VIII. REDFORD S. CAVERLY 1846 - 1940
(Charles H., Philip Jr., Philip Sr., John Sr., Peter I, Peter Gerardus, Jean)

In 1887 Redford married Susannah (Bull) Baker of Greenleaf Township which is immediately south of Sheridan Township. The Bad Axe Democrat of Jan. 23, 1891 ran an ad for a defaulted mortgage by Redford to the Upton Manufacturing Co. of Port Huron, MI. On April 30, 1891, 97 acres of Redford’s land in Sec. 19 was to be put up for sale due to an unpaid total of $365.

On Dec. 10, 1891 a Warranty Deed was recorded in Huron Co., MI Libre 46, page 187 between George Arthur and wife to Susannah Caverly “in her own right”. She paid $1,000 for certain land in Colfax Twp., specifically “Robinsons lot beginning at a stake 50 links south and 50 links east of quarter section  lost on west side of Section 18, Town 16, North Range, 12 East, etc. ..... together with said premises.”

After the family moved to the Elkton area; Redford was in the dray business. He was also Treasurer for the Village of Elkton from 1897-1899 and again from 1903-1904. He was also deputy sheriff for a number of years. His 13 year old daughter Eva Mae died there in 1893 from diphtheria.

Per Michigan Place Names by Walter Romig, Elkton had just been founded in 1886 by W.J. McGillivray, a blacksmith, who built the first house in Elkton. He named it to commemorate his killing a huge elk entangled in his wife’s clothesline. It became a station on the Saginaw, Tuscola & Huron Railroad and was incorporated as a village in 1897.

The 1900 U.S. census for Elkton, Oliver Twp., Huron Co. shows Redford and Susannah with three children; Norman, Alton, and Casper. Susannah’s younger brother Sylvester Bull was also living with them. Redford gave his occupation as farmer.

Below is a 1910 picture of Redford, Susannah, son Alton’s first wife Effie, daughter Huldah, and her children Sadie and Gerald after they had moved to Kingston. The dog is Jack who lived to be almost 20 years old. A charcoal drawing of Redford is from the same period.

michigan@thecaverlys.com

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