| Other People | Frank J. Bradley | Olive Rambo Cook | Jerry Litton | | |||
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Past and Present of Livingston County Volume 2. Biographies by Major A. J. Roof. 1913 |
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Pages 314-315
F. C. Veserat, Sr., prominently connected with business interests of Chula as a partner in the C. M. Powell Hardware Company, was born in Paris, Ohio, January 2, 1859, a son of Peter and Martha (Coder) Veserat. The family is of French origin and the father of our subject was born in France, coming to this country in 1834. He was a blacksmith by trade and followed this occupation during his active life, first at Paris, Ohio, and later in Chillicothe, Missouri, whither he had removed in 1873. He there formed a partnership with J. J. Cribbs, their shop being upon the premises now occupied by the Chillicothe Iron Company. The father of our subject died in 1902, at the age of eighty-two, having survived his wife since 1896, and both are buried in the May cemetery, in Cream Ridge township.
F. C. Veserat, Sr., acquired his early education in the Canton public schools and completed his studies in Chillicothe. At the age of fifteen he was employed with the minor duties of the farm and in 1874 came with his parents to a farm in Cream Ridge township. Mr. Veserat opened a blacksmith shop near Cottonwood Grove and divided his time between his duties in the shop and the work on the farm. When he was twenty-six years of age he gave up agricultural pursuits and centered his attention upon his business enterprise, remaining in Cottonwood Grove until the spring of 1886. He then moved to Sturgis, built a home and established a blacksmith, shop which he conducted successfully until 1894, when he took up his residence in Chula, in order to give his children the advantage of the educational facilities of the city. He worked at blacksmithing and dealt in pumps and windmills, carrying on both branches of his work until 1900, when he formed a partnership with W. H. Bowen with whom he continued for two years. At the expiration of that period Mr. Veserat sold his interests and became a partner in the C. M. Powell Hardware Company, with which he is now connected. The firm handles shelf and heavy hardware, tinware and all kinds of wagon material and enjoys a large and lucrative patronage as a result of honorable and straightforward business methods. The steps in Mr. Veserat's progress are easily discernible and it is clearly seen that his own worth and enterprise have constituted the basis of his success.
Mr. Veserat married in Rich Hill township, March 29, 1885, Miss Ellen Rickett, a daughter of Cyrus and Selpha Rickett, the former a pioneer farmer of Livingston county who passed away in 1897 and is buried in the Rickett cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Veserat have three children: Leona, the wife of Herbert Ewing, foreman of the Iola Portland Cement plant at Iola, Kansas; Ruby, who is assisting his father; and Bergie, who married Herbert Fanning, of Chillicothe.
Mr. Veserat is a democrat in his political beliefs, and fraternally is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. having passed through all the chairs of that organization. His enterprise and industry have carried him forward into important business relations and he has won for himself a most creditable reputation by his honorable and straightforward dealings.