St. Joseph County MI

Bowman, Edson Ross – Obituary

Edson R. Bowman, 64, who had lived in Sturgis and vicinity for the past 40 years, was the victim of a heart attack last night [August 7, 1944] on the Charles Seeb farm. Death, which occurred at eight o’clock, came after Mr. Bowman had desperately worked to prevent a grass fire from spreading on his farm two miles from Sturgis on South Nottawa Road. Mr. Bowman had decided to burn off a dried-up pasturage area near his home which got beyond his control. Even with his wife giving assistance by carrying water it became evident that fire apparatus would have … Read more

Falkenstein, Ida Edith Waterstraut – Obituary

Mrs. Ida Falkenstein, 72, life-long resident of Sturgis and vicinity, died suddenly of a heart attack this morning at 8:15 o’clock at her home, 103 South Orange Street. She had been in poor health for some time and had been under care of a physician, but early this morning Mrs. Falkenstein felt well enough to have breakfast. She went into the yard for a few moments, then returned to the house to rest when the fatal heart attack occurred. Born in Sturgis on Oct. 7, 1867, she was a daughter of Charles and Caroline Waterstraut. She was first married to … Read more

Albert May Todd of Kalamazoo MI

Albert May Todd8, (Alfred7, Caleb6, Caleb5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born June 3, 1850, in Nottawa, Mich., married Jan. 23, 1878, Augusta Margaret, daughter of John and Mary (Engle) Allman, who was born Sept. 20, 1855. Mr. Todd was born on a farm near the village of Nottawa, St. Joseph County, Mich., the youngest of ten children, all of whom were supported upon forty-five acres of cleared land, which was the total area that was practical for tillage on his father’s eighty acre farm. Their lives were necessarily plain, but extremely happy. For the first few years after he entered … Read more

Bowman, Dorcas Tabitha Simonton – Obituary

Mrs. Dorcas Bowman, 83, passed away this morning at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Edith Barnell, 504 North Prospect Street, after being ill for a period of seven weeks. She was born in LaGro, Ind., on August 3, 1856, the child of John R. and Mary Simonton. In 1876 [May 12, 1877} she was married to Sylvester Bowman in Shydler, Ind. For the past 30 years, however, she has made her home in Sturgis, where she was a member of the Gospel Hall. She is survived by her husband, who is living with a son in LeRoy, Mich.; five … Read more

Bowman, William Levi – Obituary

William Levi Bowman, 28, living with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edson R. Bowman, a mile and a half southwest of Nottawa, died this morning from an injury received in 1927 while he was in the U.S. Army. Mr. Bowman enlisted in the army I 1920 and served at Fort David in the Canal Zone until 1923 when he was discharged. He re-enlisted two years later at Grand Rapids. In 1927, while at Fort Sheridan, he fell 41 feet when washing windows and struck on some concrete steps. He sustained a fractured skull and injured ankle. He was taken to … Read more

Biography of William N. Smelser

William N. Smelser has been a member of the Emporia bar for twenty-five years. His had been an enviable record both as a lawyer and as a citizen, and his ability, industry and his conscientious care have brought him a high position among Kansas lawyers. His family have resided in Emporia more than thirty years, and William N. Smelser was about fourteen years old when brought to that city. He was born in Sturgis, in Southern Michigan, February 2, 1870. The Smelsers came originally from Germany, but have been Americans since about the time of the Revolutionary war. The first … Read more

Purkes, Lena Floy Tozer Bowman – Obituary

Mrs. Lena F. Purkes, 92, of 800 Mechanic St., died at 5:35 P.M. Thursday in Fairview Medical Facility in Centerville where she had been a patient since January, 1972. She was born in LeRoy, Mich., July 26, 1880, to Mailand and Olive (Simonton) Tozer. She was married to Edson R. Bowman on April 18, 1902 in LeRoy. He died Aug. 7, 1944. On Oct. 12, 1951, she was married to Thomas Purkes in Angola, Ind. He died July 29, 1960. Mrs. Purkes was a member of the First Baptist Church. Surviving are a son, Virgil Bowman, of Sturgis; three daughters, … Read more

Dwight Imnah Todd of Williston ND

Dwight Imnah Todd9, (James A.8, Alfred7, Caleb6, Caleb5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Dec. 19, 1877, in Burr Oak, Mich., married June 24, 1903, Jessie Valentine, daughter of Henry Edmund and Elizabeth C. Willard, who was born Feb. 14, 1897, in Fort Wayne, Ind. She attended the Angola Normal School, after which, she taught school several years in Fort Wayne, Ind., and neighboring towns. She studied vocal music in Chicago, Ill., and Meadville, Penn.; was later a soprano soloist. He graduated from the High School in Burr Oak, Mich., and later attended the Normal School in Angola, Ind. At one … Read more

James Alfred Todd of North Dakota

James Alfred Todd8, (Alfred7, Caleb6, Caleb5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Jan. 1, 1838, in Marcellus, Anondaga County, N. Y., married Sept. 17, 1863, Marien W., daughter of Rev. Gabriel and Sarah Burdick (Grey) Smith, who was born July 12, 1841, in New York City. Mr. Todd, when less than year old was taken by his parents in Sept., 1838, to Nottawa Township, St. Joseph County, Mich., where he attended the county school and then two winters in High School in Sturgis, Mich. He has been a farmer most of his life, and at the present time (1913) has a … Read more

Falkenstein, Frank – Obituary

Frank Falkenstein, 70, life-long resident of Sturgis and vicinity, died Sunday morning [March 21] at his home 103 South Orange Street. He had been in poor health for the past five years. Mr. Falkenstein was born in Sturgis Township, March 14, 1866, a son of John and Mary [Kielkopf] Falkenstein. He was married in April 1902 [1904] to Mrs. Ida Waterstraut Lampe in Sturgis. Mr. Falkenstein engaged as a farmer in Sturgis Township until 1816 when he moved to Sturgis where he was employed for 15 years at the C. A. Miller Company factory. Five years ago he retied because … Read more

Bowman, Frank Athol – Obituary

Frank Athol Bowman, 65, died Sunday [March 25, 1951] afternoon in the Sturgis Memorial Hospital in Sturgis, where he had been admitted for treatment Saturday. He had been ill a long time. He was born in Hartford City, Ind., April 3, 1885, a son of Sylvester and Dorcas (Simonton) Bowman. He had been employed as a tool and die maker by the H. A. Douglas Manufacturing Co. and Reel Manufacturing Co. here and also had been employed in Sturgis by the Kirsch Co. Surviving are the widow, Carrie (Lampe) Bowman; a son, Wallace of Sturgis; a daughter, Mrs. Howard (Geraldine) … Read more

Biography of David Bailey

David Bailey. In the latter part of 1854 or the early part of 1855 Mr. Bailey moved to Monticello, Illinois. After a short sojourn there he came to Urbana, and in March or April, 1856, moved to Champaign, where for a number of years, in connection with W. B. Bailey, he conducted a small country store in a frame building that he erected on the site now occupied by the Robeson Department Store. David Bailey was one of the thirteen men who founded the First National Bank of Champaign, in 1865. Application for organization was made to the government in … Read more

Early Native American Gardening

Grand River Michigan Ancient Garden Beds - Plate 6

What proportion of the prairies of the West may be assigned as falling under the inference of having been abandoned fields, may constitute a subject of general speculation. It appears to be clear that the great area of the prairies proper is independent of that cause. Fire is the evident cause of the denudation of trees and shrubs in a large part of the area between the Rocky and the Allegheny mountains. Water comes in for a share of the denudation in valleys and moist prairies, which may be supposed to be the result of a more recent emergence from its former … Read more

Biography of Judge Columbia Lancaster

JUDGE COLUMBIA LANCASTER. – Judge Lancaster, one of our earliest and most eminent judges, was born at New Milford, Litchfield county, Connecticut, on the 26th of August, 1893. His father was of Quaker descent, and settled in Ohio at an early date. Columbia read law under Whittlesy & Newton in Ohio. The Whittlesy of the firm was the honorable Elisha who was a long time in Congress, and afterwards held office in the auditor’s department under both Whig and Democratic administrations with no charge of his political sentiments. He though almost as much of his student Lancaster as of his … Read more

Biography of Hon. Arthur Thompson Crocker

Hon. Arthur Thompson Crocker, present state senator from Chase County, is a member of the firm Crocker Brothers, who as stockmen and farmers have developed some of the biggest interests in that line in the State of Kansas. The center of their operations is near Bazaar in Chase County. Senator Crocker is a native of Chase County and was born on his father’s cattle ranch here January 17, 1874. He is a son of Erastus Bryant and Annie Elizabeth (Grey) Crocker. Erastus B. Crocker, who was born in New York State in 1840, is a son of Alexander and Dorcas … Read more

Oliver Julian Todd of California

Oliver Julian Todd9, (Oliver H.8, Alfred7, Caleb6, Caleb5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Nov. 1, 1880, in Colon, Mich., married May 15, 1910, Rheta Lorraine Kahn, of Almeda, Calif. He graduated from the University of Michigan, Engineering Dept., June 1908, in which department his distant kinsman, Prof. George W. Patterson is an instructor. In 1913 he was assistant to the San Francisco, Calif., city engineer and has been located at Lake Eleanor, Hetchy-Hetchy Valley, Calif. Child: 2572. Robert Manson, b. May 10, 1917.

Biography of Selden B. Kingsbury

The profession of the law, when clothed with its true dignity and purity and strength, must rank first among the callings of men, for law rules the universe. The work of the legal profession is to formulate, to harmonize, to regulate, to adjust, to administer those rules and principles that underlie and permeate all government and society and control the varied relations of men. As thus viewed there attaches to the legal profession a nobleness that cannot but be reflected in the life of the true lawyer, who, rising to the responsibilities of his profession, and honest in the pursuit … Read more

1894 Michigan State Census – St. Joseph County

United States Soldiers of the Civil War Residing in Michigan, June 1, 1894 [ Names within brackets are reported in letters. ] Burr Oak Township – Roswell Wilcox, Orrin M. Brooks, Stephen Gilkerson, Henry Kiser, William H. Wells, Alfred Sargent, James Billman, George Hackman, John J. Van Vorst, Leonard 0. Green, John Botzner, Henry W. Fretter, Harlow C. Gilson, Abner G. Van Vorst, John W. Green, Philip Rusher, Erwin Tisdal, George Skimp, James Prouty. Village of Burr Oak – George Sheffield, David H. Carter, Anton Miller, John C. Rollman, James Downs, Seymour H. Hogle, Albert Slingerland, George Robinson, Leander B. … Read more

Bowman, Wallace R., Sr. – Obituary

Wallace R. Bowman, Sr., 73 years old, 27198 Oak Drive, died Aug. 20, 1988, at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Fort Wayne, Ind. He was born July 19, 1915, in Elkhart County, Ind., a son of Frank A. and Carrie (Lampe) Bowman. On Feb. 4, 1943, he married Marion Schrader in Hot Springs, Ark. She died March 12, 1978. On April 6, 1983, he married Nancy Hunt in Sturgis. He was a Sturgis resident most of his life and was employed at the Kirsch Company. For 42 years, he had operated the B & W Tavern, retiring in 1983. He was … Read more

Hoffman, Ward John – Obituary

FREMONT–Ward J. Hoffman, 86, of Fremont, died Friday, March 2, 1990 at the Mahaska Manor in Oskaloosa. He was born Dec. 3, 1903 in Constantine, Mich., the son of John Luther and Carrie Bishop Hoffman. He moved to Iowa in 1913 and attended Fremont High School. He married Merle Phillippe on July 5, 1929 in Oskaloosa; she died April 23, 1989. He had been a farmer and his farm is recognized as a Century Farm. He was a member of the Fremont United Methodist Church, and had been a member of the Fremont Lions Club. He is survived by one … Read more