The Nankin Township Historical Society

I was searching for a photo of Pike's Peak and while looking in the wrong book for it came across these two pages from one of the Images of America Westland book. They feature Hiram Fulton, a Civl War soldier from Nankin who was injured in the Second Battle of Bull Run, in which he was shot in the right arm, causing a fracture and the loss of use of the limb. He was the brother of Janetta Felton who married Ebenezer O. Bennett, also a Civil War veteran, and future Superintendent of the Wayne County House and later Eloise.

Here are the expenditures for running the County Farm at Wayne (Eloise) and the market value of produce produced and livestock sold and tended to. Most of the work was performed by paupers with some help from Edwin and Martin Wightman as well as Martin Lawlor. The Wightman name is well-known in the area and a family member was the first burial at Ganong Cemetery. Paupers also earned their keep by making the necessary clothing for the patients' yearly needs. A half century lat er the paupers of the 20th century often refused to work the farm leading to its demise and consequently the self-sustainability of the institution at large.

I bought this 1909 postcard today from a Nellie to Mrs. G. W. Moore of Romulus. Who, I am guessing, is a daughter-in-law of George Washington Moore of Romulus or a relative since the family was prominent in the area. I assumed that it was Mrs. George William Moore but his wife's name was Katherine (De Mill) and it couldn't have been George Washington Moore's wife, who was named Mary, since she was deceased by 1909. G. W. Moore, the elder was a farmer and also a keeper of the Wayne County House from 1853-1855. The other names mentioned are Carrie, Mrs. J. Moore and Mrs. Johnson along with the writer of the card Nellie. There is a Nellie Moore buried in the Romulus Cemetery where the two G. W. Moores mentioned above are also buried. There were two siblings of George William Moore with the initial J., Jasper and James, who may or may not be related to this Mary Moore of Romulus. No matter to the who she is let her and the card be entered into the record. Detroit Free Press ...

Detroit Free Press , September 5, 1908 Mrs. Belle Hawley was seemingly always at the cusp at having it all: love, money, health and happiness but couldn't quite get there. She had modest wealth and a marriage to a well-to-do saloon keeper Edward Hawley but couldn't keep him. After dying in a barroom brawl with his brother James, Hawley left nothing to his erstwhile wife. A frequent occupant at the County House along with her sister Mary Glenn she had been let out of the facility a few weeks before her untimely death. Though seemingly afflicted with heart troubles she chose to be healthy over cared for and died from an aortic "aneulism" after ignoring the doctor's office for the comforts of the Continental Hotel at 55 Cadillac Square. She had blamed her sickness on an accidental poisoning but an autopsy said otherwise. She was 45 years old.