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 4
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George H. Bordine received his education in the public schools of his native locality, and was reared to the work of the home farm, his father training him in all things that would assist him to become a successful agriculturist, while his mother reared him carefully in the paths of honesty and integrity. He continued to remain under the parental roof until he was twenty-four years of age, and at that time he started out to make his own way in the world. For five years he continued to work as a farm hand in Exeter township, and when he was twenty-nine years of age was married to Miss Mabel Thorn, who was born, reared and educated in Ash township, Monroe county, daughter of Charles Thorn, a well-known farmer in that township. Charles Thorn was born in Mon- roe county, in 1859, a son of John C. and Elizabeth (Walters) Thorn, natives of New York state, the latter of whom was a daughter of Will- iam Walters. His widow passed away in 1904, at the age of sixty-seven years. Charles Thorn was married to Sarah Clark, of Stony Creek, daughter of W. D. and Elizabeth (Trace) Clark, and to that union there were born seven sons and three daughters, as follows: Mrs. Mabel Bordine; Myrtle, who died at the age of twenty-three years; Grover; Lee; John; Earl; Eva; Charles A .; and Wilbert and Willard, twins. Mr. and Mrs. Bordine have two sons: Curtis and Devere, and lost one daughter, Grace Flossie.
At this time Mr. Bordine is recognized as one of the able young agri- culturists of his locality, owning an excellent tract of sixty-seven acres, located on section 2, Exeter township. He has made numerous improve- ments on this land, including a fine, modern, well-furnished house, a stock barn 34 x 56 feet, and other well built and appropriately placed buildings. Like his father, he is a stanch Republican in his political views. He is known in his community as a man of superior business judgment, a man of intelligence and vigor, who through the medium of his own efforts has gained success. He is at all times ready to give aid to any movement that has for its object the betterment of the community, and is a stanch supporter of morality, education and good citizenship.
Mr. and Mrs. Bordine are members of the Ancient Order of Gleaners, at Carleton, Michigan, and he is a member of the Scofield Grange.
WESLEY RIED. Monroe county, Michigan, is fortunate in that among its representative men and officials it possesses many men who are still in the flush of young manhood, imbued with the enthusiasm of youth and possessed of the strength and vitality to formulate progressive movements and carry them through to a successful conclusion. In this class stands Wesley Ried, clerk of London township, and one of the most
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popular young men of Maybee, whose inclination and training have fitted him to handle the affairs of his township to the entire satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. Mr. Ried comes of good old sturdy German stock, his parents, John and Magdalena (Schafer) Ried, being natives of Michigan. His maternal grandfather, the Rev. Schafer, was an early minister of Monroe county, whose chosen field of endeavor was the town of Ida, and he was widely known and greatly esteemed throughout this part of the county. John Ried was brought up in Monroe county, Michi- gan, and his education was secured in the district schools. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and has followed farming all his life, being at this time the owner of 120 acres of fine land in London township, on which are located a handsome residence, good barns and substantial outbuild- ings. He has been successful in his ventures and is rated one of the sub- stantial farmer-citizens of his community. Mrs. Ried, who died in 1906, was widely known in this section for her many admirable qualities of mind and heart, and her death was mourned not only by her immediate family and friends, but by a wide circle of acquaintances who had come to know and appreciate her kindly christian character. She and her husband had a family of eight children: May, Rose, Laura, Mildred, Loma, Wesley, Grace and Nellie, of whom May, Loma, Laura and Wes- ley have been school teachers in Monroe county.
Wesley Ried was born in Monroe county, Michigan, December 14, 1887, and received a good education in the township schools, and was reared to the life of a farmer, but decided instead to enter upon a pro- fessional career as a teacher. He was for some time engaged in this profession in Monroe county, becoming a well-known educator, and being popular alike with pupils and parents, but in 1911 became the candidate of his party for the office of township clerk, and in the election which followed his popularity was shown by his election to that office. He has given the citizens of London township no reason to regret their choice, as he has at all times proven an efficient and genial clerk, handling the business of the township with a conscientious regard to duty that has resulted beneficially to his community's interests and gaining many friends among those who have business in his office by his courteous and affable manner. He has been active in the support of his party's prin- ciples and candidates at all times, and has acted in the capacity of dele- gate to several conventions. He is an enthusiastic athlete, and one of the strong members of the Maybee baseball team, a crack organization of local players who have a strong following in this section. Mr. Ried hits and runs bases well and is capable of putting up a good game either at third base or behind the bat.
CHARLES COOTE, the combination of whose commercial interests . make him one of the best known and most influential business citizens of Maybee, belongs to that class of men who have been the architects of their own fortunes, having started his career without financial support or influential friends and worked his way up the ladder of success en- tirely through the medium of his own efforts. At this time he is the proprietor of an ice cream parlor, which is one of the most popular re- sorts of the young people of Maybee, and where can also be obtained
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all kinds of fruits, candies and confectionery, and in addition owns a moving picture theatre and a milk station. Mr. Coote is one of the busiest and most progressive men of the town, but has found time to interest himself in various movements of a public-spirited nature, and as one who has the welfare of his community at heart, well deserves the esteem in which he is universally held. Charles Coote was born the year of the Chicago fire, August 25, 1871, at Stoney Ridge, Monroe county, Michigan, and is a son of Dr. Coote, a well-known physician, who died at the age of fifty-four years. Mr. Coote's mother passed away in De- cember, 1912, having had these children : Minnie Ellis, Della, Catherine, John, Robert and Charles.
Charles Coote lost his father when he was but two years old, and was reared by his mother, his education being secured in the public schools and a college taught by Prof. Brown. As a youth he went to Toledo, Ohio, where he worked for some time in a repair shop, and later came to Michigan and secured employment in a paper mill at Monroe. In 1909 Mr. Coote came to Maybee and opened his Palace of Sweets, where he has since built up a large business in fruits, nuts, candy, ice cream and confectionery of all kinds, the excellence of his goods and the high qual- ity of the service in his establishment having' made the parlors exceed- ingly popular. Subsequently he embarked in the moving picture busi- ness, opening a theatre that at once attracted a large patronage by its unusual films. Mr. Coote conducts a clean, moral family theatre, which has a large following among both young and old, and obtains the latest and finest reels for the amusement of his patrons. These two enterprises would probably demand the entire attention and time of the ordinary man, but Mr. Coote's energies demanded a still wider field of operation, and he accordingly engaged in the milk business, having a station at May- bee where more than 12,000 pounds of milk are received daily, made into butter, and shipped to Detroit, where the product finds a ready and profitable market. He uses a De Laval Separator and 12 horse-power engine, and extraordinary precautions are taken to observe all the rules of hygiene. Cleanliness has always been the watchword in his establish- ments, and his customers are fully protected against dirt or disease in any form. Personally, Mr. Coote is a man of pleasant address, courteous and genial to all who meet him either in a business or social way, and it is doubtful if there is a more popular man in Maybee.
On October 31, 1895, Mr. Coote was married to Miss Clara Otis, who was born at Pierceton, Kosciusko county, Indiana, daughter of Paul Otis, a representative of an old and highly respected family of Kosciusko county, Indiana, who died at Syracuse, that state, June 7, 1912, at the age of sixty-nine years. He had four children : Nettie, Mary, Della and Clara. Mrs. Coote was educated in the schools of Pierceton, Indiana, and has developed into an excellent business woman, being an able assist- ant to her husband in his business enterprises. They have had three children : Pauline, Hildred and Opal. Mr. Coote is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Castle Hall at Dundee, Michigan, Monroe Camp No. Adolph 66, M. W. of A., and he and Mrs. Coote attend the Pres- byterian church at Maybee.
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FRED SMITH. Prominent among the younger generation of agri- culturists in Monroe county, Michigan, one who has achieved success in his chosen vocation of tilling the soil even before the flush of youth has left his cheeks, is Fred Smith, of Exeter township, who has interested himself also in matters of an educational, public and religious nature, and is treasurer of the Lutheran church, at Maybee. Mr. Smith was born on the homestead farm of his father, in Raisinville, Monroe township, near the town of Maybee, October 15, 1883, and is a representative of one of the old and honored families of this section, whose members have been noted for their sterling integrity, honesty and industry. His father, John Smith, a prosperous farmer and leading church member of Exeter township, was born in Baden, Germany, where he was reared to manhood and received good educational advantages. He was thirty years of age at the time of his coming to the United States, having de- cided, like many other good men of the Fatherland, that the only future before him in his native land was to always work hard and never acquire independence. Settling in Raisinville township, near Maybee, he ap- plied himself to clearing and cultivating a farm, with such success that he is now the owner of a valuable tract of 125 acres, which has been de- veloped into one of the best farms in the township. Mr. Smith was mar- ried to Miss Rosa Fizt, who was also born in Baden, Germany, and after their marriage they located in Raisin township, their present home, where the loving wife and mother passed away in January, 1911, at the age of fifty-six years. A woman of many Christian virtues, she reared her children to lives of honesty and good citizenship, and in her death, Raisinville township lost one of its best-beloved women. She was a faithful member of the Lutheran church, to which her husband, who sur- vives her and is sixty-two years of age, also belongs. They had a family of four children : John, Henry, Fred and Charles.
Fred Smith was reared on the home farm, and was reared to the vo- cation of farmer, his education being obtained in the district schools during the winter terms, while the summer months were spent in assist- ing his father and brothers in the duties of the homestead. He was mar- ried March 31, 1910, to Miss Clara Lohr, who was born near Elmore, Ohio, on the fine old homestead farm of her father, John Lohr, a repre- sentative agriculturist of this section. Mrs. Smith was given good educational advantages, and is a lady of culture and refinement, having numerous friends in social circles of Maybee. She and her husband have one son, John George, a bright and interesting baby, named in honor of his grandfathers.
After his marriage Mr. Smith settled down to farming on his own ac- count, and now has an excellent tract of land, consisting of fifty-two acres lying adjoining the town of Maybee. This property, which is known as Meadow Lawn, has a beautiful nine-room rural home, while the other buildings are architecturally handsome, including a barn 32x75 feet, a cow stable 16x32 feet, a granary 16x26 feet, a hog barn 18x46 feet and a silo 10x30 feet. General farming has demanded Mr. Smith's attention, in addition to which he raises some cattle and hogs for shipment to the large markets, and his ventures have been very suc- cessful. Ever since boyhood he has been an active worker in the
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Lutheran church, and for some time has acted in the capacity of treas- urer. He is a general favorite among those who know him, and is re- garded as one of the enterprising and progressive young farmer-citizens of Exeter township.
FRED GERICK. The selection of any individual to fill important offices is naturally evidence of that person's ability and efficiency, and when he has capably discharged the duties of his various public posi- tions for more than seventeen years, it is generally conceded that his worthiness is sustained. One of the most popular and able public officers of Monroe county, Michigan, and one who has also gained a prominent position in agriculture and business, is Fred Gerick, of Sco- field, justice of the peace of Exeter township, who has been repeatedly chosen by his fellow-citizens to represent them in positions of respon- sibility and trust. Mr. Gerick was born July 26, 1857, in French Town, Monroe county, Michigan, and is a son of John and Mary (Wag- ner) Gerick, natives of Germany. Mr. Gerick's parents left the Father- land shortly after their marriage and emigrated to the United States, settling in the woods of Monroe county, where they erected a log house and barn and commenced farming, eventually succeeded in developing a valuable farm. Mrs. Gerick died on the old homestead some years ago, but her husband still survives, having reached the remarkable age of ninety-one years. They had a family of five children, of whom but three survive : Mrs. Kugler, John, a resident of the state of Washington, and Fred.
Fred Gerick received his education in the district schools of Monroe county, and was reared to the hard work of the farm, his parents in- culcating in him the traits of honesty and industry. As a youth he commenced to work in the sawmill of Charles Angerer, Sr., where he remained seven years, following which he started to operate a threshing outfit. Being thrifty and industrious, he was soon able to invest in forty acres of land, and later purchased lots in Scofield, in which town he erected a handsome nine-room residence and a large and commodious barn. In addition to carrying on general farming, he is dealing in Johnson's machinery, in which he has built up a large and flourishing trade among the farmers of Monroe county. While successful in his private affairs, he has held progressive views of life and has kept well abreast of the times, being recognized as an authority upon current events. For many years he has been known as one of the wheel horses of the Republican party in Exeter township, and has held numerous important offices. In 1895 he was elected treasurer of Exeter township, and was reelected in 1896 and again in 1900. In 1902 he was again chosen for this important position, and in 1909 was chosen highway commissioner, to which office he was reelected in 1910. In 1912 Mr. Gerick became the candidate of his party for the office of justice of the peace, and the handsome majority by which he was elected testified strongly to his popularity and the general confidence in which he is held. In his official capacities, Judge Gerick has devoted himself as enthusiastically to his work as he has in his private affairs, and the result has been beneficial to the citizens of Exeter township.
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In 1887, Judge Gerick was married to Miss Emma Shoemaker, who was born in Ohio. Her parents, Dr. Jacob and Rose (Goetz) Shoemaker, were natives of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Gerick have had four children : Rose Margaret, G. William and Jesse, who live at home with their parents; and J. Walter, who is the popular clerk at Angerer & Brick- ner's store at Scofield.
CHARLES ANGERER, JR., of Scofield, is one of the most enterprising business men of Monroe county, where he has lived all his life and from an early age has been engaged in practical affairs.
The Michigan Stone & Supply Company of Scofield, of which he was lessee, and was one of the most extensive plants of the kind in southeastern Michigan. No better quality of stone can be found, and the company have distributed the products of the quarries over a wide territory. From thirty to fifty men are employed in the quarries and crushing plant, and eighteen cottages have been built on the grounds to accommodate the workmen and families, so that the enterprise really makes a little village by itself. Railroad side-tracks run from the main lines to the plant. Mr. Angerer also conducted a store, stocked with dry goods, groceries, etc., for supplying the employes. The capacity of the crushers is fifteen cars per day, and this crushed stone is shipped all over the state and into adjoining states.
Charles Angerer, Jr., who is a son of Honorable Charles Angerer, a prominent business man, farmer and legislator whose sketch is written on other pages, was born at the old home in this county, January 31, 1870, being the oldest of five sons. Educated in the Scofield schools, when a boy he had chosen to make his career in practical affairs, and began assisting his father in the operation of the sawmill. He later en- gaged in the buying, selling and shipping of lumber, and finally bought the mill from his father and established at Scofield a lumber yard, stocked with pine as well as native lumber. Through his yards and mill he did a large business, but later sold out and went into the stone busi- ness.
Mr. Angerer was married April 15, 1896, to Catherine Zeigler, a native of this county, where she was reared and educated, and a daughter of Albert Zeigler. Two children have been born to their marriage, Alma and Charles L.
One of the influential Republicans of the county, Mr. Angerer has served as supervisor of his township and has been a delegate to different conventions. He is a man of fine judgment and business integrity, has performed his duty by his family and to the public welfare, and is one of the substantial and representative citizens of Monroe county.
HON. CHARLES ANGERER. At Scofield resides one of the most influ- ential and ablest citizens of Monroe county. Charles Angerer represents one of the old families of this county, and he has been identified with many large interests in his own community and has served his county in the state legislature. He is a popular and valuable character in the county's citizenship.
Charles Angerer was born in La Salle township of this county on the
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26th of September, 1843, the same year in which President William Mc- Kinley was born. His parents settled in this part of Michigan in 1837, and were good, industrious citizens whose children have since honored their memory. Michael and Catherine (Graus) Angerer were both born in Bavaria, Germany. The father, who engaged in farming during his many years of residence in Monroe county, died at the advanced age of eighty-four. His wife Catherine passed away in 1851, leaving three children, Charles, Carrie and Maggie, the two latter being deceased. The father married again, and the three sons and five daughters by this marriage were as follows: One son who died young, Rosa, Lizzie, Chris- tena, Mary, Matilda, Christ of Cleveland, and Andrew (deceased). The father was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Lutheran faith.
Charles Angerer was reared on the old farm, where he was taught the value of industry, and his education was obtained by attendance at the log-cabin school which stood in that neighborhood during his boy- hood. Reading and observation and travel have in later years largely supplemented the training received in that primitive temple of learn- ing. His first occupation was bridge building, chiefly railroad bridges, as an employe of the Smith bridge construction firm of Toledo. He became expert at the trade, and helped frame the first high bridge over the Raisin river through Monroe, Michigan, and worked in this line in various states, spending some time in Texas. He was foreman for his company for a time, and he could work on the highest of the bridges without a sense of fear.
From the money saved in this work, in 1878, he bought William Steiner's sawmill in Exeter township, and engaged in the manufacture of lumber, moving his mill into the woods in 1883. After a number of years of successful operation he sold the plant to his son, Charles, who continued the business. He then engaged in merchandising, running a large store at Scofield, and after building up a prosperous trade in that part of the county he turned the business over to his son Henry, and from him in turn it has passed to Messrs. Henry Angerer and F. Brich- ner. Mr. Angerer now resides upon and manages a valuable farm estate adjoining the town of Scofield. His home is a modern and commo- dious residence, set in the midst of shade trees, shrubs and flowers. He has a barn, thirty-six by fifty-eight with an annex forty-two by fifty-two, two large silos for cattle feed. Each year he turns off from twenty-five to fifty fat cattle, and from his cultivated fields and meadows he reaps generous returns. His is one of the best rural estates in this part of the county.
Mr. Angerer was married at the age of twenty-six to Miss Mary Rhinehart, a member of an old and respected family of Monroe county. Her parents are now both deceased, her father, Conrad Rhinehart, hav- ing been one of the early settlers of this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Angerer have been born eight children, five sons and three daughters, namely : Charles, Jr .; Mary ; Herman, of Detroit; Rosa, at home; Lizzie, who was formerly a teacher; Professor John, superintendent of the Sandusky College, Michigan; Henry, in business at Scofield, and Wil- liam, now a student in a college in Chicago.
Mr. Angerer has for many years been one of the influential Repub-
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I.E. Ilgenfing
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licans in this county, has served in offices of trust in his own township, and was elected to represent the county in the state legislature in 1889. He has also been a delegate to various conventions of his party. A man of great business energy, Mr. Angerer has won a deservedly large pros- perity, has provided well for his family, and has always done good service for his community and county. His family church is the Meth- odist.
ISRAEL E. ILGENFRITZ. Monroe county has long held high prestige as an important center of the nursery industry, and through the agency of this line of enterprise the civic and material prosperity of this favored section of the Wolverine state has been greatly conserved. Among those who have been most prominent and influential in connection with this industry in the county was the late Israel E. Ilgenfritz, who was one of the pioneers in the development of this line of business, whose operations were of broad scope and whose technical and practical knowledge made him a distinct authority in his chosen sphere of endeavor. He was a man of splendid business ability, of indomitable energy and of progressive ideas, so that he won large and definite success, the while he ordered his course upon the highest plane of integrity and honor and thus commanded impregnable vantage-place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He did much for Monroe county and its fine old metropolis and judicial center, and here his interests continued to be centered until the close of his long and useful life, his death having occurred on the 9th of April, 1895. He was one of the sterling pioneers and essentially representative citizens of the county, and it is incumbent that in this historical work there be accorded a tribute to his memory and a brief review of his career. In the nursery industry he long held precedence as one of the most influential representatives of the same in the entire Union, and in all of the relations of life he honored the city and county that long represented his home.
Israel Epley Ilgenfritz was born near Little York, in Pennsylvania, on the 13th of August, 1824, and was a scion of one of the old and hon- ored families, of German lineage, who established a home in the Key- stone state in the early colonial epoch of our national history. The original Amercian progenitor immigrated from the historic old city of Strassburg, Germany, more than two centuries ago and settled in the wilderness in Pennsylvania, about three and one-half miles distant from the point where the village of Little York was later developed. This old homestead was located on the banks of the Conemaugh river and upon the death of the original owner, his eldest son inherited the same, the estate having comprised a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, besides a smaller tract in the immediate vicinity, on which latter the son built, and placed in operation, a mill and distillery. He was venerable in years at the inception of the war of the Revolution, but his eldest son, Frederick, grandfather of the subject of this memoir, enlisted as a patriot soldier in the Continental line and served throughout the great struggle for national independence. At the close of the war he returned to the old homestead, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1822. He had six sons, John, George, David, Jacob, Fred- Vol. II-3
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