DEDICATION. To those brave men and women who long ago forded rivers, crossed swamps, traversed forests and endured hardships to build homes, rear families, found schools, and establish civilization in the Grand River Valley these volumes are reverently consecrated by EDITOR'S PREFACE. No critic of this history will realize its imperfections more than does its author; and no reader can derive more enjoyment from many of its pages than has the writer in their composition. It has been a pleasure to write up the achievements and triumphs of the pioneers. Time has made their dreams realities, added romance to their labors, and brought appreciation for their efforts.. There is keen joy in seeing the scenes and sensing the sentiments of long ago. It has been difficult, and sometimes painful, to write of contemporaneous events and personal acquaintances without prejudice and partiality. Yet, what men write of themselves, their associates, their opponents, their friends, and their enemies makes history, and constitutes original sources of information for future historians and biographers. In writing of current events an effort has been made to write without fear or favor, and to color as little as possible with private opinion and personal bias. In writing of living men it is impossible to do them justice because to magnify their virtues and omit all their frailties is only to flatter, and sometimes to ridicule. If any reader feels that he and his have not been duly appreciated in the following pages, let him remember that the dead alone have all their merits remembered and all their follies forgotten. The aim has been to write with moderation and without offense. The last history of Grand Rapids was published less than sixteen years ago, but so ruthless is time and so transitory is humanity that less than five percent of the local firms then doing business still continue; scarcely a man whose portrait and biography appears in that book is now active in industrial affairs; and except a half dozen in the federal service not an officer who then served the public still holds office. The author is under deep obligations to his associates. The chapters by Charles W. Garfield, Robert D. Graham, Clay H. Hollister, Ernest L. Bullen, Dr. J. B. Griswold, Robert W. Merrill, Jessie Richmond Denney, and Mrs L. P. Rowland speak for themselves. Many others have aided by counsel and suggestion. The writing of local history does not pay financially. The present venture is no exception to the rule. Nevertheless the author is well repaid for his time and trouble because he has learned much concerning Grand Rapids, its institutions, its enterprises, and its people. He is a better citizen of the town, but not a richer one, for having written and edited its local history. It is with relief and yet regret that the following pages are given to the pubile; relief that a task is completed which has taken many weeks each year of several years from an exacting profession; regret that the work is not more finished, more accurate, and more complete. Grand Rapids, August, 1906. DWIGHT Goss. |