James Noyes, born Sep 13, 1793 at Worcester County, Massachusetts, died Aug 26 1864 at Pavilion, Kalamazoo, Michigan. On Sep 6, 1815 he married first, at Pavilion, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Sally Marble. She was born Sep 6 1796 in Massachusetts and died at the age of 41 on Aug 10 1838 at Pavilion, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

James Noyes was the son of James Noyes and Rebecca Russell. Sally Marble was the daughter of Ephraim Marble and Anna Dunham.

James was in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk Indian War. In both he was a musician and played the fife and flute. He was a great student of history…Captain James NOYES of Gourdneck Prairie and Ephraim HARRISON of Prairie Ronde were captains of the Prairie troops.
SOURCE: Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections Vol XXX

In 1825 there were nine small houses in Ann Arbor, MI, located and occupied as near as can be ascertained as follows: Elisha W. RUMSEY occupied the “Wasterman Coffe House” and John ALLEN the block house. A long house with a frame addition stood on the northeast corner of Main and Ann Streets. Two small houses stood on opposite sides of Main Street near where Guffy’s Store now stands and were occupied by the two brothers, James and George W. NOYES.
SOURCE: Pioneer Society of Michigan, Vol I, page 334 (1874-76)

James NOYES came in October of 1830 from Ann Arbor, and settled NE/2, NW/4. Sect 23, where he built a log house and made improvements. He sold this land in 1831 and bought new lands in the township of Brady, on which he erected a sawmill, which, with his farm, he put into the Alphadelphia Society. On the disbanding of the society in 1848, he retained his property. He died at his home in Brady many years since. (p.353).
SOURCE: History of Kalamazoo County, MI, Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, 1880

The Alphadelphia Assn believed in pastoral communion. Coming down through the ages into our own time, we find Charles Fourier of France teaching this principle in America through Dr. H.F. Schetterly, a German, who lived in Comstock. A group of sturdy pioneers took up Alphadelphia society. Among them was James NOYES, born 1793. To live together in harmony was the object; to live and work and enjoy the benefits of each other’s society and the fruits of their own labor like a happy, united family. After four year’s trial, it was a total failure. There were 300 members all together. A large number put their farms into the Association. Others put in various kinds of property. James NOYES put in his saw mill which was valuable in furnishing lumber to the Society. From their first meeting on the domain March 21, 1844, until the last entry on the journal on April 30, 1848, the presidents were Anson GELMUTTER, B. WRIGHT, Harry KEITH, Lymann TUBBS and James NOYES.
SOURCE: The Alphadelphia Association–Its History in Comstock, Kalamazoo Co., Michigan

James NOYES was an agent for the Indians when he lived at Pavilion, MI. The three children who survived (Elizabeth, James and Sarah Melissa) always told of the good times they had playing with the Indian boys and girls and of how many playmates they had during the time that the Alphadelphia Society existed and all the people lived in one community.

James NOYES conducted a part of the underground railroad which helped escaping slaves get to Canada and freedom. Slaves were kept in his barn by day and then taken on by night to the next station. His second wife was a southern sympathizer, so this caused a great deal of friction. Son James Allen left home.

SOURCE: Nancy Benton

Children of James and Sally were:

1. Ezra b. 7 July 1817, died, age 23, 17 June 1841, at Pavilion, MI.
2. Elizabeth, b. 22 March 1819, married LOVETT. She died 11 Sept. 1850 at the age of 31. She and LOVETT are given in the family record as having for children John William and James Frank. The 1850 KALAMAZOO SCHOOLCRAFT TOWNSHIP MICHIGAN CENSUS shows at household 1332/1346 an Elizabeth LOVETT, 31, $1000, b. NY, with John W. 11 and James F. 9, both born in MI. Living also in the household is Malissa NOYES, 14, b. MI. Malissa is her sister. The census was taken August 14 or 19th so Elizabeth died shortly thereafter. (Her husband is not in the household which causes me to wonder if he was already dead or if they were separated. If he was dead, one wonders what happened to the children.) A few households up live Freeman and Susan WATERS, 22 and 23, both born NY. Freeman is perhaps a relative of Susan WATERS who was James NOYES’ 2nd wife.
3. James Jr. was born 1 July 1821 and died April 1823 at Pavilion, Kalamazoo Co. MI, age 2, of malaria fever.
4. B. J. was born 4 Oct. 1823 and died 6 May 1843 at the age of 19. He died the same year as his 14 year old sister Maryette.
5. James Allen, b. 22 Dec. 1826, Ann Arbor, Michigan, married Caroline ATWELL.
6. Maryette, b. 17 July 1828, died 13 Feb 1843 at Pavilion, MI, at age 14. She died in the same year as B. J., her 19 year old brother.
7. Dan was born 4 Nov. 1831 at Kalamazoo Co. MI and died 20 Sept. 1835, Kalamazoo, MI, age 3, of malaria fever.
8. Delia was born 15 Nov. 1833 at Kalamazoo Co. MI and died 1837, Kalmazoo Co. MI, at age 4, of malaria fever.
9. Sarah Melissa NOYES was born 24 April 1836 at Kalamazoo Co. MI. She married John T. SLATER, 14 June 1857 in Wisconsin. SLATER was an Indian agent in Wisconsin. They moved to Butler MO in 1866. When on a trip to Florida to buy “goods”, he took yellow fever and died while on the trip. Sarah married (2) J. D. ANDERSON on 4 Oct. 1871. She died 7 May 1936 at Berryville, AR. at the age of 100. She appears in the 1850 Kalamazoo Co. census living with her sister Elizabeth LOVETT (see above). Pansy Noyes Bryant, her great-niece, wrote of Sarah, “Sarah Melissa was very religious and bought her home for later years across the road from the church she loved in Berryville, where she was a constant attendant, even being carried to services after she was blind and deaf and could not enjoy the services. I visited in her home in 1925 and a retired minister and his wife were caring for her. They talked with her in Morse code by tapping on her hand. Her mind was clear until the end.”

After Sally’s death in 1838, James married in 1839, Susan WATERS, b. 1815 in NY. Their children were:

1. George W. b. 8 May 1840, died 3 May 1870 at 30. The Noyes Descendants, Vol. I says 3 Mar 1870. Age. 30 y 9 m 25 d. Died of consumption.
2. Daniel T., b. 11 Sept. 1843. Appears to have died in infancy as is not in the 1850 census.
3. Franklin b. 7 July 1845, died 29 July 1891. He married first Margaret A. ALDRICH then Clara E. HUBBARD.
4. Mary R., b. 7 March 1847. Appears to have died in infancy as is not in the 1850 census.
5. James (not given in family record) is seen in the 1850 census, age 2.
6. John W., b. 31 Jan. 1851, is given as 11 years old in the 1860 census. He is perhaps the James given above in the 1850 census.
7. Arilla W. (not given in family record) appears in the 1860 census as 9 so b. 1851 or so. She could not be a duplicate of Minerva who is given as dying in 1854.
8. Minerva, b. 19 June 1851, died 4 Sept. 1854 at age 2.
9. Lunetta, b. 20 April 1854, died 25 March 1878 at age 23.
10. Jean N. (not given in the family record) appears in the 1860 census as age 6 so born about 1854.

Census data for 1820 is yet to be found on James. By 1825 we find him on a Michigan tax list.

1825 NOYES JAMES JR. Wayne&wshtnwco MI 799 Tax List 1825 Tax List MI Early Census Index MIS2a927045
1825 NOYES JAMES JR. Wayne-washtenaw MI Huron Tax List MI Early Census Index MIS2a927046

He purchased land in Washtenaw County, Michigan in Feb. 1826.

In 1830 he is at Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, Michigan.

An unidentified 20 to 30 year old male is in the household.

pg. 138
Harvey CHUBB
John CHANDLER
Eli CHANDLER
John A. ENSWORTH
WIlliam STUBBS
Phillip McKUNAN?
Michael STUBBS
William PRINGLE
JOhn SLOE?
Elam SLOE?
Aaron ROSENGRANTS
Hugh MCCALL
John BENWICK
Isaac SEWALL
Avis BRUNDAGE
George MCGOUNTER?
Moses ALLEN
Eli CONKLIN
William ALLEN
David BOTIFORD
David HUEA?
Joseph LORCE
Benjamin SUTTON
James NOYES 1 – 1 – 1 1 | 1 1 1 – – 1
NOTE: 1 male under 5, 1 10 to 15, 1 male 20 to 30, 1 male 30 to 40, 1 female under 5, 1 female 5 to 10, 1 female 10 to 15, 1 female 30 to 40.
1 male under 5 would be James Allen. Male 10 to 15 would be Ezra. James is the 30 to 40 male. I don’t know who the 20 to 30 male is. 1 female under 5 would be Maryette. Female 5 to 10 would be B. J. Female 10 to 15 would be Elizabeth. And then Sally Marble.
John C. CARPENTER
John NIXEN
Isaac SUTTON

James father died in 1835.

He is in the 1837 Kalamazoo census.

1837 NOYES JAMES Kalamazoo County MI 002 Pavilion Township MI 1837 Kalamazoo County Census Index MI17593

Sally Marble died in 1838.

Possible land deeds for James in 1839, May 1.

NOYES JAMES 9 4 S 9 W 19 80.0000 01 10265 1839/05/01
NOYES JAMES 9 4 S 9 W 19 80.0000 01 10266 1839/05/01

In 1839 James married his second wife, Susan Waters.

The 1840 census.

1840 Pavilion, Kalamazoo, Michigan
pg. 253 (ancestry.com 1)
John B. CHIPMAN
Martin McCAIN
Sally CHIPMAN
John HOLCUM
James NOYES 1 – 1 1 2 – 1 | 1 – 1 1 1
NOTE: 1 male under 5, 1 male 10 to 15, 1 male 15 to 20, 2 males 20 to 30 1 male 40 to 50, 1 female under 5, 1 female 10 to 15, 1 female 15 to 20, 1 female 20 to 30

1 male under 5 would be George W. (son of Susan Waters and James Noyes), 1 male 10 to 15 would be James Allen. 1 male 15 to 20 would be? 1 of the 2 20 to 30 males would be Ezra, James is the 40 to 50 year old male. 1 female under 5 would be Sarah Malissa, 1 female 10 to 15 would be Maryette. 1 female 15 to 20 would be B. J. 1 female 20 to 30 would not be Elizabeth if she was married before 1839. Though Susan’s birthdate is given as 1815, this female would be her.

James NOYES is observed living near Martin MCCAIN. The wife and son of his son Frank L., by Susan WATERS, were buried in the MCCAIN cemetery.

There then followed a terrible succession of deaths. The first namesake of James had already died in 1823 at the age of 2 of malaria. Dan had died at 3, in 1835, of malaria. Delia had already died in 1837, at the age of 4, of malaria. Now, in 1841, Ezra died at the age of 23. In 1843, Maryette died at 14, then B. J. also died that year, at 19, of malaria. Daniel T. died in infancy in about 1843.

The first meeting of the Alphadelphia Association, which would be a Fourier-based socialist experiment in community, was March 21 1844.

During the McCarthy years, the Noyes family destroyed documents from the Alphadelphia Association and other materials concerning involvement of family in other utopian communities. Barbara Triphahn, a descendant of Charles Luke KEITH (also a president of the Alphadelphia Association) responded to a posting of mine on the internet requesting contact with anyone who might have information on the Association. She supplied a number of newspaper articles from the early 1900s and the Alphadelphia Society Constitution, links to which are in the Alphadelphia Association section.

Thanks also to Nancy BENTON, for a copy of the paper the “Alphadelphia Association” prepared by Catherine Livingston in 1958, whose research was based on documents loaned to her through Mrs. F. J. Buckley of Kalamazoo who had purchased records from Ethan Keith and Hannah Keith Towne. The paper has been transcribed and is again linked to in the Alphadelphia Association section.

James Noyes was, it appears, the last president of the Alphadelphia Association, following Anson Delamatter, Benjamin Wright, Harvey Keith, and Lyman Tubbs. On April 30 1848 the last journal entry for the association was made though the association itself continued for several more years.

The 1850 census shows James’ family in Pavilion, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

In the time since James’ marriage to Susan in 1839, and the 1840 census, 3 of the children born to James and Sally MARBLE have died, and James Allen and Sarah have abandoned the household, James to leave the area, and Sarah living with her sister Elizabeth.

They are living next to Peter WESTBROOK, widowed husband of Fanny, sister of Sally Marble NOYES (now deceased). Fanny had died in 1849.

1850 KALAMAZOO CO. PAVILION MI CENSUS

Pg. 218
25 ?/1573 Peter WESTBROOK 58 $700 MA
26 Ethan 18 b. OH
27 William 10 b. OH
28 ?/1574 Ephraim 30 $300 b. OH
29 Jane 17 b. OH
30 Nancy MOON 19 b. OH

pg. 220, Roll M432_353, Image 216
5-9 1571/1575? A. CALKINS and family
10 1572/1576 James NOYES 58 m farmer $1200 b. NY
11 Susan 35 f b. NY
12 George W. 7 m b. MI attended school
13 Franklin 5 m b. MI
14 James 2 m b. MI
15 1573/1577 Elsy HILL
16-23 1574/1578 A. H. HOUGHTON and family
24-28 1575/15? Lyman S. EARL and family
29-35 1576/? Chancey DEAN and family
36-38 1577/? George HAMILTON and family
39-42 1578/? George CULVER and family

More deaths followed. Mary R. died about 1850, before the age of 3. Daughter Elizabeth died in 1850 at the age of 31.

Though the last journal entry of the Alphadelphia Association was in 1848, the had a meeting August 1 1857 for the purpose of disposing of the deeds of members in attendance. Then on August 11 there was a meeting for the purpose of disposing of the Association’s books as the secretary was moving to Kansas. Noyes did not attend this meeting. Present were C. L. Keith, H. A. Taylor, C. R. Cridland and D. Taylor, witnessing the remark, “And thus ended the Alphadelphia Association.”

The 1860 census at Pavilion, Kalamazoo, Michigan shows the Noyes family.

Thomas BRADHAM?
David McCANE and Marian and family
Mary CUPPIN?
Del CHIPMAN and family
Mary CALKINS
Lawrence WALLACE and family
797/803
James NOYES 66 farmer $2200? $463 b. MA
Susan W. 48 b. NY
Geo. W. 20 farmer $150 (personal) b. MI
Frank 15
Jno W. 11
Arilla W. 9
Jean N. 6
Andrew MADISON 33 laborer

The grave site of James Noyes in Pavilion is yet to be located.

I’ve no record of when and where Susan Waters died, or where she is buried.