A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 118

Author: Coolidge, Orville W
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1314

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land in this county. He married in 1853 Miss Elizabeth Salisbury, and their two chil- dren were Luella, the mother of Mr. Hewitt, and Wilber, who lives at his father's home.

John and Luella (Welch) Hewitt had the following children : William C., Bur- ten, of South Bend, Walter V., Clyde of Chicago, Floyd, Jay, of South Bend, Ida, wife of Richard Markley of South Bend, Mabel and Altie M.

William C. Hewitt married, December 31, 1895, Miss Elvie L. Boyle, a native of Galien township and a daughter of Hugh and Eliza (Robins) Boyle. Two sons have been born to them, Ray J. and Fred B.

HENRY D. INGLES was born on the farm in section 23 of Galien township where he still makes his home. Born February 7, 1866, his first shelter was a log cabin, which measured the prosperity of the family and the degree of progress of the day in the same manner as his modern home and im- provements indicate the conditions of the twentieth century.

The high school at Galien gave him his first stage of preparation for life, his name appearing with the class of 1889, and aft- erward he studied in Valparaiso Normal three terms. His ability as an educator is proved by thirteen years of teaching, all in this county. General farming and stock and fruit raising occupy his attention on the beautiful eighty acre farm in sections 14 and 23. Mr. Ingles is the owner of the Hambletonian stallion "Delsarte," one of the best known studs of this county. A grandson of Rysdyk's Hambletonian and a son of the great Dauntless, "Delsarte" is a combination of rare points and blood.

Mr. Ingles holds a license as minister of the United Brethren church and has served this denomination as preacher for the past five years. He is a member of Olive Branch United Brethren Church, and has held the offices of trustee, class leader, superintend- ent of Sunday school and nearly all the of- ficial positions. He is a lifelong Republican, affiliates with the K. O. T. M. at Galien, and served as school inspector for sixteen years.

Mr. Ingles is a son of one of the old

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28 H. Miller.

Mrs Eva miller

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

settlers of Berrien county. His father was George W. Ingles, who was born in Canan- daigua county, New York, at the age of twelve moved with his parents to Norwalk, Ohio, in which state the parents died. After his marriage George W. Ingles came to . Buchanan and Niles, Michigan, and in 1865 came to the farm where his son resides, and on which place he lived until his death in 1901 at the age of seventy. He was a Re- publican in politics, and held the office of highway commissioner for four or five years and at the time of his death was a member of Dowie's Zion church. His wife was Sarah Elizabeth Bachelor, who was born in Ohio and now lives with her son Henry. Their family consisted of eight children, two of whom died young, namely: Charles A., of Galien township; Ernest C., of Chicago; Jennie E., of Benton Harbor; Henry D .; Nellie C. Glover, who died in 1906; Grace Shoup, of Niles; Clarence C., deceased.

In 1889 Mr. Ingles married Miss Sadie S. Shedd, a member of one of the old fam- ilies of this county. She was born in Three Oaks township, March 30, 1871, a daughter of George and Helen (Hinman) Shedd. Mr. and Mrs. Ingles have one son, Vivian G.

FRANK THOMPSON. The pleasant country home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Thompson is located on section 18 of Galien township, on land that has been in Mrs. Thompson's family for more than forty years. One of the best known men of southern Berrien county during the last half of the last century was Davis Owen, Mrs. Thompson's father. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 10, 1823, he was brought by his parents to Marion county, Ohio, at the age of four years, and in 1852 moved to Noble county, Indiana, with his wife and one child. In 1865 he moved to Galien township and resided on the home- stead in section 18 until his death, Novem- ber 24, 1887. His handsome estate con- sisted of one hundred and eighty acres, one half of which is now owned by Mrs. Thompson.

Davis Owen was a son of Zelophade and Rebecca (Casner) Owen, natives of Wales, who came to America after their marriage,

and spent their last years in Marion county, Ohio. The father was a wealthy farmer, owning four large farms in Marion county. His large family consisted of ten sons and two daughters, only the youngest of whom, Eleazer, of Kendallville, Indiana, is still liv- ing. Davis Owen married, December 12, 1844, Mary Jane Woodruff, who was born in Ohio, March 28, 1823.

Mrs. Thompson is the elder of the two daughters of Davis Owen, her sister being Samantha Jane, wife of B. R. Sturns of Benton Harbor. Marie Emeline Owen was born March 2, 1850, and December 24, 1871, was married to Frank Simpson, by whom she had two children, Lena B., wife of Alden Earl; and Floyd D., deceased. In 1885 she married Mr. Frank Thompson, and they have two children, Ford Alden and Earl Leo.

Mr. Thompson was born in St. Joseph county, Indiana, December 21, 1860, and since the age of fourteen has lived in Ga- lien township. He has always followed the occupation of farmer. He is a Democrat in politics, and affiliates with the I. O. O. F. and the K. O. T. M. at Galien and the M. WV. A. at Three Oaks. Mr. Thompson's parents were William G. and Eliza (Fulton) Thompson, natives of New York and Penn- sylvania, respectively, who were married after their removal to Indiana. The mother died three years ago, and the father now lives at Three Oaks. There were four sons in their family.

WILLIAM HENRY MILLER, living on section 29, Berrien township, where he carries on general agricultural pursuits, was born in Preble county, Ohio, November 21, 1837, and is a representative of a family that was established in America in colonial days. His paternal grandfather, David Mil- ler, was a Revolutionary soldier and spent the greater part of his life upon the farm in Montgomery county, Ohio, where his son, Henry Miller, the father of our subject, was born and reared. The family is sup- posed to be of Scotch, Welsh, Irish and German lineage. On leaving his native county Henry Miller removed to Preble county, Ohio, and there earned and followed

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

the hatter's trade and subsequently engaged in the manufacture of hats at Winchester, Ohio, where he died at the age of thirty- nine years. His wife, Mrs. Nancy ( Simp- son) Miller, was a native of Maryland, where she remained until early womanhood, when she accompanied her parents, Walter and Elizabeth Simpson, to Ohio. She came to Berrien county, Michigan, in 1849, lo- cating on section 29. Berrien township. She brought with her a family, numbering four sons and a daughter, the eldest of whom was 'bout seventeen years of age, while the youngest was nine years old.

William Henry Miller was the third child and second son, and was a youth of twelve years when he arrived in Berrien township. He was reared in his mother's home and assisted her in the farm work until after the inauguration of the Civil war, when he put aside all business and per- sonal considerations and with patriotic ardor espoused the cause of the Union, enlisting as a member of Company I, Twelfth Michi- gan Volunteer Infantry. He joined the army as a private and was elected sergeant on the organization of the company while later he was promoted to orderly sergeant and afterward to first lieutenant, holding that rank when honorably discharged after a service which covered three years and eight months. He then re-enlisted as a vet- eran in the same company and regiment. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Iuka, Metamora, Little Rock, the siege of Vicks- burg and many other military movements of lesser importance. He was in active duty throughout the entire period of his connec- tion with the army save for about four weeks, when he was in the hospital and on a furlough home. He resigned in May, 1865, and returned to Berrien township, having made a splendid military record by reason of his unfaltering fidelity to the old flag and the cause it represented.

When he again became a factor in busi- ness life in Berrien county Mr. Miller pur- chased the interest of the other heirs in the old homestead and was engaged in general farming and stock-raising. He was married June 25. 1865, to Miss Eva Johnson, a daughter of John and Annie (Lybrook)

Johnson, who were pioneer residents of Ber- rien township. In their home there on sec- tion 29 Mrs. Miller was born and her girl- hood days were spent under the parental roof. Mr. Miller took his bride to the old home place on which he had located with his mother many years before and here he has lived continuously since, and their marriage. has been blessed with two children, Jose- phine and Fred, but the latter died when about six months old. The daughter is now the wife of Royal Morris, by whom she has two children, Eva L., in eighth grade, and Henry M., in the fifth grade, and they reside with Mr. Miller on the old home place.

Mr. Miller is now the owner of one hun- dred and twelve acres of excellent land on section 29, also has eighty-five acres on sec- tion 18 and twenty acres on section 30, Ber- rien township, making in all two hundred and seventeen acres. He rents the farm to his son-in-law and is practically living re- tired from the more arduous duties of an agricultural life. In politics he has been a stalwart and earnest Republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, standing loyally by the party which was the support of the Union in the dark days of the Civil war and he has always been the champion of progress and reform. He has acted as treasurer of his township and is now justice of the peace and in connection with educational interests has done effective service in an official capacity. For many years he has been a member of Kilpatrick Post, No. 39, G. A. R., at Berrien Springs, in which he has filled all of the offices and is now chaplain. He and wife belong to- the United Brethren Church in the township of Berrien, and his life, upright in its prin- ciples, has been in entire harmony with his professions. Living in Berrien county for fifty-seven years he may well be classed among the pioneer residents and his fidelity to every manly principle makes him a man honored and esteemed by all with whom he has been associated.

Mr. Miller has a curiosity in the way of a relic deed. It is the description of a piece of land, and the surveys are made by "metes and bounds," and it is made under the com- monwealth of Virginia when Governor

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

James Wood was governor of the Colony of Virginia. The date of execution is given June 22, 1797, two years before General Washington died. This parchment deed is the oldest deed possibly found in the state of Michigan, being one hundred and nine years old. Mr. Miller, who is one of the prosperous farmers as well as a veteran of the Civil war and a resident of Berrien county, Michigan, values this parchment highly. Mrs. Miller has an old coverlet which her mother wove and is three-quarters of a century old. They have an old Testa- ment of 1828 and the Bible of 1835, and they also have one of the old-fashioned hand sickles, which is a pioneer implement. It was in 1904 that Mr. and Mrs. Miller met with the severe loss of their barns, but they have builded anew.

CHARLES A. VINTON. Mr. Vin- ton's home and estate are on section 15 of Galien township, where he has lived and prospered and enjoyed the esteem of his neighbors for the past ten or twelve years.

Born at Wabash, Indiana, May 27, 1855, when three or four years old he went with his parents to a new home at Plainfield, in Will county, Illinois, and two years later came to Wesaw township in this county, so that he has been a Berrien county citizen over forty years. After a residence of six years in Wesaw the family moved to Galien township. On the father's death about 1870 the family broke up, and the son Charles then spent about five years in Iowa as a wage earner. On his return to the county he married and has since been a successful farmer, his present farm being the third on which he has lived. He built a good barn and has made many other improvements, fruit being easily raised on his land.

Mr. Vinton has been a lifelong Repub- lican, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Galien and the Masonic lodge at Three Oaks and the K. O. T. M. at Galien.

Mr. Vinton was by force of circum- stances compelled to take up the serious du- ties of life at an early age. His father, Franklin Vinton, a native of Vermont, died when Charles was fifteen, and the death of

his mother, Olive ( Rareck), when he was only six years old made him an orphan be- fore he had attained the maturity essential to a life of activity. But fortune favored him in the person of a kind employer. He never fails to record his debt of gratitude to H. L. Dobson, for whom he worked three years at a time when his character was form- ing and when the advice and kindly consid- eration of his employer made a lasting im- pression. He still keeps up a correspond- ence with this old gentleman, now over ninety years of age, and has several times visited him since he became independent in his position in life. Mr. Vinton was the next to the youngest of his father's nine children by the first wife, and there was one child by a second marriage.

In 1879 Mr. Vinton married Miss Ella J. Ingles, who was born in Huron county, Ohio, and when young came to Berrien county with her parents, Charles H. and Emily Ingles. Her mother is deceased but her father resides at the Vinton home. One son, Lloyd, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Vinton. He is a resident of South Bend, Indiana. Mr. Vinton has always been a busy man and has applied himself actively to the affairs of his career, but several years ago made an extended trip to the Pacific coast to recover his health and recuperate himself for a continued activity.

ALONZO GOODENOUGH. After four years of eventful and severe service in the war of the rebellion Mr. Goodenough moved west from his native home in New England and found in Berrien county the residence which has continued in content- ment and prosperity for the subsequent forty years. Born at Guilford, Windom county, Vermont, March 20, 1841, spending the first fourteen years on a farm and then learning the blacksmith trade and following it until twenty years old, on May 4. 1861. he en- listed for service in the Civil war as a mem- ber of Company A, Second Vermont In- fantry, under Colonel Walbridge. From the first Bull Run disaster to the final achieve- ment at Appomattox he was in thirty-eight battles, being a member of the Army of the Potomac, Sixth Army Corps under Gen.

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

Sedgwick. His term of service having ex- pired, he re-enlisted in the same command in 1864. He was wounded in the battle at Fredericksburg and at Cedar Creek, spend- ing two months in the hospital the first time and four the second time, refusing to take his discharge on account of the wounds. He became an orderly sergeant, and his long and faithful service is a treasure of honor not for himself alone but for his whole family.

He remained only a brief time in Ver- mont and in the fall of 1865 came to Ber- rien county, and has lived on his farm in Galien township ever since. His one hun- dred and twenty-nine acres are divided into three farms, lying in sections 17 and 8, and Mr. Goodenough cleared practically all this land and placed it under cultivation and up- to-date improvements. Grain, stock, dairy and fruit raising are the features of his farm- ing, and he has also followed the trade of mason to some extent.

Politically he has been a Republican all his life. He affiliates with the Masonic lodge No. 239 at Three Oaks, and is a mem- ber and for two years served as commander of George E. Curtis Post No. 208, G. A. R. at Galien.

The Goodenoughs are of English de- scent, the family having been founded in America during colonial days. Mr. Good- enough's father, Gaius R., and mother Eunice (Worden), were natives of and lived in Vermont all their lives. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and served as a lieu- tenant in the state militia. He was a leader in Methodist church work, and a member of the old Whig party until it became the Republican organization. His four children were: Mary Melvina Haynes; Arthur; Francis, who was a soldier in the Twentieth Indiana Infantry, Company E, and was crip- pled for life at Gettysburg; and Alonzo. By a second marriage the father had two children.

March 17, 1866 Mr. Alonzo Goodenough married Miss Margaret Heckenthorn, who was born in Stark county, Ohio, April 30, 1845, a daughter of Daniel and Mary Heckenthorn, natives respectively of Penn- sylvania and Germany. The nine children

born of their union are named as follows : Henry . Alonzo, of Galien township; Cassie Maria, with her parents; Charles E., of Galien; Jesse, a school teacher of Benton Harbor; Burton, of Three Oaks; Mary Minnie, at home; Christopher, of Three Oaks; Ralph, at home; Hazel Grace, at home.

FRANK BREWER. Mr. Brewer owns and cultivates a farm on Garwood lake in section 12 of Galien township which was owned in the pioneer period by a Mr. Ly- brook, a member of that sturdy family well known to the early history of all this region. Mr. Brewer himself has some claim to be reckoned among old settlers, since he was born in Niles April 1, 1856, and has lived in the county half a century. A few months after his birth his parents moved to a farm three miles north of Niles, five years later moved to Bertrand township, living about Dayton ten or twelve years, and in Galien township since. Mr. Brewer has been on his present farm for twenty years, owning one hundred and thirty-seven acres of pro- ductive land which has been improved and made valuable largely through his own in- dustry, he alone having cleared thirty acres of heavy timber. Grain and stock are the principal crops.

A Democrat in politics, Mr. Brewer has been nominated to a number of minor of- fices, though his party has never been suc- cessful in securing the lead in this part of the county. He is affiliated with the K. O. T. M. at Galien, and is commander of the tent.

Mr. Brewer was a son of William and Elmira (Allen) Brewer, both father and mother having been married a previous time. The father died at the home of his son Frank aged eighty-eight years, and the mother at the age of ninety-two. Their three children were William, deceased, Hattie, who died aged nine years, and Frank. The father had four children by his first mar- riage.

In 1883 Mr. Brewer married Miss Minerva Salesbury, who was born in Galien township March 13, 1861, a daughter of Horace and Rebecca (Young) Salesbury.

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Her parents were married in Ohio and came from that state to Berrien county, from which her father enlisted in 1861 for service in the war and died while in the army. Mr. and Mrs. Brewer have three children, Stan- ley Allen, Verna, now Mrs. Lewis Kool, and Howard, at home.

ALVIN MORLEY, living on section 2, Wesaw township, was born in Lake town- ship, this county, on the 22d of March, 1850. His parents were Ebenezer P. and Alzina (Lansing) Morley, both of whom were na- tives of New York and in 1847 they became residents of Lake township, Berrien county, casting in their lot with the early settlers who aided in reclaiming this region for the purposes of civilization. In the family were ten children, of whom the subject of this review was the fifth in order of birth.

Alvin Morley resided upon the old home- stead farm of his father in Lake township until 1866, when the parents removed to New Troy. He completed his education in the high school of New Troy and in a select school at New Carlisle, Indiana, where he re- mained as a student for two years. He then began teaching in the winter seasons and worked on the farm in the summer months and thus he made his start in the business world. In 1877 he went to the Black Hills and the Big Horn country of the north- west, spending three years in that section of the country engaged in prospecting most of the time. He then returned to Michigan and purchased the old homestead in Lake township, since which time he has owned and operated this farm. It comprises one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 35 and he resided there for ten years, when in 1889 he purchased his present home place. Here he has seventy-three acres of land which is just across the road from his other tract, on section 2, Wesaw township. It is called the Fairview Farm and is well named. Stock raising is the principal feature of the farm work and the place is well improved, having many fine buildings upon it together with the latest improved machinery and other evidences of the progressive and enter- prising spirit of the owner. Mr. Morley de- votes his entire time and attention to the

further cultivation and improvement of these two farms and is justly accounted one of the leading agriculturists of his part of the county.

Mr. Morley has been married twice. In 1882 he wedded Miss Emma J. Harper, a native of Crown Point, Indiana, and a daughter of B. D. Harper, a printer and newspaper man, now deceased. There were three children by the first marriage: Etha O., now the wife of Henry Wolkins. of Wesaw township; Winifred C., a stenog- rapher of Elkhart, Indiana; and Bernice I., who resides at home and attends school. . In 1892 Mr. Morley was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Ella M. Phillips Riley, a native of New York, by whom he had one son, Homer P. Mr. Mor- ley lost his second wife on the 4th of Octo- ber, 1905, as the result of burns which she sustained on the 4th of July previous.

In his religious faith Mr. Morley is a Spiritualist. Politically he is a Democrat and was elected the first superintendent of schools of Wesaw township when the law was changed and the township system in- augurated. He has held various official positions in connection with the schools and has done much to advance the cause of edu- cation. He collected the interest on the first railroad bond of Lake township and has al- ways taken an active part in furthering the work of public progress and improvement. He has been a devoted member of the Odd Fellows society since 1873, belonging to the lodge at Glendora, and he also belongs to Wesaw lodge, K. O. T. M. He was master and secretary of the Grange for a number of years and his interest covers many public works and plans that are of direct benefit to the entire community. He and the other members of the Morley family are success- ful agriculturists and have thoroughly modern farms equipped with all of the im- provements known to the twentieth century.

FRED A. TICHENOR, successfully en- gaged in farming on section 7, Niles town- ship, was born upon the farm where he now resides, May 5. 1867. His father, George Tichenor, was a native of Cass county, Mich- igan, and a son of Joseph M. Tichenor,

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whose birth occurred in New Jersey. The He is also a member of the Masonic fra- latter came to Michigan during the pioneer epoch in the history of this state and lo- cated in Jefferson township, Cass county, where he spent his remaining days, and when called to his final rest his grave was made in the Edwardsburg cemetery.

Upon the home farm in Jefferson town- ship. Cass county. George Tichenor was reared, while his education was acquired in the public schools nearby. He was married. however. in Berrien county, Michigan, and located upon the farm which is now the home of our subject. Here he lived to the age of forty-five years, when his life's labors were ended in death. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Anna Blake, was a native of Indiana, and resides in Michigan but her people were early settlers of Berrien county. Her home is now in Buchanan, and by her marriage she became the mother of five sons and two daughters. The eldest died at the age of sixteen years but the others are still living.

Fred A. Tichenor, the third child and second son of the family, was reared in Niles township and to the district schools is in- debted for the educational privileges he en- joyed. Later he was a student in the high school at Buchanan. He remained at home until his marriage, which was celebrated in 1893. Miss Martha M. Wells becoming his wife. She is a daughter of Francis and Rachel ( Herkimer) Wells, who were early settlers of Bertrand township, Berrien coun- ty. Mrs. Tichenor was born and reared in Bertrand township and has continuously re- mained a resident of this county, where she has many warm friends. The young couple began their domestic life upon the farm where they now reside and here Mr. Tiche- nor has always carried on general agricul- tural pursuits, placing his land under a high state of cultivation. He has one hundred and sixty acres, constituting a well improved farm. In politics he is a Democrat and has taken an active part in the growth and suc- cess of the principles in which he believes. He has served as township clerk, as township treasurer and as supervisor, filling the last mentioned office for five years and twice elected chairman of the board of supervisors.

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A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 118

Author: Coolidge, Orville W Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Coolidge, Orville W
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1314