Will the real Joel Fox please stand up...

I find creating a table of facts can sometimes illuminate an otherwise confusing problem.  I listed what I know about Sarah Ann Fox's father Joel Fox and Henry Fox's father Joel Fox.  The information is displayed in the table below.  I hadn't realized just how much information I had collected.

Information	Sarah Fox's Joel	Henry Fox's Joel
Date of Birth	Circa 1795 to 1802	Prior to 1786 based on birth of Henry
Place of Birth	?	Saybrook, Connecticut
1806		Birth of Henry Fox in CT
Marriage	Before 1820 Mary Forbes	Before 1810 Ellathene Mac
1810	?	Birth of Gustavus Fox in CT
1815	?	Batavia, Genesee, New York
1820	Deerfield, Oneida, New York	?
1821	Birth of Sarah Fox in Deerfield, NY	?
1823	?	Canada
1827 - 1830	?	Clinton, Macomb, Michigan
1836	Deceased based on birth of Frances Rector	?

Looking at the table of information, I am almost certain I am looking for two different Joel Foxes.  Notice how Henry’s Joel Fox had at least 2 children by 1810, but when I see the 1820 census for Sarah’s Joel, he has only one female child living in the household.  He should have had two male children in the household, too.  Of course I guess you could argue that the two boys may have been living somewhere else.  The other thing that makes me think there are two Joel Foxes is Henry’s Joel is living in Batavia, New York in 1815 and in 1820, Sarah’s Joel is living in Deerfield, Oneida County, New York.  Is it impossible for these records to represent the same Joel, obviously not; however this would be the opposite migration route for the vast majority of pioneers.  It would be like a fish swimming upstream.

 

The map below shows the common migration route immigrants took as the western areas of New York became open to settlement.  The road our ancestors traveled down is called the Great Genesee Trail.  It’s my understanding this was an Indian trail of great antiquity.  What jumped out at me is that the trail starts in Utica, New York and ends at Buffalo, New York after going through Batavia, New York.  If Henry’s Joel moved to Canada in 1823, the obvious crossing spot would have to be Buffalo.  So what does this map mean?  It means that both Joel Foxes likely came through Utica! 

The nice thing about making a timeline table is that it points out areas for further research.  So now the Fox hunt is on again.  First, I thought I would try to find Henry’s Joel Fox in the 1820 census.  This would almost guarantee I have two separate Joel Foxes as I already have Sarah’s Joel Fox in Oneida County, New York.      

Gustavus Fox of Macomb County, Michigan - The Fox Hunt Continues

I've been slowly expanding my 'Fox hunt' and will try to zero in on Henry Fox's father, Joel Fox.  To do this I need to first introduce you to Henry's younger brother, Gustavus Fox.  Once again Ancestry.com comes to the rescue.  Gustavus has a biographical sketch in the Past and Present of Macomb County, Michigan.  I clipped out the entry which is displayed below.

This sketch provides a little more information on Joel Fox.  We find out that Gustavus is born in Connecticut in 1810.  Joel then moves his family to Batavia, Genesee County, New York by 1815.  Joel Fox moves to Canada in 1823.  This sketch states that Gustavus arrives in Michigan in 1832.  Henry Fox is said to have arrived in Michigan in 1833.  If this sketch is correct, we can place the father of Henry and Gustavus in Connecticut up to at least 1810.  

Two of Gustavus's children have biographical sketches in the History of Macomb County, Michigan.  I have clipped the part of the sketches that refer to either Joel or Gustavus Fox.

Both of the above sketches mention Joel Fox, too.  Robert Fox states that Joel came to Macomb County by 1827 while Henrietta Fox says Joel 'and his family' arrive in Michigan about 1830.  Either way, Joel Fox is supposed to be in Michigan very early.  In the late 1820s and early 1830s Michigan was truly a frontier.  The population of Michigan did not appreciably grow until after the completion of the Erie canal in the 1830s.  The 1830 census does exist for the territory of Michigan, but I do not see Joel Fox listed.  Of course he could easily have been missed as most of the area outside of Detroit were extremely remote settlements. 

Henry Fox died before death certificates were required in Michigan.  Gustavus Fox died in 1904.  By this time death certificates were required for all deaths.  I copied the death certificate for Gustavus Fox.  It is displayed below.

This record confirms the father of Gustavus Fox as Joel Fox.  It also shows the mother of Gustavus Fox as being Ellath... Mac.  I'll let you figure out what her first name is.  If you look at her last name it appears to be Mac.  A quick search online for Gustavus Fox turns up several files which list her surname as Mann.  I'm not quite sure where this comes from.  I think her name was Mac (I'll tell you why in a later post).  

Now we are ready to recap all the information we have collected as we continue on our Fox hunt...