Alexander DePeel Family - Jackson Co., M
The following is from an article (listed below) written in 1888 in a reference: "Portrait and Biographical Album of Lancaster County, Nebraska. Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County". Published in Chicago: by Chapman Brothers, 1888. Pages 739-741.
I am trying to find the name(s) of the parents of Alexander DePeel and his wife, Keziah and their burial sites. Would also like to find the date and place of birth/death of his children and his wife. Any information on them would be most welcome.
Skip Cooley
"MICHAEL A. DE PEEL, an extensive farmer and stock-breeder of Lancaster County, owning one of the largest farms in Nemaha Precinct, on section 21, has met with more than ordinary success in his career as an agriculturist. Our subject is quite proud of his ancestry, which dates back in this country to the time of the old French and Indian War, and to the days of Gen. Montcalm. Farther back than that it is shrouded in mystery, as his great-grand father1 who was a soldier in the French army, under the heroic Gen. Montcalm, and was present at the battle of Quebec, fell on the Plains of Abraham while bravely fighting the English. The shock of his death when revealed to his devoted wife was so intense as to cause her immediate death after giving birth to a child, which afterward became the grandfather of our subject. The little stranger2, who was thus so sadly ushered into this world and left without father or mother, was given to Monsieur De Peel, a brave and noble French officer, who adopted and reared him as one of his own, and from whom he took his name. Nothing definite was ever learned concerning the child's parents, but it was thought that the father was a man of rank in the French army and in his native France, as the clothing for the child was of more than ordinary value. Thus the name and history of that gallant soldier who yielded up his life on the Plains of Abraham, so far from his beloved France, on that cool September 13 morning, in 1759, have been lost, and his posterity to this very day bear the honored name of De Peel.
The grandfather of our subject on his mother's side was a resident of Canada, and when the War of 1812 broke out, he entered the British army. He was in the battle of Lundy's Lane, and was detailed to guard some cattle. For his loyalty to the British Crown he received a grant of 200 acres of land near Queenston, and resided there until his death.
The parents of our subject, Alexander3 and Keziah De Peel, after marriage settled in Bayham, about three-quarters of a mile from Corinth, in the Province of Ontario. They subsequently removed to Yarmouth, where Mr. De Peel rented a farm for several years. In 1850 he left Canada with his family, and crossed over the border into Michigan, where he embarked in the hotel business at Jackson, in which venture he meet with great success. When the Civil War broke out, he offered his services to his adopted country with all the patriotism and fervor of a native-born citizen. As he had passed beyond the age which was the prescribed limitation for enlistment, his services were not available in the army, but he was gladly accepted as an assistant in the hospitals, where he did great good, and was an invaluable aid in caring for the sick and wounded. When his services were no longer required he returned to his home in Jackson, Mich., and there remained an honored and respected citizen until his death in 1882, at the age of eighty years. He was twice married. His first wife, mother of our subject, died in 1853, at the age of forty-five years, while on a visit to Canada, leaving a large circle of friends to mourn her untimely death. His second marriage was to Mary Brothers, and by their union four children were born. Mr. De Peel had the following children by his first marriage: Maria (deceased), Edward, Alexander, Martha, Michael A., Elizabeth, Althea, Melissa, and an infant who died."