November 9, 2011
These are my 2nd Great-grandparents Lula V. (Holden) and Charles Erwin “Wynn” Porter. Charles was the second son of George E. Porter (from last week’s Wordless Wednesday Post). He was a farmer and is noted in the Rockford Register for making key plays for the Rogue Rex baseball team. Lula was the daughter of Chapin and Lois Holden and was a favorite of my grandma—both of them being noted gossips!
Happy Hunting,
Jess
November 2, 2011
Sarah Elizabeth Morningstar (1859-1924), her husband George Erwin Porter (1856-1942) , and their youngest daughter Rhea Agnes (1903- 1974). George like his father, Seth, was a very successful miller in Kent County, Michigan. Among other endeavors he owned and operated Porter Mill at Porter Hollow on Stegman Creek in northern Kent County. Sarah and George married 15 April 1876 in Cedar Springs, Michigan. Rhea was the youngest of six children including my 2nd great grandfather, Charles Erwin Porter.
October 26, 2011
Though this photo predates me this is still how I remember my
Grandfather, Levie Trotter. I have lots of memories of him, but it was trips to Detroit in the summer when the family cooked out, made barbeque ribs, and all of his children and grandchildren showed up for a family meal… it’s just a standout collage of memories with Grandpa at the grill.
October 19, 2011
‘Tis the season for football… the Detroit Lions and my Michigan State Spartans are each 5-1 and all of this keeps bringing to mind this shot of my Grandfather, William Eugene Johnson, as a Senior on the 1945 Rockford High School football team which also included my Great Uncle, Louis, and at least a couple of their cousins (Ken Morris and Roger Baker). This shot came to my attention when used in a July 1999 Chalk Talk column by Coach Terry Konkle’s in The Rockford Independent.
October 12, 2011
So it took years before I realized that the Salvation Army was a religious denomination… and I’d been driving by a church for years in Lansing, Michigan. The above photograph is from a photo postcard taken by William H. Spinks and currently held by my Great Aunt. It’s the Salvation Army Brass Band of Woodstock, Oxford County, Ontario, Canada. My Great Great Grandfather Cornelius Packer is in the front row, third man in from the left with, what I believe is, a euphonium. The photo was taken sometime between 1881—when the Packers previously identified as Primitive Methodists and 1892 when my Great Grandmother was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Just based on his age in this picture and another family shot by the same photographer, I suspect this is mid to late 1880s.
October 5, 2011
I’ve always liked this shot because, from what most of my family has told me, my great-grandfather was estranged from his family for a good chunk of their lives after he and my great-grandmother divorced. But he was able to build a relationship with my grandfather later in their lives. This is a shot of Robert Eugene Johnson and my grandfather William Eugene Johnson taken at my grandparents’ home on Main St in Rockford, Michigan sometime prior to Grandpa’s death in 1980. The photo is one from my parents’ collection.
Happy hunting,
Jess
September 28, 2011
I still have Robert Shea on my mind…
My great grandfather, Robert James Shea, was a tuberculosis patient at the Michigan State Sanatorium, in Howell, Michigan, around 1920. It’s there that he met my great grandmother, Cora Helena Packer who was also a patient. This shot is from one of the men’s dorms. Robert is the second gentleman from the right. None of the other men are identified. Within the family we have a number of group shots from the Sanatorium. The originals reside with my great aunt.
Happy Hunting,
Jess
September 24, 2011
I’ve been thinking a great deal about my great grandfather, Robert James Shea, and his family lately. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been going through my files and photos—I probably have more from the Packers and Sheas than any other branch of my family—or because I decided to inventory my postcard collection which includes a stack related to the Michigan State Sanatorium in Howell, Michigan where he was treated for Tuberculosis and met my great grandmother as a fellow patient. Or maybe it’s because I’ll have a chance to pass through that part of Michigan where he was born in the Leelanau Peninsula next week. Regardless of the reason, Robert Shea is on my mind.
He was born 25 Jan 1888 in Empire Township to Cornelius and Ellen (Cunningham) Shea, the first of their nine children. 
He was listed as a farm laborer in the 1910 Census but by 1920 he had been admitted to the State Sanatorium. He met my great grandmother, Cora Helena Packer, there and they were married in Grand Rapids in 1922. Their first two children were born there—my Grandmother, Ethel, and her younger sister, June. In the 1930 Census Robert was working in an upholstery shop and the family lived in Tallmadge, Ottawa County. In 1931 their last child Robert Arthur was born. In April of 1933 Robert finally succumbed to complications from his Tuberculosis at Kalamazoo State Hospital.
He’s a character I really only know from pictures and the stories my Grandmother and Great Aunt share—and Gran was only 8 when he died. In every picture is a dark, thick head of hair that seems often unruly. The more unruly shots make me think of Lyle Lovett (I’m a big fan). And he had a darker complexion—an olive undertone—that he passed on to Gran and likely her three children. It’s a running joke that they all tan darker than me.
He didn’t have an easy life. The idea that he likely had a lung removed as part of his TB treatment but was still working as a lumberjack before he died has always struck me as sad. But the photo evidence suggests he was able to have fun and find joy in the times that he had.
As with all my other lines, I am always searching to add more depth to that disjointed list of facts, so I plan to continue my research on Robert (and Cora) by looking into the history and records held by the State Archives on the Michigan State Sanatorium at Howell and the Howell Carnegie District Library. I’m quite curious about what their routine would have been like especially since they were patients when the “fresh air cure” was a popular approach to TB treatment.
For more information on The Michigan State Sanatoria check out this great 2009 article from SeekingMichigan.org: A Healing Place.
All photos are from the collection of my Grandmother and Great Aunt.
September 21, 2011
This is a shot found among my grandparents photo collection. This is my great grandmother, Rhoda Rogers Trotter, and three children. There have been great family debates on the identity of the children but I am assured there was only one Rhoda. It was probably taken in Bradley County, Arkansas. I don’t have a lot of information about the Rogers family. I know Rhoda (also called Rhodie) was the daughter of Pete and Mattie (Martin) Rogers. I believe she was born in 1894 and she died in 1981. She married my great grandfather, Harrison Trotter, in 1911 and they had 15 children.
Happy Hunting,
Jess
September 14, 2011
These are my 2nd Great Grandparents Flora Jane (daughter of Henry R. Massy) and Cornelius Packer and three of their children: My great grandmother Cora, her older sister Pearl, and their younger brother James Arthur. The photo was likely taken at their home 160 Shirley Street, Grand Rapids, Michigan after the death of their oldest child, Ethel, in September of 1900 and prior to 1905 when their last child, Grace, was born. The original resides with my great aunt.
Genie Road Trip 