USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Michigan; Volume II > Part 9
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Everard Geer lived in his native state on a farm until twenty- two years of age and then came west and located in Beloit, Wis- consin. After his marriage he located on a farm in the neighbor- hood of Beloit, and remained there twenty-four years. He next located in Iowa, and spent some time in Blackhawk, Grundy and Kossuth counties, and near Spirit Lake. In 1900 Mr. Geer located in Constantine, Michigan, and spent some time dealing in farms, buying and selling them; he now owns one good farm. He has been very successful in his business enterprises in this county, and is considered a level-headed business man. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church, and he is one of the trustees. He is a lifelong Republican and has voted for every Republican president since the inception of the party.
In 1854 Mr. Geer married, in Beloit, Wisconsin, Sarah, daugh- ter of Peter D. and Martha (Van Antwerp) Goewey; she was born in Lake county, Ohio. Her parents were natives of Lansing- burg, New York, and removed to Lake county, Ohio, about 1835, the father being of French descent and the mother German. Mrs. Geer is the last of four children. Her father moved to Wiscon- Vol. II-6
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sin in 1844, with an ox team. Mr. Geer and his wife have two children, Harvey G., a resident of Rockford, Illinois, and Mar- garet I., wife of George N. Wood, a real estate dealer of Con- stantine. Mr. Geer's grandchildren are: Ethel May Geer and Shirley Francis Wood, attending school at Oberlin College and Shirley College, and Harvey G., who is the youngest, was gradu- ated from Constantine Public Schools in the class of 1910, and entered Olivet College.
DR. WILLIAM C. CAMERON, a prominent physician of White Pigeon, was born in Steuben county, Indiana, November 27, 1866, son of John and Mary (Carlin) Cameron. John Cameron was born in Scotland, in 1815, and his wife was born in Wooster, Ohio, in 1822. He was a contractor, and came to Indiana in 1840, in connection with his work on the Maumee Canal. He afterward became a farmer, and was very successful in this line. He was a Republican, and served in several public offices, among them justice of the peace, trustee of Richland township, Steuben county, and for six years as county commissioner ; he died while chairman of the board of commissioners. Mr. Cameron was a member of the Presbyterian church, and active in religious work. He and his wife had nine children, eight of whom grew to maturity ; seven are now living (1909), three of whom are doctors, and one a druggist.
Dr. William C. Cameron received his early education in the district schools, and when fourteen years of age entered high school at Angola, Indiana, and in 1889 graduated from the Scien- tific Course of the Tri-State College, with degree B. S. He taught one year as principal of the school at Hamilton, Indiana, and then entered the office of his brother, Dr. J. F. Cameron, where he spent four years reading medicine. In 1890 he entered Rush Medical College, of Chicago, and took a full course, grad- uating in 1893. Dr. Cameron located in Metz, Indiana, and two years later removed to White Pigeon, where he has since remained in the successful practice of his profession. He is a member of the County, State, Northern Tri-State, and American National Medical Societies, and has served as secretary and president of the county organization. In 1904 Dr. Cameron was appointed a member of the United States Pension Surgeons at Three Rivers, Michigan. He is a public-spirited and highly respected member of society, and considered one of the representative, substantial citizens of the town. Dr. Cameron is a member of White Pigeon
Luster B. Place
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY
Lodge No. 104, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Past Master of same. He and his wife are members of the Order Eastern Star No. 317, and she has served as Grand Martha of the Grand Lodge of Michigan, one year, and she is Past Worthy Matron. She and her children are members of the Presbyterian church. In politics Mr. Cameron is a Republican, and he is actively interested in local affairs. He belongs to Cold Water Lodge No. 1023, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Dr. Cameron married Miss Cora Shore, in 1893. She was born near Waterloo, Indiana, in 1866, received her primary edu- cation in the district school, and in 1890 graduated from the Tri-State College, at Angola, Indiana, with degree Ph. B. She taught several years in the Pleasant Lake Schools. Dr. Cameron and his wife have two children, Bernardine, a student in high school, and Don B., also a student in high school.
LESTER B. PLACE .- The efficient and popular postmaster of the city of Three Rivers has here maintained his home for more than a quarter of a century and the unequivocal esteem in which he is held in the community is adequately indicated by his incumbency of his present official position. He is a veteran of the Civil war and is a man whose loyalty has been shown in an equally significant way in connection with the affairs of the "piping times of peace." Mr. Place has made his own way in the world, has encountered his quota of the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," but he has ever shown that individual optimism which makes for success and begets objective confidence and regard.
Mr. Place claims the fine old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity, as he was born in Delaware county, Ohio, on the 14th of February, 1842, and he was but one year old at the time of the death of his father, Jacob Place, who was a native of Pennsylvania, whence he accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio in an early day, his father, who likewise bore the name of Jacob, having been numbered among the sterling pioneers of Delaware county. The latter was a valiant soldier in the war of 1812 and his active career was one of close identification with the great basic industry of agriculture. The lineage is traced back to French extraction but the family was early founded in America. The maiden name of the mother of the subject of this review was Mary Foust. She likewise was a native of the old Keystone state of the Union, and was a child at the time of the family removal to Ohio. Her father, John Foust, was one of the early settlers of that part of Delaware county that
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is now included in Morrow county. This worthy ancestor likewise was enrolled as a soldier in the war of 1812, and the Foust family, of Pennsylvania German ancestry, found many representatives among the early settlers of Delaware county, Ohio, where was solemnized the marriage of the parents of the present postmaster of Three Rivers. The father was a farmer by vocation and was a compara- tively young man at the time of his death. His widow lived to attain the venerable age of eighty-seven years and was a resident of Fremont at the time of her death. Both were consistent mem- bers of the Lutheran church and were folk of sterling attributes of character. They became the parents of two sons and three daugh- ters, of whom Lester B., of this review, is the youngest. Of the other children, one of his sisters is still living, Mrs. M. A. Dehart of Spencerville, Ohio.
Lester B. Place, owing to the exigencies of time and place and to the fact that his widowed mother was left to care for her young children, received but meager educational advantages in his youth, but through self-discipline and through association with men and affairs he has well made good this early handicap and is a man of broad information and mature judgment. His boyhood and youth were passed in the central counties of Ohio, and he became largely dependent upon his own resources when a mere child, turning his attention to any work he could secure and gradually developing in self-reliance and constructive ability. In 1859, when seventeen years of age, he located at Mount Gilead, Morrow county, Ohio, where he learned the trade of iron moulder, under the direction of his only brother. After completing an apprenticeship that had made him a capable workman he became a journeyman at his trade. After passing about one year at Mount Vernon, Ohio, he removed to Galion, that state, where he was employed in a large iron foun- dry for five years, during the major portion of which period he had charge of the foundry. In April, 1861, soon after the inception of the Civil war, Mr. Place tendered his services in defense of the Union, by enlisting as a private in the Third Ohio Volunteer Infan- try, but he was rejected on account of lung trouble. He then be- came a member of the Home Guard of Ohio, with which he con- tinued to serve until September, 1864, when he enlisted and was accepted in the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he became a member of Company G and with which he continued in active service until honorably discharged.
After thus terminating his military service Mr. Place returned to Galion, Ohio, where he resumed the work of his trade and where
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he was in supervision of the foundry conducted by A. C. Squires for a period of five years. Thereafter he was similarly engaged at Mount Vernon, Ohio, until 1871, when he removed to Lockport, New York, where he was in the employ of the Holly Manufacturing Company for the ensuing two years, at the expiration of which he came to Michigan and assumed the supervision of the plant of the Jackson Machine & Foundry Company, in the city of Jackson. He remained in that city about five years and he then went to Allegan as superintendent of the Allegan Agricultural Works, with which concern he was thus identified until 1883, when he came to Three Rivers and assumed the position of manager of the foundry depart- ment of the Sheffield Car Company, with which he continued to be identified, as a valued and able executive, for the long period of twenty years. He then effected, about 1902, the organization of the Three Rivers Foundry & Machine Company, of which he was elected manager. This incumbency he retained four years, at the expiration of which he resigned his office to enter upon his duties as postmaster of the city, to which position he was appointed in 1906 and of which he has since continued in tenure. He has given a most careful, discriminating and popular administration of the affairs of this office, which more than all others touches the general public, and he has made many improvements in the facilities and service of the local postal system. He has long been known and esteemed as one of the loyal and progressive citizens and reliable business men of Three Rivers and he has at all times lent his aid and influence in support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the material and civic welfare of the community. In poli- tics Mr. Place has never wavered in his allegiance to the cause of the Republican party, and he has given effective service in behalf of the same. He was chairman of the Republican county committee of St. Joseph county for a period of two years and was also chair- man of the Lincoln Club, an effective political and social organiza- tion of his home city. He is a member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and also holds membership in other fraternal and civic organizations. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church, of which his wife likewise was a devout member.
In the year 1862 Mr. Place was united in marriage to Miss Emily J. Carpenter, of Mount Gilead, Ohio, in which state she was born and reared, and she was summoned to the life eternal on the 3d of January, 1907. Of the six children none are living.
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FREDERICK LEADERS, a native of Hanover, Germany, was born July 31, 1837, and is a son of Henry and Anna (Mitchell) Leaders, both of whom died in Germany. They had four children. When he was fourteen years old, the parents of Frederick Leaders died, and in 1863 he came to the United States. He located first in Defiance, Ohio, where he found work at his trade of tanner. Be- fore leaving his native country he had married Sophia Hankie, also a native of Germany, born October 9, 1839.
In 1868 Mr. Leaders removed to St. Joseph county, Michigan, and purchased a tannery six miles west of White Pigeon, which he operated with good profit until 1877. He then sold his busi- ness interests, and later engaged in farming. For nearly eighteen years he conducted a meat market in White Pigeon, but has now retired from active business. Mr. Leaders owns a farm of seventy-five acres, as well as residence property and a hotel in the town of White Pigeon. He is a stockholder and one of the di- rectors in the Farmers' Savings Bank, of White Pigeon, and is a prominent citizen of the town and well known and respected in the community. Mr. Leaders is a man of recognized integrity, honesty and high character, and has a wide circle of friends. In political views he is a Republican, though he does not take a very active part in public matters. He belongs to Elks Lodge No. 50, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Leaders and his wife are members of the Reformed church.
Mr. Leaders and his wife are parents of four children, as fol- lows: Herman, of Omaha, Nebraska; Fred, of Michigan City, Michigan; Edward A., a miller, of Wauseon, Ohio; and Louise, wife of Moses Erb, of Elkhart, Indiana.
WINFIELD SCOTT HOPKINS .- A farmer of ability and experi- ence, Winfield Scott Hopkins is a fine representative of the native- born citizens of Fabius, and one of its most skilful and successful agriculturists. A son of William Sidney Hopkins, he was born, June 26, 1852, in Fabius, of pioneer stock. His paternal grand- father spent his entire life in Maryland, dying while yet in man- hood's prime, leaving a widow, who subsequently emigrated with her little family to Ohio.
Born in Maryland, William Sidney Hopkins was but a boy when his widowed mother settled in Ohio. In early manhood he came on horseback to Michigan, and had no trouble in finding em- ployment in the woods. After his marriage he bought a tract of
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timbered land in the northwest quarter of Fabius township, and began housekeeping with his bride in the log cabin he built in the midst of the forest. Selling that property in 1855, he purchased land in section twenty-six, Fabius township, and in the log house that he erected moved with his family. This entire section of the county was then in its primitive wilderness, with here and there an opening in which the early settler had reared his humble cabin. There were no public highways, and no railroads had then been built in the state, all surplus products being hauled to Detroit, the nearest depot for supplies. With his faithful wife and com- panion, he bravely endured the trials and privations of pioneer life, and in the course of time had a large part of his land cleared, and his family established in a comfortable home. Here he re- sided until his death, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. He married Ruth Beadle, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Marshall Beadle, who was an early settler of Fabius township. She died at the age of seventy-nine years. Both she and her hus- band were active members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They reared four children, as follows: Augusta Marshall, Mary, and Winfield Scott.
Brought up on the parental homestead, Winfield S. Hopkins obtained his early education in the schools of Fabius township, attending, principally, the winter terms, and laboring on the farm during the summer seasons. Finding the occupation of a farmer congenial as well as profitable, he devoted his energies to agriculture, and has since succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead. This farm has been brought to a high state of culti- vation, rendering it one of the richest in the neighborhood, and is well equipped with substantial buildings. Here Mr. Hopkins is carrying on general farming and stock-raising with most satis- factory pecuniary results.
Mr. Hopkins married, September 22, 1886, Sarah Weinberg, who was born in Flowerfield, St. Joseph county. Her father, Leander Weinberg, was born in Pennsylvania, of German an- cestry. Coming to St. Joseph county at an early day, he bought a tract of timbered land in Flowerfield township, from which not a tree had been felled. With an energetic spirit and a pioneer's axe, he began clearing the land, and from the forest hewed a good farm. He lived to see this part of the country develop from a wilderness to a well-settled, prosperous agricultural region, dying on the home farm, at the advanced age of seventy-eight years. He married Catherine Councilman, who was born in Pennsylvania,
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and died in Flowerfield township at the age of sixty-two years. To them nine children were born, as follows: William; Polly; Joseph; Catherine; Sarah, now Mrs. Hopkins; Lyman; Charles; Pharos; and Egbert. William served in the Civil war, and was killed in battle. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins are the parents of two children, namely : Neal S., who married Bertha Avery ; and Dennis L. Mr. Hopkins is an adherent of the Methodist church, and he was reared in that faith, and Mrs. Hopkins is a consistent and valued member of the United Brethren church.
JAMES SIMPSON, a retired farmer, living at Nottawa, Michigan, was born in Ireland, August 10, 1833. He is a son of John and Rebecca (Adams) Simpson, both natives of Ireland, and he was reared and educated in his native country. At the age of twenty- two years James Simpson came to the United States, and at once located in the locality where he now lives. He worked on a farm in Nottawa township for a year and a half, at a salary of twelve dollars per month. During the first winter he paid his board and attended school three months. The next year he took a position on a farm for one hundred sixty dollars per year, and slept in a log house, where he often would find several inches of snow on his bed in the morning. He then purchased a team and began working a farm on shares, which he continued four years, and then purchased one hundred twenty acres of land in Nottawa township. Later he traded 40 acres of this place for 80 acres, paying a bonus of nine hundred dollars difference. This land was located north of the town, and he carried it on until he retired in 1890. He raised reg- istered cows and hogs, and was a very successful stock-farmer, hav- ing at one time a great many sheep.
Soon after 1850 Mr. Simpson joined the Presbyterian church, of which he has since remained a devout member. He is very broad- minded and liberal in his views on all subjects; he first voted as a Republican, then as a Prohibitionist, and lastly a Democrat. Mr. Simpson is a man of high character, and has the universal esteem of his fellow citizens. About eleven years ago Mr. Simpson visited his birthplace, and he spent eighteen days in Ireland and two weeks in England. Mr. Simpson is a relative of Rev. H. A. Simpson, minister in Homer, Michigan.
In 1874 Mr. Simpson married Nettie B. Dirth, of Ohio, who came to Michigan with her parents and located in Niles township, Berrien county. Mrs. Simpson died October 18, 1906. They had two daughters, Rebecca, who died at the age of three years, and
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Mary, deceased. They also had one son, James Wray, who carries on his father's farm. James Wray Simpson married Miss Hagen and they have two children, Rebecca and Oscar.
JOHN B. GEORGE, now retired from active business life and a resident of Constantine, was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsyl- vania, October 24, 1833, son of William George, also a native of that county. William George was reared and married in his native state and in 1836 came to St. Joseph county, Michigan, locating in Constantine township. He took up land from the government, which he improved, and lived in the county until his death, ninety- three years of age. He was of English descent. William George married Catherine Brower, also a native of Pennsylvania, who lived to be ninety-two years of age. They became parents of five chil- dren, all of whom lived to maturity, and two sons are now surviv- ing, Abram K., of Constantine, born in this county, November 21, 1836, and John B.
John B. George is the fourth child, and was about three years of age when he came to the Territory of Michigan. He was reared in St. Joseph county, where he received his education. He re- mained with his father and helped with the work on the farm until about twenty-one years of age, and then learned the trade of carpen- ter, at which he worked until about 1863. He then engaged in manufacturing farm implements, worked in the shop and became a partner in the business; the firm became George & Twedale, and they continued doing business in Constantine until 1904, when Mr. George retired from the business. Since this time he has led a quiet life, free from business cares. He was successful in his busi- ness enterprises, and is an influential citizen of Constantine. He is a Republican, and has the distinction of having cast his vote for every Republican president since the inception of the party. He served sixteen consecutive years as township supervisor and was postmaster four years. Mr. George is vice president of the Com- mercial State Bank, and is also interested in the Novelty Works. He was one of the organizers of the Commercial State Bank, and has always taken an active part in public affairs.
Mr. George has been a resident of Constantine seventy-three years, and is identified with the early history of the county; he is well known and stands well in the community. Mr. George is a member of the Masonic Order.
Mr. George has been thrice married (first) in 1860 to Rebecca A. Fisher, who died in 1864. He married (second) Catherine
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Fisher, a sister of his first wife, and they have one daughter, Laura Bell, wife of Ed T. Aaron, of Lansing, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Aaron have one son, George. For his third wife Mr. George mar- ried Mrs. Mary E. Roup, a member of the Lutheran church.
GEORGE RENGLER has long been identified with the agricultural life of St. Joseph county, but he is a native son of Union county, Pennsylvania, born there on the 15th of February, 1830, to Daniel and Susanna (Duntal) Rengler. Daniel Rengler never left his native commonwealth, living and dying in the Keystone state, the father of Peter, John, Susanna, Daniel, George, Fannie, Jacob and Benjamin, but only four of this once large family are now. living.
George Rengler is numbered among the honored early pi- oneers of St. Joseph county. He was reared on a farm in Pennsyl- vania, and preferring the work of the farm to attending school his educational training in his youth was limited, although in later life he has become a well read man. He remained at home with his parents until his marriage, and afterward rented one of his father's farms until he came to Michigan following the Civil war period. Four of his brothers also came to this state, bringing their families. George Rengler has been very successful as an agriculturist, and now owns one hundred and seventy-nine acres of fine farming land in section 9, Florence township. The wife whom he married in youth, Wilmina Wolfinger, born in Pennsyl- vania, died in 1901, and of the four children which blessed their marriage union two sons are now living, William C. and James A. The younger son has never married, and is at home with his father.
William C. Rengler, born in Pennsylvania November 25, 1860, is one of the prominent farmers and stock raisers of Florence township. He owns a fine blooded horse, Magna Charta, and also a valuable Morgan horse, and he raises the finest stock of all kinds. He is a Democratic voter. He married Rosa Green, and they have three children : Hazel, born in May, 1893; Edward, born Febru- ary 22, 1895; and Clarence, born in 1897. The family reside on the Rengler homestead in Florence township, one of the valuable farms of the county. George Rengler, the father, is a member of the Reformed church which stands near his home.
WILLIAM G. CALDWELL, deceased, one of the most prominent manufacturers of Three Rivers, resided in St. Joseph county for more than half a century, and was a vital force in the upbuilding
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WGbaldwill
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of its industries, both in their infancy and maturity. He was a native of Montour county, Pennsylvania, born near Danville, October 30, 1831, son of Thomas and Jane (Gingles) Caldwell. The paternal grandfather, Thomas Caldwell, was born in Scotland but removed to the north of Ireland, and thence brought his family to Pennsylvania, settling on a farm in Montour county, where he spent his last years. The father was born and reared in that county, and when a young man engaged in merchandise at Danville, spending the last years of his life as a farmer near that place. His wife was also a native of Montour county and spent her life within its bounds; the seven children of her family were Margaret, Susan, Rebecca, William G., Mary, Almira and Martha.
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