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Polly is the daughter of
Peter Bliss Sr.
(1765 - 1853),
and his wife Mary ("Molly") Perry
(1772 - 1836),
of Leyden, Franklin County Mass.,
and (later), of Truxton,
Cortland County New York.
Polly was the second of 17 children.
------------------------------
Note: PLEASE, do NOT transfer this
memorial to other web sites.
Thanks, Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
------------------------------
Two of Polly's siblings,
her brother Hiram Bliss Sr.
(with his wife Anna (Ross) Bliss,
and their son DeBert Bliss), and
her sister Sarah E. (Bliss) French
(the 1st wife of Samuel French),
are also buried here in the
Howe Cemetery with their spouses,
and some of their children.
------------------------------
Polly's sister Louisa and her
husband William...
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Polly is the daughter of
Peter Bliss Sr.
(1765 - 1853),
and his wife Mary ("Molly") Perry
(1772 - 1836),
of Leyden, Franklin County Mass.,
and (later), of Truxton,
Cortland County New York.
Polly was the second of 17 children.
------------------------------
Note: PLEASE, do NOT transfer this
memorial to other web sites.
Thanks, Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
------------------------------
Two of Polly's siblings,
her brother Hiram Bliss Sr.
(with his wife Anna (Ross) Bliss,
and their son DeBert Bliss), and
her sister Sarah E. (Bliss) French
(the 1st wife of Samuel French),
are also buried here in the
Howe Cemetery with their spouses,
and some of their children.
------------------------------
Polly's sister Louisa and her
husband William McKnight, are
buried in the Silverbrook Cemetery,
in Niles, Berrien County Michigan.
------------------------------
Polly's parents, and six of her
siblings, are buried in the
"Truxton Rural Cemetery",
in Truxton, Cortland County
New York, along with Frederick's
father, Antipass Howe.
------------------------------
Polly was married on March 12, 1812
in Leyden, Franklin Co. Massachusetts,
to Frederick Howe [Sr.], the son of
Antipass Howe and his wife
Joanna Lawrence.
-------------------------------
Frederick and Polly Howe then moved
with his parents to Truxton, Cortland
County New York in 1812 (per: "History
of Berrien and Van Buren Counties,
Michigan", by D. W. Ensign).
-----
Note: Polly's parents and siblings,
also moved to Truxton,
Cortland County New York.
-------------------------------
Frederick and Polly Howe had 12 children,
all born in Truxton, Cortland County
New York:
-----------
1. Frederick ALONZO Howe [Jr.]
b. Dec. 12, 1813.
m. Sarah A. Smith,
the daughter of John Smith,
on Oct. 30, 1856 in Bertrand Twp.
Children: Willie A., George E. Howe
and Alonzo F. Howe.
d. 1862
Buried: Howe Cemetery.
Note: See picture of Frederick and
Sarah in "A Twentieth Century History
of Berrien County Michigan".
-------------------------------
2. Dezire Howe.
b. Fri. May 5, 1815, Truxton,
Cortland County New York.
m. Nov. 23, 1837, to Alfred Wells Johnson,
an early settler of Niles, Michigan,
and the son of John Johnson.
Alfred served in the legislature for
two years (about 1847-1849).
d. Oct. 18, 1896, in Niles, MI.
Buried: Silverbrook Cemetery, Niles, MI.
Their nine children are:
(All born in Niles, MI and most
buried in Silverbrook Cemetery)
1. John Frederick Johnson.
b. Mon. Dec. 17, 1838, in Niles, MI.
Resided at 5140 Wabash Ave., Chicago.
d. 1915.
2. Richard Marion Johnson.
b. Wed. May 13, 1840.
m. Hattie L. Barker,
at Chillicothe, Missouri.
Resided at 5140 Wabash Ave., Chicago.
d. 1907.
3. Francis Mortimer "Frank" Johnson.
b. Sun. May 8, 1842, in Niles, MI.
m. Marilla Alwilda Chipman.
d. 1911.
4. Julia Estelle Johnson.
b. Sat. March 9, 1844.
m. Henry T. Kimmel, on Dec. 14, 1865.
d. 1928.
5. George Franklin Johnson.
b. Thursday, March 5, 1846.
m. Annie C. Cook, on Dec. 22, 1885.
d. Aug. 5, 1893.
6. Oliver Howell Johnson.
b. Feb. 12, 1848.
d. March 24, 1848.
7. Helen Isabella Johnson.
b. Sat. Aug. of 1849.
m. John A. Montague, on Oct. 6, 1873.
d. 1929.
8. Mary Frances Johnson.
b. Fri. Nov. 3, 1853.
m. Orson McKay, on Oct. 2, 1883.
d. 1934.
9. Charles Alfred Johnson.
b. Fri. Feb. 8, 1856.
m. Mrs. Bertha (Hopkins) Perritt,
on Aug. 20, 1883, at Marshall, MI.
d. 1935.
-------------------------------
3. Lucinda Howe.
b. Dec. 14, 1816.
She was the first teacher in the log
schoolhouse on her father's farm:
four months in the summer and three
months in the winter.
m. Justice Bailey, Jan. 17, 1839,
in Berrien County Michigan.
Justice Bailey was born
"about" 1811, in New York.
In the 1850 census, Justice and
Lucinda Bailey were living in
Racine, Racine County Wisconsin.
She lived in Racine, Wisconsin and
later, in Buchanan, MI (diagonally
opposite the railroad station).
Justice worked in a shipyard on the
Maumee River, near Toledo.
Later he acquired a freight boat and
hauled cargo from Detroit to Chicago.
Justice was the master of a Great
Lakes Schooner between Detroit and
Chicago, named the "Gazelle".
Lucinda went with him for a time.
After their children arrived, she
set up home in Racine, Wisconsin.
See: "Papers, 1968", written by
Justice Bailey's grandson Charles
Harvey Roe (including Howe and Roe
genealogical information),
at the Wisconsin Historical Society
Archives, in Madison, Wisconsin.
OCLC Number 145788804 (one folder).
There is a harbor named after Justice,
named "Bailey's Harbor", located one
hundred and fifty miles above
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in Door County,
which he discovered during a storm.
When the Civil War started he set out
for the South because he heard of a
(bridge or ship) building project on
the Red River on the Texas boundary
and he wanted to be in on it.
Justice was never heard from again.
Lucinda's father built a small house for
her near his home by the Buchanan depot,
and there she brought up her children.
d. July 25, 1895, at 79 years.
Buried: Howe Cemetery.
Note: See "Old Peninsula Days", by
H. R. Holand, pubished 1928 by the
Pioneer Publishing Company,
Ephraim, Wisconsin.
Also, see article published in the
"Berrien County Record" newspaper,
in Buchanan, MI, on Oct. 30, 1853,
written by Lucinda's Great-grandson
Charles H. Roe.
-----------------------------
4. Francis Willard Howe.
b. Oct. 4, 1818 in Truxton,
Cortland County New York (per obit).
m. # 1. Betsy Ann Crane, Feb. 6, 1848,
in Berrien County Michigan.
Children: Frank M., Luella A.,
and Alice.
Betsy died on Jan. 18, 1853,
at the age of
23 years, 10 months, and 20 days.
m. # 2. Hannah C. French, Nov. 1, 1854,
in Berrien County Michigan.
Hannah is the daughter of
Titus French Sr. and his wife
Elizabeth ("Betsey") Thayer.
Children: Mary Ella (she married William
H. Danforth), and Horace I. Howe.
Hannah was born Aug. 24, 1827 in
Hague, Warren County, New York,
and Hannah died on Nov. 12, 1889
in Berrien County, Michigan.
Francis developed the farm that later
became known as the "Hall's Apple Farm"
one and 1/2 miles S. of Buchanan, MI.
Francis was appointed as the guardian
for two of his sister Mary's step-
children, Nancy A. Smith and Howard
Francis Smith, when they had inherited
some real estate in Buchanan Township.
Nancy A. Smith lived with the family
of Francis W. & Hannah Howe, when she
was a teenager. Nancy A. Smith later
married Francis's cousin DeBert Bliss
in Bertrand Twp., Berrien Co. Michigan.
d. March 21, 1898, at the
home of his daughter Mary Ella
Danfouth in Harvey, Cook Co. Illinois,
at the age of 80 years.
Buried: Howe Cemetery.
------------------------------
5. Mary Howe.
b. March 28, 1820.
m. # 1. Edward DeMont, May 21, 1840.
Children: Richard A., Fred and Florence.
(Edward DeMont died Jan. 5, 1851).
m. # 2. James Smith Sr., March 31, 1852,
at Howard [Twp.], Cass Co. Michigan.
James Smith Sr. and Mary had no children
"together". Mary's second husband
James Smith Sr., and Mary's eldest son,
Richard A. DeMont, and her two step-
sons Howard F. Smith, and James Milton
Smith Jr., all served in the Civil War.
d. Dec. 24, 1884, age 73 years,
(at the home of her son Richard),
in South Bend, St. Joseph Co. Indiana.
Buried: Howe Cemetery, next to her
first husband Edward DeMont.
Note: The James Smith that is buried
in the Howe Cemetery is NOT Mary's
second husband. Her 2nd husband
James Smith Sr. was born in 1814
in Deposit, Delaware County New York
and he is listed in the 1850 Berrien
County Michigan census with
five children and no wife.
Mary's second husband James Smith Sr.,
is buried in the Bakertown Cemetery,
next to his first wife
Sally/Sarah E. (Carroll) Smith.
Note: See the memorial for James Smith Sr.,
and for his youngest child Nancy
(Mary's step-daughter), on this web site:
James Smith Sr., of Berrien Co. MI
(buried in the Bakertown Cemetery).
Nancy (Smith-Bliss) Studebaker,
(of New Mexico).
------------------------------
6. Hezekiah Joshua Howe,
known as "H. J." Howe.
b. Jan. 27, 1822 in Truxton, New York.
m. Lucretia Sylvia Fox, March 23, 1848,
in Berrien County Michigan.
Children: Frances Amelia,
Medora Arabella, Frederick Alonzo,
Albert Orleans, Lillie Belle, and
Eugene Carlton Howe.
Note: His daughter Lillie Belle
Howe was the Valedictorian of the
very first Buchanan High School
graduating class in 1877.
Lillie became a school teacher, and
later, at age 37, married the widowed
Rev. Milo Smith Sr. on March 31, 1896,
in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Milo had
served in the Civil War from Ohio.
(Milo had four children with his first
wife Abigail Ostrander, who died in 1893).
Lillie had three children.
Lillie died on March 20, 1954,
in Morro Bay, California, at the
age of 95, and is buried in the
Hillside Memorial Park, in
Redlands, California.
H. J. Howe and his family lived at
307 W. Front St., Buchanan, MI., until
1878, then they moved near the "Shaker
Farm", near Berrien Springs, Michigan.
d. June 18, 1904 in Berrien Springs, MI.
Buried: Rose Hill Cemetery
(Range 14, lot # 10).
------------------------------
7. Dr. George Antipas Howe.
b. Sept. 23, 1823 in
Truxton, Cortland County, New York.
m. Mary A. Van Stavern,
March 11, 1848, in Berrien Co. MI.
Children: Frederick Alonzo, Kate Lydia,
Charles Albert, James Franklin,
Ida Isabel, Zora Emma, George
Washington, Gertrude Mary and
Joseph Walter Howe.
George was a gunsmith and later
practiced dentistry in Niles, MI.
d. March 25, 1888,
Buried: Silverbrook Cemetery, Niles, MI.
------------------------------
8. Adeline Emma Howe.
b. March 18, 1825.
m. Horatio Gates Samson Aug. 26, 1843,
in Berrien County Michigan.
Children: Marie, George W., Emma,
Lunette, and Jennie.
See article on Horatio G. Sampson
in "Portrait and Biographical Record
of Berrien and Cass Counties, Michigan",
page 250.
d. Oct. 20, 1896.
Buried: Oak Ridge Cemetery,
Buchanan, MI (Section 17, Lot # 7).
Also buried in lot 7, are
Emma A. Samson (1847-1912)
and Marie Samson, died 1918.
-----------------------------
9. Nancy Sophronia Howe.
b. April 17, 1827,
in Truxton, Cortland Co. New York.
m. Feb. 14, 1853, to
James Reynolds Sr. (1823-1906)
(of Hamilton, St. Joseph Co. Indiana),
in Berrien County Michigan.
They lived in Hamilton, Indiana.
Children: Zurelda (who married
Dr. A. Van Riper), James R. Jr.,
Estelle, who married Clyde Baker,
Franc, John F., and Clara, who
married Dickson S. Scoffern.
James Reynolds Sr. owned several
thousand acres of land in St. Joseph
County Indiana, LaPorte County Indiana,
and in Berrien County Michigan.
Also, land holdings in South Bend, IN,
and in Chicago, Illinois.
d. Nancy died on Jan. 30, 1901, in
Hamilton, St. Joseph Co. Indiana.
Buried: Hamilton Church Cemetery
(located at the intersection of
Chicago Trail and Walnut Road),
in Hamilton, St. Joseph Co. Indiana
(near the Michigan-Indiana state line).
---------
Note: See "Pictorial and Biographical
Memoirs of Elkhart and St. Joseph
Counties Indiana", 1893, page 772,
for information on
James and Nancy Reynolds.
Also, see: "A Twentieth Century
History of Berrien County Michigan",
by Orville W. Coolidge, page 217.
-----------------------------
10. William Howe (infant).
b. July 26, 1829 in Cortland Co. N. Y.
d. Aug. 31, 1829 in Cortland Co. N. Y.
------------------------------
11. Charles Franklin Howe.
b. March 22, 1832 in
Cortland County, New York.
m. Lucy Crofoot, Oct. 21, 1858.
Children: Charles Osmond, Frederick
Willard, Harry Bliss, Lulu Charlotte,
and Zurelda "MAY" Howe.
For nine years Charles was
Superintendent of the Farmers
Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
Charles lived on his parents old
homestead, S. of Buchanan, Michigan
until 1897, then moved to a brick
home in town which his father built.
Charles was named as the executor of
the will for his cousin DeBert Bliss
in 1887.
d. May 9, 1913.
Buried: Howe Cemetery.
Note: See picture of Charles and Lucy
in "History of Berrien and Van Buren
Counties, Michigan".
------------------------------
12. Charlotte E. Howe.
b. Nov. 23, 1834.
d. May 21, 1853, age 18 years,
5 months and 28 days in Berrien Co. MI.
Buried: Howe Cemetery.
_______________________________
Polly and Frederick Howe Sr. left
Cortland County New York in
April of 1835, with
Frederick's mother Joanna Howe
(widow of Antipass Howe, who served
in the Revolutionary War),
eleven children, and an "indentured
servent" boy named Justice Bailey
(who later married their daughter
Lucinda). They arrived in Bertrand
Twp. (South of Buchanan) Berrien Co.
MI the day before Thanksgiving,
in 1836 (per "The Story of Portage Prairie"
by Alma V. Hartline, page 88).
Note: Some errors for their children
have been found in this article.
Note: Some history books state that
they came to Michigan in 1835.
An article by their granddaughter
Mrs. Lulu (Howe) Treat, states that
they came in 1835.
--------------------
Frederick and Polly purchased the
claim of Samuel Cannon of 160 acres.
They later purchased more land, and
at the time of his death the home-
stead consisted of 240 acres.
------------------------------
Their farm was in Section 11 and
in Section 12 (where this cemetery
is located).
------------------------------
When they arrived in Bertrand Township,
the doors and windows of the cabin
were missing.
-------------------
Frederick and Polly had a box of
window sashs shipped to Michigan.
(According to the "Genealogy of
The Bliss Family in Americia",
Polly's brother Leanord Bliss
invented and manufactured the
first machine for making window sashs).
Frederick make a door from some
boards he obtained at a saw mill at
McCoy's Creek (now known as Buchanan,
Berrien County Michigan).
-----------------------------
Bertrand Township was organized in
1836. At the town election in 1837,
held at "Union Hall", in Bertrand
village, Frederick Howe Sr. was
elected as the Township Supervisor.
------------------------------
Polly (Bliss) Howe and her
husband Frederick Howe Sr.
donated the land for this cemetery,
(and also for the Howe one-room school
just down the road from this cemetery),
which was part of their farm located
in Bertrand Township,
on the South side of Buffalo Road
(one-quarter mile East of Red Bud Trail),
South of Buchanan, Berrien County MI.
----------------
The plaque at the entrance reads:
----------------
HOWE CEMETERY. IN MEMORY OF FREDERICK
AND POLLY BLISS HOWE, WHO GAVE THIS
LAND IN 1838.
-------------------------------
Frederick's mother Joanna was the
first person buried here in 1838,
in what would later become known
as the Howe Cemetery.
-------------------------------
Polly died at the age of 78,
in Bertrand "township", South
of Buchanan, Berrien Co. Michigan.
________________________________
SOURCES:
---
"Howe Genealogies, Vol. I",
by Daniel Wait Howe. Published 1929.
Pages 105, 189 and 190.
Located in the Allen County Public
Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
--------
"History of Berrien and
Van Buren Counties, Michigan", by
D. W. Ensign and Co., 1880.
----------
"A Twentieth Century History
of Berrien County Michigan", by
Judge Orville W. Coolidge, 1906,
pages 431, 432, 483, 484 and 780.
--------
"The Story of Buchanan",
written by Walter Howes (the editor
of the Buchanan newspaper), and
printed in the newspaper on
Oct. 30, 1952, and also,
an article written by Chas. E. Roe
(a Great, Great Grandson of Frederick
and Polly Howe), printed Nov. 20, 1952.
------------
"The Story of Portage Prairie",
by Alma Vite Hartline.
Howe family, pages 87-95.
Howe school, pages 96-99.
-------------
"Genealogy Of The Bliss Family
In America"
(a three volume set),
compiled and published by
Aaron Tyler Bliss, Midland, MI
1982. Volume I, page 244.
Located in the Allen County
Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN.,
and in the Library of Michigan,
Lansing, Michigan.
_________________________________
Photo of Polly's individual headstone,
is courtesy of Spencer Miller.
__________________________________
Note: See the memorials for Polly's
family, on this web site:
---
Brother, Hiram Bliss Sr.
Sister, Sarah (Bliss) French.
Sister, Louisa (Bliss) McKnight.
Mother-in-law, Joanna (Lawrence) Howe.
Husband, Frederick Howe Sr.,
(and their children), all of
Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan.
------------------------------
Click on photos to see enlargements,
captions, and additional photos.
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