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Note: ng Michigan territory. It is alleged that he did so out of his desire to insure that his older sister, Rosetta Cook would not be lonely in that newly developing land. It is also suggested that since Smith Cook was footing the bill, Andrew may well have thus availed himself of a respite from the rigors of caring for his widowed mother and a large family left by the death of his father in 10/1846. We do now that in 1884 one acre of land Lot 17 of concession I, on the North side of the Black river was purchased by Andrew and his next youngest brother, Patrick. Apparently that was the site of the former Flynn Home and business in Milford. Later 1/2 of that lot was sold to their sister Elizabeth, on which was built a separate dwelling for Elizabeth and their mother. From family stories we learn that Andrew ruled his younger brothers with a very strict hand. Fanny Davidson tells of her father, James Joseph, and his twin brother going off to swim in the nearby stream. Bernard was unable to swim though James J. could swim like a fish. Evidently they had been cautioned against such practice for when they were caught, Andrew severely punished J.J. Undoubtedly he deeply resented this for he made of it a point to cite the strictness of Andrew. As pointed out earlier we do not know exactly what his original intentions were coming to Michigan. If indeed he intended it only to be a brief respite from the vigors of caring for his father's family, he did not make haste to return once the final destination was reached. It can well be understood that it was a monumental task not only to get up something of a dwelling place but also to adequately clear enough land to some kind of sustaining farming operation could be made. We are most thankful for the then prevailing custom of trade-off labor, for the task certainly was greater than a two-man operation. It was soon learned that the only way anyone could survive would be to be as helpful one to the other as possible. Apparently in time Andrew came to realize that he would not likely be returning to Milford, but should be putting down roots for himself in Michigan. It so happened that when a sister-in-law of W.S. Hillman, Esther K. Clarke, came to teach school in the area Andrew and she became enamored of one another and they were one of the first marriages to be performed in the newly organized township of Ensley. However, before that marriage was five months old, Esther succumbed from "Quick Consumption" (tuberculosis), May 12, 1861 aged 19yr, 3 mo. With a proper period of mourning behind him, by Aug. 1862 Andrew is said to have ridden his horse to Grand Rapids, where he enlisted in Co. A of the 6th Michigan Cavalry for action in the War between the States. He reported for actual induction Aug. 18th 1862. Having obtained a record of his military service, it is noted that he did take part in the Battle of Gettysburg, where he sustained saber wounds to his left cheek and forearm. He forever sported a beard to cover the scars on his cheek. In April 1884, under orders from the Army of the Potomac, he was discharged on the provision he would immediately enlist in the U.S. Navy. True to military fashion he was carried for a short time as being A.W.O.L. but that was later straightened out. He was discharged ultimately in June 1866, and though his mother still lived in Milford Ontario, he returned to Ensley Township where he purchased 160 acres of land just South of the holdings of Smith Cook and built for himself a sizeable home, and then went in search of a woman to share it with him. He met and on Dec. 1, 1866 was married to Persis Merritt, daughter of Thaddeus Merritt and Fanny Wilcox. To them through the years were born eight children. When it became most difficult for Andrew to properly farm, he was induced to apply for and was awarded a pension for his years of service. On 10/9/1906 he died in his home in Ensley Twp. of Newaygo County, MI. <> Andrew O'Flynn was the first son and third child of James and Mary Ann O'Flynn, and it is purported that after his father's death, he set himself up as head of the family. From subsequent considerations, he apparently did not relish this responsibility for in 1855 when his brother-in-law suggested moving his then-growing family to frontier regions of the State of Michigan in the USA, he chose to accompany his older sister to assure that she would not be lonely in this unknown land. While it is not known if he bought land immediately, he ultimately came to regard the newly settled land as his own home and became a considerable land-holder in the surrounding area. While helping Smith and Rosetta Cook to clear and establish a home in the wilderness, he met and married a sister-in-law of William Hillman, Esther K. Clark. The date and place of this marriage is as yet not known. Their marriage is not recorded in the Newaygo County Records because the County was not established until 1858, founded from parts of Kent County, Lake County, and Montcalm County. Esther K. Clark died 5/12/1861, aged 19 years and 3 months and is said to have died in child-birth. There is a headstone in the Flynn Family burial plot simply marked baby Flynn, bearing no name and no dates. We do not know just whom this "Baby Flynn" refers. A little over a year following the death of his wife, Esther, Andrew took himself off to Grand Rapids where he enlisted in the 6th Michigan Cavalry on 8/12/1862 and was mustered into service in the "War between the States" on 8/20/1862. He served diligently and was ultimately elevated to adjutant to General Phillip Sheridan. He eventually transferred to the Navy aboard the ship North Carolina and was discharged from his post at the end of hostilities. Returning to the Ensley area, he purchased 160 acres of land 1/2 mile south of Ensley Center, then known as Grove, built himself a home and set about finding a wife to raise his own family. He met and married Persis Merritt, born 9/16/1851 in Ohio, the daughter of Thaddeus Merritt and Fanny Wilcox on 12/1/1866. She was then just 15 years of age while Andrew was aged 35. This marriage is recorded in the Newaygo County records, among the earliest recorded marriages in those records. Andrew died 10/9/1906 in Ensley Township and is buried in North Ensley Cemetery. Persis survived until 3/29/1920 and is buried next to him. It should be noted that there is some confusion engendered by the interchangeability of the names O'Flynn and Flynn in many of the official records. Family mythology has it that at the time when the O'Flynns became so very numerous in the relatively small area of Ensley Township, and a great duplication of given names, Andrew O'Flynn decreed that henceforth all of the Flynns living south of the Center would drop the O' from the family name while those to the north of the Center would retain the O'. He himself living to the south dropped the O' and at least a part of those living to the north still retained this distinction. My own mother (Lowell Perry's mother) lived just north of the Center and as late as 1935 when my (Lowell Perry's) youngest sister was born gave her maiden name as being O'Flynn. Her father is said to have seen fit to drop the O' in 1916 when he married Mary Cushman. However, it should also be noted that the Civil War record carries Andrew under the name of Flynn and not O'Flynn, and at various earlier times the name appears this same way. As a result, it is difficult to ascertain just when this change took place. <> Andrew O'Flynn, born in Port Hope, Canada, October 7, 1831, the first son and third child of James O'Flynn and Mary Ann Workman, was first married to Esther K Clark, a sister to Mary Ann Clark, the first wife of William S Hillman about a year following the death of Mary Ann. It is reported that Esther K. (Clark) O'Flynn died in child-birth on May 12, 1861, aged 19 yrs, 3 mo. Following Esther's death, Andrew traveled to Grand Rapids and enlisted in the 6th Michigan Cavalry on Aug 12 1862, and was mustered into service on the 28th of that month. (We do not know at this time that Andrew had come to the Michigan area with the purpose in mind of settling in the region, for he either could not afford to secure a patent for land or had just accompanied his sister and family to assure that she would not be lonely in this strange new land. It is apparent that he acted on the circumstances as they presented themselves at that time, and coming into contact with the Hillmans and altered any plans he may have held to return to his home in Canada. It is said that following the death of his father, he had took his place as the eldest son of the household, as the male head of the family. One wonders about this assumption, for if he had been truly serious about his responsibilities as male head of that family, why did he leave his then-widowed mother to accompany his older sister and her family on what would certainly must have been thought to be on grand adventure. Possibly, with a number of brothers and sisters remaining at home, he felt that his mother's needs were adequately provided for.) The abbreviated record of his service in the War Between the States we learn that: Flynn, Andrew, Ensley. Enlisted in Company A, Sixth Cavalry, August 12, 1862 at Grand Rapids, for 3 years, age 31. Mustered Aug. 28, 1862. Transferred to US Navy April 14, 1864. Discharged June 2, 1865 from ship "North Carolina". We gather that during the course of his service, he served well, and rose to be adjutant to General Phillip Sheridan, whom he greatly admired (naming his youngest son Phillip Sheridan after the General.) On his discharge from service, he returned to the Michigan area, and is said to have purchased 160 acres of land 1/2 mile south of Grove (as Ensley Center was then called) and proceeded to build himself a home and to shop around for a wife to build also his own family. We do not know at this time his reasons, or for that matter what he had to choose from, and it is a little surprising that he did in fact, choose to marry a girl then aged just 15 years, while he was then aged 35.
Note: As mentioned earlier, we have not been able to determine, what exactly was the original intent of Andrew when he first chose to leave Milford to travel with the Smith Cook family to the newly developi
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