USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume II > Part 36
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In 1862, Mr. Potter enlisted in the Union army, as a member of Company H, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Ohio Infantry, and served a short term.
He was a pensioner of the Mexican war, and is the only Mexican soldier now living in this part of Michigan, where he moved from San- dusky, Ohio, in 1869. Here, in Erie township, Monroe county, he owns 194 acres of land, and here he has been interested chiefly in agricultural pursuits.
March 5, 1848, James C. Potter and Eliza Whipple were married, and for sixty-four years they have traveled life's pathway together. Mrs. Potter was born and reared in Sandusky, Ohio. They have one son living, F. C. Potter, who is married and has five children, three sons and two daughters.
Mr. Potter is a member of the Sons of Malta, and of the Erie Shooting Club, and for the past fourteen years he has been superin- tendent of the club. Politically he is a Republican. At one time he served as deputy sheriff of his county.
He and his good wife are held in high esteem by their large circle of friends and acquaintances.
JOHN B. TRABBIC, who owns and occupies a fine farm of 250 acres in Erie township, Monroe county, Michigan, is a son of Peter Trabbic. one of the pioneers of this locality, and was born on the Trabbic home- stead in Erie township, April 9, 1855, fourth in a family of nine chil- dren.
After attending the district schools, John B. was sent to South Bend, Indiana, to Notre Dame, and later to high school at Toledo, Ohio. Then he worked for his father a few years, until his marriage, when he settled down to farming operations on his own account. Success has
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followed in the wake of his well directed efforts, and he ranks today with the leading farmers of his locality.
May 28, 1878, Mr. Trabbic and Miss Lydia May Morross were united in marriage, and for nearly a decade they traveled life's pathway together, until death claimed her on June 1, 1887. She was a native of Erie township, Monroe county, born September 13, 1859, daughter of Charles and Agathy Morross, and the mother of five children, all of whom have had good educational advantages and home training, their mother's sister, Mrs. Bishop, widow of Charles Bishop, having presided over the home since her death. The children in order of birth are as follows: Dean S., born January 26, 1878, married Irene Black; Mabel, born May 15, 1881, is the wife of Felix Beaurfield; Grace, born Septem- ber 11, 1882, is the wife of Frank La Pouint; James, born August 17, 1885, and Hazel, December 16, 1887, are at home.
Mr. Trabbic was born and brought up in a Catholic home, as also was his wife, and in this faith their children have been reared. Politi- cally, Mr. Trabbic is a Democrat, not, however, taking an active part in party affairs. As an honorable, upright man he stands high in his community.
VICTOR M. TRABBIC. The agricultural interests of Erie township, Monroe county, Michigan, have substantial representation in the Trabbic families. Victor M. Trabbic, who owns 160 acres of choice land and occupies the old Trabbic homestead, sections 28 and 29 of this township, was born here May 28, 1861, sixth in a family of nine children. He received his education in the district school and the Dayton Academy, spending two years as a student at the latter institution. Then he settled down to farming, and has since followed the same line of endeavor in which his father was engaged, cultivating the usual crops of this locality, and raising sufficient stock with which to operate his farm and having some for sale each year.
January 16, 1888, Victor M. Trabbic and Addie La Point were united in marriage, and with the passing years children to the number of five have come to bless their home, namely: Percella, wife of Moses Cusino of Monroe, Michigan; Marie, wife of Jasper Cusino, of La Salle, Michigan ; Ashton, a student in the Davis Business College of Toledo; Eileen, a student in the Metropolitan Business School of Toledo, Ohio; and Orlando, attending common school. The two married daughters studied music at St. Mary's Academy at Monroe, Michigan, it being the intent of Mr. and Mrs. Trabbic to afford their children good educational advantages. Mrs. Trabbic is a native of Bedford township, Monroe county. The family are members of St. Joseph's church at Erie, and, politically, Mr. Trabbic has always affiliated with the Democratic party, ever taking an active and enthusiastic interest in local affairs. The only fraternal organization with which he is identified is the K. O. T. M. of Erie.
DR. SILAS V. DASSEAU of Erie, Michigan, is held in high esteem both by his fellow physicians and by the community at large. Besides his high reputation as a physician he is known as a man of public spirit
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whose interests are broad enough to include the affairs of the town as well as his own.
Born in Erie, May 18, 1868, he was the third child in a family of five sons and five daughters, the son of Victor and Catharine (Morrin) Dasseau. Both his father, who is now dead, and his mother were natives of Michigan. Doctor Dasseau spent his childhood in Erie, attending the public schools there, and finishing his general education in the high school at Monroe. For the two winters following his graduation from high school he taught school, and then entered upon his medical course. He attended lectures in both the Toledo Medical College and the Ken- tucky School of Medicine, receiving his M. D. degree in the June of 1892. The next fall he began practice at Erie, Michigan, where he has remained ever since except for a short time during 1911 when he took a post graduate course at the Chicago Polyclinic. He is a member of the Monroe County Medical Society and the Michigan State Medical Asso- ciation. He votes the Independent ticket although he believes in a great many of the principles of the Democratic party.
November 4, 1899, Doctor Dasseau was married to Agnes M. Lowanger, a music teacher of some note. She was educated in St. Mary's College of Monroe, Michigan. Both the doctor and his wife attend St. Joseph's Catholic church and he is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
FRED L. BUYEA, cashier of the Bank of Erie at Erie, Michigan, since January 1, 1906, was born at Vernon, Shiawassee county, Michigan, July 23, 1869, and is the son of Lewis and Elizabeth (Yorton) Buyea. Both were natives of New York state, who came to Michigan soon after their marriage. The father possessed a good common school education and passed his life in Michigan in farming pursuits. He was fairly successful, and lived to the age of sixty-eight years. He was a member of the Baptist church and was a Democrat in his political faith, and lived a quiet, but helpful life in his home community. The mother died at Vernon, Michigan, when she was in her seventy-third year.
The home farm represented the center of his activities until Fred Buyea was twenty-one years old. He had secured a common school education and in odd moments had learned the Morse code, and when he quitted the farm on reaching his majority he entered the telegraph business. He was relief agent and operator for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway at Rockwood, Michigan, for two years, then came to Erie as agent and operator, and was engaged at Erie for the same road for about twelve years, when he entered the employ of Frei- denberg, Dansard & Company as cashier of the Bank of Erie. He assumed the duties of his new position on January 1, 1906, and is still the incumbent of that office.
Mr. Buyea is a Democrat, and in the years of his residence in Erie has filled the office of township treasurer for four years, and is at present a member of the school board, in both of which places he has done good work for his town. He is on the whole, a citizen of worth, and has assumed his full share of the civic burden in the life of the community. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and a leader of the church
1
V. Sieung.
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choir. Fraternally, he is a member of Samaria Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and was master of that lodge for four years, being now its youngest past master.
In July, 1896, Mr. Buyea was married to Stella K. Hilton, who died on March 18, 1900, leaving a son and daughter. The daughter, Christine H., is fifteen years of age, while the son, Kenneth E., is now thirteen years old. On June 12, 1907, Mr. Buyea was married to Miss Harriet E. Kirtland. One son has been born to them,-Gerald F. Buyea, now three years of age.
. VICTOR SISUNG, M. D. Within the pages of this historical work will be found specific mention of a goodly number of the representative physi- cians and surgeons of Monroe county, and in this connection there is especial gratification in according such consideration to Dr. Sisung, by reason of the fact that he is a native of the county and a scion of one of its old and honored families, the name which he bears having been linked with the history of this county for more than half a century. The doctor is a man of high intellectual and professional attainments and his suc- cess in his chosen vocation offers the best voucher, not only for his tech- nical ability but also for his personal popularity in the community in which he sets at naught all application of the scriptural aphorism that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country." He is engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Monroe and is known and honored as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of that county which has been his home from the day of his birth.
Dr. Sisung was born near the old homestead farm in the township of Frenchtown, this county, on the 26th of November, 1868, and is a son of James and Celia (Bonnel) Sisung, both of whom were born in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, France, now a German province, the birth of the father occurring in the year 1831 and that of the mother in 1830, and their marriage taking place in Hilbesheim, Lorraine. James Sisung was reared and educated in his native land and there received an excel- lent general training. He came to America when a young man and in 1857 he established his home in the fine old French settlement of Monroe county. He eventually accumulated a fine estate of two hundred acres in Frenchtown township, and was known as one of the representative agriculturists and substantial citizens of the county, where he ever com- manded a secure place in popular confidence and esteem. He was a Democrat in his political faith and was called upon to serve in various public offices of local order. He died in 1891, his devoted wife having preceded him one year, she passing away in 1890. They became the par- ents of eight children, of which number three sons and one daughter are now living.
Dr. Sisung passed his boyhood days on the old farm home and early familiarized himself with many of the duties incident to rural life, while he availed himself of the advantages of the public schools of the town- ship. This schooling was supplemented by two years of study in the State Normal School at Ypsilanti and further by a short term of attend- ance at the Michigan State Agricultural College, near Lansing. (He taught in the rural and village schools for two years.) In the meantime Vol. II .- 18.
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he has formulated definite plans for his life work and his earlier educa- tion gave him special reinforcement for that of technical order. In 1892 he was matriculated in the Detroit College of Medicine, in which he completed the prescribed course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1895, after which he served for a year as interne in St. Mary's hospital, in Detroit, where he gained valuable clinical experiences. At the expiration of that time he opened an office in the city of Monroe, where he has since been established in successful general practice and where he has secured a representative clientage. He subordinates all else to the demands of his profession, is a close and appreciative student of its best literature and keeps in touch with the advances made in both medical and surgical science, so that his success has not been a matter of accident, but a logical result. He served eight years as county physician and did most excellent work in this office, and he served two terms as mayor of the city of Monroe. The doctor is actively identified with the Monroe County Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In politics he is found a staunch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party ; and he is affiliated with the local organization of the Knights of Columbus.
On the 18th of October, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Sisung to Miss Winifred O'Brien Sexton, of Memphis, Tennessee, and they have three sons, Blaise, Francis, and Victor, Jr.
STEPHEN D. FORMAN, who owns and occupies a farm on section 31, Erie township, Monroe county, Michigan, was born in Bedford town- ship, this county, son of William and Mary (Doty) Forman, both natives of New York state.
William Forman came to Michigan in 1831 with his parents, William and Margaret (Powell) Forman, who settled in Erie township, Monroe county. About the same time came the Doty family-Stephen Doty and wife, nee Harris, and their children,-and they settled in Bedford town- ship, this county, and it was in Bedford township that William Forman and Mary Doty were married. They became the parents of six children, four daughters and two sons, and of this number three daughters and one son are now living: Louise, Ella, Hortense and Stephen D. Ella is the wife of Silas Mallory and Hortense is the wife of Henry Wilhelm.
Stephen D. received his education in the public schools and the Toledo high school, and farming has been his life occupation. After his mar- riage, which event occurred in November, 1873, he and his young wife went to housekeeping in the home where they have lived for nearly forty years, and which comprises a portion of the old Forman farm, he having purchased 150 acres. Mrs. Forman is a native of Lucas county, Ohio, and was before her marriage Miss Sophia Curson. Of the children born to them, three are now living, namely: William, who married Hazel Babcock, lives on his father's farm; Geneveve, wife of Rolland Webster of Toledo, Ohio, and Bertram, at home.
While he has always cast his franchise with the Republican party, Mr. Forman has never been active in politics. He is a member of the K. O. T. M. and the Royal Arcanum, and his religious creed is that of the Congregational church. He was one of the founders of the
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Congregational church at Alexis. He served on its building com- mittee, and has since officiated as trustee and treasurer, at present filling the latter office, and all the while has been one of its liberal supporters. His church interest has always been shared by his wife and other members of the family.
MICHAEL RHOADES of Erie township, Monroe county, Michigan, is a hard working farmer and a highly respected citizen of his com- munity. He and his wife have spent many years of their lives in this one place and have always exerted themselves to perform their social duties as well as their family duties. Both of them are members of the United Brethren church, and have always taken an active interest in all of its affairs. Mr. Rhoades is one of its most steadfast supporters.
Mr. Rhoades was born in Dolphin county, Pennsylvania, June 26, 1847, the son of Charles and Elizabeth (Stephen) Rhoades, both natives of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Before Michael's birth however, they had moved to Dolphin county. Mr. Rhoades, senior, was the father of five children, three of whom are still living: Frederick, living in Akron, Ohio; Julia, the wife of Jacob Overfeer of Middletown, Penn- sylvania, and Michael.
Michael was raised on the farm in Dolphin county and received a fair common school education at the district school. September 12, 1868, he was married to Elizabeth Walters, who was born in Harris- burg, Pennsylvania, March 31, 1851, the daughter of Joseph and Mary E. (Machin) Walters. After ten years spent in farming there in Penn- sylvania, Mr. and Mrs. Rhoades came to Michigan and settled in La Salle township. When they first arrived Mr. Rhoades worked out by the day, but he was soon able to rent a farm of his own. His thrift and ability soon brought him more prosperity until he was able to buy forty acres of land. He is now the owner of eighty acres in Erie and twelve acres near his present residence.
Mr. and Mrs. Rhoades became the parents of eleven children, ten of whom, five boys and five girls, are still living: Ellen May, the wife of Charles Wagner of Grassard county, Michigan; Edward H., who married May Renrich of Ida township, Monroe county; Calvin, who married Mabel Bird and is now living in Erie township; Maggie F., the wife of Frank Wagner of La Salle township; Mary A., the wife of Elmer Q. Shank of La Salle township; Carrie E., the wife of Samuel Dohm of Buena Park, California; Charley A., who married Mertie Kornprobst and is now living in Grassard county, Michigan; Arthur W., who married May Grostifrond of Grassard county; Irvin J., who is unmarried and living in California, and Myrtle, a graduate of the Monroe high school, who after teaching for four years, became the wife of Byron Locke of California. Mrs. Rhoades, who is the mother of these ten children, was herself one of eleven children, of whom these are still living: Mary, Elizabeth, Ellen, Amanda, Edward, Samuel, Emma, Joseph, John, and Vernie. Each one of these is married and has a family. Mrs. Rhoades comes of a long-lived family, her father living from 1822 to 1890, and her mother, born January 9, 1825, is still alive. Mr. and Mrs. Rhoades have twenty-five grandchildren.
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HON. FLAGGET H. TRABBIC, of Erie township, Monroe county, Michi- gan, ex-member of the Michigan legislature, holds a record for efficiency and general executive ability that few men in the history of his state have equalled. Although he has enemies, as is the case with all big men, his friends are numberless, and are unanimous in declaring that there is nothing complimentary that cannot be said about him and that they can- not back up with personal knowledge. Conservative, judicial in tempera- ment, fair-minded, every move he made while in the legislature was one he knew after long and deep consideration to be for the best interest of the people. Not a politician, but a statesman, cast in a different environment he might have played a part in the destinies of nations. As it is he has served his state in the most power-bestowing office it can give. A member of a state legislature is probably freer from prohibi- tive influences seeking to keep him in the path of virtue than almost any other office holder in the United States. It depends upon the man himself whether his duties shall be rightly administered to act as a power for good, or whether they shall be swayed in their operation by partiality and political favors. The citizens of Monroe county were fully aware of the possibilities for either good or evil when they sent Mr. Trabbic to the legislature as their representative, but knew abso- lutely from their lifelong acquaintance with the man that nothing but the strictest justice would ever issue from his hands. They were not mistaken; he performed his duty to the entire satisfaction of his con- stituents, and also of his state which is proud to acknowledge him as one of her sons.
Besides the renown the Honorable Trabbic has himself achieved, he was the son of a well-known and wealthy man, Guytani Peter Trabbic of Erie township. Before his death at the age of eighty-two years, he was the owner of seven hundred acres of land; twice he represented Erie on the board of supervisors, and other political honors might have been conferred on him had he wished them. Born November 1, 1821, at Chiavari, Italy, eighteen miles from Genoa, he spent the first eleven years of his life in his native land, but on March 12, 1832, he left Italy in company with his father and brother and spent the next year in a tour of France and England. April 1, 1833, he sailed from Liverpool, England, and landed at Quebec May 14. After six months here he went to Augusta and Bangor, Maine, spending the winter between the two cities. The next winter found him a resident of New York City. The following spring he first saw Erie, Michigan, but the family did not remain long, going on to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where they pur- chased a three-fourths section of government land in what is now a suburb of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Soon afterwards, however, the family returned to Erie, so that, in order to pay the taxes, Mr. Trabbic had to make the trip back to Indiana on horseback. Mr. Trabbic was first a Whig but in the early fifties joined the Democratic party.
Mr. Trabbic was married three times, the first time at the age of twenty-one to Margaret Labadee, who died shortly afterwards. Mary Caroline Knaggs, a great-granddaughter of George Knaggs, founder of the well-known Knaggs family was his second wife. Their mar- riage took place September 27, 1845, and of their eleven children eight
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are now surviving, two of them having died in infancy and William, at the age of thirty-six in March, 1889. Mrs. Trabbic died in 1880 and in 1881 Mr. Trabbic was married for the third time, Victoria Morrin, who is still living, becoming his wife. Besides the eight children of his second marriage, Samuel, Elizabeth, John B., Matilda, Agnes, Victoria, Flagget H., and Israel, he is survived by one brother, John, fifty-one grandchil- dren, and six great-grandchildren.
The Hon. Flagget H. Trabbic was born in Erie township, February 10, 1866, and attended the public schools of his community, finishing his education with a two years' course in St. Mary's Institute of Dayton, Ohio. From 1893 until 1896 he managed his father's farm when he was elected to the board of supervisors, of which he was made chairman. He was again elected to this position in 1906, but gaining the election for a member of the legislature in the fall of that same year he resigned as supervisor. During his term in office he was instrumental in gain- ing an appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars for the Custer monument at Monroe, Michigan, a description of which is given in the Monroe Democrat for October 23, 1908. He was also a member of the Custer Association that boosted the work. He is a Democrat, and most of his time that he could spare from his occupation as general farmer and stock raiser on his farm one-half mile east of Erie, has been given to political activity in behalf of his party. June 14, 1892, he was married to Mattie A. Lehr, a musician of talent, educated in St. Mary's College at Monroe, Michigan. They are members of St. Joseph's Catholic church of Erie.
CHARLES S. CHOATE, JR. One of the most prominent men in social and financial circles of Erie township, Monroe county, Michigan, is Charles S. Choate, Jr. Industry and intelligence have brought suc- cess to him. By his own efforts he has worked his way up from a posi- tion of telegraph operator to that of agent for the P. M. railroad, and of manager for the Toledo Grain Milling Company elevator. Holding the high and assured position he now does in the society by which he is surrounded he is a good type of the self-made man of which, as one of her individual products, America is so justly proud.
Several generations back Mr. Choate's ancestors were of English birth, but on his father's side as far back as his great-grandfather, Samuel Choate, who came from Canada in 1812, Mr. C. S. Choate's family has lived in Monroe county, Michigan. Mr. Samuel Choate and his son Seth both died on Turtle Light. Samuel's son Seth mar- ried Jane Parker, and their son, Charles S. was the father of Charles S., the subject of our sketch. Charles S. Choate, Sr., was born on the banks of the River Raisin, Monroe township, July 20, 1832, and at an early age was put out with his uncle Emerson Choate, so that at the age of ten he did not yet know. his letters. At this age, however, he was sent to school and remained there until he was sixteen. Soon afterwards he started to work by the month receiving twenty-five cents for a day for his labor. On December 31, 1856, he was mar- ried to Hannah Peters, who was born in Bedford township, October, 1836. They became the parents of six children, all of whom are liv-
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ing, Lucy E., who after an education in the common schools, became a teacher and later married J. E. Sweete; Terressa, who was also at one time a teacher and is now the wife of I. J. Havens; Mary J., at one time a teacher and now the wife of Edmund Davis; Edith, a music teacher, and now the wife of P. H. Uckle; Bessie E., a teacher and now the wife of Dr. E. W. Kelley. Mr. Choate is a Democrat, and served at one time as a highway commissioner. Both he and his wife are now living in Erie township.
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