Emma Lavinia King and the Great San Francisco Earthquake April 18, 1906

Emma Lavinia King aged 16 or 17 (1904 or 1905)?

  The 1906 earthquake struck the coast of Northern California at 5:12 am on Wednesday, April 18. The estimated magnitude was 7.9.  Approximately 80% of the city of San Francisco was destroyed.  My Great Great Grandparents and my Great Grandmother lived through this event. 

  Emma Lavinia King was my maternal  Great Grandmother.  I called her "Nana".  She was born in St. Austell, Cornwall, England on April 13, 1888 and was the only child of my Great Great Grandparents  Charles John King and Anna Levers King.  She came to America in September of 1894, arriving with her mother in New York on the ship The Majestic. This steamship was built in 1890 for the White Star Line.  An interesting tid bit of information...in 1895 the Majestic was assigned  Captain Edward Smith who served as Captain for the next 9 years.  He later became notable as Captain of the Titantic.  But that is an entirely different story. 

  The King family settled in Grass Valley where Charles built houses.  By 1906, they were living in San Franscisco at 1900  Golden Gate Avenue where Charles continued with the house building trade.  Emma was 18 years old at the time of the quake.  The Golden Gate house was not consumed in the fire or badly damaged,  but the gas was turned off.  Nana told the story of taking the cook stove down in the yard to cook meals.  At that time she was a clerk at the Hale Brothers Department Store in downtown San Francisco.  The employees were told to report for duty when the dust had settled as the Hale Brothers people had salvaged a lot of things and had set up shop on boards over saw horses and were selling them on the street.  Emma washed out her white shirtwaists each day and ironed them with the flat iron heated on the cook stove out in the yard and reported for work downtown, selling salvaged crockery and household items. 

  An excerpt from San Francisco-A History of the Pacific Coast Metropolis, Vol. 2 by John Philip Young describes the department store after the earthquake..."The south side of Market street enjoys the distinction of having the two largest department stores in San Francisco, the Emporium and Hale Brothers..."  This building was rebuilt in 1912 and "adds another to the handsome structures lining Market street, which was almost entirely rebuilt from Ferry to Eighth street before the close of the year." They were some of the first "department" stores to "conform to the modern idea of making it convenient for the purchaser to find what he wants in one place."

  After the earthquake and fire many San Franciscans went downtown looking for "mementos", including the King family.   Nana found a silver tea set from the Colonial Hotel (formerly located at the southeast corner of Pine and Jones streets) that is still in the family.  

Silver Tea Set from the Colonial Hotel San Francisco

  There used to be a tray with the set (teapot, creamer and sugar) which had a large crack in it.  The crack finally separated and was thrown away.  The tray was just the right size for the tea set which was probably used for room service in the hotel.  Several years ago, I took this tea set to the Antiques  Roadshow when it came to Reno, Nevada.  It was appraised as less than $100. We also had a discussion with the appraiser about the many items that were "looted" after the earthquake.  I wonder what Nana would have said about that! 

  I love these stories that are unique to our family's history.  There is certainly more to Emma Lavinia's  life story, as she met and married Lester Hayes in San Francisco, had three daughters and eventually moved back to Grass Valley.  I thought I'd share her earthquake story today, the 114th anniversary.  

  

Emma Lavinia King at 2 1/2  years in Cornwall before coming to America. 

Emma VanDuzer with her Grandchildren Jim, Joan and Donald Holman and Margaret and Claire Hansen
in Grass Valley around 1944.