Pierre Burt
February 26, 1850-January 27, 1927

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Monday, January 31, 1927, page 1 col. 3

PIERRE BURT DIES AFTER APOPLECTIC STROKE IN CALIF.

Pierre Burt, a former resident of Niles for 20 years, died on Thursday, January 27, at Glendale, Calif., after being stricken with apoplexy on January 23.

During his residence in Niles Mr. Burt was deeply interested in city affairs and had served for two terms as supervisor from the third ward. He worked diligently developing which is now known as Riverview addition. He engaged in gardening in a small way and in raising chickens. In the fall Mr. and Mrs. Burt went to Glendale and upon his health began to improve rapidly. His sudden affliction and resulting death therefore, comes as a shock to relatives and many friends.

Mr. Burt was born in New York state, February 26, 1850. When he was four years of age, his parents moved to Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, which at that time was a wilderness and very sparsely settled, the neighbors being chiefly the Indians. It was here that the Burt family built their log cabin, cleared the land for tilling, raised their twelve children and endured the many hardships common to the pioneer.

Mr. Burt was married to Mary E. Peck in 1873 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Seven children were born to them, five girls and two boys, the boys dying in their infancy. Besides the widow, he is survived by the following daughters: Mrs. Jay Hall, Manitowoc, Wisc. ; Mrs. Laura Luth, Niles; Mrs (Dr.) L.K. Atherton, Washington, D.C.; Mrs. Harl Searl, Spokane, Wash., and Mrs. Austin Hayward, Fond du Lac, Wis.. He also is survived by 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

After his children had grown to young womanhood he moved from this farm to the city of Manitowoc where he spent several years actively engaged in politics and business. For two terms he served as sheriff of Manitowoc county. During the remaining years he lived in Wisconsin and operated shoe stores at Manitowoc and Fond du Lac.

Contemplating a change of resident, he and Mrs. Burt made a tour of the country in 1908 seeking a favorable place to locate. After visiting many places on the way back to Wisconsin, when the train stopped at Niles, they were so impressed with the beautiful Michigan Central park, that they got off for a further inspection of the city. They did not leave Niles until after they purchased the Dye property known as the Colonel Bond place. Since then Niles had been his home and he has often expressed his opinion that Niles was the most beautiful city he had visited.

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Friday, February 4, 1927, page 4 col. 1

News in Brief: BURIAL TO BE DELAYED

Mrs. Laura Luth has been advised the body of her father, Pierre Burt, who died in January will be placed in a mausoleum in Glendale but will be brought to Niles for burial or as soon as Mrs. Burt can close her business affairs there.

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Tuesday, February 15, 1927, page 4 col. 1

News in Brief: BRINGING BODY TO NILES

The body of Pierre Burt is being brought to Niles from Glendale, Calif., by his daughter, Mrs. Austin Hayward , of Fond du Lac, Wis., and is expected here on Michigan Central train due at 11o'clcok tomorrow morning. The body will be taken directly to mausoleum in Silver Brook cemetery and the funeral services will be conducted there at 2:30 o'clock by Rev. H.T. Scherer, pastor of the Presbyterian church. The body will be entombed in the masoleum [sic] crypt. Mrs. Burt, widow of the deceased was unable to make this trip to Niles on account of illness, but she plans after the disposal of their property there to return to Niles later.

Wilber N. Burns
November 18, 1879-February 17, 1964

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Friday, February 17, 1964, page 1, column 2

PROMINENT NILES ATTORNEY DIES AT FLINT TODAY
Wilbur N. Burns, 76, Was Prominent in Civic and Business Affairs

Atty. Wilber N. burns, 78, of 544 Oak Street, senior partner in the law firm of Burns, Mollison and Hadsell here, died at 7 a.m. today in the home of his son-in-law and daughter, Dr. and Mrs. Edwin P. Vary, of Flint.

The veteran attorney had been ill since September when he entered the hospital at Flint. Since his release from the hospital, he had been at the home of his daughter.

HE WAS BORN Nov. 18, 1879, in Pekin, Niagara County, N.Y., the son of Newton and Mary Maxon Burns and moved to Michigan with his family at the age of eight. He was married Sept. 28, 1904, to Grace Bartram of St. Louis, Mich. She preceded him in death on June 4, 1951.

His family settled in St. Louis where he graduated from high school in 1897. He taught school for two years before entering the University of Michigan where he graduated with his law degree in 1902. On Aug. 1 of that year he was admitted to the bar and shortly after that opened his practice in Niles. He held the distinction of introducing the first typewriter to the city.

In 1903 he formed a partnership with Charles E. Sweet of Dowagiac, with whom he practiced until 1907. The partnership was dissolved at that time and he operated alone until 1910 when he formed a partnership with Arthur J. Hillman. He practiced alone again from 1913 to 1919. In August, 1919, Philip A. Hadsell, now circuit Judge, entered the firm and became a partner in 1920. In 1951, Andrew R. Mollison of Detroit entered the firm as a partner, and 1954 Philip A. Hadsell, Jr. because a partner in the firm.

DURING HIS 53 years of active practice he gained recognition as (continued on Page Two) a specialist in corporation law and served as attorney for the Indiana and Michigan Electric Company, and National-Standard company.

He served as city attorney from 1959 to 1963, was president of the State Bar of Michigan from 1945 to 1946, was president of the Berrien County Bar Association from 1938 to 1939 and service as a county circuit court commissioner from 1904 to 1908.

He was elected commissioner of the State Bar in 1938 and held that post until 1946. He also was a member of the American bar Association and the American Judicature Society.

ACTIVE IN ALL civic affairs he was a charter member and first president of the Niles Rotary Club, served as a member of the Board of Education, was secretary-treasurer of the Niles Hotel Association and served as an elder and Sunday school superintendent of the First Presbyterian Church where he was a member.

He was a member of the St. Joseph Valley Chapter of the Masonic Lodge, holding the thirty-second degree.

He also was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police and held life memberships in the Knights of Pythias and the Elks Lodge.

Surviving besides his daughter are: two sisters, Mrs. M.E. Moore, of Alma, Mich., and Mrs. Clare Rogers, of Sherman Oaks, Calif, and four grandchildren, Mrs. Gerald Robbins, of LaCrosse, Wis., Wilber Burns Vary, of Lansing, James Vary, of Flint, and Miss Janette Vary, also of Flint. His son, Robert Burns, died in 1927.

Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m., Sunday in the First Presbyterian Church here with the pastor, Dr. T.Mi. Greenhoe, officiating. Burial will be in the mausloeum[sic] at Silverbrook Cemetery. Friends may call at the Kiger Funeral Home here Saturday afternoon.

William F. Harrah
November 12, 1871-April 16, 1959

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Friday, April 17, 1959, page 1, col. 7-8

W.F. Harrah Dies
at the Age of 87

William F. Harrah, 87, co-founder and honorary chairman of the board of National-Standard Co., died at 7:45 p.m. Thursday at his Berrien Crest home on Hance Road west of Niles. He had been in failing health several months.

A native of Brookfield, Mo., Mr. Harrah came to Niles in 1905 and two years later founded a company which later was consolidated with another firm as National-Standard Co. He has served the company as president, chairman and honorary Chairman since 19 . . .[illegible]. . .with numerous industries in the Midwest and financial institutions in the Niles area.

Friends may call after 5 p.m. Saturday at the Kiger-Halbritter Funeral Home. Calling hours also will be observed from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday at the First Presbyterian Church.

Services will be conducted at 2 p.m., Monday at the church by the Rev. John Maclachlan, pastor. Interment will be in the mausoleum at Silverbrook Cemetery.

Mr. Harrah is survived by his widow, the former Marie Even; a son, Clayton C. “Duke” Harrah of Niles and two grandchildren.

W.F. Harrah was born Nov. 12, 1871 at Brookfield, Mo., the son of the Rev. Charles C. and Sarah Ann Harrah. He was married to Marie E. Even Feb. 19, 1894 in Peoria, Ill.

After moving to Niles he served six years on the City Council and during World War I was appointed to the Michigan State War Board by Gen. Albert Springer. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, 32rd Degree Mason, Shriner and member of the Niles Rotary Club, Orchard Hills Country club and the Union League Club of Chicago.

Mr. Harrah received his education in Galva and Peoria, Ill., high schools, Brown's Business College in Peoria and at Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, where he was a student two years.

In the summer of 1890 he began his business career as an office boy for Rouse Hazard & Co., a bicycle manufacturer in Peoria. After leaving Grinnell College in 1892, he returned the firm for one year and then became treasurer of the A.C. Mount brook Co. of Des Moines, Iowa, for two years. He rejoined Rouse Hazard in Peoria as manager of the offices and foreign department and in 1897 became vice president of the Harrah & Stewart Marufacturing Co., at Des Moines, manufacturers of woodenware and bicycle supplies.

Mr. Harrah moved to Niles in 1905 and was one of the organizers of the National Wire Cloth Co., manufacturers of fly screen. He was secretary of this company until 1911 when with was consolidated with five other companies as American Wire Fabrics Co. He was director of the new organization and served as the Niles Division manager and vice president until 1922 when the business was sold to new York financial interests.

In the meantime, Mr. Harrah extended his business enterprises as founder and treasurer of the National Cable & Manufacturing Co. at Niles in 1907. This company subsequently purchased the jack and railroad track tool department of the Cook Standard Tool Co., of Kalamazoo and the two firms where re-organized as the National-Standard Co.

Mr. Harrah served National-Standard as president from 1913 to 1934 when he became chairman of the board. He was chairman from 1934 to 1942 when he was made honorary chairman.

National-Standard today has plants at Niles, Akron, Ohio; Los Angeles; Clifton, N.J.; Worcester, Mass.; Dixon, Ill.; Jersey City, N.J.; Guelph, Ontario, Canada; and (Continues on Page 2) near Birmingham, England. The company manufactures wire for Automobile tires and other industrial use, spring steel, perforated metal and wire screen.

During his most active years, Mr. Harrah served as president of the Dry-Kold Refrigerator Co. of Niles; president of the Campbell Transmission Co. of Buchanan; president of the State Bank of Niles; chairman of the finance committee for construction of the Four Flags hotel, a trustee of Grinnell College, director of the Niles Finance Co., chairman of the Board of the National Discount Corp. of South Bend and director of the National Assn. of Manufacturers.

Clayton C. “Duke” Harrah
July 16, 1900-February 17, 1969

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Tuesday, February 18, 1969, page 2, col. 1-2

“Duke” Harrah Dies

Palo Alto, Calif.-- Clayton C. “Duke” Harrah, 68, whose father, William F. Harrah, founded the National-Standard Co., in 1907, died here Monday after an extended illness.

Mr. Harrah was founder of Duke Harrah, Inc., which manufacturers[sic] aircraft engine accessories. The company was founded in 1941.

William Harrah founded several manufacturing concerns in the Niles area, the most successful being National-Standard, which manufactures flat wire braid, wire tape, high pressure hose and related products in plants around the world.

Mr. Harrah is survived by his wife, Sonya; a son, Michael, Ann Arbor; a daughter, Mrs. Marie Elizabeth Hickerson, and a grandson, Edwin Hickerson.

Mr. Harrah was born July 16, 1900 in Des Moines, Iowa and has been a resident of the area since his family moved here in 1905.

He was an aeronautical engineer and president of Duke Harrah Inc. He married Sonya Berta Stone , Nov. 14, 1936 in Niles.

He was a 33rd Degree Mason, member of the Niles Elks Lodge and First Presbyterian Church.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Halbritter-Swem Funeral Home and are incomplete. Friends may call at the funeral home Friday. Burial will be in the Harrah Room of the mausoleum in Silverbrook Cemetery.

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Wednesday, February 19, 1969, page 2, col. 3

NILES—Funeral services for Clayton C. “Duke” Harrah, 68, of Harrah Road, Berrien Crest, will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in the First Presbyterian Church. The pastor, Rev John R. Wyngarden, will officiate. Burial will be in the Harrah Room of the mausoleum of Silverbrook Cemetery.

Mr. Harrah died Monday in Palo Alto, Calif. After an extended illness. He was president of Duke Harrah Inc., an active member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and a board member at Western Michigan University.

Active bearers for the services are Steve Schroeder, Sam Milner, William Reum, Charles Milner, Clarence Osborn and Eugene Debevic.

Honorary bearers are Peter Shermeta, Paul Dzur, Guy Heim, Judd Leighton, Casper Grathwohl, Richard E. Willard, Reynald Wood, George Evers and Marvin Hannewyk.

Friends may call at the Halbritter-Swem Funeral Home beginning Friday.

Joyce K. Andrews
January 11, 1914-December 8, 1983

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Monday, December 8, 1983, page 2, col. 2

Mrs. Joyce K. Andrews, 69, of 1231 Huff Ave., Niles, died at 8:02 p.m. Thursday at the St. Joseph Medical Center in South Bend after an extended illness.

She was born January 11, 1914 in Jackson and had lived in the area since 1919, coming from Jackson. She was a member of the Tinity[sic] Episcopal.

She married George W. Andrews on January 25, 1934 in Niles. He survives.

Also surviving are: her mother, Mrs. Ethel H. Korman of Niles; a son George W. Andrews Jr., Niles; two brothers, Henry B. Korman of Berea, Ohio and David R. Korman of Niles; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Trinity Episcopal Church, Rev. William C. Hamm of that church will officiate. Burial will follow at Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends may call from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Halbritter Funeral Home. Memorials nay be given to the Trinity Episcopal Church Memorial Fund.

Lawrence P. Lorensen
May 22, 1888-May 2, 1977

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Monday, May 2, 1977, page 2, col. 7-8

Niles—Larence[sic] P. Lorensen, 88, of Jackson, formerly of Niles, died at 9 a.m. Sunday at Ganton Nursing Home, Jackson, following an extended illness.

A life member of the Niles Elks Lodge, a life member of the Niles American Legion Post 26, and a veteran of the U.S. Army having served in W.W. I, he was a retired employe of the Elks Lodge in Niles.

Mr. Lorensen was born May 22, 1888 in Hamburg, Germany and came to Niles in 1893 where he lived most of his life. His wife, Carrie M. Lorensen, died Jan. 19, 1961.

He is survived by several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Halbritter Funeral Home with the Rev. Arnold O Schaap of Edwardsburg officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends may call after 2 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.