Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Andrew LAMOREAUX
Andrew Jackson and his children set out for the west around 1840 after the death of Sally, his wife. his oldest son, Lester, an accomplished blacksmith, built a covered wagon and enlisted the family oxen and horses for the task of drawing it westward. The family journeyed to Toledo, Ohio by wagon and continued on to Jackson, Michigan by rail and stage. Lester's wagen was rather cumbersome and it was sold to a Mormon couple who pulled it to Utah.
While the Lamoreaux's wintered in Jackson, they prepared for the second leg of their journal: the trip down the Grand River. Lester built a scow on the ice of a Jackson mill pond, and in the spring it brought the Lamoreauxs to Mill Creek.
The finished craft was a flatbottomed boat with a bow and a long sweep which was used for steering. The scow contained one room, a cook stove and was loaded with farm implements. The girls slept in the room with the stove.
The trials of pioneer life are remote and the problems this pioneer family endured are difficult to imagine. However, Lamoreaux lore contains an interesting account of how their relatives had to improvise with what nature had available in order to come to grips with their problems.
While they were floating westward, the family apparently had trouble keeping little Andrew Jackson Junior aboard. To remedy this situation, somewhere around Lansing where the river current increased, grape vines were tied to the back of the scow so they would trail along behind in the water. Thus, if Andrew fell off, all he had to do was grab hold of the vines and holler until he was rescued. It may sound incredible, but how would you solve the problem?
When the Lamoreaux craft reached Egypt Valley in Ada Township, visiting was in order. Ambrose and Teneych Lamoreaux had moved westward earlier and established residence there. After a short delay, the Lamoreaux family arrived in Mill Creek in 1841 and settled down at their permanent dwelling place.
Andrew Jackson and his sons cleared the land during the summer and started to farm. Winters were spent working in the saw mills already built on Mill Creek.
The Lamoreaux's purchased 160 acres of land in Section 1 of Walker Township from John Ball. While serving the United States government, Ball had earlier purchased the land from the Indians. Then to assist him in his farming enterprise, Andrew Jackson Lamoreaux married Emma Brown Weed. Emma Lamoreaux then served as stepmother to the six children.
The first Lamoreaux family built their home on the high bluff overlooking the Grand River at the site of the present Chamberlain estate. The house ws surrounded by barns and the equipment necessary for farming.
Today, the Comstock Park Cemetery is one acre of the original Lamoreaux estate.
Andrew Jackson Lamoreaux died in 1876 and was buried by his family in this cemetery, which according to legend, was the burial grounds of the indians.
The following is a selection from a poem by Henry A. Johnson in 1941 for the Lamoreaux Centennial. He vividly depicts the journey of the early Lamoreaux pioneers.
A century has passed since Andrew and Sally
Envisioned a home in a far distance valley,
A valley of forests and of rich fertile land
That lay in its splendor by the side of the Grand
And a century has passed since the fortunes of life
Despoiled the fair dream of Sally, the wife
For the reaper claimed its toll in the harvest of death
And Sally knew naught of the land in the west
But the dream and the vision of Sally, the mother,
Lived on to inspire the father and sons, and yet another
Who shared in the glories of the Lamoreaux family
when they'd gained their estate in the Grand River Valley
For, 'tis told that time healed the wound, and Andrew aware
Of the needs of his sons in that training and care
That Sally bestowed, deemed it well to concede
Joint reign of his household to Emma Brown Weed
Thought bereft of the love that makes gentle the man
The sons faltered not in the practice or plan
That their mother observed nor did Andrew in life
Depart from the code observed by Sally, the wife.
Thus Lester and Florence the sons brought in turn
To that region in the west, the creed they had learned,
Of honor and prudence, forbearance and love
And of faith that is centered in the Creator above.
They came as a family and as pioneers bold
Oe'r trials that were new, by land we are told,
And by water from its source to its shores in the west,
The goal of their dreams, the land of their quest.
From The Comstock Park Observer, Vol 2 No. 34, Wednesday January 5, 1972.
Buried in Mill Creek Cemetery, Comstock Park, Michigan
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