Beaver Island History - Helen Collar Papers
Biographical Papers Letter F
(1 Page)
David Faris
Pvet. Capt. Sloans Co. Ohio Militia, War of 1812.
Land office:
July 23, 1856 MBLW act of '55 - Lot 1 Sec 22-37-10 and Lot 6, Sec 15. Charlevoix
shows the date Sept. 1859, which must be the patent date.
James Farrell
This is the man Black Bonner bought his farm of. He paid $200 for 80A. Farrell was a flayer and came to the island thinking he would have work threshing wheat, but he found it a wilderness and no work, so he sold to Bonner and left. Pat doesn't think he was a Mormon, but it was June 9, 1857 when he deeded the land to Bonner. It was June 1856 when the Exodus took place; he must have come in right after the Mormons if he was not one himself. He did.
Land office:
Aug. 16, 1856 - James Farrell & John Hale bought N 2NE 4 Sec 8-38-10, 80A. $100.
June 9, 1857 - James Farrell sold to John Bonner N 2NE 4 Sec 8-38-10 ($200 according to
Pat).
Samuel C. Field
Ten days after the assassination (Strang still on B.I.) the " Michigan" returned with McCulloch, Wentworth, & Bedford & others on board. They undertook to "arrest" the Mormons in sight, firing on Samuel C. Field & threatening to take the Prophet dead or alive. - K. of St. J., p. 173
George E. Fisher
Land office:
July 22, 1856 - W frl of NW frl Sec 3-38-10 bought, 97.57A $99.46. (on Slopt. Rd
across from Roddys').
Oct ? 1858 - Timothy Smith, Deputy Sheriff, made this over to Archibald P. Newton.
Richard Fitzsimmons
P. 25
1830 (1822, 1950 census1)
His first wife was Margaret, 1822 (1824 [in] census) - 1877. There is a stone for her (fallen).
Richard Fitzsimmons and wife Margaret are listed in the 1850 census of Michilimackinac
Co., probably on Mackinac Island.
The parish record shows his second marriage on May 19, 1885:
Richard Fitzsimmons, 55 - Mary O'Donnell, 65
This Mary O'Donnell was Pete McCauley's mother who was born in Aranmore. This was her third marriage. They did not live together long. Fitzsimmons seemed to like them older. His first wife was 8 years older and his second 10.
There is a Mike Fitzsimmons mentioned 8 times in the Dormer book. He seems to have bought a house of Dormer. Mike is mentioned by Tip Miller as one of crew of 8 for season 1882 Life S. S.. Michael Fitzsimmons is recorded in the 1880 census as living as a boarder in the home, in St. James, of Paul LaBlanc. He is 30, a sailor, born in Mich., father and mother both born in Ire..
Jack (John) Floyd
(3 cards)
1842-1914
(Jacop in birth records)
His death is noted as Aug. 11, 1914 in Protar's diary.
P. 75, 86, 87, 117, 145
Married Mary Palmer, 1847-1935, on May 26, 1874 - born Mackinac Isl. (from Charles' birth
record)
Children:
Johnnie, 1878-1921
Edward, 1890-1915
George, 1880-1947
Anna, 1883-1925
Frank, 1874-1936 (death record - 1869-1938)
Charles, 1875 - (birth rec. - b[orn] on Foxes)
Joseph, 1887-1958 - married Flora McCafferty
Frederick, 1896 -
Kitty - married Herbert McCauley
Mary - married Barney Martin
Stones:
[for] Mother Mary, [Father] John, Johnnie, Edward [and] in another part of the cemetery:
George, Anna, Frank, [and] Joseph.
John Floyd was born in Boston, 1842 (military record shows 1840). He enlisted in the Union Army from Indiana where he was raised. He had one sister. He came to Michigan from Milwaukee.
Floyd was big man and very strong. He wielded a 4-pound ax and could chop more wood in a day than anyone else. (The cordwood sold was chopped not sawed.) He served in the Civil War. He would talk particularly about the Battle of the Wilderness. The Floyds came from Fox Island and were married there.
Floyd's description on Military records: eyes, gray; hair, black; complexion, dark; height, 5'11".
[He] couldn't read or write.
Mrs. Floyd had three sisters they can recall:
Sarah, who married a Miller (any relation to "Tip"?)
Julia, who married a Widerman
Augusta, who married a McCrea[r?]
When Old Lady Floyd said she remembered seeing Strang as a child she must have been in on boats with her family. (She was a Palmer.) They didn't live here until after the Mormons left.
Elizabeth Floyd LaFreniere says that Ann Looney was old Lady Floyd's aunt - that her mother was a Williams.
Mrs. Floyd evidently was not proud of the Williams family. She always emphasized the Scotch side of her ancestry. "My mother was a Yankee from New York State" was all she would say. She always insisted there was no Indian blood in the family. This makes it plausible that there was Indian in the Williams family and that she knew it.
There was a Mrs. McKinley Maria knew in Escanaba who "was a sister of Mrs. Palmer and looked very Indian." She did not know whether or not this was related to the McKinley of pre-Mormon Beaver. Elizabeth knows nothing of this.
Mrs. Floyd's uncle, Paddy Williams, was the one that lived in Strang's house. The Williams & Palmer families lived "back of King's Place." This looks as if they had moved into some of the empty house[s] of the Mormon town of Troy.
There is a Frederick Floyd, born Nov. 15, 1896 to John Floyd, born Massachusetts, and Mary Palmer, born Michigan. [John] is listed as a "fisherman." Mary would have been 49 when he was born.
Mary Floyd had some schooling on Mackinac.
The marriage record in Maria's application for widow's pension, dated Aug. 26, 1914. Date:
May 26, 1874; Place, Northport, Mich; Official, Geo. N. Smith, minister of the gospel. She is listed as "Maria Williams, maiden name Palmer." The birth places are given as Boston and Mackinaw, Mich. The place of residence of both, Fox Island, Mich.. He gives his age as 28, she as 22. The witnesses were Arvilla A. Smith, Northport, and Henry Longfield, Fox Island.
Information on the Floyd application for a pension, June 4, 1898. The list of children on Maria's application for widow's pension Aug. 26, 1914 is substantially the same:
John, Jr. Apr. 9, 1875
Edward Sept. 25, 1877
Mary Feb. 10, 1879
Anna Apr. 7, 1882
Lizzie Mar. 10, 1884
Joseph June 13, 1886
Agnes June 7, 1887
Kitty May 30, 1890
James Feb. 22, 1892
Frederick Sept. 15, 1896
He signed the May 1, 1911 Declaration for pension to come under the Act of Feb. 6, 1907, with an X attested by James H. Gallagher and Margaret Gallagher "who have been acquainted with the applicant 20 years and 40 years respectively."
Death records:
John Floyd, married, age 72-4-5 died in St. J on Aug. 11, '14 of heart failure due to age. Born
Mass.; drayman; father Edward Floyd, mother unknown.
Mary Floyd, widow, age 87, died Mar. 26, '35 in St. J., of influenza. Born Mich.; parents
Edward Palmer, born Scotland; mother, Annie, place of birth unknown.
Death records:
Frank Floyd - single, age 69, fisherman, died in St. J. Nov. 13, '38 of Coronary
Thrombosis. Born Fox Island; parents John Floyd and Mary Palmer.
Anna Floyd - single, age 42-2-12, died St. James, Jan. 12, '25 of influenza. Born Mich.;
was housewife; parents John Floyd and Mary Palmer.
Protar - "Johnny Floyd died Aug. 27, 1921.
Oscar Frederick
Census: 1880 Trout Isl.
Frederick Oscar, 30, fisherman, born Sweden, mother Swe., father, Swe.
Dominic Gallagher, 19, laborer, born Ire. Father, Ire., mother, Ire. Can't W.
As far as ages go, this must be the son of Patric and Bridget Gall. Recorded as 8 in 1870 census.
1 This must be 1850 census.