Michael Dafoe
| Born | 1759 or 20 Feb 1766 | Powel Hoosick, New York |
| Died | 31 Dec 1859 | South Fredericksburgh, Lennox and Addington Co., Ontario |
| Married | | Rachel Holcombe Ross ??? |
Parents:
Chidren:
The Parents of Michael
Michael’s Early Years
Michael and Rachel
John Ernst's seventh child was Michael Sr., U. E. who lived on Lot 6, Concession 3, South Fredericksburgh. In the 1606 Assessment Roll for Frederickburgh, Michael had one hundred acres, a round log house, two horses, four oxen and one cow. He died on December 31, 1859 in South Fredericksburgh, on the south shore of Hay Bay and is buried in the Parks Cemetery on the north shore. Both Eleanor Moult and Jean Dafoe Lake claim ancestry from him. It took us some years to find a record of his death. As descendant Lois Gardner-Earl commented in May 1992: "If that old rascal had held on for one more day, his name would have appeared in the 1861 census of death records for the previous year and we would have found him years ago."
We treasure the photo of Michael taken for his hundredth birthday. In February of 1937, "one of the clan" (Mrs. J. G. Simmonds) wrote in Belleville's Ontario Intelligencer:
"Old Michael visited his son Zenas on his one hundredth birthday and Zenas showed him through the house. At the second storey he asked his father what he thought of it. His answer was: 'I have not seen it all yet, there's another storey.' Zenas thought he'd be too tired to walk up another stair but he saw it all before he rested. I have Michael's picture when he was one hundred years old. It belonged to my grandmother Rachael who was born in 1800. She married Jacob Van Norman whose mother was a VanRenssaeler. He was born in the State of Vermont. I also have a picture of Rachael and one of her sister Mary, or as my mother called her, "Aunt Polly." Marry married a Northrup. She was mother of A. B. Northrup, a well-known citizen of Belleville, whose son W. B. Northrup was an M.P. for some time."
One of Belleville's streets is called "Dafoe Street." Nearby are two houses, #42 and #44 Great St. James Street, built by William Dafoe, Zena's son. It has been said that the house at #44 has been in the Dafoe family since it was built in 1881 and was usually handed down from daughter to daughter.
Michael Sr.'s first child was John M. Dafoe, who married Hannah Sills and continued to live in South Fredericksburgh. Professional genealogist Dan Walker of Delhi, Ontario is descended from this line. Dan has produced an excellent series of early District and County marriages, which will help genealogists.
Zenas Dafoe was the third son of Michael Sr. U. E., and was one of Belleville's oldest and well-known citizens. Apparently born in Adolphustown, he died in March, 1872, age 79 and had lived in Belleville's Ketcheson Ward for 50 years. In 1836 he was elected Member of Belleville's first Municipal Council. He owned land on East Front and Pinnacle Streets; was member of the Masonic Fraternity at the Belleville Lodge and was enumerator for the 1861 census. As gaoler, he worked in the old Court House and gaol on Pinnacle Street, which was torn down in the 1960's. The original Court house was built in 1838 from cut stone about 40' by 80' and three stories high, which included a basement for the criminal cells. He was church warden and principle mover in the creation of an Anglican parsonage for St. Thomas' rector. He donated 12 pounds towards the construction of this church. He and his wife Ann Vanorman have their tombstones at the back of St. Thomas' Church. Their son Anson Harmon Dafoe was buried 1843 in St. Thomas' Cemetery and Lyman in 1857.
The Final Years for Michael
Footnotes
For information on Daniel Thevou and his line, see
The Beacon; 2002 Annual Issue No. 5, page 11.
I believe that Rachel Ross and Rachel Holcombe to be the same person and I have found children's birth records under Ross but the dates are the same as children listed by Rachel Holcombe please somebody correct if I am wrong
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JimBenedict - 31 Dec 2005
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DarleneDafoeLapensee - 29 Sep 2006
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