William DaWitt KENDALL

• Born: March 7, 1824, Cattaraugus County, New York.

• Married: July 25, 1858, Kalamazoo County

• Died: September 27, 1902, Traverse City, Michigan

• Buried: Township Cemetery across from Grant Church.

Marriage Information:

William married Bethany KING, daughter of Jesse KING and McCLANNEN, on July 25, 1858 in Kalamazoo County. (Bethany was born in 1840 in Vermont, in the Green or White Mountains.)

General Notes:

Rose Kendall, wife of Charles Kendall, wrote the follow history.

"William was sent from home at an early age by his mother.

She married a man named Buck, he evidently was abusive to grandfather. William was born illegitimately.

His mothers name was Mary, I have a book with her name in it.

She was an Adventist. I also have her picture on a tin type. When we traveled in the East, at Williamsburg VA in a church, on colored windows were the names Kendall & Buck

William and Bethany took up a homestead near Vicksburg and Pavillion. William's partner cheated him out of his share. I don't know the particulars of the deal.

About this time William with a man called Philo Lammon started out with an ox team and blazed their way north, and eventually landed in Grant Twp. in Wexford County.

Bethany had gone to Chicago thence to Milwaukee to get to Traverse City, Mich.

William and Bethany's first winter was spent with the Cash Sheets family.
We can assume that it was between 1858 their marriage date and the 1860's that Grandfather blazed his way to Grant. Grandmother was well informed and talked about Civil War days.

It was during this period that soldiers especially were offered homesteads in Northern Michigan as rewards.

It's also assumed that Grandfather was encouraged to start out and establish his homestead at Grant Twp. All the land was forest and had to be cleared.

The grandparents first winter in their log house, they had to put heavy blankets up to windows as the panes were not in yet.

William's occupation was also chinking. This was a method of putting or chinking between logs in log houses or barns. The material was horse manure, straw, mud and water. Their early home was a log house east of the church and then a log house north of the church back of the present house, this date is 1988.

Many of the log houses had two windows, maybe a door of sawn lumber or boards.

Floors were rough heavy lumber. Charles was born in that log house, washed and dressed in the kitchen.

Later the present white house that is there was built by the William and Bethany. The log barn was built and kids helped build it.

Note from The Northeast Missaukee Parish of United Methodist Church:

William Kendall was born March 7, 1824 and died Sept. 27, 1902 and is buried in Grand Traverse Township Cemetery. William pastor-ed the Moorestown church in 1900 "