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Roots and Remnants
By Donnie Boursaw
In July 1970, my in-laws, Arthur and Rose Boursaw, bought a small mobile home on an acre of land in St. Helen. After my father-in-law retired, they moved there permanently and remained until their deaths. They are buried in Fairview Cemetery in St. Helen.
Every year on Good Friday, we visit the cemetery to clear away winter debris and brush the lichen from the cross overlooking their gravestone. This year, what struck me most was how many graves had been added since my in-laws passed away in the 1980s. As we wandered the rows and pathways, I noticed the variety of surnames etched into the stones. Some were familiar, every cemetery has its Smiths and Joneses, and in St. Helen you expect to see names like Romansky and Carter, but many names were completely unfamiliar and not ones I would have associated with Roscommon County.
The experience reminded me of the surname files at the Roscommon County Genealogical Society Research and Education Center in Houghton Lake. Barbara West, our 94-year-old surname archivist, has compiled nearly 8,000 different surnames connected to Roscommon County, adding three or four new names each week. I volunteer at the REC and often help file the articles, obituaries, stories and legal notices Barb collects. The collection fills six four-drawer filing cabinets.
After my cemetery visit, I paid closer attention to the names I was filing and became fascinated not only by their variety, but by the many spelling variations as well, such as Smith, Smythe, Schmidt and Schmid, for example. Some names were easy to pronounce, while others left me guessing.
The word “surname” comes from the Anglo-French “sornom,” meaning “over-name,” and by the 14th century had evolved into the modern meaning of family or last name. That discovery sparked more questions for me. What do these names mean? Where did they originate? How did they end up in Northern Michigan and Roscommon County?
I also discovered several notable surnames tied to Roscommon County. Clarke W. Brown, deputy secretary of state for 25 years, died in Roscommon in 1956. Thomas Russell Durden, co-writer of Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” died in Houghton Lake in 1999. Henry Stephens founded the village of St. Helen, and actor Charlton Heston, famous for playing Moses in “The Ten Commandments,” moved to St. Helen as a boy.
Roscommon County has a population of about 23,900 people. Is your surname on file? If so, what might you learn about it? Visit the RCGS REC or contact Donnie at [email protected].
