History of Clinton County, Michigan, 1980, page 72
         
92.  EDMUND A. AND NELLIE PETERSON CRESSMAN FAMILY
         
Edmund A. Cressman was born in Bingham Township, Clinton County, Michigan 
on September 13, 1876.  His ancestors came to the United States from Saxony,
Germany in 1642 and settled in Pennsylvania.  His father, Isaac F. Cressman,
was born in Pennsylvania and came to Michigan in 1861.  Isaac F. was an educated
man, having attended Allentown Seminary in Pennsylvania for three years.  Isaac F.
taught school in Pontiac, Michigan where he met and married Mary E. Colby in 1864.
In 1865 he purchased a one hundred and sixty acre farm in Bingham Township.
Mary died in 1872, leaving Isaac with three small children: Isaac C., Nellie 
and Frank.  Isaac F. then married Teressa Lance of Wayne County, Ohio in 1873.
They had seven children: John, Edmund, Emanuel, Melinda, Ralph, Ethel and Clyde.

Edmund attended Stoney Creek grade school, obtaining approximately a sixth grade
education.  He was otherwise a self-educated man.  In 1897 Edmund married Cora 
Beadle, and the couple purchased an eighty acre farm in Olive Township on the 
corner of DeWitt and Price Roads.  This farm was known as Locust Corner.  
In 1906 Cora passed away.  In 1910 Edmund married Nellie Peterson, the daughter 
of Corrington Peterson and Amelia Alice Bancroft.  To this union one son, Almond,
was born.

In addition to being an active farmer Edmund was always active in the civic and
political affairs of the county.  He was Highway Commissioner of Olive Township
for eleven years and served a two-year term as Clinton County Drain Commissioner.
One winter was spent in Detroit serving on the Grand Jury there.  To assist in 
the farming Mr. Cressman always kept a hired man who received room, board and 
a monthly wage plus board for a horse.

The Cressmans always kept a fine team of draft horses as well as driving horses
for transportation.  Many cows were kept and milked.  Nellie churned butter which
she sold to regular customers.  For a number of years Edmund and Almond threshed
grain and beans for the surrounding neighborhood.

Nellie was an excellent cook and often boarded hired men and school teachers.
She fed road men while Mr. Cressman was Highway Commissioner.  Locust Corners
was home to Nellie Cressman's brothers and sisters and a haven to anyone who 
needed a place to stay.  It was a favorite place for community sing-alongs and 
a social gathering place.  The house always rang with merriment and echoed with 
Nellie's jolly laughter.

The Cressmans were joiners.  Edmund was a charter member of the Bingham Grange.
He later transferred to the Olive Grange where he headed the Committee for the
expansion of the dance floor and enlargement of the hall.  Edmund belonged to 
the Masonic Lodge in St. Johns, and Nellie belonged to the Order of the Eastern 
Star and the White Shrine.  She also belonged to the Rebecca Lodge, and Edmund 
was a member of the Odd Fellows.  In the later years the Grange was the main 
social force in their lives.

Nellie's favorite hobby was piecing quilts.  She made many beautiful ones 
and loved to have quilting Bees.  These were marked by bountiful meals, 
much socializing for the women, and long evening card games for the men.

Nellie Peterson Cressman died on February 2, 1945 on the couple's thirty-fifth
wedding anniversary.  She was greatly missed by family and friends.  Edmund 
Cressman died on March 10, 1952.  The couple are buried in Mr. Rest Cemebery 
in St. Johns.

Almond B. Cressman

RDB note: Nellie died during surgery for a stomach tumor.