THE SEBEWA RECOLLECTOR Bulletin of The Sebewa Association –
AUGUST 1990, Volume 26, Number 1. Submitted with written permission of current
Editor Grayden D. Slowins:
SURNAMES: HEINTZELMAN, LAKIN, ARNOLD, SLOWINS, CARR, SHAY, CREIGHTON, LENON,
GIERMAN, KENYON, CATT, McDONALD
EVERETT HEINTZELMAN did not survive his heart surgery shortly after he attended
our annual meeting. MRS. MARIAN LAKIN of Clark Home in Grand Rapids, is also 90
years old this year.
G. W. ARNOLD & SON by Grayden Slowins
The death of George Carr reminds me of a story from our family about the death
of George Arnold many years ago. George Wesley Arnold had founded the Arnold
Machine Shop when he arrived in South Ionia with the Dexter Colony in 1833 at
one year of age, with a little help from his father, Oliver Arnold. The business
eventually became G. W. Arnold & Son, and is today the oldest continuous
business in Ionia County and one of the oldest in the State of Michigan. I think
Sanford Yeomans Farms and Dexter Arnold Farms have equal claim, but in this case
I guess farms don’t count.
George Arnold had a blacksmith shop and foundry, and made plows, land rollers,
dinner bells, sledge hammers, knives, cultivators, folding stepladders, and the
green cast-iron frog doorstops many of us still own. They also repaired steam
engines and boilers. Later his son, Fred Arnold, made gas engines, at least one
automobile, and also sold Maxwell automobiles.
When George died in 1888, the family wanted to preserve their heritage and also
hold true to the thrifty ideals of their Schnabel relatives. So they went into
the foundry with hammers and chisels and changed all the molds from G. W. Arnold
& Son to G. W. Arnold’s Son, by changing the & to ‘S. Perhaps Geo. Carr’s Sons
will want to do the same.
Few of us will be as well respected when we pass on as George Carr. He was the
first neighbor to offer help when we moved from the Portland Township farm to
Sebewa Township. He baled our first hay until our own baler arrived. Someplace
in the Bible it says: “No greater deed doth any person than to feed my sheep”.
The first beans I ever saw him thresh, he poked thru a little old Allis-Chalmers
Model-40 combine. When he died he had one of the three largest farming
operations in Sebewa and a dozen satisfied landlords, because he always treated
everyone fair & square. His work on the Board of Review was exemplary. His is a
heritage worth preserving! End.
FOR OUR 1900 BIRTHS, the few left to enjoy their birthdays are Marie SHAY of
Portland, Elfa CREIGHTON of Lake Odessa, Theo LENON of Sunfield and Elmer
GIERMAN of Alma. Elfa celebrated with a trip to the West Coast. Theo had a big
celebration or two, one at the Sunfield Lions Club and the public one at the
Sunfield United Methodist Church with his son and daughter arranging. Elmer
awaits the 5th of September with his children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren for his celebration at the Masonic Home in Alma. His address
is the Masonic Home, 1200 Wright Ave., Alma, MI 48801. A HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISH TO
ALL!
We are looking forward to Edna Howland Kenyon reaching her hundredth birthday in
December. It should be mentioned here that Vertie CATT McDONALD still lives at a
nursing home in Hastings at well past 100 years. She was once a Sebewa resident.