L.D. Springsteen’s pocket watch

The watch

This watch was carried by Loyal Davis (L.D.) Springsteen. It was given to his grandson Edwin Frank Springsteen, my father, who passed it on to me. I have forwarded it to an appropriate member of the next generation.

The family story

Here is a bit of family background. John S. Springsteen, L.D.’s father, was born in 1818, probably near Scottsville, New York. Like most of our early ancestors, he was a farmer. John moved to southeastern Michigan in the 1840s where he married Mary Howe in 1848. John and Mary had nine children that I know about, all but the youngest born around Fenton, Michigan.

Loyal Davis Springsteen was born in 1864 after the family moved to a farm near DeWitt in Clinton County. His name might have been inspired by respect for Davis Huntley, who married John’s sister Nancy. In the late 1800s many men were known by their initials, and Loyal Davis was called L.D. His father John died around 1867 when L.D. was very young. I’ve heard that John died while traveling by train to Rochester, New York for his brother Francis’s estate, but I haven’t seen any evidence of his death.

L.D. married Agnes Keck in 1892 at her family home near DeWitt. Notice in their wedding photo that L.D. had lost part of his right index finger. Farming is risky work. I wonder if his watch might have been his father John’s. L.D. and Aggie had three sons, Aden, Clinton “Joe”, and Harold. L.D. farmed first for himself and then for the City of Lansing, where hogs consumed garbage from the city. L.D. and Aggie moved into Lansing as he continued employment in public works for the city. L.D. died in 1943 before I was born, so I never knew him. Aggie died in 1963, and I remember her well.

Aden Loyal Springsteen was born in 1896. He married Goldie Verda Case on her nineteenth birthday in 1918. Verda lived in the former crossroads community of Titus near Remus in Mecosta County. As a young woman she worked in the silk mill in Belding, riding the train back to Remus for weekend family visits. Her brother John Case, a barber in DeWitt, brought his customer and friend Aden Springsteen home to Titus one weekend and the rest is history. Aden and Verda named their first child John L.D. Springsteen. Johnny was followed by Donovan “Mick”, then by Lorna, Ed (my dad), Madge, Harold “Hud” and Loretta. Johnny died in 1934 after a farm accident. Mick named his firstborn John L.D. Springsteen after his brother. My cousin John passed that name on to a third generation.

Aden was, of course, a farmer. He and John Case bought farms south of Sheridan across from each other on the state road now known as M66. John opened the Oldsmobile dealership in Sheridan that was carried on for decades by Jake and Denny Beardslee. Aden died in 1941 from injuries caused by a car/train collision in Stanton. After John Case died in 1944, his farmhouse became the original home of the Sheridan Community Hospital.