Eugene D. Fellows

Eugene D. Fellows was born to Joel Madison Fellows and Margaret Eastway in Hudson, Michigan.[1] Eugene came to Olive Township with his parents at age three.[2]

Eugene married Sarah A. Van Gasbeck, on July 4, 1874 in a joint ceremony with his brother Edwin and Edwin’s bride Mary Blackford.[3]

Sarah Van Gasbeck was the daughter of Abraham Van Gasbeck (b 1813; d February 9, 1899)[4] and Mary Waring (b December 1819; d January 6, 1899). Abraham Van Gasbeck was born in New York. Mary Waring was the daughter of Samuel Waring and Sarah English. Mary and her parents were from Connecticut.

The following picture depicts the Van Gasbecks. Mary is holding their great granddaughter Grace Nichols (the daughter of Ina Belle Fellows and James Nichols) and Abraham is holding Grace’s cousin Harry Bennett.[5]

Abraham and Mary Van Gasbeck are buried in Olive Township cemetery and share a marker.

Eugene and Sarah had a daughter, Ina Belle, on April 15, 1876. They had another daughter, Esther V., in 1877. Eugene and Sarah had another daughter, Maria E., in October 1878.

According to the 1880 census, Eugene worked as a carpenter, but the 1900 census reports him as a farmer.

They had their first son, James Madison, on April 28, 1881.

They had another son, Eugene L., on September 19, 1883.[6]

Eugene and Sarah had another son, Chester Abraham Fellows, on April 8, 1888.[7]

The 1888 census of school age children for Ottawa District No. 1 lists several of Eugene’s children: James (age 6), Ina (age 13), Ester (age 12), Marian (age 10), and Eugene (age 5).

Eugene and Sarah had another daughter, Laura R. Fellows on January 14, 1892. Laura died at age 5 on February 25, 1897. Laura is buried in the Eugene’s family plot in Olive township.

The following picture is a close up of Eugene D. Fellows from the 1896 Fellows Family portrait (see Joel above). Eugene’s wife, Sarah Van Gasbeck, is the woman below him and to the right. The little girl is Eugene and Sarah’s youngest daughter, Laura Fellows.

The next picture depicts Laura. The picture is part of a memorial made sometime after her death and that of her sister.

This is a picture of the memorial:

Eugene and Sarah are shown to have another daughter, Nora Fellows, who was born in December 1891. Nora first appears in the 1900 census for Ottawa County, Michigan. She was 8 at the time of the census. In the 1910 census, Nora—now 18—was living with her brother Eugene L. Fellows and his family in Barry County and working as a machine operator. Esther M. Fellows’ obituary mentions two surviving daughters: Mrs. George Leggett (Esther) and Mrs. C.A. Maier (Maria) of Wooster, Ohio. It does not mention Nora. So she may have died before January 15, 1933. As of the 1910 census, Nora was still single. Eugene’s obituary in the Coopersville Observer mentions that Eugene had seven children and that two daughters, Ina and Laura died before him. It does not mention Nora.[8] Likewise, Eugene’s will does not mention Nora. Hence, it is also possible that Nora was not a biological daughter, but rather some relation living with Eugene and Sarah. Mary (Hudson) Bonner indicated that Eugene and Sarah adopted a daughter, Nora. However, I have not yet verified the adoption.

The following picture shows Eugene’s entire family sometime before Laura’s death in 1897.

In the back row are the three oldest girls: Esther (left), Ina Belle (center), and Maria (right). In the front are (left to right): Eugene L., Eugene D., James Madison, Chester, Laura, and Sarah (Van Gasbeck) Fellows.

Sarah A. Van Gasbeck died on October 30, 1909. Sarah’s death certificate, which is erroneously identified in the database as Sarah Fellors, indicated that Sarah died of Typhoid fever. She is buried next to Eugene D. in Olive Township cemetery.

The following photos are from a gathering of Eugene D. Fellows’ family at the home of Esther (Fellows) Leggett in Coopersville.

The men in the front row are Eugene D. Fellows’ sons: Eugene Le Forest Fellows (left—identified by Marcia Fellows, Eugene L. Fellows’ granddaughter), James Madison Fellows (center) and Chester Abraham Fellows (right). The men in the back row are: unknown, Eugene D. Fellows, and Esther Fellows’ husband George Leggett (identified by George's grandson Gary Leggett).

Eugene D. Fellows’ Family in around 1920. The front row: unknown, James Madison Fellows, unknown (child in front of James), Fannie Leggett, Carl Leggett (boy in front of Fannie), Leon Stanley Fellows (James’ son) and Kenneth Fellows (Eugene L. Fellows’ son). The middle row: George Leggett, Esther M. (Glines) Fellows, Eugene D. Fellows, Chester A. Fellows. Back row: the woman behind and to the right of George Leggett is Esther (Fellows) Leggett. The man obscured by her head is unknown, but the next man is Eugene L. Fellows. The woman whose head appears between Esther (Glines) Fellows and Eugene D. Fellows is Maria (Fellows) Meier. The two persons behind and between Eugene D. Fellows and Chester Fellows are unknown.

Eugene married his second wife, Esther M. (Glines) Garrison, on June 10, 1910.[9] Esther M. was born in approximately 1853.[10] Esther was from Harrisburg, Illinois.[11] Eugene did not have children with Esther.[12]

The next two pictures depict Eugene D. Fellows with his second wife Esther (Garrison) Fellows in around 1920.[13]

A September 1, 1922 article in the Holland Sentinel reported that Eugene and Esther “left this week on an auto trip to Ohio where they will spend some time visiting their daughter Mrs. Maria Meier, in Medina County of that state. Mr. Fellows had just recovered from a severe illness and it is hoped that he will be benefited by the trip.”

Eugene died at Blodgett hospital on November 28, 1932. The Hildreth Funeral Home handled Eugene’s remains and he was interred at the Olive Township cemetery next to his wife Sarah (see pictures below).

After Eugene’s death, James Madison Fellows served as executor of his estate. In his will, Eugene bequeathed all his personal and real property for the support of his widow Esther so long as she lived and remained unmarried. He also left $200 to his daughter, Esther V. Leggett, and $250 to his daughter, Maria Muir[14]—for work done at home. Eugene left $100 to his granddaughter, Grace (Nichols) Dennis. His remaining estate was divided between Esther, Maria, James Madison, Eugene L., and Chester A. The total value of the estate came to more than $11,000.00.[15]

Esther died on January 15, 1933. Esther’s obituary stated:

Ester M. Fellows, aged 82, passed away Sunday evening at her home in Grandville. Surviving are three sons, James M., Eugene L. and Chester A. of Grand Rapids; two daughters, Mrs. George Leggett of Coopersville and Mrs. C.A. Maier of Wooster, Ohio, and three brothers, Henry B. Garrison of Grandville, Nathaniel of Evanston, Ill., and S.C. of Mt. Vernon Wash.[16]

The Hildreth Funeral Home handled her remains.

[1] Boersma, Loekie. Obituaries from the Coopersville Observer, December 7, 1932. Obituary for Eugene D. Fellows at 37.

[2] Id.

[3] 1880 census.

[4] The state database for death certificates misidentifies Abraham’s name as Gasbrck and misidentifies Mary as Gesbeck.

[5] Photo courtesy of and identified by Shirley (Dennis) Orcutt, Grace Nichols’ daughter with Cliffton Dennis.

[6] Fellows family bible.

[7] Id.

[8] Boersma, Loekie. Obituaries from the Coopersville Observer, December 7, 1932. Obituary for Eugene D. Fellows at 37. I have not found satisfactory evidence to explain Nora’s absence from these records. Perhaps she was someone else’s daughter and merely lived with Eugene and his family for a while.

[9] Marriage License, Eugene Fellows to Esther Glines Garrison, bk 15, p 301, Kent County.

[10] The 1920 census lists Esther’s age as 68 and the 1930 census lists it at 79.

[11] Boersma, Loekie. Obituaries from the Coopersville Observer, December 7, 1932. Obituary for Eugene D. Fellows at 37.

[12] Esther died in 1933 and the 1930 census shows that they did not have any children.

[13] Although it is possible that the woman is a different relative or friend, the photo album invariably depicts these two together and depicts them in ways that suggest that they are married. For that reason, I am fairly confidant that this is Eugene’s second wife.

[14] This last name is frequently spelled in different way. I have encountered documents with Muir, Meier, and Maier.

[15] See In re Estate of Eugene D. Fellows, Kent County Probate Court Case No. 54385. Interestingly, the probate records include a request by James Madison to sign a waiver on behalf of the estate regarding a bank that was in receivership. According to the records, the bank only repaid 50% of the deposits.

[16] Grand Rapids Press, January 16, 1933.