Christopher George Ellsworth last lived on the original family farm in Maple Ridge Twp., Alpena County, Michigan. He had a family bible.

ALPENA NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
EARLY PIONEERS ALONG THE RIVER... CHRIS ELLSWORTH SAW LOGGING ERA.

Chris Ellsworth was born in 1896 in the farmhouse that was later to become his lifelong residence on the North Branch of the Thunder Bay River. [SW 1/4 of NW 1/4 and W half of NW 1/4 of NW 1/4 of section 29 town 32 N range 7 E.]
As a young boy he remembers the fire of 1908. He remembers the river drivers in their cork boots and the tenacious skill with which they maneuvered the logs with their pikes and peaveys. Millions of logs have floated down the Thunder Bay River and each man had his "beat" or post. The white pine floated well and moved swiftly when the water was high. When the logs jammed, the trained eyes of the river driver would have to find the one log and move it in the right direction. This action might send hundreds of logs swiftly down stream and down to the next ox-bow bend, sandbar or rock. The drive was dangerous and difficult in the ice cold water of the Thunder Bay River. Chris remembers the day when the river claimed two of these river drivers.
There was no cemetery in the area of the North Branch in those days and many of the drowned river drivers were buried near its banks. Mable Moulds Wikaryasz remembers seeing such a grave on her parents' farm. she lived on the North Branch and she remembers the wanigans that floated downstream at the rear of the river drive.
The wanigan was a huge raft topped by a shanty and it carried the cook and his supplies and provided the meals for the rivermen. It was also the office supply room and camp store. When Mable was perhaps six or seven years old, she and her sister would pick the fresh green onions from their garden, tie them to the post along the river and wait. A little later they would shyly return and would find to their delight that the green onions were gone. In place of the green onions there would be fried cakes, fresh from the range of the wanigan. Chris remembers the delicious biscuits that were handed to him as he stood quietly watch from the bank...hot and fresh from the wanigan.
The river itself, was dangerous. There were deep holes in the river bottom and Chris Ellsworth's father drowned in the river as he fished up near the old bridge. Beatrice Ellsworth, Chris' sister and her best friend, Della DeRosia were victims of the river as they swam there one hot day.
Chris speaks of the log marks which we have read to be the law and order for the lumber industry. He spoke of the long wagon ride to town with his father and of the cold wind at Sixteen. [Sixteen was the local name for the bridge that was located near the Ox-Bow Farm.] He talked of the pest house [a local term for contagious diseases] which was located where Alpena General Hospital is today. He remembers the watering trough at the edge of town.
Chris left the area and worked in Detroit for a time. when he returned with a "talking machine and an automobile...for that is progress," his father asked what he needed those things for.
Chris Ellsworth married and raised a family. The coming of the railroad made much of the river drivers' jobs obsolete and that too, is progress.
The days of the men who felled the white pine, banked the logs and then drove them down the ice cold Thunder Bay river are gone. Gone are the cork boots, the peaveys, the wanigans, the log marks and gone is Sixteen. The spirit of those early people will remain forever on the Thunder Bay River.

ALPENA NEWSPAPER ARTICLE - MARCH 17, 1986
G R A N D D A Y F O R T H E I R I S H

Claiming he's Irish by adoption, Chris Ellsworth of 8274 Bolton Road looks forward each year to St. Patrick's Day. today he is marking his 90th birthday and the fact that it falls on March 17, gives him all the more reason to claim there is Irish blood flowing in his veins, even if his ancestors didn't come from the Emerald Isle. To mark the occasion in proper fashion, Ellsworth dressed in Irish attire to greet well-wishers. Chances are, he will have plenty of visitors. At last count, the "King of Bolton" has 102 grandchildren. (News photo by Kerwin O'Kitzman)

NEWSPAPER NOTICE - CHRISTOPHER ELLSWORTH.

Christopher G. Ellsworth, 94 of 8274 Bolton Road, died Wednesday (December 19, 1990) at Alpena General Hospital.
Mr Ellsworth was born on March 17, 1896, in Maple Ridge Township. He married Adeline Yacks on March 2, 1919, at St. Anne's rectory, Alpena. She preceded him in death on Nov. 29, 1971.
He engaged in farming for most of his life, retiring in 1981.
He was a member of the Maple Ridge Township Road Commission and a past member of the school board for several years. he was honored as the oldest living resident of Bolton by being proclaimed as the King of ;the Centennial Celebration of Bolton.
Surviving are five daughters, Madeline Szymanski of Ossineke, Joyce Wyman and Dorothey (Mrs. Norman) Graham, both of Alpena, Mary Lou (Mrs. Richard Kosloski and Gail (Mrs. Bill) Jackson, both of Florida, and over 100 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. A Son, Douglas, and a daughter, Rosalie Pilarski, preceded him in death.
Friends may call from 7-9 p.m. today and 1-9 p.m. Friday at the Bannan Funeral Home. The funeral is at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the funeral home with the Rev. Clive Dickins officiating.
Burial: Pilgrims Rest Cemetery, Bolton, Mi.[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: 1 Apr 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.73243.183]

Individual: Ellsworth, Chris
Social Security #: 368-22-6862
Issued in: Michigan

Birth date: 17 Mar 1896
Death date: 19 Dec 1990


ZIP Code of last known residence: 49707
Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:

Alpena, Michigan