A Duck In Every Pot Tonight

While doing some research on the Huron Milling Company, I came across these two news stories this week that I thought I'd share.

The first one was found in the Yale Expositor, published 20 December 1907 on page 4.

Gotta love that "poor things" ending.

With my interest peaked, I turned to the Harbor Beach Times to see if I could find "the rest of the story" as they like to say.  The following article was published on the same date (20 December 1907), on page 4 in the Harbor Beach Times.

Guess there was a duck in every pot that night.

I wasn't able to find any evidence that the story was carried anywhere else in the nation, but I sure would love to find that original article from the Bad Axe Times some day.  Also, does anyone know why Dr. P.O. Wagener would have been the one answering all the questions?  

If anyone has additional information about this event (or any others they'd like me to research), please email me at cuznamy@gmail.com or add your comments below.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love & Aloha!

CuznAmy

Betsy L French Arntz (1882-1948)

Betsy L. Arntz  (nee French)

When Betsy Lurene French was born on May 5, 1882, in Croswell, Michigan, her father, Aaron, was 42 and her mother, Margaret, was 40. 

She married William Edward Arntz, son of John Henry Arntz and Nancy A Stewart, on September 17, 1900, in Buel, Michigan. They had six children in 15 years.

SOURCE: Harbor Beach Times, dated July 2, 1948, Page 1

She died on June 24, 1948, in Harbor Beach, Michigan, at the age of 66, and was buried in Rock Falls Cemetery.

Find A Grave Memorial page

Image Source: Minden City Herald, July 13, 1934, Page 2

WOODS-VOLZ

            A pretty wedding took place at the Latter Day Saint church here on Sunday afternoon, when Miss Ruth M. Volz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Volz of this place became the bride of Mr. Emerson H. Wood, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wood of Harbor Beach.  Elder Willard Parks read the wedding ceremony, a double ring ceremony being used.  About 150 guests were in attendance.

            The bride's father gave her in marrage.  Her sister, Miss Helen Volz, was bridesmaid and Miss Margaret Wood, sister of the groom was maid of honor.  The groom was attended by Mr. Archie Thomas of Harbor Beach.  The ushers were Harry Volz and Burton Wood.

            The bride was gowned in white satin over which she wore a full length briadl veil and carried a bouquet of pink tea roses.  The bridesmaid was dress in yellow chiffon, and Miss Wood, the maid of honor was gowned in pale green chiffon.  Both young women carried large bouquets.

            The wedding march was played by Miss Lois Rudel, and a solo "I Love You Truly" was sang by Glen Blashill of Harbor Beach.  A wedding luncheon was served at the home of the bride's parents.

            Mr. and Mrs. Wood left Sunday evening for a motor trip to Northern Michigan.  They will reside in Harbor Beach, where Mr. Wood is employed as salesman with the Milhenthaler Co.

1940 US Census - Who I am looking for ...



Photo courtesy the NARA website.

I have been busy the last week getting ready for the release of the 1940 US Census.  Here is the list of direct ancestors that I plan to look for starting April 2, 2012.

Lucky for me, the majority of my family was living in Harbor Beach, Huron, Michigan ... a small city with a population of just under 2200 within the city limits in 1940.

My maternal grandparents, Fred Aaron Arntz and Elsie Marie (Roberts) Arntz were married with one child and I believe living on Bartlett Street in Harbor Beach.  Living nearby Fred and Elsie were Fred's parents, William Edward Arntz (1882-1943) and Betsy Lurene (French) Arntz (1882-1948), as well as Elsie's parents Alfred C Roberts (1881-1946) and Mabel Ellen (Ogle) Roberts (1884-1958).

My paternal grandparents, Emerson Harley Wood and Ruth M (Volz) Wood were married with one child and I believe living on First or Second Avenue in Harbor Beach.  Living nearby Emerson and Ruth were Em's parents Robert Harold Wood (1893-1961) and Lottie Belle (Minard) Wood (1893-1977). 

Ruth's family came from the Village of Minden, in Sanilac County, Michigan ... which was an even smaller community.  Ruth's parents were William Charles Volz (1881-1966) and Jennie Violet (Clark) Volz (1886-1948).  The Volz family still runs a dairy farm just outside of Minden, and at one time I believe the owned the IGA grocery store in town.

But I think the most fun relatives to search for will be my two oldest living family members.  I had two great great grandmothers still living on April 1, 1940, Elizabeth (Binder) Volz who was born in 1853 and Caroline Elizabeth (Sterling) Wood who was born in 1868.

And of course I can't forget to look for my "bonus" (aka step) grandfather, B. Blake Soule (1915-1995).  Blake and Elsie were married in 1973, and I was fortunate to spend time at their home in Ubly during several summer vacation trips to Michigan when I was young.  In 1940 Blake was married to Olive Pearl Stoken and living somewhere in either Sanilac or Huron county.  I don't believe I ever met her or her children but I know they had a couple children, so this part of their story will be new to me.  :) B. Blake Soule was a retired Huron County Magistrate and I remember he liked to listen to the police scanner.  I thought that was really cool. :)

If you are interested in finding out how to access the 1940 US Census for your family, be sure to visit Stephen Morse's One Step website at http://stevemorse.org/census/quiz.php.  Don't let the word "quiz" confuse you, the website functions more like a tutorial helping you narrow down which "tool" to use to find the enumeration district your family is likely to be found in.

If you are researching Harbor Beach, Huron, Michigan you will want to start from this One Step page ... http://bit.ly/HyXIyG

If you are researching in the Village of Minden City, Sanilac, Michigan you can start from this One Step page ... http://bit.ly/H4EXX0

I can't believe we are down to three days. :)  I'm ready, are you???

Love & Aloha,
~Cuzn Amy

November 24, 1946 - Harbor Beach School Burns Down

I recently posted a picture of my Grandma Ruth as a young woman on a fire escape in front of a brick building that I didn't recognize.  Several family members later told me that it was the old Harbor Beach School that had burned down when they were younger.  And my mother told me that the night the school burned down was one of her earliest memories.  She remembers standing across the street with her parents and watching the fire, but she couldn't remember how old she was at the time.

So I decided to see if I could find anymore information online about the school fire.  Unfortunately historical copies of the Harbor Beach Times (published from 1899-1998*) or the Huron Daily Tribune are not (currently) available online.  And the local Harbor Beach Area District Library does not have any historical photos on their website either.

So I started with a Google search of "Harbor Beach"+school+November+1946+fire -- which did not turn up anything specific.  Then I tried a search of the Michigan newspapers available at NewspaperArchives.com (a subscription service) in hopes of finding an article from a nearby community.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I found the following article on the front page of the Lundington Daily News, dated November 25, 1946.  For those not familiar with the state of Michigan ... Ludington is on the complete opposite side of the state -- not exactly what I would call "nearby". ;o) 

Ludington Daily News
November 25, 1946

Additionally, I found the following article on the front page of the Cass City Chronicle, dated November 29, 1946 which was available at the Rawson Memorial Library website.  I have been able to find other historical Huron County events at this site previously.  The library has archived versions of the Cass City Chronicle and Cass City Enterprise dating back to the 1800's that have been scanned to digital format. 



Cass City Chronicle
November 29, 1946

 It appears that this second article was written after the investigations into the cause were completed and provides a some additional details as to the timeline of events, the loss of records, and the fact that the cause was never determined.  "Fire of undetermined origin" seems so strange in our day and age with forensic teams on tv solving crimes in less than an hour. 

Plus an interesting side note is that the article indicated that there was $200,000 worth of damage done.  A quick calculation done at The Inflation Calculator shows that: What cost $200,000 in 1946 would cost $2,208,800.23 in 2010.  WOW!!  That must have been a fancy school ;o)

If you have any memories of this event and how it affected your life that you'd like to share with me ... please feel free to leave a comment on this post or email me your remembrances.  Meanwhile I shall have to think on what are some of my earliest memories.  Funny how time just all seems to melt together.  I guess that's why we have been asked to keep a journal; now to dust mine off and add a few more entries this weekend.

Love & Aloha,
~Cuzn Amy

Seeking Joseph - What I currently know

Joseph Roberts

1846-1911

Joseph Roberts was born to Russell W Roberts and his wife Maheltable Fuller on July 9, 1846 in Nelson township, Halton county, Ontario, Canada.  He married Cecelia Gillem about 1868, but I do not know where (I am assuming Canada, so that is where I will start my hunt).

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/maps/maps/bhalton.jpg

Joseph and Cecelia were the parents of seven children:  William H Roberts, Robert James Robert, Charles Fredrick Roberts, George H Roberts, Elizabeth L. Roberts, Sarah L. Roberts and Alfred "Alf" C Roberts (my great grandfather).

Joseph, Cecelia and I believe their first six children immigrated from Canada to Harbor Beach about 1878 and their youngest child, Alfred was born in Harbor Beach.  I've been told that Joseph worked for the Coast Guard (though I have nothing to verify this information currently).  And Joseph loved to play the fiddle, and because he was left handed he learned to play a right handed one upside down.

Joseph passed away April 28, 1911 in Harbor Beach, Huron county, Michigan, USA due to pneumonia caused by a case of the measles, and his wife Cecelia had predeceased him by about seven months, having died September 22, 1910 from myocardial degeneration.  Both are buried at the Rock Falls Cemetery just outside of Harbor Beach.

Courtesy of Find-A-Grave website
Photo uploaded by Scott Buschlen 2004

Now that I know what I know ... I can start to fill in the blanks of those items I don't know. 

1) I'd like to find a record of Joseph and Cecelia's marriage in Canada.  I will check Ancestry.com to start with, and then move to the Canadian Archives.
2) I need to find some pictures of Joseph and Ceclia.  I will check with my mother and see if she has any she can scan and send to me, and then maybe get the email addresses of any family members that might be able to help me as well.
3) I need to find pictures of any of their children.  I know I have at least one picture of Alfred (my great grandfather), but I'm sure someone should have more somewhere.   I will see if anyone else on Ancestry.com has uploaded a tree with Joseph and Cecelia as common ancestors.
4) And I need to inventory the media that I do have already, so that I don't duplicate work I've done over the last couple years.  And I need to document my research and source going forward, since I am not real sure what I have already found.  I believe I recently found both Joseph and Cecelia's death certificates on the Seeking Michigan website, and I believe I have at least the 1900 and 1910 Federal Census.

As you can see, I've got some work to do ... so best get to it.

Thanks for stopping by. :o) Until next time.

Love & Aloha,
Cuzn Amy

Hometown USA

Hometown USA

(Reprinted from The House of Seven Giggles blog - dated May 14, 2010)

So what do you blog about when you can blog about anything … ???  That question has been racking my brain everyday this week.  I’ve even researched the internet for some daily blog theme ideas, and wrote them down on a post-it (which has been filed away safely somewhere in the bottom of my purse) but so far I haven’t found the right blog theme, let alone enough time to be consistent with writing.

But since today is Friday, and I want to continue my Family Tree Friday theme … I decided to write about my “hometown”.  In family history … knowing “who you are” is just as important as knowing “where you come from”.  And I am lucky to have one of the best hometowns in the world. :o)

Welcome to

Harbor Beach, Michigan

Population +/- 1,700

Harbor Beach is located on the western shore of Lake Huron in Huron County, Michigan, at the intersections of Michigan Highway 25 (between Forestville and Port Hope) and Michigan Highway 142 (West to Bad Axe).   The city limits are approximately 2 square miles, surrounded by either farm land or lake water.

It is the home of the world’s largest man-made fresh water harbor, and boasts the longest fishing pier that is handicap accessible.  The best known landmark is the Harbor Beach Lighthouse, which is on the north breakwater wall.  It was first lit in 1885, and by 1968 it was changed to an automated system.  Today it is run remotely by the US Coast Guard from Saginaw, Michigan.

Terry Pepper has an excellent website “Seeing the Light – Lighthouses of the Western Great Lakes” about various lighthouses in the Great Lakes region.  You can find more information on the history of Harbor Beach Lighthouse at http://www.terrypepper.com/Lights/huron/harbrbeach/harborbeach.htm

The center of town is the corners of State Street and  Huron Avenue, and the Harbor Beach Community House is located on the northeast corner.  This building currently houses the local movie theater, gymnasium and public library, and the common rooms are used for local organizations and club meetings -- like the Harbor Beach Lions Club (of which my Grandpa Fred Arntz was an active member most of his life).  You can find more history on the Harbor Beach Community House at http://harborbeachchamber.com/community_house.

The earliest settlers to this area arrived in 1837, where they established a sawmill for processing lumber.  The settlement was named Barnettsville in 1855, and later became the Village of Sand Beach.  In 1899, the village changed its name to Harbor Beach, because the previous name gave the impression that the area was nothing but sand.  In 1910, Harbor Beach was officially incorporated into a city.

The earliest Huron County residents in my family tree were either in the fishermen, lumbermen or farmers (dairy or sugar beets).  The largest private employer was probably the Huron Milling Company, which several of my extended family worked for.  The Huron Milling Company created the local hospital in 1920 on the corner of Broad and First Street for their employees. (See http://hbch.org/about_us-c.html for more history on the hospital) By 1963 the hospital opened its doors to all local residents, and so this is hospital where I was born in 1968.

All the branches of my family, on both my maternal and paternal sides, come from either the Harbor Beach area or from the areas immediately surrounding Harbor Beach in Huron County and Sanilac County.  The Wood family originally settled north of Harbor Beach in a small fishing community called Grindstone City.  The city is basically now a ghost town, but there are some restaurants and a local marina that is still very active in the summer months.  The Volz family is from a small farming community to the south called Minden City (in Sanilac County), where they have owned the same farm for over 150 years.

My great grandfather Alf Roberts (who lived on Redman) made duck decoys for local hunters.  My Grandpa Emerson Wood (who lived in a redbrick house at Broad and First) worked his way up from sweeping floors to manager at the local department store, called Mehlenthalers.  My Grandpa Fred Arntz (who lived on Bartlett Street ) worked as a cooper making barrels at the Huron Milling Company (which later became the Hercules Powder Plant which made Lawry’s Seasoning Salt).  My Grandma Elsie (Roberts) (Arntz) Soule played piano for wealthy guests staying at the Resort along the lakeshore.  And my Dad (as did my Aunt Sandi Hunt) worked at the Community Theater in high school, and he taught swimming lessons in the summer at the local recreation center. 

I was born to the wandering branch of my family.  My parents and I moved away from Harbor Beach by the time I was 2 years old, and other than occasional visits when I was younger with my Grandparents (Emerson & Ruth) Wood and a family reunion or two through the 1980s … I haven’t been back.  But I still have very fond memories of my visits, and my family there.  I remember one summer visit in particular walking down to pier and the Community House with my cousin Flipper.  There was a drinking water fountain in the shape of a Lions head on the corner.  I wonder if it is still there?

Even though I was physically far away while growing up, the Spirit of Harbor Beach was always near.  Whether it was my folks talking about “Al’s Friday Fish Fry”, or copies of the local Harbor Beach Times with the lighthouse logo showing up in our mailbox in Hawaii and California.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if my folks still have a subscription that they get in Arizona now.

I’m not really sure what my younger siblings or my own children will consider their “hometown” as the years pass.  Perhaps it will be Kansas City or maybe even Lebanon, Missouri for some, or Cottonwood Heights or Murray, Utah for others.  But I hope they know that no matter where they call home, they have roots planted very deep in the Thumb of Michigan, along the shores of the Great Lake the Indians called Karegnondi.

 Photo by PEATmonster (photostream) 2007

Love & Aloha,

~Amy

USEFUL GENEALOGY LINKS

Here is a list of some useful websites for doing genealogy research in the Huron County, Michigan area.

The local daily newspaper is the Huron Daily Tribune (http://www.michigansthumb.com/)

The weekly newspaper is the Huron County Press (aka the Harbor Beach Times) (http://huroncountypress.mihomepaper.com/).

The MichiganGenWeb page for Huron County can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mihuron/

The Deckerville Public Library, has a website of Huron County genealogical links at:

http://www.deckervillelibrary.com/huron_county_genealogy.htm

Several of my family members are buried at the Rock Falls Cemetery (including my Grandpa Fred Arntz, and his parents).  The cemetery is located about 1½ miles south of Harbor Beach on M-25.  The following website is an index of headstones originally compiled in 1994 by Robert B. LaBelle, and then updated in 2000 and again 2005 from obituaries.   http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mihuron/research/Rock_Falls_Cemetery.htm

Ruth on Fire Escape

Last week, while trying to see if my new blog would show up in a Google search using the keywords "Volz+family+history" I came across my Cuzn Todd Volz's photo gallery website (http://gallery2.stir.org/main.php).  Todd has scanned approximately 100 photos into an album entitled Volz Family Historical Photos.  What a fun time I had viewing them.  Several of the pictures I remember viewing previously with my Grandpa Emerson and Grandma Ruth when I was younger, and others I had never seen before ... but recognized the names in the titles as being relatives in my Volz family tree.  There were so many family group pictures, and I wondered if Todd has "the rest of the story" that goes along with the photos somewhere online?

Two pictures caught my attention right away ... one is entitled "Red Brick house lawn party" ... which just happens to be the picture that I am currently using as the background to my CozyCuzn blog.  I had several Volz family pictures emailed to me many years ago (I'm thinking about the time we were having one of our Wood-Volz Family Reunions), which I "saved" to my computer without any notations as to where I had gotten them.  So I was glad to at least have a "title" for the picture on my blog instead of "untitled-14.jpg".

And the other one is this one ... "Ruth on Fire Escape". 

 

I don't believe I've ever seen this picture before. This is my Grandma Ruth (Volz) Wood. I don't know the story behind the picture. Does anyone recognize the building in the background? Is this Harbor Beach or Minden City? How old do you think Grandma Ruth is? I'm thinking late teens, maybe early 20s which would make the photo from mid 1930s.  And talk about genetics ... I can't get over how much Grandma Ruth, my sister Matti and my daughter Adelina look alike.  WOW! 

Thanks for stopping by ...

Love and Aloha,
Cuzn Amy