Frontier City: Part 1

Today I would like to begin with the History of Lenawee County, Michigan. The word Lenawee comes from the Shawnee Indian word meaning "Indian". Lenawee County contains several cities and towns, with the largest being Adrian and the second largest being Tecumseh. Other towns include Onsted, Hudson, Brooklyn, and Britton. While most of Lenawee County is still farmland, some industry has popped up, and the area in Lenawee known as The Irish Hills, is a very popular tourist destination. I would also like to point you to an article on the “Irish Hills” located in the northern part of this county.

http://www.brooklynmi.com/articlehighlight-1.asp

And another short article that you may find interesting http://michpics.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/the-story-of-the-irish-hills-towers/

So with all of this as background what I wanted to talk about today is “Frontier City”

Mom and dad had some friends by the name of Maynard and Edna Maniear or Minier, not sure which spelling is correct – depicted here in the first photo with dad and their two daughters. They lived in the Irish Hills and according to mom’s address book at R.R. # 3 Onsted, Michigan.

Maynard and Edna Maniear

Lucinda Parsons Tripp

After being farmers for a lot of years they thought that they would try something different formulating visions of the region’s heritage – the Shawnee and what their word Lenawee meant “Indian”. Well along with the Indians pushing them aside are of course “the frontiersmen”. The result was the creation of a theme park by the name of “Frontier City”.

As a family we ventured on many time travels back to the days when the frontier was wide open - that of course was to "Frontier City". In reality it was more like Dodge City in the mid 1800’s than the place inhabited by our fore fathers. A near descendant of ours by the name of Elmon Beals Tripp who settled in Hanover Twp., near Horton, Michigan in Jackson county (a mere 16 miles and 21 minutes away by today’s standards according to MapQuest) in 1832. In the publication Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson County Michigan – it states “Purchased the family farm from the United States Government. It was all wild land, as was that which surrounded it, and Indians were still lingering in the vicinity. Elmon was present one day when the savages were cooking a coon in a kettle, and they asked him "shemokeman" meaning "white man, like coon". The limit of land allowed by the Government to any one claimant at this time was eighty acres. He built one of the first log cabins in the township, clearing off his place, and a few months later married Lucinda A. Parsons, whose parents were also early settlers in Hanover Township. The young couple began their life in the primitive manner of the times, laboring hand-in-hand to up build their fortunes and rear their family in a becoming manner.” In the 1850 Hanover Twp., Jackson County Michigan Census it stated “Registered on page #483 and listed as family number - 285, Elmon Tripp, Age - 39, Male, While, Occupation - Farmer, Real-Estate - 1500 Acres and Born in New York. Listed with wife - Lucinda, Age - 34, Born New York; son Harrison, Age - 13, Born - Michigan and daughter - Helen, Age -3, Born Michigan.”

As a side note, you will see in the second picture below Lucinda A. (Parsons) Tripp as she appears in the family photo album that I was fortunate enough to take ownership of about twenty years ago. The caption under the photo that I was only able to read by making some extreme adjustments in Photoshop read as “Lucinda Tripp Grandmother of George Tripp.” In the Census of 1880 she was living with her son Harrison B. Tripp relationship - Mother, Age 64, Born - New York (October 12, 1815). She died January 15, 1898 at the age of 82. So you can judge that date that the photo was taken as somewhere between 1880 and 1989.

Frontier City