The Luck of the Irish

My Irish immigrant family brought the Luck of the Irish with them. Maybe 8 year old Mary McGill had a lucky penny in her shoe when she came from Ireland to Canada in the early 1800s. Her life was hard; her husband, Patrick, who was 30 years her senior, worked in the timbers or building the canal. But the records show that at least they had a house, as opposed to the neighbors who lived in wooden shanties. When Mary was widowed, with 3 young children, she was lucky to join a group who made their way west to the United States. In Iowa City, although she was ill, Mary was lucky again, to find a man who would help her write a will, making sure her children were cared for. My Gt Grandfather, Daniel Patrick McGill, was her youngest child, age 5, when she died. The Shafer family, who fostered Daniel, were childless but raised him as their own and even sent him to the University. The foster father and mother just "happened" to be related to Eva Frost, who was eventually married to Daniel Patrick. There was illness during those years in Iowa, but Daniel was lucky to survive. Sadly, his sister, Bridget, brother, John, John's wife, and one baby died. One of Daniel's nephews remained, and that lucky boy was fostered by Daniel and Eva. Years later, after the family moved to western Iowa, Daniel was lucky enough to see a flyer that told of land opening for homesteads in Oklahoma Territory. In 1889, he made his way to Arkansas City, Kansas, and boarded a train for the new frontier. Daniel, and 3 other pioneers, jumped from the train, and set off west across the prairie. As luck would have it, they came to a place where 4 quarter sections were marked with stakes. Since McGill was the only one who had a large family, he was the lucky one chosen to claim the land with the best source of water. His family, including my grandmother, age 8, came from Iowa by covered wagon to join him on the homestead. And here I am, one of the lucky descendants to come from this family, and lucky to have that story preserved for more than 200 years after little Mary McGill crossed the Atlantic. The picture above is of Daniel P. (seated) and Eva McGill (standing center) and their family on the homestead west of Edmond, Oklahoma. This land is still pasture land and the pond is still there.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #47 Theme is "Wrong Side of the Law".

I always like to follow "down line" from my direct ancestors' siblings. Their stories often give insight into the whole family and their lifestyles and migrations.  In the family of my paternal great grandmother, having migrated in the late 1800s  from Iowa to Nebraska to Oklahoma Territory, I followed her siblings into the rough frontier areas.  Her father, Elias Frost's, general store in Audubon Co,  Iowa was robbed by The Crooked Creek Gang, a well known "wild bunch" that held up stores and saloons.  By the time lands were opened for homesteading in Oklahoma Territory, the Frost family and several adult children claimed lands there.  One grandson, a cousin to my gt grandmother, Eva Frost McGill, is found to be married to Anna Emmaline McDoulet, in Perry, Oklahoma.  Further searching uncovered the fact that Anna (also called Emma) had been the infamous "Cattle Annie" (at left in photo.)  From her late teens in NE Oklahoma and SE Kansas, Cattle Annie and her cohort, Jennie "Little Britches" Stevens, were outlaws who ran with the Doolin Gang, and on their own, selling whiskey to Osage Indians, stealing horses and warning the gangs when the law came too close.  She dressed like a man, packed a pistol on her hip, and was reputed to be a crack shot.   The duo roamed and terrorized the area for about 3 years before they were captured by U.S. Marshals and sentenced to a correctional institution in Massachusetts.   She returned to Oklahoma after her incarceration and married my Frost relative in 1901. They had 2 sons, who were probably raised by their grandmother, as Anna went off to join one of the Wild West Shows.   She and Mr. Frost were divorced about 1909 and she married an Okla.City businessman the next year.  She had evidently turned her wild life around and settled down as a church-going, book keeper in later life.  Not surprisingly, there was never mention of this branch of the family in my lifetime, although the marriage would have taken place a couple of counties away when my grandma and her siblings were about the same age. We have been in correspondence with one of Annie's descendants who lived in California and knew her as a fun loving grandmother.

Frost Family in Oklahoma and California

My gt grandmother, Eva Ida Frost McGill, (center with square neck dress) with siblings and descendants. I believe this picture was taken in Edmond Oklahoma, around early 1920s. Eva's two sisters are on the right, Kitty Frost and husband Dr. Levi Reichard, and Eliza Frost Morgan. The occasion must have been the Reichards' visit, as they lived in Stuart, NE, and such a long trip would be rare. My father, Dan Griffin, is a teenager, on back row left, behind his mother, Hattie and beside his father Charley Griffin. I love the joy in this family gathering.


A day at the beach, near Alhambra, California, during the 1930s. Two Oklahoma cousins, Mamie McGill, 2nd from left, and Evana Bunstine, far right, visit their Frost relatives near their home in California. The older man and woman would be Lew and Alice Frost. Others are children and grandchildren of Lew and Alice. Lew was the brother of my gt grandmother, Eva Frost McGill. We love to see this fully dressed family, gathering at the beach for their photo.

Elias Carlos Frost and Lucinda Harrington

The Biography of Audubon County lists Carlos E. Frost as Clerk of the first election of Exira Township in April 1855. He is listed as an early settler of that county. In 1860 census, their family matches the family Bible:
Carlos E. Frost , age 33, farmer b. Iowa
Lucinda age 31, housework, born NY
Luther C. Age 8 b. Iowa
Celina E. Age 7 b Iowa
Amelia age 6 b. Iowa
Eva Ida age 4 b. Audubon Co. Iowa (the first mention of our gt grandmother)
Omar age 2 b. Audubon Co. Iowa
Lyman J. 7 mo. b. Iowa
Lyman J. Frost age 66 Carpenter [Johnson Lyman Frost, b. CT]
(another child, Vesper, is listed in the family Bible born after Omar. He died as an infant.)

We know very little of the background of Lucinda Harrington. She is found as a single young lady living with a family in Iowa probably serving as a nanny. Her parents were from New York and Rhode Island. I think of her as the true pioneer woman because of her long journeys and strength as she raised her family in frontier homes. Several children of Elias and Lucinda died very young in Audubon County, Iowa between 1860 – 65. Three died in less than 30 days of one another. Amelia,6, Omar,3, and Vesper,1, are buried in the Bowen Cemetery near Exira.

Eva Ida Frost married Daniel Patrick McGill. These are our gt grandparents, and their story is found at this website. http://www.dgranna.com/McGill.html
From Audubon Co. History Book
“Carlos E. Frost came here with his father from Iowa City in 1853, and was a farmer. He lived in the Northwest quarter of section 35, Exira Township. He was a Republican and a popular gentleman. He was clerk at the first county election, April 2, 1855, county treasurer, 1864-65, and during that period lived in Exira, in the Charles Chapin house, which was on the site of the John Mertis residence, Block 16, Exira.”

A report on the county board of Audubon County 1863:
“The board of 1863 consisted of C. E. Frost, Chairman, and J.A. Halleck, Clerk. Among the acts of this board is found in records, “W. S. Carter (pauper) was to be ‘let’ to Wm. Carpenter at $1.40 a week , with $3 appropriation with which to purchase said Carter a hickory shirt and a pair of blue drilling pants.” The further work of the June session of 1863 was to make the following classification for the use of tax assessors:
Prime, wild land per acre, $2.25 tax
Improved land per acre, $4 - $10
Timber land per acre, $ 5 - $15
Town lots in Exira $5
Work cattle per head $40 – 50
Cows per head $6 - $12
Steers (3 yrs. old) per head $6 - $12
Bulls (all ages) $10 - $15
Work horses $10 - $15
Mules $40 - $70
Sheep $3 - $5
Swine (per lb.) 1 ½ cents

In 1883, Elias Carlos Frost was a merchant in Brayton, where his store was burglarized by the “Crooked Creek” gang. His son, Lew C. Frost, and son in law, Dan P. McGill, held the office of county surveyor. A narrative about this era in and near Brayton and Oakfield Iowa is found here http://www.auduboncounty.net/oakfield/OakfieldHistory.html Lucinda and Carlos moved to Stuart, NE about 1884, leaving three children buried in the Bowen Cemetery near Exira. Surviving children who traveled with the family to Nebraska were Lew C., who married Alice Hartman, Salina [Celina], Eva, who married Dan. P. McGill, Edward, Eliza, and Kittie.