Notes
Note N1616 Index
John was a druggist in Bangor from 1860 to 1874, when he, Alvena and Ursula moved to Saginaw, Michigan. Before that move, Alvena was a schoolteacher in Charleston. They lived in Saginaw only about a year, then moved to Bad Axe (Bad Axe is so named for a broken axe found in 1857 at a hunter's camp by Rudolph Papst, an early surveyor). He was employed by the lumber firm of Whitney, Rennick & Gulliver, and went to Bad Axe to manage their sawmill in that town.
By 1880, John had become involved in politics, and was, in that year, elected Clerk of Huron County. He sold out his position with the sawmill in order to devote full-time to his official duties. He was re-elected in 1882 to a second two-year term.
1881 was the year of the greatest fire tragedy in Huron County history. In early September, a forest fire erupted west of Bad Axe, but quickly spread to that town on 6 September. Within two hours, all of the buildings (except the Court House, which was a brick building) were destroyed. John and Alvena's home was once considered to be one of the finest homes in town, but it was destroyed with all of its contents. Most of the residents lost everything. Fortunately, no one was killed. Everyone who could ran to the Court House as the fire advanced on the town. The men of the town pumped water continuously, despite being blinded by the smoke. John was one who "pumped until worn out." A call for help was sent out across the country and, soon, assistance began pouring into Bad Axe. John was put in charge of distributing food and clothing to the survivors. It wasn't long before the townspeople began rebuilding for the future (Chester Andrew Hey and Norman Eckstein, HURON COUNTY CENTENNIAL HISTORY 1859-1959 [Bad Axe: C.A. Hey, 1959], 15; PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM OF HURON COUNTY [op. cit.], 183).
Apparently, Alvena died sometime between 1884 and 1900. In the 1900 Census of Lansing, John is living in that city with his second wife, Carrie (Kitson) Cary. Alvena's sister, Caroline, came to Bad Axe to provide a home and care for Ursula and Howard. Charles was, by 1900, "on his own" and working as a printer in Shelby Township in Macomb County.
Notes
Note N1617 Index
Charles followed farming until he was about 18, when he went to Corinth, Maine, to learn the harness-making trade under Charles Edmunds. After 3 years at Corinth, he went to Calais, where he worked at carriage trimming for another 3 years. He returned to Charleston for 4 years, engaging in harness-making and farming. In 1877, he went to Michigan, but returned to Charleston after only a year or two there, married Cora, and resumed his business of harness-making, making "everything in the line of harness that is known to the trade." He was a Democrat for several years, but in 1879 became a member of the Greenback Party. In the early 1900's, Charles and his sons began a welldrilling business, the Scribner Artesian Well Company (HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY [op. cit.], 281).
Notes
Note N1618 Index
Joseph was a blacksmith, and a grocer in Corinth.
Notes
Note N1630 Index
Clyde was a truckdriver in Hiram, Maine.
Notes
Note N1635 Index
Albert served as a Private in Co. K,19th Maine Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, enlisting 24 August 1863. During the Wilderness Campaign, he was taken prisoner (6 May 1864). After his release, on 15 December 1864, he was transferred to the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery, from which unit he was mustered out on 1 September 1866 (John Day Smith, THE HISTORY OF THE NINETEENTH REGIMENT OF MAINE VOLUNTEER INFANTRY, 1862-1865 [Minneapolis, MN: The Great Western Publishing Company, 1909], 349; AMERICAN CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS, Ancestry.com, "Electronic"). Ira filed for Albert's Civil War Pension on 29 July 1869.
Notes
Note N1639 Index
Thomas was a farmer in Monroe Township.
Notes
Note N1641 Index
Samuel was Eleanor's second husband. She was first married to a Mr. Gray about 1820 in Pennsylvania, where she and her parents had moved (from Vermont) about 1815. In 1822, she moved from Pennsylvania to Monroe, Ohio.
Notes
Note N1642 Index
Lorenzo was a farmer in Monroe, Ohio.