Ferdinand Michel

Occupation

lime manufacturer

Origin

Belgium

Sources

Santerre, Foster, DMN 1906, Boyer, Sandell, Cordillot

Land

• 1857-10-15: S.H. Cockrell → F. Michell (3.5 ac, )
• 1859-06-27: S.H. Cockrell → F. Michell (2.75 ac, )
• 1866-12-17: S.H. Cockrell → F. Michell (1.5 ac, )
• 1867 register: lot 1,2,3,4, block 38 — F. Michell
• 1867 register: lot 1, block 39 — F. Michell / W. Caruth & Bro
• 1867 register: lot 2, block 39 — F. Michell / W. Caruth & Bro
• 1867 register: lot 3, block 39 — F. Michell / W. Caruth & Bro
• 1867 register: lot 4, block 39 — F. Michell / W. Caruth & Bro
• 1867 register: lot 1&2, block 21 — F. Michel

Biography

Ferdinand Michel


Name
  Canonical: Ferdinand Michel
  Also: Michell (Sandell, the Cockrell deeds, the 1867 register); "Ferd.
    Michel" (1860 census); "Ferdnand Michel" (Santerre); Mr. Michel

Birth: Belgium; about 1817 (43 in the 1860 census)
Death: unknown
Burial: unknown

Origin: Belgium (Santerre's list, the census; Sandell says France -- the
  primary sources win). The Uriel's #194 "P. L. Michel, 40, gardener,
  Louvain, remark Texas" is an open candidate (findings): the age fits
  within three years, the forenames do not.

Family
  Wife: Salome, born Baden (1860 census; Cordillot's appendix "Mme Michel
    Salomee")

Occupation at colony: lime manufacturer (Santerre)
Occupation in Dallas: brick mason (1860 census); lime burner; brickyard

Ship / arrival: possibly the Uriel, Antwerp to New York, February 1855 (see
  above); otherwise unknown

Post-colony
  - October 15, 1857: the first colonist town lot from Sarah Cockrell --
    3 1/2 acres, Vol. G p. 2 -- then June 27, 1859 (2 3/4 acres, F/664) and
    December 17, 1866 (1 1/2 acres, J/428): three purchases from the same
    seller over nine years
  - 1867 town register: eight lots across three blocks -- more town
    property than any other colonist (findings)
  - 1860 census: family 1296 in Dallas town, brick mason, $500 real, $400
    personal
  - The lime kiln on the Trinity, on land where Union Station now stands,
    supplied Dallas construction for twenty-five years; Sandell credits
    Remond's limestone findings with prompting it
  - 1870: "Michel's brickyard on the river bank between Houston and
    Jefferson streets" (Fretz, DMN 1924)
  - Among the 1903 survivors? Not named; a Mrs. Michel is not either.

Sources
  Santerre, White Cliffs of Dallas (1955), colonist list
  Sandell, assimilation thesis (1986), directory; ch. III
  deeds.py: 1857-10-15, 1859-06-27, 1866-12-17; 1867 town register
  1860 census, frame 98 lines 36-37
  Fretz, DMN 23 Nov 1924; Cordillot, Au Texas (2003), appendix
  src/findings.md (the town-lot finding; the Uriel candidate)

Notes
  The colonist who bought into Dallas first -- October 1857, before the
  receivership -- and held the most of it by 1867; the lime that mortared
  the brick Frichot and Priot made. His kiln's ground is the railroad
  station's, which is the argument in one parcel.

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