Ferne Marguerite Kinney [24971] ^130,160

   Another name for Ferne was Ferne Margarite Kinney.

  General Notes:

Ferne Margarite Kinney's son's daughter, Jeannine Lemmon, is interested in Whiteman and Parke r family history. She and her husband, Ron, have a e-mail: [email protected].

November 29, 1991

FERNE MARGUERITE JOHNSON (KINNEY)

Born June 11, 1893, daughter of Irving Hart KINNEY and Minerva (PIATT) in Jackson, Michigan . Her mother died when Ferne was 11 or 12 years old. She died from tuberculosis. Her father l ater married Marguerite Kunz, a school principal in Jackson, MI. Ferne attended the public sc hools in Jackson where she lived until she met her husband, Clinton Henry Johnson.

They were married in a lovely wedding held at her parents home at 701South Pleasant St. Jacks on, Michigan on September 1, 1914. Her brother Paul, and Ward Webb, the groom's uncle, were t he groomsmen. Rev A. J.Blair conducted the ceremony. The happy and loving couple left on thei r honeymoon for a trip on the Great Lakes.

Their son, Erwin H. Johnson, was born July 15, 1915 in Jackson and the family moved to Topeka , Kansas where her husband worked in the farm machinery business. A second son, Clinton Stanl ey, was born on March 4, 1918 and shortly thereafter the family returned to Lansing and event ually moved to Canton, Ohio in 1921. Their third son, William Webb, was born October 18, 192 2 and a daughter, Barbara Josephine, was born July 9,1929.

The family moved back to Lansing in 1941 where they lived on a farm onM-100 and eventually mo ved to Okemos, MI.

Her mother was one of seven children born to William A. Piatt and Margaret Piatt (Wallace), m arried December 30, 1851. Little is known of the Piatt or Wallace families other than they li ved in the Three Rivers and Constantine, Michigan areas.

Ferne was an energetic and gifted lady. For a brief period when she lived in Canton she owne d and operated a beauty salon located in the Northern Hotel in downtown Canton. Her greater t alents though were in art and the crafts. She always had a project going. At one time she mad e and sold artificial flowers made from crepe paper. Was interested in the hand hooking of ru gs which were quite beautiful. When the family lived at Willowdale Lake, northwest of Canton , she created a large rock garden on the banks facing the lake. She also was an accomplishe d artist, painting many landscapes of scenes in northern Michigan and especially at theircott age on the Tittabawassee River.

Socially active, enjoyed playing bridge and golf. When they belonged to the Shady Hollow Gol f and Country Club an event happened one day that had a lasting effect on her interest in gol f. Clint had just purchased a new car and Ferne had parked the car in the parking lot of th e club which faced the first tee. She and her partners were in the process of teeing off whe n to their horror here came the new car coasting toward them. The brakes had not been set, an d as the car rolled toward the tee, gaining speed it careened off the bank of the tee and hea ded down hill toward the lake. About half way down that hill was the caddies shack. The car h i tthat building and knocked it off its foundation. Luckily no one was hurt and it did littl e damage to the car. If not for that caddy shack, the new car would have ended up in the bott om of that lake.

Ferne had many friends, was active in the Episcopal church, was a loving wife and wonderful m other.

Erwin Johnson

  Noted events in her life were:

• Alt. Birth: Alt. Birth Jackson, Jackson County, Michigan, 11 Jun 1893. ³⁷³

• Alt. Death: Alt. Death Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan, 26 Oct 1978. ³⁷³

• SSN: Social Security #: 296-10-0495. ²⁰⁷⁴

Ferne married Clinton Henry Johnson [21067] [MRIN: 9995] on 1 Sep 1914 in Jackson, MI.¹⁶⁰ (Clinton Henry Johnson [21067] was born on 31 Jul 1893 in Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan,³⁷³ died on 2 Feb 1973 in DelRay Beach, Florida ³⁷³ and was buried in 1973 in Webberville Cemetery, Webberville, Michigan ³⁷³.)