Descendants of Captain Samuel Bliss, Sr.

 

 

NOTE: The below HTML series of pages has a lot of material. However, this PDF contains more recent updates, more information, and several pictures. Its size is about 4 MB with 174 physical pages.

 

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Generation No. 5(b)

 

35.  NELLIE MAE¹¹ BLISS (SIDNEY E.¹⁰, CALVIN HALL⁹, SAMUEL⁸, SAMUEL "CAPTAIN"⁷) was born 8-17-1874 in Albion, Calhoun Co., MI, and died 4-21-1962 in Jackson Co., MI.  She married WILLIAM HOOD BARNES 11-29-1899 in Albion, Calhoun Co., MI, son of DAVID BARNES and MARY HOOD.  He was born 5-27-1870 in Horton, Jackson Co., MI, and died 12-10-1946 in Jackson Co., MI.

 

Notes for NELLIE MAE BLISS:

Nellie loved salt-rising toast. While her grandson Charlie Paige was little and his Grandma Nellie still owned the house on Ganson Street, she continued to let rooms. Charlie recalls vividly, even forty years after, the pungent odor of toasting salt-rising bread whenever he'd enter the house; a smell that was never absent.

 

Nellie was petite, standing only about five feet tall as compared to her husband Will's six-foot height. Her hobbies included crocheting, knitting, and sewing doll quilts for the little girls of the family.

 

Nellie was basically religious, a trait inherited from generations of devout Christian predecessors. For some years she attended the Horton Methodist Church, yet Will's dislike of attending church eventually turned her away from going, also, though she always kept the spark of her beliefs burning in her heart.

 

When Nellie was in the process of moving out of her house near the end of the 1950s, she gave to her grandson, Charlie Paige, a 900-page oversize book entitled The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young, by Richard Newton, D.D., published at Philadelphia in 1880. The religious book was dedicated "to Christian Parents, Ministers, Teachers, and all who are Striving to Follow the Command of Our Blessed Lord to His Apostle Peter, `Feed my Lambs'...."  The book, which was probably given to Nellie by her parents and used as an in-home Sunday School class, contained passages from the Scriptures together with real-life anecdotal dramatizations of their meanings and how they related to the then (1880s) modern world. Along with the written text there were also twenty-one picture prints from steel engravings, twenty wood engravings printed as plates, and dozens more "engravings on wood printed with the text." Also included were newspaper articles Nellie had cut out, apparently feeling they were pertinent in some way. There was also a piece of paper with these words scribbled in palsied handwriting, "Must You Go," and a locket-size miniature of her mother, Helen (Hubbard) Bliss.

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Nellie's obituary as appeared in the Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper:

 

Rites Tuesday for Horton Resident, 87

 

Services for Mrs. Nellie M. Barnes, 87, of Horton, will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Greiner Funeral Home, Hanover, with the Rev. Robert Garrett, pastor of the Warren Ave. Baptist Church, Saginaw, officiating. Burial will be at Horton.

 

The widow of William H. Barnes, formerly of Jackson and Chicago, died Saturday.

 

She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star, Horton Chapter No. 135, attended the Horton Methodist Church and was active in the Horton WSCS. Her hobbies included making quilts for her grandchildren and crocheting, knitting and sewing doll quilts for the little girls in the family.

 

Surviving are a sister, Mrs. William Kendrick of Holland, Mich.; four children, Mrs. Clifford (Helen) Leggett of Horton, Mrs. Howard (Jennie) Paige, and Thomas and Charles Barnes, all of Jackson; 16 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren.

 

Notes for WILLIAM HOOD BARNES:

William was employed as a signal man with the railroad and living in Chicago before he was married to Nellie Bliss. He returned to MI long enough for the marriage, after which the couple made the "windy city" their home. His daughter Jennie's ex-husband recalls his father-in-law telling how it was that he quit railroading. As the story goes, Will was returning from a job one day pumping a manual handcar along the tracks. Suddenly a train appeared heading toward him at full speed. Will had no choice but to jump for his life just moments before the handcar was pulverized. Will told Howard he walked away from the mess and never again returned to work for the railroad.

 

Will's next job in Chicago was entitled "civil engineer," and he was in charge of heating all buildings at Palmer Park, a recreation area with a wide assortment of amusement facilities, including an outside pavilion for concerts and the like, picnic areas, and buildings within which were a gymnasium, auditorium, and classrooms where people could learn things like working with clay and other artistic pursuits. In the meantime, his growing family lived in a house at 10943 Wabash Avenue, and Will invested some of his money in land. He also built a bungalow in Chicago as a rental.

 

Will Barnes was for many years a rim inspector for the Tire and Rim Association of America, in Jackson after the family moved to the area from Chicago in 1918. He loved to smoke cigars and seemed always to be puffing on one. He'd have several of his cronies over to play cards, and they'd sit around with their hats on and cigar smoke filling the house.

 

When Will and Nellie were living at 1114 E. Ganson Street in Jackson, Will took his automobile out one day on some errand. He had never liked to drive and had for many years gotten out of doing so by "letting" his eager children do the chore. But by now Charles, Helen, Tom, and Jennie had long ago gotten married and were off having families of their own. So on this particular wintry day he was on his own on the icy street. Not far from home he suddenly lost control—the car swerving and skidding until finally coming to a stop. He then turned the car around, slowly drove it to his garage, and sold it shortly thereafter. Will never drove again.

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Barnes, William H.                    Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper Dec. 1946

 

Passed away at his home, 1114 E. Ganson St., at one o'clock Tuesday morning, aged 76 years. He is survived by his wife, Nellie; two sons, Thomas of Greencastle, IN and Charles of Jackson; two daughters, Mrs. Jennie Paige of Saginaw and Mrs. Helen Leggett of Horton; one brother, June of Horton; also 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He was a member of Horton Lodge, F. & A. M. for 53 years. Mr. Barnes is at the Gildersleeve Memorial chapel where funeral services will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. The Masonic lodge will conduct services at the grave in the Horton cemetery where the interment will be made.

__________

 

Will Barnes, the family's oral historian who late in life transcribed the essential information, worked for the railroad in Chicago and later was a civil engineer for the city's facilities at Palmer Park before returning to Michigan in 1918. Interred at Horton Cemetery, Horton, MI.

__________

 

 

The handwritten original was kept for many years by Helen (Barnes) Leggett of Horton, Michigan, but has since been lost.

--------------------------

The following notes are meant to clarify, amplify, and sometimes correct information in Will Barnes' memoirs.

 

Notes to Will Barnes' Memoirs, by C. W. Paige:

 

1) Senate = Sennett, a town just northeast of Auburn, NY

 

2) Caugua = Cayuga (a county in north central New York)

 

3) Victor = either Victory, or Will meant Victor, Wayne Co., NY

 

4) Troopsville = Throopsville (though it is pronounced "Troopsville"), a town just north of Auburn

 

5) Putney = Pulteney

 

6) Stueben = Steuben

 

7) It was Aaron Barns' younger brother Thomas who early settled in Throopsville (then still part of Mentz), New York, along with the Treat family, Manrows (later evolved to Monroe), and others from Sharon, Connecticut. Thomas and wife Mary (Tyler) had the first two of their twelve children in Connecticut, in 1795 and 1797, and the remainder in New York starting 1798.

 

Aaron and Martha Barns had all seven of their children in Connecticut. According to an article about Aaron and Martha's son Horace, appearing in the Clyde (Wayne Co., NY) Times newspaper, dated November 8, 1877, the year was 1816 when the families of Aaron and Martha, and their son Jeffrey Samuel and his wife Lucretia, immigrated to Mentz/Throopsville. One especially informative passage told of Horace: "He was born in Sharon, Conn., in 1804. At the age of 12, his father and a brother moved their families to Mentz, Cayuga Co., where they took up a considerable portion of land, which was finally divided among their children."

 

8) Cayuga County played a very prominent role in Barns/Barnes family history, and many Barnes relatives remained in the area after Thomas and Sarah emigrated to Seneca Falls, Seneca County, New York, and then to Jackson County, Michigan. Besides the Barns and Sittser families (Auburn, Sennett, Throopsville, Mentz), the Bliss family’s Hubbards and McCleans (Auburn, Moravia) also came from this county. Many geographical names from Cayuga County were transplanted to Michigan locales, indicating a large population movement to southern lower Michigan from that area.

 

9) "Sittser" is a variation of "Sitzer," which was the original spelling. Near the town of Throop is the "Community or Sitzer Cemetery," but the only Sitzers buried there spelled their name "Sittser." The cemetery is located on part of the original David and Sarah (Mills) Sittser farm, and is where ancestors David and Sarah, and some of their sons and other relatives, are buried.

 

Sarah Mills was a daughter of Samuel and Sarah Mills. According to a Memorial written for David and Sarah’s grandchild Sarah Elizabeth (Sittser) and husband Rev. Benjamin Franklin Willoughby, "Through the wife of Samuel Mills, the Sittsers for the generations succeeding David can trace their ancestry back to Ethan Allen, the revolutionary hero, who took possession of Fort Ticonderoga 'in the name of Jehovah and the Continental Congress.'"

 

Since Sarah and Ethan Allen were contemporaries (of the same generation), and since Ethan apparently had no sister Sarah according to known records, our Sarah at best could be a cousin. One "Sarah Allen" I discovered in the descendancy of Ralph Allen of England, born around the same time as ours (and may very well have been her), was part of the seventh generation of Ralph Allen. I also located Ethan Allen at the same level of descendancy from Ralph. By this reckoning, Sarah and Ethan would have been 4th cousins.

 

The entire two-paragraph insert about the Sittsers and Mills was written from the perspective of David Barnes, not David's son William Hood Barnes. Will probably wrote it down verbatim from a Bible or other record. From David's perspective, the entire series of generations is laid out accurately.

 

Will’s account claimed that the Sittsers were from Germany, whereas Mary Lou (Olsen) Stanley of Indianapolis, Indiana--3rd great-granddaughter of David and Sarah Sittser-- claimed that the family was originally from Holland, and that it was during the ancestor’s return from Holland with an inheritance that he disappeared without a trace. Her additional detail to the story was that he boarded a ship bound for America but was not onboard when the ship arrived.

 

The late Douglas Norton Sittser of Muskegon, Michigan--3rd great-grandson of David and Sarah Sittser--claimed that the father of David Sittser was Peter Sitzer/Sittser, who came to America on the ship Snows Good Intent out of Bremen, Germany, in 1749. Peter was believed to have boarded ship when it stopped at Rotterdam, Holland en route to England and Philadelphia. However, Doug's account did not include Andrew Sitzer, who would have been of the generation between Peter and David.

 

According to the Willoughby Memorial, Sarah Elizabeth (Sittser) Willoughby's father Matthew Sittser "...was a grandson of Andrew Sittser, whose exact place of residence is not known, but who lived somewhere on the Hudson in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Tradition has it that a more remote ancestor came to this country from Holland the century before. Andrew served in the Revolutionary war. He died April 19, 1806, aged 63 years..."

 

Andrew Sittser was born about 1743, and his given name was sometimes spelled "Andreas" and "Andries." The Mormon Church's genealogical website has Andreas Sitzer born October 16, 1743, in Greene County, New York, to Johannes Frederick Sitzer and Johanna Winfield. Another of their accounts has him born October 16, 1743, at Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, New York, to Frederick Sitzer and Anna Wingfiel. They have Andreas married to a Sarah Allen, variously spelled Sara Aslen, about 1760, and an Andrew Sitzer married to an Elizabeth Ten Eyck December 1, 1799, at the Dutch Reformed Church, Coxsackie, Greene County, New York. [Coxsackie is on the Hudson River just south of Albany.]

 

From  http://www.threerivershms.com/docnyhistservicemilitiacoxsackie.htm:

On March 26, 1781, Andrew Sitzer, Ensign, was assigned to the Eleventh Regiment (Coxsackie and Groote Imbocht) militia, along with James Waldron, Captain, Coenradt F. Ten Eyck, 1st Lieut., and Jacobus Moll, 2d Lieut. The men were from a Company that was formerly part of the Fifth Regiment.

 

Andrew's son David brought his family from Berne, Albany County, New York to the Sennett/Throopsville area of Cayuga County sometime between 1812 and 1815. He was a stonemason and settled there to work on the new state prison at Auburn. He owned an extensive amount of property on which he and his sons built a large farmhouse on what became known as Sittser Road. Upon his death the property was divided between his wife and their children "Andrew Sittser, Samuel Sittser, Matthew Sittser, Sally, wife of Thomas Barns, John Sittser & Peter Sittser."

 

As to the originating country of our Sitzer ancestors, a tantalizing clue can be found in the name itself. I’ve discovered through the Internet that, at least in Europe, the country name “Sitzerland” has nearly equal usage to the name “Switzerland.” Additionally, Sarah (Sittser) Barnes and some or all of her brothers were born at Berne (also spelled “Bern”), Albany County, New York. Coincidentally, Switzerland’s capital is at Bern in the canton, or state, of Bern. Were we part of a Swiss contingent of early New York’s largely Dutch settlement?

 

10) John McNelley's last name was spelled a number of different ways by the family and legal documents, including McNelly, McAnnelly, McAnnally, McAnally, McNally, and for a time his son James spelled the last name "McNella." Regardless of the spelling, McNelley is a Sept of the Clan MacNeill (also O'Neill), one of the more ancient of the Irish and Scottish clans.

 

11) PA or NY: Cousin Harris Ely Hood claimed James Hood, Sr., was born in New Paltz, Ulster County, New York, but this has yet to be substantiated. Mary (Hood) Barnes was not the only child of James and Catharine who believed James was born in PA, but the belief varied from census year to census year and from child to child, as illustrated by the following chart. In the 1850 Federal census of Salisbury, LaSalle Co., Illinois, James claimed his birth state was PA. In the 1860 census of Moscow, Hillsdale Co., Michigan, he claimed it was NY. However, it was not unusual for a person's opinion to change about their own birth state from census to census, depending on memory and possible clarification between the census years. Very near the time of James' birth his parents were living in PA, presumably Turbot Twp., Northumberland Co. Also very close to his birth the family immigrated to the Romulus/Fayette area in Cayuga Co., NY, that soon became part of Seneca Co. The belief that James was born in PA persisted in the family history memoir passed to posterity by Mary's son William.

— In 1880, Isabell “Belle” Fowle claimed that both parents were born in NY. In 1900 she claimed her father was born in NY and mother was born in PA.

— In 1880, Jane Gale claimed that her father was born in NY and mother born in PA. In 1900 she claimed both were born in PA, and in 1910 that her father was born in PA and mother was born in Philadelphia.

— In 1880, Mary Barnes claimed that both her parents were born in PA. In 1900 she claimed her father was born in NY and mother was born in PA.

— In 1880 and 1900, Catharine Mills claimed that both her parents were born in NY. In 1910 she claimed her father was born in NY and mother born in PA.

— In 1880 and 1900 Elizabeth Hendershot claimed that her father was born in NY and mother was born in PA. In 1910 she claimed that both were born in PA.

— In 1880, Caroline Gale claimed that both her parents were born in NY. In 1900 she claimed that her father was born in PA and mother was born in NY.

— In 1880, William Hood claimed that his father was born in NY and mother was born in Scotland. In 1900 and 1910 he claimed that his father was born in NY and mother was born in PA.

 

12) Research by Harris Ely Hood has come up with a marriage date for Catherine and James Hood as being August 28, 1825. This makes a lot of sense, since Catherine is closer to the normal marriage age, plus she didn't start having children until 1826. Incidentally, Catherine's sister Mary was married to her first husband Samuel Waddell about 1820.

 

13) Catherine was apparently born in 1808 rather than 1803. On her tombstone near South Lyon, Michigan, she is mentioned as being 34 years old when she died in 1842. The year 1808 was also the year her sister Isabel was born, so it looks like another set of twins. [Sets of twins:  Isabel and William Duncan, Catherine and Isabel McNelley, William and James Hood]

 

Marriage Notes for NELLIE BLISS and WILLIAM BARNES:

Will and Nellie were married in Albion by Rev. W. F. Kendrick, Nellie's brother-in-law. William was said to be a signal man from Chicago and Nellie was from Albion. Witnesses were Thomas Barnes of Horton and Hattie Pugsley of Albion.

 

The couple immediately settled in Chicago, where they were renting an apartment at 4348 State Street in Ward 29, Lake Twp, Cook Co. at the time of the 1900 Federal census.

 

There were two other apartments being rented in their building. One apartment was let to the Max Lempke family. The husband was German and in the USA for 7 years, the wife was French and in the USA for 8 years, and the daughter had been born in Illinois the previous year. The other apartment was let to elderly German widow Lizzy Kass, who had lived in the USA for 45 years. She had a 25-year-old American boarder George Holt. A large Italian family, in the USA for 16 years, lived next door at 4346, and in the buildings with addresses counting up from 4350 were lots more Germans, Canadian English, and English.

 

By the 1910 Federal census of the 33rd Ward, Chicago, Cook Co., IL, part of tract A. G. 17, Will and Nellie had purchased a house, still under mortgage, at 10943 Wabash Avenue. In the household were: Wm H., Nellie M., Chas A., Helen M., Thos A., and Jennie L. of the Barnes clan. Also in the household were:  Minnie Fournier, a 29-year-old single boarder, born in Michigan of Canadian French parents; and Frank A. Fellhauer, a married 35-year-old roomer, born in Michigan of Michigan-born parents. Both Will and Frank worked at a public park--Will as an engineer and Frank as a fireman. Minnie worked as a sales lady at a dry goods store.

 

Next door at 10495 lived the Stone family. 29-year-old William F. was born in Minnesota of Swedish parents. His 27-year-old wife Gertrude B. was Prussian-German of German parents. Gertrude had immigrated to the USA 7 years before, and the couple had been married 4 years. William owned a dental office, and the family was renting the house. They also had a roomer--Irvin H. Denne, a Michigan-born 21-year-old single yard clerk for a railroad office.

 

Next door at 10941 lived the Gaber family. Both 45-year-old Rudolph and his 35-year-old wife Marte were German, Rudolph having immigrated to the USA 5 years before and Marte 7 years. Their children were both born in Illinois. Rudolph worked as a painter at a car factory (would have been railroad cars).

 

While the family lived on Wabash Avenue, Will built another house they called "the bungalow," which was rented out for additional income.

 

World War I was in progress when the family liquidated its Chicago assets and relocated to Michigan in spring, 1918. The family moved to the house on Baldwin Street, in Horton, that Will had inherited from his parents. (This house would remain in the family from 1889 through 1970, although for much of that time it was rented out.)

 

The 1920 Federal census of Hanover Twp., Jackson Co., MI, shows the family renting a farm, with the three younger children attending school while Will and son Charles were employed as laborers in a factory. In later years, this would be called "the year of the farm."

 

An Account Of The Family Of Will And Nellie Barnes
Including The Year They Spent On A Farm

 

Will's brother Martin had word that there were jobs available in Chicago, and this was enough to entice the brothers to move there. Will returned to MI to marry Nellie Mae Bliss in 1899, and soon afterwards they settled in Chicago. Then Martin returned to MI in 1900 long enough to marry Susan Ella "Susie" Bliss, Nellie's sister. They, too, made the windy city their home, at least for a while. Will and Nellie's family would live at 10943 Wabash Avenue.

 

Around 1917, Will and Nellie's eldest son Chuck left the frantic, bustling city life and went west to Nebraska in protest. In 1918, with hopes that their roving son would return, the family moved back to Michigan - to a vacant family residence on Baldwin Street in Horton. Chuck did return, and in the spring of 1919 the family once more moved, this time to a rented farm just down the road from David June Barnes' farm on Cross Lake near Horton. Will, Nellie and the brood would live on this farm for only a little over a year, but during that short period of time a number of misfortunes would unquiet their lives.

 

The Year of the Farm

 

The Will and Nellie Barnes family moved to the farm in the spring of 1919. Besides farming the land and raising sorghum, Will worked at Jackson Steel Products in Jackson. He would leave home and take the Sunday night train to Jackson, to return again on the following Saturday night train. During the week he boarded with his brother-in-law and sister's son and his wife, Frank and Charlotte Fales on Bates Street. Will's son Chuck tended the farm while the other kids went to school.

 

The first unwanted happening was too impatient to wait for the family to settle in. Helen and Chuck spent the night at their uncle June's farm down the road so they could get an early start in helping move the next day. That next day, while carrying a carton of canned fruit, Helen fell down the cellar stairs at the new residence. Chuck found her there and, as a result of the fall, she was blind.

 

Helen’s folks put her to bed for a time until a friend of the family mentioned taking her to a chiropractor in Jackson. Following the advice, Nellie arranged with her husband's brother and sister-in-law, Thomas and Pearl Barnes of Jackson, for her and Helen to stay with them until completion of the chiropractic treatments. Thomas and Pearl lived on E. Main Street (now E. MI Avenue), and the location was within easy access of the city streetcar.

 

After the second treatment, as they rode the streetcar back to her aunt and uncle’s house, Helen noticed she could faintly see. Not wishing to build false hopes, Helen kept this awareness to herself until it either proved permanent or passing. That evening, as the family sat down to dinner, Helen said she wasn't hungry and went into the front room. Suddenly she called, "Mother, I can see!"

 

Another misadventure occurred when the family was preparing to take the car into Horton one evening. As Nellie bent down to pick something up off the ground, Chuck looked back from his vantage point on the drivers seat and saw all clear behind. He thus backed the car down the driveway. Unfortunately his mother had bent down directly behind the car and was thus run over. Owing to the way those cars were built, she came out of it relatively unharmed.

 

There were other maladies, such as the time Chuck got kicked by a horse, and another when the entire family came down with a siege of boils so bad that Will couldn't go to work. By the fall of 1920 Will and Nellie had had enough. The family moved back to the house in Horton and remained there for the next three years. In the fall of 1923 they moved to 1114 E. Ganson in Jackson, except for Helen who had just gone to Toledo and then to Buffalo, N.Y. with her new husband, Clyfford Leggett, and Chuck, who had married Esther Harmon two years before.

 

[The preceding account was told to the author by sisters Jennie (Barnes) Paige and Helen (Barnes) Leggett.]

 

During and after the Great Depression, Will and Nellie let fully-furnished rooms upstairs for an additional income. They also occasionally let downstairs. They would convert the dining room into a small apartment by closing the sliding wooden doors that separated the dining room from the living room. As mentioned earlier, they also rented out the house on Baldwin Street in Horton.

 

Will and Nellie owned the house at 1114 East Ganson Street, which was worth $7,000, at the time of the 1930 Federal census of the 8th Ward of Jackson, Jackson Co., MI. In the household were:  William H. Barnes, 59 years old, an inspector at an auto parts factory; wife Nellie M., 54 years old; tenant family--Asa W. Bell, 37 years old, a building construction engineer; wife Ada M., 34 years old; and Wilma J., 5 years old. Will and Nellie had been married 30 years, while Asa and Ada had been married 12 years. The tenants were paying $28 per month, and the Barnes family owned a radio set.

 

The following article from the Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper tells of the party held for Will and Nellie to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary:

 

"Mr. and Mrs. Will Barnes of Jackson were honored on their 40th wedding anniversary with a dinner Wednesday evening at the home of Mr. and Mrs. [Clyfford] Leggett. The grandchildren furnished a musical program, being accompanied by Howard Paige with his accordion. A corsage of gardenias and a boutonniere were presented to Mr. and Mrs. Barnes and later gifts were received. The guests included Rev. and Mrs. Will Kendrick of Grand Rapids; Mrs. Susie Barnes, Albion; Mrs. Lilla Barnes, Hanover; Mr. and Mrs. George Buckman, Hanover; Mr. and Mrs. Howard Paige and family of Saginaw; and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Barnes and family of Jackson."

 

[The "Lilla Barnes" mentioned in the above article was probably Lillian M. (Snyder), wife of William's brother Fredrick. C.W.P.]

           

Children of NELLIE BLISS and WILLIAM BARNES are:

            i.          Charles Aaron¹² Barnes, b. 7-29-1901, Chicago, Cook Co., IL;
                        d. 9-16-1985, Jackson, Jackson Co., MI; m. Esther Lois Harmon,
                        10-3-1921, Jackson Co., MI; b. 6-27-1899, Angola, Steuben Co., IN;

                        d. 9-8-1990, Jackson Co., MI.

 

Notes for Charles Aaron Barnes:

According to Charles' son William, Charles left Chicago and worked on "John Martinson's ranch 100 miles NW of Omaha." This may have been the place known locally as the Chris Martinson farm somewhere between Ponca and Maskell, in Dixon County, NE.

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Charles' obituary, appearing in the Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper:

 

Charles Aaron Barnes

Passed away at the Medical Care Facility, Sept. 16, 1985, age 84 years. Surviving are his beloved wife Esther; four daughters, Mrs. Marie Beebe, Mrs. Helen Lammers, Mrs. Lois Jackson, Mrs. Dorothy Davis; two sons, William Barnes Sr. and David Barnes; 22 grandchildren; 34 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Mrs. Helen Leggett and Mrs. Jennie Paige; one sister-in-law, Mrs. Hilma Barnes; several nieces and nephews. He was a life long member of the Bennett Community Church. Mr. Barnes is at the Chas. J. Burden and Son Funeral Home, 1806 E. MI Ave., where services will be held Thursday 1:00 p.m. Interment Woodland. Visitation Wed. 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m.

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The following is from a letter written to C.W. Paige on October 2, 1985, by Esther Barnes.

 

Dear nephew-

 

I was deeply moved by your beautiful card and expression of sympathy. I wish to thank you also for the check. We are using the money that has been given us for a stone as a memorial. There has never been a marker on our lot in Woodland Cemetery, so we are planning on getting one soon. Everyone has been busy taking care of things and helping me with everything. There have been so many papers to sign and cards to send. So far we have sent 78 cards and I have some more to write.

 

The funeral home was filled and it made me feel good that so many remembered him. He had been living on nitro pills for 3 years to keep his heart going, and it finally got worn out and quit. He was in quite a lot of pain toward the last. He is at rest now.

 

I am sending one of the cards from the funeral. Everything was beautiful.

 

                                                            Aunt Esther and family

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Officiating at Charles Aaron Barnes' funeral was his former brother-in-law Rev. Howard O. Paige of Pleasant Lake, MI.  Nephew Rev. Robert P. Garrett Sr. sang "Because He lives." The following are excerpts from Rev. Paige's funeral oration:

 

Charles Aaron Barnes was born July 29, 1901, in Chicago; first of 4 children to William H. Barnes and Nellie Bliss Barnes. Attended school in Chicago; belonged to a High School group called Cadets and belonged to the Boy Scouts.

 

It is said in Chicago the Pullman Co. opened up an area for gardening during the war, and Charlie discovered a liking for gardening which inspired a family move to Horton, MI in 1918.

 

He was married October 3, 1921 to Esther Harmon of Jackson, and they established a home on Marion Rd. south of Vandercook Lake. While living at this location he helped organize and teach Sunday School in the Vandercook Lake Baptist Church. And later, after moving to Sandstone Rd., he became affiliated with the Bennett Community Church, of which he and Esther remained members the rest of their lives.

 

Eight children blessed their home: two were lost in a few months due to pneumonia. Six are now living, along with 22 grand and 34 great grandchildren.

 

I have known the family since about 1925 through Jennie, his sister, and my early recollections include the 2-acre lot on Marion Rd. being converted from sand to peach trees, raspberries, and a vegetable patch, all of which he shared generously with us all. Charlie showed considerable carpentry skills when he assisted his brother Tom to erect a home on Munith Rd.

 

In the course of his working years he worked for Goodyear, Sparks-Withington, and the railroad, where he served as cook for a section crew. He also served a time with the Dawn Donut company establishing outlets reaching out as far as St. Louis, MO. Fate in the form of a tornado left him stranded in St. Louis without train fare to get home. [On September 29, 1927 a freak tornado hit St. Louis, MO. Lasting only five minutes, it killed 87 people, injured 1,500 and destroyed more than 1,000 homes. C.W.Paige, from "The Bicentennial Almanac."]  It then took work on both Charlie’s and Esther’s part to earn transportation back home. These were the days of 25¢ beef steak, 8¢ loaf of bread, 5¢ ice cream cones, and 75¢ full dinner with pie and coffee at Rumler’s.

 

When I came into the ministry and made rounds of hospitals, etc., I visited him often at the Hiland Rest Home, and afterwards at the Medical Care Facility for about two years, where I called each Tuesday as part of my visiting routine. The cap he continuously wore due to sinus sensitivity came to the nurses’ attention. They told him if he didn’t wear it all the time the women would really go for him. His response was "why do you think I wear it?"

 

Notes for Esther Lois Harmon:

Esther Lois (Harmon) Barnes died at Jackson's Foote Hospital, leaving behind six children, twenty-two grandchildren, forty-two great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.  Esther survived a seven hour operation for cancer in 1973 by seventeen years.  At the time of the operation she was seventy-four years old.  She was born in Angola, IN, and during her life she had been a teacher in IN and MI, and retired from the NY Central Railroad. 

 

Charles W. Paige wrote the following in 1996:

Mom and I visited Aunt Esther May 31st, 1990, just a few months before Esther died. I noted in my vacation journal that  "...Aunt Esther was extremely hard of hearing, but her mind was clear, and thinking keen."

 

Esther had a hard life. But I think she found it tolerable because of her and Chuck's remarkable and appreciative descendants. I vividly remember her frequent and wide smile, and laughter.

 

Esther didn't let herself get left behind as old age approached. She stayed in the thick of family life until the end, even surviving a 7-hour cancer operation in 1973 and a truck ride to Texas and back from MI in the latter 1980s. An extremely thoughtful and hard worker; loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother; and self-sacrificing wife, Aunt Esther was and is a source of good influence in all those who knew her.

---------------------

Esther is buried at Woodland Cemetery.

 

Marriage Notes for Charles Barnes and Esther Harmon:

Charles and Esther owned a house in Summit Twp., Jackson Co., MI, at the time of the 1930 Federal census. In the household were:  Charles A., 28 years old, doing machine hand wheel work; wife Esther, 30 years old; daughter Marie, 7 years old; daughter Helen, 5 yeas old; and daughter Lois, 3 years old. The family was living on a road that had no name, and its houses had no numbers. The family did not own a radio set.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Barnes:

 

An open house 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday in the Tompkins Town Hall marks the golden wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Barnes, 7320 N. Sandstone Road.

 

Mr. Barnes and the former Esther L. Harman were married October 3, 1921 at Jackson. They are parents of Mrs. Warren Beebe, Mrs. Paul Lammers, Mrs. Donald E. Jackson, Mrs. Stephen B. Davis, William A. Barnes Sr., and David S. Barnes, all of the Jackson area.

 

There also are 22 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Mr. Barnes, now retired, was employed in factories and farming. Mrs. Barnes is a former NY Central employee. They are affiliated with the Bennett Community Church.

 

(They would be married for nearly 64 years.)

---------------

Chuck and Esther had purchased seven copies of the 1976 "Barnes Record" genealogy and one 1975 reunion picture.

 

            ii.          Helen Mary Barnes, b. 12-19-1902, Chicago, Cook Co., IL; d. 4-18-2001,
                        Spring Arbor, Jackson Co., MI; m. Clyfford Arthur Leggett, 3-12-1923,
                        Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Co., MI; b. 1-17-1901, Chicago, Cook Co., IL;
                        d. 7-29-2001, Spring Arbor, Jackson Co., MI.

 

Notes for Helen Mary Barnes:

Helen baked her sister Jennie's first birthday cake for Jennie's 10th birthday. Usually that special day she shared with her father was celebrated with strawberry shortcake. But on May 27, 1918 Nellie and Will were in Chicago liquidating their property, as the family had just moved from there to Horton, MI. So it was up to Jennie's older sister to handle the birthday event.

 

It was through Helen and her sister Jennie's persuasion that their father Will Barnes wrote down the Barnes and Hood family history, to preserve information into the future that would otherwise have been lost. Both sisters were also very helpful with obtaining data for "The Barnes and Related Families Abridged Genealogical RECORD" project: 1974-1977.

 

In 1998 Helen suffered a bad fall and a stroke that resulted in her requiring nursing home care. For most of the next three years she resided at the Arbor Manor Care Center in Spring Arbor, MI. In September 2000 her sister Jennie joined her after falling and breaking her upper left leg. They were able to see each other frequently over the next several months, and both attended Clyfford's 100th birthday celebration at the Leggett home.

 

Helen began bleeding internally on Easter Sunday, April 15, 2001, and passed away at 8:00 AM Wednesday, April 18. Her son Art was with her at the time. During Monday and Tuesday she had been visited by Clyfford, Jennie, Charlene and Rev. Robert Garrett Sr., and several other family members and friends. Though weakening, she was conscious during most of the visits.

 

Her nephew-in-law the Rev. Robert Garrett Sr. of Port Austin, MI, conducted the service, and burial was at the Horton Cemetery on Tripp Road.

 

"MRS. HELEN LEGGETT

04/19/01

LEGGETT, MRS. HELEN M. Aged 98, of Horton, passed away Wednesday, April 18, 2001 at the Arbor Manor. She was born December 19, 1902 in Chicago, Ill., the daughter of William and Nellie (Bliss) Barns. Her husband, Clyfford, whom she married 78 years ago on March 12, 1923, survives her. She was a member of the Horton Eastern Star and the Hillside United Methodist Church. Mrs. Leggett is survived by sons, Arthur (Wanda) Leggett of Horton, Donald (Ruth) Leggett of Knoxville, TN, Harold (Madelyn) Leggett of Solona Beach, CA; a sister, Jennie Paige of Jackson; 11 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by two brothers. Visitation of family and friends will be Friday, April 20th from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Kurtz-Towns Funeral Homes, Hanover. A funeral service to honor the life of Mrs. Leggett will be Saturday, April 21st at 11:00 a.m. at the Hillside United Methodist Church with the Reverend Robert Garrett officiating. Interment will be at Horton Cemetery. Memorial donations to the memory of Mrs. Leggett are suggested to the Hillside United Methodist Church."

--------------------------------

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATION FROM NEPHEW CHARLES PAIGE:

Helen was a portal and encyclopedic resource of information on family past and present. She preserved the pencil-written family history memories of her father Will Barnes, written down upon her and sister Jennie’s urging. She also preserved several pre-20th-century pictures, including one of the entire David and Mary (Hood) Barnes family, plus one of David and Mary Barnes’ home/farm at Cross Lake and of David and Mary’s retirement home on Baldwin Road. (The Baldwin house was occupied for many years by Helen and Clyfford. The Cross Lake farm is still occupied by Helen’s cousin, Lillian (Barnes) Hoeg.)

 

Helen kept in touch with cousins near and distant and was a repository of information about them and their respective families. "The Barnes and Related Families Abridged Genealogical RECORD," a project that began in the mid-1970s, owes much to her family knowledge and preservation efforts. In later years, her hobby of collecting the obituaries of family and friends since the early 1900s came in handy in the initial collecting of information about our Hubbard cousins. Her sister Jennie, after Helen’s death, remarked to son Charlie "Where will I go now for answers?"

 

Notes for Clyfford Arthur Leggett:

From "County Press"

Jackson County's Oldest Weekly Newspaper

January 24, 2001:

 

LEGGETT -- 100 AND COUNTING

 

Story & Photo by: Robert Whitman

 

January 17, 2001 Clyfford Leggett, of Horton, celebrated his one hundredth birthday. The event included Helen, his wife for seventy-seven years, three sons, lots of grandchildren, other relatives and a great many friends.

 

Leggett was born in Chicago. When he was three, his family moved to MI after his father was injured in a steel mill accident. The family bought a farm in Jackson County and settled down. As a youngster, he and his two older brothers and three sisters learned the ways of farm life. The skills, Leggett says, came in handy during the Depression.

 

The young Leggett had a knack for making complex mechanisms work. When he was old enough to leave home, a brother convinced him to come to Toledo and work with him at a plant operated by Stewart-Warner, the famous gauge manufacturer.

 

During the early years of the automobile industry, Leggett says, instruments such as speedometers were notorious for breaking. Companies like Stewart-Warner maintained facilities around the country where their instruments could be repaired and returned to customers or dealers. After a few years in Toledo, Leggett moved on to another Stewart-Warner facility in Buffalo, NY. Eventually, he and his brother convinced the company to let them open a repair facility in Jackson.

 

As the auto industry developed and changed though, Leggett says it became clear to him that there wasn't much of a future for speedometer repairmen. The business in Jackson slowed to the point where he found it necessary to sublet part of his building to another repairman, one who kept typewriters operating. Soon, he became a partner in a typewriter and business machine repair firm on Cortland Street. When the Depression hit, the former speedometer repairman bought out his partner and operated the business on his own.

 

Times were tough then, but the family managed to keep their bills paid and food on the table. Thanks to business from Consumers Power Company and Leggett's skills as a farm worker he made a living then both as a repairman and occasional farm hand. Sometimes, he recalls, when business was slow and money was tight, Horton area farmers might be able to pay him a dollar a day. Other times, farm work was traded for food or livestock.

 

After the worst of the depression, Remington-Rand, the large office machine company agreed to purchase Leggett's business and install him and his repair operation in a new building they constructed in Jackson. As time went by and competition increased, Remington-Rand decided their Jackson branch couldn't sustain itself. The offices were closed and Leggett had to find other work. He secured his last position as a business machine repair specialist at Office Supply Company in Jackson. He retired from that firm thirty-two years ago.

 

Clyfford Leggett says his only bad habit in many years has been coffee. He gave up cigars in the forties and has a drink only on very special occasions. He drove Buicks and Chevrolets all his life. His last car was a Chevy. "Didn't like the way Buicks looked that year," he said. "Never had an accident and decided to stop driving when I didn't feel comfortable on the road anymore." He stopped driving himself at the age of ninety-four.

 

Certainly, he's well up on the events of the day. The last Presidential election, for example, "Took way too long," he laughed. He's proud of his three sons who survived some of the bloodiest fighting during World War Two. He has pictures of his six-foot high working replica of the Cascades which fascinated Jackson shoppers for years and many other memories of business days and family events to talk about. When asked to name his greatest accomplishment though, Leggett places his marriage to Helen above everything else.

 

Helen Barnes and Clyfford Leggett were married in 1923. Like Clyfford, she was born in Chicago. The Barnes family came to MI when Helen was sixteen. Aside from a job at Aeroquip during World War Two, she worked to keep the Leggett family and household going while Clyfford ran his businesses.

 

Today, Mrs. Leggett is 98 and requires nursing home care. She lives at Arbor Manor. Son Arthur makes sure the couple get together at least three times a week to talk and compare notes on the running of the household in Horton. That's Clyfford's job now and aside from making sure Helen is doing well, it occupies most of his time. Leggett does his own cooking and cleaning and other household chores. "Helen was so good at it," he says, "I try to keep up just like she did."

 

From the horse and buggy to the computer age, Helen and Clyfford Leggett have witnessed a great many events which are now part of our history, but don't expect a lot of talk if you get the chance to ask them about impressions of the last century. Their relationship is still developing, their romance still alive. That's what keeps them going. "We always got along without any problems," Leggett said. "Give and take, you know. We always managed to work things out."

 

You know for sure you've met a happy man when, after a century of life he can say, "I guess what I'm proudest of is Helen. Helen and our marriage."

_____________________

 

Ode to Uncle Clyfford

by Charles W. Paige

May 16, 2001

 

There is a man who lives in Horton, Michigan and, due to durable genes, healthy lifestyle and robust constitution, has attained the venerable age of one hundred years. He’s lonely now in his house near the Mill Pond. Most of his friends have since been laid to rest at the Horton Cemetery on Tripp Road. He used to go visit them, reminiscing as he walked among the headstones of friends and family. Now his wife of 78 years also resides on Tripp Road, but the man has grown too unsteady to make the rounds.

 

The man’s name is Clyfford Arthur Leggett, one of the few people I have known that I could honestly call a man’s man. He was and still is very interested in sports, and is skilled in many of the talents, including hunting, fishing and mechanics, that men find commendable in each other. He has been a faithful and loving husband to Helen throughout their marriage, and is looked up to by his children and their descendants, his nieces and nephews and their descendants, and many others with whom he has come in contact.

 

Clyfford was always a good provider, even if it meant long treks to and from work for a dollar a day during the Great Depression. As a result of this, and some canny land transactions, both he and Helen have been able to live comfortably even in old age. Though his hearing has nearly departed, his mind is still sharp and knowledgeable as to what’s going on around him, and his memory bristles with stories from his interesting past.

 

He’s lonely now in his house near the Mill Pond. Most of his descendants live in distant states; some, victims of questionable Michigan taxes and regulations that affected their business and caused them to migrate. He longs for visitors to help while away the hours, but few come, and these are far between. His youngest son and daughter-in-law watch over him best they can, and continue to be a comfort to him.

 

Perhaps nobody but God will ever know the impact for good he has had, and continues to have, on the lives of people who have spent time with him. He has provided a standard of conduct and lifestyle by which many judge themselves and others, and as such has provided a positive example during an age when negative conduct is rewarded and is the rage. Thank you, Uncle Clyfford, for being a member of our family!

_____________________

 

Informal notice of death, by Charles W. Paige 07/29/01:

 

"Clyfford Arthur Leggett passed away on Sunday

 

"Clyfford Leggett died July 29 at the Arbor Manor Care Center in Spring Arbor, MI. Not long ago 100-year-old Clyff went to stay at the Center due to complications from a weakening constitution. At time of death he was on oxygen and was being visited by his sister-in-law Jennie Paige, also a resident of the Center. Clyff's son and daughter-in-law Art and Wanda, and Jennie, had been told by Care Center staff that Clyff's condition was not life threatening, but Jennie still wanted to spend time with him. Thus she was there at the end.

 

"Helen, Clyff's wife of 78 years, had died at the Center on Wednesday, April 18. Helen and Clyff's nephew the Reverend Robert Page Garrett, Sr. has been asked to officiate at the funeral."

_____________________

 

MR. CLYFFORD LEGGETT (from Michigan's online obituaries Website at http://www.mlive.com/obits/... )

Posted to the family website August 1, 2001

           

07/31/01

           

LEGGETT, MR. CLYFFORD A. Aged 100, Horton, passed away Sunday, July 29, 2001 at the Arbor Manor Care Center. He was born January 17, 1901 in Chicago, IL, the son of George and Lillie (Hart) Leggett. In 1923, he married Helen (Barns). She preceded him in death in April, 2001. For many years, he owned and operated an office machine repair shop in Jackson. He was an original member of the Horton Fire Department. Mr. Leggett is survived by sons, Donald (Ruth) Leggett, Knoxville, TN, Harold (Madelyn) Leggett, Solona Beach, CA, Arthur (Wanda) Leggett, Horton; 11 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; and 13 great-great- grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two brothers and three sisters. Visitation of family and friends will be at the Kurtz-Towns Funeral Homes, Hanover, Wednesday, August 1 from 4 to 7 p.m. A funeral service to honor the life of Mr. Leggett will be Thursday, August 2 at 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home with the Reverend Robert Garrett officiating. Interment will be at Horton Cemetery. Memorial donations are suggested to Hillside United Methodist Church.

 

Marriage Notes for Helen Barnes and Clyfford Leggett:

The Clifford and Helen family was living in a rented house at 727 Maumee Street in the 6th Precinct of Adrian, Lenawee Co., MI, at the time of the 1930 Federal census. In the household were:  Clifford A., 29 years old, employed as a salesman at an adding machine company; wife Helen M., 27 years old; son Donald R., 6 years old; son Harold W., 5 years old; and son Arthur C., 3 years old. The parents were both born in IL, and the sons all born in NY. The family owned a radio set.

 

Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Leggett:

 

Fifty years of marriage will be observed by Mr. and Mrs. Clyfford A. Leggett of Horton with a reception from 2 to 5 p.m. March 11 in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post home at Hanover.

 

Mr. Leggett and the former Helen M. Barnes, both of Chicago, met at a school party at Horton and were married March 12, 1923 at Ann Arbor.

 

Sons Donald R. of 0wosso, Harold W. of San Rafael, Calif., and Arthur C. of Horton are giving the anniversary party. There are also 11 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

 

The couple has lived in the Jackson and Horton areas throughout the marriage. Mr. Leggett is a retired office machines repairman and former treasurer of the Horton Volunteer Fire Department. He is now a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals. Both are members of the Hillside United Methodist Church and Mrs. Leggett is a member of the Jolly 12 Club; Horton Chapter No. 135, Order of Eastern Star, and its Past Matrons Club. While Mr. Leggett enjoys golf and hunting, his wife knits and gardens.

                        __________

 

Helen Mary (Barnes) and Clyfford Arthur Leggett

 

The following articles are respectively from the Jackson Citizen Patriot in March, 1993, (70th wedding anniversary write-up) and the Hillsdale Daily News dated Monday, June 2, 1997 (about the especially long marriage of Helen and Clyfford, and of their sons).

 

70th anniversary party not as quiet as planned

By Eric Jorgensen

 

When Clyfford and Helen Leggett went to an anniversary dinner Friday with a son and daughter-in-law, they hardly expected bus and plane loads of people to arrive at Gilbert’s Steak House for the event. But instead of quiet table for four, the couple celebrated at a noisy table for 60. Family members came from CA, TN and all over MI for the event.

 

And why not:  How many among us have had a 70th wedding anniversary?

 

Clyfford and Helen Leggett were married March 12, 1923, in Ann Arbor and have lived in Horton for most of the 70 years since then. He’s a hard-of-hearing, 92-year-old repairman who drives to the grocery store. She’s a spry 90-year-old who still cooks up a storm.

 

"They’re the kind that when somebody stops over, they want to sit them down and feed them before they leave," said Wanda Leggett. "Doesn’t everybody have a grandmother like that?"

 

Both apparently jumped at the chance to spend an evening out with a son and daughter-in-law. "They always want to go out," said Arthur Leggett.

 

It also wasn’t difficult talking nearly 60 family members into showing up for the 70th wedding anniversary celebration. Each of the couple’s three sons, ages 66 to 69, brought a cadre of relatives to the party.

 

Arthur and Wanda Leggett arranged for many MI family members to show up.

 

Donald and Ruth Leggett, of Knoxville, Tenn., brought about two dozen relatives on a rented bus. Their daughter, Mary Bailey, organized the event.

 

Harold and Madelyn Leggett flew themselves and a handful of other relatives from CA.

 

In addition to the intimate dinner for 60, Clyfford and Helen Leggett were treated to a video presentation of five generations of the Leggett family. Included were old photographs of the young couple from 70 years ago.

 

"Everyone thinks the world of mother and dad," said Wanda Leggett.

 

In addition to three sons, Clyfford and Helen Leggett have 11 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

                        __________

 

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Long marriages common to Horton family

by Janet Lee

 

HORTON: When Helen Barnes and Clyfford Leggett said their marriage vows, they took to heart what they were saying, and have now celebrated the 74th anniversary of repeating those vows.

 

Clyfford Leggett was born in January of 1901 in Hanover, but lived in Chicago, and Helen Barnes was born in Chicago in December of 1902. They never met nor did their parents meet while living in the Chicago area, but their parents had mutual friends there, so they each knew of the other’s family. [According to the write-up in Clyfford’s mother Lilly’s obituary, the family lived in Chicago for thirteen years. C.W.P.]

 

Helen Barnes moved with her family from Chicago to Buffalo, N.Y., to Toledo, Ohio, then Jackson, and finally to Horton. [The phrase "to Buffalo, N.Y., to Toledo, Ohio, then Jackson" is not correct at this location in the article. The moves to Buffalo and Toledo did occur but were by Helen and Clyfford during their married life. It was in Buffalo that Clyfford learned his early trade of fixing automobile odometers. C.W.P.]

 

It was after she moved to Horton that the couple met at a Horton school function, a box social held at the home of a friend.

 

"He bought my box," Helen Leggett said. "Though it wasn’t love at first sight, we carried on from the day on."

 

The couple was married on March 12, 1923, at the home of some friends.

 

Mr. Leggett worked as an office repairman fixing typewriters, adding machines and calculators. After retirement at age 67, he began working for Hillsdale College and the Hanover-Horton High School, repairing their machines at his home during the summer, and then guaranteeing them for free service during the next school year if there were any problems. He worked at that for an additional 10 years.

 

Mrs. Leggett has been a homemaker for most their married life, but during World War II she did her part for the war effort by doing inspection work for Goodyear in Jackson.

 

"I tried to do my part," she said. "I made the same kind of equipment-guns-that our boys used. I ran a lathe." [Helen worked on 90mm anti-aircraft guns. C.W.P.]

 

The Leggett boys, all three of them, served during World War II. Don, now living in TN, and Harold, who lives in San Diego, Calif., served in the Army during WW II and saw action in Germany, France, England and Africa.

 

Arthur, the youngest, saw action with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific.

 

The three Leggett boys all had girlfriends here at home when they left for the service, and after returning home safely from active duty married those same sweethearts.

 

Two sons have been married for more than 50 years, with Arthur and Wanda celebrating their golden anniversary in April, and Harold and his wife celebrating theirs last June.

 

Arthur is retired after having worked with Yardman and Jackson Canvas Co. He and his wife have one son and one daughter.

 

Helen Leggett is proud of her family which has grown through the years to include 11 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and 11 great-great-grandchildren.

 

"We have five generations many times around," she said, "In three different families."

 

"My husband used to like to golf, fish and hunt. And I must not forget deer hunting. That’s about all. He just stopped golfing the past three years, but he still likes to ride the tractor to mow the lawn and work outside. He really keeps our yard up nicely," she said.

 

Mrs. Leggett always enjoyed knitting and gardening, though she doesn’t do either anymore.

 

Not a bad record for a couple 95 and 96 years of age.

                        __________

 

Their love passes test of time -- 77 years

by Pat Rombyer

Staff Writer for "Jackson (MI) Citizen Patriot" newspaper

 

The gaze that connects Helen and Clyfford Leggett is telling. It’s a look that doesn’t need words. And it survives despite the loss of his hearing and her mobility.

 

The couple celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary earlier this month in the dining room of the Arbor Manor Care Center, Spring Arbor, where she has lived for the past two years. The celebration was a scaled-down version of the bash their three sons arranged for their 70th anniversary at a local steak house.

 

Clyfford, who will be 100 in January, comes to visit his 97-year-old wife every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

 

"He dotes on her," said Camille Stoetzel, a registered nurse who works in Helen’s wing of the nursing home. "He is very loving toward her. They are just so cute."

 

The couple has no recipe for their long marriage, although Helen says an important key to success is to "give as well as take. It’s something you need to learn early on," she said Thursday during her husband’s visit.

 

The two sit in the lobby of the care home, occasionally holding hands, and bring each other up to date on occurrences. "She just lights up when he’s here," said Kevin Ganton, administrator at Arbor Manor.

 

When he’s not visiting his wife, Clyfford busies himself around the house.

 

"No, I don’t worry about him too much. He can take care of himself," Helen said with a smile. She knows retired son, Arthur, 73, looks in on his dad each day.

 

"I’d rather be there with him and I know he’d like me to be home," she said.

 

Clyfford gets at least one good meal five days a week from the Department on Aging’s meal program and Arthur often supplements that with home-cooked dinners.

 

The Leggetts raised three boys in the family home in Horton. Arthur and his wife, Wanda, live nearby, but sons Donald and Harold live out of state. Helen, whose maiden name is Barnes, grew up in Horton, while Clyfford is from Hanover. They met at box social at the local Methodist Church in the early 1920s. That’s when the guys buy a box lunch without knowing who cooked it; then the couple has to eat together.

 

"I didn’t know it until later, but my brother signaled him to let him know when my box came up," Helen said.

 

A lifetime of years have passed since then.

 

"I appreciate what time we have to spend together," Helen said.

                        __________

 

Helen and Clyfford celebrated their 78th wedding anniversary with a small, family gathering at the care center. This would be their last, as Helen passed away a little over a month later. During the two days before her death Clyfford spent many hours sitting beside her bed and holding her hand. Three months later Clyfford would join her.

 

            iii.         Thomas Sidney Barnes, b. 1-3-1906, Chicago, Cook Co., IL; d. 9-25-1972,
                        Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Co., MI; m. Hilma Sorola, 12-4-1928, CA;
                        b. 11-20-1910, Fort Bragg, Mendocino Co., CA; d. 1-10-2004, Jackson,
                        Jackson Co., MI.

 

Notes for Thomas Sidney Barnes:

During WWII Tom rejoined the US Army, after having left it in the late 1920s, and was assigned to the 576th Battalion Field Artillery Service Battery. On his plaque it reads as, "SVC BTRY 576 FA BN."

---------------------------

Thomas S. Barnes (obituary #1):

1443 Munith Rd., passed away at the Veteran’s Hospital, Ann Arbor, Monday afternoon, Sept. 25, 1972, aged 66 years. Surviving are the wife Hilma; two sons Douglas A. of Jackson, Roy T. with the U.S. Army at Fort Sill, Okla.: two sisters, Mrs. Helen Leggett of Horton, Mrs. Jennie B. Paige of Jackson; one brother Charles A. of Jackson; numerous nieces and nephews. Mr. Barnes donated his body to the University of Michigan Medical School. A Memorial Service will be at the Central Wesleyan Church, 119 N. Webster, Wednesday 1:00 p.m. The Reverend Robert Garrett officiating.

 

Friends who wish may make donations to the Jackson YMCA Youth Fund.

---------------------------

Thomas S. Barnes (obituary #2):

A memorial service was to have been held today for Thomas S. Barnes, 66, of 1443 Munith Rd., who died Monday in Veteran’s Hospital, Ann Arbor, after an illness of two months. With the exception of 10 years in CA [and his youth in Chicago], he spent his lifetime in Jackson County.  Mr. Barnes served with the Army in the 1920s and as an instructor during World War II. He attended the Wesleyan Central Church and was a retiree of the Clark Equipment Co., with about 20 years of service. Surviving are his wife Hilma; two sons, Douglas A. of Jackson and Roy T. with the U.S. Army at Fort Sill, Okla.; two sisters; and a brother.

---------------------------

A military plaque for Tom was installed initially at the Horton Cemetery, Horton, MI, between graves of parents William and Nellie Barnes. Later it was moved to the Mt. Evergreen Cemetery in Jackson, MI, and attached to the back of wife Hilma’s headstone. (Tom’s actual remains may have been laid to rest at the Washtenong Memorial Park, Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan Medical School typically inters donated bodies after they are no longer needed by the school. Tom’s sister Jennie Louise (Barnes) Paige, who also was a donor, was buried there in 2004, and her headstone was placed where Tom’s plaque had been at the Horton Cemetery. Tom's wife Hilma also donated her body to the medical school.)

 

Notes for Hilma Sorola:

Charles W. Paige wrote the following in 1996:

Aunt Hilma is a California transplant who sacrificed enormously in removing to MI sixty-three years ago with husband Tom. Being a MI transplant to California, I can truly empathize with her. During my formative years, Aunt Hilma brought a worldly aspect into our otherwise ingrown existence that affected my life in ways no one else had.

 

Aunt Hilma and Mom are great friends. Hilma brought the drinking of coffee into Mom's life, mostly replacing tea. And she was there during Mom's leg operation recovery in the 1930s. She has also been there for Mom many times since, and they are more like close sisters than sisters-in-law. Special times together include a week in 1965 at Ott and Molly Palmer's cabin in MI's Upper Peninsula, and their 1973 California vacation, when Hilma showed Mom the world and family she left behind.

 

Aunt Hilma is an especially dutiful mother and grandmother. This galloping granny has spent a goodly portion of her last twenty years either with son Roy, in Utah or Nevada, or with son Doug, when he and Kappy were on a ten-year mission to Puerto Rico for their church until 1995.

 

Just because Doug and Kappy have now moved back to Jackson does not mean Aunt Hilma has greatly reduced her travel. This year, besides visiting Roy and Nykky in Nevada, she has taken an Alaskan cruise. If you ever want to hear some interesting stories from this most interesting person, ask Aunt Hilma about her travel experiences.

 

Hilma's obituary:

 

BARNES, HILMA S. -

 

Of Jackson, passed away at the Jackson County Medical Care Facility Saturday, January 10, 2004, age 93 years. Survived by two sons, Douglas and Roy Barnes; four grandchildren, Sarah Kissane, Jessica Cook, Nykky Golightly and Alex Barnes; four great-grandchildren; sister, Lillian Robertson. She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas in 1972. Mrs. Barnes was a member of the Central Wesleyan Church. According to her wishes, her body has been donated to the University of Michigan Medical School. A memorial service will be held at the Central Wesleyan Church, 119 N. Webster St., Saturday, January 31, 2004 at 11:00 a.m.

 

Contributions to the Central Wesleyan Church or the Jackson County Medical Care Facility would be appreciated.

 

Desnoyer Funeral Home Family owned for 114 years

 

 Published in the Jackson Citizen Patriot on 1/27/2004.

--------------------------

Hilma’s cremains were buried at Mt. Evergreen Cemetery in Jackson, MI, July 15, 2004.

 

Marriage Notes for Thomas Barnes and Hilma Sorola:

Tom and Hilma were renting an apartment at 1575 Washington Street in the 32nd Ward of San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, at the time of the 1930 Federal census. They were paying $32 per month. Tom was unemployed, and Hilma was listed as a telephone operator.

--------------------------------

Tom and Hilma Barnes' Story - MI or Bust:

 

Hilma Sorola, raised in a Finnish settlement near Fort Bragg, CA, went to work in San Francisco to support herself while attending Mission High School. Both she and her sister had moved to the city.

 

In the summer of 1926 she accepted an invitation to double--date with her sister, Siiri (pro. Si'ree). Siiri's boyfriend, Frank Marble of Washington state, was in the peacetime Army and stationed at the Presidio. He had a soldier friend, Tom Barnes, whom he wanted Hilma to meet. It was thus arranged that the two blind dates would meet and the two couples go to a movie.

 

The evening was enjoyable and soon Tom and Hilma began to date steadily. Two years later Hilma became Tom's December Bride. At the time he had just gotten out of the service and had a civilian job. She was working at Bell Telephone.

 

In the spring of 1933 Tom hitchhiked to MI, stopping at fairs along the way to earn money wrestling. The summer of that same year he borrowed enough money from his father to return to CA. Hilma, in the meantime, had been given the option of either continuing working at Bell or receiving a $25 bonus for each year of service to the company. The Depression was on and it was Bell's way of cutting personnel without firing them.

 

When Tom returned, she accepted the $100 bonus for her 4 years and, with $25 of it, she and Tom bought an old Model T Ford. Tom set to work rigging the back seat to fold down as a bed. Next he stowed a mattress. Finally, after buying two used tires for $2 each and some groceries, they were off to MI.

 

During their trip from San Francisco through Reno, Salt Lake City, Laramie, Omaha, and Chicago the couple roughed it. At night the back seat was folded down and the mattress spread for sleeping. During the day their meals were all cooked out-of-doors.

 

Coming across the Rockies, as they were climbing one of the mountains, the Ford's forward clutch wore out. Undaunted, Tom turned the car around and backed the rest of the way up, pretty as you please.

 

The Ford's forward clutch was replaced in Salt Lake City, after which the couple continued on. Before arriving in MI they stopped in Chicago to visit the Century Progress World's Fair for a couple days; then on to Jackson - their ultimate destination.

 

Tom and Hilma Barnes arrived in Jackson just a few days before the Bliss family reunion was to be held (always held on the 4th of July). On the day of the reunion the Model T was packed with Tom's parents, Will and Nellie, and his brother and sister-in-law, Chuck and Esther, with their four girls and baby boy. Soon they were all off to Susie Barnes' house in Albion for what was to be Hilma's first family debut.

 

(Information Courtesy of Mrs. Hilma Barnes)

 

            iv.         Jennie Louise Barnes, b. 5-27-1908, Chicago, Cook Co., IL; d. 8-19-2003,
                        Spring Arbor, Jackson Co., MI; m. Howard Oswald Paige, 9-27-1927,
                        Toledo, Lucas Co., OH; b. 12-3-1909, Mason, Ingham Co., MI;
                        d. 5-1-1994, Jackson, Jackson Co., MI.

 

Notes for Jennie Louise Barnes:

During the terrible influenza epidemic in the fall of 1918, Jennie was the only member of her immediate family to catch the dread disease that would kill half a million Americans and 20 million people worldwide.

 

As of May, 1997-

Jennie found Christ early on and has been very active with friends, family, church and the community, while pacing herself to get the most out of life. When Howard died, though he and Jennie had been divorced since April, 1965, and he had remarried twice, Jennie was there to fulfill her place in the family as the first Mrs. Paige.

 

Jennie's life is told in a compilation entitled "The Life and Times of Jennie Louise Barnes Paige," 2004.

 

Some of Jennie’s Memberships Over Her Lifetime:

 

--St. Stephen's Methodist Church, Chicago

--Horton Methodist Episcopal Church

--First Methodist Church, Jackson

--State Street Methodist Church, Flint

--First Methodist Church, Saginaw (taught Sunday school)

--Haven Methodist Church in Jackson

--Women's Society of Christian Service (WSCS) through the First Methodist Church in 1940 (charter member)

--United Methodist Women (UMW), which replaced the WSCS

--The Shellhouse Guild (Mrs. Anna Shellhouse was a Sunday School teacher for some years at Haven Methodist Church and was idealized by some of her girl students, including Neva Porter (later Crippen-deceased 1993), Wilma Clement (later Smith-deceased 1997), Sue Pemberton (later Allen-deceased) and Jennie Barnes (later Paige), who established a club, or guild, in her honor.)

--The Birthday Club, including Audrey Denton, Dora Rowan, Hilma Barnes (deceased), Mary Packard Waters (deceased), Helen and Clyfford Leggett (deceased), Wilma Smith (deceased), Neva Crippen (deceased) Donna Clellen (deceased), Florence "Flo" Roth (deceased)

--Phillips 66, a church-related organization

--The Eastern Star (lifetime member; through her father's Masonic membership); was active in Saginaw

--Retarded Children's Society of Jackson Inc. (co-founder with husband and nine other couples)

--The Board of Hope School

--Both the National and Michigan Association of Retarded People

--On membership committee at the Lyle Torrant Training Center

--Calvary United Methodist Church-

----Chairperson of the Circle 2 women's group for over 20 years; the group disbanded when she was no longer able to chair

----On the church membership committee since 1976, meeting Mondays

----Member of "Young at Heart" church social activities group

----Member of "Focus Group" for churchwomen without husbands

--Volunteered for projects in Jackson's chapter of RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program)

--AARP (American Association of Retired People)

--Senior Citizens

--Volunteered in Emergency at W. A. Foote Memorial Hospital in Jackson

--Besides faithfully tithing at church, Jennie contributed to a number of charities, including Disabled Veterans and Feed the Children.

 

A list of Jennie’s Memoir Contributions to the genealogical book "The Coming Together, Volume Two:  Yesterday  Today  and  Tomorrow"

--Memories of Long Ago

--Mrs. Shellhouse

--Marriage of Howard and Jennie

--Places where the family lived, and other information

--Fences make friends

 

There were also many other memory/information contributions made which were used to advantage in other genealogical essays and accounts, and always heartfelt moral support given to the efforts of family history preservation. It was through Jennie and her sister Helen's persuasion that their father Will Barnes wrote down the Barnes and Hood family history, to preserve information into the future that would otherwise have been lost. Both sisters were also very helpful with obtaining data for "The Barnes and Related Families Abridged Genealogical RECORD" project: 1974-1977.

 

Jennie has spent most of her life in Jackson County, MI, except for the first ten years of her childhood in Chicago and a span of twelve years during her married life: 1937 to 1939 in Flint, MI, and 1939 to 1949 in Saginaw, MI.

 

Jennie spent several months at the Arbor Manor Care Center in Spring Arbor, MI due to a July 12, 2000 fall in which she broke her upper left leg. She was placed in the Care Center in September after staying several weeks at W.A. Foote Memorial Hospital in Jackson, during which time she had two operations. Her sister Helen was also at Arbor Manor from 1998 until her death Wednesday, April 18, 2001.

 

On Thanksgiving Day, 2000, Jennie's son "Bud" and his son-in-law Dan VanSumeren began working on her house in preparation for receiving vinyl siding. Two of the windows were already replaced before the family's Thanksgiving celebration occurred at the Arbor Manor Care Center that afternoon. Bud and Dan continued working through the end of the year before the job was done. As a result, the little white house on the corner of E. North and Ellery streets became the little yellowish cream-colored house. Besides replacing several of the windows and installing siding, Bud and Dan also replaced the roof on the garage and did many things to enhance entrance to the house. This was all in preparation for the day when Jennie could once again return to her home.

 

Jennie did return to her house on a few occasions, thanks to her daughter and son-in-law Charlene and Bob Garrett, but they were always short stays. The longest was when she was treated to a back yard party at her house, to which friends and neighbors were invited. Over the next years, Jennie's desire to return to her house waned, to be replaced by a sense of community at the Arbor Manor Care Center. In turn, staff at the Center loved Jennie and did everything in their power to make her stay with them comfortable and fun. Her family never forgot her, either, and she received frequent visits and phone calls. She was also taken on occasional day trips, both by the Care Center and members of her family. From the beginning she had her own phone, as the family never wanted her to feel "out of the picture." Just as before the accident, Jennie once again became the family's news hub, a task that she loved and fulfilled faithfully until the end.

 

Jennie's obituary:

 

"PAIGE, JENNIE B. Aged 95, of Jackson, went to be with her Lord, August 19, 2003, at Arbor Manor Care Center. She was a member of Calvary United Methodist Church and the Eastern Star. With her husband, she helped found the Retarded Children's Society of Jackson (Hope School). She was a member of the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program R.S.V.P. She was a tour guide with Michigan's Artrain during America's bicentennial celebration. She is survived by her children, Royce Duane (Elaine) Paige, Charlene (Reverend Robert) Paige Garrett, Mary Louise (Robert) West and Charles William Paige; sister-in-law, Hilma (Mrs. Thomas) Barnes; grandchildren, Lynn Paige (Dan) VanSumeren, Steven (Kim) Paige, Karen Paige and friend Greg, Robert (Paula) Garrett Jr., Sue Garrett (David) Johnston, Connie Garrett (Ken) Smeader, Laura Garrett (Dennis) Hill, Angela West (Ken) Borash, and Betsy West (Mark) Sherman; 18 great- grandchildren; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Margaret Ann Paige; former husband, Howard Oswald Paige; brothers, Thomas and Charles (Esther) Barnes; and sister, Helen (Clyfford) Leggett. She was a most caring individual and she will be greatly missed by her family and friends. The family would like to offer special thanks to the staff at Arbor Manor for their loving care. Jennie has donated her body to University of Michigan Medical Research. A memorial service will be held Saturday, at 10:00 a.m. at the Calvary United Methodist Church, 925 Backus, Jackson. For those wishing, contributions may be made to Calvary United Methodist Church. www.MLive.com/obits Chas. J. Burden & Son 1806 E. Michigan Ave.  Published in the Jackson Citizen Patriot on 8/21/2003."

 

Though Jennie gave her body to University of Michigan Medical Research, she has a headstone at the Horton Cemetery on Tripp Road between those of her parents Will and Nellie. Her actual remains were laid to rest at the Washtenong Memorial Park, Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan Medical School typically inters donated bodies after they are no longer needed by the school.

 

Notes for Howard Oswald Paige:

Howard was born with the last name "Page," changing it to "Paige" in 1926 because the spelling looked classier. Neither his sister Margaret Frances "Peggy" nor brother Marshal Harvey "Mutt" changed their spelling.

 

Howard worked at MI's Consumers Power Company from 1927 until he retired as a Power Control Dispatcher in 1972 after 45 years of service. While the Depression raged during the 1930s, there were times when Howard was the only one of all the relatives holding a steady job.

 

Howard received Christ in November, 1972, through the guidance and inspiration of his friend, the Reverend Bert Cole. Howard then became a minister through ordination at the Pentecostal Church in Fitchburg, MI, in April, 1984, the same year he sold the farm. He had a small church until realizing that his true calling was evangelizing on a personal basis to individuals or small groups. For several years he put on weekly sing-alongs at medical care facilities, convalescent/retirement homes, etc. During the last years he was also actively involved in preparing senior citizens' income tax and heating fuel/medical rebate forms.

 

Howard spent most of his life in Jackson County, MI, except for the few years of his childhood in Mason, Ingham County, MI, and a span of twelve years during his married life: 1937 to 1939 in Flint, MI, and 1939 to 1949 in Saginaw, MI.

 

Howard's last home was on Bunkerhill Rd. at Pleasant Lake, MI, which he and wife Marilee purchased in 1984. He was interred at Roseland Cemetery, Jackson, MI, near Marilee and daughter Margaret Ann.

 

Howard's life is told in a compilation entitled "Glimpses into the Life of the Reverend Howard O. Paige" 1994.

-------------------------

Following is an obituary for Howard, appearing in the Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper for May 4, 1994

 

Of Pleasant Lake, passed away May 1, 1994, age 84 years. He is survived by his children, R. Duane (Elaine) of Saginaw, Charlene Frances (Reverend Robert) Garrett of Blissfield, Mary Louise (Robert) West of Plymouth, Minn., Charles William of Pasadena, Calif. Preceded in death by a daughter, Margaret Ann in 1984. He is also survived by nine grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; several stepchildren and numerous step grand and great-grandchildren; a sister-in-law, Esther Page of Napoleon.

 

Mr. Paige was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Saginaw and he, along with his former wife Jennie and nine other couples helped found the Hope School in the early 1950s. He retired from Consumers Power Company in 1972, later found Christ and became a minister of God.

 

Services will be conducted from the funeral home Thursday, 1:00 p.m. with the Reverend Donald Whelpley officiating and assisted by the Reverend Robert P. Garrett. Interment will follow at Roseland Memorial Gardens.

 

The family suggests that any memorials be directed to the Jackson Interfaith Shelter. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Wednesday 6 to 8 p.m. Chas. J. Burden & Son, 1806 E. MI Ave.

 

More About Howard Oswald Paige:

Cause of Death: pulmonary edema

Event 2: 12-1960, Bought farm as hobby while still working full time.

Medical Information: Heart disease, No Stroke, Cancer, No Addictions, No Alzheimer's, No Mental illness, No Diabetes

Personality/Intrst: Strong willed, spiritual, intelligent, loved playing music especially keyboards.

 

Marriage Notes for Jennie Barnes and Howard Paige:

Howard and Jennie met in Latin class at Jackson High School in Jackson, MI.  Their big "things" were roller-skating and eating pineapple sundaes. 

 

Howard and Jennie were married by the Rev. R. B. Wilson.

 

The Paige family lived in a number of different houses and cities during their marriage, including the following:

 

1927-28 at Howard's mother's/grandmother's house on S. Jackson St.,

            alternately at Jennie's parents' house on E. Ganson St.

            in Jackson, MI.

1928 on Franklin St., Steward Ave., then Lansing Ave., in Jackson, MI.

1929 to 1937 on Lincoln St., Lansing Ave., then S. Jackson St. (next

            door to Howard's mother and grandmother), Jackson, MI.

1937 to 1939 on Decker St., then Marengo St., Flint, MI.

1939 to 1941 on Hancock St., Saginaw, MI.

1941 to 1949 on Bay St., Saginaw, MI.

1949 to 1960 on Leroy St., Jackson, MI

            Mid-1950s bought the cottage on Highland Lake at Hell, MI,

                        as recreational home

1960 to 1965 on Wooster Rd, Jackson Co., MI (which Howard kept

            until selling out and moving to 13410 Bunkerhill Road in 1984)

-----------------------------

The family was living at 710 Lincoln Street at the time of the 1930 Federal census of the 2nd Ward of Jackson, Jackson Co., MI. In the household were:  Howard Page, wife Jennie L., son Royce, and father Charles, now divorced from Maud. Howard was employed in operations at the electric light company, and Charles was employed in decorating for a retail store. The household owned a radio set.

-----------------------------

When they moved back to Jackson from Saginaw in 1949, Howard and Jennie helped to found Hope School for mentally retarded children. One of their daughters, Margaret Ann, had been born with Down's syndrome, and they found that Jackson had no place willing to give her an education of any type. Howard was president of the Retarded Children's Society of Jackson Inc., creators and sponsors of the Hope School Project, from 1951 through 1957. During that time Jennie was also a very active participant in the drama that helped inform and open an entire community to the needs of the mentally handicapped.

 

The following article appeared in the Jackson Citizen newspaper around 1951:

 

"Jacksonia.

 

"For years handicapped children in this community have been provided with special educational facilities to meet their particular needs so that they would not be deprived of advantages available to normal youngsters. Now provision also has been made to educate cerebral palsy children, the parents of 10 such youngsters having established regular classes in the Kerr school. It is a commendable project."

-----------------------------

Howard and Jennie bought a cottage on Highland Lake at Hell, MI in the mid-1950s, which was sold when Howard bought his "bachelor pad" on Cardinal Crest St. during a trial separation. Howard and Jennie then bought a 100-acre farm in late 1960, which they put into full production while Howard continued working three alternating shifts at the power company.

-----------------------------

Jennie and Howard were divorced March 17, 1965, and Jennie moved into the house at 1100 E. North St. in Jackson in May, where she would live for more than thirty-five years.

 

More About Howard Paige and Jennie Barnes:

Divorce: 3-17-1965, Jackson, MI

 

 

36.  HAROLD BLISS¹¹ WILLIAMS (MARY S.¹⁰ BLISS, CALVIN HALL⁹, SAMUEL⁸, SAMUEL "CAPTAIN"⁷) was born 5-6-1871 in Tekonsha, Calhoun Co., MI, and died 12-6-1936 in Tekonsha, Calhoun Co., MI.  He married PHOEBE A. SHEDD 9-29-1896 in Girard Twp., Branch Co., MI, daughter of SAMUEL SHEDD and LOUISA ELDRED.  She was born 6-21-1874 in Tekonsha, Calhoun Co., MI, and died 6-23-1946 in Marshall, Calhoun Co., MI.

 

Notes for HAROLD BLISS WILLIAMS:

Harry graduated from high school at age 19. He then attended Cleary's Business College at Ypsilanti, MI, from where he graduated in 1893.

 

Harry was employed from age 15 onward in various enterprises, including salesman at H. N. Randall's grocery store in Tekonsha before and after working as a shipping clerk in Jackson. Later, with $700 from the sale of property left to him by his father, he set up his own grocery store in Tekonsha. Later still, he went into partnership with Henry Bartlett, and they were said to keep "a carefully selected line of goods" in their store.

 

Harry was a Republican and at various times held local public office, including president of the fire department around 1904. He was also "a member of Avon tent, of the Knights of the Maccabees," and at one time was its finance keeper.

 

The following material is from a book entitled "Biographical Review of Calhoun County, MI." Chicago, IL: Hobart & Mather: 1904, pp. 405, 406.

 

HARRY BLISS WILLIAMS.

The business interests of Tekonsha are well represented by this gentleman, whose enterprising spirit is in harmony with the progressiveness of the west. He is a dealer in groceries, provisions, boots and shoes in Tekonsha, and is one of the native sons of the village, his birth having occurred here on the 6th of May, 1871. His parents were Alvin and Mary (Bliss) Williams. Our subject was only six months old when his father died. In Tekonsha he was reared to manhood, acquiring a good education, which was completed by graduation from the high school when he was nineteen years of age. He afterward attended Cleary's Business College at Ypsilanti, Michigan, and was there graduated in 1893. When fifteen years of age he started out upon an independent business career, and whatever success he has achieved has come to him as the result of his earnest efforts since that time. He was first employed as a salesman in the grocery store of H. N. Randall, in which he worked on Saturday and in the morning and evening of every day of the week. He afterward spent a year as shipping clerk in Jackson, Michigan, and upon his return to Tekonsha was again in the employ of Mr. Randall for a time. From his father he inherited some village property, which he sold for seven hundred dollars, and with that capital embarked in the grocery business on his own account. For seven years he conducted his store and then engaged in clerking for a year, after which he entered into partnership with Henry Bartlett. He is now well known in the village, and has a well appointed store, carrying a carefully selected line of goods. He enjoys a liberal patronage, which has come to him in recognition of his reliable business methods and his earnest desire to please his patrons. Mr. Williams was married in Girard Township, Branch County, Michigan, September 29, 1896, to Miss Phoebe Shedd, a daughter of Samuel and Louisa (Eldred) Shedd. They have three children, Lelia, Alvin and Fern, all born in Tekonsha. The political support of Mr. Williams is given to the Republican Party, and in 1902-3 he filled the office of village treasurer. In 1900 he was elected to the village council, in which he served for two years, and during that time was a member of the committee on streets, sidewalks and fires. It was during his incumbency that the greater part of the cement sidewalks of the town were laid. He has been a delegate to various conventions, county, congressional and state, and is untiring in his efforts to promote the growth and insure the success of his party. He is now president of the fire department of Tekonsha, and is a member of Avon tent, of the Knights of the Maccabees, in which he has served as finance keeper. Mr. Williams is yet a young man, but has exerted considerable influence in public and community affairs in his village, and his worth is widely recognized, for his business methods will always bear the closest investigation and his course in politics has ever been that of a loyal and progressive citizen.

           

Children of HAROLD WILLIAMS and PHOEBE SHEDD are:

            i.          Lelia¹² Williams, b. 1899, Tekonsha, Calhoun Co., MI;
                        m. Rell A. Ambrose, 3-9-1918, Marshall, Calhoun Co., MI;
                        b. 1895, Coldwater, Branch Co., MI.

            ii.          Alvin Shedd Williams, b. 2-3-1901, Tekonsha, Calhoun Co., MI;
                        d. 2-16-1950, MI; m. Beulah Aldrich, 12-21-1922, Tekonsha, Calhoun
                        Co., MI; b. 1903, Tekonsha, Calhoun Co., MI.

            iii.         Ferne Williams, b. 12-8-1903, Tekonsha, Calhoun Co., MI;
                        d. 10-23-1994, MI.

 

Notes for Ferne Williams:

Fern was a schoolteacher.

 

            iv.         Warren E. Williams, b. 1907, Tekonsha, Calhoun Co., MI; d. 1993, MI.

            v.         Glenda Williams, b. 12-7-1912, Tekonsha, Calhoun Co., MI; d. 8-1975,
                        Homer Twp., Calhoun Co., MI; m. Herman Roepke, Aft. 1930;
                        b. 4-24-1913; d. 12-24-1992, Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Co., MI.