USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume I > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
On the 7th of June, 1831, Mr. McGaffey made a motion before the county court that Columbia Lancaster be admitted to practice ; and he was without opposition. Lancaster first appeared at the August term of the circuit court, 1832, as prosecuting attorney, and it has been seen how his eagerness to press the counterfeiting cases, in 1837, rather outran his discretion. But, from all accounts, he was among the ablest of the early lawyers. After practicing for more than a quarter of a century in St. Joseph county, he went to Oregon, where he attained high eminence at the bar and as at- torney general of the state. McGaffey, the pineer of St. Joseph's attorneys, also practiced for many years in the county and after- ward made a good record in Texas.
As has been stated, the next lawyers to be admitted to the bar of St. Joseph county were Cyrus Lovell, John S. Barry, Cogs- well K. Green and Alexander H. Redfield; date and place, Au- gust term, 1832, of the circuit court.
Charles H. Stewart, of Centerville, was also a prominent law- yer of the thirties, afterward going to Detroit, where he continued to extend his good record as a chancery practitioner.
George H. Palmer was a Constantine lawyer of 1835.
J. Eastman Johnson was admitted in April, 1837, and con- tinued to practice for more than forty years, both as lawyer and magistrate, or until he was a venerable, white-haired old gentle- man-but still the same earnest, honorable member of the pro- fession, and a thorn in the sides of all evil doers.
In September, 1838, W. C. Montrose was admitted to the bar before the circuit court, and in 1839 Chester Gurney and Nathan
301
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
Osborn joined the profession through the same medium. Before coming to Michigan Mr. Osborn was a practicing lawyer in Steu- ben county, New York, and after making a good professional record in this county moved to Marcellus, Cass county.
In 1840 Horace Mower, Nathaniel Balch and Aaron E. Wait were added to the attorneys of St. Joseph county, Mr. Balch sub- sequently moving to Kalamazoo, this state, and Mr. Wait to Ore- gon. Mr. Balch was a fighter and for many years was employed in nearly every important case tried in the county.
In the early forties Hon. H. H. Riley commenced practice at Constantine, as well as Judge S. C. Coffinberry at the same place. Mr. Riley was one of the best trial lawyers and came to be known as the father of the St. Joseph county bar. He was not only learned in the law, but he had tact and was a gentleman and he was honest and worthy.
William C. Pease and Edward Flint were admitted to the bar in 1841; Hiram Draper and James C. Wood, in 1844, and Elisha Stevens, in 1845.
S. C. Coffinberry was an orator, a good advocate at times, and attained distinction in this way rather than by his knowledge of the law.
E. B. Turner located at Centerville about 1847, and was the first prosecuting attorney of the county, his election being under the constitution of 1850. At a later date he moved to Texas, where he became attorney general of the state and a leader of the bar.
Perrin M. Smith, afterward judge of the circuit, was admit- ted in 1849, and George W. Hadden and William L. Stoughton in 1850. The last named who went from Sturgis as lieutenant col- onel of the Eleventh Michigan, at the outbreak of the Civil war, lost a leg at Atlanta, earned a brigadier generalship by his brav- ery, and after his discharge was elected attorney general of the state and later to congress for two terms from the St. Joseph dis- trict.
In November, 1851, Orange Jacobs, John C. Bishop and J. W. Flanders were admitted. Mr. Jacobs was afterward chief justice of Washington territory and its delegate to congress for two terms. Mr. Flanders was long one of the leading members of the county bar, at Sturgis, and his son, John S. Flanders, continues to up- hold the professional name of the family, though principally en- gaged in publishing a newspaper.
302
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
The year 1856 brought John B. Shipman, Edward P. Wait, James H. Lyon, John H. Baker and William Sadler into the pro- fessional fold of the county. Mr. Shipman moved to Coldwater after a time and attained high standing as a lawyer and became circuit judge; has been the nominee of his party at times for su- preme court justice and he would have made a good one had he been elected.
Messrs. Lyon and Sadler continued to practice before the St. Joseph bar for many years after. Mr. Sadler became prosecuting attorney for the county January 1, 1860, and served his term.
In 1857, A. E. Hewit and Gilbert R. Shays were added to the St. Joseph county attorneys; Paul J. Eaton, the wit of the bar, and William Allison and Samuel Chadwick came in 1858; Alson Bailey, Oscar Waters and Germain H. Mason in 1859, and Henry F. Severens in 1860.
JUDGE SEVERENS.
Judge Severens was elected prosecuting attorney in 1862 and served from January 1, 1863, to January 3, 1865. He also served as United States judge for the western district of Michi- gan from May, 1886, to March, 1900, and since the latter date has been one of the four United States judges for the sixth judicial circuit, which embraces the states of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Judge Severens' home is in Kalamazoo and there is no more honored or popular member of the United States circuit bench than this special representative of Michigan's interests in this high court of national jurisdiction. Judge Severens was a Vermonter, and after graduating from Middlebury college, studied his profession in the office of Henry E. Stoughton, United States district attorney of the Green Moun- tain state. In about one year after being admitted to the Vermont bar, he came to St. Joseph county and settled at Three Rivers. He at once became an attorney of the local bar, was elected prose- cuting attorney of St. Joseph county, and in February, 1865, moved to Kalamazoo. Being a strong Democrat, his politics were of the wrong kind to insure him advancement in southern Michi- gan, but when he was appointed United States district judge in 1886 he had attained rank second to none as a practitioner be- fore the higher courts. Prior to his regular appointment as United States circuit judge, he had temporarily performed the duties of that bench by selection of Judges Taft and Lurton, and
.
303
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
had even been called to preside over the entire circuit, so that his final selection as the permanent judge was by no means a matter of surprise.
TALCOTT C. CARPENTER.
In 1861, the year following Judge Severens' admission to the bar of St. Joseph county, Geron Brown and Talcott C. Carpenter knocked at its doors and entered. Mr. Carpenter is still engaged in practice at Sturgis, and is the oldest member of the county bar, from the standpoint of continuous professional work. He was born in Delaware county, New York, in 1835, and when he was two years of age his father, Younglove C. Carpenter, brought him to the township of Mendon, St. Joseph county, and there he was reared on the family homestead. The district schools of Mendon and Centerville, the normal school at Ypsilanti and the University of Michigan furnished the groundwork of his education previous to the commencement of his law studies. He also surveyed some and taught some, studied in 1860-1 in the law school of the State University, and in the summer of 1861 entered the law office of Henry F. Severens, then a struggling lawyer of Three Rivers. A few months afterward he moved to Sturgis, having been admitted to the bar, and assumed the practice of William L. Stoughton, who was then bravely fighting the battles of the Union and ad- vancing toward his brigadier-generalship. Mr. Carpenter carried along his professional business with great credit until General Stoughton returned from the front in 1864, and continued in partnership with him until 1866, or until the election of the latter as attorney general of the state. This was Mr. Carpenter's first and only partnership. Since that time he has served as prose- cuting attorney of St. Joseph county and circuit court commis- sioner, and has held other civil offices outside the professional field. He was industrious and took part in many trials. He prosecuted vigorously.
The Civil war period was not fruitful of new members; be- sides Messrs. Carpenter and Brown, the list includes only Comfort T. Chaffee, in 1863; J. J. Crandall and Alfred Akey, in 1864, and Gresham P. Doan, in 1865.
But 1866 yielded three new attorneys to the St. Joseph county bar-Frank H. Guion, R. W. Melendy and Edwin W. Keightley- of whom two (Messrs. Keightley and Melendy) became judges of the circuit court.
304
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
JUDGE KEIGHTLEY.
Judge Keightley has been a resident of Constantine since 1867. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1865, and spent the following two years at White Pigeon. Mr. Keight- ley's first two years in Constantine (1867-9) were spent in part- nership with Judge S. C. Coffinberry and in 1872 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county; served as circuit judge from 1874 to 1876 (succeeding Hon. R. W. Melendy) and during the following two years was in congress. With the exception of a few years spent in Chicago, Judge Keightley has been a continuous and highly respected resident of St. Joseph county since his boy- hood.
JUDGE PEALER.
Russel R. Pealer, who was admitted to the St. Joseph county courts in 1867, the year after Judge Keightley, had graduated from the Albany Law School. He had been reared and educated in Pennsylvania and served three years as a Union volunteer, and was promoted from time to time for creditable service in the Civil war, and not long before coming to Three Rivers had been admitted to the Bloomburg (Pennsylvania) bar. He has been in active practice ever since, except when on the bench and has served as circuit court commissioner, prosecuting attorney and cir- cuit judge in six years, from January 1, 1882, to January 1, 1888; was elected to the legislature in 1889, and has often been supported for higher judicial honors than he has enjoyed.
Lawyers admitted in 1868 were: Philip Podgham and W. H. H. Wilcox; 1869, Walter Littlefield and Oscar L. Cowles; 1870, Alfred D. Dunning, Benton S. Hewe and D. Clayton Page; 1873, Charles W. W. Clarke and William H. Howe, and 1874, Bishop E. Andrews. Philip Podgham moved to Allegan county where he is now a Circuit Judge of distinction.
THE ANDREWS FAMILY.
The Andrews family has earned a distinctive place in the legal annals of St. Joseph county from the fact that three of its members became members of the bar and have been engaged in the practice of law-father, mother and son. Both Bishop E. Andrews, the elder, and E. H. Andrews, the junior, have served
305
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
as prosecuting attorneys of St. Joseph county, and have acquitted themselves with honor and ability both in public and private practice. B. E. Andrews has long served as a school director and the city is greatly indebted to him for its fine system of public education. Lucy Fellows Andrews, the wife of Bishop E. and the mother of E. H., was the only lawyer of her sex in St. Joseph county, and a woman of talents. She was educated at Three Rivers and the school for girls conducted by Mrs. Lucinda H. Stone, at Kalamazoo. After she married Mr. Andrews, in 1873, she commenced the study of law in his office, with the object of assisting him in his practice. Mrs. Andrews was admitted to the bar in 1877 and entered into an active professional partnership with her husband. She thus assisted him mostly in the care of the office for many years, or until their son was old enough to become his father's partner. The later years of Mrs. Andrews' life were much devoted to delivering public addresses before lit- erary and other clubs, and her death, April 6, 1907, removed one of the most ambitious ladies in St. Joseph county.
ATTORNEYS OF 1877.
In 1877 the county bar included the following attorneys : Hon. H. H. Riley, Judge S. C. Coffinberry, Hon. E. W. Keightley, L. B. French, Constantine; J. W. Flanders, D. E. Thomas, T. C. Carpenter, A. B. Dunning and C. W. W. Clarke, Sturgis; James H. Lyon, O. F. Bean, David Knox, Jr., R. R. Pealer, Bishop E. Andrews, Henry McClory and N. H. Barnard, Three Rivers; Judge J. Eastman Johnson, William Sadler, S. M. Sadler, Alfred Akey, P. J. Eaton, Hon. R. W. Melendy, Stillman L. Taylor and Charles J. Beerstecher, Centerville; D. Clayton Page, White Pigeon ; O. J. Fast and G. P. Doan, Mendon; W. W. Howe and O. L. Cowles, Burr Oak, and O. P. Coffinberry. The latter became prosecuting attorney.
LAWYERS OF TODAY.
In this list of those who were actively practicing a third of a century ago appear the names of only half a dozen who are still in the professional harness and "pulling their full share"-Tal- cott C. Carpenter, of Sturgis; Edwin W. Keightley, of Constantine; R. R. Pealer, B. E. Andrews and Oscar F. Bean, of Three Rivers; Vol. 1-20
306
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
and Alfred Akey, of Centerville. Other active members of the St. Joseph county bar, besides those already mentioned, are the following: Hon. George L. Yaple (present circuit judge), Men- don ; D. L. Akey (ex-prosecuting attorney), Colon; Theodore T. Jacobs (ex-circuit court commissioner) and Prosecuting Attorney, Sturgis; George E. Miller (ex-circuit court commissioner and ex- city attorney for two terms), Duane D. Arnold (ex-circuit court commissioner), Roy J. Wade (ex-prosecuting attorney), H. O. Bliss (Three Rivers city attorney), George H. Arnold, ex-prosecut- ing attorney, and William H. Wilson, Three Rivers; H. P. Stewart, ex-prosecuting attorney. W. H. Pierce and W. F. Thomas, ex- prosecuting attorney, Centerville; F. K. Knowlen, ex-prosecuting attorney, Constantine; Benton H. Scoville, Arthur N. Culp and James M. Harvey, Jr. (postmaster), Constantine; E. E. Harwood and George E. Shank, Mendon; Wallace W. Weatherly, Charles A. Sturgis, Jay J. Stanton, ex-prosecuting attorney, P. H. Phillips and Elmer D. Smith, Sturgis; and Andrew M. Graham, Burr Oak.
CHAPTER XIII.
THREE RIVERS.
WATER POWER AND MANUFACTORIES-MANUFACTURE OF PAPER- OLD BOWMAN FLOUR MILL-HON. EDWARD S. MOORE-HON. A. C. PRUTZMAN-HOME-COMING PIONEER LITERATURE- GEORGE W. BUCK-ARTHUR SILLIMAN-SYLVESTER TROY-AL- LEN WESCOTT-THE RICHARDSON LETTER-LETTER OF J. C. MORSE-CORPORATION OF THREE RIVERS-PUBLIC SCHOOL SYS- TEM-FIRE PROTECTION AND WATER SUPPLY-RIVERSIDE CEME- TERY-THE SHEFFIELD CAR COMPANY-R. M. KELLOGG COM- PANY-THREE RIVERS ROBE TANNERY-OTHER INDUSTRIES- FIRST NATIONAL BANK-STATE SAVINGS BANK-BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION-THE CIVIC LEAGUE-THE LOCAL PRESS-METHODISTS AS CHURCH PIONEERS-FIRST PRESBY- TERIAN CHURCH-THE BAPTIST CHURCH-FIRST REFORMED CHURCH-ST. JOHN'S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN-THE MASONIC BODIES-THE ODD FELLOWS-KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS-G. A. R. POST-D. A. R. AND MRS. LUCY F. ANDREWS-M. W. A. AND OTHER SOCIETIES.
In the history of Lockport township, the founding of the city of Three Rivers and its development up to 1840 have been briefly described. The main points in this sketch, as it relates to the city itself, were the founding of the village of Moab in 1830, the plat- ting of St. Joseph in 1831, and the establishment of the original Three Rivers and the village of Lockport in 1836. In 1871 these villages, with what was known as "Canada" on the west side of the Rocky river, were consolidated to form the four wards em- braced in the present corporation, which was incorporated as a city in 1895.
WATER POWER AND MANUFACTORIES.
Three Rivers, as we know it today, is a thriving city of about 4,300 people at the junction of the Portage, Rocky and St. Joseph
307
308
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
rivers (which give the place its name), and at the intersection of the north and south line of the Michigan Southern Railway and the east and west line of the Michigan Central. Its water-power is one of the best in southern Michigan, and consequently Three Rivers is not only the leading industrial center of the county, but an important manufacturing point in the state at large.
The Sheffield Car Company, which embraces several large cor- porations, takes decided pre-eminence among the industries of Three Rivers. Its plants cover forty acres of ground. The Shef- field Car Company is one of the largest manufactories in the coun- try of what may be called the minor grade of cars-minor only in size, but very superior in quality. Three Rivers has also flourish- ing industries in the lines of knitting works, flour and paper mills, fur robe tanneries and furniture factories. Furthermore, the city enjoys the distinction of having the largest nursery for the propa- gation of strawberry plants in the world.
The establishment of the early manufactories of Three Rivers has been narrated, especially the pioneer work of Jacob McInterfer and Michael Beadle. In 1839 to 1840 Luther L. Carlton erected a woolen factory on the west side of the Rocky river at the end of the present bridge and several years later put up a flour mill on the Portage river. The latter afterwards came into the pos- session of Philip Hoffman and John H. Bowman and was burned in 1851.
In 1851 the Lockport Hydraulic Company constructed a dam across the St. Joseph river, added a large race, and thus decidedly increased the water power available at Three Rivers.
ROBERTS WHEEL AND CAR COMPANY.
The first use of the water power thus created was made by J. B. Millard and George Troy who built a furnace on the site of the large works afterwards erected by Roberts and Cox. In 1855 that firm assumed ownership of the furnace, which by this time had reached the proportions of an extensive iron manufact- ory. This, in turn, formed the basis of the great business so long conducted by the Roberts Wheel and Car Company and later ab- sorbed by the Sheffield Car Company.
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER.
For more than fifty years, Three Rivers has made a specialty of the manufacture of paper. The first paper mill was built in
309
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
1853 by Shaler, Becker & White and was known as the "Rosette." The enterprise was conducted many years by J. W. French and was afterwards incorporated by him under the name of "Three Rivers Pulp Company." The present representative of this line of industry is the Eddy Paper Company, incorporated at $85,000 and of which Henry D. Eddy is president.
Another large industry of the earlier times was established by the Three Rivers Manufacturing Company (controlled by the Swarthouts), their furnace and machine-shops being erected in 1866.
DEVELOPMENT OF WATER POWER.
The immense water power now supplied the large manufact- uring plants of Three Rivers, is obtained, of course, from the Port-
GREAT MANUFACTURING SECTION OF THREE RIVERS
age, Rocky and St. Joseph rivers. The first two furnish about seven hundred horse power and the St. Joseph river much more. The first important move made in the creation of the water power of the St. Joseph river was in 1836, when George Buck built his sawmill on the Lockport side and when L. B. Brown, Edward Pierson and Benjamin Sherman formed the St. Joseph Canal and Lockport Manufacturing Company. Mr. Sherman was the chief agent of the company and advertised for proposals to construct a dam, a bridge, a canal and a lock at that point on the rivers. The panic of 1837 and the hard times which followed put a stop to
310
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
the enterprise, ruined Mr. Sherman and made it necessary for Mr. Buck to take back the land which he had donated. This he sold to J. B. Millard some years afterward.
The collapsed enterprise, however, resulted in the forma- tion of the Lockport Hydraulic Company in the spring of 1851. This corporation was composed of several eastern gentlemen of capital, with Joseph B. Millard as its local superintendent and manager, and during the year of its formation, the dam and race on the St. Joseph river were completed. As already stated, the first use of this water power was made by Millard & Troy in the operation of their furnace on the present site of the Roberts Wheel and Car Works. The present great power of the St. Joseph river is distributed by means of a large mill race which runs across the Second ward of the city.
THE OLD BOWMAN FLOUR MILL.
In 1845 Luther Carlton commenced the erection of a. flour- mill on the Portage river. It was subsequently completed by J. B. Millard and William Hutchinson, who afterwards disposed of the plant and the business to Philip H. Hoffman and John H. Bowman. While in the possession of these parties, in the fall of 1851, it was destroyed by fire, but re-built the following year and for long afterward was conducted by Mr. Bowman. The old Bowman mill was again burned a few years ago, and a portion of its site is now occupied by the Three Rivers Power and Elec- trical plant. A large portion of the electric power which is used by the great Sheffield Car Works is generated by the city plant here located.
MOORE & PRUTZMAN.
No two men who were connected with the industrial and commercial founding of Three Rivers accomplished more than Hon. Edward S. Moore and Hon. Abraham C. Prutzman. As a firm, they first opened a branch store at Three Rivers in October, 1836, and located personally in 1838, at which time they began the business of shipping flour down the St. Joseph River on the so-called "arks." As they built their own boats, they were able to conduct this business with considerable profit until the railroad reached Niles in 1849. As the river intercepted the road at this point, their operations were even facilitated, and in 1853, when
?
311
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
the Michigan Southern line was extended from the south to Con- stantine and Three Rivers, they continued their business with even greater profit until they were able to make their shipments entirely by rail.
HON. EDWARD S. MOORE.
Mr. Moore was especially prominent in obtaining for Three Rivers complete railroad connections through the Michigan Southern and the Michigan Central. In 1853 he was president of the St. Joseph Valley Railroad Company, and it was largely through his labors and strong personal influence that an arrange- ment was made by the Michigan Southern to build a spur of its main line from White Pigeon, north, to Constantine and Three Rivers. The main line had been constructed through the south- ern part of the county two years before. The charter of the Michigan Southern making it impossible for that corporation to constructed a line nearer than three miles from the northern boundary of Indiana, but by taking advantage of the St. Joseph valley charter, a road was built from the Indiana state line directly north, to Three Rivers and through St. Joseph county.
When first built, the road to Three Rivers was laid with strap rail. After this had been used for a few years, it was worn out and the line threatened to fall into complete disuse, when Mr. Moore again came to the rescue and raised money to replace the worn out strap rails with the modern "T" rail. The road was also extended to Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.
In the reconstruction of this branch of the Michigan South- ern road, which occurred mainly in 1864, Three Rivers and the township of Lockport donated $35,000, and such liberal individ- uals as Messrs. Moore and Prutzman also made large contribu- tions to the building fund. Even when it was first built, they gave not only largely of their money, but donated considerable tracts of ground for the depot and also did much toward the grad- ing of the grounds. Although they were by far the most liberal donors to the project, the citizens generally contributed to the extent of their means. As an illustration, the right-of-way of the road, half way to Constantine, was given by citizens and farmers of the township, and when the line was extended north the bridge was built mostly by private subscriptions. This is a fair illustration of the public spirit which was so early manifested in the history of the city and locality. In view of the unusual
312
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
prominence which attaches to the labors and personalities of Messrs. Moore and Prutzman, it is but fair that the reader should know a little more of their careers and private lives.
Hon. Edward S. Moore was born in New Jersey, one of ten children, and when three years of age was brought by his parents to the county of Northumberland, Pennsylvania. As his father died when he was five years of age, it became necessary for him to be put to work at an early age in order to assist his widowed mother in the care of the family. Therefore, when but ten years of age, he entered the employ of the county register at Danville, Pennsylvania. He afterward learned the tailor's trade, in which he was engaged for several years before his marriage in 1824. His wife was Mary, a daughter of Joseph Prutzman, who, in turn, was a brother of A. C. Prutzman with whom he was engaged in various business enterprises for some thirty years. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Moore went to Detroit to seek a business loca- tion, but when he returned to Pennsylvania, instead of immedi- ately moving west, he became contractor (in 1824) on the canals which were then being constructed in western Pennsylvania. After obtaining several contracts for building dams, locks, and bridges on the new improvements, he sold his business to his brother Andrew and in the early "thirties" engaged in mer- chandise at various points in the western part of the state. In these enterprises he was associated with his brother Burrows, with whom he remained until 1833 when the latter withdrew from the firm and removed to Three Rivers, A. C. Prutzman then com- ing into the partnership.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.