Title: Then came May
Description: This is the nostalgic reminiscence of a childhood lived on a homestead near Petoskey, in northern Michigan, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Georgia Hufford's parents, Canadians of Scots ancestry, emigrated with their growing family to Grand Rapids at the close of the Civil War. When her father and a brother contracted malaria, the family moved in search of a healthier environment to the promising port community of Petoskey on Little Traverse Bay. The book is arranged topically rather than chronologically, describing the rounds of daily life on a relatively self-sufficient farm. Hufford recalls farm and household tasks such as sugaring, fishing, cleaning house, and baking, as well as encounters with now-rare or vanished wildlife, such as the large flocks of passenger pigeons that used to pass through the area. She also talks about logging, early commercial furniture-making, fighting forest fires and other activities particular to the North Woods. Hufford also chronicles her occupational life as a young single woman in some detail. She teaches, works in local government, serves as a postmistress, and involves herself in retailing. Family verse and quotes from Robert Burns, Ella Wheeler Wilcox and other popular poets appear throughout.
Subjects: Frontier and pioneer life
Places: Michigan
People: Georgia Hastings Hufford (1882-)