Person:John Sharai (1)

John Wheeler Sharai was counted among the oldest settlers of Berrien County, where he owned a farm of thirty-five acres, situated on section 22, Sodus Township, and he also owned forty-two acres of the old homestead property. He was a very young man when brought to Sodus Township by his parents, the family having previously lived in Pipestone Township, Berrien County. Here he assisted his father in the duties of the farm and when not occupied at farm work, he pursued his studies in the country school. He continued in his father's household until he attained his majority, when he started out on his own, choosing as his vocation the work to which he had been reared. He purchased 38 acres of land on section 22, Sodus Township, and he also operated an additional forty-two acres of land, which was a part of the old homestead, inherited by him from his father's estate. He first lived in a log cabin on the German Road where he raised his family. In the early days, deer and other game were plentiful and could be found in the woods behind the cabin. Later he, lived on the Ox Bow farm where he remained until his death. He engaged in general agricultural pursuits, raising cereals and sorghum cane and each year harvesting good crops as the result of the care and labor which he bestowed upon the fields. He also maintained an apiary. He was practical and progressive in carrying on his work, using the best machinery to facilitate his labors, and he is accounted one of the enterprising citizens of his community, where be had taken a deep and helpful interest in all that pertained to general progress, along agricultural lines. He had a mill to make sorghum into molasses, a rarity in the north. He installed a vertical circular horse-powered sorghum press which was later replaced with a gasoline-powered horizontal miss used to press the cane. The juice was then evaporated, making the molasses. Farmers from miles around brought their sorghum cane to him for processing. The product was sold to some of the largest hotels in Benton Harbor. Children of the neighborhood were welcome to have a taste, otherwise the price was fifty cents per gallon. He also operated a maple sugar bush front which he manufactured maple syrup and sugar. He raised guinea fowl and buckwheat, and other various cereals. During the summer the family operated a vacation resort for guests who came from Chicago. He became affectionately known to all as "Uncle John". John was married twice: first in 1869 to Rebecca Seely, who died leaving two children: Willie and Lula, and second he chose Miss Josephine Thebo, with whom he had six children, five surviving to adulthood: Johnie, who wed Nellie Omweg, Laura, Clarence, Lenore and Letha. John was a Democrat in his political views, giving active and helpful support to the principles of his party, while in his fraternal relations, he held membership with tile Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Grange. He was for a number of years Master of the Sodus Grange and a treasurer of River School. John spent his entire life in Berrien county, which covered a period of over fifty years, and was therefor widely known. He had always been an industrious and hardworking man, accomplishing whatever he had undertaken, for he allowed no obstacles to deter him in his pursuits, and his farm was air indication that his had been a successful career.

1. ↑ Rich Mather. Mather and Moriarty Families inc. Harris, Johnson, Gildea, Connolly, Coulton, McGinnis and more. (RootsWeb.com)
   http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mather3&id=I27797.