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

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H ISTORY OF OTTAWA COUNTY.

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ever, is portrait painting, in which he has had an extended experience at Grand Rapids, and at Lincoln, Nebraska, in every case
giving satisfaction. He was born at Buffalo, N. Y., April 17, 1850,
and when but an infant his parents removed to Grand Haven, where
he lived until October, 1881. He then removed to Lamont with a
large stock of general goods, and by his genial manner and selling
at low profits he has already secured a good run of trade. He has
had a good commercial training, being a graduate of Grand Rapids
Commercial College, and has had long experience in business in
Grand Haven, with Mieras & Bros. He was married April 27, 1876,
to Miss Cornelia Visser, and has one daughter, Theresa, born at
Grand Haven, Oct. 23, 1876.
Mr. Gringhuis is a natural artist, having had but three lessons
in portrait painting from Orchison, the artist of Chicago, and one
week's instruction in landscape painting from Selzer, of Grand
Rapids. Mr. Gringhuis' whole soul is devoted to art, and his masterpiece is a pastoral and river scene, now on view at his own residence. His first effort was on a snow scene, which is creditable as
a first effort, but lacks smoothness and finish. The following list
shows steady and rapid improvement, and is given in the order in
which they were executed: the Alpena sinking, a river scene, a
marine piece, a fruit piece (cut melon), portraits of the artist and
family in a pleasure boat, and lastly the pastoral and river scene to
which reference has been made. We confidently look forward to a
bright career as an artist for Mr. Gringhuis, whose portrait will be
found in this volume.
ROBERT HART, fruit grower and farmer, Lamont, has a fine lot of
43 acres, of which the lower half, near Grand River, is good pasture
and arable land, raising excellent crops. On the bluff he has 120
apple trees, and over 400 young peach trees of the best varieties,
the latest being the Waterloo, a very early and large peach, 150
grape vines, pear trees, &c., &c.
Mr. H. is a native of Renfrew, Scotland, was born in 1810,
and is a skilful silk-weaver, accustomed to take charge of large cotton factories in Massachusetts and New York States. He came to
America in 1828, and married, in Vermont, Feb. 12, 1832, Miss
Barbara Dykeman, who died Feb. 28, 1876, in her 72d year. He
was again united in matrimony to Mary A. Theisman, a native of
Holland. He has had a family of four children, of whom only one
daughter survives, and now in his hale old age he enjoys the fruits of
his long labors, having secured the esteem of his neighbors from
"his uprightness of life and conduct. While he is noted for firmness
of principle and disposition, he is at the same time of a most kindly
and charitable temperament, and no proper object of charity has
ever appealed to him in vain. He has been settled in Lamont since
the spring of 1866. His only daughter, Marietta, is now Mrs. L.
R. Goodno, near Lamont. Her husband was formerly Postmaster
of Montague Village. Mr. Hart's portrait, as he looked in his
younger days, has a place in this work.
J. B. HILL, dealer in agricultural implements, agent for W. C.
Dennison, of Grand Rapids, also for the Mansfield Co, 0., was born
in Schoharie County, N. Y., Sept. 4, 1818. After various moves he
came to Lamont in 1868, and shortly afterward entered on his
present business, in which he has been successful, being respected
by the whole community. He married, July 13, 1843, Miss Sarah
A. Bruce, of Allegany County, N. Y., and has four sons and three
daughters.

C. W. ROSE, painter and farmer, Lamont, was born in Huron Co.,
O., Feb. 21, 1836; lived in Wayne and Buffalo, N. Y., working in a
stove foundry; was fourteen years at sea and two years on a gunboat.
Thirteen years ago he moved to Holland, and in 1872 went to
Grand Rapids, three years after to Blendon, and after another three

years to Lamont. He married, in 1868, Leentze Vanderslick, and
has seven children.
FRANK HEDGES, lumberman, farmer and merchant, is one of the
busy men of Talmadge, having inherited from his father, M. Hedges,
who died Aug. 22, 1881, a large business. He was born in Lamont in
1854 and early went into business with his father. He has the Lamont
saw mill and general store, and a furniture store on River street,
also several farms in and near Lamont, 1,700 acres of pine land,
&c. He is also clerk of the township.
Among the model farms near Lamont is that of C. N. MASON,
who unites to the business of fruit-grower that of his early occupation of shoemaker, and who was born in New York State in 1831.
He came to Lamont in 1868 and purchased, in 1876, his present
place of 15- acres, on which he has 400 well developed grape vines;
12 acres of strawberries, on which he is experimenting with oats as
a mulch and as a protective in winter; one acre of raspberries,
chiefly Doolittle for black caps, and Philadelphia for red, and is
going into raising of the Gregg as a black raspberry. He has also 350
peach trees, 50 plum, and 450 currant and gooseberry bushes. He
is also going more heavily into fruit, onions and watermelons next
season. The farm is a pine soil but has considerable clay and requires manuring heavily.
REUBEN RANDALL, Postmaster of Lamont, was born in Ohio in
1836, and removed with his parents to Section 6, Talmadge, in 1842,
when there were but three houses in Lamont, those of Woodbury,
Steele and Calkins. He enlisted April 21, 1861, and remaining over three years in the service, in the 3d Michigan; was at the
first Bull Run, and fought with McClellan on the Peninsula, where
he was wounded and discharged for disability. Was appointed
Postmaster October 1, 1876. He married, in 1865, Miss Elvira
Velzy, and has four sons and one daughter. Mr. Randall has the
only tin-shop in the village and sells groceries. He is popular as a
man and as an official.
J.J. ROBINSON, fruit grower, Lamont,was born in Tippecanoe Co.,
Ind., March, 1831, came to Lamont in 1867, as teacher, and, teaching in the vicin ity, returned and settled on the west side of the village on his plat of twenty acres, of which twelve acres is river flat,
devoted to pasture, the balance being elevated over sixty feet above
the river. The soil is a gravelly loam. He has 400 peach trees, of
which the majority are Hale's early, Barnharts, Hill's Chili, and
Crawford's. He has three-quarters of an acre of strawberries, 300
or 400 grape vines, 300 apple trees, 200 cherry trees, 17 quince
trees, 60 pear trees, and many pllms, gooseberries, apricots, currants, &c. - He was married on Jan. 14, 1865, to Miss Eliza Ingram,
and has two children living. He enlisted in 1864 in Co. A., 135th
Indiana Infantry, and was honorably discharged at the close of
the war.
HERBERT W. SLOCUM, physician and surgeon, Lamont, was born
in Ashland Co., O., in 1837, and is the son of a doctor, so that he imbibed a taste for and a knowledge of medicine from his earliest years.
He removed to Eaton County, Mich., at nine years of age, and when a
youth attended Wabash College, Ind., and Detroit Medical College in
1875, settling in Lamont in 1877, after practising in Grand Rapids
and Eastmanville. He married, in 1862, Miss Cornelia E. Shattuck, of Onondaga County, N. Y., by whom he has two sons and
two daughters. Dr. Slocum has a large practice and is respected by
all.

A. B. SUMNER, Lamont, is now retired after a long, useful and
active life, spent in benefitting the community. He was born in
Vermont in 1806 and came to this State in 1854, settling on Section
1, township 7, on a farm, and coming into Lamont in 1878 on account of ill-health. In 1867 he had the misfortune to lose his first
wife, and in 1868 he married the widow of Thos. H. Cassell, one

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