M. George Allen's Bostwick Family

Genealogy of the Bostwick Family in America: ...:

M. George Allen, my Dad's cousin was the last person listed (5th generation):

Source - Powers & Palm Tree

The Bostwicks were part of George's paternal line.  Since we connect on his maternal line (Powers), we are not directly related to this family.

In The 1934 Directory

Some surnames of interest in Genesee County, Michigan:

1934 Flint City Directory

Allen, Wm R (Mae A) rail opr  Eastern Mich  Rys  r 1701 E. Hamilton

Boismier, Lawrence W.  auto wkr  r 801 E. Paterson

Brown, Matthew, autowkr  r 918 E. Kurtz

Cameron, Anna (wid Donald) h 903 Warren

Pearce, E. May  r 1248 Poplar

Logan, Alonzo (Pearl) autowkr  h 910 Ann Arbor

Morgan, Mrs. Blanche  h 713 E. Stewart Ave.
Morgan, Wm A. (Marie) autowker  h 1110 Huron

Kuhnle, Albert
Kuhnle, Louis (Mary I)
Kuhnle, Wm  r 4417 Thetford Rd

Powers, Marion G. (Marian J) autowkr  h 1530 Colorado
Powers, Ralph (Beatrice) bodywkr  r 1661 Beach
Powers, William S. (Addie M) carp  h 1530 Colorado

Rose, Bert (Cornelia) lab  h 1500 Fenton Rd

Myers, Georgianna, student, r 1500 Fenton Rd.

Simonson, Leonard (Gertrude) h 1701 N. Stevenson

Mainprize, Clara  r 625 McKeighan Av
Mainprize, Robert (Martha) lab 625 McKeighan
Wodtke, Fred J (Myrtle E) autowkr  h 619 Copeman Blvd

Indexes And Abstracts Of Connecticut Estates

The Connecticut State Library's link to Connecticut Archives included the following (and more):

A random example from the above described file:

Ancestral Allen Families in America

Putnam's monthly historical magazine published an article entitled, "ancestral Allen Families in America."

Occasionally I compile information about Allen families hoping to find leads to the ancestors of John Allen of Cayuga Co., New York, and Lapeer County, Michigan. John's descendant, Marion George Allen, was my Dad's cousin.

Cousin M. George Allen

My Dad's cousin, M. George Allen (his mother was Addie Powers), was an enthusiastic researcher late in life. He posted this query looking for his Allen relatives in Cayuga County, New York, on September 26, 2001. He died on 29 October 2001.


The picture above was taken when George and his wife, Dorothy, were returning to California from a genealogical trip to New York, and stopped to visit Dorothy's relatives who lived in my Oscoda, Michigan, neighborhood.

It was George Allen who sent me one of my most prized genealogical possessions: A picture of John & Mary (Agnes) Kennedy. Keeping the search for George's paternal relatives alive is my way of repaying his kindness as well as expanding the family tree.

Here is the obituary of M. George Allen's grandfather, William Smith Allen.

Obituary - William S. Allen Of Lapeer Co., MI

From the Lapeer County Democrat, published 28 December 1892:


William Smith Allen, son of John & Lucy (Richardson) Allen* died 13 December 1892. He married Emily J. Shepard, daughter of Alexander P. & Catherine (Snyder) Shepard. William Roy Allen, son of William S. & Emily (Shepard) Allen married my great-aunt, Addie Mae Powers, as his 2nd wife. Their other children were Julia (Jeannette) and Lucy Catherine Allen. The widow, Emily, married Ira Schoch on 28 May 1899. Emily died in Saugatuck, Allegan Co., MI, on August 6, 1915, and is buried in Lapeer.

*Lucy can be found in the Bostwick family genealogy; her parents were Abraham & Anna (Bostwick) Richardson.

Moving From Michigan To Peach Orchard, Arkansas

Charles & Jennie (Howland) Allen of Lapeer Co., Michigan, made the move to Peach Orchard, Clay County, Arkansas, after first moving to Esmond, Benson, North Dakota. Charles Allen's place of residence is listed here in his mother's probate papers.

The following letter was published in the Lapeer Clarion newspaper extolling the virtues of Peach Orchard, Arkansas.


Lapeer Clarion
9 April 1890

Peach Orchard, Arkansas

Friends in Lapeer have repeatedly written asking the advisability of locating in Arkansas. They are too numerous to answer individually, so will you kindly insert the following. I have been engaged for the past eighteen months in the lumbering business. This is the chief industry in this section. All varieties of hard wood are plentiful--oak, ash, gum, cyprus [sic - cypress], and occasionally black walnut. The cyprus is of exceptionally good quality and I have seen some ninety feet high without a limb and seven feet across the stump on the property of R. G. Hart. Great chances are offered here for the manufacture of cyprus shingles. Shipping facilities are good, the St. L. I. A. & S. and K. C. railways running through here. Eventually the hard wood will come from here, Missouri and parts of Tennessee. There are three saw mills here, all of them doing a good business, and a fourth one is now in process of erection. A good milling man can always get steady employment, the wages ranging from $1.25 to $2.00 a day. I think a living is easier made here than in the North. I do not wish it to be understood that to make a living a man need not work, but do say that is requires less labor to cultivate the natural product of the country than in northern parts. The principal crops are oats, corn wheat and cotton, all of which are raised with good success. Horses, cattle and hogs run wild the year around and require no herding. The only trouble in connection with raising stock is the branding. A great number of people have located here in the past six months and nearly all the government free land is taken, but good farming and timber land can be had for from $7 to $10 an acre. Altogether I can heartily recommend Arkansas to any one wishing to secure a good home.

Robert Pratt.

Update: Here's another blog related to Jennie (Howland) Allen

Bigamy In Lapeer County?

While researching this story (Ida Shotwell married into the Davis family), the following blurb caught my attention:

Wm m. 3rd _____ and had Austin W. Shotwell; the 3rd wife, now of Almont, was found to have another living husband from whom she had not been legally divorced. The accordingly parted and the last marriage was set aside.

So apparently there was bigamy in Lapeer Co., Michigan, in the 1870's - the story found in the Shotwell family history, Annals of our colonial ancestors and their descendants by Ambrose Milton Shotwell).

Records show that William Shotwell m. Margaret and that their child was Austin Shotwell, born on 19 February 1873. The marriage record of Austin Shotwell's marriage to Minnie Field stated that his mother was Margaret Allen.

Groom's name: Austin W Shotwell
Groom's age: 21 years
Groom's birth year: 1873
Groom's birthplace: Michigan
Bride's name: Minnie M Field
Bride's age: 17 years
Bride's birth year: 1877
Bride's birthplace: Michigan
Marriage date: 20 Mar 1894
Marriage place: Almont, Lapeer, Michigan
Father of groom's name: Wm Shotwell
Mother of groom's name: Magaret Allen
Father of bride's name: Lorenzo Field
Mother of bride's name: Kate Harrington
Collection: Michigan Marriages 1868-1925

This query appeared to reference this William Shotwell, and if so, indicated that Margaret Allen had a sister, Sarah, who married James B. Woodward.

Marriage record online for William & Margaret Shotwell (later dissolved marriage):
Groom's name: William Shotwell
Groom's age: 54 years
Groom's birth year: 1816
Groom's birthplace: New Jersey
Bride's name: Margaret Conley
Bride's age: 29 years
Bride's birth year: 1841
Bride's birthplace: Pennsylvania
Marriage date: 15 Feb 1870
Marriage place: Arcadia, Lapeer, Michigan
Collection: Michigan Marriages 1868-1925

Margaret, who went by Margaret Shotwell, was enumerated with a son Artemus (called Arthur on the 1870 census) Conley, so on her 1870 marriage record (the marriage later dissolved) she must have used her married name, "Conley," rather than her maiden name, "Allen."

1870 MI Lapeer, Arcadia
Shotwell, William, 54, b. NJ
", Margaret, 28, b. PA
", George, 17, MI
", Lucy, 8, b. MI
", Charles, 5, b. MI
Conly, Arthur [sic], 8, b. MI

1880 MI Census, Lapeer Co., Arcadia
Margaret SHOTWELL Self M Female W 37 PA Keeping House VT PA
Alimus SHOTWELL Son Male W 17 MI Laborer NY PA
Austin SHOTWELL Son S Male W 7 MI NJ PA
Jane WOODARD Other Female W 47 PA Doing House Work VT PA*
John BRUCE Other Male W 30 MI Laborer --- ---
(Continued)
*Is this SARAH Jane Woodward, William Shotwell's sister-in-law referenced in the query above?

Artemus, son of Margaret Allen Conley Shotwell & Artemus Conley, Sr.

Name: Artemus J Conley
Residence: Almont village, Lapeer, Michigan
Birthdate: Sep 1862
Birthplace: Michigan
Relationship to head-of-household: Self
Spouse's name: Mary Conley [nee King]
Spouse birthplace: Canada Eng
Father's birthplace: New York
Mother's birthplace: Pennsylvania
Race or color (expanded): White
Estimated marriage year: 1883
Enumeration district: 0028
Sheet number and letter: 7B
Household id: 187
Reference number: 78
GSU film number: 1240724
Image number: 00464
Collection: 1900 United States Census

More information from the "Shotwell" book:

Wm Shotwell m. 1st Theresa Linabury, who d. 1858
3 ch:
...John of WI
....George of ..., Ore m. 1st Mary Robinson - ch Maud Martha raised by great aunt Orilla Shotwell Warden in Oakland Co
George m. 2nd Julia Serprise
6 Ch:
Bert
Frank
Guy R.
Claude J.
Arthur
Ray
ALSO:
Harrald

...Mary, d. Oakland Co., MI

Wm Shotwell m. 2nd Libbie Fitchgark or Fitzgerald; after she died their 3 children raised by aunt Orilla in Oakland Co.
Ch:
Lucy Louise m. David Vanderhoof and live in Cannon Co., TN
Charles Winfield, Oakland Co.
Fred, called Fred Warren, dw near Oxbow, MI and had ch: Archie & Clarence

William Shotwell was in Lapeer County as early as 1850 and was enumerated on the 1850 census as follows:

Name: William Shatwell
Residence: Lapeer, Michigan
Age: 35 years
Estimated birth year: 1815
Birthplace: New Jersey
Film number: 443570
Image number: 00163
Reference number: 31
Dwelling: 1186
Household id: 1194
Collection: 1850 United States Census

In 1860, William Shotwell was enumerated as follows:

1860 MI Census, Lapeer
Shotwell, William, 44, b. NJ
", Angeline R., 16, b. NY
", John (age 10 or 14), b. MI
", George, 8, b. MI
", Mary, 4, b. MI

Allen is a surname I research in Lapeer County; I don't know enough about the parents of Margaret (Allen) Conley Shotwell and Sarah (Allen) Woodward, both born in Pennsylvania, except one parent was born in Vermont and the other born in Pennsylvania, to determine if they are related to any of the Allens for whom I've been searching.

Lucy (Richardson) Allen of Lapeer & Arenac Counties

A probate item, filed in Arenac County, Michigan, referencing Lapeer County property, for the estate of Lucy (Richardson) Allen. Lucy's grandson, William Roy Allen, married Mae Powers, my great-aunt.

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