Nov. 16, 1834. He went to the common schools until the age of 16, when he was sent to Cherry Valley Academy, and two years after entered Hamilton College at Clinton; graduated in his 22d year. He went to Janesville, Wis., and studied law with Bennett & Carpenter; two years after he was admitted to the bar and practiced several years. He was engaged by Mr. Kimball to collect about $4,000 in small and poor debts, and afterward was employed by him to establish the wholesale department of his business. He has been with him 23 years, and has established a branch wholesale house in each of the Northwestern States. Sept. 1, 1880, Mr. Woodruff came to Grand Rapids and opened a large wholesale and retail house at No. 24 Monroe st., where they deal in all kinds of first-class musical instruments, such as the Hallett & Davis piano, the Emerson, and the popular Kimball organ. Mr. W. was married in Janesville, in 1859, to Jane A., daughter of John Bowen, a native of New York. They have two childrenAlice and Arthur. Mr. Woodruff is a member of the order of Free Masons. He owns a house and lot on 32d st., Chicago, with marble front, worth $12,000; also about 20 houses and lots in different parts of the city, besides a farm of 160 acres near Lincoln, Neb.

Arthur B. Wykes, butcher, No. 119 Monroe st., son of James and Mary Wykes, was born in Northamptonshire, Eng., in 1837. In 1845 his parents came to the United States, and settled in Lorain Co, O., and a few years after went to Medina Co., O. Mr. Wykes came to Grand Rapids in the spring of 1856, and worked in the meat market of Thos. Martin five years, when he commenced business on his own account. In 1872 he located at his present stand, where he handles 20 beeves weekly, with the same average through the year, besides pork, mutton, veal, etc.; also keeps in stock dried and salt meats; does an annual business of $55,000. He owns his residence at No. 165 N. Lafayette st., also house and lot No. 16 Spring st., and 10 acres in Paris, onehalf mile from the city limits, with house and barn. He was married in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1861, to Mary S. Terrill, a native of Medina Co., O., born in 1837; they have four children, born in Grand Rapids-Mary E., Arthur J., Annie B. and Jay C.

John Youell was born Nov. 17, 1843, in Norfolk Co., Eng., and came to America in 1857. His father, John Youell, was a farmer by occupation, and came to this country in 1868, with his wife and daughter, Emma Fisher. Mr. Youell was a lathe-vender by trade

a business not in vogue in the new world. He came to Flint, Genesee Co., and entered the employ of Gov. Crapo in the lumber business, where he remained four years. In 1861 he came to Grand Rapids and engaged in restaurant and billiard room business, in which he has since been occupied; is located at 51 Pearl st. and No. 8 Arcade, and is doing a prosperous business in a quiet and legitimate manner. He is one of the many residents of Grand Rapids who have witnessed the rapid onward strides of the

Valley City within the last 20 years. He was married in 1864 to
Azlena Myers, of Ohio.

Col. Van E. Young, Superintendent of Police, Grand Rapids, was born at Auburn, N. Y., Sept. 30, 1822. His parents were Abram and Lydia (Whipple) Young. In 1844 Mr. Young went to Racine, Wis., and thence to Sheboygan, where he remained until 1867. He then came to Grand Rapids, where he has since resided. In 1861 he raised a volunteer company of soldiers, which became Co. H, 1st Reg. Wis. Vol. Inf., and enlisted as a private. He was soon after detailed for recruit service; then was transferred to the 17th Wis. Reg., as Commissary and Quartermaster Sergeant. In the spring of 1862 Col. Young was appointed 1st Lieut. of Co. H, 24th Wis. Vol. Inf., and joined the regiment at St. Louis, Mo. He accompanied the regiment to the Tennessee river, and arrived at Savannah, Ga., March 28, 1862. He was at the battle of Shiloh, and on May 12 was appointed Adjutant of the regiment, serving at the organization of the negro troops. He was subsequently appointed Lieut. Col., and raised the 48th Reg. of Colored Infantry. In the fall of 1863 he was appointed Colonel of the 49th Reg. colored troops, and in 1864 accepted the position of Provost Marshal General, of the 16th Army Corps. Was subsequently appointed Provost Marshal General of the Western District of Tennessee, serving in that position. until June, 1866. After the war he returned to Wisconsin, and in the fall of that year was elected Senator of the First Wisconsin District, serving until the fall of 1867, when he resigned. Col. Young is a member of the Masonic order. On Aug. 23, 1881, he was tendered and accepted Superintendent of Police, by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners.

John M. Zinser, butcher, No. 26 West Bridge st., leads his profession in Grand Rapids in point of seniority, being the oldest operator in his line of business in the city. He is a German and ranks among the best of his class, both from merit as an individual and the position he has attained as a man of wealth. He was born in Germany in 1825, and is son of Frederick and Mary (Stone) Zinser. He came to the United States in 1847, landing at New York, where he remained three months, more from necessity than choice, not having or being able to obtain more than sufficient. money for his most pressing needs. He learned the butcher's trade in Germany, and pursued it in New York, earning $26 a month. As soon as possible he joined his uncle in Ann Arbor and worked on a farm a few months. In 1848 he came to Grand Rapids and engaged with Giddings & Woodman on Canal st., who were just starting the second meat market established in the city. He remained with them three years and then began business on his own account on Canal st. He operated one year in that locality and opened a shop at " Grab corners." Three years after he transferred his business to the west side and opened a stand directly opposite his present location, where he remained until 1866. He had pre

viously purchased the site he now occupies.

He moved a building upon his lot, and operated until 1875, when he was burned out at a loss of $4,000. He bought the lot adjoining for $3,550, and put up two fine brick buildings at a cost of $18,000. He rents one of them at a handsome figure and occupies the other as a wholesale and retail meat establishment: holds a stock of $3,000 or $4,000, and his yearly transactions range at about $100,000. He does a heavy packing business every year. He was married in Ann Arbor in 1850 to Agatha, daughter of Jacob and Mary Morehart, born in Germany in 1822. They have nine children-Julia, Mary, Annie, John, Frederick, Martha, Aggie, Augusta and Paulina. The three eldest are married and the others are at home. He has a fine residence on Jefferson st., and three city lots connected therewith, valued at $9,000; also eight and a half acres on Butterworth ave., 200 acres in Walker tp., and 80 acres in Tallmadge, Ottawa Co. Mr. Zinser and his wife belong to the German Lutheran Church. He is a man of energy, as is certified by his wonderful rapid strides from an utterly penniless condition to the ranking fairly with the leading capitalists of the county. He possesses uncommon capacity for managing various branches of business, having been in the habit of directing his shop and farm and attending to his finances and other personal matters with profit.

Mr. Zinser's portrait is given on another page of this volume.

LOWELL TOWNSHIP.

On the north side of Grand river and along the valley of Flat river, seems to have been the principal focus for the immigrants, as a sufficient number were in to organize a township in 1838; and although a majority of those participating lived within the limits of the present town of Lowell, the town was called Vergennes, and included both Lowell and Bowne, or towns 5, 6 and 7, range 9 west. Lowell may be regarded as the third point in the county where the white man made a lodgment. Daniel Marsac, of Detroit, came among the Indians near the present site of the Village of Lowell in 1829, although it is reported that he did not build a house, or get a regular trading post established until two years later. At this time Rix Robinson was at the mouth of the Thornapple, nearly 10 miles lower down, and Louis Campau and a few others at the Rapids. The township is one of the eastern tier of towns, and second from the south end of the county. Its principal business point is nearly 19 miles a little south of east from the city of Grand Rapids. North of Lowell lies Vergennes township; on the east it is bounded by Ionia county, south by Bowne and west by Cascade township, Kent county.

Within these limits dwell a people blessed with prosperity. They have passed through the trials of the pioneer era, and now behold themselves surrounded with all the rewards which are offered to industry. The township was raised by them to a very proud position among the divisions of Kent county. Within a period of three decades the population has advanced from 200 in 1850 to 3,037 in 1880, and still even a greater number are waiting to enter upon the lands which the early settler opened up, or to participate in the profits which the varied industries of the growing village may offer.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

The township is watered by the Grand river, which flows through its northern sections, and Flat river falls into the same on section 11, where there is quite an extended plain, formerly an old Indian burial place and planting grounds, and now the village of Lowell. On the south of the river the country soon becomes rather high and rolling. The lands are openings, from which flow many spring brooks to the river. In the south part are some swamps, through which there is an outlet from the lake on section 25, down south into the Thornapple. But that outlet is not delineated on any of our maps. The lake on section 32 has an outlet south into the Thornapple or Little Coldwater. The channels

through which the waters of the creeks of the township flow are of comparatively recent formation, being coeval with the great drainage period of the Lower Peninsula. Like the Red river of the North, the waters soon formed a thousand ravines, so that they might find a level, as it were, with those of that impetuous torrent which swept from the Huron to the Michigan, through the Valleys of the Saginaw and "Owashtenong." Flat river forms a confluence with the Grand river just on the southern outskirts of the village of Lowell, passing through the village in its course to the main stream. The creeks entering the river from the south have their sources in the central sections, where the height of land, peculiar to the township, exists. The streams entering from the north, with the exception of Flat river, which rises in Montcalm county, are Vergennes creek, in sections 21 and 29 of the township of that name, a sluggish, narrow stream having its headwaters in Pratt lake, and flowing in a southwesterly course through sections 26 and 27, the southeast quarter of section 28, and thence south through section 33 into the township of Bowne. The Grand river, with its numerous tributaries, drains the northern portion of this district, while Pratt creek may be said to carry off the surplus waters of the southern sections. McEwin lake and a large pond occupy about one-ninth of section 32; Pratt lake, with its encircling marsh, is about one-half mile in width and one and one-half miles in length, covering a large area in section 25. Section 35 gradually inclines to a common center, wherein is a small pond. In the southern parts of sections 19 and 22 are small ponds forming the sources of two creeks. The soil is sandy or gravelly, with a rich loam in many places. The limestone peculiar to the county is found here, with a brine-saturated sandstone far below. The pine forests, which covered the land long years before the republic was organized, gave place to the green woods, a portion of which now stands to be of use as well as ornament to this portion of the county.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

Capt. Daniel Marsaque, of Detroit, and subsequently of Saginaw, settled near the village of Lowell in 1829, where he built for himself a pretentious wigwam, and within it transacted the business of an Indian trader. In April, 1830, this favorably known and much respected Frenchman erected the first log cabin built in the valley of the Grand river, between the old La Framboise Post and Jacksonburg. This stood close by the site of Kopf's chair factory, opposite the mouth of Flat river, and formed as it were the most welcome sight to the early immigrants. Below this point was the La Framboise trading-post, once the home of that French Canadienne who surrounded herself with that romantic mysteriousness which ruled her savage neighbors when mere womanhood would fail. Here Capt. Marsaque dwelt many years as a trader; here also he brought the French lady whom he married at Detroit, and here he purchased from the general Government a portion of section 11, May 30, 1835.