| Notes |
- Things to do:
1. divorce papers, Oscoda, Cheboygan counties?
2. Isabella, Bay, Oscoda County newspapers. (gold rush news, marriages, divorces, deaths)
3. What was Loren's occupation? lumber?
4. Where were the gold strikes in 1888?
5. location of Michigan counties: Eaton, Bloomfield, Mecosta, Isabella, Iosco, Cheboygan.
Timeline for Alvanus/Alvannah Loren Sly:
1854 Loren born in Michigan
1860 Census, Loren, listed as Alvanus, lived with parents and siblings in Oneida, Eaton, Michigan
1863 Jan 11, Loren's father, William W Sly, age 56, died in Isabella county, Michigan
1864 Oct 4, Loren's mother, Elizabeth, married Sylvester Brown. The children were farmed out.
1870 Census, There is an Alvin Sly, age 17, living with John and Almira Sly in Bloomfield, Oakland, MI
1873 Loren's mother, Elizabeth, age 53, died in Michigan
1877 Loren married Elizabeth Close in Hinton, Mecosta, Michigan
1878 Nov 30, daughter, Clara or Carrie, born in Ausable, Mecosta, Michigan
1879 owned 40 acres of land in Hinton, Mecosta County, MI (T 13 N, R 8 W)
1880 Census. Loren A Sly, wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Carey living in Fremont, Isabella, MI
1881 May 3, daughter, Addie May, born in Oscoda, Iosco, Michigan
1883 Jul 26, son, Ernest Wayne born in Mackinaw City, Cheboygan, Michigan
1888 near this time Loren left for the gold fields and disappeared. ???
Alvana Loren Sly and Elizabeth Close were married 23 September 1877 in Hinton, Mecosta, Michigan. According to his cousin, Alonzo Daniel Sly, Loren borrowed the suit of his brother, Lester, to be married in. In1880 Loren and Elizibeth lived in Fremont, Isabella County, Michigan with their 1st child, Carey. Elizabeth's parents lived nearby. They had 2 more children, Addie Mae and Earnest, and times were hard. Loren (as he was listed in the 1880 census) decided to go to the gold fields. Just where he went is unknown. It is said that he sent a couple of letters home and then was not heard from again. According to Olive Sly Huff, the daughter of Ernest Sly, who was Loren's son, "Ernest said he was 5 years old ( about 1888) when his father left for the west." After her husband left, Elizabeth took in roomers to make ends meet. Richard Smith was one of her roomers. Richard and Elizabeth married and moved to Montana to homestead, ten miles east of Eureka. Elizabeth (Libby) and Richard Smith raised her grand daughter, Bertha Sherman. According to a cousin, "Old Dick wasn't too gifted in work. It was always Aunt Lib that did the work. She even worked out at cooking. It's still a wonder to me how people got by in those days."
Alvanus or Loren A. Sly was born about 1854 in Michigan, the 3rd child of 6, of William and Elizabeth Sly. His father died when he was about 9 years old. His mother remarried, but most of the children were farmed out. Bertha Sherman said that her grandmother, Elizabeth Sly described Loren as a red-haired man who walked with a limp. When Bertha was just a little girl she ran into the house and said "Grandma, there is a red-haired man who walks with a limp coming up the road!" When they went to look, the man was gone. They wondered if it could have been Loren Sly. Loren's brother, Lester, lived and died in Billings Montana in 1933. The place and time of death of Loren are unknown.
Elizabeth Close was born in Adams County Indiana on the 25 December 1858. She was the second child of 6 born to James and Nancy Close. Her father had been married before and Elizabeth had a half brother, George. She grew up in Indiana, later moving to and marrying in Michigan. After her first husband left and she remarried and moved to Michigan, Libby raised vegetables and strawberries to sell to the neighbors. She also sold cottage cheese, eggs, milk, chicken, cookies, etc. She was well liked by everyone. Elizabeth (Close) Sly Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer at the Mayo Clinic and Bertha often administered Morphine to her grandma to make the pain bearable. Elizabeth died from the cancer in July 1919 at the age of 60.
Alaska Gold Rush 1880-1914 (Valdez 1898)
!SOURCE: Sealed to spouse, 10 Dec 1985 SL, Marriage sealing batch # M518622, sheet #1003, film# 1004849
1860 United States Federal Census Record about Alvanus Sly
Name: Alvanus Sly
Age in 1860: 7
Birth Year: abt 1853
Birthplace: Michigan
Home in 1860: Oneida, Eaton, Michigan
Gender: Male
Post Office: Grand Ledge
Household Members: Name Age
William Sly 52
Elizabeth Sly 33
Wm W Sly 12
Lester 8
Alvanus 7
Daniel Sly 6
George Sly 3
1870 United States Federal Census (There is a George, age 45, and Jane Sly on this page 2 families up)
Name: Aline Sly ( this definitely is written Alvin perhaps our Alvanus Loren?)
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1853
Age in 1870: 17
Birthplace: Michigan
Home in 1870: Bloomfield, Oakland, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Franklin
Household Members: Name Age (All born in Michigan
John Sly 47 born abt 1823 Michigan
Almiea Sly 40 (looks like Almira)
Aline Sly 17 (looks like Alvine) farmer
Charles Sly 5
William Watkins 20 farmer
U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918 about Loren Sly
Owner's Name: Loren Sly
State: Michigan
County: Mecosta
Town: Hinton
Year: 1879
This is a census of John and Almira who Alvine was living with in 1870
1880 United States Federal Census about John B. Sly
Name: John B. Sly
Age: 57
Birth Year: abt 1823
Birthplace: New York
Home in 1880: Bloomfield, Oakland, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Self (Head)
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Almira D. Sly
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother's Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Neighbors: View others on page
Occupation: Farmer
Household Members:
Name Age
John B. Sly 57
Almira D. Sly 47
Charles B. Sly 14
1880 United States Federal Census Record Loren A. Sly
Name: Loren A. Sly
Age: 26
Estimated birth year: abt 1854
Birthplace: Michigan
Occupation: Farmer (Noted that he was employed 2 months during census year)
Relationship to head-of-household: Self
Home in 1880: Fremont, Isabella, Michigan
Marital status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male
Spouse's name: Elizabeth Sly age 21, daughter Carey age 1
Father's birthplace: NY
Mother's birthplace: MI
Lawrence Sly
mentioned in the record of Earnest W. Sly and Blanch R. Holbrook
Name: Lawrence Sly
Gender: Male
Wife: Elizabeth Close
Child: Earnest W. Sly
Other information in the record of Earnest W. Sly and Blanch R. Holbrook
from Montana, County Marriages
Name: Earnest W. Sly
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 30 Jun 1907
Event Place: Kalispell, , Montana
Age: 24
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Birthplace: Mack City, Mich.
Birth Year (Estimated): 1883
Father's Name: Lawrence Sly
Mother's Name: Elizabeth Close
Additional Relatives: X
Spouse's Name: Blanch R. Holbrook
Spouse's Age: 21
Spouse's Marital Status: Single
Spouse's Race: White
Spouse's Birthplace: Pine Valley, Oregon
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1886
Spouse's Father's Name: Henry W. Holbrook
Spouse's Mother's Name: Mahala E. Neil
Reference ID: V3p513 , GS Film number: 1902479 , Digital Folder Number: 4350527 , Image Number: 287
"Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F33W-J42 : accessed 21 Oct 2014), Lawrence Sly in entry for Earnest W. Sly and Blanch R. Holbrook, 30 Jun 1907; citing V3p513, Kalispell, , Montana; FHL microfilm 1902479.
Bertha Sherman said that her grandmother, Elizabeth Sly said that Loren was red-haired and walked with a limp. According to a letter from Olive Sly Huff, the daughter of Earnest Sly, who was Lorian's son; Earnest said he was 5 years old ( about 1888) when his father left for the west. Elizabeth and Lorian Sly were living in Michigan, Bay County, Pinnconning Village. When money became scarce, Lorian left for the gold fields. There were two or three letters received from him. Then no more word. Elizabeth took in roomers to make ends meet. Richard Smith was one of her roomers. Richard and Elizabeth married, after 1894, and moved to Montana to homestead, ten miles east of Eureka. Addie Mae Sly and Milton Sherman married and went with them. Libby and Dick Smith raised Bertha Sherman, daughter of Addie Mae and Milton Sherman. When Bertha was just a little girl she ran into the house and said "Grandma, there is a red-haired man who walks with a limp coming up the road!" When they went to look, the man was gone. They wondered if it could have been Lorian Sly. Lorian's brother, Lester, lived and died in Billings Montana in 1933. ( Bertha was born in 1903.)
findagrave.com
Loren Alvanus Sly..
Birth: 1853
Grand Ledge
Eaton County
Michigan, USA
Death: unknown
Yellowstone County
Montana, USA
Loren married Elizabeth Close on Sept 23, 1873 in Michigan.
Loren, apparently, left his family in 1888. He was going to look for gold in Montana. He sent a few letters and then was not heard from again.
Death: aft 1898.
Family links:
Parents:
William Wesley Sly (1807 - 1863)
Elizabeth Morris Sly (1827 - 1879)
Spouse:
Elizabeth Libby Close Sly (1858 - 1919)*
Siblings:
William Wesley Sly (1848 - 1922)*
Hattie Sly (1849 - 1859)*
Lester Daniel Schley (1850 - 1935)*
Loren Alvanus Sly (1853 - ____)
Daniel Sly (1856 - 1942)*
George Albert Sly (1858 - 1942)*
*Calculated relationship
Burial: Body lost or destroyed
Created by: RMW
Record added: Jun 01, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 91113176
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Abt 1854 - Aft 1888 (~ 35 years)
