Harrison, Arkansas Scenes

Nancy discovered the following photographs in her Mother's collection of various family photos. The pictures of Dad are all scenes from early Arkansas, probably circa 1900 or earlier. We are fortunate that Bernie did save as many pictures as she did. They have produced a treasure in my estimation. I cannot recall ever having seen any of these before.

Bernie did make a trip to Joplin, Missouri to visit our Aunt Pearl and she may have obtained these from her. Pearl married Samuel Fillingham and their son, Ira, was the first one in the line to actually gather family information and document it.

The Jones Home, Harrison, Arkansas

Probably taken circa 1923. The family left about 1902. This was probably taken by a sister of Charles Jones Sr. with her children maybe on a visit to Harrison.

The two color photos above were taped on a single sheet of heavy paper and labeled with the date of October 1960 with the notation "over 100 years old". Our grandfather, A.H. Jones arrived in Arkansas sometime in the 1870's after the death of his father, Samuel Jones, in Gordon County, Georgia in 1870.

Charles F. Jones Sr. on the left. The other gentleman is unidentified but very likely one of the Jones boys.

I am not certain of the significance of this photo of Dad.

Charles F. Jones Sr.

Chatham, New Brunswick- Now Miramichi- Combined With, Nelson and Newcastle Across the River-

The Irish Heritage is Very Evident

Proudly Self-Proclaimed

"The Irish Capital of Canada"

A Downtown View

Old But Well Cared For Homes

Some of these homes very well were in place

well over 100 years ago

The View From St. Michael's Church

Downtown, Water StreetStill a very narrow passage

Along the River

The bridge can be seen for miles

Compared To The Rest of New Brunswick

Very Few Lobster Boats

St. Michaels

Erected in the early 1900's as the Bishops Church who has

since relocated to Bathurst

Where Our Ancestors are at Rest

St. Michaels Dominates the View From Across the River

The Carpenters From Chatham

Where they were born, raised and learned their skills-


I have not found the family in the 1861 census records but the 1871 Chatham census reflects the family all intact, with Patrick, 23 and James 22, both listed with the occupation of carpenter. Son John Jr., age 20, was already a schoolteacher, and son Arthur, 18, is listed as a laborer. Sarah and Hugh were still of school age.


All indications are that the carpentry skills brought to Florence in the 1890’s were a major factor in the eventual success of the farms of our ancestors. They came from New Brunswick and improved their skills over a ten or fifteen year period along the way to Washington State where some of them decided to pack it all in and become dairy farmers.


To create a working farm from scratch required facilities. Homes, barns and sheds had to be constructed and that they did either individually or as a cooperative endeavor, most likely the latter with all pitching in to help one another. Of course carpentry is a far cry from animal husbandry but again by combining all their skills, the women included, they eventually brought it all to fruition. It is certain the Donahue sisters contributed the knowledge they learned from their upbringing in Wisconsin, the small things that a young man from a small city in Canada was never aware of. All the small group of Irish pooled their resources and knowledge to help bring about the community success. They had every right to be very proud, these McGinnis brothers, Cousin Robert Ferguson and early Chatham friend, James Hall. A very tight knit group. Four farms, side by side all with the head of household born in Chatham, New Brunswick, three with wives of the same Wisconsin Donahue family.


It is not clear to me at the moment but the carpenters skills may have divided into two basic categories. One group would be trained as shipwrights or shipbuilders, those that constructed the hulls and placed the bulwarks and frames of the basic ship. Another group appears to have been more focused on what one might define as finish carpenters, general carpenters or even cabinet makers, those that would be used in various other endeavors of carpentry as well as the final stages of ship construction. Perhaps they built the ships cabins and finished off the holds of the ships, or were even employed in general construction of onshore shipyard buildings in the yards. They may have even been defined as facility or maintenance carpenters.

Chatham, New Brunswick In The 1890’s

Probably Less Than Ten Years After The McGinnis Family Left The Small TownThe Main Street Is still a narrow passage Paralleling The Miramichi River and is very mindful of this scene even today.

Thus the probable reason so many of the men from Chatham were listed in their census entries of the years after their immigration to the States with the occupation of Carpenter, Shipbuilder or Shipwright. To me it is obvious that the skills were all acquired within the shipyards of New Brunswick, Canada. St. Johns, Bathurst and Chatham competed but I am of the understanding that the majority of the activity of building wooden ships occurred in Chatham with St. Johns and other scattered communities providing the rest. Regardless it was a huge industry for the early beginnings of the Province.

The McGinnis clan, their cousins the Ferguson’s (the uncle and grandfather of Mary and Charlie Mills) and James Hall, who eventually married into the clan, most likely were friends as they grew up in New Brunswick. Census data of all this cast of people indicates that James Hall was the first of all the players in this story to leave Canada in 1869. I have not found him in the 1870 census so just where he wandered along the way to eventually end up living on the banks of the Stillaguamish River in Snohomish County where he appears in 1880 US census can only be imagined. They were all good Canadians that carried their skills with them wherever they were needed.

The End of the Shipbuilding Industry in New Brunswick-

A Chatham Ship

The photo was found on the web-page of the New Brunswick Archives

and is labeled as a ship built in Chatham

The need to leave Canada developed as wooden ships, beginning in the 1860’s and 1870’s were being rapidly replaced by iron and eventually steel vessels in the latter part of the 19th century. It began slowly as cast iron components, such as portions of frames difficult to construct from wood, gradually began to work their way into acceptance as cast iron parts in the shipyards of the world. It was then a short step to steel construction. Eastern Canada was not close to large manufacturing centers where the iron and steel were being produced. Just as the early availability of wood promoted and aided the ship building of the Maritimes to become a major industry the same reverse process saw the industry leave in search of the materials and labor required for modern vessels. Thus the shipbuilding industry shifted back to Europe, with much of it eventually being centered in Northern Ireland, in the vicinity of Belfast, which remains a large shipbuilding center even today.

Just which of these early Canadians from our past were trained shipwrights and carpenters is really difficult to define except for probably Robert Ferguson. Some of his early census entries definitely indicate he was a shipwright. My early recollection of the many shiny steel tools he left behind that I viewed while watching Charlie Mills in the 1950’s browse through the huge tool chests in search of a certain tool to complete a task tends to validate his early career to me personally at least. Recall tells me that many were very large woodworking tools as might be required while working on huge ship timbers. Another indication of his skills is hinted at on his original land deed that indicates he was living in Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island at the time he purchased his property in 1891. Port Blakely was home to a thriving sawmill industry. Being near the source of wood, as usual, the shipyards eventually move in and they began to thrive. This provides some validation that Robert Ferguson probably followed his trade up until 1891 when at the age of 45 when he and his cousin, James McGinnis, about age 43, give up their carpentry skills and become farmers.

Just how James, Arthur and Hugh as well as older brother Patrick acquired their skills as carpenters we can’t be certain but it is quite likely they learned basic skills in Chatham. There were several shipyards in Chatham and many skills were required to launch a ship. Surely some of the McGinnis clan acquired their skills in this manner for as they moved on to Chicago and then to Seattle their census entries tend to always indicate “carpenter” as an occupation.

Of all the men involved in this story, the older son Patrick was the first McGinnis to immigrate south in 1875 where he first settled in Chicago. Here Patrick began his lifetime career in the construction trades as a carpenter. He must have met with success for soon after his brothers followed probably persuaded by their older brother, something they were to do once again in their lifetime.

Keeping it in the Family

Forgive me, this is rather well understood by most of us, but it is something I have been wanting to put in words for quite some time. Really it's incidental but at least the thought is captured.

In Florence, Washington, Northwest of Everett, along the Stillaguamish River, in the Northwest section of Snohomish County and near Stanwood, four small adjacent farms came into existence beginning early in the 1880's. Each one of these farms had owners that were born and raised in and around Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada, and all near the same age. Of course two were McGinnis brothers, another a cousin, Robert Ferguson. These three were from Chatham proper. A short distance away along the Miramichi River was the small community of Bartibog.

Back to Florence. The fourth farm in the line of farms belonged to a James Hall, and we have found records of his family in the Bartibog parish register. James Hall it seems was the first to come to the States and he shows up in the 1880 Federal census in what eventually became the town of Stanwood. As best as can be determined he began his farming in Florence on homesteaded land in the mid 1880's and preceded the others to the area by at least ten years. He remained a bachelor until about 1891.

This was the year that Robert Ferguson, a bachelor all his life, and James McGinnis arrived in Florence to begin their farming years. James married Mary Ellen Donahue in Chicago in 1883, Hugh married sister Catherine Donahue in Chicago in 1887. Regardless, James Hall I suspect was the "Pied-Piper" that led three cousins, James, Robert Ferguson and eventually brother Hugh out of the Seattle area to follow him north some one hundred miles to begin farming.

Now suddenly here in 1891, the bachelor James Hall, from Bartibog, married another Donahue sister, Sarah, and the Irish clan settled down to raise families side by side, and all related in one way or another. The sisters must have enjoyed living their lives out so close to one another. Tell me there wasn't a lot of matchmaking tendencies in the personalities of the three Donahue sisters especially. Tongue in cheek, regarding the McGinnis brothers, maybe they wanted company in their misery and they too joined in to capture James Hall. We will never know for sure but just the circumstances present a good story in my mind. As for the bachelor life of Robert Ferguson, well he steadfastly maintained it all his life. Perhaps they ran out of Donahues. There was at least one more eligible sister still available in Wisconsin but probably a bit too young or far too smart to commit her life to milking cows at 5 AM each morning.

Florence Community Cemetery

All the following photos as well as the cemetery survey pages are all courtesy of Mike Jones.


I do believe that Mike and his Father had a difficult time finding the cemetery a few years ago. Looking at the access photos it is surprising that the actual site appears to be well kept.

The following aerial view found on Microsoft Earth shows the cemetery now squeezed in between modern homes. Development has eventually surrounded a location that was once very remote in a heavily timbered area.

Mike photographed what McGinnis graves he could find. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a monument had been placed over the graves of our grandparents, James and Mary Ellen. My early memories of visiting the cemetery are that the monument was not in place in the early 1950's. Perhaps Mom and Dad had it placed around the time the farm was sold.

You will certainly notice a difference in the spelling of the McGinnis surname. Hugh at some point in his life adapted the McGinnes spelling and his oldest son Tommie always adamantly argued that his was the correct spelling. Alas Tommie, even with your brilliant intellect, and I mean that sincerely, you were finally wrong about something for all early New Brunswick church records prove otherwise.

One grave that was not photographed and is supposed to be on the property is that of Cousin Margurite McGinnis, daughter of Hugh and Catherine. Margurite is found in many old family photos. Her and her sister Alice grew up with Mother and from all appearances they were nearly inseparable and more like sisters than cousins.

James McGinnis Sr. and Mary Ellen Donahue McGinnis

Catherine Donahue McGinnes and Hugh Patrick McGinnis Sr.

Cousin Tommie

He was a Gem of a man

Mary C. McGinnis

1895-1902

(But seven years of age)

Her death occurred the same year that Mother's older sister,Maggie also died. Maggie was about 18-19 years old. It is likely that an epidemic of some kind was the reason of these sudden deaths.

Arthur McGinnis

The youngest of Hugh and Catherine

Another delightful man in my memory. One of his daughters,was named Mary Catherine, assumed to be in honor of his older sister as shown above.

The following pages are part of a survey made during a Boy Scout cemetery restoration project. Mike obtained copies of the survey with the aid of his sister-in-law as found in Snohomish County records.

One page lists the names and grave locations which are coded on the following map page of the cemetery. This obviously was a very formal and well researched project. In reading through some of the notes it is implied that even early church records were consulted. One such location apparently was Marysville records. Contrary to my old assumptions the early church in Stanwood was administered as a Mission church of the Marysville parish and not a branch of the Arlington church.

Unfortunately Maggie's grave is not accounted for. There is some discrepancy between the descriptions for locations 36 and 45, almost a duplication of our grandparents James and Mary Ellen. The 45 location is the only hint of Maggie's possible burial. Interestingly this is adjacent to the Hugh McGinnis family burials, locations 40-44.

I have a distinct recall that Maggie was not buried next to her parents, James and Mary Ellen, which is a memory of one Memorial Day as Dad was cleaning the grave sites of debris and undergrowth. The memory is that when he was finished with our grandparent's grave he moved off to another location and cleared another grave that he said was Maggie's resting place. Perhaps the 45 location is but one grave, Maggie's location, and not really as confusing as the survey description conveys.

I have long wondered about whether to make this conclusion but remain reluctant to do so without some further evidence. It very well may be so for my memory was that Dad moved to his right to find the grave and when examining the map that is where location 45 can be found. Can one trust a memory from so long ago? You be the judge.

The McGinnis Line

This is the latest I have on the McGinnis line. The beginning unknown McGinnis patriarch is only approximated to have been born in 1790.

The tree, as always is contained on several pages but the process to cut and paste each page is quite easy. Perhaps there is a better way to accomplish this but this is my system of the moment.

Another method is the online Geni program but that system does not allow for much detail to be included.

Anyway to view today's tree go to:

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=F.29e8545c-4e8c-44e3-b52a-4f190c821ab4&hl=en

Florence Property Deeds- 1891 & 1899

Courtesy of the Washington State Archives, Northwest Holdings, Bellingham-


The dates on the deeds give more clarification of just when the James McGinnis family left Seattle city life for a farm life in Florence. It does not really reveal if the family moved north while the house was being built or if Mary Ellen and the children remained in Seattle until a home was available. This is about the time of the marriage of Sarah Donahue and James Hall so perhaps there was some temporary living accomodations next door as the construction went on.

Since Uncle John was born in Seattle in 1892 it is quite possible that James might have preceded the family to Florence in order to have a home ready. Another possibility is since Mary Ellen's sister, Catherine, based on the deed for the Hugh McGinnis property, was still living in Seattle meaning that perhaps Mary Ellen returned to stay with her sister and her husband during the final stages of the pregnancy.

Forgive my nit-picking but I really do become wrapped up in details sometimes. Sometimes it pays off when one small question opens up another even larger question with more information eventually being found.

Overall 1911 Plat Map for Northwest Snohomish County

An Enlargement of the Locations of the Florence Farms

There is no indication of the owner of the small lot in Florence where the Hevly family maintained a store for so many years.

Original Deed for the James McGinnis Land,

a Farm of Seven Acres

Robert Ferguson's Deed,

Ten Acres

The deeds for Robert Ferguson and James McGinnis, although originally transacted about a month apart, were filed with the county on the very same day in March of 1891. All three of these parcels were purchased from the same owner.

As stated on the Ferguson deed, Robert was residing in Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island at the time of his land purchase. It is interesting how this small mill town enters into other future family details. That's another subject for another time though.

Approximately Eight Years Later,

in 1899, Hugh McGinnis Filed His Deed,

A Five Acre Tract

Michael & Martin, Two Donahue Brothers and Their Land Problems-

Lost in a Mountain of Red-Ore and Red-Tape-

Michael Donahue, born in 1860, and younger brother Martin, born in 1865, and their early venture into farming in Northern Michigan reveals an interesting story. These are two of the brothers of our grandmother Mary Ellen.

Michael left home in Manitowoc, Wisconsin at a rather early age. Apparently following the job market available in the logging industry at the time the young man arrived in the area of Iron River, Michigan and found employment in the logging camps. This was 1880 at about the age of 20. Martin joined him some five years later also working in the woods for the same employer. Martin eventually reaches the status of a camp foreman while the only mention of Michael’s occupation in any record was that of a cook.

All the details of this story are primarily revealed in later court testimony during litigation proceedings when the brothers became ensnared in a rather complex land dispute. Both brothers had separate cases heard before the U.S. Supreme Court, Mike in December of 1894, which rendered a judgment in his favor, and Martin, had his case, involving the very same property, heard in January 1917. The latter case was lost by Martin meaning he lost some but not all his property rights.

The land in dispute was located just outside the small Michigan Town of Iron River, on the states upper-peninsula. The town lies one hundred miles to the west of the town of Escanaba on the shore of Lake Michigan and approximately one hundred twenty air miles slightly northwest of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Some Donahue descendants still live in the general area but closer to Escanaba.

Molly McGinnis Wright revealed the basic facts of all this in an early e-mail where she summarized her contacts with a daughter-in-law of Martin, Dorothy, wife of Thomas Donahue, Martin’s only son. The following is copied from Molly’s e-mail:

Dorothy Donahue, the now deceased daughter-in-law of Martin E. Donahue (Michael's younger brother) related a story to me concerning Michael some 30 years ago. This is her story:

“Martin and his brother, Michael homesteaded a farm together near Iron River in Michigan. In the winter, they worked in the logging camps. Just before Christmas 1895, the lumberjacks all came into town (Iron River) to celebrate.

About this time they were discovering iron ore around the area so some "shyster" got a hold of every drunk landowner he could find and got him to sign over their land to him. Michael not only signed his half of the farm away but he had no recollection of it. A year later, Mike went to Washington State and soon after ore was discovered on their farm (Mike had given Martin his share of the farm before he left).

Martin was quite shocked when this fellow stepped forward with the legal deed to half the farm. Martin took it all the way to the Supreme Court and lost. Dorothy stated she had 3 books concerning the details of the legal case and that 2 of those volumes had been donated to the Historical Society of Iron River.Regardless, Martin became a very successful mine owner in his own right.

Here is his obituary:

"Hold Donohue Rites", Iron River--Following services at St. Patrick's church in Escanaba at 9 o'clock Saturday morning, the body of Martin E. Donahue, 70, largest fee owner in the Homer mine here and a former Iron River resident, were brought to Iron River cemetery for burial. Mr. Donahue died at his home in Escanaba late Tuesday afternoon following an illness of 14 years. He was born in Manitowoc December 16, 1865, the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Donahue, who came to this country from Ireland. Thomas Donahue was a veteran of the Mexican War. When 17 years of age Martin Donahue and his brother, Michael, came to what is now Iron River to inspect timber lands and later he became a timber cruiser.

The brothers purchased 120 acres of land in the vicinity of the Homer mine. The partnership was dissolved when Martin purchased his brother's interest. (Ironwood Daily Globe, 18 May 1936, Ironwood, MI).

(It's interesting that the obituary does not mention the legal court case regarding his brother's interest in the farm land. I wonder if Martin eventually bought out the "shyster" who had bought out Michael?).”


The following photo of Martin was copied from the Donahue family group photograph made in Manitowoc in 1920 during the trip that two of the Florence Donahue sisters made to Wisconsin to visit family and friends. Michael did not make the trip east with his sisters, perhaps due to failing health. He died four years later. A photo of Michael has not surfaced.

Martin Donahue
(1865-1936)

Martins mining interests were probably somewhat substantial for the “Homer Mine” as is mentioned in his obituary was of sufficient size to be briefly mentioned in a trade journal. The following excerpt is taken from a page of the "Engineering and Mining Journal" of November 28, 1914. The journal was detailing the progress of various mining operations and the following gives some insight as to its importance-

“At the Homer, the work consisted of completing the erection of mine buildings and equipment. The steel headframe and fireproof brick buildings with steel girder roofs are all substantial and modern. The mine is electrically equipped throughout. An initial shipment of 9700 tons was made, but development work on the orebody and a crosscut to the McGovern ore body to the west comprised the work carried on underground. Only a small crew is employed at present. This is probably the wettest mine in the group north of Iron River. A large flow of water was encountered while sinking this shaft and some trouble was encountered with quicksand. This track of land was diamond drilled by the Niagara Mining Co., a subsidiary company of Rogers-Brown, and was then sold to the Wickwire Company for a large cash bonus. It gives promise of being the best property of the Wickwire Company in the district."

An historical perspective of the Homer Mine found recently on the internet.




A timeline of many of the events in the brother’s lives is inserted here primarily in order to illustrate just how involved this litigation became. It continued over a period of some twenty years or more beginning with the initial claim brought against Michael in the early 1890’s until 1917 when the entire matter was finally settled. Martin lost the case but still retained a large interest in the resulting mining activity that prospered on the land in question.



The following links can be followed to view the final decisions that are available on the Internet.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=155&invol=386&friend=nytimes

http://supreme.justia.com/us/243/59/


Martin’s granddaughter, Sharon Donahue, of Bark River, Michigan, just to the west of Escanaba, is among a group of four individuals that share family information by e-mail and Sharon has provided copies of all the court testimony given by the two brothers over the years. Personally I find it very interesting and most of the facts presented here are derived from reading the transcripts. When time and energy allows a future post will contain the relevant bits of testimony. The proceedings present a rare opportunity to reach back in time and almost hear the voices of some distant relatives.

Michael’s sojourn in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush is reflected in the timeline as well. A later post will attempt to expand on some of what is known of the man. Rather a sad tale in actuality.

Martin lived out his life in Michigan and died in Escanaba on May 12th, 1936. He is buried in Iron River near the property he bought from his brother in 1896, the property he eventually lost 25% of by a mistake made by his brother during the Christmas holiday of 1894. Martin survived his first wife Jesse who died in January, 1920 leaving Martin responsible for raising two stepdaughters.  He remarried in 1920 to Della Richards.  The stepdaughters eventually went to live with and were raised by their Mother's family.

Same Location ?

The Lone Fisherman

Lake Cushman

(From a Real Estate Developers Web-Site)

The “Lone Fisherman” is another favorite photo from out of the old leather suitcase. I have looked at this scene many times over the last ten years wondering just who is the subject and where was the scene?

All the old photos that were passed on to us had to have been saved and protected for a reason. Sentimental reasons, for sure, but just might an underlying reason have been that they were saved with the hope that succeeding generations might also find them of value in some way, some day. I seemed to have adopted the latter reason simply because my interest lies in attempting to document our families past based on what I am able to deduce. I cannot present a complete story only bits and pieces seen through my perspective only.

So in this light, I suggest both of these photos were taken from near the same points and along Lake Cushman, above the small community of Union, Washington on the southern end of Hood’s Canal, an arm of Puget Sound.

I also suggest that the subject person very well might be Charles Jones Sr. There is something about the facial profile that suggests the possibility. There is no real surety level here; it is only suspicions so do not take the identification all that seriously.

Dad and Uncle Tom both talked many times about their years in bridge construction all over the Northwest, and Hood’s Canal and Union remain fixed in my mind as one such vicinity. It is difficult to say just when Dad commenced this type of construction. Assuredly it was after his arrival in Washington State around 1909. Uncle Tom most likely began after his discharge from the Army around 1918-1919. Regardless, it was in the bridge construction camps that the two met and they began their long lasting friendship. One thing led to another and they became brother-in-laws through marriage.

I remain convinced however that the scene for this was on Lake Cushman and probably very near the time of the construction of the dam that forms the lake. The dam began construction in 1924 and delivered electricity to Tacoma in 1926. With the stumps showing in the photograph, it probably dates the photo to the 1925 period during the filling of the lake. The water level at the time of the dams completion would have covered all the stumps left by the logging crews that cleared the acres of land that comprise the man made lake.