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In a sense, my parents were
pioneer business people in Hartford. In
1911, Leland Davis came
into Hartford from his father’s mint farm south of Bangor. Lee had
saved his wages, and now wanted to start his own business. He bought several lots on
Linden Street and there he built a greenhouse.
In
1916, he married Edith
Merrill who had moved to Hartford from Joliet, Illinois, with her parents.
Together they were florists until they sold the business in
1946 to Charles and Laure
Hafer. During that time they sold plants and floral arrangements to
generations of Hartfordites. They shipped their products all over the United
States, and were known for having the largest calla lily blooms on record.
Whenever some local dignitary left this life,
they might be working together all night putting together sprays and baskets
for the funeral. At holidays, business was brisk, and in the spring Lee had
orders for many flowerbeds and cemetery displays. At these times my sister,
Wilma, and I often went with him. I can remember sitting on the big
stone seat of the Warren monument in Maple Hill Cemetery, looking at the
village spread out before us. Recently, I sat there again. It is much
smaller than I remembered. For years he planted the arrangements in Ely
Park, and functioned as judge for the floral displays at the old Van Buren
County Fair held yearly north of Hartford.
When it was prom time, all the older guys at Hartford
High ordered corsages for their dates. Back in those days they cost
50 cents. The first time I
ever gave flowers to Marion she was in Mercy Hospital with an appendectomy….a
Sophomore at HHS, and I was a Junior. I asked my Dad if I could borrow his
car to go and visit her. He said,
Sure…are you going to take her some
flowers?
I said,
Guess I hadn’t thought of that. So he put together a nice bouquet in a small vase for me.
When I came into Marion’s hospital room, her Mom was there. My future Chief
Accountant was propped up on her pillows, looking rather wan. I gave her the
flowers; and when I saw the look in her eyes, I knew my Dad had come up with
the right idea! She still has the vase.
In
1946, they sold the
business and Lee was rather at a loss for something to do. His long time
friend, J. L. Calvin, owned and operated Calvin’s Funeral Home. One day
he said, Lee, how would you
like to try carving some cemetery monuments out in the shop? I’ve just
lost my stone-cutter.
My Dad had always been interested in art and had
some flair for design. So he tried it. Thus, he had a new career for more
years. When we went for Sunday rides, we often took my folks along. If we
went by a cemetery, he would say to me,
Would you mind driving through
there? And as we wound our way along the drives, he pointed out all of
the monuments he had carved. There were many of them.
In
1968, Lee Davis left this
life at the age of
81. Edith lived until
1974, when she was also
81. They lie in Maple Hill
Cemetery on a gentle northern slope that faces the city, under a monument
that he carved when he was still working for Calvin’s. Next to them is
buried my baby brother who died before I was born, and on the other side of
the monument our friend and brother-in-law, Ron Weston. Hartford was always
our parents’ town, and now they are together with most of the people they
knew, buried there in Maple Hill.
3-6-2003 - Additional notes and photo:
This is a picture of
my parents' greenhouse when it was first built...I think in 1915. The
picture was taken by Charlie Young, who at that time was a young man about
town with a camera. Leland Davis had just built the greenhouse and office in
front at 410 Linden St. He had not met my mother yet...Edith Merrill. After
they were married, they built more on the office and another greenhouse in
back. He had started another two greenhouses when the depression hit in
1929, but he never finished them.
I had sort of
forgotten about this picture....sent to me by my sister's middle
daughter, Carol Ross, in Grand Rapids.
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