This week I am going to write about my grandmother, Addie Densmore Anderson.  We  never got to met because she died four months before I was born of breast cancer. Addie was the oldest daughter of Charles Densmore and Mary Morgan Hayner. They had eleven children and Addie was the oldest child. She was born in Cottrollville Township, Michigan on October 12, 1890.

As a young woman of 17 years old, Addie was working on a milk delivery wagon and delivered milk to the Gustav Englehart home. It was there that she met handsome Norwegian sailor who was a rented a room from Gus and his wife.  She quickly fell in love with him.  And soon after, she married Andrew on December 9, 1907 in Windsor, Ontario. The marriage record states that she was nineteen but all my other records indicate that she was seventeen.

After she married Andrew, she took a job as a cook on the ship where he was working. Being a cook on a ship in the middle of the Great Lakes took real courage. At that tender age, all she could think of was your new husband and the life you are building together. I married at a young age too, so I can relate to her decision and likely would have done the same but thinking about it today at my age, it scares the dickens out of me. That first winter, Addie and Andrew were held up aboard their ship in the Chicago Harbor. They were “keeping ship” as they called it. Andrew had his daily jobs that he performed to ensure their were no problems with the ship or it’s mechanical systems. The ship had a skeleton crew of a few ship hands whom Addie cooked for . What a way for newlyweds to spend the first few months of their marriage. My mother, Leah, stated that her Mother spoke very fondly of those early days of their marriage. They had time to explore Chicago and learn about each other. Addie would need to go to the market to get food and supplies regularly, so she could cook meals. Being from the small village of in Michigan, Chicago must have been exciting in 1907. For 20 years from 1994 until 2014, I lived in Fox River Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago and we often visited downtown.  I can’t quite image what the city must have been like in 1907. The newlyweds had their first photo taken in a Nemecek Photography Studio at 602 West 18^th Street in Chicago, Illinois.

When Andrew and Addie were not at sea, they lived with Addie’s parents in Marine City, Michigan. They were recorded with her parents in the 1910 Federal Census. On October 27, 1911, Andrew and Addie had their first child, a daughter, who they named Olga. At some point before the birth of her daughter, Addie returned to Marine City where she and Andrew settled. Andrew continued to sail the Great Lakes on several different lake steamers; SS Geo King, SS Wm Eldenborn, SS Walter Scranton

On November 7, 1913, an extremely violent late fall storm developed over the Great Lakes and lasted for several days. This storm was much like “The Perfect Storm“ depicted in the movie that was released in 2000. Even though the Great Lakes are not as big as an ocean but they have the ability to create atmospheric conditions which rival ocean created storms. This storm is often referred to as the “White Hurricane”.  No other storm of this magnitude in recorded history had ever struck the Great Lakes. Lake Huron was especially hard hit but there was wide spread impact on all of the Great Lakes from this storm. It was a classic nor’easter which dumped several feet of early snow on most of Michigan and especially large amounts along the shoreline communities. Waves were recorded between 30 and 40 feet on the lakes.  It took over 250 lives with the wreck of 40 ships, 8 of which were large Lake Freighters which sank to the bottom of Lake Huron. I have not been able to determine whether Andrew was on the Lakes during this storm. The Marine Freight Season would have two months more of shipping before it closed in mid January. It would seem logical that freight companies which were nearing the end of their shipping season would be trying to get as many runs in as possible before the close of the season. If he was at sea, Addie must have been extremely afraid for her husband. Since she had sailed with him for a couple of years, she must  have experienced several storms during that time.

Eventually Andrew would stop sailing. In his 1918 WWI draft registration, he states that  he is working for an electric street car company which ran between Port Huron and Detroit. William Edison and his brother Thomas created the first electric street cars system in America. It was installed in Port Huron about twenty miles from where Addie and Andrew lived. These street cars were eventually extended from Port Huron to Detroit as noted in Andrew’s Draft registration.  Street cars enabled workers to commute from Port Huron to Detroit for work. Andrew became employed in the electrical substation which powered these electric streets cars.  I have wonder just how much the “White Hurricane” contributed to  Andrew’s decision to find employment on dry land.

In the years to come Addie would have eight children, six boys and two girls. In order to feed her growing brood, she and Andrew grew a large garden which became a family affair. Much of the Densmore families members including her parents, siblings and all the children worked in the garden through the growing season and they all canned and preserved what they grew. This garden was how they survived the lean years including the depression.

Addie learned to drive when they bought their first car. Most women did not at the time. She was involved with the local Woman Suffrage movement working toward women rights to vote. She was thrilled when she could finally vote and exercised that right faithfully and encouraged other women to vote as well. She was known to sometimes sit down with her friends and enjoy a pint and smoke a corn cob pipe on a summer day. She was very dedicated to her husband and her children taking the utmost care to raise them.

All four of her oldest sons served in WWII. Ray Densmore served in the Army and mustered out of Fort Custer, Michigan. He worked in the supply chain. His company chased Rommel’s forces across Northern Africa from battle to battle. Robert Wesley and Andrew Fredrick served in the Merchant Marines. Robert mustered out of Connecticut but I have not found where Andy mustered out of. Robert Wesley and Andy shuttled troops, supplies and munitions across the ocean to the closest ports to the front lines. Andy ended up being deployed on the Russian front at the end of the war. It was during the war that the three oldest sons became interested in motorcycle.  An interest which lasted throughout their adult lives sometimes to the chagrin of Addie. Charles Henry (Moon as we knew him) was in the Navy and mustered out of the Great Lake Navel station in Chicago. Charles Henry was deployed in the Pacific fleet. Addie had to be strong to support her family and her sons as they fought for their country.

My mother was the youngest daughter and third youngest child. She was a gentle,quiet girl living a in a houseful of loud boisterous young men and boys. When my mother started dating my father, the Methodist preacher ‘s son, Addie sat down her older boys and warned them to behave themselves! “Please do not spoil this for Leah!” She warned them. And they must have behaved because Leah married the preachers boy on May 27, 1950.

Addie was diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall of 1954. It had spread and she had likely had it for sometime. There was little that they could do to treat it at the time and she died in April of 1955, four months before I was born.

Though I never met her, I feel an intense connection to my Grandmother, Addie. I am an avid gardener, as she was. I have been a trailblazer of sorts through my life, as she was. I did not follow all the “normal” social rules and neither did she. I have bucked the system, so did she. I am a quilter and so was she! I am intensely connected to family today and my ancestors from my past, and so was she.

She was a strong woman and so am I.  I love you Addie!!!

Your granddaughter, Jan

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