USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 10
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Mr. Caldwell, of this biography, was educated at Danville Seminary ; while a youth engaged as a clerk in the office of the Montour Iron Works, and in 1852, when he had just attained his majority, located at Flowerfield, this county. There he found employment as a millwright, and in 1857 located at Three Rivers to engage in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds, associa- ting himself for that purpose with L. T. Wilcox. Later, Mr. Wil- cox entered the firm, which remained Arnold, Caldwell and Wilcox until 1876, when the latter sold his interest in the business; Cald- well and Arnold continued it until the death of the latter, and Mr. Caldwell conducted it alone until 1882. He then rented the fac- tory and superintended the re-building of the Emery Mills; upon their completion he became their manager and continued as such for about fifteen years, the remainder of his industrious, useful and honorable life being spent in honorable retirement. His la- mented death occurred at Three Rivers on the 25th of July, 1905.
On December 19, 1859, William G. Caldwell was united in marriage with Miss Martha Amy Wilcox, who was born not far from Watertown, Jefferson county, New York. Her father, Peter Wilcox, was a native of Montpelier, Vermont, born in 1800, and her grandfather, Caleb W., also of the Green Mountain state, spent nearly his entire life in that city as a manufacturer of mon- uments and staves. The father was long engaged in the state capital in various mercantile lines; moved to Herkimer county, New York, and there married Miss Mary Youker. In 1852 he migrated to Michigan, on account of ill health, dying soon after at Decatur, Van Buren county.
Mrs. Peter Wilcox was a native of that county, as was her father, George Youker, but her grandfather, Rudolph, was a native of the Netherlands and among the early settlers of the Mo-
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hawk Valley. He was a large land holder and died at the age of ninety-six years, on his large farm known as Youker's Bush. The father, George Youker, spent his life as a farmer of Herkimer county, and married Margaret Duesler, also a lifelong resident of the county. The mother of Mrs. Caldwell was left a widow with six children, and possessed the hardy faithfulness which en- abled her to keep the family together until her sons became self- supporting and her daughters married. She died at the age of eighty-two years, mother of Nathan, Calvin, Luther, Mary, Sarah and Martha. Mrs. Caldwell has two daughters, Mabel, who mar- ried Lewis M. Miller and is herself the mother of Jeanne and Kathleen, and resides in Kansas City, Missouri; and Jessie, who became Mrs. John F. Dunckel and has three children: William Caldwell, Lewis Miller and Amy Marie Caldwell, and they reside in Springfield, Missouri. Mrs. Caldwell is an active member of the Three Rivers Woman's Club and her patriotic ancestry has honored her with membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution.
William G. Caldwell, of this memoir, was long identified with Three Rivers Lodge A. F. and A. M .; served both as alderman and mayor of the city, and was in every respect entitled to a high place in the great fraternity with which he was identified and in the annals of the St. Joseph county, to whose advancement he con- tributed in such noteworthy measure.
The Youker family reunion of 1909 was held on Saturday, August 28th, with Mr. and Mrs. Marshal Youker at High Falls Park, Dolgeville, New York. The Youkers are a large family not only in numbers but almost invariably in physique. Before this organization they had drifted far and wide. From start to finish it was a good time for all. It was something fine to see that big family moving about, shaking hands and giving the glad words of greeting. They are evidently strong adherents to the scriptural admonition "Sufficient unto the day." The weather was ideal and as every one seemed bent on adding their quota of fun (with much help from college graduates of both sexes). Every minute was filled with something interesting. First on the pro- gram was the big dinner preceded by prayer and "America," sung by everybody, followed by election of officers, etc. There were over three hundred of Youker blood present with several hundred regrets from others .- Extracts from Dolgeville Republi- can, Herkimer county, New York.
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WILLIAM FRANKLIN PLUMMER .- Possessing good business abil- ity and judgment, William Franklin Plummer has for many years been an important factor in promoting the industrial interests of Fabius, being a brick manufacturer, and a farmer and stock raiser. Of pioneer descent, he was born January 23, 1852, in Three Rivers, St. Joseph county, Michigan, a son of Peter Smith Plummer.
His grandfather, Peter Plummer, was born, it is thought, in Pennsylvania, where he resided until 1841. Migrating with his family in that year to Michigan, he journeyed hither with an ox team, his course being marked a part of the way by blazed trees. Buying eighty acres of wild land in Flowerfield township, he made an opening in the forest for the log cabin which he erected, and immediately began the clearing of a farm. In addition to his agri- cultural labors, he followed his trade of a blacksmith, erecting one of the very first smithies in St. Joseph county. He made an excel- lent start in his career, which ere many years was cut short by death. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary E. Smith, was thus left a widow with seven little children to care for. She kept her family together, training them to habits of industry and honesty, living until sixty-six years of age.
Peter Smith Plummer was born in Pennsylvania, being but a child when the family came to Michigan. After the death of his father the care of the family devolved to some extent upon him, he being the oldest of the children, and he labored industriously to lessen the burdens of his mother. After learning the trade of a general blacksmith he established himself in Three Rivers, where he built up a good business, and after a time opened the first wagon and carriage manufactory in that part of St. Joseph county. He carried on a substantial manufacturing business for a few years, when he, too, was called to the life beyond, his death occurring when he was but thirty-two years of age. He married Nancy Eddy, who was born in St. Joseph county, a daughter of Jasper Eddy, who migrated from New York, his native state, to Michigan in territo- rial days. Mr. Eddy first located in Washtenaw county, about three miles from Ypsilanti, where he bought a tract of timbered land, upon which he built a log cabin, and began clearing a farm, living there a few years. In 1837 Mr. Eddy disposed of that property, and came with his family to St. Joseph county, settling in Constan- tine township, and taking up land near its northern boundary. He subsequently purchased an interest in a saw mill, which he operated for many years, at the same time supervising the improvement of his land. Here he resided until his death, at the age of seventy-
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two years. He took great interest in the development of the new country in which he had taken up his residence, doing his full share in promoting its growth, and lived to see the wilderness transformed to a wealthy and prosperous agricultural region. Mr. Eddy's first wife, whose maiden name was Polly Pine, died in 1837, leaving four children. He subsequently married Mary Alcott, by whom he had five children. Mrs. Nancy (Eddy) Plummer was left a widow with five children to care for, namely: William F., the subject of this sketch ; Charles; Carrie; Martha Jane; and Peter. A few years later she married for her second husband Duane Parsons, and in 1882 removed to Flowerfield, from there going to Three Rivers, where she spent her last years.
William F. Plummer was ten years of age when his father died. At the age of thirteen he began to earn his own living. Inheriting the habits of industry and thrift characteristic of his ancestors, he saved his wages, and having become proficient in the making of bricks he became a manufacturer of bricks, and has carried on a thriving and extensive business in that line since 1885. Mr. Plum- mer supplied from his brick yard a part of the bricks used in build- ing the County Court House, also manufacturing most of the brick used at Three Rivers since he started. He has invested in land, owning a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres on Clear Lake, where he and his son, who has charge of the estate, are extensively engaged in raising cattle and sheep.
On November 17, 1872, Mr. Plummer was united in marriage with Mary E. Spaulding, who was born in Orleans county, New York, a daughter of Isaac and Lucy (Shafer) Spaulding, who came from New York to Michigan in 1859, and after living three years in Parkville bought a farm in Fabius township, and here spent their remaining years. Mr. and Mrs. Plummer have two children, namely : Lucy Elizabeth, wife of Robert Wilson; and Howard S., who married Mabel Osborne, and has two children, Warren and Edna. Politically Mr. Plummer is identified with the Republican party, and fraternally he is a member of Three Rivers Lodge No. 80, I. O. O. F. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Plummer are Christian Scientists.
GILBERT S. DANIELS .- Among the native sons of St. Joseph county who are here effectively upholding the prestige of the great basic industry of agriculture is Mr. Daniels, who is the owner of a well improved farm in section 6, Nottawa township, and who is rec-
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ognized as one of the enterprising and progressive farmers and stock-growers of this county.
Gilbert S. Daniels was born in Sherman township, this county, on the 18th of May, 1870, and is a son of Mahlon S. and Mary (White) Daniels, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, on the 5th of December, 1835, and the latter in St. Joseph county, their marriage having been solemnized on the 2d of March, 1844. Mahlon S. Daniels is one of the honored pioneers of St. Joseph county and he still resides on his homestead farm in Sherman town- ship. He is a Democrat in his political proclivities and has long been numbered among the prominent and influential citizens of his township, where he has been called upon to serve in various offices of public trust, including those of justice of the peace, high- way commissioner and school director. His first wife died on the 23d of February, 1876, and is survived by three children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the youngest; Leona, who was born on the 6th of September, 1865, is the wife of Frank J. Harrison, a suc- cessful farmer of Van Buren county, this state ; and Cora, who was born on the 8th of June, 1868, is the wife of William B. Towsley, of Downers Grove, a suburb of the city of Chicago. He is assistant manager in Marshall Field's great store. For his second wife Mahlon S. Daniels married Miss Bertha Richardson, and they have one daughter, Adella, who was born on the 11th of June, 1895, and who remains at the parental home.
Gilbert S. Daniels was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and his early educational advantages were those af- forded in the public schools of his native township and Adrian College. He continued to be associated in the work of his father's farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-three years, when he began an apprenticeship at the barber's trade, to which he devoted his attention for ten years, during a portion of which time he owned and conducted a shop in the village of Centerville. In 1905 he located on his present farm, which comprises eighty-four and three-fourths acres, and he has made the best of improvements on the place, which gives patent evidence of his progressive manage- ment and well directed industry. He is essentially liberal and pub- lic-spirited as a citizen and though he has never sought the honors or emoluments of public office he gives a stanch support to the cause of the Democratic party. He and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church in the village of Centerville.
On the 19th of May, 1897, Mr. Daniels was united in marriage to Miss Maude L. Miller, who was born at Berrien Springs, this
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state, and who is a daughter of John A. and Harriet (Hardendorf) Miller, the former of whom died in 1876 and the latter is also deceased. Mrs. Daniels was born on the 8th of July, 1870, and was a resident of Centerville, St. Joseph county, at the time of her marriage. In 1885 she was adopted by Mrs. David Hazzard, who resides in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Daniels, who accord to her the utmost filial solicitude. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels have one daughter, Helen Charlotte, who was born on the 5th of September, 1903.
Mrs. Helen M. (Brown) Hazzard, widow of David Hazzard, was born in Nottawa township, St. Joseph county, on the 27th of July, 1842, and is one of the sterling pioneer women of this county. Her experiences have been varied and interesting, and it may be stated that she twice made the trip across the plains to California on horseback,-in 1852 and again in 1857-before the famous gold excitement in that state. The party of which she was a member was in almost constant danger from attack by Indians and had a number of narrow escapes. Her parents, Samuel and Martha (Reid) Brown took up their residence in Nottawa township, this county, on the 1st of January, 1832, about five years prior to the admission of Michigan to the Union, and her father reclaimed a farm from the wilderness. His first log house was of the most primitive type and no nails were used in its construction. One of his sons, by a second marriage, still resides on the old homestead. Mrs. Hazzard has a great fund of interesting reminiscences con- cerning the pioneer days in this county, which has represented her home during practically her entire life. She first married William S. Beardsley and after his death she married David Hazzard, whose brother William was the first white child born in St. Joseph county. Mr. Hazzard was a valiant soldier in the Civil war and he passed the closing years of his life in the village of Centerville, the judicial center of St. Joseph county, where he died on the 15th of May, 1893. Mrs. Hazzard has no children and since the death of her husband she has resided in the home of her foster-daughter, Mrs. Daniels.
WIRT M. HAZEN .- Numbered among the representative and essentially enterprising business men of the city of Three Rivers is Wirt M. Hazen, who is here engaged in the retail lumber, coal and building-material business and whose yards and store-houses afford facilities of the best type.
Mr. Hazen claims the state of Illinois as the place of his nativ- ity, as he was born in Sidney township, Champaign county, that
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state, on the 27th of September, 1876. He is the youngest of the seven children of Nathan L. and Sarah (Moore) Hazen. His parents were numbered among the pioneers of Champaign county, whither they removed from the northwestern part of Massachu- setts in the year 1856, and they still continue to reside in that county, where the father has long been recognized as a represent- ative farmer and stockgrower.
To the public schools of Sidney, Illinois, Wirt M. Hazen is indebted for his early educational discipline, which was supple- mented by an effective course in the business college at Dixon, Illinois. After leaving the latter institution he became identified with the banking business, and for five years he served as cashier of the Exchange Bank of Champaign. In 1904 Mr. Hazen came to Michigan and established his home at Jonesville, Hillsdale county, where he was engaged in the lumber business for three and one-half years, at the expiration of which, in 1908, he dis- posed of his interests there and removed to Three Rivers, where he has since continued in the same line of enterprise and has built up a most substantial and extensive trade. His lumber yards are the largest in the county and he will have the largest shed in the state of Michigan when completed. The yards are at all times equipped with an adequate stock of the various grades and va- rieties of lumber and building material, besides which he con- ducts a large business in the handling of coal.
As a citizen Mr. Hazen is essentially liberal and public- spirited, and he is ever ready to lend his co-operation in the support of measures projected for the general welfare of the com- munity. His political proclivities are indicated by the stanch support he accords to the cause of the Republican party, and in the time-honored Masonic Fraternity he has attained the chivalric degrees, his maximum affiliation being with Hillsdale Command- ery, Knights Templars.
He and his wife are zealous and valued members of the First Presbyterian church of Three Rivers and are active in the various departments of its work. He has served since 1909 as a member of the board of trustees of this church.
On the 1st of August, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hazen to Miss Etta B. Brewer, daughter of Meshech L. Brewer, of Philo, Champaign county, Illinois, where she was born and reared. Mr. and Mrs. Hazen have two sons, Harold Locke, who was born on the 1st of August, 1900, and Linn Moore, who was born on the 23rd of January, 1909.
Vol. II-7
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ALFRED M. WICKETT has been a resident of White Pigeon since 1866, and was born in Belville, Canada, August 18, 1843. He was reared on a farm, and throughout his life has attended school but three months, but he has always made the most of his advantages and opportunities for obtaining an education, and has acquired most of it through his own unaided efforts. In 1864 Mr. Wickett came to the United States and enlisted in Company C, Eighth Michigan Cavalry; he never saw active service, but is now able to draw a pension of twelve dollars per month. At the close of the war he learned the trade of cabinet maker, which he has since followed. In 1866 he began working in White Pigeon as under- taker and cabinet maker, and has followed it forty years in this town, thirty of which he has been in business on his own account. He has prospered well, and he and his wife own one hundred and twenty acres of land, in St. Joseph county, besides his business location and residence in White Pigeon. He several years ago passed the examination required by state law, and secured his license for the practice of his profession.
Mr. Wickett was one of the organizers of the Funeral Direct- ors' Association which first met in Jackson, Michigan, January 14, 1880. He is the oldest undertaker in the county and among the oldest in the state in the length of time engaged in this voca- tion. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, White Pigeon Lodge No. 104. In political views he is a Demo- crat, and is now serving his fifth year as mayor of White Pigeon. Mr. Wickett is a public-spirited, patriotic citizen, and has thor- oughly imbibed the sentiments of his adopted country. His parents were natives of England, and emigrated to Canada when young.
Mr. Wickett married (first), July 4, 1868, Miss Middleton, who died childless in 1878. He married (second) Mary Catton, and they became parents of one daughter, Fannie May, born in 1883, graduate of the high school of White Pigeon, and now the wife of Sherman D. Boone, a book-keeper with a milling company of Coldwater, Michigan. Mr. Boone and his wife have two chil- dren, Ralph W. and Walter.
MRS. MARIAH RICHARDS is a member of one of the earliest pio- neer families of St. Joseph county, their name being traced on the pages of its history from the days of its earliest development. She was born in Montgomery county, New York, September 30, 1831, a daughter of John Young, born in the same county May 27, 1802,
1
HOMESTEAD OF CLARK ROATCH FLOWERFIELD TOWNSHIP
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
and of Jane Dernett, his wife, born February 9, 1802. They came to St. Joseph county, Michigan, in 1835, driving through from New York, and they settled on the land which John Young had previ- ously purchased, he having made the journey to this county some time before he brought his family. He became a well-to-do and influential man in his new home, spending the remainder of his life here, and he was laid to rest among the honored pioneers of St. Joseph county.
Mariah was one of the eight children born to John and Jane Young, and she was reared on her parents' farm and attended school in the little log school houses known only to the pioneer period. The country around was then inhabited principally with Indians, deer and wild animals, and she can yet recall to mind those frontier days of St. Joseph county. She married in 1849, on the 21st of March, J. S. Richards, and the following children blessed their marriage union : Harvey, George, Charles, John and Ardella, but John Richards is the only one of the children now at home. He was born in September of 1869, and is now farming his mother's homestead in section 9, Florence township. He is the present supervisor of his township, and has also served as a township clerk and treasurer. Mrs. Richards is a church member, and she is hon- ored and revered as one of the pioneer residents of St. Joseph county as well as for her sterling personal characteristics.
CLARK ROATCH .- A prosperous agriculturist, pleasantly located in Flowerfield township, on the farm where the greater part of his life has been passed, Clark Roatch is widely known as a public- spirited, trustworthy man and citizen, who is now rendering excel- lent service as township supervisor. A son of the late George R. Roatch, he was born April 17, 1871, in Marcellus, Cass county, Michigan, of pioneer ancestry.
His grandfather was born, it is thought, in New York state, coming from thrifty Scotch ancestors. During the latter part of his life he came to Michigan, and spent his last days with his chil- dren, dying in Middleville, Barry county. To him and his wife seven sons and two daughters were born, a fair sized family in those days.
A native of Genesee county, New York, George R. Roatch lived there until ten years old when he came to Michigan to make his home with an older brother. When ready to begin the battle of life for himself, he embarked in the lumber industry, for a number of years owning and operating a saw mill in Marcellus, where he
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was subsequently employed for a time in buying and shipping live stock, building up an extensive trade. Coming with his family to St. Joseph county in 1875, he located in Flowerfield township, buy- ing a farm which was located in sections 1, 2 and 11. Here he each season made improvements of a good character, and continued to buy and ship cattle in connection with general farming, carrying on a substantial business until compelled by ill health to retire from active pursuits. He passed away on the home farm in October, 1907, at the age of seventy-three years, his death being a loss to the community. His wife, whose maiden name was Martha Jane Ridgely, was born in Ohio, and died, in 1898, on the homestead, in Flowerfield township. Three children were born of their union, namely : Frank, Edward, and Clark, the youngest.
As a young man Frank Roatch, the eldest son, went to Luce county, and having secured a tract of wild land near Newberry cleared a farm from the wilderness, laboring with the courage and perseverance characteristic of the early pioneers of the state. He is now a prominent resident of Escanaba, where he is a leading con- tractor in the building of roads and bridges.
Educated in the public schools, Clark Roatch began when a boy to assist on the farm, and at the age of twenty-two years assumed its entire management. He is a systematic and practical farmer, and under his supervision the land has been highly culti- vated and improved, and he, as a general agriculturist and stock- raiser is meeting with genuine success. Fraternally Mr. Roatch is a member of Schoolcraft Lodge, No. 118, A. F. & A. M., and Prairie Ronde Chapter, No. 54. Politically he is an earnest supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and has served wisely and well in official capacities, having for two years been township treasurer, at the present time being its supervisor.
GEORGE W. SLOTE .- In the annals of St. Joseph county the name of Slote occupies a place of note, James Slote, grandfather of George W., having been one of its pioneer settlers. A native of Pennsylvania, he came from excellent Holland ancestry, and as a young man learned the trade of a tanner, which he followed to some extent in connection with farming and other industries. He accepted the contract for building the Wire Run Church, in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and burnt the brick which was used in its construction.
In 1837 James Slote, accompanied by his own family, and those of his son-in-law, William McCormack, and of Henry Snyder,
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