When: Monday, June 28, 2010 7:00 PM
Where: Charlevoix Depot Museum, Charlevoix, MI

This presentation used a stone monument to tell the story of a young pioneer woman and her house. In 1869, 21-year-old widow Lennie Ingalls retained young ship builder and Mormon Ben Campbell to build a house for herself and her infant son. It stayed in her family for more than 120 years until it was acquired by the City of Charlevoix in 1995 after the death of her granddaughter Erma. In 2010 at the age of 140 years, it was burned to the ground, to make way for a parking lot.

We described CCHPS’s efforts to preserve the house, including obtaining a preliminary determination of its historic designation status. And we described how CCHPS worked furiously in the days leading up to the fire, to salvage as much as could be salvaged from the house for use in preservation projects across Northern Michigan. The speaker for this meeting was be Raechel Wright, with research assistance provided by Patrick McCleary.

While they last, receive a FREE first edition booklet called Lennie’s Monument when you make a donation of $5 or more to CCHPS at any CCHPS event.