Grace Estelle Frue

     Grace was born on Sunday, 27 September 1868 at Houghton, Houghton County, Michigan. She was the daughter of William Bell Frue[1831-1/17/1881] & Helen Lucretia [Adams][9/25/1839-9/09/1894] Frue. He was born in Ireland & died of acute Brites disease in Detroit. She died of diabetes in Detroit. Grace married John Wheeler Leggett, son of William Haight Leggett and Anna Beardslee, in 1888 at Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. Her married name was Leggett. 1 June 1900, Grace and her husband John were listed on the U.S. Federal Census at 27 Bagg Street, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. Enumerated in this household were John Wheeler Leggett [35 Michigan - July 1864], Grace [33 Michigan - August 1866], Willimina [8 Michigan - July 1892], Elizabeth Pearson [44 Canada - August 1855][servant], & Elizabeth Smith [25 England - May 1875][servant]. John & Grace were married 12 years with 1 child, 1 child living. They owned their home. John was a real estate agent.¹ Grace's husband, John, died in 1939 in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, at age 74 years, leaving her a widow. Grace departed this life on Wednesday, 13 September 1944 at Mirsol Hotel, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, California, at age 75 years, 11 months and 17 days.

Additional Notes: 1881 January 23 - PORTAGE LAKE MINING GAZETTE, HOUGHTON, MICHIGAN
"DIED - On Monday last, Capt William B. FRUE, about 57 years old, well known in the copper country in the past, died at his home in Detroit, Michigan, of congestion of the lungs. He arrived on Portage Lake in 1853 and soon was working for the Pewabic mine, where he finally was promoted to Mining Captain. He was instrumental in the formation of the South Pewabic Mining company, now the Atlantic mine, and was the superintendent of the mine until it suspended operations. He leaves a wife and several children, besides a large and valuable estate."

And this from "The History of the Settlement of Silver Islet, on the North Shore of Lake Superior" by John H. Forster:
"Captain William Bell Frue died in Detroit Jan 17, 1881. at his residence on the corner of Woodward Ave. and Bagg St. [Bagley Street]. He would have been 51 years old in Feb., 1881. He was a native of the North of Ireland and came to America in early youth. He first settled in the northern part of New York state and when twenty years of age went to Houghton, Mich., where he became interested in the mining business. In 1878 he moved to Detroit."
Capt. William B. Frue was the superintendent at the famous Silver Islet Mine, in Lake Superior. His team at the Silver Islet Mine included Civil Engineer Charles Henry Palmer, Jr., Mechanical Engineer William T. Foster, and Mining Captain John C. Hodgson.
"In September 1870, William Frue and his engineers arrived on Silver Islet along with two horses, mine machinery, a scow, a raft of timber, supplies and thirty men. The men worked 18 hour days building timber breakwaters, foundations, and a coffer dam around the vein of silver, allowing miners to take out about 70 tons of silver ore." ...
"The Silver Islet mine had been one of the richest silver mines in the world. People considered it a marvel in modern mining and at one point the stock had sold readily at $1,500 above par value.. Many mammoth silver nuggets had come from Silver Islet mine, some so pure they didn't need smelting and in over thirteen years of operation, it had yielded approximately 3.25 million dollars worth of silver, $1,300,000 in its first three years alone."
Source: "Silver Islet - Silver Mining on Lake Superior," by Kathy Warnes.²





Helen Lucretia [Adams]
Birth: Sept. 25, 1839 Plattsburgh, Clinton County, New York, USA
Death:Sept. 9, 1894 Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Wife of Capt. William B. Frue.
Together they had the following children:
* Helen Margaret Frue, b. 1866 (md. author Frederick Stewart Isham)
* Grace Estelle Frue, b. 1868, Michigan (md. 1892 John Wheeler Leggett)
* William B. Frue, Jr., b. 15 Nov 1869, Houghton, Mich. .(md. Maude B. ?)
* Argenta E. Frue, b. 1871, Silver Islet, Ontario (md. Richard L. Buz)
* Charles Frederick Frue, b. 14 July 1873, Silver Islet, Ontario; (md. abt 1900 Florence Ethel Calhoun)
* Florence Frue, b. abt 1876, Canada
* Lucretia F. Frue, b. Jan 1878, Ontario, Canada (md. George Baker Stevens)
Family links: Spouse:
William Bell Frue (1830 - 1881)
Burial: Elmwood Cemetery , Detroit, Wayne County,Michigan, USA Plot: A & B Sec. B [Courtesy of Ron Henry].³