My Genealogy Home Page:Information about Ora Harrison Sessions
Ora Harrison Sessions (b. Feb 19, 1883, d. Dec 04, 1963)
Notes for Ora Harrison Sessions:10/13/96Follows is a short biography of OH that Dorothy and I composed for submission to the Durand Union Station, Inc. (Michigan Railroad History Museum) following donation of his Carpenter's Tool Chest to the Museum:
"Ora H. Sessions was a local-boy-made-good on the Grand Trunk RR. He was raised on the family farm north of Vernon on Goodall Road. He was a 1901 graduate of Vernon High School. Shortly after that he was employed by Grand Trunk in carpentry work.
"Being of an engineering turn of mind while working as a carpenter and railroad hand he pursued a course in Civil Engineering from the International Correspondence School. He completed his course in 1906. During this time his work took hime to most of the Grand Trunk stations between Chicago and Port Huron.
"Building bridges was a significant part of building a railroad. Ora told about his work on a bridge built across the Saginaw River in Bay City. Coffer dams had to be built for excavation to make piers that the bridge rested on. He remarked how difficult it was to get all the sunken logs out of the river bottom mud. This would have been during the 1908 - 1912 period and there were still numerous saw mills along the river in Bay City. That bridge is likely to still be in operation.
"In 1913 Ora was made Assistant Division Engineer stationed in Battle Creek. A Mr. Sisson was his immediate supervisor. On January 29, 1914 shortly after his new assignment he married Cora Nimphie of Swartz Creek.
"About this time the Nickle Plate RR and Grand Trunk combinedto build a railroad from Toledo to Detroit, primarily to haul freight. This railroad is called the Detroit and Toledo Shore Line. Ora came to Monroe in 1921 as General Roadmaster. In 1926 he was made Maintenance of Way Engineer, a position he held until his retirement in 1948. He was a member of the Michigan Engineers Society.
"In Vernon he was a member of the Masons and the Order of the Eastern Star. He died in Monroe on December 4, 1963 and is buried in the Vernon Cemetery.
"Two children live in Michigan. Cecil R. Sessions is in Grosse Pointe Woods and a Daughter Dorothy, Mrs. Garald F. Allen, lives in Midland."
fromthe Monroe Evening News obituary -
"In 1913 he was made Assistant Division Engineer of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad at Battle Creek. He came to Monroe in 1921 as General Roadmaster for the Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad. In 1926 he was made Maintenance of Way Engineer, a position he held until his retirement in 1948.
"Mr. Sessions was amember of the Michigan Engineers Society; the Order of the Eastern Star and F and AM, both of Vernon; the Golden Years Club and St. Paul's Methodist Church where he taught Sunday SChool many years and was active in the Men's Club and the Cheer-up Club."
More About Ora Harrison Sessions:
Burial: Unknown, Greenwood Cemetery, Vernon, MI.
Fact 1: Civil Engineer.
Fact 2: Grand Trunk RR, Civil Engr..
Fact 3: Detroit & Toledo Shore Line RR, in charge of Right-of -Way maintenance..
Fact 4: Bur. Greenwood Cemetery, Vernon, MI.
Soc Sec No.: 707-03-9504.
More About Ora Harrison Sessions and Cora Alma Nimphie:
Marriage: Jan 29, 1914, Swartz Creek, MI.
Marriage Notes for Ora Harrison Sessions and Cora Alma Nimphie:9/6/98 at the Cottage.From Dad & Mon Sessions Marriage Certificate their wedding took place in her home. That would be the homestead on Miller Road. Mr. Wayne Sessions and Blanche Sessions were witnesses, groom's brother and sister-in-law. George Wesley Wright, minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, offficiated. Today this certificate, which is a beautiful piece of art,hangs in our bedroom at the the Cottage.GFA
Children of Ora Harrison Sessions and Cora Alma Nimphie are:
- Ethel Mae Sessions/twin, b. Jun 07, 1915, Battle Creek, MI, d. Jun 08, 1915, Battle Creek, MI.
- Charles Ray Sessions/twin, b. Jun 08, 1915, Battle Creek, MI, d. Jun 08, 1915, Battle Creek, MI.
- +Cecil Robert Sessions.
- +Dorothy Helen Sessions.