The Pump-house Project

Photo courtesy Tom Lewis

The Freeland property at Omena - called "Freeland's" during its days as a summer resort - was a property that bound together five generations of my family on my mother's side. The first Omena property owned by our family was several dozen acres acquired by Thomas Edward Hart McLean, who was the uncle of Mary (McLean) Frazier. This Mary was the mother of Mary (Frazier) Freeland, who was the mother of my Nana, Mary (Freeland) Smith.

Thomas Edward Hart McLean, who died a bachelor, gave the ten acres we know as Morning Glory to his niece, Mary McLean Frazier. Mary McLean was part of the Fraziers who moved to Kansas, southern Colorado, and New Mexico during the 1890s, and she did not care about the Michigan property. Her daughter Mary Frazier adored Omena, so Mary McLean gave Morning Glory to Mary Frazier. That is how the Morning Glory property came into the family.

The main resort area comprised the properties we knew as Robinwood, Brookside, and the Rambler. There were a few outbuildings, including the summer house (gazebo), the laundry house, the garage, and the ice house tucked back in the trees. The resort part of the property was purchased and improved by Edward Friedlander, who was Albert Freeland's older brother. Edward acquired the property in the early part of the 1910s - I am still tracking down the real estate records, but 1911ish will work for now. 

Like the bachelor Thomas McLean, Edward and his wife, Gertrude (Wegener) Friedlander were childless, which is another of the fortuities by which the property came into the hands of Albert and Mary Freeland. Edward and Gertrude doted on their niece and nephew, Ruth and Paul, while they lived in Chicago. They continued to dote on them, and on Mary and Ernestine, when the gang moved to Omena. Edward gave Albert and Mary a life estate in the property, with fee ownership to the four Freeland children upon the death of Albert and Mary. 

There was a large grass quad defined by Robinwood, Brookside, The Hill, and Freeland Road. Kind of in the middle of the quad was the pump-house. Some of the brightest, happiest moments of my childhood, adolescence, and young fatherhood happened in Omena. My cousins and I: we had a grand time of it. 

Because our family has so much history there, I have decided to focus this project on just the pump-house. The pump-house project is a project to show the pump-house as the Omena Freeland family grew, aged, and were called home. Many of the photos I have were culled from the family photos pulled together and distributed to what is now the Gen 1 family by Uncle Rossie. Many of them, in particular the earliest, came from my dear Auntie and fellow genealogist, Dianne.

Here's the only rule for this project: the pump-house must be visible in the photo. I made a couple exceptions, but mostly, that's what I'm after. If you have additional pump-house photos you would like to see in here, send them my way and I will add them. (No duplicates or near-duplicates. If there were ten photos taken at the same event, I try to choose the best one or two of them.) I also have some video clips I'll be adding once I've got the cuts finished.

And away we go.

This is the earliest photo I know of (Courtesy Aunt Dianne.) The baby in Albert's arms is Ernestine.
Ernestine was born 15 April 1912 (the day the Titanic sunk), so I am guessing this is the summer or autumn of 1912.
I think Aunt Ruth looks a lot like Mom as a little girl.

I am guessing at some of the identities. 

Two photos of Nana. 1912ish.

Albert, Nana, Aunt Ernestine

Aunt Ernestine, 1922

Albert Freeland abt 1922

Early 1920s

Aunt Ruth 1920s

Uncle Bob and Pompo, late 1930s

Mom, Uncle Bob, Jacquie. GGma Freeland is standing behind.

Mom and Uncle Bob having a tea party. Late 1930s.

Aunt Ruth and Great and Mighty Uncle Elmer, wedding day 30 Sep 1940

Uncle Paul and Aunt Nellie, 1941. Uncle Paul was in the Coast Guard.

The Freelands, abt 1940

Cousin Jacquie in the wintertime.

GGpa Albert, Jacquie, Rossie, Mom, abt 1940

Mom and Jacquie

I had to bend the rules a bit here. The shadow is from the pump house. Mom, Dad, Clint, abt 1953.

Clint, Paul, Aunt Cinda, 1956. I am on Aunt Cinda's lap. The other lady is a friend of Aunt Cinda.

From left: Nana, Aunt Dianne (on shoulders), G&M Uncle Elmer, Randy Southwell (on lap), Clint, Aunt Nellie, Aunt Ruth, Cinda's friend, Aunt Cinda, Mom, me, Uncle Rossie, Walter. 1956.

Tom, Uncle Thorn, Aunt Ruth, Clint. 1963ish.

Clint and Bob, 1963ish.

Clint, Paul, Tom, Bob. First day of school, 1964. Our dad was in Vietnam, so we got to spend a year in Omena.

Nana and Pompo's Golden Wedding Anniversary was in 1980, not 1990. I think the boy is Will, the little girl is Katherine, and I can't make out the girl on the right.

Paul, Sara, Rita, 1980. Is that the pump-house we're in front of? It is, if that is the laundry house behind us.

Another from Nana and Pompo's Golden in 1980

Kamie, Aunt Phyllis, Aunt Dianne, ?Katherine, Phillip

Cousin Bob and Uncle Bob, 1985

Okay, that's all for now. I've got videos from 1987ish that I will be slicing and dicing to put in here. If you have other photos or video, send them along.