Welcome to a web site devoted to the history and genealogy of the people who made the
Grand Traverse region their home. Native Americans lived in this portion of the
northern lower peninsulaof Michigan for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the
first Euro-Americans in the late 1830s. My ancestors arrived in the 1860s, settling at
East Bay, Long Lake, and Kingsley in Grand Traverse County and at Almira in Benzie County.
They were farmers and loggers, two occupations that were closely linked. In order to farm,
families had to clear away the old growth forest. Their income from logging paid for food,
clothing, and other necessities. Within a few years the area was transformed and became
quite prosperous. This website presents their family histories, as well as a variety
of data to help you research your families.
WHAT'S NEW
Deed Volume 21 Index (volume contains wills for about 96 people)
Long Lake Area Land Plat Maps- 1881, 1895, and 1908
1930 Census Index East Bay, Garfield, Grant, Green Lake, Long Lake, Mayfield, Paradise, and Union completed
Grand Traverse Herald news from Long Lake township, 1866-1884, 1885-1889, and 1890 through 1921
The thousands of pages of transcribed and abstracted records are available on the Records Page. These include Volume 1 of Grand Traverse County Deaths, Volume 1 of Benzie County Marriages, local news from the Grand Traverse Herald from 1865 to1900, and Grand Traverse Probate Court index and abstracted files. The search engine below will help narrow down which pages to visit. Remember to search name variations! I transcribe all names exactly as they are written or printed in the original records.
LONG LAKE TOWNSHIP Families Compiled family histories for all residents who lived in Long Lake township between 1860 and 1910. All families histories are fully documented.
Please contact me with additions and corrections:
Homer's FAMILIES
Links to some useful Web sites
Grand Traverse County, Michigan GenWeb Site
Brenda Wolfgram Moore has pulled together a lot of useful information on Grand Traverse County.
The Grand Traverse Area Genealogical Society
I edit the society's quarterly newsletter, Kinship Tales, and back issues are available online.
Extremely helpful genealogical site. They are hosting this site for free.
Center for Desert Archaeology and the Rio Nuevo Project
The non-profit center for my work place, Desert Archaeology, and the ongoing archaeological and historical research project that I am involved with.
Mallo-Ware Collector's Website
Contact Information
That is me on the right with my brother and my grandpa, Harold Philip Feiger in 1965. For more information please contact me at:
Homer Thiel
This page was last updated on 1 April 2003.
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