Benjamin B. Richmond & Mary Vernor #1229, #3223

[Originally posted on my blog "Detour Through History]

This blog started out with a notation I made from the Wayne Co., Michigan, Probate Index at the Michigan Archives. It stated: “Richmond, Mary S. (nee Vernor) (1891 year) – File #16561 – sister-in-law of Vernor, Emily W. (nee Smith)”

Since I’m always interested in RICHMOND family members, I was curious about which Richmond family member Mary Vernor had married. The Vernor name also had my curiosity piqued -- was Mary Vernor Richmond related to the family who invented Vernor Ginger Ale?

In the 1880 census I found:

1880 MI, Wayne Co., Detroit (Henry Street)
Richmond, Mary, age 48, NY NY NY
“ , Vernor, son, age 22, clerk, MI NY NY
“ , Harriet, 19, daughter “ “
“ , Mary E., 15, daughter “
“ , Emily, daughter

Based upon what I found in the 1880 census, I looked for a man named Richmond about 38 years old and born in New York, but living in Michigan in 1870, and found:

1870 MI, Wayne County, Detroit
RICHMOND, Barton B., 43, b. NY
“ Mary E., 38, b. NY
“, Vernor, 12, b. MI
“ , Harriet, 9, b. MI “ , Mollie, 5, b. MI
“ , Emily, 3, b. MI
RICHMOND, Eliza, 76, born MA
“ , Caroline, 38, b. NY

Apparently Barton B. Richmond’s mother, Eliza, was living with the family in 1870. After checking the J.B. Richmond book about the Richmond Family, I found that he was the son of Horace Richmond (#1229).

Silvester Richmond, an ancestor of Barton B. Richmond, married the granddaughter of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins – she was also the great-granddaughter of Thomas Rogers who was a passenger on the Mayflower.

The widowed Mary Richmond in 1900:

1900 MI Wayne Co., Detroit, John R Street
Richmond, Mary , July 1832, age 67, widow, 4children/3living
“ Vernor, March 1858, son, single, b. MI
“ Mary E., daughter, May 1865, single
“ Emily T., daughter, June 1868, age 32, single

Harriet Richmond appeared to be the child who died (the 1900 census indicated that Mary Richmond had 4 children / 3 living when the census was taken). Found in the GENDIS index:

LEONARD, Hattie
Date of Death: 29 April 1884
Ledger Page #238, Record #204
Died in Wayne Co., Detroit, Michigan
Female/White/Married
Age: 23 years, 9 months
Cause: Pleura Fever
b. Michigan
Housewife
Father: Richmond, Ben R., Detroit
Mother: Richmond, Mary L., Detroit

Also in GENDIS:

Richmond, Benj B.
Date of Death: 4 June 1875
Ledger Page 177, Record# 226
Place of Death: Fifth Ward, Detroit, Wayne County
Male/White/Single [Single??]
46 years
Unk Cause
b. NY
Stationeer
Father/Mother Unknown

RICHMONDS IN THE CITY OF DETROIT - 1886
Anonymous Detroit city and Wayne County directory for 1886 :
Detroit: R.L. Polk & Co., 1886.

James Vernor, the inventor of Vernor’s Ginger Ale, married Emily Smith. The Wayne County, Michigan, Probate File indicated that Mary Richmond, nee Vernor, was mentioned in the will of Emily Vernor, nee Smith.

Mary Vernor Richmond was the sister of James Vernor, druggist and inventor of Vernor’s Ginger Ale, and the daughter of J.T. & Polly Vernor. [See previous Blog]

1870 MI Wayne, Detroit, 5th Ward
Vernon[Vernor], Jeremiah, 43, bookkeeper
“ , Elizabeth, 39
“ , Harmon, 15
“ , George, 19
VERNOR, John T., 74, bookkeeper, b. NY
“ , Polly, 70, at home
VERNOR, James, 27, druggist