William Chadbourne-Saugatuck-Douglas Hotel Keeper

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William Chadbourne------------------------Selina Whaley Chadbourne)

(4/18/1811-2/28/1892)----------------------------(8/27/1823-10/13/1901)

William Chadbourne was born in Canada in 1811 and moved to New York when he was 19. He came to Michigan in the early 1830s and his obituary reports that he: "... was one of surveying party that laid out the town of Allegan. He helped build the first house and cut the first tree on the island."

He must have returned to New York as he married his wife Selina Whaley there at Attica in 1842. They lived in Attica until 1855 when they moved to Otsego. By 1870 they were in Saugatuck operating a hotel.

The 1870 Saugatuck Census shows William Chadbourne as a hotelkeeper, along with his wife Selina, children Hannah, Selina and Mark. Eleven boarders were living in their residence at that time. We don't know when they began their Saugatuck Hotel keeping, but do know from the Aug. 26, 1871 Lake Shore Commercial (Commercial Record) that the "Chadbourne House" in Saugatuck (apparently the name of his establishment) had "changed hands". The same issue tells that Chadbourne had "opened the Douglas House" on the southeast corner of Center and Washington in Douglas.

Douglas House

The Douglas House had been built in the 1860s by Jonathan Wade, and went through a series of owners and operators. In 1868, W. D. Roberts was the proprietor, G.C. Maxson in 1870, and when Chadbourne was there in 1871 the proprietor was John Ryan. We know that Jervis Kibby took charge of the Douglas House in 1874 at the age of 31 and operated the business for almost 40 years. Fred Schultz took over from Kibby in 1910 and operated it for about 30 years. The building burned in Feb. 1934, but a portion was saved and turned into a residence. Remnants are still in that block after being moved to the south and rebuilt again 3-4 years ago.

We do not know how long Chadbourne was associated with the Douglas House, but the Lake Shore Commercial of Mar 29, 1878 announced he had moved to Cheshire (Township in Allegan Co) "to take charge of a farm belong to his daughter"- apparently an older daughter who had married Covil Olney. Two other daughters married prominent Saugatuck businessmen. Hannah, in 1874, became the second wife of Francis Bogue Wallin, and Lina (Selina) (who opened a Saugatuck millinery business in 1879) in 1881 married Civilian M. Cook. William, his wife, and their son Mark are buried in the Mt. Home Cemetery in Otsego, MI. (Thanks to descendant Pat Claussen for the photos of Wm. & Selina and the SDHS Archives for the photo of the Douglas House).

-submitted by Chris Yoder

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