WILLARD E. MINNIS
"Willard Minnis died 9 October 1900, aged 58 years, 8 months and 28 days, of his own hand and was buried in Dennis Cemetery. According to his grandson, Clarence E. Minnis, Willard killed himself because 'Claude (Willard's son) came home and found either Hazel or Leona sick with appendicitis. He told his father that the girl needed to go to the hospital. Willard said that if Claude took her he would kill himself. Claude took the girl and Willard hung himself.'" (From Kathi Minnis, family historian)
Willard's obituary from the Williamston Enterprise of October 10, 1900: "Willard Minnis, aged about 60 years, and a son of William Minnis, who resided south of this village, committed suicide Monday night by hanging himself in his father's barn. The particulars in the case are as follows:
"About two years ago he left his wife and since that time has been working about the country, and for the past two months has worked for John Cummings. He came to town Monday evening and in conversation with his brother James said he was going away and gave him his watch that he told him to give to his son, Lewis, also left other instructions as to minor affairs.
"He left town about nine o'clock and must have gone directly to his father's place for the next morning when his brother, A.D. Minnis, went to the barn he found him hanging by a rope. He had gone up on the hay mow, tied the rope around a beam, and slid off. Justice J.M. Bigelow was notified and went out to the place. A jury was empaneled who viewed the remains and will render the verdict later. Deceased leaves a wife and five children who reside in the village and one son who lives in South Dakota."
His wife Helen moved back to Williamston, west of the river, in what was known as 'Tinker Town', then to Mason, where she died on 25 August 1930 in Vevay Township, aged 74 years, 10 months and 21 days. She is buried in Mason Cemetery.
The Unhappy Life of Willard Minnis (from his great-granddaughter Denali Porter):
In the 1860 Wayne County, Michigan census, Willard is 18 and living with his parents, William and Phoebe Minnis, in Canton Township, just west of Detroit. In the past 10 years his family had moved from their home in Ontario County, New York, where he was born -- the first child. His Grandma Sarah Minnis had lived with them for a while, and his sister and two brothers. One wonders how long he attended school.
Now the Civil War was about to begin, and he was of an age to fight for the Union. But sometime between 1860 and 1863 he married the daughter of a pioneer Detroit family, Sarah Harrison. She was the seventh child in a family of 12 children, and three years older than he. We can find no record of their marriage. It should have been in the Inkster Methodist Church which the family attended. Where were they married? Did they elope? Under what circumstances?
In March of 1863 they had a son, William Charles Minnis, named for both grandfathers. But the marriage was not a happy one, and she left. She filed for divorce in Wayne County Circuit Court in May 1866 and the divorce was granted in October. So by 1870 census time, Willard and his son were back living with his parents, this time in Ingham County on a farm near Williamston. Then on Christmas Day 1873 he married Helen Vogt, the 18-year-old daughter of a Livingston County farmer. They had eight children, the last one born in 1894.
According to granddaughter-in-law Irene Minnis, "Willard and Helen and the older children went to Virginia about 1888 and were tenant farmers there. I have heard Dad Minnis (Lewis) tell of wearing sheepskins around their legs in the hayfield so the rattlesnakes would strike into the wool and get their fangs fastened so they could do no harm. Then later they would remove and kill a quantity of them. It seems that Willard and Helen had trouble while there, but I don't know any details. Anyway, she came back to Williamston and he and the older boys stayed there awhile...then came back too."
I think two of their children, Clara and Fitch, died in Virginia. Billy ran away. Back in Michigan, the two tried to make a go of it with their large family, but life was difficult. In about 1898 he left his wife and the remaining children and, according to his obituary "since that time has been working about the country, and for the past two months he has worked for John Cummings" (his brother-in-law).
Willard is buried by himself in the Dennis Cemetery at Williamston, Ingham County, Michigan.
"Willard Minnis died 9 October 1900, aged 58 years, 8 months and 28 days, of his own hand and was buried in Dennis Cemetery. According to his grandson, Clarence E. Minnis, Willard killed himself because 'Claude (Willard's son) came home and found either Hazel or Leona sick with appendicitis. He told his father that the girl needed to go to the hospital. Willard said that if Claude took her he would kill himself. Claude took the girl and Willard hung himself.'" (From Kathi Minnis, family historian)
Willard's obituary from the Williamston Enterprise of October 10, 1900: "Willard Minnis, aged about 60 years, and a son of William Minnis, who resided south of this village, committed suicide Monday night by hanging himself in his father's barn. The particulars in the case are as follows:
"About two years ago he left his wife and since that time has been working about the country, and for the past two months has worked for John Cummings. He came to town Monday evening and in conversation with his brother James said he was going away and gave him his watch that he told him to give to his son, Lewis, also left other instructions as to minor affairs.
"He left town about nine o'clock and must have gone directly to his father's place for the next morning when his brother, A.D. Minnis, went to the barn he found him hanging by a rope. He had gone up on the hay mow, tied the rope around a beam, and slid off. Justice J.M. Bigelow was notified and went out to the place. A jury was empaneled who viewed the remains and will render the verdict later. Deceased leaves a wife and five children who reside in the village and one son who lives in South Dakota."
His wife Helen moved back to Williamston, west of the river, in what was known as 'Tinker Town', then to Mason, where she died on 25 August 1930 in Vevay Township, aged 74 years, 10 months and 21 days. She is buried in Mason Cemetery.
The Unhappy Life of Willard Minnis (from his great-granddaughter Denali Porter):
In the 1860 Wayne County, Michigan census, Willard is 18 and living with his parents, William and Phoebe Minnis, in Canton Township, just west of Detroit. In the past 10 years his family had moved from their home in Ontario County, New York, where he was born -- the first child. His Grandma Sarah Minnis had lived with them for a while, and his sister and two brothers. One wonders how long he attended school.
Now the Civil War was about to begin, and he was of an age to fight for the Union. But sometime between 1860 and 1863 he married the daughter of a pioneer Detroit family, Sarah Harrison. She was the seventh child in a family of 12 children, and three years older than he. We can find no record of their marriage. It should have been in the Inkster Methodist Church which the family attended. Where were they married? Did they elope? Under what circumstances?
In March of 1863 they had a son, William Charles Minnis, named for both grandfathers. But the marriage was not a happy one, and she left. She filed for divorce in Wayne County Circuit Court in May 1866 and the divorce was granted in October. So by 1870 census time, Willard and his son were back living with his parents, this time in Ingham County on a farm near Williamston. Then on Christmas Day 1873 he married Helen Vogt, the 18-year-old daughter of a Livingston County farmer. They had eight children, the last one born in 1894.
According to granddaughter-in-law Irene Minnis, "Willard and Helen and the older children went to Virginia about 1888 and were tenant farmers there. I have heard Dad Minnis (Lewis) tell of wearing sheepskins around their legs in the hayfield so the rattlesnakes would strike into the wool and get their fangs fastened so they could do no harm. Then later they would remove and kill a quantity of them. It seems that Willard and Helen had trouble while there, but I don't know any details. Anyway, she came back to Williamston and he and the older boys stayed there awhile...then came back too."
I think two of their children, Clara and Fitch, died in Virginia. Billy ran away. Back in Michigan, the two tried to make a go of it with their large family, but life was difficult. In about 1898 he left his wife and the remaining children and, according to his obituary "since that time has been working about the country, and for the past two months he has worked for John Cummings" (his brother-in-law).
Willard is buried by himself in the Dennis Cemetery at Williamston, Ingham County, Michigan.
WILLARD E. MINNIS
"Willard Minnis died 9 October 1900, aged 58 years, 8 months and 28 days, of his own hand and was buried in Dennis Cemetery. According to his grandson, Clarence E. Minnis, Willard killed himself because 'Claude (Willard's son) came home and found either Hazel or Leona sick with appendicitis. He told his father that the girl needed to go to the hospital. Willard said that if Claude took her he would kill himself. Claude took the girl and Willard hung himself.'" (From Kathi Minnis, family historian)
Willard's obituary from the Williamston Enterprise of October 10, 1900: "Willard Minnis, aged about 60 years, and a son of William Minnis, who resided south of this village, committed suicide Monday night by hanging himself in his father's barn. The particulars in the case are as follows:
"About two years ago he left his wife and since that time has been working about the country, and for the past two months has worked for John Cummings. He came to town Monday evening and in conversation with his brother James said he was going away and gave him his watch that he told him to give to his son, Lewis, also left other instructions as to minor affairs.
"He left town about nine o'clock and must have gone directly to his father's place for the next morning when his brother, A.D. Minnis, went to the barn he found him hanging by a rope. He had gone up on the hay mow, tied the rope around a beam, and slid off. Justice J.M. Bigelow was notified and went out to the place. A jury was empaneled who viewed the remains and will render the verdict later. Deceased leaves a wife and five children who reside in the village and one son who lives in South Dakota."
His wife Helen moved back to Williamston, west of the river, in what was known as 'Tinker Town', then to Mason, where she died on 25 August 1930 in Vevay Township, aged 74 years, 10 months and 21 days. She is buried in Mason Cemetery.
The Unhappy Life of Willard Minnis (from his great-granddaughter Denali Porter):
In the 1860 Wayne County, Michigan census, Willard is 18 and living with his parents, William and Phoebe Minnis, in Canton Township, just west of Detroit. In the past 10 years his family had moved from their home in Ontario County, New York, where he was born -- the first child. His Grandma Sarah Minnis had lived with them for a while, and his sister and two brothers. One wonders how long he attended school.
Now the Civil War was about to begin, and he was of an age to fight for the Union. But sometime between 1860 and 1863 he married the daughter of a pioneer Detroit family, Sarah Harrison. She was the seventh child in a family of 12 children, and three years older than he. We can find no record of their marriage. It should have been in the Inkster Methodist Church which the family attended. Where were they married? Did they elope? Under what circumstances?
In March of 1863 they had a son, William Charles Minnis, named for both grandfathers. But the marriage was not a happy one, and she left. She filed for divorce in Wayne County Circuit Court in May 1866 and the divorce was granted in October. So by 1870 census time, Willard and his son were back living with his parents, this time in Ingham County on a farm near Williamston. Then on Christmas Day 1873 he married Helen Vogt, the 18-year-old daughter of a Livingston County farmer. They had eight children, the last one born in 1894.
According to granddaughter-in-law Irene Minnis, "Willard and Helen and the older children went to Virginia about 1888 and were tenant farmers there. I have heard Dad Minnis (Lewis) tell of wearing sheepskins around their legs in the hayfield so the rattlesnakes would strike into the wool and get their fangs fastened so they could do no harm. Then later they would remove and kill a quantity of them. It seems that Willard and Helen had trouble while there, but I don't know any details. Anyway, she came back to Williamston and he and the older boys stayed there awhile...then came back too."
I think two of their children, Clara and Fitch, died in Virginia. Billy ran away. Back in Michigan, the two tried to make a go of it with their large family, but life was difficult. In about 1898 he left his wife and the remaining children and, according to his obituary "since that time has been working about the country, and for the past two months he has worked for John Cummings" (his brother-in-law).
Willard is buried by himself in the Dennis Cemetery at Williamston, Ingham County, Michigan.
"Willard Minnis died 9 October 1900, aged 58 years, 8 months and 28 days, of his own hand and was buried in Dennis Cemetery. According to his grandson, Clarence E. Minnis, Willard killed himself because 'Claude (Willard's son) came home and found either Hazel or Leona sick with appendicitis. He told his father that the girl needed to go to the hospital. Willard said that if Claude took her he would kill himself. Claude took the girl and Willard hung himself.'" (From Kathi Minnis, family historian)
Willard's obituary from the Williamston Enterprise of October 10, 1900: "Willard Minnis, aged about 60 years, and a son of William Minnis, who resided south of this village, committed suicide Monday night by hanging himself in his father's barn. The particulars in the case are as follows:
"About two years ago he left his wife and since that time has been working about the country, and for the past two months has worked for John Cummings. He came to town Monday evening and in conversation with his brother James said he was going away and gave him his watch that he told him to give to his son, Lewis, also left other instructions as to minor affairs.
"He left town about nine o'clock and must have gone directly to his father's place for the next morning when his brother, A.D. Minnis, went to the barn he found him hanging by a rope. He had gone up on the hay mow, tied the rope around a beam, and slid off. Justice J.M. Bigelow was notified and went out to the place. A jury was empaneled who viewed the remains and will render the verdict later. Deceased leaves a wife and five children who reside in the village and one son who lives in South Dakota."
His wife Helen moved back to Williamston, west of the river, in what was known as 'Tinker Town', then to Mason, where she died on 25 August 1930 in Vevay Township, aged 74 years, 10 months and 21 days. She is buried in Mason Cemetery.
The Unhappy Life of Willard Minnis (from his great-granddaughter Denali Porter):
In the 1860 Wayne County, Michigan census, Willard is 18 and living with his parents, William and Phoebe Minnis, in Canton Township, just west of Detroit. In the past 10 years his family had moved from their home in Ontario County, New York, where he was born -- the first child. His Grandma Sarah Minnis had lived with them for a while, and his sister and two brothers. One wonders how long he attended school.
Now the Civil War was about to begin, and he was of an age to fight for the Union. But sometime between 1860 and 1863 he married the daughter of a pioneer Detroit family, Sarah Harrison. She was the seventh child in a family of 12 children, and three years older than he. We can find no record of their marriage. It should have been in the Inkster Methodist Church which the family attended. Where were they married? Did they elope? Under what circumstances?
In March of 1863 they had a son, William Charles Minnis, named for both grandfathers. But the marriage was not a happy one, and she left. She filed for divorce in Wayne County Circuit Court in May 1866 and the divorce was granted in October. So by 1870 census time, Willard and his son were back living with his parents, this time in Ingham County on a farm near Williamston. Then on Christmas Day 1873 he married Helen Vogt, the 18-year-old daughter of a Livingston County farmer. They had eight children, the last one born in 1894.
According to granddaughter-in-law Irene Minnis, "Willard and Helen and the older children went to Virginia about 1888 and were tenant farmers there. I have heard Dad Minnis (Lewis) tell of wearing sheepskins around their legs in the hayfield so the rattlesnakes would strike into the wool and get their fangs fastened so they could do no harm. Then later they would remove and kill a quantity of them. It seems that Willard and Helen had trouble while there, but I don't know any details. Anyway, she came back to Williamston and he and the older boys stayed there awhile...then came back too."
I think two of their children, Clara and Fitch, died in Virginia. Billy ran away. Back in Michigan, the two tried to make a go of it with their large family, but life was difficult. In about 1898 he left his wife and the remaining children and, according to his obituary "since that time has been working about the country, and for the past two months he has worked for John Cummings" (his brother-in-law).
Willard is buried by himself in the Dennis Cemetery at Williamston, Ingham County, Michigan.
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