Far-sighted and alert, quick of perception and keen in his powers of discernment, Charles M. Dysinger, of Kinross, has been a dominant factor in the development and promotion of the varied resources of Chippewa county, as secretary of the Chippewa County Homes Advertising Committee having been instrumental in bringing into this part of the Upper Peninsula many of its most energetic and valued citizens. A son of Daniel Dysinger, he was born, April 1, 1870, in Odessa township, Ionia county, Michigan, of sturdy German ancestry.

Born in Germany in 1813, Daniel Dysinger learned the trade of a cooper in his native land. Subsequently coming to America, the land of glorious opportunities, he followed farming and coopering in Ohio for a time. Coming to Michigan he entered one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Odessa township, Ionia county, his patent being signed by President Franklin Pierce. Indians were then plentiful in this part of the country, while the deer, bears, and other wild beasts of the forest had not fled before the advancing steps of civilization. Erecting a log house for himself and family, he began the task of hewing a farm from the wilderness, and lived to see the country roundabout well settled, and himself the owner of a fine property. He was a man of deep religious convictions, an earnest student of the Bible, and frequently filled vacant pulpits, preaching to the people sermons of interest and power. In his early life he was identified with the Congregational church, but later became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. When well advanced in years, he built a cottage at Lake Odessa, and there spent his last days in retirement, dying, in 1899, at the venerable age of eighty- six years.

Daniel Dysinger married first, Charlotte Galoo. Four children were born to them, as follows: Thomas, a soldier in the Civil war, was living in Alabama when last heard from; Ina died in infancy; Laura, wife of S. W. Backus, of Ionia, Michigan; and Albert, who was accidentally killed at the age of twenty-one years, having been kicked by a horse. Daniel Dysinger married for his second wife, Esther Jane King, who was born in Bloomville, Ohio, 1851, and there resided until after her marriage. She survived him, passing away in 1908. Of the five children born of their union, four are living, namely: Lillian Bell, wife of Allison P. Knapp, of Limon, Colorado; Alice, wife of B. Austin, of Odessa, Michigan; Charles M., the subject of this sketch; and Arthur, engaged in mercantile pursuits in Newago, Michigan. Brought up on the home farm in Odessa township, Charles M. Dysinger obtained his education in the district schools, while under his father's instructions he early became familiar with the many branches of agriculture. He began working as a wage-earner when sixteen years old, husking corn for a neighboring farmer for the sum of fifty cents a day, walking to and from his work mornings and evenings. When ready to assume the responsibilities of a householder, Mr. Dysinger bought forty acres of finely improved land from his father, it being a part of the parental homestead, the tract of land being practically a gift, as he paid but three hundred dollars for it. After spending four years in farming, he bought a home at Lake Odessa, and there, in company with his cousin was engaged in the agricultural implement business for a year.

Mr. Dysinger then sold sewing machines for the Singer Manufacturing Company, at the same time representing the Farrand & Voty Organ Company of Detroit, Michigan. Buying then a building at Lake Odessa, Mr. Dysinger embarked in the music business, selling sheet music, organs and pianos, and also handling White Sewing Machines, establishing a fine trade. Active and enterprising, he was a true Yankee in trading, exchanging merchandise oftentimes for horses, with which he stocked his farm, having at times very valuable ones in his possession. In 1897, through a fire caused by a spark from a passing engine, Mr. Dysinger was unfortunately burned out. The ensuing four years he travelled for the piano firm of Chase, Hackley & Co., of Muskegon, Michigan, in 1901 becoming traveling auditor for the company. Locating soon after in Sault Ste. Marie, Mr. Dysinger was successfully engaged in the candy and grocery business until 1906, when, his health failing, he traveled for a year or two. While in Sault Ste. Marie, he was one of the organizers of the Gold Mining Company at Goulais Bay, Ontario, the company which erected the first gold mill in Ontario.

After his return from the South, in 1907, Mr. Dysinger opened a store of general merchandise in Kinross, Chippewa county, and has since held a noteworthy place among its more active and esteemed citizens. Appointed postmaster at Kinross in 1907, he has served in this position since, and has also been supervisor during the time, having been elected in the spring of 1907, and reelected in 1909. Politically he is a stanch Republican, prominent in party organizations. For the past fifteen years he has been a member of Red Cross Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and is also a member of Kinross Lodge, Modern Brotherhood.

Mr. Dysinger is an extensive landholder, owning about three thousand acres, and while in business at Lake Odessa became actively associated with the Midland Land Company, which had headquarters at Rudyard, Chippewa county, and by extended advertising in Odessa and vicinity succeeded in placing upon the market four thousand acres of land. An expert in the ways of modern advertising, and skillful in the execution of his plans, Mr. Dysinger sent two excursions by rail from Grand Rapids to Mackinac, and one by water. He, with Hon. Chase S. Osborn, Otto Towle, and Jerry Lamson, were promoters of Rudyard and L'Anse, asking $500 from the county board to carry out their projects, and receiving it. Mr. Dysinger, as above mentioned, is secretary of the Chippewa County Homes Advertising Committee, and is contributing his full share in the position towards advancing the material interests of this part of the state, bringing before the general public its unlimited agricultural and industrial advantages. In Chippewa county alone are thirty-five thousand arces of government land open to entry by homesteaders, the small sum of $16 securing title to one hundred and sixty acres of land well adapted for the production of hay, apples, and root crops of all kinds. As a dairy country Chippewa county is unexcelled, cheese manufactured in this county having won the first prize at the State Fair for the past two years. Both spring and fall wheat do well here, the soil being well adapted to all grains. A ready market for all produce is near, finding a ready sale in the city of Sault Ste. Marie, in the mining regions, and on the Great Lakes steamers. Unimproved farm lands can be bought for the nominal sum of $3 per acre, cleared farms bringing from $20 to $75 per acre. The summers of Northern Michigan are delightfully cool, and the winters are bracing. There is plenty of employment for all classes of people, the mills, mines, woods, docks, and farms furnishing work for all. No person in Chippewa county is better informed in regard to the country and its opportunities and advantages than Mr. Dysinger, and no man more willing and able than he to discuss these, either personally or by letter.

Mr. Dysinger has been twice married. He married first, May 13, 1888, when but eighteen years of age, Stella Hamilton, who was born in Michigan just sixteen years before that date, a daughter of Edward and Kate (Bowers) Hamilton. She died in 1898. Three children were born of their union, namely: Grace, who died at the age of five years, three months and twenty-four days; Bessie died in infancy; and Thelma. Mr. Dysinger married second, May 12, 1906, Samantha Overmyer, who was born in Monroe, Michigan, being the fourth child of Edward and Susan Overmyer. Her parents, who are of German parentage, are now living in Monroe, retired from active pursuits, having as agriculturists acquired a competency.

A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan and Its People
by Alvah L. Sawyer 1911