JOSEPH W. FATE
(transcribed by: L. Johnson)
The subject of this sketch is essentially
a business man and as such has made his influence
felt
among his contemporaries, besides rising to a prominent place as a public
spirited citizen.
Like
many of the enterprising men to whom Michigan is greatly indebted for its
material pros-
perity
and present proud position among its sister states, he is a native of Canada,
having been
born
in Bruce county, Ontario, on the 7th day of July, 1871, being a son
of Joseph H. and Rachel
(Schwoob)
Fate, of English and German descent respectively. When Joseph W. was about
two
and a half years of age his parents moved to Mecosta county, Michigan, and
settled on a
tract
of land which had been partially cleared and on which he grew to maturity,
assisting his
father
with the labor of improving and cultivating the farm when old enough for his
services to
be
utilized. In the district schools he
obtained a fair knowledge of the branches taught, and at
the
age of sixteen began making his own way in the world by working in the lumber
woods.
During
the fourteen consecutive years which he devoted to that kind of labor, he was
employed
principally
in drawing logs, which experience, although hard at times and rough, served to
develop
a strong, vigorous physique and aroused in him a self reliance and spirit of
manly in-
dependence
which have served him well in his subsequent career as an enterprising and pro-
gressive
business man.
At the expiration of the period indicated
above, Mr. Fate discontinued lumbering and en-
gaged
in the grain trade at Remus, this state, in partnership with D.M. Mansfield,
the firm thus
constituted
lasting six and a half years, during which time they greatly extended the scope
of
their
operations, built up a large and lucrative patronage and became widely and
favorably
known
as enterprising and eminently honorable business men. Severing his connection with
his
partner in the spring of 1905, Mr. Fate came to Blanchard, where he was
instrumental in
erecting
the large warehouse which has proved of such advantage to the village and
adjacent
country
and which, occupied at the present time by J.W. Fate & Company, has made
the town
one
of the most important local trading points in Isabella county.
In addition to handling the grain, the
company deals extensively in all kinds of produce,
thus
affording a fine and easily accessible market which is greatly prized by the
farmers
throughout
a large area of territory. Mr. Fate is
an intelligent, wide-awake man, thoroughly
devoted
to his business affairs and deeply interested in all that makes for the
material growth
and
development of the community. He keeps
in touch with matters of public import, is alive
to
the leading questions of the day and as a neighbor and citizen enjoys the
confidence of all
with
whom he has relations, business or otherwise, and it is a compliment worthily
bestowed
to
class him with the leading men of the county in which he lives.
As a member of the school board Mr. Fate
has done much to promote the educational
interests
of the community and in private capacities his influence has ever been used for
the
good
of his fellow men. Fraternally, he
belongs tot he Modern Woodmen of America.
On July 19, 1895, in the town of Remus,
Mr. Fate was united in marriage with Margaret
Seitz,
whose birth occurred in Ontario and who lived in that province until her
sixteenth year,
when
she came to Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Fate
have a beautiful home which is made inter-
esting
by the presence of three children, Martha E., Gertrude S. and Margaret R.