Because Valentine’s Day is coming up, we thought it would be nice if we could dig out some historical Wyandotte love stories. Here are two of them.

Margaret Bonehill was born on December 5, 1849, daughter of Mary Armstrong and John Earl Bonehill. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Margaret Louis Bonehill.

Margaret fell in love with Wyandotte blacksmith Daniel Campau. On February 7, 1870, the couple got married in Wyandotte.

Together Margaret and Daniel had four children – William, Mary, Daniel and Katherine. Unfortunately, Margaret would die at the age of 27, just six weeks after the birth of her daughter Katherine.

After Margaret’s death, Daniel was responsible for taking care of their four children. At that time it was a common practice for men to marry quickly after the death of their wife. However, that wasn’t the case here. After Margaret’s death, Daniel never remarried.

Daniel and their children lived with Margaret’s family on Oak Street. After working as a blacksmith for many years, Daniel got a job working as city marshal, and in 1892 he served as the mayor for the city of Wyandotte.

On April 4, 1909, Daniel passed away at the age of 67. He is buried next to his wife and sons William and Daniel in Oakwood Cemetery.


Alexander (Alex) Laurent Gee (1831-1890) was born in Canada on July 1, 1831, son of Josephine Campau and Jean Gee. When Alex was a young boy, his family moved to Wyandotte.

In 1853 he married Margaret Girardin, and she would give birth to two boys before Alex went to fight for the nation.

On January 29, 1862, Alex mustered into Company E, of the 15th Michigan Infantry for a three-year term. Shortly after his first steps into the land of Dixie, Alex would have his first taste of battle in April 1862.

After a long voyage, the regiment arrived late in the night in Shiloh, Tennessee, where they were to join the army in the morning just a mile beyond. The thought was that camping on the banks of the Tennessee River was safe because the nearest rebel was supposed to be more than 50 miles away. Unfortunately that wasn’t true, and they would soon find out. At daybreak, the 15th Regiment was jolted awake by the crack of gunfire.

While Alex was off fighting for his country, Margaret gave birth to their daughter, Josephine, on September 20, 1862.

After the war, he returned to Wyandotte and worked as a drayman. Margaret would have a few more children, including their daughter, Cecilia.

In early 1890 Alex’s health started to decline.

On May 12, 1890, “Mr. Gee expressed a wish to have his daughter married before he died, so Miss. Cecilia Gee and Jon Ginsel of Wyandotte were quietly married after service in the Catholic church on Wednesday night.” (The Herald)

The following day, March 13, 1890, Alex died at the age of 59. He is buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Wyandotte, Michigan.