USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A history of Van Buren County, Michigan a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume II > Part 20
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B. F. Morris, of Paw Paw, and died on June 21, 1911; Elma and Elbert, twins, the latter of whom died at the age of three years, and the former at that of twenty; and James H., who is now a resident of Benton Harbor, and is as highly esteemed in his com- munity as his brother Harlan P. is in his.
At the beginning of the Civil war, which almost rent this coun- try asunder and brought untold havoc to all its interests while it was in progress, Harlan P. Waters, who was then but seventeen years old, enlisted in Company G, Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry, under Captain Milligan, to fight in defense of the Union. He served in this regiment two years, but before enlisting in it be- longed to the Squirrel Hunters, an organization that was kept busy in following and defeating the Southern General Early in his famous raiding expeditions.
When he was mustered out at the end of his first term of enlist- ment he returned to his home and attended school about four months. He then enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Ninety-sixth Ohio Infantry, whose commander was Captain Hughes. He was connected with this company eleven months, and during this period was made first sergeant of the regiment. At the end of the term he was mustered out at Baltimore, Maryland, and again returned to his home in Ohio.
He took advantage of the opportunity now presented to ad- vance his education by attending the Spencerian Institute at Geneva in his native state, from which he was graduated at the end of his course of instruction. He at once went to Hamilton, Ohio, and passed about one year as a teacher in the Commercial College in that city. During the next three years he was engaged in farming, one year in Ohio and two in Michigan. From this occupation he turned to selling nursery stock for the L. G. Bragg Nursery Company, with which he was connected as a salesman eleven years. Since the end of that period he has again been en- gaged in farming, and now owns three farms, comprising two hundred and eighty acres, all located in Antwerp township. He also owns and occupies a fine residence in Paw Paw, and is in- terested in an extensive hardware business in the same city, which makes him and his son Harry M. proprietors of the largest and most active establishment of the kind in Van Buren county.
Mr. Waters was married on December 26, 1870, to Miss Alice E. Pugsley, a daughter of Henry M. and Mary A. (Prater) Pugsley, the father a native of England and the mother, whose parents were also from England, born in the state of New York. They were the parents of five children: Mrs. Waters; John, who has been dead for some years; Milton H., who lives in this county ; Dora M., the wife of Charles Lake, of Paw Paw; and Myra, the wife of L. E. Sheppard, whose home is also in Paw Paw. By a previous marriage of the father there was one child, William Pugsley, who lives in Paw Paw. Mr. and Mrs. Waters have three children : Harry M., who is associated with his father in the hardware trade in Paw Paw; Charles M., a civil engineer at Wya- net, Illinois; and Pearl, who is the wife of L. A. Packer, of Law- ton in this county. The father is a Republican in politics and loyally devoted to the interests of his party. He was supervisor
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of Antwerp township for eleven years, and chairman of the board for a considerable portion of the time. He has also held a num- ber of other township offices. He is a Royal Arch Mason in fra- ternal life and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. In religious affiliation he is a Baptist.
The military record of Mr. Waters in the Civil war would be far from complete if it were not mentioned that he was wounded near Mills Springs, Kentucky, in 1862, and now carries a bullet in his hip received during the service. He was taken prisoner and held in captivity for forty-eight hours at the battle of Look- out Mountain, when he was recaptured by members of the Union army. He also had one of his shoulders badly smashed at the battle of Cumberland Gap. His defense of his country was always, therefore, hazardous, for he was in active service a great deal of the time he passed in the army, and it proved disastrous to him on three separate occasions, and fully established his fortitude and devotion to his cause by the patience and serenity with which he bore his sufferings, and his willingness to continue in the ranks and keep on fighting after he incurred them.
He has met all the other trials and troubles of life with the same lofty spirit of endurance and determination to make the best of them and overcome them by close attention to whatever he had in hand and the use of all his faculties to advance himself in prosperity in spite of them. By his manly course and fidelity to duty in every relation of life he has won the universal regard and good will of all who know him, and established himself in public esteem as one of the best and most useful citizens of the county in which his labors have so long contributed to the gen- eral welfare by both the value of their products and the ability with which they have been performed under all circumstances.
WESLEY M. HALL .- Working on his father's farm until he reached the age of twenty-three, except while he was attending college in Kalamazoo; then enlisting in the Federal army in de- fense of the Union, but before the end of his first year in the war receiving a wound that disabled him for further service; and after his discharge returning to the pursuits of peaceful industry, in which he has ever since been engaged, Wesley M. Hall, one of the wideawake and progressive farmers of Paw Paw township, Van Buren county, has shown his devotion to the welfare of his country and its people in every way open to him, no matter what the hazard of his situation.
Mr. Hall was born in Macomb county, Michigan, on November 16, 1838, the second of the two children and sons of Myron and Caroline (Sagar) Hall. The father came to Michigan in 1834 and located on eighty acres of government land in Macomb county, on which he lived twelve years. In the spring of 1847 he moved to Jackson county, and in the autumn of the same year to Porter township in Van Buren county. Here he began operations on forty acres of land, to which he added by subsequent purchases until he owned two hundred acres. He later sold one hundred and sixty acres of this, keeping forty, which was still in his possession at the time of his death, which occurred on March 5, 1881. The
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mother is still living, at the age of ninety-four, and has her home with her son Wesley. Her other son and first born child died in 1892.
Wesley M. Hall began his education in the district schools and completed it at Kalamazoo College, which he attended in 1857 and 1858. On October 29, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Twelfth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, as a Union soldier, the company being under the command of Captain G. D. Johnson. The regiment to which his company was attached was soon at the front and in the midst of hostilities. Mr. Hall took part in the deluge of death on the historic field of Shiloh, where he was twice wounded and taken prisoner.
Five days after his capture Federal forces recaptured him, but he was in turn retaken by the Union forces and again by the Con- federates, this continuing until he had been taken and retaken six times in one day and finally left in the hands of the enemy. Mr. Hall demanded of them that he be removed to the hospital in a wagon, but as the wagons were all in use he was ordered to get on the back of a horse behind a rebel cavalryman. This he re- fused to do and they left him upon the field, where he was found next day by the Union ambulance corps and taken back to his regiment. He was then taken to a hospital in St. Louis for treat- ment. On May 5, 1862, he was given a furlough and returned to his Michigan home. He remained at home nearly sixty days, then, on July 5, 1862, reported in Detroit in obedience to orders. There he was examined, and on August 25, 1862, was discharged from the service on account of the disability occasioned by his wound. After that he remained on the home farm until the spring of 1880, when he bought seventy-three acres of land and began farming on his own account, his land being located in Van Buren county. In 1883 he sold this land and bought seventy acres in sections 25 and 26 in Paw Paw township, Van Buren county, not far from the county seat. On this land he has ever since lived and employed his energies, greatly to his own benefit and that of the farm, which he has made one of the most productive and valuable in the township for its size.
Mr. Hall was married on November 4, 1865, to Miss Sarah A. McCon, a daughter of Isaac and Eliza (Stears) McCon, of New York state. One child has been born in the Hall household, Leora W., who is now the wife of D. P. Smith, of Paw Paw. Mr. Hall is a Republican in his political faith and allegiance and loyal and energetic in the service of his party. Fraternally he belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, and in church connection is a Methodist Episcopal. He takes an interest in the work of his church, as he does in that of every other good agency active in the community, and is zealous in his support of all worthy under- takings for the improvement of his township or county, and is an excellent citizen in every way.
JOHN Q. BURDICK .- A well and favorably known farmer of Waverly township, Van Buren county, is John Q. Burdick, whose fifty well improved acres and pleasant home are situated in sec- tion 17. Like so many of his neighbors he is a native of the state
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of New York, but he came to Michigan at an early age and has ever since remained a citizen. He is a veteran of the Civil war and the grandson of a Revolutionary soldier, an admirable pa- triotism and love of country having been transmitted from one generation to the next. The birth of Mr. Burdick occurred on November 11, 1837, in Wyoming county, New York, and he is the son of William G. and Abigail (Dibble) Burdick. William G. Burdick's father was Elisha Burdick, the colonial patriot men- tioned above. The father of the immediate subject of this review came to Michigan at an early day and here resided for the residue of his life. He became the father of fourteen children, ten of whom grew to young manhood and womanhood, this number being equally divided as to sons and daughters. Only two of them are living at the present time (1911), John Q. and a sister Mary L., a maiden lady.
Mr. Burdick was reared amid the wholesome surroundings of his father's country home and his educational discipline was se- cured in the district school. Some time before the outbreak of the war he married, but in 1864, in spite of strong home ties, he enlisted in Company I, of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, and the following year he was transferred to Company H, of the Seventh Michigan Regiment, At Fort Bridges these two regiments were consolidated with the First and became known as the First Mich- gan Volunteer Cavalry. In the new organization the subject was a member of Company A. He saw much hard service and was discharged on March 12, 1866, at Salt Lake City, Utah. After the termination of hostilities he returned to Allegan county and remained there until 1867, when he came to Waverly township and he has been a continuous resident here ever since that time, taking a loyal interest in its county and township affairs and supporting all measures likely to prove of benefit to the whole community. He had devoted his attention to farming and is the recipient of a pension.
Mr. Burdick was united in marriage on January 1, 1861, his chosen lady being Jane Ann Reedman, who, like her husband, was born in New York, in October, 1842. They have had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Bertha K. is the wife of Claude Brown, and Ruth G. makes her home in Benton Harbor, Michi. gan. Mr. Burdick is one of the standard-bearers of local Repub- licanism, having given hand and heart to its men and measures for many years.
EDWARD F. BILSBORROW .- In the death of Edward F. Bils- borrow, which occurred March 17, 1910, Van Buren county lost one of its representative men, and one who, during a long and useful life, had always been prominent in important movements and innovations. His activities, confined principally to farming and stock raising, stamped him as one of the most progressive men of his day and locality, and his reputation, honestly gained, was that of a public-spirited citizen, honest and sincere friend and excellent business man. Mr. Bilsborrow's birth occurred in Nia- gara county, New York, in July, 1852, and he was a son of Charles and Caroline (Moss) Bilsborrow.
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Charles Bilsborrow was a native of England, and as a young man came to the United States and settled in the state of New York, where he was married to Miss Caroline Moss, a native of the Empire state. Shortly after their union they made their way West, eventually locating in Van Buren county, Michigan, and here they spent the remaining years of their lives engaged in ag- ricultural pursuits. They were the parents of five children, as follows : William, who is deceased; Edward F .; Louisa, the wife of Edwin Thayer, of Paw Paw; George, who is a resident of Albion, Michigan; and Frederick, also living in Paw Paw. Charles Bils- borrow became one of the well Known agriculturists of Antwerp township, and was honored and esteemed by his fellow townsmen.
Edward F. Bilsborrow was still an infant when he was brought to Van Buren county by his parents, and he secured his education in the little schoolhouses of that day, his youth being spent much the same as that of other farmers' boys, the summer months being given to the hard work of clearing the farm, while in the winter he accepted such educational advantages as were offered. He re- mained on the home farm, assisting his father, until 1878, in which year he was married and took up a tract of eighty acres in Antwerp township, which he continued to farm for some years. At the time of his father's retirement he purchased the old home- stead of one hundred and sixty acres, and there continued to en- gage in agricultural pursuits until his death. Mr. Bilsborrow was one of the first men of his locality to engage in breeding Perche- ron horses for the market, and this he made a specialty for many years. In 1907 he established himself in the dairy business, and in this, like in all of his other ventures, he was eminently success- ful. Always a hard-working man, he was never satisfied unless his time was filled with duties, and this industry and persistence accomplished much. The dairy business, now a firmly established, well regulated enterprise, is being conducted by his son, Charles W., one of the progressive young business men of Antwerp town- ship.
On January 1, 1878, Mr. Bilsborrow was married to Miss Cora Webster, daughter of Stephen and Catherine R. (Bidewell) Web- ster, natives of New York. Mrs. Bilsborrow's parents had the following children: Henry C., residing in Denver, Colorado; Ag- nes E., the wife of J. Bangs, of Chicago; Katy H., the widow of John Huston, of Buffalo, New York; George O., residing in Albion, Michigan; Ida E., the wife of George Markham, of Marshall, Michigan; Cora, who married Mr. Bilsborrow; and two children who died in infancy. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bilsborrow : Charles W., born June 10, 1879, now engaged in the dairy business ; and Frank Lynn, of Alton, Illinois, born January 23, 1885.
Mr. Bilsborrow was a Republican, and was always interested in the success of his party, although he never aspired to public office. Death seized him while in the midst of a happy, useful life, although he had attained an age when most men are beginning to think of their own comfort. He always acted from the purest and best of motives and his death caused the deepest sorrow among those who knew him and called him friend. His widow, who sur-
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vives him and lives in the comfortable family home on Paw Paw Rural Route No. 3, is one of the best known ladies of her com- munity, and, like her late husband, has many warm personal friends.
BARNABAS O'DELL .- Of ancestry distinguished in history by achievement or association on both sides of his house, and hold- ing the fact in high appreciation, Barnabas O'Dell, of Paw Paw, has endeavored to live up to the standards of his forefathers in working out an earnest desire to promote the welfare and help along the advancement of the people around him, doing all he could for the general well being on his small stage of action, as they did on their larger one of majestic proportions and world- wide renown. Mr. O'Dell is a Canadian by birth and an American by voluntary adoption. He was born on March 11, 1843, in what was then known as Upper Canada, and is a son of Dr. Charles Mann and Hannah R. (Tuttle) O'Dell. The parents were also natives of Canada, and passed their early lives in that country, ex- cept during short absences from time to time while traveling. In 1850 they came to Van Buren county, Michigan, and here spent the rest of their lives and died here. They were the parents of five children: Henry, who died in 1853; James, who died in in- fancy ; Barnabas, the subject of this memoir; Henrietta F., the wife of Stephen C. Maynard, of Chicago; and Noble F., who also died in infancy.
Barnabas O'Dell came to Paw Paw in 1851 and here he studied medicine with his father. He then spent one year as a clerk in a store, and at the age of twenty-one left home, burning with a de- sire to take part in our Civil war as a recruit to our naval forces. He enlisted in the United States navy at Chicago, but was credited to the town of Paw Paw, then called Lafayette, and was assigned to duty on the Receiving Ship Great Western. Some time after- ward he was transferred to Collier No. 29 for a period of six months, and by the end of that time the war was over and he was mustered out of the service. During his connection with the navy he was captain of the forecastle on his vessel, and took great pride and interest in his duties.
After he left the navy Mr. O'Dell determined to remain in this country, and returned to Paw Paw as the place of his residence. He had some knowledge of the town and its surroundings, its pace in business and prospects for the future, his father having come here in 1851 and passed a year in the place in an effort to improve his health. But, deciding to remain, spent the rest of his life here with the exception of five wears. On locating here after the war the son as soon as he was able entered mercantile life as a clerk and remained in it one year, thus supplementing his knowledge of business gained in a previous year's experience.
In the spring of 1869, however, having been married in the fall preceding, he desired a more stable home and occupation, and moved to a farm of one hundred and sixty acres owned by his wife's father and later purchased one of forty acres a mile north of one of eighty acres owned by his wife. On these two tracts of land he engaged in general farming and raising live stock until
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1883, when he moved his family to Decatur to secure better educa- tional facilities for his children than his own neighborhood afforded. After a residence of nine years at Decatur he changed his abiding place to Paw Paw, where he has ever since had his home.
On November 26, 1868, he was united in marriage with Miss Maria L. Stebbins, a daughter of Horace and Lydia (Skinner) Stebbins, old settlers in Van Buren county, and residents of it from 1842. Mrs. O'Dell still owns the farm on which the family originally located, and it has never been out of the family since her parents carved it into comeliness and fruitfulness from the wilderness. Their offspring numbered two: Mrs. O'Dell, who was born on December 12, 1849; and Emma, who was born in June, 1851, and died when she was six years old. Mr. Stebbins had been married before his union with the mother of these chil- dren, and by his first marriage he also became the father of two children : M. Eliza, who was born in 1843 and has been dead for a number of years; and Lewis J., who was a valiant soldier in the Civil war and sealed his devotion to his country with his life. He was wounded at the terrible battle of Chickamauga. and lay in a hospital in Chattanooga nine weeks, then died far from home and kindred, one of the multitude of sacrifices to the blind fury of our great sectional conflict. The mother of these children was Miss Jane Mulholland before her marriage to their father.
Mr. and Mrs. O'Dell have five children, all of whom are living. They are: Hubert L., who was born on February 20. 1871, and is now a resident of Pasadena, California; Louis N., who was born on February 4, 1873, and also lives at Pasadena; Mabel C .. whose life began on May 30, 1875, and who is the wife of Frank Shers of Kalamazoo, Michigan; Lillian I., who was born on No- vember 23, 1877, and is the wife of Frank Rhodes, of Bay City, Michigan; and Myrtle L., who was born on April 17, 1880, and is living in Pasadena.
In his political relations Mr. O'Dell is an Independent, con- sidering always, in the bestowal of his suffrage, the good of the people and ignoring all partisan considerations. He has served as justice of the peace for thirteen years and as constable for one. During all of the last forty-seven years he has been con- nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. In religious belief he is a spiritualist of firm convictions and devotion to the teachings of the most advanced thinkers of his cult.
Mr. O'Dell's maternal great-grandfather, Thomas Averel, was a personal body-guard of General Washington during the Revolu- tionary war and his messenger in many important transactions. On one occasion he crossed the Onion river late at night in the service of the great commander, to whom he was carrying dis- patches. He had crossed at the same place on a bridge in the morning, but during the day the bridge had been swept away, and he rode over on the main beam or stringer, which was all that was left. It was so dark that he could not see the bridge was gone. But his horse was true and skillful, and took him over
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the roaring torrent in safety, and he did not know how hazardous his venture was until afterward. This is a fact recorded in his- tory, and is alluded to by some of the writers as proof of the guiding hand of Providence in our great struggle for independ- ence. Mr. O'Dell still has in his possession a knapsack that his great-grandfather carried at the time and the watch he wore. His maternal grandmother, whose maiden name was Martha Mann, was a sister of Horace Mann, the great apostle and advocate of public education, and one of the finest products of the system the country has ever known. In 1852 the father of Barnabas O'Dell bought a place on Main street, Paw Paw village, opposite the Methodist Episcopal church, and in front of this place father and son planted the beautiful elm trees, which still stand as monu- ments and are admired by all. In the fifty years which Mr. O'Dell has lived in Paw Paw, he has seen all its improvements made, its public buildings erected and the village grow from five hundred to two thousand inhabitants.
JUAN MCKEYES .- The financial interests of any community are of such an important nature that they cannot be too carefully conserved, and those citizens to whom are given the keeping of public and private moneys have a large responsibility indeed and must necessarily be men of the greatest integrity, in whom im- plicit confidence can be placed. When it can be truthfully said of a man that he has been at various times trusted with the man- agement of business other than his own and never had a com- plaint made against him; when he has made a success of what- ever he has undertaken because of his thoroughness and realization of the rights of others; when he has tried to live up to a high standard and help others do the same-then that man is a good citizen and any community may be proud to own him. Juan McKeyes, president of the banking firm of Juan McKeyes & Company, at Lawton, Michigan, is a man who can be depended upon in any emergency. He was born in Berrien county, Mich- igan, August 26, 1842. and is a son of Samuel and Roxy (Taylor) McKeyes, natives of Connecticut.
Mr. McKeyes' parents came to Michigan in 1834, settling on a farm in Bainbridge township, Berrien county, where the father was engaged in agricultural pursuits up to the time of his death. in 1854, his widow surviving him only one year. Mr. McKeyes was decidedly successful in his farming and stock raising ope- rations, and became the owner of five hundred acres of good land. Both Samuel McKeyes and his wife had been previously married, he having five children by his first union and she two. and there was but one child born to their marriage, Juan. After the death of his mother, Juan McKeyes went to live with a half- sister, near Schoolcraft, where he attended the district school, and later he went to the seminary at that place and the Kala- mazoo College, where he took a two-year course in civil engineer- ing. After spending some time in Illinois and Iowa he returned to Michigan, and for ten years was engaged in the milling busi- ness in Van Buren county, at which time he first came to Lawton 'and established himself in the drug business. After twelve years
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