Francis and Elizabeth Keillor Carmichael Expanded The Final Chapters

Thomson (Thompson) and Barbara Hubley Carmichael - The rest of the family, however it looks like this will be in three segments. there was so much information, I wanted to include as much of it as I could.

          VI. Alexander Francis (1835-1927) m. in 1867 Ellen Dillon both of Middle River, NS. They were married in the Roman Catholic Church in Albion Mines, Pictou Co., NS. The obit. in the 1927 Mendocino CA newspaper states he was b. in Cambridge MA. There is no record of Thomson and his wife being in MA when Alexander was born.  All the rest of their children were born at various locations in Pictou Co. It seems reasonable to think Alexander was born in Nova Scotia as well. However, he did go to Medway MA, where most of his children were born. His son Thomas was born there in 1868.

{My note} I believe Alexander may have simply found it easier to say he was born in the USA. In the late 1800’s, there would be virtually no way of proving or disproving his birth. Many times a child’s birth didn’t get recorded immediately and families were on the move, resettling in so many new places. It would be an easy thing to get away with. There was also another Alexander and the two may have bee confused with each other.

His wife’s father was Thomas Dillon b. in 1792 in Ireland. He was a farmer in Pictou Co., NS.

It’s rather difficult to follow all of Alexander’s movements. His son, Thomas, was born in MA in 1868. The next child, James was born in NS in 1869. In the 1871 Canadian cen. Alexander’s occupation was listed as Stock Raiser. Then his third child, Matthew, was born in MA in 1871. This clearly shows he was out of Nova Scotia by the end of 1871. He went to CA, May 17 1877 and lived at Orr's Hot Springs. His last two children were born in CA. By the 1880 Federal cen., they had 5 children (2 had died) and his occupation was still a Stock Raiser. Interestingly, there are two 1880 Fed. census reports for him in two different locations. This possibly happened because he moved in between the dates of the two census reports. One of the 1880 censuses finds his name spelled Carmikel. His 1880 CA voter registration says he was living in Big River, Mendocino. Then in 1882, he went to Medocino (possibly the city). In 1884 he moved to Fort Bragg and worked as a carpenter on the new settlement.  He was an architect, who built many Victorian styled homes in Mendocino, CA. Some of these homes were used to depict the Maine village on “Murder She Wrote” (TV program). The 1900 census for Calpella Township, Mendocino Co., CA is blurred and nearly unreadable. He was still a carpenter. Also in the 1900 census, Ellen’s brother, Matthew Dillon is living with them. He was age 74. Three of their children live with them James, age 30, Elizabeth age 27, and Laura age 25. There are two granddaughters living with them as well, Gladys age 7 and Lillian age 4, both named Carmichael. They are the children of their son, Thomas.

His wife, Ellon (sic.) died in 1922 (Jan. 30).  Two sons: Thomas Carmichael of Fort Bragg and James A. Carmichael of Ukiah;  3 daughters - Laura, Mrs. Walter Mack of Willits and Mrs. Jack Gibson of Ukiah, survived.  There was also a sister in MA.

Their children were:

          A. Thomas (1868-1941)

          B. James Alexander (1869-1940)

          C. Matthew (1871-1885)

          D. Elizabeth Ellen (1873-1922)

          E. Laura (1875-1967)

          F. Unnamed Female (aft 1877- aft 1877)

          G. Matilda (1879-?)

It seems that Alexander and family stayed in the Mendocino County area. They were in Big River, Ten Mile River, Fort Bragg and other places. There were huge logging operations in that county starting in the 1860’s. Families lived in the logging camps, children went to school and jobs ranged from cooks to sawyers.

          A. Thomas (1868-1941) was married twice. His first wife was Lydia Bell Hall, whom he married in 1892. They had two daughters, Gladys and Lillian. They were divorced in 1902. Thomas married again in 1903 to Selma Hentila, an immigrant from Finland. They had 6 children. The 1900 census shows Thomas’ two girls from his first marriage living with his parents Alexander and Ellon in Calpella Township, Mendocino, CA and Thomas living in Big River Twnshp, Mendocino Co., CA. In 1910, Gladys was 15 and Lillian was 13, both still living with their grandparents, Alexander and Ellon, but they are now in Ukiah, Mendocino, CA. Gladys was b. in 1893 so her age is incorrect in the 1910 census. It should have stated that she was 17. In 1911 there was an affadavit for a marriage license for Gladys Marjorie Carmichael, age 18 of Orrs and Sydney Nathaniel Brines of Ukiah age 22. Lillian married William Sagart in 1926. There is a family story about two of Thomas’ daughter having died violent deaths. Unfortunately, this story doesn’t seem to get things quite right. Lillian lived until 1968 and is buried in Rose Park Cem. in Fort Bragg, CA. The story goes on to say one daughter was found murdered on the beach, didn’t say which daughter or which beach. The other daughter was killed by a child molester. Since Lillian lived to age 72, this obviously doesn’t apply to her. Perhaps it was Gladys who was murdered on the beach. This ‘legend’ came from an aunt who visited the Carmichaels several times. I don’t doubt the story, but wish for more details. Perhaps Thomas lost a child from his 2^nd marriage and the stories have become mixed. I am still pursuing this.

          The children of Thomas and Selma Hentila Carmichael were:

1.     Ellon (1908-1996) m. c 1936 Vernon Reginald Sogard

2.     Sophia (1909-1959) m. in 1938 Reid Titus

3.     Daisy (1914-1971) m.1 Charles Sorola; m. 2 Elisha Bowman; m.3 Unknown O’Brien

4.     Elizabeth (1917-1992) Spinster

5.     Frederick (1924-2007) Bachelor; worked in the movie industry

6.     Archibald (1926-2000) m. in 1946  Evelyn DePriest – 4 children

          B. James Alexander (1869-1940) m. in 1900 to Margaret Jennie (Jane) Cameron of Cuffey’s Bay CA. James was a house carpenter and over the years lived at several different locations on Oak St. in Ukiah, CA. They had 11 children; one child died in infancy. They were:

1.     James A. jr. (1903- aft 1940) In the 1940 census for Ukiah, James was, single, age 37 and living with his widowed mother Margaret. He was a general laborer.

2.     Vivian (1905-?)

3.     Peter (1907-1988)

4.     William Henry (1909-1942)

5.     Margaret (1913-?)

6.     Francis (1915-?)

7.     George (1915-?)

8.     Thomas (1919-1986)

9.     Edward (1922-?)

10. Donald Eugene (1924-1987)

Once research hits the 1940 census, there is not a lot more available. Occasionally, some states do have death records and Social Security death info. CA is not overly generous with their information, so I have little more on the James Alexander Carmichael family. Some descendants could still be alive and that info would not be included here regardless.

          C. Elizabeth Ellen Carmichael (1873-1961) m. in 1907 Walter Mack

In the 1910 census they were living in Big River, Mendocino, CA. Walter’s two children from a previous marriage, Inez age 13 and Walter age 12, were living with them. Their first child, Laura, was age 1. Walter Mack was a rancher and owned his own property. By 1920, they were living in Little Lake, Mendocino, CA and Walter was still owner of a ranch. His son Walter (jr.) was 21 and worked as a rancher on his father’s property. Inez, was 23 and worked as a bookkeeper. Three more children had been added to the family, Myrtle age 8, Billy age 7 and Tom age 5.  They were living in Willits Town, Mendocino, CA by 1930 and Walter appears to be a farm laborer, rather than an owner. The two youngest boys were living with them. In 1930, their oldest daughter, Laura, is shown living with a man named Harry Woolley, who calls her his niece. He was a carpenter and she was a waitress in a lunch room. He was age 55 and she was age 21. In 1931, they were married. He had been married to a woman named Lottie Hall and they had three children, Harold, Flossie and Ort. All three were older than Laura. In the 1940 census, they apparently had no children but living with them was Laura’s Aunt Laura Carmichael, her mother’s sister. Interestingly, I can find no references to any of the Macks for 1940. I did find three different William Mack’s who were all prisoners of war in three different places. 

          The children were:

                    1. Laura (1909-2005) see above

                    2. Myrtle (1912-?)

                    3. Billie (1913-?)

                    4. Tom (1915-?)

There are dozen of people with the name Tom Mack. The info I found did not provide enough descriptive data to determine if any one of them was the Tom from this marriage.

          D. Laura Carmichael  (1875-1967) Laura apparently never married, at least I was unable to find any marriage records for her. In the 1940 she was living with her niece, Laura Mack, d/o her sister Elizabeth E. Carmichael Mack, in Cloverdale, Sonoma, CA. It says she was living in San Francisco CA in 1935. She was living in Glenn, CA at the time of her death in 1967.

          E. Unnamed Female Carmichael (1877- aft.1877) Could find no records for this birth and/or death.

          F. Matilda Carmichael (1879-?) In Nov 1899, Matilda, AKA Tillie, was married to Robert Body in San Francisco. The marriage certificate states that Matilda lived in Hot Springs, CA. Her father was one of the witnesses, also of Hot Springs. She and Robert had three daughters who were living with her parents in 1910, in Ukiah CA. They were Ethel, age 9, Muriel, age 8, and Frances, age 5.

Sometime before 1914, Matilda and Robert divorced and she married Roy Lyndall Kellogg. I couldn’t find any census records for them. Matilda died in 1951 at which time she was married to John A. Gibson. I’ve been unable to find death or divorce records for Roy Kellogg or a marriage record for Matilda and John. John died in 1953. Both he and Matilda are buried in the Ukiah Cem., Ukiah CA.

Alexander and his wife Ellon on the right. Matilda in front. Unfortunately, I don't know which name goes to the two men or the two remaining women.

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Canadian Census Records

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Birth, death and marriages records

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springhill_mining_disaster

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