About Brighton Light House

Historic platte maps of Brighton from 1875 and 1895 show “P. Cunningham” and “Philip Cunningham” as the owner of the property. Our research has revealed that a Philip Cunningham was born in Brighton, Michigan in 1841, and he joined the Union Army in Detroit in 1861. He fought in Company B of the Michigan 6th Cavalry, which fought at Gettysburg, among many other places. Corporal Cunningham was discharged from the Union Army in 1865 and is now buried in Cheboygan, Michigan.

The first recorded real estate records we have identified show Jennie Baetcke as the owner, from whom the property was acquired by Charles E. Placeway. She is buried in the St. Patrick Calvary cemetery across the street from the property.

According to property records, Charles E. Placeway acquired the property on April 25, 1914 for $1 from his sibling, Jennie Baetcke. The 1915 platte map for Brighton shows a “Mrs. C.E. Placeway” as the owner of the property at that time. Charles Placeway founded the Brighton Weekly Argus in [1880], and he died in 1915. At the time of his death, he was married to Abigail Placeway, who was in her second marriage. Abigail Placeway’s first marriage was to William Lyon, who was a founder of the Lyon School in Brighton. At the time of her death in 1920, the property was transferred by probate to relatives who lived out of state: Edith Lyon Bechtel, Judd S. Lyon, and Lonlon Turney Lyon. Charles and Abigail Placeway are buried in the St. Patrick Calvary cemetery across the street from the property.

Ned Seger acquired the property on April 13, 1920 for $1,200. Property records show Wilber Seger being in the ownership chain in July 1920, but primarily point to Ned and Sarah Seger as the owners of the property for 29 years and 1 month, until August 2, 1949. At that time, the property was conveyed to William and Elbert Seger for another 3 year and 3 months, until May 20, 1953. Each of these transactions after Ned Seger acquired the property show that is was transferred to the new owner for $1.

On May 20, 1953, Malcolm and Jean Robertson acquired the property for $1 (suggesting this also was an intra-family transfer). Malcolm and Jean Roberston owned the property for 17 years, until it was transferred for $6,000 to Keith and Violette Robertson. Following a divorce, the property came to be owned solely by Keith Robertson, who then sold it in 1976.

Randall and Mary Fink purchased the property on September 14, 1976 for $30,000. Randall Fink worked to modernize the house on the property. This included the addition of a portico-style front porch, built from surplus lumber he purchased from the University of Michigan for $300. This beautiful porch was a wonderful addition to the house, and was replaced during the recent historic renovation to match the original architecture of the home.

Fred and Mary Messerschmidt acquired the property on May 16, 1978 for $62,000 and owned it for the next 15 years and 11 months. While making some small improvements to the interior of the house, the Messerchmidt’s put a message in an empty Pepsi bottle inside a wall. The bottle was discovered during the historical renovation project in 2018. Inside, the following note was wrapped around a pencil and sealed closed with a kiss (evidenced by a light imprint of lipstick.

Don and Ricky Bandkau acquired the property on April 15, 1994 for $149,000. They owned the property for the next 22 years.