The settlers from St. Clair, Michigan had a very prominent role in the settlement of this area.  This article will attempt to describe some of their history and background, but the major emphasis will be on attempting to show their genealogy and relationship to each other.

Myrtle Porterville writes that: "The largest and wealthiest group of settlers of Griggs County has been called the "St. Clair" settlement. Of these former Michigan people, T. J. Cooper and his brother, R. C. Cooper - Cooper Brothers - had the largest investment of capital in railroad lands, buildings, machinery, and horses and mules. "

Mrs. Porterville also writes the following information on page 12 of the Cooperstown Diamond Jubilee:

  1. Mrs. George Bernard was Mr. Cooper's sister (Nellie Cooper born about 1843).
  2. Mrs. J. N. Brown was Mrs. Cooper's sister (Mrs. Cooper was Emma Hutchins)
  3. Mrs. M. Zimmerman was a sister of J. N. Brown
  4. B. B. Brown was a brother of J. N. Brown
  5. Rev. Rockwell was Mr. Cooper's cousin
  6. Dr. G. F. Newell was related to Rev. Rockwell
  7. Charles L. Cooper was son of T. J. Cooper
  8. Mrs. Charles Cooper was a Husel
  9. A similar chain of relationships exists of other early families as
    1. Langford
    2. Houghton
    3. Sansburn
    4. Davis
    5. McCulloch
    6. Glass
    7. Rankin
    8. Gimbelt
    9. Haskell
    10. Moffatt
    11. Church
    12. Detwiller
    13. Sinclair

About 65 friends and acquaintances from St. Clair County, Michigan, came and formed the Cooper settlement around the town of Cooperstown.  Of these settlers the families of

  1. Brown
  2. Washburn
  3. Barnard
  4. Glass
  5. Langford
  6. Williams
  7. Houghton
  8. Bathie
  9. Hunter
  10. Crane
  11. Smart
  12. Pinkerton
  13. Stevens
  14. Enger
  15. Stair
  16. Newell
  17. Kerr

came in 1881.

A reference to the S.B. Langford Family shows that:

Samuel Bernard Langford (1837-1913)...went to St. Clair, Mich....married 1st in 1859, Mary Brown who was born in England and died in 1861. Children: 

  1. Bessie who married Beni Kuhns and went to Honolulu;
  2. Samuel B. Langford Jr.,  (1861-1952), who came to Griggs County 1881 with father and family, married 1894 Jennie Glaspell (1873-1944)-children:
    1. Vera Langford
    2. Maynard Langford
    3. Warren Langford
    4. Lois Langford
    5. Marian Langford
    6. Garth Langford
    7. Marvelle Langford

Samuel B. Langford Sr. then had a second marriage to Hannah Lewis (1843-1923). Children:

  1. Laura, married James Gimblett-10 children.
  2. Alberta (1868-1943) married Charles W. Houghton (1863-1931)-children:
    1. Milton Houghton,
    2. Cora (Mrs. James Hazard),
    3. Ruth.
  3. John Herbert (1871-1943), married Bertha Sansburn. Children:
    1. Nellie,
    2. John and
    3. Gladys.
  4. Olive (1870-1936), married Wilmot Houghton-no children.
  5. Lillian, married 1st Mathew C. Locton-2 children; married 2nd Rev. Edwin Burling-WWI-2 children.
  6. Cora, married R. L. Jones, Hannaford. Children:
    1. Robert,
    2. Raymond,
    3. Richard.
  7. Minnie, born 1885 in Griggs County, married N. J. Zeller of Lisbon, North Dakota.
  8. Alfred E. (1873-1952), married Mary Jenkins (1882-1944). Children:
    1. Mrs. Clarence (Dorothy) Sansburn,
    2. Mrs. Ernest Wold,
    3. Mrs. Floyd Pratt,
    4. Mrs. Clarence Solberg, Finley, North Dakota.

 

Some references to settlers from St. Clair are:

  1. Will H. Carleton was originally from St. Clair, Michigan, and his name appears as a practicing attorney in Cooperstown in the earliest court records of Griggs County.  He served as County Judge of Griggs County for many years and was serving in that capacity at the time of his death on July 7, 1940.

  2. William Glass was born at St. Clair, Michigan in 1853.  He studied law in Cleveland, Ohio and subsequently became a sailor on the Great Lakes.  He came to Dakota and settled on the site of Cooperstown, March of 1881.  He was elected justice of peace for the county of Griggs in November of 1882.  He opened a real estate and loan office soon after he arrived.  He had two brothers, A.J. and N. J. Glass who owned farms near Cooperstown.  He remained in the law, real estate and land office business here until 1910.

  3. Ruth remembers how they told of her grandfather, Joshua Houghton, and her grandmother, Miranda Button, moving from Coleberg, Ontario, Canada to St. Clair County, Michigan with 4 children.  Seven more children were born there.  Then the family, with seven of the sons, moved to North Dakota, though not all at the same time.

  4. My father, Glenn J. Boltz (5-7-1880 - 5-19-1946) came to Cooperstown in the fall of 1907, from Muskegan, Michigan to find himself some farmland.  One year later, on October 28, 1908 he was married to Annabelle McKinnon (1-28-1885 - 12-23-1970) from St. Clair, Michigan.  They were married at Cooperstown by Reverend H. C. Kishpaugh.  My Father was an orphan and was adopted out.  Years later he found his brothers and sister.  My Mother had nine brothers and sisters, who all lived in Michigan.  She was the daughter of Murdock and Anna McKinnon of St. Clair, Michigan.  My parents first lived on SW of Section 18-147-58 in Romness Township.  This is where my oldest sister, Marjorie was born December 3, 1909.  My Mother went back to her parents home in the fall of 1910 and I was born in St. Clair, Michigan, November 11, 1910. 

 

 

Sources:

  1. An Early Day View of Cooperstown - Cooperstown Diamond Jubilee 1882-1957 Page 12
  2. Map of Washtenaw County, Michigan
  3. Map of St. Clair, Michigan
  4. Samuel B. Langford
  5. Will H. Carleton
  6. William Glass
  7. English Speaking Settlers
  8. Churches in Cooperstown Area