The Next Eldest Davidson Children

Hello, Cousins!

Last time, we looked at the first of William Montgomery Davidson's seven children, Clara. Today we'll continue with the three next-eldest children:

     B. Henry Bruce Davidson (1870–1953) was born on 16 January 1870 in Harrisburg, Linn County, Oregon. He grew up in Linn county and served as a postmaster for Rowland, Linn County, in 1899 and 1901.

Bruce married Genevieve Major (1876–1962) the daughter of John W Major (b. 1840) and Jemima Luceneth Springer (b. 1844) on 30 December 1903 in New Elberton, Whitman County, Washington. Genevieve was born on 25 August 1876 in Oregon.

Bruce and Genevieve adopted a son, Philip Neil Davidson (1910–1976), soon after his birth on 23 March 1910 in Eugene, Lane, Oregon. The family lived in Eugene, where Bruce worked as a carpenter, until at least 1918. By 1920, however, Bruce and Genevieve had divorced, and she and young Philip were living in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California.

Bruce remained in Eugene, and at age 74 he married his second wife was Ada B. (Healy) Sidwell (1888–1985) on 27 January 1944.  He died in Eugene on 31 August 1953 and was buried in the Harrisburg Masonic Cemetery. Genevieve died on 13 August 1962 in Los Angeles; their son died 20 September 1976 in Los Angeles, too.

     C. Laura Elsie Davidson (1872–1913) was born in June 1872 and grew up in Harrisburg. In 1891, she married George B. Pugh (1868–1939), who was born on 16 February 1868 in Linn County, Oregon, to John Wesley Pugh (1845–1913) and Frances Elizabeth Thompson (1848–1870).

George and Elsie had two daughters and raised them in Shedd (1900) and Brownsville (1910), Linn County. George supported the family running a livery business. Elsie died in Salem on 2 May 1913 and was buried in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd.

George remarried on 24 October 1917 in Lane County, Oregon, to Margaret Serfling (1877–1943). He died on 22 August 1939 and was buried in the Pugh family cemetery in Shedd, Linn County, Oregon.

     1. Verdis G Pugh (1894–1983) was born on 15 August 1894 in Albany, Linn County, Oregon and grew up in Brownsville, graduating from Brownsville High School in 1912. She married Harry Rosecrans Burke (1885–1956), son of Richard Burke (1853–1918) and Clemenza Rosecrans (1853–1936), in Des Moines, Iowa, in June 1920.

Harry worked for 28 years as reporter, editor, and editor-manager on 13 newspapers In Iowa, Oregon, Idaho, and California. He was employed by the old St. Louis Times in 1920 as music and drama critic and as a columnist. In 1924, he became a magazine feature writer for the Post-Dispatch. Then, from 1927 until his retirement, he served the Globe-Democrat as a music critic, art critic and book editor.

Harry died on 19 July 1956 in Brownsville, Linn, Oregon and was buried in the Pugh family cemetery in Shedd. Verdis died on 12 April 1983 in Brownsville and was buried with her husband.

     2. Frances Rose Pugh (1898–1980) was born in Shedd, Linn County, Oregon, in the spring of 1898 (records disagree whether her birthday was 3 May or 4 April). After she reached adulthood, she went to work as a telephone operator in Brownsville, and in 1920 she was living with her father and step-mother.

In November 1921 Frances was married to a traveling salesman named Paul Wright, and living in Reno, Nevada. They soon moved to Los Angeles, and during the 1930s, to Sacramento. Frances died on 19 January 1980 in Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, and was buried in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd.

     D. John Halbert Davidson (1877–1953) was the fourth child of William Montgomery Davidson, born on 1 January 1877 in Harrisburg, Linn County, Oregon. Soon after 1900, he married Lora X Powell (1880–1944), daughter of Abraham Thomas Powell (1841–1932) and Evaline Terry (1855–1899). Lora was born on 21 June 1880 in Scio, Linn County, Oregon.

John and Lora had two sons and a daughter during the first decade of their marriage; one born in Rollin and the younger two in Stayton, Marion County. They about 1909 they moved their family to Sutter, Sacramento County, California.

Lora died in Sacramento on 9 October 1944 and was buried there in the East Lawn Memorial Park. John died there also, on 16 November 1953, and was buried with his wife.

     1. Robert Dair Davidson (1903–1949) was born on 3 January 1903 in Roland, Oregon, according to his obituary. He was a graduate of Sacramento College and the American Institute of Banking and became the assistant cashier of the main Bank of America office in Sacramento. Dair, as he was called, was also head of the City Music Association and City Symphony Association.

In 1927, he married Lenore Virginia Wiren (1906–1990), the daughter of Scandinavian immigrants, Frank M Wiren (1868–1934) and Inga B Foosness (1879–1939). She was born on 30 June 1906 in St. Louis County, Minnesota, and came with her family to Sacramento in the mid-1920s.

Dair and Lenore had two daughters together before his death from a stroke at age 46 on 27 October 1949 in Sacramento. After Dair died, Lenore remarried William Joseph Geery (1909–1993). She died on 1 September 1990 in Sacramento, and William followed on 8 February 1993. The three of them are buried together in East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento.

Dair and Lenore were survived by both of their daughters, one of whom is still living.

     a. Joan Virginia Davidson Bales (1930–2016) was born in Sacramento on 27 June 1930. She married her husband on 30 June 1950 and lived her entire life in Sacramento. She died on 13 October 2016 and is buried in East Lawn Memorial Park with the rest of her family.

     2. Princeton Loraine "Bing" Davidson (1906–1976) was born on 2 January 1906 in Stayton, Marion County, Oregon. His family moved to Sacramento when he was small, so he grew up there and became a salesman.

Bing married Zeola Alice Green (1910–1957), the daughter of Lloyd Allen Green (1871–1947) and Sarah Alice Smith (1877–1963) on 7 May 1932 in Alameda County, California. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served from 17 October 1942 to 15 October 1945.

Zeola died on 14 February 1957 and is buried in East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento. Bing remarried on 2 March 1959 to Adeline A Meredith. He died on 30 January 1976 in Rancho Cordova, Sacramento, California.

     3. Evaline Lucille Davidson (1908–1999) was born on 16 January 1908 in Salem, Marion County, Oregon. She graduated from San Jose State College and began teaching in elementary school in Sacramento. She married Harlow Alfred Hanlon (1910–2004) on 17 December 1931, and they had two daughters together.

Harlow was born on 30 November 1910 in Meade, Meade County, Kansas, the son of James William Hanlon (1865–1931) and Anna Belle Moorman (1867–1955). He was a 1932 graduate from the State Teachers College at San Jose.

In 1950, the family moved from Sacramento to Southern California. Lucille taught school for 37 years, retiring from Littleton (Colorado) Public Schools in 1973. Lucille and Harlow divorced in 1960. She married Jack Firth in 1962, and he died in 1977. Harlow died on 11 May 2004. Lucille died on 4 September 1999 at age 91 and was interred at East Lawn Cemetery in Sacramento.

Lucille was survived by her two daughters.

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 This post relied more heavily than usual on clues and research posted by one of these surviving daughters. It is encouraging to see the love and attention that others put into their family trees, and I don't always get the chance to personally thank those who are doing that work. I only hope that my project brings you all as much joy and help as you have brought to me.


As always, if you've found one or more of your relatives mentioned in this blog, please get in touch. You can comment below (anonymous comments are usually not as helpful), or email "mightieracorns" at Gmail.com.

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Until next time... Happy Hunting!