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“The Review is pained to announce the fatal termination of the illness of Geo. F. Howard, station agent at West Harrisville.”

With these words, I began to read about my great, great grandfather, George Francis Howard.[i]  I was in the Alcona County Library in Harrisville, Michigan, where they have a marvelous local history room. The death notices appearing in the 1877 to 1899 editions of the Alcona County Review are digitized and available to read on the computer there.  (A kindly library worker had pointed this out to me after he saw me scrolling through reels of microfilmed copies of the newspaper.) Earlier in the day I had been to West Lawn Cemetery and visited George’s grave.  I had also been to the Alcona County Clerk’s office and obtained a copy of his marriage certificate to his second wife, Flavia Apsey.  And now I was reading the announcement of his death, which appeared in the January 17, 1895 edition of the Alcona County Review.  It continued:

“His death occurred Friday night after an illness of less than a week from pneumonia. The funeral occurred Sunday afternoon, when the remains were brought to Harrisville through the fierce storm that was raging and placed beside those of his late wife. Deceased was upwards of 45 years of age and possessed many sociable qualities that attracted friends and made him a favorite.  He had excellent habits, was attentive to business and was rarely absent from his post of duty.”

As station agent in West Harrisville, Michigan, George would have been the person in charge at the train depot.  A pamphlet I picked up that was put out by the Alcona Historical Society told a little about the Lincoln Depot, which is one of three museums the Society runs.  (West Harrisville was renamed Lincoln in the late 1890s thus the depot became known as the Lincoln Depot.) According to the Historical Society the Depot was built in 1886 and began operating in 1887.  I was learning a little more about my great, great grandfather – apparently he was a responsible employee of the railroad and well-liked in his community. 

I continued reading:

“The Review feels a personal loss in his demise.  He was one of those rare individuals who, actuated by no other motive than an inborn liking for the work, assumes the task of collecting the news of his neighborhood for the local paper, without hope or expectation of reward.  He had been the regular correspondent of the Review from West Harrisville for several years and his contributions, which appeared under the signature of “H.O. Ward,” were frequent and very acceptable.  He was of a bright and cheerful disposition, and the “copy” he sent in was always free from personalities and captious criticism.  His copy now goes to a higher power, where the proof reading will be more exact and the reward more adequate. Peace to his ashes.”

So…my great, great grandfather was also a correspondent for the local newspaper.  Having majored in Journalism in college, that bit of information hit a little close to home for me.  I wondered briefly if he had a penchant for research and writing and had passed that trait along to me somehow.  But then it dawned on me that articles George had written for the Alcona County Review were on the microfilmed copies of the paper I had been struggling to read earlier – just waiting for me to find them! The hunt was on as I headed back to the drawer full of boxed reels and the microfilm machine.  It wasn’t long before I was rewarded.

This was one of my great, great grandfather’s submissions to the Alcona County Review, appearing in the October 25, 1894 edition.  His commentary covered a variety of topics: politics (1894 was an election year); international trade agreements (after some research I learned that the 1891 reciprocity agreement between the U.S. and Brazil was deemed “terminated” by the Tariff Act of 1894);  improvements to the local railway; and crime in the area.

I have been unable to determine who “Justice Goheen” was or how he influenced the young men of West Harrisville to behave themselves.  However, I was able to find out a little information on the others mentioned in the article.  Worthy L. Churchill was the 1894 Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress from Michigan’s 10^th Congressional District (notice the reference to a “Worthy” candidate in the first paragraph). C.R. Henry was a prominent attorney from Alpena.  I am uncertain, though, what Great, Great Grandfather George meant when he referred to the local boys being able to say “coo coo” as a result of the two men’s visit to West Harrisville.

George submitted several articles to the Review and in fact I need to go back to the Alcona County Library and copy more of them.  I have no doubt they will offer greater insights into his  life in West Harrisville and his personality. 

But for now, I’ll be content with the information I have, including this death notice posted from the new West Harrisville correspondent which appeared in the same edition of the Alcona County Review as the article announcing his death:

“Station Agent G.F. Howard, one of West Harrisville’s most honored citizens, departed this life Friday evening, Jan. 11, 1895.

“A feeling of sorrow, which has not been equaled in this place for many years, is caused by the sad and untimely death of Mr. Howard, who had gained the confidence of all who knew him.

“The subject was born in New York City and had passed his forty-sixth birthday.  He had been a resident of this state for twenty-nine years and during this time had been constantly engaged by the R.R. Co.  He has been the station agent at this place since ’89; was married to Flavie Epsey in ’91, which happy union only lasted one year and a half when she was called away by death.

“Mr. Howard united with the Baptist church soon after he located here and has done much toward the interests of the church and village.

“Funeral services were conducted on Sunday at 1 o’clock p.m., the pastor of the church officiating.  Two of his brothers, L.A. Howard of Detroit and “D.” Howard of Alpena, arrived here not long before his death and remained until after the funeral.  Notwithstanding the stormy day a large number of people attended the funeral services.  The remains were interred in the Harrisville cemetery.

“The writer can scarcely realize that he is gone.  He leaves a host of friends to mourn his loss.  When at the close of his eighth day’s suffering the veil grew thin which separates time from eternity and he quietly passed away.[ii]                                                                                                 W.C.R[iii].”

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[i] George was born in 1850 to Enoch Galusha Howard and Henrietta Walling Howard.  He married Sarah Flewelling and they had four children:  Frank Fayette; Elbe; Clinton Dewitt; and Etta Agnes.  Etta Agnes was my great grandmother, my paternal grandfather’s mother.

[ii] A few discrepancies I noted:  George was probably only 45 years old at the time of his death; he married Flavie Apsey on November 8, 1890 according to their marriage certificate on file at the Alcona County Clerk’s Office; George’s surviving brothers were Lucien, Lafayette, and Galusha – “D” Howard may refer to Galusha, who probably resided in Alpena at the time of George’s death. A Card of Thanks from the Howard family which appeared in the January 17, 1895 edition of the Review was signed by L.A. Howard, Detroit and G.A. Howard, Alpena.

[iii] I’m still trying to figure out who the writer might have been.

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