Amelia Kaden wrote about wildlife and flora in Northern Michigan. But she is best remembered as the subject of the book “Little Moss Back Amelia” written by Frances Margaret Fox. Amelia’s family were early pioneers in Emmet and what later became part of Charlevoix County. They came to Petoskey by train in the 1880s and walked twenty miles through the wilderness to arrive at their homesteaded property.

Mrs. Fox said, “If I had made up the story of Little Moss Back Amelia, I never could have imagined anything like what truly happened to Mrs. Amelia Kaden during the nearly six years when she was a little girl in the North Woods of Northern Michigan. When I knew Miss Kaden she was a teacher of natural science at the high school in Cheboygan, Michigan. She knew more about wild animals and birds and flowers than the books on the shelves in the school room. As a graduate of the University of Michigan she not only learned what was in the books, but as a child had been personally acquainted with bears, birds, and blossoms of the Michigan wilderness."

Children in Petoskey who grew up in World War II recall their art teacher Frances Pailthorp reading Little Moss Back and telling them how the stories related to their own history. A copy of the book was carried in the big willow basket she carried from class to class. She told stories, not only about Amelia, but how the local Indians gathered and peered into her home to see her––their first red headed baby.

Margaret Foxes 1939 book about Amelia Kaden was often the first history lesson that children of the 40s and 50s heard.

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The idea for the book came about in Cheboygan, Michigan, when Mrs. Fox, a teacher, met and became friends with Miss Kaden, who was the teacher of natural science at the high school. One thing led to another and Amelia ended up telling Margaret how she and her family arrived by train in Petoskey and trudged through thick wilderness to claim their homestead––made mossback dishes.

There are 12 true stories about Amelia:

When Amelia Made Moss Back Dishes
A Bad Night with Flying indians
Little Amelia’s First Easter In the Backwoods
A Garden Hat for Little Amelia
Adventures of the Big Red Apple
A Day in the Sugar Bush
When Little Moss Back Amelia Lost A Pig
When Little Moss Back Amelia Managed a Picnic
About Little Amelia and Runaway Oxen
When Little Amelia Took Carrots to the Market
One Swift Horseback Ride for Little Amelia
When the Little Girl was Lost


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Note: The author Frances Margaret Fox of Amelia's story in Little Mossback Amelia wrote that: "When I knew Mrs. Kaden, she was a teacher of Natural Science in the High School at Cheboygan, Michigan . . . As a graduate of the University of Michigan she not only had learned what was written in the books, but as a child she had been personally acquainted with bears, and birds, and blossoms of the Michigan wilderness. Amelia Martin Kaden seemed to have embodied the spirit of being a true Mossback, or Pioneer, in Chandler Township Charlevoix County MI. Both Fred (1860-1940) and Amelia (5 March 1870–September 1939) were buried in the Boyne Valley Cemetery Boyne Falls Charlevoix County Michigan. Amelia died in Eveline Township Charlevoix County Michigan."

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Amelia Kaden
Michigan, Death Certificates
Name: Amelia Kaden
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 19 Sep 1939
Event Place: Eveline, Charlevoix, Michigan, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 69
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 05 Mar 1870
Birthplace: Ohio
Birth Year (Estimated): 1870
Father's Name: Andrew Martin
Mother's Name: Sarah Kulen
GS Film number: 001973213 , Digital Folder Number: 005363579 , Image Number: 00911

Death Certificate Source: Family Search
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