Memorial Day has always been an important day in our family – given that my brother and me were both born on May 30 (5 years apart, 1964 and 1969 respectively). As a young child, I always felt the parade was just for us…in celebration of our birthdays.
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Michigan’s many historic lighthouses were home to dozens of women who served as keepers while also raising their families in often remote locations. This Mother’s Day, we pay tribute to these “Mothers of the Lights” here in the Great Lakes State!
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Earlier this summer, while speaking at the Montague Library in Muskegon County, I learned about one of the community’s most noted former residents – Hannah Lincoln Sammis – who was said to be a cousin of President Abraham Lincoln. The sign at the Sammis Cemetery in Montague Township, erected in 1977, even notes this designation while the City of Montague website states “President Abraham Lincoln’s first cousin, Hanna (sic) Lincoln Sammis, is buried in a little cemetery on the north side of Eilers Road, between Besser Court and Cook Street (in Montague Township).”
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Hundreds of spectacular new digital images – including many from Northern Michigan locales in Petoskey and Horton Bay – are among those featured in the soon-t0-be-released book Traveling The World With Hemingway by Curtis L. DeBerg, PhD.
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Over the past few years, a handful of communities have claimed that the award-winning author Ernest Hemingway had ate, drank, slept, hunted, fished or visited, with little or no actual proof that said statements were true.
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A sure sign of spring…the return of the robins to Michigan! In April 1931, the American robin (Turdus migratorius) was chosen as Michigan’s official state bird – one of three to claim this red-breasted aviary as its state bird (the others are Connecticut and Wisconsin).
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So we stayed at the haunted Nahma Inn in October of 2019 and met several locals who shared stories with us about Nellie Fleming and her spirit who resides within this 1908 building. Apparently there are as many as 5 ghosts here – maybe Charles Good who lived for a time in the room (#17) across from Nell (#16)…and an on-again-off-again affair was known within the town. At one point, Nell’s sisters also lived here (1930 census)…including Anne (pictured) who was a local boys high school basketball coach and school superintendent (and I suspect is actually a sister-in-law, married to Nell’s only brother, John).
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The first library that I remember in my hometown of Plainwell was inside 335 East Bridge Street (now a private home). My recollections are vague, but cloudy visions of story time are tucked in the back corner of my mind. I recall being jealous of my classmate Susan who later lived in the house…how lucky was she to reside inside a former library!
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Lighthouse keeper Aaron Sheridan was a Civil War soldier who lost the use of his arm in battle and as such, he was able to get his wife — Julia — appointed his assistant keeper oft his important beacon in the norther part of Lake Michigan. Given his injuries, when he needed to make the trip across the waters to the mainland, Aaron would often hire a local fisherman named Christ Ancharson to man the 25-foot Mackinaw sailboat. During such a trip, on Friday, March 15, 1878, high waves and bad weather overturned the boat just as it was approaching the harbor on South Manitou Island. Sadly, the Sheridans — including their infant son, Robert — died that day.
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In anticipation of this series, and to explore Hemingway’s deep ties to Northern Michigan along with how they influenced his attitudes, passions and writings, WCMU Public Media is partnering with the Clarke Historical Library and noted Hemingway historian Michael Federspiel for “Hemingway in Michigan: A Live Streaming Event” Wednesday, March 31 at 6 p.m.
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One of Michigan’s many lost lighthouses – which boasted a female keeper for 11 years – also has ties to one of the state’s most significant figures in American history. The Mamajuda Lighthouse was built in 1849 (and rebuilt in 1866) in the Detroit River. The last keeper served there in 1921 and by the 1950s, the light had toppled into the water (which today covers the island). All is lost to time…but the history remains!
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For generations, Michiganders have been heading out into the woods at the onset of the spring season to take part
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Over the past 170-plus years, women have been serving as lighthouse keepers in Michigan…sometimes officially recognized by the U.S. Lighthouse Service and sometimes not. Such is the case with Hansine Henrietta (Anderson) Bergh in Bete Gris. While she didn’t work at the official lighthouse she was known to hang a lantern in the window of her house so that her husband and other fishermen could find their way back home after dark. This story includes information gathered from her great great granddaughter, Nora Dee.
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