I was fortunate to know two of my great-grandmothers. Grandma Springsteen lived about an hour away in Lansing, Michigan but I remember her extended visits to Sheridan. I was fifteen years old when she passed. I have since enjoyed stories about her told by my elders. I want to share a few bits of her life here.

In the beginning

Agnes, as she came to be known, was born in Dewitt Township, Clinton County, Michigan to German immigrant parents George and Kate Keck.^[1] She was known in her family as Aggie. Her date of birth was recorded as February 5, 1872, but Aggie was mightily annoyed by this. She insisted that she was born February 4 and observed her birthday on the fourth. She corrected the birth certificate issued by the Clinton County Clerk’s office about a month after her husbands’ death.

I came by this birth certificate after a visit to Dad’s Uncle Joe Springsteen and his wife Aunt Mary. This letter conveys a bit of context:

Aggie was born on the Keck family farm a mile south of Gunnisonville. She was raised there with older siblings Jacob, George, Eva, Henry and Charles, and younger sister Anna.^[2]

Aggie married L.D. (Loyal Davis) Springsteen in her family home March 2, 1892.^[3] Her father gave a family Bible to L.D. and Aggie that was used to record special events. My Uncle Hud (Harold A. Springsteen), Dad’s brother, was in possession of this Bible before his passing.

L.D. And Aggie’s family

In the Bible birth records, note the German spelling of Aggie’s middle name, Kathrein, which was actually her first name. German naming tradition often gave children a first name which was honorific and a rufname (call name) by which they were generally known. Aggie’s first name was apparently in recognition of her mother Ann Kathrein (Kurtz) Keck, who was known as Kate. Uncle Joe recalled Aggie’s father addressing her as Agat’ in his gruff German voice.

L.D. and Aggie took up residence in Springfield Township, Oakland County where L.D. was working on his uncle Jerome Howe’s farm. L.D. and Aggie lived in the tenant house on the farm with their two oldest sons Aden and Clinton (Joe).^[4] L.D.’s mother Mary Springsteen was living next door caring for her aging mother Susan Howe. Jerome Howe, Mary’s brother, lived across the road in Groveland Township.

Aggie’s brother-in-law Ed Heeb sent a one-cent post card to Aggie in 1900 explaining that Anna would not be able to come for a planned visit:

L.D. and Aggie had returned to Clinton County by 1904 when their youngest son Harold was born. After the death of L.D.’s sister Emma Allen he and Aggie took in Emma’s daughter Lucy. I met Lucy Davis in the early 1980s living as a very independent widow in her nineties. Her neighbor had seen her recently cleaning the gutters on her roof. L.D. and Aggie were recorded in DeWitt Township in the 1910 census. L.D.’s brother Marvin, his wife Eliza, and Emma’s son Ray Allen lived next door.^[5]

The 1920 census found L.D., Aggie and Harold in Watertown Township, Clinton County. I think they were renting the Brink farm on what is today known as Airport Road, the west boundary of DeWitt Township. Dad’s family was living on the Brink farm when he was born there in 1924.^[6]

In 1930 L.D. and Aggie were living at 418 West Maple Street in Lansing, just south of Clinton County. L.D. was working in the garbage department of the City of Lansing.^[7] They were at the same residence in 1940.^[8]

L.D. died October 12, 1943, at their home on Maple Street. He was laid to rest in the Gunnisonville Cemetery.^[9]

In 1950 Aggie was living with her granddaughter Lorna Raczkowski’s family in Lansing.^[10]

Aggie died April 13, 1963, and was laid to rest with her husband.

Family photos

Note that L.D. had lost part of his right index finger, perhaps in a farm accident.

Scrapbook news

Aggie kept cards, newspaper clippings and ephemera in scrapbooks. I left two scrapbooks with cousins in Michigan. This first item might have been in her family Bible, but the rest were from Aggie’s scrapbooks.

Following are a few of the many newspaper clippings that Aggie collected in her scrapbooks.

Yes, potato vacation was a thing in Montcalm County, Michigan. School was suspended for potato harvest.

According to Dad, his sister Lorna was embarrassed by their grandmother at one of these birthday celebrations. When someone asked Aggie if she had ever been bedridden, she responded “Oh, my, yes, hundreds of times, and twice in a buggy.”

Dad also reported that when Grandma Springsteen was visiting, she would sneak out to the porch to smoke. As a good German daughter, she certainly enjoyed her beer. When the family was playing cards, they could tell when Aggie had been cheating because she would chuckle quietly to herself.

Here is a birthday card note to Dad from his Grandma Springsteen, probably around 1950.

Fred and Verda were my grandparents. Aden Springsteen, my grandfather, died after a traffic accident in 1941. My grandmother, Verda, married Fred Olsen in 1945. Hud and Dot were Dad’s brother and his wife. The twins were Grandpa Olsen’s daughters Marian and Marie. Madge and Dude were Dad’s sister and her husband. Dude (Durward) Pontius had been dad’s shipmate on the U.S.S. Essex during World War II. Lorna was Dad’s older sister. Ed would have been Ed Heeb, Anna’s husband. Lois and the boys were my family.

My great grandmother was a bit of a character. In retrospect, I wish I had shared more time with her, but I was too young to fully appreciate how much I could have learned. I think some of my cousins might have a few more stories to tell.

Notes

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^[1] Birth registration, Catherine Agatha Keck; Michigan, Clinton County, birth returns, 1872, page 410, record 2957; online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQN2-94C, accessed August 14, 2024.

^[2] 1880 United States Census, George Keck household; Michigan, Clinton County, DeWitt Township, sheet 342C, lines 30-37; online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWS9-JQ6, accessed August 19, 2024.

^[3] Marriage registration, Loyal D. Springsteen and Aggie K. Keck; Michigan, Clinton County, marriage registration, 1892, page 70, record 1020; online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCNC-4TY, image 79 of 359, accessed August 21, 2024.

^[4] 1900 United States Census, Loyal D. Springsteen household; Michigan, Oakland County, Springfield Township, sheet 2B, lines 63-66; online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS92-BQM, accessed August 16, 2024.

^[5] 1910 United States Census, Loyal D. Springsteen household; Michigan, Clinton County, DeWitt Township, sheet 9B, lines 78-83; online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLPY-NSX, accessed August 19, 2024.

^[6] 1920 United States Census, Loyal D. Springsteen household; Michigan, Clinton County, Watertown Township, sheet 1B, lines 90-92; online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZS2-LP8, accessed August 19, 2024.

^[7] 1930 United States Census, Loyal D. Springsteen household; Michigan, Ingham County, Lansing Ward 4, sheet 3A, lines 3-5; online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQY1-LD4, accessed August 19, 2024.

^[8] 1940 United States Census, Loyal D. Springsteen household; Michigan, Ingham County, Lansing Ward 4, sheet 14A, lines 26-28; online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4LD-G2G, accessed August 20, 2024.

^[9] Certificate of death, L.D. Springsteen; Michigan State Archives, Lansing, Michigan; online at https://michigan.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_5e5e4490-9032-4803-a8c0-19f261effc12/, accessed August 20, 2024.

^[10] 1950 United States Census, Alexander R. Raczkowski household; Michigan, Ingham County, Lansing, sheet 03871; online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6JJ4-DMN2, accessed August 19, 2024.