John B. Tirrill

Biography:

Credited as being one of the first Permanent Settlers of Sebewa, Ionia, Michigan in 1838.

The Surname has these known spellings, Tirrell, Tirrill, Tyrrell, Terrill and Terrell

If you go though the Pension files at the National Archives you will see why; These guys signed their names in sworn testimony with an "x", so it was up to the "scribe" to record their name. Paper in a log cabin had better use then writing letters when your name was "x", if they had any at all.

John B. Terrill is the son of Johna Tirrell and Johanna Lincoln.

The letters I have from relatives to my Great Grandmother there were at least 3 of those spellings above, and that doesn't throw me that they didn't focus on spelling, it wasn't a survival skill.

Polly Ingalls father John Jr. joined the Revolution at age 12, and his father was 12 when he was born. It's not at all like it is today, it was a frontier and you were expected to pull your own weight. Heck, my Great grandmother Jessie Holge Garey who wrote all this down was a 3rd grade school teacher at age 15. Kids grew up fast back then...no mollycoddling back then like there is now. Being able to shoot a gun to get supper, was more important then spelling your last name.

And this family is full of guys who knew how to use a gun in other means then supper. Polly Ingalls father and both grandfathers were in the Revolution, along with John Tirrells Father Johna. For that you should be proud.

So, it's not how they spelled it that is important, it's what they did.

All the variations of the name are brought together in the WIKITREE as Tirrell from my Great grandmother's journal as she wrote it and she was a 15 year old teacher. But it's all good, it's the same Family, it's just how she spelled it for our Branch, and she was a teacher who wrote it down, and she did so like it sounded to her.

The D.A.R. Records it as Terrell after John's Father Jonah;

Ancestor #: A113594

• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial by SmartCopy: May 12 2015, 12:30:22 UTC
• Marriage to Polly Ingalls: (10 Oct 1813 — Age: 25) Bridgewater, Grafton, New Hampshire, USA
• Residence: (28 Aug 1850 — Age: 62) Portland, Ionia, Michigan, USA
• Residence: (1860 — Age: 72) Portland, Ionia, Michigan, USA
• Burial: Portland, Ionia, Michigan, USA
  • Updated from Ancestry Genealogy via father Jonah Tirrell by SmartCopy: May 12 2015, 11:21:30 UTC
• Marriage to Polly Ingalls: (10 Oct 1813 — Age: 25) Bridgewater, Grafton, New Hampshire, USA
• Residence: (28 Aug 1850 — Age: 62) Portland, Ionia, Michigan, USA
• Residence: (1860 — Age: 72) Portland, Ionia, Michigan, USA
• Burial: Portland, Ionia, Michigan, USA
  • Updated from Ancestry Genealogy by SmartCopy: May 15 2015, 23:47:16 UTC
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Dec 20 2016, 22:35:35 UTC