The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Historians rely on library's tools
Jenter, Dyer dig up the past using modern technology
By Alana West, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: January 4, 2007
Karen Jenter and Alan Dyer like to sift through historic documents, retrieving bits of information about area families and early life in the village.
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From 1 to 5 p.m. every Tuesday, the pair can be found in the historical documents room at the Manchester District Library poring through dusty tomes filled with names, dates, occupations and addresses, and storing the information in their laptop computers.
Sometimes families come to them for information about an ancestor, or they get a hunch that they want to follow.
For instance, Dyer, a retired librarian who lives in a historic brick home on Ann Arbor Street, found out when his front porch was first installed on his house by doing some research.
"You can find out a lot from reading the newspaper," Dyer said. "I found when my porch was put on from reading the paper (published in) 1899."
They are always on the lookout for historical documents, as well as photos, postcards and information about the genealogy of Manchester families.
"We also want information on more recent histories," said Dyer, who has collected posters from the Riverfolk Festival. "In 50 years, they will be part of the history."
"A lot of the more recent information is not found by looking in books," he said. "It's found by asking people who have lived in the community for a long time."
Old atlases and county maps are another good source of information because they show the way the land was once used.
Recently, Jenter had a request from Tillie VanSickle to look up information on William Neebling, a Civil War veteran who was her great-great-grandfather.
"We knew he was in the Civil War," said Jenter, who knew that the library had a book with the names of the 74 veterans who had started the Comstock Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in 1889. The post was named for Lorine Comstock of Adrian, who had been killed in a Civil War battle in 1863.
Jenter decided to transcribe the fragile book so that those who needed to find names in the future could look at her copy, rather than the original, saving it from further destruction.
Library Director Heather Sturm said she gets many requests about history and families.
"We need someone who has been through the process (of searching out family trees) before and can help us find out (for other people)," Sturm said.
Jenter said researching historical information comes naturally for her.
"I'm related to everyone (in Manchester)," she said. "I say, 'I remember them, they went to school with me' or 'I can remember my parents talking about someone.'"
Recently, the two were engrossed in finding information on Robert Teeter, the last man who had belonged to the Comstock post. He served in the New York Calvary and the Union Army, 21st U.S. Regiment.
"The G.A.R. post was instrumental in putting in the Civil War memorial in Oak Grove Cemetery," Jenter said.
She said the group raised funds to support its endeavors, sometimes by giving talks about their war experiences.
"At one time, the G.A.R. was trying to raise money to buy a flag," Jenter said.
Some of the members of the group had been with Union soldiers when they stole a train from the Confederate Army.
"They charged 15 cents to tell about the day they stole the train," Jenter said.
Dyer has also had requests for family information.
"A woman from Ohio called interested in genealogy. She was researching the Morgan Carpenter family," Dyer said.
He later discovered that Morgan Carpenter came from Connecticut to Michigan in the 1830s.
"One of the sons went into the Civil War and was part of a group that captured Jefferson Davis at the end," Dyer said.
A week later, a student from Hope College in Holland called asking for information about Orlando Carpenter.
"I was able to take some of the information I had found out and tell him," Dyer said.
The student had been asked to research a Civil War veteran for a project in his class.
This led Dyer to expand his search on the Carpenters, learning that they were one of the pioneer families of Manchester, along with the Roots, who has one of the largest recorded family histories.
"There were Roots and Carpenters fighting side by side (in the Civil War)," he said.
One of the reasons the Roots and Carpenters may have left their homes in New York and Connecticut was because the Erie Canal had opened and traveling to Michigan was easier. Instead of taking weeks traveling with a horse and wagon, only a few days were needed to make the passage.
"It was hard to get to Michigan because of the Black Swamp (in northwest Ohio)," Dyer said.
Dyer researched the Eleazer Root family, who in 1834 left their home in New York to search out a new life in Manchester. When he moved to Michigan, he brought his 10 children with him, although at the time he was already 70 years old.
"There's plenty to learn about, even when no one calls in," Jenter said. "People have no idea what a resource this library is."
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