Jerusha Palmer was born in Niagara Co., NY, in 1824. The youngest child of Samuel and Clarissa Palmer, she was among the first students to attend the little school at Elba. Manchester's First Hundred Years, 1869-1969 observes that only two families represented in that original group, the Palmers and the Spaffords, still lived in Manchester in 1969.
Jerusha married Stewart Fitzgerald, in 1848. Stewart's parents, David and Phoebe, attended the organizational meeting of the Baptist Church of the North Bend of the Raisin [River] in February of 1836 recorded in History of Washtenaw County. Also attending were Samuel, Clarissa and William Palmer. According to the record at the Washtenaw County Register of Deeds, David Fitzgerald bought property in Manchester in 1833; and in the 1834 Michigan State Census is head of a household of ten males and three females. Stewart was one of six sons and his parents had a daughter as well.
Jerusha and Stewart were living on section five, near her mother, in 1850, when the Federal Census was taken; and their first child, Emma, was probably born there. According to History of Manchester Township, the next child, Inez, was born while they were living in a red schoolhouse on the Hines farm, probably on section 4. Later, they lived on Clinton Street in the village of Manchester, where Jerusha had a millinery shop. She sold the shop to Amanda Root and the family then moved to a house at Madison and McComb Streets. Stewart was a railroad agent. Three sons were also born of this marriage. Two died in infancy, the other at the age of 19.
Jerusha died in 1883. In the 1884 Michigan State Census, Stewart, 63, is listed as working in a lumberyard. His newly married daughter, Emma, and son-in-law, James A Field, a house carpenter, are living with him. Some time afterward Stewart moved to Gilroy, CA. He died there in 1908.
Jerusha and her two small sons are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Manchester near Samuel and Clarissa, William and Esther, Shumway, Dolly Ann, Dr. B.V. Peterson and the last William and his wife Laura. The graves of the second Samuel, his wife, Frances, and their other three children-Homer, Jane and Ada-are in a different section along with that of Oscar. Though there are several Roots buried in Oak Grove, no others in this line of Palmers or their spouses or children are buried there. Ultimately, the Palmers remain representative of many American families, divided by miles as well as by death, their descendants scattered from coast to coast.
JERUSHA PALMER
Jerusha Palmer, b-18 Mar 1824, Somerset, Niagara Co., NY
d-22 Jun 1883, Manchester, Washtenaw Co., MI
m-2 Jan 1848, Manchester, Washtenaw Co., MI
Parents:
Samuel Palmer, b-23 Jun 1785, Hillsdale, Columbia Co., NY
d-5 Sep 1844, Manchester, Washtenaw Co., MI
m-2 Nov 1909, Unknown
Clarissa Shumway, b-21 Apr 1791, Charlestown, Sullivan Co., NH
d-14 May 1962, Manchester, Washtenaw Co., MI
Spouse:
Stewart Fitzgerald, b-1812, Probably Onondaga Co., NY
d-9 Oct 1908, Gilroy, CA
Parents:
David Fitzgerald No further data
Phoebe No further data
Children of Jerusha Palmer and Stewart Fitzgerald
Emma C., b-1850 , Manchester, Washtenaw Co., MI
m-Oct 1884, Probably Washtenaw Co., MI to
James A. Field (45)
Inez, b-1852, Manchester Washtenaw Co., MI
Vincent S., b-16 Apr 1856, Manchester Washtenaw Co., MI
d-18 Apr 1875 Manchester Washtenaw Co., MI
Charles Bertrand, b-1857, Manchester Washtenaw Co., MI
d-5 Feb 1858 Manchester Washtenaw Co., MI
Douglas Jerold, b-1859, Manchester Washtenaw Co., MI
d-27 Sep 1862 Manchester Washtenaw Co., MI
Sources
45. 1884 Michigan Census for Manchester, Washtenaw Co., MI
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