William E. Sherman was born July 25, 1829, in Farmington, Oakland County, Mich., where he was brought up on a farm. He came to Tuscola County with his father in 1851, locating in what is now Indian Fields. They built the first house in the township. He lived with his father until 1853, when he got married to Sarah E. McGlone, of Juniata.

He then opened and kept a hotel at Watrousville, which he afterward sold, and went into farming in Juniata. Previous to this, however, he had bought lands in Almer, Ellington and Indian Fields. In 1859 he left his Juniata farm and came to Indian Fields, where he had resided since. He has been identified with the rise and growth of what is now the flourishing village of Caro from the time it was a nameless place. He kept the second hotel in what is now Caro, calling it the "Centerville House," which gave the name to the village which grew up around it.

Among the many business enterprises and industries which Mr. Sherman has been connected with may be mentioned the following: In 1859 he built and opened the first store in what is now Caro. In 1861 built a shop and started a shoemaker in business. In 1865 started a foundry at which were made the first plows, etc., in the county, except in Vassar. In 1867 made the first brick in this part of the county. The yard was near where the present railroad depot now stands. He sold that and started another on some land he leased near the mouth of Sucker Creek, now owned by Geo.W. Warren. At this yard was made the brick put into the first brick building in Caro. It was known as the "Sherman Block." It is now owned and occupied by J. D. Wilsey & Co., and was erected in 1869.

In the year 1859 he commenced selling goods. In 1866 he formed a co-partnership with Charles Montague, which continued some three years. In 1871 he was a member of the firm Gamble, McPhail & Co., who, in addition to their store, ran a grist and a saw-mill. This latter firm continued in existence until 1874.

In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Sherman has, ever since he has been in Tuscola County, been engaged in lumbering, excepting the last few years, owing to ill health.

By his first wife he had three children. In 1877 he was again married to Miss Mary Imrie, of Mt. Morris, Genesee County, Mich.

Arthur T. Slaght was born in Seneca County, N. Y., and came to Michigan in 1878, locating in Caro, Tuscola County. He came with Mr. J. F. Seeley, who opened the Tuscola County Bank, in which institution he acted for four years as teller. He then became a member of the firm of Staley & Slaght in the real estate and abstract business. Is married.

John Staley, Jr., was born in Pennsylvania in 1844. When the war broke out he enlisted as a drummer boy in the One Hundred and Thirty-second Pennsylvania Infantry, serving nine months, the term of its enlistment. He then served as a three months’ man in the Pennsylvania State troops when that State was invaded by the rebel troops. After that he again enlisted in the One Hundred and Twelfth Pennsylvania Infantry as a musician, and served until early in 1866, some ten months after the war closed. In 1867 he came to Tuscola county and was engaged in the surveying business. In 1870 he was elected county surveyor, serving one term. He has also held the following offices: Postmaster at Unionville, six years, supervisor for township of Akron five years, register of deeds four years, and is now (1883) register of the probate court and president of the village council. He also was State examining agent for two years, looking after trespassers on the State lands. He now resides in Caro and is the senior member of the firm of Staley & Slaght, who are engaged in the real estate and abstract business. He is married and has a family of four children.

David S. Stevens, was born in Wheeler, Steuben County, N. Y., in 1826. He was educated at the academy at Prattsurg in that county. Came to Michigan in 1848. Taught school at Monroe. Commenced the study of medicine at Oakville, Monroe County, in 1849. Attended the second and third courses of lectures delivered in the Michigan University in Ann Arbor. graduated about 1853. Began practice at Monroe and went from there to Oakville. Was postmaster there for about ten years. In 1862 went out as assistant surgeon of the Eighteenth Michigan Infantry, and was with that regiment until it was mustered out. Was promoted to be surgeon in 1863. In 1866 came to Centerville, now Caro, and commenced practice of medicine. Has resided there ever since. Has been a member of the village council. Is married.

Cameron C. Stoddard, who died at his home in the village of Caro, January 24, 1876, was one of the pioneers of Tuscola county. The following is from an article published in the Advertiser after his death: "Mr. Stoddard was born in the town of Lewis, Essex County, N. Y., in February, 1829, and removed to Fair Grove, in this county, in 1852. He was married in July, 1856, to Miss Jennette E. Sanford, of Wayne County, N. Y., who now survives him; with two sons and one daughter. He was elected to the State legislature from this county in 1860. Enlisted as a private in Company A, Twenty-ninth Regiment, Michigan Volunteers, in 1864, served a little over a year, and at the time of his discharge was commissioned as first lieutenant and acting as captain of the company. After the war he returned to his home in Fair Grove, where he remained until 1872, filling the office of supervisor and nearly every other township office during the time. In 1872 he was elected county clerk, and re-elected in 1874. He has been secretary of the County Agricultural Society for seven years, and was unanimously re-elected at the last annual meeting of the society. Since he became a resident of the village of Caro his valuable services have been in constant demand, and at the time of his death he was president of the village, director of the school board, and president of the board of trustees of the M. E. Church in this village.

"Mr. Stoddard was a man noted for his firmness of character, sustaining every principle of right, frowning on all wrong; for his correct business habits, and quiet demeanor, and no man says aught against him; never seeking place or position, but always receiving from a people who appreciated him as a faithful public servant, an honest man, an exemplary citizen. His death is a loss to the county that will long be mourned."

Will F. Street was born in Monroe, Mich., where his youthful days were spent and a part of his education was acquired. From there his parents removed to Bay City, and his father engaged in the drug business. Mr. S. Was at one time during his residence in Bay City in the bank of C. F. Gibson, after which he was connected with the Second National Bank in the city. In 1875, in company with Mr. Charles Montague, the Caro Exchange Bank was organized, of which Mr. Street was made cashier, which position he still holds. He possesses first-class abilities for his work, and has won an enviable reputation in the community

Marcus R. Truesdell, dealer in hardware, stoves, tin, copper and sheet iron ware, was born in Independence, Oakland County, Mich. He learned the trade of a tinsmith at Flint, where he lived for a number of years. In the fall of 1877 he came to Caro and opened a hardware establishment. Is one of the directors as well as organizers of the Caro District Agricultural Society. Is a member of the firm of S. F. Smead & Co., also dealers in hardware in Caro. He has a tin shop in connection with his store, where he employs several hands and manufactures all kinds of tin, copper and sheet ironware. Is a man of family, having a wife and two children.

Solomon S. Utter was born in Delhi, Delaware County, N. Y. When he was but a mere boy his father moved with his family to Buffalo, where he (the son) remained about three years. From there he went to Lester, Livingston County, N. Y., and remained about twenty years. At first he worked on the Genesee Valley Canal, and during the last ten years of his residence in that county kept a hotel at Cuylerville. In 1867 he came to Centerville, Tuscola County and kept the Gibbs House for two years. He then bought the Exchange Hotel, and kept that two years. Selling out the hotel he went to farming, having a farm in Juniata and another in Fair Grove – living in the village of Caro, however, while carrying on his farms. He is now (1883) keeping a livery stable and running a stage line between Caro and Cass City. Previous to the building of the Caro branch of the Michigan Central railroad he ran a stage line to Vassar. Is the senior member of the firm of Utter & Hemerick. Married and has two children.

A. C. Young was born June 29, 1848, at South Crosby, seven miles from Brockville, Ont. His early days were passed without much of a chance to get an education. In 1866, when about eighteen years of age, he came to Tuscola County. His first night in the county was passed in Vassar. During it the hotel at which he was stopping was burned down, and he found himself in the morning minus money and all his clothes, save what he saved on his back. He was compelled therefore to seek employment, and he hired out to go into the woods. In the spring following he bought eighty acres of land in Elmwood Township, and cleared a small field which he put under wheat. He worked for four consecutive winters in the woods, and each spring drove logs. In the course of time he acquired a thorough knowledge of lumbering, and he readily obtained employment at the highest wages. For two springs he was employed to take charge of 100 men of the Flint River, receiving $4 per day. When twenty-one years old a Saginaw firm paid him $150 per month to scale logs. In 1870 he went into business with Henry A. Dodge, at Elmwood Corners. The co-partnership was a brief one, as in a few months he purchased his partner’s interest.

In September, 1870, he was married to Miss Frances J. Bearss, a native of Tilsonburg, Ont., but at that time living with her parents in Elmwood. For some three years she was his sole assistant in the store, in fact, most of the time managing the business herself, her husband being engaged in buying and selling logs.

In 1872 he secured the establishment of a postoffice at Elmwood, and was postmaster until he removed to Caro, in June, 1873.

He located in a small building on the corner of Main and Burnside Streets, and in addition to his mercantile pursuits operated in logs for Bay City parties for two winters. He also bought shingle bolts, etc., extensively on his own account.

In the fall of 1874 he bought a portable saw-mill and located it in the township of Almer. It cut 1,000,000 feet of lumber that winter. He also sold 1,000,000 feet of logs. In 1875-76 and 1876-77 he got out logs for Eddy, Avery & Co., of East Saginaw.

His first store was 20x40 feet in size, but additions have been made until the grocery department is 14x100 and the dry goods 22x72 feet in size. His first year’s business in Caro aggregated about $9,000; it now amounts to $50,000 per annum. The season of 1882-83, he handled over $25,000 worth of railroad ties, cedar fence posts, house blocks, telegraph poles, etc., which are shipped to all parts of the United States.

Mr. Young has erected a number of buildings in Caro, among which may be mentioned the brick store on Main Street, near Burnside; a dwelling near the railroad depot, his own elegant residence on the corner of Pearl and Cooper Streets, costing some $10,000; a steam elevator, etc. He is also about to erect a new brick store for his own business this year, 1883. He is the owner of considerable real estate in Caro, and three farms in the adjacent country.

One of the local papers, the Citizen, says of him: "Mr. Young’s success as a business man is one instance, and a striking one, of what the right kind of genius, aided by hard work, can accomplish. Personally he is highly esteemed, and his liberality toward all public or benevolent objects is well known. Such men as A. C. Young give vigor to any community, and such success commands admiration, while it exacts respect and appreciation."

Peter Van Dyke is a member of the firm of C. H. Van Wagoner & Co., proprietors of the Caro Iron Works. He was born and brought up in the town of Mayfield, Fulton County, N. Y. Came to Michigan in 1843. Kept a general store in Lapeer until 1878, when he removed to Caro. While in Lapeer County was one of the firm of Dodge & Van Dyke, who were extensively engaged in the manufacture of shingles. Served one term on the Lapeer school board and was clerk of the township of Marathon for three years. Married and has one child.

Charles H. Van Wagoner, of the firm of C. H. Van Wagoner & Co., was born in Oxford, Oakland County, Michigan. The father was a farmer, but the son learned the trade of a stone mason, in pursuit of which calling he worked in Pontiac, Milford, Orion, and other places in Oakland County. In 1875 he went to Lapeer and commenced selling agricultural implements. He continued in business at that place until 1878, when he removed to Caro. At the last named place, in addition to his agricultural implement business, he also sold saw-mills, steam engines, etc. In the fall of 1882 he sold out his business to Moreland Bros. As an indication of the energy and go-aheadativeness with which Mr. Van W. manages his business, the amount of his sales for three years is a good criterion to judge him by. In 1879 he sold $40,000 worth of goods, in 1880, $70,000, and in 1881, $100,000. He now is engaged in making the machines he formerly bought from other manufactures, and is doing much for the material progress and prosperity of Caro. He is a member of the village council. Is married and has two children.

Aaron Watrous, The history of Tuscola County would be incomplete without the history of this pioneer.

Mr. Watrous was the founder of Watrousville; he was born at Chester, Middlesex County, Conn., and died at his home in Watrousville, February 1, 1868, aged fifty-nine years. His father’s name was also Aaron Watrous, his mother being a Dickinson; both ancestral branches being among the older families of that State, and quite numerous.

The subject of the sketch learned the stone-cutter’s trade, and worked at that business until about the age of eighteen years; but possessing an energetic and enterprising spirit he abandoned his trade and started in the mercantile business, beginning as a peddler, quite common in those days, and at the age of nineteen he married Miss Laura Luther, of East Lynn, Conn. He soon acquired such a financial start that it enabled him to open a small store near Chester, and his business became so increasing he shortly afterward removed to Deep River, then a thriving village on the Connecticut River, and opened one of the largest stores there, and soon took a stand as one of the most prominent business men of the place. After remaining for some years at Deep River, he, with other citizens of that vicinity, emigrated to the State of Ohio, locating in Austinburg, Ashtabula County, where he engaged in the mercantile business.

At Austinburg, Mr. Watrous soon became prominent in business and social circles, which position he forever held with the people of that place. It seemed as if he was fated to be in the path of emigration, as in 1853 there started out from Ashtabula County a wave of emigration to the then new and wild county of Tuscola. In that year, Mr. W. came to Watrousville, then known as McGlone Corners; buying quite a large amount of land there and in the immediate vicinity. He there opened a store and built a saw-mill, being the only ones above Vassar which at once supplies the pressing wants of the pioneers that had settled in and around the beautiful part of Tuscola County.

Mr. Watrous had here a broad field opened up before him, giving him labor to absorb his indomitable energy. He was the leading spirit in all the improvements at Watrousville and vicinity. If there was a new mail route or a highway to be established he was foremost in the enterprise. If there was a needy family to be supplied he was the one applied to. He became quite largely interest in lumbering, which he carried on in connection with his store. He laid out the village of Watrousville upon the beautiful ridge that it occupies, and had high hope that it would be made the county seat but its location prevented it.

In 1856 his wife, after lingering some years with consumption died, having borne to him nine children. A few years after the death of his wife Mr. Watrous received a stroke of paralysis, paralyzing his right side, including his right arm and right leg, which forever after precluded him from entering upon active business, and from that time until his death, his business had to be transacted for him, although always under his direction, he retaining his mental faculties till the last. He died after a short, severe illness, surrounded by nearly all his children and many friends.

Mr. Watrous had, with the rest of humanity, faults, but he had many virtues, among which was a broad charity toward his fellow men. He had an open and tender heart and his many acts of generosity will be remembered by the recipients for years to come. He was for many years a prominent Odd Fellow, occupying high official positions in that order, and though never a seeker for office, he was at one time after coming to Michigan, a candidate for State senator, and made a fine run, though defeated, his party being in the minority.

His children living are as follows: Mrs. Jane A. Baldwin, of Oconomowoc, Wis.; Mrs. Ellen Culver, Ashtabula, Ohio; Mrs. Sarah Maxwell, Vassar, Mich,; Mrs. Mary A. Black, Caro, Mich.; and Ansel Watrous, of Bay City, Mich.

Frank O. Watrous, was born in Ozaukee County, Wis.; was educated at Beloit College. After leaving college he learned the trade of a tinsmith at Port Washington, Wis. He then "traveled on the trade" and taught school at times for some fifteen years, during which time he went all over the Western States. While in California he was in the grocery trade at Santa Clara for three years. In March, 1880, he came to Caro and formed a co-partnership with Charles Pyne in the hardware trade. In 1881 he bought his partner’s interest and carries it on under his own name. He does a large business in hardware, etc., and also carries on an extensive tinsmith shop. Is married and has one child.

William N. West was born in Ontario County, N. Y., in 1840. He was brought up on a farm and received his education at the Canandaigua Academy. For some two years after leaving the academy he read medicine. He afterward went to West Virginia and entered into mercantile business. From there he removed to Adrian, Mich. After remaining there for a year he located at Plymouth, Wayne County, Mich., staying there three years. In 1875 he decided to make Caro his home. He had in previous years paid some attention to reading law and on coming to Caro decided to adopt the legal profession and for a year applied himself to the study of law. In 1876 he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice. He was appointed by Gov. Jerome to the position of circuit court commissioner to fill a vacancy, acting in that capacity for six months. In 1876 he was elected a justice of the peace, and in 1881 was re-elected. Is married and has one son.

Fred S. Wheat, attorney, was born in the State of New York and came to Bay City, Michigan, with his father, Dr. W. K. Wheat, when he was nine years of age, and went to school there and was among the first class of scholars that graduated from the high school in that city. In 1876 his father and family removed to Caro, and he then read law in the office at Atwood & Atwood. In 1878 he was admitted to the bar. The same year he was appointed circuit court commissioner to fill a vacancy, and in the fall of the year was elected to that office. In 1880 was re-elected. Was married in 1879 and has three children, two of them twins.

William K. Wheat was born in Venice, Cayuga County, N. Y., in 1830. Was educated at Cayuga Academy in Aurora. He studied medicine for about three years with Dr. B. A. Fordyce at Venice Center, during which time he taught school two winters. Graduated at Philadelphia Medical College in 1853 and then located at Montezuma, N. Y., where he commenced practicing and remained until 1866. He then removed to Bay City, Mich., and continued practicing there, and in 1870 also opened a drug store. In 1875 on account of the ill health of his wife he was compelled to leave there and find a locality which would prove healthier for her, and on trial found Caro to be the place. While in the State of New York he held the office of justice of the peace, also collector of tolls on the canals. In Bay City he was a member of the school board for two terms. In Caro he was health officer for four years and for two years a member of the village council. While in practice at Montezuma, N. Y., he made a trip as physician for an exploring expedition, in the year 1864, through Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Dakota, etc. Is married and has had two children, only one of whom, Fred S. Wheat, an attorney in this village, is now living. The latter has been prosecuting attorney for Tuscola County.

Benjamin W. White was born in 1829 in the township of Aurora, Portage County, Ohio. His people were farmers and he was brought up on a farm, receiving such educational advantages as farmers’ boys did in those days. He came to Michigan in 1853, locating in Ellington Township, Tuscola County, where he bought land from the U. S. government and cleared up a farm, which he still owns and cultivates. In addition to farming Mr. White has lumbered also, and if he has been a good farmer he has been no less successful lumberman. While he lived in Ellington he served one term as supervisor, was highway commissioner six years and justice of the peace five years. Mr. White removed from his farm to Caro in November, 1882, and deals in logs besides being a farmer. Is married and has a family of five children.

John F. Wilmot, is a native of Kingston, Ont., and was educated in the common schools of the city. He left there when he was about twenty years of age, and traveled through the New England states, working at his trade of tinsmith, for two years. Came to Caro, Tuscola County, in 1872, and went into the hardware trade, also having a tin shop in connection. Was president of the village of Caro in 1880, also one of the trustees. Was president and business manager of the Caro Citizen for two years, until it was merged into the Advertiser. Was first president of the Caro District Agricultural society, in the organization of which he was prominent. Married and has a family of five children.

Hon. Levi L. Wixson, Judge for the Twenty-fourth Judicial Circuit of the State of Michigan, was born of American parents in the township of Pickering, which is about thirty miles from Toronto, Ont. His father removed with his family to Sanilac County, Mich., in 1841, where he engaged in farming. That county at that time was an almost unbroken wilderness. The educational privileges which he enjoyed were such as could be obtained in the rural districts in those days. In 1860 he went to Ann Arbor and studied law, graduating from the law department of the State University in 1862. Previous to that, however, he had been admitted to the bar at a term of court held at Lexington, in 1861, Judge Sanford M. Green presiding. In 1879 he was elected judge for the judicial district composed of Tuscola, Huron and Sanilac Counties, and in 1881 was re-elected to the same office for a full term of six years. After graduating at Ann Arbor he practiced law at Lexington, until he was elected judge in 1879. He lived there until February, 1882, when he removed to Caro. During his residence in Sanilac he was judge of probate for twelve years, prosecuting attorney three terms, leaving the last term unfinished, having been elected to the bench. He was also circuit court commissioner and filled a number of other village and township offices. He has a family of a wife and three children.

Tacttus P. Zander was born in 1853 in Ottawa, Ill; The family moved from there to Wisconisn, living for a number of years at Prairie du Chien. While there attended the college at that place. They then removed to Tuscola County, Mich. Shortly after he went to the Cook County normal school at Englewood, one of the suburbs of Chicago, graduating from that institution. From 1874-76 taught school at Matteson, Ill., and spent the next year in traveling in the State. He then taught at the Colehour school in South Chicago for four years. In 1882 he came to Caro and began reading law in the office of Black & Quinn, now Black & Edson. Has a wife and one child.

July 1998

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