The Calumet shopkeeper told me it was no mystery to him why Charles was in Lake Linden. That's where the smelting operation was for the copper mines. And it turns out that Sheffield, England had plenty of smelters, and people from there were very skilled.The man was also helpful in disciphering the letters behind the names in the directory.
Charles was a labor, as was his brother Benjamin, Ernest was a driver. We figure that Charles was the oldest because it is listed that Ernest and Benjamin lived with him. Now the kicker. ... the yellowed pages lay out exactly where the family lived in Lake Linden. ... two houses in from the corner of Hecla St. and G St.
It's hard to tell whether one of the houses on the block is where the family lived ... I doubt it. Houses would have been closer together ... my guess is that it is gone, vanished, just like the Derricks.
After visiting the street, we wanted to see if we could learn more and located the historical society building, but it was closed. So next stop, the cemeteries. First one, as it turns out, was the Catholic cemetery. There's no way a Derrick would be buried there, even if the church would have allowed it. We went to the Protestant cemetery and combed the grounds, looking at every tombstone, but there was no Derrick.
So many questions. What happened to these people? How come there are no photos of them? How come my dad rarely spoke of his family? OK, if the directory was from 1898, and Herbert was born in 1891 or so, that means there was quite a clan in the house.
Herbert had two brothers, Ernie and Fred, and there was a sister, Aunt Lisa. But who was the oldest? Where did Herbert move to? How did he meet his wife Ina Lee from Tornoto Canada?
Although Lake Linden is a beautiful spot, I came away very confused and with so many questions about these people. It's not so much that I have a desire to learn more about my roots, its more wanting to know why these people were forgotten ... chopped off the family tree.
That's all there is.
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