James Edward Tripp
James Edward Tripp came to Kalkaska County in 1888 to farm on Section 7 in Excelsior Township. The farm was located on about 5 miles east of Kalkaska on present day County Road 612. He was born in Percy Township, Northumberland County, Ontario on September 13, 1839 to Joseph and Charlotte Chatterson Tripp.
James came to Michigan after the Civil War to work in the lumber camps. For the next 20 years he made a living as a camp foreman in northern Michigan. He worked in camps in Newaygo, Wexford, Missaukee, Clare, and Lake counties before coming to Kalkaska. He married Mary Willsie at Tyro in Kent County on January 2, 1868. Mary was born on October 22, 1846 in New York state, the daughter of W. J. and Hannah Squires Willsie. Before marriage she taught school in St. Joseph, Michigan. A daughter Lula was born in Missaukee County on March 16, 1873. A son, George Elwin was born in Farwell in Clare County on September 11, 1876.
James died in Kalkaska Village on August 25, 1913 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery there. Mary died tragically on September 5, 1922 when her dress caught fire from an electric iron. She is buried next to her husband in Evergreen Cemetery.
Both Lula and George graduated from Kalkaska High School. Lula was a member of Kalkaska’s first graduating class in 1889. George gave the class oration entitled “The best way to get there” when he graduated in 1891.
Lula attended Michigan Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University) after high school and taught school for many years in Kalkaska and Antrim Counties. She married Alfred B. Cornell, a Kalkaska merchant, on January 1, 1919 at Kalkaska. In 1908, Alfred’s harness shop suffered $5000 damages in a fire that damaged much of the town. He was able to relocate his shop in the basement of the Clark Brothers store. Alfred preceded her in death on September 6, 1933 at the age of 80. Lula moved to Mancelona and died there in 1971 at age 98. She was a familiar sight in downtown Mancelona where she took daily walks well into her late 80’s.
After high school George attended Ferris Institute (now Ferris State University) and taught school at Lewis School in Excelsior Township around 1900. He commuted to school from Kalkaska on his motorcycle. Later he attended the recently incorporated Grand Rapids Medical College and graduated in 1901. He received his license to practice medicine in Michigan in June of 1901 and practiced medicine in Kalkaska and Antrim Counties for over 55 years until his death at 80 in 1956. He was a country doctor who made house calls by horse drawn wagon in the early years and saw patients from an office in the front of his home. During the Great Depression, he often accepted whatever patients could afford -- a prized gun or a bushel of vegetables from the garden. He kept his horses into the 1940’s and his sleigh was still stored above the garage when the house sold in the 1970’s.
George, or Elwin, as he was known, was married on December 19, 1910 to Mary Ethel Fulford, the daughter of Charles and Eliza McElwain Fulford. She was born on February 12, 1889 at Kent City, Michigan. To this marriage, they had 3 sons, Kenneth, Donald, and George.
Kenneth Edward was born May 24, 1912 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was a 1930 graduate of Mancelona High School and later attended Albion College. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during World War II and saw service in Europe. In 1946 he obtained his degree in Civil Engineering from Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana. He married Beth Marie Trucks on May 24, 1941 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They made their home in Baldwin, Michigan where Kenneth worked for the Michigan Department of Highways for 33 years. He died on May 14, 1984 and is buried in Pleasant Plains Cemetery in Baldwin.
Donald Keith was born May 21, 1916 and attended Mancelona High School where he co-captained the basketball team and was on the track team. After graduation in 1934 he attended college at Albion College where he lettered in Track and was pole vault champion in the M.I.A.A. in 1937. He transferred to Michigan Tech to study engineering in 1938 and shortly thereafter won an appointment as a Midshipman to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. He received his commission as an Ensign and served as an aviator aboard the U.S.S Lexington in the South Pacific. He was killed in action over Formosa on October 12, 1944 and is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
George Elwin, “Junior”, was born 1920 and died in 1929 of meningitis in Ann Arbor. He is buried along side his parents in Evergreen Cemetery.
Jan Tripp’s Surnames This page created & maintained by Jan E. Tripp. Please send email to jan_tripp@comcast.net Updated 25 Dec 07.