2026 - What the Census Suggests -

 The Thomas & Eliza Larkins Family – My 3^rd Great Aunt & Uncle

Lineage - Nancy Simmons, Josephine Martin, Edward Martin, Francis Martin, Elizabeth Larkins, William Larkins’ brother& wife, Thomas & Eliza (Martin) Larkins

Eliza (Martin) 1836-1923 and Thomas Larkins 1824-1911
Photo enhanced withChatGPT

The 1880 Federal Census for Springwells, Wayne County, Michigan, appears unremarkable at a glance. It lists my 3rd great-uncle, Thomas Larkins, a 52-year-old farmer who, like many men of his era, could neither read nor write. Born in Michigan in 1824 to Irish immigrants, he lived with his wife, Eliza (Martin), and their four young sons: Thomas (10), George (8), William (5), and Edward (2).

However, a closer look at the ledger reveals a more complex story hidden in the small tick marks of the "Health" columns.

1880 Federal Census - Springwells, Wayne County, Michigan 

A Quiet Discovery

Every census reflects the concerns of its era. In 1880, the form included specific inquiries regarding physical and mental health. In column 17—the slot reserved for those "deaf and dumb" there are distinct marks for three of the four Larkins children: Thomas, George, and William. Only two-year-old Edward remained unmarked.

The realization was overwhelming. In an era with limited social safety nets, Thomas and Eliza were raising three children with significant disabilities.

To dig deeper, I turned to the 1880 Supplemental Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes (the "DDD" Schedule). This specialized census provides heartbreakingly blunt categories for the era: "Insane, Idiots, Deaf-mutes, Blind, Paupers, Homeless Children, and Prisoners."

1880 Federal Census Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes 

The supplemental record for the Larkins family confirms the diagnosis: all three boys had been deaf since birth. Critically, it also notes that they had never been institutionalized. In a time when many families were pressured to send children with disabilities to state asylums, Thomas and Eliza kept their sons at home.

Resilience Across the Decades

Because the 1890 census was tragically destroyed by fire, we have a twenty-year gap in the family’s story. When the curtain rises again in the 1900 and 1910 censuses, the narrative shifts from one of struggle to one of remarkable resilience.

By 1910, Thomas was 86 and Eliza was 76. All four sons—including Joseph (likely the Edward of the 1880 census)—were still living at home or on the family land. The most incredible revelation? Every single son was now listed as being able to read and write. Despite their inability to hear or speak, the Larkins boys had gained the literacy their father never had. They also possessed trade skills that allowed them to contribute to their community:

• Thomas: Farmer
• George: Cabinet Maker
• William: Bee-keeper
• Joseph: Brick Maker

1910 Federal Census - Springwells, Wayne County, Michigan 

A Legacy of Care

The 1880 census suggested a family facing a bleak future. However, the subsequent decades prove that Thomas and Eliza provided a home where their sons didn't just survive—they thrived. They learned to communicate, they learned to work, and they remained a cohesive unit.

The family’s journey eventually came to a quiet end in Detroit. Thomas passed away in 1911 at the age of 87, followed by Eliza in 1923. One by one, their sons followed: William in 1924, Thomas in 1951, George in 1958, and Joseph in 1972. Today, they are all buried together in Section L of Woodmere Cemetery—a final, silent testament to a family that stayed together against the odds.

LARKINS - Family Monument Stone
Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Larkins Family buried in Section L

Sources:

1880 Federal Census (Population Schedule)

Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

• Specific Entry: Michigan, Wayne County, Springwells Township, Enumeration District (ED) 263, page 364C (stamped), family 246, lines 1–6, Thomas Larkins household.

1880 Supplemental Schedule (DDD)

1880 Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes. Michigan. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

• Specific Entry: Wayne County, Springwells, Enumeration District 263, Page 1, Line 1–3, Thomas, George, and William Larkins.

1910 Federal Census (Population Schedule)

Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910. (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

• Specific Entry: Michigan, Wayne County, Springwells Township, Enumeration District 163, Sheet 15A, family 283, Thomas Larkins household.

2020 Prompt - Water - Mary Waters

Ancestor - Mary Waters, 1638-1710

My ninth great grandmother

 11 GENERATIONS     

Nancy Simmons - 11 Generations to Mary WATERS

       

The prompt for 52 Ancestors week 14 was water. I surfed my surnames in my Brother's Keeper database and found Mary Waters born in Watertown.  She jumped right out at me!  Mary Waters is my 9th great grandmother, so who is she and what is her story?

During the covid19 pandemic, we constantly heard about the exponential spread of the virus. As a genealogist, we talk about the exponential factor of our ancestors. I have my two parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, 16 great great-grandparents, and exponentially I end up with 1024 ninth great grandmothers!  That just doesn't seem right but in fact that is what you and I have!  It takes 11 generations and about 400 years to produce that many great-grandmothers. And YES, that is a lot of great grandmothers.  We get small threads of DNA from each one to make us the unique person we are.  When we talk exponentially about covid19, someone with the virus can contact two people who spread it to two more people and in just a few days the virus can spread to hundreds and thousands of people.  Case in point - continue social distancing and self-isolation.  

Let’s get back to Mary WATERS!

Mary Waters the fourth of 14 children born to Lawrence Waters and Anna Linton on January 27, 1638 in Watertowne, Massachusetts.[1]  Her father immigrated about 1635 during a period called the Great Migration where 30,000 immigrants left England and traveled across the Atlantic. Mary's father came to the Massachusetts Bay settlement and was a carpenter. In 1653 he was one of the first settlers of Lancaster, Massachusetts where he built one of the first houses in that community and Mary and her siblings were some of the first children born and raised in this new settlement.[2]

 

Settlements that Mary Waters Davis lived

In 1655, Mary Waters married Samuel Davis in Lancaster, Massachusetts.[3]  Here Mary had her first of nine children in 1656.  My direct descendant was Samuel Davis born January 8, 1669 in Groton, Massachusetts[4] where Mary and Samuel had moved. As Mary birthed her ninth child in 1675, there was much unrest developing between the colonist and the Native Americans and Mary had to have been quite anxious about her family. This small settlement was on the outskirts of the wilderness in Massachusetts in 1675.

This conflict soon intensified into what was called King Philip's War. King Philip was a Wampanoag chief and when the colonist executed three of his warriors the conflict escalated into outright warfare. Both the Native Americans and the colonist ravished and burned each other's communities. This forced the colonist to create the largest colonial army to date in New England. Both Mary's husband, Samuel Davis, and her father, Lawrence Waters, were conscripted into the colonial militia.  Over 1,000 men were in the colonial militia with 150 Indian allies to battle the Native Americans.[5] It was the winter of 1676 that Mary and her family left Groton and fled to Charlestowne, just outside Boston, for protection. On March 2, 1676 Groton was attacked and all was burned except for four homes.[6] Throughout the spring and summer of 1676 there was much bloodshed. By August of 1676 the colonist with many Indian allies succeeded in killing King Philip and by September the Native American opposition was destroyed but not without losing 600 English colonist and seventeen settlements.[7]

Settlements had garrisons where colonist found refuge.

Mary, her husband and their children returned to Groton in 1678 to rebuild. Two years later Mary's mother died in 1680 in Lancaster[8] and her father, Lawrence Waters, followed at the age of 85 in 1687[9] in the town he helped build.  The fear of Indian raids on English colonial settlements did not let up in the coming years .  Poor Mary probably worked hard to re-establish her home in Groton. The years leading to 1688 saw the raids by Native Americans, allies to the French, increasing.  King William's War 1688-1697 is known as the first of many conflicts between New France and New England.[10]  Also, the Native Americans were becoming hostile as treatises and agreements from King Philip's War were not being followed and so they allied with the French. English settlements continued to be raided and burned and many a colonist was taken prisoner and marched to Montreal. The conflict stopped in 1697 but not for long.

In December 1699, Mary's husband, Samuel Davis, died at the age of 69.[11]  Samuel's will was probated in December 1699 and Samuel names his beloved wife, Mary, and names his children, Nathaniel, John, Mary, Elizabeth, Patience, Sarah, and Samuel, my direct descendant[12]. 

Samuel Davis Will 1699 Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Life had hardly settled down for Mary in Groton in the early 1700's when the second of many French and English conflicts intensified.  This second conflict was called Queen Anne's War 1702-1713[13]. Mary's son, John Davis, was scalped and killed in 1704 doing chores outside his home in Groton[14]. This conflict continued until 1713 when peace was declared in Europe bringing negotiations to the New World between the French and the English. 

 

Conflict between English colonist and Native Americans

At the age of 72, Mary Waters Davis died on October 30, 1710 probably at the home of one of her children[15].  Her death is recorded in the Concord Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Massachusetts Vital Town Records.

Finding Mary WATER's story helped me realize that sitting in my home after 25 days of self-isolation and social distancing and wishing I could see my children and grandchildren is a small sacrifice to protect so many others. I have my cell phone, my internet, my television and food. I am so spoiled! I can’t imagine raising eight children in a tiny settlement on the border of the wilderness with your enemies lurching around waiting to attack, steal your children and burn your home. Mary lived almost her entire life in this situation. There was something very special that lead me to find and discover the story of my 9^th great grandmother, Mary WATERS.

---

[1] Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historical, 2001-2016), Watertown, V. 1, page 5.  https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/rd/14084/5/256336571

[2] An American Family History: Lawrence Waters and Anna Linton. https://www.anamericanfamilyhistory.com/Waters%20Family/WatersLawrenceAnnaLinton.html

[3] Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historical, 2001-2016), Lancaster, v.1, page 20.   

[4] Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Groton, Samuel Davis, son of Samuel Davis, Ancestry.

[5] Encyclopaedia Britannica, King Philip’s War. https://www.britannica.com/event/King-Philips-War

[6] Wikipedia, King Philip’s War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Philip%27s_War

[7] Ibid

[8] Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016), p.66  https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/rd/13924/66/250964145

[9] Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016), p.20. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/rd/13320/20/238395078

[10]History of Massachusetts Blog, King William’s War, https://historyofmassachusetts.org/king-williams-war/

[11]Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016), Littleton Town Records, V1, page 432. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/rd/13484/432/238432640  

[12] Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Samuel Davis Middlesex County, Massachusetts 1699.

[13] History of Massachusetts Blog, Queen Anne’s War,  https://historyofmassachusetts.org/queen-annes-war/

[14] Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016), Groton, V2, page 215. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/rd/7714/215/143145249

[15] Ibid, Concord Births, Marriages and Deaths, V1, page 76. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/rd/7685/76/142160155

2018 Prompt - Oldest - Barnabas Davis

Barnabas Davis - 1599-1685

10th great grandfather

My oldest ancestor? My oldest is probably my Mayflower descendant Thomas Rogers. But he died the first winter in Plymouth probably in his early 40s. My oldest, longest living, 17^th century ancestor would be Barnabus Davis; business man, soldier, tallow chandler and planter.  I descend from Barnabas through my mother’s Martin family. My great-great grandfather Edward Martin married Elizabeth Larkins, daughter of Margaret Davis and then back seven more generations to Barnabus Davis. That would be Michigan to New York to Massachusetts to England.

Three hundred and forty-eight years ago my 10^th great grandfather was born in 1599 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England. Tewkesbury is about 100 miles northwest of London.  As a business man Barnabas left many records of his transactions and after 45 years of life in Massachusetts he also created several deed records that help document his life. He married Patience James July 1, 1625 in Tewkesbury, England[i] and died November 28, 1685 in Charlestown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.[ii] 

Barnabas first came to America in July,1635 on the ship “Blessing” on a business trip[iii]. He gave his age then as thirty-six years when he left London. He landed in Boston and walked to Connecticut to check on his employer, Mr. Woodcock’s, business. When he arrived in Connecticut he found that Mr. Woodcock’s employee Francis Stiles had built a house but had not laid out 400 acres for a farm as he should have in his agreement.[iv] Barnabas was advised to return to England with letters concerning Mr. Woodcock’s estate in the colony. After a three-month trip aboard ship he returned to England and delivered the letters. 1635 was in the midst of the Great Migration when hundreds of middle-class educated and skilled English families were choosing to leave their country. 

Barnabas was again sent to the colonies in 1637 to check up on Francis Stiles and landed in Boston in the year of the Pequot War.[v] He traveled to Connecticut in a small sailing vessel and found that Stiles had not acquired the land he should have and was sent back to England with more letters. Before he could leave he was forced to become a soldier for about a year to fight in the Pequot War. The Pequot War was the first major conflict between the English colonists in New England and the native population. The Pequots, who lived in coastal Connecticut, had angered the English by offering sanctuary to Indians who had killed an English trader. The Treaty of Hartford, September 21, 1638,[vi] ended the war, not so much by ceasing hostilities as by dissolving the Pequot tribe.

He was sent to Connecticut a third time to recover the Woodcock’s estate from Stiles. This time Barnabas took his wife and five children with him. I find it hard to believe that business men in the seventeenth century traveled three months aboard a ship to traverse from London to Boston. Barnabas landed in Boston in mid-1639.[vii] The Woodcocks never paid Barnabas and he brought suit against them for wages in 1640-41. He won the suit. Later, he owned Lovell's Island and considerable other real estate. On March 1, 1657/58 when land was divided in Charlestown, Barnabas received lot 50 of 27 acres of woodland and 4.5 acres on the side of common land.[viii]

Barnabas and his wife, Patience, came to New England in 1639 with their five children; Samuel, John, James, Patience and Barnabas and settled in the small town of Charlestown justoutside of Boston. Their last two children, Nathaniel and Hopewell were born in Charlestown.  Here in Charlestown Barnabas practiced the occupation of tallow chandler, or candle maker.[ix] Barnabas died November 27, 1685 in Charlestown[x] and Patience died November 15, 1690 in Charlestown.[xi] 

Nancy Simmons

Josephine Martin

Edward Martin

Francis Martin

Margaret Davis

Joel Davis

Isaac Davis

Isaac Davis

Simon Davis

Samuel Davis

Samuel Davis

Barnabas Davis  10^th Grandfather

---

[i] Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Vol 2, Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1996-2011, page 288.

[ii] Hotten, John Camden, ed., Original List of Persons of Quality, London 1874, rpt Baltimore 1974, page 108.

[iii] Anderson, page 286.

[iv] Pope, Charles H., Pioneers of Massachusetts 1620-1650, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013,p 131.

[v] Lechford, Thomas, Note-book kept by Thomas Lechford, Esq., lawyer : in Boston, Massachusetts Bay, from June 27, 1638 to July 29, 1641, American Antiquarian Society, Vol III, 1885, page 367.

[vi] Wikipedia, Treaty of Hartford, (1638), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Hartford_(1638)

[vii] Anderson, page 286.

[viii] Frothingham, Richard, The History of Charlestown, Massachusetts, Charles Little & James Brown, 1845, p. 152.

[ix] Anderson, page 286.

[x] Ancestry, Massachusetts Town and Vital Records 1620-1988, Barnabas Davis, page 553.

[xi] Anderson, page 288.

2018 Prompt - Same Name - Edward Martin

Edward Martin - 1846-1927

3rd great grandfather

There is only one branch in my entire family tree that repeats the same name over six generations.  That is the Irish family name Edward Martin.  Edward Martin my 3rd great grandfather immigrated to the United States after his fifth daughter was born May 1842. Edward married Julia, her maiden-name is unknown, in Kilmactranny Parish, County Sligo, Ireland August 1, 1829. 

Kilmactranny Parish Church, Sligo County, Ireland

Their first five children were all daughters born in Ireland; Mary Jane born 1833, Margaret Isabelle born 1834, Eliza "Lizzie" born 1838, Frances "Fannie" born 1840, and Susan born 1842. Hard to believe we are going to get five generations of Edward Martins with all these girls but the last two children were sons; John Jacob born in 1842 and Edward William born 1844.

Shortly after arriving in America a son John Jacob was born in Ohio and the youngest child, my great-great grandfather, Edward William Martin, was born August 1,1846 in Springwells, Wayne County, Michigan. Before little Edward Martin turns eight his father died on February 22, 1854 leaving a widow and seven children.

Elmwood Cemetery
Detroit, Michigan

It is Edward's death that creates 132 pages of documentation that relates to us the well-being of this Irish family for the next 40 years.  Edward and Julia might have left Ireland knowing the famine was on the brink of developing but this Irish family was protestant and had money.  Edward buys a farm in Wayne County, Michigan of 160 acres in 1842 and in the 1850 agricultural census it states his cash value of his farm was $2500 being the ninth wealthiest farmer of the 35 farms listed on the page.  He had six horses, 2 oxen, 15 swine, 200 bushels of wheat, 100 bushels of corn, and 60 bushels of oats. Edward had invested in a working farm and little did he know in 1850 that his investment would help his family survive for 40 years after his death in 1854.

Edward died intestate, without a will, so the court appoints his wife Julia the executor of his estate and estimate his worth at ten thousand dollars.  This might have been too much for Julia because in just a few weeks the court appointed Colin Campbell the executor.  This is probably a family member, but I have not been able to prove this relationship.

Edward Martin's Estate value
Julia Martin - administrator

It is on the many pages of Edward Martin's probate papers that it states where in Ireland Julia and Edward were married, the date of the marriage, a description of his property in Wayne County, an inventory of his estate and sale of lands, expenses of the family for many years, and the partition of land in 1896 after the death of Julia on August 17, 1894. 

Partition of property to Edward & Julia's five children in 1894

Edward W. Martin is the seventh child of Edward and Julia and he lives his entire 81 years on the property where he was born and eventually inherits. 

Edward William Martin 1844-1927

Edward W. married Elizabeth Larkins August 9, 1869 and they had five children; two girls and three boys.  The two girls died within a year of their births but the boys all live to adulthood.  This generation does not produce an Edward. It is Edward W. Martin's son Francis Arthur Martin who names his second son Edward Jacob Martin.

Edward Jacob Martin 1895-1967-my grandfather

Are you with me? This makes the third Edward Martin! Edward Jacob Martin, my grandfather, was born January 7, 1895 in Detroit to Francis and Nina Wilcox Martin.  Edward Jacob married Mary Catherine Cronin in 1917 and has four children; his oldest a son that he named Edward William Martin. That makes the fourth Edward Martin!  Edward William Martin, the fourth, was born in 1918 and he had three sisters, one of which is my mother, Josephine Blanche Martin. 

Julia Marko and Edward William Martin 1943
Edward William Martin 1918-2005

Edward William Martin, the fourth, married Julia Marko in 1943 and had three sons. Yes, we not only have another Edward Martin, we have another Edward and Julia Martin!  Edward and Julia named their first son, Edward Timothy Martin. We now have our fifth Edward Martin in 143 years.

Edward Timothy Martin

From the birth of Edward Martin, our Irish immigrant, born in 1798 to the sixth generation of Martins with Edward Timothy Martin born in 1943 we have five generations of the Same Name.