The Remaining Legacy of Theodore Montgomery

Hello, cousins!

Welcome to the next-to-last chapter in the story the Montgomery branch of the family. The tree on the right should help orient you as we talk about the three youngest children of Theodore and Margaret (Wilson) Montgomery.

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III. Orbra Fitch Montgomery (1858–1918)

Orbra Montgomery was born at the farm home of his parents, just west of Rochester on 3 October 1858. He graduated from high school in 1878 and completed a course in the early eighties at Indiana University. He studied law with the firm of Holman and Essick until he was admitted to the bar in 1884, practicing law until his demise.

In 1901 he married Amanda Thompson "Madge" Taylor (1860–1922) daughter of John S Taylor (1831–1900) and Susan Ambrose (1833–1900).

For more than 30 years, Orbra was a member of the Fulton County Bar Association, and one of Rochester's most prominent attorneys. He suffered from some kind of paralyzing illness in the final decade of his life, and was confined to his home in his last three years. He died on 9 September 1918 in Rochester and was buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery there. Madge died from a "pernicious anemia" on 28 November 1922 and was buried with her husband.

IV. Clara Elizabeth Montgomery (1859–1872)

Clara was born on 10 October 1859 at the family farm near Rochester. She was only 14 years old when she died of what the Rochester Union-Spy described as "a lingering and painful sickness" on 5 November 1872. She is buried in the Rochester I.O.O.F. cemetery.

V. Owen Lee Montgomery (1868–1945)

Lee Montgomery was born on 30 March 1868 in Rochester, Fulton, Indiana, and was raised on the family farm.

Lee married his first wife, Attis Pendleton (1869–1893), on 16 October 1892 in Rochester. She was born on 12 January 1869 in  to Arthur Elliot Pendleton (1830–1913) and Mary Ann Richwine (1836–1878). Sadly, Attie, who was described by the Rochester Sentinel as "a lovable and popular young lady, one whose many graces fitted her for a long life of usefulness," died on 6 April 1893 from "consumption," most likely a form of tuberculosis.

Lee married again on 26 Jun 1895 in Winamac, Pulaski, Indiana. His second wife, Luella Edna Stahl (1875–1938), was the daughter of Jacob M. Stahl (1836–1903) and Rebecca Colwell (1839–1917), and she was born in Rochester on 19 January 1875. The couple soon divorced, though we don't know exactly when. Records show Luella married Wilson Moore in the spring of 1896, and they appeared in the 1900 Census in Aubbeenaubbee, Fulton County, Indiana. Lee appeared in the home of his parents in 1900, listed as "Divorced."

Lee then married his third wife on 16 November 1901 in Rochester. She was Elizabeth A "Bessie" McCarter (1876–1908), the daughter of Silvaster McCarter (1846–1918) and Sarah Jane Heckathorn (1848–1926). Bess was born on 1 January 1876 in Rochester.

Bessie died on 6 May 1908 from what the Rochester News-Sentinel called rheumatism, at only 32 years of age. The paper also mentioned the couple had "four children, who survive with the father to mourn their loss." This could be a simple misprint, as the 1910 Census shows only three children in Lee's household, along with a servant named Golda Eaton, and Lee's mother, Margaret (who died so tragically in 1916 on Lee's farm).

Ten years after losing Bess, Lee married  Jessie Marie (Rhodes) Clark (1889–1965) on 1 September 1920. Jessie had been listed in the 1920 Census as Lee's housekeeper, and they were not married for very long, as she remarried Fred W Yeazel on 28 October 1926. Their son, Milo Eugene Yeazel, was born on 20 September 1922, which might explain the brevity of her marriage to Lee.

Lee died on 23 July 1945 at Woodlawn hospital following "a stroke of paralysis" which might have been related to ptomaine poisoning and led to a fall. He was living alone, and had locked himself in his house, so authorities had to use fire department ladders to enter through his second story windows. He was found "in a dying condition at the top of the stairs, where he fell, while supposedly trying to reach help." Lee was buried in the Rochester I.O.O.F. cemetery, as many of his relatives had been before.

The Rochester Sentinel also reported, "All efforts by local officials to contact the deceased's children, Freda Montgomery, Theodore Montgomery, and Ray Montgomery, were without avail, although Freda and Theodore were thought to have been located in the vicinity of Washington, D.C."

     A. Frieda A Montgomery (b. 1898) was born about 1898, according to the three census records she appears in. This raises the question of who her mother actually was, as Luella Stahl had re-married in 1896, and Lee did not remarry until 1901. Further, on the 1900 Census, which asked women both "how many children have you had" and "how many are living," Luella's record states "0" to answer both questions. Frieda herself does not appear on the 1900 Census.

Regardless, we know from newspaper accounts and the 1910, 1920, and 1930 Census that Frieda grew up with her father and brothers on Lee's farm. She was 18 in 1916 when her grandmother, Margaret, caught fire, and Frieda was the one who found the older lady after the accident. By 1920, Frieda was living in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a typist until entering the Army School of Nursing in 1926-27. In 1930 she was listed as a trained nurse working at the Walter Reed General Hospital in D.C.

This is the last record I was able to find, and as seen in her father's obituary, this was the last known address the Montgomery family seems to have had when they tried to reach her in 1945.

     B. Harry Ray Montgomery (b. 1903) was only seen in one record: the 1910 U.S. Census. He appears as a seven-year-old living on his father's farm in Rochester, but after that, there are no records which can be tied to our Ray Montgomery with any certainty. His father's 1945 obituary doesn't indicate that the family had been in touch with Ray for many years.

     C. Theodore Owen Montgomery (1905–1983) was born on 7 July 1905 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, and like his brother and sister, grew up on the family farm. That's where he was in 1920, when he was 15 years old.

By 1926, Theodore was a policeman in Washington, D.C., living at 502 12th St. NE, just a few block northeast of the Capitol, and directly north of Lincoln Park. He married Henrietta Cohen (1905–1993) about a year later. Henrietta was born on 26 May 1905 in the District of Columbia to Charles Cohen (1880–1956) and Ella Bizgia (1886–1957).

Theodore and Henrietta did not stay married for long; by 1940, Henrietta was living back in her parents home with their daughter. Henrietta never remarried, and died on 25 March 1993 after living in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland. She is buried in Saint Johns Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery in Columbia.

Theodore married Thelma May Fearson (1919–2011) on 4 December 1939 in Culpeper County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Ray Fearson (1891–1964) and Rose M Jenkins (1896–1970), born on 14 December 1919 in the District of Columbia. They had a son, still living, and eventually retired to Florida.

Theodore died on 21 June 1983 in Hollywood, Broward County, Florida. Thelma died many years later on 31 December 2011.

     1. Elaine Montgomery Adams (1928–2002) was born to Theodore and Henrietta on 9 February 1928 in Washington, District of Columbia. She grew up in Washington, and would marry and have two children. According to her obituary, Elaine retired from Vitro Laboratories in 1992, after 31 years of service, and moved to Delaware. She died on 4 August 2002 after a long battle with cancer, and she was survived by a daughter, granddaughter, two grandsons, and two great-granddaughters.

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With that, we only have two more Montgomery boys to talk about next week. 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.

We now have more ways to reach out:

a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MightierAcorns/
a Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/MightierAcorns
a Ko-Fi cup - https://ko-fi.com/mightieracorns


...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).

Until next time... Happy Hunting!

The Further Legacy of Theodore Montgomery

Welcome back, cousins!

(Click to enlarge)

Fair warning, there is a lot of tragedy and untimely death in today's post. Today we continue with the children of Theodore and Margaret (Wilson) Montgomery. The tree on the right should help you get your bearings - and now we set sail with their second son:

II. Commodore Wilson Montgomery (1854–1904)

"Com" Montgomery was born on 11 December 1854, just after his family returned from their adventure in California. He grew up on the farm his father established on the outskirts of Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, and he attended the local schools, where he did well. He even served as a teacher for seven years.

On 7 June 1877, he married Alla M Shoup (1856–1939) in Fulton County. Alla was born in Independence, Missouri, in August 1855, daughter of John R Shoup (1828–1901) and Helen M. "Nellie" Barrett (1828–1905). Her family relocated to Indiana after the Civil War.

Com was one of the foremost farmers in the county; he was active in the Grange, a director for several years in the Agricultural and Fair Society, secretary of the Fulton County Anti Horse Thief Society, Vice-president of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Co., and always prominent in Farmers' Institute work.

Com was stricken with a fatal form of peritonitis which ended his life on 26 March 1904 at the age of 49. He was buried in the Rochester I.O.O.F. Cemetery. Alla moved to Long Beach, California, in 1913 to be near several of her siblings and children, and she died there on 17 August 1939. She was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California.

     A. Clara Gertrude Montgomery (1878–1908) was born on 11 April 1878 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. She graduated from the local high school, and on 11 October 1903, she married Edward Eugene Murphy (1878–1920) in Rochester. Edward was the son of  John Murphy (b. 1851) and Samantha "Mattie" True (1847–1918).

John Murphy bound for trial Tue, Nov 1, 1881 – Page 2 · The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, Indiana) · Newspapers.com
Edward was born on 26 February 1878 in Rochester, Fulton, Indiana, and was raised by his widowed mother along with his half-brother, Harry W Capp (1868–1917), from Samantha's first marriage. Records are not clear when his father died, or whether his parents divorced. The family appears in the 1880 Census as boarders in a house in Rochester, and there is a newspaper notice of a John Murphy of Rochester being bound for trial on fraud charges, but there is no indication that this is the same John Murphy, and that is the last record I can tie to anyone of that name in Rochester.

(It's possible that John Murphy is related to the other Murphy families I've written about, but it doesn't seem likely based on what little I know about him.)

Edward studied law under Peter Buchanan after he graduated from high school and was in that office for three years. He served one term as city clerk. He then accepted a position as deputy county clerk under William Wright, serving one term, then being elected county clerk in 1906. After filling his term he opened a law office. He also was prominently identified with Republican politics having served as county chairman in 1911 and district chairman in 1916 and was on the state central committee.

About 10:30 a.m. on 15 October 1908, Merle Ream, the milkman, drove down the alley behind the Murphy home and exchanged remarks with Clara about her day. She told him, "I'm trying to get rid of some of the trash." He had only reached the cross alleys when he heard a piercing scream come from the Murphy residence and he ran back to see Clara making her way to the house with flames all over her body. Before he could reach her, she sank to the ground. Mr. Ream, with others who had been drawn to the scene by the screams, succeeded in getting the flames out and moved her into the house. Most likely, the wind had blown her clothing over the fire and before she noticed it had spread. She died at 2 a.m. on 16 October. She was 30 years old.

Clara's sudden death left Edward alone to raise two small boys. He remarried, but not until a decade later, when he married the widowed Lillian I (Kissinger) Mohler (b. 1879) in Fulton County, Indiana, on 19 December 1918. One Saturday night in January 1920, though, he complained of an earache, which worsened the following day. He died on Monday afternoon, 12 January 1920, of what turned out to be meningitis, at age 40. Clara and Edward were survived by their two sons and were buried in Rochester I.O.O.F. Cemetery.

     1. Robert Eugene Murphy (1905–1965) was born on 28 August 1905 in Rochester, Fulton, Indiana. After his mother died, Robert was reared in the home of his aunt and uncle, Robert Shoup and Winona (Baker) Montgomery, who lived in Gary, Indiana. He attended Indiana University at Bloomington in 1924, and later graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He became an attorney for General Motors.

On 7 January 1933, Robert married Virginia M Ahlburn (1905–1989), daughter of Allen Edward Ahlburn (1875–1959) and Ella McKee (1880–1928), in Cincinnati. The young couple remained in Cincinnati for a few years before Robert took his job with General Motors and relocated to New York.

Robert died on 3 June 1956 at his home in Rockville Center, Nassau County, New York. He was 48 years old. Virginia eventually followed their daughter to Naples, Florida, where Virginia died at age 84 on 27 August 1989. They were survived by their daughter and numerous grandchildren.

     a. Eileen M Murphy (1935–2017) was born on Valentine's Day, 14 February 1935, in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. Eileen graduated from South Side High School in Rockville Centre, Nassau County, New York (on Long Island), and she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from St. Lawrence University. Her first job was editor in chief of the General Motors monthly newsletter. Shortly after, she became a flight attendant Eastern Airlines.

She married her first husband in 1959 in New York City, and they had five children together, whom they raised in Naples, Collier County, Florida. Soon after moving to Naples, Eileen founded Yesteryears Restaurant. She was also a volunteer with Hospice, Literary Volunteers, the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, and Naples Community Hospital. She and her first husband divorced in 1981, and she later remarried.

Eileen died on 19 March 2017 in Naples and was survived by her husband, five children, fourteen grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.


    2. Hugh M Murphy (1906–1924) was born on 26 November 1906 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. Late in the summer of 1922, while attending high school, he suffered from an attack of influenza and contracted pneumonia. His constitution was never strong and he contracted tuberculosis. In November 1922, he was taken to Healthwin Hospital in South Bend, St Joseph County, Indiana, where he grew worse until he died on 1 March 1924.


     B. Dora E Montgomery (1880–1888) was born on 9 January 1880 in Rochester and died of diphtheria on Thursday, 27 September 1888. She was buried in Odd Fellows cemetery (I.O.O.F.) in Rochester.

     C. Orbra Wilson Montgomery (1881–1951) was born in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, on 12 December 1881. Wilson married Ethel Belle Baker (1883–1961) on 29 November 1906 in Rochester. Belle was a daughter of Ananias Baker (1848–1909) and Tamer M Holder (1851–1926), and she was also born in Rochester on 9 April 1883.

Wilson started out as a farmer, but at some point, he took a job in Great Falls, Montana. The records aren't clear as to when the family left Rochester, but they appeared in both Great Falls and in Chicago, Illinois, where Wilson worked as a superintendent and general contractor. His eldest daughter may have been born in 1907 in either Rochester or Montana, depending on which records you accept as correct; their second daughter was born in Chicago in 1914; and Wilson's World War I registration placed the family in Great Falls in 1917-18. The whole family appeared in Great Falls in the U.S. Census for 1920, and the youngest daughter was born in Chicago in 1925.

The family seems to have remained in Chicago from at least 1925 forward. Wilson died on 11 May 1951 in Chicago, and his obituary noted that he was a member of the Great Falls (Montana) Masonic Lodge. His widow, Belle, moved down to Houston, where she died on 23 April 1961 in Bunkerhill Village. They were survived by their three daughters and four grandchildren.

     1. Helen V. Montgomery (1907–1977) was born on 19 June 1907, either in Indiana or in Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana. She married Ralph Stanley Stackig (1904–1954), probably in 1931 in Chicago. He was born on 14 May 1904 in Chicago, the son of Victor Stackig (1872–1931) and Matilda "Tillie" Lindh (1874–1950).

Ralph seems to have been a life-long Chicagoan, and he died there on 18 February 1954, just a couple of months shy of his 50th birthday. Helen moved out west, probably to be closer to her surviving son, and she died on 10 February 1977 in Montclair, San Bernardino County, California.

     a. Ralph S Stackig Jr (1932–1951) was born in Chicago on 4 October 1932. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves and was sent to fight in Korea. Private First Class Stackig was a member of the 90th Field Artillery Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy in South Korea on 20 June 1951 and died of those wounds on 22 June 1951. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

     b. Harold Victor Stackig (1937–2003) was born in Chicago on 25 May 1937 and graduated from Hirsch High School. He moved out to California around 1960, was married, and had a daughter. He lived in Garden Grove, Orange County, for the last twenty years of his life, and died on 16 September 2003.

     2. Mary Alice Montgomery (1914–2004) was born on 29 December 1914 in Chicago, and grew up in Great Falls, Montana, returning with her family to Chicago in her teen years. She married Lawrence Lown McDonald (1913–2001) about 1935 and eventually moved with him to Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas.

Lawrence was born on 17 January 1913 in Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, to Paul Tamble McDonald (1884–1936) and Kitty L Lown (1885–1936). He was a mechanical engineer. He died in Fort Worth on 11 July 2001, and Mary Alice followed three years later on 16 July 2004.

     3. Jane Baker Montgomery (1925–2011) was born in Chicago on 20 January 1925. She married Paul James Stocks (1923–2014) on 16 June 1944 in Cook County, Illinois. Paul was the son of August Joseph Stocks (1900–1958) and Geraldine Elizabeth Bannon (1902–1963), born on 16 January 1923 in Chicago.

Jane and Paul moved out to Galena, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, where Jane died on 18 January 2011 and Paul died on 17 August 2014.

Note: Belle and Wilson had four grandchildren as of 1961 - assuming that number includes the late PFC Ralph Stackig, and his brother Harold, that leaves two additional children between Jane Stocks and Mary Alice McDonald.

     D. Robert Shoup Montgomery (1884–1935) was born on 14 April 1884 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University, Class of 1909, and became a manager of the Indianapolis plant of the Chevrolet Commercial Body corporation.

On 15 June 1911, Robert married Winona Jennie Baker (1887–1945). She was the daughter of Oscar Rowan Baker (1854–1940) and Mary A Aydelotte (1858–1946), born on 24 March 1887 in Knightstown, Henry County, Indiana. They raised their son and a nephew, Robert Eugene Murphy (see above).

Robert died at his home in Indianapolis on 28 November 1935. Jennie moved to Mecklenburg, North Carolina, but returned to Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana, in 1944 to live with her mother. Sadly, about a week after undergoing major surgery in Detroit, Jennie died there on 26 August 1945 and was buried in Fountain Park Cemetery in Winchester.

     1. Robert Baker Montgomery (1912–1970) was born on 13 May 1912 in Gary, Lake County, Indiana. He was living with his uncle, Paul Baker, when he died on 23 December 1970 in Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana.

     E. Charles Lee Montgomery (1886–1927) was born on 20 July 1886 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana.

He married Mary Fern Ault (1890–) on 26 September 1908 in Rochester. Fern was born on 5 September 1890 in Rochester, and her parents were Oliver S Ault (1866–1930) and Hester Elvina "Hattie" Barrett (1866–1954). Not long after their wedding, the entire Ault family - Oliver and Hester, Fern and Charles, and Fern's five siblings - moved to Everett, Snohomish County, Washington.

Charles found work as a mason in Everett, where he and Fern appeared on the 1910 Census. A couple of years later, they were back in Rochester, where their daughter was born, and then, Charles took the family to Biloxi, Mississippi, where he worked for the Dantzler Shipbuilding Company. Their son was born there, and they appeared in the 1920 Census, but a few years later, Fern and the children returned to Washinton State. That's where they were living on 27 March 1927, when Charles died in Jacksonville, Florida, following an operation for the removal of a kidney. His body was returned to Rochester, and he was buried in the Oddfellows Cemetery there.

Fern remained in Seattle after Charles died, working as a clerk in a department store. About 1932, she married the widowed proprietor of a bottle factory named Albert Lewis Vanvaley (1868–1941) and moved with him back to Everett in Snohomish County. After Albert died on 26 November 1941 and was interred in View Crest Abbey Mausoleum in Everett.

Fern remained in Everett for many years but she eventually married again. She and Paul F Glaser (1878–1973) were married on 6 February 1953 in San Diego, California, and lived in Seattle. Paul died on 24 November 1973, and Fern followed on 8 August 1975; they are buried together in the Acacia Memorial Park in Seattle, King County, Washington.

     1. Unnamed Montgomery (1910–1910) was a baby boy born to Charles and Fern in Everett on 7 March 1910. He died on 2 May 1910.

     2. Margaret Beth Montgomery (1913–1997) was born on 4 January 1913 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. She attended Lincoln High School in Seattle, class of 1931.

In 1932, she married a chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy, and traveled with him, working for the war effort in California and Virginia. They had four small children together, then divorced in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1942. She remarried William Calvin Hutson (1914–1974) on 4 October 1944 in Camden County, North Carolina, and they returned to Marysville, Snohomish County, Washington in December 1945. They ran farms in Snohomish County until 1969 when they moved to Tulare Beach (also in Snohomish County).

Bill died on 5 June 1974 in Marysville, and Margaret died there on 11 January 1997. Margaret was survived by six of her seven children, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

     3. James Edgar Montgomery (1917–1980) was born on 10 May 1917 in Biloxi, Harrison County, Mississippi. He served in the U.S. Navy from 12 February 1945 to 14 April 1946, and he died on 23 August 1980 in Everett, Snohomish County, Washington.

Edgar most likely married Genevieve Cecelia "Jennie" Zuk (1915–2002) between 1937, when he appeared in the Everett city directory living at 2130 Colby avenue, and 1940 when the couple appeared in the U.S. Census. Jennie was born on 22 May 1915 in Seattle, the daughter of Polish immigrants, Alex Zuk (1889–1966) and Julia Wojnar.

Edgar worked for his step-father, driving a truck for the Van Valey distribution company, and he and Jennie appeared in the Everett city listing through 1957.

Edgar died on 23 August 1980; Jennie died on 21 January 2002.

     F. Guy D Montgomery (1891–1960) was born on 1 February 1891 in Fulton County, Indiana. On 18 December 1909, he married Ethel Lackey (1889–1976), daughter of  Andrew Lackey (1846–1894) and Angeline Goss (1848–1943). She was born on 3 January 1889 in Rochester.

Guy worked in a garage, as a mechanic, and in sales, with a brief stint working in Chicago as a grocer in 1913-1914 before returning to Rochester. Guy and Ethel had their daughter while they were in Chicago, and their son was born back in Rochester. Then at some point between appearing in Rochester on the 1920 U.S. Census and appearing in Los Angeles on the 1930 Census, the family moved to California.

Guy died on 20 November 1960, when he and Ethel were living in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. Ethel remained in their home there until she died on 29 November 1976 and her remains were cremated. They were survived by their son, Harold.

     1. Frances Mae Montgomery (1913–1958) was born on 14 January 1913 in Illinois, probably in Chicago. Her family relocated to Rochester, and then to Los Angeles, where she graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1932. In 1940, she was single, living at home with her parents, and working as a stenographer.

While I was not able to find documents to fill in the rest of her story, we know from her record in the California, Death Index, 1940-1997, which lists her parents' surnames, that Frances M. Andre died in Los Angeles County on 17 September 1958. She was buried in  Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, as her father would be two years later.

     2. Harold D Montgomery (1915–1983) was born in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, on 16 December 1915. He graduated from Los Angeles High School three years after his sister, in 1935. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 18 November 1945 and was stationed at Amarillo Army Air Field. Records indicate that he lived in Los Angeles after the war, and he died there on 26 November 1983.

As far as I can tell, no one from this family survived Harold.

     G. Hugh Montgomery (1894–1895) was born to Com and Alla Montgomery on 9 August 1894, died on 29 March 1895 at 7 months of age and was buried in Rochester's I.O.O.F. Cemetery.

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Just a few more people to talk about, but we're getting closer to the end of the tree! Yes, again. I know, I said that more than a year ago. But we shall press on next week!

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.

We now have more ways to reach out:

a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MightierAcorns/
a Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/MightierAcorns
a Ko-Fi cup - https://ko-fi.com/mightieracorns


...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).

Until next time... Happy Hunting!

The Legacy of Theodore Montgomery

Welcome back, cousins!

Now that we have finished tracing the numerous descendants of his pioneer sister, we go nearly all the way back to the top of the Family Tree - the eldest son, and the third child of Caleb and Elizabeth (Callin) Montgomery, Theodore.

I found it fascinating that there was so much to say about this branch of the family. While there isn't a large number of people represented in this branch, I was able to find a lot of interesting material about them.

As with other branches, we'll start with Theodore and his eldest son, and continue with the rest of his descendants next week.

Theodore Montgomery (1826-1904)

Born on 12 September 1826 in Richland County, Ohio, Theodore was eight years old when his mother, Elizabeth, died. His father, Caleb, remarried two years later, and in 1837 moved with his new wife and children to Fulton County, Indiana. Caleb chose a location in a heavy wooded district six miles east of Rochester and built a farm there. He lived to see the town grow from a mere trading post into a flourishing town of over two thousand people.

As a boy, Theodore helped his father clearing and cultivating fields of grain. His education was very limited, as the school facilities were very meager, and his time was significantly spent in hard manual labor. However, at the age of twenty, he enlisted as a volunteer and served one year in the Mexican-American War with the first regiment Indiana ever produced. Theodore sustained an injury when a cannon exploded during a celebration of Washington's birthday in the city of Matamoras, Mexico, and he suffered from deafness for the rest of his life. After returning from Mexico, he engaged in cabinet-making for several years. 

Theodore married Margaret Wilson (1831–1916) on 11 March 1849 in Fulton County. Margaret was born in Henry County, Indiana, on 14 November 1831, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Wilson. (Her obituary names her father as Isaac; Theodore's biographical sketch named her parents as Matthew and Margaret Wilson, "who were natives of Kentucky.")

In 1852, the young couple took their little son, Frank, on a six-month journey westward to California. After two years of "adventure and hardship" mining gold, Theodore had amassed enough of a fortune to set out for home.

To quote from another story in the Fulton County Handbook:

Accompanied  by  a  party  of  about  50  people  from  Fulton  County,  organized  and  led  by  Hulings  Miller,  they  went  to  California  for  gold.  Others  in  the  party  included  John  Trimble,  William  Trimble,  Peter  King,  John  Irvin,  five  Kennedy  boys,  Aley  Putterbaugh,  Horace  Wilson,  George Surguy and his father, James Edwards and Theodore Montgomery.

It  cost  each  family  about  $150  to  go. They  had  to  buy  a  yoke  of  oxen  for  $30  and  a  wagon which cost about $35. They were five months on the road. Most of the party returned to Indiana later, with the exception of Horace Wilson, who was killed by Indians. Only one or two men from this county returned home with any large amount of money. A few  came  back  with  $300  or  $400  but  many  came  back  with  nothing.  Theodore  Montgomery  is  reported  to  have  returned  with  $5,000,  the  largest  amount.  Many  formed  bad  habits,  returning worse than penniless.
[Fulton Co’s Famous Poet, Shirley Willard, Fulton Co Folks, Vol. 2, Willard]

The Montgomery family booked a steamship from San Francisco and took a 21-day journey by way of the Isthmus of Panama to New York City, then took an overland route to Indianapolis and a stagecoach to Rochester, where Theodore bought a farm adjoining the corporate limits of the town. There, they raised their four sons and daughter:

1. Francis Caleb "Frank" Montgomery (1850–1925)
2. Commodore Wilson Montgomery (1854–1904)
3. Orbra Fitch Montgomery (1858–1918)
4. Clara Elizabeth Montgomery (1859–1872)
5. Owen Lee Montgomery (1868–1945)

Later in their lives, Theodore and Margaret made a tour through all the Western States and Territories, spending the summer of 1882 on the Pacific Coast, visiting points of interest, and renewing old memories of early struggles in the Golden State. Theodore died on 1 April 1904 at his home after several months of illness.

Margaret went to live in the home of her youngest son, Lee. Her granddaughter, Clara Montgomery Murphy, died in a fire in 1908 while building a bonfire of leaves, and for years after, Margaret would warn the family of the dangers of fire. Yet, despite her caution, Marget was kindling a fire at 5:30 p.m. on a Friday night, while she was alone in the house, and her clothing caught fire. The family suspected that since she avoided using kerosene, she may have been using a lit piece of paper, which caught on her dress.

No one heard her cry out, but Margaret ran to an adjoining pump house and jumped into a tub of water, where she was found later by her granddaughter, Freda, who had been in the barn. Freda called for Lee, who was also at the barn, and they assisted Margaret to bed and called Rochester physicians. Margaret's entire body, with the exception of the instep of one foot, and around one eye, was badly burned, the only part of her clothing left was what was bunched around her waist.

Margaret retained consciousness until about an hour before her death, when she became delirious. Immediately following the accident, Lee summoned the members of the family, practically all of whom arrived before Margaret passed away at 10:40. The date was 7 July 1916.

Theodore and Margaret are buried in the Rochester I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Fulton County, Indiana.

I. Francis Caleb "Frank" Montgomery (1850–1925)

Frank was born on 14 October 1850 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, and joined his parents on their journey to the California gold fields as a small boy. After his father returned and purchased his farm near Rochester, Frank grew up there and became a farmer, too.

Frank married Elizabeth "Bessie" Ellis (1857–1937) on 16 March 1876 in her parents' home in Fulton County. She was born on 30 November 1857 on a farm near Leiters Ford, Fulton County, to John Ellis (1820–1875) and Letta King (1826–1900) and grew up in Aubbeenaubbee. They settled in Newcastle Township where they raised their four children. They resided there until 1920 when they moved to Rochester where Frank got into the insurance business. He was treasurer of the Mutual Insurance company for 18 years, and for several years president of the county Horse-thief Association.

Frank died on 15 July 1925 in Rochester, after suffering a concussion resulting from a fall down a stairway on June 24. Bessie died on 28 October 1937 after suffering for several months from an unspecified illness. They are buried in the Rochester I.O.O.F. Cemetery.

     A. John Theodore Montgomery (1878–1950) was born on 26 February 1878 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. He received his degree from Purdue University in 1896, and he was a school teacher at first, but later he spent most of his professional life in the U.S. Indian Agency.

In 1898, John married Colleen "Collie" Urmston (1876–1960) in Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana. Collie was born on 28 June 1876 in Brookville, Franklin County, Indiana, the youngest daughter of Rev. Joseph Urmston (1820-1884) and only daughter of his third wife, Elmira Sarver (1838–1920). Collie attended the Western Illinois State Teachers College at Macomb. She taught school at Brookville, Indiana, and at Cambridge, Moline, and Maple Grove, Illinois, and retired when she was more than 70 years old.

John and Collie had three children together, two of whom survived to adulthood. Collie's mother came to stay in their home, where she died in 1920. After that, judging by their appearances in the census records, John's career took him away from home. Since their children were grown, I suspect they were divorced by 1930, as John was in Boise and Collie remained in Cambridge. After her retirement, she resided near their surviving daughter in Wakefield, Michigan, from 1949 to the end of her life.

 John married his second wife, Hattie Ida Wilson, on 3 July 1935. She was the daughter of John Davis Wilson (1864–1915) and Florence Bell Turnbull (1871–1912), both of whom were members of the Choctaw Nation. She was born on 1 January 1897 in Paris, Texas, and grew up in Fort Towson. She attended Oklahoma Presbyterian College at Durant and later graduated from Draughon's Business College in Muskogee.

Hattie had a son, John Davis Dale, from a prior marriage. Sadly, he died at 11 years of age in 1935 in Hugo and is also buried at Fort Towson. After she married John Montgomery, they adopted Hattie's biological nephew, Charles E. (Wilson) Montgomery (1927-1996). He was a graduate of Oklahoma University, and he taught English at Conners State College, retiring in 1986.

Like John, Hattie served in the Bureau of Indian Affairs for more than a quarter of a century. John retired in 1948 following 28 years of service in Oklahoma, he was superintendent of the consolidated Indian Agency at Anadarko. He and Hattie had also lived in Salt Lake City and in Phoenix in the late 1930s and early 1940s, later returning to Oklahoma.

John died on 9 January 1950 at his home in Stilwell, Adair County, Oklahoma, after suffering from a heart ailment and is buried in Stilwell Cemetery. Hattie lived in Muskogee from the early 1950s and retired from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1962 as a field clerk for Pushmataha and Choctaw counties. She died in Muskogee on 25 June 1980 and is buried in Fort Towson Cemetery.

     1. Margaret Ruth Montgomery (1900–1904) was born in Indiana in April 1900 and lived with her parents in Rochester. She died on 10 June 1904 in Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, after contracting a pernicious malarial form of rheumatic fever, and she was buried in the Rochester I.O.O.F. Cemetery.

     2. Kathryn Elizabeth Montgomery (1905–1996) was born on 27 July 1905 in Bloomingham, Monroe County, Indiana. She married Francis Wilson "Fred" Duffin (1901–1974) on 23 April 1927 in De Witt, Clinton County, Iowa. they soon moved to Wakefield, Gogebic County, Michigan. He was the son of James Franklyn Duffin (1874–1910) and Nellie E Burch (1873–1950), born on 28 October 1901 in Peoria County, Illinois.

Kathryn was a school teacher, starting out at the junior high school in Genesio, and later teaching in the Ironwood Township schools. Fred attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and received his master's degree at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. He taught at Harlem, Montana, and Geneseo, Illinois, before settling in Wakefield, Michigan, where he taught from 1928 until retiring June 30, 1964. During his teaching career at Wakefield High School, he taught mathematics, was a student council advisor, served as the acting high school principal during World War II and later was assistant principal. He also coached football from 1928 until 1939 and produced the school's first undefeated grid team in 1929. He played a leading role in the establishment of tennis as a high school sport in the area and coached the local tennis team from 1939 until 1956, during which time his teams won nine Michigan-Wisconsin Conference championships. He coached the baseball team from 1946 until 1949 and produced one Michigan-Wisconsin champion.

Fred died on 12 November 1974 at Divine Infant Hospital in Wakefield. Kathryn died on 11 October 1996 in Oak Harbor, Island County, Washington, at 91 years of age. They are survived by their daughter and three grandchildren.

     3. John Frank Montgomery (1907–1954) was born on 22 July 1907 in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky. He graduated as salutatorian of the class of 1924 from Cambridge High School. He attended Lombard college at Galesburg for two years, then went to Idaho where he graduated from the University of Idaho in 1929.

John married Janet A Hawkins (1906–1950), the daughter of Daniel A Hawkins (1863–1915) and Maria Elizabeth Whittemore (1866–1934). She was born on and graduated from the University of Idaho in 1928, later teaching Girls Health and World History at Moscow High School.

In his senior year of college, John worked as an advertising manager of the Star-Mirror paper in Moscow, Idaho, and later as the advertising director of the Daily Idahonian and secretary-treasurer of the News-Review Publishing company, Inc.

Janet suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at the end of March 1950 and died in a Spokane hospital on 9 April 1950. John, who suffered for 12 years from a rare form of cancer that attacks bone marrow, died on 27 September 1954 in Spokane, Spokane County, Washington.


     B. Belle Ethel Montgomery (1880–1961) was born on 12 January 1880 in Newcastle township, Fulton County, and she moved to Rochester in 1921. She was a treasurer of the Farmers and Mutual Insurance Co. and served for two terms as deputy Fulton county treasurer.

She had been ill for one year when she was admitted to the Woodlawn hospital on 25 April. She died at 12:45 a.m. Friday, 5 May 1961 and was buried in Rochester I.O.O.F. Cemetery.

     C. Maud Letta Montgomery (1881–1971) was born on 11 December 1881 at her family's farm in Newcastle township, Fulton County, Indiana. She graduated from Rochester Normal college in 1902 and then taught school at Argos, Richland Center, and Darlington, afterward returning to Rochester.

On 22 April 1911, she married Charles E Emmons (1878–1940), who became a prominent attorney and a political leader in Fulton county. He was born on 24 December 1878 in Tiosa, Richland Township, Fulton County, Indiana, to Orlando Emmons (1848–1928) and Harriet "Hattie" Hayes (1855–1920).

Charles was a graduate of the Tiosa high school, the Rochester Normal college and the Valparaiso Law school of Valparaiso, Indiana. He started his law practice in the offices of Agnew and Crumpacker of Valparaiso, and in 1906, he purchased the law business of the late Michael Essick, of Rochester. Soon afterward he became a partner of Orbra Fitch Montgomery (1858–1918), Maud's uncle, and after Orbra's death in 1918, he entered into a partnership with Enoch Myers. After Mr. Myers's death, Charles conducted his own offices in the First National Bank building. He was well known throughout the northern Indiana court districts and was a prominent worker in the interests of the Democratic party. He was chairman of the Fulton county Democrats in 1912.

Maud was active in many civic, social and political organizations during her life. She helped organize the Northern Indiana Cancer Society during World War I and afterward was a leading worker over Indiana for women's suffrage, which ended with Congress acting to give women the right to vote. She also was a worker in the Democratic party in numberless campaigns and was well known throughout the state.

Starting in 1939, Charles suffered an unspecified illness for several months. He was admitted to the Methodist hospital at Indianapolis for several weeks, returning on 29 June in a somewhat improved condition. On Wednesday, 7 August, however, his condition became more critical and he was removed to Woodlawn hospital for treatment. He died there at 7:40 a.m., Saturday, 10 August 1940.

On 2 July 1970, Maud suffered a fall while she was visiting family in Auburn, Indiana, and she sustained a broken hip. She entered the Canterbury nursing home in Fulton County, where she died on 20 January 1971. She and Charles are buried in the Rochester I.O.O.F. Cemetery.


     D. Frances M Montgomery (1886–1970) was born on 13 July 1886 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, and grew up in Newcastle Township. She married Marion B Clark (1887–1968) on 14 November 1913. He was born on 9 December 1887 in Waterloo, De Kalb County, Indiana to John C Clark (1857–1932), an immigrant from what is now Germany, and Nancy J "Nannie" Bemenderfer (1861–1940), whose niece, Bertha, married another Callin descendant: William Hurben Ettinger (1879-1933).

Marion was a farmer and served as a county commissioner during the 1920s and a county highway superintendent. Later, he became secretary-treasurer of the Production Credit Corporation, and he and Frances lived for a time in Fort Wayne, and in Marion, Ohio, before to the Auburn area. Marion died in Auburn on 22 June 1968 and was buried in the Waterloo Cemetery, De Kalb County, Indiana. Frances died on 7 February 1970 in Auburn and was buried with her husband. They were survived by their daughter and two of their three grand-daughters.

     1. Dorothy Marion Clark (1916–1996) was born on 12 April 1916 in Ashley, De Kalb County, Indiana. She grew up on her father's farm in Smithfield Township and married Wiley John Phillips (1916–2002) in Garrett, De Kalb County, Indiana, on Christmas Day, 1927. Wiley was born on 9 March 1916 in Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana, to Levi Nathan Phillips (1886–1974) and Clidie E Severt (1895–1943).

Dorothy took a business course at Angola and worked for the Federal Housing administration in Indianapolis when she married Wiley. He was a graduate of the International Business college of Fort Wayne and was employed by International Harvester in Fort Wayne. The couple had three daughters, who they raised in the Ashley-Hudson area in Steuben County. In 1970, Wiley and Dorothy moved to Auburn, where he owned Phillips Buildings.

Dorothy died on 27 June 1996 in Auburn and was buried in Waterloo Cemetery. Wiley married Lurah Jeanette (Putt) DeVoe (1916–2017) on 19 July 1997, and he died on 16 November 2002 in Auburn. He was buried with Dorothy, and they are survived by two of their three daughters, four grandsons, and five great-grandchildren.

     Dixie Ann Phillips (1940–1961) was born on 17 December 1940 in Kendallville, Noble County, Indiana. She was studying at Valparaiso University when she became ill with melanoma. She was ill for a year and was finally admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where, after six weeks, she died on 5 May 1961. She was brought back to Indian and buried in Waterloo Cemetery.

     2. Robert Montgomery Clark (1919–1930) was born on 21 June 1919 in Auburn, De Kalb, Indiana. He contracted tetanus after "running a stick in his hand" (that's how the newspaper phrased it), and he died on 22 September 1930 from lockjaw. He was eleven years old.

- -- --- -- -

I always feel bad when we end on a sad or tragic story, and this week, we ended with two. It does seem to be inevitable when you're writing a series of life stories, and you don't write about people who are still alive, but it can still be difficult. At least we can share their stories and remember them, even if it is from a distance.


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.

We now have more ways to reach out:

a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MightierAcorns/
a Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/MightierAcorns
a Ko-Fi cup - https://ko-fi.com/mightieracorns


...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).

Until next time... Happy Hunting!

Bonus: A Wishart Family History

The Family History of  George Alexander Wishart (1890–1980)

 When I set out to trace all of the descendants of James Callin, I made the choice to delve more deeply into the families of spouses than I usually see done in the older family history books. In the case of George Wishart, I did my best to discover who his parents were, and where and when they were born and died. In the process, I think I stumbled into a possible controversy in the research.

I started with Edna H. Malson, my 4th cousin, 2x removed, and after I walk you through ten pieces of evidence about her husband, George, and his parents, I'll explain the remaining mystery.


1. Edna's Obituary (see right): This establishes that we have the right person (Edna Hazel Wishart, brother's name "C.W. Malson") and some useful facts about George, which are confirmed by the marriage record in the Multnomah County, Oregon Marriage Index, 1855-1919 database.

• Name: George Wishart
• Married: 1 June 1908 in Portland

2. 1910 Census: I don't think it's too wild a leap to assume this record showing George and Edna Wishart living in Portland is the same couple we see on that 1908 marriage record, and we learn a few more facts about George.

• Birth Year: abt 1890
• Birthplace: New York
• Occupation: Baker
• Father's Birthplace: Scotland
•  Mother's Birthplace: Canada 

3. WWI Draft Registration: George's record in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 is a treasure trove. It confirms and expands upon what we already knew about George, so now we have:

• Name: George Alexander Wishart
• Occupation: Baker (the card gives the company he works for and its address)
• Marital Status: Married (the card says "wife, 2 children" - which matches what we know about Edna and their daughters at that time)
• Birth Date: 1 Oct 1890
• Birth Place: "North Towndanda," New York, USA

 (The New York State, Birth Index, 1881-1942 confirms the date and place of birth, and tells us that the correct name of the birthplace is North Tonawanda, which is located in Niagara County.)

4. California, Death Index, 1940-1997: this record matches what we now know about George, and gives us some new information:
Name: George Alexander Wishart
Birth Date: 1 Oct 1890
Birth Place: New York
Death Date: 4 Jun 1980
Death Place: Monterey
Mother's Maiden Name: Bailey


5. 1900 Census: conveniently, the Wishart family appears in North Tonawanda, Niagara County, New York in 1900. George is listed (age 8, born Oct 1891 - close enough for our purposes) and we see his family listed:

• Father's Name: John Wishert (I chalk the spelling up to transcriber error - again, it's close enough for our purposes)
• Father's Birthplace: Scotland
• Birthdate: Oct 1854 (note that the 1900 Census dates tend to be one year off - this will be important later)
• Mother's Name: Anna Wishert
• Mother's Birthplace: Canada, England
• Birthdate: Nov 1868
• Children:
• Andrew Wishert, 12
  George Wishert, 8
  James Wishert, 7
  Jessa Wishert, 1

 The 1900 Census provides a few more useful details:

• Older brother Andrew's date/place of birth is listed as Dec 1887, Canada; George, James, and Jessa were born in New York.
• John Wishart's immigration year (1878) and marriage year (1886) are given, and it says his parents were both born in Scotland.
• Anna's entry says "Immigration Year: 1878" - but it also says "Years in US: 12," which would be 1888.

Given these clues, I believe I should be looking for a marriage record for John Wishart and Anna Bailey (remember document #4) somewhere in Canada in 1886. I should also be looking for immigration records for John in 1878, and for both John and Anna in 1888.

6. Immigration/Arrival: two records show John Wishart arriving in the U.S.; one in the New York Port, Ship Images, 1851-1891 database, and the other in New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957. Both show that a John Wishart, born "abt 1853," arrived in New York from Liverpool aboard the Baltic, a ship of the White Star Line, on 5 April 1878. They list his Ethnicity/ Nationality as English, but I'm reasonably certain this is still our guy.

7. Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928: two records in this database tell us more about George's parents. Taken together, here's what we learn from them:

• Name: John Wishart
• Birth Year: abt 1854 (Age: 32)
• Birth Place: Orkney Scotland
• Marriage Date: 5 Aug 1886
• Marriage Place: Woodhouse Township, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada
• Father: James Wishart
• Mother: Helen Wishart
• Spouse: Annie Bailey
• Birth Year: abt 1867 (Age: 19)
• Birth Place: Port Dover, Norfolk County, Ontario
• Spouse father: William Bailey
• Spouse mother: Mary Ann Bailey

8. Ontario, Canada Births, 1869-1913: this record provides one last piece of evidence that confirms what I said about the 1900 U.S. Census; in particular, I think
Name: Andrew Wishard Wishart (this is an Index Record, so I couldn't view the original to see which spelling is on the document)
Birth Date: 11 Dec 1887
Birth Place: Norfolk, Ontario, Canada
Father: John Thompson Wishart
Mother: Annie Bailey

9. 1871 Scotland Census: at this point, I think we know enough about John's origins to look for records in Scotland - and here's what we find:
Name: John Wishart
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1854 (Age: 17)
Mother's Name: Helen Wishart
Where born: So Ronaldshay, Orkney

10. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950: and here's the crowning piece of evidence.
Name: John Thomson Wishart
Birth Date: 10 Oct 1853
Baptism Date: 20 Nov 1853
Baptism Place: South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland
Father: James Wishart
Mother: Hellen Thomson


Now, after all of that work, I'm left with one remaining mystery: where and when did John Thompson Wishart die?

There is an Oregon, Death Index, 1898-2008 record that shows "John T Wishard" died on 29 March 1942 in Marion [County], Oregon, but there is a Find-A-Grave memorial for another John T Wishart which claims that date of death:

• John Taylor Wishart
• Birth: 19 Aug 1869, Letham, Angus, Scotland

The biography of John Taylor Wishart seems completely different from what our records show for John Thompson Wishart:

John was born in Letham, Dunnichen Parish, Angus and immigrated with his family to the United States in October 1871, arriving in Nebraska and settling in Nemaha Co., Kansas as a family unit. Many family members moved to Parkdale, Hood River Co., Oregon in 1885 and John along with them; he held a tract of land adjacent to his father and brothers in the Upper Valley Precinct, which he appears to have sold about 1895.

By the 1900 census John was located in Upper Trout Precinct, Crook Co., Oregon working as a laborer in a sawmill, and by 1910 he was in Ashwood, Crook Co., where he had his own farm and was a Stockman. Ashwood was redistricted into Jefferson Co., Oregon, and he is again located in the 1920 and 1930 census in Ashwood as a Stockman and farmer in stock grain. All census records record him as single, no children.

I do see a 1910 Census record for a widowed John Wishart, born abt 1854 in Scotland, living in Portland; this could well be our John Wishart since the other fellow was supposedly in Ashwood at that time. Our John Wishart was a sailor who lived in Canada and New York (all while this other John Wishart was growing up in Nebraska. I don't know how long our Wishart family stayed in New York before moving to Oregon, but our John and Annie had three sons and a daughter and the timing of the records we have would allow for Annie to move to Portland before dying in 1906.

The last record I have shows 77-year-old John Thomson Wishart arriving in New York from Glasgow aboard the Transylvania on 9 December 1930 after a trip to Scotland to visit relatives. I'd like to think he arrived home in Portland safely, and enjoyed many more years with his family.

I just don't have the evidence to support that conclusion.

- -- --- -- -

So, there you have a glimpse into my sources and methods. I'm not directly related to the Wishart family, but I hope I've helped clarify some things, and if anyone has an answer for my mystery, I'd love to tie up the loose end!

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.

We now have more ways to reach out:

a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MightierAcorns/
a Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/MightierAcorns
a Ko-Fi cup - https://ko-fi.com/mightieracorns


...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).

Until next time.... Happy Hunting!

A Davidson Family Roundup

Hello, cousins!

At long last, we are looking at the last two families in the Davidson branch of the family. In case you need a refresher, these are the youngest children of Henry Davidson (1818–1894) and Sarah Montgomery (1824–1918), and Sarah is the daughter of Elizabeth Callin Montgomery (1798-1834), who was the granddaughter of James Callin - the ancestor who ties us all together.

V. Samuel Thurston Davidson (1853–1889)

The fifth child of Henry and Sarah, Thurston was born on 6 August 1853 while his family was en route to Oregon. Depending on the record you cite, he was born on the Oregon Trail, in the Idaho Territory, possibly in what is now Utah. The family settled near Shedd, Linn County, Oregon, and that is where he grew up.

Thurston married Susanna Elizabeth Briggs (1850–1910) in Linn County in about 1878. They settled on a farm in Halsey and had a son in November of the following year. She was the daughter of Joseph M Briggs (1817–1888) and Susannah Early (1813–1901), born on 11 July 1850 and raised in Morgan County, Ohio.

Thurston died unexpectedly on 25 April 1889 on his farm near Shedd. Susan carried on managing the farm and raising their son and daughter. She died on 10 October 1910, and she and Thurston are buried in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd.

     A. Cloud Henry Davidson (1879–1950) was born on 4 November 1879 in Shedd, Linn, Oregon.
spent all of his life in the Shedd and Halsey districts. He married Lura V Wilson (1880–1953), daughter of James Milton Wilson (1850–1895) and Mary Susan Kirk (1859–1895), on 19 March 1907. She was born on

Making a living as a prominent stock grower, Cloud and Lura resided on his farm near Shedd until he retired in 1945, then they moved to a farm near Halsey.  He died in a Portland hospital on 11 February 1950; she died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis on 18 March 1953. They are buried in Pugh Cemetery in Shedd and were survived by their son and grandchildren.

     1. Robert H Davidson (1919–2003) was born on 10 March 1919 in Portland, Oregon to Virgil Ulysses Allison (1887–1931) and Jessie E Brown (1891–1929). He was ten years old when his mother died, and he was taken in by Cloud and Lura Davidson, who adopted him.

Robert graduated from Halsey High School in 1937 and attended Oregon State College. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II, serving from 18 December 1942 through 12 March 1946. During his enlistment, he got married on 24 July 1943 in Linn County, Oregon, to Phyllis Amanda Holt (1918–2001). She was born on 2 December 1918 in Harrisburg, Linn County, Oregon to Benjamin Rice Holt (1889–1984) and Estle Fay Hill (1890–1977).

Phyllis was born east of Harrisburg and moved to Halsey in 1923 when her father joined the family's Hill and Co. hardware business. She graduated from Halsey High School in 1936. She continued to work in the family hardware store after they married, and she and Robert became partners in the Davidson Generational Grass Seed Farm, where they raised their family. Robert continued to farm until 1979 and lived on the Davidson Farm until his death. Phyllis died on 22 December 2001, and Robert died on 29 December 2003, both in Shedd. They were survived by two daughters and a son, and they are buried together in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd.

     B. Addie Belle Davidson (1881–1954) was born in Shedd on 11 December 1881. She was a lifelong resident of Linn County and died at the community hospital in Lebanon on 11 February 1954. She never married, but she was an active member of many community organizations and was frequently mentioned in the local newspapers for being the hostess or organizer of local events.

VI. Mary E Davidson (1854–1929)

The youngest child of Henry and Sarah Davidson, Mary was born on 15 November 1854, soon after her family settled near Shedd. She grew up on the family farm and married her first husband, Charles W Malson (b. 1845) around 1874. Little is known about Charles, and most of that information comes from the 1880 U.S. Census, which gives his age (35), birthplace (Ohio), and the birthplaces of his parents (father in Indiana, mother in Kentucky).

The couple had five children together, but only three survived childhood. Mary sued Charles for divorce in 1894, leaving her to raise the remaining three children. She married her second husband, Richard Ross Cunningham (1849–1926) on 12 March 1896. Ross was born on 6 April 1849 in Pickaway, Pickaway County, Ohio, and ran off to join the 110th Ohio Infantry at age 15, fighting for 18 months in the Civil War. He settled in Oregon after the war, and his first wife died in Harrisburg in 1891, soon after which, he also lost two children.

After they married, Mary and Ross moved to a house on Main Street in Lebanon. He died there on 24 June 1926; Mary suffered from a heart condition in her final three years and died on 19 July 1929. They are buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon.

     A. Commodore W Malson (1875–1938) was born on 19 Nov 1875 in Halsey, Linn County, Oregon. He was raised in the Halsey neighborhood, and as a young man found work as a car inspector for the C & S Railway in Portland.

Commodore married Lura Sarah Pugh (1879–1962) in Portland on 18 September 1908. She was born on 14 April 1879 in Shedd, Linn County, daughter of John Wesley Pugh (1845–1913) and Nancy Elizabeth Walker (1849–1898) and younger half-sister of George B. Pugh, who married Commodore's cousin, Laura Elsie Davidson (1872–1913).

Commodore's job took him and his family to several cities including San Bernardino, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Hubbard, before he and Lura settled in Shedd in 1914. Commodore died at age 62 on 17 May 1938 at the hospital in Lebanon; Lura died on 6 July 1962, age 83. They are buried in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd.

     1. Ralph Ernest "Curly" Malson (1908–1990) was born on 12 October 1908 while his parents were living in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended Oregon College of Agriculture (now Oregon State University) majoring in chemical engineering. After graduation, he moved to Carmel, California, but returned to Albany and married Roberta Adelaide Wire (1913–2000) on 10 January 1937.

Roberta was born on 18 September 1913 in Albany, Linn County, to George Christian Wire (1874–1960) and Eva Whinery (1876–1972). Curly worked for the Bureau of Mines and other places through the Carpenters Millwright Union before retiring in 1974. He helped build the Albany Boys and Girls Club and the first zirconium furnace with Kroh Scientists.

Curly died on 11 March 1990 and Roberta died on 20 February 2000, both in Albany. They are buried in the Willamette Memorial Park in Albany. They were survived by their son and two daughters.

     a. Jerrold Ralph Malson (1939–2013) was born on 9 October 1939 in Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon. He was raised in Albany and attended Albany Union High School. He was a member of the Sea Scouts, and after graduating in 1957, joined the U.S. Navy and later the National Guard. He attended Northwest Christian College for one year before marrying his high school sweetheart.

After they married, Jerry attended Central Oregon Community College, receiving a degree in forestry. He continued to live and work in Central Oregon until moving his family in 1977 to Trout Creek, Montana, where they raised silver foxes. In 1982, he founded Jerry Malson Outfitting and established the Montana Guide Training Center.

Jerry died on 7 October 2013, survived by his wife, son, two daughters, and four grandchildren.

     2. Ruth Elizabeth Malson (1911–1995) was born on 2 November 1911 in Hubbard, Marion County, Oregon. She attended Albany College and studied music and managed the Halsey Telephone Co. and was actively involved with the RSVP, assisting at the Senior Meal Site and flu clinics.

On 11 February 1936, she married Elmer Delmont Ferrell (1912–1970) in Benton County, Oregon. He was born on 25 June 1912 in Cokato, Wright County, Minnesota, to Ezra Ernest Ferrell (1870–1950) and Lillian Kreitlow (1894–1982). He attended schools in Annandale, Minnesota. He moved to eastern Oregon in 1934 and later to Halsey where he made his home with a cousin, Mrs. Mae M. Weber, before marrying Ruth.

Elmer and Ruth had a son and daughter together but divorced around 1942. He had managed the Halsey Telephone Co. for two years and was head of the installation department of Pacific Northwest Bell in Portland at the time of his death on 12 July 1970.

Ruth married again on 4 December 1944 to Wilbur Lamar Norton (1907–1982). He was born on 20 November 1907 in Halsey, the son of Walker Lincoln Norton (1883–1947) and Myrtle Cora Sneed (1887–1974). Wilbur worked as a Western Union line crew workman, truck driver and general warehouseman for O W Frum, Cross Brothers, Dickerson Co, and W R Grace Co. They had a daughter together.

Wilbur died on and is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Peoria, Linn County. Ruth died on 25 Sep 1995 in Albany and is buried in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd. Ruth was survived by her son, two daughters, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

     B. Lilli Malson (b. 1877) was born in Oregon and appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census; while she did not survive to adulthood, we do not know precisely when she died.

     C. Dexter Malson (b. 1880) like his sister, Lilli, was born in Oregon and appeared with his family in the 1880 Census, but we do not know when he died.

     D. Bennett F Malson (1884–1912) was born on 7 June 1884 in Halsey, Linn County, Oregon. He grew up in Linn County and married Isabel A Rounds (1886–1958) on 25 March 1906 in Garfield, Whitman County, Washington. She was the daughter of Leroy Philo Rounds (1853–1918) and Gertrude Hatch (1855–1935) born on 5 October 1886 in Walla Walla, Walla Walla County, Washington.

The young couple lived in Portland, where Bennett was a waiter. He contracted meningitis and died at St. Vincent's Hospital in Portland on 14 May 1912. He is buried in River View Cemetery in Portland. He and Isabel did not have any children, and she was remarried in 1914 to Newton D. Johnson (1887–1943).

     E. Edna Hazel Malson (1888–1919) was born on 12 October 1888 in Pomona County, California. She moved to Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon, with her mother and brother and finished school there.

Edna married George Alexander Wishart (1890–1980) on 1 June 1908 in Portland and lived with him there until the fall of 1918, when they took her south to Los Angeles, California, for her health. Sadly, she died there on 3 February 1919 after suffering from influenza for several days. She left George to raise their two small daughters.

(At the end of the post, I will have more to say about George's family tree.)

George remarried on 9 June 1920 in Ogden, Weber County, Utah, taking Margaret M Selgrath (1890–1986) as his second wife. They had four more children together and after living in Utah, San Bernardino, California, and San Fransisco, they settled on the Monterey Peninsula in California in the late 1920s. George died on 4 June 1980 and Margaret died on 3 August 1986, both in Monterey County.

     1. Charlotte Evelyn Wishart (1912–1993) was born on 8 March 1912 in Oregon. She was seven years old when her mother died, and she grew up in the home of her father and step-mother, coming of age after they moved to Monterey. She married Frederick Antone Layton (1911–1979), son of Antone Layton (1889–1967) and Pearl Betz (1891–1984), about 1933.

Fred was born on 15 September 1911 in Monterey County, and he served in the U.S. Army from 19 January 1945 to 18 January 1946. Before and after the war he worked as a greenskeeper at the famous golf courses around Monterey Bay. The couple had two sons and a daughter together.

Fred died on 10 April 1979, and Charlotte died in the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (C.H.o.M.P.) on 14 December 1993. (Coincidentally, that is where my oldest child would be born in 1996!) They were survived by their three children, five grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.

     a. Frederick Leroy Layton (1934–2011) was born on 7 July 1933 in Pacific Grove, Monterey County, California. Fred married Shirley Wright, and they are survived by a daughter and two sons. He retired as a central office technician with US West. He married his second wife in 1975, and she survives. He died at age 77 on 24 January 2011 in Olympia, Washington, after a 6-year battle with lung cancer.

     2. Doris Ellen Wishart (1915–1979) was born on 22 June 1915 in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, and she was only four years old when her mother died and her family moved to Ogden, Utah. She married Noel Paul Jones (1913–2002), son of Joseph Rosslyn Jones (1882–1956) and Grace I Muller (1881–1960), about 1935. Noel was born on 24 December 1913 in California.

Doris died in January 1979 in Longmont, Boulder County, Colorado. Noel died on 16 November 2002 in Fall River Mills, Shasta County, California. They were survived by a son.

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There you have it - I did my best, but I feel like there is a lot I still don't know about the folks in this post. There were enough gaps in the records that I fear I may have missed someone or some important events. But, if you saw my bonus post on the family of George Wishart, you know that I tried not to leave any stones unturned.

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

We now have more ways to reach out:

a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MightierAcorns/
a Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/MightierAcorns
a Ko-Fi cup - https://ko-fi.com/mightieracorns


...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).

Until next time.... Happy Hunting!

Theodore, the Dairy Man

Welcome to 2020, cousins!

I think this could be the year... I started this project in 2014, thinking I could have a book ready to publish in 2015. I was wrong about that, but for the best possible reason: I kept finding more cousins! And here we are, winding down with the last branch of the family. (Unless we find another major breakthrough, of course!)

This week, we will take a look at the descendants of the third child of Henry and Sarah (Montgomery) Davidson. If you need to catch up, that link should help you catch up.

III. Theodore Bruce Davidson (1848–1932)

Theodore was born on 3 July 1848 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, and he was about four years old when his family took the Oregon Trail westward. They settled near Shedd in Linn County, and Theodore eventually inherited the land there.

Theodore married his first wife, Margaret Ann Work (1855–1915), in 1876; her parents were most likely David Work (1815–1893) and Marinda E "Mary" Wilk (1814–1886). Margaret was born on 13 September 1855 in Indiana, and she grew up in Iowa, moving to Oregon with her family in about 1874.

Theodore was a dairy farmer, and he and Margaret raised their family on their farm in Shedd, until the 1900s when they were able to retire and moved to Lane County. They lived in Blanton (1900 Census) and Eugene (1910), where Margaret died on 22 December 1915. She was buried in the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery.

After Margaret died, Theodore married his second wife, the widowed Margaret Ellen (Waggoner) Kizer (1865–1947), on 15 February 1917 in Eugene. She was born on 29 September 1865 in Brownsville to Bird Waggoner (1810–1892) and Nancy Elizabeth Gray (1839–1885), and she had four children from her first marriage to Ovid Jackson Kizer (1863–1906), who died in Eugene on 25 May 1906 after being kicked in the head by a horse.

When Theodore died on 11 March 1932 he was survived by his widow and seven of his nine children. Margaret Kizer Davidson died on 5 March 1947 in Eugene, and she was buried in Alford Cemetery in Harrisburg, Linn County, next to her first husband.

     A. Estella Davidson (1876–1958) was born on 2 July 1876 in Shedd, Linn County, Oregon. She graduated from the Monmouth Normal School (which later became the Oregon College of Education) and she taught school in Eugene and Stayton.

Stella married Willis Manuel Caldwell (1878–1952) in 1903. He was the son of Melzer Jackson Caldwell (1849–1901) and Ellen Christiana Cole (1855–1929), born on 14 February 1878 in Scio, Linn County. They had their daughter and two sons in Stayton, Marion County, and lived in Ashland and Brownsville before relocating back to Salem Heights in 1920.

Willis died in Salem on 30 August 1952, and Stella died there on 12 May 1958. They are buried in Belcrest Memorial Park and were survived by their three children and six grandchildren.

      1. Maida Arleen Caldwell (1907–1971) was born on 20 August 1907 in Stayton, Marion, Oregon, and graduated from Salem High School and Willamette University, becoming a teacher in the early 1930s. She married Aubrey Dwain Estes (1905–1972), the elder son of John Oscar Estes (1883–1949) and Mary Jane "Mamie" Carter (1886–1949) on 19 June 1934. He was born on 16 November 1905 in Joseph, Wallowa County, Oregon.

Aubrey was a barber and owned his own shop in Joseph. Maida resigned from her teaching position when she married, but after their children were older, she taught at Joseph High School. According to his Find-A-Grave biography, he suffered for many years from multiple sclerosis but continued to barber until he could no longer hold the tools.

Maida died on 17 September 1971, and Aubrey died 14 January 1972, at the Wallowa County Nursing Home where he had resided for several years. They are buried in the Prairie Creek Cemetery in Joseph. They were survived by their son, Dwain, their daughter, still living, and at least one grandchild.

     a. Dwain Arlen Estes (1936–2017) was born on 4 February 1936 in Joseph, Wallowa County, Oregon. He graduated from Eastern Oregon State College in 1957 and began teaching in the Parkrose School District that autumn. In 1959 he married his first wife.

Dwain taught in Parkrose for 33 years, retiring in 1990. Much of his career was spent as a sixth-grade teacher, where he shared his enjoyment of the outdoors with many of his students at Outdoor School. He finished his career as a math teacher at Parkrose Middle School.

Dwain died on 10 July 2017 in Portland and is survived by his son, his sister, and several grandchildren.

      2. Dale L Caldwell (1909–1975) was born on 3 October 1909 in Stayton, Marion County, Oregon. In 1930, he moved from his father's house in Salem to live with his sister, Maida, in Portland. Dale worked as an accountant, then as a freight agent for a railway. His work had him move to Idaho, and then to Nevada.

In Nevada, Dale met Maude Ethel Dunbar (1908–1995), and they married on 19 July 1939 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, before returning to live in Elko. Maude was the elder daughter of  Edward Fitts Dunbar (1878–1970) and Maud Ethel Miller (1881–1952), born in Fallon, Churchill County, Nevada, on 5 September 1908.

They had a son in Elko, but the little boy died from dysentery before his first birthday. Not long after, they moved back to Portland and had a second son, who is still living. At some point, the couple divorced. Maude became a teacher and raised their son in Milwaukie, Clackamas County, Oregon. She died on 10 November 1995.

Dale remarried on 2 June 1951 to Frances Jean Salerno (1916–2012), daughter of Italian immigrants Frank Sallustio Salerno (1888–1962) and Angelina Migliore (1897–1961). Frances was born in Portland on 6 September 1916, in what was then known as South Portland in the heart of the Italian and Jewish communities. She was the eldest of 10 children. After graduating from St. Mary's Academy in 1934, she attended business college and Mrs. Holmes Secretarial School. At first, she enjoyed her duties as a secretary, but soon discovered the challenges of accounting and pursued that career. She spent most of her career in residential and commercial real estate accounting.

Dale and Frances had one son together, still living, and remained in Portland, where Dale died on 21 May 1975 at age 65. Frances was 95 years old when she died on 25 January 2012. They are survived by Dale's sons and at least one grandchild.

     a. Dale Edward Caldwell (1940–1941) was born on 30 June 1940 in Elko, Elko County, Nevada, and died there on 7 April 1941 after suffering from dysentery. He was interred at Riverview Abbey Mausoleum and Crematory in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon.

     3. Willis Theodore Caldwell (1915–1998) was born on 10 May 1915 in Ashland, Jackson County, Oregon, the youngest child of Willis M. and Stella Caldwell. During the Second World War, he served in the U.S. Navy from 15 December 1943 to 29 Mar 1946. He was aboard the USS Antaeus in 1944, and later served under CDR C.E. Coffin on the USS LC(FF)-370, an amphibious assault ship.

After the war, Willis married Marjorie L Herr (1918–2013) in Linn County on 29 August 1949. She was born on 4 October 1918 in Priest River, Bonner County, Idaho to Clarence Wilson Herr (1864–1938) and Helene Marie Klehn (1875–1958). Marge graduated from Willamette University and earned a Master's Degree from the University of Oregon. She taught Physical education in Hood River and Albany before she married Willis and moved to Salem.

Willis and Marge were both very active in the Salem community. She belonged to the Salem Audubon Society and Chemeketan Hiking Club, among others, and in 1991 was honored when the gymnasium at the YWCA of Salem was named the "Marge Caldwell Gymnasium." Willis was president of the Santiam Alpine Club and ran for the school board.

Willis died on 21 July 1998 and was buried in Salem's Belcrest Memorial Park. Marge died on 31 October 2013 and is buried with her husband. They are survived by their two sons.

     B. Dr. Bertha Davidson (1877–1958) was born on 11 September 1877 in Shedd, Linn County, Oregon. She lived ran a millinery (hat-making shop) with her sister, Marinda, in the 1910s, and the two sisters lived with their younger brothers, Frank and William. Bertha became a doctor and practiced osteopathic medicine in Portland for several years before moving back to Eugene in 1926, where she remained for the rest of her life. She died on Wednesday, 5 August 1958 and is buried in Eugene Pioneer Cemetery.

     C. Ella R Davidson (1879–1966) was born on 20 February 1879 in Shedd, Linn County, Oregon. She became a teacher in the public schools in the Eugene area. Around 1915, she married Emmet William Austin (1874–1936), and they lived in Woodburn, near Salem in Marion County. He died on 9 June 1936 in Woodburn and was buried in the Belle Passi Cemetery there.

Ella married her second husband, Charles F Schultz (1876–1952), on 24 April 1940 in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington. Charles died on 30 April 1952 in Salem. Ella died on 14 Jan 1966 in Salem and was buried with Emmet in Belle Passi Cemetery.

     D. Sarah Marinda Davidson (1880–1969) was born on 29 December 1880 in The Dalles, Wasco County, Oregon. She was a seamstress who lived in Portland for most of her adult life. Mirandy died in Portland on 26 May 1969 and is buried in the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery.

     E. Samuel Bruce Davidson (1882–1958) was born on 8 September 1882 in Shedd, Linn County, Oregon. On 11 June 1913, he married Ella May Bryson (1880–1975) in Seattle, King County, Washington. She was born in June 1880 in Crookston, Polk County, Minnesota, to David Lowe Bryson (1857–1922) and Mary Sloman (1857–1924).

Bruce drove a laundry truck for many years in Tacoma. He died on 17 February 1958 in Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington, and was buried in Mountain View Memorial Park in Lakewood. Ella died on 25 Mar 1975 and was buried with her husband.

     F. Mary Davidson (1884–1962) was born on 12 October 1884 in Shedd, Linn County, Oregon. She married Walter Lewis Straub (1886–1940) in Eugene on 26 December 1907. He was born on 21 April 1886 in Box, Cedar County, Missouri to Elisha Straub (1852–1921) and Melissa Esther Darnell (1864–1931).

Walter was a minister in the Christian Church, and as he and Mary moved around frequently as they raised their son and daughter. They lived in Eugene, Oregon (1908-1911), Vancouver and Ellensburg, Washington (1914-1915), Coos County, Oregon (1917-1918), Santa Cruz, California (1920), Pierre, South Dakota (1930), and Omaha, Nebraska (as of 1935).

The 1940 U.S. Census places Mary and her two children in Eugene and lists her as a widow. An obituary for her son in 1942 refers to "the late Rev. Walter L. Straub." However, I have been unable to locate any death or burial records for Walter. What I found was a record in the U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 database that lists a man named Walter Lewis Straub, born 21 April 1886 in Stockton, Missouri, living in Omaha and married to a woman named Josephine. I have not been able to determine for sure when or whether Walter died, nor have I been able to rule out the possibility that he remarried and remained in Omaha.

Mary died on 10 January 1962 in Salem, Marion County, Oregon, and was buried in the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery. She was survived by her daughter.

     1. Paul Walter Straub (1908–1942) was born on 28 October 1908 in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon. He worked as a sales clerk while remaining in his parents' household until he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. Sadly, he died while in training on 14 November 1942 in Fort Campbell, Christian County, Kentucky, and is buried in Eugene Pioneer Cemetery.

     2. Mary Rozelle Straub Peterson (1913–1998) was born on 23 October 1913 in Camas, Clark County, Washington. She grew up in several places, graduating from Brookings High School in Brookings, South Dakota in 1931.

She married David Haggard Henry (1913–1969) on 2 March 1941 in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon. David was a newspaper reporter who was born on 17 July 1913 in Gold Hill, Jackson, Oregon to David Chauncy Henry (1879–1962) and Laura Mabel Haggard (1879–1944).

Records suggest there is more to their story than I have been able to find, but here's what I can say for certain: David died on 17 June 1969 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Eugene. Rozelle remarried on 11 September 1971 in Lane County, Oregon. I have not been able to determine whether her second husband is still alive. I have also not been able to tell whether she had any children.

Rozelle Peterson died on 14 July 1998 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Eugene with her first husband.


     G. Dr. Frank F Davidson (1887–1966) was born on 23 November 1887 in Shedd, Linn County, Oregon. He lived with his older sisters, Bertha and Marinda, and his younger brother, William, in Eugene while he attended the University of Oregon in the early 1910s. Like Bertha, he became a doctor of osteopathy. He studied at the Osteopathic College of Physicians and Surgeons in Los Angeles.

During World War I, he shipped out as a private in the Medical Detachment, 361st Infantry. He married Anna Katherine Hoge (1888–1938) on 21 June 1918 in Dupont, Pierce County, Washington, and then he shipped out from New York on 6 July 1918 aboard the Koroa. He returned from St Nazaire, France, in April 1919, and he and Anna moved to Idaho, where Frank attempted to establish a practice in Burley. They arrived in April 1921, and Frank set up his practice in the offices formerly occupied by Dr. Whittenberger. A year later, Anna's sister died in Pasadena, and the family ultimately re-settled in Pasadena in 1922, and that is where they raised their daughter. Frank passed his offices to a Dr. Sears.

Anna died on 27 December 1938 and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena, Los Angeles County. After a few years of mourning, Frank married as his second wife, Pansy B Beebe (1891–1967) on 8 November 1941 in Los Angeles, California. Pansy was the widow of Frank's younger brother, William.

Frank died on 21 October 1966 in Costa Mesa, Orange, California and was interred at Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena with Anna. Pansy survived him by only a few months, but we'll talk about her in more detail below.

     1. Elaine A Davidson (1921–2005) was born on 29 September 1921 in Burley, Minidoka County, Idaho. Her parents moved to Pasadena, where Elaine grew up. She married Robert Charles Terbeck (1920–1979) on 9 June 1942. He was the son of Conrad B Terbeck (1895–1953) and Hazel Anna Braden (1897–1984), born on 4 July 1920 in Los Angeles.

Robert was a manager at California Institute Of Technology, and he and Elaine had three daughters together. The couple divorced around 1960, and Elaine remarried on 14 July 1963 to Stephen A Barlow (1924–1991). Robert died at only 58 years of age on 19 April 1979.

The Barlows moved to Honolulu, where Stephen became proprietor of Island Seco Engineer Moisture Control and an employee of Honolulu Roofing Co. He died on 16 May 1991 in Pearl City, Hawaii, and Elaine moved back to San Diego, where she spent her time as a volunteer at the San Diego Kaiser Permanente Hospital, she enjoyed knitting little hats for premature newborns.

Elaine died in San Diego on 19 September 2005 and is survived by her three daughters.

     H. William Henry Davidson (1890–1915) was born on 20 October 1890, near Shedd, Linn County, Oregon. At eight years of age, he moved to Eugene with his parents. Around 1912, he returned to the farm near Shedd, Oregon. He married Pansy B Beebe (1891–1967) on 11 May 1913. She was born on 11 May 1891 in Kansas and grew up there in Powhattan, Brown County. Her parents were Jerry Beebe (1858–1943) and Sarah Alice Plumb (1863–1951), and they moved to Lane County, Oregon, in Pansy's youth.

A few weeks before his death, William went to Los Angeles for the benefit of his health. He improved for a while then suddenly grew worse and died on 17 November 1915, at the age of 25 years and 27 days. His remains were brought to Eugene and interred in the I.O.O.F. cemetery on 22 November 1915.

Pansy married Porter S Fleming (1887–1935) on 20 June 1920 in Lane County, Oregon. Their marriage lasted until Porter's death on 29 August 1935. She later married her brother-in-law, Frank F Davidson (1887–1966), on 8 November 1941 in Los Angeles.

Pansy died on 30 January 1967 in Fairview, Newton County, Missouri, visiting her daughter, and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena.

     1.  Marguerite Violet Davidson (1914–1981) was born to William and Pansy (Beebe) Davidson on 7 March 1914 and was raised by her mother and step-father, Porter Fleming. Marguerite graduated from Eugene High School and the University of Oregon at Eugene and became a stenographer in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, where she was living with her widowed mother in 1940.

Marguerite married Thomas Evan Henderson (1916–2006) on 11 November 1948 in Lordsburg, Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Evan was born on 27 October 1916 in Purdy, Barry County, Missouri, to Joseph G Henderson (1875–1965) and Mattie Ellen Robberson (1879–1960). He had been married once before, and he and his first wife, Opal Lucille Nichols (1919–1994) appeared in the 1940 Census in San Antonio, Los Angeles County, California; they divorced about 1946.

After they married, Marguerite and Evan relocated to Fairview, Newton County, Missouri, where Evan raised dairy cattle and Marguerite worked as a secretary for the Kraft company in Wheaton. (Wheaton is in Barry County, where Evan was raised.) He eventually auctioned off his herd in 1961.
 
After Marguerite retired, the couple moved to Kansas in 1973. She died after a long illness on 2 April 1981 in Benton, Butler County, Kansas. Evan died on 22 March 2006 in Purdy, Barry County, Missouri. They are buried in Arnhart Cemetery in Purdy, and they are survived by a daughter from Evan's first marriage.

IV. Frances Mary Davidson (1850–1855)

Frances was born in Aug 1850 in Fulton County, Indiana, and died in 1855, after her family arrived in Linn County, Oregon.

- -- --- -- -

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.

We now have more ways to reach out:

a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MightierAcorns/
a Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/MightierAcorns
a Ko-Fi cup - https://ko-fi.com/mightieracorns


...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).

Until next time... Happy Hunting!