More than a few years ago, I had the good fortune to exchange letters with a distant relative, Ruth Elizabeth McKune of Oregon.

Ruth had an amazing life story.

Though she’d been away from Onaway a long time, it was clear the town was still near and dear to her heart. She was born in 1902 and raised in Onaway, until her post-high-school ambitions led her to the Ferris Institute in Big Rapids.

Ruth and I were related through the Shaw’s. Her grandparents were Thomas E. and Elizabeth Shaw, generally recognized as the first whites to settle in the wild, forested land that became Onaway. Ruth’s mom, Mary (Shaw)(McKune) Aikens was the first baby born in Onaway.

Thomas was a highly educated professor in Philadelphia when he fell ill from pollen and industrial pollution. His doctor told him he must move. Northern Michigan was known as a refuge for hay fever sufferers, so Thomas moved his family north and purchased undeveloped land where Onaway is today.

Before it was founded, Onaway was the site of the Shaw Post Office.

Thomas and Elizabeth were soon joined by Cheboygan businessman Merritt Chandler (1843-1923) and his brother, William (1845-1914), an entrepreneur who briefly lived in Cheboygan before moving to Sault Ste. Marie.

Another early settler, William Wilson McKune, arrived soon after.

Shaw and the Chandlers worked in the lumbering business in Adrian when they grew up.

The Shaws were Abolitionists and supported the Underground Railroad. The Shaws and Chandlers were Quakers and members of the very strict Friend’s Church.

Shaw and Merritt Chandler were also brothers-in-law, as Merritt married Thomas’ sister, Rachel Shaw.

Merritt and William launched the “Northern Tribune” on July 17, 1875, in Cheboygan. William was the publisher. In 1885, he changed the name to “Cheboygan Tribune.”

William moved to Sault Ste. Marie in 1878, where he founded another newspaper, the “Sault Ste. Marie News,” and became a leader in the community. In addition to managing both newspapers, he was a partner in the Chandler-Dunbar Water Power Company and a founder of the Sault Savings Bank. Later in life, he served two terms (1898-1902) in the State House in Lansing.

In 1884, Merritt, who had become quite a successful businessman, moved his family from Cheboygan to Onaway.

He built a house across the road from the Shaw family near where the Onaway Motel is now.

He opened the first general store in Onaway and was a founding partner of the Onaway Dairy Products Company. He also raised award-winning Herefords.

Merritt pulled the name “Onaway” from Longfellow’s “Hiawatha” poem. It means “awake.”

Merritt wanted the world to know Onaway was thriving and nearby there were thousands of inexpensive acres of cleared land available (most of them his!).

He soon learned the state was taking bids for construction of the Presque Isle and Little Traverse Road that would run 78 miles between Petoskey and Rogers City.

Merritt wanted in on the project. He didn’t win the bid, but the contractor who won the bid soon failed.

State officials came to Merritt, asking him to build the road. The state did not have cash to pay him, so it offered 40,000 acres of nearby timber. He put his team of 35 laborers to work and they got the job done.

On Dec. 31, 1900, William A. McKune, 19, son of William W. McKune, married Mary E. Shaw, 17, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Shaw.

Ruth McKune, the gentle lady who sent me the long letter containing this history, was welcomed into the world by William and Mary, July 5, 1902, in Onaway.

Six years later, William deserted Ruth and Mary.

Mary and Ruth moved back to Onaway to live with Mary’s parents, Thomas and Elizabeth.

Ruth shared with me that she and her mother loved to dance. They wanted to dance at the Tower Tavern, but dancing was forbidden by the Quakers.

When they insisted on going to the tavern to dance, her father, Thomas Shaw, refused to hook up the horse and buggy for them. Whenever they went dancing, Ruth and Mary hooked up the horses themselves and dance they did.

In high school, Ruth fell severely ill and missed a lot of school. She went down-state that summer to catch up on her studies.

Exposed to larger cities and the progressive push for women’s rights, she decided then she wanted to become a lawyer.

Her family was very much opposed to her plan. At the time, women were supposed to be nurses, secretaries and teachers.

Despite her parents’ opposition, Ruth was determined to become an attorney. She packed her suitcase to attend college at the Ferris Institute.

As she boarded the train leaving Onaway, her parents came running, desperately begging her to stay.

Ruth, a rather headstrong young woman, made it very clear she was boarding the train.

To be continued. . .