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Person

Michael Cull

Also Michael Cull · Mike Cull

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypePerson
Born1885-07-04
Died1964-09-11
WithinBeaver Island archipelago
ErasModern era
On this page
Person
Born
1885-07-04
Died
1964-09-11
Work
Commercial fisherman · Tug captain · Harbor master
Spouse
person/mabel-connaghan-cull
Children
Roland Joseph Cull · John "Jack" Cull · Sally Cull Hammermeister
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
maritimefishingcommunityheritage
Within
Beaver Island archipelago

Summary

Michael Cull was a Beaver Island commercial fisherman, born there on July 4, 1885, who owned and skippered the fishing tugs Betty C and LaFond. The September 1964 obituary says he died on September 11, 1964, after a working life that spanned the peak and decline of Lake Michigan fishing.1

Family

Cull’s September 1964 obituary lists his wife, Mabel (Connaghan) Cull, six children, and eleven siblings and step-siblings. Two daughters, Mrs. Betty Lockton and Sally Cull Hammermeister (married that September to Richard Hammermeister), and four sons, Ray Cull of Bay City, Roland Joseph Cull, John "Jack" Cull, and Larry Cull, survived him, along with twenty grandchildren. A sister, Mrs. Anna O’Regan, and a brother, James Cull, are also named, as are three step-sisters who had become Dominican nuns (Sister Mary Clara, Sister Bridgetta, Sister Isabel) and a step-brother, Austin Malloy — the Malloy connection matching Mabel Cull’s own family, since a “Kate Cull Malloy” is separately recorded donating a hospital raffle blanket in 1955. Beacon notices place Mike and Mabel Cull’s 47th wedding anniversary on June 4, 1960, consistent with the obituary’s June 4, 1913 marriage date, and record them wintering in Chicago as late as January 1961 while their children built lives on both the island and the mainland.

Evidence and limits

The record rests chiefly on a 1964 obituary, with local 1960 and 1963 notices supplying the context for Cull’s harbor-master role and marriage. The sources do not provide a registry, home port, crew history, or civil-record identifiers for Cull or either tug. The May 1955 notice naming a “Mike Cull” on the Emerald Isle delivery trip remains a separate, episode-qualified record; this article does not assume that identity bridge. It is worth noting, however, that no source read here documents a second adult “Mike Cull” on the island in 1955 — none of the couple’s four sons is recorded as sharing his father’s first name — which weakens rather than strengthens a presumption that the 1955 delivery-trip passenger was someone other than this Michael Cull, then age 69.

Open questions

  • Can civil, census, church, probate, or cemetery records establish Cull’s full family and burial details?
  • What registry or local records document the Betty C and LaFond?
  • Is the “Mike Cull” named in the 1955 Emerald Isle delivery report this same person, rather than an otherwise-undocumented namesake?

See also

Footnotes

  1. Beaver Beacon, September 1964, “Mike Cull Passes Away.” ↩

Kin

This articleMichael Cull1885 – 1964This articleperson/mabel-connaghan-cullJohn "Jack" Cull1919 – 1997RolandJoseph Cull1938 – 2021Sally CullHammermeister
Only relations stated in the sources are drawn; absence means unrecorded, not childless or unmarried.

The dated record

3 dated events · 1885–1964These years on the timeline →

Sources

  1. States that Michael Cull was born on Beaver Island on July 4, 1885, died September 11, 1964, worked as a commercial fisherman, owned and skippered the tugs Betty C and LaFond, and married Mabel Connaghan in 1913.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1964-09_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held eight-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1964-09_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Places Mike Cull as harbor master at the municipal dock and reports the completion of an ice machine there.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1960-06_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1960-06_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Reports that Mike and Mabel Cull celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, corroborating the obituary's marriage context.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1963-09_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1963-09_Beaver-Beacon
  7. Reports Mr. and Mrs. Mike Cull celebrating their 47th wedding anniversary June 4, 1960, consistent with the obituary's June 4, 1913 marriage date; a companion January 1961 note records Mike and Mabel Cull leaving the island to spend the winter in Chicago.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1960-06_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Michael Cull”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/michael-cull/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, September 1964, “Mike Cull Passes Away.” (and 6 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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