USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 30
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Jacob Rusterholtz, the son, was reared on that Erie county farm, working there until twenty-one years of age, and he too started out in life for himself as a poor boy, working by the month as a farm hand for three years. Since then he has farmed for him- self, being at first able to purchase ninety acres. He married Louisa Weigel, also born in Mckean township of Erie county, Pennsylvania, and in 1875 they came to Michigan and settled on a farm in Fawn River township, St. Joseph county, where they spent eighteen months, and in 1877 bought and moved to their present estate of two hundred and eighty acres in Sturgis township. With the exception of the home, which had already been erected, Mr. Rusterholtz has made all the other improvements the farm contains,
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and it is now one of the best of the township. He is a Republican in his political affiliations.
The following four children, two sons and two daughters, have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rusterholtz : Clara J., James C., Garfield A., and Margaret L., who has been teaching for three years in Sher- man township. James C., the elder son, is a graduate of the Stur- gis High School and of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and he is now a druggist in Sturgis. Mrs. Rusterholtz, the wife and mother, has been called from this life, her death occurring Jan- uary 18, 1894.
DANIEL L. ARNEY is a farmer in Sturgis township, owning a splendid estate there of one hundred and ten acres, where he is quite extensively engaged in the raising of hogs and was in former years in the dairy business. He has spent his entire life in St. Joseph county, and was born in its township of Fabius on the 21st of September, 1844, a son of William and Mary (Lewis) Arney. His paternal grandfather took up government land in St. Joseph county in an early day and lived here during the remainder of his life, and his son William, although born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, was reared on the land here and subsequently married and lived in Fabius township. The last years of his life, however, were spent in Three Rivers, Michigan, and his widow is yet living there, she having attained the age of eighty nine years. They became the par- ents of ten children, but only five are living at the present time.
Daniel L. Arney worked on his father's farm until the age of twenty-two years, attending school in the meantime until twenty- one, and this included a course at the college in Ontario, Indiana. He thus obtained a sufficient knowledge to enable him to teach, and he remained in the profession for twelve years in St. Joseph county, teaching mostly in Sherman and Sturgis townships. He married in 1873 Emily Hibbard, who was born and reared in Sturgis town- ship, and of their three children only the son is now living, the two daughters, Ruth and Grace, being both deceased. The son, William Arney, born on the 15th of May, 1877, is a graduate of the Sturgis High School and for two years was a student at Lansing, Michigan. He married Ola Sharp, from Centerville, and has two children, Ruth and William. He is a Sherman township farmer. Daniel L. Arney and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has served his church as a member of its official board. He exercises his right in support of Republican principles, and has served Sherman township as superintendent of schools.
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GEORGE KLINE .- Although born in Wayne county, New York, George Kline was but two years old when brought to St. Joseph county, Michigan, by his parents, and he has since been identified with its interests and has long been one of its land owners and business men. He was born in 1857 to Andrew and Mary (Engle) Kline, who located in St. Joseph county in the year of 1859, becom- ing farmers of Florence township. They afterward moved to Burr Oak township, where the son George was reared, and the latter now owns a valuable farm there. For some time he was in charge of the elevators in Findley, and during two years of the time his wife was the postmistress of the town. In 1907 Mr. Kline was appointed keeper of the county home, his wife being its matron, and the mem- bers of the board of the county home include Elias Zable, of Sher- man; Dr. M. Sabin; and Samuel Jordon, of Three Rivers. Mr. Kline is well adapted for the many public positions to which he has been appointed, and he is an active local worker in the ranks of the Democratic party.
He married in 1885 Mattie Mowery, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, in 1860, a daughter of James W. Mowery, a farmer, and their two children are Harvey, born in 1887, and Leo, born in 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Kline are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Burr Oak, of which he is a member of the board of trus- tees and Mrs. Kline is the president of its Ladies' Aid Society. They are well known residents of their community and active in the various walks of life.
WILLIAM E. McKEE has long been associated with the public life of St. Joseph county, whither he came with his parents in 1865. During seventeen years he was a member of the board of super- visors of Fawn River township, and he was the chairman of the board during the building of the court house at Centerville, so that he has the honor of having his name incribed on that building. He also serves as the superintendent of the township schools during a long period, and he is an active and influential worker in the ranks of the Democratic party. His splendid estate in Fawn River town- ship contains one hundred and twenty acres of valuable land.
Mr. McKee traces his ancestry on the paternal side to the time of the Revolutioniary war, his great-grandfather serving with Washington in that struggle and was with him at Valley Forge. The grandfather was Captain James McKee, a valiant soldier of the War of 1812. William S. and Nancy (Ellis) McKee, the parents of William E. of this review, were from Columbia county Pennsyl-
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vania, the birthplace of the son on the 9th of November, 1844. They were also married in Columbia county, and came from there in 1865 to LaGrange county, Indiana. The son William was reared on the home farm in Pennsylvania, and when old enough assisted in its work and attended the neighborhood schools, later teaching during one term in Indiana. And he was married while in that state to Rose H. Fobes, who was born in its county of LaGrange, and their five children are : Nellie E .; Mary E., wife of Mark Bord- ner; Rose, wife of Claude Van Vorst, of St. Joseph county, Michi- gan; Edward F., who is married and living in Iowa; and Bessie B., the wife of Frank Spaide, of Idaho. Mr. McKee is a member and a past noble grand of Sturgis Prairie Lodge, No. 37, I. O. O. F.
PAULINA ADAMS .- Fawn River township numbers among its representative citizens the Adams family, who have been identified with its interests for many years, and Henry Adams, the eldest son in the family of Paulina Adams, is the present township treas- urer. Mrs. Adams was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, May 24, 1852, and she was but two years of age when brought to this coun- try by her father, Henry Spongberg. Her mother had died during her early infancy, and her father was afterward again married. He lived for some time in Canada after coming to America.
The daughter Paulina came to Michigan at the age of eighteen years, and on the 11th of April, 1873, she was married to Fred Adams, who was also born in Mecklenburg, Germany. They be- came the parents of five children, namely: Henry, Emma, Lena, Lizzie and Sarah. Henry Adams is a young man of splendid busi- ness ability, progressive and enterprising, and he has gained the confidence of the citizens of Fawn River township and is now serv- ing his second term in its office of treasurer. He resides with his mother, and the family is an honored one in the township. Mrs. Adams is a member of the German Lutheran church at Sturgis.
BENJAMIN F. BORDNER .- St. Joseph county numbers among her upright, substantial and prosperous citizens and business men Benjamin F. Bordner, one of the property owners and farmers of Fawn River township. Mr. Bordner was born in Williamsville, New York, August 2, 1841, a son of Jacob Bordner. His parents both died when he was three years old, and he afterward lived with his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Wolf, until he attained the age of twelve, when he found a home with an older brother, George Bord- ner. In the meantime he had attended school. During the prog- Vol. II-19
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ress of the Civil war he enlisted in Company D, Eleventh Michigan Infantry, and during his army service of three years he took part in the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga and in the Atlanta campaign. He now draws a pension in compensation for his mili- tary services. Returning to Burr Oak, where a brother was living, Mr. Bordner began learning the cooper's trade, and from Burr Oak he went to Three Rivers, where he worked at his trade for some time, and then returning to Burr Oak was in the grocery business there a short time. At the close of this period Mr. Bord- ner moved to a farm of forty acres which he had bought, and from there in 1874, he came to his present homestead in Fawn River township, a splendidly improved estate of two hundred acres. In politics he upholds the principles of the Republican party, and is an active local worker in its cause.
In February, 1866, was celebrated the marriage of Benjamin F. Bordner and Mary Dunlap. She was born in Branch county, Michigan, in October, 1842, a daughter of John Dunlap, who was a Pennsylvanian by birth. Three sons have blessed this marriage union : Ralph, born November 14, 1870, a graduate of the business school at Kalamazoo and now an agriculturist; Guy, born May 4, 1876, also a graduate of the Kalamazoo Business College, and the present cashier of the National Bank of Burr Oak; and Mark, born July 19, 1879, a carpenter in Burr Oak. Mr. Bordner of late years has been greatly afflicted with deafness, and for that reason de- mitted from the Masonic lodge. As a citizen he commands the respect of all who know him, and as a business man he has long been a leading factor in his community.
FRANK L. SWIHART is one of Fawn River township's best known agriculturists and business men. He owns one hundred and seventy-seven acres of its richest and best improved land, and is prominently known both as an agriculturist and as a sheep feeder and shipper.
Mr. Swihart was born in La Grange county, Indiana, Janu- ary 10, 1870, a son of Benjamin F. and Savilla (Lilly) Swihart, and a grandson on the paternal side of Jonathan Swihart. Frank L. was the eldest of the three children born to Benjamin F. and Savilla Swihart, and his brother, Harry C. Swihart, is engaged in farming in Canada, and his sister, Mary G., is the wife of George Watson. Frank L. Swihart was reared as a farmer boy, attending first the district schools, then the Burr Oak High School and from 1889 to 1890 was a student in the Northern Indiana University at
THE MAPLES RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. ANDREW N. VIEMAN
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Valparaiso. He was thus well fitted to begin the active duties of a business life. February 8, 1892, he was married to Marinda W. Cummins, who was born in Branch county, Michigan, February 6, 1873, and a son and a daughter have been born to them, but the only son, Clair B., born on the 5th of April, 1898, died in April, 1902. The daughter, Helen C., born September 9, 1894, is a mem- ber of the Burr Oak High School, class of 1911. Mr. Swihart has membership relations with the Grange at Burr Oak, and in politics he affiliates with the Republican party. He is a practical, pro- gressive and influential farmer, using the latest and best improved methods of agriculture, and he is one of the township's most highly esteemed citizens. The pretty country seat of Mr. and Mrs. Swi- hart is known in Fawn River Township as "Maple Street Farm" and is a credit to the township.
ANDREW N. VIEMAN is one of the most prominent of the farmers of White Pigeon township, and his entire life has been spent in this township. He was born here on the 21st of August, 1858, a son of William Vieman, from the fatherland of Germany, born there in November of 1823. William Vieman came to this country when a young man, a stone mason by trade, and he was married in New York to Margaret Callahart, born in the year of 1839. In December of 1858 they came to White Pigeon, Michigan, Mr. Vieman then turning his attention to farming, and both he and his wife are yet living on their homestead in White Pigeon township, honored early residents of the community. Five sons and five daughters blessed their marriage, as follows: Andrew N., Maggie, Tresa, Johanna, Emma, Ellen, William, Fred, Michael and George.
Andrew N. Vieman attained to mature years on his father's farm in White Pigeon township, attending meanwhile until his fourteenth year, the Crooked Creek school, and finishing at the Barnes school. He left the parental home at the age of twenty- three, married, and began farming for himself. He now owns eighty acres of land in section 36, a well kept and well improved farm on the north bank of Klinger Lake. This is a valuable estate, and it represents years of honorable effort and determined purpose, for he started out in life for himself a poor man. In politics he votes with the Democracy, and he has held several of the township offices.
June 9, 1881, Mr. Vieman married Matilda Rhoades, born March 3, 1863, and reared in White Pigeon township, and a son,
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Lyman W. Vieman, was born to them on April 5, 1882. He at- tended the same district school which gave to his father his early educational training. The family are representative citizens of White Pigeon township. The beautiful country home of Mr. and Mrs. Vieman is known as "The Maples."
SIMON W. NIDY was born in Portage county, Ohio, but he was only about nine years of age when he come to Michigan, and he has since resided within its borders, and has for a number of years past been one of the well known farmers and stock raisers of Fawn River township in St. Joseph county. He was born on the 29th of March, 1857, to Adam and Nancy (Snider) Nidy, the father born on the 28th of April, 1825, and the mother on the 27th of February, 1826. They came to Michigan in 1872, and locating in Kalamazoo they spent the remainder of their lives in that city, both dying in the year of 1892, the father on the 9th of October and the mother on the 4th of December. They had become the parents of eight chil- dren, four sons and four daughters.
Simon Nidy began farm work in his early life, receiving in the meantime a district school training, and after coming to St. Joseph county he was married to Mary Moe, a daughter of Albert Moe. She was born on the farm where she now lives on May 26, 1857. A daughter, Emma, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Nidy on the 15th of June, 1883, and she was married to Lloyd E. Coler on the 17th of March, 1909. She attended both the common schools and the Stur- gis High School and was a teacher of drawing for one year before her marriage. She is not only proficient in her art of drawing but is also a splendid musician, a violinist of well known ability. Mr. Nidy is a Democratic voter but not an active politician, but he is one of the substantial and enterprising agriculturists of Fawn River township. He is a Unitarian in religious views.
ALFRED D. MILLER .- One of the finest farming estates in Fawn River township is the property of Afred D. Miller, who is one of the township's native sons and a representative of old and well known families of St. Joseph county. He was born on the 15th of October, 1857, a son of Adam and Nancy (Van Ausdal) Miller, born respectfully in Ohio and in Pennsylvania, but they came to St. Joseph county, Michigan, in their early lives and were married and spent the residue of their days in Fawn River township. They be- came the parents of nine children, and seven of the number are living at this writing (1910).
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Alfred D. Miller was early inured to the work of the farm, working in the fields during the summer months and attending the district schools during the winters, and thus he passed the early years of his life until he attained the age of eighteen, after which he gave his entire attention to the farm. He continued with his father until his marriage, and with his bride he then located on a little farm in Fawn River township, which continued as their home until moving to their present farm in the spring of 1894. The es- tate is located in sections 12, 13 and 14, and contains two hundred and fifteen acres of the richest and best improved land of the town- ship, constituting one of the most valuable estates in Fawn River. The place is devoted to general farming and stock raising, and Mr. Miller devotes his time to looking after the estate, having relegated its actual work to others. He is a Democratic voter and one of the influential citizens of his community.
On the 17th of September, 1882, Mr. Miller was married to Olive Deal, who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, October 13, 1858, but accompanied her parents to Fawn River townhsip in St. Joseph county, Michigan, in her youth. A daughter, Zada, was born to them on the 11th of June, 1891, and she was educated in the common schools and in the Burr Oak High School, and has also received a good musical training. Mrs. Miller is a member of the United Brethren church at Fawn River.
CHRISTIAN ZABEL is numbered among Sherman township's substantial citizens. He has resided within its borders during the greater part of his life, and he is well known to its residents and has proved a citizen of worth in its public life. He is one of its justices of the peace, and in October of 1907 was elected the super- intendent of the poor for a term of three years, being the present incumbent of the office. He owns an estate of one hundred and sixty-eight acres in sections 9 and 16, Sherman township, but owing to his skill as a carpenter the work of the farm has been carried on by his sons, although during the last two years he has devoted his attention entirely to his estate.
Mr. Zabel is a native son of the Fatherland of Germany, born September 27, 1845, to Joseph and Carrie (Drager) Zabel. The wife and mother died during the early boyhood of her son, Chris- tian, and Joseph Zabel subsequently married Frederica Tedaman, who reared his children, and the family in 1857 came to the United States and settled in Genesee county, New York. After three years there they came to Sherman township, St. Joseph county, Michi-
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gan, arriving here in the spring of 1860, and Joseph Zabel spent the residue of his life here and died in 1875. He was a member of the Lutheran church. The three sons which were born of his first marriage are John, Fred and Christian, and there were also two children by his second marriage: Mary, the wife of Charles Balk, and William, deceased.
Christian Zabel was a lad of eleven years at the time of the emigration of the family to the United States, and in New York he continued the education begun in the Fatherland, continuing his studies until about sixteen years of age. He then spent two years at work on a farm, receiving but small wages in compensation for his services, and from the close of that period until 1864 he was an employe of the Lake Shore Railroad Company. Then going south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, he was in the employ of the govern- ment there until returning to Sherman, Michigan, in 1865, where he resumed work and later bought forty acres of land in Sherman township and continued its cultivation until 1870. He then began work at the carpenter's trade and continued along that line for forty years or more, at the same time giving more or less attention to his farm. He is one of Sherman township's oldest and best known residents, and is prominent in local Democratic circles.
On the 23d of December, 1873, Mr. Zabel was united in mar- riage with Lena Brast, who was born in Germany, July 6, 1856. She came to the United States in 1857, and her home thereafter was in the state of New York until she came with her family in 1865 to Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Zabel have become the parents of nine children, namely : Lillie, born October 15, 1874; Fred, born May 7, 1878; Leda, born June 27, 1880, deceased; Carrie, born April 28, 1883; Louis, April 14, 1885; Freda, March 9, 1887; Christ, December 23, 1888; Walter, April 7, 1891; and Frances, December 5, 1893. The children have all received good educational advantages. Mr. Zabel and his family are members of the German Lutheran church.
CLINTON J. WOLFINGER was born on the farm where he now lives in Sherman township, and he represents a family which has long been identified with St. Joseph county and its interests. His parents, Solomon and Leah (Smith) Wolfinger, were both from Pennsylvania, the mother from Bucks county, and they came to St. Joseph county, Michigan, before their marriage, in 1857. Their union, which occurred in this county, was blessed by the birth of eight children, and the following five are living at this writing :
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Clinton J .; John A., in Colon, Michigan ; Margaret, the wife of C. H. Bemenderfer; Judson C., whose home is in Canton, Ohio, a trav- eling salesman ; and Gertrude, the wife of A. A. Timm, of the state of Idaho.
Clinton J. Wolfinger, born on the 20th of September, 1860, has spent his entire life on the farm where he now lives, and it repre- sents the scenes of his boyhood and youth, of his first business ven- ture and his subsequent success as an agriculturist and business man. It contains one hundred and forty acres of rich and fertile land, all lying within Sherman township with the exception of twenty acres in Nottawa township, and it is a valuable and well improved estate. Mr. Wolfinger is a member of the directorate of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company in St. Joseph, and he is a Democratic voter. On the 2d of June, 1897, he married Dora Leyda, born in Carroll county, Ohio, and their union has been with- out issue.
CHRISTOPHER Foss .- One of the highly esteemed citizens of Sherman township is Chritsopher Foss, whose life history furnishes a splendid example of what may be accomplished through deter- mined purpose and well directed efforts. He started out in life a poor boy, and has steadily worked his way upward, gaining at the same time success and the public esteem. He was born in Prussia, Germany, December 6, 1848, and his parents dying when he was but a year old he was adopted by John Foss and his wife and by them was brought to the United States in 1849. Their home after- ward was in New York until coming to St. Joseph county, Michi- gan, in 1852, and young Foss remained with his adopted parents until his marriage, working on the home farm and obtaining his education in the district schools. He now owns an estate of one hundred and twenty acres of well improved land in section 8, Sherman township, and this goodly estate represents many years of hard and persistent labor and years of purposes well directed.
Mr. Foss married on the 7th of November, 1868, Ida Mecklen- berg, also from Prussia, Germany, born on the 10th of November, 1852, and who came with her parents in her early life to the United States and to Sherman township, St. Joseph county, Michigan ; she attended its district schools and grew to maturity here. The fol- lowing children have graced their marriage union, namely: Ma- tilda, born June 9, 1870, the wife of Andrew Jessy and a resident of Sturgis, Michigan; Lewis, born November 29, 1872, living in Chicago; Anna, born February 9, 1874, is the wife of Fred Ded-
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rick, of Sherman township; Caroline, born February 24, 1880, is the wife of Henry Kruger and lives near Centerville, this state; Alta, born March 11, 1888, is the wife of Hugh Holtz; and George, born March 17, 1891, is at home with his parents. Mr. Foss is one of Sherman township's Democratic voters, and he and his family are members of the Lutheran church.
FREDERICK J. KRUGER .- St. Joseph county numbers among her early settlers the Kruger family, and its representatives have been substantial citizens, taking an active and helpful part in the prog- ress and welfare of the community. Frederick J. Kruger was born in Sherman township April 5, 1866, a son of Henry and Sophia (Hardwick) Kruger, both of whom came from their native land of Germany to the United States when young, and their marriage was celebrated in St. Joseph county, whither they had come from the state of New York in 1862 and the father spent the residue of his life here. Mrs. Kruger survives her first husband, and has been a second time married. Five sons were born of the first union, namely : George, F. J., Edward, William and Henry, all living in Sherman township with the exception of Henry, whose home is in Nottawa township.
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