L.D. and Aggie’s boys

Loyal Davis Springsteen and Katherine Agatha Keck were married March 2, 1892 at her parents’ home south of Gunnisonville in Clinton County, Michigan. The daughter of immigrants, she was always called by her middle name in the German tradition. Commonly called Aggie, she formalized her name in practice to Agnes. Loyal was generally known by his initials, L.D., which was a somewhat common practice in the late nineteenth century.

L.D. and Aggie were the parents of three sons:

Aden Loyal Springsteen, born July 29, 1896 in Springfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. He died March 6, 1941 in Carson City, Montcalm County, Michigan.
Clinton J. “Joe” Springsteen, born December 19, 1898 in Springfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. He died in January 1985 at Eagle, Clinton County, Michigan.
Harold Edward Springsteen, born May 2, 1904 at DeWitt, Clinton County, Michigan. He died June 7, 2000 at South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana.

Record of births, Agnes Springsteen’s family Bible

After the death of L.D.’s sister Emma Allen they also took in one or two of Emma’s four children, Lucy and possibly Ray.

Notes from a visit with Joe and Mary Springsteen, March 1980

Notes from a visit with Lucy Davis. I think that Lucy Davis, not King, was identifying people in an old family photo album like one I have but with some different pictures that I thought I had but didn’t. I wonder who the younger woman was that I referred to as a daughter. I don’t think that John and Lucy Davis had children. Lucy was in her early 90s when I stopped by to see her.

Early years in Oakland County

Clinton “Joe” and Aden Springsteen, 1899

Aden and Joe were born near Holly in Oakland County, Michigan, where L.D. and Agnes lived in the tenant house on Jerome Howe’s farm. Mary Howe Springsteen, who was L.D.’s mother and Jerome’s sister, lived next door in the old Howe farmhouse with their mother Susan Filmore Howe. L.D. worked for his uncle Jerome who lived across the road in Groveland Township.

Former farmhouse of Orison and Susan Howe’s farm, October 1980

Former Howe tenant house and farmhouse, October 1980

Notes from a field trip to Holly with Joe Springsteen and others, October 1980

Jerome Howe owned property on both sides of Tucker Road. His property can be found in the Illustrated atlas of Oakland County, Michigan, Kace Publishing Company, Racine Wisconsin, 1896. This atlas is accessible online in the Michigan County Histories and Atlases Collection of the University of Michigan Digital Library.

The location of Jerome’s home can be seen here in Section 31 of Groveland Township:

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/3927794.0001.001/27?q1=oakland&q2=atlas&view=image&size=100

Susan Howe’s home and the tenant house were across the road in Section 6 of Springfield Township:

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/3927794.0001.001/55?q1=oakland&q2=atlas&view=image&size=100

The 1900 census enumerator for Springfield Township recorded Loyal D., Agnes, Aden and Clinton Springsteen next to Susan Howe and Mary Springsteen:

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS92-B31

Growing up in Clinton County

By late 1904 L.D. and Agnes had moved to DeWitt Township in Clinton County. According to Joe Springsteen they lived first with Agnes’s parents. Harold was born in George and Kate Keck’s home. George died in 1908.

Notes from a brief interview with Harold Springsteen, July 1980. Edward Heeb was Aggie’s sister Anna’s husband.

By 1910 they had moved to a small farmhouse owned by L.D.’s older brother Marvin. Lucy Allen was living with L.D. and Agnes in 1910 and Ray Allen was living with Marvin and Eliza:

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLPY-NS6

Aden reached school age in Oakland County and probably attended the District 5 School in Section 36 of Holly Township. After moving to Clinton County Joe, and then Harold, joined Aden as students at the DeWitt Township District 5 School in Section 3. Harold was not yet attending school at the time of the 1910 census.

Aden (back row, third from left), Joe (left in second row) and Harold (front row left) at the DeWitt Township District 5 school

Marvin Springsteen’s property in Section 2 of DeWitt Township can be seen on this map from Standard atlas of Clinton County, Michigan, Chicago, Geo A. Ogle & Co., 1915:

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/2911327.0001.001/38?q1=clinton&q2=atlas&view=image&size=100

Jerry Springsteen, in Section 11, was Marvin’s son. William Case, whose property bordered Marvin’s, could conceivably have been a relative of my grandmother Verda Case but I have not found a connection. Verda’s brother John moved to DeWitt from Mecosta County. He befriended Aden Springsteen, leading to Aden and Verda’s acquaintance and marriage.

Harold Springsteen, Ann Katherine “Kate” Keck and Agnes Springsteen

Verda Case and Aden Springsteen, about 1918 (no, that’s not a real dog)

By 1920 Harold was the only one of the boys still at home with L.D. and Agnes. At that time their family was living on the Brink farm in Watertown Township west of DeWitt:

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZS2-LPZ

The Brink farm, located in Section 12 of Watertown Township, is shown on this 1915 map:

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/2911327.0001.001/46?q1=clinton&q2=atlas&view=image

Aden and Verda Springsteen lived on this farm after L.D. and Agnes moved to a farm owned by the City of Lansing. My father, Edwin Frank Springsteen, was born on the Brink farm in 1924.

In a May 1980 visit with Joe and Mary Springsteen I asked about his parents’ homes in Clinton County. Here is the summary I wrote of Uncle Joe’s recollections:

Notes from a visit with Joe and Mary Springsteen, 26 May 1980

Springsteen men, about 1981: Ed, Joe, Harold, Donovan “Mick” and Harold “Hud”

Who were their family peers?

L.D. and Aggie’s boys had varying degrees of contact with their cousins. Lucy Allen was like a sister. Here are the cousins that I am aware of.

Children of Marvin and Eliza Becker Springsteen:

Jerry Springsteen, 1876-1939

Children of Levi and Ella Springsteen Linn:

Claude C. Linn, 1883-1953
Emma N. Linn, 1885-1965

Children of Elmer and Emma Springsteen Allen:

Jay Elmer Allen, 1889-1944
Lucy May Allen, 1891-1989
Charles Ray Allen, 1893-1981
Doris Ruth Allen, 1897-1949?

Children of Jacob George and Henrietta “Rickie” Schoettle Keck:

Edith K. Keck, 1890-1970
Walter George Keck, 1891-1972
Florence Anna Keck, 1894-1985
Bertha Helene Keck, 1897-1991

Children of Henry and Frankie Haynes Keck:

Lloyd Henry Keck, 1895-1984
Florence G. Keck, 1897-?
Robert Keck, 1901-?

Children of Otto and Eva Keck Andrews:

Ethel V. Andrews, 1887-1957
Katherine Elizabeth Andrews, 1890-1967
Ora Andrews, 1891-1972
Ira Andrews, 1893-1976
Richard Otto Andrews, 1900-1988

Children of John George and Harriet Porter Keck:

Glenn Keck, 1896-1990

Children of Charles Fredrick and Edith Culver Keck:

Flora Katherine Keck, 1902-1902
Ethel Inez Keck, 1903-1904
Ralph G. Keck, 1905-1974
Emma E. Keck, 1907-1986
Agnes May Keck, 1908-2003
Bertha Arlene Keck, 1910-1910
Frank G. Keck, 1911-1988
Karl Frederick Keck, 1916-2005
Floyd Richard Keck, 1919-1992

Into adulthood

Aden married Goldie Verda Case and made a living as a farmer. They raised a family of four sons and three daughters. After Aden’s death Verda married Fred Olsen.

Joe married Iva June Woods, but this union was short-lived. His marriage to Mary Rosetta Eddy lasted a lifetime. Joe was a plumber, eventually going into business with a brother-in-law of his cousin Agnes Keck Morley. Joe and Mary raised an adopted son.

Harold married Martha K. Feneis, with whom he raised a daughter. After Martha’s death he married Frances Ellen Kiplinger Jeffries. Harold worked for the City of Lansing in public utilities.

Loose ends

I wish that Uncle Joe or Uncle Harold, or even Dad, were still around to fill in the gaps. I was just starting to take an active interest in family history when Aggie, my Great-Grandma Springsteen, passed in 1963. One drawback to living away for so many years is that I was too busy for consistent research and my opportunities for direct questioning were limited. I have scattered notes and pictures that beg interpretation and identification. I welcome corrections and additional information.