The 1880 census is the first that records the John Duckering family in Livingston County. By then they are well settled into their home on Pleasant Valley Rd., south of Hyne Road. The household includes John (38), his wife Emily (or Erma, 33) and four children, two boys and two girls ages 2-10. (Two more daughters are born later.)
John was ten when his parents emigrated from England in 1851, settling in neighboring Oakland County. There are indications of sibling but our limited research materials provide few details.
John and Emily purchased the E 1/2 of the SE ¼ and the NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 11 in Brighton Township, 120 acres, in 1876; and at the same time, 40 acres in Section 35, approximately 2 ½ miles distant in Hartland Township. Both parcels were sold to them by Aaron and Sarah Palmer who had moved closer to Milford shortly before.
The original owners of these two pieces had held them for only a few years; probably bought on speculation in Michigan Territory’s pioneer days. John ValLeuven, in 1834, combined these two separate parcels and sold to Phillip and Experience Crippen in the 1850s. The Palmers had purchased both pieces from the Crippens, in 1867.
The 1859 map indicates a structure, which was probably built by the Crippens. That would have been the Duckering home C. 1900 when the YAZOO FARM is listed in the Brighton Argus. The unusual name may have had a significant implication to the Duckering Family heritage, serving as a link to the past. It may have been indicative of the slang of the times or John Duckering had a well developed sense of humor.
Two of the Duckering daughters married local residents. Laura married Sam McClements, son of John who came to Michigan c. 1870 from Ireland. Mary married W. L. Bidwell, grandson of pioneer settler Seth Bidwell. Son George is the only child still on the farm at the time of John Duckering’s death in 1923.
Shortly after John’s passing (Emily died in 1922), General Motors was purchasing land on Pleasant Valley Rd. for construction of a proving ground for their motor cars. The 80 on the East side of Pleasant Valley Road is now behind an enclosure, out of view. The old farmhouse was soon removed. On the east side of Pleasant Valley the once-productive farm now consists of small parcels with more homes and families.
Compiled by Marieanna Bair from Early atlases; Early Land Owners and Settlers of Livingston County and obituaries complied by Milton Charboneau.