The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Family ties held people together in Milan
PUBLISHED: November 27, 2008
Several families, connected by marriage, celebrated the Fourth of July together in Milan Township in 1919.
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The families tied together were the Sweet family, Olds, Rendle, Culver, Miller and Dennison.
Typically, when I have a picture with this many people, they are all unknown. Not this time. Here, I have the full name of every single person in the photo, including the babies.
I first heard about these families from Sandra Newsome of Wayland, Ky. She contacted me over the Internet and introduced me to a Web site full of information about the families.
Newsome told me about someone from the Miller family with additional information, Ron Miller of South Lyon. He grew up in the Britton and Cone area, but didn't realize that the families there were his relatives.
The Emanuel Lutheran Church, built where Welch Road connects to Ridge Road, was established on part of the Mueller farm, he told me. Soon he put me in touch with Roger Olds of Milan, who is also related to some or all of the folks in today's photo.
Apparently, this family reunion was important enough for someone to hire a photographer from either Milan or Dundee, or perhaps Britton, to snap the shutter for the occasion. The group is standing in front of the Sweet residence on the northwest corner of Dennison and Hickory roads, in the heart of Milan Township.
Starting with the first row, left to right, Ruth and Rose as little girls sitting on the lap of their father, Roscoe Rendle. Caroline Rumble Culver is the next child, then Nellie Olds and Dorothy Rendle. Leland Rendle is the next child, a boy wearing a necktie. In fact, all of the boys seemed to be wearing neckties. Then there is Gorman Culver, Jesse Olds and George Dennison. John Olds looks like he is 3 or 4 years old, and is leaning against Stephen Olds. Caroline Miller Rendel is seated next to Stephen Olds.
In the second row, from left, are Nora Rendel Culver, Nellie Miller Sweet, Ivan Olds (infant), Ida Preston Olds; Clara, Harold Olds (infant); Leatha Raymond Olds, Helen Olds Dennison; Nancy Preston Rendel (Roscoe's wife); Mary Miller Sanford; Lizzie Miller Olds; Margaret Pattie (infant); and Lena Olds Pattie.
This brings us to the third row of this loosely-clustered group. On the left is Doctor Mack of Mooreville, apparently the fellow with the white beard. Then there is Jack Sweet, a young boy held by George Miller; Eugene Olds; Grover Sweet; Earl G. Olds; James Dennison; George Olds; and Lena Miller.
One of the main families at this reunion came from the Mueller home in Macon Township, west of Cone. Dorothea Mueller was born Jan. 25, 1828, in Junkersdorf, Bavaria, and married someone who had the same last name, although they were unrelated. In about 1857, she married Johann Gottlieb Mueller, another native of Bavaria. He was four years younger than Dorothea.
The Mueller family produced six children, and five of them appear in today's photo. They are George, Caroline, Mary Lena and Lizzy. Those are the Americanized names for them. Originally, they were named George, Karolina, Maria, Magdalena and Elisabeth. Their brother, Franz, was not in the picture.
The Olds family dates back to 1857, when Leveret Olds married Hannah Augustus Olds. He was born in Pennsylvania, and his bride was born in Ontario. Their wedding took place in Lenawee County, but they raised their family in the Cone area. They had six children, including Stephen, shown in today's photo.
Born in 1862, Stephen Olds lived on Welch Road in Cone with his wife, Lizzie, one of the Mueller clan. They had six children, Helen, Lena, Earl, Eugene, George and Jesse.
The Rendels were caught up in this family gathering because of Job Rendell, who came to Milan Township from Ohio with his family. He settled on a home on Cone Road that was later owned by Jerome B. Squires. He owned large tracts of farmland by the time he died in 1843.
Roscoe Rendell, shown in today's picture with two young girls on his lap, is a great-grandson of Job Rendell. Roscoe married Nancy Preston, a lady who was born in Ireland. They had eight children, Leland, Dorothy, Ruth, Rose, George, Mildred, Margaret and Lucile.
The Culver family came to the Milan area around 1835 or 1837, settling in the Mooreville area. Electa Harkner Witherell Culver is the full name of the wife in that family. Her husband, Phineas Culver, was born in 1786. They had connections to the Cone area in Milan Township because their daughter, Elizabeth, was married to Erastus Cone Jr.
The Dennison family plays a part in this family reunion, especially the newlyweds in today's photo. James C. Dennison, standing in the back row just to the left of the big tree, came to this summer party almost immediately after his marriage. He tied the knot June 5, 1919, in Rea, a town just south of Cone. His bride was Helen Olds, shown in this picture in a white dress with a black tie, sailor-style.
Dennison was just 21 when he married. He worked as an electrician and joined the Cone United Methodist Church, the Azalia Grange, the Pomona Grange and the Monroe County Farm Bureau. He and Helen had two daughters, Ruth and Fay. Dennison lived until 1973.
Dennison's younger brother, George, was 11 years old in the photo, and he can be seen sitting in the front row wearing a short sleeve shirt and long white socks. He worked at Ford Motor Co. and lived until 1986.
The Dennison name showed up in Milan around 1854, when Jacob Dennison was 6 years old. He was born in Niagara, N.Y., and came to Michigan with his parents, James and Margaret. Jacob married Emily Bodkin Aug. 10, 1871. She was born in England. He worked as a day laborer, and at some point operated a general store in Cone. Jacob and Emily had four children, and the family grew from there.
Thanks to Marjorie Shelton for sharing her information about the Culver clan.
Martha Churchill is a freelance writer. She can be reached at milanhistory@yahoo.com.
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