Chapter 2

Eunice Nelson then wrote on the same letter paper the following to Aunt Eva Barney:

March 9, 1947

Dear Sister Barney,

I am sure you will thrill with me over the contents of this letter which came yesterday. At last we seem to be getting to the real story behind the Levi family. The letter you left with me from your Uncle Will mentions the name Frederick which he said was German.

You will notice the given name Modlin, in this letter. It would not be surprising to me if Modlin or Modley were not the last name of this German General Frederick who became known as Frederick Levi.

Now are German or Jew? Ha, Ha! Maybe both. You are also French. And according to the letter from Brother Waywell he has found that Thomas Carrol came from Ireland. What a mixture.

I have written to Mrs. Churchill in the first person so she thinks I am the relative. Maybe you had better write her and I will send it on explaining how I enter the picture.

I would appreciate the return of Brother Waywell's material. I think it goes ot prove the story of Mrs. Churchill. John Levi (Lebo) and Frederick Jr. brothers, got grants of land in this Mersea township right after the War of 1812. I found mention numbers of times of this General Brock, but did not see the name of Levi once. Now I shall see if I can find the name among the French nobility.

Best Wishes

Eunice E. Nelson

We have been searching early history of Canada and the U. S. and early Jewish History in which the name Levy, and Levi are prominent among the early Fur Traders and army purveyors in both the U. S. and Canada. We have not yet made an extensive search of the history of the War of 1812, which we hope to do.

Shirley Davidson Conder, a granddaughter of  Evelyn, Levie Barney stated the following with reference to our Levi Ancestors:

"Frederick was born in Upper Canada on October 17, 1800 to Frederick Levi and a Miss Modley. Very little is known of his early life. It is, however, known that the Levi families in Upper Canada at that time had come from Russia and were Jewish. It can only be supposed that our Frederick has these roots since years of genealogical have not found anything either to substantiate or refute this."

There has recently also come into our hands, a report on Research on Elizabeth Levie, (presumed sister of Frederick John Levi and John Lebo), compiled by Reva W. Wilson and given to the Whittle Family Reunion at Oakley, Idaho on June 30, 1973 which refers to and quotes from the Churchill letter. I cite a few items from that report.

In the 1961 Mersea census a Francis Levi, age 38, probably of a younger generation, was living next to Thomas Whittle's widow, Jane (Philpox Stewart), and her new husband, James Lane. Records indicate that a Frederick Levi, Jr. went to Nauvoo and then to Utah and settled in Ogden. He owned land in Essex County with John Whittle, oldest son of Thomas and Elizabeth. John was a brother to our Thomas Levi Whittle. Frederick Levi was about nine years older than John Whittle. The Levi(e) family of Sevier County, Utah are Frederick's descendants

The report then reviews the Churchill letter, and states further:

"While this account may not be entirely accurate, it may furnish some clues. Mrs. Churchill's ancestor, John Levi (Lebo) married Catherine Fulmer, sister ot our Mary Fulmer who married Thomas Levi Whittle. However, in the Fulmer records he is listed as John Lebo. Their son, George, did marry at an older age, in his fifties. We have his marriage record and he is listed as George Lebo, son of John Lebo and Catherine Fulmer. The daughter, Modlin, who married Adam Bruner, was Modlin Levy in her marriage record.

The son, Thomas, married Ruth Tofflemire; and he was Thomas Levi in the marriage record. In the 1861 Mersea, Essex County, census, Thomas and wife Ruth, were Levi. In the 1871, same area census, we find Thomas Lebo and wife, Ruth, with Mrs. Churchill's father among the children and they are Lebo. The country of origin is France in the 1871 census. There were other Lebo names noted who gave their country of origin as France. The names Levi, Levy and Lebo seem to be interchangeable.

Frederick Levi did his own temple endowments. He is reported to have said his father was Frederick Sr. and his mother, Modley. John Levi or Lebo had a daughter named Modlin; and Thomas and Elizabeth Whittle had a daughter named Madeleine. Perhaps with a German or French accent, they came out that way and were all supposed to be Madeleine.

Frederick Levi (Jr.) appears in the 1860 Weber County census where his age was given as 60. It stated that he was born in Germany with Hanover just above. Some research has been done in Germany, but because Hanover was an area at that time instead of a city, it is impossible to do more there with what little we know.

As a result of our many years of research and our two weeks of "on location" search in Gosfield, Mersea area in 1977, we had long concluded that the Levi, Levy, Lebo, Lebeau are one and the same family. Now through computer research, Dewey J. Levie has assembled some of six generations of descendents of John Levi (Lebo) (some 20 pages) including Bertha Helen Levi Churchill. Interestingly there are some Lebo's, but predominantly Levi's. Because of its pertinence we are attaching that genealogy as a chapter to this book.

As our search in the Essex County widened from the Gosfield - Mersea area, Dewey J. Levie found in the marriage records, one that may be the record of our Frederick Levi (Liebau). It reads as follows:

"FREDERICK LIEBAU soldier of the garrison of Amherstburg married Mahdelene Bellegrade."

Dewey J. Levie further found a marriage record that reads as follows: "Francis Amireal (son of John Baptist) married 29 June, 1816, Assumption Sandwich LOUISA LIEBAU, born 8 July, 1799, Amherstburg, Ontario, dau of Frederic Liebau and Magdelene Bellegrade. Groom resides at Ariskain River and bride at Petites Ecorces."

If this genealogy is correct, we know that Frederick Liebau, who was a soldier of the garrison of Amherstburg married Mahdelene Bellegrade, and that a daughter of theirs, Louisa Liebau married Francis Amireau, the eldest of eight children, all born at Assumption, and that they were married at Assumption, Sandwich, but that she resided at Petites Ecorces. We have not yet found what was designated Petites Ecorces, but the Ecorces River runs into the Detroit River from the West near Grassy Island. there is also a South Ecorce Creek, which runs into the Ecorces River which may bisect what appears from an early map to be somewhat populos area that may have been the Petites Ecorces where she resided. Looking at an early land map of that area just Northwest of the City of Wyandotte, we find a tract of land that was at one time owned by an R. Lebo and an adjacent parcel owned by what appears to be a Joseph Lebo. Is it possible that they are family of Frederick Levi (Liebau)?

Chapter 3