My Dad's Dad

My grandfather, JM Remington, was always a mysterious figure in my family.  Most of my life I thought that he had died when my dad was young.  As an adult I learned that he had not died, but had abandoned his wife and six young children.  I heard rumors that he changed his name, had another family in either New York or Florida, and that he was a truck driver or worked for Kodak.  I recently learned a little more about the pieces of his past…

JM was born August 16, 1893 in Colfax Township, Wexford, Michigan to Dolph and Katie (Barber) Remington.  The birth register shows Jay M. Remington, but this could have been a transcription error as on later records he was JM.  His grandfather, Johnathan Munsel Remington, was always shown on documents as JM, so that may be where the name came from.   I don’t know the exact location of the farm, but the township is just west of Manton, Michigan and contains the village of Meauwataka.  On the 1900 census JM was 7 years old and it notes that there was another child who had died.  JM’s brother, Myrl, was born in 1901.   In 1910 the family was still in Colfax Township and JM’s grandfather, Johnathan Remington, was living with them.  Johnathan died in 1914.

 

Meauwataka, Michigan around 1900

JM Remington and Lillian May Timmerman were married on March 16, 1912 in Cadillac, Michigan by Pastor A.W. Johnstone of the Presbyterian Church.  JM was 18 years old and a farmer; Lillian was 20 and a school teacher from Manton, Michigan.  Their fathers were witnesses at the marriage but I don’t know if it was church wedding – many people got married at home – neither JM nor Lillian lived in Cadillac.

 

Lillian and JM on their wedding day

Shortly after they were married, JM must have taken a job in a logging camp.  On April 27, 1912 it was reported in the Kalamazoo Gazette that he severely injured his knee in an accident.  An account of Lillian’s life noted that this kept him critically ill for months and left him with a stiff knee.

JM and Lillian may have returned to live near his parents after the accident, as their first two children, Bernard and Kenneth, were born in Meauwataka.  Their third child, Katharine, was born in Cadillac in 1916.  In June of 1917, JM, Lillian and the three children were in Cadillac, Michigan.  On his draft registration he listed his occupation as laborer.  He was described as medium height, medium weight and having blue eyes and light hair.

By 1919 the family had moved to Rock Island, Illinois, and their fourth child, Ruth, was born there in December 1919.  The 1920 census shows them still in Rock Island.  Lillian’s oldest brother Henry Daniel had been living there at least since 1907 and may have been the connection that took them to Illinois.  Their last two children, Glen and Stanley, were born there in 1922 and 1924.  The city directories from that period listed JM as a machinist, a driver and then with no occupation.  He was not listed in 1926.

Sometime between 1924 and 1926, JM abandoned his family.  He changed his name and moved to Rochester, New York.  In 1930 Lillian and the children were still in Rock Island.  On the census Lillian was listed as a widow who worked as a freelance writer.  Bernard (age 17) and Kenneth (age 15) were both shown as having jobs. In 1936 the family moved to California (again following her brother who was there in 1930).

It is unknown why JM left but he kept in some contact with his brother, Myrl.  With the help of Myrl’s side of the family, I found some pieces of JM’s second life.

JM was on the 1930 census as a boarder living with Ruby Snell.  He had changed his name to James Reynolds and was working as a tool grinder at a camera manufacturer.  JM remained in New York and by 1940 he was married to Ruby.  He still worked as a tool grinder for Kodak.  They were living in Scottsville, which is outside of Rochester.

Evidently JM’s first family was a secret.  His stepdaughter knew he had changed his name but not why.  She kept in touch with Myrl’s family and talked to them a little about JM (James).  She said that at some point he left Kodak and “sold stuff”.  He was in an accident which left a blood clot on his brain which led to seizures.  Ruby came home from work and found him lying on the floor dead.  JM (James Reynolds) died May 28, 1958 in Avon, Livingston, New York.  He is buried in the Avon Cemetery.  JM was 64 years old.  I would have been 6 years old and living a few hours away in Pennsylvania.  My dad never talked about him.