Granny's Genealogy

Treasure Chest Thursday – Aunt Bertha’s Tray

May 27th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Granny's Ancestors - (0 Comments)

This entry is part 8 of 9 in the series Treasures and Curiosities

I have had this hammered aluminum tray for a number of years. Aunt Jane, my Dad’s sister gave it to me, along with a story.

Aunt Jane said that Bertha went to some classes and made the tray. That is an interesting story, I wish I knew if it was true. There is no mark or emblem of any kind on the tray, which is just over twenty-one inches in diameter.

. Bertha Elizabeth Kaiser was born 21 February 1893 in Cadillac, Wexford, Michigan and died there on 11 June 1981. She was my grandmother’s half sister, the daughter of William Kaiser and his second wife, Delia Conway. Bertha married Henry Cornwell Ballou on 10 August 1916 and the couple lived in Cadillac and Detroit.

When I knew Aunt Bertha she was a widow, and in my child’s eye, a typical older lady. When Papa and I decided to marry, she had us to lunch one day. At that time, she would have been seventy-six years old. No wonder I can’t imagine her taking a class and hammering out an aluminum tray!

I wonder if the B stood for Ballou, or for Bertha?

Ballou, hammered aluminum, Kaiser, Treasure Chest Thursday

Maple Hill Cemetery, Cadillac, Wexford, Michigan – Block O Lot 352

August 17th, 2009 | Posted by Granny Pam in Cemeteries | Granny's Ancestors - (0 Comments)

This entry is part 19 of 60 in the series Cemeteries

Maple Hill is a larger city cemetery, located on the south side of Cadillac, Michigan. I have collected a number of photographs from this cemetery and will post my photographs by lot number.

Lot 352, block O was purchased by Henry C. Ballou on 18 August 1893, according to cemetery records. Everyone buried here seems to have some relationship to the Ballou family.

There are a number of burials on the lot, my photos are linked. There was one listing with no birth, death or burial dates for “Ballou, Baby” in a computer printout of burials in the Cadillac Wexford Library at the time I did my search. A small marker with the name “Elton” on the front may mark the baby’s grave. I cannot read the back of the marker from the photos I have, and cannot find any record for his birth or death. However, on the 1900 U.S.census of Cadillac, Wexford, Michigan Sarah A. Ballou, wife of Henry C. Ballou is listed as the mother of 5, 4 living. I can account for her four children alive at that census, so perhaps Elton was the fifth child.

Ballou, Elton
Ballou, Henry, 1854-1926. was the son of Byron Ballou and Hannah Eldred.
Ballou, Sarah (Cornwell), 1860-17 July 1906 was the wife on Henry Ballou.
Ballou, Byron, ca 1827-11 January 1901
Ballou, Hannah (Eldred), ca 1828-27 December 1915, wife of Byron Ballou
Ballou, Henry Cornwell, 3 Nov 1892 – 3 Dec 1965 was the son of Henry and Sarah Cornwell
Ballou, Bertha Kaiser, 21 Feb 1893-11 June 1981 was the daughter of William Kaiser and Delia Conway and wife of Henry C. Ballou.
Ballou, Elizabeth Ann 21 May 1917 – 18 Feb 1922 was the daughter of Henry C. Ballou and Bertha Kaiser.
Ballou, Lornezo D., 24 Jan 1852 – 5 July 1905, was the son of Byron and Hannah (Eldred) Ballou.
Hall, Hattie Ballou, 1867-1896, was the daughter of Byron Ballou and Hannah Eldred. Her death record is here.
Brown, Martha Thompson, September 11, 1905 – 21 May 2008, was the daughter of Maude Ballou and her husband Howard M. Thompson.
Brown, Frank