Native American - Early Settler Marriages, Image and Reality: Life in Whatcom County 1860-1890 by Peyton Kane

James and Mary ABBOTT

James Varnum ABBOTT was born on 17 June 1818 in Andover, Oxford, Maine, the son of Holton H. and Polly (FARRINGTON) ABBOTT. He died on Fir Island, Skagit County about 1900. He was a farmer. He married near Sedro-Woolley about 1863 or 1865 according to the Indian custom to Mary. They separated about 1874. The children continued to reside with their father. They had three children:

1. James ABBOTT who was born on 18 Nov 1865.
   
   
2. Annie ABBOTTwho was born on 8 Feb 1868. She married John O. Beck.
   
   
3. John ABBOTT who was born on 8 June 1871. He died about 1896.

Mary ABBOTT was born about 1847 or 1852 at Concrete, Skagit County. Her Indian name was Hy-chi-blow. She was a member of the Kiku-al-a-as band of the Skagit Indians. She separated from James ABBOTT about 1874. She married a second time to Joe SHELTON of the Tulalip Reservation. They, too, were divorced. Her third marriage was to Bill JAKE, a member of the Kikualas band of the Skagit River Indians, living at the Swinomish Reservation. They were married about 1898. They were still alive and living together on 14 May 1917 at the Swinomish Indian Reservation. Their names were listed as Bill JACOB and Mary JACOB on the Swinomish Census of 1916.

Mary ABBOTT's father was Tzerl-sol-stu (Sol-sub-sue), a full-blood of the Baker River Band of the Skagit Indians. He died about 1853. Her mother was Tez-hi-zak (See-hy-wack) of the Nookchamps band of the Skagit Indians. She died when Mary was about five years old or perhaps about 1877, aged 60 years old, at Fir Island.

1. James ABBOTT was born on 18 Nov 1865 on Fir Island, Skagit County. He worked as a lumber mill operator at Orting, Pierce County. He was married on 1 Feb 1898 at Bellingham to Martha I. TING, a three-quarter blood Alaskan Indian. Her father was Tom TING who was alive in 1917 and living on the Lummi Indian Reservation. He was about 65 years old in 1917. Her mother was Julia TING; she died about 26 Sept 1904 or 1905.

James and Martha ABBOTT had eleven children:

   a. James ABBOTT, Jr. was born on 13 Mar 1899 on Fir Island in Skagit County.

   b. Julia ABBOTT was born on 1 Oct 1900 at Lummi in Whatcom County.

   c. Franklin ABBOTT was born on 22 Mar 1903 at Lummi in Whatcom County.

   d. John ABBOTT was born on 10 Feb 1905 at Lummi in Whatcom County.

   e. Leona ABBOTT was born on 14 Jan 1907 at Marietta in Whatcom County.

   f. Myrtle ABBOTT was born on 4 Jun 1908 at Marietta in Whatcom County.

   g. Mary ABBOTT was born on 10 Mar 1910 at Lummi in Whatcom County.

   h. Howard ABBOTT was born on 10 Nov 1912 at Marietta in Whatcom County.

   i. Henry ABBOTT was born on 1 Nov 1914 at Sequim in Clallam County.

2. Annie ABBOTT was born on 8 Feb 1868 and married on 21 Nov 1884 John O. BECK, a white man who was born in Pennsylvania about 1850 and was living in Skagit County about 1884. They were divorced in October 1916. She was living in 1917 on Fir Island where her father farmed. They had six children who were born on Fir Island:

   a. Philip BECK was born about January 1885.

   b. Clinton BECK was born on 20 May 1889. By 1917, he was married and lived on Fir Island.

   c. Howard BECK was born on 26 Jun 1892. By 1917, he was married and lived on Fir Island.

   d. Ray BECK was born on 19 May 1894.

   e. Hazel BECK was born on 25 Jan 1896. In 1917, she was married to Mr. ALBANS and lived on Fir Island.

   f. Elsie BECK was born on 29 Jan 1898.

   g. Russel BECK was born on 9 Mar 1900.

Sources: Special Agent Charles E. Roblin, 1916-1919- Report on Indians not allotted and not on reservations, microfilm roll 1343, roll 4, filed with the Sandpoint National Archives, drawer D-7, Skagit, 0487- Abbott; Land Title records of 2 August 1875; Whatcom County Census 1870, p. 8, #27, Skagit precinct; Whatcom County 1880 Census, p. 48, #51, Skagit precinct; Skagit County 1885, p. 33, #1 & #4; 1900 Census of Lummi Reservation, # 263B.

Solomon and Mary ALLEN

Solomon ALLEN was born in 1827 in Lafayette, Randolph, Illinois and died on 31 Jan 1895 in Whatcom County. His parents were probably William and Tabitha ALLEN. He served "his country during the Mexican War." He came to the west coast 1852 to work in the gold mines and then went to the Fraser River gold rush after 1856. Quitting the mines, he arrived in Bellingham Bay in 1858 where he worked as a carpenter, probably at the coal mines. He homesteaded at Marietta on the Lummi Indian Reservation at the mouth of the Nooksack River in 1864. His farm was worth four hundred and fifty dollars. He cultivated six acres of fruit trees and cleared an additional forty acres, leaving sixty acres untouched. His personal property was worth eight hundred dollars. From 1860 to 1861, Solomon ALLEN performed as the County Coroner.

Solomon ALLEN cohabited with Mary, an Indian. She was born about 1845 in British Columbia and died at her home in Marietta in January, 1913. They were legally married on 17 Sept 1873 at their home attended by their friends John A. TENNANT and Thomas MURPHY in a service performed by J. H. PLASTER, Probate Judge. Marietta in Whatcom County was named for their only daughter. They had six children:

   1. Frederick ALLEN was born about 1860. His wife was Mary Eva BOWLAN. Their son, Solomon A. ALLEN, was born on 24 Mar 1885 and died on 2 Feb 1978 in Seattle.

   2. John ALLEN was born about 1866.

   3. David ALLEN was born about 1869.

   4. Samuel ALLEN was born about 1874.

   5. Mary ALLEN was born about 1874 and died before 1895.

   6. James ALLEN was born about 1879.

Sources: WC-1860, p. 2, #89; WC-1870, p. 3; # 19; WC-1880, p. 27, #149; History of Whatcom County by Roth, p. 121 & 426; Whatcom Co. Marriages; Lummi Cemetery, THE BULLETIN, V. 21, #2, Winter 1991. The Bellingham Bay Reveille, February 1, 1895. 1850 census Randolph County, IL.

Reuben and Sally BIZER

Reuben BIZER was born about 1828 in Ohio. He arrived in Whatcom County about 1860 with his partner, Col. PATTERSON and they settled near Lynden. After PATTERSON left the county, Reuben BIZER farmed along the Nooksack River at Ferndale in Whatcom County from 1870. He died on 30 March 1894 and was buried in Enterprise Cemetery near Ferndale.

He married Sally TEN, a Nooksack woman, about 1865. Their marriage was legalized on 20 Sept 1873 by Father Chirouse, a Catholic priest, and before two witnesses: John McGLYNN and D.M. McDONOUGH.

Sally TEN was born about 1847 in Whatcom County, Washington Territory. Her father was Whee-ack-tub-sut, a Nooksack man. Her mother died when Sally was a child. Phoebe JUDSON visited the family and wrote that, "We expected to camp out that night, but Mr. BISOR kindly invited us to his house, where we were hospitably entertained by his wife, a large, pleasant mannered Indian woman, with whom I at once felt at home. Mrs. BISOR soon had a huge kettle of potatoes ('wapatoes,' she called them) over the open fire." Sally died in 1874 at the family farm in Ferndale. They raised four children:

1. David BIZER was born about 1865 in Washington Territory.
   
   
2. Emily BIZER was born about 1866 in Washington Territory.
   
   
3. Anna BIZER was born in Sept 1869 in Washington Territory.
   
   
4. John BIZER was born 1 Sept 1872 in Washington Territory; he died on 12 Mar 1940; he was the son of Reuben BIZER and Mathilde George (who is this?).

Reuben BIZER wrote a will and made his son, John, both the executor and the beneficiary. John worked as a baseball pitcher in the 1890's and later settled at Marietta at the mouth of the Nooksack River. John BIZER died on 12 Mar 1940.

Emily BIZER married Thomas COTTER, a White man, who was born in Ireland about 1858. Their marriage was legalized by John TENNANT, a Methodist preacher, on 30 Oct 1883 at the home of D. ROGERS; it was witnessed by George GREEN. Thomas COTTER died in April 1926. Emily BIZER died after 1918 and before 1920 census.

Sources: Whatcom County Census of 1870, p. 3, #12; Whatcom County Census of 1880, p. 1, #8 and p. 3, #33; WGS Bulletin, Marriages, C-35; Whatcom County Probate, Day Book 'C', 21 April 1894; WGS Bulletin, Lummi Cemetery, v. 21, #2, p. 49; Robert Emmett Hawley, SKQEE MUS: or Pioneer Days on the Nooksack, edited by P.R.J., introduced by David G. Tremaine (Bellingham, Wash.: Miller & Sutherlen Printing Co, 1945), p. 47; Phoebe Goodell Judson, A Pioneer's Search for an Ideal Home: A Book of Personal Memoirs, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984), p. 202; Special Agent Charles E. Roblin, 1916-1919- Report on Indians not allotted and not on reservations, microfilm roll 1343, rolls 1 to 6, filed with the Sandpoint National Archives, drawer D-7, roll 4, frame 187.

Joseph and Catherine EMMERLING

Joseph EMMERLING was born about 1830 in Bavaria, Germany. He came to the area as a miner in the Frazer River gold rush of 1858. After it played out, he remained behind and worked as a farmer in Whatcom County, near Lynden. He died on 11 Jan 1873. His estate was probated on 25 Feb 1873. . "The total amount of receipts coming into the hands of the said Administrator being seven hundred dollars, and after deducting the preferred claims there remains insufficient to pay off the claims in full, and a dividend is hereby ordered to be made to pay off said claims not preferred pro rata, which said per cent amounts to __. And the said Administrator is required to withhold the payments until the full time of one year expries." By George A. KELLOGG, clerk of the Probate Court. Only one hundred and one dollars of the estate were applied to the family's maintenance. The remainder paid off the court fees, administrator's fees, and debts owed by Joseph to his neighbors, including Daniel McCLANAHAN, James BERTRAND, James TAYLOR, George REHBERGER.  He mentioned his wife, Catherine and his child in his will; they were to received all of his property. The executor of the will and the guardian of the child was James H. TAYLOR; the witnesses were H. A. JUDSON and E. H. BARNES.

Joseph married Catherine, a Nooksack woman, born about 1852 in Washington Territory.  They had one child:

1. Mary Jane EMMERLING, who was born in early 1874.
   
   
   

Robert Emmett HAWLEY wrote a short passage about Joe EMMERLING:

   "Very little is known of this character of the early days around Lynden. He too was a squawman, and his claim lay on the prairie east of present Lynden. He also was a leftover from the Fraser River Gold Rush, and returning disappointed, decided to bury the unfortunate past, and himself, in the depths of the forest among the Nooksack Indians. He probably came at the same time as Daniel McCLANANHAN, and took for his wife a belle of the Nooksack Tribe. As far as known, they had no children, and no relatives of the husband were ever heard from.

   "A few months after my father had helped place the body of Daniel McCLANAHAN in a split-cedar coffin and bury him in his orchard, he was called upon to perform the same sad services for Joe EMMERLING. He was buried near the graves of another white man and his Indian wife, who had died several years before I came to Lynden. I never learned the names of the two, but always thought they were relations of EMMERLING, since he took care of their graves until he died. The location of these graves was approximately where the Frank LANDALL place is today. Thus these three, of the very first white settlers of Lynden, are sleeping today in unknown and unmarked graves."

Sources: Whatcom Genealogical Society, Whatcom County Census of 1870, p. 3, #4; Robert Emmett Hawley, SKQEE MUS: or Pioneer Days on the Nooksack, edited by P.R.J.[Prescott R. Jeffcott], introduced by David G. Tremaine (Bellingham, Wash.: Miller & Sutherlen Printing Co, 1971), p. 176; State Archives at Bellingham, #10067, Day Book- Journal C- Whatcom County- #74-7-637, shelf # W5-5-6; p. 34; Whatcom Genealogical Society, Bulletin, Vol. 31, No.1, p. 109.

Christian and Mary FINKBONNER

Christian C. FINKBONNER was born about 1824 in Jacksonville, Morgan Co., Illinois and was of German extraction. He died from heart failure on 18 Oct 1876 in Sehome, Whatcom County. In 1854, Christian migrated to San Francisco where he worked as a broker. In 1858, he migrated to the gold fields of Fraser River in British Columbia. After the gold panned out, he moved to Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington Territory where he worked as a clerk for RICHARDS and HYATT, brick merchants. C. C. FINKBONNER held many public positions. . Twice he worked for the Federal Government; once, he worked as an Indian Sub-Agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the Lummi Indian Reservation. Later he held the job of a Customs Agent for the Internal Revenue Service. Three times he stood for election in a county race. He served as a member of the Territorial Legislature. From 1860 to 1862, he was elected and served as a Whatcom County Commissioner. In 1867 and 1868, he was elected as the Whatcom County Treasurer. At the time of his death, he held a position at the Bellingham Bay Coal Company. The pall bearers at his funeral were John A. TENNANT, Thomas WYNNE, John R. DAVIS, John FRAVEL, Henry ROEDER, and Edward ELDRIDGE, each a prominent man in the County. His estate was appraised by two of the pall bearers: J. R. DAVIS, Henry ROEDER and Herman HOFERCAMP while it was administered by James H. TAYLOR.

Christian C. FINKBONNER married Mary WRIGHT, a Langley and Clallum tribal woman, prior to 1862. Mary WRIGHT's Indian name was "Que-sa-wa;" she was born about 1842 and died on 17 July 1932 in Ferndale, Washington. Later, they celebrated their marriage with a legal ceremony on 18 Aug 1873 at their home on the Lummi Indian Reservation. Witness included John McGLINN and Celia LATSEA; the ceremony was performed by J. H. PLASTER, Probate Judge.

Prior to his death, C .C FINKBONNER attended a religious camp meeting where he converted and became a Christian, probably, Methodist. As evidence of his newly found grace, he and his wife participated in a mass marriage ceremony for twenty-eight couples.

Christian and Mary had six children:

1. Charles Frederick FINKBONNER was born on 29 Aug 1862. He became an American citizen in 1884 after acquiring an allotment of land from the Federal Government. He married about 1883 to Theresa McKENZIE. She was the daughter of Forsythe and Lena McKENZIE. Theresa was born about 1857 in Washington Territory and died on 25 Feb 1951. Theresa and Charles had eight of ten children survive, all born on the Lummi Reservation:
   • John FINKBONNER was born about 1884.
   • Eveline FINKBONNER was born about 1887.
   • Maud FINKBONNER was born about 1889.
   • Helen  FINKBONNER was born about 1890.
   • Lucy  FINKBONNER was born about 1895.
   • Edith  FINKBONNER was born about 1897.
   • Clara  FINKBONNER was born about 1899.
   • Frederick FINKBONNER was born about 1903.
     
     
2. Ellen FINKBONNER was born on 29 April 1867; she married on 12 Dec 1887 to John PIETRO(?). The wedding was witnessed by Henry FINKBONNER and performed by J. B. BOULET, a Catholic Priest assigned to the Lummi Indian Reservation.
   
   
3. Henry "Harry" Robert FINKBONNER was born on 2 May 1870 and died in 23 Oct 1945. He was an American citizen after being allotted land granted by the Federal Government in 1884. He married Rose Ann GUTHRIE 28 Nov 1896. She was born on Orcas Island on 14 Jul 1878 and died on 4 Nov 1948. Her parents were James GUTHRIE and Agnes YIERMONTH (see also).
   Harry and Rose had two sons:
   
   • Harry James FINKBONNER was born on 30 Jun 1899 and died on 5 Jul 1953, a W.W.II veteran.
   • Richard FINKBONNER was age 5 in 1910 census.
     
     
4. Francis "Frank" Jacob FINKBONNER was born on 8 Feb 1873 died on 9 June 1959. He married to Celena (name not known).
   Children from 1920 census:
   • Margaret FINKBONNER was born about 1910.
   • Jacob FINKBONNER was born about 1911.
   • William? FINKBONNER was born about 1914.
   • Hazel FINKBONNER was born about 1916.
   • Christian FINKBONNER was born about 1918.
     
     
5. George FINKBONNER was born on Easter Sunday in 1875 and died on 2 Apr 1950 unmarried.
   
   
6. Lizzie FINKBONNER was named as a minor heir of her father 26 Nov 1878.

Phoebe Goodell JUDSON wrote of her experiences of living in the area at the time. Phoebe mentioned the FINKBONNERs: "...when Mr. FINKBONNER, the Indian agent, invited us to his residence, where...his Indian woman welcomed us very kindly, and seemed pleased to entertained us in her home."

Sources: Whatcom Genealogical Society Bulletin (WGSB), "Marriages," Vol. 11, #2, Winter, 1980 and Vol. 11, #3, Spring 1981, p. 124; WGSB, Vol. 1 & 2, "Whatcom County Book of Wills," #27 for 22 Nov 1876; WGSB, Vol. 21, #3, Spring 1991, p. 92; WGSB, Vol. 21, #2, p. 52; WGSB, "Whatcom County Census of 1900," July 1979, pp. 433 to 446; National Archives at Sandpoint, Whatcom County Census of 1900, the Lummi Reservation, page #266B & #267A; Lottie Roeder Roth, editor, History of Whatcom County, Vol. 1 & 2 (Chicago, IL: Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, 1926), p. 199; Phoebe Gooddell Judson, A Pioneer's Search for an Ideal Home: a Book of Personal Memoirs, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984), p. 201; Dorothy H. Johnson, Percival R. Jeffcott, and Michael Sullivan, Builders of Whatcom County: John A. Tennant, Early Pioneer and Preacher (Bellingham, WA: Fourth Corner Registry, 1978), p. 33.

John and Biddy HARRIS

John HARRIS was born about 1821 or 1824 in Texas and died on 14 Jan 1883 without a will; the executor of the estate was A. J. ATKINSON. John Harris was an "...erstwhile squawman and very early settler at Semiahmoo and Point Roberts..." He lived the Whatcom precinct in 1870 where he farmed a homestead worth $600 and owned personal property worth $200. At the time of the 1880 census, John lived alone at Point Roberts where he worked as a fisherman. A feud started between Charles MITCHELL and John HARRIS that ended badly for John:

Charles MITCHELL was tried for the murder of John HARRIS.

In an early history of Blaine, Washington published in The Blaine Journal, December 12 and 19, 1889 the following was written:

John HARRIS married Biddy, an Indian woman; she was born about 1832 in Washington Territory.
John and Biddy had three children:

1. George HARRIS was born about 1858.
   
   
2. Emily HARRIS was born about 1861.
   
   
3. Josephine HARRIS was born about 1866.

Sources: Harris- Whatcom County Census of 1870 Census, p. 3, #17; Whatcom County Census of 1880, p. 12, #180; Whatcom County Probate Court, appts of executors journal, p. 29; Whatcom Genealogical Society, Bulletin, #7, #4, June 1977, p. 158, Extract of North West Enterprise, 27 Jan 1883; Richard E. Clark, Point Roberts, U.S.A.: The History of A Canadian Enclave (Bellingham, WA: Textype Publishing, date not noted), p. 27/30.

Alexander HEMPHILL

Alexander HEMPHILL was born about 1832 in Ireland and died 1 Jan 1879. He became a citizen of the United States. Here he worked as a telegraph line tender. In 1870 he lived near Semiahmoo in Whatcom County. In 1878, Alexander was indicted for the crime of 'open and notorious fornication', to wit: for living in an unmarried state with a female over the age of fourteen. The woman that Alexander lived with was not named. However, he was indicted at the same time as eight other men that had Indian wives. All nine men had not legally recorded their marriages. Some prominent men in the county sought to force Alexander and his neighbors to get married by using the law to blackmail them into doing it. The other men married prior to the scheduled trial date in June of 1879. Alexander was named as a "squawman" by the author Marie Arbuckle.

Report from the Bellingham Bay Mail dated 11 January 1879: "Died- Mr. Alex HEMPHILL, of Semiahmo, died at the Port Townsend hospital, on the 1st inst. A few weeks ago, HEMPHILL was adjudged, by the Probate Court of this County, as mentally incapable of attending to his affairs, and a guardian, (Mr. J. E. FREESE, of Semiahmoo) was appointed to take charge of his effects. He was then sent to the hospital, where he died a few days after his arrival. He was a single man and leaves no relatives in the county; he died possessed of a good ranch, of 160 acres bordering Semiahmoo Bay."

When Alexander died, he died without heirs. An excutor, Joshua B. PINCKNEY, was appointed by the Probate Court Judge, John A. TENNANT, to settle the estate.

Source: Whatcom County Census of 1870, p. 3, #18; Marie Arbuckle and others, A Symbol of Our Heritage: The Old Fir Tree (Blaine Centennial History: 1884-1984), p. 75; Wash State Archives at WWU, Record Group Title: Skagit County, Office of County Clerk, Series Title: Territorial District Court Civil/Criminal Case, Files, Case #53, Dates: 1878- 1889; Whatcom County Probate, Appointment of Executors journal, p. 6; Whatcom Genealogical Society, Bulletin, Vol. 31, No. 3, p.70.

John G. and Emma HYATT

John G. HYATT was born about 1828 in Ohio and died before the date of the1870 census when his widow was raising a family with James H. TAYLOR. Emma was born about 1841 in Washington Territory and died 10 May 1915. She is buried in Lummi Tribal Cemetery. John G. HYATT and Charles RICHARDS erected the first brick building in the county, to which they came as pioneers. In the early days it was used as a court house, and the structure is still standing.

They had one child:

1. John G. HYATT, Jr. was born 2 May 1864 in Whatcom, Washington and died 15 Oct 1934. He remained unmarried and worked on his step-father's ranch, on boats and in logging camps and since 1910 owned and operated the homestead which his step-father entered in Marietta township in 1868. He filled the position of school director for nine years, and for sixteen years he was township assessor.

Sources: Whatcom County Census of  1870, 1860, p. 1, #78; Roth, Lottie Roeder, ed. History of Whatcom County, Vol 2. (Chicago: Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, 1926), p. 478.

Anson and Mary JOHNSON

Anson or Ansel JOHNSON was born in Kentucy about 9 Jan 1835. He died on 7 Mar 1907 at Sumas, Whatcom County as Ansel R. JOHNSON and is buried in Sumas Cemetery. He worked as a miner and as a farmer; he farmed in Whatcom County from 1880. Anson married Mary ROBERTS on 7 Jun 1879 by W.R. MOULTRY at the home of R. JOHNSON and was witnessed by Bartlett O'HOWARD and Henry BARKER. Robert JOHNSON married Mrs. MANLEY on 23 May 1879. In the 1880 census, Mary was the mother of a son, Jack ROBERTS, who was born about 1870 in British Columbia. Mary was a Nooksack and Sumas woman; she was born about 1840 in British Columbia. Her father was John KAHITCHELL, a Sumas man. Her mother was Rosie SAMYETH, a Nooksack woman. Mary died after the date of the 1880 census at Sumas.

Anson and Mary had two children:

1. Robert Tate JOHNSON was born on 5 May 1876 at Sumas, Whatcom County. Robert married on 3 May 1916 in Bellingham to Iva Ellen CARRYSOT or CROOKS, a White woman; she was born in Wisconsin 7 Aug 1868 and died 29 Dec 1939. Robert and Mary did not have any children. Robert married Jessie LINDSEY who was born in Washington and died 28 Dec 1967 in Marysville, Snohomish, WA.  Robert was the postmaster of Sumas and owner of 16 acres. He died 22 Dec 1959. Robert, Iva and Jessie JOHNSON are buried in Sumas Cemetery.
   
   
2. William JOHNSON age 1 in 1880 census.

Sources: Whatcom County Census of 1880, p. 6, #94; Whatcom Genealogical Society, Bulletin, "Marriages," Vol. 11, #2, Winter, 1980 and Vol. 11, #3, Spring 1981; Records kept on file at the Washington State Archives at Bellingham; Whatcom County LICENSES 1874-1880, p.147; Special Agent Charles E. Roblin, 1916-1919- Report on Indians not allotted and not on reservations, microfilm roll 1343, rolls 4, filed with the Sandpoint National Archives, drawer D-7, frame 0216.

Daniel and Harriet KILCUP

Daniel KILCUP was born about 1833 in Nova Scotia [Lynden Cemetery record has his birth as 27 Oct 1832 in Boston, MA]. He died on 12 Oct 1889 without a will; the executor of the estate was his eldest child. In 1870, he logged on Samish Island, Skagit County having real estate worth $500 dollars using personal property worth $2000 dollars. KILCUP came to Edison in Skagit County the 1860's, and then to Bellingham in 1865. In 1870 he took up a homestead in Lynden with his brother-in-law, Henry WEST. Daniel applied for citizenship and was admitted on or about 7 June 1879.

Daniel married Harriet FILLDUE or FILLERDUE of French Canadian and local Native American extraction. Partners and neighbors of Daniel KILCUP, Harry WEST, and George REHBERGER, married two sisters of Harriet. Her father was born in Eastern Canada of French descent. She was born about 1845 or 1847 in British Columbia; she died on 17 Oct 1918. Daniel is buried in Lynden Cemetery but it is not known if Harriet is buried there too.

Daniel and Harriet had thirteen children:

1. John Maxwell KILCUP was born about 1860 in British Columbia. John was a steamer captain; he ran steamers up the Nooksack River. John had six children. He was buried in Lynden Cemetery 13 Aug 1941. His daughter, Flossie Harriette,  was born 16 Mar 1896 and died 9 May 1910. She is also buried in Lynden Cemetery.
   
   
2. Louisa KILCUP was born about 1863 in British Columbia; she married on 29 May 1883 to Francis A. PEASE of King County and lived in Los Angeles; she was the mother of three children.
   
   
3. Mary J. KILCUP was born about 1865 in Washington Territory; she married Mr. COFFIN and had three children; they lived in Los Angeles.
   
   
4. Emma KILCUP was probably born in December 1868 and died in November 1869 of diptheria. She is listed in the Mortality Schedule for Whatcom County, Washington Territory as age 11/12.
   
   
5. Margaret KILCUP was born in April 1870 in Washington Territory; she died before 1926. Margaret married on 4 Jul 1886 to Charles Albert MURPHY in a ceremony performed by her father in his capacity as Justice of the Peace; James WEBBER was the witness. Margaret was the mother of five children; they lived in Lynden.
   
   
6. Agnes KILCUP was born about 1872 in Washington Territory; she married Mr. BRATT of Los Angeles. In July, 1893 she married Henry A. JONES of New Whatcom.
   
   
7. Emma KILCUP was born 8 Jun 1874 in Everson, Washington Territory and died 30 Dec 1933; she married in 1904 to Erick J. GRANDQUIST , who was born 29 Feb 1860 in Sweden. E. J. GRANDQUIST died on 9 Oct 1924. Both are buried in Lynden Cemetery.
   Biography of Emma (KILCUP) GRANDQUIST
   
   Emma and Erick J. had two children:
   • Paul GRANDQUIST of high school age in 1926.
   • Dorothy GRANDQUIST of high school age in 1926.
     
     
8. Annie KILCUP was born 20 Mar 1876 in Everson, Washington Territory and died 28 June 1963; she married James M. HILL who was born 19 Jun 1881 in Nebraska and died 14 Oct 1973.  They had three children. Annie and James are buried in Greenacres Cemetery.
   
   
9. Robert E. KILCUP was born about January, 1880 in Washington Territory. Robert had six children and lived in Oregon. He died 12 Apr 1962 in Multnomah County, OR.
   
   
10. Sarah Marie KILCUP  was born 16 Jan 1864 and died 30 Mar 1868. She is buried in Lynden Cemetery.
    
    
11. Daniel KILCUP was born 1868 and died 25 Aug 1896. He is buried in Lynden Cemetery.
    
    
12. Charles KILCUP  was born 5 May 1878 and died 16 Jan 1879. He is buried in Lynden Cemetery.
    
    
13. Dillon KILCUP lived in Lynden and had one child, Dillon Kennth. He married Annie BOWMAN, daughter of Herman A. and Margaret (HOVENGA) BOWMAN.
    
    
14. Edith May KILCUP was born 18 Dec 1885 in Everson, Washington Territory and died 24 Jan 1965 in Blaine, WA. She married Andrew Alford HELANDER  who was born 3 Jul 1879 in Sweden and died 7 Oct 1966 in Blaine, WA. Both are buried in Greenacres Cemetery.

Robert Emmett HAWLEY wrote from memory about three neighbors of his:

"Daniel KILCUP, Harry WEST and George REHBERGER:

These three men were the products of the Fraser River Gold Rush, and afterward were associated in various occupation around New Westminster and Ft. Langley. Previously, George REHBERGER had been with the boundary survey. All three married halfbreed sisters who were of the old FELEDOW family that settled at Ft. Langley about 1845, and were servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. Harry WEST and George REHBERGER came over to Whatcom about 1862 to work for the Bellingham Bay Coal Company, West as a millwright, and REHBERGER as a carpenter.

Later, in 1863, they persuaded Daniel KILCUP to bring over his two yoke of oxen to haul logs for the sawmill at Whatcom Creek Falls. He drove these oxen over the old Indian trail from Ft. Langley to Nooksack Crossing, and thence by the Whatcom Trail to Bellingham Bay. When the coal mines closed down sometimes afterwards, these three men set out to locate homesteads. Now KILCUP, when he came over the old Langley trail, had noticed a considerable piece of prairie land in what has since been called the Timon District, so they explored that section and decided to settle there. This was in the late sixties. For some time all three men continued to work in Whatcom, but in 1873, when the mill burned down, KILCUP moved his family to the homestead, followed by the WESTs and REHBERGERs in 1878, after the coal mines closed permanently. These three families formed the nucleus of the Timon community."

Sources: Whatcom Census of 1870, p. 1, #1; Whatcom County Census of 1880, p. 9, #125 & p. 32, #64; Whatcom Co; Record of Probate court, appts of executors journal, p. 85; Robert Emmett Hawley, SKQEE MUS: or Pioneer Days on the Nooksack, edited by P.R.J., introduced by David G. Tremaine (Bellingham, Wash.: Miller & Sutherlen Printing Co, 1984), p. 31, 32, 178; Lottie Roeder Roth, editor, History of Whatcom County (Chicago: Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, 1926), p. 381; Washington State Archives at Bellingham; Whatcom County LICENSES 1874-1880, p.147; Whatcom Genealogical Society, Whatcom County Marriage Book, (Bellingham, n/d), p. 71, C-32, 7 C-61; Whatcom Genealogical Society, Bulletin, "Marriages," Vol. 11, #2, Winter, 1980 and Vol. 11, #3, Spring 1981, p. 7 & 123; Whatcom Genealogical Society, Bulletin, Vol. 31, No. 4, p. 103. Whatcom County Cemetery Records.