| |
Life is an unfinished task: My husband, William
Samuel McCormick, had hoped to have this first part of the family history
finished by May 30, 1946, the birthday anniversary of the original
'William
McCormick. But his death intervened on March 23, 1946.
Several summers ago, while visiting his cousin, Mrs.
Augusta Dixon, at Pelee Island he had discovered among some papers in her
attic a little hand made pamphlet covered with rough brown paper and
written in the bold, hurried handwriting of William McCormick concerning
a. "tou[ rJ of business not of pleasure" to Ireland in 1823. The
idea came to him at that time of publishing some of the family papers and letting
the documents tell their own story. To the McCormick descendents these
documents would portray the lives and personalities of their ancestors,
while to the historian they would be excellent source material concerning
the border history on both American and Canadian sides of the Detroit
River in the early' part of the nineteenth century. Following this
discovery, my husband devoted his-spare time to gathering together all
available family papers from various sources, searching for historical
material and data in the libraries, and interviewing relatives and
historians. It was truly a labor of love.. -In--all-this work he
generously shared his thoughts and plans and dreams with me. So it is only
fitting that I should strive to finish the task so nearly completes:. In
doing so, I have attempted, as nearly as possible, to present the material
as he would have done it, so there has been very little changing from the
original manuscript as he left it.
In closing, I am sure he would-want me-to mention his
indebtedness to Mr. George F. -Macdonald of the Essex County Historical
Society for his '.generosity of his time and interest in this project and
of his very real help in deciphering William McCormick's rather illegible handwriting.
Also he would want me to thank his cousins, Mrs. Augusta Dixon and Mrs.
Maude Piritte, and other relatives for their
contributions of the valuable family papers in their possession.
Annie Williams McCormick Marah.23, 1947
Detroit, Michigan
|
|
