Nicknamed "Nettie".
Daughter of Liberty U. Dragoo and
his wife Celestia Ann Hunniker,
of Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan.
---------------------------------
Note: PLEASE, do NOT transfer this
memorial to other web sites.
Thanks, Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
---------------------------------
She was married twice.
She was first married as
"Nettie Mae" Dragoo, to:
----
m. # 1. Simon P. Strawser [Jr.],
on May 1, 1889 in Buchanan,
Berrien County Michigan.
Simon was 38 years old and
Nettie Mae was 18 years old.
(This was Simon's 2nd or 3rd marriage).
Simon (1851-1925), was the son of
Simon Strawser Sr. and his wife
Susan Hockmeister/Hockmaster,
of Snyder County Pennsylvania.
Simon had a daughter named Laura
Strawser, by a previous marriage,
to Rebecca Robbec. Laura
was born Feb. 15, 1876 in
Moreburg, PA. Laura Strawser was first
married to Frank Batt in 1887, and then
to William E. Dooge,
the son of Gerard Dooge
and Maatje "Martha" Viergever.
Laura and William were married
on July 21, 1904, in Grand Rapids,
Kent County Michigan. Laura died
April 21, 1964 in Pasadena,
Los Angeles County California.
(Simon possibly also had a son
named Jacob Strawser).
-------------------------------------
Nettie Mae and Simon had a daughter
named Florence (nicknames "Flo"
and "Flossie"), who was born
Dec. 30, 1889 in Buchanan township,
Berrien County Michigan.
----------------
In the 1900 census of Buchanan, Berrien
County Michigan, Florence is listed
with Simon and Nettie Strawser, as
Florence L. Strawser, age 10. (Flo was
age 19-21 when her mother died in 1909).
Flo married Thomas Arthur ("Art") Burgess
on Sept. 24, 1919. The 1920 census of
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois lists
Thomas and Florence Burgess. The 1930
census shows Thomas A. and Florence
Burgess living in South Bend, St.
Joseph County, Indiana. Thomas and
Florence Burgess had no children.
Florence Burgess died of cancer, on
Nov. 11, 1939, age 50 or 51 in Chicago.
Thomas and Florence (Strawser) Burgess
are buried near Flo's half-sister Ruby
Emma (Strawser) Stoops (in the "Stoops"
lot), in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, in
Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan,
in Section A, Lot 141.
Note: There are no headstones for
Thomas Authur or Florence L. Burgess.
------------------------------------
Nettie Mae and Simon also had a daughter
named Ruby Emma Strawser, born
April 2, 1893 in Buchanan, Michigan,
and died in the Pawating Hospital,
in Niles, Michigan, in 1951.
After Nettie Mae died in 1909, Ruby
lived with Nettie Mae's parents
(Liberty and Celestia Dragoo), in
Buchanan, MI (per Ruby's son).
---
Note: Ruby must have also lived with
her grandparents "before" Nettie died,
because of the following article.
---
A small article published in the
"Berrien County Record" newspaper
on Nov. 26, 1902, page 2, column 4,
states:
"Mrs. Nettie Strawser and friend
from South Bend visited her parents
[Liberty and Celestia Dragoo],
and daughter Ruby, [on] Sunday".
---
Ruby was married on April 2, 1913
to John Andrew Stoops in
Grand Rapids, Kent County Michigan.
Ruby and John Stoops had five children.
Ruby died on July 10, 1951 in the
Pawating Hospital in Niles, Berrien Co. MI.
Ruby and her husband are buried in the
Oak Ridge Cemetery, Buchanan, Michigan
(Section A, Lot 140).
________________________________

After her first marriage ended,
Nettie Mae must have taken back
her maiden name, as she was married
the second time
as "Henrietta Dragoo".
-----------------------------------
"Henrietta Dragoo" married:
# 2. On July 7, 1907 in
St. Joseph, Berrien County Michigan,
to Hunter Savage Dresden, the son of
Henry Clay Dresden (1849-1917), and
his wife Emily Adele Goodwin.
(Hunter was born May 9, 1880,
and he died Nov. 19, 1909).
See: "Genealogy of the Olmsted Family
in America", page 154.
------------------------------------
Note: The Pawating Hospital in Niles,
Michigan, was formerly the home of
Hunter S. Dresden's Uncle,
William Wallace Dresden (1853-1924),
known as "Wallace" W. Dresden, and
his wife Adele S. (Tarbox) Dresden.
They called the home "Castle Rest".
William Wallace Dresden was a highly
accomplished pianist and organist, who
moved from Chicago, to Niles, MI in
1896 (or 1902). He died Aug. 21, 1924.
It became the "Pawating Hospital" on
Christmas Eve, 1925, and opened it's
doors to patients in November of 1926.
See the memorials for W. W. Dresden,
and his wife Adele Dresden, who are
buried in the Silverbrook Cemetery,
in Niles, Michigan on this web site.
------------------------------
Henrietta was a dressmaker
(per her second marriage certificate).
------------------------------------
Nettie Mae Dresden drowned on
Oct. 19, 1909, age 38.
Her body was later found
(and a death certificate issued)
on Nov. 16, 1909. She drowned in
Hudson Lake, N.-W. of New Carlisle,
LaPorte County Indiana.
------------------------------------
Nettie Mae and Hunter Dresden were out
on a boat to go fishing and hunting,
when supposedly the lake became rough
and a wave upset the boat. A search was
conducted by the South Bend police
department with the help of a
professional diver [George E. Culbert,
of Michigan City].
The police drug the lake, but without
success. Dynamite was fired over the
water in the hopes of bringing her
body to the surface, but to no avail.
Nettie Mae's body later came to the
surface in the center of the lake,
and was found by a hunter, while
hunting in a boat, near Britton's
Resort, about one month later.
------------------------------------
There were numerous articles concerning
her questionable drowning, printed in
the South Bend, Indiana newspaper, on:
Oct. 20, Nov. 10, Nov. 12, Nov. 15,
and Nov. 16, 1909.
Also in the Niles, Michigan newspaper
(called "The Niles Daily Sun"), on
Oct. 22, Nov. 9, and Nov. 19, 1909,
and in the
Three Oaks, MI newspaper,
(called "The Acorn"), on
Oct. 22, Oct 29, Nov. 5, Nov. 19,
and Nov. 26, 1909.
(Apparently some of the local people
did not think that her drowning was an
accident: per the newspaper articles).
-----------------------------------
There were newspaper articles throughout
lower Michigan ("Investigate drowning
of Mrs. Dresden", in the Flint Journal
on Nov. 16, 1909, and "Death of Hunter
Dresden", in the "Kalamazoo Gazette"
newspaper on Nov. 20, 1909, etc.).
-------------------------------------
There was a "Coroner's Jury called
in Dresden drowning case" (per "Flint
Journal" newspaper article,
published on Nov. 20, 1909.).
-------------------------------------
Nettie Mae and Hunter had just
purchased the "Hotel New Carlisle"
(in New Carlisle, Indiana), and
had run it for about three weeks
("OR" two months per another article).
--------------------------------
Previously to living in New Carlisle,
Indiana, Nettie Mae had been living
in South Bend, Indiana
for about seven years.
----------------------------------
The obituary for her second husband
Hunter Dresden, was published in
"The Acorn" newspaper in Three Oaks,
Michigan, on Nov. 26, 1909,
Page 4, column 3. It reads as follows:
------------------
Hunter Dresden, late of New Carlisle,
whose wife was drowned about five weeks
ago in Hudson lake, died at the home of
his father H. C. [Henry Clay] Dresden, in
South Bend, last Friday. Grief over the
death of wife, and gossip to the effect
that she might have met with foul play
while boat riding with her husband on
the lake, caused him to collapse and
become an easy prey to pneumonia, which
was the immediate cause of his death.
-------------------------------------
Note: Her husband Hunter S. Dresden
died on Nov. 19, 1909, only three days
after Nettie's body was found.
Hunter's father Henry C. Dresden, was
a very prominent man in South Bend, IN.
He lived next to (or close to), and
was a friend of the founder of the
"Oliver Chilled Plow Company", later
known as the Oliver Farm Equipment
Corporation (Oliver tractors) in
South Bend, Indiana.
He lived at 127 S. Chapin Street,
in South Bend, Indiana.
He was also a senior partner of the
Dresden-Stansfield Lumber Company.
He was one of the pioneer resorters
who had a summer home at
Diamond Lake, Cassopolis, Michigan.
-------------------------------------
The following article about her drowning
was published in "The Acorn" newspaper,
in Three Oaks, Michigan, on Oct. 22, 1909,
page 6, column 1:
---
Drowned in Hudson Lake.
Mrs. Hunter F. [Henrietta] Dresden
of New Carlisle, was drowned in Hudson
lake Wednesday afternoon, while fishing
in company with her husband.
Mr. and Mrs. Dresden, proprietors of the
New Carlisle hotel had gone to the lake
for a day's fishing and hunting.
Securing a steel boat they rowed out to
near the center of the lake which was
quite rough. The craft was rocking
considerably and Mrs. Dresden, who is
a heavy woman weighing more than 200
pounds, endeavored to change her seat,
and in doing so the boat capsized and
both were thrown into the water.
The husband gallantly supported his
wife above water for fifteen minutes,
when his strength gave out. He was
compelled to release her and, she
immediately sank in thirty feet of water.
Two men, Mr. Kenney and Mr. Brittain,
were attracted to the water's edge by
the shouts of the drowning man, and
immediately got into a boat and rowed
to the scene of the accident. Before
they reached it, however Mrs. Dresden
had sunk and the husband was nearly
overcome and could not have lasted
many seconds longer. He was taken
into the boat and rowed ashore with
all possible speed and was conveyed to
Mr. Kinney's residence where he was
resuscitated. At last reports Mrs.
Dresden's body had not been found.
-------------------------------
The following was published in
"The Niles Daily Sun" newspaper,
on Friday, Oct. 22, 1909,
page 1, column 2:
---
WOMAN IS DROWNED
Mrs. H. F. Dresden Loses Life
in Hudson Lake.
Mrs. Hunter F. Dresden, wife of the
proprietor of the New Carlisle hotel,
lost her life Wednesday in Hudson lake,
when she and her husband were hunting
in a rowboat, which filled with water
and partially sank. The body has not
as yet been recovered.
Mrs. Dresden was 35 [38] years of age and
a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. DaGroo [Dragoo]
of Buchanan. She and her husband located
in New Carlisle three weeks ago when they
took charge of the hotel.
------------------------------------
From "The Acorn" newspaper, in
Three Oaks, Michigan, published on
Oct. 29, 1909, page 4, column 3:
---
Search for the remains of Mrs. Hunter
F. Dresden of New Carlisle, Ind, who
was drowned in Hudson lake last week
Wednesday while fishing with her husband,
was given up Monday by Lemeul Essex,
Harry Coil, George Baer, and Fred Strong,
all members of the South Bend police
department. The search for the body was
started late Wednesday afternoon and
continued until Monday. It was thought
to be useless to search for the remains
of the drowned woman further at this
time, as the bottom of the lake is
covered with weeds.
--------------------------------------
The following was published in "The Acorn"
newspaper, in Three Oaks, Michigan, on
Nov. 5, 1909, page 10, column 1:
---
George E. Culbert, a diver of Michigan
City, has entered into a contract to
search for the body of Mrs. Hunter S.
Dresden who was drowned in Hudson lake
nearly two weeks ago.
------------------------------------
From the "Niles Daily Sun" newspaper,
in Niles, Michigan, on Nov. 9, 1909,
page one:
---
BODY HELD BY WEEDS.
Attempt to Recover Body of
Drowned Woman Given Up.
Search of the body of Mrs. Hunter
F. Dresden [Henrietta], of New Carlisle,
who was drowned at Hudson Lake several
weeks ago, was given up Saturday. Last
week the search was carried on by the
husband of the drowned woman assisted
by A. G. Culver; a professional diver,
and members of the South Bend police.
They report that the bottom of the
lake is covered with a growth that is
impossible to extricate a body from
it's meshes. Saturday Culver became
entangled in the growth, and it took
the combined efforts of three to
recover him. The diver declares he
never encountered such an obstacle
before in experiences of 15 years,
and he thinks that the body will never
be recovered unless it should become
loosened from the mass.
The search will probably be given up
as every effort has been made. The
bottom of the lake was dragged for
days and the lake was also dynamited.
----------------------------------
The following article was published in
"The Niles Daily Sun" newspaper, in
Niles, Michigan on Nov. 17, 1909, page 2:
---
The body of Mrs. Hunter S. Dresden
[Henrietta], who was drowned in Hudson
Lake four weeks ago, was found floating
yesterday and was in an excellent state
of preservation. The lady was accidently
drowned while on the lake with her
husband Oct. 20 [Oct. 19]. A constant
search had been kept up since, and hope
for the recovery of the body was about
exhausted. The deceased was about 35 [38]
years of age, and her husband was a
son of Henry C. Dresden of South Bend.
-----------------------------------
The following article was published in
"The Acorn" newspaper, in Three Oaks, MI
on Nov. 19, 1909, page 11, column 3:
---
Body of Lake Victim Recovered.
Hudson Lake gave up it's dead Tuesday
morning when the body of Mrs. Hunter F.
[Henrietta] Dresden was found floating
on the surface of the water near the
center of the lake. The discovery was
made by a party of South Bend hunters
who are camping there. It was secured
by a rope and towed ashore. After Coroner
Osborn of LaPorte had received the
remains, they were given over to the
relatives to be prepared for burial.
It will be remembered that Mrs. Dresden
was drowned about Oct. 20 [19], or a month
ago when out hunting in a boat with
her husband. The fact that decomposition
had set in is responsible for the body
which had filled with gases, having
come to the surface.
Every effort had been resorted to in
the search for the body. Dynamite was
used, a diver explored the bottom of
the lake, various kinds of grappling
hooks, rakes, and other devices were
used but of no avail. The search was
abandoned last Saturday, but Tuesday
nature of its own accord brought the
body to the surface. The funeral was
held Wednesday morning. The coroner
rendered a verdict of purely accidental
drowning.
---------------------------------------