USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 7
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Born in Newcastle county, Delaware, Samuel Houston inher- ited the patriotic spirit of his ancestors, and served bravely in the War of 1812. In 1817 he emigrated with his family to Ohio, making the long journey of five hundred or more miles with a team, a large part of the way following a path marked by blazed trees. Following his trade of a millwright, he built and operated one of the first mills in Richland county, carrying on an extensive business, his customers coming from miles away, some on foot, some on horseback, and some with oxen. He married Isabella Hamilton, who was born, March 5, 1805, in Virginia, being descended from the same family that Alexander Hamilton was. Seven children were born to John and Sarah (Houston) Shafer, namely : Mary; Samuel; Sarah, who married Clark Rice; Adam; John ; Freeman ; and Clinton.
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Mr. and Mrs. Rice are the parents of two children, namely : Fred and Bertha. Fred married Ethel Catell, and is a resident of Chicago, Illinois. Bertha is a teacher in the public schools in St. Joseph county. Religiously Mr. Rice and his family are Presby- terians. Politically Mr. Rice has been identified with the Dem- ocratic party since casting his first presidential vote, in 1872, for Horace Greeley. He has ever taken an active and prominent part in local affairs, and in addition to serving six years as township treasurer has repeatedly been elected township supervisor. He is a member of Masonic Order.
ALBERT C. SHIMMEL is a native of St. Joseph county, born in Lockport, January 13, 1858. He is a son of David and Mary (Duncan) Shimmel, the former a native of Jefferson county, New York, born September 23, 1820; he spent his life as a farmer, and came to Michigan in 1844, locating in Nottawa township, where his son now lives. Albert Shimmel's grandfather, John Richard, was born in 1792, in New York state, a descendant of "Mohawk Dutch." The name Shimmel in the Dutch was spelled Schimmel- fenning. John Richard Shimmel married Susan Augsbury, and came to Lockport township in 1845, where they spent the re- mainder of their lives. He died about 1870 and his wife May 23, 1866. To this union were born: David, a farmer; Levi, born in 1822, a carpenter; Solomon, a farmer; Frank, a farmer of Man- istee county, Michigan; Elias, died in the army; Susan, wife of Noah Everetts, deceased; Rachel, deceased, married Harrison Vin- cent; Sabra, married William Bigelow; Ann, deceased, married Dr. Caleb Ward, of Topeka, Kansas.
In 1850 David Shimmel married Mary Duncan, and their chil- dren were: Fannie, died in infancy; Alicia, died at the age of eighteen; Rachel, unmarried; Albert C .; Ella, wife of Joseph I. Tase, of Athens ; Frank, died at the age of eight years ; and Jennie, unmarried, living in St. Joseph county.
Albert C. Shimmel was educated in his native county, and has always lived on a farm. At the age of nineteen years he began farming with his father, and nine years later commenced farming on his own account. He is an intelligent and enterprising farmer, and has met with well-deserved success. Politically Mr. Shimmel is a Republican.
June 12, 1890, Mr. Shimmel married Sarah Hetherington, a native of Florence township, and they have children as follows: Alta, who graduated at the head of her class from Centerville high
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school, and will attend college; Earl, born June 12, 1895, attending school; Ethel, born August 6, 1896; Mabel, born in 1898, gives promise of becoming a fine singer ; and Lester, born in September, 1900. The entire family have musical talent and good voices, ex- cept Mrs. Shimmel. The pretty farmstead is known as "Cherry Grove Farm."
REV. JOHN ALLEN GALLAHER .- It is most fitting that, in this history of St. Joseph county and its representative citizens, there be incorporated a brief review of the career of the able and honored pastor of the Presbyterian church in the city of Three Rivers. He is a man of scholarly attainments and in the work of his high call- ing he has manifested all of consecrated zeal, the while he has not been denied a gracious fruitage in the furtherance of the spiritual and temporal affairs of the various charges which he has held and in which he has labored earnestly to aid and uplift his fellow men in all walks of life.
Rev. John Allen Gallaher was born in Ralls county, Missouri, on the 24th of November, 1863, and was the second in order of birth of three sons and three daughters of Rev. Thomas and Sarah (Phil- lips) Gallaher. Of the children two sons and two daughters are now living. Of these Rev. Thomas F. Gallaher is now pastor of the Utica Presbyterian church, in the city of San Antonio, Texas. Rev. Thomas Gallaher was born in Greene county, Tennessee, April 26, 1832, and he became one of the able and revered members of the clergy of the Presbyterian church, besides which he became a valued factor in connection with educational work, having held for eight years a position as instructor in the public schools of Hannibal, Missouri. He was ordained to the ministry in 1868 and was known as a most able and scholarly speaker, with special facil- ity in the giving of extemporaneous sermons and addresses. He was the author of a valuable book entitled "Baptism," "Galla- her's Short Method," and the same received high commendation by reason of its sound principles and effective handling of an im- portant subject. Mr. Gallaher was educated in Westminster Col- lege, at Fulton, Missouri, and in later years he received the honor- ary degree of Doctor of Divinity, in recognition of his scholarly attainments and his ability and noble services as a minister of the gospel. He died, at Rensselaer, Missouri, on October 9, 1909, and his widow now resides with her son in Three Rivers. Her paternal grandfather was a valiant soldier in the Continental line in the war of the Revolution.
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Rev. John A. Gallaher, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to adult age in his native state, to whose public schools he is indebted for his early educational privileges. After complet- ing the curriculum of the high school at LaGrange, Missouri, he entered the preparatory department of his father's alma mater, Westminster College, in September, 1881, and in this institution he completed the full collegiate course, being graduated June 4, 1886, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered the McCormick Theological Seminary, in the city of Chicago, where he completed the prescribed curriculum and was graduated April 4, 1889. He was ordained to the ministry of the Presbyterian church at Henrietta, Texas, May 8, 1889, and at once assumed his first pas- toral charge, at Gainesville, Texas, where he remained until July, 1891, when after a vacation of a few months he assumed the pas- torate of the Clifton Heights Presbyterian church in the city of St. Louis, Missouri. This incumbency he retained until November, 1898, when he assumed charge of the Presbyterian church of Belle- ville, Illinois, where he remained until November, 1903, after which he was for four years pastor of the Avondale Presbyterian church in the city of Chicago. He then, in April, 1908, accepted the call to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church in Three Rivers, where he has since given a most able administration of the temporal interests of the church, in addition to vitalizing its spiritual activi- ties. His fine scholarship, his profound knowledge of the scrip- tures and his fervid and earnest efforts in furthering the onward march of the church militant, make him a power for good in his present pastorate, where he receives the earnest co-operation of the members of his church. His wife, Mrs. Ada Watson Gallaher, is an efficient helper in every phase of church and social life and makes an ideal home for husband and four children, Raymond, Madelon, Lois and Snellen.
Mr. Gallaher has marked musical talent and appreciation, and it should be noted that he was graduated in the musical conserva- tory of the Presbyterian Synodical College at Fulton, Missouri. During two years of his residence in Chicago, from 1906 to 1908, he was special lecturer on church music and hymnology in McCor- mick Theological Seminary,-a position for which he was specially qualified, by reason of his studies in music. Progressive and lib- eral as a citizen, Mr. Gallaher does all in his power to further good government and civic prosperity, and his political allegiance is given to the Republican party.
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AMOS C. WOLF .- One of the honored pioneer citizens of St. Joseph county, with whose history the family name has been closely identified for a period of more than three-fourths of a cen- tury, Amos C. Wolf is on this score alone well entitled to consider- ation in this publication. But in his individuality and personal accomplishment are found other sterling elements that render the more consonant such recognition. He has long been numbered among the able and successful representatives of the great basic industry of agriculture in this favored section of the state and has been a resident of St. Joseph county since his boyhood days. He has assisted in the development and upbuilding of the county, which was scarcely more than a forest wilderness at the time when his parents took up their abode within its borders. He is now one of the venerable citizens of the county and still resides on the fine old homestead farm, in Section 27, Lockport township, that was secured by his father upon coming to the county, in 1834. He has shown progressive spirit in more than one direction, however, and for a long period he was an active and influential factor in public affairs, in the county, besides which he has been largely concerned in banking enterprises and other fields of legitimate business. He is now conceded to be the oldest settler in the county, and none is held in more unqualified confidence and esteem.
Amos C. Wolf claims the old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativity and the genealogy of the family is traced back to stanch German origin. He was born in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of November, 1829, and is a son of John and Barbara (Dresher) Wolf, both of whom were likewise natives of Pennsylvania, where they were reared to maturity and where their marriage was solemnized. In 1834, when the subject of this review was a child of four years, his parents came to St. Joseph county, Michigan, and took up their residence in Lockport town- ship. His father secured three hundred and twenty acres of gov- ernment land in section 27, that township, and later became the owner of two other tracts, of eighty acres each, farther north in the same township. The land was to a large extent covered with heavy timber, and thus a gigantic task faced the hardy pioneers upon thus establishing a new home. The first residence of the family was a primitive frame house of the type common to the locality, built by the father. John Wolf was a miller by trade, and as such he found requisition for his services in a number of the early mills established in this section of the state. Under these conditions much of the work of reclaiming the land devolved upon Vol. II-5
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his sturdy sons. John Wolf died at the age of fifty-six years, and his wife was seventy-seven years of age at the time of her death. They became the parents of ten children, of whom Amos C. was the eighth in order of birth, and of the number all but one attained to years of maturity. Of the two now living Amos C. is the elder, and his brother, Thomas B. is a resident of Florence, Wisconsin. The parents were persons of great industry and of stanch integ- rity of character. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and reared their children to lives of righteousness and Christian faith.
Amos C. Wolf was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and received such educational advantages as were afforded in the pioneer log school house. He early began to assist in the reclamation and other work of the farm and during the long in- tervening years he has continued to reside on the homestead to which he came with his parents when he was but four years of age, as has already been stated. Few men of his venerable age in southern Michigan can equal this record and it is certain that no parallel case can be found in St. Joseph county. After his mar- riage Mr. Wolf continued his association with the work of the home place and in 1869 he erected thereon his present commodious frame house, upon which various improvements have since been made, so that it is modern in its equipment and arrangement and constitutes one of the attractive rural homes of the county. Con- secutive industry and progressive methods, coupled with mature judgment and marked discrimination, have enabled Mr. Wolf to gain a substantial competency during his long years of earnest toil and endeavor, and in retrospective view he finds little to re- gret in having thus continued to make St. Joseph county the scene of his productive activities.
In 1881 Mr. Wolf became associated in the organization of the A. C. Wolf and Brothers' Bank at Centerville, the county seat of St. Joseph county. In 1890 he became one of the organizers of the First State Savings Bank of Three Rivers, of which he is now the president and of which his only son, George T., elsewhere men- tioned in this volume, is cashier. This is one of the solid and popular financial institutions of the county, and the high reputa- tion of the venerable president has materially contributed to the pronounced success of the enterprise.
In politics Mr. Wolf is a Democrat and he has always been identified with the party save during the existence of the Green- back party, when he gave his allegiance to the latter. As the can-
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didate on the ticket of the Greenback party he was elected county treasurer in 1879, and of this office he was incumbent for two years, during which he gave a careful, conservative and satisfactory ad- ministration of the fiscal affairs of the county. He also served for several years in the office of highway commissioner. Mr. Wolf has ever held a secure place in the confidence and esteem of the people of St. Joseph county and is today one of its best known and most highly honored pioneers. He has witnessed the magnificent development and upbuilding of this favored section of the Wol- verine state, has contributed much to the civic and industrial prog- ress of his home county, and his reminiscences of the early days are graphic and interesting, being well worthy of preservation in the history of the county. His homestead farm, in Lockport town- ship, now comprises three hundred and twenty acres, and con- stitutes one of the best improved and most valuable landed estates in this section of Michigan. He is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity and his wife holds membership in the Presbyterian church.
On the 5th of Oct., 1853, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wolf to Miss Marietta Sickels, who was born in Yates county, New York, on the 28th of February, 1831, and who is a daughter of Garrett Sickels, who came with his family to St. Joseph county, and settled in Lockport township, then Buck's township, in 1831, so that Mrs. Wolf, like her husband, has passed practically her entire life in this county, where she is held in affectionate regard by all who have come within the sphere of her gracious influence. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf became the parents of one child, George T., of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work. As the gracious shadows of their lives begin to lengthen from the golden west, Mr. and Mrs. Wolf find that their "lines are cast in pleasant places," and, surrounded by a wide circle of devoted and tried friends, they are enjoying the kindly benefices that should ever attend worthy old age.
WILLIAM H. MORRISON .- A well-known, capable and success- ful agriculturist of St. Joseph county, William H. Morrison, of Fabius, owns and occupies a valuable farming estate, on which the greater part of his life has been spent. A man in the prime of life, active and energetic, he has contributed his full share toward the advancement and development of one of the best counties in Michigan, in the meantime proving himself an honest, trustworthy citizen. He was born, August 22, 1863, in Mottville, this county, a son of Andrew J. Morrison, and grandson of William Morrison, an
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early pioneer of Michigan. His great-grandfather, Andrew Mor- rison, was born, October 20, 1778, and at the age of twenty-one years, in 1799, married Sarah Vandercook, a daughter of Henry and Anna (Francisco) Vandercook, early settlers of New York state, born of Holland ancestry.
William Morrison was born in 1801, in New York state, with- out doubt, and was there reared and married. In 1833, accompan- ied by his family, he followed the march of civilization westward to Michigan, making the long journey with teams, and bringing all of his household goods with him, bravely daring all the hardships and privations incidental to life in an undeveloped country in order to establish a home where his children and their descendants might enjoy the comforts and even the luxuries of life without the grind- ing labor and toil in which his years were spent. He lived for two years in Wayne county, from there coming, in 1835, to Fabius, where he secured a tract of timbered land near the south line of the township. He subsequently devoted his time and attention to the clearing of a homestead, on which he resided until his death. His first wife, Permelia Pine, to whom he was married in 1820, died at a comparatively early age, leaving three children, Peter, Arlina, and Andrew J.
Andrew J. Morrison was born in Schenectady, New York, De- cember 6, 1828, and was a small child when he came with the fam- ily to Michigan. Growing up amid pioneer scenes, he early became acquainted with the hard labor required in improving a farm from the forest, remaining beneath the parental roof-tree until his mar- riage. He then bought land in Mendon, St. Joseph county, and after living there two years moved to Mottville, where he remained a year. Locating then in Fabius, he purchased a tract of land in the southern part of the township, and a few years later bought the northeast quarter of section twenty-four, in the same township, and with indomitable energy began the improvement of a home- stead. He enlarged the few buildings then standing on the place, put up others, and having placed a goodly part of the land under cultivation resided there until his death, in September, 1907.
Andrew J. Morrison married, in 1856, Sarah Hamilton, who was born December 1, 1836, on Broad street, Constantine, St. Jo- seph county, Michigan. Her father, Hon. John Hamilton, was born and bred in New York state, but subsequently became one of the pioneer settlers of St. Joseph county. Locating near Constantine, he cleared and improved a homestead from the dense forest, and there resided until his death, at the venerable age of four score and
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four years. One of the leading Democrats of the county, he was prominent in public affairs, at one time representing his district in the state legislature. He married Nancy Poe, who was born in New York state, and died, at the age of sixty-seven years, in Michigan. Mrs. Andrew J. Morrison died March 10, 1902. To her and her husband six children were born, as follows: Ida, who died at the age of seventeen years; Elizabeth; William H .; Ellen; Rhoda; and John.
Brought up and educated in Fabius township, William H. Morrison assisted his father in his work of reclaiming a farm for present use, and on the death of his parents succeeded to the own- ership of part of the homestead. His land is well improved, being under a high state of culture, and yielding profitable harvests. In the care and management of his estate, Mr. Morrison exercises superior judgment and skill, everything about the premises indi- cating the supervision of a systematic, enterprising farmer.
On October 22, 1887, Mr. Morrison married Lettie Hartman, who was born in Centerville, Snyder county, Pennsylvania, which was likewise the birthplace of her father, William Hartman, and of her grandfather, Jacob Hartman. The latter married Catharine Hummell, a native of the Keystone state, and was for many years proprietor of a hotel. William Hartman, who was of German ancestry, followed the trade of a cabinet maker when young, con- tinuing at it until 1867. In that year, accompanied by his family, he migrated to Michigan, locating in St. Joseph county. He lived for two years in Parkville, after which he was engaged in tilling the soil in Lockport township until 1876, when he bought land on section twelve, Fabius township, and was there engaged in agricul- tural pursuits until 1895. He then purchased a farm near Union City, and after living upon it a few years moved to Union City, where he is now living retired. He married Sarah Reish, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Daniel and Margaret Reish. She died in 1896, the mother of five children, Artlissa; Lettie, wife of Mr. Morrison; Sovilla; Blanche; and Jay. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison have one child, Lillian S., a young lady of talent and cul- ture, who was graduated from the Three Rivers High School with the class of 1908 and is a pleasing and accomplished musician. Po- litically Mr. Morrison is a stanch Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the National Protective Legion. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Morrison are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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HENRY J. FRAYS was born in Sherman township, St. Joseph county, Michigan, May 19, 1874; he is a son of Fred and Lena (Geark) Frays, both natives of Germany, and grandson of John and Mary (Brast) Frays. John Frays and his wife had children as follows: Fred, born in May, 1844; Minnie, wife of Samuel Rodebauch, of Pennsylvania; Henry, of Burr Oak, Michigan; Will, of Centerville, Michigan; Sophie, deceased, wife of Henry Went; and John, of Topeka, Kansas.
Fred Frays came to Michigan and settled in Sherman town- ship in 1863 in which year he was married, and has since lived there. Mrs. Lena Frays is a daughter of Charles and Mary (Hep- ner) Geark, also natives of Germany, who located in Sherman township about 1840 and lived there the remainder of their lives, on a farm. Both were devout members of the German Lutheran church of Sherman. Charles Geark was born in Mecklinburg, Germany, in 1829, and died at the age eighty-four years; his wife, who was born in the same place in 1823, died when sixty-six years. Their children were: Minnie, wife of John Hepner, a farmer of Saline county, Kansas; Lena, wife of Fred Frays; Charles, of Florence township, married Minnie Hepner; Lizzie, wife of Jacob Shuster, of Sherman; and Ida, wife of William Switzer, of Sher- man township.
Fred and Lena (Geark) Frays had children as follows : Henry J .; George, born September 2, 1875, unmarried, lives in Sherman township; Fred, born in March, 1879, married Carrie Boman and lives in Sherman; Charles, born in April, 1885, unmarried; Mary, born in April, 1888, died at the age of thirteen months; Ella, born in April, 1896, died in February, 1907.
Henry Frays received his education in the Tyler and Jones schools of Sherman, and spent one year in the Centerville high school. He was reared on a farm, and at twenty years began working on his own account. He remained five years with John McKinley and then spent three years on George Bucknell's farm, after which he purchased a farm of sixty-four acres from his uncle, Henry Frays, and lived there a year, working the Pierson property, and then he traded his sixty-four acres for his present farm. He is industrious and energetic, and has carried on his farm with success. Both he and his wife are members of the Center- ville Presbyterian church, and in political views he is independent. Mr. Frays served six years as director of the School Board of District No. 3, and he is a friend of the public schools, as is at- tested.
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September 2, 1896, Mr. Frays married Ella Walters, of Sher- man township, and to this union were born : Ethel and Earl, twins, born December 10, 1898; and Elvin, born in April, 1904. Mrs. Frays was born in Sherman township and educated in common schools. She is the second of five children, two sons and three daughters, born to Christian and Mary (Boman) Walters. Both parents are living in Sherman and all the brothers and sisters of Mrs. Frays are living. The homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Frays is known as "The Prairie River Stock Farm," of Nottawa township.
WILLIAM H. BARNARD, secretary and treasurer of the Con- stantine Milling Company, also supervisor of the township, was born in White Pigeon Prairie, November 5, 1861. His father, Richard Barnard, was a native of England, who came to White Pigeon Prairie, St. Joseph county, Michigan, in 1829, and took up land from the government. He improved his farm and became a successful farmer. He married Betsey Hotchin, also a native of England, who was eight years of age when she came with her par- ents to America; Samuel and Martha Hotchin settled in Florence township, St. Joseph county, on a farm, where they died. Mr. Barnard was but one year old when he came with his parents, Wil- liam and Eliza (Cross) Barnard, to Michigan. They were pio- neers of White Pigeon Prairie. Richard Barnard spent his entire life in this county, with the exception of 1849-50 when he went to California. He and his wife reared two sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living. They are: Mary E., wife of Ed A. Hamilton, of White Pigeon; Hattie, wife of Aldis H. Barry, of Constantine; William H .; Charles L., in hardware business in Con- stantine; and Annie L., wife of Howard Bigelow, of Kalamazoo county, Michigan.
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