Michael, Hugh, Thomas, Patrick (3), James, Edward and Mathew McCabes and their wives were born in Ireland. They came to Green Oak, Hamburg, Unadilla and Genoa Township by way of Canada, New York or Illinois, to find a life tilling the soil. By 1844, several are listed as resident taxpayers in Green Oak Township sections 9,10,15 & 16. This concentration if Irish immigrants soon acquired the local name of Paddytown, The Monahan, or Irish Cemetery, corner McCabe and Silver Lake Roads in the resting place for many Irish settlers. Census records indicate education was important to the McCabes. Children of school age attended regularly. One also finds that those 15 years and older are often employed by neighboring farmers and as domestics. The large families needed to the childrens income to survive.
Michael and Thomas of SHADY CREEK FARM, sons of Partrick D. and Bridget, were in Hamburg Township in 1854. (Sec. 1, NW ¼, 160 acres plus 70 acres to the west in Sec. 2. This is between Hamburg and Bauer Roads on Hamburg Road. Shady Creek refers to Ore Creek flowing from Brighton Village to Ore Lake and on.) Thomas married Mary Fagan. Michael did not marry. Their four siblings were James, Margaret, Partick and Alexander. A young nephew, Thomas, only child of James, lived with them after his parents died in 1892. At the age of 16 he drowned in Lime Lake, while swimming with friends.
Two cousins, brothers, enlisted in the Civil War. Partrick, in Lt. John Gullulys Co. I, 5th Inf., died of disease March 3, 1862, at Alexandria, VA. Felix, Co. H., 22nd Inf., died in Andersonville Prison August 15, 1864, and is buried there. At home inadequate nutrition, unsanitary housing and the strenuous work of the women contributed to high child mortality rates among the settlers, including the McCabes.
An M. McCabe is listed as a charter member of Livingston County Agricultural Society, 1853. Patrick F. is a subscriber to the construction of the Catholic Church (St. Partricks) building in 1864.
C. 1937, the Boy Scout of America, Detroit Council, purchased SHADY CREEK FARM as a camp. Perhaps that is when the prime stands of evergreens were planted. The site is now the setting for one of the finest, more recent developments of the area.
Research compiled by Marieanna Bair and Lisa Palermo from the 1880 History of Livingston County; Yesteryears of Green Oak; Early Census Records and Atlases; and Milton Charboneaus First Landowners, Early Landowners and Settlers and Early obituaries.