A history of Pickford Area Pioneer Families Daniel Morrison

IZZARD

It was May 8, 1897, when one of our early pioneers arrived in the Pickford area. Nelson Izzard, who claimed Kingsbridge, Ontario, as his birthplace, was the son of Daniel and Emily Izzard. Daniel's parents were Mr. and Mrs. John Izzard of Liverpool, England. On March 9, 1887, Nelson married Caroline Sara Sheldon, daughter of George and Amanda Sheldon, in Joliet, Illinois, and settled there as a steel mill hand and butcher. But Mrs. Izzard's ill health forced them to try a new climate.

Traveling by horse-drawn wagon, they headed cross-country to Kansas and from there to Iowa. After several years there, they again sought a better climate. This time it was in a north-easterly direction and they arrived in St. Ignace in the spring of 1897. Here they encountered winter weather, but determined and hopeful of better days ahead, they set out for Cedarville, arriving at Grandfather Izzard's place, now owned by Fred Smith, east side of M-129.

In May of the same year they ventured out again. This time they called home the Jim Gough farm, directly opposite the former Russell Izzard farm, and from here to the Marsh farm, about one-half mile east, then once more to the Watson place, directly east of the John Little farm. Finally the end of traveling was in sight and they purchased the permanent farm, on M-48, adjacent to the Ervin Portice farm extending west to the section line.

These early pioneers cleared their own farms, made their own roads, not with modern equipment, but with strong arms, a pick and axe, mingled with determination and purpose.

Nelson and Caroline Izzard lived in this area 41 years. They were the parents of four sons: GEORGE E. of St. Ignace; LESLIE D. (deceased); NELSON of Pickford; and RUSSELL of Cedarville. One foster daughter, Mary McCuire, is deceased.

NELSON married Fannie Vincent (deceased, 1967) and they had seven children: Wesley (Bill), Russell, Claude Charles Caroline, Verne, and Carl (killed in World War II). Charles lives one mile north of town. He married Margaret Ames and they have three children: Kimberly, Brent, and Laura. Verne married Marjean Lockhart and they have three children: Patti, Susie and Duane.

21 grandchildren, 91 great grandchildren, and 26 great, great grandchildren complete this family tree. Mr. Izzard died Dec. 14, 1938, at the age of 79, while Mrs. Izzard lived to be almost 89.

JOHNSTONE

William Johnstone left Owen Sound, Ontario, in 1883 at the age of 16. He traveled to the Soo by boat and walked to the home of his uncle, Tom West, about 7 miles north of Pickford. William's parents, Robert and Elizabeth Johnstone, were Irish immigrants.

In 1886 Tom West died and left his 120 acres to William, then 20 years old. For 10 years he carried on alone, farming in the summer and working in the woods in the winter. In 1897 he married Sarah Edmonstone and they had two sons and two daughters. HANNAH married George Moiles and lives in Barbeau. WILLIAM is a plumber in Pontiac. MRS. JOHN SAWYER lives in Walled Lake. ROBERT was killed in a farm accident.

Mr. Johnstone died February 28, 1958, at the age of 91.

KELLY

Joseph W. Kelly was born on Feb. 29, 1855. Mrs. Kelly (Margaret Jane Curry) was born in July, 1857. They were married in Canada and had six children when they came to Pickford from Goderich, Ontario, 1880. They were the first settlers in the Fairview area, at that time a wilderness. The six children that were born in Canada were EDWARD, MARY, ELEANOR, GEORGE, BOB, and JOE. Three born here: ALBERT, WESTLY, and MARGARET.

EDWARD never married. MARY married Jim Sanderson and had three children, Westly, Russel, and Maggie. ELEANOR married Jack Stevenson and had 13 children. 7 died during childhood and 6 grew to adults: Joe, Jack, George, Alvin, Esther, and Mary. One of their babies, Edie, was the first baby to be buried in the Fairview Cemetery.

GEORGE died at the age of 28 while working on the Soo Water Power Canal. He is buried in Bethel Cemetery. BOB married Kate Spence and had two children, Margaret and Violet.

JOE married Mary Sims and had three children, George, Joseph, and Ethel.

ALBERT married Barbara Pierce. They had 5 children: Lloyd, Violet, Robert, Etta, and Orville. Violet died in her childhood. WESTLY died in childhood. MARGARET never married and is still living at the age of 88.

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Kelly picked up a homestead where Lloyd Kelly lives now. Six years later they built a big log house on the east end of the homestead, across the road from where their son, Joe Kelly, now lives. They lived there until he died at the age of 75 in 1920. Mrs. Kelly died at the age of 72 in 1919.

Joe Kelly married Mary Sims and homesteaded across from his parents, where he still lives today. Mrs. Kelly died in June, 1962. Mr. Joe Kelly, age 93, lives alone next to the homes of his sons, Joseph William and George. George died in October, 1971, at the age of 58.

Mr. Kelly remembered when they first came that it was a heavily wooded area with only trails through the woods. They came from Goderich on the boat that goes to the Soo. They stopped off at Sugar Island and stayed overnight with an Indian family. Mr. Stirling brought them from Sugar Island with a tug to Stirlingville. Mr. Robert Campbell brought them with their belongings about half-way from Stirlingville to Fairview with his oxen. They didn't have any neighbors for a while, until Richard McConkey moved next to them.

There have been four generations of Joe Kelly's living in this same location. Three generations are still living: Joseph R. Kelly, Joseph W. Kelly, and Joseph C. Kelly.

KENNEDY

The Alex Kennedy family (Alex, wife Mary, and daughters, Elizabeth and Ruth) came to the Soo in the spring of 1878. Alex walked from the Soo to inspect the location - N 1/2 Of N 1/2 Of Section 19 T43 R 1E - then the return walk to the Soo to file his claim. After proving his claim, the homestead grant was signed by Grover Cleveland, President of the United States.

Alex Kennedy was one of the first settlers south of the Munuscong River, making the crossing on a log, tree, or raft. It was no easy task to pack all produce from the Soo, Stirlingville, or Pickford. The first year he had land cleared and ready for a crop. He bought oats from Henry Garbie, shouldered the bag, and carried it the three miles home. At the river it was necessary for him to enlarge the raft to cross over.

For several winters he walked to Prentiss Bay to work in the saw mill as head sawyer then home again Saturday night - his walk a mere 16 miles. He also spent some winters working in the lumber camps. With one horse, he skidded logs, working for $1.75 a day. Alex helped survey the first line through to Cedarville, sawed the first lumber, and helped to build the first grist mill in Pickford.

The school known as the Kennedy School was built in 1884-1885. Miss Miller, sister of William Miller, was the first teacher. Isabel Denny was the last teacher in 1918. Mr. Kennedy was one of the first directors of the school board and continued to serve as a member of the board for many years.

In the spring of 1890 ELIZABETH was fatally burned while helping to make maple syrup. Never again was syrup made on the farm. Other children in the family were RUTH (Mrs. Thomas Winslow) who died in 1949; IDA (Mrs. Alex Clegg) who died in 1938; SARAH (Mrs. Gordon Bawks); MYRTLE (Mrs. George Gray) who passed away in Detroit in 1967; MARY (Mrs. Frank Crawford) who died in 1968; GEORGE, SAUL, ROY, and OAKMAN.

RUTH had a son, Alvin Winslow, who lives with his wife, Lenore, in Royal Oak and a daughter, Kathleen, who married Milo Gilbert and lives in Detroit.

IDA had a son, Otto, who died in Elk Rapids in 1964, and two daughters, Ruth (Mrs. Harold Beacom) and Lois (Mrs. William Johnston), both of Pickford.

SARAH has a son, Blythe (Mac), and a daughter, Doris (Mrs. Al Pollard), both of Cedarville, and Ferne (Mrs. James A. Stewart) of Port Huron.

MYRTLE left two sons, Howard of Detroit and Darwin of Westland, and a daughter, Ralva (Mrs. Calvin Dyce) of Phoenix, Arizona.

MARY left two sons, Lyle of Sault Ste. Marie and Vern of Marquette; and four daughters: Myrtle (Mrs. Edwin MacDonald) of Pickford; Colleen (Mrs. Mel Christie), Sault; Ida Ollrs. Ron Hicks), Cedarville; and Edith (Mrs. Jim Dilday) of Dresden, Tennessee.

GEORGE with his wife Daisy operated a farm near Pickford until his death in May, 1948. Three daughters, Evelyn (Mrs. Jack Slater), Norma (Mrs. Don Stirling), and Louise Mrs. Roy Rye) live in Pickford. Edith(Mrs. Dunccln McKenzie) lives in California, as does a step-daughter, Marjorie (Mrs. Joe Floyd). Another step-daughter, Annie (Mrs. Wm. McKinnon) lives in the Soo.

After spending some years farming in the vicinity of Pickford, SAUL began working at the Soo Locks. He was retired in 1958 and continued to make his home in the Soo with his wife,

Grace, until his death in 1959. Wyoming. Three daughters also survive: Elizabeth (Mrs. John Johnson) and Beverly Ward of the Soo and Dorothy (Mrs. Clair Huey) of Midland.

His son, William a federal forestry employee lives in Cheyenne,

ROY and his wife, Laura, made their home in Pickford until his death Feb. 28, 1971. A son, Gerald, lives in the Soo. A daughter, Yvonne (Mrs. Harold Morrtinson), lives in Marquette and another daughter, Marilyn (Mrs. J. B. Clark) lives in Pontiac.

OAKMAN and his wife, Elizabeth, married in 1932. He still lives on the homestead, but Elizabeth died in February 1972. He was employed by the Michigan Department of Conservation until his retirement in July 1965. Their son, Stanley, is serving as a Major with the U. S. Air an Force in Washington, D. C. One daughter, Fronda Marie (Mrs. William DeHaan) lives in Escanaba, while the other daughter, Margaret Lucille (Mrs. R. J. LaPonsie) lives in Rudyard.

Lois Johnston remembers her mother, IDA, telling of the early years when Mr. Kennedy and a neighbor were working at the lumber mill at Prentiss Bay and the only means of communication between the families was a small dog, which Mrs. Little would send with a note tied around its neck to the Kennedy home, a distance of about 2 1/2 miles. Alex and Mary Kennedy had a family of 10 children with descendants numbering as follows: 32 grandchildren, 98 great grandchildren, 16 great, great grandchildren, and 2 great, great, great grandchildren. KERR Gabriel Kerr came to Stirringville with his wife about 1880 from Grenville, Quebec, Canada, with a daughter, Catherine, and a son, William. Three daughters, Alice, Jennie, and Emma, died in their teens with diphtheria. CATHERINE married Charles Aimstrong and they had two daughters and a son. Belle married Herbett Nixon, Ethel married George Gough, and their son was Harry. WILLIAM married Laura Campbell and they had 11 children. Minetta married Clifford Robinson and they lived on her Grandfather Campbell's farm until they moved to the Sault in 1964. She had one daughter, Muriel (Mrs. Larry Hillock). Reta is Mrs. D. W. PIohazka and lives in Grand Rapids. ne Robert lives in Dafter. Preston is deceased. Brvdell is Mrs. Clinton Clegg and lives in Pickford, as does\Mabel (Mrs. Morrill Roberts). Vivian is married to Noel Waldron and lives in Alma, Michigan. Verna is Mrs. Ernest Windsor and lives in Hessel. Kenneth also lives in Hessel. Shirley and Clifton died as children.