Almont, the Ring Family, and the Salem Witch Trials

On Saturday June 5^th, Susan Stable Militello and her husband came to the museum.  Susan was seeking information on her grandfather, Frank Wood Ring.

Frank Ring was born in New York in 1890 to William Follansbee Ring (1859-1905) and Evelyn M. Wood Ring (1862-1938)  In 1913, he married Leona Mae Holbrook in Hamlin, Monroe County, New York. 

After their marriage but before 1917, Frank and Leone moved to Almont.  Frank worked at the elevator as an independent grain and bean dealer.

Shortly after coming to Almont, Frank registered for the draft.  Charles B. Scully (Almont’s future Sate Senator) signed the draft card.

By 1920, Frank and Leona owned their home – free and clear, no mortgage – on East St. Clair Street.

In the early 1920s, Frank partnered with Uriah Shoemaker and bought the Almont Hardware from Charles D. Ferguson (1888-1966).  The store was on the southeast corner at the four corners.  This building and the two buildings located just to the south burned in the 1992 “Super Bowl Sunday” fire.  The location is now part of Fountain Park

As the Depression worsened in the early 1930s, Frank and Uriah agreed that the store could not support two families.  Uriah went back to running his family 80-acre dairy farm at the corner of Shoemaker and General Squier Roads.  Frank continued to operate the store.

In 1935, Frank Ring and Harry Bowman helped organize the “1935 Almont Community Homecoming”.

In 1944, Uriah Shoemaker sold the farm and moved his family to the west side of the state.  It is assumed that he also sold his interest in the hardware store at the same time.  It is assumed that Frank sold his interest in the hardware at the same time.

After selling the hardware store, Frank went to work for the N.Y. Central and Michigan Central Railway as the station agent in Dryden.  Sometime in the late 1950s, Frank retired from the railroad.

Frank Wood Ring died on May 23, 1965 at the Almont Community Hospital in Bruce Township, Macomb County, Michigan.  Leona Mae Holbrook Ring also died at the Almont Community Hospital but on January 1, 1968.  Frank and Leona are buried in the Ferguson Cemetery in Almont.

When investigating Frank Ring’s ancestors, I discovered that his 6^th great-grandparents were, Robert Ring (1615-1691) and Elizabeth Jarvis Ring ( – 1736).  Robert came as a single man to Salisbury, Massachusetts in 1638 as part of the “Great Migration”.  In 1643, he returned to England.  He did not return to Massachusetts until 1652 because of the English Civil War.  When he returned, he was married with two little girls.  They had at least another five children once they returned.

Their first son was Jarvis Ring (1657-1727).  His claim to infamy is that he was a witness at the “Salem Witch Trials” in 1692 for Susannah Martin.  The woman was tried, convicted and executed.  His younger brother, Joseph, also testified.