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History of the Original Homesteaders
 Like many American families, the family roots are found in the Old World. William Durance, born 1781, and his wife (Frances Dickman) were married April 26, 1817 at Stathern, St. Guthlake, Leicester, England, according to family geneology records. When Daniel Durance was about 10 years old, the family emigrated to Ontario, Canada. Daniel Durance was the father of George Durance, the homesteader of the Durance Farm in Charlevoix.
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Early Agriculture in Northern Michigan
 Durance Farm is a family-owned and operated Michigan Centennial Farm established in 1889 by George and Mary Isabel (Cook) Durance. It is located in northwest section of Michigan’s lower peninsula in Charlevoix Township adjoining the city of Charlevoix. Lake Michigan is one-half mile north of the farm, and Lake Charlevoix is about a mile south of the farm.
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Building and Maintaining the Homestead
 When George and Mary Isabel Durance moved from the south side of Charlevoix to Waller and Mercer Roads in 1889 they occupied an old house previously occupied by an old Civil War soldier known as “Mr. Madison”. The house was located at the opposite end of the property from its present location near the road intersection. Frances Durance in her 1980 memoir described it: “Our early water supply was an open
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Farm life, before electricity and gasoline-powered engines, was very labor-intensive and physically demanding. A farm child began helping with farm and home duties very early in their life. Chores were assigned to each child according to their age and capability. In 1980 Frances Durance wrote a memoir listing the chores assigned to each child before and after school.
