David B. McCormick

Narrative:

     David B. McCormick was born on 4 Jul 1813 in Ovid, Seneca Co., New York.^4,5,6,7
     David married Mary Willard Cobb, daughter of William Cobb and Lora Fitch, in 1834 in Rochester, New York.^8,9,10
     David and Mary moved with their young son to Michigan Territory in 1836.¹⁴ David appeared on the 1840 Federal Census of Monroe, Monroe Co., Michigan, with a household consisting of one male under age 5 (son William), one age 20 to 30 (himself), and one age 30 to 40 (unknown), two females under age 5 (daughter Weltha and Georgiana), one age 15 to 20 (unknown), and one age 20 to 30 (wife Mary.)¹⁵
     David and Mary appeared on the 1850 Federal Census of Monroe, Monroe Co., Michigan, enumerated 5 Aug 1850, reporting real estate valued at $700. Their children William, Weltha, Georgiana, Mary, Julia, Charles and Kate were listed as living with them, as was Augusta Denninger, age 22, who appears to have been a servant.¹
     David and Mary appeared on the 1860 Federal Census of Monroe, Monroe Co., Michigan, enumerated 4 Jun 1860, reporting he had real estate valued at $2,100 and she of $2,300, and he had personal estate of $1,800. Their children Julia, Charles, Kate, Almina and Lilla were listed as living with them.² He was a grocer in Monroe.^16,17
     David and Mary moved to Ohio with their younger children, apparently by 1864, when a David McCormack appears in the city directory at 461 Michigan, Toledo.¹⁸ By 1866 they had moved to St. Clair and Orange.¹⁹ The next year they moved to 80 Huron.^20,21
     David pursued a number of occupations after he arrived in Toledo. In 1867 he was an insurance solicitor, and in 1868 a traveling agent for Corn City Bakery.^22,20
     By 1869 they had moved to Superior where they established a boarding house.²³ They appeared on the 1870 Federal Census of Toledo, Lucas Co., Ohio, enumerated 23 Jun 1870, reporting no real estate, but $2,000 in personal estate. Their children Kate, Almina and Lilla were listed as living with them.²⁴
     There were 13 boarders listed at their boarding house in 1870, including three couples, one with an infant. They seemed to cater to an up-scale clientele. Two of the residents reported $15,000 each in combined real and personal estate. Two others were a doctor and a lawyer. There were four resident servants, women ranging from 20 to 35 years old, all from Ireland.²⁴ In 1880 the boarding house had five boarders, including a milliner, two iron dealers, and two life and fire insurance agents, who appear to have been father and son. There were two servants, a 40-year old woman from Prussia, and a 25-year-old man from England. The boarding house operated through about 1882, the last year it appeared in the city directory.^26,27
     By 1872 David had begun a new career, the manufacture and sale of McCormick's Vegetable Pills. He advertised them in the city directory as "D. McCormick's purely vegetable Fever and Ague Pills," making no further claim for them. That venture continued until about 1881. That year he also engaged in a real estate and insurance business with Theodore Schmitt, called McCormick & Schmitt. Neither venture appeared in any later issues of the city directory.^28,29
     David and Mary appeared on the 1880 Federal Census of Toledo, Lucas Co., Ohio, at 204 Superior, enumerated 3 Jun 1880. Their children Kate and Lilla were listed as living with them.²⁶
     David and Mary returned to Monroe, Michigan, in 1882.¹⁴
     David died on 18 Aug 1884 in Monroe, Monroe Co., Michigan, at age 71, at his residence.^4,11 He was buried on 20 Aug 1884 in Woodland Cemetery, Monroe, Monroe Co., Michigan.^12,13