2012.28.01

Rev. James F. Taylor of the Congregational Church, retired to a farm on the lakeshore. Mary (Porter) Taylor was from the Porter family of Penn Yann, New York, and most of the letters are between the family in Michigan and her parents and sisters in New York. A daughter Grace Taylor ran the farm until the 1930s at least, when you find the letters from a Saugatuck Pastor's wife, you will find all of the autobiographical stuff you need. Mary Taylor died November 19, 1896 of "remittant fever" (possibly typhoid) and the Rev. James Taylor on October 1, 1903. Willie studied horticulture and was head of the Plant Bureau for the U. S Department of Agriculture in Washington, D. C. before his death in 1949. Grace graduated from the Penn Yan Academy in 1884 and then the Philadelphia School of Cookery. She was later assistant principal of the Baltimore Cookery School before returning to the Saugatuck area to take over Lakeridge Farm following the death of her father. She died July 28, 1931. Mabel was a teacher and later worked in the Civil Service examining division at Washington D. C. She died of pneumonia during a visit to her sister November S, 1930. All are buried in Riverside Cemetery, Saugatuck. The house and most of the farm buildings were razed during the 1990s.

Family History

Voss, Mary

04/30/2012

10/10/2023