History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

1596

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

ber of the Episcopal church. Judge Drescher takes a prominent part in
fraternal affairs. He is past exalted ruler of the Elks lodge No. 974, is
affiliated with Lodge No. 17I, A. F. & A. M., with the Royal Arch Chapter No. 42, the Knights Templar Commandery No. 23, with Saladin
Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and is past worthy patron of the Eastern
Star. Also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Subordinate and Encampment Degrees of Odd Fellowship, with the Modern Woodmen of
America, the Knights of Maccabees, the Modern Romans, and the Royal
Neighbors.
He has always taken more or less interest in Republican politics, and
served as mayor of Big Rapids for two terms. In the campaign of I912
he was elected judge of probate, for Mecosta county, and now gives a
large proportion of his time to the responsibilities and duties of that
office.
CHESTER E. MORRIS. A young attorney who has entered upon practice with youth, ambition and energy, together with a broad sense of
responsibility, and who has flattering prospects of usefulness before
him, is Chester E. Morris, of White Cloud.
Mr. Morris was born in Kalamazoo county, Michigan, September II,
I889, a son of George W. and Lucy (Brown) Morris. His father was
born in the State of Iowa, in 1864, and died in I896. By trade he was
a carriage maker, and was a Democrat in politics, and a member of the
Woodmen of the World. The mother, who was born in Kalamazoo
county, in 1863, died in I914. She was a daughter of George F. Brown,
who was born in New York City, and came to Michigan and settled on a
farm in Kalamazoo county in I854. There were two children, and the
daughter, Maude, is the wife of H. W. Shannon, a traveling salesman living at Davenport, Iowa.
Chester E. Morris graduated from the Kalamazoo High School in
I9o8, and at once entered the Detroit College of Law, where he graduated and took his degree of LL. B. in I912. After one year of experience
in Detroit, he located at White Cloud on June 15, 1913, and began his
career in partnership with Fred W. Riblet. Mr. Morris is a Republican
in politics and is one of the better known of the younger men in the
law and in affairs.
EDWARD DRESSER. One of the most popular citizens of Mecosta
county is the present county clerk, Edward Dresser, who has lived at
Big Rapids and vicinity most of his life, and by his capable citizenship
and industry has made himself a valued factor in local affairs. Edward
Dresser was born in Ottawa county, Michigan, December II, 1876, a son
of Sylvester and Mattie (Bogue) Dresser. Both parents are still living,
the father a native of Muskegon county and the mother of Ottawa
county. Grandfather Charles Dresser was a native of Vermont. a state
which furnished a large proportion of the early Michigan lumbermen.
He was one of the pioneers along the Muskegon River, going there at a
time when almost the only inhabitants aside from the Indians were
hunters and trappers and a few lumbermen. He followed the woods for
nearly all the active years of his life. The maternal grandfather, Mathew
Bogue was an early settler in Ottawa county, but subsequently moved
out to Oklahoma where he died. Sylvester spent many years as a lumberman and mill operator. He acquired five hundred and twenty acres
of timberland in Mecosta county, and gradually sold off the timber and
finally the land for farming purposes. He is still owner of a highly
improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Mecosta county, and
lived on that estate, being a general farmer. He and his wife were mar