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 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67
Mr. Osborn, immediate subject of this review, was reared in old Van Buren county and was educated in the common school and the Paw Paw high school. He has devoted all his activities to agricul- ture. At the age of twenty he earned his first wages, twenty dol- lars a month, and until the demise of the beloved parents, to which he had ever been devoted, he resided beneath the home roof. At the death of the father, Erastus Osborn, of whom mention is made on other pages, was appointed administrator and the two worked the homestead on shares. At the age of twenty-four the subject wedded Miss Rena Gage, their union being on April 28, 1878. To them have been born two sons and two daughters. Adah M. is the wife of Charles Lindsley, a resident of Bangor township, who operates the Smiley farm. Their daughter, Lucille Belle, is in school. Mrs. Lindsley was educated in the common schools and previous to her marriage was a music teacher. V. Belle became the wife of Claude Sterns, son of Z. Sterns, one of the pioneers of Van Buren county. She was educated in the common schools. Her husband is. one of Hamilton township's prosperous young farmers. Leroy S. is a resi- dent of Keeler township and an agriculturist. He married Miss Bessie Rathburne. He was educated in the common schools. Hugh D. is a resident of Dowagiac and is engaged as an iron moulder. He took as his wife Miss Lucille Baker, a school teacher, and they have a little daughter, Irma.
Mr. and Mrs. Osborn have given their children good practical edu rations and fitted them for honorable lives and they have become honorable citizens and a credit to their parents. Mrs. Osborn was
876
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
born in Cass county, Michigan, February 11, 1860, and she is the eld- est of two children, both daughters, born to Van Orman and Zilpha (Langley) Gage. Both are living and Mrs. Osborn is the elder. Her sister, Alpha M., is the widow of William Scoby, a resident of Battle Creek and they have one daughter, Edith, who was the wife of Theodore Shaw, and is now an actress in Chicago. Mrs. Shaw was educated in the Hastings high school. The father Gage was a native of Cattaraugus county, his birth having occurred in 1832 and his death in 1869. He was only a boy when his parents came to Cass county, Michigan. He received a good education. a part of which was received in the Ypsilanti Normal School. His occupa- tion was that of a practical farmer and horticulturist and he was distinguished for unusual mentality. In politics he was a Republi- can and cast his vote for the first nominee of the party. He died in Berrien county. His wife was a native of Wisconsin, born Au- gust 16, 1839, and still living at Battle Creek. She is a woman beautiful in face as well as in character and mind. She has long been a useful member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mrs. Osborn was a little girl but four years of age when she be- came a resident of Berrien county. She has spent the greater part `of her life, however, in Hamilton township, and in its schools se- cured her education. She possesses a most pleasing personality and her home is her paradise. She has ably reared her family and is. indeed, in the words of Longfellow,
"A noble type of good Heroic womanhood."
Mr. and Mrs. Osborn moved onto this present place in 1897. It is known as "Oak Grove Homestead." The subject has ever been a Republican, nationally and locally, and he casts his vote for the men he believes best suited for the office. He is a public spirited man and his sixteen years' service as school director has been of value to the community.
To conclude, Mr. and Mrs. Osborn stand high in the neighborhood. where they command universal respect. They have reared an hon- orable and upright family and happy indeed is the old home when children and grandchildren congregate at such seasons as Christmas and Thanksgiving. The record of their worthy lives is indeed good material for perpetuation in the History of Van Buren County. Michigan.
CLAUDE D. ROBINSON .- It is almost a tiresomely trite saying that the farms have given us our best citizens. Until two generations ago the most of our population lived in the country. so naturally the farm-bred boy had the advantage. Later came the great exodus to the city and for a time it was hard to find a young man of talent who intended to devote his life to agriculture. But now this is changing and we are beginning to return to our Anglo-Saxon no- tion that farming is an occupation worthy to engage the best skill of our best men, and ever increasing numbers of our youth are
877
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
adopting it, not because they drift into it but as the profession of their choice.
One of Keeler township's notable young agriculturists is Claude D. Robinson. His family have lived in the state all their lives and his father, Edmund J. Robinson, is a well known and successful farmer in this county. This gentleman began life with no capital and for five years after his marriage to Miss Minnie Winch he rented land. His first eighty acres was purchased by going into debt, and their house was a little log cabin. Now he and his wife own together one hundred and twenty acres in Keeler township and in 1898 they built their handsome modern residence on the first eighty acres which he bought. The ruins of the old log cabin are still to be seen on the place. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, all living in this state. Clyde lives at Marcellus and is a farmer. His wife was formerly Miss Elizabeth Willis. Ruth Louise, the youngest of the Robinson family, is still at home.
Claude Robinson was born July 30, 1888, in Keeler township. He attended the public schools of the county and early decided to de- vote himself to farming and stock raising. He began his work with a capital of five hundred dollars from his parents, who having made a success of the same pursuit desired to give their son assistance in his undertaking. On July 30, 1909, he was married to Miss Caro- line B. Molter, a daughter of Katherine Weber and Peter Molter, of Bainbridge. Michigan. She was born January 25, 1889, and is one of a family of twelve children, seven of whom were sons. She re- ceived her education in the county schools and is a young woman of ability, well fitted to fill the position which devolves upon her. All but one of the children of her parents are still living and reside in Michigan. The father and mother, too. are still conducting their thriving truck farm, whose products they market in Benton Harbor. Both are members of the German Lutheran church.
In 1910 Mr. Robinson built a pleasant residence, opposite his father's home. on eighty acres of land which belongs to him. Here he and his wife and their small son, Maurice Leland, constitute a household whose elders are well known and popular in the county in which they hold an eminent position. Mr. Robinson is a Re- publican in his politics, as is also his father. He has already at- tained an enviable reputation as a farmer and will doubtless always keep his place in the front rank of the progressive agriculturists.
ADOLPH DANNEFFEL .- Germany has given to America some of its best and most intellectual citizens. From the Fatherland has come much that is great and good, and although our German-Americans cherish in their hearts a tender love for the native country, they have ever proven themselves among our best and most loyal patriots and encourage in their offspring the same devotion to their adopted land. Van Buren county is the home of some of the leading Ger- man-American citizens of the country, and prominent among these, one who has risen to the front rank of agriculturists of his section through the force of his own industry and persevering labor, is Adolph Danneffel, of Keeler township, who, by a long and honorable business career, a thoughtful interest in others and public-spirited
878
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
efforts in behalf of his community, has made himself known and respected all over this part of the county. Mr. Danneffel was born in Baden, Germany, April 16, 1831, and is the third in a family of eight children born to George and Mary (Elgas) Danneffel.
George Danneffel, also a native of Germany, never left that coun- try, where throughout his life he was engaged in agricultural pur- suits and in school teaching. He and his wife were consistent mem- bers of the Roman Catholic faith, and they were interred in the cemetery of that denomination near their home. Those of their children who survive are: Adolph; Leopold, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian war, and now an agriculturist in Germany ; Charles, who received an excellent education and is now engaged in farming in Germany ; Otto, also a school teacher in the old country ; Phillip, who, like his brothers, is engaged in educational pursuits in the Fatherland; and Martha and Phillipine, who are also residents of Germany. One son and one daughter have passed away.
Adolph Danneffel received a good education in the German lan- guage, and as a youth was apprenticed to the trade of shoemaker. which he followed in Germany until he reached his twenty-second year, at which time, not being satisfied with his prospects, he de- cided to come to the United States. In April, 1854, he boarded a sailing vessel at Antwerp, and after a stormy voyage of thirty-three days, during which the passengers suffered the pangs of hunger and other hardships, finally landed at Castle Garden. On putting foot on American soil the sum total of the money between Adolph and his brother John Danneffel was one dollar and fifty cents, and with this they started out to make their fortunes among a strange people speaking a strange language. During the next three and one-half years Mr. Danneffel remained in New York state, working out as a farm hand at ten dollars per month, and about 1858 he came to Berrien county, Michigan, where he worked for a farmer during one summer. He then purchased eighty acres of wild land in Keeler township, Van Buren county, and this proved the nucleus for a magnificent farm of six hundred acres. On first settling here the country was a vast wilderness of timber land, in which still roamed wild beasts, and Indian camps were not unusual sights. The axe and the ox-team were the principal implements used in clearing and cultivating the land, in sharp contrast to the improved imple- ments of today and the powerful machinery that is used to operate them. Mr. Danneffel's career is a striking example of what may be accomplished by a man who has the determination to succeed and the ability to carry this determination through. He has replaced the primitive log buildings of half a century ago with modern struc- tures, a handsome residence and all necessary outbuildings, and his land is now some of the best in Van Buren county. Since 1903. when his wife died, he has resided on the old homestead with his youngest son, William. Mr. Danneffel stands square with the world. and he has always been honest and fair in all of his dealings with his fellow men. Always ready to stand up for what he believes to be right, he is, nevertheless, considerate of the feelings and opin- ions of others, and it is this sense of fairness that has made his name known and respected in his section. Although in his eightieth .
Hiram le. Smith
879
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
year, Mr. Danneffel is in full possession of all of his faculties and his mind is as clear as when he came to this country .many years ago, a poor immigrant boy looking for his fortunes in the new world,-clearer perhaps, for the years of experience and observa- tion have made him alert to all that is of interest to his community. He has always supported the principles of the Republican party, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. His fellow citizens have recognized his ability as a public official by electing him to positions of honor and trust, and he has served as director of the school district for six years, highway commissioner for two years, and supervisor of his township for six years, and in none of these did he betray the confidence thus displayed in him. He has also at numerous times represented his party in county conventions, and as an official was ever alert to protect the people's interests. Now, in the evening of life, he can look back over a well-spent, useful career, content in the knowledge that there is not the slightest stain or blemish upon his record.
On March 14, 1857, Mr. Danneffel was married to Miss Phoebe Arndt, and seven sons and two daughters were born to this union, all of whom survive: George, a retired farmer of Benton Harbor, Michigan, is married and has two children, George and Saide; Mary, widow of Charles Swartz, resident of South Bend, Indiana, has one child, Charlie; Charles, a retired farmer of Benton Harbor, is mar- ried ; Frank, living in Bainbridge, Michigan, is an agriculturist, and has three children, May, Herbert and Lymon; Adolph P., also an agriculturist of Bainbridge, is married and has two children, Flor- ence and Lloyd; Catherine, the wife of Adelbert Salter, an agricul- turist of Keeler township; Albert, who is farming in Keeler town- ship, is married and has three children, Dean, Robert and Ward; Simon, also farming in Keeler township, is married and has two children, Edward and Margaret; and William, who is living on the old homestead with his father, married Miss Emma Mundt and has one child, Johnnie. Mr. Danneffel is a great-grandfather.
In 1880 he made a visit to his native land, where he remained four months, and then returned to his adopted county, more pleased than ever with it.
HIRAM A. SMITH .- Many years ago Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote of one of his classmates,
"There was a young fellow of excellent pith,
Fate tried to obscure him by naming him Smith."
It is unnecessary to add that Fate was cheated in her nefarious designs and the same is true of the subject, who is one of the prominent citizens of the county, of which he is also a native son. In addition to his success as a farmer he has great ability as an inventor, and the Smith Interlocking Cement Stave Silo is a mechanical device which he is now putting on the market and which promises to make him very well-known. He is also engaged in the manufacture of a number of other mechanical inventions.
880
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
His ninety acres of good land are located in section 21, of Waverly township.
Mr. Smith was born in Arlington township, Van Buren county, Michigan, November 13, 1864, and is the son of John P. and Helen M. (Goodeve) Smith. The father was born in Germany, Feb- ruary 21, 1836, and came to America at the age of four years with his parents, John M. and Catherine Smith. The mother was a native of New York city and a daughter of John B. Goodeve, of London, England. John B. Goodeve came with his family to Allegan county, Michigan, when the subject's mother was but one year old, and there they resided until their summons to the better land. The subject's parents were married in this county and to them were born four children, namely : Hiram A. Smith; William A. Smith; Mabel, wife of C. H. Miller, of North Dakota; and Albert, who is unmarried and resides in Stevens county, Washington.
Hiram A. Smith was reared on his father's farm in Van Buren county and received his education in the public schools, finish- ing with the eighth grade. Following that he received a com- mercial education and at an early age his natural mechanical ability became apparent. He is a manufacturer as well as agri- culturist, his stock tank having proved a particularly salable com- modity. He remained beneath the parental roof-tree until the attainment of his majority and in 1892 he was united in mar- riage to Ada E. Horton, also a native of this county. They share their pleasant home with four children: Homer I., now at home, was a student in the high school and is eighteen years of age; Warren H. is fifteen years old, and attends the high school at Paw Paw; Hiram A., Jr., is eleven; and Helen A. is seven.
Fraternally Mr. Smith is a member of Glendale Lodge, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America, and his wife is affiliated with the Royal Neighbors. Both of them carry insurance. In politics the subject is independent. giving his support to the man and the measure he deems most likely to be conducive to the general benefit, although he has Demo- cratic inclinations, at present he is a Republican insurgent. He has been twice elected township treasurer on the Democratic ticket. He is, in short, a good citizen and widely known.
EVERETT A. FISHER .- Among the prominent agriculturists of Keeler township, Van Buren county, none is more deserving of men- tion than Everett A. Fisher, who is a worthy member of one of the pioneer families of this section. When the family first settled here bears, deer and wolves still roamed the forests, and almost the en- tire country was yet in its primitive condition. Bears were often seen even on the farm and on occasion would attack and carry off the domestic animals. In those days not only the men but the women assisted in the clearing, and many were the hardships and privations endured by the early settlers before they had hewn for themselves a comfortable home from the dense forest. Everett A. Fisher was born in Berrien county, Michigan, March 9, 1861, the youngest of the three children born to Wanzer and Eliza J. (Mat-
.
881
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
tock) Fisher, and he now has one sister living: Evaline, a widow residing in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Wanzer Fisher was born in Ohio in 1834, and died April 8, 1875, in Keeler township. He was reared to the life of an agriculturist and educated in the common schools, and came by wagon to Berrien county, Michigan, with his parents. There the little band of pio- neers settled in a primitive log cabin, and Mr. Fisher assisted his father and brothers in clearing the land to develop a farm. He was married in Berrien county to Miss Eliza Mattock, and they be- gan their married life in very humble circumstances, settling on a forty-acre tract of wild land, for which they went into debt, but eventually cleared the property and paid dollar for dollar for every acre of it. In 1866 they came to Keeler township, purchasing eighty acres of land, about one acre of which was cleared, and on this had been built a small house, which would now be considered little more than a shanty. Nevertheless, it was home to this young couple, who proceeded to work steadfastly and industriously, and after years of hard and incessant toil succeeded in cultivating the land and made their property the equal of any of its size in their part of the township. Wanzer Fisher was a stanch Democrat in politics and was a great friend of the cause of education. Both he and his wife were faithful members of the Christian church. Mr. Fisher died in Keeler township, and was buried in the cemetery here, a beautiful stone being erected in his memory. Mrs. Fisher, who survives her husband and makes her home with her son, was born in Ohio. June 30, 1839. She did much towards helping her husband during the pioneer days, and her many lovable traits of character have endeared her to all who know her.
Everett Fisher was six years of age when the family came to Keeler township, and he received his education in the common schools. On May 17. 1888, he was married to Miss Lillian Klett. and two children have been born to this union : Bessie L., who fin- ished the eighth grade in the public schools, was given a musical education, and then became a saleslady in the general store of A. O. Duncombe, at Keeler, and Floyd E., a graduate of the public schools and now a member of the class of 1912 in the Hartford High School. Mrs. Fisher is a native of Van Buren county and was born July 19. 1870, the fourth of a family of seven children, one of whom is now deceased. while four live in Van Buren county and two in Berrien county. Both of Mrs. Fisher's parents reside in Keeler township. her father being a veteran of the Civil war, in which he served for three years. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the G. A. R., while his wife is a devout member of the Evangelical church.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fisher settled down on the old Fisher homestead, which is known as "The Maples." and is devoted to general farming and stock raising. Mr. Fisher is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and both he and his wife are great friends of education, Mr. Fisher having served for six years as treasurer of his school district. They are worthy children of pioneer fathers who hewed out homes in the midst of the forest and from a start of nothing secured a comfortable property by years of patient toil.
882
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
HENRY E. GIBNEY attributes his success in life's undertakings to the quality of close application, persevering devotion to the task in hand, and an honest intention to perform every task in the day's work with one's whole soul and best energy. The man who really lives with hard work as the key note of his life is bound to accon- plish things. Henry E. Gibney, who has now retired from active participation in the management of his farm and makes his pleas- ant home in Hartford, Michigan, was born in Genesee county, New York, the date of his nativity being May 23, 1840. He is the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Munger) Gibney. Thomas Gibney was a native born son of Ireland who immigrated to the United States when he was a lad of fifteen years, choosing to try the broader opportunities of the western world. Elizabeth Munger, who after- wards became the mother of Henry E. Gibney, the immediate sub- ject of this review, was born in the state of Connecticut and married her husband in New York state, coming with him some time in the fifties to Berrien county, where they made their permanent home. She passed to her eternal reward in 1877, and was followed by her husband thirteen years later. They were the parents of eleven children, seven of whom are living at this date, 1911. Henry E. and one sister now live in Van Buren county.
Henry E. Gibney was twelve years old at the time of his parents removal from New York state, and he remained at the parental home in Berrien county, Michigan, until he reached his majority. On August 9, 1862, he enlisted in Company "M", Fourth Michigan cavalry, and followed the starry ensign of the Union until the close of the war, serving in many notable engagements, including the bat- tle of Stone River. When the conflict was over, and the blue and the gray were no longer the emblems of a divided nation, Mr. Gib- ney returned to Michigan, and was united in marriage to Miss Florence Wheeler, by whom he had one daughter, Edah, now the wife of George Mutchler, of Hartford, Michigan.
On May 31. 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Henry E. Gib- ney to Anna C. Kemp, who was born in Van Buren county in July, 1852. She was the daughter of William Kemp, a native of England, who was born in the mother country in 1818. He immigrated to this country and was married in New York to Miss Philena Potter. a native of that state. They came after their marriage to Michigan and Mr. Kemp was here engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1904. His wife followed him to that other land in 1911. Their daughter, Mrs. Henry E. Gibney, is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church.
Although always a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, Mr. Gibney has never had time for the honors and emoluments of public office and has manifested his in- terest in the welfare of the community in the quieter but none the less expressive medium, the polls.
In 1899 Mr. and Mrs. Gibney left their farms, located on sections 27 and 30 of Bangor township, and they have since enjoyed the fruits of their past years of wise management and unfailing indus- try at their pleasant and hospitable home in Hartford.
ยท
883
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
DAVID CONKLIN .- The late David Conklin was one of the promi- nent farmers of Van Buren county, and in his death the county may feel a personal loss, for with his demise it was robbed of an upright and progressive citizen who was always willing to lend his strength to whatever good works were being put forward for the general wel- fare.
David Conklin was a native of New York state, having been born in Philadelphia township, Jefferson county, that state, on April 10, 1845, the son of Richard and Lucy (Gotham) Conklin. Richard Conklin was born in Rutland county, New York, and his wife was born at Cranes Corners, Westchester county, New York, now a suburb of New York city. Their son David was reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools until he was sixteen. At that age, in 1861, together with five of his brothers, he enlisted in Company E, Ninety-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry of the Union army. The six brothers, though they followed the flag through many desperate engagements, all returned without a scratch at the close of the struggle.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.