William Anthony Ternes and the Quonset Hut

Marian Ruth (Ternes) Muir was the wife of my first cousin twice removed. Her brother, William Anthony Ternes was a successful business man who founded Ternes Steel Co. in 1946, which merged with Evan Products in 1969. According to his family, he also designed the Quonset hut, of which up to 170,000 were produced during World War II.

William A. Ternes Obituary as published in the Detroit Free Press; courtesy
of FamilySearch.org

William A. Ternes obituary as published in the
Detroit Free Press; courtesy of FamilySearch.org

When the 1940 census was enumerated, William A. Ternes was in Yavapai County, Arizona, at Shadow Croft Court, an auto court, or motel, operated by Herman and Gertrude Dickman. His occupation was listed as salesman for a steel company. Also listed at the motel were several other salesmen.

So it is entirely possible that he worked for Strand Steel Co., as his brother said in his obituary. The company was located in Quonset Point, Rhode Island. The U.S. Navy contracted with the George A. Fuller Construction Co. in 1941 to build an all-purpose, lightweight building that could be shipped anywhere in the world and assembled without skilled labor.

Quonset hut being assembled in post-war Japan; courtesy Wikipedia

Perhaps the Fuller Construction Co. contracted with Strand Steel Co. to design the building. The original design was a 16-foot by 36-foot structure framed with steel members with an 8-foot radius. The sides were corrugated steel sheets. The two ends were covered with plywood, which had doors and windows. The interior was insulated and had pressed wood lining and a wood floor. The building could be placed on concrete, on pilings, or directly on the ground with a wood floor.

The most common design created a standard size of 20 feet by 48 feet with a 10-foot radius, allowing 720 square feet of usable floor space, with optional four-foot overhangs at each end for protection of the entrances from the weather. Several other sizes were developed. The flexible interior space was open, allowing for use as barracks, latrines, offices, medical and dental offices, isolation wards, housing, and bakeries. Eventually several different companies produced the quonset hut.

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William Anthony Ternes was born on 2 July 1912 in Michigan to William Peter Ternes and Elsie Agnes Gerstner. He married Madlyn Erminie Maiullo on 1 October 1838 in Detroit. He was a successful and respected Detroit businessman. He died on 26 February 1982 at Bon Secour Hospital in Gross Pointe following a long illness. He was interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit.

Who Got the Business?

After writing The Daughter Who Wasn't, I wondered who did get William Peter Ternes' businesses. I had heard from descendants of one of William's daughters that the children didn't get it. I also heard the same thing from a friend of descendants of one of Frank Deacon's daughters. From that source I also learned that William's younger brother, George Lambert Ternes, got the various businesses William had founded. These sources always said the name of the business was Ternes Coal & Lumber Co., which had been started by William's older brother, Albert Peter Ternes. At one time William was the treasurer of the company and George Lambert Ternes, was secretary. After reading several Detroit area newspaper articles, I do not believe Ternes Coal & Lumber Co. was the company over which the family fought for control after William's death.

William Peter Ternes died on 17 November 1926 as one of the most prominent business men in Detroit. He had eloped to Sandwich, Ontario, in 1910 to marry Elsie Agnes Gerstner, who worked at Ternes Coal & Lumber Co. along side William as a bookkeeper. They had six children, five who lived to adulthood, before William died and a seventh born three months after his death. William and Elsie's second daughter, Marian Ruth Ternes, married my first cousin twice removed, Harold Muir.

The Anthony Ternes Family. Back row, left to right: George Lambert Ternes,
William Peter Ternes, Mary Therese Ternes, Albert Peter Ternes. Middle row,
left to right: Margaret Ternes, Anthony Ternes (father), Mary Ann (Horger)
Ternes (mother), Anthony Francis Ternes. Seated in front: Della Ternes and
Frederick John Ternes; photograph courtesy of Sally (Ternes de Reuter) Martinez

The 1914 Book of Detroiters included the following entry for William:

William Peter Ternes, born Springwells, Mich., July 16, 1877, son of Anthony and Mary Ann (Horger) Ternes; educated German parochial school; Assumption College, Sandwich, Ont.; married Apr. 8, 1910, Elsie A. Gerstner, of Ann Arbor, Mich.; 2 children: Evelyn Agnes and William Anthony. Treasurer Ternes Coal & Lumber Co. since Jan. 10, 1905; vice-president The Cooper Baking Co. Roman Catholic. Member Knights of Columbus. Recreation: automobiling. Office: 1730 Michigan Ave. Residence: 303 Vinewood Ave.

William Peter Ternes; courtesy of the
Detroit Free Press

According to William's obituary, he started his own coal business, which he named William P. Coal & Lumber Co. and eventually began a successful real estate business, W. P. Ternes Real Estate. It was likely that was company that his widow and her second husband were operating when the 1930 census was enumerated, Elsie (Gerstner) Ternes Deacon as president and Frank Deacon as vice president.

An article in the 30 November 1926 Detroit Free Press indicated Elsie was an executor as well as the Union trust company and five of his six living children were his heirs.

Detroit Free Press article; image courtesy of
Newspapers.com

Children to Get Shares at Intervals During Life
Leaving an estate valued at $1,000, and upward to a widow, three daughters and two sons, the will of William P. Ternes, who died November 17, was filed for probate Monday.

Mrs. Elsie A. Ternes, 722 Chicago boulevard, and the Union Trust company were named executors. The will advised the investing of money in land contracts and retaining the site of the William P. Ternes company, coal and lumber dealers, at Twelfth and Fenkill avenue.

The shares of the estate going to the children are divided into quarters to be received when they reach the age of 25, thirds at the age of 30, halves at 35 and the balance at 40. The daughters are 4, 7, and 15 years old and the sons are 6 and 14 years old.

William's widow, Elsie was six months pregnant when he died. She gave birth to their youngest son, John Peter Ternes on 22 February 1927.

If family lore is to be believed, William's children never got their inheritance.  So who did?

The obvious suspects would be the two brothers with whom William was in business before he branched out on his own. The Book of Detroiters included profiles of both of them:

Albert Peter Ternes,  president Ternes Coal & Lumber Co.; born, Springwells, Mich., Oct. 7, 1872; son of Anthony and Mary Anna (Horger) Ternes; educationed German parochial schools, and Greenfield district school; married, June 20, 1900, Maude Burke, of Detroit; children: Arthur, Howard, Paul. Entered retail coal and feed business, 1900, with Joseph H. Schulte; president and general manager Ternes Coal & Lumber Co. since Jan. 10, 1905; also partner real estate business of Ternes & Yatzek; director Springwell State Bank; proprietor Ternes Stock Farm, breeders of registered Percheron horses and English Berkshire swine. Roman Catholic. Member Detroit Board of Commerce, Builders and Traders' Exchange. Member Knights of St. John. Club: Fellowcraft. Recreations: farming and fancy stock raising. Office: 1730 Michigan Ave. Residence: 791 W. Grand Boul.

Albert Peter Ternes; courtesy Ancestry.com member
David Reckinger

George Lambert Ternes, born, Springwells, Mich., Sept. 12, 1884; son of Anthony and Mary Anna (Horger) Ternes; educated in German parochial school, Springwells, Detroit Business University; unmarried. Secretary and treasurer of The Cooper Backing Co., Detroit, since Jan. 10, 1905; secretary Ternes Coal & Lumber Co. since Nov. 1, 1909. Democrat. Roman Catholic. Member German-American Association. Recreations: automobiling, bowling. Office: 1730 Michigan Ave. Residence: 483 W. Grand Boul.

George Lambert Ternes; courtesy of Ancestry.com member
paintingpamela

Albert Peter Ternes' adopted niece, Edith Mary Madeline Ternes described Albert as "...a handsome confident man who was a very successful business man. He and his three younger brothers, Frank, William, and George were in the coal and lumber business for a number of years. The company was called The Ternes Coal and Lumber Company, which was quite normal."

Albert died in 1943 and his obituary stated he was the founder of Ternes Coal & Lumber Co. George Lambert Ternes died in 1945. It is entirely possible the heirs of Albert and George divided the business and began their own separate companies or the company may have been sold. In 1955 one of Albert's sons, Arthur Ternes, was the owner of a company called Art Ternes Coal & Lumber Co.

After spending days reviewing the archives of the Detroit Free Press, I still cannot say why William Peter Ternes' children didn't get the inheritance their father intended; or, if there was indeed a fight over his various business, who was involved or who prevailed.

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The Daughter Who Wasn't
A Day of Surprising Research Finds

The Daughter Who Wasn't

William Peter Ternes came from a wealthy Detroit family of German descent. He worked with his brothers at Ternes Coal & Lumber, where he had been the treasurer since 1905. He was also a vice president of The Cooper Baking Co. In 1910 he eloped with Elsie Agnes Gerstner, who worked for the company as a bookkeeper.

Elsie Agnes Gerstner working at Ternes Coal & Lumber;
photograph courtesy of Randall Muir

William went on to found his own coal and lumber business and finally a real estate business before his death. He and Elsie had seven children before William Peter Ternes died of pulmonary edema at the age of 49 on 17 November 1926.[1]

Elsie married John Francis "Frank" Deacon, a widower with two children, on 27 June 1928. They had a daughter, Frances T. Deacon, the next year. When the 1930 census was enumerated the family lived at 722 Chicago Boulevard in Detroit, along with four servants. The house was valued at $50,000 and Frank and Elsie ran a real estate company together with Elsie acting as president.

Elsie (Gerstner) Ternes on the day of her wedding to Frank
Deacon. Left to right: Marian Ruth Ternes, Evelyn Ternes,
Elsie, and Joy Margaret Ternes; photograph courtesy of
Sally (Ternes de Reuter) Martinez

Fredrica Deacon, Daughter of Frank Deacon

Evelyn Ternes, Elsie's eldest child by William Peter Ternes, and Fredrica "Frieda" Deacon, daughter of Frank Deacon and his first wife, were good friends. A month after their parents married, they traveled to Europe together aboard the S/S Regina and returned aboard the S/S Arabia on 21 August 1928. At the same time the young women were in France, Frieda's future husband was also there. He departed Cherbourg aboard the S/S Pennland and arrived in New York on 6 August 1928 two weeks before the women.

Frieda and Frank married on 18 June 1929. Frank was a prominent attorney in Detroit. He died on 19 January 1933 after suffering for three days from uremia. Nearly a month after her husband's death, Frieda gave birth to their son, Frank J. Hester, Jr., on 10 February 1933. Frieda's mother-in-law apparently made several threats to take the boy away from Frieda.

Elsie (Gerstner) Ternes Deacon Dies

In 1932 Elsie, Frank Deacon's second wife, was diagnosed with breast cancer. After suffering for 18 months she died on 23 December 1933, leaving her new husband, six living children by her first marriage, and 4-year-old daughter, Frances Deacon. After her death, several people in the extended families, began trying to get Frank and Elsie's real estate business.

Move to California

To escape the business sharks and the mother-in-law who wanted to snatch her baby, Frieda (Deacon) Hester, and her father, Frank Deacon, moved to Santa Barbara, California, with their children, Frances Deacon and Frank Hester. Frank Deacon died there in 1936.

When the 1940 census was enumerated, Frieda owned a farm in Santa Barbara and lived there with two children, who were listed as Frances Hester, 10, and Frank Hester, 7. She married Adolph P. Kerr sometime before 1942. Frieda and Adolph remained in Santa Barbara until their deaths in 1975 and 1976, respectively.

The daughter, Frances Hester, was really Frieda's half-sister, Frances Deacon.

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I discovered this story while trying to find Elsie's six living children in the 1940 census. I thought I figured out Frances Hester and Frances Deacon were the same person but couldn't prove it until I contacted another Ancestry.com user who confirmed the details and provided the reasons why. Other portions of the story, came to me from descendants of Marian Ruth (Ternes) Muir.

[1]Elsie had their seventh child three months after William's death. One child, Ruth Marie Ternes (1914-1917), drowned at the family's summer place on Hickory Island.

Hickory Island -- A Summer Playground

Hickory Island played a large role in the summers of the Ternes family. My first cousin twice removed, Harold Muir (1917-2003) married Marion Ruth Ternes (1918-1973) sometime after 1940. Marion's parents were William Peter and Elsie Agnes (Gerstner). Marion's sister, Ruth Marie Ternes, drowned on Hickory Island the year before Marion was born. She was only 3 years old at the time of her death.

Ruth Marie Ternes' death certificate

Marion Ruth (Ternes) Muir's first cousin was Edith Mary Madeline Terns, an adopted daughter of Anthony Francis and Mary Ann (Horger) Ternes.

A couple of years ago, I found the Live from Tormville! blog. The author, had purchased some embroidery at a garage sale and when she unpacked it, she discovered a typewritten transcript of voice taps that Edith Mary Madeline (Ternes) Reynolds sent to a relative about their shared family history.  In those transcripts, Edith described how she was adotped:

Transcript of voice tapes sent to a relative circa 1958;
photograph by Sharyn Tomane, author of the Live from Tormville! blog

In the summer of 1911, I was taken by my aunt to a cottage on Hickory Island. I played in the water and on the beach with some other children until nap time. I was put down for a nap, when I awakened my aunt was gone and I found myself in a strange place without a single familiar face. At four and a half, this can be a devastatingly traumatic experience. It was for me. Years later I came to terms with it and even wrote a poem about it. It was a little morbid, as I recall. I am a frustrated poet and write versus at the drop of a hat so don't drop yours or I'll surely write about it. Two of the boys I played with before my world upended were Norma and Orrin, the two surviving children of the Ternes family. They had had five children, three of whom, Chester, Mildred and Edith had died in infancy or early childhood. It was to fill the void left by the two daughters that the Terneses decided to adopt me. They changed my name from Freda Isobel Watson to Edith Mary Madeline Ternes. I found this out when I was taken to school in the fall. From the middle of the summer until school time I wondered why no one ever called me. Every time anyone spoke to me they called me Edith. I did not know who Edith was. This was very confusing to me because my name was Freda. No on ever called me that and I never heard the name again.

Edith wrote about celebrating the 4th of July on Hickory Island:

The 4th of July was generally spent at Hickory Island and it was always a spectacular day. The relatives all gathered there in the morning and after lunch we were given all the sparklers and lady fingers we could handle. This helped us wear off the lunch and prepare for a very special dinner. After dinner our dads would set off the Roman candles and sky rockets and pinwheels and we would roast wienies and toast marshmallows at the bonfire on the beach. We had some wonderful times out there. We went to the Island as soon as school was out in the spring and stayed there until it was time a to get new clothes for school again in the fall.

I wanted to learn a little more about the island that played such a big part in the Ternes family's lives.

Corps of Engineers 1905 topographical map of Hickory Island

The Corp of Engineers topographical map dated 1905 shows that Hickory Island is divided into two large islands.  At this time Upper Hickory was principally farmland. The only buildings were the caretaker's house and barn and a few outbuildings. Conversely, the eastern shoreline of Lower Hickory was well lined with cottages. Cottagers arrived at the dock on Upper Hickory and used a path along the riverbank to to reach the footbridge leading to Lower Hickory. The bridge crossed the channel near Peek-a-Boo, the small island between Hickory's upper and lower sections. This is the earliest map known to show the road leading to Lower Hickory with a bridge for vehicles to cross the channel.

Upper Hickory Dock where people boarded a steamship to return to Detroit;
photograph courtesy of Robert George and published in Images of
America: Grosse Ille and copyrighted by the Grosse Ille
Historical Society

I wish I would have known about Hickory Island when I lived in the Detroit area in the mid 1980s.

52 Ancestors #2: Verses at the Drop of a Hat

For the second week of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge, I am writing about another poet. This one described herself as a "frustrated writer and poet." I found her in a most unusual, non-professional genealogist sort of way while trying to verify information from my Dad's family tree.

According to my Dad's genealogy research, his first cousin once removed, Harold Muir married Marion Ternes in Michigan sometime after 1940. Dad wasn't as fussed about sourcing his research discoveries as I am. So off I went in search of a source citation for this marriage and to learn more about the Ternes family.  I discovered Marion's relatives owned the Ternes Coal and Lumber Company and were a prominent Detroit family. Harold was the grandson of a coal miner and worked as a machinist at a Ford factory, so he definitely married up! I got interested. I had lived and worked in the Detroit area in the early 1980s and found the city's rise and fall absorbingly fascinating. I got more interested, spending a lot of additional time researching a "by marriage" family than I normally would.

A Google search result led me to the Live from Tormville! blog and a wonderful discovery. After reading the voice tape transcripts the blogger bought at a garage sale (can you believe that), I fell in love with Edith Mary Madeline (Ternes) Reynolds[1] and I think you will, too. Her real name was Freda Isobel Watson and she was adopted.

Transcripts of voice tapes sent to a relative circa 1958 -- about 5-1/2 feet long! Photo by Sharyn Tormane, author of Live fro Tormville!

Here's her story:

My name is Edith Mary Madeline Ternes Reynolds. I am your grandfather's adopted sister. I was introduced into the family when I was four and a half years old. My mother had died giving birth to her fifth child. My parents rented a house from your great grandparents. My mother was pregnant and on her way to the Ternes to pay the rent. She tripped on a broken sidewalk near their home. Mother Ternes told me she saw her and went out and put a pillow under her head and called for help. She was taken to the hospital and died that afternoon. She was only 26 years old.

In the summer of 1911, I was taken by my aunt to a cottage on Hickory Island. I played in the water and on the beach with some other children until nap time. I was put down for a nap, when I awakened my aunt was gone and I found myself in a strange place without a single familiar face. At four and a half this can be a devastatingly traumatic experience. It was for me.

Years later  I came to terms with it and even wrote a poem about it. It was a little morbid as I recall. I am a frustrated poet and writer -- verses at the drop of a hat so don't drop yours or I'll surely write about it. Two of the boys I played with before my world upended were Norman and Orrin, the two surviving children of the Ternes family. They had had five children, three of whom -- Chester, Mildred and Edith -- had died in infancy or early childhood. It was to fill the void left by the two daughters that the Ternes decided to adopt me. They changed my name from Freda Isobel Watson to Edith Mary Madeline Ternes. I found this out when I was taken to school in the fall. From the middle of summer until school time, I wondered why no one ever called me by my name. Every time anyone spoke to me, they called me Edith. I did not know who Edith was. This was very confusing to me because my name was Freda. No one ever called me that again.

I so wish I had a photo of Edith, but I do not...yet. What I do have is a current photo from Google Maps of the home the family moved to in 1918 on 15th Street in Detroit. It's a sad testament to a once great and powerful city:

2668 -- 15th Street. When the Ternes family moved to house in 1918, the house number was 448.

I excerpted Edith Mary Madeline (Ternes) Reynold's transcripts in several posts. She had an absolute flair for writing and I felt like I knew her:

• More from my favorite person I've never met (20 September 2013) 
• A surprise in my inbox: Ternes family photograph (5 September 2013)
• A trip to Paris (19 August 2013) This one is my personal favorite!
• A most memorable letter continued (25 July 2013)
• A most memorable letter (15 March 2013)

Because of my fascination with Edith, I dug as deep as I knew how into the Ternes family. That research lead me to a wonderful connection that I've enjoyed getting to know through email.  Here is the story of her grandfather -- why he moved to Panama and how he died:

• It's Ternes time...again (31 July 2013)

Today is the 15th anniversary of Edith's death. Did you fall in love with her, too?

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[1] Edith Mary Madeline (Ternes) Reynolds was the first cousin of the wife of my first cousin 2x removed. She was born on 16 December 1906 in Michigan; married Elmer Reynolds about 1938; and died 12 January 1999 in Dearborn, Wayne, Michigan. She was adopted by Anthony Francis and Madeline Laura (Loranger) Ternes when she was four and a half years old. Her birth mother was Isobel Watson, maiden name unknown.

More from My Favorite Person I've Never Met

I've written about Edith Mary Madeline Ternes several times.(1) Edith communicated with a relative named Sofee, who was also interested in researching the Ternes family. They traded information and photos as you can see by this portion of the transcript:

I hate to seem ungrateful, and I'm not, but I am still missing one picture. There is no picture of your mother. I'd appreciate some information too. When and where your mother and dad were married would be a help. I'd like your mother's maiden name too. I need this information for my own research. I like the picture of your father but I barely recognize the man because I keep thinking of a little boy about Peter's age. I do have one picture of your father in which he looks about fifteen or sixteen years old. I found it among mother's things, and it, like the other family pictures comes out once a year to hang on the Christmas tree and be admired. I shall have to make one of my picture ornaments for you. Each year the numerous little pill container ornaments with family pictures inside decorate the trees. They make the tree quite the conversation piece.

They communicated by sending tapes and packages back and forth to each other:

I am delighted to be able to use tapes. Apparently my tongue gets less tired then my fingers do, though I do type this all out before I put it on tape. My memory is bad, you see, and like most old folks I tend to repeat myself ad infinitem. My typewriter is about to be hospitalized. I surely could not have made all these mistakes by myself.

Edith also wrote about her young adulthood:

When I was nineteen years old I had to make a decision for myself. The Terneses were very good to me and sent me to a school for young ladies, St. Joseph's Academy in Adrian, Michigan. I was in the eight grade and very impressionable. The school was run by the Adrian Dominicans, an order of Catholic nuns whom I admired very much. I still admire them.

St. Joseph's Academy, Adrian, Michigan

In my sophomore year of high school they sent me to St. Mary's Academy in Windsor, Ontario. Thereby hangs a tale which I shall tell you some other time.

St. Mary's Academy, Windsor, Ontario

Like most teenagers I was sure I was destined to dedicate my life to saving the world or something equally dramatic so I entered the convent one month after my nineteenth birthday. This altered my living habits considerably and until the age of 28 I saw the family only once or twice a year and was allowed to visit home only three times in those nine and one half years so whatever happened in the family affected me very little. In order to avoid worrying me they told me only the good things. They never mentioned troubles very much. Much of the time I lived in or near Chicago and that was a very long way from home.

In the convent sisters are given about 10 years in which to decide if they really want to make a permanent commitment and take final vows. After Dad's death I decided it might be better if I went home first.

This is the last post about the voice tape transcripts written by Edith Mary Madeline Ternes. It seems a fitting way to end this series of posts about my discovery on the Live from Tormville! blog as I recently discovered when researching other Ancestry.com public trees that Edith died in 1999:

Edith Mary Madeline (Ternes) Reynolds Social Security Death Index record.

I'm very sad today.
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(1) To find all the previous posts about the Ternes family, click "Ternes" in the Labels section of this page.

A Surprise in My Inbox: Ternes Family Photograph

I've written about Edith Mary Madeline Ternes before (here, here and here). Edith communicated via voice tapes to a relative named Sofee, who is also interested in researching the Ternes family. They traded information about themselves and photos.

After reading the following section of the transcript last November, I scoured the Internet, looking for the photograph of the Anthony Ternes family Edith described in the transcript.  No luck.  Yesterday morning, I woke up and read a new email in my inbox from one of my Ternes family connections.(1)  Attached was the very photograph for which I had been looking for months. It made my day!

I have also included some photographs of other family members mentioned in Edith Mary Madeline Ternes' transcript that are not in the subject photograph.

Here's what Edith Mary Madeline Ternes had to say about the Anthony and Mary Ann (Horger) Ternes family, which were her adopted grandparents:

The Ternes family was German. Mother Ternes was part French. She lived in a French community, Newport, Michigan, and spoke French. During the first war this led to some rather lively discussions at the dinner table. I have often wondered what Mother would have said had she found out, as I have since I have been researching family trees, that her family could well have been more Spanish than French. Dr. Valade, mother's grandfather traveled from Spain to Canada to Newport, Michigan. That Dr. Valade was your great, great, great grandfather.

Mother's father was August Loranger and her mother was Mary Valade. Mary died and August Loranger married again. His second wife had children of her own and was not too happy to have little Madeline Laura at all. She reportedly treated her so badly that her Grandmother Valade took your Great grandmother to live with her. Thus she was raised with aunts and uncles. This was the reason Mother always felt so close to Clara Valade Beckham. They are aunt and niece but raised as sisters.

Now, if you take the large family picture I will tell you about the people in it. There are three men and a woman in the back row. They are George Ternes, William Ternes, Theresa Ternes and Albert Peter Ternes.

Anthony Ternes Family

In the middle row are Maggie, Anthony, the father of the group, Mary Horger Ternes, the mother of the group and Francis "Frank" Anthony Ternes, my foster father and your great grandfather. Seated on the floor are Della and Frederick.

Let's start with Anthony, the father of the family. He is the son of Christian Ternes and Anna M (Schiller) Ternes. (Note: The patriarch of the family, Christian Ternes, was brutally murdered in the streets of Detroit.) Anthony was born on Feb. 22, 1843 and died on Feb. 28, 1904. Mary Ann (Horger) Ternes was the daughter of John Horger and Margaret Meisel Horger. Mary Ann was born in 1847 and died Jan 21, 1904. The church records show that Anthony Ternes and Mary Ann Horger were married June 1868. Anthony's father Christian Ternes was born in 1807 and died in 1881. His mother Anna Marie Schiller was born in 1808 and died on Dec. 25 1884.

The first boy in the last row is George Ternes. George married May Connolly. They had four children, Edna who became a nun, George Junior was in the war and I believe was at Pearl Harbor. The experience left him sort of at loose ends but he finally married a beautiful young lady (I am still trying to find out her name) They were married just 30 days and she died with spinal meningitis. George was devastated by this tragedy and it was quite a while before he married again but he never could come to terms with the disasters in his life and he finally decided it wasn't worth trying to cope with it any longer so he chose his own time to die. Claire married James Martin and lives here in Dearborn. I do not have her children's names. And then there was Lloyd the youngest. I see him at church sometimes. He is a fine young man with a family and he runs the Ternes Paint Store right here in town.

Hannah May (Connelly) Ternes and her children, George Anthony, Claire and Edna

After May died Lucille Carlen kept home for George and his four children until George married again. He had four children and he married a widow, Marguerite Emback Schroeder, who also had four children. They evened things up but made for quite a household.

Marguerite (Embach) Schroeder/Ternes

The second young man in the family picture is William Peter Ternes who married Elsie Gerstner and they had six children as near as I can find out. (Note: You may remember from an earlier blog post, they eloped.) They were Evelyn who married a Monaghan boy, William who married Madeline Maillue whose father was a lawyer and her mother was an opera singer, Ruth, Joy Marion,(2) Jack and Donald.(3) Ruth was drowned out at the cottage on Hickory Island. She was about three years old. After William died Elsie married a Mr. Deacon and they had one more child called John P. Deacon.

Donald Joseph Ternes

The lady is the back row is my favorite Aunt, Theresa, whom we called Aunt Trace. She married Albert Bernard Carlen a musician and piano and organ tuner and repairer. They had four children, Lucille, Eugene, Dorothy and Bernard. Lucille married William McCleer, Eugene became a priest, Dorothy became a Monroe nun with the name of Sr. Claudia. Bernard married Frances Shulte, a nurse. They had four children, Marie Therese, Dorothy, Kathleen known as Kitty and James. Then they called the whole thing off and were divorced and Bernard married Rose somebody or other. I'm still working on that name too. Marie Therese married William D. Hopkinson and they had six children, Elizabeth Ann, Donald, Ann, Kathy, Amy and Patty. Dorothy married William Beers and moved to California. They have three children, William, Mark and Shawn. Kitty works for the social services in Detroit and has never married. James lives in California and his aunt doesn't know if he is married or not.

The other man in the last row is Albert. Albert was a handsome confident man who was a very successful business man. He and his three younger brothers, Frank, your great grandfather, William and George were in the coal and lumber business for a number of years. The company was called The Ternes Coal and Lumber Company which was quite normal. Albert married Maude Burke and had three sons. Arthur, Howard and Paul. Arthur married Laree but I do not know her last name yet. They were divorced and I believe he married again a girl by the name of Esper, another good old Dearborn name. I believe he had two children Dale and Donald but I do not know by which wife. Howard married a lovely girl with an odd first name. She was Steve Rooney. They had a daughter Burke. I think there were other children but I have not been able to track them down yet. Paul married Patricia O'Reille and they had three children, Paul, Patricia and Michael. About 1918 Aunt Maude died. I remember that very well because the boys stayed with us for a few days. Al later married Helen Reber and had one more daughter Alberta Ternes who married Bill Bent.

The young woman sitting in the middle row is Margaret or Maggie as she was called. Maggie married Peter Neckel and this seems to have been a mis-mating if ever there was one. Margaret and Peter had three children, only one of whom Alice lived to grow up. The other two, Madeline and Alfred, died as children. Alice married Joseph Hammel and had six children Joseph, Robert, Margaret Kohlmeier La Salle Renelda Bonefant and Mary Alice Best.

Neckel brothers, Peter is on the far right

Next in line is Grandpa Ternes, your great great grandfather Anthony who, I understand was especially posed with his knees covered by hands to cover a hole in his pants. When he went into the photographer's studio he tripped and fell, tearing both his pant legs. Next to him sits Grandma Ternes who, by the looks of her must have been the authority figure in the family. I never knew her but Mother spoke highly of her and grandpa too, so there must have been some good to her. Then there is Frank, your great grandfather. He was a handsome man, good, kind, and with a terrific sense of humor. We loved the stunts and tricks he used to pull on us.

I hope you've enjoyed how so many pieces of the Ternes family history are coming together. I am thoroughly enjoying getting to learn about this history and meeting Ternes family members.

_______________
(1) My connection is the granddaughter of Christian Ternes, who moved to Panama and changed his name to Charles Ternes De Reuter. His very interesting story may be found here.

(2) William Peter Ternes' daughter, Marion, married Harold Muir, my first cousin, twice removed. They moved to California and had four children.

(3) I have also been in contact with Donald Ternes' daughter on Facebook.

A Trip to Paris

I've written about Edith Mary Madeline Ternes before: here and here. Edith is communicating via voice tapes to a relative named Sofee, who is also interested in researching the Ternes family. They trade information and photos and, as you can see, information about themselves:

What a delightful dream you have of Paris. When I read that I was reminded of Henry Van Dyke's poem, "America for Me." In describing London and Paris about half way through the poem he said, "Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air and Paris is a woman's town with flowers in her hair."

Henry Van Dyke. Photo courtesy of RightWords.com

Yes, I went to Paris. It was one of the stops of a 49-day tour of the continent. We visited 7 countries and found them all fascinating. No doubt there have been many changes since that summer of 1954 but I still remember the highlights. It was like walking in a dream through places I never expected to see. I seemed always on the alert for fear I would waken in my bed at home. There were Montmartre, Maxim’s, Folies Bergere, Bois de Bologna, Sainte Chapelle, the Left Bank, Notre Dame Cathedral, the palace of Versailles and the Louvre with its haunting Mona Lisa. These things I remember vividly and would like to see again.

Maybe I had better make another promise to myself. One of our assignments when I was in the eighth grade was to make a promise and write about it. Our teacher was way ahead of her time and a wonderfully imaginative person. She said, "A promise made is a debt unpaid so make a promise to yourself and you will surely keep it." Along with my classmates I very solemnly made twin promises to myself - first that I would be a school teacher and second that I would go to Paris someday. My teacher was right. I did keep my promises to myself. Seven years later I began a teaching career which lasted for 47-1/2 years but it took me 36 years to get to Paris.

Paris Metro -- Ternes Station. Photo courtesy of  www.cparama.com 

I made it and loved it just as I had expected I would. I stood on the sidewalk in Montmartre and hugged myself I was so delighted to be there. It was on the way back from the Bois de Boulogne that I saw the street sign with Pont de Ternes on it. It is pronounced Tern but spelled Ternes. The people are French. The next day I passed up a luncheon at the Eiffel Tower to walk back toward the Coq Hardee restaurant where we had lunch the day before in hope of finding that sign and taking a picture of it. I did find it. I hunted up a policeman or gendarme and asked him about it. My inexcusable French forced me to write my questions which he answered for me. He told me the area and the street were named for a very old family who lived there. I should have tried to locate someone named Ternes in the phone book or through the gendarmes. When I came home I learned from a cousin that some researcher had found out that one of the Ternes men, who fought in the German army during the Franco Prussian War, fell in love with a French girl, married her and settled down in France. You see there is some romance in our history.

Avenue des Ternes, Paris, France. Image courtesy of www.notrefamilies.com

In a later tape:

I think I am on the trail of something now. Louise, my cleaning lady, has a brother living in a suburb of Paris and she has written asking him to try and get me the pages of the Paris telephone book with the name Ternes on it. If I get them I shall try to communicate with some of them and see if they know where their family began. My French is inadequate but I am sure someone will help me out. How is your  French? Maybe you would like to write too.

And still later...

Louise just called and gave me three addresses for people who are named Ternes and live in Paris. One is a corsetier, one a furniture mover and one an automobile dealer I think.

And, again in a later tape...

Louise called and gave me four Ternes businesses listed in the Paris telephone book. One is Ternes Immobiliers or furniture movers at 1 Rue Ne'va in the 8th district. Ternes Tapis Maquettes (Textiles) 4 Rue Ville Bois 17th District Ternes neg a cious cions d'automobile 71 Boulevard Gouvion St Cyr; 7th District and Les Ternes Corsetts at 37 Avenue McMahon 17th District. I think I will try a little strategy on them all. I will send them pictures of their name on the street signs of Dearborn and possibly one of the large grave marker in the cemetery. This may arouse a little curiosity in them and they may respond.

It was obviously much harder to research your genealogy without the Internet!

It's Ternes Time...Again

After reading the transcripts of voice tapes Edith Mary Madeline Ternes sent to grand niece, Sofee Ternes, I became much more interested in the Ternes family, which you will remember I am also related to by marriage through Harold Muir, my first cousin twice removed. (I've posted about these transcripts several times; just click Ternes in the Labels section to the right of this post to see them.)

I searched through old Detroit newspaper archives and discovered the patriarch of the family, Christian Ternes, was tragically murdered. Searching Google Books gave me a bit more information about the family. Findagrave.com provided yet more relationship information. So through several sources, I started building out the family tree.  Of course, the census records were very helpful, too.

Once the Ternes family tree started taking shape, I got hints from Ancestry.com about birth and death certificates, World War I and World War II registration cards, Social Security death records and so on. I have spent days building out this tree, connecting to other Ancestry.com members who maintain well-sourced public trees and sharing information, such as photos and documents about our common relatives.

By far the most interesting discovery has been the Ternes surname message board on Ancestry.com. Several great and grand daughters of Christian I. Ternes, son of Peter Ternes and grandson of Christian Ternes posted on the board. They live in Miami or Panama and told a fascinating story.

Peter Ternes, son of family Patriarch, Christian, and father of Christian Ternes/Charles Ternes De Reuter

Theresia Reuter Ternes, Christian/Charles Ternes De Reuter's mother

Apparently, as a young man, Christian (1870-1917) got into a bit of trouble in Detroit and one of his uncles told him to leave town.  He ended up in Colon, Panama, after fighting with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders in Cuba during the Spanish American War. He married a woman in Colon and took the name of his youngest brother, Charles, and changed his last name to Ternes De Reuter, adopting the Spanish custom of including a mother's maiden name.

Christian I. Ternes/Charles Ternes De Reuter

He became Chief of the Fire Department in Colon and died on 28 Apr 1917 at 5:00 a.m. when he touched a live wire while fighting a fire.  I learned all this from a Death of an American Citizen report filed by the American Consular Service on 30 Apr 1917. The report went on to say Charles Ternes De Reuter married the daughter of Porfirio Melendez. Mr. Melendez was a former governor of Colon and head of a Panama separatist movement. Charles Ternes DeReuter left behind his widow, Felicidad (Melendez) Ternes De Reuter, and five children when he died. She is buried Corozal American Cemetery and Memorial in Panama City, Panama. Ternes DeReuter is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Colon.

American Consular Report, dated 30 Apr 1917, about Charles Ternes De Reuter

The American Consular Service report also said Ternes De Reuter was highly esteemed. So it appears that he recovered well from his early troubles in Detroit and went on to live a short, but eventful life.

Since finding this information, I've been in touch with one of Ternes De Reuter's granddaughters. She was born in Panama and told me more about his wife's family. His wife Felicidad's sister, Aminta, is considered Colon's favorite daughter. There is a bust of Aminta in Colon. When she was just 18 years old she smuggled a message across enemy lines to inform Panama city of a Colombian plot.  Throughout her life, it was traditional for the president of Panama to visit her home to pay homage.

Aminta Melendez's bust in Colon

Isn't it wonderful what old documents and new contacts can tell us about the past!

A Most Memorable Letter Continued

A couple of months ago, I introduced you to Edith Mary Madeline Ternes. She wrote a wonderful series of letters to a younger relative, who was interested in the family history. In those letters, she offered some very sage advice, which I like to remember when I'm researching genealogy:

If any family tree is shaken hard enough I am sure it will produce stories of heroes and horse thieves. Lives to be proud of, lives to imitate and some to regret. Your family tree, no doubt will be the same, so I think it is wise to remember that we are totally responsible for ourselves and our lives but we owe no debt to the past.

She also provided personality sketches of her adopted family that show her flair for description writing talent.

About her adopted mother:

Your great grandmother whom I call Mother Ternes was a beautiful, able, capable woman who seemed to bend but never break. Under great pressure she would often say, "Well, we'll just have to make the best of it," and she did. She was never mean or petty or critical. She had never learned how. Her greatest fault was that Orrin took advantage of this. She had a wonderful sense of humor and was willing to believe that everyone did the best he could.

About her adopted brothers:

...Orrin vanished from our lives. Where he went or why we never found out. Mother and I felt very sorry for Bernadine and Charles but I, especially hesitated to ask too many questions. I thought it was Bernadine's right to tell us what she chose. If your grandmother Perrin chooses she may tell you more. I know absolutely nothing about it. I am afraid I cannot deal too kindly with your grandfather because I watched his mother's eyes change from incredulity to hope, to resignation and finally to despair. I've told you all this just to tell you that I don't know where your grandfather is or if he is alive or not. If he is alive he would be about 73 years old.

Norman had two children, Jack and Patricia, and he himself had been terribly ill. He was hospitalized for about a year and the penalty for that prolonged illness was very harsh. He recovered but was addicted to the use of drugs. This plagued him for the rest of his life. Norman was a capable young man who worked for his Uncle George Ternes in the coal office in Dearborn. He was also an accomplished pianist and sometimes played in a dance group with his brother in law Hugh Jack.

Uncle George Ternes

And a little about herself not long after she was married:

In 1938 Elmer and I were married and both our mothers came to live with us on Morrow Circle in East Dearborn. We each had a mother in law. It sounds like a strange household, I know, but it really wasn't. For us it was ideal. Neither of us had to worry about leaving our Mothers alone while we were at work, because each of them had a companion and a place to play house all day. They didn't have the major responsibility of running a house and they got along exceptionally well together. Elmer worked as assistant traffic manager of a major oil company with offices at Trenton, Michigan and I taught school in Dearborn. We were both secure in the knowledge that our mothers were not alone. I must admit that I was pretty badly spoiled. They both assured me that they had to have something to do all day and so they did the washing, ironing, dishes, dusting, mending and minor cleaning. They set the table, prepared the vegetables and let me do the shopping and the cooking. I couldn't have asked for more.

A Most Memorable Letter

You probably think I love the Ternes family so much because of all the interesting things that happened to them, which I posted about here, here, and here.  But that's not really true. I fell in love with Edith Mary Madeline Ternes Reynolds. And I think you will, too, when you read some of her letters.  I found the letters when Googling "Ternes Coal & Lumber Co." and stubbled across the Live from Tormville! blog, which originally posted about Edith.

Edith was interested in genealogy and was researching the Ternes family. She was corresponding with Sofee, another family member about their ancestors. She used recording tapes but typed out what she wanted to say beforehand. The transcript is what survived.  She starts off by introducing herself:

My name is Edith Mary Madeline Ternes Reynolds. I am your grandfather's adopted sister. I was introduced into the family when I was four and a half years old. My mother had died giving birth to her fifth child. My parents rented a house from your great grandparents. My mother was pregnant and on her way to the Ternesses to pay the rent. She tripped on a broken sidewalk near their home. Mother Ternes told me she saw her and went out and put a pillow under her head and called for help. She was taken to the hospital and died that afternoon. She was only 26 years old.

In the summer of 1911 I was taken by my aunt to a cottage on Hickory Island. I played in the water and on the beach with some other children until nap time. I was put down for a nap, when I awakened my aunt was gone and I found myself in a strange place without a single familiar face. At four and a half this can be a devastatingly traumatic experience. It was for me.

Anthony Ternes, Edith Mary Madeline's adopted grandfather

Mary Ann Horger, wife of Anthony Ternes, and Edith Mary Madeline's adopted grandmother

If I could find stuff like this at a garage sale, I think I'd start going instead of running as fast as I can in the opposite direction at the thought.

She also had an enlighted attitude about families and people, which I try to keep in mind when I uncover the less pleasant or tragic side of my ancestors.

If any family tree is shaken hard enough I am sure it will produce stories of heroes and horse thieves. Lives to be proud of, lives to imitate and some to regret. Your family tree, no doubt will be the same, so I think it is wise to remember that we are totally responsible for ourselves and our lives but we owe no debt to the past.

Isn't she wonderful? I'll share more, I promise. 

Rest Easy -- He's Not a Relative

"You could call John Leonard Wood a cold-blood killer. You'd be right: he murdered Patrolman Dennis Griffin in cold blood, burned his uniform and buried his corpse under a tree. You could call him an oversexed pervert: aside from an unknown number of "wives," the middle-aged Lothario also captivated -- and impregnated a 14-year-old grammar-school girl, and made her his companion in a five-state flight from a nation-wide manhunt."

The Cleveland News

Okay, I've got your attention now.  And you're probably wondering why if John Leonard Wood isn't a relative I am writing about him in my genealogy blog.  He was captured at my favorite Detroit business -- Ternes Coal & Lumber Co. (I've posted about this family before here and here.)

So there's the tie in my ancestors!

"The long-awaited break in the case came in late June. Edward A. Haerl, a foreman at the Ternes Coal & Lumber Company at 6132 Michgan Avenue in Detroit, confided to his employer, A. P. Ternes, that he suspected their new barn boss, a well-liked and valuable employee named  "Sam De Carlo" was actually John Leonard Whitfield. Ternes anxious for the reward, wrote a letter to Cleveland Chief of Police Jacob Graul."

He was captured with quite the threat: "Put up your hands. Any move and you will be riddled. Put handcuffs on him."

The highly entertaining book, "They Died Crawling and Other Tales of Cleveland Woe: True Stories of the Foulest Crimes and Worst Disasters in Cleveland," by John Stark Bellamy II can be found on Google Books. Look for Chapater 6: God, the Devil, Man or Beast the Incredible 1923 Saga of John Leonard Wood.

Murder in Detroit! What a Surprise...Not

What an interesting family these Ternes have become! Before I get to the subject of this post, let me set the stage.

Yesterday, I discovered William Peter and Elsie (Gerstner) Ternes' daughter, Marion Ruth, married a nephew of my great grandfather and his name was Harold Muir. Marion's great grandfather was named Christian Ternes. He was born in Prussia in 1807. Christian; his wife, Anna Maria Schiller;  son, Anthony; and possibly other children emigrated to the U.S. some time between 1843 and 1850. Christian and his family farmed for several years in Dearborn. By 1880 he and his wife were living at 362 13th Street -- just down the road from the Convent of St. Barnabus.  He listed his occupation as a milk peddler.

Amazingly, the address still exists:

362 13th Street, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, USA

And then I found this...it's why, despite the frustrations I have with Ancestry.com, I still use it:

General Telegraph News

 Detroit, Mich., Dec. 5 -- An old German milk vendor named Christian Ternes was brutally murdered last night by Charles Martin, a young iron-molder. Martin was drunk, and, teasing Ternes on the street, received an impatient repsonse, whereupon he knocked Ternes down and kicked and stamped upon him until his skull was crushed. Martin was arrested, but pretends that he knows nothing about the murder.

Amazing what you can find on the Internet! And a proof point that Detroit didn't go "bad" because of the failure of the Great Society experiment; it was a bad place long before the 1960s!

Christian was buried at the St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church Cemetery in Dearborn, Michigan. If you find yourself in the area, please pay your respects for me.

Ternes Family Monument at St. Alphonsus Roman
CatholicChurch Cemetery

You can find other photographs on www.findagrave.com another good resource for genealogists.

A Day of Research Full of Surprising Finds

Last week while researching my first cousin twice removed (whatever that means), Harold Muir, I learned he was a machine operator at an automobile factory in Detroit and married Marion Ruth Ternes. So last night I wanted to concentrate on learning more about her. I was lucky in that I knew her maiden name. Many times when you learn a wife's name, you only get to know her first name, usually through Census reports, and finding out more is difficult.

So what did I learn? The first thing I learned that Marion's parents, William Peter Ternes and Elsie Agnes Gerstner -- eloped and married in Sandwich, Ontario.

Ann Arbor Daily Times, 12 September 1910

Since William Ternes was part owner of Ternes Coal & Lumber Company, it was pretty obvious that Harold Muir married way above his station.  Harold was the son of Peter Semple Muir of Dalserf, Lanark, Scotland. Peter brought his family to the United States sometime before 1900.  He held a variety of jobs, including coal miner, machinist, steam pipe fitter, and plumber's helper.

I had only planned to spend one evening on Marion Ruth Ternes as that's about the amount of time it takes to run out of leads for a wife with little original documentation from my Dad's genealogy research. But after finding out she and her husband married in secret and that she was a bookkeeper for his company, I got very curious. So I'm still researching the Ternes family.  I'll let you know what I find out in future posts.