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| Nina Johnson with her sons Bob, Dave and George at Christmas |
Nina Hagaman was born on 18 December 1878 in Somerset Center, Hillsdale Co. Michigan to George and Ida (Galusha) Hagaman. The Hagaman's lived on a farm a little north west of the small village of Somerset Center, where Nina's grandfather Jacob Hagaman owned and operated what was probably a general store. Not far from this store sat a small white framed church that would be a important center for the Hagaman families spiritual and social life. Here, at the Somerset Center Methodist Episcopal Church Nina's mother played the piano for Sunday services and probably a number of other actives, such as recitals and plays, which were common in rural 19th century communities. The Hagaman's resided with Nina's paternal grandmother, Elizabeth. It is clear that following Elizabeth's death in 1890, fortunes must have changed for Nina's parents. The farm was sold and the family would move to the Grass Lake area, first living on a small farm in southern Waterloo Township and then later on property that they probably rented.
Following the move to Grass Lake, Nina met a young farmer named David Rattler Johnson of Leoni. They were married on 20th of January 1897 by Rev. John F. Orwick, the Chaplain for the State Prison of Southern Michigan, located in downtown Jackson. The witnesses listed in the marriage records are Charles and Carrie Johnson, the brother and sister-in-law of the groom. I suspect the Rev. Orwick was affiliated with the Trinity Lutheran Church in Jackson, where Carrie Fisher Johnson's family had been members.
It would be only a few short years and David and Nina would become parents to a large group of children, they were: 1) John (1898-1970), 2) David (1900-1967), 3) George (1904-1957), 4) Ida (1908-1977), 5) Alfred (1911-1966), and 6) Robert (1915-1980).
The Johnson's would live on rented farms throughout Leoni Township for many years, never owning their own place, as far as I'm able to determine. Using the 1910 and 1920 Federal Censuses I have pin pointed their residence in the area just east of the Michigan Center Mill Pond/Center Lake, probably along Napoleon, Lee, and Noon Roads. By the 1930 and 1940 Federal Censuses the Johnson's were living in the northern sections of Leoni Township, on farms that my mother always referred to as the Whipple Farm.
In the late 30s David would become ill with Tuberculosis and was hospitalized periodically, finally succumbing to the often fatal illness on 8 October 1940 after a four month stay at the Jackson County Tuberculosis Sanitarium.
As a 62 year old widow, Nina would now be on her own. She rented various apartments around Leoni and Grass Lake until she married a widower Mr. Stewart Benn in 1942. Before her second marriage, its not clear what her source of income was, but I would guess that like so many women at the time she would have done domestic work for large families in the community, helping with the cooking, cleaning and the washing of cloths was a very common activity for older women that could be turned into a way of support. Also, at this time Social Security was a new benefit and perhaps she was eligible to receive a monthly check based on her first husbands previous work.
It is unclear to most of her descendants how long she shared a domestic situation with Mr. Benn. Concluding from stories we have heard, it appears that domestic life as a married couple with Nina and Stewart was tense and uncomfortable. Eventually Nina left her second husband, but they never divorced. It was about this time that my sister remembers Grandma Nina. At the time she was living in an apartment in Grass Lake....it was in what is today the home of the Grass Lake Historical Society, the Coe House Museum. How long Nina lived at the corner of East Michigan Avenue and Wolf Lake Road is not certain. Eventually Nina would no longer be able to live on her own and she took up residence with her daughter, Mrs. Ida Johnson Meyer at 1900 Wolf Lake Road.
Nina Johnson Benn died of a heart attack on 3 December 1962 at the W. A. Foote Memorial Hospital in Jackson. Her funeral service was held at the Stormont Funeral Home in Grass Lake with the Rev. Archie H. Donigan of the Grass Lake Methodist Church officiating. She was to be buried next to her first husband, David at the Leoni Cemetery on South Portage Road, just south of the village of Leoni. However, when the sexton began to open the gravesite an existing interment was discovered. This necessitated finding another final resting place for Nina. It is said that she was interred "nearby". But the gravesite was never marked and attempts to locate it have proven difficult. Last year, I contacted the Leoni Township Clerks Office thinking they would have a record where Nina's final resting place is located (The township is now the owner and operator of the cemetery). Unfortunately, they can find no record of where she was buried. While we are certain that she is buried at the Leoni Cemetery because "Burial Permits" were issued, it has become one of my goals to locate her grave and make sure that it is marked for future generations of her descendants.
While Nina has not been memorialized with a marker signifying the location of her mortal remains, on this day I hope she knows that she is Remembered!
UPDATE!
Received a letter from the Burden's Funeral Home yesterday. Burden's is the successor to the Stormont Funeral Home, which is the company that managed Nina's final services. Unfortunately, Burden's has no knowledge of the whereabouts of records for the former Stormont Funeral Home. Sad news....I was hopeful that they would be another source of information on Nina's final resting place.
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