The Fay Family: James Robinson Fay

THE FAY FAMILY PAGE

GENEALOGIES

James Robinson Fay
And his Descendants

John Fay

David (OPF #5) (4/23/1679 - 4/10/1738) son of John and Susannah Shattuck

Edward (OPF #9) (5/16/1717 - 1806) son of David and Sarah Larkin

Elijah (OPF #84) (5/31/1746 - 1823) son of Edward and Sarah Joslin

James Robinson (OPF p. 235) (3/8/1797 - 11/23/1858) son of Elijah and Margaret

Selection from H. W. Burgett, Map of the United States, 1876

image copyright by Cartography Associates
used with permission

This selection shows some of the routes
from Hamilton (Utica), New York, to Bay City, Michigan,
a path taken by some of the members of this family.

I became interested in this line when I ran across the WWI draft registration for Zenas Le Flour Fay. Not only was 'Zenas' unusual, but 'Le Flour' didn't seem quite right. In checking into his ancestry, I soon discovered that he was named for his grandfather, and that his greataunts and greatuncles also had most unusual names. In fact, several are duplicated nowhere else in the Fay family so far as I know. I tried to find a common link between LaFleur, LaFontaine, LaFitte, LaMotte and LaRoy (or LeRoy), and they seem to share possible references in geography and in French literature and American history. However, there was nothing of which I could be sure.

Research sources for this line included census records, draft registrations, and birth, death and marriage records in some cases. The two chief starting points were of course Orlin and a book by D. Torrey, A contribution toward a genealogy of all Torreys in America... (see selections from Torrey's book).

Well into the research, I ran across Marilyn Izzi's Family History at RootsWeb.com. This is full of information, documentation, and discussion on the descendants of Margaret Cleopatra, one of the daughters of James Robinson. Rather than reproducing this work here, I think it better to refer interested people to Marilyn's own work. I continued to concentrate on the lines of the other children.

All ten of the children of James Robinson were born in Hamilton, Madison County, New York. Of the nine who came to adulthood, four remained in Hamilton or the close surroundings; and five travelled to Michigan, one by way of Illinois. The movement to Michigan seems to have come about 1858.

CHILDREN OF JAMES AND MARILLA

6 Calphurnia b: 2/24/1829 d: 6/12/1886 ...+George Lord b: 3/17/1815 m: 10/23/1840 ......7 Frederick H. Lord b: 12/12/1849 NY ....... +Julia b: 3/1859 m: 1891 ......7 William Lord b: 8/14/1852 NY ......7 George H. Lord b: 8/21/1855 d: in infancy ......7 Jessie Benton Lord b: 9/23/1858 MI ....... +Henry Waller Jennison b: 1858 m: 1/28/1885 ............8 Frank William Jennison b: 8/13/1891 ............. +Leona Zagelmeyer b: 1895 d: 1923 ..................9 Frank William Jennison b: 6/9/1917 d:3/11/1958 ............. +Marie Britton b: 7/5/1891 m: 1924 or 1925 ............8 Henry Waller Jennison Jr. b: 4/13/1897 ............. +Dora A. b: 1901 ..................9 Henry Waller Jennison b:10/14/1919 d:11/21/1989 ..................9 Betty J. Jennison b: 1921

Calphurnia and George Lord moved to Bay City, Michigan, arriving there in time for Jessie's birth in 1858.

6 James LeRoy b: 10/21/1822 d: 6/7/1867 ...+Maria O. Pearl b: 11/10/1830 d: 7/27/1899 ......7 Adella Frances Fay b: 10/31/1853 d: after 1930 ......7 William Pearl Fay b: 11/29/1855 d: 7/11/1864 ......7 Carrie Maria Pearl Fay b: 8/6/1859 d: 8/29/1961

James remained in Hamilton; he died young, as did two of the children. Adella did not marry.

6 William LaFontine Fay b: 8/8/1824 d: 2/14/1884 ...+Emily Arvilla Cushman b: 9/11/1827 .....7 Ella Fay b: 10/6/1852 d: 6/11/1931 ...... +Frank Elliott Tyler b: 4/4/1852 m: 12/1/1875 d: 6/13/1921 ..........8 La Fountain Fay Tyler b: 1/31/1885 ........... +Nina A. Kuhl ...............9 Neenah Tyler b: 9/27/1914 ...............9 Theodore Tyler b: 10/16/1916 (?) ................. +Helen (Billie) m: 6/25/1940 ....................10 Kela Tyler b: 10/23 ....................10 Carolyn Kuhl Tyler b: 9/25/1944 ...............9 Frank Tyler ..........8 Emily Marie Tyler b: 3/11/1886 d: at 10 months ..........8 Jessie Arvilla Tyler b: 2/22/1890 d: 11/13/1913 ........... +William David McVey b: 1891 m: 9/24/1910 d: 1963 ...............9 Tyler McVey b: 2/14/1912 d: 7/4/2003 ................. +Lorraine Budge m: 1/30/1937 ....................10 Andrea b: 12/26/1939 ....................... +Robert George Burditt m: 8/20/1977 ................. +Rita Ann Stickelmaier b:5/16/1926 m:2/1950 d:1/28/2003 ....................10 Jessica Ann McVey b: 12/12/1952 ....................10 Theresa Ann McVey b: 4/26/1956 ....................... +Robert Guy Simmons m: 5/26/1984 .................. +Esther Geddes m: 9/1971

William and Arvilla were also in Bay City by 1860. It was Tyler McVey who took the family to California in 1937.

6 Zenas Le Fleur Fay b: 2/23/1826 ...+Sarah E. Cushman b: 11/17/1829 ......7 Jay Robinson Fay b: 6/24/1854 d: after 1930 ....... +Anna Hartman b: 1/1859 m: 11/30/1881 ............8 Margeret Fay b: 1883 ............8 Zenas Le Fleur Fay b: 10/10/1884 d: 1/5/1955 ............. +Elizabeth b: 1891 m: about 1908 d: before 1920 ............. +Margret b: 1886 m: about 1921 ............. +Helen Martin m: 1950 ............8 Carl Abraham Fay b: 8/3/1887 d: 4/1975 ......7 Mary Marilla Fay b: 10/5/1856 d: after 1930 ......7 Abram Cushman Fay b: 9/10/1865 d: after 1930 ....... +Helen R. Faulkner b: 1873 ............8 Abram Cushman Fay b: 1908 d: 1912

Zenas and his line stayed in New York, with one exception: Carl Abraham moved to California, from which he enlisted in WWII. He may have subtracted two years from his birth to enlist; after this, his year of birth is given as 1889. Abram and Helen were involved in a messy divorce in New York in 1912.

6 Margaret Cleopatra Fay b: 2/21/1828 d: 1/29/1868 ...+Joseph Phinney Whittemore b: 3/18/1821 d: 1/3/1897

line continued and documented by Marilyn Izzi

6 Delphia Fay b: 5/17/1830 d: 9/23/1832

According to Izzi, listed in cemetery records as Delphis, son of James R. and Marila Fay so may be male instead of female.

6 Cleora Marilla Fay b: 7/4/1832 ...+Theodore Bligh b: 1830

Bligh was a physician; they were married about 1852, and moved to Bay City, Michigan. They seem to have had no children, but I have not been able to trace them after 1863.

6 Cordera Daniels b: 7/25/1834 ...+William H. Gilbert b: 6/24/1833 m: 11/16/1858 ......7 Jabez H. Gilbert b: 1862 d: 1867

Torrey says they were married in Bay City, but it seems much more likely that they were married in New York. Gilbert was from there. Then after marriage they moved first to Illinois, then back to New York, and later to Michigan, where William died between 1900 and 1910 and Cordera after 1910.

6 Henry LaMotte Fay b: 6/29/1836 d: 4/19/1869

died young and unmarried

6 Gain LaFitte Fay b: 5/23/1840 ...+Maria P. Peck b: 12/12/1839 m: 8/5/1857 ......7 Henry Irving Fay b: 4/8/1858 ....... +Maud E. b: 1881 ............8 Nathan I. Fay b: 5/15/1906 d: 5/19/1993 ............. +Christine ..................9 Lowell Fay ..................9 Sylvia Fay ..................9 Linda Fay ......7 James Norton Fay b: 7/26/1876 ....... +Gertrude Conelly b: 1880 ............. +Helen P. Fay b: 1907

Gain and his family stayed in New York. Henry Irving seems to have moved from New York to Minnesota to Kansas. Nathan moved to Missouri.