NameMartin A. Barnes
Birth1861, Jackson Co., MI, USA
Death10 Jan 1916, Duluth, St. Louis Co., MN, USA Age: 55
Marriage16 May 1900, Albion, Calhoun Co., MI, USA
SpouseElla Susan "Susie" Bliss1270
Birth28 Aug 1868, Albion, Calhoun Co., MI, USA
Death12 Apr 1945, Albion, Calhoun Co., MI, USA Age: 76
Children
Birth27 Feb 1904
Death15 Apr 1981, Jackson Co., MI, USA Age: 77
Notes for Martin A. Barnes
Martin had a bad case of wanderlust. It was through his encouragement that his brother Will Hood Barnes settled in Chicago. Martin continued west and north, apparently not happy with the Chicago area. Died in Duluth, MN. Susie brought his body back to Michigan on a train, and he was buried at the Horton Cemetery, Horton, Michigan.
Notes for Ella Susan "Susie" Bliss
Ella Susan ("Susie") went from being a housewife to a housemother and moved into the Sigma Nu frat house with her young son George Barnes in 1917. Had her child been a girl instead of a boy, Susie was told she wouldn't have been hired.
During her lifetime, Susie lived in the following places: Albion, MI; Chicago, IL; Sumner, IA; (various) MN; ending up again in Albion. She died during an operation on the same day that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed away.
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Newspaper articles (first one from Jackson newspaper, second from Albion paper)---
Article No. 1--
Dean Of Nation's Fraternity Housemothers Dies At Albion:
Albion- (Special) -Mrs. Susan B. Barnes, 76, the unofficial dean of American fraternity housemothers, died here Thursday after a few weeks illness.
Mrs. Barnes had been a housemother at Albion college for 28 years. She served at the Sigma Nu fraternity house for 26 years prior to the summer of 1943, when draft calls caused the group to suspend its activities. Since then, she had been housemother at one of the women's annexes near Susanna Wesely hall.
In 1942, the Sigma Nu group held a reception in honor of her 25 years of service and announced that their investigation failed to show any housemother that had served a single fraternity so long. She was a member of the First Methodist church, being treasurer of its Ladies Aid society for some years before it became the WSCS. She was also affiliated with Albion chapter No. 124, OES.
Surviving are a son, George Barnes, Detroit; two step-sons, Kenneth Barnes, NY, and Earl Barnes, Detroit; three sisters, Mrs. W. F. Kendrick, Holland, Mrs. George Buckman, Hanover, and Mrs. Will Barnes, Jackson, and a brother Charles Bliss, Albion.
Three Albion clergymen, the Rev. G. Dempster Yinger, President John L. Seaton of the college, and Dr. F.S. Goodrich, will officiate at the funeral Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Marsh Funeral home. Burial at Horton.
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Copied from an article by the Jackson Citizen Patriot as stored in a scrapbook held by Horace Levengood.
Article No. 2--
Mrs. Susan Bliss Barnes, 76, died at 4:45 a.m. today at Sheldon Memorial hospital, where she had been a patient for some time.
She was born Aug. 28, 1868, in Albion to Mr. And Mrs. Sidney Bliss. Except for a few years in Duluth, Minn., Mrs. Barnes has spent her entire life in Albion. At the time of her death she was housemother at Ingham house, an annex for college girls on Ingham street. Prior to this time, Mrs. Barnes had been matron for the Sigma Nu fraternity for 26 years.
On Feb. 22, 1942, she was honored with a reception given by the fraternity for 25 years of service as its housemother. According to its members, these 25 years of service placed Mrs. Barnes in the position of "dean of American fraternity housemothers."
Mrs. Barnes was a member of the First Methodist church, treasurer of its Ladiesà Aid society for several years, of the W.S.C.S., the Bethany circle and Albion Chapter No. 124, O.E.S.
She is survived by a son, George Barnes, Detroit; two stepsons, Kenneth Barnes, NY, and Earl Barnes, Detroit; three sisters, Mrs. W.F. Kendrick, Holland, Mrs. George Buckman, Hanover, and Mrs. Will Barnes, Jackson; a brother, Charles Bliss, Albion; four grandchildren and several cousins, nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held Saturday at 2:00 at the Marsh funeral home. Officiating will be Rev. G. Dempster Yinger, Dr. John L. Seaton and Dr. F.S. Goodrich. Burial will be in Horton.
Notes for Martin A. & Ella Susan "Susie" (Family)
Martin and Susan were married by Rev. W. F. Kendrick, Susan's brother-in-law.
The family was living in Sumner, IA, when Susie's mother died in 1901. The family was living in Duluth, MN, when Susie's father died in 1916.
After Martin's death, Susie and son George went to live for a month or so in Chicago with her sister and brother-in-law, Nellie and Will Barnes. Then she and George settled in Albion, MI. Martin's sons by his first wife had already left home by then.
Places where the family lived: Chicago, IL; Sumner, IA; (various, including St. Paul and Duluth) MN; Albion, MI (after Martin died).
Notes for George Sidney (Child 1)
George S. Barnes: "Of 100 Thorpe Dr., passed away Sunday evening at Foote Hospital West (Jackson, MI), age 76. Surviving are his wife Laura B.; two daughters, Mrs. Richard (Peggy) Dusmam of Warren, Mrs. Donald Short (Lucretia "Lucky" Barnes) of Fontana, Wis.; seven grandchildren. He was a former member of the Arbor Hills Country Club. Friends may call at the Wetherby Co., where services will be held Wednesday 1:00 p.m. The Reverend Alvin E. Elliott officiating. Interment at Horton Cemetery." (Horton, MI)