The impact Oceana County Normal School had on the community, throughout its operation as well as today, cannot be overstated. I mentioned last that I was introduced to the school through reading obituaries and overhearing its name at the Munger House. Of course, asking pointed questions on the subject the past few weeks and going through the dedicated County Normal file got me much farther than eavesdropping alone.
The school room in the Munger House is well-stocked insofar as research material goes, and in my brief survey of files other than County Normal (that’s how you find new research ideas, see, by getting distracted every few minutes), I found a stack of teaching certificates. In and amongst the pile were plenty of County Normal issued certificates, several from Western Michigan University (a common choice for young teachers seriously considering teaching as a career, especially after they’d finished some years with County Normal) and one obituary clipping. This was quite strange, to say the least.
The obituary was for Clarissa Puffer (otherwise known as Clarissy) of Hart. She was born in September 1863 and died at age 81 in 1949. Of course, it was made obvious why this obituary was included, as someone had helpfully underlined the following about Clarissy’s mother: “Mrs. A. Miller was the first white teacher in Oceana County rural schools.”
Now that is a claim! Now to research the claim. Well, first of all, we have to decipher who “Mrs. A Miller” could be. Well, look no further than Find a Grave, which lists where Clarissy is buried (Hart Cemetery) and her relations (her husband and children). There is a brief description of Clarissy’s family history, notably the names of her parents - Wales Newton Miller and Angeline (Dunham) Miller.
These two Oceana County pioneers are mentioned in “The History of Manistee, Mason and Oceana Counties” as married and living in Hart since 1862, noting children Hansen J., Charles N., Libbie C., Mina A. and Clayton J. (An online family tree lists one more child - Kittie I.). Through a combination of this resource and MyHeritage.com, we can determine that Wales Newton Miller was born in 1839 in Erie County, New York, coming to the Midwest in 1861 when he enlisted in the Cleveland Grays volunteer infantry in the Civil War. Three months later, he was medically discharged for a lung hemorrhage.
Angeline Miller, maiden name Dunham, was born in Berkshire, Ohio in 1845. In the above resources, there is no mention of Angeline as the first white teacher in rural Oceana County schools, so one may assume this fact is familial hearsay. However, Angeline is consistently listed as living in Elbridge Township, which historically was the home of an Indian Reservation and much of the county’s native population. If she came to the area in 1862, it wouldn’t be hard to believe that she was the first white teacher in Oceana County’s most rural reaches.
Angeline and Wales both died in Elbridge Township, he in 1900 and she in 1933. Wales’ cause of death is not known, but a scan of Angeline’s death record lists her cause of death as “arteriosclerosis,” with a secondary cause of “obstruction of gall ducts.”
So my assumption is that the Libbie C. listed in “The History of Manistee, Mason and Oceana Counties” is the Clarissy Puffer from the obituary. There is no indication from either her obituary or listing in a 1910 census that she was anything other than a homemaker. However, the connection to rural schools doesn’t end with Clarissy’s mother.
Clarissy was the second wife of Ira Puffer, a Civil War veteran such as her father (Company K, 19th Michigan Infantry). Following the war, Ira settled in Oceana County and in 1910 was a farmer in Otto Township, living with Clarissy and their children. Ira was one of four children born to Solomon Puffer, and his youngest brother was Hiram Puffer. Hiram founded the first school in Muskegon Township in the 1870s. Later, in 1946, it would merge with the Reeths School, named after Charles Reeths, forming (can you guess it?) Reeths-Puffer Schools.
So there’s the path, no matter how circuitous, from the (possibly) first white rural schoolteacher in Oceana County to one of the larger and still-existent school districts in Muskegon County!
Plenty of our readers last week shared with us their connections to County Normal, so if there are, likewise, any readers who have a connection to the schools and people mentioned this week, feel free to let us know!
