Verda’s reunion lives on. We had a nice gathering of Grandma Olsen’s great big family on Sunday, continuing a tradition that dates back at least to the 1950s. Edwin and Loretta Case’s family was represented by descendants of the highlighted children and grandchildren:

1. Avey Case
2. Frank Case
3. Elsie Case
4. Charles Case
5. John Case
6. Verda Case
   1. John Springsteen
   2. Donovan (Mick) Springsteen
   3. Lorna Springsteen
   4. Edwin Springsteen
   5. Madge Springsteen
   6. Harold (Hud) Springsteen
   7. Loretta Springsteen
7. Theodore (Pete) Case

We were joined for the first time since Marian Olsen’s passing by members of Grandpa Olsen’s family, Bill and Carol. I was able to bequeath a family photo album from Marian and Marie to their cousin Merritt’s son. Bill still has his dad’s fiddle and hammered dulcimer, which I enjoyed hearing at a young age. Here is a picture of Grandma and Merritt playing in Grandma and Grandpa’s home:

I missed bringing Mom to the reunion of Dad’s family this year. The ranks of their generation are thinning but still going strong, with my Aunt Dorothy representing them at the reunion. She shared a story from about 1945 involving her husband-to-be Hud, his step-brother Ron Olsen, and a cake. Grandma made this cake to take to Birmingham, Michigan for her first visit with Grandpa Fred Olsen’s relatives there but found only a very appreciative note and presumably something to provide a little weight under the cake cover.

Probably our youngest family members in attendance this year were Oliver, visiting from California, and Loretta, at least the fourth of that name in recent generations of Grandma Olsen’s family.

I didn’t take any pictures this year, but perhaps others can provide. Here are a few pictures from reunions past:

I shared a bit of family history at the reunion this year with the teaser “one of Grandma Olsen’s direct ancestors died in prison.”

Grandma’s father, Edwin Case, was born in Canada West (now Ontario) in 1859.^[1] According to the 1900^[2] and 1910^[3] censuses he came to Michigan in 1873 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in the interval between those census enumerations. Grandma Olsen told me that her father was on his own at a young age when his mother Sarah died and his father, Joshua Case, remarried. Sarah Case died of typhoid fever in 1872.^[4] Grandma Olsen never knew her Grandma Case, who died nearly 27 years before Grandma was born in 1899. Grandma became well acquainted with Joshua when he lived with her family for the last years of his life.

Joshua Case married Sarah Chamberlain in 1851, probably in East Oxford of the Brock District, Canada West.^[5] Sarah was born in Saltfleet, Upper Canada (later Canada West, now Ontario) around 1830-1832. I knew from previous research that Sarah’s parents were David Chamberlain, a cooper by trade, and Susan St. John, both born in New York state. I learned only recently about earlier generations of our Chamberlain ancestors.

I was contacted in April by a distant relative named Eileen who had invested some twenty years in researching Chamberlain ancestors. I was too busy for months with other matters to read Eileen’s extensive notes but finally made time to review them. I have already found some documentary evidence supporting her observations. Eileen’s research is hers to share, not mine, but suffice it to say it is interesting. It includes two generations of physicians. One ancestral couple was a marriage of first cousins. The wife, whose mother died after childbirth, was raised by her maternal grandmother who had married another member of the Chamberlain family.

Stepping back through generations to immigrant ancestors, Eileen found William and Rebecca Chamberlain of Billerica in the colony of Massachusetts Bay. William appears to have been born in England in 1619 and Rebecca around 1625. Together they are reported to have raised a dozen children, with another apparently not reaching adulthood.

In 1692 William and Rebecca found themselves in the midst of madness generally known as the Salem witch trials. In an article by Kathy Meagher, Local History/Reference Librarian at the Billerica Public Library, we learn that Rebecca Chamberlain was apparently among those accused of witchcraft. She died in prison in Cambridge on October 27, 1692, soon followed by fellow townsman John Durrant. The witch trials ended early in 1693.

Dee and I have recently begun watching the PBS series Jamestown. Episode 2 of Season 1 demonstrates how easily charges of witchcraft could be made and believed.

My mother, born Lois Kidder, also had immigrant ancestors living in Billerica. James Kidder died in 1676 and his wife Anna in 1691. I am not aware of what impact the witch trials might have had on their family, but certainly the whole community was affected.

See you again next year

We’ll continue to gather Verda’s great big family at East Riverside Park in Belding on the last Sunday of July. I encourage family members to bring stories next year of those who are no longer with us.

Source notes

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^[1] “Michigan Death Certificates, 1921-1952,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFQD-L4G : 13 March 2018), Edwin Case, 23 Nov 1935; citing Sheridan, Mecosta, Michigan, United States, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing; FHL microfilm 1,973,017.

^[2] “United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS98-76R : accessed 31 July 2019), Edwin Case, Fork & Sheridan townships, Mecosta, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 102, sheet 4B, family 82, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,731.

^[3] “United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLRC-B8P : accessed 31 July 2019), Edwin Case, Sheridan, Mecosta, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 124, sheet 7B, family 40, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 663; FHL microfilm 1,374,676.

^[4] “Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDRL-3Y8 : 24 October 2018), Sarah Case, 1872.

^[5] “Ontario, District Marriage Registers, 1801-1858,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2C1-L992 : 20 February 2019), Sarah Chamberlain in entry for Joshua Case, 27 Oct 1851; citing Brock, North Riding, York, Canada West, British Colonial America, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,030,051.