In Oakwood cemetery, located in Muskegon, MI

are the graves of 4 members of the Cogshall family.




Father James Henry

Mother Electra Force

and two of their five children:

son, William Ellsworth

and daughter, Rose Adelle

I do not know where the other children, Jennie May, George Theopholis, and Bela Nelson Lavern are buried.

I am not related to the Cogshalls, nor have I ever met any relatives of the Cogshalls (that I know of) but I know a lot about them.

I know that James had a large department store in downtown Muskegon in the late 1800’s and in his later years ran for a school commissioner position. I know they were Masons. I know they had a son who ran away as a teenager so he could fight in the Civil war and that his mother wrote a letter to the government demanding his return. I know their daughter, Rose, never married. I know what they all look like.

Why do I know all this? Because all this information and more was collected by my grandmother and was inherited by me when she died. I have pictures of them, letters written by them and newspaper clippings about them. I have more pictures of the Cogshalls than I do of my own grandparents.

My grandmother worked for them in the art department of the Leahy Store when she first came to Muskegon. She and Rose, although a little older, became best friends. I can remember her talking about Rose and her family all the time.

Oh how I wish I had listened as she rambled on and on about these people that I had no interest in whatsoever. Because maybe then I would have a clue as to how to track down possible relatives and pass all this information on to them.