A Tree Grew in Oakland

Esther Jenks Lee

Esther Jenks was born in Southfield, Oakland County, Michigan on 24 October 1832, to Morris and Almira Botsford Jenks.    From The Reunion Papers of the Jenks Family by Eva Seymour Jenks: “Esther Jenks, grew in the homestead in the woods to girlhood, of handsome face and figure, sweet disposition, and a pronounced character marked by industry, thrift, and uprightness. At about the age of 17, she went to Detroit and, staying with her Aunt Mary Botsford Cook, she attended the old Cass School for two or three terms. At the close of her school days – often interrupted by the general community conditions common to pioneers, she emerged a young woman of rare intelligence.”

Great Great Grandmother Lee married Charles Norton Lee on 25 December 1855 in her father’s home in Southfield.  It is this same home which she and GG Grandfather Lee would later own and is the home in which she is standing in the above photograph taken in 1916.  The children of Charles and Esther included Emmer Estelle (1856), Effie Clarissa (1859) [my great grandmother], Lewellyn (1862), Hannah Almira (1864), Marietta (1870), and Ora (1874).

On the occasion of Great Great Grandmother Lee’s 85th birthday, her children gave her a new black silk dress as a her gift and all posed in front of the Jenks’ Place [aka Deer Lick Farm]:

Esther Jenks Lee 85th Birthday

Esther Jenks Lee passed away on 10 February 1918 and was laid to rest next to her beloved Charlie in the Southfield Cemetery.

For those of you keeping track, yes, Great Great Grandfather Lee died yesterday, the day before Great Great Grandmother Lee’s birthday.  This is one of the earliest recordings of what has become a spooky family tradition.   My maternal grandmother died on my mother’s birthday.  My paternal grandmother died the day after my father’s birthday.   Needless to day we give birthdays a side glance in our family.

Today marks the 162nd anniversary of the birth of my 2 times great aunt, Emmer Estelle Lee, 11 October 1856.  Aunt Emmer was the daughter of Charles Norton Lee and Esther Jenks.   She was followed in birth order by her siblings: Effie Clarissa [my great grandmother] (1859), Lewellyn (1862), Hannah Almira (1864), Marietta (1870), and Ora (1874).  Emmer was the only child that did not live to adulthood, dying at the age of 5 on 23 March 1862.  But, I have always wondered why the name Emmer?  OK, it is obvious, Grandfather and Grandmother Lee had a sense of whimsy in creating names when they got around to naming their last daughter, Ora Lee (say it all together, as one word).  And the tradition of having fun with names continued to other generations.  I was named Patrick, but called Rick (guess how many times I have had to explain that).  My mother was named Jmae (try explaining to your teachers that you are not stupid, that you really do know how to spell your mother’s name).  One of my favorites was my cousin Bruce Edward’s mother told the SSA (you know the government office whose initials are ass, backwards) around the time he was 17 that his name was Bruce Lee, without telling him.  He could have kicked himself silly when he found out!

I have never figured out the meaning behind Emmer Lee.  What possessed then to choose that name.  It does not appear in either the Lee or Jenks family pedigrees.

Anyway, to gg aunt Emmer, who was always a child, Happy Birthday! 🎈🎂🎈🎁