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Author Alice Galmore on a camel at the Pyramids in Egypt

Photo of editor Elaine Saxton and author Alice Galmore, taken at the Cotswolds area of England, where many of their family members still reside. 

Both the author and editor are granddaughters of William Ellis Malpass and Alice Ann Round Malpass.

Lynne Crandall, on whose web site this appears, is the niece of the author and editor.

The Book: 

The Malpass Family of East Jordan, Michigan

This is a genealogy history of the family of William Ellis Malpass and Alice Ann Round Malpass, the daughter of Richard Ward Round, co-founder with his son-in-law, William Ellis Malpass, of the East Jordan Iron Works of East Jordan, Michigan. The foundry, which began in 1883, still thrives today.  This book chronicles the families and their migration from England to East Jordan, Michigan, where they settled.  Mr. Round, was credited with bringing industrial iron technology from Birmingham, England, to Michigan, in 1873.  

Researched and written by Malpass' granddaughter Alice Galmore and edited by her sister, Elaine Saxton, the book follows the family's history from its origins in England to their life as the founding family of a business that continues today as the East Jordan Iron Works.  Also one of the founding families of a small town in the wild north woods that became East Jordan, Michigan, they came to live in Northern Michigan along Lake Charlevoix, just a stone's throw from Lake Michigan. East Jordan is where the family histories unfold. The book looks at the family's new adventure, including encounters with the local people and the struggles of the families to make a success of their family business.  Round co-founded several foundries around Michigan and toward his later life settled in Traverse City. Their story is told in this wonderful book.

The Author: Alice Galmore

After retiring from a long career as a the Head Nurse of the Medical-Surgical unit in Detroit's Grace Hospital (now Harper Grace), Ms. Galmore developed a deep interest in genealogy and spent years researching her family history.  She and her sister and editor, Elaine Saxton, produced a wonderful book which was called "One of the most beautiful family histories I've ever seen." in a review in Everton's Genealogical Helper Magazine.  The review from this esteemed genealogy magazine, is printed below.  The book is also in the collection of the Library of Michigan and in the collection of the Bilston Library in Bilston, England.  The book can also be ordered or questions can be sent to the email and the phone number below the review.

Everton's Genealogical Helper Magazine.Review

A thumbnail profile of William Ellis Malpass is available at the  Petoskey News web site in the story of the 125th anniversary of the East Jordan Iron Works as a pdf. and on the EJIW web site. 

A note on William Ellis Malpass is also included in a short biography of his father-in-law, Richard Ward Round, in the History of Michigan. Published in 1915 by Lewis Publishing Company, author Charles Moore, director of the Detroit Museum of Art (later the Detroit Art Institute) discusses Mr. Round's instrumental role in the development of Michigan's iron industry and the manufacturing expertise he brought to the state from his native Birmingham, England.  Moore notes that Mr. Round began a business partnership in a foundry with his son-in-law, William Ellis Malpass, in 1883. That foundry continues today as the East Jordan Iron Works and has opened a second foundry in Ardmore, Oklahoma and expanded its casting business to various locations throughout the world.  The book, which was a short biography of men who shaped Michigan, was published in Chicago.

This web page about the book is also featured at Absolute Michigan - All Michigan, All the Time under the community/ history and Library category at The Malpass Family of East Jordan, Michigan (East Jordan, Michigan, Charlevoix County)

To order a copy of the The Malpass Family of East Jordan, Michigan, at $40.00, email or phone a request to Alice Galmore at: 

alice24255@comcast.net  

tel: (517) 548-1520