Eliza J. Powell (1837–1894)

On March 8, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn Ancestor ProfileLeave a comment

Eliza J. Powell was born on 14 February 1837 in Michigan, the daughter of John Powell and Deborah Burgess.¹ She was part of the first generation of this family born in the state, while her parents belonged to the earlier group who had settled in Oakland County.

In 1850 she was living with her parents in Pontiac, where she grew up among a large sibling group.²

Marriage in Avon Township

On 14 August 1859, Eliza married Stephen Hickmott in Avon Township, Oakland County.³ Their marriage is recorded in the county marriage register and marks the point at which the Powell and Hickmott families became directly connected.

Two years earlier, in 1857, land in section 30 of Avon Township was recorded in the name of **“E. Hickmott.”**⁴ This entry places Eliza in a land transaction at a remarkably young age and at nearly the same time as her marriage. Whether this reflects property brought into the marriage or a transfer connected with it, it shows her associated with land in her own right.

In 1860, Eliza and Stephen were living in Avon Township, beginning their married life there.⁵

Move to Shiawassee County

By the mid-1860s the family had moved to New Haven Township in Shiawassee County, where Eliza spent the remainder of her life.⁶ It was there that she raised her children:

Melvin, born 1864⁷
Frank, born 1866⁸
William, born 1869⁹
James, born 1871¹⁰
Frederick Stephen, born 1874¹¹
Bert, born 1877¹²

Her only known child to die young was James, who lived just over a year.¹⁰

Eliza appears with her family in New Haven Township in both the 1870 and 1880 census, in the household of her husband, where the rhythm of her life is recorded in the ages and birthplaces of her children.⁶,¹³

Daughter of John Powell and Deborah Burgess

While Eliza’s adult life was centered in Shiawassee County, her parents remained in Oakland County. Both died in 1886.¹⁴ Their deaths closed the Pontiac chapter of the family in which Eliza had been raised.

Death and burial

Eliza died on 15 September 1894 in New Haven Township.¹⁵ She was buried the following day in West Haven Cemetery.¹⁶ That cemetery became the burial place for multiple members of the Hickmott family and remains the physical location most closely associated with her life.

Her place in the family

Eliza’s story is told almost entirely through the standard records of the nineteenth century — census entries, a marriage record, a death record, and the cemetery where she was buried. Within those records she can be followed from her parents’ household in Pontiac to her own home in New Haven Township.

Sources

Michigan Death Records, 1867–1950, Eliza J. Hickmott, 1894.
1850 U.S. census, Oakland County, Michigan, Pontiac, household of John Powell.
Michigan County Marriages, 1822–1940, Stephen Hickmott and Eliza Powell, 14 Aug 1859, Avon Township, Oakland County.
Avon Township, Oakland County, Michigan, land record, 1857, “E. Hickmott,” section 30.
1860 U.S. census, Oakland County, Michigan, Avon Township, household of Stephen Hickmott.
1870 U.S. census, Shiawassee County, Michigan, New Haven Township, household of Stephen Hickmott.
Birth record of Melvin Hickmott, 5 Aug 1864, Avon Township, Oakland County, Michigan.
Birth record of Frank Hickmott, 22 Jun 1866, New Haven Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan.
Birth record of William Hickmott, 27 Jan 1869, New Haven Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan.
Death record of James Hickmott, 15 Sep 1872, New Haven Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan.
Birth record of Frederick Stephen Hickmott, 24 Mar 1874, New Haven Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan.
Birth record of Bert Hickmott, 6 Feb 1877, New Haven Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan.
1880 U.S. census, Shiawassee County, Michigan, New Haven Township, household of Stephen Hickmott.
Death record of John Powell, 31 Dec 1886, Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan; Deborah Burgess Powell, Michigan death record, 1886.
Michigan Death Records, 1867–1950, Eliza J. Hickmott, 15 Sep 1894.
West Haven Cemetery, New Haven Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan; Find A Grave Index, memorial for Eliza J. Hickmott.

Frances Jane Munson Rivers (1845–1915)

On March 5, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn Ancestor ProfileLeave a comment

She was born Frances Jane Munson on 7 August 1845 in Bridgeport, Saginaw County, Michigan, the fourth child of Henry Munson and Elizabeth Foster.¹ In the records created during her lifetime, however, she is simply and consistently Jane.

At five years old in 1850 she appears in her father’s household in Bridgeport as Jane Munson.² Ten years later, in 1860, she is fifteen and living with her married sister, still Jane.³ She carries that name forward into adulthood, and her own death certificate records her as Jane F. Rivers.¹⁰

The formal name Frances belongs primarily to retrospective records. On the 1945 death certificate of her son Gardner, her maiden name is given as Frances Munson by the informant, his wife Alice (Wickham) Rivers — Jane’s daughter-in-law and also her niece — and the compiled Munson genealogy uses the same form.¹² In the documents created during her lifetime, she is Jane.

Marriage and place

In January 1862 she married John Rivers in Saginaw County.⁴ His life as a French-Canadian farmer rooted along the Cass River has been treated in an earlier post; Jane’s married life unfolded in the same landscape. Bridgeport, Taymouth, and Albee Townships — the locations attached to the Rivers household across four decades — lie within only a few miles of one another. Her world did not expand geographically. It deepened in place.

By 1870 she was in Taymouth Township with John and their children in a working farm household.⁵ That remained the center of her life for the next thirty years.

Twelve children

In 1900 she reported that she had given birth to twelve children, eight of them living.⁶ That single census column compresses nearly forty years of her adult life.

Those children were:

Betsy
John Jr.
Thomas
Gardner
Burt Eugene
James Daniel
Mary Jane
Rosa (Rose)
Victoria (died young)
Leana (died young)
Franklin (died young)
Joseph⁷

The three who died in childhood are present in the county’s vital records and absent from the later household. The number eight living in 1900 is the official accounting of those losses.

The households she lived in

Jane’s life is always recorded within a family home.

In 1900 she was in Taymouth Township with her husband John and their sons James D. and Joseph, the household still tied to the farm.⁶

1900 Federal Census showing Jane in the Rivers household.

John died on 21 November 1902.⁸

By 1910 Jane was a widow in the household of her son Burt.⁹ The setting had shifted to the next generation’s home, but the structure of her life had not. She remained where she had always been — within the family.

Her death

Jane died 24 March 1915 of bronchial pneumonia in Wayne County, Michigan.¹⁰ The informant on her death certificate was her son Burt, with whom she had been living in 1910.¹⁰ She was returned to Saginaw County for burial in Taymouth Township beside her husband.¹¹

The certificate names her Jane F. Rivers — the everyday name she had carried from childhood, with the formal initial that connected her to the Munson family.

Read in time, not in compilation

If her life is followed through the records in chronological order, the identity is straightforward: Jane as a child in Bridgeport, Jane as a young woman in her sister’s household, Jane as a farmer’s wife in Taymouth and Albee, and Jane as a widow in her son’s home.

Only when the record turns backward — to death certificates of the next generation or to compiled genealogies — does the name Frances reappear. Those works preserved the formal birth name. The contemporary record preserved the name she lived by.

Burial

She was buried in Taymouth Township in the community where she had lived since her marriage more than fifty years earlier.¹¹

Sources

Michigan death certificate, Jane F. Rivers, 24 Mar 1915, giving birth date and parents Henry Munson and Elizabeth Foster.
1850 U.S. census, Bridgeport Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, Henry Munson household.
1860 U.S. census, Saginaw County, Michigan, household of [married sister], entry for Jane Munson.
Saginaw County, Michigan, marriage record, John Rivers and Frances Jane Munson, Jan. 1862.
1870 U.S. census, Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, John Rivers household.
1900 U.S. census, Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, John Rivers household.
Michigan birth and death records for the children of John and Jane Rivers; cemetery and obituary records where applicable.
Saginaw County, Michigan, death record, John Rivers, 21 Nov 1902.
1910 U.S. census, Wayne County, Michigan, Burt Rivers household, entry for Jane Rivers.
Michigan death certificate, Jane F. Rivers, 1915.
Taymouth Township cemetery records; Find a Grave entry for Jane F. Rivers.
Michigan death certificate, Gardner T. Rivers, 1945, naming mother as Frances Munson; informant Alice Rivers; compiled Munson family genealogy.

Margaret Doonan: The One Who Stayed

On March 4, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn Ancestor ProfileLeave a comment

Margaret Doonan was born into a family that already knew how quickly life could fracture.

Margaret Doonan. On the back it states it was taken October 20, 1923.

She was the daughter of William Doonan and Rosetta “Rose” Smith — a household still living with the consequences of the violent death of Rose’s brother Jude at the hands of another brother. That history formed the emotional landscape of Margaret’s childhood, one we have already explored through the lives of her parents.

Margaret was born on 2 June 1888 in Beaver Township, Bay County, Michigan, at a time when her parents were part of the steady movement of families through Michigan’s lumber and farming communities.¹

And then, as the family began to move north into Ontario, Margaret made a different choice.

She stayed.

The Michigan Line

While her parents and most of her siblings eventually settled in Canada, Margaret remained in Michigan with her husband, William Henry Lacy, whom she married in Midland County on 28 May 1907.²

That decision created the divide that would shape the family for generations — a Canadian branch descending from her parents and a Michigan branch descending from Margaret.

But she did not disappear from the Canadian story.

One of the many trips to Canada. In the tree is Flo Doonan. Then Rosie Ball, Margaret Doonan, Sabria Lacy and Keith Rivers. A 4-generation picture.

Border-crossing notices in local newspapers and family photographs document her frequent trips to Ontario to visit her parents and siblings. She did not follow them permanently, but she maintained the relationships in person, again and again, across an international boundary.

She became the living link between the two halves of the family.

A Young Family in Bay County

Margaret and William began married life in Bay County, where their first children were born in Garfield Township and the Crump area.³

Their daughter Elizabeth Sabria Lacy — known in the family as Sabria — was born 24 January 1909.⁴

Motherhood for Margaret was marked by a pattern that repeated with painful regularity. Between 1908 and 1918, four of her children died:

Milo in infancy in 1908
Ira in 1910
Howard in 1916
Dorothy in 1918

Each death is documented in Michigan death records, each a separate entry in the public record — and each a private loss within the same decade of her life.⁵

The surviving children — Sabria, Eva, Cora, and Martin — would carry her line forward.

Widowhood in Saginaw

By 1920 the family had moved to the city of Saginaw, where William worked to support the household in an industrial economy very different from the rural communities where their marriage began.⁶

On 7 July 1924, William Henry Lacy died in Saginaw at the age of forty-six.⁷

Margaret was thirty-six years old.

City directory entries from the mid-1920s place her at 3369 Glenwood Avenue, an address that would remain associated with her for years.⁸

This is the moment when she stopped being defined primarily as a daughter or a wife and became the central figure holding her household together.

A Second Start — and Grandpa Jack

Margaret married Stephen Wolverton in Tuscola County in October 1927; the marriage ended in divorce in Saginaw in September 1929.⁹

Five days later she married John William Phillips in Saginaw.¹⁰

Grandpa Jack, Margaret Doonan, Mary, Dorothy Rivers, Archie Doonan on another Canada trip.

He is remembered not by his formal name but as Grandpa Jack — the name that tells us he became part of the lived family memory, not just the documentary record.

The 1930 and 1940 censuses show Margaret and John together in Saginaw, once again in a stable household on Glenwood Avenue.¹¹

The Border That Remained Open

Even as she built that stability, Margaret continued to travel to Canada to see her parents and siblings.

Her father died in Timiskaming District, Ontario, in 1913.¹²
Her sister Emily died in Montreal in 1917.¹³
Her mother died in Cobalt, Ontario, in 1952.¹⁴

Margaret did not move north — but she never allowed the distance to become separation.

The First Diagnosis

Margaret died on 12 October 1950 in Saginaw.

Her Michigan death certificate records the cause as diabetes mellitus, following a diabetic coma of forty-eight hours.¹⁵

She is the earliest person in this family line for whom that diagnosis is documented.

That fact places her not only in the past but in a continuing medical history that reaches into later generations — including my own.

What She Built

Margaret grew up in a family defined by violence, migration, and loss.

She spent her adult life creating something different:

a fixed home in Saginaw
a surviving line of children and grandchildren
a living connection between the Michigan and Ontario branches

Every Michigan descendant of this family traces back to one decision — her choice to remain.

She was the one who stayed.

And in ways she could never have known, she is still present — not only in the records we read, but in the inheritance carried forward by her descendants.

Sources

Michigan birth records, Bay County, for Margaret Doonan; 1894 Michigan state census, Beaver Township.
Midland County, Michigan, marriage record: William Henry Lacy and Margaret Doonan, 28 May 1907.
1910 U.S. census, Garfield Township, Bay County, Michigan.
Michigan birth record, Elizabeth Sabria Lacy, 24 January 1909, Crump, Bay County.
Michigan death records: Milo W. Lacy (1908); Ira Gerald Lacy (1910); Howard Guy Lacy (1916); Dorothy Helen Lacy (1918).
1920 U.S. census, Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Michigan death record, William Henry Lacy, 7 July 1924, Saginaw.
Saginaw city directories, mid-1920s, listing Margaret Lacy/Phillips at 3369 Glenwood Avenue.
Tuscola County marriage record, Margaret Lacy and Stephen Wolverton, 1927; Saginaw County divorce record, 9 September 1929.
Saginaw County marriage record, Margaret Lacy and John William Phillips, 14 September 1929.
1930 and 1940 U.S. censuses, Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Ontario death record, William Doonan, 1913, Timiskaming District.
Quebec death record, Emily Doonan, 1917, Montreal.
Ontario death record, Susan Rosetta (Smith) Doonan, 1952, Cobalt.
Michigan death certificate, Margaret Phillips, 12 October 1950.

Alice Mary (Wickham) Rivers

On March 1, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn Ancestor ProfileLeave a comment

A Life Rooted in Taymouth

Alice Mary Wickham was born 4 October 1876 in Tittabawassee Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, the daughter of Reuben Thomas Wickham and Mary Emaline (Munson) Wickham.¹ She entered a world already shaped by family. Her father was an English immigrant; her mother was the child of New York pioneers who had helped settle Taymouth Township.²

Alice Mary Wickham

She would never really leave.

A Marriage Within the Family

On 13 June 1897, in nearby Freeland, Alice married Gardner T. Rivers.³
It was a marriage that joined not two different families, but two branches of the same one.

Alice’s mother, Mary Emaline Munson, and Gardner’s mother, Frances Jane Munson, were sisters, making the bride and groom first cousins and both grandchildren of Henry Munson and Elizabeth Foster.⁴

Gardner and Alice Mary Wickham Rivers

In a rural farming community like Taymouth, this was not unusual. Families lived near one another, worked together, attended the same churches and social gatherings, and their children grew up side by side. Alice did not marry a stranger — she married someone who had been part of her world since childhood.

Their marriage would last nearly forty-eight years.⁵

Building a Home in Taymouth

Alice and Gardner began their married life in Taymouth Township, where most of their children were born:

Ernest John (1898–1933)⁶
Willard Fay (1900–1981)⁷
Edward Joseph (1903–1993)⁸
Earl G. (1904–1935)⁹
Claude Alvin (1906–1976)¹⁰
Adrith Irene (1908–1957)¹¹
Loella Jane (1913–2000)¹²

Gardner and Alice with all of their children

Like many farm wives of her generation, Alice’s occupation in the official record was simply “housewife,” but that single word does not begin to describe the work of raising seven children, keeping a home, and supporting a farming household through the first decades of the twentieth century.⁵

Census records place her consistently in Taymouth Township, surrounded by the extended Munson, Wickham, and Rivers families who had settled there in the mid-nineteenth century.¹³

Her life was not marked by long-distance moves or dramatic change. Instead, it was defined by continuity — the same roads, the same community, the same network of relatives — for nearly seventy years.

Joy and Sorrow in the Same Place

The newspapers occasionally caught glimpses of her life.

In October 1936, friends and family gathered to celebrate her birthday.¹⁴
In June 1941, she and Gardner marked their forty-fourth wedding anniversary.¹⁵

The Saginaw News – 7 Oct 1936

These small notices remind us that hers was not an anonymous life. She was known, visited, and celebrated within her community.

But Taymouth also witnessed her losses.

She buried her parents, Reuben in 1903 and Mary Emaline in 1907.²
Most painfully, she buried two of her sons — Ernest in 1933 and Earl in 1935.⁶ ⁹

All of this happened without her leaving the place where she had been born.

The Final Months

Gardner died 13 January 1945 in Taymouth Township.¹⁶
For the first time since her marriage — and, in many ways, for the first time since childhood — Alice was alone.

Her death certificate records that she was a widowed housewife, sixty-eight years old, who had lived in the community for forty-seven years. It gives the cause of death as cardiac degeneration.⁵

She died 23 April 1945 and was buried in Cook Cemetery beside her husband.¹⁷

The medical record describes a chronic weakening of the heart.
The timeline tells another story.

After nearly forty-eight years of marriage — and a lifetime spent in the same close circle of family — Alice lived only three months without him.

A Life Measured in Roots

Alice’s story is not one of travel or reinvention.
It is a story of belonging.

She was:

the granddaughter of pioneers
the daughter of an English immigrant
the wife of her first cousin
the mother of seven children
a lifelong resident of Taymouth Township

She spent sixty-eight years within the landscape her grandparents had helped settle.

In the end, the record states that her heart failed.
Those who look at the whole of her life — the shared childhood, the long marriage, the losses, and the brief months of widowhood — may read that line a little differently.

Alice Mary (Wickham) Rivers was laid to rest on 24 April 1945 in Cook Cemetery, surrounded by the generations who had made Taymouth their home.¹⁷

She had never truly lived anywhere else.

Sources

Michigan birth records, Alice Mary Wickham, 4 Oct 1876, Tittabawassee Township, Saginaw County.
Death certificates of Reuben Thomas Wickham (1903) and Mary Emaline (Munson) Wickham (1907), Saginaw County, Michigan.
Saginaw County, Michigan, marriage record, Gardner T. Rivers and Alice M. Wickham, 13 June 1897, Freeland.
Munson family relationships demonstrated through vital records and census listings for Mary Emaline (Munson) Wickham and Frances Jane (Munson) Rivers.
Michigan death certificate, Alice M. Rivers, 23 Apr 1945, Taymouth Township, Saginaw County.
Michigan death record, Ernest John Rivers, 9 Feb 1933, Taymouth Township.
Michigan birth record, Willard Fay Rivers, 21 Feb 1900, St. Charles, Saginaw County.
Michigan birth record, Edward Joseph Rivers, 6 May 1903, Taymouth Township.
Michigan death record, Earl G. Rivers, 17 Mar 1935, Saginaw Township.
Michigan birth record, Claude Alvin Rivers, 1 June 1906, Gaines Township, Genesee County.
Michigan birth record, Adrith Irene Rivers, 19 Feb 1908, Gaines, Genesee County.
Michigan birth record, Loella Jane Rivers, 5 June 1913, Burt, Saginaw County.
1880, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 U.S. census, Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, households of Gardner T. Rivers.
The Saginaw News, 7 Oct 1936, birthday gathering notice for Alice Rivers.
The Saginaw News, 17 June 1941, 44th wedding anniversary notice for Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Rivers.
Michigan death certificate, Gardner T. Rivers, 13 Jan 1945, Taymouth Township.
Find a Grave memorials and Cook Cemetery burial records for Gardner T. Rivers and Alice Mary (Wickham) Rivers.

Rosa Susan (“Rosie”) Smith Revisited: What the Records Reveal Years Later

On February 13, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn Ancestor ProfileLeave a comment

Looking Back at an Earlier Story

When I first wrote about my 2× great-grandmother Rosa Susan “Rosie” Smith in 2018, the outline of her life was already clear: a childhood in Pennsylvania and Michigan, a long marriage to William Doonan, years spent in northern Ontario, and a life that stretched into the early 1950s. What remained unclear then were the brief, uncomfortable gaps — especially Rosie’s short-lived first marriage to Thomas Osborn and the compressed timing of her remarriage to William Doonan.

In the years since, additional records, closer reading of familiar sources, and the availability of autosomal DNA evidence have allowed some of those gaps to be examined more carefully.

Re-examining the Marriage to Thomas Osborn

Rosie married Thomas Osborn on 17 February 1882 in Bay County, Michigan, when she was just sixteen years old.¹ The marriage was solemnized by Justice of the Peace Nathaniel Enman and witnessed by Charles Horsford and Mary Ann Leary.² It was formally recorded on 27 April 1882.

Marriage record of Thomas Osborn and Rosie Smith marriage.

At the time of the earlier post, it was unclear whether this marriage ended through divorce or death. A subsequent review of the complete 1880 federal census for Beaver Township and Kawkawlin Township — examined page by page — failed to locate Thomas Osborn in either community.³ No additional census, land, probate, or newspaper records have been identified that place him in Rosie’s orbit before or after the marriage.

The record, taken as a whole, suggests a marriage that existed briefly and left no lasting documentary footprint beyond the register itself.

A Compressed Timeline, Clarified

Rosie’s daughter, Rosa Jane Doonan, was born on 22 August 1882 — less than seven months after the Osborn marriage and several months before Rosie’s marriage to William Doonan on 11 November 1882.⁴ The timeline, while long visible, takes on sharper focus when examined alongside later evidence.

Marriage record of William Doonan and Rosie Smith

Modern autosomal DNA results now provide important clarification. Multiple DNA matches descending through independent children of Rosa Jane consistently align with William Doonan’s family.⁵ This pattern strongly supports William Doonan as Rosa Jane’s biological father and shows no comparable genetic connection to Thomas Osborn.

What once appeared as an unresolved question in the paper record is now better understood through the combination of documentation and DNA.

What the Witnesses — and Their Absence — Suggest

The Osborn marriage was witnessed by two community members who do not appear to have been relatives of either the bride or groom. No Osborn or Smith family members were listed as witnesses. Combined with Osborn’s absence from local census records, the marriage appears to have been formally executed but socially thin — a legally valid union that did not establish a shared household or lasting family connection.

This does not explain why the marriage occurred, but it helps explain why it disappeared so completely from the documentary record.

What Hasn’t Changed

What has not changed since the earlier post is the broader shape of Rosie’s life. Her long marriage to William Doonan, the birth and loss of children, the move to northern Ontario in 1908, and her later years as “Grandma Ball” within the extended family remain exactly as they were first understood.

If anything, the additional research sharpens rather than softens that picture. Rosie’s brief marriage to Thomas Osborn now appears as a momentary interruption rather than a defining chapter — a small but telling episode in a life otherwise shaped by endurance, adaptation, and persistence.

Conclusion

Family history rarely unfolds neatly. What can be known at one moment often changes as new records surface and new tools become available. Rosie’s story is no exception. The outlines were always there, but time and patience have filled in some of the finer lines.

This later look at Rosie’s life does not replace the earlier telling. Instead, it reflects the ongoing nature of historical research — the understanding that some answers arrive only years after the first questions are asked.

Sources

Bay County, Michigan, Marriage Register, Thomas Osborn and Rosie Smith, 17 February 1882.
Bay County, Michigan, Marriage Register (officiant and witnesses), same entry.
1880 U.S. Federal Census, Beaver Township and Kawkawlin Township, Bay County, Michigan.
Michigan Birth Records, Rosa Jane Doonan, 22 August 1882; Bay County, Michigan, Marriage Records, William Doonan and Rosie Smith, 11 November 1882.
AncestryDNA autosomal matches through multiple independent descendant lines of Rosa Jane Doonan.

Henry Munson (1818–1886)

On February 12, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn Ancestor ProfileLeave a comment

Early Life and Trade

Henry Munson was born 16 June 1818 in Franklin, Delaware County, New York, the son of Daniel Munson and Frances “Fanny” Tolles. According to a biographical sketch published during his lifetime, his father operated a blacksmith shop, and Henry worked there during the winters, learning the trade at a young age.¹ This early training would shape his working life for decades.

At approximately eighteen years of age, Henry left home and traveled west to Fort Defiance, Ohio, where he spent two years engaged in boating and farm labor.¹ This period reflects the common pattern of young men acquiring experience and capital before permanent settlement.

Arrival in Michigan and Marriage

By the late 1830s, Henry had relocated to Saginaw County, Michigan. He was married on 1 June 1839 in Bridgeport to Elizabeth Foster, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Foster.¹ The marriage marks the beginning of a long association with Bridgeport and Taymouth Townships that would continue for the remainder of his life.

Their first child, James H. Munson, was born in Bridgeport in 1840, followed by Mary Emaline Munson in 1841. Census and vital records indicate that the family remained in Bridgeport through the 1840s and 1850s, during which time Henry balanced farming with blacksmithing.²

Family Growth and Loss

Henry and Elizabeth Munson became the parents of eleven children. Not all survived to adulthood, a reality reflected both in census records and later family documentation. Ransom W. Munson, born in 1843, died in 1853 at the age of nine, reportedly at the Cass River.³ James H. Munson, their eldest son, died in Taymouth Township in 1881 at the age of forty-one.⁴

These losses occurred alongside the steady growth of the family, which included children born in Bridgeport and later in Taymouth Township. The movement of birthplaces within the family mirrors Henry’s gradual transition from Bridgeport into rural Taymouth.

Settlement in Taymouth Township

In the fall of 1861, Henry Munson purchased eighty acres of land in Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, on section 5.¹ This land purchase represents a permanent commitment to the township, coinciding with a period of agricultural expansion in the area during the Civil War era.

Federal census records place Henry in Bridgeport in 1860 and confirm his residence in Taymouth Township by 1870 and 1880.² Over time, his landholdings increased, and by the early 1880s he was reported to own eighty-seven acres.¹

Community Presence and Newspaper Mentions

Henry Munson’s name appears repeatedly in Saginaw County newspapers during the late 1870s, reflecting his continued residence and standing within the community. In 1879, his name was listed among the jurors involved in the murder case arising from the death of Heber K. Ives, in which Allen Barnum was charged.⁵ His appearance in these reports relates specifically to jury proceedings and represents routine civic service rather than personal involvement in the crime itself.

The repeated publication of juror lists across multiple issues explains why Henry’s name appears more than once in connection with the case. Such reporting was typical of nineteenth-century newspapers as trials progressed through examination, jury selection, and court sessions. These references provide valuable confirmation of Henry’s presence and civic participation in Taymouth Township during the period between the 1870 and 1880 federal censuses.

Occupation and Public Identity

Throughout his adult life, Henry Munson was identified as both a farmer and a blacksmith.¹² This dual occupation was common among early settlers and reflects the practical demands of rural Michigan communities, where skilled trades were often combined with agricultural work.

Politically, Henry was identified as a Democrat, a detail included in the 1881 county history.¹ While brief, this note situates him within the civic culture of the township and suggests engagement with local political life.

Later Years and Death

By 1880, Henry Munson was sixty-two years old and residing in Taymouth Township with his family.² The death of his son James in 1881 occurred during this period and would have marked a significant personal loss late in Henry’s life.

Henry Munson died on 12 December 1886 in Taymouth Township at the age of sixty-eight.⁶ He was buried in Taymouth Township Cemetery, where his grave remains among those of other long-standing township residents.

Assessment

Henry Munson’s life is documented across a wide range of contemporary sources, including federal censuses, land records, a published county biography, and local newspapers. Taken together, these records present a clear picture of a skilled tradesman and farmer who followed a well-documented path from New York to Michigan, established landholdings in Taymouth Township, raised a large family, and remained a visible and trusted member of the local community until his death.

The convergence of government records, printed biography, and newspaper accounts makes Henry Munson one of the more thoroughly documented nineteenth-century residents of Taymouth Township and provides a solid foundation for understanding both his life and the broader settlement history of the area.

Sources

History of Saginaw County, Michigan (Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1881), biographical sketch of Henry Munson.
1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Michigan death records and family documentation for Ransom W. Munson.
Michigan death records for James H. Munson, Taymouth Township, 1881.
Saginaw Herald (East Saginaw, Michigan), 16 October 1879, reporting the death of Heber K. Ives and related proceedings; Saginaw Courier-Herald, 23 October 1879, “The Ives Murder,” listing jurors, including Henry Munson.
Michigan death and burial records for Henry Munson, Taymouth Township, 1886.

Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan: Formation, Naming, and Place

On February 11, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn American History, RecordsLeave a comment

Taymouth Township, located in southeastern Saginaw County, Michigan, appears frequently in nineteenth-century records tied to families who settled along the Flint River and its tributaries. Although the township name is well established by the mid-nineteenth century, its formation, original name, and the evolution of local place names require careful reconstruction using legislative acts, census records, plat maps, and contemporary histories. When read together, these sources provide a clear timeline for the township’s creation and naming, as well as continuity of settlement before and after its organization.¹

Indigenous Presence and Early Land Use

Prior to Euro-American settlement, the Flint River valley in what later became Taymouth Township was home to Chippewa (Ojibwe) communities. Land along the river formed part of the Pe-won-o-go-wink (also rendered Pewanagowink) reservation, meaning “Place of Stones,” a name preserved in later historical accounts and visible on early plat maps.²

Treaties signed in 1819 and 1837 resulted in the loss of most Indigenous lands in the region, despite earlier assurances that certain tracts would remain reserved. By the mid-nineteenth century, only a small community remained near the Flint River, associated with an Indian church and cemetery later connected with Rev. Daniel Wheaton (Che-Me-Gas).³

The Area Before Township Organization

In the 1840 federal census, residents who would later be enumerated in Taymouth Township were listed under Saginaw Township, reflecting the fact that Taymouth had not yet been created as a civil township. Importantly, comparison of the 1840 and 1850 census schedules shows the same individuals—identified by full first and last names—appearing in both enumerations. This continuity demonstrates that the population did not relocate; rather, the civil jurisdiction governing them changed following legislative action.⁴

Creation of Faymouth Township (1842)

Taymouth Township was formally created by an act of the Michigan Legislature approved on 17 February 1842. The statute set off territory from Saginaw Township and established a new township under the name Faymouth. The act defined the township boundaries in detail and specified the location of the first township meeting. The law stated, in part:

“All that part of the county of Saginaw (now a part of the township of Saginaw) included in the following boundaries, viz.: commencing on the east side of Flint river, on the county line between Saginaw and Genesee, at the southeast corner of township ten north, range five east; thence north on said township line to the northeast corner of said township; thence west on said township line to the northwest corner of section four; thence north on section lines to the bank of Cass river; thence down said river to its junction with the Shiawassee river; thence up the Shiawassee river to the county line between Saginaw and Shiawassee; thence east on said county line to the place of beginning; be and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate township by the name of Faymouth, and the first township meeting shall be held at the house of A. F. Hayden.”⁵

This language confirms that Faymouth was the township’s original legal name and that its boundaries were clearly defined at the time of organization.

The Name Change from Faymouth to Taymouth (1844)

Two years later, the Michigan Legislature enacted a statute changing the township’s name. An act approved in 1844 stated explicitly:

“The name of the township of Faymouth, in the county of Saginaw, is hereby changed to Taymouth; and all acts and proceedings which have been had under the name of Faymouth shall be of the same force and effect as if done under the name of Taymouth.”⁶

By the time of the 1850 federal census, the township appears consistently as Taymouth Township, confirming that the name change had been fully implemented in civil and administrative records.⁷

Villages, Post Offices, and Changing Place Names

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, several village names appeared within Taymouth Township. Blackmar, located along the Flint River and the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad, developed into a recognized center of industry and commerce and was acknowledged by the U.S. Post Office Department.⁸

Plat maps reveal additional local place names whose usage changed over time. Morseville appears on the 1916 plat map but is absent by 1920. In its place, the 1920 map labels the same location as Taymouth, suggesting a renaming or re-identification rather than abandonment. Verne, by contrast, appears on multiple maps and does not disappear, indicating greater stability in that place name. Comparison of the 1877, 1916, 1920, and 1955 plat maps highlights how local nomenclature evolved while settlement itself remained continuous.⁹

1877 Taymouth Township plat map — 1877 Plat map for Taymouth Township

Land, Agriculture, and Community Development

By the late nineteenth century, Taymouth Township was described as one of the most agriculturally productive areas in Saginaw County. The Flint River and its tributaries supported mills, salt works, and transportation, while fertile soils sustained farming throughout the township.¹⁰ Despite these developments, Taymouth retained a predominantly rural character shaped by its river, its early settlers, and its layered history of Indigenous displacement and resettlement.

Conclusion

The history of Taymouth Township can be traced clearly through legislative acts, census records, and maps. Residents first enumerated in Saginaw Township in 1840 became citizens of Faymouth Township in 1842, and of Taymouth Township following the 1844 name change. The appearance and disappearance of local place names such as Morseville and the persistence of others like Verne reflect changes in labeling rather than population movement. Together, these records provide a precise framework for understanding Taymouth Township’s formation and for accurately interpreting nineteenth-century documents associated with families who lived there.

Sources

Michael A. Leeson, History of Saginaw County, Michigan (Chicago: Charles C. Chapman & Co., 1881), 917–937.
Margaret O’Sullivan, “Broken Promises – Stolen Land – But Still a Proud People,” Montrose Museum, Spring 2024.
Ibid.
1840 U.S. Census, Saginaw Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Michigan Legislature, An Act to Organize the Township of Faymouth, approved 17 February 1842.
Michigan Legislature, An Act Changing the Name of Faymouth Township to Taymouth, 1844.
1850 U.S. Census, Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Leeson, History of Saginaw County, 922.
Taymouth Township plat maps, 1877, 1916, 1920, and 1955.
Leeson, History of Saginaw County, 917–918.

Wesley Weldon (1807–1880)

On February 10, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn Ancestor Profile, CrimeLeave a comment

Early Life and Family

Wesley Weldon was born in 1807 in Glastonbury, Hartford County, Connecticut, the son of Wareham Weldon and Permelia Andrews. His mother died in Glastonbury in 1817, when Wesley was about ten years old.¹

He married Emeline Munson, also a native of Connecticut. By 1830, Wesley was living in Franklin, Delaware County, New York.² Over the following decade, the family moved west. By the early 1830s, they were connected with Michigan, and their daughter Frances Marie Weldon was born about 1833.³

By 1840, Wesley Weldon was residing in Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan, placing him among the early settlers of the region.⁴

Settlement in Saginaw County

By 1850, Wesley and his family were living in Bridgeport Township, Saginaw County, where he appeared in the federal census as a farmer.⁶ He continued to be recorded in Bridgeport Township in subsequent census years, including 1860 and 1870, with his post office listed as Bridgeport.⁷

1850 US Census for Bridgeport, Saginaw County, Michigan. Wesley Weldon is enumerated next to his brother-in-law Henry Munson.

One record places him in East Saginaw in January 1862, indicating that he traveled into the city at times, likely for business or personal matters, though no specific purpose is documented.⁸ By 1880, Wesley was again enumerated in Bridgeport Township, listed as a widower.⁹

Wesley and Emeline had at least three daughters who survived to adulthood: Frances Marie, Adelia, and Julia. Frances Marie died in 1872. Emeline Munson Weldon died in Bridgeport Township on 4 March 1876. Wesley did not remarry.¹⁰

Later Years

By the late 1870s, Wesley Weldon was in his early seventies. Contemporary newspapers later described him as an “old resident” of Saginaw County, stating that he had lived in the area for more than forty years.¹¹ His occupation continued to be identified as farming.

Despite residing in Bridgeport Township, records indicate that Wesley traveled into the city of Saginaw, as reflected by the location associated with the events surrounding his death.

Discovery in the Saginaw River

On 1 October 1880, the body of Wesley Weldon was recovered from the Saginaw River within the city of Saginaw.¹¹ Newspaper accounts indicate that family members were present in Saginaw at the time of his identification, but the surviving records do not establish a sequence of events involving a prior disappearance or organized search. The evidence supports only that Weldon was found deceased in the river and subsequently identified.

The Detroit News, October 2, 1880

Early newspaper reports described the case as a possible drowning, a preliminary characterization common in river recoveries.¹¹ This assessment was reconsidered following a medical examination.

Coroner’s Inquest and Medical Findings

A coroner’s inquest was held on 2 October 1880. The examining physician documented a contused wound on the back of the head approximately two inches in length, five broken ribs—some fractured into multiple pieces—and a fracture of the spinal column at the middle of the back.¹²

The coroner noted that the head wound showed clotted blood, indicating that it occurred before death. Examination of the lungs led the physician to conclude that Weldon had not breathed after entering the water, and that death occurred prior to the body being placed in the river.¹²

Based on these findings, the initial drowning explanation was rejected. Newspapers subsequently described the case as a homicide.¹³ No suspect was identified, and no further legal proceedings are documented.

Part of page 1 of Wesley Weldon’s Coroner’s Inquest. This was found in Record Group 71-131 Saginaw County Clerk records box 8 at Michigan State Archives.

Probate Proceedings

Probate proceedings for Wesley Weldon’s estate were initiated in October 1880 in the Saginaw County Probate Court. Administration was granted, and his surviving daughters were identified as his heirs.¹⁴ The probate records address only the disposition of his estate and do not include discussion of the circumstances of his death.

Conclusion

Wesley Weldon lived most of his adult life in Saginaw County as a farmer and long-term resident of Bridgeport Township. His death in 1880 was determined by medical examination to have occurred prior to his body entering the Saginaw River. Although the evidence ruled out accidental drowning, the death was never resolved, and the identity of the person or persons responsible remains unknown.

Sources

Ancestry profile of Wesley Weldon, citing Glastonbury, Connecticut vital records.
1830 U.S. Federal Census, Franklin, Delaware County, New York.
Ancestry profile of Wesley Weldon; birth of Frances Marie Weldon.
Ancestry profile of Wesley Weldon; birth of Adelia Weldon.
1840 U.S. Federal Census, Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan.
1850 U.S. Federal Census, Bridgeport Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
1860 and 1870 U.S. Federal Census, Bridgeport Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Residence record dated 14 January 1862, East Saginaw, Michigan.
1880 U.S. Federal Census, Bridgeport Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Ancestry profile of Wesley Weldon; deaths of Emeline Munson Weldon and Frances Marie Weldon.
“An Old Farmer Found Drowned,” Detroit Free Press, 1 October 1880.
Coroner’s Inquest for Wesley Weldon, Saginaw County, 2 October 1880.
“A Murder in Saginaw County,” Evening Leader (Pontiac, Michigan), 4 October 1880.
Probate Records of Wesley Weldon, Saginaw County Probate Court, October 1880.

George Washington Lawhead (1845–1905): A Life Reconstructed from Records

On February 6, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn Ancestor Profile, Civil WarLeave a comment

George Washington Lawhead was born on 10 February 1845 in Westfield Township, in what later became Morrow County, Ohio.¹ He was the son of James Lawhead and Temperance Gilson. His childhood was brief and unsettled. James died in 1846, when George was just over a year old, and Temperance followed in 1851, leaving her children orphaned while still young.²

By 1860, George was living in Michigan, a move that placed him among relatives and, eventually, on the path to military service.³ The details of his early years survive only in fragments, but later records suggest a childhood shaped by loss, movement, and dependency on extended family.

George Lawhead tin-type portrait found in his Civil War pension file.

Civil War Service

George enlisted in the Union Army on 9 September 1861 at Charlotte, Michigan.⁴ He served as a private in Company B of the 2nd Michigan Volunteer Cavalry, a regiment that spent much of the war in the Western Theater.

Partial page of re-enlistment of George Lawhead. He re-enlisted in 1864 for another 3 years.

His service records document extended periods of duty and movement, including assignments associated with the regimental train and service in Tennessee.⁵ Like many cavalrymen, George endured long rides, exposure, and physical strain—conditions that would later be reflected in repeated pension medical examinations.

A photograph taken in Jackson, Michigan at the time of his discharge from service would later become one of the most important documents connected to his life, though its significance would not be fully realized until many years later.

Marriage to Mary King and Early Family Life

After the war, George married Mary King on 16 October 1865 in Eaton County, Michigan.⁶ They had two children together:

James Loyd Lawhead, born 28 February 1867
Charles Loyd Lawhead, born 4 April 1869

The marriage did not endure. George left Mary while she was pregnant with their second child and moved east into Saginaw County. No divorce was ever obtained. Mary would spend much of her adult life raising their children under difficult circumstances, a situation later documented extensively in federal pension records.

Marriage to Emma Mae Stiles and Children

On 31 January 1869, George married Emma Mae Stiles in Albee Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.⁷ This marriage produced three children:

Margaret Jane Lawhead, born 2 July 1872
Renaldo Lawhead, born 16 August 1877, who died in infancy on 14 October 1877
Effie M. Lawhead, born 26 July 1879

Emma Mae Stiles died in April 1886. Her death marked the only point at which George Washington Lawhead was legally widowed. His earlier marriage to Mary King had ended through abandonment rather than death or divorce, a distinction that would later carry significant legal consequences.

Later Marriages and Life in Michigan

George married Helen Vorhees on 17 August 1884 in Saginaw County, Michigan.⁸ The surviving record of this marriage is brief, and little documentation remains regarding their life together.

By the early 1890s, George was living with Henrietta Savage. Census records, land transactions, and newspaper notices place him in Eaton, Iosco, Saginaw, Crawford, and Charlevoix counties over the course of his adult life.⁹ Real estate notices published in Saginaw County newspapers show both purchases and sales, suggesting frequent movement rather than long-term stability.¹⁰

Henrietta Savage and Children

Henrietta Savage was legally married to another man when she became involved with George Lawhead. In January 1892, a local newspaper reported that she had left her husband and children to go with George.¹¹ The matter was public and later became part of the documentary record surrounding George’s pension.

The Saginaw News, January 1892

George and Henrietta had two daughters together:

Ethel Mildred Lawhead, born 24 October 1892 in Frederic, Crawford County, Michigan
Jessie Leuella Lawhead, born 22 April 1896 in East Jordan, Charlevoix County, Michigan

George lived with and supported Henrietta and their children for several years, forming the final family unit of his life.

Illness and Decline

By 1890, George’s health had begun to fail. Pension records and medical examinations document chronic sciatica, lumbago, rheumatism, kidney disease, impaired eyesight, and increasing difficulty with mobility.¹² Over the next fifteen years, he filed repeated requests for increases to his invalid pension as his condition worsened.

These medical records provide a rare longitudinal view of a Civil War veteran’s decline, tracing the progression from working laborer to physical dependency.

Death and Burial

George Washington Lawhead died on 20 January 1905 in East Jordan, Charlevoix County, Michigan, from heart disease.¹³ He was buried two days later in East Jordan Cemetery. Contemporary newspaper accounts note the participation of members of the Grand Army of the Republic in his funeral.¹⁴

Even after his burial, questions surrounding his marriages, identity, and family obligations remained unresolved, setting the stage for years of investigation and competing pension claims.

Conclusion

George Washington Lawhead’s life cannot be understood through a single record or a simple narrative. It survives instead through census entries, military documents, marriage records, newspaper notices, and—most notably—a Civil War pension file of extraordinary size.

This post traces the outline of his life: orphaned child, young soldier, husband, father, and aging veteran. The deeper questions—of identity, legality, and how the federal government ultimately judged his family—are stories of their own, explored in later posts.

Sources

Family and census records indicating birth in Westfield Township, Ohio.
Probate and death records for James Lawhead and Temperance Gilson.
1860 U.S. Federal Census, Roxand Township, Eaton County, Michigan.
Compiled Service Records, Company B, 2nd Michigan Cavalry.
Ibid.
Eaton County, Michigan, marriage records, 16 October 1865.
Saginaw County, Michigan, marriage records, 31 January 1869.
Saginaw County marriage records, 17 August 1884.
U.S. Federal Census records, 1870–1900.
Saginaw Herald, real estate notices, 1878 and 1881.
Grand Rapids Herald, January 1892.
Invalid pension medical examinations, 1890–1904.
Michigan death record, East Jordan, 1905.
Charlevoix County Herald, January 1905.

Gardner T. Rivers (1872–1945)

On February 5, 2026March 9, 2026 By NancyIn Ancestor ProfileLeave a comment

Early Life in Southern Saginaw County

Gardner T. Rivers was born on 16 April 1872 in Michigan, the son of John Rivers and Frances Jane Munson. He grew up in southern Saginaw County, in an area that included Albee Township, Taymouth Township, Bridgeport Township, Foster, Burt, and surrounding rural communities.¹ He was raised alongside several siblings, including Franklin, Burt Eugene, James Daniel, Mary Jane, Rose, and Joseph Edward Rivers.²

Gardner appears with his parents in the 1880 federal census in Albee Township, Saginaw County, where he was eight years old.³ Like many farming families in the region, the Rivers family moved within nearby townships rather than relocating long distances, remaining tied to the same general area throughout Gardner’s childhood.

Gardner Rivers on the farm

Marriage and Family

On 13 June 1897, Gardner married Alice Mary Wickham in Freeland, Saginaw County.⁴ Alice was the daughter of Wickham and Munson families long established in the same part of the county. Alice’s mother, Emmaline Munson, was the sister of Gardner’s mother, Frances Jane Munson (known as Jane).⁵

Gardner and Alice had nine children between 1898 and 1913.⁶ Their children were born in Taymouth Township and nearby locations including St. Charles, Gaines Township, and Burt, reflecting brief periods of residence elsewhere before the family returned to Taymouth Township.

Farming in Taymouth Township

Gardner Rivers was a farmer throughout his adult life. He is recorded as a farmer in the 1920, 1930, and 1940 federal censuses, all enumerated in Taymouth Township, Saginaw County.⁷ No records indicate that he pursued a different primary occupation.

Land ownership and residence in Taymouth Township are also documented in county plat maps. Gardner appears as “G. Rivers” on the 1916 Taymouth Township plat map and again on the 1920 plat map, placing him in the Burt area of the township during this period.⁸ These maps confirm his presence as a landholder in Taymouth Township in the years immediately before and after World War I, consistent with census records showing him farming in the same locality.

Part of the 1920 Plat Map for Taymouth Township. Highlighted is Gardner Rivers.

The 1910 Census Surname Error

The 1910 federal census is the only known record in which Gardner Rivers and his family were enumerated under the surname Munson rather than Rivers.⁹ The household composition, ages, birthplaces, and children align exactly with Gardner and Alice’s known family.

All other records before and after 1910—including censuses, vital records, newspapers, plat maps, and burial records—use the surname Rivers.¹⁰ The 1910 entry is therefore best understood as an isolated census error rather than a reflection of name usage by the family.

Later Years

By 1920, Gardner and Alice were living in Taymouth Township with several of their children still at home, and Gardner continued farming.¹¹ Census records from 1930 and 1940 show Gardner still residing in the township and engaged in farming into his late sixties.¹²

The family experienced significant losses during the 1930s, including the deaths of sons Ernest John Rivers in 1933 and Earl G. Rivers in 1935.¹³ Despite these losses, Gardner remained in Taymouth Township through the end of his life.

Gardner and Alice Munson Rivers

Death and Burial

Gardner T. Rivers died on 13 January 1945 in Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, at the age of seventy-two.¹⁴ His Michigan death certificate lists coronary occlusion as the immediate cause of death, with coronary thrombosis noted as a contributing condition.¹⁵ He was buried on 14 January 1945 at Cook Cemetery in Taymouth Township.¹⁶ Alice Mary Rivers died later the same year.

Footnotes

Michigan birth records; 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Albee Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Ibid.; Michigan birth and death records for Rivers children.
1880 U.S. Federal Census, Albee Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Michigan Marriage Records, Saginaw County, 13 June 1897.
Michigan vital records; Munson family documentation.
Michigan birth records, 1898–1913.
1920, 1930, and 1940 U.S. Federal Censuses, Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Plat Book of Saginaw County, Michigan, Taymouth Township (1916); Plat Book of Saginaw County, Michigan, Taymouth Township (1920).
1910 U.S. Federal Census, Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
1880, 1920, 1930, and 1940 U.S. Federal Censuses; Michigan vital records; plat maps; cemetery records.
1920 U.S. Federal Census, Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
1930 and 1940 U.S. Federal Censuses, Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.
Michigan death records for Ernest John Rivers (1933) and Earl G. Rivers (1935).
Michigan Death Records, Gardner T. Rivers, 13 January 1945.
Ibid.
Cook Cemetery burial records, Taymouth Township, Michigan