St. Joseph County MI

Alfred Todd of St. Joseph County MI

Alfred Todd7, (Caleb6, Caleb5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Dec. 28, 1799, probably in Marcellus, N. Y., died April 17, 1877, married Feb. 19, 1828, Mary Ann, daughter of Oliver and Esther (Sayles) Hovey, who was born Jan. 15, 1809, in Marcellus, N. Y., died May 25, 1888. Mr. Todd lived in Marcellus, N. Y., until 1835, seven years after his marriage, when he moved to Michigan and purchased a farm near the village of Nottawa, St. Joseph County, as a pioneer. Shortly before moving to Michigan, he had bought eighty acres of land in the primeval forest, almost the … 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

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, Carrie Lampe – Obituary

Carrie (Lampe) Bowman, 91, of 114 Cynthia St., died Sept. 3, 1984, at Froh Community Home, Sturgis, following a four-year illness. She was born Nov. 3, 1892 in Burr Oak Township, a daughter of Helmuth Henry and Ida (Waterstraut) Lampe. On Sept. 3, 1912, she married Frank Athol Bowman in Sturgis. He died in 1951. She was a Bronson resident since 1931. She was of the Evangelical Lutheran faith and attended the Bronson Baptist Church for many years. She was employed by the Sturgis Journal from age 16-20, when the owner was E. A. Ferrier. During World War II she … 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

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, 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

Biography of Joshua A. Stone

Joshua A. Stone. One of the old time citizens of Montgomery County was the late Joshua A. Stone, who identified himself with Independence and that locality soon after the country was open to settlement, and who impressed his ability and energy upon many local business activities. He was especially prominent in the coal mining industry. Mr. Stone died at his home in Independence April 30, 1914. Mrs. Stone, who is executrix of his estate, has proved herself a very competent business manager, and is one of the highly esteemed women of Montgomery County. Born in Centerville, Michigan, in March, 1846, … Read more

Biography of Edward V. More

Edward V. More. Of the families of Champaign County whose industry and activities of life have contributed materially to the prosperity and upbuilding of the community one of the most highly respected is that which bears the name of More, and which has a worthy representative in Edward V. More of Rantoul. Mr. More, who is engaged in the fire insurance business at this time and whose energies have taken him into other fields of endeavor during a long and uniformly successful career, was born in St. Joseph County, Michigan, and is a son of James R. and Louisa M. … 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.

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

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

Alfred Todd of Portland OR

Alfred Todd9, (Oliver H.8, Alfred7, Caleb6, Caleb5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Dec. 24, 1878, in Colon, Mich., married Oct. 10, 1907, Myrtle Biddleman, of Thornberg, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Michigan, June 20, 1906, after which he practised law in Lamar, Colo., for about six years. They moved later to Portland, Ore. Children: 2569. Oliver Elwyn, b. May 24, 1909. 2570. Rebecca Biddleman, b. April 29, 1911. 2571. Priscilla Fredericka, b. Jan. 6, 1913.

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

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

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

Hubert Grey Todd of New Orleans LA

Hubert Grey Todd9, (James A.8, Alfred7, Caleb6, Caleb5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Sept. 1, 1872, in Sherman, Mich., married Jan. 16, 1907, Annie Lee, daughter of Frederick A. and Lee J. (Guice) Dicks, who was born Oct. 30, 1876, in Natchez, Miss., her father having been born in Mississippi and her mother in Minnesota. He went with his parents in 1874, to Burr Oak, Mich., where he attended school and graduated from the High School there in 1888. He took a commercial course in 1892. He began learning the printing business in March 1888, when he secured a position … 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

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, 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