USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 28
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only in the fatherland but also in the various sections of the United States, where a farm owned and operated by one of German birth or ancestry is, in the average case, readily distinguishable by rea- son of its manifold evidences of thrift and prosperity. John F. Wolf was a man who was a veritable tower of strength in all that tended to conserve the best interests of his home county who was notable for his exceptional business acumen and his impregnable integrity of purpose in all the relations of life. Not only was he a prominent factor in connection with the hardy agricultural ac- tivities of the county but he was one of the most prominent in con- nection with the development of the growing of peppermint and the distillation of its essential oil,-a line of enterprise that has given to St. Joseph county great commercial prestige and that has contributed greatly to the prosperity of this section. He achieved large and worthy success in connection with the practical activities of life but was ever mindful of his stewardship and was not hedged in by selfish motives or personal aggrandizement. His was a ro- bust and sterling character and he was ever ready to give his sym- pathy, encouragement and aid to those less fortunate, besides which his civic liberality and progressiveness prompted him to give sup- port to all enterprises and measures tending to advance the social and material prosperity of his community and state. He was ac- tive in connection with securing the construction of the Michigan Central Air Line Railroad and was for some time a member of the directorate of the company. He did much for the promotion of the interests of the village of Centerville and to secure the establishing of the county seat at this place. Education and religion found in him a devoted friend. He was a zealous and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Centerville. In politics he was originally an old-line Whig and in later years he recalled with pleasure many incidents in the campaign which resulted in the election of General William Henry Harrison to the presidency, a campaign which brought forth the historic slogan,-"Tippecanoe and Tyler too." He united with the Republican party at the time of its organization, "under the oaks," at Jackson, Michigan, and voted for its first presidential candidate, General John C. Fremont. He was an earnest and appreciative member of the Masonic fra- ternity, in which he attained to the chivalric degrees, having been a member of the commandery of the Knights Templars, at. Three Rivers, and having been affiliated with the lodge and chapter in Centerville.
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Mrs. Nancy D. (Gibson) Wolf, the beloved and devoted wife of John Wolf, who was born and reared in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, was born on the 31st of December, 1837, and she died in the village of Centerville on the 17th of March, 1909. The Gibson family was founded in St. Joseph county, Michigan, in the pioneer days and adequate data concerning the family is to be found in the sketch of the career of Samuel Gibson, appearing on other pages of this work. Mrs. Wolf was a woman of most beauti- ful traits of character and her strength and devotion enabled her to well upbear the burdens which were laid upon the shoulders of the pioneer women of this section of the state. Her gentle and gra- cious personality won to her the affectionate regard of all who knew her and her memory is revered in the community which was so long her home. Of her it may well be said that "her children rise up and call her blessed." Her remains were laid to rest be- side those of her husband in Riverside cemetery and a beautiful monument marks the place where repose the mortal relics of this honored pioneer couple.
Morris D. Wolf, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and early began to contribute his quota to its work. In the meanwhile he was af- forded the advantages of the public schools of Centerville and throughout his mature life he has not served his allegiance to the great basic industry of agriculture, besides which he has been prominently identified with the essential oil industry, in the ex- ploiting of which his father was so important a factor. He is a pro- gressive and broad-minded business man and in his attitude as a citizen he has shown his appreciation of the precepts and example of his father and mother, having been true to principle and having ever maintained the high ideal of duty and responsibility so that he has not been denied the finest measure of popular confidence and regard. His capitalistic and business interests are of broad scope and importance and he still retains possession of the old homestead farm, located about one mile distant from Centerville, a place en- deared to him by the gracious memories and associations of the past. This farm comprises one hundred and sixty acres of most arable land and its improvements are of the best order in all par- ticulars. He maintains his home in the village of Centerville, where he owns an attractive, modern residence, besides which he is the owner of valuable real estate in the city of Chicago.
Mr. Wolf is aligned as a stanch adherent of the Republican party and takes an intelligent interest in the questions and issues
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of the hour, the while he gives his support to all measures pro- jected for the general welfare of his native county. He has served for a number of years as a member of the board of education of Centerville, but has never been an aspirant for political office. He holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church in his home city and is at the present time president of its board of trustees. His affiiliations in the Masonic fraternity are as here noted,- Mount Hermon Lodge, No. 24, Free and Accepted Masons; Center- ville Chapter No. 11, Royal Arch Masons, both in Centerville; Council No. 37, Royal and Select Masters, in the city of Three Riv- ers, where he is also affiliated with Three Rivers Commandery No. 29, Knights Templars. His Masonic affiliations are further amplified by his membership in Saladin Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the city of Grand Rapids.
On the 20th of November, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wolf to Miss Emeroy Rees and they have one daughter, Florence Ella, born December 23, 1896, who is now attending the public schools of Centerville. Mrs. Wolf was born near the city of Battle Creek, Calhoun county, Michigan, on the 19th of July, 1867, and is a daughter of Lambert Burghardt Rees and Margaret Elizabeth Lawler Rees. She is a communicant of St. Thomas' church, Protestant Episcopal, at Battle Creek. Mrs. Wolf is the most gracious chatelaine of their beautiful home and is a prominent and valued factor in connection with the best social activities of the community. Mrs. Wolf's father, Lambert Burghardt Rees, was the eldest child of Andrew Rees and Electa Burghardt, both of whom were of Holland descent and natives of West Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. Clarissa Crane, mother of An- drew Rees, was at the time of her death in 1863, the last survivor of the Massacre of Wyoming. Electa Burghardt was born in 1792, during the first term of Washington's administration and her father was a prominent man in Massachusetts. She married An- drew Rees in 1811 and they moved to Michigan in 1833, settling at Battle Creek, Calhoun county, when there were only six houses in the place. The deed of the farm on which they lived for forty- four years was signed by Andrew Jackson. Martin Van Buren was a cousin of Electa Burghardt, and while he was secretary of state a number of the relatives settled in Michigan, her nephew, Norman Rawson, taking up a tract in St. Joseph county in 1833. His father, Erastus Rawson, lived here two years and then went to Chicago to build the first trestle across Lake Michigan, where the Michigan
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Central Railroad now runs. He died in Chicago in 1863, and is buried in Graceland cemetery. Col. Isaac Toll was another cousin who settled at Fawn River. Margaret Elizabeth Lawler, Mrs. Wolf's mother, was the daughter of John and Ann Lawler and was born in Onondaga county, New York. She came with her par- ents to Michigan in 1843, settling on a farm west of Battle Creek. She was married in 1852 to Lambert Burghardt Rees and they built a house on a portion of the old homestead and lived there all their married life.
Among the interesting relics in the Wolf family are the pewter plates from which the family used to eat and now in the possession of Amos Wolf; the old musket which the great-grandfather, Daniel Hoan, carried in the Revolutionary war; old lamps in which bears' grease was burned; the old German family Bible, bound in vellum, in which the family record goes away back to the time of the family in Germany; this Bible is now in the possession of Hon. Francis Millard Wolf, a prominent lawyer of St. Louis, Missouri.
HON. OTHO MOE .- On the roster of the St. Joseph county of- ficials is recorded the name of the Hon. Otho Moe, a representative to the legislature during the session of 1879, a former supervisor of Fawn River township and one of the honored pioneer residents of St. Joseph county. He was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, January 29, 1834, a son of Charles and Maranda (Culver) Moe. Captain Charles Moe gained his title as an officer in the war of 1812. He was from the state of New York, and he married there and moved with his young wife to Ashtabula county, Ohio, and in 1836 they came to St. Joseph county, Michigan. Captain Moe entered land here, developing it into a splendidly improved farm. The land was covered with timber when he took possession, his log cabin built there and reared his family, and there died.
It was in that pioneer home that the Hon. Otho Moe passed his early life, learning to swing the axe while helping to clear away the trees, and while developing from boyhood to manhood he saw the county pass from an almost unbroken wilderness to a land of prosperity and cultivation. As there were no schools near in his immediate neighborhood he was instructed in a district school two miles away, and he remained at home with his father until the latter's death, when eighty-two years of age. On the 15th of Feb- ruary, 1863, Mr. Moe was married to Sarah A. Lewis, who was born in Wayne county, New York, July 4, 1838, and she came to Michigan with her parents in 1858. A daughter, Alma, was born
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to Mr. and Mrs. Moe on the 13th of May, 1860. She attended the Sturgis High School and the Notre Dame Seminary at South Bend, Indiana, and she is the wife of S. E. Williams, of Sturgis. She is a member of the Episcopal church. Mr. Moe has been twice married, and Mrs. Williams is a daughter by his first wife. He is a member of Meridian Sun Lodge No. 49, F. & A. M., of Sturgis Chapter No. 26, R. A. M., and of Columbia Commandery No. 18, K. T. In politics he is allied with the Democracy. He spends his winters in the south. Throughout his life his career has been marked by the strictest fidelity to duty, by loyalty to every trust reposed in him, and his example is well worthy of emulation.
ROSSLYN H. VAN BUREN, of the Morincy-Van Buren Manu- facturing Company, Sturgis, Michigan, is one of the representa- tive young business men of the city, and as such is entitled to per- sonal mention in this work. A brief sketch of his life gives the fol- lowing facts :
Rosslyn H. Van Buren was born in Florence township, St. Joseph county, Michigan, January 28, 1875, son of William H. and Carrie (Major) Van Buren. William H. Van Buren is one of the well-known and highly respected citizens of the county; en- gaged in agricultural pursuits for a number of years, and ex-Re- corder of Deeds of St. Joseph county, his term in this office having expired in January, 1909. Rosslyn H. was reared on his father's farm and received his early education in the district school. He is a graduate of the Centerville High School, with the class of 1893, and of the State Normal College at Ypsilanti, where he completed the classical course in 1897. His first business experience was in Wolf Brothers' bank at Centerville. He remained there one year, and then for five years he was cashier in the office of the State Auditor General. From the time he became a voter he has been active in Republican politics, and it was on the recommendation of the Republican County Chairman of St. Joseph county that he was appointed to the position in the Auditor's office.
In 1901, Mr. Van Buren became associated with Frank W. Wait in the lumber business, under the firm name of Wait-Van Buren Lumber Co., and was engaged in this enterprise until re- cently, when the business passed into the hands of Mr. Wait. As a member of the firm of Morincy-Van Buren Manufacturing Com- pany, Mr. Van Buren is now interested with A. F. Morincy in the manufacture of plumbers' brass goods.
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In 1900, at Lansing, Michigan, Mr. Van Buren married Miss Rebecca McCollum of that city, and they have two children : Tracy, born March 27, 1902, and Mary, October 6, 1903. Mr. Van Buren is a member of Meridian Sun Lodge, No. 49, F. & A. M .; Sturgis Chapter, No. 26, R. A. M., and Columbia Commandery, No. 18, K. T., and he is also a Shriner, having membership at Grand Rapids.
CURTIS A. FREELAND, who is prominently identified with the manufacturing interests of Sturgis, Michigan, was born in Elk- hart county, in the neighboring state of Indiana, March 22, 1869, son of B. F. Freeland, and was reared and educated in the "Hoo- sier" state.
In 1893, he became one of a company which established at Middlebury, Indiana, a plant for the manufacture of galvanized steel tanks, and which operated there for several years. In Sep- tember, 1902, this plant was moved to Sturgis, Michigan, where the business has since been successfully conducted, the output com- prising furnaces, boilers, tank heaters, galvanized steel tanks and storage oil tanks. From twenty-five to fifty men, all skilled labor, are employed, and the product of the plant is shipped all over the United States and to various foreign countries as well. To the de- velopment and general management of this business, Mr. Freeland gave his best energies, and such confidence did he place in the en- terprise that from time to time he purchased additional stock un- til now he is the head of the concern and is its sole owner.
Mr. Freeland is in the true sense of the word a public-spirited man. The deep interest he has manifested in the local affairs of Sturgis, his reputation for integrity, and his high-standing as a business man were early recognized, and in 1906 he was honored by being elected to the office of Mayor, in which he served most ac- ceptably in 1906 and 1907. Politically he is a Democrat. He be- longs to the Masonic order, having membership in Meridian Sun Lodge, No. 49, of which he is Senior Warden; and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Freeland has a wife and four sons, his children in order of birth being as follows: Harold, born January, 1894; Arden, No- vember, 1895; Kenneth, September 19, 1900, and Glenn, June 17, 1904.
HENRY R. OSBON, a traveling salesman living at Sturgis, Michigan, is a native of this city, born December 1, 1840, son of G. W. and Cornelia H. (Howes) Osbon. G. W., son of Richard Os-
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bon, was born in Livingston county, New York, in 1811, and was reared in his native state. He removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1833, and there traded with the Indians; in 1838 he located at Sturgis, where he engaged in the dry goods business. In 1845 Mr. Osbon moved on to a farm, where he resided until his death, in 1870; his widow survived him and passed away in 1906. They were parents of five children, of whom two survive. George W. Osbon was educated for a Methodist Episcopal minister, and was of a quiet, thoughtful nature. He was a successful dry goods merchant and highly respected ; politically he was a Republican.
The early days of Henry R. Osbon were spent in Sturgis, where he attended the public schools. He afterward engaged in traveling as a salesman for various lines, and continued this occu- pation some twenty years, his territory being Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio and all western states and territories except California and the Dakotas. His chief work was the sale of buggies, which he continued until 1906, when he was elected to the office of super- visor of the First ward of the city of Sturgis, which he still holds. He has been very successful in his business enterprises, and his honor and integrity are widely recognized. Mr. Osbon has been a life-long resident of Sturgis, where he is well known and has a large circle of friends.
Mr. Osbon is a prominent member of Sturgis Prairie Lodge No. 37, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has been a member since March 28, 1872. He is well informed in the work- ings of the order and has served twice as representative from his lodge to the grand lodge of Michigan.
June 7, 1863, Mr. Osbon married Emma V. McGown, who was born in Trenton, New Jersey, November 27, 1847, and came to Sturgis in 1859; they have two sons, D. Alton A., born October 1, 1864, and Frederick A., born August 24, 1868. D. Alton A. is ad- vance agent for the Hagenbach-Wallace shows, and in this capacity has traveled all through the United States; he is a well-informed, public-spirited citizen, of pleasant manner and high character. He married Edith Vogler, of Sturgis, and they have two sons, D. T., born April 12, 1889, and Walter J., born October 12, 1898. Fred- erick A. Osbon married Montie Roat, and they live in Sturgis. He owns sixteen acres of the old homestead, and is an industrious, enterprising citizen ; politically he is a Republican.
G. C. GROVE, a prominent citizen of Sturgis and an enterpris- ing business man, was born in Darke county, Ohio, April 6, 1885, Vol. II-18
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and is a son of Hiram and Leah (Boyer) Grove. His parents moved to Geneva, Indiana, when he was about eleven years of age, and he finished his education in the public schools of that town; however, while he was still in the eighth grade his eyes became so much affected he found it necessary to leave school, and never re- turned, although he has since made the most of his opportunities to acquire learning and culture. Mr. Grove was employed for some time in the grain and elevator business at Geneva, and continued in that business after removing to Huntstown, Indiana, until July, 1908. At that time he located in Sturgis, Michigan, in the employ of Egley Grain Company, and is now the manager of the plant. He owns stock in this company, which is incorporated and doing a large business both in Sturgis and the surrounding country.
Mr. Grove takes an active interest in local affairs, and is a public-spirited, useful citizen ; politically he is a Democrat. He is a bright, hustling business man, and has a promising future before him. Mr. Grove is a member of the United Brethren church and also belongs to Lodge No. 634, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is well known in Sturgis, and stands high in the estimation of his fellows.
In June, 1906, Mr. Grove married Anna Taylor, of Geneva, Indiana, born and reared in Adams county, and educated in the public schools of Geneva.
WILLIAM HAZARD .- One of the most venerable and honorable of the native sons of St. Joseph county, with whose history the fam- ily name has been identified since the territorial epoch in the his- tory of the nation, this sterling pioneer citizen of Centerville is spe- cially deserving of consideration in this publication not only by rea- son of his being thus a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of this section of the state but also on account of his having been for many years one of the prominent and influential citizens of the county, where he has ever commanded a secure vantage ground in popular confidence and esteem. His reminiscences of the early days are most graphic and interesting and his memory forms an indissol- uble link between the period when this section was on the border of civilization and the twentieth century with its opulent advantages and prosperity.
Mr. Hazard was born on the old homestead farm in Nottawa township, St. Joseph county, on the 12th of March, 1830, and he is the fourth in order of birth of fourteen children-seven sons and seven daughters-of William and Cassandra (Coan) Hazard. Of
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this large family he is one of the two now living and the other is Elvira, who is the widow of Mr. Oakly and who now resides in Cali- fornia. William Hazard was born in the state of Vermont in Feb- ruary, 1798, one year before the death of General Washington, and he was eighty years of age at the time of his death, which occurred in Mendon, St. Joseph county, Michigan. He was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and was but a boy at the time of the family removal from the old Green Mountain state to that of New York. As a young man he set forth to establish a home in Michi- gan, which was then considered in the far west. He was accom- panied by his widowed mother, two brothers and two sisters and the long and weary journey was made with an ox team. This was in the year 1817, fully twenty years before Michigan was admitted to statehood. He secured a small tract of land near the city of Mon- roe and the first home of the family was a primitive log house of the type common to the locality and period. In 1829 William Hazard came to St. Joseph county and located in Nottawa township, where he secured a tract of wild land in the midst of the primeval forest and where the neighbors were principally Indians. No highways or bridges had been constructed and the settlers were few and far between. Mr. Hazard set to himself the herculean task of reclaim- ing a farm from the forest and of him it may well be said that "his strength was as the number of his days." Both physically and mentally he was of the robust type that is best suited to en- counter the hardships and vicissitudes of pioneer life and he assisted in reclaiming his land to cultivation. Upon coming to the county he secured eighty acres of government land, to which he later added an adjoining tract of equal area. This homestead he retained until the time of his death. In politics he was originally a stanch Democrat of the Jeffersonian type, but upon the organization of the Republican party he transferred his allegiance thereto, ever afterward remaining a stanch advocate of its principles and poli- cies. Both he and his wife were devout and earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church and were numbered among the organizers of the first church of this denomination in St. Joseph county. Their home was one in which the pioneer ministers were sustained and these circuit riders in their arduous and devout work found gracious hospice in the modest home of this sterling pio- neer couple. William Hazard, Sr., assisted in the interment of the first white man in this county, this man having been killed by the falling of a tree. Mr. Hazard himself was laid to rest in the same cemetery, which has long been known as Pioneer cemetery and
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which is located in section 16, Nottawa township. Mrs. Cassandra (Coan) Hazard, mother of the subject of this review, was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, in the year 1806 and was sixty- four years of age at the time of her death, which occurred in 1870. She was one of the noble pioneer women of St. Joseph county and her gracious and gentle influence was felt and appreciated in the community in the early days. She was a most devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church and her faith was shown in her daily walk and conversation. She was a friend to those in afflic- tion and distress and no wayfarer was sent empty away from her home. Her remains were laid to rest beside those of her husband in the Pioneer cemetery.
William Hazard, Jr., the immediate subject of this review, has passed the long period of eighty years in an honorable and useful life in his native county and he has the distinction of being at the present time the oldest citizen who was born and reared in the county and who is now living within its borders. The pioneer log school house of this section found him enrolled as a student and he well recalls this primitive institution with its puncheon floors, slab benches and desks and wide fireplace-a school far different from those whose privileges are enjoyed by the youth of the present day in the same section of the state. Of the twelve children who at- tained adult age in the Hazard family, all became successful teach- ers with the exception of the subject of this sketch, who had a nat- ural predilection for business and who thus gave his attention to conducting work along other lines. In a reminiscent way Mr. Haz- ard recalls that Pottawotamies used frequently to stop at his fath- er's home for something to eat and for the purpose of trading in the simple commodities of the locality. Mr. Hazard was reared to the sturdy invigorating discipline of the husbandman and throughout his active career he gave close allegiance to the great basic art of agriculture. He assisted actively in the reclamation of nearly four- teen hundred acres of timbered land. It is a recognized fact that he has plowed up a greater area of virgin soil than any other man now living in St. Joseph county. He continued to be associated in the work and management of his father's farm until he had attained to his legal majority, at which time his father gave him five hun- dred dollars which figured as the basis of his independent opera- tions. He secured one hundred acres of land in Nottawa township and through industry and good management he was able to add to his landed estate until he became the owner of three hundred acres of good land, all of which was located in that township.
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