Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 17:58:18 -0700 (PDT) From: Kathleen Lake Subject: I've just identified our Quaker ancestors and our ancestral land located in Wisconsin To: Bob Lake , Jim Lake , "pvlake@aol.com" I just identified one probable source for the family legend of Quaker ancestry. Hazel Thompson Lake, our grandmother, is a descendant of the Michener family of Plumstead, Bucks, Pennsylvania and some information on this family follows... Micheners John Michener and Sarah Moore were married in the home of William Penn in Worminghurst, England on 8/6/1686 and apparently sailed immediately for America. They carried with them a letter written by Penn to his manager in America asking that he lend aid in becoming established in the new land.There is a record of their having the following children: Sarah, Rebecca, Hannah, William, John, Elizabeth and Mary. William married Mary (Custer?) of Germantown, later settled on a 400 acre farm in Plumstead. The descendency chart looks like this... Robert Michener of Ash Parish, Sussex, England >son>John Michener b. 1656 @ Ash Parish marr: Sarah Moore @ home of William Penn in Worminghurst in 1686 >>son>>William Michener b ? @ Pennsylvania marr: Mary Custer >>>son>>>Mordecai Michener b. @ marr: Mary Fisher >>>>son>>>>Barak Michener b. @ marr: Jane Wilson >>>>>daughter>>>>>Jane Michener b. 1783 @ Plumstead, Bucks, Pennsylvania marr: William Thompson >>>>>>son>>>>>> Martin B. Thomson b. 1861 marr: Martha Erickson b. 1865 married in Jefferson, Vernon County, Wisconsin >>>>>>>daughter>>>>>>> Hazel Thompson (our Grandmother) b 1901? @ marr Scott William Lake b. 1894 in Viroqua, Wisconsin had two children William Scott 1916 and Herbert Henry 1919 who were raised by Aunt Florence and Uncle Fred. I don't know what happened to Hazel but, she is listed as a head of houshold with two children in 1930 (though the Minnesota Census shows the boys living with Aunt F & Uncle F in Two Harbors). Her date of birth was listed as 1906 (which given a 5 year margin for error expected in old records) and this would have made her very young when dad was born around 14 or 15 y. This may explain why dad and uncle Herb were raised by Aunt Florence as this was depression era Wisconsin, she was a teenager and if the family legend is true, grandpa Lake was busted during this period for prohibition violations and may have been in jail or destitute from seizure of his property by the state. This Quaker connection probably satisfies this part of the family legend. The "Welsh" connection is still to be made but quite possible as Wales is only 50 miles from Chawleigh, Devon where the family comes from. The religious dissidents from the Chawleigh area may have also been Quakers but, I think it is more probable that they were "Bible Christians" an off-shoot of the Methodist Church which later rejoined the Methodists. I think this for a couple reasons, one that this area of Devon and surrounding villages hamlets, and farms such as Lake Farm of Shebbear were the center for this group of dissidents. The other reason is that our American Lake ancestors' obituaries list them as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Viroqua and it is likely that they did not fall far from the families "religious inheretance." I located John Reed Lake's farmland in Viroqua and interestingly enough it lies adjacent to "Lake Ridge." located at sections 23 and 26, town 12N, range 4 I hope this is fun for you to read and I hope you will forward it on to any family members who are interested. Date: Thu, 4 May 2006 14:11:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Kathleen Lake Subject: "Lake Ridge" Wisconsin, early Lakes & aviation and our Harley Davidson riding 87 year old Harry Lake Hi Bob, Jim, Tawnyea, et.al, More great snippets of Lake family history for you from the 1994 History of Vernon Co... Lake Ridge, Wisconsin was named after our family and our first cousins (2x rem) built one of the first low-wing monoplanes in the country on the family farm(s) at Lake Ridge. Excerpts from the original text follow (italics mine): "John R. Lake(our great, great grandfather), one of the pioneers of Vernon Cunty, was born in Devonshire, England, March 19, 1829. He immigrated to America in 1855 and commenced farming. He was married in 1859, to Charlotte, daughter of John and Charlotte (Searls) Crook (both families from same area of Chawleigh, Devonshire), they had 10 children ... During the war Mr. Lake enlisted in company B, 50th regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers, and served faithfully until honorably discharged. (he actually enlisted twice during the Civil War). Harry Frederick Lake (our 1st cousin 2x rem) was born to Samuel W. and Christina Anderson Lake on September 27, 1902. He graduated from Viroqua High School and resided on the family farm with his parents and brother Clinton where he and Clinton built one of the first low-wing monoplanes in the country. Harry served with the Viroqua unity of the Wisconsin National Guard and worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps. On April 10, 1934, he married Irene Kathlyn Thompson ... ... Harry worked for Boeing Aircraft in Seattle, Wa in the early 1940's, where he did engineering on the B-17 and B-29 aircrafts. In 1944, Irene and Harry moved to Dearborn, Mi where he worked as a design engineer for Continental Aviation, Detroit, MI, building helicopters. He retired in 1968, and they moved back to the family farm in 1970. The farm is on Lake Ridge so named as most of the Lake families settled on this ridge. Harry spent time designing aircraft and was an avid Harley-Davidson rider up until age 87. He was a member of the experimental aviation association of engineers... Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 13:43:01 -0800 (PST) From: Kathleen Lake Since beginning my research a year or so ago, I've had a lot of good luck and have traced our family back to 1766 in Devonshire, England. I would like to correspond with anyone interested in the Lake family of Devonshire and in particular, North and Mid Devonshire parishes and the Plymouth area. My family tree starts (so far) with Elisha Lake b. 1766 parish unknown, in Devonshire and Ursula Hester or Esther Skinner also born in 1766 with her christening, marriage and death listed on the Chawleigh parish registers. I am very interested in finding out about Elisha's parents and siblings. I do know that during the same period there was an Anthony Lake born abt 1745 living in Chawleigh who was married to a woman named Frances. They had three children that I know of, Mary, Anthony and George. Anthony's son Anthony was born around 1768 in Chawleigh and married Elizabeth Wilkey. Elisha and Ursula were married 7 Aug 1795 and had five sons (that I know of) all born in Chawleigh or Cheldon. Elisha christened 23 Oct 1796; William christened 20 Feb 1798; John christened 25 Jan 1801; Robert christened 2 Oct 1796 (died at age 14); and Thomas born 10 May 1807. I don't know anything about their eldest son Elisha, but William was still farming in Coleridge in 1861. He married a woman named Fanny from Brushford and they had three children, Richard b. 1842; John b. 1846; and Fanny b. 1844. Fanny married Richard Rouncely of Brushford and had many children with him. Elisha and Ursula's son John was a "husbandman" working a freehold property in a location about a mile from Chawleigh called Dockworthy (an ancient manor site no longer in existence). Both his sons, John Reed Lake and William, emigrated to Vernon County Wisconsin in the mid 1800s. Thomas, the youngest son of Elisha and Ursula, was a Master Stonemason employing several men in Chawleigh. He had several children among them Henry who emigrated to Midlothian Scotland and John (a building contractor) who emigrated to Wisconsin after first living in Scotland and working for the Duke of Buccleuch. I'm most interested in finding out more information on Elisha and his wife Ursula Skinner and would like to correspond with anyone researching the Lake family of Mid Devonshire during the period 1700 to 1775. Kathy Lake