Unknown newspaper publication, Dec 1963
Mrs. Minnie Maxam Funeral services were held recently at Romig’s Funeral Home in Marcelus, Mich., for Mrs. Minnie Maxam of Seattle, Wash.
Mrs. Maxam, 90, widow of Owen Maxam, former Road Commissioner in Porter township was born near Pleasant Valley. Her maiden name being Minnie Robinson. Her parents were among the first settlers in South Dakota. The parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson passed away in Dakota while Miss Robinson was still in her teens and being the eldest of 11 children, she gave up a planned marriage to raise her brothers and sisters. Her father having been a Civil War veteran, the teenage girl was granted a government pension in order to raise the family and keep them together.
All her life she had been a close friend of the George Holder family. Mr. Holder’s parents also being among the first settlers in Dakota Territory. When the George Holder family returned to Michigan in 1932, Miss Robinson returned with them and later met and married Owen Maxam in 1939. Their married life was spent on the farm between Lawton and Marcellus, which was Mr. Maxam’s birth place. After his death in 1957, Mrs. Maxam went to Seattle to be near her two surviving sisters and numerous nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Maxam’s last trip to Michigan was during the summer of 1962, when at the age of 89 years, she came by jet plane to spend two months with friends at Mattawan, Lawton, Marcellus and South Bend. She was “Aunt Minnie” to everyone who knew her, old and young, relatives or friends and always ready to extend a helping hand. Burial was in Marcellus, Michigan cemetery beside Mr. Maxam.
NOTES: Minnie R. Robinson, b. 10 Sep 1873; d. 12 Dec 1963
~Contributed by Brown County Coordinator