My Grandmother's Grandmother

My grandmother, Lillian May Timmerman, married J. M. Remington on March 16, 1912 in Cadillac, Michigan. Her headstone reads Lillian Schuyler Remington. So that raises the question – why Schuyler?

My grandmother’s grandmother was Maria Sophia (Sofia) Schuyler.  She was born about 1822, probably in Montgomery County, New York.  Her parents were Peter P. Schuyler and Elizabeth Becker.  Around the year 1835, Peter and several other families left Montgomery County and settled in Jefferson County, New York.  Their destination was the small community of Three Mile Bay in Lyme Township.  This village is located on an inlet of Chaumont Bay on the eastern edge of Lake Ontario.  The economy was based on fishing and ship building.  Peter’s brother Daniel became the first merchant in the town and Peter was a farmer with land nearby.

1864 Map of Lyme

Peter's Property in 1864

View of Three Mile Bay

In 1845 Marie married Daniel Timmerman, whose family had moved to Lyme from Herkimer County, New York.  They are on the 1850 census living next to Philip Schuyler, Marie’s brother.  Both men were laborers with growing families – Marie’s first three children were born in Lyme.

By 1855 the family had moved to Ottawa County, Michigan, a journey of almost 600 miles. According to information from Claudia Throop, “Daniel F. Timmerman and Maria Schuyler Timmerman moved by horse and wagon from New York State to Michigan. They purchased the farm at 9130 Arthur Street…” Their fourth child, Eugene Fitzroy Timmerman, father of my grandmother Lillian, was probably born there on July 6, 1855. 

Marie died a few months later, on October 12, 1855, at 33 years of age.  According to Claudia’s father and other family members, “The snow was so deep from early storms when her casket was taken to the cemetery, the pall bearers were forced to use a sled to carry her casket. A temporary grave was used at the southeast corner of the cemetery. It was intended that someone would then come back and move her to the family plot. By the time they did, they were unable to determine exactly where she was buried.”  Her burial location is supported by Daniel’s obituary but there is no marker that I know of.

A few years after Marie’s death, Daniel married Sarah Fisk and they had five children together.  My grandmother would never have known Marie.  Perhaps she knew some aunts or uncles or cousins from the Schuyler branch of the family.  Or perhaps she heard stories about the history of the Schuyler family in New York.  That is for another post.