It all started with a Prince

When Doris Daly met and fell in love with Ken Conner, she never dreamed she would step outside the limits of the small town of Columbiaville, Michigan that she had been born and raised in.   Kenny always loved the lure of the sky. He spent most of his extra cash on flying and his airplane. Ben Scott taught him how to fly, and he proceeded to do whatever needed to be done to accrue flight hours. He started as a crop duster and flew in Beaverdam, Wisconsin from April 1952 - August 1952 before heading to Hartsville, North Carolina for one month during the summer of 1954.  He then went to Texas in 1955 to get his Instrument rating.  Following that he worked for Trot Brothers in Almont for extra flying time.  When Kenny started with North Central Airlines in September 1955, they packed up their small family of four and moved to Belleville, Michigan.  Doris happily settled into their small trailer in the park there and did what all the pilots wives did that ...

Icabod Pomeroy was born March 9, 1757, in Southampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts. He was the son of Noah and Temperance (Sweetland) Pomeroy and spent his early years among the forests and woodlands there. He married Lucy Harris (my 5th great-aunt) the daughter of Asa Harris, Jr and Anna Eli (my 5th great grandparents). They were the parents of ten children. As a young man, he enlisted in the 25th Massachusetts and fought for our new country as a proud Patriot and a member of the Continental Army where he engaged in battle at the Siege of Boston and also Bunker Hill. North American Family Histories 1500-2000 After the births of their children, between 1802 and 1810, they made the decision to head west. They settled in Cayuga County, Ohio and there etched out a living amongst the newly acquired lands that were part of the Western Connecticut Reserve. There were no towns only clusters of rough cabins.  They spent many years felling trees and turning the area into fertile farmland. Thei...

My 5x great grandfather Joseph Pratt was the son of Joseph, Sr and Sarah (Hunkins) Pratt. He was born April 1, 1748, in Oxford, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America.  His father was a farmer, and all records point to Joseph, Jr also being involved in the same occupation. His parents had both been born and raised in the Oxford area. The main industry was farming along with having abundant streams which produced mills. Oxford is about 50 miles west of Boston. The area was very rural, yet self-supporting. He met and married a local girl by the name of Esther Blood on 24 Mar 1771 in Oxford, Massachusetts Bay. Esther was born in 1748 in Charlton, Mass, the daughter of Isaiah and Martha (Thompson) Blood. Joseph Pratt and Esther Blood marriage - Charlton, Worcester, Massachusetts When the rumblings of discontent with England began in the area, Joseph became a part of the Provincial Army in the area. Each county raised regiments that later would become the backbone of the...

The prompt this week of 'multiples' brings to mind twins, triplets, etc. My family has its share of twins, but not any other multiple births. Our immigrant Michael Sheridan and his second wife Mary (Kane) had a set of twins that were born April 28, 1849, in Rochester, Monroe County, New York. Their names were William and Joseph. The mother had died in August following their birth. Her death occurred just months before the father Michael died in November of 1849. Instantly, all the children were orphans.  Other sets of twins in the Sheridan families were: My great-grandparents Michael and Elizabeth (Holland) Sheridan had Cleo Paul and Leo Thomas born Jan 17, 1896, although Cleo died at nine months old. After being sick during the summer, Cleo never fully recovered and died Nov 18, 1896. Leo went on to marry Marie Baker and had three children. Gratiot County Herald July 1896 My great aunt Tressie (Sheridan) and her husband Don Gray had twins Michael (known as Guy) and Josephine w...

Edythe Mae Isham was born Aug 11, 1905, in Middleton, Gratiot County, Michigan. She was second born of six children of Archie and Florence (Vickery) Isham. The six children were Pauline, Edythe, Kendall, Maynard, Corrine and Gerald. Edythe, along with her older sister Pauline was a teacher in rural one-room schools beginning in the 1920's in the Gratiot County, Michigan area. Edythe had done her schooling at the Michigan State Normal School located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Now Eastern University, she received her diploma to teach in 1924. Graduation Announcement Michigan State Normal School She taught in a number of small, one-room schools. Hoxie school was located on the east side of Begole Road in the Elm Hall/Sumner township area. There she lived with the family of a student (one time with the Perry's and another with the Hnetynkas) and would walk to school each morning.  The district had a school board made up of four members and at the end of each month, she would have to w...

In 1942, a 19-year-old woman left her small rural hometown of less than 400 people and boarded a train bound for Detroit, one of the busiest urban centers in America. The city was alive around the clock, its streets glowing with factory lights and the constant hum of war production. Her name was Lorraine Sheridan, and she was the youngest of six children of John and Pauline (Prince) Sheridan. And my mom.  A recent graduate of Fulton schools in Perrinton, Michigan she decided to head to the big city. She found work at the Lyon Manufacturing Company located at 151 South Waterman St along the waterfront. It had turned from making farm equipment to producing 40 mm cartridge cases. It was her first time in a big city — and her first time working the midnight shift. Inside the vast plant, the air smelled of oil and hot metal, and the noise of machines filled every corner. Mom worked six days a week in a relief position and would take over for other workers that were going on breaks. She ...

Isaac Graham was around 19 years old when he immigrated from Canada into Marion township, Michigan to join his older brother John in 1862. The two brothers had purchased land using funds that their father had supplied. Land was becoming too expensive in Canada, so he had sent them to Michigan to settle. Isaac's twin brother Charles had come with them, but after a bad winter and getting sickly from working in the woods, he decided to go back to Canada. Isaac purchased 80 acres in what became the town of Deckerville in Sanilac County, located in the thumb of Michigan. He cleared some acres, planted an orchard and built a small wood frame home. In 1871 Isaac returned home to Taylor's Corner in Victoria county, Ontario, Canada and there he married Charlotte Harmon on July 17th.  During the year of 1871, there was a severe drought that ran from the Dakotas, across Minnesota and into Wisconsin and also included the state of Michigan. Following lightning strikes in the Dakotas, fires ...