Robt & Mary Larimer's story

Available from Family History Center or view and download here.

What a tale of shipwreck, betrayal, and adventure Robert Larimer had to tell his children and grandchildren. It was passed down from generation to generation, as a matter of fact, and immortalized in "Our Larimer Family" by cousin John Clarence Work (see the page at left--download your own copy of this entire book here).

Robert's father gave him some Irish linen and sent him off from their home in the North of Ireland in 1740, to seek his fortune in America. The ship was wrecked and he was rescued by a passing ship and brought to America, where the captain sold Robert into indentured servitude to pay for his rescue.

The farmer who bought Robert ill used him for years until finally our ancestor high-tailed it to the "Kishocoquillas Valley" in Pennsylvania, where he married Mary Gallagher (or O'Gallagher), originally from the North of Ireland.

As noted in the above handwritten genealogy by Brice Larimer McClure, hubby's granddad, here's the branch of the family tree he's descended from:

• Robert's son Isaac M. Larimer married Elizabeth Wood (or Woods).
• Their son John Larimer married Rachel Smith.
• Their son Brice S. Larimer married Lucy E. Bentley.
• Their daughter Margaret Jane Larimer married William Madison McClure.
• Their son Brice Larimer McClure married Floyda Mabel Steiner.

The Larimer book by John Clarence Work lists dozens of Larimer cousins, but it's 50 years out of date, so we're hoping to connect with more of them soon.

Children of Robert Larimer & Mary O'Gallagher:

Isaac M., Ebenezer, Guzilla (female), Phoebe (Mary & Rhoda also?)

Here are my posts about the Larimer family:

• Brice Larimer McClure, son of Margaret Jane Larimer and William Madison McClure, was born in 1878 in Little Traverse, MI. He's buried in Old Mission Cemetery. In the 1950 US Census, he was mistakenly listed as being born in Indiana. 
• Intertwining of the Larimer, Short, and Work families. ALSO see my other ancestor landing page titled "McKibbin, Larimer, Work."
• Margaret Jane Larimer inherits a Masonic life insurance payout when her husband William Madison McClure dies of typhoid fever.
• How the Larimers came to America.
• The tombstones of Margaret Jane Larimer and William Madison McClure.
• The FindaGrave memorial of Robert Larimer.
• The Larimer shipwreck story (again).
• Marriage document of Brice S. Larimer and Lucy Bentley.
• A bit about the Larimers in Pennsylvania.
• Brice S. Larimer was a RR agent.
• Margaret Larimer McClure's children.
• Lucinda H. Bentley Shank, sister-in-law of Brice Larimer.
• Major James Elmer Larimer, son of James Larimer and Asenath Cornwell Larimer. 
• Tombstones and background of John Larimer and his wife, Rachel Smith Larimer, who settled in Wabash, IN. 
• Brice S. Larimer, Elkhart pioneer.
• Larimer, Short, and Work families - cousins (!?) from Ireland, intermarried in America.
• Dr. Bartlett Larimer, pioneer doctor who inspired nephews to become doctors and dentists. And Dr. Bartlett Larimer's 1892 will, naming 3 sons and some nephews/nieces as beneficiaries.
• Samuel Bartlett Larimer, D.D.S., son of Thomas Short and Margaret Larimer.
• Emma O. Larimer Freeland and family move from Goshen, Indiana, to the Bronx, NY. Why? My suspicion: So she could support the family and send children to good public schools.
• Mary Gallagher of Ireland marries Robert Larimer in Kishacoquillas Valley, PA. 
• John Larimer Haglind, son of Eleanor Larimer and Eric Haglind 
• James Larimer, son of Isaac M. Larimer, of "pioneer stock" and a Democrat. 
• Ebenezer Larimer, missing 4th great-grand-uncle? Son of Ebenezer Larimer, grandson of Isaac Larimer? 
• Wright Larimer's tombstone leads me to the tombstones of relatives in the Work family. 
• Emma O. Larimer Freeland's husband James Freeland died in 1920, a former deputy sheriff and life-long democrat. Emma's son Earle Larimer Freeland  was a cigar store proprietor. 
• Atta Elizabeth Larimer (hubby's 1st cousin, 2x removed) married Miles Powell Bradford in 1902. 
• Miles Bradford also served in the military unit of his future brother-in-law during the Spanish-American War, 1898.
• The Short family intermarried with the Larimer family (for instance, farmer Thomas Short married Margaret Larimer and they raised sons who became dentists and doctors) 
• George Ainsworth Larimer secretly marries Cora May Lutz on July 4th, 1899. 
• Phoebe Antoinette McKibbin Herrold's 1919 obit--she was the daughter of Harriet Larimer and Alexander McKibbin. 
• A Purple Heart for cousin Alexander Everett Herrold (grandson of Harriet Larimer and Alexander McKibbin). 
• More about Larimer and McKibbin intermarriage between Hallie Richard Larimer and Mary Magdelene McKibbin.
• The Larimers buried in Brown cemetery in Elkhart, IN.
• What happened to Casper Richard Larimer, truck driver during the Depression
• The only photo we have of Margaret Larimer McClure, her daughter Lucille Ethel McClure, and Lucy's husband, Edward Everett De Velde. Margaret's middle name was Jane, also the middle name of other Larimer ladies.
• Pvt. Harvey Heath Larimer, who enlisted in the Union Army just before he turned 17 in 1865. Other Larimer men served in the Union Army, as well.
• Brice Larimer McClure knew 6 generations of his family, from grandparents on both sides to great-grandchildren.
• Great aunt Emma O. Larimer married James Freeland in December, 1869.
• James Elmer Larimer, hubby's 1st cousin 4x removed, served in the Union Army during Civil War. His telescope surfaced recently.
• Asenath Cornwell Larimer went west during the Gold Rush Era, and kept a journal of her journey! Her daughter married D'Alva Mosse, who also was in the Gold Rush.
• The Work family, cousins and intermarried with Larimers and Shorts, and also "Scots-Irish" - looking at two young men from the Civil War.
• Four Larimer brothers fought for the Union in the US Civil War. I'm posting their bite-sized bios on this blog and on other sites. 
• Short Family reunion in 1900.
• Larimer family had a long tradition of farming.
• Isaac & John Larimer, patriots and "Ohio fever" pioneers.
• Two Larimer men worked for the railroad in 1800s. 
• Two ancestors named Margaret Larimer had very different lives.
• Asenath Cornwell Larimer, widow of James Larimer, was a Gold Rush pioneer (and she kept a wonderful, detailed journal of her journey and experiences). I found a photo of her home in Santa Monica.
• William Tyler Bentley Larimer married Elizabeth Stauffer 10 miles away from their hometown of Middlebury, IN--in White Pigeon, MI, a Gretna Green.
• Writing about the Civil War experiences of Larimer ancestors, including Jacob Wright Larimer. 
• Isaac Larimer and son Robert Larimer served in the War of 1812. Also another son...all filed under different spellings of their surname.
• Retracing the research for a 1942 printed genealogy of the Work family, including Larimer ancestors.
• Isaac Larimer (1828-1910) served in Union Army during Civil War, and my research began with clues in the Larimer printed genealogy.
• Tales of loss recorded in the Larimer family genealogy book by J.C. Work, based in part on handwritten notes by Dr. James Anderson Work.
• Brice Larimer McClure wrote notes about family history, which I've posted to Ancestry so they can be saved by other researchers and distant cousins.
• Between 1900 and 1920, the Larimer-Work-Short families held joint reunions in Elkhart, Indiana.