William Linn was born in Glasgow, Scotland in November 1788. He married Jean (or Jane) Ralston on October 29, 1814. They had 7 children that I know of: William, Alexander, Caroline, Thomas, Robert, Janette, and James. The family belonged to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. In 1838, Alexander Linn and his sister Caroline became friends with Helen Lambie and began attending services at the Methodist church with her. In 1839, Alexander became a member of the Scotch Baptist church because he had begun to believe in immersion for baptism. He and Helen joined and were baptized and the rest of the Linns also joined. In 1840, however, Caroline Linn left the Baptists and started attending the Disciples of Christ meeting in Glasgow. She was 19 at the time and walked the 7 miles to the meeting each way each Sunday. This is where she met her future husband, Colin Campbell.
William and Jean Linn and their children Alexander (with his wife and 10-month-old son), Caroline (with her husband and son), Thomas, Robert, and Janette left Scotland and arrived in New York on August 2, 1842 on the ship Wandsworth.
More about William and Jean’s 7 children:
- William (b. 6/27/1815) – married Ann Margaret Munn on June 1, 1840 in Paisley, Scotland. In the 1841 Scottish census, they were living in Paisley with a 3-month-old son, William Campbell Linn. He did not emigrate to America in 1842 like the rest of his family. In the 1861 census, they lived in Govan (now part of Glasgow) with children William, now 20, Margaret, aged 11, and Caroline, aged 7. William Sr. worked in the upholstery business. In the 1871 census, William was an upholsterer and trimming manufacturer, employing 4 men and 40 women. He was also listed as a Church of Christ pastor and all 3 children still lived with them. In the 1881 census, William, his wife, and daughter Margaret were living in Kinning Park, Glasgow. William Sr. died before the 1901 census, but his wife, aged 86, was living in Govan with her unmarried daughter Margaret, her married daughter Caroline, her son-in-law William Crockatt, and their 6 children.
- Alexander (b. 4/26/1818) – married Helen Lambie on July 2, 1840 in Paisley, Scotland.
- Caroline (b. 1/12/1821) – married Colin Campbell about 1840 in Scotland (more about him in another post).
- Thomas (b. 5/24/1826) – married Annie Stanbery in about 1868 in New York. She was a cousin of George Gourlay’s wife Maria Stanbery.
- Robert (b. 2/14/1830) – married Jessie Craig Blackie on June 28, 1858 in St. Clair County, Michigan.
- Janette (b. 4/20/1832) – married Charles A. Lorman (also featured in a separate post) on December 24, 1858 in Detroit.
- James (?)
From New York, the Linn family moved to Detroit and began meeting with the Hawley family on Sundays. In the 1850 U.S. census, William and Jean Linn were living in Detroit with their daughter Caroline and her husband Colin Campbell and their 3 children. William’s children Janette (18) and Thomas (26) were also living with them. In 1854, Charles A. Lorman was baptized by Alexander Linn (Lorman would marry Janette in 1858). William, the patriarch, died on August 17, 1860 and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery. His wife Jean died on May 20, 1877.
The rest of this post will mostly deal with William and Jean’s sons Alexander, Thomas, and Robert.
Alexander
Alexander and his wife Helen came to New York on August 2, 1842 with their 10-month-old son Alexander. In the 1850 census, Alexander and Helen were living with the J.F. Johnson family in Detroit and had 3 children: Alexander (8), William (6), and Jane (3). Alex was listed as a pine oil maker. In about 1854, Alexander and his family, along with his brother Robert, moved to Marine City, Michigan. Alexander preached at various churches including Marine City’s, Brockway, Algonac, and Ionia. Back in Detroit by 1862, Alexander worked at Duncan Stewart and also as a cashier at his brother Thomas’ store, “Campbell & Linn.” In 1863, Alexander and Helen’s sons Alexander R. and William F. Linn opened “A.R. & W.F. Linn,” a company that sold tea, coffee, and spices.
from Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection
Children of Alexander Linn and Helen Lambie
ALEXANDER R. – born in 1841 in Scotland. He married Janette Craig (sister of James Gourlay’s wife Jean) in about 1865. They had 3 daughters: Katherine Campbell Linn (7/25/1868-5/27/1965), Helen Gourlay Linn (8/6/1871-2/7/1940), and Jeanette (Nettie) Linn (b. 9/7/1874, d. 1/18/1887 of diptheria). His wife Janette died on Dec. 26, 1875 of consumption. In 1880, A.R. lived with his 3 daughters, and James Gourlay and his wife were boarding with them. In about 1882, he remarried to Ella Levington and had a daughter born in 1884 named Marguerite Gray Linn. In 1930, Alex was a widow living with his 2 unmarried daughters, Katherine and Helen, in Cleveland, Ohio. He died at the age of 90 on October 2, 1932.
WILLIAM F. – born in 1844 in Michigan. He married Ella Lyman in about 1874. In the 1880 census, they lived on Howard Street in Detroit. In the 1900 census, William and Ella were living on Vinewood Avenue with an adopted daughter named Hazel Draine who was 14. He died May 28, 1904 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Ella died in Los Angeles in 1931.
JANE ANDERSON – born Nov. 30, 1847 in Detroit. She married Edward H. Patterson on Dec. 28, 1870. They had 2 daughters, Helen (b. 1871) and Susan (b. 1873). They attended Plum St. Church of Christ. Edward was an undertaker in the firm of “Latimer & Patterson.” In the 1890s, he was an alderman in Detroit’s 4th ward. He died July 12, 1914 at his home “a few hours before a telegram arrived asking him to notify Mrs. C. A. Lorman [Jane’s aunt]…of the death of her grandson, Welwood Murray, in an automobile accident in Seattle, Washington” (Detroit Free Press, 7/13/1914). Jane died on 1/27/1930.
COLIN – born April 18, 1851. He worked as a clerk in the early 1870s and died on February 15, 1873 in Detroit of lockjaw.
CAROLINE HELEN – born January 1857, married Alexander Anderson Trout on February 24, 1881 in Detroit. Alexander was involved in the Plum Street mission at 14th and Ash Streets in 1882-1884. They had one son, Alexander Linn Trout, on February 2, 1886. A. A. Trout died on January 1, 1888 at the age of 35. A. L. Trout was a captain in the Engineering Corps of the U.S. Army during World War I. He wrote a letter to his mother that was published in the Detroit Free Press on Sept. 22, 1918, in which he discussed a Red Cross hospital in France. In the late 1920s, he worked for the firm Malcomson & Higginbotham. Caroline died on April 8, 1944.
THOMAS S. – born Jan. 1, 1862. The 9/7/1884 Free Pess detailed a surprise going-away party thrown for him at Caroline & Alexander Trout’s home. Thomas was leaving the next Monday for the west. “During the evening, Mr. James Sanderson in behalf of his gentlemen friends presented him with an elegantly bound Bible.” Many family members and friends from Plum Street were also guests, including Mrs. Helen Linn [mother], Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Trout [sister & bro-in-law], Mr. and Mrs. William Linn [brother & sis-in-law], Mrs. J. A. Patterson [sister], Sarah Mickleborough [Alexander Malcomson’s 1st wife], Cora and Nellie Long [from Plum St.], Flora Belle Lorman [cousin], Nellie and Susie Patterson [nieces], Edward H. Patterson [bro-in-law], Charles A. Lorman [uncle], Alexander Malcomson [from Plum St.], Allen Murray [son of Lilly Gourlay, later married Thoma’s cousin Jean Lorman], Robert Lambie [grandmother’s nephew], and James Sanderson [son of John Gray’s sister Isabella].
In January 1868, the Linn and Lorman group that split from Colin Campbell’s group started meeting for church at the Detroit Ice Company (owned by Lorman). In February 1868, the church of Christ bought 2 lots at the southwest corner of Fourth and Plum streets for $1800. From 1870 to his death, Alexander Linn devoted much of his time to the Plum Street Church. In the 1880 census, Alexander, his wife, daughter Caroline, and son Thomas were living at 364 Abbott St. Alexander died April 9, 1882 of “debility from old age.” He was nearly 64 years old. According to his niece, Caroline Campbell, “When Uncle Aleck died, his hand was in my mother’s in spite of church difficulties. He asked my mother to recite a hymn.” (daughter “Tina” Campbell’s letter dated July 1932 – from https://www.gwbhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/294947a41aa7f39ed8ae5923848d3916.pdf). His wife Helen died August 10, 1902 at the home of their daughter Jane.
Thomas
Thomas Linn was 16 years old when his family emigrated from Scotland to America in 1842. He worked as a trader in Northern Michigan for his brother-in-law Colin Campbell’s business, “Campbell & Jack.” In 1848, Thomas and Colin opened the “Campbell & Linn” Dry Goods Store (aka the “Scotch Store”) at the corner of Jefferson and Woodward Avenues. There was a fire in 1858 and the store moved to the corner of Woodward and Congress.
from Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection
from Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection
Thomas attended the Central Christian Church. In 1868, he married Annie Stanbery, who was born on October 18, 1834 in New York City. Their son Robert was born November 20, 1869. In 1871, Thomas and Colin’s partnership ended, and Thomas started “Linn & Stanbery” with Annie’s brother John. They sold millinery, dress goods, undergarments and other items at 154 Woodward Avenue. That business lasted until 1876. In the 1880 census, Thomas, Annie, and Robert were boarding at physician Benjamin Stone’s house. In the late 1880s, Thomas and family moved to 38 W. Adams on the corner of Park in Detroit.
from Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection
Thomas started working as a floor manager at Newcomb, Endicott, & Co. in about 1880 and retired in 1897. Upon his retirement, he received an inscribed gold watch with a chain from the firm, a leather easy chair from the employees of the 2nd floor, and a gold-headed cane from those on the 1st floor (Detroit Free Press, Aug. 1, 1897). Thomas’ son Robert Stanbery Linn became a physician and joined the army as a surgeon during the Spanish-American War. In the early June 1900 census, he was living with his parents and two servants at 38 W. Adams. In the summer of 1900, Robert went to China as an army surgeon. On August 11, 1903, Robert married Alice MacLay in Glen Falls, New York and they had a daughter named Marian in June 12, 1904. On August 26, 1909, Thomas Linn died at his son’s house at 594 Cass Avenue. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery. Annie lived with her son and his family during the 1910 census. She died on April 6, 1912. Robert died on June 18, 1941.
Robert
After his marriage in 1858 to Jessie Craig Blackie, they lived in Brownstown in the 1860 U.S. census. At that time, Robert was a merchant with $5000 in real estate and $4600 in personal estate. In the June 1863 draft registration, Robert was still a merchant in Brownstown. In November 1866, he was appointed a U.S. Postmaster in Gibraltar. Robert was a shipbuilder in Gibraltar.
In 1866, Robert formed the shipbuilding company “Linn & Craig” with John Craig, who was the brother of Jean/Mrs. James Gourlay and Jeanette/Mrs. Alex R. Linn. You may remember Alexander R. Linn was Robert’s nephew. They worked together through the 1870s building ships of wood. Some of their ships were named after friends and relatives, like the Colin Campbell, the Annie L. Craig, and the Jessie Linn. John left the partnership because he had begun wanting to build steel hulled ships. Robert continued the business until about 1892. John Craig established his shipyard in Gibraltar, then moved to Trenton, Michigan in 1883. He then moved on to Toledo, Ohio in 1888. Eventually, John Craig retired from the Craig Shipbuilding Company, and it was found that Toledo was now too small. His son John F. Craig moved the company to Long Beach, California in 1906.
Robert Linn and his wife Jessie had 4 daughters: Annie Ella, born on August 5, 1863; Lillian, born July 8, 1865; Caroline Campbell, born January 17, 1870; and Flora Ralston, born March 1, 1875. Around 1890, the family moved to Detroit and attended Central Christian Church. Lillian married Edward Waterfall on October 31, 1894 in Detroit. They had a daughter named Jessie C. Waterfall on October 7, 1897. The rest of Robert’s daughters never married. Robert’s wife Jessie died of heart trouble on July 19, 1896. Robert died on Sept. 16, 1900 at his home at 514 Cass Ave. Around 1903, Caroline became an elementary school teacher in Escanaba, Michigan. Flora also became a teacher, but in the Detroit Public School system.
from Find-A-Grave
Annie Ella was admitted to the Ypsilanti State Hospital on Christmas Eve 1931. She died there on May 22, 1934 at the age of 70. Lillian died at the home of her daughter in Highland Park on December 9, 1933. Caroline died on November 20, 1934 in Escanaba and was buried there. Flora died on July 5, 1937 and was buried with her sister Caroline in Escanaba.
Sources:
- “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-5FFW-H?cc=1849782&wc=MX62-VTL%3A165726801 : 7 January 2015), 050 – 1 Aug 1842-25 Oct 1842 > image 15 of 844; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
- Boyd, R. Vernon. (2009). A History of the Stone-Campbell Churches in Michigan.
- Taylor, G. G. (1906). A History of the Plum Street Church of Christ, Detroit, Michigan.
- Adamson, H. A. (1941). The Church of Christ: 100 years in Detroit.
- https://www.woodlawntour.com/john-craig
- https://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca//documents/dt86/default.asp?ID=c013
Wells & Wilson Family History 
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