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Churchill * Foerst
* Wyman * McKindley * McLean Contact the genealogist PHOTOS Last Name Index Home page WEES FAMILY TREE Isabell Randall (Wees) SEE PHOTO Born on November 1, 1830. Isabell’s parents were Joseph Randall (born September 1, 1795; died February 17, 1850) of Nova Scotia, and Lucretia Lowell (born December 18, 1800; died February 22, 1882) of Canada. Isabel is the one who brought her family to Berrien County, Michigan, where her mother was already living. Her older sister, Minerva, married Warren H. Pearl. According to a note in the old picture album, Minerva was deaf. Her grave is located at Pearl Cemetery, where it says she died April 21, 1882, age 55 years and 6 months. Isabel also had an uncle Joe (not sure of his name) in St. Joseph who was a shipbuilder in the 1840's. "Joe" may have been "James" mentioned in a biography of Allen M. Randall. Allen, born in 1842, also described this shipbuilder as his "uncle." In the Wees family album, her name is spelled Isabel. She married William Wees on February 26, 1850, at Dresden, Ontario, Canada. Isabell’s daughter was Cynthia E. Wees, who taught at the Pearl Grange schoolhouse, a two-room building on Napier Road. Cynthia spent her later years living with Myrl and Jeanette McKindley and their three children. Myrl and Jeanette are the grandparents of Martha A. Churchill. Isabell Randall Wees died November 28, 1917. I believe she is buried at the Pearl Cemetery southeast of Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Born December 7, 1829 in Dresden, Ontario. His parents were Peter Wees (born July 6, 1809) and Joyce Brown (born June 16, 1811). He married Isabel Randall on February 26, 1850 at Dresden. William learned carpentry early in his life. In Berrien County, he helped build the Warren Pearl mill, the Samuel McWiggins mill and the Randall mill. He also bought land about four miles southeast of Benton Harbor. He started out in a log cabin on that property, where he lived until he could put up a better structure. In 1864 he went to California and worked for two years as a placer miner "with satisfactory results." He returned to Berrien County and concentrated on farming his 78 acres. Although he lost his peach trees to the "yellows" he later grew apples with more success. His children were:
A tax record dated December 15, 1894, says that William Wees paid $27.24 taxes on his farm, which included 86 acres in Benton Township, Berrien County, Michigan. He was a charter member of Pearl Grange. William Wees is the person who built a dresser which has ornate wood handles, and is up in the guest bedroom at Mom and Dad’s house. For recreation, William Wees enjoyed going on hunting trips to northern Michigan, with his good friend Lewis Pearl ("Major" Pearl) and others. He considered himself a fine rifle shot. William Wees died at his home in Benton Harbor July 10, 1905. He was buried at Pearl Cemetery. To read a historical biography about him, click on "History of Berrien County" 1906.
Born June 16, 1811. Her parents were William Brown, born January 9, 1787, and Ann Brown. Joyce came from England to "America" (Canada?) when she was 12. Joyce married Peter Wees, who was born July 6, 1809. Joyce and Peter had a son, William Wees, on December 7, 1829.
Peter Wees Peter Wees was born July 6, 1809. He was the father of William Wees (born Dec. 7, 1829). Peter died at age 42 after working as a farmer. He married Joyce Brown, who was living in "America" (Canada?). Peter and Joyce Wees had five sons. Four of them left Canada and went to live in the United States. The birthdates of the five sons is unknown.
Born September 1, 1795 in Shelbourne, Nova Scotia. His father was Jacob Randall. Joseph married Lucretia Lowell. Their daughter, Isabel Randall, was born November 1, 1830. Joseph died February 17, 1850 in Chatham. NOTE: In October 1940, Mina Wees wrote a letter to Jeanette McKindley with the memories of her brother, Bruce Wees, about their grandfather Joseph Randall. The letter says that Joseph Randall was a professor of engineering in Ediburough, Scotland, and was sent to Canada because of some kind of trouble there-- either an invasion or some internal conflict. She says their grandfather was loading a cannon with crude cannon balls made of bricks, and suddenly a man rushed out of a blacksmith shop with a red hot firebrand, and shot the cannon out of turn. Joseph underwent an emergency operation without anesthesia, and did not live much longer. There may have been another Joseph Randall, or perhaps a James I. Randall, who lived in Berrien county, Michigan, and worked as a shipbuilder. To learn more, click on JOSEPH. Or, read the biography of Allen M. Randall (b. 1842) who mentions his "Uncle" James I. Randall.
Lucretia Lowell Randall Born December 18, 1800 in Walsingham. She was the wife of Joseph Randall. Her daughter was Isabella Randall, wife of William Wees. [NOTE: according to a 1940 letter from Lucretia’s granddaughter, Mina Wees, Lucretia lost her husband when he was loading a cannon and it went off out of turn, blowing off part of his arm. Lucretia carried on and raised the family, according to the memory of her grandson Bruce Wees, supporting her family by opening a millinery shop and selling hats. She was an expert needlewoman, her grandchildren said later, and would actually made her own slippers to match her dress. The letter also says Lucretia had a cousin named James Russell Lowell. In about 1852, Lucretia went to Millburg, Michigan, just north of the Pearl Grange. Family records say Lucretia died Feb. 22, 1882 in Benton Township. According to a death record on Lucretia Randall at Berrien Springs, Michigan, she died February 29, 1882, however the death records at that time are not considered reliable. The death record indicates she died of "lung fever," or pneumonia. Her occupation: hat maker. The death record says her father was William Lowell of New York and her mother was "unknown."
Born 1770. He worked as a slave runner. He was the father of Joseph Randall. No further information about him. Joseph Randall #2 Joseph Randall was living in St. Joseph, Michigan in about 1850 when Isabel Randall Wees left Canada to visit her mother in Michigan. According to "A Twentieth Century History of Berrien County, Michigan" published in 1906, on page 703, this Joseph Randall was the uncle of Isabel Randall Wees. This is strange because our family records show that Isabel’s father was Joseph Randall, so how could she also have an uncle by the same name? Joseph (the "Uncle") had a shipyard in St. Joseph, and worked as a ship builder. He was a pioneer settler of Berrien County, arriving there "when St. Joseph was a small village standing on the bottom land." This Joseph Randall was in St. Joseph on or before 1840. Soon after the discovery of gold in California, he caught Gold Rush Fever and left for the Pacific coast. The biography of William Wees, written in 1906, does not say if Joseph ever returned to Michigan.
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