Jordan Wilcox
Assistant Publisher
On the morning of April 23, Scotland resident Ian Catterall was walking his dog Rany along a beach in Ayr, Scotland, when he saw a photo on the ground of four individuals standing outside a home. When he flipped it over, the back indicated that it was taken on July 20, 1970, at Lyle Leonard’s house in Paw Paw, “20 miles from Kalamazoo, Michigan.”
After doing some research, Catterall contacted both the Courier-Leader newspaper and the Paw Paw District Library (PPDL) for help in determining how the photograph ended up so far from its origin after so many years.
While neither organization was able to determine how the photo reached Scotland, the PPDL was able to provide some background on Lyle Leonard. According to library records, Leonard was born in Paw Paw on June 6, 1906, graduated from Paw Paw High School in 1924, and died on April 13, 1988. Over the course of his life, he also lived in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Lake Wales, Florida.
As of press time Tuesday morning, the mystery remains unsolved, though all parties involved remain interested in finding answers. Anyone with information about the picture or how it may have traveled to Scotland is asked to contact Wilcox Newspapers at wilcoxnewspapers@gmail.com or the PPDL at 269-657-3800.
Lyle Howard Leonard and Mabel Frances Warren (Leonard) were my paternal grandparents. His friends knew him as “Howard” or “LH”, so seeing him called “Lyle” on the back of this photo is a little unusual. The article is largely right about where he lived, except he was born in Rudyard, MI (Chippewa County). The Soo figured more prominently for him at different points in his life and is likely what he would have thought of as “home”. The lady on the left in the blue dress is my grandma, and that’s definitely their old house. I don’t recognize the three people on the right, nor do my parents or aunt.
Howard and Mabel each had a parent who was born in Canada (King, ON and Bruce, ON). In the generations before that, most of their ancestors were from Scotland, and some were from England. Howard’s mom was a Gordon, and said one of her ancestors was born in Gordon Castle (it’s not clear to me if this would have been in 1806, 1777, or earlier).
How this photo made it to Scotland is a complete mystery to us. My dad is speculating the three people on the right may have been visiting relatives from Canada, but we really don’t know.
I bought the house in paw paw 1980 from them. I was amazed to see this picture.
As a little kid, I was fascinated by the attic in that house… the angled wood-paneled ceilings, the steep and narrow stairs, the spherical glass “fire extinguisher” hanging in its closet, etc.
That’s pretty cool!
Any leads yet?