The People who founded Central Lake

Boice, Judson A. and Mary Odell were married in Ohio. He was a harness maker and died in 1878. According to family tradition as recorded in BHN, the family name was originally DuBois and that the family emigrated from France to Ireland and in 1792 came to American, settling in Massachusetts. Judson may have had a brother or uncle named Hiram who was born about 1817.

Judson and Mary had the following children:

>James E. was born at Jamestown, Ottawa County on Jan. 26, 1858 and came to Central Lake township in 1883. He married Alpha Wilkinson on Sept. 10, 1888 at Central Lake. He served as postmaster. She was a school teacher from Eastport. Their children were: Gladys, born Apr. 14,1890, Mary E., born Jan. 1 1901 and Grace, born Jan. 1, 1901. Grace was a teacher and never married. There is an obit that says she died Mar. 31, 1990 in California. James died Mar. 5 1911 and is buried in the local cemetery.

>Clinton S. was born at Jamestown on May 25, 1859 and came here in 1892. In 1877 he had married Evelyn Chamberlain, the daughter of Lyman. Their children were: Floyd E. (1881-1947), Lyman L (7-1-1882), Ila S (4-1-1884), Carl C. (5-1887), Henry R. (1-1891) and Gertrude M (4-6-1894). Evelyn died in Central Lake township on Feb. 24, 1906

Cary, Jesse A. was born in New York. His father was killed by a falling limb when Jesse was young and he was brought up by an aunt and uncle living near Marshall, Mi. At some point he went to Oil Springs, Ontario where there was an oil boom on. Here he married Reima Ward in 1868 and moved back to Michigan.

Evidently Reima's father, Samuel Ward and her sister, who was married to William Derenzy, wrote about the great land in northern Michigan. In 1879 they sold their farm in southern Michigan and came north with an wagon and an ox team.

Reima was born Jan. 28 1847 and died Jan. 20, 1933. Here's her obituary from the Torch of 1-26-1933

"Reima Ward was born in Canada on Jan. 28, 1847, and died at the home of her son, William, on Friday morning of last week ... She was married to Jesse Cary in 1868. They moved to Calhoun county of this state where they lived until 1877 and then came to Central Lake where Mrs. Cary has lived for 50 years. The husband died in 1895 and buried on Sept. 8 of that year. The children born of this union were William A and Edith A. The daughter passed away a short time before the death of her father.

After the death of her husband, Mrs. Cary maintained her home, sharing it with a sister until she passed away several years ago. About seven years ago, Mrs. Cary became blind and since then has made her home with her son and family"

Jesse died at Central Lake on Sept. 5, 1895. Their children were:

> William A. born 1865 and died 1953. On Feb. 4, 1894 at Central Lake he married Lilie Ingalls who died in 1948. The marriage record says he was a photographer. Among their children were Clarence, who was born at Central Lake on Nov. 25, 1896 and died there December 18, 1964 of heart disease, Ethel, born June 2, 1901, Sherman born in 1895 and William A. Jr. who was born in 1904, was a member of the Detroit Police force and died in August, 1936, as a result of injuries received in a car crash at Prudenville.

> Edith Ann died Dec. 3, 1894 in a hospital in Detroit at the age of 27. She married George Dawson Mar. 16, 1887.

Clow, Robert. The Gazeteer of the State of Michigan and the census of 1880 indicate that he was a blacksmith in Central Lake in the period 1875-1883. He was born around 1804 and died at Central Lake Nov. 28, 1883. I'm not clear about who Robert's wife was but we can identify 6 children:

> Orpha married George W. Cross and had 6 children. She was born about 1841 and died 5-16-1891. see Cross, George W. below.

> Permelia -- see Sisley, Richard, below

> George Murray married Emma Davis in 1868 and she died in 1875. He served as Justice of the Peace. He was born in Leedville Co., Ontario, 5-12-1845 and came to Central Lake in 1866. After Emma died, he married Lizzie Covert 12-25-1877 at Central Lake. He served as coroner in the Peter Higgins case set forth below.

> William Wallace married Margaret Baker. He became famous in 1879 when his cows wandered onto John Bargy's land and John enclosed them. There was an altercation between John Bargy and Wallace and John was shot and killed. The affair came to trial in late 1879 and, after 12 hours, the jury found Wallace innocent by reason of justifiable homicide. There is another source that tells the story from the Bargy point of view.

> Lodema married Henry Redding, a Civil War veteran, in 1868 and after he died she married George Montgomery on 7-4-1874 whom we will cover later.

> Sophia married Dewitt Burdick and, after he died, married Frederick Church in 1896 at Central Lake. According to her gravestone she was born in 1850 and died in 1918.

The family seems to have come from Wiltsieville, Ontario by boat to Northport and then to Eastport

Cross, George W. was born in Leeds Co., Ontario, the son of Henry Cross and Laura Goss on 7-23-1835. He came with Orpha and their children from Leeds Co., Ontario to Central Lake in 1870. He kept sheep and she carded and spun the wool. He married Orpha on Jan. 8, 1860 in Leeds, Ont.

Their children were:

>Alden E., born 1862 in Leeds Co., married Hatty Mudge on 5-24-1887 at Norwood and had 4 children. He worked for several seed companies, including D. M Ferris in Charlevoix. He was apparently involved in several civic activities.

>Hattie, born about 1867, married George E. Blakely 7-8-1885 at Torch Lake. He died 7-24-1897 at Torch Lake. she later married Raymond R. Wilkinson. He had been born in 1869 and died in 1962

Let's take a last look at her via an obit published in the Torch:

10-13-1933 -- "Hattie Eliza Cross passed into that realm beyond life Sept. 28, 1938 at the age of 73 years. Hattie Eliza Cross was born September 17, 1866 in Canada and came to Bay View with her parents when a child. In 1883 she was married to George E. Blakely of Eastport. To this union were born Perry, Lida and Percy, Perry dying in infancy. In 1898 she was married to Raymond Wilkinson and to them two children were born, Eva and Ford, the latter passing away at the age of four months."

>Permelia, born in Oct. 1869 , married Willis E. Wilkinson on 11-6-1889 and died in June, 1937 in a sanatarium in Chattanooga, Tenn.

>Lydia, born 5-12-1872 at Central Lake and married William H. Hopkins on 8-18-1891. I suspect we know so little about her because her husband came from Ohio. She probably lived and died there and her remains brought back here. Her gravestone says she was born 1874 and died in 1959.

>Laura, about whom we know nothing except that she was born 8-31-1873 at Central Lake.

>Azella, born 1874 per the 1880 census. She married Charles Obney of Dayton, Oh.

After Orpha died, George married Mary (Cross) Willson on 8-20-1901 in Banks twp. She was the widow of Melborne Willson. He died 5-12-1913 in Central Lake of pneumonia.

Davis, Stephen Bateman was born in Essonburg, Vt on Nov. 14, 1815 and died at Central Lake Mar. 14, 1889. Census reports seem to indicate that he lived in Wisconsin in the 1850's and early 1860's. He enlisted from there in 1861.

One of Arch Cameron's letters to the Torch says that Stephen had lived for a time at Torch Lake but that in 1865 he took up a homestead where Central Lake now stands and that an orchard he'd planted still stood. He was appointed postmaster at Central Lake on April 26, 1869.

We know that his wife's name was Esther and that she was born Jan. 27, 1824 and died at Central Lake on Mar. 1, 1892. Perhaps if the 1890 census hadn't been destroyed we'd know more.

Stephen and Esther had 5 children:

>Ella L. was born Feb. 29,1852, married Benjamin Lull in 1872 and died in 1924. They had 3 children, Herbert, Harriet and Homer. We know almost nothing about the boys.

Harriet married Harry Stevens who started a bank in Central Lake with his father. After Harry died, she continued to be active in the bank. Because if his involvement, she also had a financial interest in the canning factory, the company that published The Torch and the hotel corporation.

>Elva was the first school teacher at Eastport and died in 1873, not even 21 years old. Ella, who was Elva's twin, finished her term of school after she died.

>Arthur Bateman Davis was born in Wisconsin in 1857 and married Jennie Franklin Spencer in 1883. They had 4 children but we know nothing of them except their names and birth dates.

> Albert M. was born about 1861 and married Jessie Folsom. They had 3 children plus a stillborn.

> Emma, as noted above, married George Murray Clow.

> Etta. I'm not too clear about her but it appears she married Oliver Seward and her father was a witness.

Dawson, Henry Harry . Biographical History of Northern Michigan says he was born near Kingston, Ontario 5-25-1831 and that in about 1845 the family moved to Durham Co. which borders Lake Ontario, east of Toronto. He married Mary J. McArthur who was from Hamilton, Ont.

Harry was one of 11 children. I'll only develop his line here.

In the fall of 1871, he came to Central Lake and in the fall of the following year brought his family here. They came by boat from Sarnia, Ontario. Pioneer Notes says Henry had 8 children which seems to agree with the list in BHN although the 1900 census says Mary J. had 10 children, of whom 7 were living. I've identified 11 including one who died in infancy and 3 whom I can't develop.

Harry died at Central Lake on June 16, 1911 and Mary died there on April 18, 1915.

>Elizabeth was his first child. She was born on Ontario March 2, 1861. She married William Bennett on May 6,1891 at Central Lake and died 10-19-1933. They had five children, about whom we don't know very much.

The second child was William, born about 1862. He married Ruth Adel Coburn on April 29,1994 at Central Lake.

>George W Dawson was born about 1864. His first marriage was to Edith Ann Cary (Jesse Cary's daughter) on Mar. 16, 1887. She died in Detroit on Dec. 3, 1894. He then married Carrie Wheeler on Jan. 24, 1898 at Kalkaska. George and Carrie had 4 children.

>Harriet Louisa was born April 21, 1867. She married Clark Elliot Densmore on March 16, 1887 at Central Lake. He was a lawyer in Bellaire and they had 9 children, all of whom appear to have been born in Bellaire.

I found this picture of Clark on the Internet.

Unfortunately, I can dispense with the rest of Harry's children in a hurry. They seem to be Iva and Ira burn circa 1868, Jennie born in 1870 and married Elisha Carrier at Bellaire on Feb. 28, 1895, Nellie May born June 10, 1876, married John Emery on Aug. 11, 1901 and died in Flint in 1957. And, finally, Albert born in 1878. We know that he enlisted in WWI from Central Lake about 1917 but nothing after that.

Dawson, William is one of Harry's several siblings. He was born June 23, 1834. "Pioneer Notes" says he developed a foot problem, walked 20 miles to Toronto and had his leg amputated at the knee. About 1868 he married Sophia Dudman* at Victoria Co., Ontario. She was born in Mecklenburg, Germany Oct. 25, 1845. Sophia was skilled at cutting out and making clothing. * there are several variations, I prefer this one.

They had 5 children as follows;

>John Alexander was born at Somerville twp., Victoria Co., Ont. on Mar. 27, 1868. He married Mary Della Morse (probably at Central Lake) on Feb. 1, 1899. They had 9 children. John died July 15, 1941. Following is his obit from the Torch

7-17-1941 -- "The community is mourning the passing of another of its pioneers, John Dawson, whose death occurred Thursday, following an illness of four weeks. Mr. Dawson had been a respected resident of this vicinity for nearly 70 years ...

John A. Dawson was born in Kinmont, Ontario, Canada, July 6, 1868, and passed away July 15, 1941 at the age of 73 years and 4 months.

He was the eldest son of William and Sophia Dawson. He came here with his parents when he was four years old and lived in the Bay View neighborhood until a few years ago when they moved to Central lake. p> On February 3, 1899, he was married to Miss Della Morse and in this union were born nine children, Edith and Lenora Ann dying in infancy ..."

Della died in 1941.

>William George Dawson was born about 1870 and married Sarah Margaret Washburn on Sept. 27, 1897. She was born Sept. 27, 1879 at Kitchener, Ont. They had 4 children. William died April 2, 1950 and Sarah died Nov. 1., 1941. Following is an excerpt from her obit.

11-6-1941 -- "Mrs. William Dawson, 62, a highly respected citizen of Central Lake township, passed away Saturday afternoon, following an illness of two days. On Thursday she suffered a severe stroke from which she never rallied.

Mrs. Dawson has been a resident of Central Lake for better than fifty years ...

Sarah Margaret Washburn was born in Canada September 27, 1879, the daughter of Willet and Harriet Washburn. She was united in marriage to William G. Dawson on September 27, 1897 and to this union three children were born. After this marriage they resided on a farm one and one-half miles west of Central Lake ... "

>Clarinda (or Clara) was born circa July, 1871 at Somerville twp., Victoria Co., Ontario and died 1939. Here is a very bad picture I managed to capture on the internet.

> John H. was born Feb. 4, 1873 and married Ida Arnold on Mar. 15, 1898 at Central Lake. They had 9 children. He died Feb. 5, 1955 at Bellaire.

> Sidney Delbert apparently was born in 1876 and died April 22, 1963. Beyond the picture below we know nothing.

> Hiram was born Jan. 29, 1878, married Grace Sisson in 1900 at Hartford, Van Buren Co. and died in 1941. They had 4 children that we know of.

With a little luck a fair picture of Hiram will appear here.

> Charles Frederick was born Sept 20, 1880 at Central Lake, married Dessa Kennedy on May 3, 1905 in Central lake and died in 1948. Dessa died in 1961 at Central Lake. They had 6 children.

Here are a couple photos I captured of Charles and Dessie:

Drake, Andrew J. according to "Biographical History of Northern Michigan", was born near Henrietta, Genessee Co., NY on 7-4-1836. It says he married Sarah E. Herrington in 1861. Her name was mis-spelled. She was the daughter of Nelson Harrington. We'll talk about him later. Andrew served in the Civil War from 1862 to 1865. In the fall of 1865 he secured land near Eastport. I'm fairly certain that George Drake who died at Helena twp. on 3-17-1899 at the age of 75 was his brother. George was the son of John Drake and Mary Pearl, who was one of John's three wives.

In 1892 he sold the farm and moved to Central Lake where he sold farm implements. His children were: Imogene, born 3-1-1872, who married Alonzo Sage as noted below, Delbert J. who married Anna Emmons who died at 18, only 2 years after being married . He also raised Charles Hart who was a relative of Sarah's. He died 8-13-1909 at Central Lake. In 1903, Delbert re-married to a Nora --- in Cross Village but they divored in Alger Co. in 1926. Delbert died at Munising April 16, 1935.

"The Traverse Region" further amplifies this by saying that he married Sarah on 10-1-1861.

In addition to the above children were: Betsey, born about 1860 and died during the Civil War and Wilbur, born about 1863 and died before 1870.

Three pictures are available from the Web. They appear in the following order: Andrew, Sarah and Delbert.

Josiah E Easton In one of his letters to the Torch, F. H. Thurston mentions seeing "Joe" Easton's log cabin in 1878. He probably means "Josiah." Further, Antrim Co. vital records refers to "Joseph" Easton, who I'm assuming to be the same person.

Josiah was a Civil War Veteran born in 1845. I suspect he had a brother named William who was also a Civil War veteran who located here about the same time but I can't prove it.

In any event Josiah was married to an Evaline and seems to have had a son named Charles E., born about 1871, who married Phyllis Cornett and had 4 children.

In addition to being a farmer, Josiah was constable of the village for a short time and died of cancer Dec. 30, 1906. If his age at time of death as shown on the death record is accurate he was born Jan. 21, 1845 -- probably in Michigan since he served in a Michigan unit in the Civil War.

Green, Caleb. It's a shame that we know so little about this man who contributed so much to his community. He was born near Buffalo on Mar. 10, 1835 and died at Central Lake on Nov. 28, 1907. "Pioneer Notes" say that he lost an arm as a child which kept him out of the war.

Frank Thurston said in one of his letters that when he visited Central Lake in 1878 Caleb was erecting a building which Caleb said was to be a town hall. Frank says he later used the building for a store. The 1880 census says Caleb was a teacher and Mary, his wife, was a milliner. Another source says he was a Justice of the Peace in 1881.

Mary was Mary Davis, one of three daughters of S. B. Davis. The other two were twins -- Elva who was the first school teacher at Eastport and Ella, who finished Elva's school term when Elva died. Ella later married Benjamin Lull. They had a daughter who married Harry Stevens, who formed The First State Bank of Central Lake, known later at the Central Lake Exchange Bank.

We know only a little about Caleb and Mary's children; Amy died before she was 5 of diphtheria, Jennie M., whose birth record in 1881 says Caleb was a hotel keeper, and Mary, who married William Bowers. If Mary was known generally as "Orrie" we can track William and Mary's childen to modern times and have the obituary for one of them

Keefe, John. We know almost nothing about him except for stories in BHN (which is the source of the picture below) and in "Pioneer Notes." BHN says he was born in Dublin on Dec. 28, 1826. His parents died when he was 2 and when he was 12 he worked for his passage to America.

He sailed for a bit, learned the stone-cutter's trade at Bangor, Me. and in 1861 enlisted in the 4th Maine infantry. In Nov. 1865 he came to a homestead 2 miles east of Torch Lake. He and his wife had 7 children but we know very little about them except for Anastasia who became a nurse and married Michael McCusker.

His wife was Mary Cunningham. She died Oct. 20, 1905 in Central Lake. Her obituary indicates that John had died a few months earlier and her remains were taken to Grand Rapids to be laid to rest beside him.

Montgomery, George W. We don't have much to go on except for the data in BHN and Grace Hooper's "Pioneer Notes". We know that he was one of 10 children, 7 of whom never left New York. His brothers, Joseph P. and John J. came to Antrim county but they settled in Kearney twp. so we'll ignore them.

George was born in Dryden, NY, in 1839. He went to school in Ohio and when the Civil War broke out he enlisted in the 19th Ohio Vol. Inf. and was captured twice, including a period at Andersonville.

When the War was over, he came to Antrim Co. in 1868 and acquired 160 acres in Kearney twp. On July 4, 1874, he married Lodema Clow, Robert's daughter, and the widow of Henry Redding, another Civil War veteran.

We know that he had three sons, Milo Robert, Rex Perry who died when he was 2 and Birney, about whom we know nothing except than when BHN was written he was in the Army at Fort Totten, NY.

George apparently held several positions at the township and county level. He joined the Bellaire Masonic Lodge in 1892 and died May 2, 1917.

Sage, Daniel , Gary's ancestor, was born in Lorain Co., Oh., 12-7-1833 and died in 1918. He was a seargeant in Co. H of the 9th NY infantry per one record and in 2 other units, one in NY and one in Ohio per another source. He is said to have come to Clinton County, Mi. in 1855 until the war. He had at least one child, Alonzo E. Sage who was born Oct. 1870 and died in 1962. He married Imogene Drake on 10-9-1890 at Central Lake and had 4 children.

It appears that his only child was Alonzo Sage. One source says he was born in Dallas, Clinton Co. in Oct. 1870. The Standard Atlas of Antrim County says he arrived in 1881. I can't vouch for much of the following data as it was captured from somebody else's family site but it appears he married Imogene Drake in Central Lake on Oct. 20, 1890. One of her ancestors claimed to be descended from Sir Francis Drake.

Alonzo and Imogene had at least two children: Alonzo Drake Sage who married Beatrice Black in Central Lake in 1911 and Meda Sage who married Earl Hinckley and died in Santa Clara, Ca.

Let's look at a couple articles about "Lon" in the Torch.

6-4-1896 -- Lon Sage has his well completed and is satisfied with it. G. M. Peaslee put it down and had to go over 140 feet, but has accomplished it, and Lon now has a well of good water right at his house.

4-26-1900 -- “Lon” Sage has adopted a new plan for churning and expects to get it patented soon. He simply lets his team of ponies get frightened and run away with the milk-wagon, and then follows along behind and picks up the rolls of butter that are churned as the wagon goes over the rough road. They ran across the river, and as far north as Hanley’s place one day last week.

8-27-1936 -- Mr and Mrs. Lon Sage of Shady Nook have been married almost fifty years; now they are going on a long delayed honeymoon sponsored by their daughter and son-in-lawa of Linden, Mich. They are going to Dallas ...

And now for some pictures I captured from a site of someone researching Daniel:

Thurston, Francis Henry was one of four children born to John Gates Thurston and Harriet Patrick Lee who lived and died in Lancaster, Worchester Co., Mass. We know virtually nothing about "Frank's" brother and two sisters. Frank was born in Lancaster on Dec. 21, 1833 and married Elizabeth Amelia Crandall in 1863. He clerked in his father's store for a time and in several other places.

In 1878 he came to Antrim Co. He was postmaster and ran a store and his son, George L., worked in the store as well.

In 1902 he wrote a letter to the Torch which was published on Jan. 9, 1902 and an excerpt follows:

“In October 1878 I landed at Torch Lake dock ... I asked Lewis (F. J. Lewis) where Central Lake was, never having seen the name before, and he told me it was over in the woods about nine miles. All that I had heard before was that there were some mineral springs near the crossing of Intermediate Lake. I had however heard that there was some talk of moving the county seat from Elk Rapids to a point near Intermediate Rapids.

“I decided to visit that place, and learning the only way to get there was to go to Central Lake, hire a boat and a guide and go down the lake. I crossed on a tug from Brownstown – now Torch Lake Village to Russell’s Landing ... I walked from Russell’s over to Central Lake, passing on the way Joe Easton’s log house which was then about the statliest building in the burg

“On the corner was an unfinished structure which Caleb Green was erecting, as he said, for a town hall. This building I afterwards occupied as a store and it is now used as a bakery. Wallace Smith kept a stopping place in the western end of what was afterwards known as the Lake View House. I stayed with him over night and the next morning, with him as a guide, went down the lake in a boat. We landed near the point where the Bellaire Woodenware now is. We continued our journey ... to Russell’s landing, where we left the boat and walked to Central Lake.

“There were very few buildings in Central Lake at that time. James Wadsworth occupied the house now occupied by Mrs. Hastings near the bridge. He had a small stock of goods in the west side of the building, and as he was the wood measurer for the Elk Rapids Iron Company, he was doing a very fair business.

“East Jordan had scarcely been heard of and the only stores between Central Lake and Elk Rapids were John Pearl’s at Eastport and Coy’s at Spencer Creek, so that people came from far and near to trade at Central Lake ...

“I bought some lots of James Wadsworth and became associated with him in merchandise and lumbering. The post office was then kept in a corner of Wadsworth’s store and the mails came twice a week from Mancelona on the shoulders of Newton Smith ...

“On the 4th of July 1879 we decided to have a celebration with fire works ...

“After a year or two, the partnership with Wadsworth being dissolved, I bought and moved my stock of goods into Green’s hall ..."

So far as we know, Frank and Elizabeth had only one son, George L., who was born 11-4-1863 in Paxton, Ill. and married Lenore Mohrmann on Nov. 27, 1890 at Central Lake. George and Lenore had 4 children: Frederick C., Lee, William Francis and Elizabeth Lenore.

Lenore's obituary on Mar. 23, 1911 gives us a good glimpse into the times and the activities of this family

"Last Monday morning at 3 o’clock occurred the death of Lenore M. Thurston at the home of her parents, Mr and Mrs. Mohrmann, living north east of the village. Mrs. Thurston had been failing for some time and her death had been expected for the past week.

"Since the death of her husband on April 28, 1907, Mrs. Thurston had been in poor health ... Last fall she and her son Lee and daughter Elizabeth traveled to Georgia and later to Florida in the hope that the change of climate would benefit her but ...

"Lenore Mohrmann Thurston was born in Central Lake township on August 20, 1868. She was the eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs. William Mohrmann ... After she finished school she started teaching, her first position being in Central Lake township ...

"On November 27, 1891, she was united in marriage to George L. Thurston of this village. After their marriage Mr. Thurston took the editorship of the Torch ... By the time of his death he had acquired controlling interest in the company ... She was never very rugged and it is thought that her worry over her household affairs and work at the printing office went far to undermine her health.

"She also owned stock in the Central Lake Canning Company and the Traverse Bays Telephone Company ...

"Mrs. Thurston leaves three children: Fred, born March 23, 1894; Lee, born August 7, 1895; and Elizabeth, born December 4, 1905 ..."

Frederick C. was born Mar. 28, 1894 in Central Lake and went into the newspaper business. Following are two excerpts from the Torch

> -- 8-25-1932 -- Our old friend Fred C. Thurston and former Central Lake boy is now located at Remington, Virginia, where he is operating a weekly newspaper known as the Remington News ...

> -- 4-19-1936 -- Fred C. Thurston ...well known newspaper man and representative of the Evening Telegram as manager of its Ilion office, passed away at Ilion hospital at 6:30 following a short illness of pneumonia ...

Born in Central Lake, Michigan, the son of Mr and Mrs. George Lee Thurston, he was in a manner of speaking, born in to the newspaper business. His father was a well-known weekly publisher there ...

When the World War broke out, Mr. Thurston enlisted at once. While he never served in France he served in several training camps...

Lee Mohrmann was born Aug. 7, 1895 in Central Lake, married Jessie Gothro at Chicago on July 2, 1919 and died in or near Washington, D.C. on Sept. 4, 1953.

He became quite famous as an educator, was the superintendant for education for the State of Michigan and held a similar position in Washington at the national level under President Eisenhower.

William Francis lived less than a year and we know nothing about Elizabeth Lenore.

Wadsworth, James M. was born at Lyons, Ionia Co., 9-20-1842, the son of Abram Wadsworth who in the fall of 1851 gathered a small group of men in Grand Rapids and walked to where Elk Rapids is today. The group included Amos Wood, his brother Enoch, his brother-in-law, Alexander McVicar, his father-in-law, William Day Fraser and a couple of others who appear to have been Mormons that continued on north.

He served in the Civil War from 7-22-1862 to 7-22-1864.

James married Loretta B. Swift on 12-23-1869 at Brownstown, now Torch Lake. The 1870 census says he ran a steam tug. In 1871 he opened the first store in Central Lake. In 1882 he sold his store to Robert Hastings and moved to Bellaire where he opened a store and ran a saw and lath mill and was postmaster

James and Loretta had 4 children but 3 of them died young: Alfred (or Hurlbert, depending on the source) Dewitt was born 7-18-1877 and died on 1-12-1880 (dates of the month vary) at the age of 2, Blanche Grace was born 12-3-1870 and we know no further of her. Daisy Eloise was born 8-1-1875 and died 1-23-1880 at the age of 4 of diphtheria.

Nina was born 2-23-1882 and is the only one known to have survived. At some point the family moved to Oregon and, occasionally, in the Torch we see notices that local people had heard from them.