"Up Home"

"Up Home" is what grandma Nichols called Kalkaska, Michigan. In her lifetime she had lived many places around Michigan and Wisconsin, but, Kalkaska was and always would be "home" to her. My earliest memories of traveling to this place are fuzzy and I remember the trip was a long one...2 and a half hours north of Muskegon. I haven't been there since I was a teen so this was something I really wanted to do. The weather in Muskegon was crappy and rainy but as we moved north the rain stopped and the clouds cleared enough to see the sun.



coon in a canoe

  My first stop when we got in town was McDonald's for a cup of coffee and a rest and to figure out what we wanted to do first.  I'm not usually thrilled to see taxidermy but I spied a raccoon in a canoe and it brought a smile. I suspect this fellow found one too many a garbage can in his day and it may have led to his current occupation as a guard of this drink dispenser.





Karen looking for maps at the library

  


Next stop was the Kalkaska Library to find cemetery maps. We were led to the basement where all the genealogical records where held. Found some information that was a great help although I didn't find everything I had hoped to. So from there we were off to Rapid River Twp. to Maple Grove Cemetery. My great grandma Ettie had 3 children that died in infancy. Grandma had told of where they were so I want to pay my respects. The town hasn't changed a whole lot since I had seen it last and Cedar St. still has some of the old buildings from long ago so that first trip though town was cool. Maple Grove was originally called 'Leetsville Cemetery' and it was the name that grandma had mentioned in her memoirs. The cemetery is very small and is a bit overgrown but not forgotten. It had a round-about in the middle with some plantings in the center of it. Also in the round-about is an old pump. We tried to see if it still worked, nothing came out so we gave up and decided to look for the Schelske babies. Looking to my left and to the edge of the cemetery I spied 3 little headstones and when we came closer I could see it was the babies eternally resting among the spring Phlox.



Arie, baby boy, and Ruby





The Phlox was everywhere and there where Lilac bushes that smelled wonderful. Among one of them I seen a headstone, I suspect from the 1870's or 1880's but I could not read what it said on it.

This cemetery has been transcribed but there are no pictures available so I took pictures of as many headstones as I could so I can submit them to Genweb's Tombstone Project. I know for me it has been a great help to find a picture or transcription of these because for someone researching their family history might not have an official record of when their ancestor was born or died...or where. 

headstone among the Lilac

I was surprised to see so many flowers growing everywhere, very pretty. At the edge of the cemetery there were Trillium and little purple flowers in the thick woods. It was so peaceful ,this place was truly a step back in time. I could imagine  the ceremony that took place here when baby Ruby died. In grandma's memoir she wrote:    "Grandma Irish told me I had a new baby sister named Ruby Odessa and she had been born two days after my birthday (June 16). Ruby was sickly and did not grow. She kept getting worse and the doctor did not know what to do for her. The doctor said she was dying of old age ( now they call it dehydration). Ruby only lived two months and I remember the long ride to the Leetsville Cemetery where she was buried beside her other little sister and brother ."



State Bank

After we had a look around and put flowers on the graves we left for town again. I had spied an antique store on the way though town so we stopped there. It was the old state bank, eh..the guy didn't have anything spectacular as far as antiques were concerned (a lot of antique reproductions) but we did find the bank volt, how cool! 





We had found another gift shop across the street but I was too lazy to take any pics and after all ,a gift shop is a gift shop. Karen bought some incense that was 10 for $1.00 and I found some earrings for a souvenir of our trip. Next stop was Big Boy's restaurant, we had the proverbial burger and fries with a soft drink, yum!



Karen robbing the bank !



About 3:30 I was ready for a rest, plus one of my favorite TV shows was on at 4:00 so we checked in to our hotel room and had a rest period until a bit after 5pm. I had promised my 3rd cousin Carol that if I ever made it to Kalkaska that I would find her great grandma Francis (Irish) Rennison in Evergreen Cemetery. (Francis was my great grandma Ettie's sister) I wasn't able to find a map of Evergreen, but I did get the section number where Francis and her husband John were laid to rest. When I got there I hadn't a clue of were to begin, it was a large cemetery. We decided to get out and walk around the grounds a bit, went thought a large portion of the rear of the place but no Francis. Even though we didn't find her it was filled with some really old burials with headstones that are superior to all of today, very artistic and conveys the dignity that everyone should have to honor the life that they lived. When 7:00pm came around my bad foot was hurting and I was ready to get dinner then call it a night. The hotel was the All Seasons Resort. It was a very nice looking room with 2 beds, TV, microwave oven, mini refrigerator. I had trouble sleeping because it wasn't my bed. And the walls were paper thin and I could hear the couple in the room next door..argh!! Other than that I have no complaints, morning included a free continental breakfast just off the lobby. At 8:30 I was ready to go back and find 'Aunt Frank'. I took one side of the cemetery and Karen tromped around on the other side. About a half an hour into that and I realized that I was getting nowhere. I heard a mower and I looked up and one of the caretakers was coming up the 2 track between the rows toward me so I waved my hand to catch his attention and he stopped.   I asked him if he knew where section 187 was and he said he didn't know but his boss would know so he went off to find the boss.  When he came back he had told me his boss was gone for a bit but he had a map in his hand and I climbed onto his little golf cart and he took me to the area where she would be.  We looked around for a while but still didn't find anything.   His boss finally came back and determined that Francis and her husband no longer have stones and he pointed to the spot where they were.   I took pictures of the surrounding area and drew my own map so that Carol would know the spot where her grandma was, I guess that's the best I can do.   My foot was sore again from all the walking on the uneven ground so we ended up at McDonald's again for a pit stop and some coffee before we head out of town to Oliver Twp.Cemetery where my grandma and grandpa are buried.  The trip out there was the long one I remember.

Cool Rd. looking east

         Cool Road is a long gravel road with rolling hills and farms.



Delilah and Oscar






Otto and Ettie

 

Delila Irish

  Also there is Otto and Ettie Schelske and Ettie's mother Delilah Irish. And also grandma's brother Lewis and his wife Norabelle. Grandpa's brother Homer is resting next to grandma Irish. Another sweet little country cemetery. So now we accomplished what we came to do and we are heading back home to Muskegon. I have seen the beauty of the land in Northern Michigan and I understand why it was so dear to Delilah. She loved the land and the people from "Up Home".

US 131 South heading back to Muskegon