Person Page

     John G. Davenport was born about 1836.¹ He married Eliza Ann Farnsworth, daughter of Moses Farnsworth and Mariah Burlingham, on 4 March 1855 at the bride's father's home in Otsego, Allegan Co., Michigan.¹

     Sarah A. Abbott was born on 27 December 1843 in Pennsylvania.² She was married by Oliver S. Dean, pastor of the 1st. Congregational Church, to Charles B. Allen, son of George F. Allen and Susan M. Burlingham, on 22 June 1870 in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.¹ She died on 8 February 1930 at her home at 2219 Oakland Dr. in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan, at age 86 from a stroke.² She was buried on 12 February 1930 at Mountain Home Cemetery (Lot H, Section 299, Grave 3) in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.^2,3
     In 1880 she and her husband Charles were living on Asylum Ave. (now Oakland Dr.) in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan, apparently sharing a house with John Boyd and his family. Charles's cousin Samuel Mark Burlingham was living with them.⁴ She and Charles were still living on Asylum Ave. in 1900 and 1910, as neighbors to John Boyd.^5,6
     She continued to live in Kalamazoo after her husband's death, and her grandson Charles A. Allen, son of her divorced son George, was living with her in 1920.⁷

     George A. Allen was born on 22 August 1871 in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.¹ He married Edna Alice Montgomery, daughter of John S. Montgomery and Anabelle Doxey, on 29 February 1908 in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.³ They were divorced, probably after 1912 when their son Robert was baptized.^4,5 He died on 31 January 1939 in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan, at age 67 from heart disease.⁶ He was buried on 2 February 1939 at Mountain Home Cemetery (Lot H, Sect. 299, Grave 1) in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.^6,7
     In 1900 he was living as a boarder with the family of Alfred Keyser in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan,⁸ and is listed in Kalamazoo with his wife Edna in the 1910 census.⁹ He worked for the Adams Express Co. in Kalamazoo from at least 1898 to 1910, first as a wagon driver and later as a cashier.^8,3,10,9
     In 1920, after his divorce and his ex-wife's death, he was living in Cooper Twp., Kalamazoo Co., Michigan, as a boarder with Cyrus and Lydia Walker¹¹, and in the census his occupation is listed as farmer.¹¹ He was working as a day laborer at the time of his death.⁶

     Dan H. Burlingham was born on 2 November 1848 in Michigan.^2,1 He died on 10 November 1851 in Comstock, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan, at age 3.² He was buried at West Comstock Cemetery in Comstock, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.²
     His transcribed cemetery record lists his given name as Dorr.²

     Nancy Turner was born about 1810 in Massachusetts.³ She married first James Robinson.⁴ She married second Nathan Huntly Burlingham, son of Philip Burlingham and Polly Babcock, between 1838 and 1840.^5,6,7
     She and her second husband Nathan are listed in Comstock, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan, in the 1850 census, along with their sons Frances (age 6) and Dan (2). Listed on the following lines in 1850, but in a separate dwelling and household, are Jane (20), Loomis (18), and James Robinson (16), Nancy's children from her first marriage.^3,4

     Laura Almeda Crawford was born about 1840 in Michigan.¹ She married Stephen H. Farnsworth, son of Moses Farnsworth and Mariah Burlingham, about 1858. (See below.) She probably died before 1870. (Neither she nor her husband Stephen have been found in the 1870 census, and their nine-year-old daughter Laura was then living with Stephen's parents in Prairieville, Barry Co., Michigan.)⁴
     The identification of Stephen Farnsworth's first wife as Laura Almeda Crawford, and their daughter as Laura Almeda Farnsworth, is based on a preponderance of evidence argument. First, in census entries for Stephen's father Moses Farnsworth in Barry Co., Michigan, the household included Laura A. Farnsworth (age 9, born in Missouri) in 1870, and Almeda Farnsworth (age 19, born in Missouri) in 1880. It's thus probable that Laura A. and Almeda Farnsworth are the same person, with the full name Laura Almeda Farnsworth. This conclusion is strengthened by a death certificate for Laura Almeda Wheeler, widow of Wm. Wheeler, born 27 February 1861 in Missouri, with parents Stephen Farnsworth and Almeda Crawford.
     In addition, Stephen's death certificate lists his age at first marriage as 28, meaning his first marriage was about 1858. But his marriage to Mary (Cross) Riley was in 1874, so he was married at least twice. His death certificate also says he was the parent of just one child, who was still living in 1908. Mary's death certificate says she had four children, and the 1870 census entry for David and Mary (Cross) Riley lists four children. Thus Stephen's one child was from his first marriage, not his second.
     Finally, the 1860 census for Meramec Twp., Jefferson Co., Missouri, lists Steph and Laura Farnsworth, ages 27 and 20, both born in Michigan. These ages are consistent with those from other sources for Moses Farnsworth's son Stephen, and for Laura Crawford, the daughter of Moses's second wife Almeda from her first marriage. This, together with the information on Laura Almeda Wheeler's death certificate noted previously, leads to the conclusion that Stephen Farnsworth's first wife was Laura Almeda Crawford, daughter of Harvey Nelson Crawford and Almeda Baker. Note that since Stephen's father Moses Farnsworth married as his second wife Laura's mother Almeda (Baker) Crawford, Stephen and his wife Laura were stepsiblings.^{4,5,3,6,7,8,9,2,1}
     As noted above, she and her husband Stephen are listed in the 1860 census in Meramec Twp., Jefferson Co., Missouri, where he was working as a sawyer. Living with them was John Hoffman, a carpenter.²

     William H. Wheeler was born on 10 August 1835 in Upper Canada (now Ontario).³ He married first Orcelia Crawford, daughter of Harvey Nelson Crawford and Almeda M. Baker, on 7 April 1859 in Otsego Twp., Allegan Co., Michigan.^4,5 He married second Laura Almeda Farnsworth, daughter of Stephen H. Farnsworth and Laura Almeda Crawford, on 4 February 1887 in Otsego, Allegan Co., Michigan.⁶ He died of "material fever" on 30 August 1898 in Gun Plain Twp., Allegan Co., Michigan, at age 63.³ He was buried on 2 September 1898 at Ives Cemetery in Allegan Co., Michigan.³
     He was a farmer^7,3, but also worked as a veterinarian.^6,8,9

     Laura Almeda Farnsworth was born on 27 February 1861 in Jacksonville, Randolph Co., Missouri.^2,1 She married William H. Wheeler, son of George Wheeler and Betsy Beemer, on 4 February 1887 in Otsego, Allegan Co., Michigan.³ She died from stomach cancer on 13 August 1919 in Gun Plain Twp., Allegan Co., Michigan, at age 58.¹ She was buried on 15 August 1919 at Ives Cemetery in Allegan Co., Michigan.¹
     In 1870, at age 9, presumably after her mother's death, she was living with her grandfather Moses Farnsworth and his second wife (and Laura's grandmother) Almeda Baker in Prairieville, Barry Co., Michigan. Living in the same household were her mother's siblings Emma Crawford (21) and Herbert Crawford (17). Living in the same dwelling, but as a separate family, was her mother's sister Orcelia, her husband William Wheeler, and their two children.⁴ She was still there in 1880, in the same dwelling as her grandfather Moses and grandmother Almeda, but then as a servant in a separate family.⁵
     In 1900, two years after her husband's death, she was living with her five children, aged 13 to 4, in Plainwell, Allegan Co., Michigan,⁶ and working as a washerwoman.⁶ In 1910 she and her youngest daughter Eunice were living with her daughter Lavinia's family in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.⁷
     Note that Laura's husband William Wheeler's first wife was Laura's aunt Orcelia Crawford, making her husband also her uncle (by marriage).^8,9

     Julia A. Leary was born about 1845 in Ingham Co., Michigan.¹ She married first William Henry Crothers on 24 November 1861 in Boston, Ionia Co., Michigan.² She married second Edwin A. Wheaton on 1 October 1865 in Boston, Ionia Co., Michigan.⁴ She was married third, by Jacob Sears, to Henry D. Farnsworth, son of Moses Farnsworth and Mariah Burlingham, on 9 April 1871 in Marilla, Manistee Co., Michigan.¹
     She and her husband Henry are listed in the 1880 census in Marilla Twp., Manistee Co., Michigan. Listed with them in addition to their own four children are Hattie B. Crothers (15), Lily A. Wheaton (13), and Nellie M. Farnsworth (11). Hattie and Lily are listed as stepdaughters, and are Julia's children from her previous two marriages. Nellie M. Farnsworth is listed as a daughter, but with a word in front of daughter, very lightly written but possibly "step," that has been crossed out. Her age means she would have been born about 1869, before Henry and Julia's marriage, and she is probably actually Nellie Wheaton, Julia's daughter from her previous marriage.^5,6,7,8

     Flora I. Wicks was born on 8 October 1854 in Cooper Twp., Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.^4,2,5 She was married by Rev. H. F. Spencer to Sheldon Allen, son of George F. Allen and Susan M. Burlingham, on 1 January 1878 at the bride's home in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan. The witnesses were Sheldon's brother Charles and his wife Sarah.^2,1 She died on 11 December 1938, the same day as her son Claude, at her home in Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan, at age 84 from a heart attack.⁴ She was buried on 14 December 1938 at Oakhill Cemetery (Block K, Lot 87, Space 11) in Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan.^4,6
     After their marriage she and her husband Sheldon lived for a time with her parents at 39 Cedar St. in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.⁷ She and Sheldon were living at 428 Oak St. in Kalamazoo in 1883⁸, but by the end of that year had moved to Cooper (or Cooper Twp.), Kalamazoo Co., Michigan.⁹ They moved back to Kalamazoo about December 1888¹⁰, then to Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan, in 1889³, where they were living at 196 Hastings in 1900⁵, and at 58 Clancy St. in 1910.¹¹
     She continued to live in Grand Rapids after her husband's death, with her daughter Mabel, at 242 Hastings St. in 1920, and at 661 Kellogg St. in 1930.^12,13

     Rebecca Elizabeth Goodwin was born on 27 July 1843 (the 1900 census says July 1842) in Pittsfield, Warren Co., Pennsylvania.^2,3 She was married by George Cady, J. P., to John Allen, son of George F. Allen and Susan M. Burlingham, on 26 January 1864 at the home of W. D. Edgerton in Columbus, Warren Co., Pennsylvania.^4,5 She died from a cerebral hemorrhage on 18 August 1931 at the home of her daughter Cora Sheldon in Ottawa, Franklin Co., Kansas.^2,6 She was buried on 20 August 1931 at Hope Cemetery (Plot 34-8-6) in Ottawa, Franklin Co., Kansas.^2,7
     After the end of the Civil War, she and her husband John lived for a time on the old Allen family homestead near Corry, Erie Co., Pennsylvania.⁶ In 1869 John moved to Clay Co., Kansas, where he built a new homestead for his family. Rebecca and their two small children joined him the following year.^6,8,1 According to family legend, Rebecca's family's loyalties had been with the South during the Civil War, and they had prayed for her husband's death. After their move to Kansas, Rebecca never again had any contact with her family.⁹
     They are listed in Sherman Twp. in the 1870 census, in Mulberry Twp. in 1880, and in Bloom Twp. in 1900, all in Clay Co., Kansas. In 1900 their granddaughter Effie L. Andrus, age 11, was listed with them. (Effie was also listed with her parents in 1900, in Sheridan Twp., Garfield Co., Oklahoma.)^8,10,3,11 They moved to Clifton, Washington Co., Kansas, sometime between 1900 and 1910^3,12, and then to Ottawa, Franklin Co., Kansas, between 1910 and 1915, where they lived with their daughter Cora and her family.¹³
     After her husband's death in 1917, she continued to live with her daughter Cora's family in Ottawa until her own death in 1931.^6,14,15