Oakes
   The Oakes name has descended through the generations from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. Their name comes from having lived near a notable oak tree or near a group of oaks. The surname Oakes is derived from the Old English word ac, which means oak. The surname Oakes belongs to the class of topographic surnames, which were given to people who resided near physical features such as hills, streams, churches, or types of trees. The Family Coat of Arms features a black shield with three green oak leaves on a gold pale engrailed, between six gold slips of oak fructed. and the Crest is, predictably, an oak tree. The Family Motto is, "Quercus robur salus patria," meaning: "The strength of the oak is the safety of our country." The family was first found in Somerset, where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.
   Early North American records list many people bearing the name Oakes, like: Simon Oakes, who arrived in New England in 1632; Greg Oakes, who landed in Virginia in 1637; Edward Oakes, who landed in Cambridge, Mass in 1640; Urian Oakes, who arrived in New England in 1649; John Oakes, who arrived in Maryland in 1672; Uriah Oakes settled in Boston in 1679; George Oakes, who arrived in Virginia in 1699; Oakes Settlers in the United States in the 18th Century; Rachel Oakes, who arrived in Virginia in 1702; and Thomas Oakes, who landed in Boston, Mass in 1774.
   The Oakes line that married into the Hause family can be traced back to LUCIOUS BATES OAKES, born in 1805 in Vermont. He married NANCY A. CLOUGH and they had the following children:

CHILDREN OF LUCIOUS OAKES AND NANCY A. CLOUGH
  • CHARLES HENRY OAKES (1 Jan 1834 - 5 Dec 1913) was born in New York. He married BASHEBA HAUSE (b. 23 Nov 1838). Family listed below.
  • THOMAS OAKES was born in 1835 in New York. He married MARIA ANTOINETTE LOVELAND (1838 - 1880) and they had the folloeing children: Edgar Levi (b. 1859), Edward (b. 1860), Edith Lillian(b. 1867), and Florence Lucy Oakes (b. 1872). He died sometime after 1900 in Excter, Green, Wisconsin.
  • LAURA OAKES was born in 1836.
  • ANNA MARIAH OAKES was born in 1841 in Michigan. She married CHARLES F BURROWS (1837 - 1927) and had the following children: Lucious (1867 - 1879), Lucia Louise (1869 - 1955), Charles Stuart Burrows (b. 1870). She died on 30 Nov 1917 in Blue Earth, Minnesota.

    •    In 1836, the Oakes family was living on the new frontier of Michigan. Lucious was one of the original settlers of Riley Township, St. Clair County in 1836, which had been originally settled by "the Otchipwes of the Riley band of Indians." ("Associate Judge David Oakes," was working there as a road supervisor in the 1820s, and could possibly be Lucious' father.) Lucious and other Americans (including William and John M. Oakes, probably brothers) flocked in to buy the cheap land and clear homesteads on the newly-available land (History of St. Clair County Michigan, 1883 ). He's on Section 15 of Riley in the 1840 assessment. But sometime before 1845, Nancy passed away. Then on 22 Mar 1845, at the age of 40, Lucious was remarried to Eliza Elsa Babcock (16 Sep 1815 - 11 Dec 1881), a widow herself. They had the following children:

    CHILDREN OF LUCIOUS OAKES AND ELIZA BABCOCK
  • LUCY AMANDA OAKES (b. 1846) married Wilbur Scofield. They are buried with her mother, Elsa Oakes, at Cannon Falls Cemetery, Cannon Falls Township, Goodhue Co., MN, Section: A-163 NC.
  • HARRIET ADELIA OAKES (b. 1852) m. John Hill (b. 1846) and they had the following children: Minnie (b. 1869); Elsie (b. 1872); Vina (b. 1873); Wesley (b. 1874); Howard (b. 1876); Betsy (b. 1877) and Myra (b. 1879).
  • CLEORA THERESA OAKES (b. Dec 1852) married Reuben A. Bixby (b. 1849 in New York). Lucious lived with them in Minnesota after Eliza died.

    •    In the 1850 census, Lucious and family were still living in Riley. Around 1855, William Oakes purchased a mill on the St. Clair River, presumably run by the brothers. It was there that Lucious' son, Charles, married BASHEBA JANE HAUSE on May 13, 1857. Basheba had come to Michigan with her brothers John and Laban, from Royalton, Niagara County, New York. The brothers were witnesses for the wedding, which was performed by Minister William P. Russell. Henry and Basheba had the following children:

    CHILDREN OF CHARLES OAKES AND BASHEBA HAUSE
  • ELLA FRANCES OAKES was born on 1 Feb 1858 in Memphis, Macomb, Michigan. On 4 Aug 1878 she married in John Andrew McMahon (1853-1931) in Marlette, Sanilac, Michigan. They had the following children: Zoe McMahon (1878-1878), Hattie Barbara McMahon (1883-1946) and Russell A McMahon (1884-1906). Ella died on 5 Dec 1933 in Sault Ste Marie, Chippewa, Michigan. She is buried there with her husband and children at the Riverside Cemetery, Plot: PROTESTANT-19-40-3.
  • ESTER HATTIE OAKES (b. 1859). She married Joseph J. Dawson (b. 1853, arrived from England in 1883) in 1889, and they had the following children: Phoebe Dawson (b. 1890); Ella M. Dawson (b. 1891); and Wm. M. Dawson (b. 1896).
  • GEORGE AUGUSTUS OAKES (b. 1863). He married Catharine Alberta Murdich (b. 1866) in 1886, and they had the following children: Henry Otis Oakes (b. 1888); Earl Thomas Oakes (b. 1890); Ruth Oakes (b. 1892); Byron J Oakes (b. 1894); Ethel N Oakes (b. 1896); and Margie Oakes (b. 1897).
  • CHARLES BERNARD "BIRNEY" OAKES (10 Jan 1866 - 7 Apr 1948). He married Nettie E. Watters (21 Dec 1874 - 30 Aug 1954) in 1893, and they lived in Michigan. He went into business with Frank Hause, running a general store in Riley Center for a number of years (see top image). Later they engaged in a mercantile business in Memphis, erecting the building now occupied by A.J.Pearsall (1938). When later Mr Oakes withdrew from the partnership, Mr Hause, in connection with brother-in-law George Cottington, carried on the business. Charles and Nettie had two children, Irene M (b. 1894) and Neil Walter Oakes (1897-1955. They are still together in the 1920 census, but in 1930, Charles is alone, lodging in a boarding house. He and Nettie are buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan
  • WILLIAM HAUSE OAKES, b. 1869 and d. 16 Jan 1891, according to Marlette Leader Newspaper.
  • ISAIRE HESSE OAKES (b. 4 May 1872/3). He married Grace Ellen Hathaway (1870-1936) on 29 Dec 1896 in Clio, Genessee County, Michigan. They had the following children: Ralph Hathaway Oakes (1898-1978); and Grace Evelyn Oakes-Maland (1907-1997). They moved to Illinois, where they appeared on the census in 1920, and again in 1930, the entire family still living together. He was a "General Sciences" instructor at Elgin High School in Elgin, Illinois. In 1940, he's widowed and living with his daughter's family in Hinsdale, DuPage, Illinois. Click on the photo at right to see his photo in the 1917 "Maroon" yearbook.

    • Personal Information
    Death Certificate
    Name: Chas. H. Oakes
    Date: 5 Dec 1913
    Birth: 1 Jan 1834
    Age: 79
    Place of Death: Pontiac State Hospital, Pontiac, MI
    Father: Lucious Oakes
    View image
    SOURCE INFORMATION: Seeking Michigan Online (http://seekingmichigan.org/); Library of Michigan and Archives of Michigan: Death Certificates.
       In the 1870 census, Charles was listed as the mill proprietor, and he and Basheba would remain in Michigan.
       Meanwhile, Lucious and Eliza would move on: In the 1860 census they would live in Holden, Goodhue, Minnesota. In 1870, they were in Burns, Anoka, Minnesota. Finally, in 1880, 75-year-old Lucious was living in Exeter, Green, Wisconsin, United States. Eliza died in Minnesota in 1881, while Lucious wound up in Nebraska with his daughter Cleora and her husband, Reuben. On 16 Jun 1885, he was living with them in Muddy Pre., in the Village of Schubert, Richardson County, Nebraska.
       By 1900, Charles and "Bashabe Oakes" were living with their daughter-in-law Albertie in Marlette, Sanilac, Michigan. But by 1910, Charles was an inmate at the Eastern Michigan Asylum for the Insane, in Pontiac Ward 4, Oakland, Michigan (he was institutionalized on 22 Aug 1900 and died there in 1913) while 74 year-old "Bashabe" lived with her daughter, Hattie L. Dawson, and her children in Marlette, Sanilac, Michigan.
       From the The Times Herald, Port Huron, Michigan; Monday, 29 Sep 1913, Page 6: "MARLETTE Mrs. B. Oakes died very suddenly last Friday. She was ill only a short time. The deceased has been a resident of Marlette for about 45 years and will long be remembered for her many acts of kindness. Always of a sunny disposition she was loved by all who knew her. The funeral was held Monday at the M. E. church of which she was a member. Rev. W. J. Cain officiating."

    (Some information provided by Basheba's great-great granddaughter, Carmen Oakes, at azoakes@cybertrails.com).