07/02/2026
FACES OF CRYSTAL: Frances (Stewart) Quinby (1856-1915)
Frances was among the first children born to Crystal Township’s earliest settlers. Specifically, she was the third known child born after the township was formed, but what makes her unique is that she is the earliest of those children for whom we have a photograph.
Frances Hellene Stewart was born on October 22, 1856, probably in a log cabin somewhere south and east of the current intersection of Colby and Miner roads, between Duck and Crystal lakes. She was the 5th child and first daughter of 9 children born to Ira Stewart (1824-1900) and Isabel Tobridge/Trowbridge (1828-1907), who had moved from Allegan County, MI to Crystal Township in 1855.
THE CIVIL WAR
Frances was four years old when the Civil War began, and her father and her brothers Charles and William fought in the war. Frances and her mother were left home in Crystal with brothers John and Eugene and sister Hattie. Ira and Isabel had two more children after the war: Lincoln and Annie.
Frances’s brother William died in Crystal in 1872 at age 24. When the Crystal GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) chapter for Civil War veterans was established in 1885, it was named in his honor: the William B. Stewart GAR Post 324.
THE MOVE INTO TOWN
After Enos Drake platted the village of Crystal in 1868, Ira and Isabell bought several lots and moved into town, where Ira served as Crystal’s Postmaster and as a Justice of the Peace in addition to being a laborer, farmer, and a “miner”.
THE QUINBYS
In 1877, a new family moved into the village of Crystal. Ephriam N. Quinby (1834-1920) was a widowed blacksmith with three children: sons William and Edward and daughter Jesse. William was born in Tioga County, NY on October 3, 1857. His family moved to Michigan after his mother, Adelaide Hulse, and infant sister died in 1875.
On October 18, 1878, William Ames Quinby married Frances in Crystal and they settled in town. They had seven children born between 1879 and 1890: Ira Ephraim, Johnny Glenn, Melissa Mary, Edna May, William Edward, Adelaide Frances, and Ida Belle. Johnny died in Crystal sometime in the 1880’s.
The Quinbys were an industrious family. William and Frances bought a large industrial oven, built an outbuilding for it, and produced baked goods to supply local hotels, stores, and restaurants. William also worked on construction, remodeling, and painting projects for local businesses, and for at least one season managed the Grove Hotel, located in what is now the Township Park. He was also a Justice of the Peace and a Notary who specialized in providing services for Civil War pensioners.
THE MOVE TO HONOR, MI
In 1895, the Quinby’s left Crystal and moved 180 miles northwest to Benzie County, MI, a few miles away from that other Crystal Lake.
They were pioneer residents of the town of Honor, where William worked as a painter and wallpaperer, serving the steady demand for new homes and businesses built to support the growing lumber industry. They lost two more children after moving to Honor: 4-year-old Ida Belle soon after they arrived, and 20-year-old Edna May in 1904. The rest of their children grew to adulthood, married, and lived out their lives in northern and western Michigan.
Frances died at their home in Honor on October 10, 1915, at the age of 58. William died 20 years later in 1936, and they were both buried in the Champion Hill Cemetery in Honor with their daughters and William’s parents. Their son Johnny Glenn is presumed buried in the Crystal Township Cemetery, where Frances’s parents, six of her siblings, and William’s grandmother and uncle were also laid to rest.
