USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume I > Part 38
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
The Whitehouse Underwear Mills represent an enterprise which is somewhat in its experimental stages, the plant not being installed until the spring of 1910. The company will manufacture the Merit brand of underwear, Alfred I. Whitehouse, the originator and present manager of the enterprise, having held a similar posi- tion with the Dr. Denton Sleeping Garment Mills at Centerville. The officers of the Burr Oak company are : President, R. B. Ferris; vice president, James F. Brown; treasurer and manager, A. I. Whitehouse; secretary, Fred H. Camburn; director, C. A. Boyer.
BURR OAK BANKS.
The First National Bank of Burr Oak was originally organ- ized by Messrs. Sheffield and Heimbaugh, as the Sheffield Banking Company. In 1909 the business was re-organized under the fed- eral banking laws under its present name. The bank owns the building which it occupies. The authorized capital of the First National Bank is $35,000; surplus, $7,000; total security, $77,000; deposits, $100,000. The management of the bank consists of the following: A. C. Heimbaugh, president; B. F. Bordner, vice presi- dent; G. D. Bordner, cashier; A. C. Heimbaugh, John Frohriep, C. A. Boyer, Charles Stroud, George S. Sheffield, B. F. Lancaster and B. F. Bordner, directors.
The State Bank of Burr Oak, was established December 1, 1898, with a capital of $15,000 and the following officers: John T. Holmes, president; F. Ernest Shaffmaster, cashier. Mr. Holmes, who died within the year, was succeeded by S. H. Hogle, and he, by H. P. Mowry, of Bronson, who still holds the presidency (since 1901). H. C. Kass was cashier from 1901-8, when Mr. Hogle, the present incumbent, was elected to that position. Mr. Kass re- signed to assume his duties as county clerk. The capital stock of the bank is still $15,000; surplus and undivided profits, $5,000; deposits, $100,000.
THE UNION SCHOOL.
The first Union school in the village of Burr Oak was organ- ized in 1863, and was held in the old frame building afterward used as a temporary house of worship by the Lutherans. A second story was added to the building, and in 1868 the building now oc- cupied was erected.
Nearly 200 pupils attend the Union school at present, of whom over seventy are high school scholars. The superintendent is
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
C. G. Porter; principal of the high school, H. C. Converse; and eight teachers are otherwise included in the working force of the local system of education.
ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER PLANT.
Until the fall of 1908, the streets of Burr Oak were lighted by gasoline lamps-that is, certain sections of the village were favored with an indifferent illumination. In the spring of the year named, however, the Burr Oak Electric company (B. E., H. F. and Edgar Seaver) commenced operations and in August, 1908, turned the current through their completed plant, one of the best in southern Michigan. Now the larger portion of the business houses and many of the residences are using the fluid. Within a year the company had nearly doubled the efficiency of the water power, and plan in the near future to make another marked improvement in this line by lowering the tail race.
TELEPHONE COMPANY.
The Southern Michigan Telephone Company was organized in 1900 to build a telephone exchange at Burr Oak, and it has well succeeded. It was incorporated in 1901, with a working capital of $5,000, which has been increased from time to time until in January, 1907, it reached $1,000,000. The service, of which Burr Oak is the center, has been extended during this period to many neighboring towns and communities.
"THE BURR OAK ACORN."
The Burr Oak Acorn was established in 1880, by Nathan A. Cole, who was succeeded, in 1882, by L. H. Mallory. Mr. Mallory continued to edit and publish it until 1888, when Edwin P. Bates took the helm, only to give place to Mr. Mallory again, in 1894. in 1904 Willis A. Carpenter became associated with Mr. Mallory in the publication of the Acorn, which, under the proprietorship of Mallory & Carpenter, has given Burr Oak and vicinity good newspaper service. In politics, the journal is independently Re- publican.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
In 1853 the first class of Methodists to gather from the platted village of Burr Oak and vicinity met at the house of Lyman H. Johnson, under the pastoral care of Rev. Jeremiah Boynton, of Sturgis, and the leadership of Mr. Johnson himself. These first religious services were held on the site of Benjamin Swihart's house. The first class was composed of Mr. Johnson and wife, Ozias Atchison, Charles E. Kibbe, Mrs. Sophorona Hill and Mr. Avery. For several years preaching was generally arranged once every two weeks (evening services).
In 1855 Rev. Jonathan Mosher was appointed to the circuit, then including Burr Oak, Bronson, Gilead and Snow Prairie, serv- ices being usually held in the school house occupying the site of the Lutheran church.
At the first quarterly meeting held at Bronson, December 13, 1856, the Methodist Episcopal church of Burr Oak, was regularly organized, with Rev. John Clubine as pastor and Gabriel Smith, local preacher. For about five years thereafter, services were held in Smith's hall, where the Presbyterian society also met.
On January 8, 1861, the Methodists dedicated their church building, the membership of the church being then thirty-five. The Sunday school was organized in 1859; chapel built in 1874, and parsonage in 1907. Rev. R. E. Showerman is the present pastor, and the membership of the church numbers over 100.
The pastors of the church since the incumbency of Rev. John Clubine, in 1856, are as follows: Revs. Alanson Coplin, E. L. Chambers, George D. Lee, A. W. Torry, William Doust, T. C. Grundy, M. B. Camburn, William Paddock, Edgar Beard, John Hoyt, M. J. Smith, J. W. White, W. J. Hathaway, J. W. Buell, D. O. Ball, M. P. Fogleson, O. S. Paddock, F. A. Vandewalker, J. E. Crites, William Paddock, H. W. Thompson, L. W. Earl, R. A. Fulford, N. S. Tuttle, J. K. Skinner, J. E. Kirby, R. W. Paul, C. L. Keene, G. E. Pooler, J. S. Valentine, W. Greer and R. E. Showerman.
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.
This church was organized April 3, 1864, by Rev. H. Evers, whose successors have been as follows: Rev. Henkel, 1868-80; Rev. L. Hertrich, 1880-2; Rev. P. Handel, 1882-6; Rev. F. Koch, Vol. 1-28
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
1887-91; Rev. A. Neuendorf, 1892-97; Rev. T. Backus, 1897-1901; Rev. C. Tews, 1901-7; and Rev. Paul Noffze, the present incumbent.
At first the society purchased the village school house for church and parochial school purposes. In 1870 a parsonage was erected, and the church edifice followed in 1877. The society has a total membership of 165, divided as follows: Voting, 43 and communicant, 122.
SECRET AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES.
Eagle Lodge, No. 124, A. F. & A. M., was organized under dispensation in 1859, and chartered January 7, 1860. It now has a membership of about 90, with officers as follows: Dr. S. D. Peters, W. M .; C. A. Boyer, secretary ; H. C. Gilson, treasurer; B. F. Bord- ner, S. W .; F. W. Clements, J. W .; Frank Selby, S. D .; Charles Tobey, J. D .; James Mowry, chaplain; Charles Johnson, marshal ; Byron Churchill, tiler. Membership of the lodge about 90.
Whitney Lodge, No. 142, I. O. O. F., has a membership of fifty. Melvin Faust is its N. G .; J. D. Coles, V. G .; C. L. Miller, secretary, and S. D. Hackman, treasurer.
Both the Eastern Star and the Rebekahs, auxiliaries to the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, are also represented in Burr Oak.
The Woodmen organized November 8, 1906, and have a mem- bership of over 90. Lodge officers: Counsel, Abner Fair; adviser, R. Wilcox ; banker, Willis Wells; clerk, W. T. Boocher; escort, C. H. Froh; watchman, Earl Gregg; sentry, Roy Wagner; physician, Dr. F. W. Clements ; managers, C. C. Snyder, Ralph Baldwin and L. E. Miller.
No. 744, K. O. T. M., has a membership of about thirty, with C. A. Boyer as C .; E. M. Gilbert, R. K., and F. H. Camburn, F. K.
CHAPTER XVIII.
VILLAGE OF WHITE PIGEON.
BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE SKETCH-HISTORICAL REVIEW-WHITE PIG- EON ACADEMY-DISTRICT AND UNION SCHOOLS-WHITE PIG- EON NEWSPAPERS-FARMERS' SAVINGS BANK-LOCAL INDUS- TRIES-WHITE PIGEON M. E. CHURCH-THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES-ST. JOSEPH'S (CATHOLIC) CHURCH- THE ALBA COLUMBA CLUB-SECRET, BENEVOLENT AND PATRI- OTIC SOCIETIES.
White Pigeon is a pretty, clean, quiet, refined little village of between seven and eight hundred people situated on White Pigeon river, a tributary of the St. Joseph, and at the junction of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern road as its spur turns northward from the main line toward Constantine and Three Rivers. It was the first point on the old Chicago trail settled in the county; was named after the romantic young Indian chief, White Pigeon, whose noble character has been kept fragrant to this day, and, more than any other community in this section of the state, is typical of the pioneer history of the past and the literary activity of the present. Why this is so, and what the people of White Pigeon, especially its women, have done to earn this reputation, are points which are sus- tained with some detail in the history of the township.
BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE SKETCH.
In that section of this work due credit has been given the Alba Columba Club for conceiving and perfecting the celebration in honor of White Pigeon's heroism and heroic character, and to the statements there made is now made the additional assertion that the organization of ladies named has done much to make White
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
Pigeon known, even beyond the borders of the county, as a peo- ple of high intellectual character who take an ardent pride in the past history and the continuous development of their county along every line of effort. Several years ago the club issued a dainty booklet, containing a charming historical sketch of White Pigeon by Mrs. Jessie Reynolds and a beautiful poem by Miss Minnie Blue ("The Legend of White Pigeon"), which was revised for publica- tion by Mrs. Cora Cameron.
The picture of the village of White Pigeon drawn therein is so simple, yet so complete, that it is here reproduced: "A vista of
THE OLD MILL, WHITE PIGEON
wide, shady village streets, substantial old homes interspersed here and there with more showy modern dwellings, well-kept lawns, sweet air, that when the days are long, is heavy with the perfume of many flowers, sweet with the breath of nearby fields, a noisy little river, that, tumbling and laughing on its way, for years has turned a busy mill, an all-pervading air of thrift and comfort, a sense of home about the place-this is White Pigeon.
'Not different essentially, one might say, from thousands of such places throughout the land, and yet if you who read can look back to earlier years spent in the old town's pleasant ways, if as a child you have roamed the woods skirting White Pigeon river, and bathed your bare feet in its clear, cool waters, if you have listened to some granddame's tales of early days, to you White Pigeon has a
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separate and distinct personality, and you can understand why her traditions and legends have been treasured from generation to gen- eration. To you many an old home, modernized though it be and ringing with joyous life of the present, still breathes an undertone of reminiscence, the mingled comedy and tragedy, the smiles and tears, success and failure, the sunshine and shadow that made up the life-story of those its roof-tree sheltered in other years.
"So, too, while the passing stranger, gazing on the surround- ing prairie, sees only the agricultural possibilities of the fertile fields, he whose plow each year uncovers fragments of rude stone implements of warfare of the chase, reads in the arrow-strewn fur- rows the history of a race who once owned a continent and roamed in absolute freedom over its wide domain.
"So long as field and forest and stream, all of nature's en- chanting allurements appeal to the human soul, so long will the meager history and interesting traditions of these true sons of na- ture find favor. The mystery surrounding their origin, the disso- lution and gradual extermination of the race before the advance of civilization, all lend an added fascination to that period of history antedating the advent of the white man.
HISTORICAL REVIEW.
"Just when the first settler arrived and staked his claim, just when the first cabin was built on the prairie, is difficult to say. Conflicting dates and an absence of early record cause the date of the first settlement, which probably occurred about eighteen hun- dred twenty-seven, to vary with different authorities; but what- ever may be the date and the story of that early struggle for ex- istence, certain it is that a thriving settlement flourished at White Pigeon when the city of Detroit was in its infancy and the site of Chicago was marked by little more than a rude log fort in a waste of marsh lands.
"The steady growth of the settlement at this period was prob- ably due in a great measure to the early government survey of Chicago road, opening a highway one hundred feet wide its entire length and following with few deviations the old Indian trail from Detroit to Fort Dearborn.
"Although a few persevering homeseekers from the east had already made their way hither, bridging streams and cutting their way through forests, the opening of a direct roadway brought an
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ever-increasing tide of emigration westward, with White Pigeon as the objective point.
"The manifold advantages presented by southern Michigan, her wealth of woodland, her forests of beech, oak, and maple, her fertile prairie soil that responded to the lightest cultivation with bounteous harvests, her innumerable lakes and rivers teeming with fish, the abundance of wild game, combined to attract homeseekers from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and even from the far east- ern states, and though many of these sojourned but a brief time at this place, and then, impelled by that spirit of restlessness without which the wilderness had never been reclaimed, pushed on to the far west, to the north and to the south, many others remained here and, building their homes and tilling their fields, became the pioneers of St. Joseph county, grand, heroic men and women, the story of whose sturdy courage and endurance through danger, privation and hardship is the pride of their posterity.
"According to county records, the Legislative Council of Mich- igan territory in eighteen hundred twenty-nine officially organ- ized the county of St. Joseph, and White Pigeon enjoys the dis- tinction of having been the first village platted within the county. A post-office was established here the same year.
"Prior to eighteen hundred thirty-one the nearest land office was at Monroe, and settlers were obliged to make a journey of one hundred twenty-five miles to that place for the registration of claims. But in June of that year a land office was established in White Pigeon.
"The first circuit court in St. Joseph county convened at White Pigeon in eighteen hundred twenty-nine, in the old log tavern known as Savery's 'Old Diggins.' This tavern, the first public building- erected in the village, and which occupied the site of the present school building, served the varied purposes of town-hall, inn, and court-house. Here, too, for a time was quartered the branch of the University of Michigan, pending the erection of a building for that institution.
"Early in the thirties an academy and district school were or- ganized, although a building was not erected for the latter until eighteen hundred forty-four, when a small brick school house, now used as a dwelling, was built and served the needs of the district until eighteen hundred fifty-seven, when a larger frame building was erected to meet the demands of the increasing population.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
This, in turn, gave way in eighteen hundred seventy-two to the present brick structure.
"Meantime the religious growth of the community seems to have kept pace with the educational advancement. Although a Methodist denomination had been previously organized, the Presby- terians in eighteen hundred thirty-four erected the first church edi- fice west of Ann Arbor. With the steady growth of the village other church buildings soon followed-Methodist, Baptist, Re- formed and Catholic.
"But statistics and dates gathered from county records furnish but meager history of the place. If you would learn its real story, the facts that linger longest and fondest in memory, go to one whose life for years has been interwoven with the life of the town. Such an one will tell you of the steady growth of White Pigeon, of her prosperity and her adversity, of the prominence she gained as a shipping point at the junction of two railroads. He will tell you of the roundhouse and repair shops of the company located here.
"He will tell you, too, of the exciting days of the sixties, and probably lead you to the old camping ground, where in sixty-one the Eleventh Regiment of Michigan Volunteers was recruited, and show you the site of the old University branch that served as bar- racks. He will speak with pride of the brilliant record of this regi- ment during the war, and if he lead you adown the streets and across the way to that other village 'whose marble doors are al- ways shut,' stand with uncovered head and reverent, for here be- neath their low-thatched roofs of grasses and flowers sleep fifty- eight brave men who wore the army blue.
"One who knows the town will tell you of snug fortunes gar- nered here, scattered and gathered again, it may be, by other hands; of the various business enterprises that have arisen, lived their day and given way to others. The last of these old enter- prises to give way before the new was the old grist mill; the build- ing, with a record of nearly fifty years' service, was removed dur- ing the past year, and the great buildings of the Oscar Felt Box- board & Paper Company, recently located here, now occupy the site.
"The fire of nineteen hundred six that nearly destroyed the business portion of the town, swept away many old buildings that dated back to stage-coach days; but these are being rapidly re- placed by new and modern buildings of brick and stone, and White Pigeon, situated as she is, with excellent shipping facilities and
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surrounded by a farming country of unrivaled fertility, remembers with pride her past, joys in the present, and reaches out her hand to the good things of the future."
WHITE PIGEON ACADEMY.
White Pigeon was early established as a center of educa- tion and literary activity through the agency of its academy, which was second to none in the county, if in southern Michigan. Its first school was the district institution, taught in the winter of 1830-1, by Neal McGaffey, over Pratt's store, but the village and the township craved something of a higher order. In 1831, there- fore, the White Pigeon academy was chartered by Dr. Isaac Adams, Charles B. Fitch, Albert E. Ball, David Page and Neal McGaffey. In the same year a small frame building was erected, which was used for a time for educational, religious and judicial purposes ; it is doubtful if any building erected in St. Joseph county was ever put to more continuous or better uses, than the old White Pigeon academy.
In 1837 the branch of the State university was established in the village, and while a building was being completed for its accommodation, the academy scholars were taught in the Old Diggings hotel, by Rev. Samuel Newberry. When the building was finished, Wilson Grey, an Irishman and a relative and after- ward connected editorially with the famous Dublin Freeman, was Mr. Newberry's assistant. For a time, the school was supported by the state, but the appropriation for its maintenance gradually decreased and about 1846 ceased altogether. Then the building was repaired and refitted, a private institution was conducted by Rev. C. M. Temple from 1855 to 1858, and finally the enter- prise was abandoned. The old academy building was used as barracks during Civil war times, but some time in the seventies it was taken down and removed out on the prairie, where it was used for a stable by Lewis Rhoades.
DISTRICT AND UNION SCHOOLS.
The first district school was built of brick, in 1844, and Dr. W. N. Elliott, the first physician to practice in White Pigeon, was director at the time. The doctor was one of the best friends of public education the township ever had, a school having been
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
taught in his office by Dr. J. W. Mandigo before the district had provided accommodations.
The first frame house for school purposes was erected in 1857, and was used until 1872, when the three-story red brick building was put up which is now occupied. It cost $16,500. The district has been Union since 1866; present superintendent, A. J. Collins. About 190 pupils are in attendance at the White Pigeon Union school, of whom 55 are credited to the high school, and seven teachers are employed.
The township library comprises over 1,000 volumes, in charge of Miss Cora B. Cooper.
WHITE PIGEON NEWSPAPERS.
The Michigan Statesman and St. Joseph Chronicle, the first number of which was issued at White Pigeon by John D. Defrees (afterward government printer at Washington), December 10, 1833, was the pioneer newspaper of St. Joseph county. It was also the first paper published between Detroit and Chicago, and the third to appear in the territory of Michigan. It was a radical Democrat in politics. In June, 1834, Mr. Defrees sold to Henry Gilbert, who issued his first number on the twenty-eighth of the month. In September, 1835, Mr. Gilbert moved to Kalamazoo, and in the following month the office of the Statesman was also trans- ferred thither. At that point Mr. Gilbert continued its publica- tion for more than twenty-five years, although its name was changed to the Gazette. Mr. Gilbert retired from the editorial chair, and was afterward warden of the state penitentiary.
The Argus was established by E. H. Graves in 1875, and both he and J. J. O'Brien conducted it for a number of years.
In July, 1876, the Weekly Journal was founded by William A. DeGroot. For a number of years previous to its discontinuance at White Pigeon, it was conducted by Noah Johnson and Obert A. Johnson, father and son.
On December 18, 1908, the White Pigeon News, was estab- lished by G. M. Dudley, who is still its publisher and editor. It is a good weekly paper, independent in all things.
FARMERS' SAVINGS BANK.
The Farmers' Savings Bank of White Pigeon, commenced business August 22, 1904, under the presidency of Joseph Brown.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
It is a state institution, and has a capital and surplus amounting of $25,000; its stockholders are liable for an additional $20,000, making a total margin of $45,000. Present officers: Edward Roderick, president; Frank Wolf (Centerville), vice president; J. M. Benjamin, cashier; H. F. Reynolds, assistant cashier.
LOCAL INDUSTRIES.
The Michigan Boxboard company operates a large plant at White Pigeon, which is by far its leading industry. It is, in fact, one of the leading manufactories of combination boxboards and newsboards in the middle west, its annual output being valued at more than half a million dollars. The company was organized as the Oscar Felt Boxboard and Paper company, in March, 1908, and its buildings were completed early in 1909. The first officers were : Oscar Gumbinsky, president; L. H. Kirby, vice president; Oscar E. Jacobs, secretary and treasurer; R. E. Adams, general superin- tendent. In December, 1909, a re-organization was effected under the name of the Michigan Boxboard Company, with the following officers : A. L. Pratt, president; Louis H. Kirby, vice president; Roger K. Rogan, treasurer; Oscar E. Jacobs, secretary and man- ager : L. H. Breyfogle, general superintendent.
Perhaps the only other manufactory at White Pigeon worthy of special mention, is that of John Midling, whose output con- sists of sulkies, carts and speed wagons.
WHITE PIGEON METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
White Pigeon township was the mother of churches in the county, as well as of so many other institutions. The first religious society was a Methodist class formed at Newville in 1829, and the second, an organization supported by the same faith and born in White Pigeon village during February, 1830, with Captain Alvin Calhoon as leader. Besides, there were Alanson Stewart (local preacher) and his wife; David Rollins; and John Bowers and John Coates, with their wives.
Erastus Felton, of course, preached to the little band, and Leonard B. Gurley also ministered to them in the fall of 1830. At that time Constantine and Mottville were in the same circuit, with headquarters at the Mottville school house.
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