USA > Michigan > Allegan County > A twentieth century history of Allegan County, Michigan > Part 30
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WILLIAM M. ROGERS is one of the representative fruit growers of Ganges township, where he has a farm of eighty acres, of which forty acres is devoted to fruit and fifteen acres to berries and small fruit. He has two hundred apple trees, six hundred pear trees and six hundred plum trees upon his place, and his farm is now in first class condition and is exceedingly productive. He made purchase of the property in 1862, at which time it
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was in its virgin state, but by industry and economy he has improved and equipped it with modern conveniences for the care of the products.
Mr. Rogers is a native of Rochester, New York, where he was born in 1839. His parents were Ezra and Matilda (Dunkin) Rogers, of Rochester, New York. In their family were two children, but William M. is the only member of the household now living. During his residence in Allegan county he speculated to a considerable extent in real estate. He was employed for some years as agent for the American Express Company, for which he transacted a large business, and for several years he was a resident of Fennville, where he sustained considerable loss by fire, his fine opera house there being consumed by the flames. As a fruit grower and shipper he has a wide acquaintance and produces some of the finest fruit raised in this part of the state.
Mr. Rogers was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Banes, a native of Boston, England, and unto them were born five children-Charles, Ezra (deceased), Hattie A., Annie and May. The elder son is engaged in the real estate business in Oklahoma, and Hattie is the wife of Ira Hutchins, while Annie is the wife of F. Mills and May is now Mrs. Charles Cole, of Rochester, New York.
Mr. Rogers has held the office of treasurer of the school board and was also commissioner of highways. He has never been active as a politician, however, preferring to concentrate his energies upon other business pursuits. He is a man in whom his fellow citizens have the fullest confidence and he is uniformly respected wherever known. His business interests have been carefully managed and the extent and importance of his operations have brought him success as an agriculturist, placing him among the foremost representatives of this line of business activity in Allegan county.
THERON JOHNSTON was born in Raleigh, Rush county, Indiana, Sep- tember 18, 1861, and is a descendant of one of the old Colonial families. His ancestry is traced back to David Johnston, who was born on Long Island in 1712 and married Sarah Lawrence, a daughter of John Lawrence. They settled in Monmouth county, New Jersey, where their son, John Johnston, was born February 10, 1742. John Johnston was a member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. He married Rebecca Annesley, lived near Free- hold, Monmouth county, New Jersey, and died January 2, 1802, on the same farm on which he was born and reared. He was the great-grandfather of our subject and the father of John I. Johnston, who was born near Free- hold, in Monmouth county, New Jersey, April 7, 1784. He married Mary Gifford and they settled in Cincinnati, Ohio-then only a village --- and after a time moved near Connersville, Fayette county, Indiana, as one of the early pioneer families, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They raised a family of thirteen children, among them William Wilshire Johnston, born December 8, 1824, near Connersville, Indiana.
William Wilshire Johnston and Mary Overhiser, daughter of George Overhiser and Elizabeth Storms-Overhiser, and grand-daughter of Casper Overhiser, were married in Blackford county, Indiana, November 10, 1851, and after residing in Indiana for some time they moved, in the fall of 1864, to Casco township, Allegan county, Michigan, and settled upon a 160-acre piece of uncleared land. They were among the early settlers in that locality
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H. C. BARDEN
MRS. H. C. BARDEN
RESIDENCE OF H. C. BARDEN
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and cleared and brought under cultivation the farm, which has since been their home, until the father's death July 4, 1906, and which is still the home of Mrs. Mary Johnston, the mother of our subject. Seven children were born to them. Martha, the first, died at the age of two years. Six are still living, viz .: John C., in South Haven, Michigan; Amanda, also in South Haven ; Charles M., Adelbert and Theron, all in Casco township, Allegan county, Michigan, and Marion, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Theron Johnston was three years of age when he came with his parents to Michigan in 1864, where he has resided most of the time since. His early life was spent upon the farm and at the district school, where he was taught the common branches of learning. Later he followed the carpenter trade for several years, afterward being engaged in hospital work for a time. In 1893, in company with Adelbert, a brother, he bought a stock of goods and the store which he occupies at the present time, then known as Hawk- head postoffice. The partnership was discontinued after a time, leaving Theron the sole owner. Since that time he has given his attention to the management of the business, with the result that it has increased steadily, until it has been necessary to enlarge the store building to accommodate the increased volume of business. His stock includes such articles as are usually found in a general country store and the orderly and well-kept appearance of the premises, together with careful attention to the details of manage- ment, have had much to do with the success of the business.
On May 10, 1894, Mr. T. Johnston and Rose Bugden were married and later she became a member of the firm, contributing her share to the success of the enterprise. They have three children-Claire, Helen and Hazel. At the time this store came into Mr. Johnston's possession in it was a postoffice and Mr. Johnston held the office of postmaster until the discontinuance of the office by reason of Rural Free Delivery in February, 1902. He has served several times consecutively as township clerk. Fraternally he is a member of Star of the Lake Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 158, at South Haven, Michigan.
CASCO TOWNSHIP.
H. C. BARDEN is the owner of one of the best improved fruit farms of Casco township, a leading representative of a business which probably has contributed more largely to the wealth and prosperity of this county than any other one line of activity. His place is known as the Westview Fruit Farm, in the midst of which stands a fine residence and all modern improve- ments. His largest crop of peaches was a yield of eleven thousand bushels in 1900, but in other years the yield has reached almost an equal amount. One of Michigan's native sons, thoroughly familiar with the possibilities of the state, he has made good use of his opportunities and has thus prospered as the years have gone by. He was born in Pavillion township, Kalamazoo county, April 10, 1845. His father. Richard Barden, was a native of Yates county, New York, and was reared and married there, after which he jour- neyed westward to Detroit by water, thence across the country with an ox team to Kalamazoo county, for the Michigan Central Railroad had not yet been built. There in the midst of the forest he cleared a good farm of about two hundred acres and placed upon it substantial buildings. In later years he removed to Allegan county and purchased four hundred and forty acres
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of valuable land. There was no highway leading to the farm, only a blazed road to the lake shore about a mile away. His entire life was devoted to general agricultural pursuits and as the years passed by he transformed wild, unimproved land into richly cultivated tracts, devoted to the raising of grain and fruit. His political allegiance in early life was given to the Whig party and upon its dissolution he joined the ranks of the new Repub- lican party. He was always a great admirer and advocate of Horace Greeley, and for many years was a reader of the New York Tribune. In all of his business life he was energetic and successful and he was in prosperous circumstances when he passed away in 1890, at the age of seventy-five years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Kinney, was born in Yates county, New York, and died in Allegan county in 1886, at the age of sixty-five years. They had five children: H. C., of this review ; James K., who lives upon a farm adjoining the old homestead; Mrs. Olive Wood, now deceased; and two daughters, who died in fancy.
When H. C. Barden was a lad of nine years his parents removed from Kalamazoo county to Casco township, Allegan county, settling in the midst of the forest in January, 1855. A log cabin eighteen by twenty-four feet was built, but prior to its erection the family lived in a little pioneer shanty. Mr. Barden, of this review, has always remained upon the old homestead farm, which he aided his father in clearing, performing the arduous task necessary to cutting away the timber and preparing the land for the plow. . He worked with and for his father until twenty-two years of age, after which he started out in life on his own account and was employed for about four years by the month. The last two years of that time were spent in the service of a lumber company and he received a salary of thirty dollars per month for his services. On the expiration of that period he located upon the farm which is now his home and began to clear and cultivate it. Today he has one of the best farm properties in the township. The soil is very rich and productive and he knows well how to use it to the best advantage. He has here one hundred and twenty acres of land, of which eighty acres is a part of the old homestead, and all is on section 8, Casco township. In 1896 he erected an elegant farm residence and he also has a tenant house upon his place. He likewise has a tool house, corn cribs, two barns and a packing house, all of which constitute this one of the best improved farms of the district. It is called the Westview Fruit Farm and is all devoted to horticultural pursuits. Mr. Barden and his brother are now the most extensive growers of peaches in Casco township. During the big crop of 1900 he gathered eleven thousand bushels of peaches, at which time he had pickers at work for seven weeks and had one team that made eighty trips to South Haven, eight miles away, during the week days of that seven weeks' period. He marketed altogether eleven thousand bushels that year and three years ago he marketed eight thousand bushels. He has the largest packing house in this fruit section and it is thoroughly up-to-date, equipped with all modern conveniences and machinery. The building is a two-story structure thirty-five by forty feet, and in addition there are two sheds. For the past eighteen years he has engaged in growing peaches, never having a complete failure of that crop, and he has thirty acres planted to that fruit. He also carries on general farming to some
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extent and a glance at his place indicates his careful supervision and his practical, progressive methods.
In 1869 occurred the marriage of Mr. Barden and Miss Flora R. Munger, who was born near Lockport, New York, in March, 1844, and came with her parents to Michigan in 1861, her father being N. Q. Munger. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Barden have been born two children: Charles MI .. who owns an eighty-acre farm adjoining his father's and who married Jennie Kelley and has three children-Richard. Bernice and Grace; and Eva, the wife of William Trimble, of Park Falls, Wisconsin.
Mr. Barden votes the Republican ticket, but is not interested in political affairs to the extent of seeking or desiring office, as he prefers to concen- trate his energies upon his business interests, which are now capably con- ducted and are bringing him signal success. He works along modern lines, has thorough knowledge of the great scientific principles which underlie both agricultural and horticultural pursuits, and his correct application thereof has been demonstrated in his practical methods of carrying on the farm work and the results which have been achieved thereby.
LONSON MARION OVERHISER .- The name of Overhiser figures promi- nently, conspicuously and honorably in connection with the history of Allegan county, for various representatives of the name have taken an active and helpful part in promoting the business life and public interests of the community. In pioneer days the family was established in this county and here Lonson Marion Overhiser has lived from the age of six years. He was born at Dundee, in Blackford county, Indiana, November 9. 1855, and came to Allegan county with his parents in the fall of 1860. being a son of Henry and Sarah (McKee) Overhiser. The mother died upon the old homestead in this county about twenty-two years ago, when forty- eight years of age, and the father afterward married again and now resides in Casco township. He is mentioned on another page of this work. The children of the family are : Lonson M., of this review : William Albert, who is living in Casco township: Olive. the wife of Samuel Galbreath, of Casco township: Ida, the wife of Charles Osborn, of the same township : Grant, who died at the age of eighteen months : Charles, who is now treas- urer of Casco township: Mary, who died at the age of eighteen years ; and Minnie, the wife of William Baker, of Seattle, Washington.
During the first winter of their residence in Allegan county the family lived near the village of Allegan and then took up their abode in Casco township, since which time L. M. Overhiser, of this review, has resided within its borders. He has devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits and he remained upon the old homestead until his marriage. It was on the 22d of August, 1880, that he wedded Minnie G. Cronk, who was born in Ganges township, this county, September 10, 1860, and is a daughter of William and Harriett (Horton) Cronk, the former a native of Orange county, New York, and the latter of Norwalk, Ohio. They came to Michi- gan with their respective parents, settling in Kalamazoo county. At length they were married and still reside in Casco township.
For four years prior to his marriage Mr. Overhiser of this review was employed in the lumber woods and at farm labor, clearing new land. In 1880 he purchased his present home and has since owned and occupied it,
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save for the period of five years spent upon a rented farm. He now has one hundred and seventy-two acres of good land on sections 13, 23 and 24, Casco township. It was all in one body and the best timber had been cut off when it came into his possession, but the stumps and brush still remained and he has cleared eighty acres of the land himself and has placed good buildings thereon. The land is devoted to general farming and he also makes a specialty of the raising of potatoes. He likewise has some fruit upon his place, including currants, pears and apples, and the farm is known as the Meadows. In its thrifty and tasteful appearance it indicates the general supervision and practical methods of the owner.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Overhiser have been born three children: Byron Henry, of Chicago; Nellie, who is a teacher in public and district schools of Allegan county ; and Carl, who is living in Chicago. All three have received high school educations in South Haven and both of the sons have positions with the American Express Company at the North-Western depot in Chicago.
In his political allegiance Mr. Overhiser is a Republican and for six years has served as drain commissioner of Casco township, while for three years he was highway commissioner. He has also been moderator of the school district and was director for one year. He takes an active and helpful interest in the cause of education, but had no opportunities in that direction himself. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees. Almost his entire life has been passed in this county, where for forty-six years he has been an interested witness in the changes that have occurred and the progress that has been made in the methods of farming and other lines of business activity. With few advan- tages at the outset of his career he has battled earnestly and energetically and has come off victor in the strife, winning a measure of prosperity that is indicative of his business capacity, keen foresight and unfailing energy.
HENRY OVERHISER .- Among the old residents of Allegan county well deserving of mention in this volume is numbered Henry Overhiser, who was born in Steuben county, New York, January 2, 1835, and was but four years of age when his parents removed to Favette county, Indiana. He is a grandson of Casper Overhiser, a native of New York, whose life was largely spent on the frontier. The Overhisers came of an old colonial family of German origin. The father of our subject was George Overhiser. who was born in Steuben county, New York, in 1804, and died in Blackford county, Indiana, in 1862. He took many contracts for clearing land and was also the owner of a good farm of ninety-two acres at the time of his death. In politics he was a Whig and for many years was assessor of his township. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Storms, and was born in Steuben county, New York, while her death occurred in Blackford county, Indiana, in 1860, when she was about fifty- three years of age. She was a daughter of Peter and Dorcas (Ballard) Storms, and by her marriage she became the mother of thirteen children, all of whom lived to manhood or womanhood, while twelve still survive, the youngest being fifty-five years of age. The record is as follows: Mrs. Belinda Williams, who is living in Jasper county, Illinois; John P., of
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Indianapolis, Indiana ; Mrs. Mary Johnson, of Casco township; Mrs. Almira Johnston, of Marshall county, Iowa; Mrs. Martha Schrader, of Richardson county, Nebraska; Henry, of this review; Lonson, who is living in Ganges township; Mrs. Ann Bowman, of Jay county. Indiana : Charles, who makes his home at Independence, Montgomery county, Kansas; Mrs. Sarah Turtelotte, of Ganges township; Willard, who is located in Fayette county, Indiana ; Marion, a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana; and Mrs. Keturah Mills, of Illinois.
Henry Overhiser, as stated, was only four years of age when his parents removed from New York to Fayette county, Indiana, making the trip by wagon to Buffalo, where the team and wagon were all loaded on a steamer that sailed for Cleveland. Thus they made their way through the black swamp country of Ohio to their destination in Fayette county, Indiana. After three or four years there passed they removed to Hancock county, that state, and afterward to Blackford county, where they took up their abode in 1846. Henry Overhiser resided there until twenty-six years of age. In the fall of 1860 he came to Michigan with his wife and three children. He spent the first winter near Allegan on the Bee Line road and worked for Daniel Ammerman as a carpenter, completing the house which now stands upon the farm. On the 2d of March, 1861, he removed to Casco township and took up his abode upon a farm which is yet his place of residence. In August, 1860, he and his neighbor. Erastus Frost, decided to make a trip to Michigan to see the country. All they had was the horse, saddle and bridle which Mr. Overhiser owned and they decided to make the journey by the method known as "ride and hitch." That is, one would ride the horse for a mile or two, then hitch it, and the other would come on and take the horse and ride it for some distance : thus they would alter- nate and in this way they made forty miles a day. In October of the same year Mr. Overhiser hired his brother with a two-horse team to bring him and his family, together with his household goods and a box of tools, to Michigan, and they were eight days on the journey, covering about two hundred miles. Mr. Overhiser settled seven different times in the midst of the forest, in which the timber had to be cleared away for the building of the house. He did this three times with his father while a boy at home and four times since he came to Michigan, twice in Casco township, once on section I and again on section 14. He has eventually cleared his entire farm, which was both wood land and swamp land at the time of his arrival. At one time he owned two hundred acres here, having one hundred acres on section 14 and one hundred acres on section 12, Casco township. He has since disposed of this to his children and now resides on forty acres belong- ing to his wife on section 35, Casco township. This is a well improved fruit farm. Mr. Overhiser has secured considerable land in the county and has worked at the carpenter's trade to a greater or less extent, thus con- tributing in substantial measure to the material development and progress of this part of the state.
On the 19th of February. 1855, Mr. Overhiser was married to Miss Sarah McKee, who was born in Ohio June 23, 1837. and went to Indiana with her parents when a small child, becoming a schoolmate of her future husband in that state. She was a daughter of Peter and Rhoda McKee. natives of Ohio, and she died in Allegan county, March 4, 1885. There
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were eight children: Lonson Marion, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work; William Albert, of Casco township, who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume : Olive Jane, the wife of Samuel Galbreath, of Casco town- ship; Ida May, the wife of Charles Osborn, of Casco township; Mary, who died at the age of eighteen years; Grant, who died in infancy ; Charles H., of Casco township ; and Minnie B., the wife of William Baker, of Seattle, Washington, who is principal, while his wife is matron of the Seattle Parental School. In June, 1886, Mr. Overhiser was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Henrietta Warfield, a daughter of Herman Fisher.
In politics Mr. Overhiser has been a lifelong Republican. On account of his absence from home he could not vote for Fremont, but has voted for every candidate at the head of the Republican ticket since that time. He made a personal call on President Harrison in Indianapolis after he was elected and was cordially received. He has filled some township offices, acting as highway commissioner of Casco township for three years, as collector for eleven consecutive years, and as supervisor for two years. He has voted at the same poll without missing a town meeting for forty years, and he has been a delegate to many county conventions and one state con- vention. He is likewise a member of the United Brethren church, with which he has been identified since coming to Michigan, and he has looked after the financial interests of the church for many years. He has assisted in the building of three houses of worship in Casco township and has served on the board of trustees and also on the building committees. He lias thus bcen a valued factor in political progress and moral development in the community and has exerted a wide and strongly-felt influence in behalf of justice, truth and right, of progress and improvement.
E. GUY LYMAN is one of the leading horticulturists of Allegan county and the Paragon Fruit Farm is well named, for upon it are produced some of the finest fruits raised in this part of the state. He has made a specialty of strawberries, which he in one instance marketed in October and Novem- ber, selling to the city trade, where, on account of the scarcity of the fruit at that time of year, it commanded very high prices. He is equally successful with other fruits and his opinions are largely received as authority upon matters of fruit culture.
Mr. Lyman is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Berlin township, Erie county, June 23, 1842. The Lyman family, to whom he traces his ancestry, came to Connecticut from England about 1630, while the ancestral history of the Dyer family, from whom Guy Lyman is descended in the maternal line, can be traced back in England to 1612. while representatives of the name came to the new world between that date and 1690. A great uncle of our subject belonging to the Lyman family dicd while serving in the Revolutionary war. His parents, Elijah and Sarah (Dycr) Lyman, were both natives of Connecticut and in childhood went to the western reserve of Ohio. Three of their children died in infancy.
E. Guy Lyman, the only surviving member of the family, lost his mother before hc was three years of age, at which time he went to live with his father's sister in Ashtabula county, Ohio. When he was nine years of age he accompanied his aunt and uncle on their removal to Cedar Rapids,
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Iowa, and after the death of his uncle at that place his aunt went to Leoni. Jackson county, Michigan, for the purpose of educating our subject, who pursued a partial course in the Michigan Union College. His school life was interrupted, however, by his military service, for in the fall of 1861, at the age of nineteen years, he enlisted from Jackson county, Michigan, as a member of Company C. Ninth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, under Captain C. V. DeLand. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Cumber- land and he was largely engaged in duty under General Thomas. He took part in the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga, and the Atlanta cam- paign. At the battle of Murfreesboro, July 13. 1862, he was taken prisoner. but after two days was paroled and in August was exchanged. He re-en- tered active service in the fall of 1862 and remained at the front until September 15, 1865, having re-enlisted at Chattanooga with his regiment in December. 1863. He was honorably discharged at Nashville and with a most creditable military record returned to his home, having done valorous service in defense of the Union.
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