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Person

James F. Cable

Also James Cable

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypePerson
Died1896-07-13
WithinBeaver Island
ErasStrang eraIrish era
On this page
Person
Died
1896-07-13
Work
Trader and merchant (reported)
Eras
Strang eraIrish era
Concepts
economyland-surveymigrationheritage
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

James F. Cable is the named grantee of a federal homestead patent issued on November 1, 1869 for the southeast fractional quarter of Section 10, Township 37 North, Range 10 West. A 1911 biographical sketch of his son Claud C. Cable describes James F. Cable and Harriet (Filkins) Cable as Claud’s parents and places James in Beaver Island trading and wood-supply work in the retrospective family narrative.

The exact-name connection between the patent and the later Cable family account is probable, not a complete civil-identity proof. The record preserves the federal land transaction and one retrospective family history without turning either into a full property or settlement narrative.

Evidence and limits

The patent is direct evidence that the United States issued the stated tract to its named grantee. It does not establish later conveyances, occupancy, current ownership, a farm, or the person’s residence on the tract. The 1911 account is later family-oriented biography; its claims about work, migration, removal in 1853, return, and death require independent records before they can support a complete chronology.

Although the surname is relevant to the open John-versus-James question at Cable Bay, neither source identifies this James F. Cable as the person for whom the bay, a nearby dock, store, or lumber camp was named.

Open questions

  • Which census, marriage, probate, merchant, or cemetery records independently establish James F. Cable’s identity, dates, and family?
  • Does the county deed record trace the 1869 patent after its federal issuance?
  • Can contemporaneous sources resolve the John/James Cable discrepancy in the Cable Bay naming record without inferring an identity from surname alone?

See also

The page

Rendered from the held scan.

James F. Cable — p. 1
Held scanUnited States General Land Office homestead patent to James F. Cable, Traverse City land office, November 1, 1869, accession MI2470__.210.Open the page image · Download this page

Read the document

711 pages, rendered from the held scan.

James F. Cable — p. 1
Page 1 of 711United States General Land Office homestead patent to James F. Cable, Traverse City land office, November 1, 1869, accession MI2470__.210.Open the page image · Download this page
Jump to a page — 711 in all
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143 of 711 pages linked here — every page to 32, then every 7th, then the last 16. With JavaScript, every page.

Sources

  1. Described in this archive: GLO land record MI2470__.210-37n-10w-10-se.
    Direct visual review of the held patent identifies James F. Cable as the claimant and grantee for the southeast fractional quarter of Section 10, Township 37 North, Range 10 West, Michigan Meridian, stated as 154.75 acres. This records the federal patent issuance and legal description, not residence, a full title chain, present ownership, or a connection to Cable Bay. The holder's public portal is searchable but does not link this record directly; the archive holds a copy of the file and can provide it on request.
    federal · glo · patents · 10682365341253940470-patent-sta-mi2470-210
  2. Alvah L. Sawyer, *A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan and Its People*, vol. III (1911), “Claud C. Cable,” p. 1363.
    Described in this archive: A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan and Its People, Vol. III, 1911.
    The printed Claud C. Cable page was visually reviewed because the scan’s OCR is scrambled; it identifies Claud as the son of James F. Cable and Harriet (Filkins) Cable and gives James’s July 13, 1896 death date. The adjacent printed-page text layer reports that James worked first at Presque Isle and later on Beaver Island, returned there after his 1846 marriage, and conducted trading and wood-supply work; those details remain a subscription-biography account decades after the events, not civil vital, marriage, residence, merchant, or land records. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    local_documents · 1911_sawyer-history-northern-peninsula-michigan-v3

Added 2 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “James F. Cable”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/james-f-cable/, accessed [date], citing United States General Land Office homestead patent to James F. Cable, Traverse City land office, November 1, 1869, accession MI2470__.210. (and 1 further source listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-02. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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