, 1888-04-26

s~<to earn his own living bUf 80
help his mother III u"r sore distress.
One Of his earliest adventures wa u
Job Of taking care OF twenty COWS, at
the princeiy salary OF $50 per week.
For eight years lie worked for the
farmers in that part OF Ohio, tiusiiy
rising to the
DIGNITY OF \ SCHOOL TEACHER.
In March, 1857. he entered the law
Office of WolcOtt y UpsOTi, at Akron,
and two years later he was admitted
to the bar. He then went to CIeve-
land and entered the law Office OF
Otis i Cof1inbury, and stayed there
for few months, when, with s. il
cash and an extra suit of clothes rs
the sum total OF his possessions, lie
came to Michigan. He hung out his
shingle at Grand Rapids, but had not
made much headway when the war
broke out, and in August, 1861, ne
enlisted III the Second Michigan cav
airy, and was soon after sworn il i!a
captain of company G of that Tagi-
ment. His military record, as given
in the military history of the state, i,
as follows: Captain Second Cavalry,
Sept. 2, 1861 Major, April 2, 1862;
wounded and taken prisone" at
Bonneville, Miss, July l, 1862; es-
capped same day; Lieutenant.C.,onei
Sixth Michigan Cavalry, October IS,
1862; Colonel Fifty fourth Michiaan
Cavalry, Feb. 2S, 1868; wounded in
action az Boonsboro, Md, jay S.
1864; Brevet Brigadier. General {. S.
Volunteers for gallant and meritcri-
Gus service at Trevillan Station, JaLo
IL, 1864; Brevet Major General L. S.
Volunteers, June IL, 1865. for gallant
and meritorious services during the
war" 1t was at Alger'3 suggestinn
that Sheridan was started on his
progress through the grades OF the
service; it was Alger's gallani Charge
at BoOnesyille that made Littlr Phil
a Brigadier and Alger Major; il
was his gallant service
UNDER CUSTER AND FITZPATRICK
that sent him, when incapacita:ed by
a wound from service in the field, on
g vitally important mission from
President Lincoln.
After the war General Alger enter
ed the lumber business at Grand
Rapids, and soon after he AMI his
wife, who was Miss Annette Henry
Of that city, braved the hardshIps OF
the lumber camp and laid the foGGda-
tion of that enormous business which
he is now the head of. He then be-
came q member of the firm of Moore
& Alger, of Detroit, and then the
had Af hot Af A1rD, = -
and later the firm became Aiger,
Smith & Co., one of the greatest lum-
Der firms in the land. He is also at
the head of enterprises of other kinds
in Michigan. Ontario, Louisiana, Cal
ifornia, New Mexico, Idaho and Wash
ington territory.
He has been successful IN all his
undertakings, and it is worthy Of
note that no business that he has
conducted has had one hour Of
trouble between 'capitar' and la
bor." Thousands of men are in his
employ and there has never been a
strike or a disturbance of any kind
nor has he ever sued or been sued in
all these enormous business dealings
In 1884 he was the nominee of the
republican party for the office of gov
ernor of Michigan. The opposition
held that Office with all its powers of
place and patronage at that time, but
in the short, sharp canvass that fol
lowed, General Alger again blszed
the way to victory. He served for
two years, and peremptorily declined
a denomination. His administration
was able and popular, and won him
the respect and regard of the people
of the state, who now present him as
their faVorite son.