USA > Michigan > Clinton County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 125
USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 125
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Oct. 2, 1845, school-money was apportioned as follows : to district No. 1 the sum of eight dollars and forty-one cents; to No. 2 the sum of twenty-six dollars and fifty- nine cents.
In 1843 the sum of thirty dollars was raised for the support of schools.
May 1, 1846, school district No. 3 was organized to con- tain sections 26, 27, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 36. The dates of the organizations of districts Nos. 1 and 2 are not fixed by the records. In 1846 district No. 1 was apportioned nine dollars and eleven cents, and to district No. 2 the sum of thirty-one dollars and eighty-nine cents.
Distriet No. 4 was formed April 2, 1853, aud commenced at the northwest corner of section 18, extended south four miles, thence east two miles, thence north one mile, thence cast one mile, thence north two miles, thenee west two miles, thenee north one mile, thence west one mile to the place of beginning. It contained sections 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32. Directly afterwards sections 29, 30, 31, and 32 were detached from district No. 4 and organized as district No. 5.
District No. 6 was formed March 11, 1854, to comprise sections 1, 2, the north half of section 11, and the whole of section 12 except the southwest quarter.
April 14, 1855, district No. 7 was formed to include see- tions 3, 4, 9, and 10, except the southeast quarter of the section last named.
April 23, 1856, the mill-tax of 1855 was apportioned as follows :
District No. 1 SIS.65
27.32
3 10.94
6 5.48
= 7
20.57
S
17.37
Total $100.33
District No. 9 was organized April 8, 1863, and included sections 33, 34, 27, southeast quarter of section 28, north half of the southwest quarter and the south half of the northwest quarter of section 26, the southwest quarter of section 22, southeast quarter of section 21, the northeast quarter and southwest quarter of section 28,-the district being formed from portions of districts Nos. 1, 3, and 4.
Appended is given a list of the teachers appointed between 1845 and 1865 :
June 23, 1845 .- Martha Jones.
Nov. 1, 1845 .- Moses Bartow, Jr.
Dec. 5, 1846 .- George Godez, Moses Bartow (2d). April 13, 1850 .- Anthony Fox. June 8, 1854 .- Harriet De Witt, Luey M. Jenkson. July 6, 1854 .- Ursula Vance.
539
WESTPHALIA TOWNSHIP.
Feb. 21, 1855 .- Anthony Fox.
Nov. 25, 185 t .- Benjamin and Ann McOmber.
Nov. 3, 1860 .- B. C. McOmber, E. L. Tracy, J. II. Burgess, Peter Wirth.
Nov. 24, 1860 .- John T. Cornuc.
May 30, 1861 .- Miss Lodima L. Brown.
Nov. 2, 1861 .- C. J. Ilill, John II. Goss, Henry D. Ilall, Emuma T. Ross, Mary E. Plowman.
Nov. 25, 1861 .- llenry N. MeVeigh.
May 21, 1861 .- Sarah Ann Thuma, Abbie Thoma.
June 1, 1864 .- Peter Manar.
Nov. 5, 1864 .- Nettie Leonard.
Nov. 18, 1861 .- Miss Wood.
Nov. 19, 1864 .- Miss Loots.
Nov. 29, 1861 .- Julia A. Plowman.
Dec. 17, 1864 .- Addie L. Packard.
April 8, 1865 .- Caroline Bissell.
April 29, 1865 .- Sarah M. Backus.
The annual school report for 1879 gives the following details :
Number of school districts (whole, 6; fractional, 1) ... 7
Number of scholars of school age. 620
Average attendance. 178
Valuo of school property. $3850
Teachers' wages. 8821
The school directors for 1879 were Peter Petsch, S. C. Ilaysen, J. P. Scoo, William HI. Hubbard, Peter Fedewa, Mathew Thelen, aud L. Kensch.
THE VILLAGE OF WESTPHALIA.
Apart from the church building, the first improvement made upon the present site of the village of Westphalia was a house put up in 1849 by Anton Dunnebacker, a shoemaker. That house is now included in the building known as the village tavern. Dunnebacker sold his place to Joseph Platte, who transferred his store from section 5, and became the pioneer trader of the embryo village. Platte owned considerable land thereabout, and his object in re- moving his store was to found a village. His lead was fol- lowed by others, and in due time the town took on shape and population. Platte opened his store in 1852, and in 1854 John A. Fedewa opened a second store just west of where John Hafner now has a wagon-shop. In 1856 a very important impetus was given to the growth of the vil- lage in the erection of a saw-mill by Joseph Platte, John Smith, and Joseph Bohr, and in 1858, in the addition by the same parties of a grist-mill. In 1854, Joseph Platte sold his store business to his son Joseph, Jr., and Caspar Rademacher, who materially enlarged the premises. In 1862, Platte & Rademacher erceted on the corner opposite their place the store now owned by Thoma & Co. Their old store was sold to Bernard Rademacher (who had pre- viously kept a house of entertainment on section 3), who converted it into a tavern, to which use it has since been devoted. Platte & Rademacher kept the only store in the village for a time. In 1868 they dissolved, when Rade- macher retired and built the brick store now occupied by Joseph Arens & Co. Each continued in business on his own account, and cach ultimately failing, the business of both passed to the control of Thoma, Arens & Co.
in 1861, and carried it on until 1866, when Peter Thoma and Peter Arens built the Clinton Brewery, just north of the- village, and straightway monopolized the business. In 1866, Joseph Bohr and John Smith built the pastoral resi- dence at the village; the new church was already under way, and the village was well along as a thriving place. In 1865, Snitgen & Rademacher opened a hardware-store, Joseph Snitgen having for several years previous been carrying ou business as a blacksmith at Westphalia. In 1868 the boiler of the grist-mill exploded, and besides destroying the mill, killed John Smith, one of the proprietors. His son William was buried beneath the ruins, and other persons in and about the premises were roughly handled, but except the death of Mr. Smith no serions accident to life or limb was occasioned. The saw-mill was at once rebuilt by Wil- liam Smith, but the grist-mill was not replaced until 1872, when Frank Nocker, the present proprietor, put up the present structure, containing three run of stones. Mr. Nocker does considerable custom and merchant work, and manufactures for shipment to Detroit about two hundred barrels of flour per month.
VILLAGE PHYSICIANS.
In the early days of Westphalia's settlement medical at- tendance was obtained from lonia, Lyons, and Portland. In 1848 one Dr. Seinholt settled in Westphalia as a resi- dent physician, and remained until 1857. Ile is now liv- ing iu lloward City. His successors in the settlement have been Drs. Fisher, Stokes, Sauer, Shattuck, Dellenbangh, and Ilerres. Dr. Simon Herres is now the only resident physician in Westphalia.
POST-OFFICE.
The Westphalia post-office was probably established iu 1850 or before. Rev. George Goditz was the first post- master. As he could write the English, and as a large majority of the townspeople could not, he was ordinarily kept pretty busy superseribing letters for his German fellow- citizens and patrons of the office. Mail came once a week over the route from De Witt northward. Joseph Platte, Jr., was the second postmaster, serving from 1854 to 1873, and after him Joseph Suitgen, the present incumbent, took possession. A daily mail has been received at Westphalia since 1863.
POPULATION AND BUSINESS.
Within the mile square inclosing the village the popu- lation numbered in July, 1880, just three hundred and ninety-two. The business interests were represented by the general stores of Fox & Snitgen, Arens & Co., and Thoma & Co., the drug-store of J. P. Bertram, William Smith's tavern, the wagon-shops of John Hafner, Peter Bauer, and Peter Doll, Frauk Nocker's grist-mill, William Smith's saw-mill, four boot- and shoe-manufacturers, har- vess-maker, photographer, etc.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
ST. MARY'S (ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
It has already been related that as soon as Anthony Kopp,
Christopher Thiel started a small brewery in the village , the priest, joined the settlers in Westphalia he founded a
540
IIISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
church and school. Kopp had served in the priesthood in Germany, and in the new field opened before him in a new world he engaged at once with much enthusiastic vigor upon the work he was called to perform. After Kopp es- tablished his log cabin as a church and school he continued the exercises in both with unfailing regularity, and when, amid the growth of his duties as teacher and participator in affairs that concerned the civil government, he found his duties becoming laborious beyond his capacity, he engaged a young German of Detroit, by name Cronus, to come out and teach the school. Presently the priest's log cabin be- coming too small for the increasing church congregration, a second and larger log church was built upon the site now occupied by the pastoral residence. After a time the sec- ond house of worship, like its predecessor, was found in- adequate to supply places for all who came, and so a third (framed) church was built just west of the other. The new building was capable of holding three or four hundred people, and the general opinion seemed that that church at least would be large enough and remain large enough, but these calculations, as will be seen, were greatly at fault. In 1867 it became evident that enlarged church capacity must be provided, for the congregation had risen in numbers to something like a thousand, and so, upon consultation, it was decided to build not only a massive and commodious, but likewise a magnificent temple, which should be alike a source of architectural pride and a place where all who came, although they might number two thousand, might find shelter aud places. The result was the noble struc- ture which now at the village of Westphalia touches the clouds with its lofty spire, and remains an object of unfail- ing satisfaction to those who worship beneath its roof.
Anthony Kopp labored among the people six years, and saw that his labors were fruitful in establishing church and school upon an enduring foundation. Newer and more needy fields then inviting him he passed on, and although he came no more to Westphalia, he cherished his work there in fond remembrance, watched its progress with anxious solicitude, and to the day of his death was in kindly and friendly communication with the people, who remember him and speak of him reverently and gratefully.
His successor, Rev. George Godez, began his labors in 18-13, and continued them uninterruptedly with the con- gregation of St. Mary's Church for the space of thirty years, or until the year 1873, when the infirmities of age warned him that he was unable to longer perform the duties at- tendant upon his laborious service, and so, at his own re- quest, he was transferred to a narrower sphere of action. A service of thirty years had endeared him to his people, and the severance of the bonds which had so long bound them was a painful incident to both pastor and congrega- tion. During Father Godez' time the church made re- markable advancement, and provided not only the present church edifice, but the fine school building and pastoral residence as well. Father Godez is still, at the age of sev- enty-five, preaching at Greenfield, Mich.
His successors at Westphalia have been Revs. Trotten- berg, Lightner, Reifurth, and Herwig. The first two were in charge of the work but a brief space, while Rev. Mr. Reifurth's term of service extended over a period of five
years. Rev. William Herwig, the present pastor, was called to the charge from Stony Creek (near Monroe) in the autumn of 1879.
The church edifice, which was begun in 1867, was com- pleted in 1869, and although the people contributed con- siderable free labor such as hauling lumber, brick, and other materials, besides rendering minor other services, the total cost of the structure is stated to have been upwards of 870,000. Seven hundred and fifty thousand brick were used in the construction, and these brick, as well as those used in building the pastoral residenec and the school, were of course burned upon the ground. The two latter buildings, located near the church, are handsome edifices, and cost about $10.000 cach, the pastoral residence having been built in 1868 and the school in 1873. The aggregate wealth represented in the church, school, parson- age, and surroundings reaches therefore the sum of fully $100,000.
The church contains a seating capacity for fifteen hun- dred people, while an additional five hundred or more may be accommodated in an emergency. The exterior, of mas- sive and imposing appearance, has a front of sixty feet and a depth of one hundred and thirty-three feet. In the inte- rior an arched roof is supported by massive pillars. The distance from floor to ceiling measures thirty-three feet. The spire that surmounts the majestic pile points its glist- ening cross towards the heavens at a distance of one hun- dred and sixty feet from mother earth. The central altar- piece, magnificent in artistic design and decoration, is thirty fect in height by twenty feet in width aud in keeping with its character ; the interior of the edifice is lavishly cinbel- lished upon ceiling and walls with paintings aud frescoes. A large pipe-organ, purchased in Milwaukee at a cost of three thousand dollars, occupies space iu a gallery facing the altar. The organist, Mr. Henry Horstman, is employed exclusively in that capacity.
Few such churches may be seen anywhere aside from large business centres, and that Westphalia, the abode of a rural population, can boast it testifies iu an eloquent way to the religious devotion and liberality of the people. It is no uncommon thing to see two thousand persons in at- tendance at worship of a Sunday, and in this temple- striking in its artistic embellishments, impressive in its roomy architecture, and crowded with the faithful-the spectacle offered is one that weighs with no slight effect upon the human mind.
To this church come worshipers from five towuships,- Lyons, Portland, Westphalia, Dallas, and Riley,-and so steadily do their numbers increase that even now there is talk of affording increased church accommodations. The temporal affairs of church and school, and all property incidental thereto, are managed and held in trust by a board of trustees five in number. The members of the board for 1880 are Joseph Martin, Franz Wolfart, Joseph Dunne- backer, Bernhard Hauses, and Joseph Felan.
ST. MARY'S (ROMAN CATHOLIC) SCHOOL.
Upon the establishment of St. Mary's Church a parish school was at once instituted and placed under the direct charge of the priest. Father Kopp taught the school him-
WESTPHALIA MIŁŁ'S
WESTPHALIA MILL'S
FRANK NOEKER.
MRS FRANK NOEKER
RESIDENCE OF FRANK NOEKER. WESTPHALIA, CLINTON CO. MICH.
541
WESTPHALIA TOWNSHIP.
-
self until increased duties led him to provide another teacher in the person of one Cronus, of Detroit. Cronus remained only a short time, and after returning to Detroit lost his life by accidental drowning. Anton Fuchs was his successor, and from that time until 1868 various teachers, aided and directed by the pastor, guided school affairs. In 1868 the institution was given over to the charge of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, and under their charge it remained until 1874. Meanwhile-the school having occupied quarters in the church buildings-a hand- some brick school was erected for the parish by Williamu Smith, in 1873, at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. In 1874 the school was transferred to the charge of the Sisters of Charity, who have since then continued in con- trol. These are five in number (three Germans and two Americans), and with three other sisters reside in a com- mon home provided for them near the school. The names of these eight sisters are Boniface, Bonaventure, Eulalia, Ildephonse, Pulcharia, Olga, Justina, and Febronia. The school is supported by the church, is absolutely free to all members of the church congregation, and contains four departments, aggregating an attendance of four hundred scholars, who are taught in both the German and English languages. Many of these children come to school from a distance of three, four, and even six miles, and although many of these latter board in the village during the week, a few traverse the distance morning and evening.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
FRANK NOEKER.
Westphalia township affords many fine examples of suc- cessful business enterprise as the result of industry and
close application, though perhaps the most signal instance is discovered in the carcer of Mr. Nocker. Ile is the son of Frank Nocker, who was born in Westphalia, Prussia, in 1801, as was also his son, Frank, whose birth occurred in December, 18344. When eleven years of age the parents were induced, at the carnest solicitation of their son, to emigrate to America, and after a weary passage and an ad- ditionally tedious voyage on the' Erie Canal, they landed in Detroit. Mr. Noeker purchased an unimproved farm three miles from the city, where he resided until his death in 1876. The son, having previously been educated in the rudiments in his native land, devoted himself to farming pursuits, and at the age of twenty-five married Miss Mary Damitio, of Detroit, who was a native of the township of IIamtrawick, where her parents were among the early Ger- man pioneers. Mr. Nocker, during the nine years that followed, was occupied with his farming duties varied by the exciting life of a local politician. Land in the immediate vicinity having increased rapidly in value, he decided to sell his possessions and remove to Westphalia, which he did in 1867. He became the popular host of the township, and four years later erected an extensive flouring-mill, which so absorbed his time as to induce him to sell the hotel property.
He has since the first year of his arrival filled the office of justice of the peace, and has also served as school di- rector and drain commissioner. The political campaign of 1879 found him the successful candidate of the Democratic party as representative of his district in the State Legisla- ture, where he for two years with ability and dignity filled this responsible position. Mr. Nocker, by his force of character and manliness, has attained a considerable influ- ence among the people of his own nationality, while his genial character has rendered him deservedly popular with · hem.
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