Who is the Oldest Person in

the Saugatuck-Douglas Cemeteries?

- by Chris Yoder

With the recent passing of local artist and 2005 Saugatuck Citizen of the Year Sylvia Randolph at the age of 103, the community loses not only a much beloved resident but also one of the oldest in Saugatuck-Douglas history.

Who was the oldest?

Saugatuck Township records show that a Lucy Picket died in 1882, is buried at Riverside Cemetery, and claim she was the oldest age, 115 years old. These records also say she died of VERY OLD AGE, at Saugatuck and that she is buried somewhere in Potters field. This fact is supported by the entry in the Commercial Record at the time:

Lucy is mentioned in an 1882 issue of THE PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL AND LIFE ILLUSTRATED, which cites her age at death as 115, followed by two gentlemen at 106, and others over 100.

So was Lucy the oldest buried in Saugatuck? No! In fact she was not really 115 years old at all. The 1880 census shows that Lucy Picket, age 81 born New York, was living in Bear Lake Twp, Manistee Co., Michigan. She is shown as adopted mother in a household with John Montee, age 27, and his wife Caroline, age 26. The state of Michigan death records include a listing for:

Lucy Picket- Date of death: 22-Apr-1882; Place of death: Saugatuck, Allegan Co; County of Death: Manistee (sic); Sex: Female; Race: White; Marital Status: Widowed; Age: 84 years 3 months 16 days; Cause of Death: old age; Birthplace: New York; Occupation: Speculator.

She rests in the Riverside Cemetery Potter Field without a gravestone.

There are six individuals who lived longer than Sylvia Randolph in our local cemeteries, all at Riverside. The oldest of these is Mabel Dunseth Howson, who, with her husband Louis, summered at their Shorewood community cottage for over 70 years. Mabel lived to be 105 years, 1 month, and 8 days old at time of her death. Louis was a partner in the engineering firm of Alvord, Burdick, and Howson. Mr. John Alvord had designed and put in the Saugatuck Water Works in 1904, and it was through him that the Howson family came to adopt our area as their yearly vacation spot. Louis served as the President of the Shorewood Association for over 50 years.

Mabel Howson and husband Louis Mabel at about 104 years

Those older than Sylvia (all at Riverside Cemetery) are:

Howson, Mabel (Jul. 25, 1888 -Sep. 2, 1993) (105y, 1m, 8d)

Erickson, Lillian (Aug. 16, 1895-Aug. 21, 2000) (105 years 5days)  

Wright, Edna Barr (Jun. 23, 1900-Feb. 5, 2005) (104y, 7m, 13d)

Wagner, Frederick John (Aug. 4, 1859- Jan.11, 1964) (104y, 5m, 7d)

Konecy, Hazel Blanche (Mar. 24, 1900-Aug. 31, 2004) (104y, 5m, 7d)

Thomas, Elizabeth (Jul. 1, 1891-Oct. 1, 1995) (104y, 3m)

Centenarians younger than Sylvia, (at Riverside) were:

Flack, Winifred (Sep. 15, 1901-Dec. 16, 2002) (101y, 3m, 1d)

Arends, Emma Heeringa (1835-Nov. 4, 1936) (101y)

Walz, Helen (Aug. 30, 1898-May 6, 1999) (100y, 8m, 6d)

Zinke, Dorothy (Mar. 28, 1901-Jan. 28, 2002) (100y, 10m)

Till, Augusta (Dec. 5, 1893-May 20, 1994) (100y, 4m, 15d)

Cobb, Frances A. (May 8, 1874-Dec. 18, 1974) (100y, 7m, 10d)

And at the Douglas Cemetery

Ash, Elizabeth Williams (Apr. 12, 1851-Oct. 13, 1953) (102y, 6m, 1d)

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Volunteers from the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society have created almost 8,000 internment records on the internet for Riverside, Douglas, Taylor, Loomis, Gibson and Plummerville Cemeteries. For each person, these records include dates, photos of the gravestones, obituaries, and in some cases biographies and photographs. Plummerville still has records to complete. Thanks go to Aaron Sheridan of the Saugatuck township office for his records, and Pam Aalderink and Charles Hancock and Andrew Plummer for helping to photograph the gravestones.

For more information on any of the folks buried in these local cemeteries, go to: http://www.sdhistoricalsociety.org/ and visit the On Line Research Center.

Family members can add photos, biographies, and other information for these individuals. Anyone interested in helping, contact Chris Yoder at: cyoder@tds.net, or phone 857-4327.

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