John was the sixth child of David and Maggie born in Goderich, Huron County, Ontario on 14 August 1861.
After the family moved to Michigan about 1870, he developed a keen interest in the sea and became a sailor. He settled in Marine City, Michigan and married Helen Anderson on 17 February 1892.
They went on to have four sons who were all born in Marine City as follows :
- Alexander Anderson born on 18 January 1893.
- Neal Paul born on 22 May 1894
- Alfred Lewis born on 28 September 1896
- John Gerald born on 21 June 1901
John became a well known Sea Captain on the Great Lakes but in his early career he encountered some controversy when he initially failed to report a fatal sea accident. The details are shown in the press cutting from the Detroit Free Press on 25 April 1893.
Captain John Jenkins was in charge of the steamer “Charles A. Eddy” and was giving a tow to the schooner “Newell A. Eddy” when he lost the tow in bad weather.
It would seem that John had attempted to conceal the accident and only admitted what happened when the wreckage of the schooner was found. All four crew members were lost at sea.
John moved on from this tragedy to become a well known Sea Captain on the Great Lakes.
Unfortunately he had a relatively short life as he died at the age of forty two on 1 June 1904. He had been ill for nearly a year before his death in Flint Sanitorium, Michigan. His death certificate described his cause of death as “Dementia Paralytica” while his obituary in the Detroit Free Press described it as “Nervous Prostration”. John was clearly in a poor state during his last year as he suffered a severe mental and physical breakdown.
His four sons were very young when John died with Alexander Anderson the eldest at aged eleven and John Gerald the youngest at aged three. The full family tree for John and Helen is shown here.
The following picture gallery shows John and Helen with their four sons.
Helen Anderson was born on 31 May 1871 in Marine City, Michigan to a Canadian father, Alexander Anderson and a Michigan mother, Mary McCann. She died on 27 Oct 1941 at the age of seventy.
She was only thirty three years of age when her husband John died, leaving her with four sons, aged between three and eleven. She ran a rooming house in order provide for her children.
Helen was also an accomplished alto singer and took up professional engagements, singing at weddings and in churches.
As you will see from the biographies of her sons shown below, she did a great job bringing up her four children on her own.
Alexander Anderson was born on 16 Jan 1893 and died at the age of eighty two on 9 February 1975. Alexander was the eldest of four sons.
His early working life started as a clerk and he soon became an accountant which enabled him to move into senior positions later in his working life.
He held an executive position with the Ford Motor Company before becoming a Trust Officer Executive of Manufacturers National Bank of Detroit. He retired in 1958 from the Bank where he was recognised as an authority in pensions and profit-sharing programs.
Alexander was married to Lillian Rose White until her death on 17 January 1950. They had one son – Robert Allen who was born on 1 October 1927.
Alexander went on to marry again in 1962 to Gertrude Caroline Steffen who was a work colleague during his time at the Manufacturers National Bank. Gertrude went on to outlive Alexander by twenty five years and died on 27 July 2000.
Neal Paul was born on 22 May 1894 and died at the age of fifty-nine on 11 June 1953 in St Louis, Missouri. Neal was the second son in the family.
Neil married Helen Josephine Drese in 1913 in Monroe, Michigan and they were together until the 1950 Census, which shows that Neal and Helen lived at different addresses and were officially registered as “Separated”. Neal died from Peritonitis on 11 June 1953. Their marriage produced five daughters and two sons as follows:
- Eugenia Maria born on 13 January 1914 in St Louis, Missouri
- Florence Clara born on 26 May 1915 in St Louis, Missouri
- Helen Josephine born on 24 February 1917 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
- John Arthur born on 16 October 1919 in Michigan
- Lloyd Thomas born on 3 November 1921 in St Louis, Missouri
- Hazel Caroline born on 13 January 1923 in St Louis, Missouri
- Lois Marie born on 8 December 1928 in Royal Oak, Oakland, Michigan
Helen Josephine outlived Neal Paul by nearly twenty eight years and died at the age of eighty four on 19 February 1981 in St Louis, Missouri.
Neal and Helen’s Family Tree can be found here.
Alfred Lewis “Lew” was born on 28 September 1896 and died at the age of sixty seven on 18 January 1964 in Macomb, Michigan. Alfred was the third son in the family.
Lew married Hazel Hatch on 31 January 1922 in Kentucky and his son, Alfred Lewis Jr. was born on 16 January 1924 in Marine City, Michigan.
Both Lew, Sr. and Hazel were singers in show business and on the road during Lew’s first five years. Lew Jr. was raised by his grandmother, Helen Anderson Jenkins. The years from 5-10 his parents stayed home with him. Then in 1935 his mother got TB and went to a TB sanitorium in Arizona. When she left the sanitorium she never returned to her family and went on to California. Lew, Sr. and his mother, Helen Anderson, raised young Lew after Hazel’s departure.
After his early professional singing career, Lew went on to work in the Auto business in a number of roles including working for the Chrysler Motor Corporation.
Lew and Hazel were divorced on 10 January 1935 and he went on to marry Mabel Lillian Wilder on 18 February 1938 in Wood, Ohio.
Lew and Mabel stayed together until his death on 18 January 1964 in Macomb, Michigan. Mabel survived Lew by a couple years and died on 1 March 1966 in Manatee, Florida, aged seventy three.
John Gerald was the youngest of four sons and was born on 21 June 1901 in Marine City, Michigan.
He married Florence Johanna Bressman on 29 June 1923 and went on to have three daughters as follows:
- Rosemary Jean born on 5 October 1924 in Michigan
- Jacquelyn Joan born on 17 January 1931 in Detroit, Michigan
- Patricia Helen born on 18 March 1932 in Detroit, Michigan
The following is a summary of John’s life taken from his Memorial on “Find a Grave” website:
“John worked at Kelsey Hayes during the depression, then at Lincoln Motors after the war as district manager. “He was an employee of Kool Vent, Inc. [awnings] from 1947 until his retirement as sales manager in 1960″ (from obit Royal Oak Tribune). He had lots of health problems which were not helped by his alcoholism.”
John died at the age of sixty one on 7 February 1963 in Southfield, Oakland County, Michigan. Florence outlived John by seven years and died on 17 January 1970 in Royal Oak, Oakland County, Michigan.
John and Florence’s family tree can be found here.
