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m. 5 Apr 1891 Blue Lake Township, Muskegon, Michigan, United States
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Children
[edit] Family HistoryThe following narrative was written by Denise M. Otis and is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0. Please attribute. [edit] Series of TragediesI am impressed by the series of tragedies this young family encountered. I wish I had known all of this when Grandma Otis (Frances Eunice Lewis) was alive. I can now see some of the reasons for the strength and faith she had. Here is a time line of the tragedies we know of in Grandma's life:
[edit] In the Matter of the Estate ofIn late summer of 1995, Dad (Paul Otis Sr), Paul, and I took another trip to Muskegon for the day. We spent the morning in the Registrar of Deeds Office, and obtained a deed. In the afternoon we stopped in the probate records office. I had expected to view probate records of John Lewis Jr. and Sr., and also Joseph Bassett. There were none. But we did find a more solemn document--the estate of the children of John Lewis, Jr. after he died. The many papers in this packet told the tragedy of this family. As Dad looked through the papers, I was amazed that he could piece together many fragmented events about these children from things his mother had told him, for he had told us that she never talked about her childhood, and never celebrated birthdays. Unfortunately we could not copy all the papers, for they were $1 per page. I did copy the document that released Jenny, the stepmother, from guardianship over the children on September 30, 1908, only five days after John's death. To summarize the other papers in the probate packet, each child had $100 deposited as their share of the estate, and each child released Mark Covell from guardianship as they turned 18 or 21. It was not obvious to us why there wasn't more money in the estate until we went to the Whitehall Library. There we found the newspaper article about the fire, which destroyed so much. Keep in mind that the fire was in Oct 1906, Rosa died Jan 1907, and John Jr. died Sep 1908. So many tragedies so close together. State of Michigan To the Probate Court for said County: In the Matter of the Estate of Myrtle R. Lewis, Alonzo N. Lewis, Frances E. Lewis, and Willard Lewis, Minors. I Jennie H. Lewis, respectfully represent that I reside in the Village of Whitehall in said county and am the stepmother of said minor children who are residents of said county and whose names and ages are as follows:
I further represent that said minors are the children of John W. Lewis, Jr., late of Whitehall, Michigan, deceased. I further represent that said minor children are possessed of estate within said county and that the estimated value thereof is as follows: Real estate, none or thereabout, personal estate $100. each or thereabout, as I am informed and believe; that said minor children have no general guardian in this state, and that it is necessary a guardian be appointed for said minor children. I therefore pray that Mark B. Covell be appointed guardian of said minor children. (Jennie's signature) State of Michigan county of Muskegon On this 30th day of September A.D. 1908, before me personally appeared the above named petitioner, who being duly sworn says, that she has read the foregoing petition by her signed, and knows the contents thereof, and that the same is true of her own knowledge, except as to the matters therein stated to be upon information and belief, and as to those matters she believes it to be true. (signed John Staverkabe, Notary Public) [edit] Baby Franklin and the HomesteadsIn July of 1995 I received a letter from Dad. While going through some boxes in the basement, he had just found two pieces of scrap paper containing family information that Grandma Otis (Frances) had told him. He commented, "I don't even remember writing it down, but it is in my own handwriting, so I must have. Most likely it was when Mom Otis was visiting us in Portage and I quickly wrote it on the first thing I could find." This is some old (new) information. I don't remember when my mother gave it to me, as it is oral history we should check it out, but it will at least give us another angle to search. It was written on some scrap paper, probably in the 1950's or 1960's. It revealed a child unknown to us from the census records, Franklin, born Jan 11, 1900, died Jan 25, 1900 (Frances' fourth birthday). Franklin was born prematurely due to Rose being kicked by a horse. He lived only 14 days and is buried in a small cemetery south of Whitehall. At the time there were only about 12 graves there. Well, with this little bit of information, we spent the afternoon wandering the roads of Whitehall Township, Blue Lake Township, Fruitland Township, and Dalton Township, searching for Franklin's grave. Thanks to Kevin's atlas of cemeteries in the state of Michigan, we were able to find all south of Whitehall. From the information gathered, in 1900, the Lewis family would have been living in Blue Lake Township or Michillinda. Combining all our maps with all of our research, we were able to determine where they lived in Blue Lake Township. The Michillinda home was harder to find--the only clues we had were: Grandma used to swim in the lake by their house; when John ran the store, the boys had a raft on White Lake; and the information from the article about the fire -- that John Lewis was able to leave work at the dock and go home on an errand. We have only a guess to its location. There was one cemetery close to each of those locations. The one in Blue Lake Township, Sprague Cemetery, was abandoned except for one very well-kept grave of a Civil War soldier; there were broken stones scattered in the tall grass and under the pine needles. The cemetery near Michillinda, Duck Lake Cemetery, was completely abandoned. We drove back and forth on the road many times, and finally determined where it could have been. I commented to Dad that there were two family members that died on Grandma Otis' (Frances') birthday--her brother and mother. Dad commented that Grandma didn't care much for birthdays; he didn't ever have a birthday party until after he and Mom were married. If anyone wants to spend a fun afternoon, take Dad up to Whitehall and have him show you the many places in his memories. I will always treasure the times we have spent with Dad in Muskegon County. After finding the probate record, I am wondering if the Mark Covell who was appointed guardian of the children, was the employer of John Lewis Sr. and Jr. at the Covell and Staples Mill. I chuckle when I read the letter from Dad. It was dated June 22, 1995, but at the bottom it was redated July 20 with this notation: "as you can see I am very prompt on getting things done." [edit] Bits and PiecesWhen John Sr. and John Jr. lived on farms south of Whitehall, John Jr. ran a store at Michillinda (now called White Lake Resort) during the summer and John Sr. worked both farms until John Jr.'s home burned at which time they moved into Whitehall. John Jr. and John Sr. both worked at Covell and Staples Mill in Whitehall. When John ran the store, the boys had a raft on White Lake. When John Sr. died (1908) Myrtle was living in Muskegon? (only 16.) After Myrtle married Jim Langston, Frances moved to Hastings to live with them, where she went to County Normal and met Maggie Otis, whose brother Philo she later married. [edit] Muskegon (Daily) News Chronicle Mentions[edit] 4 Mar 1905John Lewis, jr., of Fruitland township, is recovering from appendicitis, with which he has been sick for nearly two months.[7] [edit] 6 Sept 1907Our village marshall, John W. Lewis, jr., was unfortunate the day of Erickson-Steffee Company's fire. He had just left the store to go to the bank to deposit $98 when the fire alarm sounded. He thrust the bank book and pocketbook into his hip pocket, rushed to the engine house to ring the bell, then got hold of the hose cart and rushed to the fire and forgot all about the cash. After the fire was over and he had had dinner he though(sic) of the money, looked into his pocket where it had been placed and discovered his loss. He made a diligent search and found the bank book, but the cash had disappeared. He has placards out offering a reward of $15 for its return, but the party who found it has as yet not seen fit to return it. Mr. Lewis has had more hard luck and greater losses in the past two year, than usually falls to one man, and has the sympathy of the entire community, as he is poorly able to bear the loss of this amount of cash.[8] [edit] 16 Sept 1907John W. Lewis, sr., has had another of his serious attacks of heart difficulty, and friends were at his bedside for days, expecting each moment would be the last. Just at the present writing he is reported easier. He is past 72 years and is in a very critical condition.[9] [edit] 20 Sept 1907E. M. ruggles, is having further repairs made in the residence of our nervy and efficient marshall, John W. Lewis, Jr. Alfred Sanders one of our pioneer carpenters doing the work.[10] [edit] 26 Sept 1907Everything is white with frost this morning, thousands of bushels of grapes are ruined as well as all tender vegetables. The grape crop here was fine, but on account of lateness of the season fruit did not ripen. Comparatively, little corn has been put in shuck, and fodder will be ruined by this frost. The old gentleman who always "planted in the moon, killed hogs in the moon, and forty seven other things in the moon," told us a short time ago that we "never had no frost in a wany moon." Wonder what he thinks this morning? Speaking of tomatoes, makes us notice a stem John W. Lewis, jr., has on exhibition in his store window, on which there are no less than fourteen large, well-formed fruits growing, with a total weight of 5 3/4 pounds, and grown by Edward Johnson, who lives near the tannery. The same vine had five other stems, which run from seven to eleven fruits on each.[11] [edit] 11 Oct 1907Real Estate Transfers. [edit] 22 Nov 1907Trapping is in full swing and those engaged in the business are meeting with excellent success. John W. Lewis, jr., our village marshal(sic), who is also engaged in buying furs, advises us that since the opening of the season, November 1, over 2,000 muskrats have been caught on White river within three miles of Whitehall, as well as quite a number of mink. Rat pelts are worth 28 to 32 cents each, while mink bring from $6 to $7 each.[13] [edit] 5 Dec 1907John W. Lewis, jr., our village marshall, takes time to inspect every train that arrives for the purpose of looking after peddlers and hoboes.[14] [edit] 27 Dec 1907John W. Lewis, Jr., went to Muskegon yesterday afternoon on private legal business and returned on the evening train.[15] [edit] 28 Dec 1907John Lewis, Jr., and wife, Walter P. Marshall, Allen Benjamin, and Peter Peterson, visited Muskegon Friday afternoon.[16] [edit] 30 Dec 1907John W. Lewis, Sr., is very poorly. On Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours, it was thought he could not survive from one moment to another.[17] [edit] 14 Jan 1908Real Estate Transfers. [edit] 30 Jan 1908The condition of John W. Lewis, sr., is again very critical.[19] [edit] 12 Feb 1908John W. Lewis, jr., is about to dispose of his grocery stock to A. M. Leighton, and will move his family to the Mears homestead for future residence.[20] [edit] 15 Feb 1908Obituary of John W. Lewis, Sr. [edit] 29 Sept 1908John W. Lewis of Whitehall died at this home Saturday morning at 2 o'clock. Mr. Lewis had two operations performed four years ago for appendicitis and an abcess(sic) in his head and the abcess again developing resulted in his death. Mr. Lewis was born June 9, 1870, near Ann Arbor and died September 26, 1908. He leaves a wife and four children to mourn his departure. The funeral services will occur at the family residence today. Mr. Cottrell, returning from Concord, will conduct the funeral service, he having conducted his father's funeral less than a year ago.[21] [edit] 2 Oct 1908The funeral of John Lewis of Whitehall occurred at the family residence Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock, Rev. F. M. Cottrell officiating, interment in the Whitehall cemetery.[22] References
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