USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume I > Part 34
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BRIDGE AND LIGHT AND POWER PLANT CONSTANTINE.
At that time Mr. Hull was the oldest newspaper publisher in the state in continuous service, and during the period of his jour- nalistic activity he was prominently recognized by the general government as an influential Republican. From September, 1862, to May, 1873, he held the office of assistant assessor of internal revenue. That office was then abolished, and in the following August he was appointed collector of internal revenue, and served in that capacity until the consolidation of his district in September, 1876. In the following January he became deputy collector of the fourth division of the third district, comprising Cass, Berrien, Van Buren and St. Joseph counties, and held it for a number of years.
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In 1867 Mr. Hull was also chosen a member of the state constitu- tional convention. He died in 1907, after having founded the Items of Constantine.
The Constantine Record was founded May 11, 1897, and was consolidated with the St. Joseph County Advertiser June 22, 1900, with Clayton W. and Earle R. Clemens as editors and publishers. In the following year the latter severed his connection with the Advertiser-Record, which has since been solely conducted by Clay- ton W. It is stanchly Republican.
In 1903 the Items of Constantine was founded by Lee G. Hull, whose prominence in journalism and public life has already been noted, and since his death in 1907 it has been conducted by F. W. & L. W. Hull, as a weekly Republican newspaper.
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
The first religious services in Constantine were held by the Methodist missionary, Erastus Felton, in 1830, and by his col- league, Lyman B. Gurley, who formed the pioneer class of that de- nomination. Meetings were held and services conducted in the old school house on the east side of Washington street until the Pres- byterian session house was built in 1839. That was its place of meeting and worship until the building of its own church in 1848.
Up to the year 1847, when the church commenced to build its own house of worship under the pastorate of its first resident min- ister (Rev. Richard Pengelly), those who served the society were as follows: Erastus Felton, Lyman B. Gurley, Benjamin Cooper, William Sprague, R. S. Robinson, George M. Beswick, Newell E. Smith, Erastus Kellogg, Richard C. Meek, William Todd, John Ercanbrack, E. Arnold, J. V. Watson, William H. Sampson, Henry Hudson, Peter Sabin, Wellington H. Collins, Roswell Parker, A. J. Eldred, Franklin Gage and Richard Pengelly. In 1850, two years after the completion of the church, the society built a parsonage on Three Rivers road, which was occupied as such until 1855, when the property on Pigeon street was purchased.
During the thirty years which passed between the building of the first and the second church of the Methodist society the follow- ing pastors served the church: Samuel A. Osborne, S. Blanchard, Peter Sharp, Elijah Crane, Frank W. May, Horace Hall, Thomas B. Granger, L. W. Earl, Benjamin F. Doughty, Stephen C. Wood- ward, David R. Latham, M. B. Camburn, David Thomas, A. N.
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Knappen, H. M. Parker, James A. Dayton, A. A. Dunton, S. George, S. M. Edmonds and George D. Lee.
The new church was dedicated December 1, 1878, and in the following year Rev. J. Boynton was called to the pastorate, his suc- cessors, who have served the charge for from one year to five years being as follows: William Prouty, I. B. Tallman, S. C. Strickland, S. C. Davis, J. G. Crozier, W. H. Parsons, J. B. Pinchard, Isaiah Wilson, J. C. Upton, B. H. Fleming, J. G. Bowerman and William Chapman. At present writing the church has a membership of about 200.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The First Congregational church was founded in 1888 by members of the Presbyterian and Reformed societies. As early as October 27, 1836, six men and three women of Constantine organ- ized a Presbyterian church under the guidanceof Rev. P. W. War- riner, of White Pigeon. Various ruling elders supplied the pulpit for many years, but a church edifice was not completed until November, 1854. Rev. Samuel C. Logan was the first pastor to preach in it, and even at that time the Presbyterian church of Constantine was the only one of its denomination in southern Michigan. In 1874 the house was remodeled and was occupied by the Congregational church, organized, as stated, in 1888.
The church, which has now a membership of 125 has been served by the following pastors: Rev. Bastian Smits (now of the First Congregational church, Jackson, Michigan), Rev. Mr. Decker, Rev. Mr. Higgins, Rev. Mr. Jessie, Rev. Harvey Bush and Rev. Wilmot E. Stevens.
HON. JOHN G. CATHCART.
John Gilford Cathcart was born in Watsontown (formerly called Tobey township), Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the first day of January, 1799. He is a son of John and Mary Cath- cart, who passed away to their final rest many years ago. His father and grandfather were both Revolutionary soldiers in the stirring times of '76, and gave to their children little else than a sterling patriotism and sound religious views.
In the spring of 1831 Mr. Cathcart came to White Pigeon prairie, to look for a location ; and finding one that suited him, pur-
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chased it of Judge C. B. Fitch, in the southeastern corner of the present limits of Constantine township. He returned to Pennsyl- vania for his family, with whom he came to St. Joseph county and settled on his purchase, where he remained until 1860, at which time he sold the land (then a fine farm) and removed to the village of Constantine, where he resided until his death. In 1835 Mr. Cath- cart was elected supervisor of the township of White Pigeon, then comprising the present township of White Pigeon, Florence, Con- stantine and Mottville, and was re-elected in the year 1836. In the spring of 1839 he was also elected one of the three county com- missioners, who took the place of the board of supervisors, and drew the two years' term; at the end of which the office was abolished, the supervisors coming in again. In the fall of 1839 he was elected to represent the county in the lower house of the legislature. From 1840 until his death Mr. Cathcart was a deacon in the Constantine Presbyterian Church.
MRS. CROSSETTE'S RECOLLECTIONS.
The Sunday school of the Congregational church has always been heartily maintained. Of its veteran members none have been more constant, or gained deeper affection, than Mrs. Delia S. Crossette; this is but introductory and explanatory of the follow- ing taken from the Items of May 19, 1910:
OVER SEVENTY YEARS.
"It is a custom in the Congressional Sunday school to receive a birthday offering, and last Sunday Mrs. Delia S. Crossette gave with her offering a reminiscence of her Sunday school attendance, a period of over seventy years, which was both pleasing and in- teresting. When seven years old she began attending Sunday school on Broad street, in a little red school house, so common all over the country in an early day, where she also attended week day school, and the late Mrs. Arvilla Harwood, so lovingly re- membered, was her first teacher. Mr. French, father of Dayton French, of Broad street, was the Sunday school superintendent, a position he held many years. He also led the singing, using a tuning fork to get the key, a thing not known to the present gen- eration. She referred to the method of teaching in those days. The scholars were required to commit to memory verses in the New Testament during the week, reciting them in Sunday school. A reward was usually given for the greatest number of verses recited.
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"What would appear a thrilling scene now was then quite common, that of meeting Indians, and she remembers hiding be- hind trees to avoid them. She also referred to her life spent in the city of Joliet, still attending Sunday school, when Bishop Vincent introduced the use of Lesson Leaves, the beginning of the present system.
"The many years Mrs. Crossette has been among us she has been a constant attendant and gave as her testimony to the chil- dren, that she liked the work and had said to her granddaughter, who asked her if she was never going to graduate, 'Not in this life.' She admonished the young people to come into the church membership and live the life required-they would never regret it."
THE REFORMED CHURCH.
The Reformed Church of North America, formerly known as the Dutch Reformed Church of Constantine, was organized March 11, 1843, with Joseph Wells and John Sixbey as elders, and Nicho- las I. Sixbey and John Harrison as deacons-the last being the clerk of the consistory. The formal organization was effected April 23d by Rev. Asa Bennett, who ordained the officers named, and on May 20th the following were received as members of the church : Darius D. Evans, Asahel Slote, Eleanor Harrison, Lucy Wells, Rachel Hagenbuch, Elizabeth Sixbey, Catherine Sixbey, Christina Sixbey, Frances Slote and Peter F. Putnam. The first children baptized were Jane, daughter of John and Margaret Pearce, and Reuben, son of Asahel and Frances Slote.
Rev. Asa Bennett held the first church services in the 1832 school house, but before the close of his ministry, in 1845, the society was occupying its own house of worship, a neat $1,200 frame building furnishing forty-four sittings. The membership was about half that number. The description given of this church, then considered quite a fine edifice, reads thus: "Thirty-one by fifty feet on the ground; eighteen feet clear in height; flat ceiling ; vestibule nine feet wide; seats fronting the door, the two rear ones raised for the choir; two aisles, with twenty-two seats opening into each; doors of much superior finish to any church before at- tempted in Constantine."
The second pastor, Rev. David McNeish, dedicated the church on New Year's day, 1846, being assisted by three brother clergy- men. In the spring of 1865 the interior arrangements of the church were remodeled, and its seating capacity increased, while in 1876 a tasteful and much larger house of worship was erected. It was
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a frame structure, veneered with white brick, stood eighty-one by sixty feet on the ground, and its southwest corner was surmounted by a lofty tower fourteen feet square. The building was dedicated December 31, 1876.
The membership of the Reformed church of Constantine is forty, and the pastors, since the first incumbency of Rev. Mr. Mc- Neish, which included 1846-9, were as follows: Rev. David A. Jones, 1850-2; Rev. David McNeish, 1852-4 (died as pastor, Sep- tember 3d) ; Rev. William Bailey, 1856-63; Rev. J. W. Beardslee, 1863-84; Rev. Bastian Smith, - -; Rev. S. L. Gamble, stated supply, one year (1890) ; Rev. F. P. Baker, August, 1891-August, 1893; Rev. J. A. DeSpelder, January, 1894-June, 1895; Rev. J. I. Gulick, April, 1896-February, 1898; Rev. Edward Kelder, June, 1899-August, 1904; Rev. William Miedema, January, 1905-Novem- ber, 1907; Rev. C. Vander Mel, February, 1908, to the present.
MESSIAH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH.
In April, 1865, Rev. Peter Bergstresser, pastor of the Mott- ville and Park Grove Evangelical Lutheran churches, commenced his monthly ministrations at Constantine, missionary work having been irregularly conducted in the same field by Rev. A. S. Bar- tholomew, a member of the Joint Synod of Ohio. On March 31st Mr. Bergstresser organized Messiah Evangelical Lutheran church, of Constantine, with thirty-three charter members. Of this num- ber, William and Sarah Fox, Christian Klappen, S. L. Dentler, and Charles Frank and wife were active members; all have passed to the Beyond with the exception of Mrs. Charles Frank.
The first services were held in the Dutch Reformed church, the Lutherans paying a rental of two dollars for each meeting held therein. Rev. Bergstresser resigned the pastorate in the fall of 1867, and was succeeded by Rev. J. N. Barnett, who also took charge of the congregations at Mottville and White Pigeon. Dur- ing the year the church society, in conjunction with the German Reformed church at White Pigeon, bought the old Baptist church at the latter place for joint occupancy, Mr. Barnett being in- stalled as pastor over the three churches at Constantine, Mottville and White Pigeon. The society at Constantine was incorporated March 19, 1870, the trustees elected being Daniel Kleckner, Aaron Heckman and Andrew Laverty. William Fox and Jacob Gentzler
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were appointed a building committee to act with the trustees, and in April, 1872, a lot was purchased on the corner of Canaris and Fifth streets for a church site.
For five years and nine months after Rev. Barnett became pastor, the congregation in Constantine continued to worship in the Dutch Reformed church. He then saw that the future pros- perity of the congregation depended upon having its own house of worship. Although pastor and people earnestly co-operated in the work, progress was slow; it was not until the fall of 1873 that the church was ready for occupancy.
In relating the efforts to get the edifice erected, the secretary writes upon the records thus: "Much delay and indecision hav- ing arisen in proceeding to built a church, it was determined by some of the members to commence work, and by a 'coup d' etat' precipitate action. Therefore, on August 29, 1872, the ladies were called out to dig the basement and foundation trenches. Rev. R. F. Delo and wife and many others came down from Three Rivers to aid in the initiatory movement." It would seem that this appeal to chivalry and practical action brought matters to a crisis ; for the corner-stone of the church was laid October 5, 1872. Rev. Delo preached the sermon, and as the day was also the anniversary of the birth of Pastor Barnett, the occasion was doubly interesting and affecting. As completed late in the fall of 1873, the Messiah Lutheran church was a substantial edifice of red brick, seventy- two by forty-two feet, its round tower of castellated ramparts and stained glass windows being striking and pleasing features. The bell, costing five hundred dollars, was furnished by Miss Helen S. and Charles H. Barry, Jr., who were in other ways generous donors to the church.
The congregation continued in connection with the Melanchton pastorate until October 1, 1873, when it was separated therefrom by the action of the synod, and undertook the support of its own pastor. The Messiah is one of the very few congregations of the synod which has never received any missionary aid; yet it has always been among the most faithful in meeting all calls from this field. In this particular, the Constantine society has ever shown the spirit for which Paul so highly commended the church of Phillippi.
Rev. Barnett continued his faithful and effective labors until January 2, 1876, when he was succeeded by Rev. G. P. Raup, who entered upon his duties September 1st of the same year. It was his
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first pastorate, and he served his people with all the vigor of his youthful years. To the great regret of the church, failing health forced him to resign in July, 1879. Rev. H. C. Grossman took charge October 1, 1879, and continued for over a year. The pulpit was then temporarily supplied for several months, the next regular pastor being Rev. A. W. Burnes, who served for two years, from November, 1881. In November, 1883, he was succeeded by Rev. W. L. Tedrow, during whose successful pastorate of nine years, the membership of the church increased from seventy-five to more than two hundred; all of its interests being proportionately ad- vanced. Mr. Tedrow resigned in June, 1893, to accept a call from the Home Mission Board to establish an English Lutheran church at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Rev. C. A. Gelwicks, his successor, served until the succeeding August ; Rev. D. U. Bair from Febru- ary, 1895, to November, 1897; Rev. B. F. Grenoble, from Decem- ber, 1897, until November, 1904; and Rev. D. R. Huber from Janu- ary, 1905, until the later portion of 1908, when he was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. R. E. Tulloss.
The membership of the Messiah church is about 150. Its pastor is a young, vigorous man, a graduate of both Wittenberg college and the Hamma Divinity school, at Springfield, Ohio, and this is his first charge. Among other adjuncts to the church which he has been especially instrumental in strengthening, is the Augs- burg Bible class, which he has developed from a membership of about sixty to one of two hundred.
SECRET AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES.
Of the secret and benevolent societies which have taken root in Constantine, the organizations connected with the orders of Masons and Knights of Pythias are the most flourishing-the for- mer of early, and the latter of late, origin.
Siloam Lodge, No. 35, A. F. & A. M., was instituted under dis- pensation in 1849 and chartered the year following, with J. J. Mason as first worshipful master. Hon. S. C. Coffinberry, who was head of the lodge in 1857-9, served as grand master of the state in 1866-8. During the first year of his incumbency he performed the Masonic burial service at the funeral obsequies of Governor and Senator Cass. At the present time, the lodge has a membership of 134, with the following officers: W. M., L. K. Slope; S. W.,
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C. M. Dewey; J. W., George C. Pigeon; S. D., Sydney D. Pigeon; J. D., S. S. Kittell; secretary, William Beasley, Jr .; treasurer, George C. Harvey.
Knights of Pythias Lodge (Constantine No. 241) was organ- ized in 1907, has a membership of seventy-five and these officers: Ross Armstrong, C. Com .; C. W. Clemens, V. Com .; Arnold Tracy, prelate; S. A. Morrison, M. W .; Charles Clemens, I. G .; K. J. Flanders, O. G .; W. H. Smith, K. R. & S.
CHAPTER XVI.
COLON AND MENDON.
OLDEST COLON MANUFACTORY-THE PIONEER MERCHANT-THE HILLS, FATHER AND SONS-OPERA HOUSE BLOCK-THE LAMB KNIT GOODS COMPANY-OTHER MANUFACTORIES-SECURES RAILROAD CONNECTIONS-COLON IN THE SEVENTIES-SCHOOLS -COLON SEMINARY-"COLON EXPRESS"-CHURCHES AND SO- CIETIES-MENDON FOUNDED AS A VILLAGE-DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY MANUFACTORIES-OLD HOTELS-MENDON BANKS-COR- PORATION AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS-FREE LIBRARY -THE MENDON PRESS-CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES-ST. EDWARD'S PARISH (CATHOLIC)-METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
In the early history of the townships, a sketchy picture has been drawn of the first settlements upon the site of the present village of Colon, commencing with the Schellhous brothers, Lorensie and George, who came in 1831-2. The next really important ar- rival, as it directly affected the founding of a center of population, was that of Dr. Isaac S. Voorhis, who came in 1836 and bought the mill site and water power controlled by the Schellhous brothers. He finished a small flour mill in 1839, which was sold to John H. ยท Bowman and put in operation by William R. Eck, of Three Rivers, who dressed the first stones and ground the first grist therein. In 1845 Mr. Eck moved to Colon, where he resided for many years.
OLDEST COLON MANUFACTORY.
This pioneer mill subsequently passed into the possession of C. B. Hoffman, and then for some time after his death was operated by his estate, with John Hoffman and Sylvester Troy, as lessees. James Hollingshead was a still later proprietor, and in 1877 C. A.
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Lamberson came from Three Rivers and bought into the business, which was conducted for twenty years under the firm name of Lamberson & Hoffman. In 1895 the style became C. A. Lamberson & Son (Frank D.), and in 1898 Joseph Farren, who had been con- nected with the business since the entry of the elder Lamberson to it, rented the Hoffman interest. Since that year, the business has been conducted as C. A. Lamberson & Company. The mill, which has been continuously increasing in capacity, now represents a
MILL DAM, COLON.
daily output of one hundred barrels, and is the oldest manufactory of uninterrupted activity in Colon, and one of the pioneers of the county.
THE PIONEER MERCHANT.
In 1841 Charles L. Miller opened the first retail store in Colon, and for thirty years the trade and industry of the place run a neck- and-neck race, although not of very exciting nature. Mr. Miller was the leading merchant at Colon for about twenty years, or until 1861, when he was appointed secretary of the committee on com- merce of the United States senate, holding that position, which necessitated his residence in Washington, until his death.
In 1845 David Barrows started the first wagon shop in the vil- lage, which was the progenitor of a line of manufactures which has come down to the present.
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Shuert & Duel established the first foundry in 1847, and Rich- ards & Hughes embarked in the same industry in the late fifties. Prior to 1860 David Brownfield built a tannery, which was after- ward owned by the late E. R. Hill, and in 1858 W. F. Bowman erected a machine shop for repairs, which was operated by him for more than twenty years.
THE HILLS, FATHER AND SONS.
E. Hill & Sons commenced in the mercantile trade in the vil- lage in 1851, being leaders in business until 1868, when they be- came heavy and successful dealers in grain. The sons afterward engaged in the banking business, and E. R. Hill became especially prominent as a generous and public spirited citizen of Colon. In 1870 was founded the Exchange Bank of E. Hill & Sons, which con- tinued under that name until 1908, with E. R. and Thomas J. Hill (the sons) in control. In the latter year E. R. Hill died and the institution was re-organized under its present name (E. Hill & Sons' State Bank), with Thomas J. Hill as president; Joseph Farrand and Grant E. Farrand, vice presidents; Frank E. Hill, cashier; John A. Karchner, assistant cashier. The capital and stockholders' liability of the bank amount to $81,000. Thomas J. Hill, its presi- dent, is also superintendent of the Lamb Knit Goods Works, the largest industrial plant in Colon.
OPERA HOUSE BLOCK.
One of its public institutions in which the village takes a par- donable pride is its Opera House. It is really a little gem and has done as much as any one institution to advertise the enterprise of Colon. It is beautifully furnished, has an up-to-date stage, has a seating capacity of over 600, and is in every way so convenient and tasteful that amusement companies go out of their way to take ad- vantage of its facilities. Not only the house of amusement, but the entire block, is one of the many evidences of the practical pride which was taken by E. R. Hill in his home town. The so called Opera House Block, a substantial and well-arranged metropolitan building, was completed in 1897.
THE LAMB KNIT GOODS COMPANY.
The Lamb Knit Goods Company was organized in 1889, with a capital of $14,975, and Isaac W. Lamb, inventor of the old Lamb
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knitting machine, with manufactory at Chickopee Falls, Michigan, was superintendent during the first year of operations at Colon. In 1891 Thomas J. Hill, the present superintendent, took charge, and has had the management of the business since. Under the impetus of vigorous promotion and the work accomplished by the new Lamb machine, the output of the plant has increased until it is now represented by about 300 dozen pair of gloves and mit- tens for the season from February to November; also one hundred machines. The average annual output of the works is valued at $400,000, and the company has about 150 employees, including sixteen or eighteen traveling salesmen. The latter are on the road about three months of the year, during which they visit every state in the Union, although they consider that the cream of the trade is on the Pacific coast.
The original building used by the company at Mendon was a seminary until 1889-a three story brick, thirty-five by seventy- five feet, erected for educational purposes in 1862. This is now about in the middle of the group of buildings which cover the four acres of grounds comprising the site of the works. Since it was first occupied in 1889, ten or twelve additions have been made to accommodate the expanding business.
Another old school building of wood, also on the grounds, was transformed into a box factory.
The Lamb Knit Goods Company was incorporated in 1903, with the following officers : Charles Clement, president; Frank E. Hill, secretary and treasurer; Thomas J. Hill, superintendent.
OTHER MANUFACTORIES.
The other industries of Colon, other than those already men- tioned, are conducted by Anderson Brothers, manufacturers of speed cars; M. C. Corsett, makers of tanks; J. L. Bosworth, who conducts the Colon Creamery Company, and Lutz & Schramm, who have a large salting station for the preservation of cucumbers, which are raised in large quantities by the farmers of the vicinity.
SECURES RAILROAD CONNECTIONS.
The first plat of the village of Colon was that of the survey of John H. and William F. Bowman, which was recorded January 5, 1844. Although the manufactories of the place established
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