Collection Item - Saugatuck-Douglas History Center

HerStory 2022-2024

Archive

Scope and ContentPhotos and graphics from an exhibit that ran from July 1, 2022 to Sept. 26, 2024 at the SDHC. The exhibit

Intro panel; HerStorians Ruth Crow, Annie Hayes, Jancie Krakowski, Maryjo Lemanski, Carol Peterson, Toni Perrine, Gemina Petruzzelli, Barri Rosenbluth, Peg Sanford, Sally Winthers and Christa Wise

MAY FRANCIS HEATH 1873–1961; “ I am convinced that Saugatuck would have
been a much poorer place without her.
She helped mold the community’s sense
of identity.” –Kit Lane

May Heath was a local entrepreneur, church and civic leader, artist and poet who broke
gender barriers for women in early Saugatuck. She was a Mother, Teacher, Story Teller,
Shop Owner, Author, Librarian, President of the Saugatuck Woman’s Club, Realtor, Painter,
Composer, Organizer, and most importantly the Local Historian.
May Francis Heath was born May 13, 1873 to Saugatuck residents John Francis and Julia
Francis Morrison. She attended the old wooden school at the top of Allegan Hill.
May was hired to teach the primary department of the Ganges School in March 1892, before
receiving her High School Diploma. She felt she had to delay her education to help support
her impoverished family.
She later finished her high school degree and graduated as Valedictorian of the Saugatuck
High School Class of 1893. She went on to teach intermediate grades in the Saugatuck
Union School. October 30, 1895, May Francis at the age of 22 married Doc Heath, 29, at the
Congregational Church. They had two children, Gladys born in 1895, and Francis born in
1900, both in Saugatuck.
May was a hard worker and thrived in the business arena. She one wrote “When asked if I
had a hobby, I replied “Yes I have two, Business and Writing, both of which I really love.”
May operated the Ferry Store on the west shore of the Kalamazoo River. The Commercial
Record of June 7, 1917 reported, “A concession has been opened in the Heath boat house at
the west side of the ferry landing. She often told of getting up at 4am to bake her cupcakes
for her customers.”
“We sold the Little Handy Shop in 1920 and opened a Real Estate office and we had a most
successful business for 25 years—selling the town over and over again”. After her husband
Doc died in 1947, she remained “ambitious to sell real estate” and in 1949 shared that she
was “working on my 3rd sale this year—pretty good for an old woman of 76.”
It was natural for May Francis Heath to become Saugatuck’s first historian. Her grandparents,
Stephen A. and Mary Peckham Morrison, were among the first settlers and “living history”
of the town. May was a young mother in her early 30s when her grandfather died, and her
interest in his stories of the early days was evident. She inherited his many papers, diaries,
and photo albums, as well as his dedication to the town of Saugatuck.
When May’s husband Doc died in 1947, May sold a number of buildings Doc had built and
then moved to a small home she called Heathcote at 525 Butler Street.
May began spending winters in in Florida, keeping an active club life of art and bridge. She
only picked up the brush at age 78 when she took an art class in Lake Worth, Florida, where
she wintered. Her paintings are still cherished, they captured her memories. May enjoyed
her art experience so much at the age of 80 she organized the Saugatuck Art Club in 1953.
Never to slow down, May traveled to Paris at the age of 81. She soaked in the museums, the
history, the art, and the people of Paris. She came home to record her trip on canvasses, …
always living and breathing her philosophy of life. “Life is wonderful… people are delightful.”
May died unexpectedly of a heart attack in September of 1961 at the age of 88. The Historical
Society formed a committee in 2009 to study her contributions. At the culmination of this
study a program was held at The Village Square on August 10, 2010 to honor Saugatuck’s
first historian. A bronze plaque was installed on the water fountain and remains there today.
At the same time, the Saugatuck Woman’s Club named their 4 -year educational scholarship
“The May Francis Heath Scholarship”.
May was hired to teach the primary
department of the Ganges School
in March 1892, before she had even
received a High School Diploma.
She felt she had to delay her
education to help support her
impoverished family. She did finish
her high school degree as a member
of the Saugatuck High School Class
of 1893. She gave the Valedictory
address, an essay entitled
“Drifting” at the Commencement
Ceremony and began promptly
teaching the intermediate grades
in the Saugatuck Union School.
May Francis Heath researched by fellow
Team HerStorian, Peg Sanford.

FLORENCE ELY HUNN 1887–1984; Florence “Danny” Hunn was a pathbreaking
architect and designer in Chicago who came
to the Lakeshore through her family’s ties to
Pier Cove. Together with her partner, Mabel
“Jims” Warren she lived life challenging
expectations for women.

Florence graduated from the University of Chicago in 1911 and studied art at the Academy
of Fine Arts and the Art institute of Chicago where she became a life member. Her unique
membership contribution included lectures she gave until the second World War. She was
a founding member of the American Institute of Interior Design, serving on the national
board for three years and President of the Chicago chapter for two.
She had hoped to become an architect but at that time women were not being admitted to
architecture schools. As a result, she associated herself with Mr. Walton, one of the finest
creative decorators in Chicago. In 1925 she opened her own shop, the Florence Ely Hunn
Studio. From there she worked in twelve states, designing interiors and exteriors until 1955.
She specialized in design for wealthy North Shore Chicago apartment dwellers and other
clients all over the world. Her design forte was in the American Colonial and English 18th
century styles but was one of the first designers in Chicago to favor modernism opening
her own modern design shop in New York City.
Barred from earning a license, it was the open-minded Pier Cove-Saugatuck area that gave
her the opportunity to practice architecture. Hunn designed several lakeshore cottages,
including the Kamman cottage on Lake Shore Drive, one for the Chicago industrialist,
A. Finkl (now the Kollenberg-Jones cottage on Campbell Road) and “Tonawanda

KATHRYN (KIT) ERICKSON LANE 1939–; “ I knew what I wanted to be in third grade.”
Kathryn ‘Kit’ Lane left her mark on the community as an author, a reporter and editor, an
educator, and a public speaker. Much like an earlier woman historian in Saugatuck—May
Francis Heath—Kit Lane researched and wrote the books that are the starting point for
anyone who wants to understand the history of the Lakeshore.
Kathryn Boyd Erickson was born on October 13, 1939 to Lawerence Erickson and Mabel
McElroy. She grew up in Detroit and graduated from Detroit Public School’s Pershing High in
1957. She then went on to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in journalism from Michigan
State in 1961. She later earned a Master of Library Science from Western Michigan University.
Kit met Arthur Lane while they were working for the Southern Illinoisan newspaper in
Carbondale, Illinois. Art, another Detroiter, was an army veteran with a master’s in journalism
from the University of Michigan. They were married on March 10, 1962 in Detroit.
Their dream was to move back to their native Michigan and run a small newspaper. They
eventually came to the Saugatuck-Douglas area in 1967 and purchased the Commercial
Record, a century old weekly newspaper that covers the Saugatuck-Douglas area.
Kit had one year to learn the town’s history in preparation for the Centennial of the village
of Saugatuck’s establishment in 1968. “I had to do a crash course in history for a Centennial
edition of the Commercial Record. Some of the people said, “Who do you think you are
telling my history when you just got here?” “But I was lucky enough to get here when I did
and talk to a lot of people who are no longer alive and tell their stories which would have
been lost otherwise.”
In 1978, they purchased the Fennville Herald and Kit became the editor and publisher. At
the same time, she wrote lots of local history stories which led to publishing numerous
popular booklets; between 1973 and 2012 Kit Lane published forty-six books.
In the 1980s, she also established a Museum of Saugatuck History and went on to serve as
local historian and president of the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society. Kit also spent
many years talking with the Douglas Elementary third graders studying local history. She
really loved kids & history.
The Lanes lived in a house in downtown Douglas for 38 years, then moved into a home on
the 11th hole of Clearbrook Golf Course. Kit and Art have four sons. They now have the
honor of being grandparents to 7 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Her husband of
58 years, Art, died on 6 August 2020; he was 89.
Katherine Erickson Lane researched by
fellow Team HerStorian, Peg Sanford.

JOYCE PETTER 1927–; Joyce Petter has played a significant role in
shaping the aesthetic consciousness of the
Saugatuck-Douglas area as a community activist,
preservationist, art dealer, and gallery owner.

Joyce Anderson Ronningen Petter was born in St Paul, Minnesota in 1927 to Ruth Nelson
Anderson and Helmer Ronningen of Swedish and Norwegian ancestry. In the 1930’s,
during the Great Depression, her father began his career in business, moving the family
many times. Joyce lived in Minnesota until she was 7 and later moved to New Orleans,
Chicago, and then Vicksburg, Michigan when her fa ther bought a farm in 1939.
The family moved back to Chicago in 1943, where Joyce graduated from Evanston
Township High School in 1944. She received a Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern
University in 1948. She later studied art history at Aquinas College and the University
of Cincinnati.
In 1944, Joyce met Bill Petter before he went overseas to serve in the US Navy. Joyce
and Bill married in 1948, and moved to Vicksburg to start a family while Joyce taught
school and Bill finished his degree. He joined the family business, Ronningen-Petter
Company, later part of Dover Corporation, a filter manufacturing company. Joyce and
Bill moved to Kalamazoo in 1950 and lived there from 1950-1970 where they raised
their 5 children.
From their first apartment through their many moves, Joyce took pleasure in building
or remodeling at least 21 properties. Bill traveled the world for business and Joyce often
was able to accompany him. Joyce was on her own during these trips and would visit
the local art museums and local galleries. She didn’t realize that she was training her
eye for quality artwork.
In 1973, Joyce opened a gallery of American arts and crafts in Saugatuck named PRAJNA,
formed from letters of her family names—Petter-Ronningen-Anderson-Joyce with the
addition of na which means ‘for the people’. Joyce eventually ran two galleries, Prajna
I, a fine art gallery located at 134 Butler Street and Prajna II at the corner of Hoffman
and Water Street featuring American craft. She sold Prajna II in the 1980’s.
In 1993 Joyce purchased and renovated the Grey Gables building on Blue Star Highway
in Douglas. This historic building was home to the River Guild in the 1930s and continues
to operate as Petter Galleries thirty years la ter.
On a trip to Boston, Joyce was encouraged to see a group of galleries collaborating
for weekend openings. In 1977 she began the annual Gallery Stroll in Saugatuck and
Douglas now in its 45th year.
“We just pushed it and pushed it and pushed it. I wanted to build an art scene. What
happens is, as you make your art reputation, art customers come. They go to all the
galleries, and that builds and then even more galleries move here. You always want to
open your gallery where there’s another gallery.”
In 1987, Joyce led the battle to stop McDonalds from building a restaurant in Saugatuck.
After two rejections from the Saugatuck Zoning Board of Appeals and public hearings
packed with outraged citizens, McDonald’s retreated. No city had ever prevented a
McDonalds moving in until Joyce’s campaign. This protest in Saugatuck made the
national news. The New York Times caught wind and did an article on “the quaint little
town in Michigan.”
After a 34 year long career as an art dealer and gallery owner, Joyce retired at age 80.
She is currently living in South Haven and is an avid bridge player a t age 96.
Joyce Petter researched by fellow
Team HerStorian, Maryjo Lemanski.

SARAH UNWIN SHERIDAN 1887–1967; She Kept the Light...
A mother’s struggle to keep her family together through hard times.

In June 1909, Sarah Sheridan arrived at a remote Saugatuck beach to join her husband
George, the newly-posted keeper of the Kalamazoo Lighthouse. The couple brought
with them two young sons. A third son would be born a t the lighthouse in 1911.
Summers were filled with fun and visiting family but the winters were lonely and
desolate. And the constant vigilance required of a lighthouse keeper was taking its toll
on George’s mental health. Increasingly, he suffered from what was then called “bouts
of melancholy.”
In the summer of 1914, the family received orders that the Kalamazoo light would be
closed in October and George would be transferred to the lighthouse in St. Joseph,
Michigan. Sarah was made Keeper by Temporary Appointment and took over the lightkeeping
duties so George could seek treatment for his depression at a sanatorium. While
keeping the light, Sarah also made arrangements to rent lodging in Saugatuck until the
family could move to St. Joe. On October 6, 1914 Sarah lit the Kalamazoo light for the
last time. That same day an automated navigational light on a tower at the new channel
entered service.
Relieved of duty, the family spent that winter in Saugatuck but George’s depression only
deepened. In March 1915, George left again to seek treatment. A few days later Sarah
received word that George had committed suicide.
Suddenly Sarah was a widow—responsible for three children aged nine, six and four—
and unprepared to do any sort of skilled work. A newspaper account of George’s death
concluded that “their case presents another argument for a pension for government
employees who have given the best years of their life in service to their country.” Sarah’s
childless sister in South Chicago pressured Sarah to give her boys up, declaring a widow
with three little children could never survive.
But Sarah did survive. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, “after a long conference
with [her son] 10-year-old Joseph … [Sarah] decided to make every effort to hold her
fatherless family together.”
To earn an income, she took in washing, much to the dismay of her Chicago family. Later
she worked as a maid at the Hotel Butler. She scrimped and saved to purchase a house
at 241 Culver. In the summers she moved her family to a tent in Cook park so she could
rent out the family house for additional income. And all the while she nurtured her three
sons and somehow found time to be a life member of the Saugatuck Women’s Club,
the Saugatuck Congregational Church and a twice worthy matron [presiding officer] of
the Order of the Eastern Star, an axillary of the Masons. She cared for her community
as well as her children.
A woman of grit and gentle persistence, Sarah Sheridan crocheted her final afghan square
in 1967 at age 88. Although she is known as the Kalamazoo Lighthouse’s last keeper,
the flame she kept alive was that of the Sheridan family who are to this day an integral part
of the community.
Sarah Unwin Sheridan researched by fellow
Team HerStorian, Sally Winthers based on work
by Stephen and Jack Sheridan

ISABEL GRAHAM 1871–1954; Isabel Graham was an educator, independent woman, and visionary philanthropist. Those
familiar with Douglas United Church of Christ may know her name through its connection
to the fund used to support charitable causes across the community. In 1954 upon her
death, she left $5,000 to the church her father built, $50,000 in today’s dollars. At Isabel’s
request, the money was to be invested and go untouched for 50 years. By 1998, her fund
had grown to $750,000 and today has a value close to $1,000,000. The fund now yields
$30,000 annually to give to local charities.
She was born in 1871 to Hugh and Josephine Sill Graham. She was born and raised here and is buried in the Douglas Cemetery. Her family owned acreage on Union and Wylie and their home, which is still standing today, at 400 South Union street was called Bonnie Meadows.
The family farmed corn, oats, buckwheat and apples.
Isabel went to college at the Michigan State Normal School—today it is called Eastern
Michigan University. After graduating she went on to become a school teacher in the
Chicago area. She lived in various places on the near south side of Chicago where eventually
she served as principal at Fiske Elementary. In the 1930 census, she was living with Nona
Butterfield. When asked in the 1930 census what her relationship was to the head of the
household, Isabel listed her relationship as “partner”. They continued to live together for
over 44 years.
Isabel Graham died on May 7, 1954; she was almost 83 years old. On a macro level, she lived
through some of our nation’s most historically significant periods—the second industrial
revolution, the Great Depressions, prohibition, women’s suffrage and two world wars. She
represents all that is good about our community. Her family sowed the ground, her father
built parts of the town and the church, her mom taught the youth and taught her children
to be engaged in civic activities. Her legacy lives on as her donation continues to positively impact the area every single year.

MARY ELZABETH PECKHAM MORRISON 1816–1881; Mary Elizabeth Peckham was born in 1816 in Franklin County, Vermont. Her father died when
she was six years old creating financial hardship for Mary’s family. In 1836, Mary visited her
sister and brother-in-law who were new arrivals to the village of Allegan, Michigan. While
in Allegan, Saugatuck settler Benjamin Plummer invited Mary to become the first teacher
in the remote and undeveloped lakeshore area.
Plummer maintained a school in his home until a schoolhouse was built in Singapore in
1837. Mary Peckham received meager pay and boarded with the families of her students.
Benjamin Plummer’s son Fred remembers “she taught three terms of school, a term being
three months, and she boarded in our home during the time.” Miss Peckham continued
working as teacher until her marriage.
After some rivalry between Stephen A. Morrison and Benjamin Plummer’s son Daniel, Mary
and Stephen were married in May 1840. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison settled in Saugatuck, where
they lived for the rest of their lives. Mary wrote a short memoir of her “pioneer” life which
revealed her adaptability and work ethic. Her first house was surrounded by dense forest
and functioned as the post office for the area. To ward off loneliness, Mary reports setting
out in the morning on horseback to visit her sister in Allegan, “my only guide over the
twenty-five miles, the blazed trees.”
In its early years, Saugatuck was overshadowed by the settlement of Singapore and grew
slowly. In the 1840s, the Morrison’s residence functioned as a place where travelers could
find lodging and refreshment, but no “spiritous liquors” since the Morrisons were staunch
advocates of temperance.
Mary’s written accounts from 1846 describe Anishinaabe people inhabiting the area
alongside a handful of settler families. In her memoir, Mary wrote, “Our nearest neighbors
and friends were the Indians, and true friends they always proved to us. Our house was often
surrounded by their wigwams, and oftentimes have I been sitting alone by the glowing fire
in the evening, reading or sewing or rocking my babe, when I would suddenly look up and
see every window filled with dusky faces.”
In 1857 the Morrisons built a grand house on the corner of Culver and Butler streets. Across
the street, Morrison built a two-story structure, called “Morrison Hall” that had a general
store on the first floor and an entertainment hall in the upper story.
Mary Morrison’s life story is preserved in the work of her granddaughter, May Francis Heath
who wrote that Mary “bore bravely and without murmuring of hardships and privations”
the challenges of her early life. Mary generously supported the community especially in
the area of education after the family became prosperous.
Mary Morrison was a “firm believer in the equality of the sexes,” and actively assisted her
husband in his business enterprises, including tannery, general store, and lodgings. The
family prospered and the Morrison daughters and grandchildren remained in Saugatuck
and contributed to its growth. Mary passed away in 1881. Her husband Stephen Morrison
lived until 1905 and was one of Saugatuck’s most influential citizens.
Mary Elizabeth Peckham researched by fellow
Team HerStorian, Toni Perrine

CORDELLA BROWN KELTNER 1850–1892; Cordelia Brown was born in Prairie Round, MI in 1850. She married Frank Keltner when
she was eighteen, became a widow two years later in 1870 and never remarried. She
came to Saugatuck with her parents in 1881 and along with them was “actively identified
with the management of the Saugatuck House”. She likely helped with the day-to-day
operations of the boarding house.
In addition to her take-charge personality, Cordelia was also known for her philanthropy.
She was praised for her reaction to an “unfortunate” event in the Lakeshore Commercial,
May 3, 1889. A young, single woman from Indiana arrived in Saugatuck and began
working at the Saugatuck House. Within a few months it became apparent that she
was “in a delicate condition” (pregnant) and was dismissed from employment, as was
customary in those days. She went to live with her sister’s family in nearby Singapore.
Shortly thereafter, the girl was found in convulsions. A doctor was called but he could
not save her. “It is not positively known that the girl died by poison, self-administered,
but the circumstances strongly confirm such a suspicion…She was visited often by Mrs.
Keltner and her friend Mrs. Schanberg who did all in their power to make her last days
comfortable…This is practical Christianity….”
Giving further insight into the lives of women at this time the article explains that the
“author of her misfortune” (the baby’s father) lived in Indiana and had betrayed the young
woman under the promise of marriage. “A day or so before her death a letter came for
her from a man in Indiana urging her to return to that place for the purpose of being
married. When the letter reached her she was in the shadow of death. Her wrongs were
destined never to be righted on earth.”
Despite her admirable independence and open minded generosity in an era that did not
encourage either in women, Cordelia did not live long. She died in 1892 at the age of 42
of kidney disease: “As to the worth and virtues of this estimable woman the people of
this community need no information. It is enough to say that her untimely death made
sad the heart of every person who knew her. For her to see a case of poverty or distress
was to attempt to relieve it no matter what the labor or cost or how humble the object.”

Cordelia Brown Keltner researched by fellow
Team HerStorians, Annie Hayes, Janice Krakowski,
and Barri Rosenbluth

CORA BLISS TAYLOR 1889–1986; In a 1984 interview, the Holland Sentinel
proclaimed Cora Bliss Taylor as “Saugatuck’s
Living Treasure.” Having opened the Taylor
Art Studio in 1931 she taught art to hundreds
of adults and children for over 50 years.

Born on April 14, 1889, Cora Bliss Taylor’s life started tragically. She lived with her mother and
father until the age of 1 when her father passed away. After his death, Mrs. Bliss took Cora to
live with the child’s aunt and uncle. This lead to an active childhood as the family took many
trips around the country. At the beginning of the 20th century, when she was 11 years old,
the family moved to Paris for nine months. It was “La Belle Époque,” the “beautiful age,” when
France was a center for cultural and artistic achievement. Cora learned to speak French and
took art lessons crediting a visit to the Louvre as a formative event influencing her to become
an artist.
From 1914 to 1916, Cora pursued her passion for painting by taking classes at the Art Institute
of Chicago. She continued her studies with Charles W. Hawthorne of Provincetown, Mass,
with Leon Kroll and Leopold Seyffert at the Art Institute, and in France and Italy with Andre
L’Hote. During this period, from 1916–1927, she had 12 of her works accepted into the Annual
Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago as well as exhibiting her watercolors of Italy for the
University Guild and Evanston Art Commission.
In addition to the paintings that were featured in the Art Institute exhibits, she won numerous
awards such as the Chicago Women’s Aid Prize, the Edward B. Butler Purchase prize, and the
Fine Arts Building Prize.
Cora became an important leader in the art community, joining different organizations to
help her fellow artists. She was in demand as a lecturer, and among her many honors, she
was listed in the Michigan State Library Biography Collection, the Smithsonian’s History of
Famous Women Artists in the United States, and in “Who’s Who of American Women.”
As recently as January 2014, Cora’s works were included in an exhibition at Olivet College,
“Beautiful Things: Still Life Paintings by American Women 1880–1940.” Curator George
Bentley writes, “Though highly accomplished, these women lived in a time when female
artists were scarcely recognized. In researching the lives of these artists, much of the known
information only lists organizations with which these women were affiliated—almost nothing
is said about their work or abilities.”
She first came to Saugatuck when she married James Taylor, a Chicago attorney in 1914.
They honeymooned in Saugatuck which later became her home. Three children followed,
Joy, Florence, and Jane.
In 1931 Cora became the Art Director of the Saugatuck Chamber of Commerce and was
influential in attracting many Chicago people to the area. She opened the Taylor Art School and
Gallery on Holland Street which was a summer art school for adults and children. Successful
from the start, she had over 2,000 visitors her first year. In 1946, she downsized the school to
concentrate on teaching children moving it to the studio behind the home her mother left
her at 350 Mason Street.
Her legacy in our community did not stop at art and teaching. In her late 70’s she began to
advocate for a community bus service, for the elderly and those unable to drive, by writing
letters to the newspaper. Her arguments were so compelling that grant money was secured
by Saugatuck, Douglas, and the Township to fund the Interurban, an on-demand bus service
that is still thriving today. In 1980, when the service was introduced, Cora was there to cut
the ribbon and be the first rider.
She continued to teach until the age of 91. Despite her failing eyesight, she lived on her own
until moving to a care facility in 1984. When interviewed at that time and questioned about
her legacy, she humbly replied, “I taught everybody in Saugatuck, and I loved all of them.
I would like to be remembered as one of them.” Cora Bliss Taylor died at the age of 97.
Cora Bliss Taylor researched by fellow
Team HerStorian, Christa Wise

SARAH GILL KIRBY 1861–1951; Sarah (Gill) Kirby was a woman ahead of her time. Her name is known today through
the Kirby House, built by her in 1886. Her magnificent Center Street home, nicknamed
“The Old Grand Dame,” boasted modern conveniences of indoor plumbing, replacing
the outhouse for an indoor bathroom. She was also one of first women in this area to
drive an automobile. By the 1930s she was behind the wheel of a modern sedan when
most folks were still using rustic Model T-style vehicles.
Born Sarah Gill in Orange, Massachusetts, on November 30, 1861, she was the daughter
of Willard S. and Maria Gill. The Gill family arrived in Michigan in 1870 and settled on a
farm south of Douglas.
Sarah married Frank Kirby on April 2, 1883. Frank Kirby was a boot, shoe and crockery
merchant. He was also an accountant and salesman at the Douglas Basket Factory.
Frank died in 1896, when Sarah was 35 years old. She never remarried and continued to
live in the family home as she raised their children, Faith and Willard.
She was considered to be one of the area’s reigning social matriarchs. She was listed in
the telephone book in the 1920s as a fruit grower and held considerable properties in
Allegan County.
Sarah purchased the Kirby House site on Center Street from her parents in 1886. She
paid $100 for the land and the home mortgage shows she borrowed $400 at 10% interest
from Mr. Kibby who owned a hotel in Douglas. The interest was most likely because the
mortgage was in her own name, and women were not supposed to hold property, or
allowed to vote at this time.
Some time prior to 1920, Sarah began using her home as a tourist home she called
Hawthorne Lodge. Always the entrepreneur, she rented rooms to tourists and grew
ginseng for commercial sale. By the late 1920s she and her daughter, Faith, a practical
nurse, offered convalescent care or “a home for people who wish just a home”. In keeping
with the Kirby tradition of caring for those in need, Faith converted the home into a
community hospital in 1931. The Kirby House was the area’s first Community Hospital
from 1931–1960. Many local residents take pride in pointing out they were born at the
Kirby House.
Sarah made several trips to California with her mother in the 1890’s. She moved to
California as a permanent resident in 1932 where she lived until her death in 1951 at
the age of 90. Sarah would be pleased to know that more than 100 years later the Kirby
House still stands and serves the community.
Sarah Gill Kirby researched by fellow Team HerStorian,
Gemina Petruzzelli based on work by Marsha Kontio.

PATTI SHOOK BOICE 1943–; “ Arguably the finest woman golfer Saginaw County has ever produced.”
Patti was the daughter of Loren and Gertrude Shook who owned and managed the golf
course which is now called Clearbrook. She graduated from Saugatuck High School in
1961. At the age of 16 she won her first title at the Spring Lake Women’s Championship.
She is considered the finest golfer this area has ever produced.
Boice attended Valparaiso University in Indiana, which didn’t have a women’s golf team
because this was prior to Title IX (the law passed in 1972 requiring equal opportunities
for men and women) and very few opportunities were available for women in sport.
But as a senior in 1964 she represented the school in what was called the Women’s
Collegiate Golf Championship. Ironically, it was held in Michigan that year at Forest
Akers on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Patti held off an MSU student, Joyce Kazmierski of Grosse Ile, 2 and 1 in a 36-hole
match final. It was Kazmierski who beat her in the 1966 Michigan Women’s Amateur at
Farmington Golf Club, the 50th anniversary tournament of the championship. Kazmierski,
a two-time champion in the state championship, went on to a distinguished LPGA career,
and is also in the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.
She would go on to play in the state championship well into the late 1980s when back
troubles sidelined her from competitive golf. Along the way she amassed the most
wins by any one golfer, seven between 1967 and 1979, the most runner-up finishes by
any one golfer, six, and what is believed to be the most times as medalist in the stroke
play qualifying, six. As a resident of Spring Lake, she won the prestigious Spring Lake
Invitational, a historic and nationally prominent invitational, a record 10 times.
She was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame (1985) and the Michigan
Amateur Hall of Fame (1982). Boice was recognized in 1999 as Michigan’s
Female Golfer of the 20th Century by the Golf Association of Michigan.
Patti Shook Boice researched by fellow
Team HerStorian, Ruth Crowe

SAUGATUCK WOMAN’S CLUB (SWC) 1904–; The SWC is looking good for being 85 years old. The SWC members and community are smiling.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, women’s clubs became a powerful social space for women to come together, develop their talents, and influence the world. Clubs were
created to give women a space to share ideas among equals. The first women’s clubs
were established in the 1860s and by 1910, 800,000 women belonged to women’s clubs
nationwide. The Michigan State Federation of Woman’s Club was organized in 1895 and
Saugatuck’s club began soon after that.
In 1904, Mrs. Hattie (C.S.) Bird, who lived at Allegan Street in a white Italianate home,
invited her affluent women neighbors from the “Hill” to a meeting to discuss forming
a Woman’s Club. Ten women attended and these women became charter members of
the Saugatuck Woman’s Club.
Within two months these women chose the name Saugatuck Woman’s Club, elected
officers, chose the organization’s colors of green and white, adopted a constitution and
bylaws, and established a motto. They also promoted inclusiveness, inviting women
from the working areas of Saugatuck—the Flats— and the countryside to join the SWC.
They offered courses of study about “Our Country and Current Events” and established
Saugatuck’s first library.
Soon the SWC’s popularity and increasing membership outgrew available meeting spaces
in homes, the Congregation Church room, and Koning Hall. They set a goal to find a
home of their own, launching a fundraising campaign for a building in 1915.
Unbeknownst to anyone, in 1934, Minnie Brueckman, a SWC member, willed her family’s
home at 303 Butler Street to the Club along with land and $5,000. She wanted a home
for the SWC and for the library. Within a year the women incorporated the club and
began planning. Every year, SWC members take flowers to the cemetery to honor her.
The SWC building and auditorium was built from 1935-1938 by renowned Chicago
School and Colonial Revival architect Thomas Tallmadge. He first visited Ox-Bow in
1915; he was impressed by the environment and atmosphere of Saugatuck & Ox-Bow.
Tallmadge was well acquainted with Saugatuck and generously agreed to draw all the
sketches for the proposed building free of charge and took great personal interest in
the project.
The Cornerstone laying ceremony was held in September 1935. The Superintendent
and all of the workers were in attendance as well as their SWC wives. On September
30, 1938, over one hundred witnessed the mortgage note burned by President Daily,
celebrating that the SWC had paid the off cost of its new home. It had taken 24 years
to truly be out of debt.
After a Club discussion in 1921, the SWC Club sent a letter to President Harding urging him
to support world disarmament. Before WWII, the women again wrote their congressmen
that as members of the Club they did not favor war unless in the case of invasion. At the
same time, the library book collection kept expanding.
The SWC members established the first historical museum in the Brueckman house
when the library moved across Butler Street in 1969. In celebration, the SWC published
Our 1st 100 Years in 2004 and then a play was written and performed by the members.
The SWC is proud of their building and their service to the community.

Saugatuck Women’s Club researched by
fellow Team HerStorian, Peg Sanford.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY SLEPT HERE! 1879; Tamar Phillips Moore and Women’s Suffrage
The movement advocating voting rights for women gained momentum in the late 1800s
and was actively supported by many middle-class women. Because it was believed that
most women would vote to prohibit the sale of alcohol, the temperance movement was
closely associated with women’s suffrage and women were leaders in both causes.
Tamar Moore was an ardent advocate of women’s suffrage and was acquainted with the
leaders of the movement. One of her daughters recalls, “many are the stirring arguments
I have heard to convince her husband that women had a place outside the home.” Tamar
attended a national suffrage and temperance convention as a delegate from Allegan County
which convinced her that the cause of women’s suffrage was progressing.
Tamar Moore was one of the organizers of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in
Allegan County and was the president of the Saugatuck association. She supported the Red
Ribbon Club, so called because those who pledged to give up liquor wore a red ribbon in
their lapel. The Red Ribbon Club offered literary and musical entertainment as it promoted
the cause of temperance and was a hub of social activity in Saugatuck.
In 1879, Tamar Moore invited Susan B. Anthony, co-founder of the National Women’s
Suffrage Association, to Saugatuck. Audience members paid 26 cents to hear the “most
famous woman in America” speak. According to the Commercial Record of March 14, 1879:
“The lecture given by Miss Susan B. Anthony at Odd Fellows Hall on Wednesday evening
was all that could be expected. The audience was the largest we have seen in Saugatuck
for many years, and everyone seemed to enjoy it very much. Miss Anthony is a fine speaker
and has a clear ringing voice so that she could be heard distinctly in every part of the house.
She thoroughly understands her subject and is laboring zealously for the woman suffrage
cause of which she is an able expounder.”
Anthony stayed with the Moore family for several weeks in their house on Holland Street
and likely wrote some papers on women’s rights during her visit. The residents of Saugatuck
reportedly closed six of the town’s fourteen bars after Anthony’s lecture, but a local
temperance law was rejected by voters.
The 18th Amendment to prohibit the production and sale of alcoholic beverages was
ratified in 1919 and in 1920, the 19th Amendment enfranchising all American women,
and granting them the full rights and responsibilities of citizenship became law. Tamar
Moore lived to see the success of both the suffrage and temperance movements.
Tamar Phillips Moore & Women’s Sufferage
researched by fellow Team HerStorian, Toni Perrine

Entry/Object ID

2022.50.15

Collection

SDHC Exhibits

Location

* Untyped Location

Digital data in CatalogIt

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Kirby, Sarah M. (Gill) 1861-1951Wright, Ruth 1901-1985Kenney, Vera 1900-1972Saugatuck Woman's Club 1904-presentBird, Harriet “Hattie” Louise (Moffat) (Wright) 1855-1944Birkholz, Patty (Knoll) 1944-2018Sheridan, Sarah (Unwin) 1878-1967Graham, Isabel Gladys 1870/1-1954Lane, Kit 1939-2024Austin, Sherri 1967-Boice, Patti Shook 1943-Moore, Tamar Walker (Philips) 1842-1921Heath, May (Francis) 1873-1961Anthony, Susan B.Keltner, Cordelia Brown 1850-1892Petter, JoyceHunn, Florence Ely "Dannie" 1887-1984Taylor, Cora Bliss 1889-1986Morrison, Mary Elizabeth (Peckham) 1816-1881

Create Date

09/27/2024

Update Date

10/11/2024