James Gillespie Birney
Which one of James Gillespie's sons married the granddaughter of Jonathan5 Deuel?
I still can't figure out which one of James Gillespie Birney's children married a Deuel. Anyway, here are some more
Birney tidbits:
James Gillespie Birney
He was the founder of Bay City and Bay County, MI. In one of his letters written in the 1840s he says most of his
neighbors are Indians. I don't know if they were connected at all with the Birneys, but there were two Deuels of
interest in the 1880 census:
West Bay City: Charles Deuell, 22, Carpenter, NY/Canada/Canada
Bay City: Henry Dewell, 22, "Other", MI/MI/MI (he is in a boarding house, listed with three lawyers, possibly he's
clerking with them)
JGB's sister married Judge John Jay Marshall of Kentucky. He was a first cousin once removed of John Marshall,
Secretary of State under John Adams, later was perhaps the most influential Chief Justice in the history of the US
Supreme Court. JJM's son, Brig. Gen. Humphrey Marshall, was a general for the Confederacy, so the rabid
abolitionist James Gillespie Birney had a nephew who was a Confederate general.
The following are JGB's sons:
James M. Birney
Lawyer, judge of 10th Circuit Court in Michigan. Lt. Gov. of Michigan, acting Governor of Michigan 1861-63. He
was a Colonel in the Civil War. Later he was United States Minister to the Hague. In 1880 he was living in Bay
City. It was his son who was a staff officer with Custer and Sheridan.
William Birney
Lawyer, professor of English literature at the University of Paris, where he participated in the French Revolution of
1848, which got him kicked out after it failed. He supposedly published a newspaper in Philadelphia before the
War. He enlisted in the 1st New Jersey, later he raised seven regiments of black troops from Maryland. He
commanded a division of black troops in the Xth and XXVth Corps in the Army of the Potomac, at the battles of
Petersburg and Appomattox. He last held the rank of Major General. After the war he was US Attorney for the
District of Columbia, where he was living in 1880.
David Bell Birney
Major General, as noted. He died in Philadelphia in 1864 of malaria contracted while in service.
Dion Birney (possibly Robert Dion Birney)
Physician. He held the rank of Captain, died of disease while serving with the Army of the Potomac in the Penisula
Campaign.
George Birney
Died in the 1850s.
Arthur Birney
Died young.
Fitzhugh Birney (half-brother to the above)
His mother's father was a first cousin of President James Madison. His mother was a distant cousin of Confederate
General Fitzhugh Lee (nephew of Robert E. Lee). (Fitzhugh Lee was, more than 30 years later, in overall command
during the Spanish-American War at the battle of San Juan Hill). Fitzhugh Birney was a staff officer with Gen.
McClellan, who ran for president against our cousin Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He rose to the rank of Colonel,
died at the battle of Cold Harbor in 1864.
As to which married a Deuel, I don't know. William's wife was a Hoffman, that was a very common surname in
Pine Plains, I wonder if that has something to do with it (perhaps she is listed by her middle name or something).
The list of Jonathan's Deuel's children in Hyatt seems to crowd out Henry, not quite enough space before John
Newton Deuel in Jan. 1812 (as I recall, Henry's indicated birth is June of 1811). Other than that, there would be a
nice gap between 1808 and 1812.