FAMILIES OF THE PICKFORD AREA |
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Mr. and Mrs. Milton Haines a brother of William Haines, also came to Pickford the same year and took up a homestead next to William. They had one son, Armor and he finished school in Pickford in 1907. They moved back to London. Armor married and has two sons. The oldest Milton is a research Doctor and Robert is a Superintendent of Schools.
Mr. and Mrs. William Haines moved to Chippewa County from Lucan, Ontario with their two children, Mildren and Elmer. They took up a homestead one and a quarter mile west of Pickford in 1894. William Haines died in 1931. His wife Charlotte died in 1932.
Elmer Haines was married to Eva Sanderson, July 24, 1907. They farmed for several years, then they were agents for the W. T. Rawleigh Co, for thirty-six years. Elmer passed away April 7, 1958. Mrs. Haines later married Chester Monck and he died Feb. 27, 1973.
They had three children, Elda, Melvin and Mary Jane. Elda was married to John McCatron who taught school in Chippewa County for many years. They later moved to Akron, Ohio where Elda still resides. Their only son, Donald was a drowning victim in Akron, April 17, 1954.
Melvin served in the U. S. Army World War II for four years. He was married to Alida Deelesco in Belguim. When he returned from the army, they took up farming on the Haines Homestead where they still reside. He also works at Michigan Limestone, Cedarville Plant.
Mary Jane was married to William Hossack of Cedarville. They had two daughter, Marilyn married Mike Sweeney of Pickford and they have two children, David and Kara. Brenda is married to Robert L, Smith of Pickford. They have one son, Todd. William Hossack died November 29, 1969.
Mr. and Mrs. John Hamilton and family moved from Owen Sound, Ontario, to Pickford in May, 1897, by boat, via Sault Ste. Marie. John Hamilton was born on a sailing vessel enroute from Scotland on July 23, 1848, and died February 7, 1923. Janet Maxwell Hamilton was born in Owen Sound on August 28, 1854, and died Oct. 25, 1933. They are both buried in Cottle Cemetery.
To this union were born eight sons and four daughters. All of them came to Michigan except ALEX, who was postmaster in Burdett, Alberta, for years. The older boys helped build the house and barn and for a few years sailed in summer and worked in the mills and woods in the winter. Later JAMES, who is now deceased, settled in Oakland, California, where he was a cabinet maker. WILLIAM, until his death, was a mill owner in Arenta, California. CHARLES, now deceased, was an attorney and teacher. The others were ADAM, JOHN, MARGARET, MINNIE, MARY, JANET, and HAMILTON MAXWELL. HAMILTON MAXWELL, the youngest son, is the only one living.
H. M. was a merchant in Pickford until his retirement. He married Margaret Morrison. They had three children, Maxwell, John, and Leita. Maxwell is Superintendent of Schools in Fremont, Michigan. He married Arletta Gonnerman and has four children: Jim is Costa Rica, Judy (Mrs. Dan Fehner), David, and Bill. John is Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Kalamazoo and married Helen Walker. The have two children, Cynthia and Ross. Leita (Mrs. Floyd Clegg) lives in Sault Ste. Marie and has three daughters.
In 1888 William Hamilton and his 22-year-old son, George, came from Perth, Ontario, to Pickford and built a house on the farm two miles west, one mile north, and one-half mile west. That fall they returned to Canada and brought the rest of the family, a team of horses and all their household goods back to Pickford with them. William was a miner in Ontario. Besides George, William Hamilton brought Lizzie, Becky, Minnie, and Margaret with him.
GEORGE married Mary Hancock and had two children, Merrill and Harry. Merrill married Florence Smith and lived on the family farm until his son, Arvid, moved on it. Merrill moved to Pickford and became custodian and bus driver for the Pickford Schools. Besides Arvid, Merrill and Florence had another son, Roy, and a daughter, Joyce. Arvid married Theora Harrison and they have three children, Joni, Kevin, and Kurt*. Arvid now lives In Pickford and is a building contractor. Roy is a physical education teacher in Rudyard. He married Judith Neuman and their children are Guy, Heather and Tara Noet*. Joyce married Myles Smith and had two children, Pamela and Dennis*. Pamela married Kenneth Oberle and has two daughters, Crystal and Lisa**. They live in Pontiac. Dennis married Barbara Libby. Joyce is now Mrs. James Alley.LIZZIE married Sidney Smith and had two children, Sidney and Clarence. After Sidney died, she married Jim Nicholson and their children were Margaret (Mrs. Mervin Rye), Flossie (Mrs. Malone), Fern (Mrs. Albert McLeod), and Annie (Mrs. Charles Lawlor).
BECKY married Jim Gilbert and had one son, Gilbert.
MINNIE married Elias Beadle who died, leaving three daughters, Violet, Lucille and Grace. Lucille married Carl Howell. MINNIE later married Duren Cataline and had a daughter, Euline.
MARGARET married a Mr. Warren and moved to Viceroy, Saskatchewan, Canada.
John Hancock's mother was married three times. Her maiden name was Maitland, and she died. Her second marriage was to John Wonnacott and they had two Children, Richard and Susan. Tragedy again struck when John Wonnacott was killed in a lumbering accident. She then married John Hancock and three children were born to this union: Lizzie (Mrs. Cook), Agnes (Mrs. Johnson), and John. John Hancock, Sr., his wife, and their son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Cook, came to this area shortly after their son, John and his wife, Ellen had settled here. They stayed only about a year and then returned to Canada.
When John was old enough, he joined the Canadian Volunteers and spent some time in this army unit at Niagara Falls, Ontario. (His daughter, Mrs. Gertrude Bumstead, has a picture of him in his uniform.) After leaving the army, he turned to farming and married Ellen Rye, oldest daughter of Richard Rye. Their farm was near Clinton in Goderich Township, Ontario. They had four children at that time: Fred, born Oct. 6, 1878; James, born Sept. 30, 1879; and twins, Mary Agens and Sarah Ellen born Feb. 5, 1881. Sarah Ellen died when three weeks old.
In 1881 when Mary was a baby, they came to Pickford by boat from Goderich to Sault Ste. Marie, spending the winter of 1881-1882 with Ellen's father, Richard Rye, on what is now the Vern Rye farm. They returned to Clinton in the spring of 1882 to take off the crop from their farm. A son, Ennis, was born August 26, 1882, and six weeks later, after selling their farm, they set out once again by boat from Goderich to Sault Ste. Marie. They had a team of horses and two cows and among the other possessions they brought were seventeen barrels of apples to be sold and distributed to the people of Pickford. They lived for a while on what is known as the Oak Roe farm, one and three-quarters miles west of Pickford, now owned by John Rye. On September 14, 1884, Martha was born. Ellen's father, Richard Rye, wished to homestead some property at Rockview, and being unable to live on the land himself, asked John and Ellen to live there. The exact location of this property was the Senior Charles Bumstead's farm, one mile west of Rockview and running one-half mile along Rockview Road, in the second section, on a 160 acre farm on the south side of the road. Arthur was born there September 9, 1886. Meanwhile, John had been looking for his own land and had bought the 80 acres, one mile west of Pickford from the Detroit, Mackinac, and Marquette Railroad Company Land. The land was cleared and a home built. Gertrude was born on October 31, 1888; Wilford on January 9, 1893; and Elliott on July 5, 1897.
In the summer of 1904, the framing for a new barn was taking place. More land had to be cleared and in preparing for a grubbing bee the following day, much cooking and baking was being done. Martha, now Mrs. Bert Hughes, had come from DeTour with her baby, Minerva. In the middle of the night, James was awakened by the crackling of fire. He roused the family and everyone escaped, but with nothing but their night clothing. The home was burned to the ground. Friends and relatives helped build a new house and the new barn was raised.
John worked in lumber camps and also in Sault Ste. Marie, helping with a team of horses to build the Power Canal, walking home and back to work again on weekends. He also had threshing machines and threshed for many throughout the area. The first threshing machines were run by horsepower. He owned the first threshing machine with a straw blower in Pickford. One incident that happened while on the way to thresh for Hugh Leach was at the bridge that crossed the Munuscong River. They were just about across when the bridge caved in, just as the front wheels were on the land. The machine stood straight up and down. He also had the first farm-side grain chopper in Pickford and it is still at the barn.
John and Ellen were both active members of the Presbyterian Church. He served as elder for many years. Ellen, though small of stature, was great of heart and was always available when trouble or illness came to her neighbors.
Their son, FRED, married Edith Roberts. They had 13 children, 10 girls and 3 boys.
JAMES married Erma Atkinson and they had 8 children, 4 boys and 4 girls.
MARY married George Hamilton and had two sons.
ENNIS married Ethel Corbin. They had 6 children, 5 boys and 1 girl. They moved to Canada, living in Toronto for a while, and then settled in Belleville, Ontario.
MARTHA married Albert Hughes. They had 11 children, 10 girls and 1 boy.
ARTHUR as a young man went to Engadine and married Alice Bailey. They had 3 children, 2 boys and 1 girl.
GERTRUDE married Albert Bumstead. They had 5 children, 4 girls and 1 boy.
WILFORD married Mary Stewart and they had 4 children, 3 girls and 1 boy. Mary died in 1961 and later Wilford married Mary's widowed sister, Janet Stewart Steele.
ELLIOTT married Mabel Leib, who had one daughter, Dorothy (Mrs. Ivan Bawks.)
James' wife, Erma, lives on their farm, two miles west of Pickford and one-half mile north, with her son, Herbert.
MARTHA lives in Pickford with her daughter, Cora Mae Hughes.
GERTRUDE lives in Sault Ste. Marie with her daughter, Flossie Hamilton.
WILFORD lives in Sault Ste. Marie. JANET died on Jan. 30, 1969.
ELLlOTT and Mabel live on the old home farm west of Pickford. Elliott has been Supervisor of Pickford Township for 36 years, retiring in the fall of 1972. John Hancock died in 1925 at the age of 72 and Ellen died in 1938 at the age of 83. They have approximately 275 descendants.
The first permanent settler in Stalwart was Mr. Richard Hanna. Two other men had filed claims prior to that but had not stayed. Mr. Hanna claimed his homestead in 1878 and moved his wife and three sons, John, William, and Wesley, and three daughters, Mary Anne, Margaret, and Elizabeth, to the site of the homestead in May. Mr. Hanna had previously constructed a crude log shanty there. Two years after they had moved, the youngest and last child was born, Alex.
As Mr. Hanna got some land cleared and necessary improvements made, he built another larger and more comfortable log house that still stands on the old homestead. All necessary household items and food items and mail were carried through the woods by blazed trail from Prentiss Bay, where it came by boat.
When Alex Hanna was still quite young, Mrs. Hanna's brother came to the home for a visit and brought with him the dread Black Smallpox. Every member of the family was stricken and Mrs. Hanna and the oldest son died, as well as the carrier, Sandy Montgomery. The disease was so highly contagious and deadly that nobody came or left the place, thus necessitating their burial on the homestead. The platt was later set aside and is still on record in the Chippewa County Courthouse.
The struggle for a mere existence in a new settlement was exacting and hard work. Mistakes were costly and everyone was on the alert at all times, because medical help, etc., was almost impossible to obtain on short notice. Thus, the early pioneers were constantly alert. Only the absolute necessities were carried in. Sugar was an unheard-of luxury. Maple trees were tapped in large quantity in the spring and the sap boiled down into sugar for the family's use for the next year. Still in use on the old homestead are two old iron sugar kettles brought from Canada, More and more settlers moved in and eventually a sort of town council was formed. Mr. Hanna was put in one of their magistrates. Trials were held for petty crimes in the community.
The last two members of the family are now gone. Mrs. Elizabeth Sims, who was well up in her 80's, died in 1962. MISS MARGARET HANNA was born Nov, 25, 1865, and died Jan. 15, 1964. She was 98 when she died.
Melvin Hanna, ALEXANDER HANNA's son, still lives on the original homestead. He married Doris Rosing and they have four children. Carl married Barbara Thompson and they have four children. Carl married Barbara Thompson and they have one son, Brian*, and live in Pickford. Noel is a Captain in the Air Force, stationed in North Carolina, where he flies the C-130 Hercules. Dianne married Kenneth Schmitigal. Shannon lives in Sault Ste. Marie.
Kermit Hanna married Mildred Leach and they have two children. David married Andrea Greggs and lives in Sault Ste. Marie. Gloria is Mrs. James Clegg and lives in Pickford.
UPDATE 8/7/99: Submitted by Shannon Dennis sdennis@iserv.net
Melvin Hanna died in 1995 (Doris, his wife, in 1990) Dianne (Hanna) Schmitigal and her husband are both retired and living in Goetzville. They have two sons: Jeffrey-married with one son, living in Hartland, Michigan; and Philip--married with two daughters, living on the Hanna homestead in Stalwart. Noel Hanna is father to three sons-he is retired from the US Air Force and Michigan Air National Guard where he was a pilot--flying the famous A-10 Warthog. He resides in Battle Creek. His three grown sons are Michael, Christopher, and Andrew. Shannon is living in Galesburg, Michigan. She has two daughters-Jennifer living in Grand Rapids, and Allison, a student at Eastern Michigan University.
Charles Harrison was born at Holme in Yorkshire, England on July 14, 1852. He was the third child of Robert and Ellen Harrison. Charles was four years old when his family came to Canada, and they were three months crossing to their new home. Charles married Elizabeth O'Neil, a daughter of Henry and Sarah O'Neil, who was born in Ontario, August 11, 1853. Charles and Elizabeth had five children born in Ontario. This family came from Clandeboy, Ontario to Pickford in 1888. Two other children were born in Pickford. Elizabeth's unmarried brother William had lived three and one half miles west of the village since before 1882, and the Harrisons lived with him for a while, while Charles cleared land, built a house and barn on the 160 acres east of Mr. O'Neil's farm.
The seven Harrison children were: Robert, C. Alexander, Lewis, Sadie, Wilfred, Percy and Cora. All but Robert settled on farms on the south side of the Townline west of town. Percy is the only one of the family living. Charles died in 1932, and Elizabeth died in 1940. They are buried in Cottle Cemetery.
ROBERT, the oldest son was born in 1878. He was married to Agnes Wilson; was a Pharmacist and owned a Drug Store in Pickford. Their children are: Beulah, who retired December 29, 1972 from Central Savings Bank, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan where she was assistant Cashier. Harold is employed at Grand Marais, Michigan. Robert Jr., married Edith Kaunisto and is an insurance agent in Reed City, Michigan. They have three children: Ruth, Jean and Robert. Robert died in 1955 and he and Agnes are buried in Cottle Cemetery.
ALEX (Charles Alexander) was born in 1880, and died in 1942. He married Carrie A. Wise who was born in 1885; she died in 1959. Their farm was three and one half miles west of Pickford. Their seven children are: Reta, Kerneth, Edwin, Isabelle, Stanley, Elizabeth and Roy.
Reta married Russell Cottle and they have four children: Elliott, R. Alexander, Belva (Mrs. James Rutleage) and John. Elliott's children are: Richard, Marcie Hanson, Dennis who is serving in U.S. Navy, and Marjorie (Mrs. Dale Williams),* she has a son, Chad. Alex's children are: Cheryl (Mrs. Edward Cate), Dana (Mrs. Lester Beyer), Allen is married to Patricia Freeman, Martin and Lisa.* Belva's children are: Gary, Ronald, Roger and Leanne.* John's children are: John II and Robyn.*
Kenneth married Edna Leach and they have one daughter, Darlene. Darlene married James Waybrant and they had three children: Kenneth, Randal and Peggie Sue. Darlene is now Mrs. H. J. Wiggins of Lexington, S.C.
Edwin (deceased in 1955) married Merle McKenzie. They had three -daughters: Theora (Mrs. Arvid Hamilton), Patricia (Mrs. Donald Stevenson) and Lynn (Mrs. Vernon Dumbeck). Theora has three children: Joni, Devin and Kurtis.* Patricia has two chirdren: Chris and Sheldon.* Lynn has a daughter, Kristin.*
Isabelle married John Rye and had one daughter; Wava (Mrs. Ronell Leach). They have three children: Melanie, Timothy and Leannae.*
Stanley married Marion Hughes. They have three children: Willa, (Mrs. Dean Rye), Judith (Mrs. Ted Jarvie) and Alex. Willa's children are: Kari, Melissa and Jennifer.* Judith has one son, Lee.* €lex married Penny Banks, a student at Mt. Pleasant and Alex teaches school in Unionville, Michigan.
Elizabeth married Warren Hill and they have one daughter, Carolyn, (Mrs. John Witbrodt) who is the mother of one daughter, Kerri.*
Roy died when about six weeks old.
Alex, Carrie, Edwin and Roy are buried in Cottle Cemetery.
LEWIS was born in 1882. He married Gertrude McDowell and their farm was three and three quarter-miles west of Pickford. Lewis died when the influenza epidemic was in 1919 and is buried in Cottle Cemetery. He and Gertrude had seven sons: Elwood, Maitland, Lewis, Jr., Howard, Carlyle, Gerald and Clifford. Five of these boys - Lewis, Jt., Howard, Carlyle, Gerald and Clifford served in World War II.
Elwood married Marie Beacom. They had one son, Lyle, who married Deloris Melvin, and they have five children. Elwood died in 1934 and is buried in Cottle Cemetery.
Maitland married Doris Armstrong and has four children: Gerry Dee, Linda, David, and Betty Jo. Gerry Dee teaches in Flint, Linda is a registered nurse, David served in the U.S. Army and is employed in Flint.
Lewis Jr. married Marie Hughes and their children are: Galen, a mathematics professor at Lake Superior State College; Sheryl (Mrs. Jack Stevenson) lives in Caro, Michigan, and their children are Randall and Robin.* Justine (Mrs. John Phillips) lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has two boys, David and Douglas.* Paul is a math teacher in Pickford Elementary Schools and is the hi~h school basketball coach. He is married to the former Cheryl Stirling and their children are Dawn Marie, John Paul, and Mandi Lynn.*
Howard married Eileen Osgood and they have three sons, James, Frederick, and Robert. James and Frederick served in the U.S. Army.
Carlyle married Martha Bellant. Their ehildren are Ruth Ann (Mrs. Alan Koxlien) of Wells, Minnesota, who has two daughters, Cherri and Heather;* and Larry, who served with the U.S. Army in Germany and graduated from Michigan Tech. Univetsity with a degree in Math Engineering. He is employed by Corp. of Engineers in Maryland. Dale is a student at Michigan Tech. and Bruce a student at Pickford High School.
Gerald married Theora Hughes. Their children are Venetta (Mrs. Gerald Hill), Gerald Jr., and Kathleen and Kandace (twins) who are students at Lake Superior State College. Venetta's children are Gregory Alan, Gretchen Louise and Kurtis Gerald.* Gerald Jr. married Betty Rye and their children Rhonda, Tracy and Michael.* Tracy Lynn died when five months old.
Clifford married Shirley Batho. Their four sons are Wayne Dennis, Thomas and Neil. Wayne married Marilyn Ross and they have thee girls - Gina, Amy, Michola.* Wayne served in the U.S. Army and graduated from Western Michigan University and now lives in Greely, Colorado. Dennis married Sharon (Jody) Snorf. They both teach in Rapid River, Michigan. Neil married Sue Ann McHaney. They have one son, Neil Douglas, Jr.* They are both recent graduates of Lake Superior State College and are living in Pickford.
SADIE married Fred Wise and had three children: Izetta (Mrs. Conrad Galer); Marie (Mrs. Harold Lockhart); and Harrison (deceased). SADIE HARRISON WISE died in 1938. Fred died in 1928 and they are both buried in Cottle Cemetery.
PERCY married Edith Cottle and they had 11 children: Earl, Delphina, Harvey, Otto, Victor, Clayton, Ivan, Elda, Idena, Edith June, and Leroy. Earl and Mary Harrison's children are Nile, Earlene and Billy. They have 6 grandchildren. Delphina married Clifford Stevenson and had two children, Elva Jean (Mrs. Wade Sims) and David. She has 5 grandchildren. A number of years after Clifford's death, she married George Roe. Harvey married Betty Paquin and they have two children, Randy and Laurie. Otto married Bethel Westcott and has three children: Beth Ann (Mrs. Jim Eichenberg), Sheldon, and Lorinda. They have one grandchild. Ivan married Betty Jean Beacom. Their children are Trinda (Mrs. Don Thompson) and JoAnn. They have three grandchildren. Clayton married Evelyn Westcott and has three children: Keith Barry, and Wayne. Victor (deceased) married Julia Allen. Their children are Gayle (Mrs. Dave Woodcock), Carol (Mrs. William Pugh), Shirley (Mrs. William Benson), Shawn (Mrs. Bruce Burrio), and Sandra (Mrs. William Peterman). They have 7 grandchildren. Idena married Marvin Dodds. Their children are Roger, Marilyn, Sherri, Cynthia and Daniel. Elda (Mrs. Vern Bailey) has three children, Darrell, Janet, and Linda. Edith (Mrs. Izzard) has two boys, Gary and Jeff. Leroy married Suzanna Galarowic and their children are Vicki and Kevin.
CORA married Joseph Rye. They had three children, Violet and Lois and Deloris (twins). Violet married Otto Stevenson and has two sons, Lyle and Theodore. Ted married Carylene Macklin and their children are Susie, Laurie, Janet, and Teddy*. Lyle lives in Pennsylvania. Lois married Willard Gervin and has one daughter, Coreen (Mrs. William Polly) and two granddaughters. Deloris married Donald Nettleton. They have five children: Jerry, Barbara (Mrs. Ted McGlinch), Sandra, Danny, and Vickie. They have three grandchildren: Brian, Robert and Krista Nettleton*, and Bradley McGlinch*.
WILFRED was born in 1887. He married Myrtle Dunbar and their farm was two and three-quarter miles west of town. Their childten are: Edna, Opal, Everett, McGowan, and Myrtle Emma.
Edna married Richard Sweeney and has six children: Connie (Mrs. Dale McConkey) who has four childrcn: Elizabeth, Robert, Brian and Carol;* Sharon (Mrs. William Ryan) who has two children: Susan and William;* Michael who martied Marilyn Hossack and their children are David and Kara;* Jim and Jack (twins), and Patricia. Jack married Katherine Newell and their daughter is Jacqueline.
Opal married Rudolph Sherlund and lives in Cedarville. They have five childten: Rose Mary (Mrs. Mark Therson) who has a daughter, Jennifer;* Beverly (Mrs. William Touri), Russell, Lyle and Gloria.
Everett married Beatrice Lamoreaux. They have four childten: Ronald who married Donna Sterling. While stationed in Spain serving in the U.S. Navy their daughter Lisa* was born. Ronald is presently a student at Ferris Institute. Sheila (Mrs. John Williams) has a son Todd.* Cynthia (Mrs. Michael Fountain) and Joe.
McGowan (Mac) married Loreen Rye. Their children are: Chatles, Steve, Galy and Brenda. Myrtle Emma died shortly after birth.
Wilfred died in 1954 and Myrtle died in 1947. They are buried in Cottle Cemetery.
Thomas J. Hassett was born near the city of Limerick in the County of Limerick, Ireland, in 1939. Bridget McMann was born in Milltown Molbay, County of Clare, Ireland, in 1842. They left Ireland and went to England. They sailed from Yorkshire, England, in the spring of 1879 on the steamer The City Of Chester with their six children: James, Mary, Thomas, Roger, Winnifred, and Bridget Ann. Three children died and are buried in the Batley Cemetery, England: Michael, Margaret, and John.
They landed at Goderich, Ontario, and were met there by Mr. Hassett's brother, Michael, who had been in Canada for several years. The family was left at Goderich and the two brothers came to the United States. They went to what is now known as Tone, four miles north of Pickford. They each took up homestead rights to 160 acres with the two farms joined. Thomas returned to Goderich for his family. They came to the States on the boat The Manitoba. They landed at Sault Ste. Marie in May of 1879 and hired a team of horses to take them to the land that was to become their home. They went out the Old Mackinac Trail and stayed the first night at King's. They went out the next day to the homestead. Mike had built a cabin, but the roof was only half on when they arrived. The cabin was entirely built of poplar logs. The only lumber was in the door. There were no roads, nothing but trails through the woods. There was no village of Pickford - it was solid woods. The Pickford Grange Community Park is now located on part of the old Hassett Homestead.
Michael and Julia were born in Pickford Township. It was a common thing for Mr. Hassett to walk to the Soo and carry a 100 pound sack of flour home on his shoulder, making the return trip in one day. Through Mr. Hassett's efforts, a post office was established, of which he was postmaster for many years. He also succeeded in having the post office given the name, "TONE" after Theobold Wolfe Tone, a leader of the United Irishmen of Ireland.
Mrs. Hassett died at their home on Jan. 7, 1907. Mr. Hassett died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Winnifred Dorgan, in Sault Ste. Marie in April, 1918. They are both buried in the Donaldson Cemetery. Michael Hassett remained a bachelor. Born in 1834, he died at his brother's home and is also buried at Donaldson.
JAMES HASSETT married Margaret McKinnon. He served as Lockmaster at the Soo Locks, retiring in 1929. He died in 1933 from injuries received in an automobile accident. His wife died in 1938 and they are both buried at Donaldson. Their four children were Margaret, John, James, and Eileen. Margaret lives in Ann Arbor. John lives in Sault Ste. Marie and is retired from the Pittsburgh Supply Co. James lives in Buffalo, New York and works for the U. S. Army Engineers. Eileen lives in St. Ignace and is married to Capt. Mike Bishop.
MARY married Thomas Casey. They are both buried at Donaldson. They had 10 children, 4 of whom died as children and are also buried at Donaldson. Mamie (Mrs. Ed MacLaren) died in 1945. Frank, John, Gertrude (Mrs. Joseph Toland), and William all live in Detroit. Morris lives in Cincinnati.
THOMAS married Annie Murphy. He died in 1941 and she in 1943. They are both buried at Donaldson. Their three children are Mae (Mrs. Art Palm), Irene (Mrs. Roy Johnson), and Russell all of Detroit.
ROGER married Annie O'Day and lives in Detroit. His wife died in 1958.
WINNIFRED married John Dorgan and lived in Sault Ste. Marie. Her husband died in 1923. She has 7 children living and 1 dead. Emmett (named after Robert Emmett, the Irish patriot) lives in Sault Ste. Marie as do Thomas, Leonard, Julia, and Leo. Clara (Mrs. Wayland Russell) lives in Pontiac. Julia is married to Joseph Fowler.
BRIDGET ANN married William Donnelly. They live in Flint with their son, Thomas and his family.
MICHAEL married Hattie Sparks. He died in 1934 and is buried at Kinross. They had one daughter, Eva, who is postmaster at Kinross. The Grandfather Hassett Clock, which hung in the post office at Tone for many years, now hangs in the Kinross post office and it still keeps very good time.
JULlA married John McCarthy. She died in 1953, he in 1959 end are both buried at Donaldson. They had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Geraldine (Mrs. Donald McDonald) and John T. both live in the Sault.
Richard Hewer came from Gloucester, England, in 1875. With him came.his wife, the former Mary Victoria Benfield, and two small sons, William, 7, and Robert, 5.
They settled in Beevin near Manitbulin, Ontario. Here he was employed by a railroad construction company. Three more children were born here Mary, Nellie, and Richard.
In 1880 they came to Raber, Michigan, by sailboat and from there to Stalwart where they settled on what is known as the Sand Ridge, clearing the land to make a home. It was while living there that the story was told of how Mr. Hewer had a habit of going away without leaving any firewood for his wife to cook with. She threatened many times what she would do to break him of this habit. One day he came home for dinner to find no fire and no signs of a meal being prepared. He inquired as to the reason. She pointed to a stump in the dooryard with a pan of biscuits on top of it and said, "As soon as the sun gets hot enough to cook the biscuits we will have our dinner".
In 1908 they moved again, this time to a farm three and a half miles east and south of Pickford. Here Mrs. Hewer passed away. He then moved into the village of Pickford and remained there until his death.
The oldest son, WILLIAM, married Bertha McInnis and they took up a homestead at Stalwart on what is now the William Waybrant and John Crisp farms. The land grant or title to this homestead is still in the Hewer family and bears the signature of President Benjamin Harrison, dated March, 1893. In 1908 they moved to a farm one mile south of Pickford where he farmed until his death in 1926. Their family included Roy, Voyle (deceased), William, Catherine (deceased), Austin (deceased), Frank (deceased), and Doris.
Frank married Thelma Hughes, a nurse. They had three children. David is a major in the U. S. Air Force and stationed at Biloxi, Mississippi. He and the former Geraldine Shobbrook have two sons, Thomas and Joel*. Mary Sue (Mrs. Ronald Rapson) is a registered nurse and does industrial nursing at Lear Siegler in Grand Rapids. They have one son, James*. Roger married Terry Keeney and is a mathematics teacher in Oakridge High School in Muskegon.
ROBERT married Louise Cochrane and they owned a farm east of Pickford. They had two children, Janis (deceased) and Margaret, now Mrs. Russell McCabe, who lives west of Pickford.
MARY married George Leach and they made their home in Cedarville. NELLIE (deceased) was married twice. Her first husband was John Tripp. They had four children. After his death, she married John Maxwell and they had one son.
WILLIAM married Sue Crawford and they had four children. William married Cleo Smale and they have two sons, Richard and Steve. Nona married Gerald McCord and has three children. Lois is Mrs. Everett Tassic and has two children. Vern married Elsie May Beardsley and lives in Traverse City. They have two children. An adopted son, Vernon Bryce (Pete) sails in the summer and is at home in the winter.
RICHARD, the youngest, now deceased, lived on his farm five miles east of Pickford and married Lucy Campbell. They had seven children: Mary, Anna (Mrs. Oliver Huyck), Grace, Beatrice, Elton, and Albert and Richard, both deceased.
In the early 1850's David Hill married Helen Watt in Ontario, Canada and to them were born ten children. The oldest was Margaret, then George, Thomas, Alexander, John, Henry, James and William (twins), David and Thomas. In the late 1870's Margaret and Alexander came to Pickford and settled in the Stirlingville area. A short time later the mother and father followed with the rest of the family. At this time there was no road from the Soo and the journey took two days. Alexander carried a stove on his back the entire distance.
MARGARET married George Raynard in 1881 and had four children: David, Fannie (Mrs. Walter Fletcher), George, and Ellen (Mrs. Cecil Cottle).
GEORGE married Mary Eveleigh and had two children, Nellie (Mrs. Roy Smith) and Clarence. Thomas died in Canada.
ALEXANDER married Elizabeth Grey in 1882 and later Minnie Barton. They had two children: Margaret (Mrs. Judson Daley) lives in the Soo. After Mr. Daley's death she married James Murphy. Rolland (deceased), Agnes (Mrs. Alfred Lordson), Ellen (Mrs. Alex Stevenson), and Florence (Mrs. Nelson Cottle).
JOHN, the next son, died in Canada. HENRY married Jemima Watson and they had five children: Margaret (Mrs. Judson Daley, now deceased), Rolland (deceased), Agnes (Mrs. Alfred Lordson), Ellen (Mrs. Alex Stevenson), and Florence (Mrs. Nelson Cottle).
DAVID married Maria Pringle. They had no children. THOMAS married Amanda Gustafson and they were also childless.
WILLIAM married Frances Beamish. To them were born five children: Pearl (Mrs. Newton Clegg), Myrtle (Mrs. Millard Wise, deceased), Austin and William who are deceased, and David who married Jean Sims.
JAMES HILL married Mary Watson and they had seven children: Joseph, William, Jessie (Mrs. Alvin McKenzie), Thomas, Grace (Mrs. Harvey Campbell), George (deceased), and Fannie (Mrs. Lloyd Rye). Joseph married Veva Warren and they have three children. Warren married Elizabeth Harrison and they have one daughter, Carolyn*. Carolyn* married John Witbrodt and they have one daughter, Kerri Lynn**. James E. married Barbara Nicholas from England and they have four children. Linda* is married to John Merrill and teaching school in Augusta, Maine. James* graduated from Michigan State University in 1972. Nicholas* and Mary-Jo* are students at Michigan State. Maxine married Calvin Wonnacott and has two daughters, Pamela and Lisa*. Grace died February 1973.
William J. Hill married Edith Campbell and they have one daughter, Mary Jean. She married Glenn Towsend and they have five sons. He later married Ruth Fountain and has four children: Jacqueline Rose who married Lewis Roberts and has six children (Ginny Lee, Lewis James, Gary Stephen, Peggy, Wendy Sue, and Todd*); Beverly, who married Jacob de Blecourt and has four sons (Donnie Jay, Jimmy, Bill, and Ricky*); William James, Jr., who married Effie Treezenberg and has five children (Mary Beth, Pattie Lee, Jeannie, Brenda, and one son*), and Robert Charles, who married Donna Lane and has two children, Laurie Lee and Brian Allen*. All the William Hill family live in Kalamazoo.
Jessie married Alvin McKenzie and they have seven children. Leta married Kinnee Ames and has three children: Fred*, married to Charlene Nayback, with two children; Joyce*, married to Joe Hexey, with two children; and Shelley* at home. Alvina married Frank Zwolinski and has two children, Wayne and Karen*. Verna married John Zwolinski and has five children. Johnette* married Wayne Shoberg and has four children: Russell, Tom, John, and Frances Ruth** Barbara* is not married and lives at home. Bonnie* is married to Randy Harrison and lives in Pickford. Marian* (Mrs. Norman Avery) lives in Portage, Indiana. Alan* is working in Gary, Indiana. Jean (Mrs. Wallace Beacom) lives in Pickford and has six children. Duncan (Keith Wayne) lives in Sonora, California. Darlene is deceased. Nadine (Mrs. PoIlard) lives in Lansing, Illinois.
Thomas married Thyra Winberg and they have five children: Edward, Herman, Ronald, Gerald, and Sylvia. Edward lives in Midland and has five children. Herman married Verna Leach and they have five children. Ronald married Mary Lindberg and they have three children. Sylvia is a student at Michigan State University.
Grace married Harvey Campbell and had three sons. James Herman married Euline Stirling and they have four children: Judith, Janet, James, and Jerry*. John married Marje Hawks and has four children. They live in Lansing. Richard married Elsie Wetherly and lives in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Grace died February 1973.
Jennie Isabella Shera was born August 12, 1856, in Longford, Ireland, where she left April 16, 1881, and came to New York. There she married Robert Benjamin Talbot July 16, 1883. They had two sons, William Robert Benjamin and Joseph Andrews George (he became a minister). Her husband died July 1886, and is buried in Bethel Cemetery.
They came to Pickford and lived on a farm at Rockview on the east side of the Meridian (five miles south of town). Miss Frances Talbot, a sister of Robert, made her home with them. Years later she moved into an apartment over the first Pickford Grocery.
Jennie's second marriage was to Samuel Hudson of Cedarville, April 28, 1897. They had one daughter, FLORENCE ELLEN. Her father died when she was a year old. They remained on the farm for a number of years, then purchased a home on the west side of the Meridian at the south edge of town.
Jennie died January 10, 1943. FLORENCE lives in the Sault.
The first person by the name of Huyck to move to the Pickford area was Mr. James Hamilton Huyck. He was the second son of Caleb and Emmaline (Demille) Huyck of Trenton, Ontario. James was born there on Dec. 27, 1868. He had three brothers and three sisters.
James left his home in Trenton, Ontario, at the age of 13 to work in the lumber camps. He was noted for his ability on the river drives and worked on the Niagara and Spanish Rivers in Canada. He came to the United States at about the age of 17, walking from the village of Sault Ste. Marie to the lumber camps in Cedarville. His brother, Manley, joined him here later and stayed for several years, but returned to Ontario.
Little Jimmie Huycke, as he was known in all the lumber camps (he was 5 ft. 6 in. tall and weighed about 124 pounds), worked as a lumberjack, rising at 3 a.m. to be in the woods before daylight and many times fighting back a pack of wolves with picks and axes or by rattling chains on the logging sleighs. He told of one time when he and his partner were alone on the log road and were surrounded by a pack of wolves. They climbed up on a huge rock and beat the shovels they were carrying against the rock until daylight, when more men came upon the scene and the wolves then slunk away. From a lumberjack he became a sawyer and worked in the mill for more than seven years for Hayes Lumber Company in Cedarville.
James and Lillian Delia Freeman were married July 4, l893, when he was 24 and she was 18. Lillian was the daughter of Daniel and Ellen (Bergey) Freeman. She was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, where her parents were among the first settlers. She was also a granddaughter of Charles Bergey, one of the few prisoners that came out of Andersonville Prison Camp in Sumter County, Georgia, during the Civil War. The Huycks lived in Cedarville until late 1895 and early 1896, when he bought 80 acres of woodland from Dave Foster about one and three-fourths miles southwest of Pickford. He cleared enough land to build a four-room house which was replaced by a ten-room brick house in 1925. The Vern Leaches now live in this house.
During the summer months, Jimmie cleared land and during the winter he worked in the lumber camps. They bought their first horse, an old crippled fellow, from Mr. Miller, Earl Miller's grandfather, with the promise to pay for it when he went to work the following winter. With a horse they were able to cultivate a few acres for garden and grow feed for a cow. While he worked in the camps during the winter, his wife cared for the children and the few head of livestock, which grew in number each year as did the acreage of their farm.
As children, James Huyck's descendants heard many stories of the hardships of those first 4 years: of the many crop failures for the lack of proper drainage and of how they waded in water to cut their grain and put it on fence posts to dry in order to have feed for the winter. With 16 to 18 hours of hard manual labor daily, they were able to purchase 80 more acres of land from Mrs. Foster, Mr. Foster having died leaving his widow and two small sons who were unable to operate the farm. Later they purchased 160 acres of woodland which he and his sons cleared. This is now owned by Denzille Huyck and Robert Wislon.
James and Lillian Huycke had 12 children: Alonzo and Floyd born in Cedarville; Delbert, Oliver, Charles, George, Olive, Grace, Ford, Lester, Denzille, and Orville born in the little four-room house and in the above order. Twin boys were born prematurely between Delbert and Oliver. Somewhere during this time they had dropped the "E" and now spell their name "Huyck", but the relatives in Canada still spell it with an "E". 8 of these children are still living.
ALONZO died when 7 months old.
FLOYD married Hattie O'Brien and they had ten children, six of whom are still living. Hattie died in April, 1961. FLOYD later married Marie Meilke and lives in Florida and Pickford.
DELBERT was married to Mary Hoath and they had eight children, five of whom are still living. He died in August, 1964.
OLIVER was married to Annie Hewer. They lived in the Sault and had three children; two are still living.
CHARLES married Beatrice Hewer and they had four children who are all living. Charles passed away in 1957.
GEORGE married Evelyn Allen and they had one son. Their home is in St. Ignace. Evelyn died in December, 1967. George married Margaret Gough in 1969.
OLIVE died at the age of 13 years with appendicitis.
GRACE married Harvey Fountain and they had four children, one dying as an infant. Harvey died in 1972, but Grace and her daughter still live at their home in Pickford.
FORD married Hannah Greenless and they have three children, all living. Their home is in St. Ignace.
LESTER married Matilda Raynard and they have two girls, Lester and Tillie live in Pickford.
DENZILLE married Josephine Menere and they had five children, three of whom are living, Ronald, Bonita and Shirley. Josephine died in June, 1967. Their home is in Pickford.
ORVILLE married Margaret Wilcox and they have one adopted son. They live in Melvindale, Michigan.
James Huyck suffered a stroke in 1934. His wife passed away the same year. He continued to live in the old home until 1942, and then, being unable to operate the farm, sold it to Vern Leach.
James Huyck passed away on May 24, 1944, at the age of 75, of a heart condition. He was living with his daughter and son-in-law, the Harvey Fountains. At the time of his death, he had 32 living grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. 21 of these grandchildren are married and live in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. The grandchildren are involved in many professions including: insurance, banking, preaching, farming, bookkeeping, sailing, telephone, U. S. Postal, garage, merchant, lumbering, road contractors, poultry, typists, clerks, teaching, homemaking, and carpentry. The children and grandchildren are justly proud of their heritage.
It was May 8, 1897, when one of our early pioneers arrived in the Pickford area. Nelson Izzard, who claimed Kingsbridge, Ontario, as his birthplace, was the son of Daniel and Emily Izzard. Daniel's parents were Mr. and Mrs. John Izzard of Liverpool, England. On March 9, 1887, Nelson married Caroline Sara Sheldon, daughter of George and Amanda Sheldon, in Joliet, Illinois, and settled there as a steel mill hand and butcher. But Mrs. Izzard's ill health forced them to try a new climate.
Traveling by horse-drawn wagon, they headed cross-country to Kansas and from there to Iowa. After several years there, they again sought a better climate. This time it was in a north-easterly direction and they arrived in St. Ignace in the spring of 1897. Here they encountered winter weather, but determined and hopeful of better days ahead, they set out for Cedarville, arriving at Grandfather Izzard's place, now owned by Fred Smith, east side of M-129.
In May of the same year they ventured out again. This time they called home the Jim Gough farm, directly opposite the former Russell Izzard farm, and from here to the Marsh farm, about one-half mile east, then once more to the Watson place, directly east of the John Little farm. Finally the end of traveling was in sight and they purchased the permanent farm, on M-48, adjacent to the Ervin Portice farm extending west to the section line.
These early pioneers cleared their own farms, made their own roads, not with modern equipment, but with strong arms, a pick and axe, mingled with determination and purpose.
Nelson and Caroline Izzard lived in this area 41 years. They were the parents of four sons: GEORGE E. of St. Ignace; LESLIE D. (deceased); NELSON of Pickford; and RUSSELL of Cedarville. One foster daughter, Mary McCuire, is deceased.
NELSON married Fannie Vincent (deceased, 1967) and they had seven children: Wesley (Bill), Russell, Claude Charles Caroline, Verne, and Carl (killed in World War II). Charles lives one mile north of town. He married Margaret Ames and they have three children: Kimberly, Brent, and Laura. Verne married Marjean Lockhart and they have three children: Patti, Susie and Duane.
21 grandchildren, 91 great grandchildren, and 26 great, great grandchildren complete this family tree. Mr. Izzard died Dec. 14, 1938, at the age of 79, while Mrs. Izzard lived to be almost 89.