This post is to add another PDF biography I put together of my Grandmother Muriel Grey (Thomas) Davenport, who we all affectionately called GaGa.
My next project, as I mention last year is to do a biography of my grandparents on my mothers side of the family (Mead and Magill).
Enjoy
Davenport
Frank and Muriel Biography
This post is to make available a PDF copy of the biography of Frank Howard Davenport (b. 1884) and Muriel Grey Thomas (b. 1895). These are my grandparents on my fathers side of the family.
Note: PDF file updated on 17 Dec 2019 with some new content.
Northeaster – Day 10 – Heritage
On day 10 we first visited Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There is a memorial at the cemetery that lists the name of Thomas Davenport who is my direct ancestor born in about 1615 in England and immigrated to the United States around 1635.
This is confirmed through genealogy research and Y-DNA testing
This memorial notes Thomas as descending from Ormus de Davenport
John was the brother of Jonathon Davenport who is my 7th great grandfather.
Next stop Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Followed by a short visit to another cemetery, Old Buriel Hill in Plymouth, where Adoniram Judson, a pioneering missionary, is buried.
Then a quick trip up the Cape Cod peninsula, just to say we’ve been there, and then on to Newton, Rhode Island and a visit to the gilded age.
Colorado Road Trip – Day 13-20
Day 13 – Traveled from Chadron to Yankton, SD. This trip crossed off another state on our list and was also located near Springfield Township in South Dakota which is a location that Hudson Dexter Mead (my great-grandfather) appears on an 1880 census.
Day 14 and 15 – Traveled to Urbandale, Iowa and visited for two days with our niece Amy and her family. We had a great time visiting (except for the rain out of a baseball game), playing some games and going to church with them. Amy gave me a copy of a report she did on my father in which she interviews him about his life growing up. Learned a couple things and also need to verify a couple things, but that is for another day.
Day 16 – Traveled to Illinois for a day to see my brother David and his wife Julie, who is currently recovering from serious shoulder surgery. As always, we enjoyed our stay there and David and I always have some great conversations.
Day 17 – 19 – Traveled to Columbus and visited my daughter and her family. Lot of games, finished a jigsaw puzzle, soccer practices and good food and company.
Day 20 – After 4,728 miles, we make it back home. It is nice to sleep on your own mattress!
P.S. – Once home I received a package from my friend I made in North Dakota, which included copies of “The North Dakota Sheaf” (the “Official paper of the Bishop and District of North Dakota Protestant Episcopal Church”) from the years that my grandfather Frank was a minister in North Dakota (from 1922 to 1928). I will do more later on grandpa Frank as I put together a short biography of his life, as I know it anyhow.
One thing I did learn that I will share now, is that he went to St. John’s College (now a part of the University of Manitoba, go U of M!) for his theological studies. This college is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba which is where he married grandma Muriel. Since Muriel was from Halifax, Nova Scotia, I wonder now if she went to the same college and possible met grandpa Frank there.
George Thomas “Mickey” Davenport
Uncle Mickey is my only living Aunt or Uncle. And the one that I know the least about. But I have learned a bit through my research and chat with his daughter Kristine. So here you go:
Uncle Mickey was born George Thomas Davenport on 10 February 1933 in White Bear Lake, Ramsey County, Minnesota. He was the youngest of 6 six children and born 4 years after my father Frank. He had four older sisters Olive, Lois, Barb and Marian. His dad, our grandpa, died in 1945 when he was 12 years old so he would have probably lived with his mom Muriel, our grandma, in Minnesota. There are some stories of him being in Bay City for a bit but at some point he moved to California, because:
He married Loretta Mae Stone in Butte County, California on 9 July 1952. They have a son Robert Allen Davenport born 3 November, 1953 and a daughter Teresa “Terry” Lynn Davenport born 8 May 1957 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Teresa passed away on 8 August 2003. Kristine has confirmed this to me as good information, so lo and behold we have two more first cousins that we never knew about (or at least I never knew about). Here are a couple of pictures I found of Uncle Mickey, one of which is a picture of him with Loretta. And also a yearbook picture (top row, 4th from the right) with Loretta in it:
I am not sure how long he lived in Salt Lake City, and I did not find a divorce record from Loretta, but I know that he married Juanita Lois Urbano about 1963 and she is the mother of Kristine. Here is a yearbook picture of Juanita:
I have some somewhat conflicting information regarding his divorce from Juanita, but I have a marriage record between Uncle Mickey and Mary Lou Limon on 6 October 1979 (this is also confirmed by Kristine). I do not believe they are together anymore and I am unclear on any other information.
It would be fun some day to actually meet my first cousin Robert Allen. And I do know that Teresa did marry a Paul Evans and they appear to have had two children born in the 1980’s.
I guess I need a road trip to California!
Olive Anne Davenport
My Aunt Olive was the oldest sister of my father. She was born 9 May 1920 to Frank (36) and Muriel (24) in Russell, Manitoba, Canada. She would move with her family to North Dakota around 1922 and then to White Bear Lake, Minnesota around 1928, where our Grandpa Frank would minister at an Episcopal church called St. John in the Wilderness. Our grandfather Frank passed away in 1945. I have attached a PDF copy of portions of a history of that church with pages pertinent to our grandfather.
St Johns History with Frank only
From that history I discovered that Olive was first married to James Bernard Baine. James had enlisted in 1941 and served in the U.S. Army Air Force during WWII. Olive and James married 21 May 1943 in Jacksonville, Florida. Staff Sgt. James was killed in action on 24 January 1944 (only 8 months after they were married) and was buried at the Cambridge American Cemetery (plot F, row 3, grave 77) in England. He received the Air Medal and Purple Heart awards. Olive was working as a defense worker according to the marriage certificate and still listed her residence as White Bear Lake, so I am not sure how the Florida thing figures in.
Olive married Donald John McArdell 17 March 1945 and they had four children; John, Susan, William and Thomas all living and a part of my first cousin clan. That first cousin clan is larger than I thought but more about Uncle Mickey and that subject on another post. Olive passed away on 4 August 2002 and Don passed away 29 June 2003.
One last interesting fact about Olive and Don: Olive and Don are sixth cousins two times removed, according to a formula I found and the following information linking them both to a common ancestor:
| 8 | Thomas Davenport 1681-1745 m. Catherine Woodworth 1673-1729 |
≡ | Thomas Davenport 1681-1745 m Mary Pitman 1684-1740 |
6 |
| 7 | Oliver Davenport 1714-???? | Gideon Davenport 1738-1810 | 5 | |
| 6 | John Davenport 1735-1809 | John Davenport 1766-1822 | 4 | |
| 5 | Humphrey Davenport 1773-1859 | Gideon Davenport 1803-1850 | 3 | |
| 4 | Oliver Davenport 1799-1870 | Joseph Davenport 1831-1907 | 2 | |
| 3 | Paul Dudley Davenport 1823-1888 | William E Davenport 1860-1938 | 1 | |
| 2 | Irene A Davenport 1845-1899 | Frank H Davenport I 1884-1945 | ||
| 1 | Minnie Emma Wilkins 1869-1913 | Olive A Davenport 1920-2002 | ||
| Raymond J McArdel 1896-1965 | ||||
| Donald J McArdel 1923-2003 |
For ref. here is the formula:
“There is a mathematical way to identify the degree of cousinship shared by two
individuals. In the description of each individual’s relationship to the most recent
common ancestor, each “great” or “grand” has a numerical value of 1. The
following examples demonstrate how this is applied.
Example: If person one’s great-great-great-grandfather is person two’s grandfather, then
person one’s “number” is 4 (great + great + great + grand = 4) and person two’s “number”
is 1 (grand = 1). The smaller of the two numbers is the degree of cousinship. The two
people in this example are first cousins. The difference between the two people’s
“numbers” is the degree of removal. In this case, the two people are thrice (4 — 1 = 3)
removed, making them first cousins three times removed. “
Lester Burton Davenport
I have run many times into “brick walls” in my genealogical research of my family, and this man, Lester Burton Davenport is what I finally found behind one of my walls. I had heard through my cousin Tom McArdell in Minnesota that our great grandfather William Edgar Davenport may have fathered a child early in life before marrying our great grandmother Mary Anne Hyde and fathering our grandfather Frank Howard Davenport and many other aunts and uncles. As noted in an earlier post William also divorced Mary Anne and ended up marrying again (Jennie May Richards) across the country in California, where he passed away in 1938.
In my search I found a reference to a Lester B Davenport listed as a grandson in a 1900 census of Pawtucket, Rhode Island (14 Browne Street). Joseph (Darling Davenport) and Amanda M (Burton) are the parents of William and John Graham Davenport is a brother of Joseph. This had to be the break in the brick wall!
I know it says Daneport on the data but this has to be Davenport. William married Mary Hyde in April of 1883 about a year after Lester was born, so I am guessing that Lester was raised by his grandparents. I have found other sources of information for Lester which confirm his middle name was Burton (which makes sense because William’s grandmother was a Burton). Here is the other information I have been able to find:
Born: March 20, 1882 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Father: William E. Davenport (b. 22 Aug. 1860 in Pawtucket, d. 13 Jul 1938 Glendale, CA)
Mother: Clara Jencks (Have not found any more information other than her name)
Married: Ella May Horton Oct 1, 1900 (who passed away in 1918 at 38 years old)
One child with Ella: Estelle Burton Davenport, born 13 Nov 1900, (date of death?)
In 1910 census only Ella is listed with Estelle and her status is single so it appears their marriage did not last long. Still searching for more information on her.
One child: William E Davenport born Dec 17, 1917 (Date of death??) It is unclear who the mother is (so far in my research), but he is listed as a son of Lester and Catherine in a 1930 census in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
Married: Catherine Meehan Aug 22, 1921 (date of death?). Marriage occurred in Manhattan, New York..
Died: 4 Sep, 1932 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Muriel Grey Thomas – Part 2
“Gaga” was born 122 years ago today, November 11th 1895. A couple more pictures to share. I found a school picture of her when she was about 6 years old when she was living in Hammonds Plain, Nova Scotia. There are 41 people in the picture and 34 names written on the back by someone. I’ve included a scan of the picture and the back of the picture. There appear to be many cousins also in the same school with the last names of Haverstock, Melvin, Romans and Eisenhauer. I have my genealogy work cut out for me with this information.
I think Muriel would be the girl to the farthest right in the picture with the long dark hair, and the girl behind her would be her older sister Louise (who Jim thinks looks like Bev). Her younger sister Olive does not appear to be in the picture.
I have been able to connect with a man named Tom Crease from Canada who is a grandson of Muriel’s sister, Louise Chester Thomas who married Frederick Crease on September 14, 1915. Below are a couple pictures he was able to share.
Here is a picture with Muriel and Frank Davenport with their two oldest daughters Olive and Lois who were both born in Canada.
Here is a picture I am guessing with Muriel and her two sisters and her dad Louis Nathaniel Thomas.
Finally here is a picture with Muriel and I am guessing her two sisters. Her dad passed away in 1951 and her mom in 1948. If she was there for a funeral she would be in her mid-fifties and she looks older than that to me. Her sister Louise passed away in 1966 and Olive was still alive in 1977 so I am guessing this is sometime between 1951 and 1966.
Muriel Grey Thomas – Part 1
Affectionately known as Gaga to our family, Muriel Grey Thomas was born on November 11, 1895 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She had an older brother Louis Chester Thomas born in 1893 and a younger sister Olive Antoinette Thomas born in 1897.
She married Frank Howard Davenport on June 24, 1919 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They had six children in all. Olive Anne (b.1920) and Lois Mary (b.1921) in Canada, Barbara Grey (b.1922) and Marion Ethel (b.1925) in North Dakota, and Frank Howard (b.1929) and George Thomas “Mickey” (b.1933) in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
Below is a wedding photo I found that was about 2″ diameter at most and mounted in a small jewelry like frame.
I believe that would be Muriels parents Louis and May Thomas on either side of them and I would guess Olive Thomas her sister standing behind her mother and I have no idea of the other two, but the young boy in front sure looks like he is having fun.
Next is a family portrait with all six children.
I believe standing are Marion, Lois, Olive and Barb and in front are Frank II (Dad), Muriel, George Thomas (Mickey) and Frank I.
And here are a couple more Grandma pictures:
The picture on the left is Mary Esther (Magill) Mead and Muriel and on the right is Muriel and Great Grandma Nora.
Aren’t grandma’s the best!
Memories of Mom and Dad
It has been a while since I last posted as I have taken a break for a bit since our mom passed away August 28th. So to start, just a few pictures of my mom and dad.
The first two pictures are from a yearbook called the “The 1950 Crucible” which is from my mom and dad’s freshmen year at Bay City Junior College. They got married in February of 1951 so it is probable they knew each other at this time, although I did not see where mom signed the yearbook (the yearbook was my dad’s copy based on the comments from his friends). I note the name of Lawrence Gordon in the Vet’s Club photo, whose family became lifelong friends of our family. At least I assume that it is the same family.
And 51 years later here are a few pictures taken for their 50th wedding anniversary celebration in 2001.
retravelment.com 