Frances Edith Frisbey born in LaGrange County, Indiana, June 5, 1884. She graduated from LaGrange High School and after attending business college in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, she worked for the Ft. Wayne Abstract Company.

In Ft. Wayne she met Henry E. Franke who worked for the G. R. & I. (Grand Rapids and Indiana) Railroad. They were married in June of 1911. In 1916 they moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan when Henry was transferred to the G. R. & I office there. (This railroad later became part of the Pennsylvania R. R.)

Frances and Heny Franke lived in Grand Rapids for many years and had two daughters. Phylis and Dorothy. Henry Franke died in 1939, and in 1950 Frances married John Dekker, who died in 1963. In 1974 Frances moved to an apartment in Mishawauka, Indiana, near Phyllis and James Brown, where she lived until November of 1982. She passed away on September 4, 1983.

When I was in grade school, my father, Cary Roger Frisbey of Clay twp., LaGrange County, Indiana, who ws a veteran of the Civil War, attended a National Encampment at Washington,D.C. On his way home he visited his first cousin on his mother's side Columbus Cheadle of Waterford, Ohio, and oher relatives near by.

When he arrived home and was telling of seeing his old home and of experiences of his boyhood days, and of the relatives there, he and I decided to start a family history. So began the gathering of daa of ancestors and heirs. At the same time, we got information of my mother, Elizabeth (Boyd) Frisbey regarding the Boyd and Engle families, who were her ancestorsthat had gone from Scotland to Northern Ireland, to America and settled in Pennsylvania; thence later to Ohio and eventually to Noble and LaGrange Counties in Indiana.

Getting married in June 1911, many interfering events, etc., raising a family and because of printing costs, by 1923 seeking information was put aside and the manuscripts were relegated to the storage with "keepsakes" in the attic and nothing more done.....for years. By 1933 both my father and mother had passed on and the history was practically forgotten. Now I so regret I did not find out more of them of their ancestors an of their early life, and do hope families will realize the importance of keeping records for their heirs. Years rolled by with their pleasures, anxieties and sorrows. In July 1954, my husband, John Dekker, and I planned a trip to the west coast. Our itinerary included an over night stay at Eureka, California. In my sub-conscious mind this name seemed familiar and it finally came to me that it was the town where my mother's sister Mary Boyd McBeth had lived although, we had not heard from her family for years. I wrote to the Postmaster at Eureka to know if any McBeths received mail there and he very kindly gave the letter to Harold McBeth, a grandson of my Aunt Mary. He answered my letter and correspondence was renewed. Because of Mr. Dekker's illness we were not able to take this trip.

In the meantime, another grandson of Mary McBeth, Willis V. McBeth and his wife Frances, while on a trip to Michigan stopped at our home in Grand Rapids, April 11, 1955. They lived in Oakland, Calif. They were especially anxious for information of the Boyds and early history of their grandmother's family. SO--THE BOX was brought down from the attic and we spent a delightful time fitting in missing links. The next day we accompanied them to visit relatives and to the farm where James and Catherine (Engle) Boyd and many other realatives are buried. All visited with Mary Arnold of Sturgis, Michigan, Jake Boyd of Ontario, Indiana and Erie and Audra Frisbey of LaGrange, Indiana. Minie Charles, my sister, also accompanied us on the trip.

Since then we exchange data as we find it. I am recounting this because that is what really gave me the incentive to go on with securing data of both families and because my daughters have urged me to do so that they may have a record of their fore-fathers and kinsmen.

Many years have elapsed since the beginning. Births, marriages and deaths occur as the years roll by and many interventions have kept me from working on this project, so much of it is not up to date.

It has meant untold hours of work, untold numbers of letters for information, a big project, but rewarded with pleasure in delving into past years and getting to better know my relatives, although I have not met many of them. They all have been wonderful with few exceptons in helping me to do this work.

There will be discrepencies as information has been taken from family Bibles, from tombstones in cemeteries, and from the members of many families..all of which doesn't always agree. Some lines will not be complete because I have not been able to contact the heirs after so many years; and because some are just not enough interested to answer qustionnieres first sent or the second one mailed to them.. However although not complete it will give an early history and information of the famiies in general. For those who have little interest in genealogy, it may appeal as a record for individual families. However I hope it will create a greater feeling of kinship; a desire to know more of our ancestors; and an interest in their traits and experiences. If from this recording of events in the lives of many of your kin, you get any thrills, derive any pleasure or are interested enough to decide to keep up your own family record..then I am glad and content as well as repaid for my efforts.

With best wishes and love to you all, I am most sincerely your cousin,
(Mrs. John) Frances Frisbey-Franke-Dekker

[A note from me......Barbara (Boyd) Stewart I feel so privileged to have met this dear lady and to have spent many hours with her. Frances was born June 5, 1884 and died September 4, 1983.

This was given to me by Frances Frisbey Franke Dekker: (Barbara-Boyd-Stewart) It was to be the preface to the Boyd Family History that she so desired to see published one day and I wish to share it with all of you...she certainly was a great lady.

She had genealogy records on all of the children of James and Catherine. I only asked for my direct lineage or Arion's line. The rest was sent to Mel McBeth in California, who had collaborated with Frances.]