WILLARD DURKEE

With the Albion Chamber of Commerce having moved to its new location next to the Bohm Theatre, they are still settling in. My books won't be available there until further notice. You can still purchase them at my house, 900 S. Eaton St. (please use the back door Mechanic St. entrance). My latest book "Albion in Review" is also available at the Five Points Veterinary Hospital, Jolly Green Junction, General Store and Hardware, Books and More, and Top Notch barber shop.

I'll be looking forward to seeing you at my annual Riverside Cemetery tour on Sunday, October 11 at 1:30 pm. We'll meet in the center of the cemetery near the former pond, now transformed into a prayer garden. Use the center cemetery entrance. The tour will last about an hour and a half.

Each year I try to feature at least one of Albion's Civil War veterans. This year I've picked out Willard C. Durkee (1845-1928), who ironically has the same birth/death years as the Hon. Washington Gardner. Anyway, Willard was a native of Cortland, NY and served in Company B of the 11th U.S. Infantry, and also the 8th Michigan Cavalry. He was married twice: first to Helen Foskit (1844-1882), and second to Emma Hopkins (1859-1937).

When Willard came to Albion following the War in 1866, he worked as a boot and shoemaker for Albion shoe merchant Robert J. Frost until his retirement. His home was at 201 S. Berrien St. Willard was civic minded, and served as a City Alderman for the 3rd ward. He was also active in the local Grand Army of the Republic.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of Willard C. Durkee.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com