GENEALOGY PROBLEM

Betsy Jackson

GOAL

My goal has changed as I’ve begun to research Census data, family letters, and other listings on Ancestry.com. The original goal was to try to confirm/refute family lore that says that my paternal great-grandmother Mary Farrar Pimlott and her husband (my paternal great-grandfather) Frank Pimlott had eight children, divorced at some time, and divided the custodial arrangements by gender – the girl children going with Mary and the boy children going with Frank. I was most interested in (1) confirming divorce decree and charges for bringing the divorce request (and who brought it) and (2) whether the custodial arrangement was mutually agreed to, or awarded by the court.

BUT…Census research does confirm that Mary and Frank separated, but custody was not divided by gender lines. At one point, Mary has all living children with her; at another time, she has some of the children (all girls), while Frank has two boys and one girl. Frank and Mary self-identify as married even while living separately. Mary self-identifies as widowed after Frank’s death. They never lived together after the 1900 Census.

SO… here are my questions:

Q1. – Did a divorce ever occur?

Q2. - Frank emigrated from Ireland to Canada. When and with whom?

Q3. - Frank emigrated from Canada sometime after 1871, but I can’t see the Canadian Census records. When did he emigrate and with whom? Did he enter the US in Detroit and stay there?

Q4. - When did Frank die? Where? Where is he buried?

Q5. - Where is Mary Farrar Pimlott buried?

Francis B. Pimlott

b. 1844, Tipperary, Ireland. d. 1920-1930, Detroit, MI (guessing)

m. c.1890 (Frank was 46; Mary 19!)

Mary L. (or J.) Farrar

b. 1.9.1871, Columbus, MI d. November 1933, Detroit, MI

Children

Baby Pimlott (gender unknown)

b & d. 7.22.1890, Detroit, MI (premature)

George Tilley Pimlott (my grandfather)

b. 9.29.1891, Detroit, MI d. 10.2.1953, Covington, KY (buried in Detroit)

Francis Lafayette Pimlott

b. 12.1893, Detroit, MI d. unknown

Mary Alice Pimlott

b. 11.1895, Detroit, MI d. unknown

William Farrar Pimlott

b. 1.14.1898, Detroit, MI d. 11.1.1904, Detroit, MI (decapitated)

Hannah Isabel Pimlott

b. 1901, Detroit, MI d. 1976, Santa Monica, CA

Syble Pimlott

b. 6.24.1903, Detroit, MI d. 6.2.1981, Vandalia, OH (Dayton)

Margaret(h) Pimlott

b. 1906. Detroit, MI d. unknown

1861 Census of Canada –

Simcoe, West Canada, Canada

Francis Pimlott

1871 Census of Canada –

Ontario, Canada

Francis Pimlott

1880 Census –

Springwells (Detroit), Wayne County, MI

Uriel S. Farrar, Head, Age 40, Milkman

Alice Farrar, Wife, Age 29, Keeping house

Mary L. Farrar, Daughter, Age 9

Walter Farrar, Son, Age 2

Francis Pimlott does not appear in 1880 Census, as far as I can tell.

1900 Census –

Detroit, Ward 16, Wayne County, MI

Francis B. Pimlott, Head, Age 56, Locomotive Engineer

Mary Pimlott, Wife, Age 30

George Pimlott, Son, Age 8

Francis Pimlott, Son, Age 6

Mary Alice Pimlott, Daughter, Age 4

William Pimlott, Son, Age 2

Bridget Tilley, Pimlott, Mother of Francis, Age 81

1910 Census –

Detroit, Ward 16, Wayne County, MI

Francis B. (Frank) Pimlot (misspelled) is living in the household of his brother George, Age 66, Locomotive Engineer

Gilroy Township, Santa Clara County, CA

Mary Pimlot (misspelled), Head, Age 38, Married, Fruit farmer

George Pimlot, Son, Age 18

Francis Pimlot, Son, Age 16

Mary Alice Pimlot, Daughter, Age 14

Hannah Pimlot, Daughter, Age 9

Sybil (misspelled) Pimlot, Daughter, Age 6

Margaret(h) Pimlot, Daughter, Age 4

Note: Mary and the kids moved out to Gilroy sometime between 1901 and 1910; her parents are already in Gilroy, running their own orchard, by the 1900 Census.

1920 Census –

Detroit, Ward 18, Wayne County, MI

Francis B. Pimlott, Head, Age 76, Married, Automotive plant repairman

George John Tilley Pimlott, Age 28, Locomotive engineer

Francis Lafayette Pimlott, Age 26, no occupation

Mary Alice Pimlott, Age 24, no occupation

Detroit, Ward 8, Wayne County, MI

Mary Pimlott, Head, Age 48, Married, Teacher (Conservatory)

Hannah Pimlott, Daughter, Age 18, Stenographer

Syble Pimlott, Daughter, Age 16, Stenographer

Margaret M. Pimlott, Daughter, Age 14

1930 Census –

Detroit, Ward 19, Wayne County, MI

Mary F. Pimlott, Head, Age 58, Widowed, Piano teacher

Syble Pimlott, Daughter, Single, Age 27, Stenographer

Ila Mae Pimlott, Adopted daughter, Age 2+

Note: Iola (misspelled) Mae is known to have been born out of wedlock to Syble. Census lists her father as being born in Connecticut. If she were adopted, would that information be known and recorded in the Census?

No record of Francis Pimlott in 1930 Census, to my knowledge. Date of death unknown.

1940 Census –

No record of Mary F. Pimlott; believed to have died November, 1933, in Detroit, MI

Note: Sybil (misspelled) Pimlott is listed in the 1940 Census as age 44 and living with her daughter Ila Mae, in the household of William and Agnes Maloney. Syble is listed as divorced (for the first time – she was previously only listed as single). Her occupation is still stenographer (loan company). Somewhere – I can’t reproduce it – Syble is identified as both Syble Pimlott and Syble Maloney in parens.

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