USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 29
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
Mr. Hazard ever give his aid and influence in support of all measures and enterprises tending to advance the material and social welfare of his native county and in thought and action he has been animated by the highest principles of integrity and honor. He is an uncompromising supporter of the cause of the Prohibition party. He has been true to high ideals of duty in all relations of life and has maintained a high sense of stewardship as touching his influ- ence upon all with whom he has come in contact. He has been an earnest and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church for sixty-eight years and he is the only one identified with that church in Centerville that can claim so long a continuous identifica- tion therein. He has been most liberal in his support of all branches of church work and has contributed with earnestness to charitable and benevolent objects. No citizen is held in more unqualified es- teem and as the gracious shadows of his life begin to lengthen from the golden west he finds that "his lines are cast in pleasant places," as he is surrounded by a host of friends, though most of those who were associated with him in the earlier days have now crossed over the "great divide." Mr. Hazard has made several trips to Cali- fornia, where he has found pleasant recreation and where he has also been able to visit with his brother, the late Rev. Augustus C. Hazard, who was for many years a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Hazard has maintained his home in the vil- lage of Centerville since 1870, but still retains the ownership of his fine farm in Nottawa township.
On the 2nd of April, 1851, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hazard to Miss Salina E. Jones and they became the parents of two children,-Alice, who is the wife of Herbert L. Day, who is engaged in farming near Battle Creek, Michigan; and Salina, who is the wife of William Ablett, who resides in Allegan county and who is a skilled carpenter and joiner. Mrs. Day, the elder of the two daughters, was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Centerville and those of Albion College, and for a number of years before her marriage she was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Calhoun county. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is also her sister, Mrs. Ablett. Mrs. Salina E. (Jones) Hazard was summoned to the life eternal on the 30th of August, 1857, and her remains are interred in the Center- ville cemetery. She was a devoted wife and mother and was a woman who was held in high esteem in the community. In 1857 Mr. Hazard contracted a second marriage, being then united to Miss Laura S. Auten. She passed to the life eternal in February,
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1894, having been a devout church worker and having been known for her many gracious attributes of character. Concerning the children of the second marriage the following brief data are given : Charles M., who is employed as an engineer on the Chicago & East- ern Illinois Railroad, has been connected with this company for the past fifteen years, and he maintains his home in Watseka, Illinois. He received a good practical education and for several years was a successful teacher in the schools of St. Joseph county. He mar- ried Miss Julia Smith and they have one son, William H. Eleanor S., the second child of the second marriage, is now the wife of George L. Peacock, who is identified with the coal, ice and wood business in the city of Detroit, with the Pitmans & Dean Company, one of the largest concerns engaged in this line of enterprise in the metropolis of the state. Mrs. Peacock is a vocalist of distinctive talent and has pursued her musical studies in a number of the lead- ing colleges in Europe. She has recently returned from a sojourn in Europe and has been tendered, in 1910, a position as a teacher in the Conservatory of Music, in the city of Ypsilanti, Michgan. Mr. and Mrs. Peacock have three children,-Marshall, Edward and Laura. Mr. and Mrs. Peacock are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1896 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hazard to Mrs. Harriet Adelaide Welch, the widow of Wesley Welch. She is the mother of two daughters by her first union,- Grace M., who is employed in the office of the probate court of St. Joseph county at Centerville and who likewise held a position in the office of the county treasury; and Gertrude E., who is the wife of Arthur Pashby, a resident of Chicago and an electrician by pro- fession. Mrs. Hazard is a most zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church in Centerville and is a teacher of the Ladies' Bible Class, besides which she is a prominent factor in connection with the work of the Ladies' Aid Society of the church.
J. H. WHITMER, a leading citizen and successful business man of Sturgis, Michigan, was born in Wells county, Indiana, April 25, 1843, son of Michael and Volumnia A. (Knox) Whitmer. Both parents were natives of Pennsylvania, where they were reared and married, and later emigrated to Indiana, where they located in Lancaster township, Wells county, in 1838. In the spring of 1865 they removed to St. Joseph county, Michigan, on a farm northeast of Sturgis; here Michael Whitmer still resides, at the age of ninety- six years.
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The boyhood days of J. H. Whitmer were spent in his native county, and he received his education in the district schools. He was still a boy at the breaking out of the Civil war, but enlisted in 1861 in Company H of the Forty-seventh Indiana Regiment, and spent three years and nine months in service; he participated in the siege and capture of Vicksburg and many other important bat- tles. Meanwhile, Mr. Whitmer's father had purchased a farm in St. Joseph county, Michigan, whither he also went, and bought a part interest in the farm; he and his father carried on the farm to- gether ten years and then J. H. Whitmer sold his interest and located in Sturgis. He purchased an interest in a small planing mill in Sturgis, in 1876, and has since been occupied with this en- terprise; as soon as he was able he bought out his partner, and has since continued the business on his own account. He has been very successful in a business way, and now has extensive lumber yards in connection with his planing mill. He is a highly respected citizen of the town and a man of undoubted business honesty and probity. He is a stockholder and vice president of the First National Bank of Sturgis, as well as a director of same; he owns four houses in Sturgis besides his own residence. Politically Mr. Whitmer is a. Republican, and he has served as supervisor of the Third ward and several times as alderman. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a trustee and he has served for the past twenty-four years as superintendent of the Sun- day School. He is a member of Meridian Sun Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M., and is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 73, and attends the national meetings of the organization. Mr. Whitmer is past commander of the post, and receives a soldier's pension. He started in life with very small capital, and by his industry and ambition has acquired a compe- tence.
Mr. Whitmer married Cornelia Thompson, a native of Sherman township, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and they have two children, Mabel, wife of Albert Eastman, of Sturgis, and Eva, who died in 1895.
CHARLES W. SCHELLHOUS, district deputy oil inspector, is a grandson of Lorensie and a son of Leonard E. Schellhous, all prominently connected with the development of St. Joseph county. The grandfather-as will be seen in the general history-lived for many years at Colon, where he died, and of his sons, Leonard E. passed away at Parkville and Loran W. is a citizen of Colon.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
Mr. Schellhous, of this sketch, succeeded his father, Leonard E., as proprietor of the woolen mill at Parkville and continued thus for twenty-five years. He lived in the house in which he was born at that place for fifty years, lacking a month, but for some time has resided in Three Rivers, engaged in the real estate busi- nsss and the inspection of essential oils, in connection with his present office. His district embraces three full counties and a part of Allegan county. Mr. Schellhous has also been active in local politics, having served as chairman of the Republican County Committee for three terms, or six years. He is married and has two sons, Ellis L. and Roy A. Schellhous.
LEVI B. BLASS, a successful business man of Sturgis, Michigan, was borne in Wayne county, New York, April 25, 1827, son of Jacob and Maryby (Newell) Blass. In 1832 Jacob Blass removed to Branch county, Michigan, locating near Batavia, where he en- tered a farm, and lived two years; he then located in La Grange county, Indiana, near Lima, now Howe. He lost his wife in 1838, and after he was eleven years old Levi B. Blass was reared by rela- tives. He worked on a farm, and being fond of horses began learn- ing the trade of blacksmith in 1851, at LaGrange, Indiana, where he served as apprentice four years.
In 1855 Mr. Blass removed to Sturgis, Michigan, and became machine forger for the Sturgis Foundry & Machine Company, where he worked fifty-four years. He walked to and from his work for all these years, a distance altogether of some thirty-three thou- sand miles, and during that time had as many as seventeen foremen over him; he saved enough meanwhile to buy him two houses and also a shop of his own in Sturgis. He has a good trade, and is a man of sterling business honesty and good character. He is well known in the city, and respected by all. Politically Mr. Blass is a Republican and has served the city as school commissioner. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, where he and his wife have belonged for fifty-six years; he has held all the official posi- tions in the church, and has been many years secretary and treas- urer. He is affiliated with Meridian Sun Lodge, No. 49, A. F. & A. M., of which he has been a member for forty-six years, and he has held many offices in the lodge.
January 1, 1851, Mr. Blass married Amorett Gurney, who was born October 2, 1829, and they became parents of seven children, of whom five survive, namely: Chester, a mechanic, foreman in a furniture factory in Chicago; Mary, wife of George Phelps, of
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
Chicago; George; Clary and Clayton, twins; Vondovia, a graduate of Evanston school, is deceased, and Inez is also deceased.
CHARLES ERBSMEHL, a citizen of Sturgis, Michigan, and con- nected with manufacturing interests in the city, is a successful and highly respected business man. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in May, 1854, and is a son of Ferdinand and Caro- line (Leupold) Erbsmehl; both parents were natives of Germany and came to the United States in their youth. They were married in this country and located in Philadelphia, where their family was reared. The early years of Charles Erbsmehl were spent in his native city, where he received his education in the public and pri- vate schools. He learned the trade of printer, at which he worked several years, and in 1878 came to St. Joseph county, Michigan, where he has since resided. He successfully conducted a German newspaper at Sturgis, from 1878 until 1886, the only one ever pub- lished in the county, or southern Michigan, which had a wide cir- culation and became well known throughout the state. He is well known in the city of Sturgis, where he has resided since 1878, except for four years spent in Centerville, while he served the county as clerk. Politically he is a stanch Republican and actively interested in public affairs; he was elected county clerk by a large majority, and served with efficiency in this office from 1889 until 1893.
Mr. Erbsmehl is a keen and enterprising business man, and is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Sturgis. He belongs to the Presbyterian church, and is affiliated with the Maccabees and Sturgis Prairie Lodge, No. 37, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past noble grand and has served twenty years as secretary. In 1876 Mr. Erbsmehl was married, in Philadelphia, and he and his wife became parents of three children, who are graduates of the Sturgis high schools.
JOHN S. FLANDERS is a native of Sturgis and at present holds the office of City Attorney and is manager of the city water, elec- tric light and power utility and of the municipal hydro-electric development of the St. Joseph river in Lockport township, in which $175,000 is being expended by the city for the purpose of supplying the city and its citizens with water and electric light and power for its extensive manufacturing industries.
The subject of this sketch was born February 10, 1861, the son of Jonathan W. and Elizabeth Flanders. Jonathan W. Flanders
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
was born at Colbrook, New Hampshire, April 18, 1822, the son of Francis and Elizabeth (Chandler) Flanders and grandson of Eze- kiel Flanders who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He moved with his parents to Ontario county, New York, where he received his early education and later graduated from the Canan- daigua Academy at Canandaigua, New York, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He engaged in the practice of law at Sturgis, Michigan, in 1856, and continued here until his death August 9, 1896. Mr. Flanders was one of the leading Democrats of the county and prominent in state politics. He was the nominee of his party for the office of Attorney-General, State Senator, Cir- cuit Judge and other positions of honor and filled many positions of honor and trust in his home city, for the upbuilding of which he devoted much of his time and means. Mrs. Flanders was a daugh- ter of Josiah Sutherland of Canandaigua, New York, where she united in marriage with Mr. Flanders in 1856. Her death occurred May 2, 1879, and Mr. Flanders died August 9, 1896.
The primary education of John S. Flanders was acquired in the schools of Sturgis and he graduated from the high school in 1878. In the same year he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which he graduated in 1882 with the degree of Bachelor of Law. With his father he established the Michigan Democrat in 1880, which has been the recognized organ of the De- mocracy of this county and section for thirty years. He became its editor and publisher in 1882, which work he continued, with the exception of six years, until 1908 when he sold the paper to Henry O. Eldridge.
In 1888, Mr. Flanders with his uncle, Dr. D. L. I. Flanders, organized the Diffusible Tonic Company, acting as secretary and treasurer, until the present time and looking after the business in- terests of the concern, which is engaged in the preparation and distribution of Dr. Flanders' Diffusible Tonic, a remedy for the relief of feverish colds, malaria and all fevers, for which ailments it has proved a specfic remedy and is extensivey used throughout the United States and in the tropics.
Politically Mr. Flanders is one of the prominent Democrats of St. Joseph county. He takes an active interest in public affairs and has given his support to many of the leading measures for the public welfare. His fellow citizens have honored him politic- ally, and he has served three consecutive terms as mayor of the city. He also served as postmaster of Sturgis from 1894 to 1898, has been a member of the school board, library board and board of
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public works. Mr. Flanders has also been twice the nominee of his party for the office of State Senator and for member of the State Constitutional Convention. He is well known in the county, where his life thus far has been spent and has a wide circle of personal friends. He is a member of Meridian Sun Lodge, No. 49, Free and Accepted Masons, and of Sturgis Chapter, No. 26, Royal Arch Ma- sons. His grandfather, Francis Flanders, organized Meridian Sun Lodge and was its first Master.
April 26, 1882, Mr. Flanders married Miss Henrietta Sturgis, of the well known family from which the city of Sturgis was named. She is a daughter of William Sturgis and granddaughter of Judge John Sturgis, who came to this locality in 1827 and became the first settler of Sturgis Prairie. Her father, William Sturgis, came with his parents in 1828 and spent many years of his active life in pio- neer work in the west, developing water powers and building and operating saw-mills in Iowa, Minnesota and Montana. He built the dam at Cedar Falls, Iowa, and organized the company that built the dam across the Mississippi at Little Falls, Minnesota, which was the foundation of that thriving city. He built the first saw mill in southwestern Montana and at one time was operating three saw mills in Beaverhead county. He furnished the lumber for the first placer mining at Butte, Montana, and for many other camps that became famous producers of gold and silver. He married Rosanna Steele at Iowa City, Iowa, and, after years of pioneer life, they spent the last years of their lives at their homestead on Sturgis Prairie.
Henrietta Sturgis was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, June 15, 1859. She resided with her parents five years in Montana and returned with them to Sturgis in 1871; attended the Sturgis school, graduating from the high school with the class of 1879. Mrs. Flanders is an active member of the Woman's Club and Sorosis, having been honored with the office of president in both and is a member of Olive Branch Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star. As president of the Woman's Club she started the movement and nego- tiations that resulted in the building of the Carnegie Free Public Library, which is one of the most attractive buildings of the city and contains a lecture room for the women's clubs.
Mr. and Mrs. Flanders have one son, Dr. Henry I., born June 7, 1883, a graduate of the Detroit College of Medicine, with the class of 1906; now located at Salt Lake City, Utah. He married Grace, daughter of W. H. McCord, of Greenwich, Connecticut, October 5, 1907.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
MRS. NELSON I. PACKARD has been a resident of Sturgis, Michi- gan, since 1855, when she came here with her parents, who settled on a farm and here spent the remainder of their lives. She was born in Schenectady county, New York, in August, 1838, daughter of Bracey Tobey. He became possessed of considerable wealth, and died in 1884, in Sturgis. She was reared in New York and at the age of seventeen years began teaching school. She was married one year after coming to Michigan, in October, 1856, to Dr. Nelson I., son of Dr. Ira Packard, a pioneer physiican of Sturgis, Michi- gan. In 1849 Nelson Packard graduated from the Medical School at Cleveland, Ohio, and during the same year his father went to California, leaving the practice to his son. Dr. Nelson I. Packard was born in New York, April 8, 1830, and was not of age when he began practising medicine in Sturgis, where he remained until his death in 1897. He had the entire confidence and esteem of all who knew him, and met with great success in his profession. During the Civil war he served as first assistant surgeon in the Eleventh Michigan Infantry.
Dr. Packard took a high place in his profession, and belonged to the county, state and national medical associations. He was rail- road physician for a number of years. He was a man of generosity and sympathy, having a kind heart and pleasant manner; he was always ready to give his influence freely to any cause for the public good, and was a public-spirited, useful citizen. He was a man of great nature and high attainments, who devoted his life to others and was never weary of doing good. Politically he was a Demo- crat, and fraternally was a member of the Masonic Order, having attained the degree of Knight Templar, and had served as eminent commander of the local lodge. He was twelve years president of the National Bank and six years president of the Citizens Bank, and was a good business manager. His fellow citizens delighted to show him honor, and he served four different times as president of the village board of Sturgis and for many years was connected with the village board. His loss was mourned by all, and his pres- ence was missed from many gatherings, both public and private.
Mrs. Packard is a lady of high character and refinement; she is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a liberal supporter of every good cause, connected with the church, as well as for any worthy object. She has many friends and her influence for good is widely appreciated.
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ORLANDO D. RUSSELL .- St. Joseph county numbers among her native sons Orlando D. Russell, and since 1888 Sturgis has claimed him among her citizens and business men. He was first engaged in the agricultural implement business in this city, continuing in that vocation until 1896, and he has since been engaged in the sale of farm produce. During the past eight years he has represented the Second ward on the board of supervisors and was a member of Sturgis city council two terms. Mr. Russell was born in Nottawa township on the 15th of March, 1840, to the marriage union of Joseph and Luncinda (Knox) Russell. The father was born in Defiance, Ohio, and came to St. Joseph county in 1833 or 1834 and he spent the remainder of his life here.
Orlando D. Russell was early inured to the work of the farm, for his early life was spent in the country, and he attended the country schools as well as those of Sturgis, and for two years he was a student in the Agricultural College at Lansing. In 1861 he offered his services to the Union cause in the struggle between the North and the South, becoming a member of Company G, First Michigan Infantry, and with his command he went to Washington. His first battle was that of Bull Run, and owing to illness he was brought back to Washington and was never afterward able to rejoin his regiment. He now draws a pension from the government and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the commander of his post at Sturgis. Some time after returning home from the war Mr. Russell located on a farm in Nottawa township, St. Joseph county, but afterward sold his farm there to come to Sturgis. He is a prominent local worker in the interests of the Republican party.
Mrs. Russell was before her marriage Miss Louisa Schoch, born at New Berlin in Union county, Pennsylvania, June 6, 1840, and their only son living is Dorian M. Russell, a graduate in phar- macy at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and now a sales- man representing the Parke Davis Company of Detroit, Michigan ; another son died in infancy. Mrs. Russell was a daughter of Sam- uel Schoch and wife. She was married January 28, 1864, to Orlando D. Russell and the young couple came direct to St. Joseph county and during the forty-six years of their married life their home has been here. Mrs. Russell's death on February 8, 1910, was not only a bereavement to her family but a loss to the com- munity. The following from an obituary in a local paper speaks for itself :
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"Mrs. Russell, during her long residence in this city, gathered around her a large circle of friends, who deeply regret that she was called from them at this time, but rejoice in the knowledge that they were permitted her acquaintanceship for so many years, for the deceased was something more than a loving wife and mother to those nearest her heart. She was a woman who lived and moved in a sphere of womanhood to which many aspire, but few enter within ; with cheerful disposition and high ideals the sordid cares of life were met and disposed of by a woman of firm mind and quick decision. Unlike many, she was not disposed to sit idly by and watch the setting of the sun in the evening of life, but rather preferring to live a useful life until the end, which she was permit- ted to do. From the life of this woman many inspiring and uplift- ing sermons might be written, for those who have known her long- est mourn deepest."
JACOB RUSTERHOLTZ, numbered among the agriculturists of Sturgis township, was born in Mckean township, Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of August, 1836, to Jacob and Catherine (Kaufman) Rusterholtz, natives respectively of Switzerland and of Wurtemberg, Germany. The father came to the United States in 1816, and at Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, he was sold for three years for his passage money. The mother came to this country under the same unfortunate conditions, and they were married in Lancaster county in 1824, and started on their married life very poor as regards this world's goods. They later drove with a team to Erie county, Pennsylvania, and there they lived and labored until death. They were farming people, and Jacob Rusterholtz cleared his land in Erie county, owning at first but fifty acres, but in time increased his landed possessions to two hundred acres.
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