A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 125

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

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Dakota, where he died in 1899, while his widow now makes her home with her sis- ter, Carrie, who is the youngest of the fam- ily. After the death of the parents the heirs sold the old homestead property in 1891 and Miss Carrie Nott has since purchased a five acre farm near Benton Harbor, on which she has erected a neat and comfortable resi- dence, where she now lives. Her farm is set out to fruit and is well cultivated and in its management she displays excellent business ability. She has always lived in this county and has many warm friends here.

GEORGE MORLOCK is engaged in general farming and makes a specialty of the cultivation of peppermint. He was also the founder of the Watervliet Creamery, and is proprietor of the Watervliet Dairy Farm. He likewise breeds Guernsey cattle and in addition to the development of his business is meeting with gratifying success, his unremitting diligence, close application and keen sagacity being the salient features of his business career. He is a native son of Berrien county, having been born June 19, 1867, near his present place of residence. His parents were August and Eveline (Muth) Morlock. The mother passed away in April, 1900, and the father is now living in St. Joseph, Michigan. For many years. however, he was an agriculturist.

George Morlock was reared to the occu- pation of farming, early gaining practical experience in the work of field and meadow. He came to his present place in 1883 and has here one hundred and ten acres. It is all bottom or muck land and is situated about two and a half miles southwest of Watervliet. When he took possession ten acres had been cleared and he now has sixty- five acres cleared and under cultivation. He raises various cereals adapted to soil and climate, and makes a specialty of cultivating peppermint, growing from four to fifteen acres for the past nine years. This is an important branch of his business. For five years he has conducted the Watervliet Dairy, milking nine cows. He bottles the milk, which is especially cooled by a cooler

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before bottling, and is aerated by the same process. He keeps thoroughbred Guernsey cows, having a herd of ten, and he is also a breeder of Guernsey stock, having sold cows as high as two hundred dollars. He has also exhibited his stock at the Benton Harbor fair, where he has taken a number of premiums. He started with a herd of six, secured in New York. His butter fat test was five per cent. at the Watervliet creamery, while the average of other stock was only four and four tenths per cent. One of his cows, Mistress Marie, a two-year old, from ten thousand pounds of milk yielded in a single year five hundred pounds of butter. Mr. Morlock also raised the money with which to start the Watervliet Creamery and is one of its stockholders and directors. This has been a profitable enterprise, paying over thirty per cent. dividends. It has also encouraged the farmers to raise cattle for the production of milk, skimming over four- teen thousand pounds of milk daily. Mr. Morlock has three flowing wells on his farm, the deepest being sixty-two feet, and from it is supplied the water to run the engines to distill peppermint oil and also for the opera- tion of the dairy machinery. Altogether his is a splendidly equipped farm, on which many modern mechanical devices are found for the facilitating of the work that is there carried on.

In his political views Mr. Morlock is a Republican and has several times served as a delegate to the conventions of his party but he has never sought the rewards of of- fice, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs which are con- stantly growing in extent and importance. He is now one of the prominent representa- tives of agricultural interests in its various branches in Berrien county and a glance at his farm with its modern accessories, char- acterized by neatness and thrift in every de- partment, indicates him to be a man most progressive as well as of practical spirit.

THOMAS W. PRICE, living in Ber- rien Springs, Oronoko township, is a native of Buchanan township, his life record hav- ing there begun on the 30th of July, 1863.

His father, Nathan G. Price, was a native of Union county, Ohio, where he was reared and educated. He became a farmer by occu- pation and in the year 1860 removed from the Buckeye State to Michigan, settling in what is now Buchanan township, Berrien county. There he remained until 1862, when he located in Lincoln township, making his home upon a farm there until 1868, when he removed to Oronoko township, living there until his death in 1904, which oc- curred when he was in his sixty-second year. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Helen Vary, was a native of Buffalo, New York, and was reared in Canada. Her father, W. L. Vary, was likewise born in the Empire State. Mrs. Price still survives her husband and is now living at the age of sixty-two years.

In the family were seven children, of whom Thomas W. Price is the eldest. He was only about five years of age when the family removed from Buchanan to Oronoko township, where he has since lived. His life has been devoted to general agricultural pur- suits and in the development and improve- ment of his farm he has displayed good business ability, executive force and unfalter- ing energy. He now makes his home with the family of C. T. Whetstone. In his political affiliation he is a stanch Republi- can and is thoroughly in sympathy with the principles of the party but has never sought or desired office, preferring to con- centrate his energies upon his business af- fairs, which, capably managed, are bringing him a gratifying measure of success.

FRED DUKESCHERER, who mani- fests a public-spirited interest in local affairs relating to the welfare and benefit of liis community, at the same time gives a due proportion of attention to his private busi- ness interests, carefully conducting his farn along modern lines of progress, was born in Nassau, Germany, on the 2d of May. 1844. His father, Wilhelm Dukescherer. was prob- ably left an orphan in very early life. for at the age of seven years he was out with strangers and thus grew to manliood. He wedded Miss Dorothy Wert, who lived with

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

a sister in her early girlhood, or until old enough to earn her own living. There were six children born of this marriage before the parents emigrated to the new world. The year 1846 saw the family embark for the United States and on the 2d of May of that year they arrived in St. Joseph, Michi- gan, on which date Fred Dukescherer was two years old. Michael Humphrey, an old neighbor in Germany, had already come to the United States and his family crossed the Atlantic on the same vessel on which the Dukescherers had sailed and the two families came together to Michigan, arriv- ing at St. Joseph on the day designated. Wilhelm Dukescherer purchased wild land in Bainbridge township, ten miles east of Benton Harbor and two miles north of the Territorial road, the farm extending to the north line 'of the township. He came to this country with very limited financial re- sources. In Germany he had been able to earn nothing more than a living, working as a teamster, and discouraged at the prospect of ever improving his condition there he resolved to try his fortune in America, be- lieving that better opportunities might be enjoyed in this country. Accordingly when he had reached the half century mark on the journey of life he sailed for the United States, spending eighty-six days on the water, and added to this was the trip from New York to the west by way of the lakes from Buffalo to Chicago and thence across Lake Michigan to Berrien county. He found a district largely unimproved and Benton Harbor contained but one house. He settled upon that farm and there lived until his life's labors were ended in death in 1879, when he was eighty-six years of age. His wife died in 1870, in the seventy- third year of her age. His life was one of untiring industry and enterprise and he transformed one hundred and ten acres of his farm of one hundred and twenty acres from a state of barrenness into one of rich fertility. He made good improvements upon the place, erected substantial buildings and fences and set out good orchards. He also helped to build several schools and churches in the county and in all of his

work whether as a citizen or private indi- vidual he was energetic and determined and his labors resulted in the development of one of the best farms in Bainbridge town- ship. He held membership in the Catholic Church, while his wife was of the Lutheran faith, and he was buried in Bainbridge ceme- tery within a stone's throw of his own home. He had been one of the charter members of the church which stood about a half mile distant from his home. While holding op- posite views on religious questions Mr. and Mrs. Dukescherer never had any unpleasant discussions about the matter. She was as active in her church as her husband was in his, and the children were reared in the Lutheran faith. The members of this fam- ily are: Margaret, who became the wife of Jacob Schous, of Bainbridge township, and died at the age of seventy-three years ; Eliza- beth, who is the widow of Henry Ashoff, of Royalton, Michigan; Henry, a retired farmer of Bainbridge township, now living in Benton Harbor: Charles, who was a farmer in Watervliet township and died at the age of sixty-six years; Fred, whose name introduces this record; John, who is living on a farm near Benton Harbor ; Will- iam, a carpenter residing in Muskegon, Michigan ; and Louise, the wife of Charles Heyne, of Stevensville. Michigan.

Fred Dukescherer remained at home un- til twenty-five years of age, and during that period assisted in the arduous task of de- veloping and cultivating a new farm as his age and strength permitted, giving his father the benefit of his services through the period of his boyhood and youth. He acquired his education in the public schools and gained from practical experience the knowledge which has enabled him to carefully conduct his own business interests in later years. When twenty-five years of age he left home and was married to Miss Elizabeth Bul- linger, of Bainbridge township, a daughter of Simeon Buhlinger, also a pioneer, who from an early day was connected with the substantial improvement and development of this part of the state.

Fred Dukescherer learned the butcher's trade in Chicago and followed that pursuit

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in St. Joseph and also in Kalamazoo, Michi- gan, for twelve years. He devoted a quarter of a century to the business in which he con- tinued until 1896, when he came to his pres- ent farm in Hagar township. Here he has one hundred acres of land all now improved and he is engaged in the dairy business and general farming, keeping from eight to twelve cows and selling milk to the whole- sale trade in Benton Harbor. His cattle are of the red polled variety. His fields are richly cultivated and he has upon his farm all of the equipments and accessories of a model property, indicating his careful super- vision and determination as well as his busi- ness ability.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Dukescherer have been born a daughter and three sons : Sophia, now the wife of T. W. Carpenter, a printer of Chicago; Charles, who is en- gaged in the grocery business in Chicago; Frank, a butcher of the same city ; and Will, who is assisting in the work of the home farm. The father is a Democrat in his politi- cal views where there are party issues be- fore the people but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He has spent almost his entire life in Michigan, having been brought to Berrien county when but two years old and save for the period passed in Chicago at the butcher's trade has always lived in this state. Whatever success he has attained has resulted from his own labors, for he has worked persistently and zealously at his trade and at farm labor in order to make a good start in life and secure a competence that will provide him with the comforts and luxuries of life and also give him a goodly sum for old age.

WILLIAM T. ADAMS, a contractor and builder, who has a reputation for fine work and has therefore been accorded a liberal public support, is now operating ex- tensively in Niles, where since 1870 he has made his home. He was born in Harris township, St. Joseph county, Indiana, in 1842, his parents being James and Sereptine (Lynch) Adams. The father was born in Delaware, and in 1832 came to the middle west, settling in Chicago. He walked the

entire distance, and when he reached the St. Joseph river he was assisted across the stream by the Indians. On arriving at his destination he found a small village upon a wet prairie. It was five years later before the city was incorporated. He at once en- gaged in carpenter work there, and built the first jail in Chicago, the structure being made of logs. In the fall of the same year he returned to Delaware, for he had become convinced that the western country had good future prospects, and he not only brought with him his own family but also his father and mother. They settled in Cass county, Michigan, where with his brother, James Adams, he purchased eighty acres of land from the government, on which not a fur- row had been turned nor an improvement made. He lived a strenuous life, working earnestly and indefatigably to reclaim the land for the purposes of civilization, and he added to his holdings from time to time. He paid for his first eighty acres only one dollar per acre, and for the next purchase he paid six dollars per acre. He success- fully continued in farming up to the time of his death, although in later years he was largely relieved of the active work con- nected with the cultivation and development of his place. He was born in 1801 and died in 1888, thus having reached an advanced age, while his wife, who was born in 1814. passed away at the age of seventy-six years. In their family were six children, of whom three died in early life. The others are: William T .; John, who is living near the old homestead in Cass county, Michigan : and Elizabeth, the wife of William Tuttle, of Kalamazoo, this state.

William T. Adams was reared in the state of his nativity, and in early life learned the carpenter's trade at McLean, Illinois. where he served a three years apprentice- ship. He afterward worked as a journey- man, and in 1870 he came to Niles, where for four years he continued in the employ of others in the line of his chosen occupa- tion. He then began business on his own account as a contractor and builder. and for almost a third of a century has been identi- fied with building operations in Niles, hav-

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ing been accorded a liberal share of work in this direction. He has erected many resi- dences and other buildings and has a repu- tation for doing honest and capable work. As the years have gone by a liberal patron- age has brought him a desirable measure of success, and he is accounted one of the leading representatives of the industrial in- terests in Niles.

Mr. Adams was married in this city in 1873 to Miss Georgiana Webb, and unto them have been born two children, Harry and Bessie, both born in Niles. In his politi- cal views Mr. Adams is a Democrat, and at one time was a member of the city council from the second ward, filling the office about ten years ago. He was also for ten years a member of the board of public works at Niles, and for one year was president of the board. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having joined the or- ganization more than forty-three years ago at Edwardsburg in Cass county, and is one of the oldest Odd Fellows in this part of the state. The family attend the Methodist Church and are well known in Niles, the hospitality of their home being greatly en- joyed by many friends.

HIRAM S. HELMICK. When the settlers in Oronoko township were compar- atively few and the work of civilization and improvement had scarcely been begun here, Hiram S. Helmick settled within its borders and he now lives on section 4, where he is giving personal supervision to the further improvement and operation of his farm. A native of Ohio, he was born in Warren county, on the 23d of February, 1830. His father, Jesse Helmick, was a native of Vir- ginia, and in his boyhood days was left an orphan. He afterward went to Kentucky and subsequently to Ohio, where he was married to Miss Elizabeth Simington, a na- tive of Warren county, that state. They took up their abode in Warren county, where they resided until the fall of 1836, when they came to Berrien county, Michigan, settling in Oronoko township, where Mr. Helmick purchased a half section of land. Not a fur- row had been turned nor an improvement

made upon the place. He built a log house and also a blacksmith shop, this being the first smithy in the township. He carried on the dual occupation of blacksmithing and farming throughout his remaining days and was an active factor in the early progress of the county, being recognized not only as an enterprising business man but also as one whose devotion to the public good was above question. He served as associate judge of Berrien county and was supervisor of his township, and justice of the peace many years. He was well known throughout the county as one of its worthy and valued pio- neer settlers, and his labors proved an im- portant element in its early development. He held membership in the Methodist Epis- copal Church and through his active co- i operation in its work contributed in substan- : tial measure to the moral development of the : community. He acted as recording steward : of the church for many years and died in that faith in his seventy-fourth year. The . - ----- --- -- county thereby lost one of its valued and representative citizens. He was particularly ; prominent in the early days and held as many as three offices at one time. He was a member of the first township board and he : aided in molding public thought and opinion and in shaping the early policy of the coun- - ty during its formative period.

Hiram S. Helmick was the fourth in order of birth in a family of eleven children, ' nine of whom reached adult age. He is the eldest now living and was in his seventh year when he arrived in Berrien county, Michi- gan. He was reared in Oronoko township : and pursued his education in one of the old- time log school houses, which stood upon his father's farm. It was furnished in the primitive manner of the times and the curri- culum was not very extensive. Later he coll- tinued his studies in the Burk schoolhouse in Oronoko township, and his education completed he assisted in the work of the home farm and in the shop. He was trained , to habits of industry and economy and as the years have gone by these traits have ; borne rich fruit in a successful business ca- reer.

Mr. Helmick has been married twice.

H S. Helmick

....

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In April, 1852 he wedded Miss Lydia A. Scott, who died leaving five children, two sons and three daughters: Ambrose, who resides upon the farm with his father ; Jesse, deceased; Alice, the wife of James Fulton, of Royalton township; Mary, deceased ; and Winnie, the wife of George Baily, of Oro- noko township. At the time of the death of Mrs. Ambrose Helmick, the following lines appeared in one of the local papers :

"Mrs. Orpha Canfield Helmick was born in Ontario, Canada, December 15, 1852, and died at her home near Hinchman, in Oro- noko, Mich., Sept. 25, 1906.

"She was twice married. She leaves a married daughter by her first husband. She was married to Ambrose M. Hemlick Janu- ary 19, 1872. A son was born to them twenty-three years ago. His untimely death together with his bride of less than four months by a terrible accident August 7, and which was recorded in the 'Advocate,' was a shock the mother never overcame. For days she was in terrible agony and unable to shed a tear. It brought on an affection of the bowels and heart with a fatal termin- ation, her death occurring just seven weeks from that of her son. She was a good

woman. Those who knew her best loved her most. She was free from deceit, cant and hypocrisy. She was an affectionate wife and a true mother. Her joy last winter when many young people, including her only son, gave their hearts to God was in- tense. Few were more gifted in prayer and testimony than she. Her ambition was far in excess of her strength. She worked often when she needed absolute rest. Brother Helmick has the sympathy of the church in his triple bereavement. Two months ago there was a happy home of four members. Now our brother is alone. And yet he is not alone, for his faith in his Heavenly Father is unshaken. The funeral services were held in the church at Berrien Springs conducted by her pastor, September 27, and her remains deposited in Rose Hill ceme- tery."

In 1903 Hiram S. Hemlick was again married, his second union being with Sarah Jane Dillman.

The present home of Mr. Helmick is a farm of two hundred and sixty-three acres, which is now operated by-his son Ambrose. In 1864, he went across the plains to Idaho, Montana and the Black Hills and took the first quartz mill to Idaho. There he engaged in mining and prospecting, spending about two and one half years in the northwest. They came down the Missouri river, a dis- tance of twenty-two hundred miles, landing at Yankton, South Dakota, and thence pro- ceeded by stage to New Jefferson, where they boarded a railroad train that conveye 1 them to Chicago. From that city Mr. Hel- mick returned to Berrien county, and later was actively associated with the business interests of Berrien Springs as proprietor oi a grocery and restaurant. In 1870 he pur- chased his present farm, where he has re- sided continuously since. He has lived in Berrien county for about seventy years and has been identified with its making. In poli- tics he is a Democrat and has filled the office of justice of the peace. He is one of the active members and faithful workers in the Methodist Episcopal church at Hinchman, serving as one of its trustees, and as a mem- ber of the building committee. He arrived in this county in pioneer times, finding here a largely unimproved district. There were many traces of Indian habitation yet to be found and in the forests were many kinds of wild game, deer being yet occasionally killed. The timber was uncut, the land un- cultivated and the rivers unbridged, while only a comparatively few of the roads had been laid out. The county largely awaited the awakening touch of civilization but the enterprise and energy of the early settlers soon wrought a marked transformation and in the work of improvement Mr. Helmick has always borne his full share.

JOHN PEO has resided continuously in New Buffalo since 1866 and is therefore largely familiar with its history and with the development of this part of the county. He was born in Mecklenburg, Schwerin, on the 30th of August, 1839, a son of William and Dora (Schutt) Peo, also natives of Mecklenburg. His paternal grandfather,

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William Peo, was a Frenchman and served in the Napoleonic wars. At length he was taken prisoner and at Hanover was given his liberty, but afterward remained a resi- dent of Germany. It was in the year 1862 that William Peo, father of our subject, came to the United States. His wife ac- companied him on the start but died while on the ocean. The family were fifteen weeks and three days in crossing the Atlantic and after reaching the shores of the new world Mr. Peo came to Berrien county, Michigan, where he spent his remaining days, passing away in 1874. He was a millwright by trade. In the family were eight children, all of whom came to the United States, namely : Ernest, who is now living in New Buffalo : William, of Laporte, Indiana, now deceased; Mrs. Mary Walters, also residing in New Buffalo; Charles, who makes his home in Laporte; Mrs. Lena Brinkman, liv- ing in Michigan City; Chriss, a real estate dealer of Chicago; and Ludwig, who died in Detroit, Michigan, at the age of seventeen years.

John Peo, who is the fifth in order of birth in this family, continued a resident of his native country until twenty-six years of age and in accordance with the laws of his native land attended the public schools until fourteen years of age. He then began learn- ing the blacksmith's trade, at which he served a four years' apprenticeship and re- ceived a diploma. He then traveled for three years, working at his trade, and he also served for two years in the German army as a member of the engineers corps. He worked at blacksmithing in Schwerin for a year and a half and owing to his good behavior in the army during two years he secured a position on the government rail- road to learn locomotive work. In the mean- time his parents had come to America and the father persuaded Mr. Peo to join him here. Accordingly in the year 1866 the son crossed the Atlantic and made his way to New Buffalo, where he has resided con- tinuously since. He worked for six weeks here as a blacksmith and then established a shop of his own. doing blacksmithing and wagon making and repairing. He conducted

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A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 125

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