USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches > Part 26
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The society flourished, and in May, 1877, dedicated a fine brick structure, which had been erected at a cost of ten thousand dollars. In 1880 the membership of the church was two hundred and sixty-three. In 1900 a very large and beautiful church, costing thirty-five thousand dollars, was erected. Rev. J. Alex- ander Clyde is the present pastor, and the church is in excellent working condition, with a membership of about four hundred.
THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF OWOSSO
was organized January 18, 1853. The early meetings were held in the small frame build- ing erected for a school house in 1840. A church edifice was erected in 1855 and was occupied until 1871, when it was considerably enlarged, and rededicated. Rev. A. H. Fletcher is believed to have been the first pastor, coming to the church in 1858. When the church had been in existence about twenty-five years its membership numbered two hundred and eighteen members. In 1892 a very handsome stone church was erected, at a cost of over thirty thousand dollars. Rev. Carlos H. Hanks has been pastor since 1899, and has been remarkably successful in his work. The membership now exceeds five hundred, and all the departments of the church are in a very flourishing condition.
CHRIST CHURCH, PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL
This parish was organized under the min- istrations of the Rev. Thomas B. Dooley and the Rev. Henry Banwell, May 10, 1858. For two years previously, however, clergymen representing the Pontiac, Lansing and Flint churches had visited the people here and held occasional services in the school house and in a public hall.
The corner stone of a church edifice was laid September 26, 1859, and the building was consecrated by the bishop of the diocese November 18, 1871. The structure was of brick, with tower, spire, nave and chancel ; its dimensions eighty by thirty-six feet, and its interior decorations most beautiful. Com- pleted, it cost ten thousand dollars. Not the least among the attractions of this handsome edifice was a sweet-toned bell of two thou-
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sand pounds, from the foundry of Meneeley & Kimberly, Troy, New York, bearing the following inscription :
D. O. M. 1879 Christ Church Owosso. S. S. Harris, Bishop L. B. Stimson, Rector Et Spiritus et Sponsa Dicunt Veni."
Rev. Henry Banwell was the first rector of the parish. The church has in recent years been enlarged and beautified and is in good working condition. Rev. R. O. Cooper, the rector, is a very earnest and capable pas- tor and preacher.
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, ROMAN CATHOLIC
This church was organized in the fall of 1871, with a membership of fifty-one. The church edifice was commenced in 1872 and roofed in December, 1874. It is a fine struc- ture of brick and was first constructed with sittings for five hundred people. By the year 1880 over twenty-three thousand dollars had been expended on the building and it is one of the substantial church buildings in the county. Nine years after its organization one hundred nine families constituted its membership.
Rev. J. J. Kraemer served as pastor until the spring of 1877, when he was succeeded by Rev. James Wheeler. The latter was fol- lowed by Rev. Father Doman, who in turn was succeeded by the present incumbent, Rev. Father Slane, who became pastor in, 1896 and has ministered very successfully to the church.
A parochial school was instituted in 1903 and has been very successful. Five teachers are employed and instruction is given in
English and commercial courses and music. The school is well attended.
THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
This church was organized about the year 1856. Little can be learned from its records concerning the history of its organization. Their first house of worship was, like that of several of their sister churches, the frame school house, which eventually became the property of the German Lutheran Church.
In 1865 the society built a church edifice, at a cost of nearly five thousand dollars, the same having had a seating capacity of about three hundred. Rev. Seth Reed was among the pastors who served the church in the early years of its existence. The church has had a very successful and useful career, and enjoyed the pastorate of several destin- guished and able ministers.
The present large and substantial church edifice, erected in 1900, is well adapted to the work. Dr. A. B. Leonard is the present efficient pastor of the church, which has a membership of about eight hundred.
ASBURY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
This church was organized with thirty-one members March 29, 1889. A Sunday school had been conducted for two years previously by Miles L. Parker and others. Thomas E. Heddle was pastor of the church the first six months, until conference time, when Rev. J. J. Smith was assigned to the charge. In a year the membership numbered one hundred. The church was built in 1890 and enlarged and rearranged in 1896. The church has had a very successful existence, and now has two hundred and thirty members. Rev. John Dystant is the pastor.
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SALEM'S (GERMAN) CHURCH
A local body of the Evangelical Associa- tion, this church was organized by Rev. John M. Houk, April 22, 1862. The first services were held in the dining room of the building now known as the Exchange Hotel, of which at that time Jacob Aberle was proprietor. In the year 1864, under the management of Rev. John Meck, a house of worship with sittings for two hundred people was built, at a cost of twelve hundred dollars. The work of building up a church here commenced, however, on 1858, when the Ohio conference of the Evangelical Association sent as mis- sionaries to this region the Revs. Frederick Zeller and Christopher Roehm. A fine church building was erected in 1895, and a parochial school is successfully conducted. Rev. Theodore Hahn is the pastor.
ST. JOHANNES EVANGELICAL CHURCH
This society was organized in 1894, a num- ber of progressive Germans of that faith de- siring to worship in a church of their de- nomination. Rev. Christian Spothelf has been the pastor since the organization of the church and has wrought most effectively. The membership now numbers two hundred and fifty, and the church is in a prosperous condition. At the time of organization the church bought the building occupied by the Congregational society, prior to taking pos- session.
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
November 11, 1887, the Owosso Young Men's Christian Association was organized, there being twelve charter members. Officers were elected as follows: President, Edmund O. Dewey; vice-president, George L. Lusk ;
secretary, Fred H. Clark; treasurer, Charles S. Ensminger. The second and third floors of the business block at No. 110 North Washington street were leased and fitted up for reading room, library, game room, assem- bly room, gymnasium, and bath rooms. Emery E. Lohnes was the first general sec- retary and was succeeded in turn by George T. Campbell, E. C. Van Ness, W. L. Harter and George Swarthout, the last mentioned of whoin is now performing the duties of that office. The Association has had a very suc- cessful career and the value of the work in behalf of young men cannot be overesti- mated. The leading business men of the community have supported it generously with their time and means.
FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS
OWOSSO LODGE, NO. 81, F. & A. M.
This lodge held its first communication May 2, 1855, under a dispensation granted George C. Monroe, grand master of the state of Michigan. A charter was granted Jan- uary 10, 1856, and on the same date the fol- lowing officers were installed: Myndert W. Quackenbush, W. M .; Alfred L. Williams, J. W .; Randolph L. Stewart, treasurer ; Charles C. Goodale, secretary ; Elisha Leach, S. D .; John B. Barnes, J. D .; and William J. Lyon, tiler. The history of the lodge has been one of continued success, and its mem- bership, which is now about four hundred, has included a large majority of the leading business and professional men of the city. The lodge has purchased a fine building site, corner of Washington and Mason· streets, and expects soon to erect a suitable temple thereon.
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OWOSSO CHAPTER, NO. 89, R. A. M. began work under a dispensation granted early in the year 1873. A charter was granted January 24, 1874, and on the 17th of February of the same year the first installation of officers took place. The first officers were: Myndert W. Quackenbush, H. P .; Anson B. Chipman, king; Joseph Man- ning, scribe; George B. Hughes, C. of H .; Franklin B. Smith, P. S .; Richard Chipman, R. A. C .; Henry W. Parker, treasurer ; New- ton Baldwin, recorder.
OWOSSO LODGE, NO. 88, I. O. O. F.
This lodge was instituted January 23, 1865, by Special Deputy B. W. Davis. The first officers installed were: Josiah Turner, N. G .; William R. Chipman, V. G .; Henry M. New- combe, R. S .; P. M. Rowell, P. S .; and F. P. Guilford treasurer.
ORIENTAL ENCAMPMENT, NO. 59, I. O. O. F. was instituted September 4, 1893, by A. Fer- guson, M. W. G. P. The first officers in- stalled were George W. Loring, C. P .; George R. Black, H. P .; Archibald Robert- son, S. W .; William R. Chipman, J. W .; Jacob Aberle, scribe; A. Barkley, treasurer.
OWOSSO LODGE, NO. 48, A. O. U. W.
This lodge was organized June 4, 1878, in Odd Fellows' Hall, where the first installa- tion of officers took place the same'date. The officers elected were: Welcome L. Farnum, past master workman; William M. Kilpat- rick, master workman; C. McCormick, gen- eral foreman; William N. Pool, overseer ; L. L. Baker, recorder; Charles E. Hershey, receiver ; Benjamin S. Retan, financier ; Os- car Wells, guide; Thomas Nelan, inside watchman ; John D. Evens, watchman.
BENEVOLENT AND PROTECTIVE ORDER OF ELKS . Owosso Lodge, No. 753, was organized De- cember. 30, 1901, with one hundred and fifty members. The officers for the first year were: Carl Pickert, exalted ruler; Charles Ellis, esteemed leading knight; Ira G. Curry, esteemed loyal knight; Niel R. Walsh, es- teemed lecturing knight; Fred Edwards, sec- retary; Joe Gerson, treasurer ; Charles B. Symes, esquire ; Wert Johnson, inside guard ; Rev. L. C. McBride, chaplain ; Ghent Fox, tyler. The membership increased rapidly, until it now numbers nearly five hundred. The old Merell hotel was purchased in 1903 and modeled into a temple, which is well arranged and commodious. The members are active and enthusiastic in carrying for- ward the principles of the order.
OWOSSO LODGE, NO. 81, KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS
was instituted under order of Grand Chan- cellor Commander E. T. Bennett, May 2, 1887. There were twenty-six applicants for the ranks, twenty-two of whom were present and admitted and charged as knights, after which the following officers were elected : J. M. Terbush, P. C .; C. C. Gregory, C. C .; E. A. Gould, V. C .; Perry Edwards, P. C .; O. A. Merell, K. of R. & S .; E. A. Van Giesen, M. of F .; J. M. Beckwith, M. of E .; R. E. Chipman, M. of A .; George J. Begole, I. G .; S. F. Santhony, O. G. The lodge has had a very prosperous history and occupies spacious rooms. Owosso Company, No. 45, Uniform Rank, the military appendage of the order, is a live organization.
Owosso has its full quota of insurance orders, notable among them being Knights of the Modern Maccabees, Knights of the Maccabees of the World, Knights of the
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Loyal Guard, and the organizations for women identified with the above orders.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
L. B. Quackenbush Post, No. 205, depart- ment of Michigan Grand Army of the Re- public, was organized December 21, 1883, with twenty-seven charter members. Officers : Post commander, Andrew J. Patterson, cap- tain Company E, Twenty-ninth Michigan In- fantry; senior vice-commander, Mark H. Ridley, first lieutenant Company D, Tenth Michigan Infantry; junior vice-commander, Louis Cheeney, captain Company C, Tenth Michigan Infantry ; adjutant, John W. Angel, first lieutenant Company D, One Hundred and Eighteenth New York Infantry; quarter- master, Frank Perkins, private, Company E, Twenty-ninth Michigan Infantry; surgeon, Martin C. Dawes, captain Company E, Twen- tieth Michigan Infantry; chaplain, Rev. J. Gordon; officer of the day, Edwin Burkhart, private, Company A, Tenth Michigan In- fantry ; officer of the guard, David F. Blair, private, Company B, Fourth Michigan Cav- alry; quartermaster sergeant, Samuel Lam- from, private, Company K, Tenth Michigan Infantry; comrades,-George W. Oaks, ser- geant Company H, Seventh Michigan In- fantry ; Dennis A. Barnum, quartermaster sergeant, Company L, Third Michigan Cav- alry ; * Patrick Watters, private, Company H, Fifth Michigan Infantry; * John S. Wilcox, private, Company E, One Hundred and Eighty-ninth New York Infantry; David Shanafelt, private, Company I, Forty-first Illinois Infantry; Grant F. North, sergeant, Company C, First Michigan Infantry ; * Da- vid Dwight, private, Company E, Twenty-
ninth Michigan Infantry; * Frederick N. Hop- kins, private, Company B, Michigan En- gineers ; * William H. Boyce, private, Com- pany K, Fourth New York Heavy Artillery ; Thomas Nelan, sailor, Mississippi Squadron ; *Bruce Buckminister; George W. Loring, captain, Company E, Seventh Ohio Infantry ; *Jerome W. Turner, first lieutenant and ad- jutant, Thirtieth Michigan Infantry; Nich- olas Johnson, private, Company D, One Hun- dred and Twenty-first New York Infantry ; Charles L. Paris, private, Company G, Four- teenth New York Heavy Artillery; Edgar P. Byerly, captain, Company H, Tenth Michi- gan Cavalry ; * Jacob B. Hathway, corporal, Company D, First Michigan Cavalry.
The total enrollment from date of organiza- tion to February 14, 1906, is two hundred and eighty-five. Of this number sixty-eight have died. The present membership is eighty- nine. Probably more deaths have occurred, but many of the old members have dropped out and moved away and the post has lost track of them.
The post was named in honor of Captain Louis B. Quackenbush, who organized Com- pany H, Fifth Regiment Michigan Volun- teers. He was killed in the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, May 31, 1862.
The above company was recruited in Owosso and was composed of Owosso's best young men and those of Shiawassee county.
WOMAN'S RELIEF CORPS
L. B. Quackenbush, Woman's Relief Corps, No. 26, auxiliary to L. B. Quackenbush Post, No. 205, Grand Army of the Republic, is a
*Deceased.
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flourishing and valued organization. L. B. Quackenbush Post, Grand Army of the Re- public, had been organized about a year when its members realized the need of the women, so on December 5, 1884, Woman's Relief Corps, No. 26, was organized as the auxiliary to the post.
The object of the organization was to aid in perpetuating the memory of their heroic dead; to assist Union veterans, their widows and orphans; cherish and emulate the army nurses and all loyal women who rendered loving service to our country in its hour of
peril; and to inculcate lessons of patriotism and love of country among the children.
The first officers of the corps were: Mat- tie A. Tillotson, president; Sarah A. Wiley, senior vice-president ; Martha Ridley, junior vice-president ; Lucy Wilcox, secretary; Ma- tilda Boise, treasurer; Nellie Whited, chap- lain; Sarah Cheney, conductor.
Two hundred and sixty-nine names have been enrolled upon the roster of the corps, but many have since removed and twenty- nine have been claimed by death. The pres- ent membership is one hundred and sixteen.
NEWSPAPERS
Little is positively known concerning the pioneer newspaper of Shiawassee county, ex- cept that it was first published in Owosso in the year 1839, by Edward L. Ament. Its name was the Shiawassee Express & Clinton Advocate, it having a circulation in Clinton county as well as in Shiawassee.
Nothing further is known about this jour- nal. It was probably succeeded by the Owos- so Argus, as Mr. Ament began publishing that paper in 1841 and was its proprietor until his death, in 1847. Dr. C. P. Parkhill worked as a compositor on the paper during the first year of its existence. The Argus was published about a year by Ephriam Gould, a son of Daniel Gould, when it was sold to M. H. Clark, who removed it to Co- runna and published it there, as the Shia- wassee Democrat, until 1856.
The Owosso American was established in 1854 by C. C. and O. R. Goodell, and through successive changes in both propri- etorship and name finally became the Shia-
wassee American. Charles E. Shattuck was the publisher for a time and was succeeded by Ephriam H. Gould and he in time by John N. Ingersoll, who removed the paper to Corunna in 1862 and changed the name to the Corunna Democrat. May 26, 1880, George W. Owen merged his paper, the Shiawassee Republican, with the American, the paper retaining the latter name.
The Owosso Press was launched September 20, 1862, by Benton Hanchett and Gilbert L. Lyon. A year later the plant was purchased by J. H. Champion & Company. In Septem- ber, 1890, H. Kirke White acquired the prop- erty, and in September, 1900, also purchased the American, which had been converted into a daily about three years previously. Mr. White continued the publication of the daily, changing the name to the Owosso Press- American. The paper is an able exponent of the Democracy and is ably edited and pro- vided with modern equipment.
The Owosso Times was founded in 1819
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by Lucius E. Gould, who published it first at Vernon, afterward at Bancroft and finally brought the plant to Owosso, where he con- tinued the publication until 1881, when he sold the property to George M. Dewey, Sr., and son, Edmund O. Dewey. Since the death of the former the business has been successfully conducted by the latter. The Times Printing Company, the name under which the firm does business, erected a fine three-story, brick office building in 1889, at the corner of Main and Park streets. The Times has always been stalwart in upholding the faith of the Republican party.
The Evening Argus was the first success- ful venture in the daily field. It was estab- lished July 23, 1892, by J. N. Klock and R. C. Eisley, and filled a long-felt want. February 25, 1895, the paper was purchased by George T. Campbell, who has since pub- lished it. In the fall of 1895 the two-story, brick building, corner of Exchange and Ball streets, was occupied by the publisher, it having been remodeled and made suitable for the purpose. The Evening Argus advo- cates Republican principles, and its steady growth in influence in the community evi- dences its popularity as a newspaper.
THE PAST AND PRESENT OF
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN
PERSONAL AND GENEALOGICAL
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
PERSONAL AND GENEALOGICAL
PETER S. ACKERSON
The quiet annals of the lives of our farm- ing people do not read like an exciting story of adventure, but they form a more substan- tial foundation for a belief in the present wellbeing and the future prosperity of our nation. We are always pleased to give the details of an industrious, honorable life, which has made the quiet virtues of in- dustry and perseverance shine forth more brightly than before. Such a life was that of the one whose name appears at the head of this sketch. Though not a native of this state, all of his maturer years were connected most closely with its growth and develop- ment, and he was one of the honored citizens of Caledonia township.
Peter S. Ackerson was born at Phelps, Ontario county, New York, July 9, 1832. He was the son of P. P. and Emma (Hull) Ackerson, natives of New York. The father died at the age of eighty-two years and the mother also at that age, two years after the death of her husband.
Our subject acquired his early education in the district schools of his native state and lived on the farm with his parents until he attained to his majority, when he went to California, where, for three years, he was engaged in mining. After this experience he went back to New York and was married to Catherine Evendon. In 1860 they came to Michigan and settled in Caledonia town- ship, on one hundred and sixty acres of
land which Mr. Ackerson had bought and which was partly cleared, though it had no buildings. Here he built the primitive dwell- ing which was his first home in Michigan. To this union four children were born : Archie and Emma, twins, are both married and live in Colorado; Anna is the wife of Floyd Bernet, a grocer of Corunna; and Minnie is now Mrs. Ed. Traphagan, of Lin- den, Michigan. In February, 1865, the wife and mother of this family died, leaving the four small children.
November 14, 1866, our subject was again married, to Mrs. William Van Dyne, who was born in Maine, November 24, 1842, and who is now living on the old home- stead. She is a daughter of Joshua and Hulda (Howard) Lake, natives of Maine, the father having been born in 1810 and the mother in 1811. Mr. Lake was a farmer and removed to New York about 1846, there remaining until 1866, when he moved to Oakland county, Michigan, where he lived until his death, at the age of sixty-two years. His wife died at the age of sixty-three years.
Mrs. Ackerson is one of a family of eight children, of whom four are living: Chana Lake lives in Oakland county; Eben lives on the old home in New York; Mrs. Ackerson now resides on the old homestead in Shia- wassee county ; and Mary is now Mrs. Brown and resides in Oakland county. One brother, Uriah Lake, lived and died in Oak- land county and at the time of his death he was supreme president of the Patrons of
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Industry of North America. He taught school for twenty-two years in New York. Another brother, George Lake, was a mem- ber of the Twenty-second Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, and died at New Orleans, from exhaustion caused by march- ing.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ackerson were born four children : Arville, now Mrs. L. Baldwin, re- sides at Corunna, and her husband is a con- tractor ; Ray married Dora Jacobs and lives in Detroit, where he is employed by the Grand Trunk Railroad Company as cashier ; George married Carrie Allerton and' lives on a part of the old farm; and Katie is the wife of Roy Bailey, a farmer in Caledonia.
From the year 1860 our subject had a continuous residence on the farm, and as he prospered he added to his possessions until he owned three hundred acres of good farm- ing land. In the year 1877 the old house was replaced by a large modern, brick house, which at that time was the finest structure in the township. The large barn was built in 1865.
Mr. Ackerson affiliated with the Democ- racy and filled the offices of justice of peace and highway commissioner for several years. The later years of his life he was in poor health, suffering from sciatic rheumatism, which caused his death. He was buried, on the fortieth anniversary of the day upon which he came to this county, in the town- ship cemetery, which was formerly a part of his farm. Mrs. Ackerson has erected a fine monument to the memory of her de- ceased husband.
Although Death has laid his chill hands upon the heart of Mr. Ackerson, there is still living the spirit which marked each act of his daily life with nobility and beauty.
JOHN ACKROYD
This gentleman is a native of England, as were his parents before him. He was born in Wilsden, Yorkshire, England, February
27, 1855. He is a son of John and Mary (Moore) Ackroyd, both of whom were born in the same place as was their son, -- the for- mer April 6, 1827, while the latter was about two years younger than her husband. They were married in England and came to Amer- ica in 1857, first locating in Hamilton, Can- ada. The father was a blacksmith and helped to build the first locomotive ever run on the Grand Trunk Railroad. He afterward bought one hundred acres of land in Lamb- ton county, Canada, and lived on the same for thirty-seven years. He then sold the farm and has since lived with his children. Our, subject's parents are both living and are at present with a daughter in Oklahoma. They became the parents of eight children, seven of whom are living: Jonas was drowned in a water tank in Market Square, Hamilton, when nine years old; Alice mar- ried A. H. Whittaker, of Middlebury town- ship: John is the subject of this sketch; Annie married Washington Walker, and they live in Sabetha, Kansas; Eva is Mrs. Fancher, of that place; Lydia married Edgar Belyea and they live in Guthrie, Oklahoma ; Martha is Mrs. A. Degen, of Logan, Iowa; and Mary Hannah is Mrs. Winters and lives on the old Winters homestead, in Canada.
Our subject was educated in the schools of Hamilton and lived with his parents until he was twenty-two years of age. He then came to Michigan and worked by the month for one year on the farm of Andrew Sher- man, of Sciota township. After this he worked by the day for several years. In the meantime he bought eighty acres of tim- bered land, in Midland county, Michigan. He cut some timber off this, but never at- tempted to clear it up or make a home of it. In 1884 he sold it and bought the forty acres on which he now lives. This land had been chopped over, but was full of stumps and brush when he secured it. He first built a small, square frame house, part of which is still standing. He has improved all the- land and has it under a high state of cultiva-
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