To the Editor:

It was with great interest that we read the article in the June 5 issue of The St. Ignace News, about the letter found in an old piece of furniture. We suspect that the writer, "Effie," could very well have been a relative of ours, Ephemia MacIntosh Bogan of Mackinac Island.

Ephemia, known as Aunt Effie when she was older, was born about 1882, in Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada. That means that she would have been about 19 years old in 1901. Effie married John R. Bogan of the Island about 1908. We have a copy of their wedding picture; no date on it, though.

Effie's parents were David J. MacIntosh and Elizabeth Scott MacIntosh. David was a shipbuilder in Canada. The family story is that because he had experience building large wooden structures, boats, he was asked by the railroad if he would work on the planned Grand Hotel on Mackinac. David agreed to come to the Island, if he could bring his family. It is also a family story that David personally built the cupola on top of the building. Later deciding to stay permanently on the Island, he built the home we now own. We did find a memorial card in the house listing David's death date as September 29, 1924, age 82 years. He is buried on the Island, in the MacIntosh plot in the Protestant cemetery.

Effie and John had three daughters, Helen, Jean, and Lois Bogan, born in 1910, 1916, and 1918. John worked as a hotel manager, both on the Island and elsewhere. Effie worked now and then in various gift shops. John died in 1951, Effie in 1961.

Helen lived all her life on Mackinac, in the house where she was born, inheriting the John S. Doud shop from "Aunt May" Doud. Jean and Lois both married and left the Island for a time; however, they later both came back to the Island and continued to live in the house there the rest of their lives. Jean worked for Mackinac Island Carriage Tours for many years, and Lois took over the John S. Doud shop after Helen died in 1986. Jean and Lois both passed away in 1993. My husband is a cousin to the family.

We really do believe the writer of your letter was Effie MacIntosh Bogan, mostly because we don't believe there would be two young ladies named Effie living and working on Mackinac in 1901. Would you be willing to send us a photocopy of the letter? We would love to have it to add to our family history files, at least until someone proves that the writer is not our "Effie." Tom and Phyllis Corrigan Mackinac Island and Glenview, Illinois