The next destination on my Virtual Hike has another family connection.

This segment of the Virtual Hike started in South Bend, Indiana where some of my Leeper cousins lived. The end point was Hillsdale County, Michigan where my 4th great grandfather William Rowe lived.

My specific destination in Hillsdale County was the Burt/Evergreen cemetery in Ransom Township.

William Rowe is buried in this cemetery. This picture is from Find A Grave.

William was born in about 1789 in New York and died in Michigan in 1871 at the age of 82.
He was not in Michigan until he was in his 60’s, so this was his retirement home 🙂

My 4th great grandmother Elizabeth Murray Rowe died in 1822 back in Connecticut. William remarried soon after and his second wife is buried with him.

The Google car had not driven down the road by the cemetery, but it was in an area with a lot of corn fields. My Rowe family were farmers, so this makes me think of why they were in Michigan.

I am not sure exactly where William Rowe lived, but I do have some clues.

Here is a map of the the area he lived in. The 1860 and 1870 census show that he lived in Wright Township, which is the area in the box.

The 1860 census shows the Residence Post Office as South Wright. I found that South Wright was renamed to Waldron. However, the 1870 census shows the Residence Post Office as Hudson. I would assume that he lived in the northern section of Wright Township. Perhaps some day I can find out more information from old plat books.

In the map above, the cemetery where William is buried is just to the west of Wright township. It is just above the lake in the yellow highlighted area.

The next destination on my Virtual Hike will be another area where William lived.

Steven