Famous Folk and Heroes from Hartford Michigan

Name	Occupation or Achievement	Time Frame	Class of
Terry L. Bisbee, Sp-6 VietNam	US Army - Flight Engineer. Read about Terry on the military page and view the photos of his helicopter and special picture that appeared in Time Life Magazine in 1964. Read letter Terry wrote from Vietnam to his mother about the Purple Heart Award and conditions of the battle front at that time.	1954-1974	Hartford 1955 or 1956
Don F. Cochrane	• Delegate to Republican National Convention from Michigan in 1928. • Editor of The Day Spring. • Inducted into the Michigan Newspaper Hall of Fame: 1952-1968 as publisher of the Hartford Day Spring. (from the Michigan State School of Journalism website at http://hof.jrn.msu.edu/hall.html)	1928
Martin Conrad	Professional football player in Kentucky and Ohio.	1922-1925 (?)	Hartford 1912
Roy (Bud) Davis	1985 to present - writes a weekly feature column, The Paw Paw River Journal, for The Tri-City Record, Watervliet MI. Authored and published three books, *Paw Paw River Times, People and Paw Paw River Days & Nights, and Flying the Hump.* One of Hartford's great historians and responsible for capturing much of our history in a collective account through his books		Hartford 1942
Dr. Willis Dunbar b 1902 in Hartford MI	Newscaster with Channel 3 TV, authored book *How It Was In Hartford.*	1950s	Hartford 1919
George Ernest Foulkes b 12/25/1878 d 12/13/1960	1900 to 1919 - Special Agent of the United States Treasury Dept. in charge of field service at New York City, El Paso, Texas, St. Paul MN, and Minneapolis MN 1920 - Moved to Hartford to engage in Agriculture 1924, 1926, 1928 - Delegate to Democratic State Conventions 1933 to 1935 - Elected as a democrat to the 73rd Congress. 1934 - Nominated for Governor by the Farmer Labor Party - declined. 1934 - Unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the 74th Congress. 12/13/1960 - Died in Hartford MI, buried in Hartford Cemetery.	1900 to1934	Chicago Public Schools and Lake IL Forest University Law Department
David Hampton	Member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee.	1979	HHS Class of 1971
Wallace Heuser	World-renowned horticulturist. Received Michigan State University Outstanding Alumni Award.		HHS Class of 1946
Harry R. Hewitt	Served as Attorney General of Hawaii for 7 1/2 years. Reappointed as Attorney General and confirmed by the senate, Hewitt resigned to start a law practice in Honolulu. Harry, son of Nina Hinckley - owner of the Hartford House, also graduated from the University of Michigan. (From the Hartford Day Spring, March 28, 1934.)	1926 to1934	HHS Class of 1910
Ed "Sonny" Kesterke, Cleo Ansteth, Bill Dyer, Elsa Lightner, Larry Blyly, Dorothy Dyer, and Jackie Calvin	Hartford High School students formed a band in 1944 with an incredible journey where they would meet famous, historic people beyond anyone's imagination.	1944 to 2007	1944-1947
Barbara Latus Oosterbaan	Torch Runner for the 2002 Winter Olympics that were held in Utah. Click here to read the story and see a photo of Barb in her official Torch Runner uniform.	Jan 13, 2002	HHS Class of 1971
Pastor Timothy Nyhuis, Hartford Federated Church	Saved a neighbor's life during a house fire in 1985.	1985	River Valley HS 1970
Steve Olds	Wrote several books on Tax Accounting, appeared on TV specials.	1948 to 2000	Hartford 1966
Chief Simon Pokagon	During his lifetime, he became known as the best educated full-blooded Indian in North America. He was fluent in English, Latin, and Greek. Simon was the third-born son of Chief Leopold Pokagon who, in 1833, signed the treaty at Tippecanoe River, Indiana and gave the site of Chicago into the possession of the whites for $.03 per acre. Simon Pokagon became tribal chief of the Potawatomis of southwestern Michigan. He was well known as an eloquent writer, poet, orator, and philosopher who exhibited great visionary and moral leadership for his people and the world.	1830 to 1899	Notre Dame, Oberlin College, Twinsburg Institute
Jim Rhinehart	Patent through Sony Corp. (Alabama) for a new computer system and chip. Received patent on April 16, 2002. US Patent No. 6,374,328. No. US 6,402,210 B1 is for a hand held device for removing data cartridges from data drives on computers. It's called an Ergonomic Data Cartridge Grip.	April, 2002 2003	Attend school in Hartford through the 3rd grade. Started with the HHS Class of 1964.
Adelbert Stagg, MD	A 59-year legacy of medical care in the Hartford area. Stagg, 87, said he stopped counting how many babies he delivered a long time ago but estimates it may have been as many as 4,000. He said he used to deliver as many as 180 babies a year. To put that number into perspective, the population of the city of Hartford is about 2,500 (in the year 2007).	1948 to 2007 in Hartford	Attended high school at Fletcher Academy, Fletcher NC. Class of 1939
Stillman F. Breed, Samuel Robertson, Gilbert Conklin, Ansel Reynolds, Husen Taylor, and many citizens from the community.	Saved a young man from certain death in 1848. Eli Ruggles was trapped in an open well in the township.	1848
Maxine Sinclair	1984 - Michigan Mother of the Year 1996 - Hartford Citizen of the Year	1926 to 2002	Middleville Public Schools Class of 1944
Bernard A. Stowe	Bernard was the son of Freeman Stowe, a Civil War veteran and pioneer resident and builder of Hartford. Bernard Street was named for him. While working as a contract engineer at an electrical firm in Cleveland, Bernard invented the modern oscillating fan. During WW11, he was engaged as a war production technician. Bernard's great grandfather, Francis DeLong, is the only known Revolutionary War soldier to have lived in Hartford.	1870 to 1949	HHS Class of 1888
Warner P. Sutton - born in Bangor Twp and only son of Luther Sutton, editor of the Hartford Day Spring 1877-1882. Luther was in the Civil War. Warner was also Superintendent of Saugatuck School prior to becoming Consul General in Matamoras.	1878 - appointed Consul to Northern Mexico for 5 years; 1884 - served as Consul General at Matamoras and Nuevo Laredo; 1889 - served as Chief Clerk of International Pan-American Congress. An original letter written by Consul Warner P. Sutton, in 1879, foretells details of his 3000-mile wagon and horseback trip across the Rio Grande frontier and Northern Mexico. Very interesting.	1878 to 1889
William (Billy) Vann Musician	Professional Musician - played on WKZO-radio and WKZO-TV with Rem Wall and the original Green Valley Boys. The group organized during the 1940s, with Billy Vann joining the band in 1955. 2000 - famous for his mastery of the steel and electric guitar, Billy was inducted into the Michigan Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. 2008 - Billy's steel guitar is silenced as he passed away 3-1-2008.	1955 to 2008	HHS 1952
Billy Van Camp - Sergeant WW11 US Air Force - Sergeant Ball-Turret Gunner Assistant Flight Engineer Crew Member B-24 Bomber, Cold Iron	Hartford Soldier returns home 57 years after his plane went down in 1944 while on a mission over New Guinea. Two articles about what happened to Billy.	1944
Emily Winkel Right Hand Man	8th grade student at Hartford Middle School wins State and National Hispanic Heritage Student Art-Essay Competition.	2005	Hartford Middle school 2005