Living

Notes:

Harold was born at the Lawrence homestead. He and his wife lived and farmed next to the homestead all their lives.

References:

(1) "History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Mass. Munroes", 2nd ed. by R. S.
Munroe - Florence, Massachusetts (1986) - 13-8/11-84-5 - p. 252, 389

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

Harold married Pearl B. Brown on 29 Nov 1913. Pearl was born on 11 Aug 1887; died on 1 Aug 1967. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

References:

(1) "History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Mass. Munroes", 2nd ed. by R. S.
Munroe - Florence, Massachusetts (1986) - 13-8/11-84-5 - p. 389

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

Notes:

Isaac was born at the old homestead in Lawrence, Michigan, and was raised on his father's farm. He received a good education in the home school and attended the Decatur schools for six months.

His father gave him a tract of wild land located near South Haven. He began to clear and improve the land but soon became tired of that kind of work and returned home.

At the time, he knew nothing about the care of horses, but became interested in improving his own stock. He learned from his brother, who was a great lover of horses, and in 1866, Isaac bough a thoroughbred mare named "Kittie." While Isaac was engaged extensively in the lumber and charcoal business over the years, Kittie bred sixteen colts. The high quality of these colts convinced Isaac to give his attention to stock breeding, and he acquired an impressive stable of mares. In 1890, "Tariff" and "Free Trade" took the first premium as a foal team in Chicago.

When his father died in 1876, Isaac inherited the farm in Lawrence. He proved to be a person who could successfully carry on several different lines of business at the same time, being a very prominent farmer, stock breeder, and lumberman in Van Buren County. In 1890, he lost three of his barns to fire.

Isaac was a firm Democrat, and cast his first presidential vote in 1868. Although his township was strongly Republican, he was elected to the office of Supervisor on two occasions. He was amember of the Masonic order, and whith his wife was identified with the Baptist Church in Lawrence.

References:

(1) "History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Mass. Munroes", 2nd ed. by R. S.
Munroe - Florence, Massachusetts (1986) - 13-8/11-84 - p. 251-252

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

Isaac married Carrie J. Cook on 28 Nov 1877 in South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA. Carrie was born on 17 Sep 1857 in Dowagiac, Michigan, USA; died in 1921. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

References:

(1) "History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Mass. Munroes", 2nd ed. by R. S.
Munroe - Florence, Massachusetts (1986) - 13-8/11-84 - p. 251-252

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