Fall 2012 Docket.p65 - Berrien County Historical Association

Vol. 28, No. 3 Fall 2012
Signature Event ~
“Little Sure Shot”: Annie Oakley
Join us on October 25 at the Lake Michigan College
Mendel Center for a special dinner and program!
The History Center at Courthouse Square brings
sharpshooting legend Annie Oakley to the Lake Michigan
College’s Grand Upton Hall for our 2012 Signature Event
this October.
The evening starts with music and a social hour at
6:00 p.m., followed by dinner, door prizes, a silent
auction and a program from Annie Oakley. Advance
reservations are required; call (269) 471-1202 for tickets.
“Little Sure Shot,” portrayed by Kim Hanley of
Philadelphia, numbered among America’s most famous
American celebrities. With partner William “Buffalo Bill”
Cody she became the world’s first international superstar.
Actress Kim Hanley in a one-woman show as Annie Oakley Continued on page 3

Page 2
Berrien County Historical
Association Board and Staff
Margaret Poole, President
Robert Sykora, Vice President
Sara Bell, Treasurer
Emily Foster, Secretary
William Ast III
Gary Campbell
Ted Chamberlain
Robert Feldman
Frances Porter Snyder
Robert Myers
Kristen Patzer Umphrey
Board of Directors
Don Gillespie
John Kamer
Marian Tripplett
Michael Wood
Staff
Executive Director
Curator
Museum Store Manager
BCHA Mission Statement
The mission of the BCHA is to collect, preserve, and interpret the
history of Berrien County through exhibits, tours, publications,
and educational and community outreach programs for public
benefit.
Learn more about the BCHA by visiting www.berrienhistory.org.
The Docket
Fall 2012, Vol. 28, No. 3
The Docket is published quarterly by the Berrien County
Historical Association, 313 N. Cass Street, P.O. Box 261,
Berrien Springs, Michigan 49103. (269) 471-1202.
Editorial Staff
Frances Porter Snyder, executive director
Robert C. Myers, curator
Kristen Patzer Umphrey, museum store manager
The Docket is a benefit of membership in the BCHA. Annual
membership dues to the BCHA are: $20 for individuals, $30
for families, and $40 yearly for institutions. Supporting
memberships are: $40 Contributing, $50 Sustaining, $100
Patron, and $500 Benefactor.
© Berrien County Historical Association, 2012
Dear Friends,
Director’s Comments
By Frances Porter Snyder
Color season is upon us. Many of us look forward to
the beautiful maple trees sharing their splendid red and gold
leaves. We know that our clear blue skies, gorgeous trees and
cool days will give way to “Old Man Winter.” Somehow, we
still revel in the joys of the autumn season.
At the History Center at Courthouse Square, we try to
enhance every season with special exhibits, programs and
events. In September, we enjoyed our “Smoky Mountain
Holiday” motor coach tour. It was so much fun to catch up with
friends who have traveled with us before and to become acquainted
with new companions. We hope both will travel with
us again as new acquaintances soon become old friends. We
enjoyed beautiful sites, excellent food and great comradeship.
What more could we ask?
Our annual signature fund raising event is October 25,
2012. This year, Annie Oakley will be our special guest. “Little
Sure Shot,” as she was known, will share what it was like to be
the first American female superstar as a performer in Bill Cody’s
Wild West Show. The evening includes a social hour with live
music, a great dinner prepared by Mendel Center chefs, door
prizes, a silent auction and a special program with Annie Oakley,
portrayed by Kim Hanley. Advance reservations are required.
Please call Kristen at the History Center for tickets at (269) 471-
1202. Every ticket includes a tax deductible donation that will
be used for History Center programs. You may also donate an
item for the silent auction. The auction is lots of fun and also
generates income for the History Center. Call Kristen for more
information.
Courthouse Square will participate in Berrien Springs’
“Kindle the Christmas Spirit” on December 6, 2012. Everyone
is welcome to join in the fun. There will be music, a treelighting,
horse and wagon rides and many other activities. The
Berrien Springs Trinity Lutheran School will perform in the
1839 Courthouse at 6:00 p.m.; afterward, the Trinity Lutheran
Praise Team will lead a carol sing along in the courtroom. Most
businesses will offer free refreshments and gifts for kids.
Everyone is welcome to attend the event.
This colorful season is always filled with sports events,
back-to-school activities and hopefully, some time to just look at
the glorious color around us. We hope you will have time to
attend “Annie Oakley: Little Sure Shot” and later, “Kindle the
Christmas Spirit.” As I close, I am reminded of the State of
Michigan’s official motto: If you seek a pleasant peninsula,
look about you. Look about you. There is beauty everywhere.
Francie
Frances Porter Snyder
Executive Director

Aim at the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and
maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make
you perfect. Finally you’ll hit the bull’s-eye of success. ~ Annie Oakley
Page 3
Annie Oakley was born Phoebe Ann Mozee on August
13, 1860, the daughter of Ohio Quakers. Her father died in
1866 and although Annie’s mother remarried, her stepfather
soon died too. Poverty forced Annie’s mother to place her and
her older sister in the Darke County (Ohio) Infirmary in the
spring of 1870. She was soon “bound out” to a local family to
help care for their infant son, on the false promise of fifty cents
a week and an education. She endured two years of near-slavery
with a family that abused her mentally and physically. She
returned to her own home in 1872 after her mother had married
for a third time.
Annie’s talent with a rifle began to develop when she
was a child. She started shooting and hunting by age eight to
help support her family, selling game animals to local residents
as well as restaurants and hotels in southern Ohio. She managed
to pay off the mortgage on her mother’s farm when she was just
fifteen years old.
In 1875, traveling show marksman Francis E. Butler
placed a $100 bet with Cincinnati hotel owner Jack Frost that
he, Butler, could beat any local fancy shooter. Frost set up a
shooting match between Butler and Annie. Butler lost the
match on the 25 th shot but gained a wife: he began courting
Annie, and they married on August 23, 1876.
Annie and Frank began performing together and joined
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1885. Their fellow performer
Sitting Bull gave the diminutive five-foot tall Annie the nickname
“Watanya Cicilla,” which Buffalo Bill translated as
“Little Sure Shot” in his public advertisements.
Annie toured Europe, where she performed for Queen
Victoria, King Umberto I of Italy, Marie François Sadi Carnot of
France, and other heads of state. In one exhibition, Oakley
knocked the ashes off a cigarette held by the newly crowned
German Kaiser Wilhelm II. After the outbreak of World War I,
Oakley wrote a letter to the Kaiser requesting a second shot. The
Kaiser did not reply.
Ever-growing fame made Annie Oakley America’s first
female superstar. In her most famous trick, she repeatedly split a
playing card, edge-on, and put several more holes in it before it
could touch the ground, while using a .22 caliber rifle at a range
of ninety feet.
Oakley pioneered the idea of women serving in combat
operations for the United States Army when she wrote a letter to
President William McKinley just before the Spanish-American
War to offer the services of a company of fifty women sharpshooters
in the event of war. McKinley turned her down, but
Theodore Roosevelt named his volunteer cavalry the “Rough
Riders” after the “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of
Rough Riders of the World” in which Annie was a major star.
Oakley was badly injured in a railroad
accident in 1901. She recovered after five spinal
operations, but left the Buffalo Bill show and in 1902
began a quieter acting career in a stage play written
especially for her, The Western Girl. Oakley played
the role of Nancy Berry and used a pistol, rifle and
rope to outsmart a group of outlaws.
Annie also spent her time and money promoting
women’s rights and other causes. Her shooting
expertise only increased with age, and in a 1922
shooting contest the sixty-two year-old Oakley hit
one hundred clay targets in a row at a range of 16
yards.
Annie died in Greenville, Ohio, at age sixtysix
on November 3, 1926. A devastated Francis
Butler simply stopped eating and died just eighteen
days later. Representatives settling Annie’s estate
discovered that she had spent her entire fortune on
her family and her charities.
Oakley was inducted into the National
Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth,
Texas. Her remarkable life was celebrated in the
1946 Herbert and Dorothy Fields musical Annie Get
Your Gun.

Page 4
Smoky Mountain Holiday Tour
We had a wonderful time on our motorcoach tour
of historic Kentucky, Tennessee and the Great Smoky
Mountains. Aside from rain on one day the weather was
ideal. We toured some fantastic sites and ate far more
than was good for us!
We offer a motorcoach tour every fall and are
already considering next year’s destinations. Possibilities
include historic sites in North Carolina or a tour of Pennsylvania.
All of our members receive a booklet in early
spring that details the upcoming trip, so keep an eye out
for information about our next adventure.
Our gang!
Touring Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville
We went onstage at the Grand Ole Opry during our backstage
tour, and then returned in the evening for the show
DaWayne and Betty Biastock with daughters Karol Cochran and
Janet Ambrose in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park
Bob and Jan Thoner pose beside one of the monuments in
the Chickamauga National Military Park

Page 5
Enjoy our Local History!
The Heyday of Hinchman ($18.95) Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
Greetings from Benton Harbor ($27.95) Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
Locomotives Along the Lakeshore ($24.95) Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
Greetings from St. Joseph ($27.95) Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
Greetings from Berrien Springs ($21.95) Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
Greetings from Buchanan ($24.95) Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
Historical Sketches of Berrien County ($23.95) Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
Twin City Trolleys ($8.95) Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
The Story of Buchanan, a history ($14.95) Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
SPECIAL: Greetings from Buchanan & Story of Buchanan Quantity: _____ Total: $__________
Get both for $29.95
Subtotal $__________
Discounts (Library 20%/Member 10%) $__________
State sales tax (6% for Michigan orders only) $__________
Shipping ($4.95 for 1 book, $1.00 each additional book. $__________
TOTAL $__________
Save on shipping and pick up your books from the History Center Store!
SHIP TO:
Name:______________________________
Address: _________________________________
City: ____________________________________
State _____________ Zip ___________________
Tele: _______________________________
Make check/money order payable to:
Berrien County Historical Assn.
P.O. Box 261, Berrien Springs, MI
49103. (269) 471-1202.
For Credit Card orders (Visa & MC)
Credit Card # ______________________________
Expiration Date: ___________________________
Name on Card : ____________________________
Signature: _________________________________
Join the History Center Today!
Name: ____________________________________________________________________________ Phone: _________________________
Address: _________________________________________________________________________ Fax:____________________________
City: _______________________________________ State: _______ Zip: _____________________ E-mail: _________________________
Membership categories:
Basic
Supporting
[ ] Individual $20 [ ] Contributing $40
[ ] Family $30 [ ] Sustaining $50
[ ] Institutional $40 [ ] Patron $100
[ ] Benefactor $500
Additional donation $ ___________________
Amount Enclosed: $ ____________________
Please make checks payable to the Berrien County
Historical Association or
Please charge my credit card: (Circle one)
MasterCard
Visa
Card Number: ________________________________
Expiration Date: ______________________________
Join now and take immediate advantage of
members’ discounts on our publications!
Mail or fax to: BCHA, PO Box 261,
Berrien Springs, MI 49103
Phone: (269) 471-1202 Fax: (269) 471-7412

Page 6
Back in Print!
The Heyday of Hinchman
The History Center at Courthouse Square has
issued a reprint edition of the popular book The Heyday of
Hinchman, by Beverly Campbell Pottle. The 67-page
book includes dozens of photographs of people and places
in the hamlet of Hinchman, located a few miles north of
Berrien Springs. It includes endnotes, a bibliography, and
index; an appendix lists all the students of the Hinchman
School and the years of their attendance. Photographs in
the book come from the History Center’s own collections
as well as many private collections.
The Heyday of Hinchman was originally published
in 2006 and has been out of print for several years.
It chronicles the history of the settlement that was named
for Hiram and Susannah Hinchman, who moved to Berrien
County in the 1830s. Although little more than a crossroads
village, it boasted a church, school, store, creamery,
and a post office. The Milwaukee, Benton Harbor and
Columbus Railroad built a depot in Hinchman in 1897
when it extended a line from Buchanan through Berrien
Springs and north to Benton Harbor.
The book retails at $18.95 and can be purchased
from the museum store, located at the History Center, 313
North Cass Street in Berrien Springs. History Center
members receive a 10% ($1.90) discount per book.
Museum Store hours at the History Center are 10-5 Monday-Friday. The new book can be purchased through
mail order at an additional cost of $4.95 for shipping and handling. Michigan residents should add $1.14 for sales tax.
Orders should be sent to the History Center at Courthouse Square, PO Box 261, Berrien Springs, MI 49103. Telephone
orders at (269) 471-1202 can pay with Visa or Mastercard.
Berrien History on WAUS Radio
If you enjoy local history, tune in to WAUS Radio
in Berrien Springs every Tuesday. Andrews University’s
classical music station broadcasts Berrien History every
week at 90.7 FM , airing at three times: 6:55 a.m., 7:55
a.m. and 6:05 p.m. The programs are written and presented
by History Center curator Robert Myers.
Each program runs about three minutes and covers
a particular topic of local history. Recent topics have
included the filming of the motion picture Prancer in
Three Oaks, the Bell Opera House in Benton Harbor, and
the Illinois, Indiana & Iowa Railroad that ran from Galien
to St. Joseph.
If you live outside the southwest Michigan area,
you can still listen in via Live Stream on the Internet. You
can find WAUS at www.waus.org.

Page 7
Curator’s Corner
Recent Donations
Clark Equipment Co. souvenirs . . Mary M. Addison-lamb
Baby cradle, 1885 . . . . . . David, Debra & Richard Bartz
Wedding dress, graduation dress. . . . . . . . Joellen Bellaire
photographs, 1887 county atlas
Map of St. Joseph, ca. 1860 . . . . . . . . Marcia M. Fleming
Courthouse key, 1838 . . . . . . . .
Fort St. Joseph Museum
Berrien Springs photographs . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wayne Hall
Telephone receiver, ca. 1940 . . . . . . . .
Richard Kubsch
World War I photographs, papers . . . . Patrick G. McIntosh
St. Joseph brewery bottle, . . . . . Patrick & Maxine Walsh
business directory, city planning book
Patrick McIntosh donated this framed photograph of his father,
Pvt. George McIntosh of St. Joseph. George, a Glenlord resident,
served as a Michigan “Polar Bear” in Russia immediately after
World War I (see below).
Michigan Polar Bears
Some of George McIntosh’s Polar Bear buddies stage a
boxing match in Russia.
McIntosh
(arrow)
poses with
the Polar
Bears on a
log bridge in
Russia.
George F. McIntosh of Glenlord enlisted to fight
the Kaiser, but wound up battling Bolsheviks. He joined
the army in 1917 and served with the 310 th Engineers in
the 85 th Division. The 85 th , composed mostly of Michigan
and Wisconsin men, went to Arkhangelsk, Russia, in 1918
to reinforce British troops already there. Officially the
American North Russia Expeditionary Force, the outfit
gained fame as “The Polar Bears.”
The expedition had three objectives: prevent
Allied war material stockpiles in Archangelsk from falling
into German hands; rescue the Czech Legion, then
stranded along the Trans-Siberian Railroad; and defeat the
Red Army and reopen the Eastern Front against Germany.
In the process, the Polar Bears would also halt the spread
of communism.
The expedition’s offensive ground to a halt in the
Russian winter, and in 1919 the Polar Bears returned
home. American forces lost over 110 men in battle,
another 30 missing, and 70 deaths from disease, mostly
due to the Spanish Flu. Pvt. George McIntosh returned
home safely and was mustered out in July 1919.
The History Center thanks George McIntosh’s son,
Patrick, for his donation of rare photographs of the Polar
Bear Expedition.

Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Berrien Springs, MI
PERMIT NO. 38
Post Office Box 261
Berrien Springs, MI 49103
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
Continuing and Upcoming Events
Ongoing: The Marxochime Colony: Music for the
Masses. Exhibit at the History Center. 10 a.m. - 5
p.m., Mondays - Fridays.
October 25: “‘Little Sure Shot:’ Annie Oakley.”
6:00 p.m. at the Lake Michigan College Mendel
Center. Our Signature Event features the legendary
star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Dinner and
program $75 per person, $500 for a table for eight.
Advance reservations only.
December 6: Kindle the Christmas Spirit in Berrien
Springs. 5-9 p.m. Thursday.