Summary
Dan P. Boyle, known in the interview as “Turner,” is identified as the maternal grandfather of Eleanor Gallagher McDonough. The source places his farm near Piper's Corner and connects him to the Boyle family cluster.
A June 1945 feature provides a likely but not conclusive earlier attestation of the same island figure: it names Dan “Turner” Boyel, an Irish fisherman born on Beaver Island in 1872, and describes his father and several uncles as carrying the name Dan Boyel. The newspaper’s spelling and the absence of a civil bridge are retained as an identity question rather than silently normalized.1
Open questions
- Which census, land, parish, or cemetery records identify Dan P. Boyle?
- What does the memorial stone near the farm say, and when was it placed?
See also
Footnotes
-
Charlevoix County Herald, June 29, 1945, “BEAVER ISLAND — Islands have a way of doing things to people.” ↩
Sources
- Michelle LaFreniere, "On the Front Porch with Eleanor McDonough," *Northern Islander*, February 2026.The interview identifies Dan P. Boyle ("Turner") as Eleanor's maternal grandfather, places his farm on Sloatown Road near Piper's Corner, and notes a memorial stone; it does not provide dates or a surveyed parcel.
- Charlevoix County Herald, June 29, 1945, “BEAVER ISLAND — Islands have a way of doing things to people.”A feature names an Irish fisherman, Dan “Turner” Boyel, born on Beaver Island in 1872, and describes his family’s repeated use of the name Dan Boyel. The exact relationship to this interview-derived Dan P. Boyle record is probable from the matching nickname, island context, and surname variant but remains open pending civil or family records.