Welcome to part 1 of 2510 Coit! This was requested by a follower of the blog!
General Facts:
City, State: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Neighborhood: Creston/Riverside Gardens
Built: 1926
Size: 3 bedrooms/1.5 bathrooms; 2,016 sq. ft
Riverside Gardens started in March of 1923 when Mrs. Etta M Boltwood and Mrs. Clara C Russell decided to sell their land into home plots. (Etta's full name was Etta Monique Comstock Boltwood) Originally the plots consisted of 350 acres from Plainfield Ave to Monroe Ave and Coit Ave in between. The cost to build a house on the plots was going to range between $10,000 to $12,000. This area was outside of the city limits. It was advertised as country living but perks of a city. A year later after houses were built, discussions started about expanding the city border line to include Riverside Gardens and by 1926 it became officially part of the city.
*Residents and address of 2510 Coit are in red font throughout the post
1926-1929: KELLER - Addison & Gertrude (Quant)
Addison Keller was born on August 15, 1877 in Bowne Township, Kent County, Michigan to Christian and Barbara (Scheifele). Addison was the fourth oldest out of his 9 siblings. His father, Christian Keller, and his family were one of the original settlers of Bowne Township when they came from Waterloo, Canada in 1866.
Because Addison's family was one of the original settler of that area, his father, Christian, appears in a few history books of Kent County. In the book, "The History of Kent County, Michigan" that was written in in 1881, there was a brief biographical summary about Christian and the Keller family.
Below are two photos of the Keller family. Christian and Barbara (Addison's parents) are the two older ones sitting down and Addison, I'm assuming since he was the 4th oldest, would be one of the men standing in the back. (source: Ancestry.com)
Addison's mother, Barbara Scheifele, was born and raised in Waterloo, Ontario Canada. Her father, (Addison's grandfather) Fred Scheifele, was born in Germany and immigrated to Waterloo when he was 8 years old in 1831 and is considered one of the first pioneers of Waterloo County.
I'm not sure what exactly led Addison Keller to move from his family farm in Bowne Township to Grand Rapids. But since he wasn't the oldest son and usually that is who inherits the family's land, he needed opportunities to make money. The earliest record I can find of Addison living in Grand Rapids is in 1900 when he is a laborer for the GR&I Railroad. (Grand Rapids & Indiana) and renting a room at 106 Broadway NW.
*R K L & Co was an abbreviation for Rindge, Kalmbach, Logie & Co - a boot and shoe manufacturer. The name Logie may sound familiar to many Grand Rapids residents. Former Mayor John Logie's great grandfather, William, was one of the partners.
The year 1900, was also the same year when Addison Keller married Gertrude Quant in Grand Rapids on December 26.
Gertrude Quant was born on April 11, 1881 in "Campbell Corners" aka Campbell Township, Ionia County, MI to Jacob and Louisa (Pelton). Her father was born in Schenectady, New York and her mother was born in Kentucky.
Jacob Quant, Gertrude's father, enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War on March 1862 and served until the end in 1865. His unit was the 13th Illinois Infantry and he was fought in Alabama and he was captured during the Affair at Madison Station.
By 1870, at 25 years old Jacob was married to 19 year old Louisa Pelton and was farming in Campbell Township. Gertrude was the third oldest of five children for Jacob and Louisa. The childhood for Gertrude was very tough and was shaped through two major tragedies.
In 1886, Gertrude's mother, Louisa, passed away due to a bacteria infection - erysipelas. Louisa was 35 years old; Gertrude was only 5 years old.
Seven years later, Gertrude's father, Jacob, was struck and killed by a passenger train.
At 12 years old, Gertrude, along her siblings, were alone without their parents.
The 10+ pages of Jacob's Probate Documents were available online which stated that his estate and land was in major debt and that the cause of death was possibly a suicide than an accident.
I couldn't find any records of where Gertrude and her siblings moved to after their father died or if she knew Addison Keller before she moved to Grand Rapids.
In 1901, one year after Addison and Gertrude were married, their first child, Muriel, was born. Then in 1904, their second and final child was born, Oliver.
For the Keller's family first few years, Addison worked a variety of labor type jobs and moved around often. By 1910, the Kellers were living at 280 9th St and Addison was working as a teamster - an intense, low-wage hands-on work.
"In a teamster’s life, work was scarce, jobs were insecure and poverty was commonplace. In 1900, the typical teamster worked 12-18 hours a day, seven days a week for an average wage of $2 per day. A teamster was expected not only to haul his load, but to also assume liability for bad accounts and for lost or damaged merchandise. The work left teamsters assuming all of the risks with little chance for reward." - https://teamster.org/about/teamster-history/the-early-years/
In 1912, Addison received building permits to build a barn and a house on Central Ave (Changed to Sheldon Ave). The address was 1065 Sheldon and the barn is still standing today. In 1982, there was an explosion at the house and it was literally burnt to the ground.
*A cartage job is like working for Fed-Ex today - delivering packages. But in 1912 it was done via horse and carriage.
After working in the teamster and cartage industry mostly his entire working life, Addison founded the Keller Transfer Line Co, which originally served to transport residential and commercial goods. The company was very successful from its start in 1914 and provided a solid income and security for the Keller family.
It was a busy couple of years for Addison as in 1915, he ran for Alderman (councilman) for the 11th Ward - he ended up losing the election though.
Fast forward 10 years to 1925 - Muriel, the oldest child of Addison and Gertrude, is 23 years old and Oliver is 21. Muriel is out of the house, married two years ago to Roy Hilton of Comstock Park. Oliver, a bookkeeper at his father's company, is engaged and will tie the knot in January of 1926 to a 19 year old Eva Piercy. Addison and Gertrude probably decided that it was time to build a new house either for investment or retirement purposes.
The following newspaper clipping is blurry, but it does read that Addison Keller received a permit to build a house at 2510 Coit Road NE.
It was one of the first houses built on Coit Road - and one of the first in Riverside Gardens. You can compare the number of houses built on Coit between 1925 and 1927 from the directories below.
There wasn't any newspaper articles or any information I could find about the Keller's while they lived at 2510 Coit.
Unfortunately, the Kellers wouldn't stay long at 2510 Coit. In May 1928, Addison died of pneumonia after only being sick a few days - he was 54 years old. They actually had his funeral in the home at 2510 Coit!
Just a month after the funeral of her husband, Gertrude, sold the house and many of its belongings. Without her husband's income, and since the house was a very large brand new build - Gertrude probably couldn't afford to live in the house alone - nor I wouldn't think she would want to.
Gertrude moved in with her daughter, Muriel, and son-in-law at 942 Franklin St. She remained living with Muriel and even moved to Deerfield, IL with her.
Gertrude passed away in May of 1960 - 32 years after Addison, and never remarried.
Muriel Keller passed away in 1972; Oliver Keller, worked at Keller Transfer Line from the start of his career until he sold it in 1945. He passed away in 1992 in Florida.
Keller Transfer Line is still around today but under the name of KRC Logistics.
1929-1937: STINSON - Gain & Lucile
By 1930, six years after Riverside Gardens was created and 2510 Coit was built, there were still only two houses on Coit Rd from Guild St to 3 Mile...2479 Coit and this house. There were quite a few houses built on Oakwood from Eleanor to 3 Mile.
The Stinson family bought 2510 Coit in the fall of 1929 from Getrude Keller. The Stinson family in 1930 included Gain and Lucile, their children David (8 years old) and Norma (5 years old), and a maid - Ethel Haight (16 years old).
Gain Miller Stinson was born in August 1894 in Tyrone Township, Kent County, Michigan to William and Ola (Madison). William and Ola had three children and Gain was the middle child.
Gain's father, William, was born in 1850 in Ohio. William's father, Gain's grandfather, Thomas Stinson, immigrated from Monaghan County, Ireland in 1830 and became a prominent citizen and one of the first residents of Casnonia (Casnovia) Michigan. His obituary from 1900 best summarizes his life.
Gain's mother, Ola, was born in 1865 in Novi, Oakland County, Michigan to a civil war veteran from New Hampshire and her mother was from New York. Ola and her family moved to Tyrone Township by 1870 as her father was a farmer along with mostly every resident there at that time.
Gain's parents married sometime between 1887-1892 in Casnovia, MI. By 1900, the Stinson family were living on farming land they owned - Gain was 5 years and his older brother, William Jr, was 8 years old.
Tragically the life for Gain and his brothers would suddenly take a horrible turn because in February of 1907, their father, William, passed away. The cause of death on the death certificate is hard to read so I don't the know the exact cause but he had illness for over a year. William was 56 years old.
It gets worse for Gain and his siblings...five months later in July 1907, their mother, Ola, passed away. Again the cause of death handwriting on the death certificate is difficult to read but I think part of it says, "self inflicted." Ola was 44 years old; Gain was without both his parents at 13 years old.
On the 1910 US Census, Gain is separated from his siblings and lived with Charles and Edith Foster and their 9 year old son, in the town of Tyrone, MI.
Three years later, when Gain turns 18 years old, he moved 20 miles south to Grand Rapids where he works at A.N. Sumerlin as an optician. In 1913, the word optician had a different meaning - it was basically someone who sells and fits eyeglasses for others. Many opticians worked in jewelry and department stores and glasses were more a fashion statement for men to show off their wealth. The first time the word "optometrist" is mentioned in the GR Press is 1909 and the article was a basic description of what the word means.
A few years later, in 1916, Gain was still an optician and he married Lucile Heiser in Casnovia, MI.
Lucile Heiser was born in May of 1894 in Casnovia, Michigan. She was the middle child - and the only girl for her parents - Adam and Amy (Simpson).
Adam, Lucile's father, was born in Freeport, IL and worked as carpenter most of his life. Amy, Lucile's mother, was born in Plainview, MN and as a child her family moved from Minnesota to St. Clair, MI and finally settled in Casnovia, MI.
After Lucile graduated from high school, she continued her education and went to "Normal School" aka Teacher's College. She went for two years and then worked as a school teacher. I can't find a record of what school she attended or taught but I'd assumed she taught back in her hometown in Casnovia because that is where she married Gain Stinson shortly after.
Gain Stinson and Lucile Heiser were married on August 26, 1916 in Casanova, MI.
Just a couple years later, Gain and Lucile experienced any parent's worse nightmare - on August 17, 1918 at just 10 days old, their baby girl, Amy Louise, passed away. The cause was just listed as premature birth.
Around that same time, after about 10 years as an optometrist, Gain switched career paths and became a life insurance agent. In 1920, Gain and Lucile lived at 607 Fulton St in Grand Rapids. The next year, their son David was born and two years later, a daughter, Norma, was born. On records later in life, it does state David and Norma were adopted by Gain and Lucile. (I wonder since Gain was an orphan if that played a factor in adopting David and Norma).
By 1929, Gain was the District Agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co, David and Norma were 9 and 7 years old respectively and they lived at 942 Franklin St SE.
By September of that year, the Stinson family moved 6 miles north to the newly developed neighborhood of Riverside Gardens and bought 2510 Coit Rd NE.
On the 1930 US Census, a year after the Stinson Family moved into 2510 Coit, they had a 16 year old maid living with them as well - Ethel Haight.
Ethel Haight was born in 1914 in Holland, MI. Her father, Floyd worked as a decorator and a painter. I can only imagine the struggle the family had that would cause their 16 year old daughter to move out of the house and live with another family to work as their maid. Ethel was the maid for the Stinson family for about 4 years until 1933. Ethel then married that year to a man from Lake City, MI - Glenn Gerard.
*Starting around the 1929, the directories are not searchable so it would impossible for me to find if the Stinson had another maid after Ethel.
In 1931 - Gain won the election for a seat on the Grand Rapids School Board.
Lucile is very active in various committees as well. She was the President of the East Side Ladies Literary Club, Secretary of the GR Federation of Women's Clubs, and on the Board of Directors of the Fairmount School PTA.
The Stinson family lived at 2510 Coit for about 7 years. The children attended Fairmount School (currently same location as ISJ School now) and later graduated from Creston Junior/High School.
The main reason the Stinson family moved out of the house was probably due to the divorce between Lucile filed against Gain in 1936.
It wasn't until a year later when the decree was finalized in June 1937. Gain gave ownership of 2510 Coit to Lucile and I'd assumed when she sold it that year she retained the profit as well.
Lucile sold 2510 Coit and her kids, David and Norma, moved into 129 Palmer NE which was a couple blocks away from Creston Junior/High School.
The same year, Gain actually moved to Flint, MI where he remarried to a woman named Jane Hulswit. He continued to work as an insurance agent in Flint until he passed away in 1957.
Lucile never remarried, and remained in Grand Rapids until she passed away in 1984.
This information is so interesting and what a treasure for the homeowners! I would love to know more about my house, 5 Elmwood St NE. We’re on an old trolley line. Our home is all poured cement. The interior walls, floors, ceilings and roof!