The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Gauntletts have deep roots in area
PUBLISHED: March 15, 2007
Almost the whole Gauntlett family was involved in running retail stores. So, in about 1885, give or take a few years, James and Charlotte Gauntlett brought in a photographer to take a family picture at their store, resulting in one of the best historical photos known to exist in the Milan area.
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The Gauntletts arrived in York Township from England in 1846. James Gauntlett, 34, had been in the retail shoe business in London and decided to call it quits. He crossed the ocean with his wife, the former Mary Wilkins, and five children. One of those children is in today's featured photograph.
The elder Gauntlett bought some farmland near Mooreville on the east side of Platt Road, just north of where the Pines apartments are located today. He had three more children with his wife, Mary. Actually, he may have had 11 children, but records were not often kept in those days if the baby didn't survive to the teenage years, so I have the names of only eight.
To make things easier to follow, below is a "cheat sheet" listing all the kids with the year of birth if I know it:
1. James Jr., 1837
2. Harriett, about 1840.
3. Joseph, 1841
4. Richard, 1843
5. John, 1840s
6. William, 1849
7. Mary, unknown
8. Charles, 1853
The farm worked well to support the family, until 1854. That was the year Mary died. The elder Gauntlett was left with a 1-year-old baby, Charles, along with a house full of young children and teenagers. The oldest, James Jr., shown in today's photo, was about 17.
The senior Gauntlett got into the retail business in Milan to supplement his farm income, although I don't know exactly what or where. I assume he sold boots and shoes, since that was his specialty in England, along with groceries, because it seems as though nearly all the store owners sold groceries in those days.
In addition, James Sr. encouraged his kids to leave home at the earliest opportunity. James Jr. was a good son, and found a way to make boots and shoes in Mooreville, just like his dad. Harriett did her best to ease the tensions in the household by finding a worthy husband, Albert Holcomb, a Mooreville-area farmer.
Maybe it's just a coincidence, but the store in today's picture was owned by Frank Holcomb before James Gauntlett Jr. took it over. It could be Harriett's marriage into the Holcomb family came in handy for her brother. The store was located on the northwest corner of Mooreville and Stony Creek roads.
On Sept. 13, 1855, all the confusion at the Gauntlett farm came to an end when James Sr. exchanged vows with his second wife, Annis Hubbard. She was 42 at the time and he was 43. In 1857, James and Annis completed their family with one last baby, Archibald Gauntlett, known affectionately in the Milan area as "Archie."
As the Gauntlett boys reached adulthood, they were sent out to be apprenticed with a blacksmith, a shoemaker and anyone to teach them a trade. William, child No. 6 on the cheat sheet, became a Mooreville farmer, while No. 3 Joseph went into law enforcement.
Today's picture shows No. 1, James Jr., as I call him, standing out front in a white shirt, leaning on a hitching post next to some children. He married Charlotte Clarke in Dundee in 1859. Known as "Lottie," she agreed to relocate to Mooreville, where they had three sons and one daughter. Lottie is in the center of the picture, surrounded by her three boys.
I once heard that the lady in this picture was Jennie Gauntlett. That would be the daughter of James and Charlotte. I suspect the girl's real name was Jamie and she was married by 1886. Anyhow, I believe she wasn't around when this picture was taken, so her three brothers got all the fame and glory.
The oldest son, Dr. John Gauntlett, is standing next to his mother in the picture, holding up the neck of a guitar. He was born in 1864. In June 1887, he married Florence Forbes in Saline and then a few days later received his diploma from the University of Michigan medical school. His middle name is Clark and no doubt that is a reference to his mother's name.
The second son, Elon Gauntlett, wears a black suit in this picture and is holding onto a horse. He was born in 1867. He married Nellie Dickenson in 1887, and had a baby. I don't know if they divorced, but I haven't found any more records about either of them, and Elon didn't brag about the family. In 1895, he married a second time to a schoolteacher, Addie VanWormer of Dundee.
Elon and Addie Gauntlett ran a dry goods store on the southwest corner of Main and Wabash streets, where the Collins Shop is today. Then he built a combination car dealership and horse livery next to his brother Archie's house on West Main Street. After that, Elon and Addie moved to Toledo and divorced. Elon married a third wife in Toledo and ran a funeral hearse service.
The final person to introduce in today's picture is James Gauntlett, another medical doctor, standing on the porch behind his father. Born in 1870, he graduated from Barnes Medical College of St. Louis, Mo., and then he opened a clinic in Traverse City around 1901, not far from his brother John.
Some children slipped into the picture and I don't know their names. Notice the handwritten sign on the store, directly above the guitar, saying simply "Lard." Isn't that mouth watering? Charlotte was standing behind some buckets labeled "Candy." Just behind the candy buckets, see the bolts of cloth ready to be sold and sewn into shirts or pants.
The main sign above the store makes it clear that boots and shoes are available, as well as groceries "and provisions." What that means is that a customer could go in there and buy a kitchen sink without a problem. A black sign above the porch, near the roof, appeals to the smokers and chewers with an advertisement for American Eagle tobacco works.
Now, that was a family business.
Thanks to Mike Gauntlett, great grandson of John Gauntlett for helping me understand his family. Thanks to the obituary file at Monroe Historical Museum, the marriage records in Monroe and Washtenaw counties; death records, birth records, the Milan Public Library historical collection, and select "Way Back When" columns by the late Warren Hale.
Martha Churchill is a member of the Milan Area Historical Society. She can be reached at 439-4055 or Martha@marthachurchill.com.
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