Roy Burrows and Family As Well As Some Interesting Reno and Virginia City History (The Commercial Soap Factory)

    My last post  talked about my Burrows/Hurd relatives.    My Great Grandmother Vere Burrows Hansen had siblings who were born and raised in Grass Valley, California;  of the children who survived, she was the only one to stay in Grass Valley the remainder of her adult life. Her older brother was Roy Alexander Burrows.  He moved to Reno where he worked as a prominent builder/contractor in the area until his death in 1943.  He married Lucie Anna Crampton and together they lived in Reno in the early 1900's,  at 15 Thoma Street.  Their only daughter was Gertrude Elizabeth Burrows, born February 17, 1917.   I found several pictures where she is positively identified, and several pictures that I believe are of her also.  As I was doing research into her life, I learned that she died at the young age of 13.  Here is her story....

"Gertrude and pup. Nov. 6, 1921" 

"Gertrude Elizabeth, her two sleds & her two play mates & all the snow we've had this winter." (no date)

From the Nevada State Journal December 23, 1923

"Dear Santa, (Gertrude wrote)  I want a jointed doll with curly hair and brown eyes.  Gertrude Burrows, 15 Thoma Street. "

Gertrude Burrows (probable)

Gertrude Burrows March 17, 1927

  Reno Evening Gazette March 19, 1930.  The aunts listed were great aunts; they were sisters of Gertrude's grandmother Elizabeth Jane Hurd. The uncles were brothers of her mother Lucie. 

  Sadly, after her death,  Roy and Lucie did not stay married.  Roy was 49 and Lucie was 44 when Gertrude passed away.  In 1940 Roy lived at 621 Forrest Street and Lucie continued living on Thoma Street with her two brothers. She passed away in 1959.  Roy Burrows' cause of death in 1943 was listed as food poisoning and chronic alcoholism.  I believe that Gertrude's death was a hard blow to the marriage.   

  Both Gertrude and Lucie, as well as Lucie's parents are buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery located at 980 Nevada Street in Reno.  This cemetery is a part of the Hillside Cemetery Preservation Foundation, and a busy group of volunteers is currently working on cleaning up and restoring this part of Reno history. They are doing wonderful work.  You can find their group on FaceBook under Hillside Cemetery Preservation Foundation. They are taking donations to help with their mission. 

Time for a field trip...I have never been to this cemetery, but have driven by many, many times. 

 On an interesting side note.... Lucie Crampton's parents were Henry J. Crampton and Lena Koehler.  Lena Koehler was born in Boston in 1856 and came to Virginia City with her parents in 1869.  She married Henry J. Crampton in 1872 in Virginia City, and they moved to Reno in 1894 with their children including Lucie.  Henry and Lena's father operated the Commercial Soap Factory at American Flat near Virginia City until they moved the business to Reno at the turn of the century.  They sold a variety of washing powders and so-called "toilet soaps", including Paul Savon, Golden West Savon, Borax and Chemical Olive Soap.  The factory burned in 1935 and in 1946 Peerless Cleaners was constructed on the site at Forest Street in Reno, and is still in business.  

Commercial Soap Company 1906. Henry J. Crampton relocated from Virginia City to Reno to a  better site for manufacturing and distribution. Image courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society.

Commercial Soap Works Reno, Nevada 1921

(Source:  Website:  RenoHistorical Peerless Cleaners Commercial Soap Company Site by Alicia Barber with research support from RTC Washoe).