall. Mr. Pullman is highly
respected by his extensive circle of friends, and possessing a very
clear head and active memory, is full of reminiscences of early
days.
JOHN A. WHEELER, M. D., of Grand Rapids, was born in Ontario Co., N. Y., in 1832, and when eight years old came to Wayne
Co., Mich., and in a few weeks to Washtenaw, thence to Howell,
where he remained with his parents until he graduate l in medicine,
at Michigan University. He had the advantage of studying with
his father, also a physician, and practiced with him for one year,
removed to the mouth of White Lake in 1856, and in 1863 remov

ing to Whitehall, entering into dry goods business. In 1868 went
into drugs in Hood's building. But his most fortunate venture was
in securing extensive tracts of pine lands, chiefly on the Manistee,
Pere Marquette, and Muskegon Rivers, in all about 30,000 acres,
of which he still retains about 2,000 acres, valued at $50,000. He
was Supervisor of Oceana for two years, and has been on School

Board. He married in 1861, Miss Elizabeth Goodwin, of Grand
Rapids, and has two daughters, both born at White River; Fannie,
born in 1863; Mary, in 1865. In the summer of 1881 he removed
to Grand Rapids.
COL. WILLIAM WESTON, of Milwaukee, Wis., was born at Madison, Somerset Co., Me., March 18th, 1810, son of Deacon Benjamin
Weston, one of the first settlers and the heaviest tax payer in the
town. His Grandfather, —Samuel Weston, who came of English
Puritan stock, moved from Massachusetts to Somerset county prior
to the revolutionary war, Mrs. Weston being the first white woman
to reside in the county. For several years they lived part of the
time in a fortified block house on an island in the Kennebec river for
protection from hostile Indians. Samuel Weston served as a volunteer aid to Gen. Benedict Arnold during his famous invasion of
Canada, and died from exposure during the terrible march through
the wilds of northern Maine. William Weston received an
academic education at the Farmington (Me) Academy. Upon attaining his majority he engaged in mercantile business at North
Anson, Me. He also commenced lumbering soon after, and later
built an extensive woolen factory, saw mill and flouring mill at the
same place. He was for some time head selectman of the town,
captain of a local artillery company, and later major and then
colonel of his regiment. On Sept. 11th, 1839, he was commissioned
Colonel of the Artillery Regiment, 1st brigade, 8th division, Maine
militia. He was married in 1838 to Susan Church of Farmington,
Maine, who died in 1842, and in 1844 he married Marianne Hopkins.
The financial panic of 1857 created so much business depression in
Maine that he commenced buying pine lands on White river,
Michigan, in 1859, and the same year removed to Milwaukee, Wis.,
which has since been his home. He purchased large tracts of pine
land on White, Muskegon and Manistee rivers, and commenced
lumbering on White river, 1862. The same Fall he purchased the
Thompson and Covell mill, then the only steam saw mill in what is
now Whitehall. He continued lumbering at Whitehall until 1879.
He was also President and principal owner of the Lumberman's
State Bank at Whitehall. In 1879 he sold his banking interests to
his oldest son I. M. Weston, who succeeded him as President of the
bank, and has since devoted himself mainly to the management of
his real estate interests. He has three children, I. M. Weston and
B. F. Weston, lumbermen and bankers at Whitehall, and Charles E.
Weston of Milwaukee, Wis., who has extensive lumber interests on
the Chippewa river in Wisconsin.
IsAAC M. WESTON, of Whitehall, Michigan, was born at North
Anson, Me., April 20th, 1845, and is son of Col. Wm. Weston, a
prominent lumber and woolen manufacturer. In 1859 he moved with
his father to Milwaukee, Wis. In 1862 was in Minnesota during the
Sioux Indian war and served in the same as Lieutenant of a regiment
which the state put in the field. In 1863 he entered the literary department University of Michigan at Ann Arbor as member of the class
of 1867. He left the University in 1865 and accepted the position of
Military Store keeper at Fort Laramie, Dakota, where he remained
during the Sioux Indian war of 1865. January 1866 he was transferred to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he held the same position at
Camp Douglas. In 1867 he came to Whitehall, Mich., where his
father had extensive lumber interests and became the resident,
managing partner of the firm of Wm. Weston & Son. He has since
been an extensive mill man and lumber man on White Lake. An

examining of the books of White River Log and Booming Co., at
Montague, shows that in 1881 I. M. Weston & Co., handled more
logs than any other Whitehall firm. In 1877, he added banking to
lumbering business by taking the cashiership of the Lumberman's
State Bank at Whitehall which he soon after reorganized as the First
National Bank of which he is still President and principal owner.

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