Traverse City Record-Eagle

Record-Eagle 150th Anniversary

November 2, 2009

TC's early women leaders

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Mrs. B.D. Ashton, born Margaret P. Lackey, wife of Dr. Benjamin D. Ashton, a medical doctor and surgeon hired by lumber baron Perry Hannah in 1862.

Clymene Bates, 1830-1872 wife of Grand Traverse Herald publisher Morgan Bates. Founder with seven other women in 1869 of the Ladies Library Association.

Martha E. Cram Bates, 1839-1905, associate editor in charge of the Herald's new Home and Children's department, a charter member of the Ladies Library Association, Traverse City Woman's Club and Michigan Women's Press Association. Husband Thomas T. Bates, was third owner of the paper from 1876-1912.

Mrs. Hatch was Almira Hatch, wife of Congregationalist minister Reuben Hatch Sr., first president of Olivet College and Benzonia's first minister. He served as Traverse City's First Congregationalist Church 1866-1872.

Mary Knizek, about 1850-1901, a Bohemian immigrant who came to Traverse City in 1861 with her parents. Her father was the village's first boot/shoemaker. A writer and poet, she married Charles Buck, a general store owner/entrepreneur, member of school board and public works board.

Mrs. Cary Hull, was Lola Peckham Hull, originally of Mancelona who in 1891 married Cary Hull, son of Henry Hull, founder of the Oval Wood Dish Co, a leading Traverse City employer from 1892-1917.

Mina Leach, was the daughter of DeWitt C. Leach, a former Mackinac Indian agent and former congressman who was the second owner of the Grand Traverse Herald from 1867-1876.

Mrs. William Love, 1867-1948, or Agnes Love, was a teacher, local school board member for nine years, a Traverse City Woman's Club member and president of the Grand Traverse Equal Suffrage Association. She founded and was chairwoman of the county's Junior Red Cross for a half-century, and charter member of the American Legion Auxiliary to the Bowen-Holliday Post.

Her husband was William Love, and longtime city Light & Power superintendent.

Mrs. J.W. Milliken, born Callie Thacker in 1878, a recognized artist whose ceramic art earned a first prize in an international exhibit in New York; wife of merchant J.W. Milliken.

Mrs. J. T. Milliken was Hildegarde Milliken, daughter of Charles and Helen (Blackwood) Grawn. Her father was Traverse City school superintendent from 1884-1899 and later president of what is today Central Michigan College. She was the city's first elected woman school board member.

Ada K. Sprague Pratt, 1843-1924, first woman in Traverse City to start a business -- a millinery shop -- in 1861; sister of Traverse Bay Eagle/Daily Eagle publisher Elvin Sprague. Her husband, Edwin S. Pratt, was a lawyer, county prosecutor and circuit court commissioner.

Mrs. M.A.S. Roberts, or Mary A. Stevens Roberts, an Oberlin College graduate who originally settled in Benzonia with husband Lorin, a teacher and later a public school superintendent in Traverse City, lawyer, prosecutor, judge and investor in a flooring company and brick yard.

Mrs. Dr. Augusta Rosenthal-Thompson, born in 1859, graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1884 and had a practice in Traverse City 1886-1911; Son Isaac Jr. died of diphtheria in 1896 at age 6. She returned to medical schools in New York and Europe to study diphtheria and came back with new skills and life-saving equipment.

Sources: "Grand Traverse Legends Vols. 1-3," Robert E. Wilson; "Glimpses of Grand Traverse Past," and "Who We Were, What We Did," Richard Fidler; "Grand Traverse Herald," "Grand Traverse Region," H.R. Page & Co."''

Text Only
  • WILLIAM MILLIKEN
    After looking back, we look to the future

    In this last installment of the Record-Eagle's year-long 150th Anniversary History Project series, native son Bill Milliken ponders the future, including the question: What will the Traverse City area be like in 2159?

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:14 am 9 Photos
  • Derek Bailey: Cooperation is key
    images_sizedimage_312070048

    I am excited and optimistic in thinking about my predictions for the area and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for the next 150 years. Clearly, we live in one of the most beautiful areas of Mother Earth. The GTB Tribal Nation has grown exponentially as an area and tribe over the last 29 years. We must now sustain and channel that growth.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:12 am 1 Photo
  • George McManus: Manage resources
    images_sizedimage_312070109

    The Grand Traverse Region is blessed with abundant renewable natural resources, which properly managed, will remain for the next 150 years and beyond. The community of the future depends on what direction the citizenry and leadership decide to take and external influences over which they have no control.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Marsha Smith: Listen to each other
    images_sizedimage_312070058

    The Grand Vision has shown me that the people of this region love it here and have a commitment to building a better future. We care about what happens here and we care about the future. My main concern is that we sometimes forget about all things we hold in common and focus more on what keeps us apart.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Joe VanderMeulen: Plan for six generations
    images_sizedimage_312070117

    We need to look forward across six or more generations of people to see 150 years into the future. What wonderful changes there may be, if we choose wisely, just get lucky, or some of both. Of course, we face many threats to our security and survival. The risks of deadly pandemics, global climate change and unimaginable wars are real.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:10 am 1 Photo
  • November 2, 2009
  • Women helped build Traverse City
    images_sizedimage_304213014

    Women helped build Traverse City's library system, schools and hospital. They lobbied for clean water and clean streets. They were concerned about the needy, child labor, reforestation, international peace and the right of women to vote. They did this largely through two local women's clubs -- the Ladies Library Association and the Traverse City Woman's Club.

    Continued ...
    Nov 2, 2009 6:17 am 4 Photos
  • October 31, 2009
  • TC history exhibit visits TADL

    The Record-Eagle's traveling exhibit of Traverse City and newspaper history will be on display throughout November at the Traverse Area District Library on Woodmere.

    Continued ...
    Oct 31, 2009 9:30 pm
  • October 19, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: TC's 1925 earthquake
    images_sizedimage_292070016

    Earthquakes are rare in Michigan, but Traverse City residents definitely felt the earth move beneath their feet and watched electric ceiling lights sway overhead on Feb. 28, 1925. "EARTHQUAKE HERE FIRST EVER FELT: Dishes Rattle, Chairs Rock, Smokers 'Swear Off' and People in High Places Come Down," Record-Eagle headlines shouted after tremors rattled the city at 8:27 p.m. that Saturday night.

    Continued ...
    Oct 19, 2009 7:00 am 1 Photo
  • October 5, 2009
  • Water Wars: Advocating for 'public trust'
    Jim Olson

    It was a busy summer on the water front for Great Lakes advocates in what environmentalists and others are calling "The Water Wars."

    Continued ...
    Oct 5, 2009 6:18 am 3 Photos
  • October 3, 2009
  • R-E editorial decries water diversion

    Record-Eagle concern about Great Lakes water diversion dates to the early 1900s, including a Jan. 14, 1925, editorial about the U.S. governments challenge of Chicagos right to divert Lake Michigan water without consulting its neighbors.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • Summary of summer Great Lakes water issues

    Great Lakes water issues this summer included the following.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • September 28, 2009
  • 150 Years: Bay served as sewer, water supply
    images_sizedimage_269212538

    The Boardman River in Traverse City wasn't a pretty sight at the turn of the last century. It was a city sewer, and it flowed into West Bay, the source of the city's water supply.

    Continued ...
    Sep 28, 2009 7:18 am 7 Photos
  • August 10, 2009
  • 150 Years: Cartographer maps settlements
    images_sizedimage_220213541

    Helen Hornbeck Tanner, a Beulah summer resident and historian of Great Lakes American Indians and cartography, created a new historical map of the Grand Traverse region that traces early American Indian and white settlement.

    Continued ...
    Aug 10, 2009 6:39 am 2 Photos
  • July 27, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: Tracking Titus
    images_sizedimage_208080650

    Harold Titus has been one of my favorite Traverse City historical characters since I read "Timber," his 1922 novel, last year. He intrigues me for many reasons. Part of his mystery is that he is virtually unknown today. He is "new" local history.

    Continued ...
    Jul 27, 2009 8:06 am 1 Photo