Notes:
Carol Cramer writes about James Curran: He was called "Mitch" and he was "a quiet, easy-going man", so said L.D. Miles to Myron Bickel [Carol's father]. He was a farmer, carpenter, and a cook on ships sailing the Great Lakes. He apparently moved many times as family history relates that each of their children were born at a different place. Uncle Bert told my father that when Mitch became older he suffered 'violent' spells and had to be protected from himself by mattress padding on the bedroom walls. This was, according to attending physician, due to hardening of arteries in his brain. One day he awoke and threw a sewing machine down the stairs. Dr. Herman from Conde was called. He came and gave Mitch an injection to quiet him and he never recovered. Mitch and Caroline were living with their daughter, Libbie, at the time and Libbie always felt that her father was given an overdose. His obituary printed in the Conde News states he passed away Monday afternoon, Sept. 25, 1916 at 2:00 in the afternoon. There is no death certificate at the county courthouse and for a 1916 death one would expect there to be one.
Notes:
C. Cramer writes about Caroline Victoria King: "She was the youngest child of Benjamin and Elizabeth Cole King. She was born 14 Sep 1845 according to her birth record but her bible had been erased to make the year appear as 1847 or 1849. The census of 1851 for Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England gives her age as five at that time and this would be about correct. She once told that when she was a child she could look from her upstairs bedroom and see the sailing ships come into Great Yarmouth in England. The census states she was born in Poringland, Norfolk, England [Her obituary gives "Shotsam", no doubt a mispelling of Shotesham which is the next town to Poringland about three miles SW. Her parents probably lived between them.] She was the last of her siblings to come to America for she stayed with her widowed father in England until he died and then, at age 16, came to be with her brothers and sisters. "She, apparently, met "Mitch" Curran when she was with her sister, Naomi Wheaton, in Chicago. "Mitch" had a brother, Wesley Poe Curran, who lived in the Irish section of Chicago (in the same area as Mrs. O'Leary and her cow). I do not know if the Wheatons lived in that area. Wesley Poe and his wife, Elizabeth Ann (Trewin) Curran, stated that during the Civil War there was a recruiting stand on nearly every street corner, also there were musicians, one playing the fife and the other a drum. Some of the Irish women would kick off their slippers, and dance an Irish Jig. There was a bulletin board on some of the corners with news of the battles. They lived on Polk Street. She told of attending Irish dances in Chicago in the neighborhood where Mrs. O'Leary with the cow lived. She had fun at these dances but "her sister-in-law found fault because they were raised too strictly and modest for such things". I feel that this sister-in-law was Caroline, as Geo. A never married, Allen was in the war, and Joseph was murdered in 1866 and his wife put the 2 girls up for adoption and went to California. I have done little research in Chicago, mainly due to havoc started by said cow! Most of the records were destroyed. "Caroline believed very strongly in ghosts and frightened her grandchildren with stories of ghostly happenings. Any creak of the house was a ghost or spirit. Her grand-daughter, Mabel [(Miles) Bickel], said she and her sisters did not like Caroline as she was a stern, unloving lady. They whispered among themselves wondering if she could be a witch! Caroline died at the home of her daughter, Libbie McCartney [The obituary for Caroline states that she died at the home of J.W. Morgan. That would be her daughter Florence, not Libbie.]. There is no death certificate but there is a burial record at the Spink Co., Court House, Redfield, SD. It states: Dec. 12, 1928, Curran, Caroline Victoria, Olean twp., Spink Co. 80 years, 2 mo., 26 days. b. Eng. Widowed, father Benj. King. Senility, died, 10 Dec., 1928. Vandenburg Funeral Home. (Conde, SD) [Services conducted by Rev. E.P. Swartout, "an old friend".]
Notes:
Carol Cramer relates that Sarah is buried in Turton, SD but her tombstone was placed in the Conde Protestant Cemetery by her parents who intended to also move the body but did get it done.
Notes:
The marriage date of John and Fanny, 3 May 1818, is from the files of LDS Church. If it is correct, the birth year, 1814, for the twins, John and Timothy, is incorrect; or vice versa. The birth year and place of the twins comes from the Census of 1850 for Barry County, Yankee Springs twsp., MI, page 178. Their age was given as 36 at this time [born 1814] and birth place as Canada. [Thus, the 1818 marriage year of John and Fanny, taken from LDS data of unknown origin, is probably wrong as it is very unlikely that the twins were born four years out of wedlock.] Their son James Lorenzo was given in the census as age 30 and born in Ohio but the census age for him is technically invalidated by an entry in his bible giving his birth date as 9 Aug 1818 making him age 32, not 30, at the time of the census.
(All of the following, including the references to sources, has been extracted from "L.D. Miles" by Carol B. Cramer.)
Little is known of John Miles' early life, including his marriage record. The obituary of his brother, Justin, states that Timothy and Theodia (Blodgett), the parents of John , moved to Three Rivers, Canada in 1800 with their family of six children. John, the seventh child, and his wife Fanny (Ward) removed to Ohio from Canada between the births of their twin sons in 1814, who were born in Canada, and the birth of James Lorenzo in 1818, born in Ohio. The 1830 Fed. Census, Canaan twp, Wayne Co., OH, lists John on page 114. It is of interest that on the same page there is also a Moulton (two of John's sisters married Moultons), a Blodgett (who were relatives) and two Wards (relatives of Fanny Ward Miles). This establishes that these people did not trek through the wilderness alone, families and friends moved together.
In "History of Wayne County, Ohio, Caanan twp.", Bowen Publishing Co., Chicago, IL, it is written that "Almost every family, men and women, wore homespun, at home and abroad. The only difference between the dress to 'go to meetin', and that of the field or the clearing, was in being fresh washed for the former. The diet, too, was of the plainest kind, quite limited in variety, and frequently also in quantity. Corn, in its various forms, whole or ground, with buckwheat, potatoes, beans, pork, venison and other wild meats, were the chief articles of food. Game abounded, and many families depended upon getting their meats from the forest. Though the pioneers could get but little for the wheat they sold, the articles they bought cost much more than at present. As late as 1825 salt sold for eleven dollars per barrel, and before that cost still more."
"If the times of settlements were recorded by decades, from the first coming of Win. Ewing in 1812 up to 1822 would find from 25 to 30 families in the township. This may be called the true pioneer decade; whilst the next up to 1832, would be that of immigration, during which people poured into the area in streams so that by 1832, of land suitable for occupation, not more than 25 quarters were unoccupied. During this second decade came many of the most useful and substantial citizens, among them mechanics and men of capital. Some of those who came during this period were, as remembered, John and Justin Miles,..."
The following is taken from "History of Allegan and Barry Counties, Michigan 1880 by D. W. Ensign and Co.:
"Yankee Springs Township. On the west the early settlements were near Barlow Lake, and were made by Nathan Barlow, John Miles ... C. W. Bassett, bought his farm in 1836 and in the fall of 1837 brought his family to the place. John Miles and James Hoskinson had just preceded Bassett into the settlement, but the latter was not aware of their presence, or the presence indeed of any neighbors in that direction, until one day when he and his wife went over to Coman marsh after hay. While there, Mrs. Bassett suddenly cried, "Oh, I hear a cow-bell, and I know we've got neighbors." Similarly, Miles didn't know that Bassett or anybody else was in the vicinity until, seeing wagon-tracks in the marsh, he knew he had new neighbors."
The first Yankee Springs township meeting was held at Yankee Springs Mansion House Apr., 1, 1839. Voters numbered 30. Among them were John and John A. Miles, and Zachariah Ward. John Miles was chosen as an Assessor and one of the three School Commissioners. On the following May 8, the commissioners met and formed nine school districts. He later was an inspector of primary schools.
Gun Lake Post Office, in western part of the township, was established about 1850. The second postmaster was John Miles, who was the mail carrier, bringing mail from Wayland to Gun Lake on horseback. At times his daughter Fanny (later Mrs. Chappel) relieved her father as mail carrier. The report is that Miss Fanny, being fond of reading, would devote herself to the contemplation of her book while riding along on old Dobbin, but the mail-bag, unbeknown to her, slipped from the horse on the way; the fair rider being so interested in her story that not until her arrival at her destination would she discover the loss of the mail. This was said to have happened more than once, but, as luck would have it, the mail-bag was always recovered. John A. Miles succeeded his father as Postmaster.
On 11 Oct. 1854, the Board of Supervisors resolved "that a tax of $800 be assessed upon the taxable property in the county to be applied toward the purchase of a County poor-farm. In Jan., 1855, the decision was made not to have a poor-farm but the next day they decided to go ahead with it. John Miles was one of three appointed to select proper location and purchase said farm and they were given power to draw upon the county Treasurer for money to pay for the farm, not to exceed $800. Farther down in the article it states they did, indeed, buy a farm of 100 acres and they paid $3500. John was also on the board to see to the construction of a county jail.
In 1843, there were five road districts in the township and we find the residents of three of them to be listed:
#1 J.W. Miles Section 11 120 acres (Justin Ward)
#3 J.L. Miles Section 4 160 acres (James Lorenzo)
#4 John Miles Sections 19, 20, 30 343 acres
J.A. Miles Section 21 98 acres (John Alonzo)
Lorenzo Miles poll tax
Ward Miles poll tax
The 1850 Federal Census, Yankee Springs Twp., Barry Co. records the following individuals from the same family:
Lorenzo, age 30, farmer, real estate value $1,000, b.OH
Franklin, age 22, farmer, real estate value $ 600, b.OH
Fanny, age 19, b. OH
Timothy, age 36, cooper, real estate value $ 800, b. Canada
Mary, age 32, b.NY
Mary A., age 3, b.MI
Jane E., age 2, b.MI
It seems that John Miles was an active man in community affairs. It is certain that his neighbors in Yankee Springs Township held him in high esteem and valued his judgement. He is buried beside his wife at Robbins Cemetery, Gun Lake, on Chief Noonday Road, east of Bradley, Michigan. There is no death certificate for either of them in Barry County. Hattie Miles, first wife of Lynn Miles (gt-grandson of John and Fanny), stated that when they lived in Michigan they visited the graves of John and Fanny. [As I also did in 2003].
Their tombstones read:
John Miles, d. June 2, 1868, age 79 years, 11 mo., 3 days.
Fanny, wife of John, d. Oct 23, 1846, age 57 years.
Notes:
In the Robbin's Cemetery on Chief Noon Day Road, Yankee Springs Twp, Barry Co., MI is the grave of Fanny Ward Miles. Inscribed is: "Fanny, wife of John Miles, died 23 Oct., 1846, aged 57 years. This would make her birth date 1789. She is buried beside her husband, John Miles. This ends the facts that are thus far known about Fanny Ward. A Ward family was contemporary with Fanny in the area of Yankee Springs Twp. and Wayland so it may be presumed that she was connected with this family. If so, the following facts about the Ward family are of interest:
Nearby the graves of Fanny and John, in the next row, are the graves of a Zacharias Ward, born Heniker [Henniker], NH, 24 Mar 1791, died 13 Oct 1877, and his wife, Sybil, died 25 Oct 1839, age 43 [born 1796]). [The age of Zacharias, just two years younger than Fanny, and being in the same graveyard as she, suggests that he was her brother. If so, there is a strong likelyhood that Fanny, too, was born in Henniker, NH. In 1830 Fed. Census for Canaan twp, Wayne Co., OH is found a Zephnil and a Zephariah Ward.
The following is taken from an article in the Wayland Globe, Wayland, Michigan about 1937. The article was found in a scrapbook belonging to Mrs. Jessie Ward Dean.
WARD FAMILY -- "Forty-seven years ago, when Geo. A. Mosher founded the Wayland Globe, two other well known Waylanders entered business in Wayland, one in Sept. and the other in Nov. If John Yeakey had not retired from business less than 2 years ago, he would have had the edge on Chas. H. Ward by less than two months.
Mr. Ward moved to town from his farm east of Wayland almost 48 years ago and with the exception of about 2 years when he leased his shop to his brother, Moses, he had been in business continuously in his barber shop on Superior Street.
Charlie holds no records for being a fluent talker but in rare moments when he can be prevailed upon to tell of his early experiences he can tell of incidents when he was a boy, that are very interesting. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mark Ward, were among the very earliest settlers in this township. Mr. Ward's grandfather settled in Wayland township in 1836, coming here from OH. On account of the impassability of the Maumee swamp, Zacherich Ward, with his two sons, Marcus and Moses, went by sailboat on the big lake through the straits of Makinaw and down Lake Michigan to Pentwater where they came afoot down the old Indian trail that ran across the state from Battle Creek to Pentwater and finally arrived in Wayland to locate their kinsfolk, the Miles', who were on the place known as the Kotrba place today."
Notes:
Removed to Bennington twsp., Licking Co., OH in 1847.
Notes:
The death record below might be our "Margaret" but calculating backwards gives a birth date of 11 Oct 1805. This does not agree with the 1812 date given by Carol Cramer but it is close. Regardless, it hardly matters because her maiden name and deceased husband's name were unfortunately not given.Female - Cooper, Margaret - Died: 07/31/1882 - Wife - Aged: 76yrs 9mos 20dys - Place: Bennington Twp., Penna. - Occu.: Housekeeper - Race: White - Cause: Dropsy of Heart - Recorded: Bennington Twp. page 54.
[Source: Licking County, Ohio, Death Records, Book 2, 1882-1901,Registered in Probate Court Office, Licking County Court House, Newark, Ohio 43055]
Notes:
Some records suggest two more children for Samuel and Dorothy Munger: Dorothy, b. Guilford, CT, and Sarah, b. Hampton, CT.
Notes:
The birth year of Dorothy is widely reported as 1683, used here, but a rare exception is "The Munger Book" (See Source Citation for "The Munger Book", a copy of which is in possession of Nancy Prouty, an internet source.) where 1686 is found. However, this latter date conflicts with the death year of her father which is not found to be later than 1684.