The Hastings Banner — Thursday, May 19, 2022 — Page 7Elaine Garlock
The weather last week with temperatures
above 80 degrees some days was a real taste of
summer, a bit early. Some were caught with only
winter weather wear in closets and nothing sum-
mery. This also assured everyone they were no
longer in danger of frost for plants set out early.
One day a deer was seen dashing across the
cemetery toward the north end with its older
evergreen trees which are likely about 125 years
old. Was it looking for cool shade or was it there
to eat some newly planted flowers in an urn?
The Ionia County Genealogical Society met
Saturday at the museum for the first time in
many months except there have been meetings
using Zoom technology. Officer John Pierce
presided. The speaker was from the Grand Rap-
ids Genealogy Society talking about some of the
less-used publications that are available, such as
annual reports of governmental departments and
groups whose topics pertain to genealogy. This
meeting had been publicized only on Facebook,
so many members were likely unaware of this
event happening.
Lilacs are at their best. Forsythia has had its
day. Beauty surrounds at this time of year. Flow-
ering quince bushes are at their peak. Fruit trees
are very showy. Now I wonder why I did not
replace fruit trees that had to be removed in
order to get an important drain many years ago.Did anyone see the lunar eclipse Monday
night? Afternoon and evening of Monday were
very cloudy with no sunlight visible. Did the
clouds move away or did they prevent viewers in
Michigan from seeing any of the rare phenome-
non of a “blood moon” which would result from
a lunar eclipse?
Tri-River museum group met Tuesday in
Belding. Future meetings will be at Cedar
Springs in June, Rockford, Outreach Christian
Church north of Lake Odessa near the freeway,
and at Lowell on the showboat.
Gradually events scheduled by the Ionia
Commission on Aging are coming back. Con-
gregate meals have resumed in most places,
although one is still using the pick-up method. A
tai chai exercise class is returning with a first
session at the Lake Odessa Community Library
this past Tuesday.
The Jordan Lake Trail is soon to have some
repairs on the trail with replacement of the equiv-
alent of travia on the trail. So it will need time to
harden before it is to be used by walkers and
bikers. The trail allows students in some sports to
have a safe place to run, walk or jog away from
traffic. Birds’ nests are placed along the trail so
people using the trail can get a close look at some
nature events, such as hatchlirgs and first flights.Old Banner editor tells his story
Starting in 1948, Marshall Cook wrote a
series of historic articles in the Banner. In
November of that year, Cook (1858-1955) told
his own story of how he became editor in 1880
- 68 years earlier – and what was news in that
time.
He had purchased the local newspaper in
1880, fresh out of Albion College. He was
single, as was his business partner, and though
Cook’s father, David, had worked in the news-
paper office, Marshall said he and his partner
knew little about the business.
In a later review of the Banner of 1880,
copies of which were rare anyway, he men-
tions the names of some of his relatives.
After a few years of being single and
co-owning the newspaper, Cook married
Rosella Belle (Wheeler) Youngs in May 1884.
She was a young widower, her first husband
Charles L. Youngs having died of “quick con-
sumption” in 1879 at age 24.
“Belle,” as she was known, was the daugh-
ter of Woodland-area pioneers Amanda Haight
and Milo T. Wheeler. Along with a son who
died young, the Wheelers had three daughters.
Frances, the eldest, married Clement Smith, a
lawyer at the time; Belle married Marshall
Cook; and the youngest, Estella Antoinette,
who went by “Stella,” married A.D. Kniskern,
then a military cadet.
The husbands of the Wheeler girls became
well known: Clement Smith was a judge for
the Michigan Fifth Circuit, which included
Barry, Calhoun and Eaton counties; Cook was
an esteemed newspaper editor for more than
60 years; and Kniskern became a two-star
general in the U.S. Army. (Smith even had
been offered a Supreme Court appointment for
the Territory of New Mexico by President
William McKinley, but turned it down.) So,
the Wheeler family gatherings must have been
interesting.
Cook, who was born in Prairieville Town-
ship and moved to Hastings as a young boy,
never lost interest in the local community. His
recollections of much earlier days, which he
began writing on a regular basis when he was
about 90, substantiate that interest.
For the Nov. 4, 1948, Banner , he wrote:
My associate in the Banner [George E.
Bowers] and myself had never had any news-
paper experience. In 1882, Mr. Bowers had a
better business opportunity in North Dakota
offered him, so I purchased his interest, and
carried on the business alone for a time.
A little later, Albert D. Kniskern, my broth-
er-in-law, became a partner, but soon after sold
his interest to my brother, William. Mr. Kni-
skern was a graduate of West Point and
returned to the Army. He became a major
general. In World War I, he earned a great
reputation for himself as a purchasing agent
for the government, with headquarters in Chi-
cago. At one time, he had 6,000 men under
him, storing and shipping hundreds of millions
of dollars’ worth of army rations and supplies.
My brother and I were together in the Ban-
ner for half a century. We did not always see
things alike, but in that 50 years, we never had
a quarrel, never a hard word. We found it pos-
sible to talk things over and decided what to do
without ill feelings. The years swept swiftly by,
and we found happiness in working together.
~~~~~
Here, Cook writes in third person, telling
about his history column, with most of the
dates at the end of the entry:
This series of articles has so far been based
on the files of the Hastings Banner for its first
issue in May 1856 to Jan. 1, 1880. The files
from the beginning, up to 1866 when George
M. Dewey bought the Banner , were kept by
John M. Nevins, the first regular editor, also an
owner. Mr. Dewey kept the files from the date
of his purchase to July 15, 1880, when he sold
the Banner to M.L. Cook and his Albion Col-
lege friend, George E. Bowers.Fortunately, Mr. Nevins kept his files in his
home here, and Mr. Dewey took his with him
to Owosso, when he located there. Cook and
Bowers also kept files of the Banner , as did
M.L. Cook when he became sole owner in- But these files were kept in the Banner
office. The building containing that office and
all of its contents were destroyed by fire one
night early in the winter of 1883-84, so no
Banner files exist for the latter half of 1880
and all of 1881, 1882 and 1883.
The children of Mr. Nevins, also of Mr.
Dewey, gave to Cook Bros. the old files cover-
ing the time from May 1, 1856, to July 17,
So, copies of the Banner preserved by Mr.
Dewey for the first few weeks of 1880 are the
only ones in existence for any part of the cal-
endar year 1880.
My brother, W.R. Cook, became an equal
partner with me in the Banner in 1887 and that
joint ownership continued for 50 years until he
disposed of his share to his son Richard M.
Cook. A few years after that, I sold my half
interest to my nephew [the same Richard
“Dick” Cook], who has since been sole owner.
He is making this paper one of the outstanding
country weeklies of Michigan and of this
county.
For more than 60 years, I was the sole
owner or half owner of the Banner. Since I
sold to Richard, I have been contributing spe-
cial articles mostly concerned with the earlier
days of the city and county.
The present series of articles I based on the
files of the Banner. I do not always use the
exact words of those old Banners. I mention
such items as will give some idea of what folks
did and said, the social and economic life of
the people, and what they were interested in.
With the above explanation in mind, let us
now turn to the available copies of the Banner
for the year 1880, and see what we will find:
High Bank Creek went on a spree Sunday,
reported the Banner of Jan. 7, 1880. The fresh-et broke over and emptied two dams, destroy-
ing some highway bridges in Castleton Town-
ship, also damaging the roads. At Morgan,
water swept away part of the railroad bridge
over that stream, delaying trains for several
hours.
A surprise party was given to the Rev. and
Mrs. Levi Master at the Methodist parsonage
New Year’s night to help them celebrate their
china wedding [20th anniversary. Levi Master
and Maria Fried were married Jan. 1, 1861, in
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada]. In well-chosen
words, Clement Smith presented them a beau-
tiful set of French china, also many other
appropriate gifts and a sum of money. The
large crowd present had a very delightful time.
Mr. and Mrs. Master were not only surprised,
but also much pleased with the friendship evi-
denced by this visit.
At the session of the board of supervisors, a
petition signed by A.J. Bowne, D.R. Cook and
many others, called attention to the serious
need of a new courthouse to protect the coun-
ty’s priceless records from destruction by fire.
Nothing was done about it. Jan. 14, 1880,
The paper recorded the fact that the supervi-
sors, by a vote of 15-3, passed a resolution
prohibiting smoking in the room while they
were in session.
The same issue announced the dedication of
the Methodist Protestant Church at Barryville
the next Sunday.
This sage advice we find in the Banner local
of Jan. 21, 1880. It said: “It’s better to buy your
rye by the loaf than by the pint.”
The Michigan Central Railroad received at
Hastings during the year 1879 for freight
$44,607, and for passenger tickets $10,691, or
total earnings from Hastings of $55,298. Jan.
28, 1880.
“For the past few days, we have had every-
thing that goes with winter, except snow.” Feb.
4, 1880.
That same paper noted that “Andrew Bell,
purveyor of liquid damnation at his hell-hole
on the north side of State Street, was convicted
in Justice M.H. Wing’s court of selling liquor
on a Sunday. He was ordered to spend 10 days
in jail, also pay a fine of $25. If the fine is not
paid within 10 days, 60 days will be added to
his jail sentence.”The Hastings Reform Club, by unanimous
vote, commended Justice Wing for his good
work in upholding the state laws regulating the
liquor traffic.
“The ice men are gathering a fine crop of
that product for next summer’s use.” Feb. 11,
1880.
“Official reports form Lansing say Barry
County now has 8,057 persons of school age- 5 to 20 years. That number will be used in
computing the amount of primary school
money to be given by the state to this county
for next year.”
“Lots of wood brought to Hastings this
days.” Feb. 11, 1880.
The students of the high school have been
holding series of socials and have accumulated
a snug sum. They voted to use some of it to
carpet the platform in the high school room,
and to place a nice motto on the wall above the
platform. [M.L. Cook was in the first class –
and one of just five students – to graduate from
Hastings High School in 1877. After declining
to just three graduates in 1879, it was up to six
seniors in the winter of 1880. Kniskern was
one of 11 graduates in the class of 1882, and
Cook’s brother, William, was a 1883 Hastings
graduate.]
“The pay car visited Hastings today and
made all the railroad employees here very
happy.” Feb. 18, 1880.
The same issue reported, “James Burchett, a
well-known Prairieville farmer, recently
butchered a sow and her litter of 10 pigs, born
last April. When dressed, the sow weighed 616
pounds, and the 10 pigs dressed, averaged 305
pounds each, a total of 3,666 pounds. That is
probably a record for this county this year.”
“James Johnson was convicted of sec-
ond-degree murder in circuit court for slaying
Marshall Gibbs of Middleville. He was given
15 years at Jackson by Judge Hooker.” Feb.
28, 1880.
“Datus Jones of Rutland was a member of a
party of coon hunters Wednesday night of last
week. They chased a coon into a big tree,
which they decided to cut down. In doing so, a
large dead limb fell from the tree, striking Mr.
Jones on the head and causing his death the
following day.”
“The hardware firm of Greble and Russell
of this city has been dissolved. Mr. Greble is
retiring because of failing health. William F.
Powers has purchased Mr. Greble’s interest.
The new firm will be Russell and Powers.”
March 10, 1880. [A widower, John Greble’s
health apparently improved. He married a sec-
ond time in February 1888, but eventually died
of heart failure in 1891.]
... The city marshal’s report for the year
ending April 1, 1880, revealed he had made 25
arrests during the year. Of those, 18 were for
drunkenness.
A new post office has been established in
the western part of Johnstown. It is to be called
Banfield. Harvey Bellinger is the postmaster.
May 12, 1880.
In his carriage shop here, J.L. Reed makes
use of a treadmill operated by a horse to fur-
nish the power he needs to drive the few small
machines he uses in his shop. His faithful
horse had been used to operate that treadmill
for 2,147,000 million complete circuits of
apparatus, and has earned a vacation for the
rest of its days. He will see that the faithful
animal has an easy time from now on.
Sells Brothers [circus] appeared here Satur-
day. But that was not a valid reason or a suffi-
cient excuse for so many intoxicated persons
as were allowed on our street that day. Why do
we have a marshal? The same paper estimated
the show drew 5,000 to 6,000 outsiders to
Hastings. May 26, 1880.
“R.L. Underhill delighted to do things for
the children. He brought a good rope and fixed
a nice swing in the park, near the school house.
It was used and enjoyed by the youngsters. On
a recent night, some miscreant cut that rope
into small pieces, so that it could never be
repaired. We wish the guilty person could be
tied to a tree and horsewhipped. That would be
a fitting punishment for such a crime... June 2,
1880.
The same paper mentions the 60th wedding
anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. J. Bunnell of
Barry Township at their home the previous
week. Mr. and Mrs. Bunnell came to this coun-
ty from New York State and settled on their
farm in 1846. They have 10 children now liv-
ing and widely scattered over this country.
Eight of them were able to attend this gather-
ing. “They and their children are fine folks.
...” [John J. Bunnell Jr. and Sally Sawyer even
surpassed the 65-anniversary mark. Both were
20 when they were married in 1819. He died in
1885 and she in 1894, at about 95.]
June 9, 1880: A team of horses belonging to
Moses Shultz of Hope [Township] made a
spectacular runaway here the other day. They
were attached to a buggy and hitched near the
depot in the second ward [east of Green Street
where it joins State Street]. They became
frightened, broke loose and started on a dead
run down the railroad track toward the busi-
ness district. They kept to the railroad track
until they were stopped were the present site of
the Bookcase Co. plant is [now occupied by
Wendy’s, Commercial Bank and other busi-
nesses near Market Street north of West State
Street.] At that time, there was no stone culvert
under the tracks where they cross Fall Creek
[near the present pedestrian bridge and Thor-
napple Plaza]. Instead, there was an ordinary
railroad bridge above the stream, with the
usual timbers and wooden ties for the steel
rails. That team crossed the bridge without
either horse pushing its feet between the ties
and breaking its legs.
They made it without harm to themselves. It
seems incredible, but it actually happened.
That bridge was short, of course, but you
would not believe a runaway team could cross
it without killing or badly injuring both horses.
Strawberries are so plentiful, they are a drag
on the market. Some are plowing up their
strawberry beds and will quit raising them. In
Benton Harbor, it is said, growers will no lon-
ger pick the crop. Those who want berries pay
the grower 1 cent per quart and do the picking
themselves. June 18, 1880.
H.D. Merrill of Johnstown recently plowed
up an Indian arrow of pure copper. It is about
six inches long and three inches wide at the
base. June 30, 1880.
The heavy soil of Woodland farms is so
water-soaked from our excessive rains that
reapers cannot be used. Wheat will have to be
cut with the old-fashioned grain cradles.
The complete government census of Barry
County shows the population in 1880 was
25,320. The city’s population then was 2,540.
The July 17, 1880, paper contains the vale-
dictory of George M. Dewey. He had owned
and edited the Banner for 14 years. Now he
announced he has sold the publication and
business to two young men, George E. Bowers
and Marshall L. Cook, and he expresses good
wishes for the new owners, the Banner , and
the city.
Mr. Dewey moved to Owosso, where he
published a weekly paper, which was contin-
ued by his sons. There, to his son George was
born a son, Thomas. Thomas Dewey gained
world fame for his prosecution of New York
grafters and gangsters. He was the Republican
candidate for U.S. president in 1944 and 1948.
~~~~~
The news from 1880 ended with that issue.
the July 17, 1880, copy of the Banner being
the last one salvaged that year.
Sources: Hastings Banner , findagrave.com,
familysearch.org, History of Barry County by
Hon. W.W. Potter, 1912.Poppy sales help local veterans
For 102 years, residents of Hastings
have purchased “Remembrance Poppies”
in mid-May to wear at Memorial Day cer-
emonies. American Legion veterans and
Auxiliary members have stood shifts in
front of Hastings businesses offering the
bright red artificial Papaver rhoes, along
with a warm smile.
Those iconic poppies will be available
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 20 and 21 out-
side of Family Fare and Walmart in Hast-
ings
Though a long tradition here and in other
communities across the nation, the symbol-
ic poppy is linked to a Belgian battlefield
and a Canadian physician, soldier and poet.
Lt. Col. John McCrae wrote the short som-
ber poem “In Flanders Fields” in 1915 after
watching as red poppies swayed in the
early May breeze amid stationary white
crosses dotting the former battlefield near
Flanders, Belgium, during World War I.
The poem, published later that year,
drew immediate popularity, according to
Wikipedia.com, and soon, portions of the
poem were even used to recruit new troops.Although the verses may not be as well
known today, the red paper flower is still a
familiar symbol.
The poppies often have been put togeth-
er by rehabilitating veterans in VA hospi-
tals. Locally, volunteers have stepped up to
help the effort.
Funds generated from the Poppy Days
Drive are used to provide assistance to
active-duty military and their families, to
rehabilitating veterans and to local veter-
ans in need and their families. In many
years, $4,000 to $5,000 is generated by
American Legion Post 45 in Hastings, and
the bulk of that expended to assist local
veterans.
Representatives of Post 45 and associat-
ed organizations – the Sons of the Ameri-
can Legion, the Auxiliary as well as the
Disabled American Veterans Chapter 139- will stand two-hour watches at those
stores, offering Remembrance Poppies this
weekend.
Citizens purchasing poppies are encour-
aged to wear them to Memorial Day cere-
monies, wherever they may be.
In his 90th year, Marshall Cook began
writing columns on the early days of
Barry County and the Banner, which was
established a little more than two years
before he was born. His recollections
and research continue to be a source for
local history.In his carriage shop on North Jefferson Street, J.L. Reed made use of a treadmill
operated by a horse to furnish power for a few small machines in his shop. The May
1880 Banner reported that the horse “has earned a vacation for the rest of its days.
[Reed] will see that the faithful animal has an easy time from now on.” (City of
Hastings, Michigan, 1871-1971)Fire destroyed the first Barry County Courthouse less than five years after its con-
struction. This wooden structure, the county’s second courthouse, was erected on the
same courthouse square in 1849. But by 1880, concern over potential fire was strong
enough that local businessmen petitioned the board of supervisors to build a brick
courthouse. The board made no movement toward a brick building – but did vote 15-
to prohibit smoking in the room while board meetings were in session. The current
brick courthouse was completed in 1893.