Early Gillespies

Early Gillespies in Michigan

First GenerationFirst is OUR John Gillespie 1780-1883. There is nothing in The Family Record to indicate he ever left Ireland, but that's not known for sure.

If his birth/dates are close to being correct, children from his first marriage would be born around 1800 (+/-).

Next is a new character that shows up briefly in the 1850 census of Bloomfield, living in the vicinity of other Greers/Gillespies:

James Gillespie, b abt 1772, Ireland

In this census, James is living with a young female, Margaret Gillespie, age 11.

This James might be:

1) older brother of our John or some cousin of John

2) father of Thomas Jr. and Isabelle E (more on them later)

Notes:

1) Don't find him in 1840 census and would expect to

2) Don't find him in the family cemetery (Franklin Cemetery)

Finally another elder in this group:

Thomas Gillespie (referred to in documents as SR.), b abt 1777, died 1859.

Wife is Nancy, and her marriage to Thomas SR's is at least her second one; Nancy's first marriage must have been to SLATER – see notes on Thomas SR's incompetence hearing.

1840 census of Southfield:

1 male 20-30, 1 male 50-60 and 1 female 50-60

Notes: Elizabeth Gordon is next door. Also many Greers on this sheet.

Also I think the younger male in 1840 census might be James Gillespie who died in 1866 and is buried in Franklin Cemetery (American flag on gravestone, probably served in Civil War). I thought this James would be the son of Thomas and Nancy since he was living with them, but now I think that is not so since in the petition for Thomas' incompetence in 1855 it was stated that Thomas had no living children or grandchildren. This James might be a nephew, but I think Thomas JR is the nephew in question. Confused? Keep reading :-)

1850 census of Bloomfield

Thomas, age 70, farmer, $800 real estate, from Ireland

Nancy, age 71, from Ireland

1860 Bloomfield,

Nancy is 81!

She is living with:

John R Stale, 26, farmer, 500, 200, NY

Thomas Stale, 23, farmer, MI

George Stale, 17, MI

Mary E Stale, 14, MI

Sarah E Stale, 12, MI

Mary Stale, 50, widow (also b Irleand?)

[notes on this family group to follow]

Simply cannot find Nancy in 1870 anywhere! She did not die until 1872 and was buried in Franklin cemetery, but where she went is a mystery. It should be noted that by 1870 there are no Gillespies living in Bloomfield (went through page by page) nor in West Bloomfield, nor in White Lake. Maybe there were no males left with that surname? James Gillespie noted in 1840 census above died in 1866. The only other younger Gillespie was Margaret who was 11 in 1850 - she would be 31 in 1870 and probably married.

Now for records found at FHL. In 1855 the step-daughter of Thomas Gillespie, Mary Slater, petitioned the court to have him declared incompetent. The points of the petition are:

1) Thomas Gillespie's wife, Nancy Gillespie, is the mother of Mary Slater (these are the people who appear in the 1860 census with Nancy).

2) Thomas owns 60 acres worth about $1000, a yoke of oxen, some cattle, etc.

3) Mary Slater's son, Thomas I Slater, has been working on the farm trying to keep it up.

4) Thomas had no children or grandchildren living in 1855 and only nephew and niece as heirs

5) Thomas Gillespie JR (not a son, I think) and John Greer appeared as persons interested in said estate

6) Henry P Sloat was appointed his guardian on 5 Nov 1855 (if you look at the plat map of 1857, there was a SLOAT family nearby)

7) I didn't look for the actual record, but the probate calendar did seem to indicate there was a sale of real estate.

What follows are the images of the records:

Now because Thomas SR was incompetent at the time that Elizabeth Gillespie died, and this is the Thomas who was Elizabeth's brother, the question comes to mind – so what happened then? Attached are records that show Elizabeth's land (some of it at least) going to Mary Slater as settlement for Thomas' part of the estate (I think). Note: I have not read this one through very carefully yet, but there is also mention of Robert Gillespie in this document. It looks like Elizabeth's land got split between Robert and Mary Slater?

Finally regarding this family group, buried in Franklin Village Cemetery:

Thomas Gillespie, d 9 Feb 1859, age 82 (b 1777) (spelling on stone is Gallispie but others around are Gillespie)

wife Nancy, d 11 Apr 1872, age 92 (b 1780)

James, d 29 Jun 1866, age 46 (this might be civil war vet, flag on gravestone & mention in bio of the memorial w/ his name) Not sure his relationship to any of this group, but believe he was living with Thomas Sr. and Nancy in 1840.

QuestionsWhat was Nancy Slater's maiden name, if we assume Slater was the married name she passed on to her children? Since it seems apparent that Nancy had two marriages, we might wonder if Thomas did too? (i.e. was there a first wife for Thomas? Maybe the younger James came from a previous marriage?)

I am totally confused about Nancy Gillespie named as sister to Elizabeth Gillespie. It doesn't make sense that Nancy, wife of Thomas SR would be said sister, and yet there is no other Nancy on the landscape that I can find! I find myself wondering if said sister Nancy remained behind in New York (i.e. she did not move to Michigan with everybody else). It would be helpful to find the rest of the probate file to see if Robert Greer found or distributed to somebody named Nancy.

Addition March 29, 2010

Here is a record of Mary Slater acquiring Nancy Gillespie's interest in Elizabeth Gillespie's estate in 1864:

Second GenerationThe following two people I suspect are the nephew and niece referred to in the document that declares Thomas Gillespie SR incompetent. Since I have the death certificate for Thomas Jr, which lists his father as James Gillespie, I conclude:

Thomas SR and James were brothers

Thomas JR is the son of James

I only speculate that Isabelle is the niece and daughter of James. For reasons I cannot understand, there is no death certificate for Isabella, and since she died in 1891, the death certificate should be available. I did some checking in neighboring counties (Genesee and Livingston), but not thoroughly. This is very bothersome!

Thomas Gillespie (JR) , b 8 Jul 1816 in NY, d 8 Dec 1899 [also Franklin Cemetery]

his father = James Gillespie b Ireland, mother UNK (per death cert)

wife Ellen McClung, b 23 Jan 1821 in Ireland, d 3 Feb 1899

her father = A. McClung, mother = Sarah McWilliams, both of Ireland

daughter: Sarah (Gillespie) McKinney, d 11 Feb 1899, age 52 (b 1847)

+ Will McKinney

(note: Lucy McKinney married John Greer (son of John & Isabella)

1850 census of White Lake, Oakland, MI

Thomas, 33, farmer, $1000 real estate, from NY

Ellen, 30, from Irleand

Sarah, 4, b Michigan

Hmmm - no sign of them in 1860 census....

1870 census of Bloomfield

Thomas, 54, farmer, 5000, 2000, NY

Ellen, 50, Ireland

next door is

William McKinney, 29, Michigan

Sarah, 23, 1000, 400, Michigan

Notes

There are McClungs and McKinneys abounding in all these census sheets and there is a McClung monument next to a Greer monument in Southfield Cemetery.

Addition March 29, 2010. I think the following image is dated 1882, so it must be for Thomas JR.

Isabelle (or Isabella) E GillespieWhat do I know about Isabella?

1. Her birth date, death date, middle initial, wife of John Greer, Nee Gillespie, all comes from the DAR cemetery transcriptions of Franklin Village Cemetery, Southfield, MI.

Birth: 25 Oct 1813

Death: 3 Apr 1891

Husband John Greer

Birth: 10 Oct 1806

Death: 10 Sep 1894

2. There were several land purchases in Oakland County by Isabella:

GREER ISABELLA 7 2 N 10 E 38.8700 02 11507 1835/10/15





Her daughter Belle was not yet born at the time of these purchases, so they must belong to Isabelle E.

All the land records say she is "of Oakland County, Michigan"

So this is almost 200 acres bought by Isabella! There were also several purchases by John Greer in Oakland County, but on different dates - the earliest Jun 1833 and then four purchases in Oct 1835. Assuming this John Greer is Isabella's husband, they must have had nearly 400 acres between them (it does look like the sections where purchased were the same or close to the same).

NOTE: I did not have time to pursue the land records for Isabella – to be honest, at this point I really don't know the details of what became of all that land.

3. Of the death certificates from 5 of her MANY children, half list her birth place as New York and half list her birth place as Ireland.

4. familysearch IGI says marriage in Michigan in 1835. But it appears her first son James Henry Gillespie was born in 1834. (where does that name Henry come from?)

What follows are scans of Isabella's probate records:

Early Gillespies

Documents

Transcript of Early Gillespies