Contact Me
Contact me at: if you have suggestions, questions
or comments and any information, picutres etc. to share about Lake Maxinkuckee.
Resume of Experience & Credits:
MEMBERSHIPS: Life member of: Monroe County Indiana Historical Society, Kentucky Historical
Society & Sons & Daughters of 1st Settlers of Newbury, Mass. ~~~~~ Member of UsGenWeb Genealogy Projects ~~~~~
Former member of: D.A.R.; Greene County Indiana Historical Society, Heritage
Quest (American Genealogical Lending Library); New England Genealogical &
Historical Society. ~~~~ EDUCATION : Graduate of: Culver Community High School, 1970; Ancilla College, Associates
Degree in Computer Science & Business Administration, 1993 ~~~~~ OTHER: David B. Burns Bookkeeper and General office
Manage for his Masonary work from 1972-1990 ~~~~ GENEALOGY:
Genealogy researcher since 1976, 30 years of experience ~~~~~ Published promoted and Printed - The Revised Genealogical Records
of John Emery of Newbury, Massachusetts 1982, Book and Updates and now at:
a Virtual Online book and his bothers Anthony's section ~~~ Other manuscripts - websites -
ENTRY POINT HERE I have became Count Coordinator for
Greene and Sullivan as of 22 APril 2008.
My wish list -
Lake Directories - 1953/4 to 1984 (have 1985,1986, 1987); 1988-1990, (have 1991), 1992, (have 1993 & scanned), 1994-2004
(have 2005-7). I am making a cd of all to donate to the Culver r-Union Public Library and the Marshall County Historical
Society - If I can get them all. I think they will all fit on one CD if not 2.
A new computer system - cpu, flat screen monitor, printer/scanner/copier, power back-up unit & line voltage regulator; a
laptop with portable scanner unit - so I can do traveling research work for the site.
This is quoted from the ipening page (if you were not there:
REMC installed a new transformer LARGER we had the smallest there was - got me and with a well pump and all our nice modern appliances
was maxing it out.
I have lots to do on here in the background and trying to get it up in between "freeze-ups" -
I have updated the Condo/hotel pages; South Plymouth Street and other pages - and some new along the way too.
Also because of the "freeze-ups" during the transfer of the site to the new server or other wise there may be blank pages - this was
beyond my control and I have found some of them - and have replaced them - others have just completely vanished - my two mackup also do not have them
on them too - One folder that has disappeared completely is the 1993 ads - but have them but they all have to be redone - just for the culver ones
PLEASE just kindly drop me an e-mail with the page (coping and pasting
the addie out of the IE bar into the e-mail) and I will try and correct as soon as possible - also may missing links or pictures that
do not show up.
I have no idea how much I can accomplish with the freeze-ups - I am getting very good at Find-a-word puzzles to keep me busy in between the
freeze-ups and trying to bring it back up to working order - -trying no to do physical harm to it - tho tempted - -
Who am I? Besides a genealogy and history nut...
I was born in Blomington, Monroe, Indiana tho my parents were living outside of Indianapolis, Marion, Indiaana with an address of
High School Road, Danville, Indiana.
my parents were Alvin Robert Mc Kee now deceased and Reba Doris Emery both Greene county Indiana natvies who married there in 1948 and shrotly there after
moved to Bloomington, Monroe, Indiana. Mom was a Registerd nurse who had graduated from City Hospital School of Nursing [now Wishard
Hospital] at Indianapolis. Dad had been a farmers son. When they moved to Bloomington he worked in a drug store there and mom as a
nurse at the hospital. Sometime before my birth they had moved to Danville where dad worked on a dairy farm and mom as a
nurse at the hospital. In Novemebr 1952 we came to 19th B Road Culver, Marshall, County [I was 1 year and 1 month old]; as dad began working for the
Newman Dairy Farm while they were still marketing their milk to Culver Military Academy which ended in 1957 - which was about or
before that dad went work for Arthur Judson Dillon Farm.
So I count myself as much as a "Culverite" as the person who was born in Culver or their parents lived here at the time of their
birth as most can not call Culver their "native town" - as they were either born in near by hospitals - Knox, Plymouth, Rochester,
Winamac or as far aways as South Bend - your "native town" is your birthplace.
YES - I grew up on that "Stinky hog farm" and being teased about it. I remember the little white house clearly and the 2 pine trees that
stood out front. We would sit on the sonte wall on 4th of July to watch the fire wroks at Culver Military Academy and
the coming and going of the cars to the even with Jim Cox standing in the middle of St. Rds. 10 & 17 directing traffice. Other
memorable memories are the long nights spent drying grain - or when the trucks came to loa out the hogs for the slaughter house. Also
learning to ride our second hand bicycle along the edge of St. Rd. 10 & 17; and running through the mud puddle on the corner there.
I entered Culver Elementary School in 1957-58, as a kindergardner - memories of the first day was locking my self into the bathroom. Of
the year being teased and called names by one of the classmates who then promptly moved away from Culver at the end of the school year -
but the teasing and name-calling he started stuck around for several more years. I can't even remember my teacher fot that year!
My first grade (1958-59) teacher was Sandra Fitterling now Mrs. Jack Kyeser. Of this year the memories were of braking an upside down "v" into
my two front teeth that had just grown in. This occured ou t on the playground in that metal contraption made of iron pipe which was
three cubes on each side with a single cube on top (the fourth high). The next year Dr. Dunfee at Plymouth done all he could to try and
save them till they and to be pulled in July-August 1959 because an abcessed had formed.
In August of 1959 we moved from the corner to the other farm Judd Dillon owned on St. Rd. 10 west where Pat Mc Carthy now owns. The only
memory from this I have is arriving home on the bus after school seeing the pigs all out running around the yard and in the road and mother
chasing them - her first words "I have been chasing them all afternoon and I think I have put this one in at least twice before." - she had forgot
to check to see where they were getting out of - so as fast as she had corralled them putting them in the front gate of the pen they
were just escaping out the backside
Judd Dillon had finally went back and finished his college and teaching credentials and decided to quit farming - thus again we moved
this time into Culver at the little brown house on the southwest corner (419 Forrest Place) it was owned by Oscar Perrine along with the
Lakeshore Garage which he owned and was leased out to Wayne Hittle of Rochester. He became manager of the gas station which eventually
became Enco and Exxon. It burnt in Janaury 1972. We did not live here long as the
roof leaked and the electric bills were extermely high - the electric was leaking out but they could not seem to find the problem.
After the fire the house was sold and moved out into the country.
The summer of 1963 - we moved to Main Street culver - the house on the corner of Cass and Main - it was the Crabb rental house and
they owned the Crabb Furniture store next door. This house was bought by Wayne Von Ehr and remodeled - memories there were the President
Kennedy being assinated - I was in 6th grade and sitting in Mrs. Manis' classroom at the time the annoucment came over
the school speakers. This was the year of the "new Math" where it took several pages to just answer one problem - it was the year when
they decided to try and convert "lefties" to right habded - I REFUSED!!! my other teachers were Mr. Overstreet and Loren Carswell
and it was the year of switiching rooms and teachers for classes in preperation for high school - which then consisted of 7-12.
Another memory was arriving home from school to find the house full of black smoke - upon reaching the kitchen and
the stove I found what was to have been supper - a pot of Vegetable soup - with only a very small charred rement - I opened the
back door tossed the pot out into the snow bank and left the door open for AIR - the phone rang it was mom telling me the soup was on the
stove and to turn it on "medium" - all I said oh that is what that was - she had instead of turning it "OFF" had turned it on "HIGH" as
she went out to work. Another memory was falling down the back stairs the lead to the garage they were ragged broken concrete - I
fell head first and flat on my face - and my father's sunday dinner of Kentucky fried chicken, cole slaw, mashed potatoes and gravy and
strawberry pie - needless to say there was little left of the dinner but the chicken. This remained home until about August 1964
This time the move was to S. Plymouth Street - where part of the Cove sits today - our neighbors were William Hampton, Bob Hodges
the Wilhites and Mabel & Bess Pura amongest others. There are not many memories here - except the death of my grandafther McKee and grandmother coming to
live with us and then she dying in Febuary of 1966. The one memory is the tornado that hit the northern portion of Marshall county and
St. Joseph County - tho no came near the Culver are we had the winds - and I was chasing the brand new garabage can down S. Plymouth St.
Mr. Hampton saw me and told me to "let it go" and if the winds got to bad we were to come over to his hous and get in the basement - (our
rental house only had a crawl pace under it). I remember the area always flooded with the rains and the water run-off from Main St.
The next move occured during the school year of 1968 - where moved to Lakeshore Dr. (where Wilhites live today) across from the old
Ford garage - now an array of shops and a resturant. How time change - memories there are few - but memorable is the death of Pete
Onesti in 1968/9 - I graduated from CCCHS in May of 1970 - I began work at the Coffee Shop down the street as a waitress in 1970- June 1972-
the burning of the house next door in 1971 or early 1972 which I found out much later was the Lakeside Hotel in years past.
From there I moved to 419 S. Main in June 1972 and began my life with David Boswell Burns - memories there abound. It was truly HOME
it was not a rental house as it had been during my childhood - I still own the house - tho I do not live there - BUT IT IS MINE!
I was just a house wife - just a mother - David never allowed me to work out side the house. So my kids were very privileged in that they
had what I did not have as a child - a mother who did not work - who was around 24/7 whether they appreciated it or not I have no idea
[my thoughts were they cared less as it as dad who "handed out" to them one of their peers told me a few years ago that he amongest others
were envious of that]. But of course because of that I have no solid work skills except those of the house wife, mother, and those I
self taught my self - genealogy reasearch and computer. I can lay stone - I learned how by watching David around the lake - so after
he died I did lay some stone up around the house, and rebuilt the north wall and built the South wall that I had laid one row in
just dirt.
I was never well liked - I was never good in school - and I never fullfilled my mothers dream and wishes of me becoming a Registered Nurse
like her and her sister; they always told everyone when I was young I was going to be a "Registered Nurse like then" and I think to just
please them I agreed with them every time they told someone - tho I did expect to be because mother seemed to make things happen
but when the time came it did not - the money was not there for higher schooling and the grades were not acceptable for her Altra Mater
where she expected me to attend, she had never helped with school work but always berated me because of my low grades. In
essence I was a NOBODY and probably still am. Also to add to mother's dissapointment of me I refuse to pack-up
my things along with my son David Boswell Burns and move to Flordia with them in the fall of 1974 - thus I became an outcast in my
own family. For that I have never been sorry.
School memories are slim and few - as I was not popular and not a joiner - I remember the early taunting even to this day the
most I joined was the Pep Club during my 7th, 8th years; Sunshine Society during high school and the yearbook
staff during my senior year; Choir was a class during my Junior and Senoir year and I participated in its activities. I can remember
mother's words if she even thought I was going to ask to do something "you have plenty of time because your a girl - your brother
don't" - I never have figured that out to this day. But from this expeience I never refused to let David or Susie join anything in school
- even if they lost interest in it and dropped out on their own accord.
Tho I never had a real great love for history in school it was my favorite subject
and I always wanted Latham Lawson as a history teacher but for some reason I never did have him during my 7th, 8th,
or high school years and yes I was dissappointed.
I attend Ancilla College from the fall of 1970-June 1972 - starting out with only American History class under
Sister Vivan - and there I think the real "bug" for history hit. When I quit in June 1972 I think I had 17 hours under my belt.
I got interest in genealogy in 1976 and started tracing my parents lines only intending to get enough to lay it aside till when the
kids were grown - that never happened and then David's lines I hired done as they all were over in Scotland. My step-daughter asked
for help in doing work on her mothers lines and the Schrimsher and Green lines. During the years with David he talked of the past
of Culver, the lake - its people the cottages etc. -
After David's death 23 August 1990 I started this merely as a history of the cottagers and cottages - to have something to occupy my
mind and keep me active as I had lost interest in my genealogy - as I could not sit at the computer and work and not remember the
past year - September 1989 [when he was diagnoised with congestive heart the seemed not toe accept it - not wanting to take his medication
properly]...
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