USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 18
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In 1907 Mr. Worthington married Miss Alice Kleckner of Flowerfield, born in 1846. She died January 29, 1909, and since that time he has lived alone.
SOLOMON YEATTER .- Among the well known and . most success- ful farmers of St. Joseph county is Solomon Yeatter, born April 13, 1839, to Jonathan and Barbara (Decker) Yeatter. Jonathan Yeatter was born April 8, 1806, in the state of Pennsylvania. Several years after his marriage to Miss Barbara Decker, also a native of Pennsylvania, he removed to Ohio, where they made their home for ten years. To them were born eight children : Michael, Sarah, Katherine, Solomon, John, Lovina, Emanuel and Alfred.
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Both Lovina and Emanuel died there, when very young. In 1853, when Solomon was thirteen years old, the family left Ohio, com- ing to Michigan, where they bought two hundred acres of land in Colon township. At that time this section of the country was very sparsely settled, and what afterwards became a well cultivated farm was then merely a stretch of woods. Jonathan Yeatter cleared the land and built a house and barns, a part of the old homestead still being in use. In the early days he was a soldier, and as the years passed held various political offices, at one time filling the position of overseer. After a long and busy life, he passed away at his home on September 18, 1888, at the age of eighty- two. Mrs. Yeatter, who was born April 22, 1814, died August 9,1879.
Solomon Yeatter, having attended the Colon high school, started out for himself at the age of twenty-one by teaching school in Colon and in Bronson. He continued at this work for four years, during which time he bought a farm of sixty acres, and later another of the same size. However, he still lived at home with his father, and when twenty-six years of age, married Miss Martha A. Benedict, daughter of Alfred and Cynthia Benedict of Burr Oak township. Mrs. Yeatter was three years her husband's junior, having been born February 23, 1842, in Morrow county, Ohio. She came to Michigan with her parents when a very young child. She had taught school for several years, her education having been received in Burr Oak and Colon. The young couple lived at the old homestead until the completion of their own new home, which is still occupied by Mr. Yeatter. There were three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Yeatter: Sidney E., born January 27, 1867, mar- ried Katherine Dean and has two children; Effie O., born July 17, 1869, wife of Albion Russel, also has two children; and Ethel L., born October 10, 1874, is the wife of Hart Shaffmaster and mother of one son. All of these are now living on farms of their own, in and near Colon.
Mr. Solomon Yeatter is a member of the Reformed church, as were his parents and also his wife. He is a stanch Republican, having adhered to the principles of this party since casting his first vote, which was for Abraham Lincoln. His life has been a very successful one, and his ability as a farmer is unquestioned.
After about a year's illness, Mrs. Yeatter died during an operation at a hospital in Kalamazoo, on May 14, 1903. She was one of the noble and God fearing women of St. Joseph county and lived a life of love and happiness, her home being her paradise.
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She was a devout Christian, having been an active member of the Reformed church and was President of the Ladies' Aid Society and for many years President of the Sunday School. The follow- ing is extracted from an obituary published in the Colon Express at the time of her death :
She was united in marriage to Solomon Yeatter, February 22, 1866. This union was blessed with three children all of whom are living. Their wedded life was a happy one to which her last dying words bear testimony. Her last words spoken to her husband were: "Solomon, I am going to die; when we lived together we had a happy life, but on account of my disease for the last three years it was nothing but sorrow and grief for both of us, but now comes the crown of joy and everlasting life in dear Jesus." Oh! what a legacy for those left behind. How beautiful are these words, words that will never die.
She leaves to mourn her departure, a devoted husband, three children, five grandchildren, two brothers and two sisters besides many dear friends. She was a lifelong member of the Christian church, early giving her heart to God, being in every way a most earnest member of the St. Paul Reformed church of South Colon. She was not simply a member by name, for her Christianity meant far more than that. Her Christian life and spirit was mani- fested each day in the Saviour whom she loved. No better ex- ample could be given other than her beautiful life and character as it was acted out day by day. Her amiable disposition and her wise and good counsels will never die. The funeral services were conducted by her pastor, Rev. H. S. Nicholson, who spoke words of comfort to a very large concourse of people from the 126 Ps., 5, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Her body was laid to rest in the cemetery by the St. Paul Reformed church to await the glorious resurrection. Peace to her ashes.
GEORGE FRANKLIN KNEVELS .- Holding high rank among the skilful and prosperous agriculturists of St. Joseph county, George Franklin Knevels owns and occupies a valuable homestead in Fabius township, where the greater part of his life has been passed. A son of the late Granville Knevels, he was born May 15, 1853, in Sullivan county, New York, being descended from distinguished Holland ancestry. His great grandfather, Isaac Adrian Knevels, Sr., a native of Holland, was educated for the ministry, and for twenty-five years had charge of a church on the Island of Saint Johns, a Danish possession in the West Indies.
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He married a rich heiress, a Miss Borm, and of the eight sons born of their union but two grew to years of maturity.
Isaac Adrian Knevels, Jr., grandfather of George F. Knevels, was born on the Island of Saint Johns, and was but twelve years old when his father died. According to the last request made by his father, he was very soon after sent to New York to be ed- ucated. Having completed his preliminary education, he began the study of medicine, and having received the degree of M. D. returned to Saint Johns Island, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession a number of years. Coming back then to New York, Dr. Knevels was for several years a prominent physician of Fishkill-on-the-Hudson. Removing from there to Sullivan county, New York, he bought four hundred acres of land near White Lake, and there continued his professional labors, leaving the management of his farm to his sons, living there until his death.
Dr. Isaac A. Knevels, married, on Saint Johns Island, Mar- garet Catherine Vriehuis, who was born on Saint Thomas Island, one of the Danish islands, a daughter of D. Juno Vriehuis. Her father was born in Prussia, and educated at a German university. He subsequently became the King's physician on board a Danish man-of-war, and went to Saint Thomas, where he practiced med- icine a few years. Going from there to the Island of Saint Johns, Dr. Vriehuis became prominent in public affairs, being made burgomaster, as such serving as head of the Burgo Council, which met at his house once each month. There he spent the remainder of his life. He married Miss Tonis, a daughter of Henry Tonis, of Amsterdam, Holland. Their daughter, Margaret Catherine Vriehuis was sent to America when eight years of age to attend a seminary at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Having completed the course of study, Margaret started for Saint Johns Island, to join her parents. The vessel on which she embarked was captured by a French privateer, and the captain was placed under arrest. She and her colored maid, the only women aboard, were treated most courteously, and her baggage was unmolested. Having searched the vessel, the Frenchmen released the captain, who proceeded on his voyage. Upon landing at Saint Johns, Miss Vriehuis met Dr. Knevels, who had just completed his medical course in New York, and she subsequently became his wife, as above stated. She sur- vived him several years, dying at Monticello, New York. Dr. and Mrs. Knevels, reared eleven sons and one daughter.
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Granville Knevels was born at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, and received excellent educational advantages. Choosing farming for an occupation rather than a professional career, he came to Mich- igan in 1850, and for two years was resident of Three Rivers. Locating then in Fabius township, he purchased a tract of land, ten acres of which had been cleared, and a small frame house had been erected. He superintended the clearing of the re- mainder of the estate, placed it in a good state of culture, and here resided until his death, in 1894. The maiden name of his wife was Margaret Phillips. She was born in Sullivan county, New York, a daughter of James and Margaret (Debron) Phillips, the former of whom was born, either in York state, of German par- ents, or in Germany, while the latter was a native of Sullivan county. She died on the home farm, in Fabius township, in 1893. Thirteen children were born to her and her husband, namely : Margaret C., James Adrian, Granville, Sarah J., John H., Mary E., Louise, Octavius, George Franklin, Maria, Frances, Carrie L. and Howard. All received good educations, and, with the excep- tion of George F. and Granville, all became school teachers.
James Adrian and John H. were soldiers during the Rebellion. James A. was a member of the Regimental Band, Eleventh Michigan Volunteers, for two years, and in a number of battles includ- ing Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga and Siege of Atlanta. John H. was a member of Company E, Eleventh Michigan Volun- teers, and served for three years, being in all the actions in which his brother took part. Both were honorably discharged and were very fortunate, since neither was wounded, sick or taken prisoner.
But four years of age when brought by his parents to Mich- igan, George F. Knevels was educated in the rural schools of Fabius township. He became a farmer from choice, and always lived with his parents, during their closing years, caring for them tenderly. Succeeding to the possession of the homestead, he has been extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits during his active life. Enterprising and energetic, he began when a young man to buy and ship cattle to Buffalo and Chicago, and in that profit- able industry was employed for a quarter of a century or more, building up a large business. His home, a modernly built frame structure, is pleasantly located near Little Corey Lake, of which it commands a fine view, having also an extended view of the surrounding country.
Mr. Knevels married, June 18, 1879, Anna M. Bell, who was born in Hameringham, Lincolnshire, England, a daughter of John
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and Susan (Bradley) Bell. John Bell learned the trade of a car- penter in Lincolnshire, and became a contractor and builder. His health failing, he came, by the advice of his physician, to America to recuperate. Locating, in 1872, in Cass county, Michigan, he bought a farm in Newburg township, and after living there a while sold, and bought another farm in the same township, and was there engaged in its management until his death, in 1900. His wife, passing away in 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Bell reared nine children, as follows : Mary, Richard, Sarah, Henry, Caroline, Alfred, Timothy, Anna M. and William R. Of these Mary, Richard, Sarah and Caroline, settled in Australia.
Six children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Knevels, namely : Clyde Richard, Mary Louise, Anna Lora, Edwin George, Margaret Vriehuis, and her twin sister, Katharine Bell. Clyde R. married Myrtle Heslett, and they have three sons, John Cameron and Robert Granville, Samuel Adrian, Anna Lora, a graduate of the Three Rivers High School of Class 1905, and of the State Normal School at Kalamazoo in class of 1908, was a teacher at Sturgis and at present is at Three Rivers, Michigan. Mrs. Knevels and her daughters are members of the Methodist Protestant church and Margaret and Katharine are students in Three Rivers high school.
DAVID B. PURDY, owner of "Lone Oak Farm," is the son of Elijah and Martha (Barker) Purdy, natives of Westchester county, New York. Elijah Purdy was born November 26, 1805, and his wife on March 20th of the same year. They were married on New Year's day, 1830, and remained in their home town for several years, where two of their children were born. In the fall of 1835, Elijah Purdy, together with his brother-in-law, David Barker, left for the West, coming to St. Joseph county, where he acquired four or five hundred acres of land. Mr. Purdy then re- turned to New York, and in the spring of 1836 brought his family to the new Michigan home. In the course of time, three more children were born. Two daughters, Sarah L., born February 1, 1831, and Martha A., born March 15, 1840, died in infancy. The other children born to this couple were: John A., born October 15, 1833, who in 1862 married Mary Galloway, who died June 20, 1864, and for his second wife married Emily C. Davis, who sur- vives him and still lives in Leonidas; he died February 18, 1902, leaving no children; Mary C., born November 22, 1836, wife of John McDonald, now living in Leonidas; and David B. In politi-
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cal affairs, Elijah Purdy cast his lot with the Republican party. He died on August 12, 1876, and his wife on July 24, 1898. Both were members of the Leonidas Methodist church.
David B. Purdy was born on March 21, 1845, on the farm which he now owns, and he has always lived on this farm. At the age of nineteen, David Purdy started to work, and shortly after received a gift of eighty acres from his uncle, Hakaliah Purdy. After a lapse of two or three years, during which Mr. Purdy de- voted his time entirely to the cultivation of this land, he was married, on October 16, 1867, to Dell M., the only child of Bassett and Martha W. Orcutt, natives of Monroe county, New York, who came to St. Joseph county about the year 1846. They re- mained here only six months, returning to New York for a period of four years, after which they again came to Leonidas. Mrs. Purdy was born November 25, 1847. About six weeks after their marriage, David B. Purdy and his bride came to live on the farm presented him, where they remained until 1880, when they built a beautiful new home. After forty years of happy married life, Mrs. Purdy passed away, at her home, on February 11, 1907. She left no children.
David B. Purdy is a Republican, as was his father, and is a charter member of Leonidas Grange. He still lives on the farm, which is one of the best equipped and most prosperous in the county. Miss Martha Sherman, who has been with the family for nearly twenty years, is keeping house for him.
GEORGE A. B. COOKE .- Few citizens of St. Joseph county have wielded greater or more beneficent influence in the community than George A. B. Cooke, who has maintained his home in the city of Three Rivers for nearly half a century and who is now living virtually retired, after many years of earnest and fruitful endeavor. He came to this county when a young man and gained advancement through his own ability and well directed efforts. As a newspaper editor and publisher, as incumbent of various offices of distinctive public trust, including that of postmaster of his home city, and as a citizen of high civic ideals and utmost loyalty and progressiveness, he has done much to further the best interests of the community and has made for himself a secure place in popular confidence and esteem. No citizen of St. Joseph county is better known than Mr. Cooke, and in points of sterling character and worthy accomplishment none is more distinctively worthy of representation in this publication.
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George A. B. Cooke is a scion of a family whose name has been identified with the annals of American history from the early colonial epoch, and the family was early founded in the state of New Jersey, being of stanch English lineage. Mr. Cooke was born at Belvidere, Warren county, New Jersey, on the 8th of February, 1842, and is a son of Colonel Joseph and Sarah A. (Bowman) Cooke, the former of whom was born on a farm near Hope, Warren county, New Jersey, on the 21st of June, 1812, and the latter was born at Mifflinville, Columbia county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 9th of November, 1816. William Cooke, father of Joseph, was likewise a native of Warren county, New Jersey, and was a son of Consider Cooke, who was a son of Elisha Cooke. The latter was a native of Massachusetts and was a son of William Cooke, who was a son of Jacob Cooke (2). The latter's father, Jacob Cooke (1), was a son of Francis Cooke, who was the founder of the family in America, whither he came with other of the historic Puritan band on the "Mayflower." His wife and chil- dren later joined him in the new world, and they made the voyage on the ship "Ann," in 1623. The family home was established in the Plymouth colony, and there both Jacob (1) and his son Jacob died. The latter's son William, died at Kingston, Massa- chusetts. Elisha Cooke, son of William, eventually emigrated from New England to New Jersey and settled in what is now the county of Warren. He became one of the substantial farmers of that county, where he continued to maintain his home until his death, which occurred in 1799. He was the father of eighteen children, nearly all of whom attained to years of maturity. Con- sider Cooke, son of Elisha, was born on the 4th of February, 1745, and he married Sarah Bell. He continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits in Warren county, New Jersey until his death. His son William likewise gave his allegiance throughout his active career to the great basic industry of agriculture, and his entire life was passed in Warren county, where, like his father, he was an honored and influential citizen of sterling character. He married Margaret McMurtrie, who was born in Warren county, in 1779, and who was a daughter of Captain John McMurtrie, a valiant soldier and officer of the Continental line in the war of the Revolution. Captain McMurtrie served as first judge of the court of Sussex county, New Jersey, after the close of the war and was a prominent figure in the public affairs of his section of the state. Mrs. Margaret (McMurtrie) Cooke continued to reside in her native county until she was summoned to eternal rest.
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Joseph Cooke, son of William and Margaret (McMurtrie) Cooke and father of him whose name initiates this sketch, gained his early educational training in the common schools of his native state and as a youth he entered upon an apprenticeship to the printing trade, at Belvidere, New Jersey. A year later he went to Newton, that state, and he completed his apprenticeship in the office of the Sussex Register. He had strong native powers and became a man of broad intellectuality. After the completion of his apprenticeship in connection with the "art preservative of all arts" he was engaged in teaching school for a time, and he also served as a county official of his native county. In 1848 he re- moved to Washington, Pennsylvania, where he became associated with Seth T. Hurd in the editing and publishing of the Washing- ton Commonwealth. He continued as one of the publishers of this paper until 1853, when he purchased a printing plant at Waynes- burg, Pennsylvania, where he continued editor and publisher of the Waynesburg Eagle, a Whig paper, until 1857, after which he retired from active business. When the dark cloud of civil war cast its gruesome pall over the national horizon Joseph Cooke ardently espoused the cause of the Union, and in 1862 he enlisted with the rank of Commissary Sergeant, in Company A, Eighteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, with which he proceeded to the front. He participated in the various battles, marches and cam- paigns in which his command was involved and was finally captured by the enemy, after which he was held in duress in various southern prisons, including Andersonville prison, in which odious place he was confined for a period of six months. At the time of his capture his weight was two hundred and twenty-five pounds, and when he was released he weighed only ninety-six pounds, a fact that indi- cates the severity of the hardships and privations he had to endure in the southern prison pens. Wasted in health, he received his honorable discharge soon after his release and he forthwith re- turned to his home in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. Soon after his return to that place he was appointed postmaster, and of this office he continued incumbent about twenty-one years. He con- tinued to reside in Waynesburg until his death, in 1890, and his funeral was held on his seventy-ninth birthday. He held a com- mission of Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania, as Colonel of the State Militia, during Curtin's administration as governor.
Sarah Ann (Bowman) Cooke, wife of Colonel Joseph Cooke, was a daughter of Jesse and Sarah (Aten) Bowman, and, as already stated, she was a native of Mifflinville, Pennsylvania. Her Vol. II-12
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father was born at Mount Bethel, Northampton county, that state, on the 10th of June, 1769, and his marriage to Sarah Aten was solemnized in 1795. He was a son of Christopher Bowman (or Baumann, as the name was originally spelled), and the latter was born near Ems, Germany, whence he came to America in 1754. He first settled in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he remained for a number of years, and he then removed to North- ampton county and settled on the banks of the Delaware river, where he maintained his home until late in life, when he re- moved to Briar Creek township, Columbia county, where he passed the residue of his life. He married Susan Banks, who was of English and Scotch lineage and who was a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of the old Keystone state. Jesse Bowman devoted his active life to agricultural pursuits and he was one of the representative farmers in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, where he died at an advanced age. His daughter, Sarah A., who became the wife of Colonel Joseph Cooke, died at the home of her daughter, Mary A. (Cooke) Bradley, in Cleveland, Ohio, on the 6th of December, 1901, at the venerable age of eighty-five years. Of her five children, the subject of this sketch is the eldest; Mary became the wife of Charles R. Bradley, about 1865. He was a musician in Company I, Eighth Pennsylvania Reserves, and died about 1885; she resides with a daughter, Mabel, at Cleveland, Ohio; Henry, at sixteen years, enlisted in 1862, was corporal in Company A, Eighteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and was killed at the battle of Opequan, near Winchester, Virginia, under General Sheridan, September 19, 1864; Winfield S. was born in 1848, en- listed in Company I, One Hundred and Ninety-third Pennsylvania Infantry, on July 19, 1864. About 1870 he went to Salt Lake City, Utah, and later married there Laura Hunter, and with his family, consisting of two sons and one daughter, still resides there ; he is engaged in mining interests and real estate; Arthur I. was born in 1853, married Arabella B. Adams in 1875, resides in Waynes- burg, Pennsylvania; is president of two natural gas companies, and interested in farming and other business enterprises; family consists of one son and five daughters.
George A. B. Cooke was seven years of age at the time of the family removal from New Jersey to Washington, Pennsylvania, and when but nine years of age he began to assist in the work of his father's printing and newspaper office, where he proved the consistency of the statement that the discipline of a newspaper office is equivalent to a liberal education. He familiarized him-
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self with all details of the work of a country printing office and continued to be associated with his father's business until 1857, when he secured employment as compositor in the office of the Pittsburg Gazette, in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. To amplify his knowledge of the printing business he served a virtual apprenticeship of two years in the well equipped job department of this paper, and he then returned to his home in Waynesburg. His patriotic fervor was on a parity with that of his honored father, and both tendered their services in defense of the Union about the same time. In August, 1862, George A. B. Cooke enlisted as a private in Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-third Penn- sylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he continued in active service until the expiration of his term of enlistment, and he was promoted from the ranks to the non-commissioned office of third sergeant. With the other members of his regiment he received his honorable discharge in May, 1863. He took part in the second battle of Bull Run and also in the sanguinary engagements at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. It is worthy of note that his father became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he himself has been a prominent figure, as will be more definitely indicated in another paragraph.
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