Elizabeth Garner Moore

Elizabeth Garner Moore (1798-1864) was one of only four women who were original land patent owners in Rose Township. She held an original land patent for 40 acres in Rose Township (section 11) which she purchased in 1844.

The story of Elizabeth Moore and her family is a multifaceted story. It is the story of her parents and siblings leaving New York for the Michigan territory and settling near each other. It is a story of a piece of land that remained in the Elizabeth Garner Moore family for about 100 years. It is a story of a family who had a number of women owning land and having it in their own names. It is a story about family members being involved in social causes including a belief in rights for women. Elizabeth Moore was only one of four women in Rose Township to be an original land patent owner, but several of her sisters also were original land patent owners in surrounding Oakland County townships.

The likely impetus for Elizabeth Moore’s acquisition of land in Rose Township was the migration of her parents and her siblings to the Michigan Territory. Elizabeth Moore’s father, Thomas Garner, is said to have come to White Lake, Michigan around 1833. He purchased 640 acres of land and put the land in the name of some of his children. This may have served as a way to pass along his wealth in the form of land to his children, possibly to avoid probate, as he was around 80 years old at this time. Thomas Garner Sr. never owned land in Michigan in his own name. Elizabeth Moore did not acquire land until 1844 after her father’s death, but she elected to have the land in her own name as did her sisters Nancy Garner and Ann Garner Frisbie and sister-in-law Mary E. Garner. Women owning land in their own name was not a common occurrence at that time and even less common was having so many women in one family being original land patent owners.

Over time, members of the Garner family ended up purchasing over 1600 acres of land for farming between the townships of Rose, Springfield, and White Lake. The Garners were original land patent owners in these townships and were early settlers. Elizabeth Garner Moore and her family members, especially those with direct ties with Rose Township, will be highlighted in this essay.

Garner Family

All of the Garners chronicled below who came to the Michigan Territory are relatives to Elizabeth Moore. Most of them are her siblings except for her nephew John C. Garner and sister-in-law Mary E. Garner. Elizabeth Moore and her brothers William and George Garner and nephew John C. Garner (son of James Garner) were original land patent owners of land in Rose Township. Siblings James Garner and Nancy Garner were original land patent owners of land in Springfield Township. Siblings John, Robert, and Thomas, Ann Garner Frisbie, and sister-in-law Mary E. Garner (wife of Robert Garner) were original land patent owners of land in White Lake Township, Michigan. Though not all the family members were in the same township, in most cases they were all relatively near each other just over the Rose Township border.Though several Garners had a strong presence in Rose Township and lived there, all of the family members continued to have strong ties to White Lake Township. A majority of the Garners discussed in this essay are buried in the White Lake Cemetery.

James Garner (1788-1866), born in Ireland, was the son of Thomas and Ann Crawford Garner and brother to Elizabeth Moore. He was married to Mary Y. Barton Garner (1795-1862) and had several children, one of which was John C. Garner who was an original land patent owner in Rose Township and is discussed below. James Garner was an original land patent owner in Springfield Township, though the 1840 and 1850 census lists him as a farmer living in White Lake Township, Michigan. In 1860, James Garner was listed as a farmer living in Fenton, Michigan. One of his daughters, Ann Garner (1817-1856), married Scott Voorheis (1817-1904) who served in the Civil War in Company F, 3rd Michigan Cavalry Regiment. Another son, Thomas J. Garner (abt.1826-unknown), married Harriet C. Voorheis (abt. 1828-1926) in 1846. This was a case of siblings marrying siblings. Another Voorheis sister Lucy married one of the Garner brothers Thomas Garner Jr. (1814-1905). James died in Fenton and is buried in the White Lake Cemetery.

John C. Garner (1820-1890), a nephew of Elizabeth Moore, was the son of James Garner, Elizabeth’s brother. His mother was Mary Y. Barton Garner (1795-1862). He was born in Steuben County, New York and was an original land patent owner in section 24 in Rose Township. He married Jane Fenwick Garner (1823-1906) in 1839. John C. had four children: Mary (1844-1909), Elizabeth (1845-1860), Margaret (1846-1860), and James (1856-1832). Originally John C. Garner lived on his original land patent land in section 24 in Rose Township and was living there on the 1850 census. In 1853 he and his brother Thomas J. Garner purchased 40 acres of land in section 11 of Rose from the widow of Jacob Voorheis. There had been an early attempt to build a mill on this land by Jacob N. Voorheis and David Hammond, but tragedy prohibited this from happening. The land bordered that of their aunt, Elizabeth Moore, to the south. In 1856 Thomas J. sold his half of the land to John C. and by the 1860 census, John C. had moved and was living in section 11 near his Aunt Elizabeth Garner Moore. John C. and his wife moved to the township of Holly by the 1870 census and this appears to be where they lived the remainder of their lives. John C. is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Holly, Michigan. More about John C. Garner is written within the Elizabeth Moore story below.

The original land patent land of John C. Garner was located near the intersection of what became Pepper and Poole Roads. The home pictured below that had been built on this land burned down around 2011. It is not known if this house was built by John C. Garner or his son James Garner who eventually lived on this property. Interestingly, this house appears to have had two entrances, one in the front of the house and one in the back of the house. This is likely due to the location of the road having changed.

John Garner (1805-1895) was the son of Thomas Garner and Ann Crawford Garner. He was a brother to Elizabeth Moore (twin with his sister Nancy). He was born in Sussex County, New Jersey. He was an original land patent owner of land in White Lake Township. He married his first wife Christiana Bachman Garner (1808-1852) in 1828. Christiana’s brother Captain John Bachman was married to John’s and Elizabeth’s sister Jane Garner Bachman (1810-1863). This was another example of siblings marrying siblings. John and Christiana had a number of children, several of whom died after only a few days of life. In 1849, their son George B. Garner died at 4 days old. In 1850 a daughter, Christiana, died at two days old. In addition to these premature deaths, on March 13, 1852, John’s wife Christiana died 5 days after giving birth to Julia Garner who then died five days later at 10 days old. On April 17, 1852 their 5 year old daughter Josephine Garner died. Six months after the death of his first wife, John Garner traveled to Pulteney, Steuben County New Jersey where he married his second wife Sarah Coryell Garner (1822-1891). On the same day as his wedding, September 27, 1852, his 23 year old son Jacob B. Garner died. The cause of all these deaths in 1852 is not clear though it is known that outbreaks of cholera infections grew in the Americas around 1850 and there was a third cholera pandemic throughout various parts of the world in 1852. John Garner had at least 19 children. John Garner and both of his spouses are buried in the White Lake Cemetery. John lived in a beautiful cobblestone house in White Lake that exists today.

Jane Garner Bachman (1810-1863) was the daughter of Thomas Garner and Ann Crawford Garner (twin with her brother Robert). She was the sister of Elizabeth Moore. She was born in Sussex County, New Jersey. Jane Garner Bachman was one of the few Garner siblings who came to Michigan and lived in White Lake Township, but neither she nor her husband were original land patent owners. Jane Garner was married to Captain John Bachman whose sister Christiana was married to John Garner. Jane’s husband John Bachman had been a captain in the New York State Militia. They had a number of children. One of their children Sarah C. Bachman (1830-1902) married (1858) Dr. William Edward Fenwick (1829-1883). Sarah’s cousin John C. Garner (1820-1890) was already married (1839) to Jane Fenwick Garner (1823-1906), a sister to Dr. William Edward Fenwick. The Fenwicks were neighbors and lived nearby to George and John C. Garner and Elizabeth Moore. A son, Robert Bachman (1843-1865), was a sergeant in the Civil War Company B, Michigan1st Volunteer Infantry Regiment and Company G, Michigan 1st Cavalry Regiment. He died at age 23 from a gunshot wound at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. He is buried in the White Lake Cemetery along with both of his parents.

William Garner (1800-1880) was the son of Thomas Garner and Ann Crawford Garner and brother to Elizabeth Moore. He was an original land patent owner in section 25 of Rose Township. Land records show him selling half of the land to Thomas Lapham of Springfield Township in 1851 and the rest of the land to Enos Doty of Rose Township in 1858 so it appears he never settled in Rose Township. He was born in Northern Ireland in Antrim County and married Susan Garner (1805-unknown) in 1821. The 1850 census lists him as living with his wife in Springfield Township. On the 1860 and 1870 census, he and his wife are listed as living in White Lake Township, Michigan. Living with them are farm laborers and a servant. William and Susan Garner had a son Lewis Garner (1821-1900) who was a merchant, then a farmer, in White Lake Township, Michigan. All are buried in the White Lake Cemetery.

Nancy Garner Smith (1805-1866) was the daughter of Thomas Garner and Ann Crawford Garner and sister to Elizabeth Moore (twin with her brother John). She was an original land patent owner in Springfield Township. She was born in Sussex County, New Jersey. In 1833 she married Francis J. Smith (1808-1900) who was also an original land patent owner in Springfield Township, though they appear to not have settled there. On the 1850 and 1860 census, Nancy, her husband and daughter were living near other family members in White Lake Township. Nancy died in White Lake in 1866 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Pontiac, Michigan.

Thomas Garner Jr. (1814-1905) was the son of Thomas Garner and Ann Crawford Garner and brother to Elizabeth Moore. He was born in Sussex, New Jersey. He was an original land patent owner in White Lake Township. He married his first wife Lucy Voorheis Garner (1821-1893) in 1837 though it appears they eventually divorced, likely sometime between 1870-1872. They were not found in the 1840 or 1850 census, but all of their children up until 1858 were born in White Lake Township indicating they were likely living in White Lake for these births. Thomas Garner and Lucy Voorheis Garner had three sons who served in the Civil War. One son died in the war. Their sons were: Phineas D. Garner (1843-1864) Private Co. H, Michigan 1st Light Infantry, 8th Battery Regiment (died age 20); George W. Garner (1847-1912) Private - Drummer Co. B, Michigan 16th Infantry Regiment; and Robert Garner (1849-1901) Private - Co F, Michigan 1st Cavalry Regiment.In 1857, they had twin girls Ada Ann “Addie” Garner Crowther (1857-1925) and Ida Ann Garner (1857-1859). Ida Ann Garner died in childhood. Ada Ann Garner was married four times and faced widowhood three times in a short span of time. She was married to George Merrill in 1874, Thomas Norton in 1879, Daniel E. Martin in 1880 and Charles Henry Crowther in 1888. She had twin girls, Cora and Dora, with her first husband.

A year after the death of Ida Ann Garner, another girl was born and was named Ida Garner (1858-1945). She was born in Springfield Township indicating the family had moved from White Lake Township. The 1860 census lists Thomas Garner living in Springfield Township with his wife Lucy and 8 children. The birth of a daughter Harriet Garner (1861-1948) in 1861 and 1866 tax statements indicate the family was living in North Shade Township, Gratiot County, Michigan. On the 1880 census Thomas Garner is listed as living in Davisburg in Springfield Township. By the 1870 census, the family had moved as records show Thomas Garner living in Vernon Township in Shiawassee County, Michigan with his wife Lucy and several children. Though divorce records were not found, family records indicate Thomas Garner married Elizabeth B. Garner (1841-1927) in 1872. They had one son born in 1873. Thomas Garner died at the age of 91 of chronic bronchitis in North Shade Township Michigan. He is buried in Carson City, Montcalm County, Michigan.

Robert Garner (1810-1903) was the son of Thomas Garner and Ann Crawford Garner and brother to Elizabeth Moore (twin to his sister Jane). He was an original land patent owner of 370 acres in White Lake Township and 40 acres in Springfield Township. Robert’s wife Mary Elizabeth Armstrong Garner (1816-1894) was also an original land patent owner of 40 acres in White Lake Township. A month after they were married in Pulteney, Steuben, New York in 1833, they moved to White Lake Township in Michigan where they initially lived with several family members. They lived the rest of their lives in White Lake. He and his wife had a number of children. Robert lived until the age of 92 and is buried in the White Lake Cemetery.

A summary written about Robert Garner on his Find A Grave entry best describes some of the highlights in his life:

The following newspaper article from 1900 nicely summarized the life of Robert Garner:

Ann Garner Frisbie (1812-1881) was the daughter of Thomas Garner and Ann Crawford Garner. She was Elizabeth Moore’s sister. She was born in Sussex County, New Jersey. She was married to James Madison Frisbie (1809-1879) and they had a number of children. They and a number of other Frisbie family members also came from New York to White Lake Township, Michigan. Ann Garner Frisbie was an original land patent owner of 80 acres in White Lake Township. After coming to Michigan, the family initially settled in White Lake Township, but at some time later several members of this family moved to Tuscola County, Michigan where they lived for the remainder of their lives.

George Garner (1808-1897) was the son of Thomas Garner and Ann Crawford Garner and brother to Elizabeth Moore. He was an original land patent owner and early settler in Rose Township. He was married in 1829 to Margaret Speelman (1806-1900) and they had a number of children, several of whom later became landowners in the township. In 1836, George and Margaret Garner came to Michigan to join other members of his family. The 1912 History of Oakland County book states “He made the trip from New York with a span of horses, bringing among his household goods a cook-stove which was said to be the first ever set up in Oakland County” (pg. 694). After arriving, he began improving his land and built a log cabin the family lived in for a number of years. In 1847, he built a frame home which still exists today. It is said to have been the second frame homes built in the township. George and Margaret Garner were charter members of the Presbyterian church in White Lake like so many other Garner family members and for many years regularly attended services there.

Levi Garner (1830-1862) was the son of George and Margaret Garner and nephew to Elizabeth Moore. He was born in Ontario County, New York and traveled with his parents to Michigan when he was 6 years old. In 1850, at the age of 20 he married Martha Armstrong (1830-1913) whose father Andrew Armstrong had emigrated from Ireland and met and married her mother Mary Ackerson in Sussex, New Jersey. On the 1857 historic map, Levi Garner is shown owning a parcel of land in Rose Township that had once been owned by his father. He likely started in farming but by the 1860 census he is listed as being a physician living in the Village of Holly with his wife, 3 children, and a 16 year old servant from England. During the Civil War he served as a surgeon in Company F in the Michigan Fifteenth Cavalry until his death in Louisville, Kentucky, in I862. He is buried in White Lake Cemetery in Michigan.

Elizabeth Garner Carr (1834-1864)was the daughter of George and Margaret Garner and niece to Elizabeth Moore. She was born in Ontario County, New York and traveled with her parents to Michigan when she was 4 years old. At the age of 18 in 1852, she married Peter Carr (1828-1898) who was born in England and had arrived in New York in 1850. On the 1860 census, Elizabeth and Peter Carr are listed as living in Rose Township with their 3 young children. On the actual census roll they are listed by name following George Garner which implies they were living nearby to him at that time. Peter Carr was listed as being a farmer. Elizabeth died at the age of 30 in 1864. She is buried in the White Lake Cemetery in Michigan.

Nancy Garner Burgess Carr (1836-1925) was the daughter of George and Margaret Garner and niece to Elizabeth Moore. She was born in Yates County, New York the year her parents moved to Michigan. She lived with her parents in Rose Township. After marrying Thomas H. Burgess (1833-1864) in 1858, she and her husband lived in Bushnell Township in Montcalm County, Michigan. They had several children. In the year 1864, in addition to the death of her sister Elizabeth Garner Carr, Nancy Garner Burgess became a widow. Her husband of 6 years Thomas H. Burgess (1833-1864) was killed in Virginia in the Civil War. He had been a private in Company C of the 27th Michigan Infantry. He is possibly one of the many “unknown soldiers” buried in the Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Virginia. In 1869, five years after the death of her husband and her sister, Nancy married Elizabeth's widower husband Peter Carr. In 1870, Nancy and Peter Carr were living in Rose Township according to the census. They had several children. The 1872 historic map shows their property along what is now Davisburg Road with Garner family members living to their northwest and southeast and the Sutton family as neighbors.

By the 1880 census, Peter and Nancy Carr were living in Springfield Township. Nancy’s relatively newly married (1879) daughter Rosa (1859-1943) and son-in-law Israel Bird Sutton (1854-1896), son of Peter Sutton and Frances “Fanny” Bird Sutton of Rose Township, were living with them. Rosa had married ‘the boy next door’ since the Carrs and Suttons had been neighbors in Rose Township.

Sometime prior to 1898, the Carrs moved west to Denver, Colorado. They were likely still in Springfield Township in 1886, when a newspaper announcement indicated Peter Carr acquired a lot in Davisburg.

It is presumed the Carrs went west to seek opportunities created after the discoveries of gold and silver there or followed other family members there for the same purpose.

Nancy Carr was widowed in 1898. Her husband Peter was buried in Denver, Colorado. After his death, Nancy returned to Michigan and was listed on the 1900 census as living in Rose Township with her brother, her brother’s wife, and their mother.

By the 1910 census, Nancy Carr had returned to Denver Colorado and was living with her widowed daughter Rosa who was a nurse and Rosa’s son Israel Bird Sutton (1884-1963), who was a purchasing agent for a gold mining company.

Records indicate Israel had business dealings in Mexico. In 1913, Israel married Concepcion Pina (1893-1956) from Mexico.

In 1925, Nancy died and was buried in Denver Colorado. In 1930, Israel and his wife and children were living in Denver Colorado where he was a proprietor for a hardware store. In 1963, at the age of 79, Israel Bird Sutton died in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico, home to the once largest oil field in Mexico and a major exporter of silver, copper, lumber, wool, hemp, and other agricultural products.

He was buried in Wheat Ridge, Jefferson County, Colorado. His wife Concepcion Pina (Pena) Sutton died in 1956 and was buried in the same place as her husband.

David M. Garner (1841-1911) was the son of George and Margaret Garner and nephew to Elizabeth Moore. He was born in Michigan either in Springfield or Rose Township. He attended public school and then went on to high school in Corunna in Shiawassee County, Michigan where his cousin Thomas C. Garner (son of John Garner) was principal. David was studying to prepare to attend the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. While in Corunna, he met Isa Bigelow (1840-1912) who would eventually become his wife in 1866. She had gone to Corunna to teach with Professor Thomas C. Garner, the husband of her half-sister Zelota P. Mather Garner (1835-1917).

Records are unclear as to the exact order and timing of certain life events, but an unidentified eye condition caused David’s eyesight to become compromised to the point he had to return home from school. After returning home and marrying, he began farming and lived on land that had been his father’s in Rose Township. They lived across the road from his parents in a home that exists today (shown below).

David M. Garner was considered to be a pleasant yet forceful and convincing speaker and debater on a variety of topics. He was a frequent contributor in writing papers on various agricultural subjects. He became active in agricultural endeavors and assisted in forming the Davisburg Grange and was a member of the State Association of Farmer’s Clubs. Granges were a farmers’ association which sponsored activities, conducted community service, and participated in political lobbying. He had leadership roles in each of these organizations. He also had interest in the cause of temperance and later became an ardent prohibitionist.

At some point, likely due to his deteriorating eye condition as well as after a farming accident causing complete loss of sight on one of his eyes (described in a newspaper article below), it became necessary for David’s wife Isa to help him write letters and papers.

Isa Bigelow soon became actively interested in agricultural problems. She served as a vice-president of the State Association of Farmers’ Clubs and served along with her husband as a delegate from Oakland County to the State Grange. In addition to writing, Isa Bigelow Garner became a lecturer in her own right for the Farmers’ Clubs and local county granges. She also became known state-wide and nationally in regards to the cause of temperance and she promoted this cause. She was instrumental in organizing the Oakland County Woman's Christian Temperance Union and was its president for its first five years. She also served as delegate to the National Temperance Conventions in Boston, Chicago, New York, Denver and Atlanta. Because of this she was in contact with influential and well known temperance leaders.

David M Garner and his wife Isa did not have biological children, but adopted a son D. Dunlap Garner (1874-1958). The details about how David M. Garner and his wife came to adopt D. Dunlap are not known. There were Garner-Dunlap family connections by way of marriage and by living near each other, but it is not directly known, but suspected, these Dunlaps were related to D. Dunlap.

David M. Garner contracted typhoid fever while acting as a delegate to the State Grange in Traverse City and died in 1911. He is buried in the family burial plot in White Lake Cemetery.

More about Isa Bigelow and her Family

Isa Bigelow (wife of David M. Garner) was the daughter of Dr. Isaac J. Bigelow (1809-1887) and Harriet H. Hamline Bigelow (1800-1879). Isa’s father, Dr. Isaac J. Bigelow practiced medicine in Ohio, but he and his wife moved to Rose Township, Michigan after he retired. He was an ardent abolitionist and as a young man lectured about anti-slavery. Isa’s mother Harriet Hamline Mather Bigelow was a singer, author, and anti-slavery agitator. Harriet H. Bigelow wrote a six hundred page book about slavery called "The Curse Entailed" published in 1857. Sadly, Isa Bigelow Garner died at age 72 a year after her husband’s death. Her cause of death is listed as “from taking carbolic acid with suicidal intent”. One can only imagine how distraught she felt after her husband’s death after having been such an integral part of his life. The Bigelows are buried in White Lake Cemetery in Michigan.

Elizabeth Garner Moore

Elizabeth Garner Moore (1798-1864) was born in Antrim County in Northern Ireland. She was the second oldest surviving child and first surviving girl. It is presumed she immigrated to New York with her parents in 1801. In 1818, at the age of 20, she married Robert Moore (1788-1871) in Sussex Township, New Jersey. He had been born in Scotland. Both are buried in the White Lake Cemetery (Michigan) along with many other Garner family members.

Elizabeth Garner Moore purchased her 40 acres of land in section 11 in Rose Township in 1844, however, she was already living in Michigan as indicated by the 1840 census. The date she came to the Michigan Territory is not known.

Elizabeth’s brother George Garner owned 400 acres in sections 2 and 24 in Rose Township and brother William Garner owned 80 acres in section 25 in the township. Moore’s nephew John C. Garner (son of James Garner) owned 40 acres in section 24 in the township. Other family members were living nearby just over the border in Springfield and White Lake Townships. It is not known exactly where in White Lake Township Moore’s parents had lived. Her father, Thomas, died in 1838, 5 years after coming to Michigan. On the 1860 census, her mother Ann Crawford Garner, age 90, is shown living with one of her daughters, Ann Garner Frisbie.

Garner Family Farms of Rose Township

There were few roads in Rose Township in 1857. The roads highlighted in blue on the map below were likely made, in part, by the Garner family in order to travel between the family farms (circled in red).

Elizabeth Moore’s parents Thomas Garner Sr. (1756-1838) and Ann Crawford (1770-1861) were born in Ireland. While living in Ireland, Thomas Garner Sr. worked as a manufacturer of fine linen. He is said to have been active in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, an uprising against British rule in Ireland. He and his wife (and young children) left Ireland in 1801 and arrived in New York in May1801. The family settled in Hardiston, Sussex County, New Jersey and lived there for 21 years where Thomas was involved with farming and milling. The Garners had several more children. The family then moved to Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey engaging in manufacturing until September 1825 when they emigrated to Pulteney, Steuben County, New York. For eight years Thomas Garner farmed before leaving for Michigan around 1833.

Like her parents, Elizabeth Garner and her husband Robert Moore had a number of children. In the 1850 census, Elizabeth and her husband are shown living with 5 children: Ellen age 22, Sarah age 17, Abashaba age 13, Jane age 12, and Levi age 9. The only child born in Michigan was the youngest (Levi). Being that Elizabeth Moore married at age 20 and was married a number of years prior to coming to Michigan, there is a possibility there were additional older adult children some of whom may have remained in the east or perhaps came to Michigan and purchased land of their own.

On the 1857 historic map, the land in Elizabeth Garner Moore’s name was listed in her husband Robert Moore’s (More) name even though the acreage report still shows the land in her name until her death. Likely, at that time, it was assumed the male owned the land. Also noted on this map was John Garner owning land just to the south of the Moore farm. This was John C Garner, nephew of Elizabeth Moore who purchased this additional land in Rose Township around 1853. The 1860 census lists John C., his wife Jane Fenwick Garner (1823-1906), and children immediately following the Moore Family, indicating they were neighbors and living nearby. There were also Fenwicks living nearby.

On the 1860 census, the only child living at home with Elizabeth and Robert Moore was their youngest child, Levi Moore, age 19. In the 1870 census Levi Moore, age 30, was living with his father, age 80. In 1872, a year after his father’s death, Levi Moore owned the land first owned by his mother.

Levi David Moore (1841-1905) lived and farmed on what was his parents’ farm for a considerable amount of time. In 1873 he married Margaret Ford (1843-1910) who was originally from New York. The 1900 census shows them living in Rose Township and indicates they had no children.He died of carcinoma of the liver and his wife Margaret Garner died of carcinoma of the stomach. Both are buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Holly, Michigan.

On the 1908 map, the property once owned by Elizabeth and Robert Moore is shown being owned by Mary L. Garner Gardner (1844-1909) and John M. Gardner (1842-1911). Mary L. Garner Gardner was a great niece to Elizabeth Moore. Her father was John C. Garner (1820-1890), the son of James Garner, Elizabeth’s brother. Mary L’s mother was Jane Fenwick Garner (1823-1906).

John M. Gardner was the son of Franklin Gardner (1809-abt.1882) and Sarah (Polly) Ann Moore (1810-1842). Franklin was an original land patent owner of land in Lyon, Oakland County, Michigan where John M. was born on February 5, 1842. Franklin had come to Michigan with his first wife (Sarah Ann Moore) and his widowed mother-in-law Mary G. Dunlap Moore (1782-1845) who was also an original land patent owner of land in Lyon, Oakland County, Michigan. John M. Gardner’s mother Sarah (Polly) Ann Moore died July 10, 1842 only 5 months after he was born. Seven months after the death of his first wife, Franklin married Catherine Dunlap (1818-1881) on February 20, 1843. Catherine Dunlap was the niece of his mother-in-law Mary Moore. Catherine’s father was Alexander Dunlap, 1784-1864 (brother of Mary Moore) and her mother was Mary Barnum (1794-1874). Catherine’s brother was James Madison Dunlap (1822888) who owned land and lived in Rose Township near the Garners.

In 1852, Franklin moved to Milford and then at some point moved to Rose Township where he lived in section 3 (nearby to the property where his son lived) and not far from the land owned by his brother-in-law M. Dunlap. On the 1870 census, Franklin Gardner was living in Rose Township and in 1880 he and his wife were living in Holly, Michigan.

John M. Gardner enlisted in the Union army in August of 1862 as a buglar in the 5th Michigan Cavalry and served from 1862 until 1865. In October of 1863 he was imprisoned in Buckland’s Mills, Virginia. He was paroled December 15, 1864. He mustered out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on June 22, 1865.

In the 1880 census, John M. Gardner and Mary L. Garner Gardner were living with their 6 year old daughter Lizzie. By the census in 1910, John M. is listed as a widower living in Rose Township. Living with him is his widowed daughter Lizzie and two grandchildren Donald. G. and John M. VanDeusen. In 1897, Lizzie had been married to Ambrose VanDeusen (1869-1907). Three years after being widowed in 1910, Lizzie (1874-1958) was remarried to Frank Galpin (1886-1949). On the 1930 and 1947 maps, Lizzie and her husband Frank Galpin are shown owning the land her parents had owned, the land originally purchased by Elizabeth Moore Garner. They were still living on this land in the 1940 census (listed as living on Hensell Road) with Lizzie’s 40 year old bachelor son Donald G. VanDeusen. Lizzie and Frank Galpin as well as Lizzie’s parents John M. and Mary L. Gardner are buried in Lakeside in Holly, Michigan.

A historic brick home in Rose Township pictured below (along what is now Hensell Road) currently exists on the land that was once owned by John C. Garner and then later by his granddaughter Lizzie Galpin. Noted on a rural survey from the 1930s, Lizzie is said to state that this home was completed in stages by 1877. Lizzie’s son Donald VanDeusen is said to have lived in this home until the 1970s. The site of this home may also have been the site of a log house before the frame house was built.

One hundred years after Elizabeth Moore, one of four women who was an original land patent owner in the township, another Elizabeth (“Lizzie”), great, great, niece of Elizabeth Moore, owned this land as well as her grandfather John C. Garner’s neighboring land.

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