A Potpourri of Richmond Connections

Another example of research gone awry. While “Googling” “Kirkland C. Barker,” a former Mayor of Detroit, I found this:

“In the letter that follows Elizabeth Bacon Custer (1842-1933) writes to her first cousin, Rebecca Richmond, of Grand Rapids, Mich. Their mothers were sisters and Rebecca, two years older and unmarried, had long been Libbie's favorite cousin and most regular correspondent.” Source: Kancoll.org

I was asked to provide information on Rebecca Richmond’s family because of a project concerning an area called “Richmond’s Plat” in Grand Rapids with streets named Jonathon, Loraine, Rebecca and Mary. So I checked my Richmond book and matched the plat information with the (Hon.) William Almy Richmond (Jonathan, Nathaniel, Sylvester, Silvester, Edward, John). The researcher initially contacted me based upon this entry:

Lapeer Co., MI, Deeds Liber E, Page 433 Made: 20 November 1838 Recorded: 9 February 1844 Robert Wilson, and Frances Wilson, his wife, of Washtenaw Co., Michigan To William A. Richmond, of Kent County, Michigan, West 1/2 of SE 1/4 of Section 20, Township #9, North of Range 8 East 80 acres

1860 MI Census, Kent Co.
RICHMOND, William A., 53 , Loraine Z, 49 , Rebecca L., 19 , Jonathan, 18 , Mary E., 16

In this database

The Kirkland C. Barker excerpt from Mrs. Custer’s letter:

“We started from Monroe Saturday night and staid with Mayor Barker in Detroit till Monday night. He is so fond of dogs & horses and hunting. [3] Autie and he are great friends and Mrs. Barker, his daughter Caddie and niece Josie Eaton, are very hospitable and entertaining.” Source: Kancoll.org

The reason I’m interested in Kirkland C. Barker:

Barker's racing yacht "Cora" lay at anchor off Stony Island... Aboard the "Mattie" ...were Mr. Barker, Frederick Dudgeon, Manly Webb... and fourteen-year old Peter Miller, son of Mr. Barker's gardener. The "Mattie" capsized; all were thrown overboard and drowned. Peter's body was found floating off Bois Blanc Island May 31 and buried at Anderdon that day. (Grosse Isle book "The Deep Roots - Chapter 'A New Era'"). Peter Millar was the nephew of Cynthia RICHMOND More. Jane (More) Millar was Peter’s mother; James More, Cynthia Richmond More’s husband, was Jane More’s brother.

Another excerpt from Libbie Custer’s letter:
You know I saw our sweet Aunt Harriet in Chicago. She is just as lovely as ever. [38] Aunt Harriet was the sister of Lorain Page Richmond and Eleanor Page Bacon, mothers of Rebecca and Libbie respectively. Source: Kancoll.org

The J.B. Richmond book states that Loraine Z. (Page) Richmond was the daughter of Major Abel Page, and that she was born 19 October 1811 in Rutland, Vermont.

According to The City of Grand Rapids and Kent County, Mich.: Bowen & Co., 1900 [and pretty much repeated from: History of Kent County, Michigan Chicago: Chapman & Co., 1881]:
Major Abel Page & wife, Zilpha (Barnes) Page, had 6 children. Mentioned were Abel Town Page, who was the 5th of 6 children, and has a bio in the books. Major Page and family moved to Detroit in 1835 and then in the fall of 1836 to Grand Rapids. Eldest son, William Page, remained in Detroit where he died. Loraine Z. (Page) Richmond related a story about family members being rescued from the flood (Feb. 1838) at the old fur trading station. Loraine related that her mother and the 3 children, Harriet, Abel and Aaron, were in her home and were driven to the roof. The 1891 History of Grand Rapids related that “in the summer of 1836, Miss Sophia Page, afterward wife of Judge Daniel Bacon of Monroe, taught a small school.”

Children of Major Abel Page (1775 – 1854) & Zilpha (Barnes) Page (1790 – 1849) were:
William Page, d. 1841
Loraine Z. (Page) Richmond
Sophia Eleanor (Page) Bacon [Mother of Mrs. George Armstrong Custer]
Aaron Page
Abel Page, Jr. 1829-
Harriet Page

Kancoll.org
[Source of the letter referenced above & lots of other info]