The Baker: Minnie Porterfield Wilson

My great-grandmother through her daughter, Bernice.

Minnie Mae Porterfield Wilson, my maternal great-grandmother, came into this world on May 29, 1885 in Hazelton Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan. She was the first of two children for Ellen Zendler and George Porterfield. Her brother John Wesley came along in 1889.

Minnie and John Wesley circa 1893

George was a farmer. The 1900 census states that he emigrated from Canada to the US in 1870, and that his father emigrated from Scotland. Ellen was also born in Canada, having emigrated in 1879 with her German father and English mother.

Another fact that sticks out on this census record is the name of her future husband and his family living a few houses away. I can only conclude they met because they were neighbors, or maybe they attended the same church. This area of Michigan is rural now; I imagine the closest neighbors during this time could be miles away.

She married Fred Wilson on December 25, 1906 at her parents’ house. Her uncle, Samuel Porterfield, a local Methodist minister, officiated the wedding.

“While At Wedding,” Flint Daily Journal (Flint, MI), 26 Dec 1906, p 1

The couple had three children: two daughters and a son. They stayed in Hazelton Township until 1917 or 1918, when the family is listed on Becker Street near Corunna Road in Flint. Two years later, they are in Flushing. I think Fred got a job at an auto plant and wanted to move closer to work. He continued to farm though when he lived in Flushing.

(l to r) Fred, Wilma, George, Bernice, and Ellen Wilson

Minnie and Fred lived in Flushing and Swartz Creek the rest of their lives: first on Dillon Road, then Beecher, then 2444 Seymour Road.

Bottom row: Wes Porterfield, Ersal Porterfield, Unknown girl, Unknown boy, George Porterfield, Charles Porterfield. Center: Bernice Wilson. Top: Ellen Porterfield, Minnie Wilson, Wilma Wilson, Unknown woman, Fred Wilson

In 1947, the family endured a tragedy when daughter Wilma, her husband, and two of their four kids died in a car crash. The two survivors of the crash lived with Fred and Minnie on the Seymour Road farm.

Minnie and Fred celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on December 25, 1966. When Fred passed away on May 28, 1967, Minnie moved in with her daughter Bernice on Labian Drive in Flushing.

She passed on April 30, 1974, in Flushing at the age of 88 from heart failure. She was buried in Flushing City Cemetery. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Flushing, the Fellowship Class, Golden Rule Missionary Society, and the Golden Age Organization of Owosso.

Notable Facts

Minnie Porterfield Wilson shouldn’t be confused with her cousin, Minnie Porterfield Barnes Canfield Robinson, the daughter of James and Teresa Boyce Porterfield, who lived nearby and was 2 years older.

My mother remembers going to Minnie’s house and seeing tons of baked goods in her kitchen.

Sources

Ontario Canada Births, 1869-1913
Archives of Ontario; Series: MS929; Reel: 11. Accessed on Ancestry.com.

Canada Censuses
(1881 – 1911)
Hibbert, Perth County, Ontario; Hensall, Huron County, Ontario. Accessed on Library and Archives Canada or Familysearch.org.

US Federal Censuses
(1920 – 1940)
Genesee County, Michigan. Accessed on Ancestry.com or Familysearch.org.

Ontario Canada Marriages, 1801-1928
(Archives of Ontario, MS932, Reel: 83)
Accessed on Ancestry.com.

US Border Crossings From Canada
National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Manifests of Passengers Arriving at St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954; National Archives Microfilm Publication: M1464. Accessed on Ancestry.com.

Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950
File Number 011077. Accessed on Ancestry.com. Ordered on seekingmichigan.org now Michiganology.org. Personal records.

“Obituaries and Funeral Notices”,
Flint Journal, Flint, Michigan, September 24, 1946, Page: 18; Col 6; Item 7. Personal records. Accessed at Flint Public Library.

“The William Harburn Family in Michigan”,
Flushing Sesquicentennial History 1835-1987, Flushing Area Historical Society (Michigan), Vol. 2 (1987). Page 166. Personal records.

Findagrave.com
“William M Harburn,” ID#62465870, Flushing City Cemetery, Flushing, Genesee, Michigan

Family Stories

The Farmer Mechanic: Fred Wilson

My maternal great-grandfather through his daughter.

Born to Ambrose Wilson and Lucy Thompson on August 4, 1882, Fred Newell Wilson was the third of five children who grew to adulthood living on a farm in Hazelton Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan.

The Wilsons had been in the state for just over a decade at Fred’s birth as his grandfather Thomas used his Civil War pension to move his family from near Rochester, New York, sometime between 1865 and 1870.

Hazelton Township and the village of New Lothrop just north of it were very small. So small that Fred and his future wife were mentioned numerous times separately in the newspaper.

Fred married his neighbor and likely his fellow parishioner Minnie Mae Porterfield on Christmas Day 1906. While at the wedding, his parents lost their barn in a fire.

They had three children: Bernice, Wilma, and George. By 1918, he and Minnie moved to Flint. On his WWI draft card, his employer’s name is Chevrolet Motor Co. and his occupation is “work on motors.” His physical assessment describes him as tall, medium weight, with black eyes and black hair. By 1920, the Wilsons lived in Flushing, a suburb of Flint.

(l to r) Fred, Wilma, George, Bernice, Minnie about 1920.

Fred had farmed for most of his life and, according to census records, continued to do so, to make ends meet. Frequent address changes in records seem to indicate that Fred had a house in Flint nearer the auto plant and kept a farm in Flushing as well, and the family split time between places.

By World War II, Fred is self employed and the family lived on a farm on Seymour Road in Flushing.

In 1947, the family endured a tragedy when Wilma, her husband, and two of their four kids died in a car crash. The two survivors of the crash lived with Fred and Minnie on the Seymour Road farm.

He and Minnie celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on December 25, 1966. Fred passed away of a stroke on May 28, 1967 at age 84. He is buried in Flushing City Cemetery.

Notable Facts

In every record Fred, his wife, or his daughter filled out, they pointedly wrote Fred Newell Wilson as his full name. Not Frederick. If it was his given name, he clearly didn’t use it, so I don’t either.

Another note on Fred’s name: Apparently, the family pronounced Fred’s middle name Newell as “Noll.” It wasn’t until my mom saw it written out that she found out it wasn’t spelled Noel.

Sources

US Federal Censuses
(1870 – 1950)
Ontario County, New York; Shiawassee County, Michigan; Genesee County, Michigan. Accessed on Ancestry.com or Familysearch.org.

Michigan Birth Records, 1867-1902; Roll #4207042, Image 213 of 850. Accessed on Ancestry.com

Personal files. Application for Social Security, “Fred Newell Wilson.”Accessed from National Archives site.

Michigan Marriage Records, 1868-1925; Roll #4209085, Image 564 of 628. Accessed on Ancestry.com.

Military Draft Cards. WWI and WWII. Fred Newell Wilson. Accessed on Ancestry.com.

Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950. Accessed on Ancestry.com.

City Directories 1918, 1931. Wilson, Fred N. (Flint, Michigan)

Obituaries, The Flint Journal (Flint, Michigan) 30 May 1967, p24, Col8, item 4. Accessed at Flint Public Library, 16 May 2019.

Findagrave.com
“Frederick Newell Wilson,” ID#64118849, Flushing City Cemetery, Genesee County, Michigan

Family Stories