Mr. John Frank was born in the Pennsylvania Colony in 1759. He was still living there in 1781, aged 22, when he went to Philadelphia to enlist in the militia. He served in Company F of the 6th Battalion of the Lancaster Militia and was likely engaged in the Battle of Yorktown.

In 1805 Mr. Frank moved to Canada where he purchased 100 acres of land in Chinguacousy Township, Ontario. At the age of 78 in 1837, he married what is believed to be his second wife, Jane Walker McLean in the Wesleyen Methodist Church of Ontario. Three years later, his twin daughters Julia and Elizabeth, were born. This family of 4 was enumerated together on the 1851 census of Vaughn Township, Ontario, Canada when the twins were 12 years old.

He would die just a couple years later on 29 October 1854, aged 94, after suffering from sunstroke that purportedly resulted from his work roofing a shed. His girls were just 14 years old when their father died.

Nine Daughters have joined the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) by proving descent from this distinguished Patriot, including his two Real Daughters, Julia Ann Frank Demaray and Elizabeth Ann Frank Russell. Six descendants of Elizabeth and one descendant of Julia, have joined the NSDAR.

Elizabeth Ann Frank Russell and her twin sister were born in Ontario, Canada on 24 October 1840, to parents Patriot John Frank and his 2nd wife Jane Walker McLean Frank. In 1861, she was enumerated at the age of 21, living with her sister Julia, and Julia’s new husband, in North Dorchester, Middlesex County, Canada. Four years later in March 1865 she married Mr. Robinson Russell, a native of England. This couple raised their family about 100 km North of that city, in Wellesley, Waterloo County, Canada. Most of the family left Canada and emigrated to the United States in 1882, settling just a few miles from her twin sister who had already removed to Barry County, Michigan in 1870. From the 1900 U.S. federal census we know that this couple had 11 children. Three of their daughters joined the NSDAR and at least one son was active in the SAR. In 1910 Elizabeth and her sister filed applications to join the NSDAR. These original applications are in the possession of the Sophie de Marsac Campau Chapter. Elizabeth and her sister Julia were frequently in attendance at chapter events, even though their home was at least 38 miles from Grand Rapids – that must have been a lengthy carriage ride to endure. Mrs. Russell and her sister were granted pensions of $8 per month by the NSDAR in 1911. In 1915 the Russells celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. A party of 35 people was held in honor of this event, and Sophie de Marsac Campau Daughters gifted the couple a $10 gold piece to honor the Golden Anniversary. Mr. Russell died four years later in October 1919, and Elizabeth passed away from stomach cancer less than one year later, at 10 p.m. on September 5th, 1920. She was 79 years old. Her headstone, located in the Lake Side Cemetery of Lake Odessa, was marked as a Real Daughter by the Sophie de Marsac Campau Chapter in that same year.

Julia Ann Frank Demaray, like her twin, was born in Ontario, Canada in 1840. At the age of 19, in 1859, she married Calvin Demaray. By the 1870 U.S. federal census, the family had moved to Woodland, Barry County, Michigan and had grown to include six children. Their family farm was located just two miles from Lake Odessa. A Michigan Centennial Farm home and barn still stand across the street from the homestead. Known as the Rush Farm, it was the home of Julia’s daughter Hannah Jane Demaray Rush. Hannah Jane Rush was a proud NSDAR member. Another child of our Daughter, was John Demaray, whose son died in World War 1 – the Lake Odessa American Legion was named in his honor as the LaVerne Demaray American Legion Post.

Real Daughter Julia and her husband would eventually have 14 children of whom only 8 survived beyond the turn of the century. Like her sister, she applied for membership in the DAR in 1910 and was heavily involved in the Sophie de Marsac Campau Chapter for several years. She died of heart disease on the 5th of June, 1912 aged 71 (although her obituary states she was 80) and was buried at the Lake Side Cemetery, one row from the plot that would hold her sister 8 years later. In June of 1915 the Sophie de Marsac Campau Chapter placed a Real Daughter marker on Mrs. Demaray’s headstone.