Miles Dushane (Duchene)

Miles Dushane was born October 28th, 1860 to parents Dositheus and Clemence Marcguerite Carron. His  parents lived near Pain Court. Ontario in the municipality of Chatham-Kent.  Miles mother died when he was young and he went to live with his uncle in Canada.  His father went to live in Michigan and married a Riopelle of Ecorse.  

Miles moved to Michigan by himself at the age of 19. He lived with his Uncle on the corner of Sibley and Gudith. The house was on a 40 acre lot located at 22217 Sibley Rd. He married Catherine Laurell daughter of Toussaint Lorrain and Mary Ann Livernois on October 4, 1880, at St Joseph Church in Trenton, MI.  When he married Catherine, they lived at the farm Sibley and Gudith until his Uncle passed away.  Miles and Catherine then moved to Trenton, MI. The house was built around 1890 and was located on the west side of Elizabeth drive. (Next to Elizabeth Park) The house was later moved to the SE Corner of 4th and Cherry which is where it stands today.    All of Miles children were born in this house.  Catherine died in this house October 2, 1901.  She was first buried at Groh cemetery (Gibraltar, MI) and moved to Mt Calvary Cemetery, Rockwood, MI.

He married second Mary Campbell, daughter of Henry Campbell and Caroline Campbell on September 26, 1906 at St. Mary's church in Rockwood, MI.  Mary was born December 12, 1868 in Iowa and died January, 1933 (Brownstown, MI).

In 1909, Miles purchased the property located at 23451 King Road  from William Carter.  The original house was destroyed by fire in 1914.  Miles and family stayed in the barn until Miles rebuilt the house in 1916.  Friends and family all worked together to help Miles rebuild the house.  Funds were low, so men helped Miles make cement blocks.   They gathered lime and cement with which the house is constructed.  The finished pieces of lumber that were used were obtained from trees on Miles property.  The finished pieces of wood  were sawed at the Old Joe Limback Mill on Telegraph road.   Total costs of reconstruction was $275.  The property was  working farm  until the mid 1950's.  After that, Richard Martin operated an excavating company and ridding stables until the early 1960's.  Edna Duchene Martin was born in the house and lived there until 1979.  The house still stands today and is the present day location of Brownstown Historical Museum.

Miles had a beautifully decorated surrey (HansomCab).  The surrey was lined in red velvet, had rubber wheels, curtains, two glass vases on each side and even a speaker to talk to the driver. He purchased the surrey from the first Post Master General of Trenton, Don M. Dickinson.  The surrey was used for shopping, going to church, or just getting around. It is said that that in the winter, Miles would pick anyone up on West  Rd. that needed a ride to church. Mr. Dushane never drove a car, he tried once but drove it into a ditch.  

There have been many stories about Miles and the spelling variations of his last name. It is said that a catholic Priest told Miles that he should spell his name Dushane instead of Duchene because he was in America now and he should spell it the American way.

Miles had many different jobs during this life.  He worked his horses on Hog Island where it was eventually developed into a park.  (Today known as Belle Isle)  He worked at the Trenton Stave Mill where the D.H Burrell Company built barrel staves and cheese boxes.  Still later he worked at the Sibley quarry where he worked a team of horses harvesting limestone. Miles also worked in the shipyard in Gibraltar, which made wooden ships.

Miles also had a sister and possibly a brother.   His father died in the while crossing the Detroit River.  His body was found about 2 months later in Trenton, MI.

 Miles died on November 1st, 1955 in Brownstown, MI at the age of 95. He lies at rest today at  Mount Calvary Cemetery (Also known as St Marys Cemetery) in Rockwood, MI)

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References:

Ford, J., & DuChene Johnson, S. (1999). The Mighty Oaks, The Chene, Dushane Family Tree