USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 13
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Charles C. P. Lewis was twice married. He married first Nancy Barnard, who died in 1826, leaving three children, namely : Mary Ann, who became the wife of George Ash; John ; and James. He married second Mary Woolsey, who died in Nebraska.
Mary Ann Lewis inherited the intellectual tastes of her father, and after leaving the district schools, attended a private school in Washtenaw county. Desirous of making good use of her talents, and also of assisting her young husband in his efforts to accumulate some property, she began teaching after her marriage with George Ash, in her log cabin home, opening the first school established in Flowerfield township, having fourteen pupils, and receiving for her services as teacher $20 a month, a handsome remuneration for those times. She was a woman of high moral principles, and when a young girl united with the Baptist church. On coming to St. Joseph county she united with the Methodist
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Episcopal church, and has since been one of its most valued and consistent members. She was a charter member of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society, and also of the Women's Home Missionary Society. She remained a widow for three years after the death of Mr. Ash, caring tenderly for her only child, George A. Ash, the subject of this sketch. In 1844 she married for her second husband William Arney, Esquire, who was born in Ver- mont, a son of John Arney.
John Arney, a native of England, served as a young man in the British Army. Subsequently emigrating to Vermont, he soon after lost an arm by the premature explosion of a gun. He then fitted himself for a professional career, and for awhile taught school in Pennsylvania. Migrating from that state to Michigan, he bought timbered land in St. Joseph county, and here lived and labored until his death. William Arney taught school when young, and afterwards invested his earnings in land, buying one hundred and sixty acres of land lying four miles west of Three Rivers, and was there successfully employed in tilling the soil the remainder of his years. He was an influential and active member of the Democratic party, and for twelve years served as justice of the peace. To him and his wife eight children were born, as follows: Daniel L .; Charles W., who served in the Civil war, and died while in the service; Mary; Frances; John W .; Edgar; Ella ; and Ruth. Mrs. Arney, who now makes her home with her oldest son, Mr. Ash, is a venerable woman of nearly ninety years, well preserved mentally and physically, bearing her burden of years easily and gracefully.
Growing to manhood among pioneer scenes, George A. Ash has witnessed with pleasure and gratification the gradual trans- formation of St. Joseph county from a dreary wilderness to a rich and productive agricultural region, and in its development and advancement has been an important factor. A poem which he has written gives an interesting account of the labors involved in eliminating the vast forests and building up the populous and prosperous villages and towns, and the rich farming estates, giving a brief account of the struggles of the brave pioneers, in whose footsteps the rising generations shall follow with far less exertion, and with a far greater number of the comforts and luxuries of this world. Reared to agricultural pursuits, Mr. Ash has carried on farming a large part of his life. Soon after arriv- ing at man's estate he bought wild land in section 2, Fabius town- ship, and having improved a part of it sold at an advantage, and
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bought property at Three Rivers, where for awhile he conducted a restaurant. He afterwards bought a farm about two miles out from the village, and lived there twenty years. Trading that farm for one near Centerville, he resided there five years, and then traded for his present fine estate near Three Rivers, where he is now carrying on general farming with good results.
In June, 1864, Mr. Ash married Mary A. Machin, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, and came to this country at the age of two and one-half years. Her father, William Machin, emigrated with his family to the United States in the forties, be- ing three months crossing the ocean in a sailing vessel. From New York City he came to Michigan, and for a time lived in Florence township, St. Joseph county. He subsequently bought wild land in Fabius township, and on the farm which he redeemed from the wilderness passed the remainder of his life, dying at the age of fifty-six years. He married Elizabeth Towne, who at- tained the age of four score and four years. She reared four children, as follows: John, William, Joseph, Mary, twin sister of Joseph, married Mr. Ash. Ten children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ash, namely : George, who married Clara Carver; William married Grace Lovejoy, and they have one child, Leo; Joseph married Mary Saunders, and they have three children, Jacob, Harvey, and La Verne; Elizabeth, wife of Walter Major, has one child, Warren; John married Lora Coloska; Edgar mar- ried Mamie Speese, and they have one child, Marie Antoinette; Mary; Nellie; Orin, who married Erta Catell; and Elva. Politi- cally Mr. Ash is a steadfast Republican, and religiously both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Three Rivers.
HENRY J. HAMPSON, a prosperous merchant of Centerville, is a native of that city, born September 27, 1849. He is a son of Henry W. and Mahala (Fletcher) Hampson. His father was born in Pennsylvania, in 1804, and died in Centerville, in 1872; the mother was born in the state of New York in 1806. Henry W. Hampson came to St. Joseph county in 1832, and afterward entered one hundred sixty acres of land; after the founding of Cen- terville he lived in that village, where he followed the trade of car- penter. His wife came with her parents in 1829 and located two miles northeast of the town; they were married in 1834, and had seven children, of whom but two survive, Henry J. and Mrs. L. A. Clapp.
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Henry J. Hampson received his education in the public schools of Centerville, and when sixteen years of age began clerk- ing in a general store, which he continued ten years. He went to Kansas and spent two years in the grocery business, then returned to Centerville, and two years later started business on his own ac- count, in the line of groceries, which he has since continued. He carries a fine stock and the most complete line of groceries in the town. He is an enterprising and competent business man, and has other interests outside of his store, being president of the Electric Light Company since its organization, and Treasurer of the St. Joseph and Branch County Mutual Village Fire Insurance Com- pany. In the spring of 1909 Mr. Hampson was elected justice of the peace. In political views he is a Democrat, and has served six years as township clerk.
In October, 1882, Mr. Hampson married Ida, daughter of James Stoddard, born in Van Buren county, Michigan, in 1858; they have no children.
ALMERON R. BARNES .- A capable, skilful and thrifty farmer, Almeron R. Barnes, of Fabius township, occupies a position of note among the representative agriculturists of St. Joseph county, and by his strict and honorable dealings has gained the confidence and respect of his neighbors and fellow-associates. A son of the late George W. Barnes, he was born, December 29, 1852, in Dover township, Fulton county, Ohio. His grandfather, who came of Holland ancestry, migrated with his family from Maryland to Ohio in the early part of the nineteenth century, and, with his wife, spent his last years in Fulton county.
The youngest member of the household, George W. Barnes was a mere child when he accompanied his parents to Ohio. Brought up on a farm, he became a tiller of the soil from choice, and was busily engaged in agricultural pursuits when the tocsin of war rang out through the land. Leaving his plow in the furrow, he en- listed in Company A, Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, went with his command to the front, and died while in service. He was twice married. His first wife, whose maiden name was Hester Schoonover was born in New York state, of Holland ancestry. She died about 1860, leaving one child, Almeron R., the subject of this sketch. ' George W. Barnes married for his second wife Julia Ann Smith, who outlived him.
Left fatherless when young, Almeron R. Barnes began to be self-supporting as a boy, working on a farm, and on a railroad.
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Coming to Michigan at the age of sixteen years, he was for awhile employed on a farm near White Pigeon, St. Joseph county. Be- ginning his career subsequently as an independent farmer on rented land, he was exceedingly prosperous, each year making money, and in 1888 he purchased his present fine farm of one hun- dred and forty acres, in Fabius township. His land is well im- proved, and the buildings are pleasantly located, and made at- tractive by the numerous beautiful black walnut and elm trees that furnish ample shade in the summer season.
Mr. Barnes married, in January, 1884, Flora C. Seeley, who was born and brought up in this township, a daughter of Clark P. and Dolly (Beadle) Seeley. Her father, a native of New York state, was a natural mechanic, but after his emigration to Michi- gan bought wild land in Fabius township, and was here employed in agricultural pursuits until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes had four children,-Dolly, wife of Charles Milhan, a resident of Three Rivers; Leafa, at home; Allie, who died at the age of eight- een months; and G. Lee, at home, a high school student.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes and two of their children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Three Rivers. They have on their farm one of the most beautiful barns in the county-a credit to the township of Fabius. Mr. Barnes is a member of K. O. T. M., Tent No. 87 at Three Rivers and Mrs. Barnes a member of the Mystic Workers, also at Three Rivers.
FRANK M. CASE .- A valued member of the city council of Three Rivers and recognized as one of the representative citizens and business men of St. Joseph county, Mr. Case is a member of a family whose name has been identified with the industrial and civic history of this county for nearly half a century, and here he has lived from his infancy to the present time, save for an interval of five years passed in the city of Kalamazoo. In Three Rivers he conducts a large and successful business as a wholesale and retail dealer in coal and lumber, in which connection he has the best of facilities, and he is also a stockholder in the Three Rivers Knitting Company, one of the most important industrial concerns of the county. Progressive and public-spirited, he wields no little influ- ence in his home city and county, and his course has been so guided and governed by principles of integrity and honor that he has not been denied the full measure of popular confidence and esteem.
Frank Merrit Case was born on a farm in Berrien county, Michigan, on the 14th of February, 1862, and in the following year
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his parents removed to St. Joseph county and settled on a farm in Park township. He is a son of William P. and Sarah (Branch) Case, both of whom were born and reared in the state of New York, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they came to Michigan in 1861. The father was of English descent and the family was founded in America in the colonial days, as was also that of the mother, whose lineage likewise is traced back to stanch English origin. Frank M. is the only child of this union and he was three years of age at the time of his mother's death, in 1865. William P. Case later married Mrs. Emeline Snow, now residing in Colon, and they became the parents of two children,-Sarah A., who died at the age of thirty-two years, and Edward P., who is a representative business man of Three Rivers. Upon coming to Branch county the father located in Sherwood township, where he continued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred when he was in his fiftieth year, in 1879. He espoused the cause of the Republican party at the time of its organization and ever afterward continued a stanch advo- cate of its principles. He was a consistent member and local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church, as were also his first and his second wives.
He whose name initiates this review passed the days of his boyhood and youth on the homestead farm in Sherwood township, and after completing the curriculum of the district schools he con- tinued his studies in the village schools of Athens, in the adjoin- ing county of Calhoun, this place being not far distant from his home. For a number of years after leaving school he continued his active association with the great basic industry of agriculture, and in 1891 he took up his residence in the city of Kalamazoo, where he was engaged in the retail lumber business for about two years, at the expiration of which, in 1893, he removed to Three Rivers, where he engaged in the same line of enterprise, as senior member of the firm of Case & Coon, in which his associate was Fred H. Coon. At the expiration of the first year he purchased his partner's interest in the business, which he has since continued very successfully and to which he has added the handling of coal, both at wholesale and retail. The enterprise is one of the impor- tant business undertakings of the county's metropolis, and fair and honorable dealings are the basis of the substantial support ac- corded. Mr. Case has been a stockholder of the Three Rivers Knit- ting Company from the time of its incorporation, and in divers other ways has he lent his encouragement and co-operation in the
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support of enterprises and measures that have inured greatly to the industrial and commercial advancement of the city.
In politics Mr. Case is found arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and while he has never been a seeker of public office he has never failed in the performance of any civic duty, and since 1908 he has represented the First ward as a member of the city council, in which body he has put forth every possible effort to conserve good municipal government. He is affiliated with Three Rivers Lodge, No. 43, Knights of Pythias, and with the Knights of the Maccabees.
On the 8th of March, 1883, Mr. Case was united in marriage to Miss Laura Bowman, who was born in Medina county, Ohio, and reared in Leonidas township, St. Joseph county, and who is a daughter of John W. and Eliza Bowman. Mr. Bowman died March 21, 1880, and his wife is now living in Hastings, Michigan. Mr. Bowman was one of the successful farmers of this part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Case have no children. They are both mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church of Three Rivers.
CONRAD A. LAMBERSON was for many years one of Colon township's millers, having conducted what is now the oldest mill in the county. It was erected in 1839. From 1877 until 1880 it was conducted by Lamberson and Hoffman, and in the latter year Joseph Farrand purchased Mr. Hoffman's interest. In the mean- time, in 1895, Franklin D. Lamberson, a son of Conrad A., had been admitted into the firm as a partner, and until Mr. Farrand came into the company the style of the firm was C. A. Lamberson & Company. The average daily output of the mill is one hundred barrels of flour.
Conrad A. Lamberson was born in Brady township, Kala- mazoo county, Michigan, January 23, 1841, a son of Abraham Lamberson and a grandson of Conrad Lamberson who was of Ger- man descent and lived and died in Pennsylvania. His wife, a Miss Boone, also of German descent and to whom he was married in Pennsylvania, bore him the following children: Nicholas; John, who died in Pennsylvania when fifty years of age; Abraham, men- tioned below; Isaac, who died in Pennsylvania when about sixty- five years of age; and Sarah, wife of Abraham Anthony, who died in her native state at the good old age of eighty-six years. Some of these children died at the home of Conrad Lamberson in Colon township. Abraham Lamberson was born in Pennsylvania in 1809, became a carpenter and farmer, espoused the cause of the
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REUNION OF THE SOLDIER FRIENDS OF MR. AND MRS. JOHN B. LARKIN LEONIDAS, MICHIGAN
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Whig party, but was not a politician, and was married in Michi- gan to Maria, a daughter of John Crades, who was born and reared in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and who was a participant in the war of 1812.
After his marriage Mr. Lamberson bought land in Kalama- zoo, and then moved to Park township in St. Joseph county, and later removing to Vicksburg, he died in that city in 1885. He helped to erect mills and other buildings in the city of Three Riv- ers. His wife passed away at Vicksburg in 1887.
Conrad A. Lamberson received a common school training, worked as a carpenter and later as a farmer, and then entered upon his long and successful career as a miller. He has long been one of the leading citizens of Colon, contributing his share and more toward its growth and upbuilding, and now after a success- ful and useful career he is living retired from an active business life. In August of 1861 he enlisted in the Sixth Michigan Infan- try, going first to Baltimore, thence to Newport News, to the Gulf of Mexico and the mouth of the Mississippi river to New Orleans. He took part in the first assault on Port Hudson, May 27, 1863, and in the battle before the surrender on July 8, 1863. He en- dured the hardships of the Mississippi campaign, took part in the battle of Baton Rouge on July 8, 1862, was made a high private in rear rank, having charge of the doctors' mess and was mustered out in August, 1864. He is a member of the Masonic order, hav- ing served as both junior and senior warden of the Colon Blue Lodge, is also a Knight Templar of Sturgis Commandery, and during the past eight or ten years has served as king of the Colon chapter.
On the 28th of March, 1865, Mr. Lamberson married Elizabeth Dentler, born in Park township in June, 1843, a daughter of Penn- sylvania farmers. The following children have been born to them : Nettie, who died when but a day old; Franklin D., born March 18, 1870, was wedded twice; first to Miss Katharine Anderson and two children were born-Marie, in the eighth grade and Harriett E. in the fifth grade. The mother of these children died in 1902, and for his second wife Franklin D. married Miss Edith Ralph, and they have one son, Franklin Abraham. Franklin Lamberson is a member of Colon Blue Lodge, Colon R. A. M., and Sturgis Commandery, K. T.
JOHN B. LARKIN .- One of the noble and honored veterans of the Civil war, who so freely gave his services to the cause of his
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country and who figured prominently at Fredericksburg, Rappa- hannock and in the battle of Bull Run with Hooker, and who was a member of the Army of the Potomac, is John B. Larkin, pioneer settler in St. Joseph county, Michigan.
John B. Larkin was born in Rhode Island on the 10th of September, 1840, and is a son of Christopher and Ruhamah (Bently) Larkin, both of whom were born near Newport, Rhode Island, the father in March, 1817, and the mother on the 18th of January, 1818. Christopher Larkin died in Genesee county, New York, in April, 1895, and his cherished and devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal in the following month of the same year. Except for three or four brief visits to their son, John B., who was the only child to venture forth to seek his fortunes in the then sparsely settled state of Michigan, Mr. and Mrs. Larkin spent their entire lives in the east; they lived in Rhode Island until 1847, whence they removed to the state of New York, when John B., subject of this review, was but seven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Larkin became the parents of six children, namely : Hannah, wife of Stilwell Stillman, who is now deceased, was born in 1838 and maintains her home in Genesee county, New York ; John B., to whom this sketch is dedicated; Mercy, who was born in 1842, is the widow of Henry Norton and resides in Elba, New York, with her two sons; Roland, who was born in Rhode Island and who died in infancy; Mary, who was born in New York in 1846 and who died in 1905, was married to Francis Hackley and is survived by two children; her husband is also deceased; Mertie, who was born in 1848, married Henry Raymond, now deceased, and she lives with her two children in New York.
John B. Larkin, whose name initiates this review, received his preliminary education in the east, attending the public schools of Kingston, Rhode Island, until eighteen years of age, when he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and on the 22nd of September, 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil war, he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Fifth New York Volunteer Infantry, at Haw- ley, Orleans county, New York. The company proceeded to Washington, where it went into camp for three or four weeks and whence it proceeded to Alexander, where it remained in winter quarters until June, 1862; Company F then proceeded to Slaughter Mountain, Fredericksburg and Rappahannock and later fought the notable battle of Bull Run, under Hooker. Mr. Larkin was a member of the First Brigade of the First Division of the First Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and was mustered out
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in Washington, in 1864. In the fall of that year he came to St. Joseph county, Michigan, where his devotion to the good of his country caused him to re-enlist on the 13th of March, 1865, and he was mustered out on the 16th of September, 1865, as a member of Company F, Eleventh Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He went with his company to Nashville, Tennessee, and from there to Cleveland, Tennessee, where they remained until the last of August when they proceeded to Knoxville, from which place the army came home to Jackson, Michigan, where Mr. Larkin was honorably discharged. Mr. Larkin participated in many battles in this great, internecine conflict and he displayed much valor and patriotic loyalty by coming to the front and offering his serv- ices at a time when the help of every able man was needed in order to restore peace and order to the seceding states. After his return to Michigan he was employed at farming near Leonidas, St. Joseph county, Michigan, where he has since maintained his home with the exception of two years, which he spent in Mendon, St. Joseph county, Michigan.
On the 17th of January, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Larkin to Miss Elizabeth Ann Harvey, who was born in Leonidas, Michigan, on the 31st of May, 1845, and who is a daughter of Addison and Anna E. (Hall) Harvey. Addison Har- vey was a native of Cattaraugus county, New York, and Mrs. Harvey was born in Ashtabula, Ashtabula county, Ohio. The latter died in 1848, when Mrs. Larkin was but three years of age. Mr. Harvey was born in Randolph, Cattaraugus county, New York, on the 21st of August, 1814. In 1837 he removed with his family to Leonidas township, St. Joseph county, Michigan, where he followed the great basic industry of agriculture. Mr. Harvey was thrice married, the mother of Mrs. Larkin being his second wife. Mr. Harvey died on the 1st of October, 1889, in Mendon, St. Joseph county, Michigan. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Larkin resided in Mendon for seven months, after which they re- moved to the farm of Mr. Harvey, in Leonidas township, where they maintained their home until 1899, since which time they have been living in Leonidas, St. Joseph county, Michigan, where Mr. Larkin is engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Larkin became the parents of five children, of whom the following brief data is recorded,-Mertie, born in Leonidas, Michigan, on the 6th of October, 1866, became the wife of Adam Longenecker, who is a merchant; they reside in Leonidas and have three children,- Margaret, Meda and Ruhamah; Porter, born on the 27th of Sep- Vol. II-9
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tember, 1868, resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is an ex- press messenger ; he has one son, Clyde, who married Jane Parker; Nellie S., born on the 13th of March, 1873, is the wife of Harvey Schoock and they reside with their four children, -Harlie, Arnold, Vera and Norma, in Three Rivers, Michigan; Lewis H., born on the 18th of April, 1880, is a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, and is a railroad engineer on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern; he married Leona Burkheart; Leo, born on the 25th of May, 1885, is a barber in Union City, Branch county, Michigan; he is a bachelor.
Mr. John B. Larkin has a fine collection of war and Indian relics, gathered on his travels during the Civil war. In politics Mr. Larkin is a stanch adherent of the principles and policies of the Democratic party and though never a seeker of public office he has ever been zealous for the advancement of the general wel- fare of the community in which he makes his home, and no one ranks higher in the esteem and confidence of his fellow men than does this energetic and progressive citizen. He is affiliated with the Grange and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has been a charter member of the O. J. Fast Post, No. 193, Grand Army of the Republic, for the past twenty-seven years. Mr. Lar- kin and his wife are devout members of the Congregational church.
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