USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph county, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories > Part 32
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Private Thomas B. Parks, Battery M; mustered-out. FIRST MICHIGAN SHARP-SHOOTERS.
Private Albert H. Knorr, Company F; mustered-out. Private Perry Machemer, Company F; mustered-out. Private David H. Early, Company H; mustered-out. SEVENTEENTH INFANTRY. Private Charles Smith, Company C; mustered-out. Private Silas C. Smith, Company C; died in Andersonville.
We tender our acknowledgments, for assistance received in the compila- tion of this history of Mottville, to Messrs. Aaron Brooks, Thompson, John and Solomon Hartman, and Lewis Rhoades, of White Pigeon.
90
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
LONCACRE-
ANDREW THOMPSON.
There is always something of peculiar interest surrounding the life and labors of the pioneer ; he who fearlessly leaves the home of his childhood- perchance a home of comparative ease and comfort. situated perhaps in some richly-settled eastern State, or amid the green hills of New England-and who submits cheerfully and manfully to the privations and hardships in- cident to new settlements, till his steady and earnest toil is rewarded with the blessings commensurate with his laborious struggles, and crowned with the many bounties of Providence. Great changes grow out of unwearied and constant strokes; the sturdy forest is laid low, and there in time is reared the pleasant home with all its cherished adornments, the quiet hamlet and the wondrous city.
Oftentimes the whole of one's allotted span of life is spent amid the beauteous scenes of the country ; and to agricultural pursuits alone does he devote his earliest and his latest labors. To this latter class belongs, pre-eminently, the subject of this sketch. Born away back beyond the present century, the only time he ever left the plow was to take up the musket in order to defend the flag his father fought to sustain.
Mr. Thompson first saw the light on the morning of March 25, in the year 1790. His native element was the farm, and on a farm he was born, within sixteen miles of the city of Leesburg, Virginia. When but four years old he removed with his parents to Piqua Plains, in the State of Ohio, and five years afterwards they again removed, this time settling on and clearing up the present site of the town of Circleville, Ohio. In 1812 he enlisted in a regiment of reserves, went to the front, and did good service for his country.
After the cessation of hostilities he married Mary Davis, a native of Ken- tucky, and his house became the home of a dozen young olive-branches, lacking one. This sketch having been designed as a family record, we an- nex a brief genealogy of this branch of the house of Thompson :
THOMAS D., born November 17, 1813; married April 15, 1841.
MORRIS, born December 27, 1814.
CYNTHIA, born July 6, 1816.
PHOEBE, born August 17, 1818.
ELLEN, born August 25, 1820; married David Kurshner, February 6, 1840.
ISAAC, born May 14, 1822; married Susan Davis.
JEMIMA, born February 7, 1825 ; married George Kerstater, April 16, 1843.
JAMES, born June 18, 1827 ; married Jane L. Davis, February 16, 1850. ELIZABETH, born February 15, 1829; married Joseph Kleckner, June 5, 1853.
LEWIS, born June 5, 1831 ; married Margaret Connor, January 14, 1857. MARY ANN, born January 1, 1835; married William 'Milner, January 10, 1860.
It was in 1832 that Mr. Thompson first took up his abode in Mottville township. He then settled on a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres, pleasantly situated on both sides of Pigeon creek. He subsequently pur- chased thirty-seven acres more, but has since sold some small parcels, leav- ing him now one hundred and ninety-seven acres of well-cultivated land. In 1837 Mr. Thompson assisted in the organization of the township, and was chosen its first supervisor. He never sought political preferment, and posi- tively refused to serve after the expiration of his term.
In 1866 he sustained the deep-felt loss of his estimable wife, who had shared his struggles for more than half a century, having been married in 1813. In religion he is a Mormon of the Joseph Smith branch of that faith -not believing in plurality of wives, but having a lasting faith in the creed promulgated by the founder of this peculiar sect. In politics he is Repub- lican, having cast his first vote for the Whig candidate, Monroe, in 1816. On the regular organization of the Republican party he allied himself with it, and has stood firmly by it, especially through the perilous times of 1861 -1865. Socially, he is a genial, whole-souled gentleman ; honest in all his dealings, and enjoying the friendship of all with whom he comes in contact. By industry and frugality, coupled with a certain degree of shrewdness, he has managed to secure a comfortable competency, which, after his four-score and six years, he enjoys, with a fair prospect of continuing thus to reap the benefits of a good career yet for many years.
AARON BROOKS,
the oldest living settler in Mottville township,-in point of settlement, and the third oldest in point of age,-was born in Fayette county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 7th of February, 1798. He was reared on a farm, and has spent all his life in agricultural pursuits. In 1808 he removed to Licking county, Ohio, and settled within seven miles of the present site of the city of Newark. In 1829 he removed to Mottville township, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and settled on the farm he now occupies, located on section twen- ty-four. It was then included in Cass county, but in 1830 the citizens re- siding thereon petitioned the legislature to have all the land on the east side of the St. Joseph river annexed to St. Joseph county, which was accordingly done. On the 19th of July, 1819, he married Cassy Newell, a native of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, by whom he had six children. January 7, 1838, he sustained the loss of his wife, and after remaining single for about four years, he married, in 1842, Ann Bell, a native of Monroe county, New York. By this union he has three children, namely :
JANE ANN, born December 25, 1843; married Robert Corner, April 20, 1863.
AMY JEANETTE, born August 4, 1849 ; married Frank M. Anderson, Janu- ary 1, 1866.
ELLEN, born June 13, 1854, and married Amos J. Yoder, December 30, 1875.
In 1844 the people of his township evinced their appreciation of his integ- rity and general good character by electing him to the office of justice of the peace, which he filled with general acceptability.
In 1849 Mr. Brooks " took up his tent and silently stole away," so to speak, to California, the then newly-discovered Eldorado, where he remained for about one year. He returned with about two thousand dollars, the result of hard and constant toil in the diggings. He made the overland journey, occupying five months and twenty days in its accomplishment. He returned by Panama, New Orleans, St. Louis, Peru, and thence by rail to Chicago, and from there by stage to his destination.
In religion he has always entertained liberal views, and has never assimi- lated with any particular denomination. In politics a Democrat, he polled his first vote for Andrew Jackson in 1832. He has always adhered firmly to the principles of Jacksonian Democracy, and has refused to recognize any of the many political innovations that have been made upon the old-time Democratic principles.
AARON BROOKS.
MRS. AARON BROOKS.
RESIDENCE OF AARON BROOKS, MOTTVILLE, ST JOSEPH COUNTY, MICH.
91
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
CONCALSE -AO
..
JOSEPH MILLER.
Among the many old gentlemen whose biographies grace the pages of this history, none deserve a better mention than he whose name stands at the head of this sketch. The facts of his history are furnished us by members of the family, and are somewhat incomplete.
Joseph Miller was a native of Heidelberg, Lehigh county, Pa., and was born September 13, 1793; here he lived, following the occupation of a farmer. In 1817 he was married to Miss Mary Hill, of Pennsylvania ; she was born December 5, 1797. As a result of this union four sons and three daughters were born to them, viz .: Charles F., Samuel, Stephen P., Joseph, Esther, Mary, and Rachel A.
In 1836 Mr. Miller and family removed to St. Joseph county, Michigan, . and located one and a half miles east of Mottville, on the old Chicago road ; here he followed farming, in connection with keeping a public-house, till the spring of 1864, when he settled a half-mile farther east, where he resided until his death.
During the early days-before the era of railroads-he was engaged in carrying goods for merchants in Constantine and White Pigeon from Detroit and other places.
His faithful wife died May 9, 1851, leaving a large circle of friends to mourn her loss.
Mr. Miller was again married to Miss Effie Barclay, of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, January 5, 1854. She was born December 3, 1819. Five children were born to bless this union, viz. : Hattie L., Emma A., Carrie M., Frank L., and Dellie,-all of whom are living except Carrie M.
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Mr. Miller has lived a quiet, unassuming life, and enjoyed the confidence of his fellow-citizens. He was for more than thirty years a worthy member of the Masonic order.
On the 14th of August, 1876, Death came and claimed him for his own. Mr. Miller lived respected and died regretted by those who knew him.
Mrs. Effie Miller is still living at the old home, surrounded by many of her children. She is the generous donor of this sketch and portrait.
JOHN HARTMAN.
John Hartman, for many years a resident of Mottville township, but now a resident of Cass county, Michigan, was born in Schuylkill county, Penn- sylvania, on the 20th of August, 1811. When but four years old he moved with his parents to Wayne county, Ohio, and from thence, in 1819, to Craw- ford county, in the same State.
After remaining in Crawford county ten years, his father (Solomon Hart- man) concluded to come still farther west, and in 1829 came to St. Joseph county, Michigan, and settled on the south side of the St. Joseph river, about two miles east of the village of Mottville. There they entered eighty acres, and proceeded at once to erect their log-cabin, which was then the only kind of habitation in all this region.
On the 4th of August, 1830, Solomon Hartman died, leaving the family under the protection of his sons, Solomon, and the subject of this sketch. Solomon soon removed, and John, subsequently bought eighty acres more land, which he developed into a fine, well-cultivated farm. In 1839 he re- moved to Cass county, and settled on his present farm. They endured similar hardships to those of other pioneers, and Mr. Hartman relates, among other things, that when they first came into the country they camped out fifteen nights before they could make the necessary arrangements to erect their log-house.
In 1837 he married Mary, daughter of Armstrong Davidson, Esq., an old pioneer and prominent citizen of Cass county. They have reared a family of six children, of whom five are still living. Levi, the second son, died in California, and the rest are all married, and are respected citizens of Cass county, living within five miles of the paternal roof. Through hard work and sound, practical economy, Mr. H. has increased his possessions until he now has a farm of two hundred and forty acres, where he resides, and a smaller one of eighty acres a few miles distant.
In politics he is a Democrat of the " Old Hickory" school. His religious sentiments embrace an extensive liberality. Having joined no particular church, he yet rightfully assumes the character of a good citizen and a re- spected neighbor. His estimable wife, the partner of his early struggles, and faithful helpmate for forty years, enjoys, by virtue of her many excel- lent traits of character, the respect and esteem of a large circle of friends. A portrait of this worthy couple, together with an illustration of their pleas- ant home, will be found elsewhere in this work, where it will remain as an monument to their industry, economy and good sense.
HALSEY CASKEY.
Among the many prominent settlers of Mottville township, none occupied a more worthy place in the esteem and confidence of his fellow-townsmen than he of whom we write. Halsey Caskey was born in New Jersey, on the 8th of February, 1811, and, when but a child, accompanied his parents to Ontario county, New York.
April 30, 1835, he married Mary Hoagland, a native of Canadice, New York, and a family of four children blessed the union.
On the 6th of September, 1844, Mr. Caskey and his family came to St. Joseph county, and in the year following took up their permanent residence on the farm now owned by his heirs. He was brought up to agricultural pursuits, and was in every respect a good, practical farmer. His homestead bears the imprint of his careful management, and is considered as fine a property as exists in the township.
He was for many years a working member of the Methodist Episcopal church of White Pigeon, with which organization he united soon after his set- tlement in this county. His piety was one of his most prominent characteris- tics, and he always maintained a leading position in all matters relating to the growth and prosperity of the religious body to which he belonged. In all his business transactions he was actuated by a stern integrity, and he was never known to defalcate in any financial engagement, his word always being con- sidered as good as his bond. In politics he was a Republican, and, while he never took an active part in the political movements of his day, he ever evinced a deep interest in what he considered the country's good demanded, and this by rendering intelligent support rather than by affiliating with the political machinery in vogue.
After a useful, though not a long life, on the 11th of September, 1869, he died, leaving behind him a record that will long survive. By his death his family lost a kind and affectionate husband and father, the community an honest and upright citizen, and the church a useful and earnest member. His widow still resides in the old home, enjoying the comforts which the in- dustry of her husband, coupled with her own economical household manage- ment, enabled them to accumulate.
The portrait of Mr. Caskey, which adorns our pages, was inserted by his widow as a token of affectionate regard, and we feel assured that it will always be to her and her children a source of reverential remembrance of the dear departed one.
92
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
LONGACAF - CO
JACOB S. SMITH.
JACOB S. SMITH.
Jacob S. Smith, son of Jacob and Catharine Smith, was born in Bucks county, Pa., October 22, 1800. He continued to reside with his parents while they lived, working on the farm, and having a general supervision of the old Pennsylvania homestead,-he being the only surviving member of the family.
He began life very poor, but by hard and persistent industry and fru- gality he has succeeded in securing a fair competency. When in his twen- tieth year he had saved enough to warrant him in taking a wife, which he did by marrying Elizabeth Wyant, a native of Union county, Pa. The event transpired in October, 1820. Ten children, six sons and four daughters, have been born to them, of which number nine are still living ; their names are Julia Ann, Peter, John, Kate, Isaac, Maria, Aaron, Susan, Joseph and Robert; and they were born in the succession as their names appear.
In May, 1857, Mr. Smith and his family removed to Mottville township, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and settled on the farm they now occupy, located within a convenient distance of the village of Mottville. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of well-cultivated and highly-productive land, while he is also accredited with possessing one of the finest barns in the township.
In politics Mr. Smith has always been a Republican since the organiza- tion of that party. Most of his children are married, and reside in different parts of the county,-possessing many of the excellent traits of character which their father endeavored to instil into their minds before they left the parental roof.
Mr. Smith very rightly enjoys the confidence and respect of the commu- nity in which he lives. He is a quiet, unassuming man of very prudent habits, but always willing to patronize a laudable enterprise. A portrait of Mr. Smith is placed in this work as a tribute to his general worth, and as a monument for his family and friends to cherish.
LONGACRE-CO
B. J. WILEY.
SAMUEL R. WILEY, of Mottville, St. Joseph county, Michigan, was born at Naples, Ontario county, New York, August 31, 1796, and is therefore past fourscore. He was educated at the common-schools of his native town, and, at an early age, was apprenticed to the shoemaking trade, which, with tanning and currying, he followed until he reached his thirty-fifth year. At this time, namely, in 1831, he purchased a farm of fifty acres in Ontario county, where he remained until his removal to St. Joseph county, Michigan, in 1850. He settled on his present farm, which then contained one hundred and forty-five acres, but now, through a subsequent purchase, increased to one hundred and eighty-five acres. For the former he paid eight dollars per acre, and for the latter ten dollars. His farm is now a model of neatness, and his land in a high state of cultivation.
In 1856 he built his present neat dwelling-house, and added, by various improvements, to the value and beauty of his adopted home.
In 1821 Mr. Wiley took unto himself a wife in the person of Patience Clark, who was born at Naples, Ontario county, New York, June 14, 1801. This marriage was productive of much happiness and eleven children, of which number eight reached the age of maturity and are now comfort- ably settled in various States, and are respectable members of society, evincing in their lives the admirable lessons of self-reliance and rectitude taught them by their parents.
On the 24th of September, 1852, Mr. Wiley lost, by death, his wife, who had been his faithful companion for more than thirty years. It was to him and his family a sorrowful bereavement, but with the fortitude born of his Spiritualistic faith he feels her essential presence always with him, and humbly abides the time when they shall be again united.
Mr. Wiley was elected to several offices of trust in his native. township, and has also served as school-director in the township of Mottville one term. In politics he is a Democrat, priding himself in having voted for " Old Hickory " away back more than half a century ago. In religious belief he is liberal, as before intimated, holding fast to the doctrines of Spiritualism of the higher and nobler nature, and discountenancing'its charlatanism. He carries his four-score years well,-the result of an abstemious and industrious course of life ; and possessing the use of all his faculties unimpaired, he has fair prospects of living yet to see the dawn of another decade. In character, he is positive; in business, honest; in the discharge of duty, prompt and fearless. A good citizen and a desirable neighbor, he enjoys the respect of all who know him.
93
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
LONGACRE-CO
DAVID EBI.
MRS. DAVID EBI.
DAVID EBI.
The subject of our sketch comes of an old and respectable family, his grandfather, David Ebi, having served as a soldier in the Revolution, in a Virginia regiment of volunteers, through the entire war, when he was honor- ably discharged, but never claimed the pension allowed the old veterans of 1776. He of whom we write was born near Canton, Stark county, Ohio, December 19, 1813, and was one of a family of seventeen children, of whom fourteen survive.
The first nineteen years of his life he remained at home, assisting his father on the farm. At this time, however, he evinced a desire to learn the carpenter trade, and stipulated with his father for the remaining years of his minority, agreeing to pay the old gentlemen fifty dollars therefor, which contract he faithfully fulfilled, much to the satisfaction of the father.
In 1831 he shouldered his knapsack and left his father's roof to begin life for himself, and was domiciled for that year with his uncle, David Ebi ; during which time he attended school.
In 1832, with his brother Michael, he was apprenticed to a carpenter, but worked so hard that at the end of the second year he was obliged to return to his uncle's house to recuperate, availing himself of the opportunity, in the meantime, to again attend school ; and resumed his apprenticeship in the spring.
On the 30th of August, 1835, he engaged in a business expedition to Mich- igan for a brother, and walked to Akron, Ohio, the first day. He arrived at Mottville on the 6th of September, walking from Detroit since the 2d of the month. On arriving at Mottville he found his brother, Daniel Ebi, liv- ing with his father-in-law, Daniel Shellhammer. Here he met his future wife, Catharine Shellhammer, to whom he was married March 30, 1837.
Mrs. Ebi was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1817, and died September 26, 1858.
Eight children were born to them, of whom five still survive. Among the greatest trials of the married life of Mr. and Mrs. Ebi was the loss of three of their older sons, who died at a time when they were just developing into interesting youths. An unfortunate financial transaction, caused by the delin- quency of another, cost Mr. Ebi the loss of all of his hard-earned property, at a time when he was laying the foundation for future competence.
The life-history of Mr. Ebi is a chequered one, experiencing all of the vicissitudes of a pioneer existence. He has at last, after many wanderings and changes, returned to the township where he made his first stay in Michigan of more than a single night.
He went to York township in Indiana (Elkhart county) the day after he was married, a one-horse wagon sufficing to transport his wife and all of his household effects. He bought forty acres of land and built a small board-house, without doors, windows or chimney. The cooking was done out of doors, a stump being utilized for a stove, and thus passed the honey- moon ; it would scarcely come under the head of " love in a cottage," and yet love was not wanting, though the cottage was yet to be built. It came in good time, however, and was all the better for being the sole handiwork of the master of the house himself.
He resided here twelve years, when, his wife's health failing, he changed his location to the village of Bristol, in which place he built two cottages for his own use, residing there many years.
On the 10th of April, 1860, in company with one A. P. Wright, he went to Colorado, where, after prospecting for a time, he settled in Gilpin county, and engaged in mining. At intervals he worked at building himself a house, which, on completion, he converted into a provision-store, and suc- ceeded well in the business of merchandizing in that line.
In 1866 he returned to Bristol, where he met Mrs. Barbara Koehler, a widowed lady whom he had known for twenty years, and on the 15th of April following they were married. He subsequently purchased the farm of his wife's former husband, on which they resided two years, and then sold the same and moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where they resided five years.
In 1873 Mr. and Mrs. Ebi paid a visit to his sons living in California, where they remained nearly a year and returned to Elkhart July 6, 1874, and on the 18th of the same month fixed their residence, as at present, in Mottville.
Mr. Ebi, while in Colorado, assisted in framing the territorial laws and regulations, and was a delegate to the first territorial convention, in 1860, from Gilpin county.
Mr. Ebi is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, which he joined, with his wife Catharine, in 1838 ; and it was only by the consolation of their religious belief they were enabled to bear their great griefs in the loss of their sons.
The present wife of Mr. Ebi has two children by her former husband, Conrad Koehler (a native of Germany), a son and a daughter.
Mrs. Ebi was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1821, her maiden name being Barbara Whitman. She was first married when nine- teen years of age. We present the portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Ebi in this connection, which will be gladly recognized by the many friends of the originals.
94
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ONONIZLE-CO/
STEPHEN M. NASH.
Sampson C. Nash, father of the subject of our sketch, was born in Mary- land, and Lovina Allerton, his wife, was born in Pennsylvania. Stephen M. was born in Stark county, Ohio, January 26, 1823. In the fall of 1843 Mr. S. M. Nash, in company with his father's family, emigrated to St. Jo- seph county, Michigan, and located some four miles south of White Pigeon. Here Stephen continued to live till the spring of 1848, when he settled in Mottville township. In September, 1852, he purchased some eighty acres of land of Joseph Miller ; this, together with what he previously owned, con-
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