Jay Randolph Monroe b. 11 Apr 1806 Surry, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire, USA d. 30 Oct 1876 South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA: Our Family History

Clan Munro USA
Genealogy Pages

1806 - 1876 (70 years)

Personal Information | Notes | Sources | All

Name	Jay Randolph Monroe [1]
Born	11 Apr 1806	Surry, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire, USA
Gender	Male
Died	30 Oct 1876	South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA
Person ID	I662	Munro
Last Modified	3 Nov 2009

Father	Isaac Monroe, M. D., b. 1767, Shrewsbury, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA , d. 1826, Hamilton, Madison Co., New York, USA (Age 59 years)
Mother	Mary Sweetser, b. 1772, Wendell, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, USA , d. Hamilton, Madison Co., New York, USA
Married	1787	Wendell, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, USA
Family ID	F301	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Fanny Rawson, b. 28 May 1815, Erving, Massachusetts , d. 31 Oct 1907, South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA (Age 92 years)

Married 10 Sep 1836

Children

+	1. Mary Monroe, b. 8 Nov 1837, Lawrence, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA , d. 20 Sep 1872 (Age 34 years)
+	2. Charles Jay Monroe, b. 20 Nov 1839, Lawrence, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA , d. 2 Oct 1919 (Age 79 years)
+	3. Andrew H. Monroe, b. 24 Oct 1841, Lawrence, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA , d. 1922 (Age 80 years)
+	4. Isaac Monroe, b. 6 May 1844, Lawrence, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA , d. 1924 (Age 79 years)
+	5. Eunice E. Monroe, b. 20 Jun 1846, Lawrence, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA , d. 3 Sep 1923 (Age 77 years)
	6. Fanny Monroe, b. 11 Nov 1847, Lawrence, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA , d. 14 Nov 1849 (Age 2 years)
+	7. Lyman Sylvester Monroe, b. 28 Mar 1851, Lawrence, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA , d. 7 Feb 1910, South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA (Age 58 years)
	8. Lida Monroe, b. 6 Apr 1854, Lawrence, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA , d. 23 May 1871 (Age 17 years)
	9. Jay Randolph Monroe, Jr., b. 1 Jan 1859, Lawrence, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA , d. 10 Jun 1888, South Haven, Van Buren Co., Michigan, USA (Age 29 years)

Last Modified 20 Jan 2009

Family ID F300 Group Sheet | Family Chart

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

Sources

[S715] Clan Munro e-files - Spencer, Suzanne, Suzanne Spencer, Email from Suzanne Spencer - 16 Sep 2009 - Descendants of Philip Munroe - compiled by Suzanne Spencer, Jenny Bommarito and Craig Richardson (Reliability: 3).