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N EWSLETTER
Vol. V, No. 1
Spring 2013
Dwight Boyers farmhouse displays the carved KARYAHNKOO sign c.1906. Adults L-R: A.D., wife Lulu, Georgia, Dwight Boyer. Children of A.D. L-R: Baby Doris, Aileen. Gift of Sally Blunier.
In the mid 1840s, Austin Boyer along with two brothers, his wife Adelia and young children, moved to this area from upstate New York. Taking to farming, the brothers deeded some of their land in Bainbridge Township to become a small burial ground and a school, called Boyer School until 1959 when it consolidated with others around Coloma. Seymour Boyer (4th MI Cavalry) died at age 21 during the Civil War, but Austin and Adelias younger children Jane and Dwight lived here to old age. Jane Boyer married Union veteran Prosper Bowe in 1864. Their property on Paw Paw Lake became one of the earliest resort areas, known to this day as Bowes Landing. Near them, north of Watervliet, Dwight and his wife Georgiana purchased wooded acreage in 1876 and turned it in to a thriving farm. Austin operated an early saw mill on the Paw Paw River, spent time in Kansas, and also mined in California for several years, but was here when he died in 1893. Austin, Adelia, and their three children are buried in Watervliet Cemetery. Dwight Boyer was known to welcome traveling Potawatomi at his farm, and he developed a friendship with Chief Simon Pokagon, who lived in the Rush Lake/ Hartford area. In the late 1890s, Pokagon gave to Boyer a carved wooden sign reading KARYAHNKOO, meaning Resting Place. Dwight and Georgia Boyer had two sons: A.D. and Forest, and five grandchildren. As an adult, A.D.s daughter Aileen Boyer Miller became a longtime Director of Community Hospital in Watervliet. Boyer Road and Dwight Boyer Road are lasting local evidence of these lives. Thanks to the generous descendants who have shared family heirlooms and stories, the North Berrien Historical Museum preserves much information about this pioneer North Berrien family. Wednesday, April 3, 1-3pm, Free Spring Break Activity Day: Life 100 Years Ago
Forest Boyer (right) presents his fathers sign to North Berrien Historical Society President Roger Carter in 1968.
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300 Coloma Ave. Phone: (269) 468-3330 P.O. Box 207 Fax: (269) 468-4083 Coloma, MI 49038 www.NorthBerrienHistory.org info@NorthBerrienHistory.org Connect with NBHS Online!
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Staff
Director / Curator Director of Programs Office Manager
The mission of the North Berrien Historical Society is to preserve and distribute information regarding the history of North Berrien County. We wish to promote, encourage learning, and disseminate knowledge of the areas cultural and architectural legacy.
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All events are at the North Berrien Historical Museum unless otherwise noted.
Local historian Chriss Lyon will present a history of Benton Harbors Historic Hotel Vincent, built in the early 1920s and still standing on Main Street. Founder William Bestar named it in honor of his father-in-law Alonzo Vincent, who had ties to early Coloma and St. Joseph hotels. Lyon will discuss the Hotel Vincents patronage by Al Capone, drawn from the extensive research for her forthcoming book. Free. Spring Break Activity Day: Life 100 Years Ago . During the Coloma/Watervliet school break, bring the kids for a taste of fun in the 1910s. Take in a short silent film and take a 30 minute trolley bus ride to learn about historic resorts at Paw Paw Lake! Please reserve a trolley ride time in advance by calling the museum at 468-3330. All ages welcome. Free.
Exhibit Opening Reception: North Berrien County Life 1850-1950. All are invited for Thursday, refreshments, conversation, and a first look at new artifact displays in the main gallery. April 11, Exhibit topics include North Berrien pioneers, medical history, the railroads, and the world 5:30-7:30pm wars, plus other local artifacts and stories from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. Larry Schlack will present Michigans One-Room Schools: Gone (Almost) But Not Forgotten, a pictorial history of oneroom schools from all over the state including some of the earliest buildings. The program covers their wide variety of architectural styles and the legacy of one-room education found in todays schools. Mr. Schlack, of Kalamazoo, is a former educator and WMU professor and is an officer for the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association. Byers School, Bainbridge Twp The Life and Times of Scoutings Camp Madron. For over 50 years, Camp Madron near Buchanan served as the heart and soul of boy scouting in southwestern Michigan. Local scout historian Jim Ellis will trace the camps history from its founding in 1926 through its eventual sale in 1984. A broad selection of Camp Madron memorabilia will also be displayed. Free. Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. All NBHS volunteers are invited for a meal in honor of their important contributions to the North Berrien Historical Museum. Brief remarks will be presented at 6pm, reviewing the many examples of service by our volunteers in the past year. To attend, please RSVP to the museum at 468-3330 or NBHSoffice@sbcglobal.net. First by Car & First by Air: All from Southwest Michigan. Dr. Stuart Boekeloo, Local historian, will discuss famous transportation firsts in Berrien County including the Baushke automobile and early flight on Silver Beach. The museum will display space travel literature and a space food tray prototype developed by the Whirlpool Corporation for NASA. Free. The originally scheduled date of this program in February was cancelled due to weather.
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Begins at 6:30pm in the Restaurant at Marys City of David; Talk by Ron Taylor Intimate tour of the historic Gardens surrounding Marys Shiloh Administration Building. Stop for an ice cream social! An original concession stand will serve us ice cream, cookies, and homemade lemonade. Move to nearby Eden Springs Park. Ride on original 1908-09 Baushke built rail carriages, departing from the original south depot. The short train route will encompass the properties that were the zoo, aviary, green house, hotel, restaurant and base ball field above the Eden Springs Park.
Postcards of the Miniature Railway at Eden Springs, circa 1910s and 1940s. NBHS 9998.15.72 / 9998.16.32.
African-American migrant family African American families traveled north during the Great Migration any way they could: on foot, by car, by train, and even by packet boat. If by car, it was important to know safe places to stop along the way. A young girl and her family migrate from Florida to New Jersey, 1940. Library of Congress, LC-USF34-040841
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Page 7 have learned about the museum and local history. The museum has been very busy with school groups as well. On Monday, February 11 we welcomed 116 Watervliet North Elementary School 3rd graders for a museum tour. They made their own paper bookmarks to keep. Then the next three days we enjoyed having Victorian Valentines Day parties with 80 Coloma Elementary 2nd graders where they crafted their own valentines and played fun holiday themed games. Our Traveling Trunk programs are still being used in a variety of ways. This winter Countryside Academy 4th grade made use of the Lincolns Legacy and All About Barns trunks. Later we visited the classroom to teach them about Pioneers in Berrien County; showing them how to make butter and write with quill pens. North Berrien Historical Society Membership Form
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In Memory of Dorothy Cannell Estate of Dorothy Cannell In Memory of Amy Hiler John & LaVern Glassman Sally Williams
Exhibit Opening Reception: North Berrien County Life 1850-1950 Thursday, April 11, 5:30-7:30pm
Spring Break Activity Day: Life 100 Years Ago Wednesday, April 3, 1-3pm Discover fashions, food & fun of the 1910s Take a trolley bus ride to Paw Paw Lake!
Hagar Bainbridge Coloma Watervliet www.NorthBerrienHistory.org