An earlier blog talked of relatives living nearby. This story is closer to home.
[Note: Excerpted from the upcoming sequel to the book Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh.]
An interesting anecdote about my uncle, David Lenn Farmer. Many, many years ago, my uncle felt that he would not live past the age of forty. This belief was further reinforced by a premonition – not too far from the burial site of his father and my grandfather, Jules Lewis Farmer, is a headstone for David Farmer. And the marker dates of 1901-1940 indicate he had died at the age of forty.
Unaware of any relatives living in Battle Creek, Michigan with the same name, Uncle Dave checked with the cemetery office only to hear that most of the records were destroyed in a fire. Fast forward several decades and we discovered last week that the grave of David Farmer was indeed a relative.
David Vahanger Farmer was born 14 February 1901 in Lower Martins Fork, Harlan, Kentucky to Oliver G. Farmer (1851-1902) and Margaret Skidmore (1854-1911). After the death of his father in 1901, David is living in Youngstown, Ohio where a 17 September 1918 World War I Draft Registration Card lists his occupation as electrician for Yo(ungstown) Sheet and Tube Company in East Youngstown, Ohio. By 1920, he is residing with his brother John S. Farmer (1872-1920) and Sarah (Ledford) Farmer (1875-1959) on Cranks Creek Road, Cranks Creek, Harlan, Kentucky where he is working on the farm. In 1924 and 1926, David is residing at 111 Inn Road, Battle Creek, Michigan, where he is employed as a machine operator at Rich Steel Products Company.
On 24 November 1928, 27-year-old David married in Steuben County, Indiana, to 19-year-old Ruby Hazel Campbell, born 30 June 1909 to Ora Daniel Campbell (1884-1971), a train dispatcher for Grand Trunk Western Railroad, and Gertrude Elizabeth Thomas (1885-1980). The Campbell’s were formerly of Pearl Street, Lansing, Michigan, before moving to Battle Creek in 1923. The marriage license notes David’s residence at 22 Union Street, Albion, Michigan, where he is employed as a mechanic. Ruby’s residence is 117 North Wayne Street, Angola, Indiana, where she is employed as an auditor. It is the first marriage for both David and Ruby.
In 1929, David and Ruby are residing at 96 Grenville Street, Battle Creek, where he is employed as a barber for John Clyde Sunderland, who is living at 235 Vale Street, Battle Creek. Inn, Grenville, and Vale roads are located within the “Post Addition.”
In 1892 C. W. Post of Post Cereal opened up an area between Michigan Avenue and Cliff Street for development, to finance the rehabilitation of the Beardsley farmhouse into his LaVita Inn, where he would operate his health spa. The lots in “The Cliffs” sold rapidly to the laborers in the Nichols and Shepard farm implement factory, located nearby. Ten years later in 1902 after his cereal and Postum drink factories were in full operation, Post platted the Post Addition, eighty acres located between Main Street and Inn Road, which was named for LaVita Inn. It was also bounded by Lathrop Street, named after Post’s mother’s maiden name, and Kingman Avenue, named after an early landowner of the farming land. Other streets were named for the former owners of the land, Grenville and Nelson, and his daughter Marjorie, who would inherit Post’s business and fortune after C.W. Post committed suicide. A second Post Addition was added in 1903.
Post sponsored this real estate development because he believed that a happy worker who proudly owned his own home would be a more productive and stable worker in his factory and not be lured into union membership.
Workmen in the Postum and neighboring factories could purchase inexpensive lots and homes on a sliding scale tied to their earning power. Post employed an architect at his factory, who provided approximately half a dozen standard plans for inexpensive homes distributed throughout the additions. There was a variety in the housing types in each block, with the most popular plans being the Gambrel roof Dutch Colonial and the L-shaped cottage.
The five- to seven-room homes that were built could be purchased by workers between $1,000 to $3,000. Workers made monthly payments of 1% of the total, or about $6 a month, until the balance was paid off. Workers could also purchase empty lots ranging from $175 to $800 and build homes of their own design. The generous financial terms, as well as the attractive location on the “cliffs” overlooking the city, made the Post Additions a favorite residential area in the city for working men and their families. The majority of the homes were built by the early 1920s, with only a few empty lots remaining as late as World War II.[1]
David and Ruby do not stay on Grenville as they are noted as residing on East Michigan Avenue, Battle Creek, enjoying Thanksgiving dinner on 28 November 1929 at Ruby’s parents who are residing at 48 Iroquois Avenue. At the time, Iroquois Avenue was in the Lakeview District and just outside the Battle Creek city limits. As noted on the 1930 United States Federal Census, David moves in with his in-laws with his pregnant wife before a daughter, Sally Joan Farmer, is born on 21 June 1930. In 1931, David and Ruby are still residing with the Campbell’s on Iroquois Avenue where he is still employed as a barber.
On 05 October 1935, Ruby filed for divorce on grounds of “non support” and requested custody of Sally Joan. On 18 March 1935, the petition was filed and the non-contested divorce was granted on 24 May 1935 by Judge Blaine W. Hatch in Battle Creek Circuit Court
David died at 2:05 pm on 24 September 1941 at Calhoun County Public Hospital of bilateral chronic fibro-ulcerative pulmonary tuberculosis. According to his Michigan Death Certificate, David was still residing at 48 Iroquois Avenue per information provided by Mrs. Doris Mellin of 70 West Territorial Road, Battle Creek. That means David was still residing with his former in-laws six years after his divorce. While his death certificate indicates he was to be buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, about a mile west of his residence, David was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery on 27 September 1941.
Ruby remarried on 23 October 1937 in Steuben County, Indiana, to Edward Lee Willey (1909-1949), clerk, born in Battle Creek to James Stephens Willey (1874-1951) of Chester, Pennsylvania, and Sarah Ann Cash (1876-1960) of Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. It was the second marriage for both. In 1939, Ruby and Edward is residing at 42 Lathrop Avenue, Battle Creek, where he is employed as a floor contractor.
Ruby, Edward, and Sally Joan will soon move to Corpus Christi, Texas, before 1940, and then to California, where Edward dies on 16 December 1949 – also at the age of forty. Ruby remarried to James R. Aughton in Los Angeles, California, on 07 June 1952. It is believed James was born 09 April 1899 in England, immigrated to Detroit on 24 November 1922, and died 04 November 1989. Ruby died on 28 October 1982 in Long Beach, California.
Sally Joan Farmer was raised in California as Sally Joan Willey. She married Leroy Edmond DeMarsh, Jr., the son of the Reverend Leroy Edmond DeMarsh (1898-1937) and Mary E. Haines (1901-1980) of Portland, Maine. Sally and Leroy had three children: Mark Demarsh, Linda Demarsh Korlaske, and Karen S. Demarsh (spouse of Ricky Ray Richuber). Sally died 07 August 2007 in Katy, Texas.
Almost thirty years later after David Vahanger Farmer’s death, I was born at Lakeview Hospital on 03 January 1972. At the time, my parents were residing on Winter Street, Battle Creek. After the military moved us to Oklahoma, Hawaii, and Texas, we returned to Michigan and lived in Jackson for about a year. We later returned to Battle Creek in the spring of 1980 moving into a house at 104 Grand Blvd, living there about a year, and then moving again in the summer of 1981 to 23 Caine Street. Both Winter Street and Grand Blvd are within a mile of David and Ruby’s residence on Iroquois; in their backyard is Territorial Elementary where I attended second grade. Our house on Caine Street was in the Post Addition and walking distance from David’s home on Inn and Grenville.
Philip Farmer is the author and publisher of “Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh,” a 500-page, 155-year biographical history of the Farmer family’s immigration from Ireland into Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Harlan County, Kentucky. Complete with bibliography and footnotes that supports the research. Check out LuLu’s current discounts which may save you money than purchasing through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, or other retailers.
“Very well written and researched…” Ms. L. King
“I love your work… Very interesting!” Ms. B. H. Baker
“Amazing research!” Ms. J. Shipley
“Wonderfully researched, well written… recommend it even if you’re not related to the Farmar’s…” Mr. D. Roark
“Excellent book! We highly recommend!” Ms. E. Wolf
[1] Butler,
Mary G. “Post Addition.” Heritage Battle Creek.
2009. Retrieved 27 December 2018:
http://www.heritagebattlecreek.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&Itemid=73
Bowman, Jennifer. “The Post Addition Once Thrived in Battle Creek. Will It Survive?”
Battle Creek Enquirer. 08 June 2017. Retrieved
27 December 2018:
https://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/local/2017/06/08/post-addition-once-thrived-battle-creek-survive/375817001/