Lyman Sylvester Monroe

Notes:

Lyman was born on his parents' farm in Lawrence, Michigan. After graduation from high school in Decatur, Michigan, he studied at Parson's Business College in Kalamazoo in 1871. He was then employed by his uncle, L. T. Rawson, in his grain trading business in Decatur.

In Apr 1873, Lyman took a job as bookkeeper in the First National Bank of South Haven, which had been founded two years earlier by his oldest brother, Charles, and S. R. Boardmen. By 1875, Lyman was assistant cashier. In 1878 he succeeded his brother Charles as cashier when Charles stepped up to Vice President. Lyman held this position for 21 years. During this time, he was the de facto operating head of the bank. In 1889, the bank was reorganized as the First State Bank of South Haven.

Lyman and Carrie J. Curtiss married in 1876. Two years after their wedding, they moved into a beautiful large house which they had built on the north side of South Haven. This house in the Victorian style of its time was described as one of the finest and most beautiful houses in South Haven. Their three children were born there and their eldest daughter died there. For many years they lived a happy affluent life. Devout Baptists, there were known as pillars of the local Baptist Church where Lyman served for many years as treasurer.

In 1899, Lyman resigned as cashier of the bank to devote full time to his large real estate holdings. He had inherited a large amount of agricultural land from his father, and by shrewd and prudent investment, he added greatly to his holdings which included resort cottages, hotels, and town properties. His 60-acre peach orchard was partially within the village limits of South Haven. He maintained his connections with the bank by remaining on the board of directors.

In 1902, he organized a private unincorporated banking company, the South Haven Loan & Trust Company, which he operated with a partner, Eugene Allen Hartman. In 1906, he was elected president of the Bank of South Haven, when his brother was promoted from president to Chairman of the Board.

Lyman was a registered Republican, but he was not active in politics.

In 1907, a disastrous late spring frost destroyed the crops in southwestern Michigan, including the local peaches. Besides a total loss of his own peach crop and defaulted loans to his private banking company, Lyman Monroe, as a business leader in the community, co-signed many loans on the Bank of South Haven to fruitgrowers in the area. While these defaulted loans did not completely destroy Lyman financially, they took the bulk of his fortune.

After several years of failing health, he died in 1910. He was deeply mourned by the people of South haven who recognized his strong devotion to the community.
References:

(1) "History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Mass. Munroes", 2nd ed. by R. S.
Munroe - Florence, Massachusetts (1986) - 13-8/11-87 - p. 253-254

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Lyman married Carrie Jane Curtis on 10 May 1876. Carrie was born on 31 Oct 1855 in Niles, Berrien Co., Michigan, USA; died in Mar 1919 in Deland, Florida, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Mabel C. Munroe was born on 15 Mar 1878 in South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA; died on 19 Sep 1894.
2. Mary Louise Munroe was born on 6 Aug 1881 in South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA; died on 4 Jul 1967 in Orange, New Jersey, USA.
3. Jay Randolph Monroe, III was born on 6 Jan 1883 in South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA; died on 29 Apr 1937 in Orange, New Jersey, USA.

Notes:

In 1816 when Jay was ten, his family moved from Surry, New Hampshire to Hamilton, New York. This was the year that a volcanic eruption in Indonesia caused northern New England to have no summer.

After finishing the local school at Hamilton, Jay was apprenticed to a stonemason, but when he turned twenty in 1826, he took off for the west. He traveled on the newly completed Erie Canal to Buffalo, New York where he continued on by lake schooner to Detroit, Michigan. He supported himself at first as a stonemason, but his ability and force of character were soon discovered and his services were solicited for more adventurous and ambitious employment.

Mr. Campeau engaged him to go with a part of his men on a circuit of the lakes in the interest of his fir trade. After his return he passed two years in the employ of Mr. Campeau and General Cass in locating lands for incoming settlers.

After a trip to his old home in New York, he returned to Michigan and settled at Prairie Ronde in 1830. The greater part of his time was occupied in traveling over the territory of Michigan locating lands for others. He was thrifty and frugal and applied his commissions in the purchase of lands for himself.

His wandering showed him much of the territory in its state of primeval wilderness. He was the first white man to pass over the site where South Haven now stands. In 1833 he built the first house within the limits of the present city. It was occupied by the Thomas family who recorded the first birth and death in the history of South Haven.

Jay made a plat of the village which was embraced in Hannah's plat of 1852, and has been a part of every one that has been made since. Along with other wise provisions, the plan required the reservation of a lot for a schoolhouse.

In 1835, in association with Charles U. Cross, he laid out a road between South Haven and Paw Paw, and what remains of that highway now is still known as the Munroe road. He had previously laid out a road between South Haven and Prairie Ronde.

Jay married Fanny Rawson on 10 Sep 1836. For some months after thir marriage, they boarded in Kalamazoo. In 1837 they settled on the land owned by Jay in Lawrence township. There he worked on and improved his farm of 900 acres. He also continued to act as land agent, and in time he became one of the most extensive landholders in that part of the country. At one time he possesed 80 eighty-acre tracts, or 6,400 acres in all, an expanse equal to ten square miles.

Under the territorial government of Michigan, Jay was appointed a judge, and from then to the end of his life he was always known as Judge Monroe. He was a man of benign disposition, his administration of the law always tempered justice with mercy. He was a friend and adviser of the early settlers. He served as commissioner of the poor in Van Buren County for more than twenty-five years. He was earnest in his interest and active in his support of all public undertakings for the good of the state. He helped to organize the State Agricultural Society, and was one of the founders of the Van Buren County Pioneers' Society. To the end of his life, he was one of the Pioneers' Society's most active members. In politics he was a life-long Democrat. In spiritual matters he was a firm believer in the Christian religion, but not connected by membership with any church organization.

Jay died in South Haven soon after returning from a visit to the Centennial Expositon in Philadelphia.

Fanny, Jay's wife, was universally beloved throughout the city of South Haven. She raised nine children on a farm which was remote from other human dwellings. The nearest neighbor was about a mile distant. She did all the writing and figuring required by her husband's business, including his land agency. Because the home was located in about the center of the county, it became a sort of halfway house for strangers and travelers. There were almost always extra persons to provide for with meals and lodging. After the death of her husband, Fanny stayed with her daughter Eunice in South Haven. She died at the age of 92.

Ref: Lexington Munroes, 2nd ed. 13-8/11-8
Clan Munro files - Elder, Charlotte

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Jay married Fanny Rawson on 10 Sep 1836. Fanny was born on 28 May 1815 in Erving, Massachusetts; died on 31 Oct 1907 in South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Notes:

Like his eldest brother Philip, Isaac studied medicine. There is a family tradition that he attended the University of Edinburgh medical school in Scotland. A search of the medical records showed no trace of Isaac, but many medical students attended lectures of the famous Doctor Alexander Monro without actually being enrolled in the medical school. During Isaac's time it would have been Alexander Monro Secundus 1733-1817.

Isaac and his wife, Mary, lived in Mary's hometown of Wendell, Massachusetts until 1793 when they moved to Westmoreland, New Hampshire. In 1801 they settled in Surry, New Hampshire. In 1816, Dr. Isaac Monroe moved his family to Hamilton, New York.

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The following is from the Spencer reference:

«i»Jenny Bommarito says in e mail October 26, 2006 that he died in 1826 and his wife went to live with a child in Michigan.«/i»
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Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Christened:
Church of the North Precinct or Second Parish

Isaac married Mary Sweetser in 1787 in Wendell, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, USA. Mary was born in 1772 in Wendell, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, USA; died in in Hamilton, Madison Co., New York, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

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The following is from the Spencer reference:

«i»Jenny Bommarito says in e mail October 26, 2006 that he «/i»[Isaac] «i»died in 1826 and his wife «/i»[Mary] «i»went to live with a child in Michigan.«/i»
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Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Notes:

Phillip's four oldest children, his first wife, Mary and his mother Johanna all died at about the same time, evidently in an epidemic. His last surviving child at the time was dead by 23 Dec 1749. At this time, Philip was 31 years old. He must have married his second wife, Abigail, between 1749 and 1753. From the 35th to 60th year of his age, 11 more children were born to him and Abigail. She was about 22 when the first was born and 47 at the birth of their last child.

Philip was of Shrewsbury, Boylston and Rutland, Massachusetts. The first Shrewsbury deeds call Philip Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts. A little later he was called of Shrewsbury. There are 18 land transfers of places that he bought and sold. He lived on one of the places called the 'Roe farm', which was still standing in 1963.

He was living on the "Hill" in what is now Boylston, but was Shrewsbury North Precinct in his time. Two of his children were baptised in the church of the North Precinct or Second Parish on the same day, 2 Nov 1769.

Philip Munroe started acquiring land in Shrewsbury Area about 1763, he sold 5 acres to Jonathan Weelock in Shrewsbury in 1763, and in 1765 he purchased a piece of land from Benjamin Tainter. In the deeds he is called "Philip Munro a labourer". Today he would be called a land speculator. Most of the deeds call him of Shrewsbury, two call him of Rutland.

Two deeds establish his connection to Surry, New Hampshire. The first deed dated 22 Dec 1789, in which he is called a physician, and the second dated 29 Dec 1789. He had established himself of Surry, New Hampshire by about 1783.

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The following is a transcription of RW "Billy" Munro's genealogy notes:

[Abraham Munro] «i»Son of Philip Munro (1718-?) and Mary ___? Baptised Shrewsbury, 4 September, 1763.

Mackenzie Page 587
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«/i»Error alert: RW Munro says Philip was the son of Ens. William Munroe and his first wife, Mary Cutler. Other references say Philip was the son of William's second wife, Johanna Russell. Philip's birth date is after William and Johanna's marriage date.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Griffin, Richard
- Farlow, Donna

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Buried:
Surrey Village Cemetery

Philip married Abigail Parker in 1749 in Lexington, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, USA. Abigail was born in 1731; was christened on 7 Oct 1750; died on 8 Oct 1801 in Surry, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire, USA; was buried in Surry, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Error alert: There are three people named Abigail Parker who supposedly married close Munroe relatives close to the same time frame. This is either a coincidence or an error.

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Christened:
Baptism

Buried:
Surrey Village Cemetery