SIX AGES TOTAL NEARLY 500 YEARS – At a recent reunion held at the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Emerson Stalter, near Lake Odessa, the above six members of the Hazel family were honored. They are aunts and uncles of Mr. Stalter. They are, left to right, Oliver, 68; William, 79; Charles, 83; Mrs. Burdette Shattuck, 84; Mrs. Harriet Blackman, 90, and Alfred 88.       (Daily Sentinel-Standard Photo.)

Pioneer Family
         Members Gather

   A unique family gathering was held at the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Emerson Stalter, three miles north of Lake Odessa on the Jordan Lake highway Wednesday. Five centuries of life were represented by six of the honored guests, with their ages ranging from 68 for the youngest to 90 for the oldest.
   The honored guests were aunts and uncles of Mr. Stalter on his mother’s side of the family.
   Mrs. Stalter said she had conceived the idea of bringing together the group for a reunion a few years ago and finally decided to go ahead with it this spring. She said the only other time they would get together was at funerals or weddings, which was not very often.
   The six are members of the Hazel family, an early pioneer family of Odessa township. Originally there were nine memberss in the family and three have since passed away. The six surviving are Mrs. Harriet Blackman from Portland who will be 98 June 21; Alfred, 88 of Lake Odessa; Mrs. Burdette Shattuck, 84 of Owosso; Charles, 83 who makes his home with the Stalters; Will, 79 of Jackson, and Oliver, the baby of the family at 68 from Lansing.
   All of the six except Harriet and Alfred were born on the old Hazel farm just south of the present Stalter farm. These two were born in England and came to the United States with their mother to join their father in America in the year 1871. Their father, George Hazel,    was in the British Navy and in his determination to come to America, deserted and changed his name to George Nightengale and joined the United   States  Navy.   He reached   the

United States and soon sent for his family to join him and they settled in what was then known as South Cass and later as Odessa Corners. The Hazel farm was located just south of the present Stalter farm.
   These brothers and sisters recall the little center of South Cass which had its own general store, post office and blacksmith shop which was located at the corner of what is now Bippley road and Jordan Lake highway. They said the post office was later moved to Lake Odessa when that village was started.
   Fond memories were brought back to all of the group as the vicinity was their playground when they were growing up. They all attended grammar school at the Odessa Center school which has passed out of existence. They also recalled the Clinton Trail passed through the Stalter farm just north of where the house now stands.
   Life was much simplier in their childhood days and the boys and girls were satisfied with the more simple things of life than they are now. They illustrated this point by engaging in a game of horseshoes. In fact, the men did not seem to have lost their skill through the years.
   An interesting thing about this family is that they all live not too many miles apart. The one farthest away is in Jackson.
   The jobs these people have engaged in range from storekeeper, farmer, ditch digger to blacksmith.
   Mrs. Stalter, the host for the reunion, said she hoped to have such a gathering again.