The Farm Property

A photo of the Farm taken in the 1950s.

The Michigan property has been in the family for over 150 years. The original owners were Reuben Clark and Lucinda Russell Clark. Lucinda was a daughter of Josiah and Betsey Hastings Russell. Russells owned other property in other sections nearby. The property is in Section 11, Grattan Township, Kent County, Michigan, on Lincoln Lake Road. R. Clark is on the Grattan Plat Map of 1855 for the property.

In 1863, the name on the Grattan Plat Map was O.H. Russell. This is Otis Harrison Russell, who was Lucinda's brother. I think he must have bought the property from her after Reuben died, either to take over the responsibility of the land or to give her money to live on. The family has a history of taking care of each other so I am not surprised by this. Otis Harrison died in the Civil War in Tennessee.

The next Grattan Plat Map of 1876 shows Julia A. (Ackley) Russell, wife of Otis, as the landowner. She received a pension via her husband's Civil War service so was able to keep the land.

She sold it to her daughter Jessie Florence and husband John Irving Weeks, who remained the owner well into the 20th century. Elmer Grant Weeks, Jessie and John's son, either inherited the property or bought it from his mother sometime in the 1940s or 1950s because he was the owner during my childhood in the 50s.

Grant eventually sold the property to my cousin, Lyle Weeks and his wife Judy. Lyle died in late 2006 so the land was then owned by his widow, Judy, although I think one of their sons now lives in the original farmhouse and Judy lives in a new house built at the back of the property. So that son must now own the property.

This makes the ownership of the Farm in "The Family" from at least the 1850s to 2007.