Washtenaw MIGenWeb |
The Palmer Family of Manchester, Michigan |
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Foreword William Palmer was the first of this Palmer family to come to America. He arrived in 1621 on the Fortune, the second ship to arrive at the Plymouth Colony. Four generations later, with the marriage of his descendant William Palmer to Esther Taber, the line ties into the descendants of the Mayflower. Esther Taber was the granddaughter of John Cooke and the great granddaughter of Francis Cooke, both passengers on the Mayflower. This information and the early family history of the Palmers are documented in three sources: The Ancient Family of Palmer of Plymouth Colony, Little Compton Families, and Francis Cooke of the Mayflower, The First Five Generations. The Ancient Family of Palmer of Plymouth Colony traces the line down to the family of Samuel Palmer, who died in Manchester Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan, in 1844. Descendents of William H. Palmer and Esther Bronson 1836 - Present William and Esther Palmer's family is most closely linked with the house on section 16, where all but two of the children grew to maturity. According to the record of Oak Grove Cemetery, in 1851, two years before the family moved from section 5, DeForest, the fourth of the five boys, was killed in a fall from a roller. He was only five. The grave marker in Oak Grove bearing the name of Alice, the youngest child, shows that she was not quite 11 when she died of diphtheria in 1862. The other five children went elsewhere, one by one, leaving William and Esther alone in the house in 1880, according to the Federal Census that year; but, for nearly a century longer, beginning in 1884, when William died and his son, Samuel, took over the farm, Samuel's family lived there. They shared the house with Esther until she died, then Samuel and his wife, Frances VanWinkle Palmer, reared their four children there. Two of the children, Jane and William, who outlived their parents, lived there together for many years, until they built a new house and had the old one torn down. With William's wife, Laura Worden, they were the last Palmers to live on section 16. Laura, who outlived both her husband and her sister-in-law, continued to live there until her death in 1979. Click on the highlighted link below to access addtional information about the family:
Samuel Palmer and Clarissa Shumway, 1785-1862 Other Children of Samuel and Clarissa and their Descendants
Esther Palmer and Bethuel V. Peterson 1803-1854
Picture of Jane Palmer Acknowledgements The information located on these pages represent the research of Mary Lee MacDonald and Susan Luebke Whitfield, both descendants of Samuel Palmer and his son, William Hamlin Palmer. Our own family lines were the major focus of research, but we have included any information we found regarding other family members as well. In some cases there was a great deal, in others, very little. Because of our focus, we have departed from the usual order of presenting genealogies here, delaying the presentation of the families of Samuel Palmer's other children till the end. Our account is heavily indebted to Ann Fowler, the volunteer in charge of the Historical Room at the Manchester Township Library, and to the materials she found for us, especially a kind of memoir by Jane Palmer, the daughter of William's second son, Samuel Palmer. It is unfinished and unsigned, but portions were published in other places under her name. Jane seems to have set down her memories of her family and the house where they all lived, including the stories she heard from her parents, Samuel and Frances VanWinkle Palmer, and her Aunt Kate, Clarissa Palmer Reynolds. This record is the source of the many details of the daily life of the first three generations of Palmers traced here. Jane was once the librarian of the Manchester Township Library, and she even lived there in the upper story for some years. When research for this document began, one of our first sources was her memoir. Although it was difficult to follow until the family genealogy was nearly complete, we knew from the beginning that we would use large portions of it. Patterns began to emerge early on of a woman and a family who had a deep respect and love of nature and the beauty of the land. We saw human tragedy tempered by a love of life, gentleness and humor. In her writing Jane brought to life these people who were the Palmers of Manchester. Virginia Fielder, who, with her husband, Norman, inherited the old Palmer farm on section sixteen, gave us the ending of this story. She filled in many gaps in our information and supplied copies of land records that had been held by the Palmers. She also provided a tour of the farm. Too numerous to mention here are the many historical societies and researchers who generously shared information with us, and the many people, some related, some not, who took the time to become involved in our project. To one and all, our deep gratitude and thanks. Conclusion
One last note regarding Jane Palmer: We, the researchers creating this document, had the latest in technology to work with: automobiles to carry us from library to library, on-line access to databases around the world, and telephones and e-mail to keep in constant contact. Jane had only her memories, a manual typewriter, and probably very limited access to data outside of Washtenaw County. Yet, she stood with us. With the poignancy and beauty of her written word, she guided the search that led us, not only to the history of the Palmers, but also to this family's heart. Mary Lee MacDonald "Albany County Militia (Land Bounty Rights) - Ninth Regiment." New York Military in the Revolution. [data base online] Ancestry.com. Banister Banner and Bonner (Surname). RootsWeb.org, 27 Feb 2001 "Banner begins 125th year." [Carlyle, IL] Union Banner, 3 June 1987, [n.p.] Beakes, Samuel. Past and Present of Washtenaw County, Michigan. Chicago, 1906. Rpt. 1998. Bonner, R. I., ed. Memoirs of Lenawee County, Michigan. 2 vols. Madison, IL, 1909 Bryant, Joseph B. Rpt. "In Contact with the Union Banner's Roots, [Carlyle, IL] Union Banner, 24 Oct 1979, p. 1. Calendars, September 1995 and December 1987. Manchester Area Historical Society. Cemetery Records of Oakland County, Michigan. DAR. 1928. Vol. V. Chapman, Charles C., publ. History of Washtenaw County, Michigan. 2 vol. 1881 Compendium of History and Biography of the City of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan. Chicago, 1909. Cutcheon, Byron M. Michigan as a State, from its Admission to the Union to the Close of the Civil War. Vol. 3. Michigan as a Province, Territory and State, the Twenty-Sixth Member of the Federal Union. 3 vols. Henry M. Utley and Byron M. Cutcheon. The Publishing Society of Michigan, 1906. DAR Patriot Index. Centennial Edition, 1990. Washington, DC., 1994. Death Notices 1829-1867 from Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, Michigan Newspapers in the Michigan Historical Collections. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, [n.d.] Dunbar, Willis Frederick. Michigan Through the Centuries. Vol. I. 1955 English, Annetta, comp. History of Manchester Township. Washtenaw Historical Society, 1930. Gregg, Robert A. History of the Predecessors of Adrian College. [n. d.] [typescript] History of Marion and Clinton Counties, Illinois. Philadelphia, 1881. History of Oakland County, Michigan. 1877. Horning, Kathie. "A List of Deaths in Manchester, Michigan (1833-1927). "In Family History Capers. Issued periodically (Fall 1987 [vol. 11, no. 2] to Winter 1990 [vol. 13, no. 3]. Washtenaw County Historical Society. Illinois: Roster of Officers and Enlisted Men. Clinton County Historical Society Quarterly. [n. d.] [PERSI]
Index of the Rolls of Honor in the Lineage Books of the NSDAR. 2 vols. Baltimore, 1988. The Jane Palmer Papers. Collected by Jane Palmer in the Manchester, Michigan Community. [ca. 1966.] Livsey, Karen E. Western New York Land Transactions, 1804-1824. Extracted from the Archives of the Holland Land Company. 1991. Manchester Fractional District Number 4. Register book found at public auction. Manchester's First Hundred Years, 1867-1967. [n.d.] Manchester Township Cemeteries. Looseleaf notebook. LDS Family History Center, Ann Arbor, MI. McMaster, Guy H. History of the Settlement of Steuben County, New York. Bath, 1853. [News Item, Oscar Palmer]. The Tecumseh News, 2 Dec. 1886, p. 1. "Notice to Creditors." The Ann Arbor Argus, 11 Sep 1850. "Oak Grove Cemetery, Manchester, Michigan." Washtenaw County Cemetery Records. Old Bible and Other Pioneer Records. Vol. III. Comp., Mrs. Edward V. Howlett, 1927-1930. Genealogical Collections, Vol. 4. Daughters of the American Revolution, Michigan. "Oscar M. Palmer Dead." The Tecumseh News, 5 July 1912. Palmer, Carlton A. The Ancient Family of Palmer of Plymouth Colony. 1916. Palmer, Jane. History of Manchester, Michigan. Copied from original in Michigan Historical Collection. [n. d.]. Peck, Paul R. Landsmen of Washtenaw County; An Atlas and Plat of the First Land Owners of Washtenaw County, Michigan. 1986. Pension and Bounty Land Application Files. National Archives. Washington, D.C. Peterson, James W. Record. Civil War Pension Index. Ancestry.com Pool, William, ed. Landmarks of Niagara County, New York. New York, 1897. Proctor, Diane E. Beyond the Boulevard. Tecumseh Area Historical Society, 1996. "Resolutions of I.O.O.F. Lodge, Sat. Aug. 31 1850." Michigan Argus, 11 Sept 1850. [n.d.] Death Notices 1829-1867 from Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, Michigan Newspapers in the Michigan Historical Collections. University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI. [n.d.] Revolutionary War Military Service Records. National Archives. Washington, D.C. Rohrbough, Malcolm J. The Land Office Business; The Settlement and Administration of American Public Lands, 1789-1837 New York, 1968. Root, James Pierce. Root Genealogical Records, 1600-1870; Comprising the General History of the Root and Roots Families in America. 1870. Rose, Gregory S. "The Sources of Washtenaw County's Population by 1950." Family History Capers, 10:2 (Fall 1986). Washtenaw County Historical Society. Tax Assessment Rolls, Manchester, Michigan. Michigan Archives. Lansing, Michigan. VanWinkle, Daniel. A Genealogy of the VanWinkle Family; Account of its Origin and Settlement in This Country with Data, 1630-1913. 1913. Vital Records, Washtenaw County, Michigan. Comp., Ypsilanti Chapter, DAR, Washtenaw, Michigan, 1944. Wilbour, Benjamin Franklin. Little Compton Families. Little Compton Historical Society. Little Compton, RI, 1967. Wiley, Samuel T., and W. Scott Garner, eds. Biographical and Portrait Encyclopedia of Niagara County, New York. 1892. Wood, Jr., Ralph V. Francis Cooke of the Mayflower; The First Five Generations. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Vol. 12. Rockport, ME, 1999.
Censuses •
State •
Death Records, State of Michigan
Land Records
Bureau of Land Management. General Land Office
Register of Deeds. Washtenaw County, Michigan. Statement of Title 1853-1883 State of Michigan to William H. Palmer 40 acres, nw ¼ of ne ¼ 16 Apr 1878 State of Michigan to William H. Palmer 40 acres, se ¼ of ne ¼ 16 Apr 1878 State of Michigan to William H. Palmer 40 acres, ne ¼ of ne ¼ 16 Apr 1878 Oscar M. Palmer to Samuel L. Palmer ne ¼ of ne ¼ 40 acres, 28 Jun 1883 Peter and Mary E. VanWinkle to Francis A. Palmer 40 acres, sw ¼ of ne ¼ Palmer Farm Manchester Township, Section 15, T4S, R3E Maps •Marriage Records, 1838-1917, County Clerk, St. Clair County, Michigan. Christiana J. Palmer and Hiram Barnett, 15 Jun 1852. IGI FamilySearch.org. •Marriages 1827-1857 in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI, 1961. •Marriage Records, State of Michigan •Oscar Palmer and Nellie E. Taylor, 25 Oct 1864, Hudson, Lenawee County. •Samuel L. Palmer and Fanny VanWinkle., 16 Dec 1874 Jackson, Jackson County. Probate Files Wills A special thank you to direct descendants; Susan Luebke Whitfield and Mary Lee MacDonald for donating this transcribed data for inclusion on the Washtenaw Co., MIGenWeb site. For any additional information regarding this documented research, please contact Susan at: whitfield.c@att.net |
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