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john muir exhibit
John Muir (1838-1914) Genealogy
"I heartily congratulate you on your good scotch name. To be born of
Scotch parents is a great blessing. Muir is rather a common name in
Scotland and whether we are nearly related or not I don't know: but to
be Scotch at all and related to the heather moorland or Muirlands is a
grand fortune."
- John Muir - letter to Mrs. Muir Webster, December 15, 1906.
Ancestors, Siblings, Spouse, and Descendants
See also:
For in-depth genealogical research, we recommend using one of the numerous genealogy websites such as Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, MyHeritage or WikiTree. The University of Pacific Muiriana Collection section of the John Muir Papers contains some genealogical information as well. This page only covers the naturalist John Muir and his immediate descendants. You will need to use a more robust search engine to study the descendants of his siblings (who are only briefly mentioned here), or of his maternal or paternal grandparents. Notably, this kind of research can be complicated because "Muir" is a rather common surname, especially in former British colonies like USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. not to mention Scotland and England. Finally, most of Muir's living descendants do not share his surname.
Ancestors of John Muir
John Muir's Paternal Grandparents
- John Muir - of Crawfordjohn, Lanarkshire, Scotland
- Sarah Higgs Muir, - from Manchester, England
John Muir's Maternal Grandparents
- David Gilrye (shortened from Gilderoy)- came to Dunbar from Northumberland, England
- Margaret Hay Gilrye - of Coldstream
John Muir's Parents
- Daniel Muir, father
(1804-October 6, 1885) b. Manchester, England. m. Ann Gilrye 1833 in Dunbar,
Scotland. d. 1885 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A.. Daniel Muir had a sister, Mary, born in 1793, who married Hamilton Blakely (or Blackley). It appears Mary and Hamilton also emigrated from Scotland to the U.S., and settled near Portage close to her brother Daniel Muir, and had at least one son named Daniel Muir Blackley who was John Muir's first cousin.
See also:
- Ann Gilrye, mother (March 17, 1813 - June 22, 1896)
Ann Gilrye Muir had only one sister Margaret, who survived childhood
from among her 9 siblings, and who was married to Captain John Rae.
See Ann Gilrye Muir gravesite at Silver Lake Cemetery, Portage, Wisconsin (off-site link).
Siblings of John Muir and Their Children:
-
Muir, David - (July 11, 1840 - October 28, 1916). Married to Catherine Cairns, had four children:
- Anna
- Carrie
- John (September, 1868 - June 15 1886)
- Wilberforce
after Catherine's death, David married
Juliaette Treadway (1844 - 1906).
-
Reid, Margaret (Maggie) Muir (September 30, 1834 - June 22, 1910). Married to John Reid (1835 - 1926) on December 18, 1860 . Born in Dunbar, Scotland, buried in Alhambra Pioneer Cemetery, Martinez, California.
- Anna (b. November 19, 1861). Married (?) Waterman 5/15/1889, Nebraska.
- Jessie (July 29, 1863 - December 8, 1944)
- Andrew - died as a baby
- Henry (Harry) Daniel - b. August 2, 1870.
- John (1874 - 1954). Married Bertha B. (1876-1955)
- John Muir, Jr. (1909 - 1955)
- Russel L.
- Gail
- Margaret (Maggie) May - (b. January 16, 1873), Married Arthur B. Coleman on 12/28/1893).
- Miriam (died December 7, 1974)
-
Galloway, Sarah Muir - (1836 - 1932).
Married to Galloway, David - husband of Sarah Muir (1828 - 1884)
-
Muir, Daniel (Dan) - (b. June 29, 1843; died on January 24,1923). Married to Emma Kenaston.
- Mabel Muir.
- After Emma's death, Dan married "Alice," this union resulted apparently resulted in at least one daughter, also named Alice.
-
Hand, Mary Muir - (October 5, 1846 - ?) twin to Annie. Married to Willis Hand.
-
Muir, Anna (Annie) - (October 5, 1846 - January 15, 1903) - twin to Mary
-
Brown, Joanna Muir - (1850 - ?);
m. Walter Brown, 1881.
Joanna was the only of Muir's siblings to be born in Wisconsin rather
than Dunbar Scotland. She was married to Walter Brown. Two of her deceased infants
are buried in the same family plot with her father Daniel Muir.
See Daniel Muir Gravesite.
John Muir's Wife
and Family
-
Louisa Wanda (Louie) Strentzel Muir
(1847 - 1905) b. July 6, 1847 in Honey Grove, Texas. m. John Muir April 14, 1880 in Martinez, California. d. August 9, 1905, Martinez, California.
- Dr. John Strentzel (1813 - 1890) - The San Francisco Polish Club has compiled extensive research materials and newspaper clippings on Louie's father, a Forty-Niner, Polish political refugee, physician, and horticulturalist.
This link also contains extensive information on Dr. Strentzel's wife, Louisiana Erwin, who he met in Texas, and their daughter Louisa Wanda (Louie) Strentzel Muir.. (off-site link).
Descendants of John Muir
-
(Annie) Wanda MUIR
(1881 - 1942) b. March 25, 1881 in Martinez, California. d. July 29, 1942.
Married Thomas HANNA (1881-1947). b. July 29, 1881. m. June 20, 1906. d. October 26, 1947.
- Strentzel HANNA - (b. June 20, 1907 - d. November 13, 1973). Married Edna (Sherry) SHERIDAN (b. May 16, 1906 - d. November 8, 1991)
- David HANNA. Married Sharon
- James HANNA. Married Carol
- Susan HANNA. Married C.Terry FLYNN
- Maureen FLYNN
- Allison FLYNN
- Michael FLYNN
- John Muir HANNA. b. March 15, 1909, San Francisco, d. December 1, 2007.
Married Virginia Edna YOUNG August 6, 1939 (Virginia was b. 7-24-12 in Stockton;
d. 2-5-99). See John Muir Hanna: a Biography by Bill Hanna in the University of the Pacific's John Muir Newsletter (Vol. 17, No. 4, Fall, 2007). (off-site link)
- Bill HANNA. Married Claudia - Raised and sold wine grapes in Napa Valley, as the Muir-Hanna Vineyards, which released a family Wine label from John Muir's descendants, which ceased production in 2014 after some ten years. Bill Hanna has also given presentations about John Muir and has done several interviews, including a co-presentation with Virginia Pearson in a sermon "Easter People: John Muir" at the Napa First United Methodist Church.
- Kristin Ann HANNA ____________. Married Bradley Vernon MAHER, July 25, 1998.
- Colton Bradley MAHER b. March 22, 2000
- Trenton Muir MAHER b. March 19, 2002
- Michael John HANNA. Married Leonora Luisa PARTICELLI, July 12,
2003.
- Gino William Osvaldo HANNA b. March 21, 2005
- Richard Rae Hanna. b. March, 1912. d. July, 1992. Married Kathleen
- Kevin HANNA
- Tom HANNA
- Owen HANNA
- Joan HANNA. Married BROWN.
- Richard Rae HANNA. Married Jean.
- Robert HANNA. d. 1958. Married Mary HANNA-SWANSON
- Timothy HANNA. Married NICKI.
- Dennis HANNA
- Neil HANNA. Married SHELLY.
Robert T. HANNA
b. March 22, 1980. Married Lavina NABER. Robert Hanna founded a clothing company, Range of Light, based on the principles of John Muir. See Range of Light on YouTube.
See interviews in Legacy of Muir Lives on in Great-Great Grandson (Sacramento Bee, June 5, 2015), Muir relative encourages local effort to save Alhambra Hills (Martinez Gazette, April 15, 2014); A fresh heir in the Muir wilderness, (Los Angeles Times, January 10, 2012); Hetch Hetchy - Parkleaders.com (December 23, 2014); The Life and Legacy of John Muir, (Radio Interview of Robert Hanna by Capital Public Radio, February 24, 2016). Hanna is also the driving force behind a resolution, introduced Thursday, April 21, 2016 in the California state legislature, that would rename as Buffalo Soldier Memorial Highway a stretch of road at the south entrance of Yosemite National Park. As the precursors to national park rangers and backcountry rangers, and as attendants during the ground-breaking meetings between President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir in Yosemite Valley, the Buffalo Soldiers helped set the stage, it can be argued, for the establishment of a system of U.S. national parks. Hanna's appreciation of their story is just one of his efforts to provide a bridge between national parks and communities of color. Together with the great-great grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, Robert Hanna has written prominently in defense of our national parklands, see, e.g.. Despoiling Our National Parks Betrays our Democracy (Newsweek, December 19, 2017). He recently led a successful effort to designate part of California highway 120 in Yosemite as the Chiuru Obata Great Nature Memorial Highway. (Rafu Shimpo, Los Angeles Japanese Daily News (9/16/21). Follow him on his podcast and blog at https://www.hannaman247.com.
- Sierra Rose HANNA b. August 15, 2009.
- Robert and Lavina also have three more daughters, Sophia, Adelyn, and Natalie.
- Rebecca HANNA
- Jean HANNA deLipkau Clark - (Muir's only granddaughter) - b. 1919. d. January 28, 1976. Married Eugene DE LIPKAU 1938.
- Louise DE LIPKAU. Married POWELL.
- Michael Scott DE LIPKAU (son); married Danielle Mostert September 30, 2000
- Harlan Curtis POWELL (son); married Andrea Helen Swank March 23, 2003
- Grant Muir Powell b. June 3, 2005
- Holt Muir Powell b. April 23, 2007
- Jaimie Suzanne POWELL
- Ross DE LIPKAU
- Isabel DE LIPKAU. Married James E. GAINES.
- Rene GAINES
- Robert E. GAINES. Married Mikelle C. Holste.
- Camille GAINES
- Leonard GAINES
- Jean HANNA re-married Noel A. Clark
- Ross
E. HANNA - b. October 20, 1922; d. June 10, 2014. Lived in Dixon, California; Married Gladys STOEVER June 27, 1948. Throughout his life, Hanna kept in touch with family and helped sustain the legacy of his grandfather by joining the John Muir Association board of directors during the 1990s.
- Lynne HANNA. Married LINCOLN.
- Allison LINCOLN. Married Jerry THEUBET.
- Kilian Theubet
- Stephen Theubet
- Natalie Theubet
- Timmy Theubet
- Gabby Theubet
- Kolbe Theubet
- Harold (Hal) HANNA. Married Terry.
- Tim HANNA. Married Jamie.
- Elizabeth HANNA. Married James FULLER.
- Ross Fuller
- Matthew Fuller
- Michael MUIR (changed from HANNA). Michael has lived with multiple sclerosis since he was 15 years old. Refusing to be daunted by the relentless course of his disease, Muir believes in challenging the limits of disability. Muir credits his active life working horses and in nature with keeping him strong. He founded and is the Director of "Access Adventure: Challenging the Limits of Disability"
www.access-adventure.org which has as its goal: to provide wilderness and open space access for people with disabilities using innovative, accessible horse-drawn carriages. In 2003, Michael re-traced John Muir's 1,000 mile walk to the gulf via horse-drawn carriage, to demonstrate that wilderness journeys are accessible to those with disabilities.
-
Helen Lillian MUIR (1886 - 1964) b. January 23, 1886, Martinez, California. d. June 17, 1964.
Married Buel A. FUNK b. May 25, 1889. m. October 1909. d. October 3, 1934.
- Muir FUNK b. February 2, 1911. d. 1970. Married. Although some sources state
that he later changed name to Wayne Muir, his son Michael Funk states that
his father never changed his name (Personal Communication, February 9,
2005). Did not change his name when the rest of family did, as he was involved
in competition for a job at the time, and thought it might affect his chances.
- Michael Dale FUNK. b. September 24, 1937. d. January 18, 2012. m. Beatrice. Like his great grandfather, Michael loved the outdoors, plants, flowers, and animals.
- Liz Herdia
- Janette Tracz
- Terri FUNK Graham. b.
May 5, 1965, Palmdale, CA. Married Michael Dee Graham April
20, 1991.
- Ian Michael Graham, b. March 9, 2002 (Ian is the Scottish
form of John)
- Sandy Sandoval
- Gail FUNK. b. March 26, 1952. m. Culbertson.
- Stanley MUIR (changed name) b. July 17, 1912. d. August 17 1962.
- John MUIR (changed name) - b. June 28, 1914. d. April 23, 1973.
- Walter MUIR (changed name) - b. May 27, 1916, d. December 9, 2004. Married
Margaret. Walter pre-deceased his wife Margaret, their son Earl, daughter
Marlene, seven grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. In 2000, Walter
told an interviewer that he had every book written by his famous grandfather
and many written about him by other authors. He told the interviewer, "The
more I study him and the things he did, the more amazed I am. He had the
most incredible way of describing things, in words I wouldn't even think
of."
- Earl GUY (b. March 12, 1935). m. Beverly Sharon St. Pierre August 26, 1956.
- Danny Earl GUY (b. April 11, 1959.) m. Denise
- Danny Earl GUY m. Deborah Sue (second marriage)
- Carrie Mardirosian (Guy)
- Terrie Gross (Guy)
Helen and three of her sons changed their name from Funk to Muir in 1940. Muir Funk did not because his first name was Muir.
Sources:
- The Heart of John Muir's World: Wisconsin, Family, and Wilderness Discovery
, by Millie Stanley
- Son of the Wilderness by Linnie Marsh Wolfe
- John Muir National Historic Site
- Holt-Atherton Library, University of the Pacific
- Family members
For inquiries about John Muir genealogy, or if you have documentation that you are descended from John Muir but are not listed above, please contact the following. Please include documentation of your relationship, if applicable.:
- Harold Wood, Webmaster of the John Muir Exhibit, for inclusion on this page:
email: harold.wood@sierraclub.org
- Michael Wurtz, Head of Special Collections
mwurtz@pacific.edu
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University of the Pacific Library
Stockton, California 95211
Phone: 209) 946-2404
and
-
John Muir National Historic Site, National Park Service:
https://www.nps.gov/jomu/contacts.htm
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