Michael Collins
Aug. 20, 1852-Sept. 15, 1936*

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, September 16, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  COLLINS FUNERAL THURSDAY

Funeral rites for Michael Collins, who died at his home, 601 North Fifth street, Tuesday morning, will be held at the residence at 2:30 o'clock Thursday afternoon.  The Rev. G.W. Simon will officiate and burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, September 17, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  COLLINS RITES HELD

Funeral services for Michael Collins, retired conductor on the Michigan Central railroad and a resident of Niles for the last 58 years, were held at his home, 601 North Fifth street, at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon with the Rev. G.W. Simon officiating.  Burial was in Silverbrook cemetery.  Fred Babcock, K.B. Schmidt, Frank Early, Lawrence Elder, Ed Wurz and Chas. Siebert acted as pallbearers.

DOB/DOD from Michigan Death Record

Mildred Lee Miller

April 17 1935-Sept. 18, 1936

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, September 19, 1936, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News in Brief:  MILLER RITES TODAY

Private funeral services for Mildred Miller, one-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clark Miller, Bertrand, who died Friday morning of infantile paralysis, were held at the home at 2 o'clock this afternoon.  Burial was in Silverbrook cemetery.

Fred Beck
abt 1862-June 19, 1936

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, June 20, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  BECK FUNERAL MONDAY

Fred Bec, 74, a former resident of Niles, died in Cassopolis Friday night at 7 o'clock. His body was brought to the Price and Kiger funeral home where services will be held Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock.  Mr. Beck was unmarried and leaves no near relatives.  The Rev. Dr. Guy W. Simon will officiate at the services Monday and burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Lester Barbour
July 21, 1889-July 30, 1936 

Niles Daily Star, Friday, July 31, 1936, page 1, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

BARBOUR SERVICES SATURDAY AT 4:30; V.F.W. TO ASSIST

Funeral services for Lester Barbour, 47, who took his own life by hanging at Scottville Thursday morning, will be held Saturday afternoon at Rutherford's chapel.  The body will be at the Rutherford mortuary until 4:30 o'clock, the hour of the funeral.  Friends of the former patrolman are asked to call there today and Saturday prior to the services.

Former associates of Mr. Barbour will act as pallbearers.  These will be the following members of the police department:  Chief Lloyd Q. Bates, captain Fred Solloway, and Patrolmen Marion Peterson, Oscar Schrumpf, Thomas Whiteside and Vance Cooper.

Veterans of Foreign Wars, of which  Mr. Barbour was a member, will conduct the committal service at the grave in Silverbrook cemetery.

Niles Daily Star, Monday, August 3, 1936, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  BARBOUR RITES SATURDAY

Comrades in two patriotic organizations paid tribute to Lester Barbour at the committal services in Silverbrook cemetery Saturday afternoon.  The ritual of th Veterans of Foreign Wars was conducted by that organization, of which Mr. Barbour was a member. The American Legion firing squad fired the salvo over the grave of the ex-service man. The services at the Rutherford mortuary were conducted by the Rev. G. W. Simon. Members of the police department, who had long been associates of Mr. Barbour, acted as pallbearers.

Note: DOB from Michigan Death record

Ransom Johnson
Dec. 9, 1900-July 4, 1936

Niles Daily Star, Monday, July 6, 1936, page 1, col. 8, microfilm Niles District Library

 ONE DEATH IN 4TH CELEBRATION HERE

RANSOM JOHNSON, 36, IS GROUND TO DEATH BY TRAIN'S WHEELS

Chicagoan Drowns in Clear Lake' Holiday Noisiest Since Fireworks Ban.

While the state listed 33 deaths for one of the highest fatality lists in the nation for the holiday, one accidental death was in the record here today.  Niles calmed down from the noisiest Independence day it has experienced since sale and use of fireworks were "banned" by the legislature.

The Niles victim was Ransom Johnson. .[illegible] he walked along the tracks between Main street and Broadway early Saturday morning. . .

Johnson's mangled body was found on the Big Four tracks early Saturday by two transients.  A train, believed to be the one which ran him down, had passed through the city three hours earlier

A coroner's jury, impaneled by Justice Charles E. Warner, will conduct a hearing a 1 o'clock Wednesday afternoon. It is composed of Paul Blackmond, Richard Forrester, Howard Johnson, Willis Kysor, Carl Johnson and John Pethick.

Johnson was born Dec. 9, 1900, at Red Lodge, Mont., and is survived by his widow, Mrs. Vernie Johnson, and a step-daughter, Mrs. Bernice McKee, Michigan Cirty, Ind.; his father, Webster Johnson, Kalamazoo; his mother, Mrs. Anna Johnson, Dowagiac; five brothers, Roy, Decatur; Ray, Benton Harbor; Ralph, Jackson; Rawleigh of Niles and Robert, Kalamazoo, and four sisters, Mrs. Rose Goodrich, Dowagiac; Mrs. Ruth Reed, Benton Harbor; Mrs. Rena Doorleg, Kalamazoo, and Mrs. Ruby Taylor, Niles.

Rites Today

The funeral was held at the Rutherford mortuary at 2 o'clock this afternoon, with the Rev. A.R. Kuehn, of the Evangelical church, officiating. . . 

Note:  This is part of a longer article with details of other accidents unrelated to Mr. Johnson's death; unrelated parts were omitted.

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, July 8, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  JOHNSON DEATH ACCIDENT

A verdict of "death by accident" returned this afternoon by a coroner's jury ended official investigation into the death of Ransom Johnson, 36, 605 Cass street, whose body was found on the Big Four tracks Saturday morning.  He had apparently been killed by a freight train. The jury impaneled by Acting Coroner Charles Warner, was made up of Paul Blackmond, Richard Forrester, Howard Johnson, Willis Kysor, Carl Johnson and John Pethick.

Georgia Bither
1863-June 25, 1936

Niles Daily Star, Friday, June 26, 1936, page 1, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

MRS. BITHER DIES AT HOME IN NILES

Widow of A.F. Bither Death Victim at 73; Lived here Most of Life.

Mrs. Georgia Bither, 73, who was born in Niles and had lived here nearly all her life, died Thursday night at 10 o'clock at her home, 56 South Third street.

Mrs. Bither had been ill since Jan. 20, when she suffered the first of a series of strokes, which terminated in her death.

She was the widow of A.F. Bither, who died about 10 years ago.  With the exception of a number of years spent in Chicago, she had lived in Niles all her life, She returned here after her marriage about 15 years ago.

Until illness made it impossible for her to continue her church and social contacts, she was active in the work of Trinity Episcopal church, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Social club. For many years she was a member of the Twentieth Century club which was discontinued a few years ago.

She leaves a brother, Henry Rosewarne, who lives in the family home on the Edwardsburg road, and a sister, Mrs. E.D. Lovell, Chicago; two step-children, Fred Bither, Grand Rapids, and Mrs. Bernice Reamer, Detroit, also two nieces and one nephew.

The body was taken to the Price and Kiger funeral home, where services will be held Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock. The Rev. Harry L. Nicholson will officiate and burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Niles Daily Star, Monday, July 27, 1936, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News in Brief: Conduct Private Sale

[illegible] of the furniture of the late Mrs. Georgia Bither is to be held Tuesday from 10 in the morning to 5 o'clock in the afternoon.  Office equipment from the A.F. Bither estate is also included in the sale, which is conducted at the Bither Home, 56 South Third street.