Bobbie Ditzler, of Northport, recently celebrated her 80th birthday on Jan. 11. Shortly after reaching this milestone, Ditzler sat down with the newspaper to recount some of her knowledge about local history and her experiences watching her home village develop.
Ditzler is something of the local historian in Northport. She says that she was naturally interested in history from a young age, and in her great great-grandfather, Joseph Dame. Although he was not a minister, Dame was nicknamed “Deacon” for his piety, Ditzler explained.
The Dame family emigrated from England in the 17th century, but Joseph “Deacon” was the first Dame to live in Michigan. In fact, he gave the village of Northport its name — borrowing it from the small town of Northport on the Penobscot Bay in Maine, where Dame lived for some time — and drew the original plat for the village with his son Eusebius.
