Whats in a name?

There has been an ongoing debate about the accurate names of Grand Ledge’s first two settlers. For decades we have second guessed ourselves as to the correct spelling. Sometimes cursive writing of the past can be difficult to read. However, with careful research of the handwritten documents, I was finally able to answer the question: What’s in a name?

Lampson or Lamson?

Edmund Lampson arrived in 1848, our First Permanent Settler. He owned over 160 acres along West Jefferson and the West side of town. Even during his lifetime, there was confusion over his last name. He was born Lampson, and used that name for many years. Early census records confirm this usage. However, as he got older, he began to switch to the Lamson spelling. In the directory of 1873, the editor hedged his bet by listing him as “Edmund S. Lampson (Lamson)”. Likewise, a decade later, a biographer described him as Edmund Lamson, the son of E. Lampson.

However in legal and official papers, he remained Lampson. In 1867 when he added several blocks to the city, it was under the name of The Lampson Addition. The centerpiece of this development was Lampson Street. After his death in 1889, much of his farm became neighborhoods off of West Jefferson Street. These were sold by the “Estate of E. Lampson”. Yet at the same time, his gravestone reads “Lamson”

Over the years, both versions of his name have been used. In a final ironic twist, the street that bares his name has in recent decades come to be re-spelled “Lamson Street”.

Trench or French?

Henry A. Trench was the first to settle, in c.1843, at what would become Grand Ledge. He was a highly educated man, but also restless and looking for solitude. He finally left Michigan in the 1860s, when he felt the area was too crowded. He was born Henry French in c1817. After completing college, he journeyed into the wild frontier of Michigan with only his wife, leaving not only his education, but also his name, behind him.

Although the Censuses of 1840 & 1850 list him as Henry French, to his Michigan neighbors he was always known as Henry Trench. We have several accounts written by men who knew him personally, and they all agree on this. Henry even wrote essays for the newspaper and signed them “H.A.T.”

Beginning with the Census of 1860, he was listed as Henry Trench. Even after he left Michigan and returned to Connecticut with his family, he remained Trench in all the records. Of his four children, some eventually retuned their last name to French, however Henry and his son Ira, kept using the name Trench for the rest of their lives.

When I refer to these two prominent pioneers, I use Lampson and Trench. Edmund Lampson used this name when he added neighborhoods to the city, so that is what I choose to use. Henry Trench used this name among his fellow settlers, and indeed for his life thereafter.

As a side note – While researching, I shared some of the information in this column with Lorabeth Fitzgerald last year, just weeks before her death. I am sorry she never got to read the final version.