Elijah V. Tadgerson, a member of the Wolf Clan, was born on May 16, 1882, in Alcona County, Mich. His parents were Jacob (O-waw-say-gezhig) and Eliza (Waw-sa-skim-o-quay) Pashigobe Tadgerson.
His grandparents were Andrew (Wah-se-ge-won) and Jane Tadgasong. Mah-che-nena (John) was his great grandfather and Me-shuck-ko-do-quay (Sarah Moses) was his great grandmother.
Elijah was just 4 years old when his father died and 8 years old when his mother died. He then went to live with his uncle John Tadgerson who was a minister living in Alcona County at the time. His sister Martha died at age 19 of Tuberculosis and his brother, Moses, who was born just months after his father's death, died at the age of 17 of the same disease. Samuel, another brother died at the young age of 2 years.
He attended the government boarding schools where he learned to read and write. This got him jobs at different lumber mills across the state. Eventually he ended up at Shelldrake Lumber Company in Paradise, Mich.
He met and married Jane “Jennie” Wasquam (a member of the Cat Fish Clan) of Bay Mills on July 19, 1912. Witnesses for their marriage were John Waishkey of Bay Mills and Amy C. Ramsey of Sault Ste. Marie. They had 7 children: John, Violet (Bennett), Alice, Ray, Ernest, Elijah (died 9 days old) and William (died 15 months old).
Jennie was the widow of Samuel Wabakaka who, on October 11, 1909, along with George Teeple, drowned while fishing.
On August 19, 1935, while employed at the lumber camp, Elijah died of a gunshot wound. He was 53 years, 3 months and 3 days old.
