IX. ALTON JULIUS CAVERLY 1890 - 1953
(Redford, Charles H., Philip Jr., Philip Sr., John Sr., Peter I, Peter Gerardus, Jean)

Alton Julius was born March 18, 1890 in Bingham Township, Huron Co., MI to Redford and Susannah (Bull) Caverly. By 1893 the family had moved to Oliver Township where Alton spent his early childhood until the family moved again to a farm in Tuscola County, MI. Tuscola County Marriage Record #192 in book 5, page 228 lists his marriage to Effie Jersey, a daughter of George Jersey and Carletta (Tuttle) Jersey,
on November 2, 1910. (She is pictured on the third page of Redford’s section. Also note the maiden name of Tuttle. Two of Susannah‘s siblings had married Tuttles.) Death Record #44 in volume 3, page 100 shows a male child was stillborn to Alton and Effie Caverly. Alton always maintained that the baby wasn’t his but his mother disagreed. Alton and Effie divorced.

Alton served in the U.S. Navy during World War I. A Sept. 20, 1918 notice in the Kingston Enterprise noted that Alton was coming home for a visit. After having served eleven months on a U-boat destroyer and having seen one German U-boat go down and two more towed into port, he had many thrilling stories to tell.

After the war Alton moved back home with his parents for a while. The 1925 Pontiac, MI City Directory lists him as a laborer rooming at 194 N. Saginaw Street.

On Nov. 12, 1929 he and Delilah Warner eloped to Bowling Green, Ohio. By 1933 they had moved to a log cabin on a lake in the Lupton, MI area where they had a cow, horses, chickens, and grew their own garden. Because of this self contained existence, the Great Depression did not have a significant impact on them. In 1937 or 1938 they traded their log cabin and 160 acres to his brother David for the deed on Redford’s house in Kingston so they could properly care for Redford.

Both Alton and Delilah worked at the Caro State Hospital. Originally she tried to be an attendant to retarded children but it was too depressing for her. Her boss suggested she work in the kitchen. The first day she showed up for kitchen work happened to be the cook’s day off. Delilah was on her own. She had been assigned to Cottage 4 with 123 residents and 17 employees. No instructions had been left for her and her first effort at making cornmeal mush turned out to be a disaster. But things improved. She loved her job and worked there for 18 years.

Alton and Delilah had 5 daughters and 3 sons: Dorothy, Jay, Calvin (Cap), Bonnie, Laural, Jeannie who died at childbirth in 1944, Raymond, and Linda. After suffering with cancer for eight months, Alton died on August 3, 1953.

In 1958 Delilah married Eugene Cummings, an older brother to one of her son-in-laws. They had been married 32 years when he passed away in 1991. Delilah died at the age of 88 on Nov. 16, 1998. They are buried at the Kingston Cemetery in Kingston, MI.

To the right is a picture of Delilah I took in 1995. During our discussion she had made the comment that age differences didn’t matter regarding love and marriage: Alton had been 20 years older than her and Eugene had been 11 years younger.

michigan@thecaverlys.com

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