"The Inn" Builder/Founder: Established 1879
Crooked Lake in Conway, Michigan.
(Other names: Conway Inn, This Ole House. Inland House)
Founder of the Blackmer Pump Company
Merritt H. Blackmer, in 1879, built “The Inn” on Crooked Lake in Conway, Michigan. He was among the earliest settlers in Conway, Michigan. He came from Saginaw with his family and built the small hotel, and named "The Inn."
He soon found he need to expand, and purchased the house next door, owned by Captain Phillips. Merritt combined the two buildings into a sizable hotel. In 1879 he drilled the first artesian well in the village. It produced a wonderful flow of pure water. Mr. Blackmer rented boats to the fisherman.
David Hastings bought it in 1903, and renamed the hotel. He called it The Conway Inn. Around 1908, he expanded the hotel moving the old building farther back to be used as living quarters for his family, and as a kitchen for the new part of the hotel.
In 1914, David sold it for $1.00 to his sister, Jean Hastings Trask, and her husband Homer. The hotel stayed in the Trask family until it was sold in the mid 1950’s to Mrs. Woods and Mrs. VanBarle.
In the 1960s ownership was transferred to a corporation owned by John and Betsy Johnson who changed the name of the hotel to “This Ole House.” A fire destroyed the original hotel March, 1989, but the newer part that had been added earlier by Johnny and Betsy Johnson, was not harmed. Today guests of the Inland House Condo Association enjoy the beautiful setting on Crooked Lake, much like Merritt Blackmer, his family, and guests did so very long ago.
Source: M. Seldon's Personal Diary, Emmet County Property Records, and Greenwood Genealogical Data. Ms. Seldon's Interiview 2014 With the granddaughter of Jean Hasting Trask;
Additional Source: In The Wake of Topinabee by Arline M. Brown
Published: Little Traverse Historical Society' Petoskey, Michigan 49770
*************
United States Census, 1880
Name Merrit Blackmer
Event Type Census
Event Date 1880
Event Place Little Traverse, Emmet, Michigan, United States
Gender Male
Age 59
Marital Status Married
Race White
Race (Original) W
Occupation Hotel Keeper
Relationship to Head of Household Self
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Self
Birth Year (Estimated) 1821
Birthplace New York, United States
Father's Birthplace New York, United States
Mother's Birthplace New York, United States
__________________________
United States Census 1880
Merrit Blackmer Self M 59 New York, United States
Emneville Blackmer Wife F 48 Michigan, United States
Edwin E Blackmer Son M 13 Michigan, United States
"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWSQ-NHH : accessed 3 May 2016), Merrit Blackmer, Little Traverse, Emmet, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district ED 63, sheet 401B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0578; FHL microfilm 1,254,578.
Crooked Lake in Conway, Michigan.
(Other names: Conway Inn, This Ole House. Inland House)
Founder of the Blackmer Pump Company
Merritt H. Blackmer, in 1879, built “The Inn” on Crooked Lake in Conway, Michigan. He was among the earliest settlers in Conway, Michigan. He came from Saginaw with his family and built the small hotel, and named "The Inn."
He soon found he need to expand, and purchased the house next door, owned by Captain Phillips. Merritt combined the two buildings into a sizable hotel. In 1879 he drilled the first artesian well in the village. It produced a wonderful flow of pure water. Mr. Blackmer rented boats to the fisherman.
David Hastings bought it in 1903, and renamed the hotel. He called it The Conway Inn. Around 1908, he expanded the hotel moving the old building farther back to be used as living quarters for his family, and as a kitchen for the new part of the hotel.
In 1914, David sold it for $1.00 to his sister, Jean Hastings Trask, and her husband Homer. The hotel stayed in the Trask family until it was sold in the mid 1950’s to Mrs. Woods and Mrs. VanBarle.
In the 1960s ownership was transferred to a corporation owned by John and Betsy Johnson who changed the name of the hotel to “This Ole House.” A fire destroyed the original hotel March, 1989, but the newer part that had been added earlier by Johnny and Betsy Johnson, was not harmed. Today guests of the Inland House Condo Association enjoy the beautiful setting on Crooked Lake, much like Merritt Blackmer, his family, and guests did so very long ago.
Source: M. Seldon's Personal Diary, Emmet County Property Records, and Greenwood Genealogical Data. Ms. Seldon's Interiview 2014 With the granddaughter of Jean Hasting Trask;
Additional Source: In The Wake of Topinabee by Arline M. Brown
Published: Little Traverse Historical Society' Petoskey, Michigan 49770
*************
United States Census, 1880
Name Merrit Blackmer
Event Type Census
Event Date 1880
Event Place Little Traverse, Emmet, Michigan, United States
Gender Male
Age 59
Marital Status Married
Race White
Race (Original) W
Occupation Hotel Keeper
Relationship to Head of Household Self
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Self
Birth Year (Estimated) 1821
Birthplace New York, United States
Father's Birthplace New York, United States
Mother's Birthplace New York, United States
__________________________
United States Census 1880
Merrit Blackmer Self M 59 New York, United States
Emneville Blackmer Wife F 48 Michigan, United States
Edwin E Blackmer Son M 13 Michigan, United States
"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWSQ-NHH : accessed 3 May 2016), Merrit Blackmer, Little Traverse, Emmet, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district ED 63, sheet 401B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0578; FHL microfilm 1,254,578.
"The Inn" Builder/Founder: Established 1879
Crooked Lake in Conway, Michigan.
(Other names: Conway Inn, This Ole House. Inland House)
Founder of the Blackmer Pump Company
Merritt H. Blackmer, in 1879, built “The Inn” on Crooked Lake in Conway, Michigan. He was among the earliest settlers in Conway, Michigan. He came from Saginaw with his family and built the small hotel, and named "The Inn."
He soon found he need to expand, and purchased the house next door, owned by Captain Phillips. Merritt combined the two buildings into a sizable hotel. In 1879 he drilled the first artesian well in the village. It produced a wonderful flow of pure water. Mr. Blackmer rented boats to the fisherman.
David Hastings bought it in 1903, and renamed the hotel. He called it The Conway Inn. Around 1908, he expanded the hotel moving the old building farther back to be used as living quarters for his family, and as a kitchen for the new part of the hotel.
In 1914, David sold it for $1.00 to his sister, Jean Hastings Trask, and her husband Homer. The hotel stayed in the Trask family until it was sold in the mid 1950’s to Mrs. Woods and Mrs. VanBarle.
In the 1960s ownership was transferred to a corporation owned by John and Betsy Johnson who changed the name of the hotel to “This Ole House.” A fire destroyed the original hotel March, 1989, but the newer part that had been added earlier by Johnny and Betsy Johnson, was not harmed. Today guests of the Inland House Condo Association enjoy the beautiful setting on Crooked Lake, much like Merritt Blackmer, his family, and guests did so very long ago.
Source: M. Seldon's Personal Diary, Emmet County Property Records, and Greenwood Genealogical Data. Ms. Seldon's Interiview 2014 With the granddaughter of Jean Hasting Trask;
Additional Source: In The Wake of Topinabee by Arline M. Brown
Published: Little Traverse Historical Society' Petoskey, Michigan 49770
*************
United States Census, 1880
Name Merrit Blackmer
Event Type Census
Event Date 1880
Event Place Little Traverse, Emmet, Michigan, United States
Gender Male
Age 59
Marital Status Married
Race White
Race (Original) W
Occupation Hotel Keeper
Relationship to Head of Household Self
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Self
Birth Year (Estimated) 1821
Birthplace New York, United States
Father's Birthplace New York, United States
Mother's Birthplace New York, United States
__________________________
United States Census 1880
Merrit Blackmer Self M 59 New York, United States
Emneville Blackmer Wife F 48 Michigan, United States
Edwin E Blackmer Son M 13 Michigan, United States
"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWSQ-NHH : accessed 3 May 2016), Merrit Blackmer, Little Traverse, Emmet, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district ED 63, sheet 401B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0578; FHL microfilm 1,254,578.
Crooked Lake in Conway, Michigan.
(Other names: Conway Inn, This Ole House. Inland House)
Founder of the Blackmer Pump Company
Merritt H. Blackmer, in 1879, built “The Inn” on Crooked Lake in Conway, Michigan. He was among the earliest settlers in Conway, Michigan. He came from Saginaw with his family and built the small hotel, and named "The Inn."
He soon found he need to expand, and purchased the house next door, owned by Captain Phillips. Merritt combined the two buildings into a sizable hotel. In 1879 he drilled the first artesian well in the village. It produced a wonderful flow of pure water. Mr. Blackmer rented boats to the fisherman.
David Hastings bought it in 1903, and renamed the hotel. He called it The Conway Inn. Around 1908, he expanded the hotel moving the old building farther back to be used as living quarters for his family, and as a kitchen for the new part of the hotel.
In 1914, David sold it for $1.00 to his sister, Jean Hastings Trask, and her husband Homer. The hotel stayed in the Trask family until it was sold in the mid 1950’s to Mrs. Woods and Mrs. VanBarle.
In the 1960s ownership was transferred to a corporation owned by John and Betsy Johnson who changed the name of the hotel to “This Ole House.” A fire destroyed the original hotel March, 1989, but the newer part that had been added earlier by Johnny and Betsy Johnson, was not harmed. Today guests of the Inland House Condo Association enjoy the beautiful setting on Crooked Lake, much like Merritt Blackmer, his family, and guests did so very long ago.
Source: M. Seldon's Personal Diary, Emmet County Property Records, and Greenwood Genealogical Data. Ms. Seldon's Interiview 2014 With the granddaughter of Jean Hasting Trask;
Additional Source: In The Wake of Topinabee by Arline M. Brown
Published: Little Traverse Historical Society' Petoskey, Michigan 49770
*************
United States Census, 1880
Name Merrit Blackmer
Event Type Census
Event Date 1880
Event Place Little Traverse, Emmet, Michigan, United States
Gender Male
Age 59
Marital Status Married
Race White
Race (Original) W
Occupation Hotel Keeper
Relationship to Head of Household Self
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Self
Birth Year (Estimated) 1821
Birthplace New York, United States
Father's Birthplace New York, United States
Mother's Birthplace New York, United States
__________________________
United States Census 1880
Merrit Blackmer Self M 59 New York, United States
Emneville Blackmer Wife F 48 Michigan, United States
Edwin E Blackmer Son M 13 Michigan, United States
"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWSQ-NHH : accessed 3 May 2016), Merrit Blackmer, Little Traverse, Emmet, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district ED 63, sheet 401B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0578; FHL microfilm 1,254,578.
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