SHIAWASSEE & GENESEE COUNTIES, MICHIGAN
Julia Todd’s visit
October 2-3, 2013
October 1, 2013 I flew to Detroit, Michigan for a week of family fun. Before visiting our daughter and her family, I drove north to do some family history research in Genesee and Shiawassee Counties.
LEN & SHARON
On this trip I was blessed to have two “shirt-tail cousins” be my guides and assistants for two days – Len and Sharon. Sharon and I probably share a great, great, whatever grandparent on the Brown side of our families. We haven’t done the research to establish exactly how we’re related. I’m not sure about a blood cousin connection with Len.
In January 2012 I was at Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy doing research on the Browne and Kelly families. I found information put on the Internet by Len and contacted him. He was extremely helpful then. When I knew I was traveling to Michigan on this trip, I contacted him again. He immediately volunteered to show me around and help me while I was there - very generous of him and his wife.
Len and Sharon grew up in Flint. They love the area. They both worked in education in the Flint Schools. Len was an elementary teacher and then became a library and technology resource person/administrator. Small world – Len worked with a friend of ours when the friend worked at the Mott Foundation and was giving grants to Flint schools. Len does a lot of volunteer work with the country historical society and other organizations. Len has assembled some wonderful collections and lists – including Civil War soldiers buried in county cemeteries. He and Sharon have walked and transcribed over 100 cemeteries in the area. It’s people like them that enable people like me to find our ancestors on findagrave.com and other such sites.
FLUSHING CEMETERY
Flushing Cemetery was our first stop on Tuesday. It didn’t take long to find John Boman’s grave. I wanted to see if we could determine if it was “our” John Boman who married Lucinda as his second wife. Boman’s Civil War regiment was listed on his marker, establishing this indeed is “our” John. . Lucinda’s son Bert is buried in the plot. There is one marker for John & Lucinda Boman and another for Bert Potter.
John Boman’s first wife was Jane Judd. They are parents of my Great Grandmother (Idah Boman/Bowman married Harry Brown(e). They were parents of Mildred Browne Floyd). At some point John and Jane divorced. In some censuses Jane lists herself as a widow (when John was still alive). In another census she lists her marital status as divorced.
Next stop was Cummin cemetery. This small, neglected cemetery is out in the country. Most of the markers are illegible. Infants Alice and Louisa Boman, children of Jane Judd and John Boman are buried in the cemetery (Alice and Louisa are Great Grandma Idah Bowman Browne’s sisters). Matilda Leach Judd and John Judd were among the first white settlers in this part of Michigan. They are the parents of Jane Judd Boman, mentioned previously. They are buried in this cemetery also. Unfortunately there has been much vandalizing at this small cemetery.
It was a beautiful Indian summer day. Standing in the cemetery I could look over the fields, see farm buildings off in the distance; trees in brilliant autumn colors were overhead. The soybeans and corn were golden, ready to harvest. I could hear the locusts buzzing. What a wonderful abundance of beautiful sounds, feelings, and sights. It was one of those autumn days that you cherish because you know winter is coming. I wanted to bottle it all and take it home. We don’t get this kind of fall day in Kirkland.
Elmwood Cemetery in New Lothrop was our next stop. Abigail and William Brown and some of their children are buried here. Abigail’s name is misspelled on her marker. William’s death date is different from what’s on his death certificate - 1905 vs 1906 but I’m sure this is our family. Abigail and William are the parents of Harry Brown(e) who married Idah Boman. Harry and Idah are Mom’s grandparents. I’m glad to find the markers for the children. That will help confirm that we have the right family group. There were several Brown families in that area during the same time period.
QUESTIONS
Why did the Boman family start spelling their name with a “w”? Why did the Brown family start spelling their name with an “e”? It seems to have happened around the same time and with the same generation for both families. Idah Bowman and Harry Browne both used the “new” spellings. Was it because there were other, unrelated Brown and Boman families in the area? We’ll probably never know.
LYSLE JACOB’S FARM & MORE
We were out in the country and drove by the house of Lysle Jacobs. Lysle wrote the Judd book - “The Descendants of John & Matilda Judd.” Years ago when I came up here to research I tracked down Lysle and was amazed at all the information he’d collected. I had a delightful conversation with him as he showed me the photos, letters, and other items he had collected. Lysle died a few years ago and his nephew is now living at the farm. Len pulled into the driveway and the nephew came out of the house. He, like many area farmers, works at the General Motors plant full time in addition to farming. He talked about his tractor woes. His tractor transmission broke for the fourth time and now he can’t get in the fields to harvest his wheat.
I was carrying a picture of a drawing of John and Jane Judd Boman’s farm in 1880. I wanted to find the property. The farmer didn’t know where it was but he said his father would know. He called his father and said we were on the way over.
We drove to the home of Thelma and Ray. His mother was a Judd. Thelma was at a meeting at the Juddville Church but Ray was very welcoming and invited us inside. His daughter was there. I showed Ray the picture of the Bowman farm. He knew exactly where it was and gave us directions. Ray has had many health problems but is doing well enough now to help with the farming a bit.
JUDDVILLE METHODIST CHURCH & THELMA
On the way to the Boman farm we drove to Judd’s Corners, later called Juddville. This tiny community was named for our ancestors, John and Matilda Judd and their extended family. The Judds established the Methodist Church in Juddville in the 1850s. The church, an abandoned school, and several houses are all that’s left of this small community. We went into the church and discovered Thelma was conducting a meeting of the church’s women’s organization. We waited until the meeting was over and had a wonderful conversation with Thelma. When Thelma saw Len, she said “that’s the history man.” Len explained why we were there. There are still Judds involved in the church after all these years. Quite a history and legacy.
It was amazing to listen to the ladies during their meeting. There were about 8 of them - all of them fairly old to very old. Thelma was definitely in charge. They were planning a big turkey dinner that’s happening soon. Last year they had about 300 people come. That’s huge for a congregation of 60 people, 30 of whom show up on a Sunday. Thelma said the women would be totally in charge of an upcoming Sunday service and went through everything they’d be doing. When it came to ringing the bell (the same one that’s been on the church for over 100 years), she said, “We’ll let Art? do it. None of us has the strength to do it!” These women are the salt of the earth kind of people. They keep churches, families, and communities going.
After the meeting I had my picture taken with some of the ladies - one of them a Judd cousin. Evelyn has Matilda Judd's Bible. She said Matilda’s father gave it to her when she moved to Michigan in the 1830s. Thelma (husband’s mother was a Judd) has Edwin Judd's Bible & Matilda Judd's shawl. Then there was Leone (her mother was a Judd). Naomi was there; she’s not a Judd. (picture – Evelyn, Leone, Thelma, Julia, Naomi)
Thelma, about 80 years old, talked with us - for a long time. We talked down in the basement and then went upstairs into the sanctuary. Some of her comments - she’s been in “charge” of the kitchen committee and any connected activities for over 50 years. She’s said she’s getting tired. She has “slow growing” leukemia and it’s affected her arms and stamina. She can’t lift much any more. She talked about the challenges of trying to keep a small congregation alive – and keeping a building going too. Thelma went through some of the books and booklets about the church and its history. She was sad that there aren’t any young people in the congregation, no one to take over for all the old folks.
BOMAN FARM
We found the Boman farm, using the 1880 picture I had as well as Ray’s directions. Len was just going to stop so I could take a picture. I asked him to park and said I’d go up to the house and see if anyone was home. There was a work truck of some sort there. I saw an older man on the steps of the outside entrance to the basement and introduced myself. It was Gerald. He and his wife Marjorie live in the house. He was very gracious and said he would talk with us. His parents, John and Emma bought the farm in 1934. Gerald was born on the farm. He was very aware the house and farm used to be owned by John and Jane Boman. He took pride in the fact that they have kept the outside very true to the original design. The only thing that’s changed is the wrap around porch. Gerald said the side portion had deteriorated so badly that they decided not to keep it.
This is Len’s second marriage [should be Gerald's]. His first wife died. He met Marjorie at the local Catholic church. They had a number of children (Gerald’s children by his first wife had grown up, I think). Marjorie said she really likes the house and has never had a desire to change the set up. I wanted to ask if I could see the front part of the house. We were sitting in a family room type room at the back of the house - got to it through a side entrance. But I figured I wouldn’t test their hospitality any further. They were so gracious. Marjorie got out the county history from 1880 with the drawing of the house and a write up of John Boman/Bowman.
Amazingly - the original log cabin/house that John and Jane Boman built on the property (before the big house was built) still survives. It’s pictured in the 1880 drawing; the book indicates it was the original cabin. Gerald uses it as a storage shed. He said before their family moved there it was used as a granary. Gerald was very apologetic about its appearance ☺ It’s been sided and is painted red. But inside, the original flooring, siding, and so forth are there!!! It felt so wonderful to be standing where my ancestors stood. Gerald pointed out the features of the cabin/house/shed - doors and such. There is a second level. There used to be a ladder that pulled up into the ceiling and could be lowered when you wanted to go upstairs. That ladder fell apart and Gerald built another one in a different part of the cabin. You could see the outline of the original doors and windows in the cabin. Gerald said the lightning rods on various buildings were original to the Bomans’ time. (picture – shed/house/cabin)
There are two barns in the 1880 drawing. Gerald has three barns. One of them Gerald knows is the original Boman barn. The original cupola is still on top of the barn. It had shutters on it. Gerald said birds would get into it so he took the shutters off when he redid the barn and cupola. Gerald is a very shy and soft-spoken man. He grinned really big and said he had something to show us in the barn. “John Boman” is written high up on one of the rafters. Could it really have been written by John Boman himself and survived all these years???? It’s spelled “Boman” the way he wrote his name. Subsequent family spelled it Bowman. Gerald isn’t sure about the other barn. It appears to be very old but it’s oriented differently than the second barn in the 1880 drawing. Gerald wondered if it was damaged in a tornado or other storm and reoriented when the barn was repaired. The third barn is definitely newer than the other two.
We went into the basement of the home. Gerald and Len said it had a “Michigan basement” - stone walls - cement floors. The Bomans probably hauled the stones from their property. The basement was very much like Eleanor’s on North Street. I forgot to look up to see if there were hand hewn beams like in Eleanor’s basement. Had to be some.
Gerald owns the same 80 acres that Boman initially purchased. It’s interesting to me that the farm has always been 80 acres, from the initial purchase until now.
ONE MORE CEMETERY
Len took us to the Chippewa cemetery. He and others in the historical society have taken on the restoration of the cemetery. When we arrived, we were very sad to see that over half of the new wooden crosses and headstones had been knocked over. Why do people do such things?
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM & ARCHIVES
Thursday Len and Sharon picked me up and we went to the Shiawassee County HistoricalSociety Museum & Archives in Owosso. Owosso is a pretty little community. Thomas Dewey, presidential contender against Harry Truman, was born and raised in Owosso.
There were about three other people at the archives in addition to Len, Sharon, and myself. Thursday is the day for their volunteers to file, clip, and organize materials. It was interesting to talk with the people. We found some items related to our family. I did several hours of research there. Len and Sharon then gave me a tour of Flint before dropping me off at the hotel.
OTHER
Main crops in the area are sugar beets, corn and soybeans. We saw huge trucks filled with sugar beets throughout the day.
Gerald, Len, and others talked about major storms that periodically sweep through the area and do massive amounts of damage.
Japanese lady bugs are all over this area. At Gerald’s and Marjorie’s they were swarming. The Japanese lady bugs were brought in to eat aphids off the soybeans - but they’ve reproduced to quantities such that they’ve become a nuisance.
Thursday Len was flying high from our experiences on Wednesday. The sequence of events, the timing to meet the people who could point us to someone else, to some other kind of information, and so forth – He felt “God’s hand was in it.” I definitely felt the support of our ancestors yesterday as we drove around this very rural area of Michigan. I feel great love and gratitude.
The people we talked with were all concerned about the younger generation and worried about what’s going to happen with families, churches, historical records and artifacts if the young people don’t show more interest and involvement.
OBSERVATIONS
Graciousness is a wonderful gift you give someone who shows up at your door unannounced. The people we talked with were kind, gentle, gracious - genuinely nice people who welcomed us to their space, their time, and their homes. These are salt of the earth people who keep our small churches, communities, and families going in a very healthy way. I am VERY thankful for Len and Sharon and the other good people I met on my adventures.
October 12, 2013
(short version b :) )
No comments:
Post a Comment