Person:Arthur James (7)

Arthur was raised on the family farm on Bakeman Street in Silver Creek Township, Cass County, Michigan. His father, who came from Ireland was said to be the first white settler in Silver Creek. He chose the location because there was a Catholic mission in the area to convert the Indians. The family attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church their entire lives. The James family had a gravel pit on their property which was their main source of income. Arthur worked at the Round Oak Stove Company in Dowagiac as did many in that area. After he married Edna Townsend, who was from LaGrange Township, he worked for Sacred Heart Church as caretaker of the church and cemetery. I have posted a picture of the house which stood until the 1980's. The house had dirt floors covered by large room sized carpets that Edna took out daily to beat. Their only daughter Mary Irene, who was born in 1902, loved to tag around everywhere after her father. She was always at his heals and he loved having her company as he worked. Arthur always carried a pocket knife because he loved to whittle wood. One day, he and Mary sat talking while he whittled and his cousin, John Cullinane stopped by to see if Arthur could help him in the Huckleberry marsh. The two started down the driveway and Mary ran after her father to give him his pocket knife that he had left on the tree stump. She wanted to go with them, but this time Arthur wouldn't let her. While the men were gone a storm blew in and as it got late and there was no sign of the two. Their brothers went out to find them and discovered the two men face down, dead under a tree. They had taken shelter under a tree from the storm and the tree was hit by lightning. There were no marks on the men at all, just a hole blown in Arthur's felt hat and John's wire-rimmed glasses were melted. Mary was only eleven years old when her father was killed by lightning, but she lived to be ninety-six years old. She always remembered her father, laid out in the living room in his coffin, all the people who came and went, and all the sadness. She missed him her entire life.

This newspaper tells the story of Arthur James death

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} United States. 1910 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication T624)
   Year: 1910; Census Place: Silver Creek, Cass, Michigan; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image: .

   Birth date: 1872 Birth place: Michigan Residence date: 1910 Residence place: Silver Creek, Cass, Michigan _APID: 1,7884::11966786

   http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=1910uscenindex&h=11966786&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication T9)
   Year: 1880; Census Place: Silver Creek, Cass, Michigan; Roll: 575; Family History Film: 1254575; Page: 589C; Enumeration District: 075; Image: 0819.

   Birth date: abt 1876 Birth place: Michigan Residence date: 1880 Residence place: Silver Creek, Cass, Michigan, United States _APID: 1,6742::31129036

   http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=1880usfedcen&h=31129036&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Ancestry.com. Web: Michigan, Find A Grave Index, 1805-2011. (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data - Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 16 January 2012.Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi).

   Birth date: 14 Oct 1873 Birth place: Death date: 3 Jul 1913 Death place: _APID: 1,70581::252158

   http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=websearch-4065&h=252158&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Web: Indiana and Michigan, Michiana Genealogical Cemetery Index, 1800-2010. (Online publication - South Bend Area Genealogical Society.).

   Birth date: 1873 Birth place: Death date: 4 Jul 1913 Death place: _APID: 1,70492::142074

   http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=websearch-3141&h=142074&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Michigan. Deaths and Burials Index, 1867-1995.

   Birth date: abt 1874 Birth place: Mich Death date: 3 Jul 1913 Death place: Silver Creek Twp, Cass Co., Michigan Residence date: Residence place: Michigan, United States _APID: 1,2549::551388

   http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=fsmichigandeath&h=551388&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Michigan, United States. Death Records, 1897-1920. (Lansing, Michigan, United States: Archives of Michigan).

   Birth date: 1873 Birth place: Death date: 3 Jul 1913 Death place: Silver Creek, Cass _APID: 1,1561::1622602

   http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=mideath&h=1622602&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

7.   Genealogy, Family Trees and Family History Records
   Ancestry Family Trees.

   http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=43278829&pid=77