History in the Making
est. 1890
First & Main Wedding & Event Venue is where the history of the past reflects the memories of tomorrow
The VanAntwerps
Emmett Elijah VanAntwerp and Cora Alice VanAntwerp owned a dry goods store at 130 Main Street Sunfield, Where VanAntwerp Hall stands today. They sold a verity of items such as; fruits, cigars, candy, confectionaries, phonograph, records and other general merchandise that was sought after during the early 1900s.
Emmett and Cora got married in Danby, Michigan on November 24, 1880. They had three children all born in sunfield. Two daughters Gertrude Adaline and Bessie H. They had one son Elmer Emmett. Emmett and Cora both died in Sunfield. Their son Elmer went on to carry the family name as a grocer, owning his own stores. Elmer Emmett VanAntwerp married Etta Belle Lockwood in Standish, Michigan, on July 3, 1916, when he was 19 years old.They had two children during their marriage. Elmer Emmett died August 23, 1930, in Sunfield, Michigan, when he was 68 years old. His wife Belle died on April 18, 1992, in Windsor, Michigan, at the age of 99.
The Peacocks
124 Main St. is a conjoined office space and Italianate-style home. The home is considerably large for being built in the 1890’s, and belonged to the prestigious Peacock family. The structures were built for Sunfield’s first medical doctor, Thomas Leroy “Rollie” Peacock, who occupied the home with his family while running his practice out of the office. We wanted to pay homage to the style and architecture by bringing together the Peacock family name and the meaning of mansion in Italian; palazzo. He started his practice in Sunfield in 1899 and lived in Sunfield for 19 years and then moved to Lansing and practiced there until 1938. When he retired he moved to Lake Odessa. In the early days he traveled by horseback and also on a bicycle to call on his patients. His daughter said he would sleep while the horse guided him back home safely on late night calls and long travels.
Thomas Leroy "Rollie" Peacock was born on December 21, 1868, in Ionia, Michigan, his father, Benjamin Calvin Peacock, was 22 and his mother, Catherine Elizabeth Peacock, was 19. He married Edna Griswald on August 5, 1901. Thomas and Edna's first son Haessel Leroy was born on April 21, 1908, in Sunfield, Michigan. Their daughter Mildred Catherine was born on August 6, 1913, in Sunfield, Michigan. Thomas Leroy Peacock died on May 20, 1948, in Lake Odessa, Michigan, when he was 79 years old.Thomas Leroy Peacock is buried at the Lakeside Cemetery in Lake Odessa. Edna Griswald died on December 15, 1957, in Ionia, Michigan, when she was 77 years old.
