I am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update with each post.

I received an inquiry about this deed by e-mail from someone who must have viewed my deed record listing on this site. I took a few minutes and looked up the information about the deed, which I found among my “Kaiser-Johnston” group.

William Kaiser was my great-grandfather, and Delia was his second wife, whom he married after my great-grandmother, Jennie/Jane Johnston died in 1888. Hmm, I think. I had never seen a Cass Street address in conjunction with the Kaisers, so what is going on here?

On the 1920 census, William and Delia were living at 448 E. Chapin, not the property described here, but the official census date was January 1, 1920, before this transaction. Out of curiosity, I looked at the 1920 census and did find Charles Barton, a widower, listed at 223 E Cass Street, Cadillac, Michigan.¹ Barton was living next door to the at least two Mitchell families, the second property down the street would be where the Peterson Funeral Home is now. Hmmm. How long after his wife’s death did Charles sell? Seeking Michigan had the answer, Stella died on 27 January, 1919, and she was residing at 223 Cass Street at the time of her death. So Mr. Barton did not sell immediately after his wife’s death, but a year after.

You can see the original plat of Cadillac on the Michigan Subdivision Maps site. Block 13 is bounded on the north by Harris Street, on the east by Simons Street, on the west by Shelby Street, and on the South by Cass Street. Here is just the portion of containing Block 13:

Lot 6 is highlighted. The orientation of the map is deceiving, Cass Street runs west to east, the north 50 feet which would have been excluded from the transaction was on the corner of Cass and Simons street. I added the street names for Simons and Shelby, which were not visible on this portion of the plat.

I Googled the address, and found an old property sale listing for the address. Perhaps the addresses have changed slightly, I believe that Kaiser bought a portion of the lot which excluded the corner property, and the corner property is the one advertised for sale. I will not duplicate it here, but there is a pretty good view of the block on Google street view. It shows the funeral home and it’s parking lot, which is situated on the the northeast corner of Shelby and Cass. Traveling east up Cass street, there are two homes on the north side of the street before you reach Simons Street. They are easy to see from the street view. One problem with the street view are the address numbers/house numbers. They say approximate, and they are approximate. Even when I check the street view for my own home, the pin does not fall exactly on my home, but up the street a little way, with a note that the address is approximate. When the street view of this property says, 207 E. Cass Street, address approximate, I believe that approximate is accurate (if it can be).

I haven’t lived in Cadillac for 20 years, although I do visit occasionally. I know that property is on the same block as my church, Congregational UCC, and the Peterson Funeral Home. Why did William Kaiser buy this property? Did he ever live there? How long did he own it? Some of these answers are coming next.

1. 1920 U.S. census, Wexford County, Michigan, population schedule, Ward 3 Cadillac, Enumeration District [ED] 210, p 3A (penned) p. 158 (stamped), dwelling 55, family 66. Charles A. Barton, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com ” Accessed 15 April 2011); from National Archives microfilm publication T625 roll 798.