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Shared with the permission of my beautiful daughter Chloe Walbecq
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She rolled over covered up and I'm pretty sure I caught an eye roll. But she was still listening.
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Then I showed her the picture of Loretta (Ward) King McKenzie and her second husband Lawrence "Spin" McKenzie. My grandpa McKenzie's mother in-law and uncle/step-grandpa. She said to me, it seems like we have a lot of tough-looking women on that side of the family. I told her, yes we do, but they didn't just look tough, they had to be tough.
At this point, Chloe is laying down in bed and obviously tired, but I'm a genealogist and there was a story to be told. So I started to tell her the stories.
I told her about Mary Anna (Faught) McKenzie, her 3rd great grandmother, who overcame many struggles in her life, from losing her mother before the age of five, being separated from her father and raised by her grandparents, and losing her husband Alexander McKenzie at the age of 56, leaving Mary Anna with seven children to raise and a farm to run.
I also told her about the blog post I wrote about other strong women in our family. Built on a Strong Foundation: The Women that Came Before Me.
Of course, at this point, Chloe's eyes were almost closed and she says to me, "mom, I'm tired". So I gave in, I wasn't going to keep her awake any longer.
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So, did I tell this story to prove that I am the typical boring mother that every teenager complains about? No, I shared this story to prove that all of the hard work that we go through as genealogists, the endless hours of research, is worth it. Why? Because someday, my daughter will be able to share these stories with her children, because I took the time to write them down, took the time to "bore my children to death" with my endless stream of knowledge of ancestor's birth and death dates, census records, photographs, trips to the library and cemetery, and most importantly the stories of their ancestors. Those 15 - 20 minutes that I was able to share with my daughter when she was tired but still listening, is what makes it all worth it. It the real reason we do what we do... as genealogists.
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I referenced a photo I found of my grandmother Edna Jean (Burt) McKenzie standing next to a sign for "The Witness Tree", in a previous blog post called Road Trip Through Our Family History. In today's blog post, I will provide additional details about William Burt and explore a possible family connection.
First, let make a correction to a statement I made in my earlier post. The Witness tree does not stand testimony to the work of William Austin Burt, but instead his son William Burt.
William Burt was born in Mt. Vernon, Macomb County, Michigan, on October 31, 1825, and is the son of William Austin Burt and Phoebe (Cole) Burt. William Burt grew up as a young boy in the county where he was born and acquired his education in a log schoolhouse situated in the neighborhood. He spent his boyhood on a farm and continued to follow agricultural pursuits and land surveying as a means of work until he had reached the age of forty years. He learned the business with his father and older brothers, experts in that line, and at the age of twenty began the work for himself. He aided in surveying a greater part of the Upper Peninsula, coming to Marquette area with his father and brothers in 1846. On the 23rd of March, 1847, he was appointed United States Deputy Surveyor.
Often a surveyor would use, what is called a witness tree, to serve as a reference point to establish the corner line in a survey. A mark was sometimes cut into the trunk and the location of the witness tree was noted in the surveyor’s field report.
William Burt, the deputy surveyor for the state, marked a witness tree. The tree is a red pine and stands in what is now Pigeon River Forest. The tree is located on the quarter section corner between Section 15 and 16 of Township 32 North Range 1 West. This is one of two trees marked on the corner. When he first marked the tree, it's diameter was only eight inches around.
If you remember this question was raised after I found the photo of my grandmother, Edna Jean (Burt) Mckenzie, pointing to the "Original Witness Tree" Sign. The story had always been that we were related to William Burt. Obviously, this is the same story that my grandmother was told.
Well, after several hours of research, I have to admit, I have not found a connection between my Burt family line and the family line of William Burt. Although the two families seemed to have immigrated from England to Massachusetts around the same time and were often found living near each other, a connection has not been found.
As it turns out, I am not the first to come to this conclusion. In "Early days in New England : life and times of Henry Burt of Springfield and some of his descendants, genealogical and biographical mention of James and Richard Burt of Taunton, Mass., and Thomas Burt, M.P., of England" Written by Henry Martyn Burt and Silas Wright Burt in 1893, the same conclusion was reached.
Margaret "Maggie" McKenzie was born on April 23, 1849, in Ontario Canada the eldest daughter of Donald S. McKenzie and Sarah Maria (Biggar) McKenzie. On December 18, 1873, she married David Clark in Blenheim, Kent, Ontario, Canada.
Between 1874 and 1889, Maggie and David had seven children:
- Garnet Wolsley Clark born August 20, 1874,
- David Garriet Clark born August 20, 1875,
- Elgin Percy Clark Born February 19, 1878,
- Henry Lester Clark born January 11, 1880,
- Charles Varney Clark born August 17, 1882,
- Bertha Clarke born October 2, 1885
- Hugh Franklin Clark born March 3, 1889.
The following words were written on a piece of the dock near the place that the bodies of mother and children were found:
"Do not blame Garnet, I did it. David Shan’t have those little ones, Maggie"
It is said that the previous fall David left Maggie and their five children. The newspaper article published in the June 21, 1891 edition of the Chatham Tri-Weekly Planet states that
" A Jury was impaneled, who after hearing the evidence returned a verdict to the effect that the unhappy woman committed suicide while in a fit of temporary insanity."
The Newspaper article goes on to state that:
"The large number of people at the funeral may be taken as a measure of the respect in which the deceased was held. Popular feeling is strongly aroused by the shocking circumstances, and runs high against the absent husband and his relatives at the Eau. The prevailing idea, whether right or not, is that Mrs. Clark was prosecuted beyond endurance. Besides the log on which Mrs. Clark wrote her last message were found some letters, one from her husband notifying her to get off the farm, and another written by herself conveying a sad story of destitution and burden too heavy to be borne, and of which it seems few, if any, who knew her had any conception, as she was not accustomed to canvas her circumstances with neighbors."
In the Parcel that Garnet was sent to deliver to Alminia "Minnie", was a letter stating that the contents of the parcel were meant for her older children.
In a letter to her half brother Jeremiah McKenzie, Almina "Minnie" (McKenzie) Pardo states:
"Just think Jerrie, How could she ever do it? Bertha was a dear little girl and Hugh was a nice child just beginning to talk. I was there last Tuesday night. She was very downhearted but never mentioned such a thing. She said in her note that she thought in the orchard at her home would be a nice place for their sermons. You see she has been thinking of it for some time"
Minnie goes on in her letter to describe the fate of the older children, still living at home, which included Garnet age 16, Harry Age 11 and Charley age 8
"William Clark took Harry the second boy and Charley the youngest is at Solomon Burks until there is a change made. Garnet is going to work on a farm for a man about a mile from here."
To clarify relationships, William Clark is David's older brother and Solomon Burk is of some relation to Samuel Burk, the husband of Sarah Maria McKenzie who is another sister of Maggie, Minnie, and Jeremiah.
Lesson Learned: Not all stories that we find in our family history are pleasant ones or even easy to understand. But the thing that I take from these stories, good or bad, is that our ancestors were "real" people with hopes, dreams, fears, and sorrows.
I will close this post with the bible verse that was read at the funeral of Maggie McKenzie and her two precious babies.
I am in a strait. Let me fall into the hands of God rather than into the hand of man -- 2 Samuel 24:14
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I don't ever remember my parents living in the same house. I am not sure if they were divorced before I was born or just after. My memories of my Dad and pretty much everything started when we lived at 700 Cedar St. in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. We moved there when I was in the middle of 3rd grade. I would have been approximately 8 years old.
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700 Cedar St., Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783
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My Dad had very little income and I'm not even sure where it came from, probably SSI. My father had the horrible disease of alcoholism but for a time he put me first.
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Dalimonte Grocery - 928 Ashmun St, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783
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He started a charge account for me at a party store on Ashmun St. That was cool, so cool in fact that I ate a lot of candy! My friends ate a lot of candy too and I had lots of friends. Well at least until my Dad couldn't pay the bill and the guy at the store said no more candy.
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Every time I think of this generous gesture that my Dad made a tear well in my eyes and I feel loved.
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"An uncle is someone special to remember with warmth, think of with pride, and cherish with love." -- Author: Unknown
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Article found on Newspapers.com
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So, what made brother turn against brother? The article states that a quarrel broke out the night before when Lawrence returned home suggesting that he take his nephews, ages 13 and 11 to a dance in Atlanta. The two boys would have been, my grandfather, Alexander Orlando McKenzie and his younger brother Garnet. |
A little background...
Orlie C. McKenzie had seven siblings, one of whom was a brother by the name of Lawrence Clayton "Spin" McKenzie.
Mae Arla King (the mother of Alexander Orlando McKenzie) was the daughter of Truman Edward King and Loretta Ward.
Loretta's husband Truman passed away in 1937 at the age of 69.
On September 2, 1944, we find a Michigan marriage record for Lauretta King
(Ward) and Lawrence C. McKenzie. Loretta is 65 and Lawrence is 44.
The relationship charts below show both of the relationships between Alexander Orlando McKenzie and Lawrence Clayton McKenzie.
So, while family stories don't always turn out to be true, something the strangest ones are! Sometimes digging into the most unbelievable story leads to results with the most satisfaction.