September 28, 2005
Cramer chronicles life of local legend
Civil War veteran Lyman Willcox served as editor of the Traverse Bay Eagle paper
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
"My husband, Major Lyman George Willcox, was quite the writer and quite the man."
So began Julia Cramer, immersed in her persona of Susie Willcox, wife of the Civil War veteran and outspoken speaker and writer of the era. Cramer, an author, teacher and Civil War re-enactor from Flint, presented a program on Willcox Thursday evening at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center. More than 70 people attended the monthly lecture of the Grand Traverse Pioneer & Historical Society.
Garbed in the fashion of a young wife of the middle 1800s, Cramer sang original songs she wrote about the era and shared writings of Willcox while outlining his life, struggles and accomplishments. Fascinated by the man she discovered during college, she eventually turned her notes into a 400-page autobiography of him, titled "Across the Bloody Chasm."
"The journey this has taken me on, that 25-page paper went on to another one and another one," said Cramer of her years of research. "I felt like I was a family member and I cried at his grave."
"I think the one thing that draws me to Willcox is that he's a common man," she added. "When you look at the war and society through his eyes, you get a better picture."
Willcox was born in 1831 in a log cabin in Rochester and studied law. He married Susie in 1857 and the couple began a life that included war, chronic illness, the death of two of three of their children and many moves and hardships.
After ill health forced him to leave the Union Army in 1864, Willcox and his wife moved to Traverse City two years later. He served as the prosecuting attorney for Antrim County, a notary public, register of the Land Office and was the editor of the Traverse Bay Eagle, a competitor of the Grand Traverse Herald.
Willcox counted Frederick Brown, brother of the infamous John Brown, as one of his supporters for a second term in the Land Office. Relating the no-holds-barred style of the times, Cramer noted that the rival Herald editor skewered Willcox for his "obscene and smutty work" in the Land Office.
Ill health soon moved the family to California and by 1871, they settled in Illinois where Willcox practiced law and tried his hand at fruit farming.
A fiery speaker and writer, Willcox gave many heartfelt speeches over the years, including a noted early one while serving in the 3rd Michigan during the Civil War. Speaking in Tennessee to a packed crowd of rebel soldiers and civilians in 1863, his eloquence brought a large number of rebels over to the Union side.
He revered President Abraham Lincoln and later Ulysses Grant, penning a moving editorial when the latter died in 1885. He reviled the southern leaders, such as Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, who led the rebellion, calling them traitors to America. In 1871, Willcox turned his attention to the women's suffrage movement, speaking strongly against women having the vote.
"He objected to women voting on the grounds that their field of labor was in the domestic circle and only in the domestic circle," Cramer said.
Bob Wilson, president of the Pioneer & Historical Society, connected with Cramer during his research for his book, volume II of Grand Traverse Legends. He included Willcox in this volume because of his extensive writings and work in the region during the few years he lived here.
"Reading Lyman Willcox gave me a balanced view of what was going on in Traverse City," said Wilson, who published Volume I last year. "I have about 20 copies of editorials he wrote in Traverse City and it is such a great look into the minds at that time."
The next monthly program of the Grand Traverse Pioneer & Historical Society will be held on Thursday, October 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center. The topic, antique medical instruments and scientific equipment, will be presented by Dean Junker. The meetings are free and open to the public.