Early life in Bay County

William Henry Lacy was born on 26 May 1878 in Michigan, the son of Martin V. Lacy and Nancy J. Whitney.¹ His childhood unfolded in Bay County, where he appears with his parents in the 1880 federal census and again in the 1884 and 1894 Michigan state censuses in Kawkawlin Township.²³⁴ These records place William within a rural farming community shaped by agriculture and seasonal labor along the Saginaw Bay watershed.

Loss marked his early years. Several older half-siblings died before William reached adulthood, and family deaths continued through his youth. His father, Martin V. Lacy, died in 1904 in Garfield Township, Bay County.¹ Two years later, William lost both his mother, Nancy J. Whitney Lacy, and his sister Alice, who died shortly before their mother in Charles City, Virginia.¹ By his late twenties, William was already the surviving member of a significantly reduced immediate family.

Marriage and establishing a household

On 28 May 1907, William married Margaret Doonan in Midland, Michigan.⁵ Margaret, born in Bay County in 1888, was the daughter of William Doonan and Susan Rosetta Smith.¹ Their marriage coincided with William’s transition from his childhood household into building a family of his own.

Early records identify William as a farmer, consistent with his upbringing and the agricultural economy of Garfield Township and surrounding areas. Farming during this period often required supplemental wage labor, and many men combined agricultural work with trades or seasonal employment as opportunities arose.

Children, work, and repeated loss

Between 1908 and 1920, William and Margaret had eight children. The surviving records reveal a family life marked by both continuity and repeated tragedy.

Their first child, Milo W. Lacy, was born and died on the same day in February 1908.⁶ Elizabeth Sabria Lacy was born in January 1909.⁷ In February 1910, Ira Gerald Lacy was born, but he died later that same year.⁸ These early losses occurred while the family was still living in Bay County.

By the 1910s, William had moved his family to Saginaw. Census records, city directories, and his death certificate list his occupation as carpenter, indicating a shift toward skilled wage labor.⁹¹⁰ Carpentry placed William within Saginaw’s expanding residential and industrial economy, offering steadier employment than farming alone.

Eva Lucushia Lacy was born in 1911.¹¹ Howard Guy Lacy followed in 1912 but died in March 1916 at the age of three.¹² Cora Mae Lacy was born later that same year.¹³ Dorothy Helen Lacy was born in December 1917 and died on her first birthday in 1918, during a period when childhood illness and infectious disease were common causes of death.¹⁴

The death certificates for these children record causes such as pneumonia and infantile illness, clinical language that conveys little of the cumulative emotional toll on the family.¹⁵ By the end of the decade, William and Margaret had buried five of their eight children.

Later years in Saginaw

Despite these losses, William continued to work and support his household. City directory entries between 1917 and 1923 show the family living at multiple addresses in Saginaw, including North Washington Avenue, South Jefferson Avenue, Williamson Street, and West Genesee.¹⁰ These moves reflect the realities of working-class life in an industrial city, where housing was often tied to employment and financial conditions.

William registered for the World War I draft in 1918, providing confirmation of his birth date, residence, employer, and physical description.¹⁶ Although he was not called into service, the registration places him within the broader national context of the period.

In February 1920, the couple’s youngest child, Martin Van Buren Lacy, was born in Saginaw.¹⁷ The 1920 federal census shows William living with Margaret and their surviving children, still working as a carpenter.⁸

Death and burial

William Henry Lacy died suddenly on 7 July 1924 at the age of 46. His Michigan death certificate lists myocarditis as the cause of death.¹ Contemporary newspaper accounts report that he died at his home at the corner of Williamson and Bradley streets and emphasize the unexpected nature of his passing.²

He was buried on 8 July 1924 in Taymouth Township Cemetery, Saginaw County.¹ His headstone bears the inscription “Wm Henry Lacy and family,” a phrase that quietly reflects both his role as a husband and father and the shared losses experienced by the family he left behind.¹⁸

Remembering William Henry Lacy

William Henry Lacy did not leave personal papers or written reflections. What remains are records: censuses, civil registrations, city directories, draft cards, and headstones. Taken together, they describe a man who worked with his hands, adapted from farming to carpentry, and endured repeated personal loss while continuing to provide for his family.

For those who know him only through documents, his life can appear compressed into dates and causes of death. But for the relatives who remembered him—and for later generations—William Henry Lacy was more than a name on a stone. He was a working man whose life unfolded quietly within the communities of Bay County and Saginaw, Michigan.

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Sources

1. Michigan Department of Health, Certificate of Death for William Henry Lacy, 7 July 1924, Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan.
2. Obituary of William H. Lacy, Saginaw-area newspaper, July 1924.
3. 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Kawkawlin Township, Bay County, Michigan.
4. 1884 Michigan State Census, Kawkawlin Township, Bay County, Michigan.
5. 1894 Michigan State Census, Kawkawlin Township, Bay County, Michigan.
6. Michigan Marriage Record, Midland County, Michigan, 28 May 1907.
7. Michigan Birth and Death Records, Garfield Township, Bay County, Michigan, 1908, Milo W. Lacy.
8. Michigan Birth and Death Records, Garfield Township, Bay County, Michigan, 1910, Ira Gerald Lacy.
9. 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Garfield Township, Bay County, Michigan.
10. U.S. City Directories, Saginaw, Michigan, 1917–1923.
11. Michigan Birth Record, 1911, Eva Lucushia Lacy.
12. Michigan Birth and Death Records, Saginaw, Michigan, Howard Guy Lacy, 1912–1916.
13. Michigan Birth Record, Saginaw, Michigan, 1916, Cora Mae Lacy.
14. Michigan Birth and Death Records, Saginaw, Michigan, Dorothy Helen Lacy, 1917–1918.
15. Michigan Death Records for children of William Henry Lacy and Margaret Doonan.
16. World War I Draft Registration Card, William Henry Lacy, Saginaw, Michigan, 1918.
17. Michigan Birth Record, Saginaw, Michigan, 1920, Martin Van Buren Lacy.
18. Taymouth Township Cemetery records and headstone inscription for “Wm Henry Lacy and family.”