Happy Birthday, William E. McCormack!

Wednesday would have been William E. McCormack, my great-grandfather’s birthday. He was born on 9 July 1853 in Kilkenny, Ireland. He would have been 161 years old!
His parents were Michael (M.) McCormack and Catherine Payne Steele. Shortly after his birth, he and his parents left Ireland via Liverpool, I believe, for the United States of America. For some unknown reason, they arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana.

William E. McCormack [1]

After a short stint in Kentucky and then in London, Ontario, Canada, William grew up in Ypsilanti, Michigan. When he was about 30 years old, he married Lura Grace Roys. Unfortunately, she died in 1895. They had one child, Grace Ellen McCormack. He then married my great-grandmother, Lavina Jane Hemingway in 1897.

Lavina Jane (Hemingway) McCormack

They had three children, Merle, Alta (my grandmother) and Ruth.

Merle, Ruth and Alta

I believe sometime in the 1880s, William built one of the finest house in the small village of Otter Lake, Michigan.

The William McCormack House in Otter Lake

It still stands today but not in the magnificent shape that my great-grandfather initially built it. I am sure that I might be forgetting something since I am writing this at 4 am, but William was at times, a general/hardware store owner, a postmaster and probably many other things in Otter Lake.

William McCormack in front of his house in Otter Lake

The above photo is one of my favorite picture of William E. McCormack. Happy belated Birthday, great-grandfather!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you learned something!