Name/Title
Erwin "Bud" Sewers photo albumsEntry/Object ID
2025.09.30Description
Bud Sewers' photo albums scanned by Chris Yoder in January, 2011. The materials were scanned, copied to a CD for Bud and then returned to Bud. The album reflects young Bud's interest in cars, girls and his friends. Some photos include descriptions by Bud in the captions.Photograph Details
Type of Photograph
Digital scanSubject Person or Organization
Sewers, Erwin H. "Bud" 1923-2015, Sewers, Frank Wilmot 1894-1970, Sewers, Mary E. (Haberer) 1896-1953, Demerest, Marvin Eugene "Demmy" 1928-2020, Rastall, Bert, Davis, Donald "Toad", Moker, Paul S. "Sandy" 1923-1985, Hershaw, Melvin Arthur 1921-2020, Van Leeuwen, G. Dale 1924-1990, Van Os, Maurice Jay "Hoss" 1924-1996, Van Leeuwen, Andrew "Doc", Unwin, James "Jim" Alan 1929-2013, Dieke, Ed, Fairhead, Elmer 1900-1949Context
Below is a summary of an interview that occurred on Jan 18, 20, 2011 at Ridgewood Oaks Apartments, Apt 2A by Chris Yoder
Bud (Erwin) Sewers was born in 1923. His sister Jean (Sewers) Kershaw was 7 years older.
Son of Frank W. Sewers and Mary Haberer, Grandson of Frank Sewers. Grandfather who died in the 1930s had rheumatism and never got out of the house only when somebody would take him someplace in a car. Fish shanty on Bridge Street, belonged to his father, under what they used to call "Pier Point". Now Far Gaze Point. They used to play out on the point, "we used to go over there on our bicycles and then when we got cars we'd go over there in our cars. We’d just goof around."
"I've lived in Saugatuck 87 years, except for the time I was in the Army. I was born right down on Lake Street, where the leather shop used to be. When I got out of the Army, and before, I worked for my Dad in the fishing business. I went three years of High School and then I quit and then went to work for my Dad. Then the war came along and I was drafted. I served 35 months in the Army, and then when I came back I worked for my Dad until he retired in I think 1959. So that left me out of a job. I got other jobs and ended up working at automobile dealerships. In service I was in the South Pacific. I was in New Guinea and in the Philippine Islands when the war ended. I worked in the office."
"My parents lived in one house on Lake Street when I was born and then sold it and moved two doors over to what ended up being the Commercial Record building there (790 Lake St). My mother died there, my Dad remarried and he died there. South of where Jane Bird Van Dis lives, about half a block.
"I knew the people up on South Maple, Mrs. Updyke on the corner, old Jake Palzer, I knew them all. He was the guy my Grampa used to tell me when he got rid of his horse and wagon and got his model T, he drove into the barn and shouted "Whoa" and went right out the other side. He thought he had a horse up ahead of him. That was old Jake Palzer. I was a little kid, and he was a real old man, and he used to come see my Grampa all the time. He was just Mr. Palzer. If I remember right he had a Model T and I think he may have had a little milk route at one time, I'm not sure.
"We went to the Congregational Church. I wasn't much of a church goer, but when I was a little kid I went to Sunday School.
"When my Mother died, the stores all closed the day of the funeral. There was a full turnout.
"Dad pulled twenty tons of carp from the Bayou in 1939. "I remember we had a big haul right at where the ice house there in Douglas. Tyler Bayou, up from Pier Point. The Kalamazoo River angles off. The reason they called it Tyler Bayou was that there was an old guy who lived up there, old Walt Tyler. It's on the north side of the river, there's a small stream that runs into Silver lake. As you cross the interstate bridge heading south, if you look off to the left and that's Tyler bayou."Collection
Family History, 1845 Fishing, commercialCataloged By
Winthers, SallyAcquisition
Accession
2025.09Source or Donor
Yoder, ChrisAcquisition Method
Donation, unconditionalCredit Line
Items scanned by Chris Yoder or Jack Sheridan for the SDHC family history group.Location
* Untyped Location
Digital data in CatalogItRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Gotham (boat) -1943, Wm Cary (boat), Andrew (boat), 790 Lake/Lake Street Commons/Frank Sewers/William Comey home, Coghlin Park, 880 Holland/Southerner/Elbo Room/Clover's Landing, 816 State/Harbor Shores Realty/Frank SewersCreate Date
July 26, 2025Update Date
July 30, 2025
![ES1-0002-RofBud-PhyllisRastall.JPG: Top - "ES1-0000-2 The girl with Buds hand on her shoulder is Phyllis Rastall, she has a place in Johnson Village"
Lower right - TurtleHunt "ES1-002-2- Cherbusko, Indiana. That was where we went down to get a big turtle. There was a write-up in the Chicago paper, they claimed there was a huge turtle there. My dada had a big seine [fish net], and they were going to seine that out to see. There was no big turtle there.](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/63ed1400-6a43-11f0-abf9-7339147de37c-vUU1XOd.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES1-0008.JPG 851KB: Top left - ES1-0008-1- This was down on Butler Street [Location is the Sewer's docks on Water Street, not Butler]. Bert Rastall on the right. Nets have been washed and getting ready to put on the reels. That building is still there but they raised it and changed it around.](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/3afdd700-6ae3-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOd.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES20003.JPG 368KB: Left - ES2-0003-2 Rube Sewers, no living descendants, not really.
Right - ES2-0003-1- My Mother [Mary H. Sewers] and Dad [Frank Sewers] and Aunt Mabel Heberer Plummer. (youngest daughter)](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/56c5c5e0-6b21-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOe.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES20007-FSewers-BertKyle-SkinnyGoshorn.JPG 666KB: Top - ES20007-1 Frank Sewers, Bert Kyle and Skinny Goshorn
Lower left - ES20007-2 The Andrew, a fishing tug
Lower right - ES20007-3- Trap Net Boat, no name, just Trap. That was built in where the gourmet shop used to be. The old Chevy garage, Dad [Frank Sewers] had that rented during the war. He hired those two guys from the upper peninsula, two brothers that were trap netters. He hired them to come down here and fish trap nets out in Lake Michigan and their Dad built that little boat. That was during the war and I was in the army.](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/6ba80940-6b22-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOe.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES30005.JPG 787KB: Lower left - ES300005-1- I think that's Vera Hall.
Lower right - ES30005-2- That's Demmy [Demerest] holding up a sturgeon.](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/9bd9b950-6b23-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOe.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES30008.JPG 748KB: Middle right - ES30008-1- At the Log cabin, Sandy Moker, Salt Bryan, Toad Davis, Bud Sewers
Lower left - ES30008-3- I think that's Jack Wilson
Lower right - ES30008-2- Sandy (Paul) Moker, second from left Beely Boop, his name was Bruce nicknamed slewfoot cause he had a bad leg and dragged it, Toad [Davis].](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/796210b0-6b24-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOe.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES40002.JPG 747KB: Top - ES40002-1- the new bridge [New bridge for Blue Star Highway, US-31]](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/065ead50-6b27-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOe.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES50000-JeanAndBaby.JPG 711KB: Upper left - ES50000- top left, my sister [Jean Sewers] and her baby.
Top right- my Dad [Frank Sewers]. He was going to Holland and had a '54 Buick and a car ahead of him hit a pheasant and the pheasant flew up and his the windshield, broke the windshield and he came home and said "look at that mess" couldn't avoid it, it spread guts all over the back windshield. I remember I got it cleaned up for him and he had to have a new windshield put in.
Lower left - Frank Sewers flanked by women
Lower right - Frank Sewers and Elmer Fairhead 1936](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/75cd2d50-6b28-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOe.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES50003.JPG 741KB: Top - ES50003-1 the Andrew
Middle - ES50003-2- After the fire…Snow, across from Pie factory. [Sewers dock fire aftermath]
Bottom - ES50003-3- Down in the guts of the burned building, don't know what caused it.](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/dae91e60-6b28-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOe.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES90002-Iceboats.JPG 1.1MB: Top - ES90002- ice boats out on the Kalamazoo Lake.
Middle - Frank and Mary Sewers, on far right, at mouth or the river.
Lower left - ES90002-1- Dad and Mom [Frank and Mary Sewers] with string of fish at house in Douglas that Haberers moved into when granddad gave up the farm, it's tore down now.](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/6e99bae0-6b36-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOe.lg@2x.jpg)
![ES40001.JPG 308KB: Docks behind Elbow Room (Clover's Landing)
ES40000- boat dock in back of Elbow Room, several more
I could tell you a kind of coincidence of the people that live here in this building, Mary across the hall, my Dad [Frank Sewers] bought that boat (Wm Cary) from her Dad (Charles Hiestand); Upstairs there's Terry Burns, the commissioner, one time my Dad was justice of the peace and he fined Terry for shooting firecrackers; and the other fellow upstairs (Homer Cobb), my dad got him started in the fishing business as a kid. Lived across the river and started hanging around, and Toad, he married Toad when he was justice of the peace, and he took care of me.](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/f4964b51-6bad-11f0-bfd3-eb703b970ddf-vUU1XOe.lg@2x.jpg)
