While some people believe Canton does not have any history, there is no doubt that Canton residents did participate in history.

Quietly sitting on Ridge Road just north of Cherry Hill is the "Bartlett-Travis" home. This house originally was located at Canton Center and Warren Roads. With the cooperation of the Township and the History Commission it was moved in 1989 to its present location. With final interior restoration complete, the house opened to the public in 2002.

One can only imagine the feelings, thoughts of Thomas and Marie Bartlett as they sat in their small farmhouse in the southwest corner of section 9 on that fourth of July evening in 1863. Thomas’s father Wyman had fought in the Revolutionary War to help America gain its independence. He had marched on the "the Alarm" of April 19, 1775 serving nine days. September 7, 1777 he became a Private in Capt. John Banister’s company for 3 months, and 2 days. But this night the thought of Thomas and Marie were on their immediate family.

Their daughter Jennie Bartlett had married, in Canton , December 29, 1858 Joseph Stevens. Joseph was the first of the family to go to the War of the Rebellion. He had enlisted in Company G, of the 3 rd Michigan Infantry of April 13, 1861 at the age of 23. Joseph had already been involved in such battles as Bull Run, Malvern Hill, Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg . David B Steven, also of Canton and a brother of Joseph had joined company C, 24 th Michigan Infantry on August 5, 1862 at the age of 19. The Stevens and Bartlett families just months later, had been notified of David’s death at Washington General Hospital from typhoid fever in December, 1862.

Towards the end of June 1863, news had reached Canton that Confederate General Robert E. Lee was advancing into Pennsylvania with two purposes in mind: to feed and supply his needy army with food from this land and to lure the Federal army out of it’s strong position on the Rappahannock and into a decisive battle that might win the War for the Confederacy. This news was of grave concern to the Bartlett family. Word had it that not only was the Regiment of their son-in-law Joseph Stevens at Gettysburg , but their own sons, James and John Bartlett were also there. Son, James, had enlisted in Company D, 24 th Michigan Infantry on August 13, 1862. His older brother John, had enlisted five days earlier on August 8, 1862 in Company C, 24 th Michigan Infantry was also near Gettysburg . James was already suffering from rheumatism that he incurred in December, 1862 from exposure at the campaign at Fredericksburg . In later years, James in his pension records, would refer to the time of the incident as "Burnsides Stick in the Mud."

Another family concern of the Bartlett ’s was son-in-law Loyd Lewis. Loyd had married in Canton their daughter Mary E. Bartlett, September 25, 1850. Loyd had joined company A, of the 20 th Michigan Infantry in Lansing , on August 1, 1962, one month before his thirty-fourth birthday. On June 3 rd, the 20th Michigan Infantry had received orders to proceed with the 9 th Corps to reinforce General Grant at Vicksburg.

Thomas had come in from tending his crops to find his wife, Maria, sitting at the kitchen table very distraught. When he asked what was wrong, she replied that she had a terrible feeling something had happened to one of her sons or son-in-laws. Her premonition proved all too true. On July 1st, son James, had received a gunshot wound to his head at Gettysburg . He was taken prisoner on July2 nd but released a few days later.

James, born February 7, 1839 in Plymouth , had enlisted as a private in Company D, Twenty-Fourth Infantry on August 13, 1862 in Nankin Township . He was promoted to Corporal on April 1, 1865 and mustered out of service in Detroit , June 30, 1865. He came home to his family and wife Ellen (Rothwell) Bartlett, whom he had married December 30, 1859 at Canton . Their son, George E. Bartlett, was born in Canton April 3, 1861. Their second son, David, was born July 2, 1865 but died during the first year of his life while his father was away at war. James lived in Canton for 15 months after the war, then he and Ellen moved to Trimpeealeau , Wisconsin for a year. Then they moved to the county of Muskegon , Michigan , when they lived for nine years. The couple returned to Plymouth for four years before finally settling in Jackson where James had a store at the corner of Waterloo Ave. and North Street . He sold staple and fancy groceries, fruit and vegetables. By 1899 he claimed almost total disability from rheumatism contracted at Fredericksburg . James died in Jackson on December 14, 1929. He is buried here in Sheldon Cemetery . His wife Ellen (born in Washtenaw County , June 27, 1845) died on December 26, 1930.

The wounding and capture of James was not the only bad news Thomas and Maria received that summer day. Their son John, who had enlisted as a private in Company C, 24 th Michigan Infantry in Plymouth on August 8, 1862 during the patriotic frenzy to recruit soldiers - had been taken prisoner at Gettysburg on July 1. He remained a prisoner of war until exchanged for Confederate prisoners in October, 1863. The following March, he was promoted to Corporal. On May 5, 1864, John took a musket ball in the throat and died four days later at Locust Grove Hospital in Virginia . In an affidavit January 12, 1865 of John Witherspoon, Captain of Co. C, 24 th Michigan Volunteers, he states:

"I John Witherspoon, on honor, certify that I was personally acquainted with deceased Corp. John A. Bartlett of my Co. "C" 24 th Mich. Vols. And that he came to his death as follows: While his Co. & Regiment were engaging the enemy in the Wilderness, VA on the 5 th day of May/64 deceased received a musket ball in his body. He fell into the hands of the enemy, and died in the Wilderness, VA., May 9th/64 of wounds. My knowledge of the above facts is obtained from the following source: By the truthful statements of comrades who saw him in the condition above mentioned."

John’s wife, Clara (Haywood) Bartlett, whom he had married in Plymouth on November 23, 1859, filed a claim for widow’s pension, which gave her $8 per month to help with her expenses.

The Bartlett home had not yet received all its terrible news from Gettysburg that day. Thomas and Maria’s daughter Jane, came running through the back door, shouting that her husband, Joseph Stevens, had been wounded in the Pennsylvania battle.

Joseph Stevens had enlisted in Company G of the 3 rd Michigan Infantry on April 13, 1861. The 3 rd Michigan saw action at Gettysburg on July 2 nd and 3 rd. On the 2 nd, while engaged as sharp-shooters on a skirmish line about a mile beyond Emmettsburg turnpike, they had forty‑one soldiers killed, wounded and missing.

Joseph had gone to war leaving behind his wife, Jane, and their son, Edward, who had been born on January 28, 1859. The couple had married in Canton March 24 th the previous year. Another son, Brainard, was born July 28, 1863 while Joseph was away fighting. Three more children came along ‑ Rufus, born December 4, 1865; John Bartlett Stevens, born August 12, 1874; and Estelle, born February 20, 1877. After the war, they lived in Holton , Michigan ; Ashland , Wisconsin ; and Washburn , Wisconsin . Jane died on April 23, 1902. Joseph died November 22, 1922 and is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Ashland , Wisconsin .

The thoughts of Thomas and Maria Bartlett turned to their son-in-law Loyd Lewis, who had married their daughter Mary in Canton on September 25, 1850. They had two children - Ellen Maria, born August 22, 1853, and William Lewis, born October 10, 1854. On August 9, 1862 Loyd, a wagon maker, had enrolled in Lansing as a private in Company A, 20 th Michigan Infantry. He had been born in Wayne Co. on September 18, 1828 to Samuel and Assenath Lewis. Samuel was the original landowner of property where Cherry Hill Village is currently being built.

The 20 th Michigan Infantry had joined General Grant at Vicksburg , Mississippi . On July 4, 1863 approximately 29,000 Confederate soldiers marched out of the city. As his Corps moved toward Jackson , Mississippi , Grant dictated his terms: "You will be allowed to march out, the officers taking with them their side arms and clothing, and the field, staff and cavalry officers one horse each. The rank and file will be allowed all their clothing but no other property." On July 5 th, Grant began paroling the Confederate defenders of Vicksburg , each prisoner signing a pledge not to fight again until duly exchanged for a Northern prisoner.

While in the line of duty near Jackson , Mississippi , Loyd took sick with chronic diarrhea. In the latter part of December, he was transferred to the Invalid Reserve Corps. He never recovered his health, suffering after the war from chronic diarrhea with its complications of chronic indigestion, weak heart, and poor assimilation of food, which caused general debility and weakness. He had also lost most of his hearing. By 1906, his doctor reported that Loyd was unable to dress himself. The couple lived mostly in Shiawassee County after the war. Loyd died in Owosso , on March 31, 1912. Mary ( Bartlett ) Lewis died in Owosso , August 17, 1913.

Today, we have preserved the memory of Thomas and Maria’s family in the historic name of the grandly restored Bartlett-Travis House. Now we can pause for a moment to imagine a time when Maria and Thomas Bartlett lived in original Greek Revival house, before it was expanded and remodeled. They raised their children to adulthood in that Canton home. There also, one hot July day, two loving parents absorbed the heartache of battlefield news from Gettysburg as they sat together in the same rooms we casually walk through today.

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