THE SEBEWA RECOLLECTOR,
October 1974, Volume 10, Number 2; submitted with written permission of Editor Grayden D. Slowins:

          SEASONAL NOTES

     The first frost did not wait until October.  Covers for choice tomatoes and flowers were in evidence.  Tons and tons of carrots are being moved to market from the DeBruyn muck fields in the northern part of the township.  Onions and cabbage will follow.  If you buy your soup or salad, you still may be eating Sebewa.  Tons and tons also describe the white bean crop in Sebewa with extensive fields of soys to follow in harvest later.  The roar of the silo filler that was so characteristic of fall thirty or more years ago is scarcely noticeable.  Fewer silos are filled—larger ones are filled in a shorter time with less noise.  I recall the first two airplanes to fly over the area.  School was out for recess—everybody playing ball.  There came a roar of the planes overhead.  Nobody looked up.  I thought the silo filler was running at Fred Gunn’s place—thus any historic sight went unnoticed by a playground of children. 

PRECINCT #2

     Our Sebewa Center schoolhouse served as an election precinct in the August primary election.  It will do so again for the November fall election.  Contrasting with the election boards of years ago, cigars are no longer a standard prop for the members serving. 

A BIG ORDER

     Recently the various units of government of Ionia County received a request from THE KALAMAZOO VALLEY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY for “a list of all public officials from the date of organization to the present time”.  We know that Odessa township people have done some work on this project.  I have thumbed through the first two Clerks Record Books of Sebewa Township covering the years 1846 to 1867.  The early clerks kept a very good record of elections and the officials serving.  Often there were fewer candidates than offices to be filled.  The difficulty was overcome by some men holding more than one office.

     Sometimes the number of officers was more than it is easy to believe.  Besides the supervisor, clerk and treasurer, there were also elected two highway commissioners, two school inspectors, three or four justices of the peace, a like number of constables, perhaps best of all, up to 17 highway overseers of the poor were elected.  Later a health officer was elected or appointed.  Once the elder Benjamin Probasco was appointed pound master.

     If Ionia County’s other 15 townships and the several villages and cities can come up with a similar number of officials for the requested list, the customary 84 pages of the Kalamazoo publication might not hold all the information.    

A CALL TO CITIZENS—AN EARLY CENTENNIAL EVENT

On Saturday October the fifth, 1974 at 10:30 in the Morning the HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GREATER LANSING will hold a DEDICATION OF MARKER to honor JOSHUA SIMMONS, Continental Soldier in the American War for INDEPENDENCE.

     Ceremonies will be at the North Eagle Cemetery 2 & ½ miles north of the Towne of Eagle on Grange Rd.  The principal speaker will be the Hon. James Brickly, Lt. Governor of the State of Michigan.  May we add that there is always room for one more in the cemetery, so don’t fear that your prescence will overcrowd this ceremonial event. 

RUBBINGS---BRINGING A BIT OF THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT

     In the December 1973 RECOLLECTOR is the short article taken from the 1910 PORTLAND OBSERVER about William Pangbourn, Revolutionary War soldier.  As we come closer to the National Bicentennial it is appropriate that we should take notice of whatever connections we may have with our nation’s beginnings.  From a scrapbook IONIA COUNTY NEWS clipping about the centennial celebration of Ionia’s settlement in 1833 the Daughters of the American Revolution, Stevens Thompson Mason Chapter of Ionia reported recognizing the graves of two Revolutionary War soldiers in Ionia County.  One was that of William Pangbourn and the other was of Jonathan Ingalls.

     Ingalls died in 1843 and was buried on the farm of his son-in-law, John Tirrell.  Sebewa Township had not yet established a cemetery, so the choice of a burial site was unlimited.  In 1921 the D.A.R. erected suitable stone memorial to Jonathan Ingalls about a quarter mile south of Sebewa Corners Church on the Keefer Highway near the burial site.

     Interest in the Pangbourn article finally triggered me to look for his cemetery in Ronald Township.  About 8 miles north of Ionia on Stage Road near Woods Road is the little cemetery surrounded by hickory and sumac where Pangbourn’s marker has stood for 122 years.  Ronald Township has kept the cemetery in neat condition and vandals have not plied their trade.

     I had made some tombstone rubbings before, so I came supplied with a roll of paper and a well soiled leather glove for rubbing the paper that was taped to the stone.  The inscription from the stone was soon legible on the paper in a brownish tan from the glove.  Lynn and Ariel Morris were with me and while they were making a second rubbing, I noticed a field of second cutting of alfalfa directly across the road.  Presently some farmer lost a handful of his hay crop and a bright green rubbing became the property of Mrs. Morris.

     Still in an experimental mood, I stripped a handful of staghorn sumac leaves and made another rubbing with the same tint of green chlorophyll as the alfalfa showed.  Since then I visited the Ingalls marker and made some rubbings of that.  One made with only slightly damp clay soil.  Another came as a rich gold from crumpled golden rod flowers.  By this time the season had changed so that the sumac lavos gave a reddish purple.

     The standard practice in making stone rubbings is to use rice paper and a block of cobbler’s wax for the coloring.  If you wish to experiment, you may have more fun using the materials at hand.  So far, my colors have not faded.  Surely other organic materials in season would give a variety of tints and colors but if you have a sensitive nose, you might object to the haystack smell that stays with the paper.

     Many people have seen these rubbings and, hopefully, are a little more aware of our country’s Revolutionary War heritage.  If you do your genealogical work back 4 or 5 generations, your chances of finding a Revolutionary War ancestor are good unless all your ancestry stemmed from the big wave of immigration after 1850.  Five generations back give you 16 chances of having had a great great great grandfather who participated in the separation of this country from Britain. 

From WHAT IS A BOY WORTH?  By Jerome L. Reynolds—published 1910

     In the early forties, Charley Berry was the son of a leading merchant of the village of Portland, Michigan.  In those days the winters were very cold and snows deep.  Ice would form to a great thickness, and the spring freshets, came, the river became a raging current with floating cakes of ice of all sizes and shapes.  On one such occasion almost the entire population of the little village was out to see  the roaring river with its fields of floating ice.

     Charley Berry was among the number and, like too many boys of his age, (six to eight years), became too venturesome, lost his balance, and fell from the bridge, landing on a small sized cake of ice barely large enough to support his weight.  It seemed as though every particular cake of ice was in a hurry to get to the sea.

     The river ran nearly due north.  Word was immediately sent to his father, whose store was at the east end of the bridge, that Charley was floating away.  He ran across the bridge and down the west bank until opposite his little so, but dared not risk his own life in an effort to reach him on the ice.  He saw at a glance that if he called to him to leave the center of the cake, which easily carried him, it would tip as he neared the edge, and let him into the angry waters before he could reach another cake, which would mean certain death.

      There was a large bend in the river two miles around, and only one and one half miles across by wagon road.  The moment was one of intense excitement.  What was to be done must be done quickly.  The anxious father had taught his son to obey, and, above the rear of the river and the bumping and cracking of the ice, he said “Charley, sit down.  We are going to try to save you down at the Milne farm at the other end of the bend.”

     A hurried conversation had been held with his neighbors and a plan formed.  One, Luther Van Horn, who lived on the west bank, near the bridge, and who had a fine canoe and was an expert in handling it, volunteered to make an effort to reach the boy if they could reach the other end of the bend before he floated by.  A team and wagon was pressed into service; quick hands loaded the little life-boat, and the race of one and one-half miles for life against sure death, if it failed, began, and was successfully made, when floating Charley and his anxious father came in sight, Van Horn and his fork were there.

     The bend in the river had naturally carried the ice nearer the east bank all the way around and made it more difficult for our hero to carry out his part of the plan of salvation.  But the moment for action arrived.  A delay of thirty seconds would be fatal.  A neighbor of Van Horn assisted him in launching his little craft.  With strength born of the occasion, he seated himself in the little boat, and straight as an arrow it shot out into the middle of the stream and into the only open space of water leading toward the floating boy.  It was the intensest moment of his life.

     Great fields of floating ice were bearing down upon him.  If caught between them, his little shell would be crushed like an egg, his own life in great peril, and the only hope of saving the boy would be lost.  The anxious father from the shore watched every stroke of the oars.  A rift in the clouds sometimes lets down the mellow light of the moon just in season to guild the belated traveler to his home.  So a fift in the icebergs left an open sea to the very one with its precious load of living freight.
     The manager of our life-boat fairly flew as he quickened his stroke and shot by the anxious boy, throwing out his right hand, which was eagerly caught by the thumb only, and Charley was lifted on board and told to sit down.

     Our pair of heroes now faced the difficult problem of getting safely back to land, which was accomplished with a courage and skill that knows no failure.

     The father until now had borne the excitement and nervous strain like a man trained to the life of a pioneer.  Now he broke down and wept like a child, and after suitable demonstrations of parental affection towards his son, whom he regarded almost as one from the dead, wiped away his tears and, turning to Mr. Van Horn, said “Luther, how much do I owe you?”  This is the question at the beginning of our story “What is a Boy Worth?”

     “You don’t owe me anything,” replied Mr. Van Horn.

     “Yes, I do”, said Mr. Berry, “You have saved my boy.  Come up to my store and help yourself.  Take anything you want; take all I have, and I’ll be satisfied.”

     This was Mr. Berry’s estimate.  He had summed it up.  He was willing to begin life all over again, if only he could have the companionship and help of his son.  But Luther Van Horn was too good a philanthropist to retract his first statement.  The party, now numbering quite a portion of the village, returned, everyone calling at the Berry home to congratulate the parents on the narrow escape of their son.

                     * * * * * * *

Many thrilling experiences came to those early pioneers.  One that impressed the writer very much, although but a lad, was the fact that every now and then a boy or girl would wander from their home and get lost in the timber; or some boy or older girl would wander from their home and get lost in the timber; or some boy of older growth, whose duty it was to “fetch” home a much-needed cow, would follow the tinkle of her bell until the patient animal stopped and laid down for the night, and darkness coming on, he would find himself traveling in a circle, unable to find his way out of the forest; or, some belated traveler, finding settlements farther apart than he expected, or half through, with daylight fading into darkness, finds himself unable to follow the blazed trail, the only path out of the woods.  In one or all of these cases the lost one would send up a shout for help.

     The settlers understood these calls and had provided ample means for their relief.  Every family had secured a horn, commonly used to call their men folks to their meals; but if one was heard at an unusual hour, day or night, it meant that someone needed help.  The next neighbor took it up, and soon the woods for miles around were filled with answering horns.  But light was as much needed as sound, to lead the lookers to the lost.  Flash-lights were not yet invented, and such an article as a railroad lantern was unknown.  The only one known to them being the old tin one, punched full of holes, with a tallow candle inside, which cut a sorry figure in the dense darkness of a Michigan forest.

     But they were equal to the emergency, and many had provided material for torches from the shell-bark hickory or from cedar trees, which were plentiful in some parts of the timber.  Thus equipped, they sallied forth, and with such signal success that we cannot recall a single instance in which they failed to find the object of their search, and although sixty years have come and gone, we all remember with what good cheer they welcomed the strangers to their humble homes, gave them free entertainment overnight, and sent them on their way rejoicing in the morning.  They put a true value on human life, and could correctly answer our questions, “WHAT IS A BOY WORTH?” 

1880 U.S. CENSUS: 

COOK, CHARLES  27, MI NY NY, EMORY V. (wife)  22, OH MA OH, Mabel  11/12, MI MI OH. 

ESTEP, CHARLES A.  27, MI MD OH, FLORA E.  22, MI I NY. 

MARTIN, ANDREW H.  39, OH NY E; (doctor), ABBIE  29, ME ME ME, Clinton  9, MI OH ME 

BALDWIN, GEORGE  45, NY NY NY, ESTHER  38, OH CT CT, Mary  18, MI NY OH, Charlie E.  13, OH NY OH, Edson P.  5, MI NY OH, Jessie M.  1, MI NY OH/ 

BALDWIN, RUSH P.  38, OH NY NY, PHOEBE M.  32, OH E MA, Addie C.  11, MI OH OH, Clarence E.  8, MI OH OH, Ella E.  6, MI OH OH, MATILDA (mother) 67, NY, WHITE, ELIZA (aunt) 73, NY 

LAPO, RUBEN  48, MD MD MD, ALICE 42, OH PA VA, Orris A.  18, MI MD OH, GUY  14, MI MD OH 

HARPER, CHARLES M.  22, MI PA NY, BLANCHE B.  21, OH NY OH, Vernie H?, 11 MI MI OH, FRAYER, HIRAM ½ brother  16, MI NY NY 

FREEHOUSE, EDWARD  21, MI G NY, MINNIE  15, IL PA IL, Floyd H.  6/12, MI MI IL, MINNIE  15, IL PA IL, Floyd H.  6/12, MI MI IL, FOSTER, HATTIE  8, IL NY IL. 

MCALISTER, JOHN  41, OH NY OH, RACHEL A.  32, OH OH VA, Jessie  4, MI OH OH, McCONNEL, JENNIE 22, OH OH VA. 

LEAK, THOMAS  48, E E E, ELIZABETH  47, PA I NY, Christopher  18, IN E PA, William H.  15, IN E PA, CARN, IDA L. (ser) 14, MI G OH, MARY (mother)  82, E E E, BOND, REBECCA 40, sis, 40, E E E. 

LEAK, DAVID  48, E E E, MARY A.  45, E E E, Edwin  20, NY E E, Lillie L.  15, NY E E, Esther A.  12, MI E E, Elizabeth M.  9, MI E E, Emma  8, MI E E, David  5, MI E E, Samuel  2, MI E E. 

WILLIAMS, HARMON  41,  OH VT VT, AMANDA  37, PA NY NY, Eva W.  12, MI OH PA, Etta D.  12, MI OH PA, George V.  7, MI OH PA. 

NICHOL, PHILLIP S.  57, PA PA PA, BETSY  56, NY NY NY. 

CLARK, DAVID  27, PA PA PA, ELLA  17  MI MI PA. 

BROWN, HOMER  35, MI PA NY, CATHERINE  29, PA PA NY, JANE (mother)  75, NY PA VT. 

GODDARD, DANIEL  49,  NY MA MA, MARY  32, IN OH OH, FOX, GEORGE  servant  39, MI CT C. 

INGALL, WILLIAM  44, E E E, SARAH M.  29, MI NY G, Emma R.  10, MI E MI, Dese (son)  6, MI E MI, Carrie M.  5, MI E MI, Mattie M.  4, MI E MI, Fede (son)  2, MI E MI. 

HENRY, JOSHUA  36, VA OH PA, Maggie (niece)  23, VA OH OH, Lydia  11, MI OH - , William  8, MI OH -, Cora  4, MI OH -, Edith  2, MI OH -, BOND, JAMES servant  16, N?, E E. 

MARTIN, DANIEL  26, OH NY PA, ROSINA. S.  24, MI NY RI, Addie  3 days, MI OH MI. 

MARTIN, THOMAS B.  28, OH NY PA, ANNA  25, OH PA PA, William  5, MI OH OH. 

DETTERICK, MARK  MI PA PA, MINNIE  30, G G G, Nellie 17, MI G MI, Rosina  16, MI G MI, Melvin  9, MI G MI, Gracie  5, MI G MI, Hettis  2, MI G MI. 

SNYDER, JOSEPH  25, IN OH OH, SOPHIA  18, OH PA PA. 

SWEITZER, FERDINAND  56, G G G, HENRIETTA  51, PA PA G, Henrietta  16, OH G PA, William H.  16, OH G PA, Artie  13, MI G PA, FENDER, LOUIS P.  21, MI G PA, DAVIDSON, GEORGE (adopted) 10, OH OH OH. 

KING, JACOB G.  34, OH OH VA, SARAH M.  29, OH OH OH, Edwin C.  7, MI OH OH. 

LUDWIG, WARREN  23, OH PA PA, LUCINDA  25, OH G PA, Baby Boy  11/12, MI OH OH. 

AUNGST, HENRY  55, OH VA PA, SARAH  51,  E E E, Charles  24, OH OH 3, Daniel  16, IN OH E, Andrew J.  13, IN OH E, Mary  10, IN OH E, Ruth—seamstress  30, OH OH E. 

KIMMEL, AMOS  21, OH OH OH, ROSA  19, MI MD MD. 

TORPY, WILLIS G.  50, NY MA CT, SYBIL  54, RI RI RI., Anson  20, MI NY RI, Ella  16, MI NY RI, Emma  16, MI NY RI, Willis J.  14, MI NY RI, Joel  12, MI NY RI.  DAVIS, SOPHIA, mother  80, RI RI RI. 

GODDARD, RUFUS  47, NY MA MA, MARTHA  57, MI MD I, Loia L.  9, MI NY MI, Ida E.  7, MI NY MI, FREEHOUSE, JOHN H.  23, MI SW SW. 

COLE, JOHN W.  52, PA PA PA, ELIZABETH  43, PA PA PA, William C.  22, PA PA PA, Nelson M.  19, PA PA PA, Ida E.  12, PA PA PA. 

OTTO, STEPHEN  25, MI NY NY, HANNAH  19, MI NY NY, William S.  7/12, MI MI MI. 

EVANS, ALONZO  36,  NY NY NY, EMMA A. 30, OH E MA. 

PIERCE, WM. H.  31, OH NY PA, NANCY L.  32, OH, Mary A.  2, MI OH OH, Edith  6 days MI OH OH, ESTABROOK, GENESA  47, NY F F, SEAMAN, GEORGE  45, NY F F. 

SINDLINGER, JACOB  59, G G G, BARBRA  41, G G G, Esther  7, MI G G., Teresa  5, MI G G. 

WILKINSON, WM. W.  60, VT VT VT, ANNA E.  58, NY MA MA, Hattie L.  12, MI NY NY. 

WILKINSON, ROSWELL  27, NY VT NY, ALLIE  19, OH OH OH, Bessie  2, MI NY OH. 

STIMSON, LAFAYETTE  49, NY MA MA, CARRIE  40 OH VT CT. 

BIDWELL, JASPER  -, IN VT CT, AMANDA  28, MI IN MI, Grace  8, MI IN MI, Grace  8, MI IN MI, Alma  6, MI IN MI, Muriel  2, MI IN MI, Claude  5/12  MI IN MI. 

EARTHMAN, MICHAEL  51, G G G, HANNAH C.  49, G G G, John 19, NY G G, Mary  17, NY G G, Rose  15, MI G G, Frank  12, MI G G, Lena  9, MI G G, George  3, MI G G. 

MCCLELLAND, JAMES  48, PA PA PA, MARIA L.  30, NY NY NY, Henry  17, IN PA OH, Wilton A.  12, MI PA OH, Willis E.  12 MI PA OH, BUSLER, GEORGE—servant  27, IN PA OH. 

SHOWERMAN, ORLANDO  41, NY NY NY, EMILY M.  38, VT ME VT, Ellen A.  10, MI NY VT, Elmer 8, MI NY VT, Ernest O.  4, MI NY VT, Myrtle  1, MI NY VT, JEWELL, IDA S.  17,  sis-in-law 20, MI ME VT. 

SMITH, HANNAH J.  58, NY PA NY, Ida F.  17, MI NY NY. 

HYTT, KATIE  57, NY NY NY, Eliza  8, MI OH MI; DILLENBACK, ALVIRUM 81, NY NY NY, LAKE, EBENEZER  60, NY RI NY.  

GREEN, ANSON  34, OH OH OH, ANNA E.  32, MI NY NY, Ai  8, MI NY NY, John 5, MI NY NY, Guy A.  2, MI NY MI 

OLRY, LEWIS A.  34, OH OH OH, LOUISA J.  25, NY NY NY, Mary M. –niece-, 18, MI OH MI, AVES, JOHN servant-, 19, NY E E, WYMAN, SABRA, -teacher-, 25, VT VT VT. 

DEATSMAN, CHARLES  49, G G G, ELIZABETH  48, PA PA PA, John  20, OH G PA, Josephine 18, OH G PA, Farley  16, OH G PA, Martha J.  18, OH G PA, Eli S.  13, OH G PA, Alva  11, MI G PA, Rhoda  3, MI G PA. 

BROWN, IRVING A.  33, MI NY NY, DELIA  31, MI MA NY, Stacy 7, MI MI NY, STACY, JOHN w. Fatherinlaw, 68, MI MI NY, ELIJAH mother-in-law  58, NY NY NY, PHETTYPLACE, MELVINA mother 69, NY NY NY, TRUXTON, ALLEN –servant- 23, IN, LIZZIE E. –servant-, 16. 

PIKE, ASA  48, OH NY OH, SARAH  28, MI PA VT,  William 4, MI OH MI, Olive 8/12  MI OH MI, PIKE, EMANUAL –brother-, 35  OH NY OH. 

PIKE, SAMUEL  30, OH NY OH, MARY –mother- 64, OH OH OH. 

WOOD, PAUL  29, C E E, MATILDA  28, MI NY NY, PETRIE, MARY J.  18, NY NY NY. 

TERRY, LLYMAN  26, OH OH OH, JENNIE  22, PA PA PA. 

OLRY, JOHN  39, OH F F, LAURA  24, MI I NY, Hattie  7, MI OH MI, William – brother -, 42, OH F F. 

RALSTON, ANDREW M.  50, VA VA VA, KATHRYN  44, OH VY PA, Gideon D.  21, MI VA OH, Florence  17, MI VA OH, Charles M.  13, OH VA OH, Joseph G.  11, MI VA OH, Walter E.  8, MI VA OH. 

ESTEP, WILLIAM  55, MD MD MD, REBECCA  48, OH PA OH, Bion  22, MI MD OH, Ward B.  19, MI MD OH, Maud E.  13, MI MD OH, Dora B.  9, MI MD OH. 

LAPO, ALONZO P.  20, MI NY NY, CORA L.  19, MI NY MI, BETTS, JOHN  63, E E E, TORPY, LEONORA 43, C C C, Leander –daughter- 9, MI NY C, Gracie M.  5, MI E C. 

TRUXTON, EDW. A.  47, NY S VT, RUTH E.  41, IN MA VT, Newton D.  17, MI NY IN, Jessie R. 10, MI NY IN, Lucy L.  7, MI NY IN, Letha G.  3, MI NY IN. 

HAMMOND, JOHN  42, MI NY NY,  PHOEBE A.  38, OH MA NY, Teresa A.  7, MI MI OH, CARPENTER, CHARLOTTE 69, (mother-in-law) NY MA MA. 

BRIGGS, JOHN C.  50, MA MA MA, SUSANNAH 45, OH PA PA, William  28, OH MA OH, Sarah 20, OH MA OH, Dedia  13, MI MA OH, Charles 17, OH MA OH, Dora  13, MI MA OH, Addin 8, MI MA OH, Bertha, 6, MA OH, Myrta  2, MI MA OH, Manna  7/12, MI MA OH, TODD, SANFORD, 23, OH OH OH. 

FIGG, ALBERT  30, OH, MARY 26, OH OH PA, David  25, OH OH MD. 

HALLADAY, ABEL C.  51, VT VT VT, ROSABELLA 46, VT VT VT, Edgar G.  28, MA VT VT, Alice R.  19, MA VT VT,  Grace L.  13, MI VT VT, DAVIS, JESSIE F.  18, IN PA OH. 

DILLEY, HENRY  44, E E E, ANNE 41, E E E, Emily  18, IL E E, Sarah A.  13, MI E E, Jennie M.  11, MI E E,) Hannah F.  7, MI E E, MI E E, Ira T.  1, MI E E. 

METCALF, WILLIAM  73, NY NY PA, ANGELINE  65, NY VT VT. 

GREGG, ROBERT H.  29, MI MA MA, ANNA M.  29, OH PA OH, Rosa  5, MI MI OH, George 2, MI MI OH, Joseph (brother)  34, MI MA MA. 

WHITE, LILLIANS  39, OH NY NY, MARY H.  32, MI NY NY. 

ROGERS, WILLIAM H.  23, MI NY VT., MARTHA  23, MI VT NY, HARTWELL, Marvel  11, NY NY NY,

Peling, Ransler  51, NY NY NY. 

PALMETER, PETER  44, NY VT C, ANNA M.  36, IL KY OH, Jay D.  14, IL NY IL, Milton D.  12, MI NY IL, William  10, MI NY IL, Alonzo  8, MI NY IL, Bert  6, MI NY NY, Mary E.  4, MI NY NY, Rosia B.  2, MI NY IL. 

PALMETER, JAY  25, MI VT C, ADELLA  20, OH OH OH, Bertha  11/12  MI MI OH. 

MORRICE, WM. A.  35 OH OH PA, SARAH E.  31, OH MD OH, Homer R.  2, MI OH OH. 

PECK, AUSTIN  39, PA CT VT, ROSELLA  37, NY NY NY, CARL, CHARLOTTE (adopted)  8, MI NY MI. 

WIRT, DURS  47, SW SW SW, SUSAN 34, OH PA PA, John W.  12, MI SW OH, Jacob E.  10, MI SW OH, George R.  8, MI SW OH, Charles O.  5, MI SW OH, Dorsey E.  3, MI SW OH. 

WALKER, WILLIAM  35, IN MD MD, IVY 34, OH OH OH, Orlow W.  8, IN IN O, Charles B.  MI IN OH, SHAFER, MARY – old maid  52, OH MD MD. 

BLISS, SAMUEL  53, MA E MA, MARY A.  51, MA CT MA, Eugene P.  22, MI MA MA, Lottie M.  18, MI MA MA. 

STINCHCOMB, GIDEON  24, OH OH PA, IDA E.  24, MI MA MA. 

PEABODY, JASON  44,  NH NH NH, ANGELINE  42, MI NY I, Lyda  16, MI NH MI, Jason  14, MI NY MI, Frank 10, MI NH MI, Claude  6, MI NH MI, Hannah – mother - 75, NH NH NH, YAW, WILSON  40, OH NY NY.  

A LETTER FROM JOSEPHINE (DORIN) McWHORTER

     I spent most of my early years at Sebewa Corners until I was married and went to live in Sunfield Township.  I am now a widow and live at Grand Ledge.  My father was Ellis Dorin and he and my mother and a brother are buried in the east Sebewa cemetery.

     In one of the issues of THE SEBEWA RECOLLECTOR I saw there was a story about “Praying Charlie”.  He lived at one time in an old sugar shanty in the woods of our farm.  (This is the farm where Jeff Sandborn now lives just north of Sebewa Corners).  My father cut off the timber in a part of the wood lot

And he told Charlie he would have to move but he continued to stay there until the day my father and an uncle began tearing down the place right over his head; then he pulled up stakes and left.

     I think he was one of the oddest persons I ever knew and the young men around at that time would gather around his place in the dark and call out all kinds of threats and throw rocks at the building.  He would come racing up to our house and wake my father in the middle of the night and would want him to go back to the woods with him and take his gun.  My dad would talk to him and get him calmed down and tell him the boys wouldn’t harm him and that they were only teasing him and he should not let them know they were bothering him.  They would soon tire of the sport they were having with him.

     As I recall he finally had to be taken to the then Ionia County Poor House and the story went that they cleaned Charlie up and put clean clothes on him, cut his hair and shaved him.  It killed him, the story went, but he was a very old man.  I suppose there was a Potter’s Field where they buried such as him.  No one ever knew how old he was or where he really came from.

     There was another very strange old man who lived at Sebewa Corners.  His name was Tom Sleight and lived in pretty sordid conditions.  I can remember many times of his going back in the middle of the woods and coming to our door with a pailful of blackberries he had picked and would want my mother to take the berries and bake him a pie.  As I recall I think he had never married and I don’t remember of his death or where he was buried but as his little shack was on the Danby side of the road at the Corners, I presume he was buried in the Danby Cemetery. –Josephine McWhorter. 

PLANS FOR BICENTENNIAL ACTIVITIES MOVE AHEAD

     In the format suggested by the AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL ADMINISTRACTION and the MICHIGAN AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL COMISSION, bicentennial committees have been formed in both Ionia and Eaton counties.  The function of the count committees is generally to coordinate and encourage local celebrations and commemorative projects for the decade of 1970-1980 as the 200^th anniversary of the founding of these United States.

     The county committees will try to aid in giving a bicentennial flavor to the traditional fairs, farmers picnics, Labor Day events, fish fries or whatever form the local festive occasions take.  Emphasis will be on our historical heritage, celebrations and defining and working toward community goals.  In Ionia County Marge Smith of Portland is committee chairman, Monroe MacPherson of Ionia is co-chairman and Lee Satterlee of Belding is vice chairman.  In Eaton County Phil Derland of Delta Township near Grand Ledge is Chairman and Marilyn Frankenstein of Bellvue is vice chairman.

     Watch your news sources for developments. 

PUBLIC DIARY

     If you are in the 18 and younger group, perhaps a good many of all your comings and goings and the rest of the things that come under the heading of “local news” are now a part of a permanent record in the Sunfield District Library.  From a gift by the late Maruerite Satterly of the back issues of THE SUNFIELD SENTINEL and the generous supplementing of the missing issues by John and Gloria Nelson, the Sunfield Historical Society has now completed collecting the SUNFIELD SENTINEL for the years 1956-1974, bound them into annual volumes and made them available for public reference at the Sunfield District Library.

     Of course, the fragile pages of newsprint do not allow constant or rough handling.  However, when you need to refer to an item that was likely in print in the SENTINAL during those years, you should feel free to make use of this reference source. 

DEATHS FOR THE PERIOD.

     Recent deaths have been those of Mrs. Ethel Campbell of Sunfield and later Lake Odessa and of Royce Merrill of Sebewa Corners.

CENSUS

     With the four pages of the 1880 Sebewa census included in this issue and one more installment for the December issue, we shall have that huge cat off our backs.  It is hoped you have occasion to refer to it from time to time.