Joseph Frederick (13 Jan 1871-27 Jul 1880)
John Franklin “Frank” (11 Mar 1873-Aug 1962) — m. Mildred Mae Stoutenburg on 1 Oct 1902
Edward (27 Jul 1876-????) — prob. died young
Robert S. (19 Sep 1878-10 Nov 1941) — m. Laura Davis Parent on 5 Jul 1907
Catherine Lucinda (25 Aug 1880-20 Apr 1948) — m. Charles Condon Hodsdon on 3 Jul 1900
Etta May (6 Jul 1884-Jun 1969) — m. Charles Emery Pierce on 3 Jul 1908
Samuel, Jr. (20 Dec 1888-21 Oct 1951) — m. Ella L. Peterson on 23 Sep 1923; m. Eva Belle Hook on 24 Dec 1927
Grace Lillian “Gracie” (17 Sep 1895-6 Mar 1984) — m. William H. Booth on 1 Jan 1923
Samuel was born in York County, Ontario, the second of nine children to Matthew Umphrey and Mary Noble.
Elsie was born in Brock or Markham, York County, Ontario, the elder of two children to Zachariah Wismer and Catherine Ann Pipher. (York County no longer exists. It was gradually divided up into several smaller counties and municipalities, including Toronto.)
By 1857 at the latest, the Umphreys had moved a couple hundred miles west to Lexington Township, Sanilac County, Michigan. The Wismers moved to Delaware Township, Sanilac County, Michigan around the same time. The 1860 census showed the two families in these respective townships, about 25 miles apart. During the 1860s, the Umphreys apparently moved again, to Delaware Township. Samuel’s mother Mary died in 1866. In 1868, his father married a 17-year-old. Um.
Samuel and Elsie married on 29 Mar 1870 in Delaware Township. They were second cousins, as both trace back to great-grandparents Stephen Noble and Esther Smith from Hampden County, Massachusetts. They initially lived with Samuel’s family; the 1870 census for the township listed Samuel Umphrey (24) and wife Elsie (15!!!) living with his father Mathew and siblings John (17), Mary (15), Ellen (13), Angeline (9), and Lucinda (7). The youngest two were born in Michigan. Several Wismer families were living nearby.
The 1880 census found Samuel and Elsie in their own place in Delaware Township with children Joseph (9), John F. (7), and Robert (1) -- no mention of Edward, so I’m pretty sure he didn’t survive. Joseph died shortly after the census.
The 1894 census for Delaware Township listed Samuel (44) and Elsie (39) with children Frank (21), Robert (16), Lucinda (14), Etta (10), and Samuel (5). The 1895 birth of the youngest, Gracie, was recorded in Forestville. This was on the lake shore but still within the township, so it’s unlikely the family actually moved.
By the 1900 census, Samuel and Elsie had moved, to Turner and Whitney Townships, Arenac County just north of Au Gres. Samuel was a farmer and miller claiming to be born in Jul 1849, which I doubt, and to have immigrated to the US in 1870, which I know is untrue unless his family moved back to Canada and then returned. Elsie was 46. Children listed were Frank (27), Robert (22), “Surinda” (Lucinda, 20), Etta (17), Samuel (13), and Gracie (5).
In the 1910 census for Whitney Township, Arenac County, Samuel claimed to have been born in 1834! Elsie was sticking with 1854. The kids had moved out, but son Frank was next door with his family, and Sam and Elsie had two boarders, Frank (21) and Robert (52). The familysearch.org transcription thinks Frank is listed as “nephew”, but the writing is hard to read. If he was a nephew, I think he was Frank Pierce, b. ~1889, son of Samuel’s younger sister Lucinda. I’m not sure about his age, either.
Samuel was working as a watchman for a railroad construction company in Detroit when he was struck by a train and killed on 16 Oct 1912. The death record, witnessed by son Robert, said Samuel was 66 years 3 months 1 day old, and that he was born on 15 Jul 1912. They clearly meant to say 1846. I’ll take that as official. Samuel is buried in Prescott, Ogemaw County, Michigan, so he’s probably in Richland Township Cemetery, the same place as his father and four of his sisters. The death record is accessible through a Michigan death records site. I couldn’t get a link to it.
In September 1918, Elsie was living in Whittemore, Iosco County, Michigan, a bit north of Turner and Whitney Townships. This was according to the draft registration for son Robert.
In the 1920 census, I can’t find Elsie. Her mother was still alive, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but Elsie wasn’t there. In 1924, following the example of sons Frank and Sam Jr., Elsie moved to Florida.
I can’t find Elsie in the 1930 census either. Maybe she was staying with son Sam, whom I also can’t find in that year. She died in 1934 in Homestead, Florida, while staying with daughter Grace and her husband, who had joined the southward migration. The death record misnames Elsie’s parents as Zacaria Umphrey and Katherin Piphon. She’s buried in the Palms-Woodlawn Cemetery, Miami-Dade County, Florida.
This obituary for Elsie appeared in the Homestead Leader-Enterprise on April 6, 1934:
MRS. ELSIE UMPHREY DIES
Mrs. Elsie Anne Umphrey, 78, died at 10:30 yesterday morning from complications which set in following fracture of a hip bone which she suffered in a fall 10 weeks ago in her apartment at the home of her son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Booth, Flagler avenue near S.E. First street.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Sunday at Turner’s Funeral home by the Rev. C. N. Walker, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Homestead. Burial will be in Palm Cemetery at Naranja.
Mrs. Umphrey was born in Canada and lived in northern Michigan until she came to Homesetad (sic) in 1924. She is survived by three sons, J. Frank and Sam Umphrey of Homestead and Robert Umphrey of Detroit, Mich., and three daughters, Mrs. Booth, Mrs. Lucinda Hodsdon of Penobscot, Maine, and Mrs. Charles Pierce of National City, Mich.
Joseph died at age 9, just after the 1880 census.
Frank served in the Spanish-American war. He married Mildred Mae Stoutenburg (~1884-11 Aug 1962) on 1 Oct 1902 in St. Pitney, Arenac County. They had three children:
Rosebud Mildred (23 Sep 1903-2 Jul 1981) — m. Frank B. Johnson in 192x; divorced 1962; m. Robert E. Lee
Violet Laura (10 Sep 1908-28 Dec 2000) — m. Leonard Gale Thompson on 15 Jun 1927
Frances Deborah (18 Apr 1910-23 May 1994) — m. Henry Hollis Barrow on 4 May 1935
In 1910 they were living next door to his parents. Because of Frank’s health, they moved to Homestead, Dade County, Florida in 1912, where Frank’s health improved. He was a building contractor, and built many public and private buildings in Homestead, including the primary school, the high school, and the First National Bank of Homestead. Mildred was a seamstress. The family’s first house, which Frank built, was at the intersection of NW 1st Street and 1st Avenue, Homestead. In 2017 it’s the location of the Homestead police department’s brand new HQ.
Frank registered for the draft in September 1918. The registration described him as a farmer, medium height and build, brown hair, blue eyes, physically sound except for a hernia. In the 1920 census, along with Mildred and the girls, the household included Frank’s younger brother Sam.
In 1930 and 1940, the Dade County census showed Frank and Mildred keeping lodgers. When Mildred died on 11 Aug 1962, they were living at 728 NW 3rd Street, Miami. Frank died two weeks later. They’re buried in Miami Memorial Park Cemetery.
A book called The Villages of South Dade by Jean Taylor, published 1985, contains information about Frank and his family.
Edward probably died young, as I have no data for him except for his birth.
Robert married Laura Davis Parent (11 Sep 1885-????), daughter of Mark Davis and Hattie Rice, on 5 Jul 1907 in Tawas City, Iosco County, Michigan. It was a second marriage for her; she had married Ephraim Parent (21 Nov 1884-5 Dec 1905) on 10 Jan 1904, more than a year after the birth of their first child, Charles L. Parent (30 Nov 1902-????), so we get a picture there. Their children:
Alice (~1905-????) — probably from Laura’s first marriage
Joseph (~1907-????)
Robert registered as Robert Humphrey for the WWI draft in Sep 1918 while living at 112 Pine Street, Detroit, Michigan, where he ran an auto livery business. The 1920 census listed him in Detroit with Laura and the children, plus, for some reason, a 16-year-old girl from Syria. The 1940 census listed him as Robert Humphries, 61, and wife Lora, 54, in Detroit, with grandson Richard Parent (17), presumably the son of Charles Parent. Robert died in 1941, and is buried in Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit as Robert Humphrey. I don’t know what happened to Laura.
Lucinda has her own entry in the family tree.
Etta May married Charles Emery Pierce (28 Jul 1882-3 Nov 1977) of Prescott, Michigan on 3 Jul 1908 in Tawas City, Iosco County, Michigan. He was the stepson of her aunt Lucinda Umphrey Pierce, but was not her cousin by blood. No census record showed them with children. (The Flossie Pierce Maycroft (1913-1985) buried in Ravenna Cemetery, claimed by some sources to be their daughter, was the daughter of a different Charles Pierce from Ottawa County, Michigan.) The 1920 census showed Etta May and Charles in Prescott, Ogemaw County. Charles’s half-brother Frank Pierce (31), who was Etta May’s cousin, was staying with them. In 1930 they were in Whittemore Township, Iosco County, Michigan.
When Etta May’s mother Elsie died in Florida in 1934, Charles and Etta May were still living in Iosco County. The obituary said they were in “National City”, which is actually a highway. Sometime after 1934, they moved to Florida. Unlike others of the family, they didn’t settle in Dade County. The 1945 census showed Charles and Etta May in Bradenton Beach, south of Tampa. Etta May died in Jun 1969 and is buried in Skyway Memorial Gardens, Palmetto, Manatee County, Florida. Charles died in 1977 and is buried with her.
Sam was in the Army during WWI, and was living with his brother Frank in Homestead, Florida by 1920. He returned to Michigan, where he married Ella L. Peterson (27 Jan 1898-9 Mar 1925) in 1923. Ella suffered from poor health, so they moved to Miami and then to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Ella died. She’s buried in the Palms-Woodlawn Cemetery, Miami-Dade County, Florida. On 24 Dec 1927, Sam married Virginia-born Eva Belle Hook (~1887-1 Jan 1938) in Dade County. They lived in Homestead, Florida, where Sam joined Frank working as a building contractor. They had no children.
Eva died in 1938 after a long illness. Near the end of his life, Sam moved to Bradenton Beach south of Tampa, where Etta May lived and where he stayed with his recently widowed sister Gracie. He died in 1951, and is buried in Palms-Woodlawn Cemetery with both his wives.
Grace married William Henry Booth (1876-1949) in 1923 in Grand Rapids. The license listed their trades as seamstress and plumber respectively. They had no children that I know of.
In 1930, they were running a boarding house in Whittemore, Iosco County, the same area where Grace’s mother Elsie had lived. Maybe they had taken on the family farm after Elsie left for Florida. Sister Etta May was living in the same area. Between 1930 and 1934, like others of her family, Grace and William moved to Homestead, Florida. They lived on Flagler Avenue near SE 1st Street in Miami. Elsie was staying with them when she died in 1934. William was listed a farmer, and later ran a plumbing shop. The Florida state census for 1945 listed William and Grace as plumber and housewife.
They later lived at 167 Northwest 11th Street. After William’s death, Gracie and her brother Sam lived in Bradenton Beach south of Tampa. She died in 1984. Like Sam and her mother, she’s buried in Palms-Woodlawn Cemetery.
Frank’s daughter Rosebud married Frank T. Johnson, Sr. (7 Sep 1899-1 Jan 1945) from Waycross, Georgia in the early 1920s. They lived in Miami, and had four children I know of:
Frank T., Jr. (21 Aug 1922-9 Feb 1982) — m. Constance I. Finwall in 194x
Walter Charles (4 Sep 1923-15 Oct 1982) — m. Marie Hilton on 25 Jan 1967
William Francis “Bill” (13 Sep 1928-28 Dec 1978) — m. Julia Janet Reddish
Robert R. (1931-????)
The 1940 census showed them in Dade County with all four boys. The 1945 Florida census showed Rosebud still there with just sons William and Robert. Frank Sr. had apparently died, meaning the Mildred Johnson who divorced her husband Frank in Florida in 1962 was someone else.
Rosebud later married WWII veteran Robert E. Lee (18 Jan 1907-23 Sep 1982). She died in Broward County in 1981, and is buried in Dade Memorial Park, Opa-Locka, Miami-Dade County. Robert died the following year, and is buried with her.
Frank’s daughter Violet married Leonard Gale Thompson (18 Sep 1901-Jan 1965) from Kansas in 1927 in Dade County, Florida. Her mother and sister Frances witnessed. Violet and Leonard were living in Detroit, Michigan by the 1930 census. I wonder, what family ties brought them there? They had one child, born while they were in Michigan:
Mildred Etta (15 Dec 1930-24 Sep 2004) — m. Louis Palumbo
They were back in Florida by 1935, and showed up again in the 1940 and 1945 censuses, living in Miami. Leonard died in 1965, and is buried in Southern Memorial Park, North Miami. A Violet Thompson was living in Zephyrhills, Florida in 1990 – almost certainly her. She died in 2000, and is buried with Leonard. Daughter Mildred, who died in 2004, is buried with her husband in the same cemetery.
Frank’s daughter Frances was born in Au Gres, Michigan, the same place as and just a year after her cousin Alice M. Hodsdon. In 1935, she married Georgia-born baker Henry Hollis Barrow, Sr. (11 Oct 1912-25 Jan 1983) in Broward County, Florida. He worked for the Fuchs Baking Company. They had two children:
Henry Hollis, Jr. (~1936-????) — m. ???? in Jun 1961
Gary Clyde (2 Mar 1941-19 Aug 2009) — m. ???? in Jun 1967
They were living at 17 North Red Court, Coral Gables in Broward County in 1945. It appears this road is now Miami’s 57th Avenue. Hollis died in Broward County in 1983, and Frances in 1994. Her obituary was published in the 25 May 1994 edition of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. I don’t know where she’s buried. Her son Gary remained in Broward County, where he died in 2009.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VN2B-T1P -- 1870 wedding
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHCN-P5F -- 1870 census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQK7-CJ9 -- 1876 birth of Edward
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F421-P6Y -- 1878 birth of Robert
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHP5-94V -- 1880 death of Frederick
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F421-P6Y -- 1878 birth of Robert (no image)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F42B-YLZ -- 1880 birth of Lucinda Catherine (no image)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4P5-3RM -- 1884 birth of Etta May
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQJY-HZN -- 1885 birth of Robert’s wife Laura
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQD1-F27 -- Grace’s 1895 birth
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M91F-FKX -- 1900 census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N382-6ZQ -- Frank’s 1902 wedding
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQF8-P2C -- 1902 birth of Laura’s first child
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N36H-KYV -- 1904 first marriage of Robert’s wife Laura
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3V8-BNV -- 1908 wedding of Etta May
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC15-TVM -- 1907 wedding of Robert
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLP8-982 -- 1910 census; note J. Franklin Umphrey
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/184461779/samuel-umphrey -- 1912 grave of Samuel
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K35D-NGJ -- Frank’s 1918 draft registration
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6X7-4MS -- Robert’s 1918 draft registration
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNYH-9CY -- 1920 census, Frank
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZW6-HF3 -- 1920 census, Robert
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZQB-FDX -- 1920 census, Etta May
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQ93-ZZT -- Grace’s 1923 wedding
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRC5-BX8 -- Sam, Jr.’s 1927 wedding
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRC5-71B -- 1927 wedding of Frank’s daughter Violet
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:S5LC-TW2 -- 1930 census, Frank
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQYD-67N -- 1930 census, Etta May
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQY6-8LS -- 1930 census, Grace
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:S5W7-K3Z -- 1930 census, Frank’s daughter Rosebud
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7MB-Y39 -- 1930 census, Frank’s daughter Violet
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FPSK-GP1 -- Elsie’s death, 1934
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21508622/elsie-ann-umphrey -- Elsie’s grave
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNJR-56N -- 1935 census, Sam Jr.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNJR-PN1 -- 1935 census, Grace
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNJP-YP2 -- 1935 census, Frank’s daughter Rosebud
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNJP-GVM -- 1935 census, Frank’s daughter Violet
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V65L-LBD -- 1935 wedding of Frank’s daughter Frances
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FPDF-11H -- 1938 death of Sam, Jr.’s wife Eva
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTZF-2HN -- 1940 census, Frank
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTHD-LZ8 -- 1940 census, Grace
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KHMG-BTX -- 1940 census, Robert
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTZF-2HR -- 1940 census, Frank’s daughter Violet
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTHD-Q34 -- 1940 census, Frank’s daughter Frances
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTHZ-7YG -- 1940 census, Frank’s daughter Rosebud
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFWC-WRY -- 1941 death of Robert
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNXY-5M6 -- 1945 census, Etta May
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNFK-G4L -- 1945 census, Grace
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNFX-HL1 -- 1945 census, Frank’s daughter Violet
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNFK-ZTF -- 1945 census, Frank’s daughter Frances
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6X2S-J1FL -- 1950 census, Frances
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XKB-7WXX -- 1950 census, Rosebud’s son Frank
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVS8-9R6 -- 1951 death of Sam Jr.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/184265610/samuel-umphrey -- 1951 grave of Sam Jr.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVJP-2XT -- 1962 death of Frank’s wife Mildred
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VV3Z-H5J -- 1962 death of Frank
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/184374756/john-franklin-umphrey -- Frank’s grave
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VV32-BYB -- 1965 death of Violet’s husband
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VJ8R-ZGX -- 1967 wedding of Frances Umphrey’s son Gary
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/99977350/etta-may-pierce -- 1969, Etta May’s grave
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVWR-FC9 -- 1981 death of Rosebud
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VV7T-9SV -- 1983 death of Frances Umphrey’s husband
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VV7B-H1W -- Grace’s death, 1984
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVHR-XFK -- 1994 death of Frank’s daughter Frances
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKR5-XST4 -- 1994 obit for Frances
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JRNJ-JJD -- 2000 death of Frank’s daughter Violet
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180248898/violet-thompson -- 2000 grave of Violet
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VMCC-9YH -- 2009 death of Frances Umphrey’s son Gary
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=97662106 -- possible grave of Robert’s wife Laura
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK7N-BJR -- 1962 divorce of a Mildred and Frank Johnson