David Watt of Marquette, Michigan Obituary

Source:  The Mining Journal, (Marquette, Marquette, Michigan, USA), 22 March 1945, p2; column 3, microfilm; J.M. Longyear Research Library, Marquette, Marquette, Michigan, USA.

This is the obituary for my great grandfather, David Watt, who died 21 March 1945 in Marquette, Michigan.  He lived in Marquette Michigan 63 of his 86 years of life.

The detail in his obituary is wonderful.  It tells me:

• where and when in Scotland he was born.  
• where he was employed and for how long
• what church he went to 
• what family members are still living and their relationship to him
• and where he was buried.

I love when I find resources that allows me to research further and this one was one of the best I found.

Transcription:

David Watt, 86, veteran locomotive engineer for the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic railway, died at 4:45 Wednesday afternoon in the home of his son, Burt L. Watt, 137 West Michigan street, after a month's illness.

He was born in Methil, Scotland Sept 25, 1858 and had lived in Marquette 63 years. He was employed by the South Shore railway company 50 years, retiring in 1932 at the age of 74.  He was a member of the First Presbyterian church congregation and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

Mr. Watt leaves three daughters Mrs. Harry Glover, Detroit; Mrs. Henry Bittner, Marquette, and Mrs. Ray Keefe, San Diego, Calif. and two sons, Burt L. Watt, Marquette and John R. Watt, Tacoma, Wash.  There are 10 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.  He also leaves a brother, William Watt Marquette and two sisters Mrs. William Gibson and Mrs. Charlie Scarborough, Methil, Scotland.

Services will be held Friday afternoon in the Swanson funeral home and burial will be made in the family lot in Park Cemetery.

German Potato Salad Recipe

My mom made the best German Potato Salad.  She got the recipe below from a friend when we lived in Harbor Beach, Michigan.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

German Potato Salad

from Audrey

Cook 12 potatoes with jackets on.  When cool, peel and slice.

Chop 1 onion and fry with six slices of cut up bacon.

Gravy:  

4T. sugar

4T. flour

2T. salt

4T. vinegar

1 and 1/2 cup boiling water

1T. oleo or bacon grease

Blend dry ingredients and make paste by adding vinegar.  Add this to the boiling water and oleo/bacon grease.

Cook until smooth.  Combine potatoes and gravy.  Heat only until potatoes are warm.  Sprinkle top with parsley and paprika.

My memory of my mother's bacon grease container.

My thoughts:  Who remembers having a jar of bacon grease in the refrigerator?  I do.  My mother had one, it was a brown ceramic crock with a metal snap lid.  It was recycled and it originally came with cheese spread.  I had a bacon grease container when we were first married, but I kept mine in a jar.

I rarely cook bacon now, and do not keep the grease.  For this recipe you would use the grease from the fried bacon.  Oleo is oleo-margarine or margarine as we know it today. I think using bacon grease adds to the flavor of the dish.

You may think 2T. is a lot of salt and it is, but remember you have 12 potatoes and they need salt.

I remember my mom making German potato salad at New Year's Eve and in the fall. I was lucky enough to be able to take leftover German potato salad back to college with me my sophomore year, after Christmas break. I think it was gone the first night I got back to college, it was that good.

Tri-River Historical Museum's "Spring Into the Past" Tour

The five counties bordered in red make up the counties in the Tri-River Historical Museum Network.

Where can one visit twenty six museums or historical societies all in one weekend? In Barry, Eaton, Ionia, Kent and Montcalm counties, Michigan, that's where!

Every year, the Tri-River Historical Museum Network has a "Spring Into the Past" tour.  It is held the first weekend in May.  The 2016 dates are Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. This annual event showcases the wonderful museums and societies that are in their network.

The Tri-River Historical Museum Network museums and societies are located along the Flat, Grand, and Thornapple River areas of Western Michigan.  The architecture of the various building would be worth the trip alone, but coupled with historical information and displays and it is a Win! Win! The museums and societies are housed in churches, houses and barns, depots, dormitories, schools, town and township halls, parks, masonic temples, Victorian mansions, old stores and more.

The 2016 theme, "Quilts-A Stitch in Time", will have some museums displaying quilts.  In addition, the Tri-River Historical Museum Network will be kicking off a Tri-River Quilt Trail.  The trail will showcase 43 quilt squares that are mounted on barns, buildings, or posts in the area.  A brochure of the quilt locations will be available in the member museums tour weekend.

The participating museums and societies are:

1. Alton Historic Church Museum – in old church, north of Lowell
2. Ada’s Averill Historical Museum – house and barn
3. Barry County Historical Society-in the Middleville Depot
4. Belding Museum & “The Bel” – in Belrockton Silk Mill Dormitory
5. Boston/Saranac Historical Society – a depot museum in Saranac
6. Bowne Township – museum, carriage house, school – near Alto
7. Byron Center Historical Society and Musuem-in the former town hall
8. Cascade Historical Museum – in old township hall
9. Cedar Springs Museum – in Morley Park, local artifacts and research
10. Charlton Park Historical Village – a 300 acre complex with museum, reconstructed village and   recreation area near Hastings
11. Clarksville/Campbell Historical Society – has no museum as yet
12. Fallasburg Historical Village – near covered bridge, north of Lowell
13. Fighting Falcon Military Museum – Restored CG 4-A glider, and military exhibits honoring local veterans from Greenville
14. Flat River Historical Museum – with Danish charm - in Greenville
15. Freeport Historical Society – located in the old Masonic Temple
16. Grattan Township Historical Society – in a restored 1853 structure west of Belding
17. Ionia’s Blanchard House and Museum – in a stately Victorian Mansion
18. Lake Odessa Historical Society Depot Museum – displays, archives
19. Lowell Area Historical Museum – in old home with Victorian flair
20. Lyons/Muir Historical Museum in Lyons – newly redone in old store
21. Oakfield Museum in Podunk – west of Greenville
22. Pine Forest Historical Museum – variety in an 1881 Edmore church
23. Plainfield Charter Township—Hyser Rivers Museum – northside Grand Rapids
24. Portland Area Historical Society — no museum but memorabilia is housed at the Portland Area Library
25. Rockford Area Museum — exhibits early life in Rockford
26. Welch Historical Museum – in former hardware store in Sunfield

I plan on going, I hope to see you there. There is a lot of history in Pure Michigan and Tri-River Historical Museum network is helping to bring it to you.

Arthur Roy Kellan's World War I Draft Registration Card

Source: "World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," [database on-line], Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 June 2014), entry for Arthur Roy Kellan; United States, Selective Service System. Registration State: Michigan; Registration County: Wayne; Roll: 2024110; Draft Board: 9 World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. 

World War I draft registration cards are a wonderful family history resource because of the type of information that is recorded on them.  Researchers can find place of residence, birth date, occupation, a signature, physical description and more on these little cards. 

The card above is for Arthur Roy Kellan, who married Jean Ethel Watt, my grand aunt.  He was know by my father as Uncle Art.  My father has many fond memories of his Uncle Art.  Uncle Art took my father to his first Detroit Tigers game.  

Arthur Roy Kellan married Jean Ethel Watt on 12 October 1910, Jean died, in 1914, before this card was completed.  That is the reason that Kellan used his sister, Leslie Clark, as nearest relative. She was living in Portland, Oregon at the time.

Arthur Roy Kellan was born 15 September 1881.  He was 36 years old when he completed this card. He lived at 177 Trumbull in Detroit, Michigan, near Detroit Public Library. Today, it is an area with a lot of empty lots.

Attributed to Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36194617

Other information of family history interest includes he was a native born, white male.  He was employed as a clerk for American Railway Express at 18th and Newark, in Detroit.  American Railway Express was across from the Michigan Central Railway Station.  American Railway Express was established by the federal government and provided rail transportation of parcels, much like UPS does today using roads.

Arthur Kellan was medium height and medium build.  He had blue eyes and brown hair.  One distinguishing feature of him was that he had a goiter.

Draft registration cards provide a lot of information that is sought by family history researchers.

Last Day Local: 1834 Log Schoolhouse, Battle Creek, Michigan

Imagine pre-statehood Michigan, an area where land wasn't deemed suitable to be given as bounty land to the War of 1812 veterans.  An area that was thought to be swamp land, much like the Everglades in Florida. This is the land where the first Battle Creek log schoolhouse was built in 1834.

Obviously, the surveyors of the time got it wrong as Michigan was developed and became a state in 1837.  The area around Battle Creek, at this time, was one of wilderness with a few Indian villages. The log schoolhouse is no longer in existence and all that stands in its place is a parking lot and a historical marker denoting it.

The transcription of the markers is  "Near this spot, facing the Indian Trail, the village's first public school was erected in 1834. Built of logs, its floor, desks and benches were constructed of lumber floated down the river from Bellevue's sawmill. Warren B. Shepard, the first teacher, had a dozen pupils. The pioneers paid eighty dollars for their schoolhouse, using it also for religious services, debates and other meetings. Sometime friendly Potawatomi Indians dropped in to watch the strange doings."

The log schoolhouse held classes and other community events from 1834-1838, when the school became overcrowded.  The school was built by Deacon Salter, who received $80 to build it, on logs that were floated down the Battle Creek river from Bellevue. 

During this time the log schoolhouse had two teachers: Warren B. Shepard and Sarah Phelps.  The residents who sent their children to this school included: Judge Sands McCamly, General Ezra Convis, Moses Hall, Deacon Salter, Daniel Thomas, Isaac Toland, Nathaniel Barney and Nebediah Angell.  The population of Battle Creek, at the time, was less than 400.

The school became overcrowded and in 1837 the residents voted to build a bigger school and appropriated $500 for the building.  The new school was known as the Frame Schoolhouse and it was built in a new location.

The Historical Marker for the Log Schoolhouse may be found on East Michigan Avenue, in downtown Battle Creek.

Last Day Local is a blog prompt I use to celebrate the history of Battle Creek, Michigan, my hometown for the past 26 years.  I try to post one article on the last day of the month about the heritage and history of Battle Creek, The Cereal City!

Sunday's Obituary: Claude Raymond Glover

The Mining Journal, (Marquette, Marquette, Michigan, USA), 9 April 1960 ; J.M. Longyear Research Library, Marquette, Marquette, Michigan, USA.

Transcription:

C.R. Glover, Retired Rail Engineer, Dies

                              

MUNISING-Claude R. Glover, 75, died at 6 this morning in his home, 301 Munising Ave., after a several months' illness

He was born Nov 12 1884, in Jackson, lived in Frankfort as a child and moved to Munising in 1905. He worked for the Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad from May 8, 1905 to Dec 17, 1957, when he retired.  He was employed by the railroad as an engineer since 1910.

Mr. Glover was a life member of Grand Island Masonic Lodge and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and a member of Munising Conservation Club.

Survivors are his wife, Edythe; a brother, Merle Glover, of Arlington, Va; a sister, Mrs Leonard McKee of Marquette; three step-children, Mrs Allen Swanberg and Lee Booker of Munising, and Neil Booker of Milwaukee and several nieces and nephews.

The body is in the Bowerman-Hallifix Funeral Home where friends may call after 2 Saturday afternoon.

Funeral services will be conducted at 2 Monday afternoon in the First United Prebysterian Church. The Rev. Frank Beattie will officiate and burial will take place in Maple Grove Cemetery.

Claude Raymond Glover was the son of Frank H. Glover and Hattie Fenn Glover.  He is my grand uncle.

Daniel Fenn: An Overseer of the Poor

Once a researcher has found the low hanging fruit records, it is time to search beyond the online databases and conduct on the ground research for unique record groups.  When I did this I found that my third great grandfather, Daniel Fenn, was an overseer of the poor.

Daniel Fenn was one of the earliest settlers in Washtenaw County, Michigan Territory. Daniel and his family arrived, from Vermont, to Dexter Township, Washtenaw, Michigan Territory in the spring of 1833. He helped found what was then the Vermont Settlement in the Territory.

The Vermont Settlement in Sylvan Township held its first organizational meeting in April, 1834. Daniel Poor was appointed overseer of the poor at this meeting. The organization of the settlement drew on the government organization from New England.  In New England, towns would appoint overseers of the poor.  The job of the overseer of the poor was to see that those who could not care for themselves were looked after.  Payment to the overseer of the poor was made from town funds. 

Where do you look for town records in Michigan? Early town records in Michigan can be found in a few different places.  I found town records at Ypsilanti Historical Society, Bentley Library at the University of Michigan, and Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County.  The Archives of Michigan have some as well.  

Historical and Genealogical societies, as well as archives, in the locality one is researching are great resources that every family researcher should use. I enjoy going to local repositories because you never know what you may find.  Local resources are filled with information that only the locals know about.  Step away from your computer and get out and visit your local repositories. Many of the repositories have an online catalog where you can search for town records.  Some repositories will pull the records and make copies for those who live out of the area, for a fee.

If you want to add unique details to your ancestors family history, check town records for mention of your ancestor.

Color Coded Birth Places of My Ancestors

Credit for the idea and spreadsheet to J. Paul Hawthorne

A fun distraction is going around the genealogy community this morning and I thought it would be fun to participate.  The above pedigree chart shows the birth places of my ancestors.  The home person is me, with my father's ancestors across the top and my mother's ancestors across the bottom. 

I like the visual aspect of this chart.  It allows me to see at a glance my heritage  There are thirty one places on this chart.  The birth place of Michigan leads the chart with ten people being born in Michigan.  Second, is Germany with seven ancestors.  I was happy to see I only have two that are unknown.   

I am like a lot of Americans and have a real melting pot of ancestry.  What does a genealogist do on a rainy day? Gets distracted and creates a multi-colored pedigree chart.