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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, July 17, 2026, pg. 7 Overlooking Riverside Cemetery is the millpond of the Kalamazoo River. It is still used by fishermen today, as well as kayakers and canoeists. Enjoy it while you can, because plans are in the works to remove the dam at Victory Park in the future and with it will go the millpond. Until that time however, there are a variety of fish that can be found in its waters, but there are no whales there "last I looked." I mention that because on the hill in the cemetery overlooking the millpond in Section 21, Lot 23 is buried a whale ship captain: Seth Worth. Seth (1798-1874) was a native of Nantucket, Massachusetts. His parents were Uriah and Elizabeth (Mayhew) Worth. His ancestors were among the original settlers of Nantucket back in 1662. Uriah was the son of Christopher, the son of Jonathan, the son of John, the son of the original Worth settler William. The men in the family were whalers by profession and the family trade was passed down from generation to generation. Numerous accounts about the Worth's can be found in various sources on the internet and other sources. The Worth's Islands Latitude 80 43' North and Longitude 151' 30' East is named after a relative of Seth, Captain William Worth. Also related to the Worth's was the Macy family which intermarried in various generations. There is much information about these families on the internet. Seth served as a Captain on a whaling ship in his younger days. He later became a tailor, and then a merchant running the family store for about 20 years. In 1828 he married Merib Macy of the Macy whaling family. In 1830 the couple purchased the Robert Hussey house at 12 Westminster St. there in Nantucket and lived there for eight years. This home is still standing today as an historical site. The couple had four children: Emily, Charles, Lydia, and William H. The family moved to Michigan, and first was living in Tecumseh according to the 1850 Census. Unfortunately, Seth's wife died in 1856. He subsequently remarried, this time to Lydia Macy (I'm assuming a sister of his first wife) who helped raise the children of the first wife. Lydia's mother was a Worth family descendant. Seth's family appears in the 1860 Census as living in Albion. Seth died in Albion on March 6, 1874 at the age of 76 and was buried here in Riverside alongside of his first wife. Lydia later moved to Grays Harbor, Washington. Why/how did Seth and his wife happen to end up in Albion and be buried at Riverside? I don't know, as no newspapers have survived listing any obituary giving us details. But Seth's mother was a Mayhew, and Ira Mayhew was an early principal of what today is Albion College, whose ancestry also traces back to Nantucket. Whatever the case, from our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of the broken tombstone of Captain Seth Worth and his first wife Merib in Riverside Cemetery. Notice his title says "Cap't" on the stone, signifying his occupational role, rather than being a military veteran. It would be nice if this tombstone could be restored by someone knowledgeable about such a task. Special thanks to researcher Norma Feller for her help with this article.  Tombstone of Captain Seth Worth and his first wife Merib, in Riverside Cemetery
All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
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