A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 156

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

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sistent efforts to do the will of God, his own life broadened out and was enriched. Some men's lives narrow in and become less and less joyous and free. His, on the contrary, became larger and fuller. Things kept com- ing his way. He sought the Kingdom of God, and the pleasures and profits of earthly life were added to him. This was noticeable during the last two years. He was on the road to better things right along. And now, since he has gone has he not already found that the second half of the text is true, and that Godliness is profitable also for the life to come? He is the kind of man that God likes, and must we not believe that his 'un- timely' death is to be explained on the ground that God wanted to promote him to some position and service in the other world ?"

Perhaps no one knew Mr. Sherwood better than his lifelong friend, Mr. E. K. Warren, with whose testimony this review closes : "Quite naturally I had expected that Mr. Sherwood, my friend, would be one of those who would perform this service for me, but he was called first. The words that I shall speak are not only for myself but I desire to voice the feelings as far as possible of a large number of Mr. Sherwood's friends. One-half or more of the audience before me have known him twenty years or more, many of them longer; some of them as his early schoolmates. Deep sorrow per- vades our whole community at the loss of such a man, and when the news came the thought expressed, was, 'Mr. Sherwood, why he was my personal friend.' He had a wonderful faculty of winning confidence and friendship. He naturally begat confi- dence and thus strong friendships were made, and many of us have lost a valued personal friend.

"His life was a great success. All about him in these floral emblems I see evidences of our love, appreciation and sympathy for our friend. I am glad to say that they were not withheld from him until his death, but that in some measure at least he was ad- vised of our confidence and appreciation of him. Only a few weeks since in our Sun- day-school we devoted the greater part of

the session in telling Mr. Sherwood what we thought of him. It was his last Sabbath with us. He had been for many years a faithful member of the church and an of- ficer and teacher in the Sunday-school, con- stant in his attendance at the prayer meet- ing, and in every way showing his loyalty to Christian work. He was seated on the platform, other officers about him, and in a short time several of the officers, teachers and members of the school, closing with the pastor, had the pleasure of telling him what his life had meant to this community, and how sorry we were that he was to go out from us, but that we rejoiced that he went as a Christian man and a representative of the Master's cause. Tears of joy rolled down his cheeks during the time, and he was so affected that he could only offer a few words in response, but it was a great day for Mr. Sherwood and for us.

"His two strong characteristics were modesty and faithfulness. He never sought places of responsibility but always filled them faithfully when they were committed to him. His service for twenty years in connection with our public schools has been one of great helpfulness to our entire community. As I see it now his last two years have been somewhat of a preparation for his going. He has spoken several times to me recently in reference to his life among us and that he had done so little, when we felt he had done so much. During the past two years many privileges have come to him. The Cruise and Jerusalem Convention he en- joyed very much. Last summer with his family he made a visit of several weeks to . his father in Nebraska, and very recently his sister and family from California made a very enjoyable visit here, and during their stay a reunion was held of all old classmates possible from the New Troy school. During the past summer he made a trip with his wife to Toronto, Ontario, to attend the Inter- national Sunday-school convention, which they enjoyed thoroughly. All these things have rounded out and made the last few years and months very precious ones to Mr. Sherwood. His life was successful, not only in the things that I have stated, but

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as the world counts success; business suc- cess, political success, and best of all char- acter. There is one title that seems es- pecially fitting to him, A Christian Gentle- man."

AMANDUS O. WINCHESTER, one of the old settlers of St. Joseph, where he died January 29, 1900, held a high place in the community, and was recognized as a man of moral worth, strict integrity in business, and conscientious in performance of duties between him and his fellow men. His ancestors for four generations had been ministers of the gospel, and he had taken their upright lives and tenets of faith as guiding examples in his own career.

The Winchester family is descended from Hon. John Winchester, who was the first representative of the town of Brook- line in the general court of Massachusetts. Other well known names in New England are connected with the Winchester geneal- ogy, and besides the ministry, the Win- chesters have achieved more than ordinary distinction as soldiers in the country's wars, as manufacturers, as business men and in other walks of life.

The late A. O. Winchester was born in Madison, Ohio, June 25, 1827, the seventh child of Rev. Jonathan David Winchester and Hannah M. Bunn, daughter of John Bunn and Bethiah Field, which takes the ancestry into other famous families of Amer- ica. Hannah M. Bunn, was born in Nor- folk, Connecticut, May II, 1784, and mar- ried Rev. Winchester October 6, 18II. Rev. Winchester, the father of Amandus O. Win- chester, was a Presbyterian minister of some celebrity, who died at Madison, Ohio, Au- gust 17, 1835.

Mr. Winchester married, June 6, 1855, Margaret Patton. Their only child is Stella L. Winchester, who is the only representa- tive of the family left in Berrien county. Mr. Winchester was a victim of heart desease, from which he had suffered many years, and his sudden death took him away while apparently enjoying vigor and health. He was a large and handsome man, adding physical symmetry to many strong and ad- mirable qualities of character.

FRED McOMBER, M. D., editor and proprietor of the Berrien Springs Era, was born in Orleans county, New York, on the 23d of January, 1846. He traces his lineage to Scotland, and the family of which he is a member was one of the first represented in America. His grandfather on the pa- ternal side, Pardon McOmber, was born in Connecticut, as was also his father, Asa. The mother of our subject was Marilla, daughter of John Gray and a native of New York state.

One in a family of eight, the subject of this biographical notice was reared to manhood in Orleans county, New York, receiving a com- mon-school education. A mere lad when the war broke out, he was fired with the spirit of patriotism and desire to serve his country, and, accordingly, enlisted as a member of Company C, Eighth New York Heavy Artillery, Col. Peter A. Porter, of Niagara Falls, commanding. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, Second Division, Second Brigade, Second Army Corps. Dr. McOmber participated in nearly all the battles of the Wilderness. During the battle of Cold Harbor, on the 4th of June, 1864, a shell struck a tree about eight feet above his head and somewhat shocked Dr. McOmber, who, however, re- ceived no serious injury therefrom except a small wound on his arm. He remained with the regiment, taking part in all its engage- ments and marches until he was mustered out of the service at the close of the war.

After having been honorably discharged in May, 1865, Dr. McOmber returned to his old home in Orleans county, New York, and a short time afterward went to Canadaigua, New York, where he remained until 1867, learning the trade of a jeweler, and at the same time studying medicine under a Dr. Holmes. In 1868 he made a tour of Iowa for the purpose of selecting a suitable loca- tion, but finding nothing satisfactory he went to Chicago, where he was in business and studying medicine for eighteen months. Later he came to Michigan, and remained in Benton Harbor for three months. In January, 1869, he located in Berrien Springs, where he has since resided. For several years he engaged in merchandising. In

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1870 he established the Berrien Springs Dis- pensary for the treatment of chronic diseases and for drug, liquor and tobacco habits, and has met with much success in this line. He is also the compounder of some very valuable remedies, in the sale of which he has built up a large trade, and also has sev- eral inventions for the treatment of chronic diseases, especially of the lungs, by medi- cated vapor, compressed air, etc.

In 1873 Dr. McOmber was appointed postmaster of Berrien Springs, and served with efficiency for ten years. His journal- istic career commenced in 1873, at which time he established a monthly paper, which had the distinction of being the first paper published in Berrien Springs. This paper was called Gold and Silver. In 1874 it was merged into a weekly and the title changed to the Berrien County Journal, which, after editing and publishing for several months, he sold. In 1876 he established a weekly paper, an eight-column folio, Republican in politics and neat in its typographical appear- ance, which he called the Berrien Springs Era, the only paper now established in the place. He still conducts his medical indus- try, but sold his newspaper plant to Benson Bros. in April, 1901.

The marriage of Dr. McOmber occurred in 1872, and united him with Miss Minnie M., the daughter of the Hon. James Gra- ham, an early settler of Berrien county, who served as sheriff and also as a member of the legislature. Dr. and Mrs. McOmber are the parents of one child Graham O. Socially, Dr. McOmber is identified with Kilpatrick Post, No. 39, G. A. R .; Western Star Lodge No. 39, A. F. & A. M., and other fraternal organizations. He was largely interested in the establishment of the St. Joseph Valley Railroad in 1889, and served as its general manager for some time. For many years he owned a half- interest in the Hotel Oronoko, which was conducted as a sanitarium and for the ac- commodation of summer visitors ; this prop- erty passed into other hands early in 1900 and was destroyed by fire 1906. Always in- terested in educational matters, Dr. Mc- Omber has rendered efficient service as a member of the school board, and has done

all in his power toward advancing the standard of education in his vicinity, and as a public-spirited citizen he has done a great deal to build up and advance the interests of Berrien Springs. He was elected village president in 1884 and has since served many terms as trustee.

He was the prime mover in the promo- tion of the Berrien Springs Water Power Co. He was director in the South Haven & Eastern Railroad Company, also director and secretary of St. Joseph Valley Railway and Milwaukee, Benton Harbor & Colum- bus Railway. It was largely through his efforts that Berrien Springs acquired the lat- ter road. In this and other enterprises he spent a vast amount of time and consider- able money, all in the interest of Berrien Springs. He is now conducting the Ber- rien Springs Dispensary Co., and also assist- ing his son in the business of McOmber & Co., brokers in real estate, etc.

EDWARD KIRK WARREN. Berrien county enjoys the distinction of including within its limits a village of a thousand in- habitants whose record and reputation are as well known outside of Michigan as in the state. And this in large measure is through the personality of one of her best known men-Edward Kirk Warren.

Three Oaks became the home of Mr. Warren in 1858, when at the age of eleven years he came west with the family whose earlier home had been in Ludlow, Vermont. His father, Rev. Waters Warren, a minister of power and a man of determined convic- tion, surrendered the pastoral field of New England for the home missionary oppor- tunities of the new west. Privileges there were in such a work at such a time, but hard- ships and privations there were, too, and such as no one knows in full degree, who has not experienced them. It was in the midst of these surroundings, in a country where only energy and perseverance made progress possible and where only integrity and econ- omy conserved it, that Edward Warren grew to manhood; and many of the characteristics seen in the man today are directly traceable to the necessary discipline of those early days. But it is not to be inferred that all

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those days of country and character-making were days of gloom and depression, for the new settlements had their measure of activ- ity and such as it was it was lived to the largest extent. The schools were not elab- orately graded, but the instruction ivas sound, as far as it went; and was received with relish which is not always found in today's institutions of learning. In the com- mon schools of Three Oaks young Warren laid the foundation of his education which has been essentially that derived from men- in social, commercial, political and inter- denominational relationships.

The first employment which Edward Warren secured as a boy was in a sawmill, where he received the munificent sum of fifty cents for a day's labor. On January 24, 1864, he was employed by Henry Chamber- lain, who conducted a general mercantile business. This employment continued for five years, when J. L. McKie and E. K. War- ren formed a partnership to conduct a dry goods business. Nine years later Mr. War- ren purchased the general merchandising business of Henry Chamberlain and was in- terested in it until he entered the manufac- turing field in 1883. During the preceding years Mr. Warren, as a dry goods merchant, had sold whalebone, which, because of its tendency to brittleness was never entirely satisfactory as a dress stay, and which owing to an increasing scarcity was steadily ad- vancing in price. Recognizing the necessity for an improved substitute, Mr. Warren set about to discover a material from which a durable and elastic dress bone could be con- structed. He found it in the quill of a turkey, and, from that day to this, quills have been shipped into Three Oaks by the pound, the sack, the crate and the car load. Coming from every corner of the United States these quills have been received by the company which Mr. Warren organized to manufac- ture featherbone, the Warren Featherbone Company, made by innumerable and intri- cate processes into the many forms of dress boning material required by the public, and sent back to these same corners of the United States and even to foreign countries as a commercially valuable article-and each package has borne on its label, "Three Oaks,

Michigan." During the years in which Featherbone has been manufactured, from half a dozen to half a thousand employees have constantly been occupied in making and marketing the product. At different times branch factories at Chicago; Porter, Indiana ; and Middleville, Michigan, have supple- mented the output of the yearly enlarging factories in Three Oaks. Distributing of- fices have been established at New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Fran- cisco, and a featherbone business operated in Europe. The growth and stability of the featherbone industry is best evidenced by the recent construction in Three Oaks of a magnificent three-story building of brick, stone and marble, richly finished and fitted in the most modern and convenient manner, where for years to come Mr. Warren and his associates may conduct a business which logically claims the world as its market.

In addition to his manufacturing inter- ests Mr. Warren controls a bank and farms large tracts of marsh land. He owns long stretches of Lake Michigan beach and a ranch in the Panhandle of Texas. While his revenues have largely come from the out- side world Mr. Warren has always been in- tensely interested in the welfare of the vil- lage in which for all these years he has vol- untarily made his home. As president of the village board he was instrumental in accom- plishing the erection of a village electric light and water plant which are yearly proving their worth in comfort, convenience, econ- omy and protection.

Three Oaks has fought the liquor traffic and won. Up to 1899 the village was not « unlike many another, where town expenses are increased and growing manhood de- creased by the existence of a licensed saloon. Those who narrowly considered alone the benefit derived by a town through the pay- ment of a saloon license had assisted in main- taining the Three Oaks saloon, and there seemed to be no way to effectually meet this apparent though deceptive argument save in one based on dollars and cents. Accordingly Mr. Warren offered, in case the saloon should be prohibited by ordinance in Three Oaks, to pay into the village treasury each year the sum of $250.00-the amount of the

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saloon license-so long as no saloon should be permitted to open its doors for business in Three Oaks. This offer turned the tide of public sentiment and on March 24, 1899, the saloon was forever ruled out of Three Oaks, by ordinance, and Mr. Warren yearly contributes the sum which equals the saloon license to the village.

A long step forward in the development of Three Oaks is being taken in the present agitation for good roads. In order to bring the issue to a successful conclusion Mr. War- ren proposed at the town meeting of 1906 to contribute the sum of two thousand dollars to the township treasury if the town board should be instructed to build two miles of stone road in Three Oaks during 1906. This generous proposition was unanimously ac- cepted and Three Oaks is to add to its other improvements-its village park, its modern depot, its new residences, and the features before mentioned, a modern system of good roads.

The national reputation which Three Oaks possesses has come in part from the industry which is its backbone, but also in a manner which in itself is unique. At the close of the Spanish-American war, a com- mittee was formed to raise a fund to build a monument to the soldiers and sailors who lost their lives in that conflict. Among the contributions received by the committee was one from the hero of Manila Bay, Admiral Dewey-a cannon captured first by the Filipinos from the Spanish and second by the United States Navy from the Filipinos on Corregidor Island. This cannon was conveyed from the Phillipine Islands by the S. S. Mccullough and delivered to the Monument Committee at San Francisco. This committee appreciating the value of the cannon and desiring to convert this value into funds to be used in the erection of the National Monument, decided to give the cannon to the city or village contributing the largest sum, in proportion to its popula- tion, to the monument fund. Three Oaks entered the lists. It decided to capture that cannon. And it did. With a population of 885, three hundred and twelve persons sub- scribed and paid an aggregate sum of $1,132.80-an average contribution for each

man, woman and child in the village of $1.28. Then Three Oaks reaped the reward of her patriotism. President Mckinley and members of his cabinet stopped at Three Oaks October 17, 1899, and dedicated the mound on which the cannon was to set. And Helen Miller Gould and General Rus- sell A. Alger formally unveiled the cannon at its final resting place June 30, 1900, in the presence of the entire population of the village and thousands of visitors from Mich- igan and adjacent states. The stars and stripes raised over the cannon to float "until time shall be no more" still remind the trav- eling public, passing over the Michigan Cen- tral lines, that patriotism is not confined to eastern cities and that "Where there's a will there's a way." The "will" rested chiefly in the subject of this sketch who, as presi- dent of the village, overcame tremendous obstacles and brought to Three Oaks the honor in which her citizens so heartily re- joice.

Since his youth Edward K. Warren has been interested in all forms of religious ac- tivity, but particularly in the work of the Sunday-school. As teacher and superintend- ent in the Congregational Sunday-school at Three Oaks, where he has been in official relationship to the school for a quarter of a century, he has fitted himself for the respon- sibilities of the state, national and world of- fices with which his colleagues have honored him. Mr. Warren has passed in succession through the offices of local superintendent. township president, county president, chair- man State Executive Committee, vice chair- man International Executive Committee, chairman World's Executive Committee and president of the World's Sunday School Convention. At one time Mr. Warren was actually in simultaneous relation with every branch of Sunday-school organization from the township of Three Oaks, through the county of Berrien, the state of Michigan, the United States, to the highest organization- A World's Convention. To Mr. Warren as chairman of the World's Executive Com- mittee is ascribed the credit for carrying through the immense project of holding a World's Sunday School Convention in the City of Jerusalem, and of conveying the

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delegates to the Holy City and providing for He joined the army as a private and won their necessities and comforts in travel. . An Atlantic liner-the Grosser Kurfurst-was chartered, and eight hundred delegates taken to Jerusalem and given a comprehensive Mediterranean cruise at the same time. The convention was successfully held, attended by fifteen hundred delegates representing nearly every country and religion on the face of the globe. The Jerusalem Convention will live through history and its president is a Berrien county man.

The successful man is the many sided man. It would be difficult to determine Mr. Warren's predominating characteristic. But among the qualities which have spelled his success are a perseverance which admits no barrier, an optimism which allows no gloom and a faith in mankind which preserves the sweetness of life.

MELBOURNE H. OLMSTEAD, liv- ing retired in the village of Three Oaks, is the owner of valuable property interests, comprising the south half of section 8, in Three Oaks township. A life of business activity guided by sound judgment and characterized by perseverance and integrity has made him a prosperous resident of Ber- rien county. He was born in Sennett town- ship, Cayuga county, New York. October 13, 1837, his parents being Abijah P. and Eliza- beth C. (Clark) Olmstead, natives of New York. The father was born January I, 1800, on the same farm on which the birth of our subject occurred and his entire life was there passed. He purchased the interest of the other heirs in the home place and con- tinued the cultivation of the farm until his own death at the age of forty-six. He was a son of Ambrose Olmstead, a native of Con- necticut, who made the trip on horseback to New York and cast in his lot with the pio- neer residents of Cayuga county. His wife drove a yoke of oxen to their new home, over a distance of two hundred miles. Mrs. Olmstead also died in Cayuga county upon the farm where our subject was born, pass- ing away there at the age of eighty-eight years. She was a granddaughter of General Samuel Clark, of Ballston, New York, who served throughout the Revolutionary war.

official rank, and after serving in the war of 1812 was brevetted brigadier general. The Olmstead family is of English descent : Jehiel Clark, the grandfather of our subject, and son of General Samuel Clark, was born December 17, 1764, and died July 20, 1844. He removed from Saratoga county, New York, to Clarksville, which place was named in his honor and is now a part of Auburn, New York. The year of his arrival there was 1797. Unto the parents of Melbourne H. Olmstead were born eleven children, of whom he is the fourth in order of birth. Pulaski, the youngest member of the family, was killed in the battle of Port Hudson, June 14, 1863, while serving in the civil war. The eldest brother, Morris M., held the office of county superintendent of the poor for forty-two consecutive years in Cayuga coun- ty, New York, and is now residing at Au- burn, New York, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. The father was super- visor of his township and also justice of the peace and held school offices during the greater part of his life.

Melbourne H. Olmstead when thirteen years of age accompanied his parents on their removal from Sennett to Mentz township in Cayuga county, and resided there and in an adjoining township until 1871. His life was devoted to farm labor and he also en- gaged in the wood and lumber business from the time he attained his majority until 1871. Then because of impaired health he did not engage actively in any business for five or six years.

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A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 156

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