52Ancestors52Weeks Week 8 Theme: Power Josiah S. Boothby and the Heppner Flood 0f 1903

The town of Heppner, Oregon during the flood of  14 June, 1903 

National Weather Service Public Domain picture

  The theme for this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is Power.  I have chosen to explore the power of water and the Heppner Flood of 1903. 

  The power of moving water can be harnessed for many useful purposes when it can be managed carefully.   Moving water  has helped operate mechanical devises such as gristmills and sawmills for thousands of years.  It helped usher in the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Water in canals could be used to move goods and people long distances. Hydraulic mining during the Gold Rush era used high pressure jets of water to dislodge rock to then extract gold.  Even tidal power can be harnessed to generate electricity.  

  Sadly the power of water can be  responsible for a great deal of destruction when it is uncontrolled.  This is the story of the neighboring  towns of Heppner, Lexington and Ione Oregon on the 14th of June, 1903.  My paternal Great Great Grandfather, Josiah Stewart Boothby, was living in Lexington at that time working as a rancher and farmer.  I had no idea that this area endured so much devastation until I began my research into this side of the family.   The death toll was 247 souls and remains the deadliest natural disaster in Oregon history, and the second deadliest flashflood in the United States, behind the 1889 Johnstown flood  and ahead of the 1972 Black Hills flood.  The flood caused over $600,000 in damage, equivalent of $17 million dollars today (Wikipedia Heppner Flood of 1903).  

  

 The Heppner Gazette 18 June, 1903

  The town of Heppner is located in eastern Oregon, just south of US-84 and the Columbia River.  It lies in a small, tight valley that contains a small little stream that drains into the Columbia River.  Willow Creek is about ankle deep, and can even run dry during the summer.  However, on June 14, there was an exceptionally strong thunderstorm which dumped torrential rain and hail on the watershed of Willow Creek.  Within 15 minutes, smaller streams emptied into Willow Creek, which in turn sent water towards Heppner, which at that time had about 1,500 residents.  The rain and hail were so loud most people took shelter inside their homes, contributing to the death toll. It is thought that the rattle of hail masked the roar of the muddy water, trees, cattle and buildings that came down the canyon and into town.  The water was so powerful it picked up dozens of occupied houses and moved them downstream.  A third of the town of Heppner was gone, as well as a quarter of its population in a very short period of time. Excerpt from the Heppner Gazette....

"Words cannot express the horror, the awful destruction.  Entirely helpless, from the hillsides, the survivors watched the terrible waters take there course. To attempt to battle the great waves meant only suicide without being able to accomplish anything."

"This city is a heap of ruins. Twisted tree trunks against which are piled masses of wreckage mark the residence districts. Scattered throughout this wreckage and the bruised and distorted bodies of the dead..."

 "...the large two story residence building of T. W. Ayres left its foundation and swung around into May Street and crashed into and lodged on some wooden buildings just back of the Palace Hotel....Mr. Ayres was at the power house and his family was at home, when the building started. The family ran upstairs and were rescued when the building stopped ...the family came down on a ladder and were taken out uninjured." 

"Phil Cohn, whose family was out of town, was at home and asleep when the flood struck his house, he stayed with the building until it went to pieces and for a mile he clung to the wreckage, going under a half a dozen times or more, and was finally able to crawl out more dead than alive in W. O. Minor's alfalfa field." 

  The little town of Lexington, where Josiah Boothby lived, was down stream of Heppner.  The telegraph and telephone lines were out, so Lester Matlock and Bruce Kelly rode their horses down the valley, racing the moving water, and warned the ranchers and residents of Lexington and Ione of the approaching disaster.  Lexington was badly damaged, but Ione escaped any destruction.  When the flood had gone, it was apparent what force the water had.  These are excerpts from another local paper, talking specifically about Lexington, Oregon. 

"Fifty men were at work this morning breaking away the piles of trash expecting at any moment to come across the body of some unfortunate who went down in the flood. Yesterday morning, the body of an elderly lady, the wife of ex-judge Keithly, was found in Andrew Rainey's field two miles below Lexington. Mrs. Keithly was in Heppner when the flood came. As Heppner is nine miles from Lexington, it can be readily seen what force the water must have had to carry a body that distance.

  The paper also listed monetary damages suffered by its residents...

"B. M. Booher, one of the prettiest cottages and finest orchards in Lexington, $1,500 ; W. J. Davis, orchards and gardens ruined, $2,000;  J. S. Boothby $1,500 across the creek; Mrs.  Penland, owner of the principal portion of the townsite and several orchards up the creek, will loose $8,000......while some of these figures seem small it means everything to the poor unfortunates. Their all is gone. In many cases not even the soil is left in fit condition to cultivate.  Rocks are embedded in the slime, which covers the land to the depth of 12 to 20 inches." 

Willow Creek dam above the town of Heppner,  constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1981 to prevent further destructive flooding. 

   In 2003, a three-panel stone monument was placed in the town of Heppner to mark the 100th anniversary of the disaster. The monument also lists the names of the victims of June 14, 1903. 

  

  The present day Community Bible Church in Lexington, Oregon.  It was originally the Methodist Episcopal Church when Josiah Boothby and his family attended, and is best known for being swept off its foundation during the Heppner flood of 1903.  It rode the flood tide down the street and crashed into the Congregational Church.  It was retrieved, replaced and restored and continues to serve the community at its original site. 

 Josiah Stewart Boothby died in 1905, just two years after the disaster.  He was buried in the Penland Cemetery.  I have to think that this event had a profound effect on his health and his family.  His monetary losses were substantial.  My Great Grandfather, Josiah Thomas, was also living and working as a farmer in Lexington in 1900 with his wife Lillie Mae Hayman Boothby.  They had a home there with Lillie's four children by her first marriage (Ciola, Harry, Clyde and Marion), as well as Thomas Josiah Boothby, their first born together.  Although he is not listed with other town members as having lost a home or property, it took the town quite a long time to rebuild the railroad bed and other damaged infrastructure to enable it to function economically as it did before 1903.  By 1910 my Great Grandfather  was farming in Grass Valley, Oregon, so he may have not been able to make a living  in Lexington to support his growing family.   Lexington remains a very quiet little town today, with a population of a little over 200 people, up from 185 in 1910.  Residents are mainly sheep and cattle ranchers, and wheat farmers. 

53Ancestors52Weeks Week 7 Theme: Unusual Source. Or, How a Weird Tale Solved a Family Mystery (Harriet Bluett Hurd)

 3 June 1935 Nevada State Journal

  This week's theme is "Unusual Source".  Genealogists use many sources to find out facts about their relatives' lives:  Census reports, birth certificates, death certificates, funeral records and city directories can give up a great deal of information to a family historian and help create a basic outline or timeline of a person's life span. But, these resources can be a little "dry".  How do you add a little personality to the dry facts? 

  One of my favorite resources lately has been local newspapers.  They give wonderful and  personal details that  help make people that lived their lives long ago all the more real.  You can really get a feel for  their personalities, their beliefs, their interests and sometimes even hear things in their own words if they are quoted. You may be really  lucky and get to see a photograph! 

  Using newspaper articles as a resource is not that unusual in genealogical research. But,  newspaper stories can  give up unusual details that might help answer questions that have gone unanswered through the usual methods.   I found out something very unusual from a little snippet  in the Nevada State Journal just the other day, when I was searching for articles about another cousin, Alta Powers.  It was certainly a weird story, but it helped confirm a fact that I thought was true, but couldn't prove with the usual resources. 

  For the last several years I have been researching my Hurd/Bluett families that came from Pennsylvania to California and Nevada in the mid 1800's.  They were a hardy bunch that ended up living in the mining town of Virginia City, Nevada.  My Great Great Great Grandmother was Harriet Bluett Hurd.  She and her husband had a total of 10 children, and she came to the west from Pennsylvania not once, but twice.  The first trip the family made was across the Isthmus of Panama and up the coast to San Francisco, and then by stage to Nevada City, California.  Her husband died in a mine accident in Virginia City in 1876, after the family had gone back to Pennsylvania and made yet another trip back out west to settle in Virginia City.    She lived there with her remaining children until her death in 1893 at the age of 58.  

  I had several nice resources on her life to work from, including 40 years worth of US  census records, census population records from Pennsylvania, and local County birth and death records.  I even found several newspaper snippets about her trips to visit family in Nevada City, and her last illness and eventually her death.  I did not, however, have any records of her place of burial.  I had many records of her children's final resting places, but not hers nor her husbands.  The family story was that she was buried in Virginia City, but no one could locate her actual grave. 

  My mother tells  the story of how she and her uncle and grandmother (my GGG Grandmother Harriet's granddaughter)  drove up to Virginia City, Nevada  from Nevada City, California (a day trip to be sure) in the 50's.  They went to the cemetery trying to find where the grave was.  My mom recounts the story..."I can see all of us tramping around the cemetery with the wild winds whipping the long grass around.  Spooky, especially when you are a kid!"  I too, have been tramping around that cemetery looking for relatives, with no luck.  And yes, the cemetery can be spooky with its constant winds, weeds and sagebrush. 

The Silver Terrace Cemetery Virginia City, Nevada.  From Travel Nevada.

  As I was looking for articles with the name of Alta Powers (I had been researching her story at the time) on Newspapers.com during their latest free weekend,  this headline jumped out at me. GROUND COLLAPSES AS RENO GIRL PUTS FLOWERS ON GRAVE. What? Whose grave? Was she Ok? I didn't even have Harriet Bluett Hurd on my radar that day. As I read on, the article gave the exact relationship to the deceased...her grandmother.  That would have been Harriet Bluett Hurd!  It also gave the location of the grave as "near the old Mexico Mine" in Virginia City.  Well, that would have been very close to the vicinity of the Silver Terrace Cemetery.  The grave was probably over one of the many tunnels from the mine, and the ground gave way.   And, thank goodness, my first cousin 3x removed was ok after the ordeal. 

   Considering that there are hundreds of unmarked graves in this cemetery, and at that time the ground was still under threat of collapsing, I will probably never determine the exact location of her burial.  But, now I do know that she was, in fact, buried in Virginia City in 1893.  Her husband is most likely there, too.  Too bad this very strange and weird story didn't get passed on to my Great Grandmother! 

  

Relationship Reference:  Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Harold Hansen->Vere Burrows Hansen->Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows->Harriet Bluett Hurd

Alta Powers was the daughter of Hattie Hurd Powers, whose mother was Harriet Bluett Hurd. Harriet was a younger sister of Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows. 

The Hurd Family: Valuable Heirlooms Donated To Bowers Mansion (Hurd)

 

An excerpt from the article published in the Nevada State Journal 7 March 1951

  Imagine my surprise when I found this gem of an article in the Nevada State Journal!  As I did more research, I learned that more than 500 families have donated period furnishings that are now housed in Bowers Mansion.  Within this story is a mention of the famous Steinway that was moved from the Meacham house to the Piper Opera House the night Emma Nevada gave her concert in Virginia City (3 December, 1885).  The Hurd and Powers families were very proud of that piano.  

Bowers Mansion taken in the 1860's Nevada Magazine July-August 2014

  Bowers Mansion was built by Sandy and Eilley Bowers who made their fortune in silver mining on the Comstock.  They chose to build their grand home at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains overlooking Washoe Lake in 1862.  By 1868 the silver mines had played out and before Sandy could sell his mine he died of a lung condition. Eilley turned the mansion into a public resort to help pay the bills.  She advertised the mansion as having fine baths, a piano, an extensive library, a billiard table and all the comforts of home. Two manmade ponds were available for use and there were landscaped grounds to enjoy. By 1873 the Mansion had become a premier destination with picnickers and "Pioneers" who came every year to reminisce about the early days on the Comstock.  Sadly, by 1876 Eilley lost everything at a public auction, but for the next quarter century owners and managers opened the mansion to the public.  The V &T Railroad offered affordable excursion tickets allowing locals to swim, dance and picnic as they did in the past. (Nevada Magazine July-August 2014). 

  The  Historic Bowers Mansion continues to be a summer respite for locals, as it is now located within Bowers Mansion Regional Park (Washoe County, Nevada). You are able to take tours of the home,  picnic, swim, play and enjoy the grounds May through October.  School tours are very popular, also.  

 Here is the article as it appeared in the paper.....

Original Bedstead, Other Valuables Given To Bowers By Hurd Family

 "Last week, Mrs. B.R Addenbrooke, curator of the Bowers Mansion, received some precious heirlooms that were part of the mansion's original furniture." 

  "They were gifts of the 'three Hurd girls', two of whom are living today in Reno.  Mrs. Annie Hurd Smith and Miss Edith Hurd, two of the well known 'three Hurd girls' in Virginia City in the heyday of the Comstock, live at 120 Stevenson St. in Reno.  Unfortunately many of the pictures of those historic days which the sisters had were destroyed in the flood last winter."  (The Thanksgiving Flood of 1950)

  Piano Cover

  "Now, on the piano in the Bowers Mansion is the piano cover that covered the Steinway piano sent around Cape Horn to James Fair, one of the 'Big Four' of those early days. This is a gift of Alta Powers, of Oakland."

  "It is a large cover, 6x7 feet, of beautiful tapestry. Its colors are blue and tan, and completely around the cover is a deep fringe. The piano was purchased by Robert Meacham, the only coal and wood dealer in Virginia City at that time, and by him given to Alta Powers, his granddaughter, a daughter of Mrs. Ina Powers Sample, of Pasadena, California. (Correction:  Ina was Alta's older sister, not her mother). Mrs. Sample died a few years ago, and the piano was disposed of, but Alta Powers kept the piano cover, which is now the property of Bowers Mansion."

Other Gifts

  "From Mrs. Annie Hurd Smith and Miss Edith Hurd, the mansion received some exquisite pillow slips, bordered in crocheted lace seven inches wide, with insertions set between clusters of hand run tucks.  At the same time Miss Hurd and Mrs.  Smith gave Bowers Mansion some pillow shams, less ornate, embroidered in turkey red thread, and some splashers, fringed and embroidered in turkey red hem are handmade, indicating that the women of that day had much time to spend on work of this kind."

  "But probably the most valued gift received from the members of the Hurd family was one of the original bedsteads that was purchased for the mansion by Eilley and Sandy Bowers, bought from them by Robert Meacham and in turn turned over to the Hurd family. The chair, table and bureau of the early days that were part of the bedroom suite are in Pasadena, but the original bed has never left Nevada, and in the spring will be placed in a suitable room in Bowers Mansion."

 Former Teacher

  "Edith Hurd, who came from Pennsylvania to Virginia City when she was six months old, knew the 'Big Four' of that era very well.  She taught school later in Virginia City.  Her father, William Hurd, was a mining engineer in Virginia City and her brother, John H. Hurd, ran a hoist in the old C and C Mine."

  "The 'Three Hurd Girls' are the survivors of a family of 11.  Their father, William Hurd was killed in an accident in Virginia City.  Mrs. Hattie Hurd Powers was one of the three sisters and Alta Powers is her daughter."

  "Both Miss Gloria Mapes, president of the furnishing committee, and Mrs. Addenbrooke, curator of Bowers Mansion, were very happy yesterday when they got the history of the old bedstead, one of the original pieces of furniture in the mansion.  The response of the 'old timers' who wish to see the mansion restored to its original splendor has been remarkable, and the work of completing the job has been speeded up through the cooperation of many to whom the early day history of Nevada has become highly important."

  All genealogists have to do lists.  Making a phone call to the curator of Bowers Mansion in May (they are currently closed) is now on my list of things to do.  I would love to see if they have any of these items still in their possession, and determine exactly which bedstead belonged in our family.  With COVID restrictions being lifted, I may even get to take a tour!  I have to admit; I have lived in this area for almost 40 years and I have not yet been inside Bowers Mansion.  Now, I have an extra special reason to do some exploring.  Field trip!!

  There are several interesting articles and videos on the Bowers Mansion website through Washoe County.  I especially recommend the article from Travel Nevada entitled Legendary Nevadans: Eilley Bowers of Washoe Valley and the video from Wild Nevada (Episode 509) where you can see the furnishings and accessories inside the mansion.  The clip is about 8 minutes into the video.  The site can be reached at: 

https://www.washoecounty.us/parks/specialty_facilities/bowers_mansion.php

  These are just more tidbits of information I have found from my research that remind me everyday of what a unique connection my family has to this area I have called home and have loved for 36 years.  I hope my grandchildren down the line will  appreciate this also.  I bet my Great Grandmother Hansen never once thought about having a great granddaughter of the future who would be so interested in learning about where she came from and the people that helped get her there!

Relationship Reference:  Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Harold Hansen->Vere Burrows Hansen->Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows.  

The "Three Hurd Girls" were Elizabeth Jane's younger sisters.  Her sister Hattie Hurd Powers was the mother of Ina and Alta Powers. 

The Hurd Family: A Night with Emma Nevada, a Relic of Historic Import and Sentimental Treasures from the Comstock (Hurd)

 

 Emma Nevada in Paris circa 1880 from Nevada Magazine March-April 2020

26 November 1885 Nevada State Journal

  Emma Nevada has several connections to the Hurd family, oddly enough.  She was born Emma Wixom February 7, 1859 in the Alpha Mining camp near Nevada City, California.  The Hurds were living in Nevada City at the time.  Emma's father moved to Austin, Nevada a few years later where Emma's singing talent was discovered when she was just 5 years old. She went on to study voice and language at Mills College in California.  Her beautiful soprano voice took her from Oakland to Europe.  In 1880 she changed her name to Emma Nevada and began an illustrious European career singing in prestigious operas and performing for royalty.  In 1885, she returned to the US and performed in Austin and Virginia City.  In 1902 she performed at her Alma Mater Mills College, as well as in Nevada City.   She died in 1940 at the age of 81, the pride and joy of Nevada. (excerpts taken from Nevada Magazine March-April 2020 issue by Eric Cachinero).  

  An article written in the Reno Evening Gazette 31 July, 1943 gives some insight into the other connection to Emma Nevada.  The family piano is part of the story, and I am sure the Meacham and possibly the Hurd families were in attendance at the opera house on November 26, 1885 to hear the great Emma Nevada.  The family must have been very proud of this event, as it comes up in several stories related through the years.  The article also gives us a  glimpse of what kind of art and furniture was found in Hattie Powers' home!  It is a long, flowery article, and I have condensed it a bit,  but is worth the read.  

ARTS AND ARTISTS

"A relic of historic import and many sentimental treasures which whisper of yesterdays on the Comstock lend special interest to the home of Mrs. Hattie L. Powers, 120 Stevenson Street, Reno." 

 "Strains of 'Tis the Last Rose of Summer', 'Home Sweet Home', and other loved old-time melodies stir one's mind while viewing an impressive large square Steinway piano whose solid ivory keys still gleam their whiteness.  In the early days of Nevada's history, it was shipped from New York, traveling the long distance around Cape Horn to grace the home of James G. Fair, one of the 'Big Four' on the Comstock. Later when Fair's household furnishings were being sold, it was purchased by Mr. Powers' step-father, Robert S. Meacham, pioneer lumberman of the Comstock, who began supplying lumber to the mines in the late 60's  and lived there until 1912."

  "The piano was once used on the stage of Piper's Opera House for it so happened that when Emma Nevada came to Virginia City to sing, those many years ago, there was no Steinway piano for her accompanist.  Since this famed Nevada singer would have none other than a Steinway, Meacham's piano was moved into the opera house for her performance."

 

  "In the Powers' parlor are old time paintings by Mrs. Meacham and by another member of the family, Carrie A. Hurd, sister of Mrs. Powers. There is also a flower study in watercolor by Kate Mansfield, a Comstock painter of the Gay Nineties.  We remembered reading in the Comstock's famous newspaper, 'The Territorial Enterprise', under the date of November 27, 1895, an item which read, 'Miss Kate Mansfield has opened a studio on the corner of B and Taylor streets in the Mallon building and is prepared to give lessons in all kinds of art work, also a special class in drawing for children.  All kinds of decorative work done reasonably.  Portraits in oil, watercolor and crayon.  For particulars, call at the studio.' "

  "........Attracting attention in the dining room is a very interesting oil painting by Mrs. Meacham painted under the tutelage  of Kate Mansfield..it depicts a dining table  spread with embroidered white cloth and laden with various fruits and dainty cakes."

  "In the bedroom is a sturdily constructed marble-topped dresser of the Civil War period, brought down from the Comstock, which boasts a secret drawer. A fine desk in the dining room is a Virginia City relic which has happily withstood the wear of many years."

 

  "Adorning a bedroom in the Powers' home is a large plate glass mirror whose very wide silvery frame displays the joint artistry of Kate Mansfield and Mrs. Meacham in the form of a lovely spray of chrysanthemums painted in oil, a few of whose autumn tinted blooms extend onto the mirror. It is a charming example of home decoration in the Gay Nineties."

  "In those 'oil-lamp' days, it was the mark of a lady to follow some artistic pursuit and Grandmother Meacham painted on china as well as canvas. Her many fine articles of hand-painted china attest to her marked aptitude for the work.  Whole sets of decorative china, some of which are the exquisite, fragile 'egg-shell' have been handed down to her granddaughters, Miss Alta Powers of Reno and Ina Powers Sample of Pasadena, California. Unique indeed to the present generation is a kidney-shaped set of 'bone' dishes used to receive bones from meat courses and there is a score of butter pats bearing charming decorations by this pioneer Comstock mother who sought beauty for her home in this frontier community." 

 "Mrs. Meacham devised a design which included the Meacham monogram and this was used on a set of silverware made at Schreve's in San Francisco from bullion she had sent down from the Comstock Lode."

  "Mrs. Powers possess a necklace whose pendant is a five-dollar gold piece marked on one side with Grandfather Meacham's monogram R S M."

  "Still another heirloom which has descended to one of the granddaughters is a quaint heart-shaped locket on which is pivoted a gold nugget taken from the Ophir Mine on the Comstock and it is surrounded by tiny turquoise stones and chip rubies.  A token of affection, it was presented years ago by Grandfather Meacham to Grandmother Meacham." 

  

 According to Alta Powers in her memoirs (previous post) the piano was handed down to first Alta, and then went to Ina's house in Pasadena. After Ina's death, Alta sold the piano to a "Pasadena lady whom I knew would treasure it and take care of it".  I hope she did.  

  Schreve and Company is still in business in San Francisco on Post Street.  They have been in business since 1852.  By the 1860's they had established their reputation as the finest silver and goldsmith in America, and became one of the more elite jewelry businesses in San Francisco. Their building on the corner of Post and Grant was a brand new "earthquake proof" building which opened in March of 1906, and was one of the few buildings to survive not only the earthquake, but the fire on April 18, 1906.  After the earthquake the company reopened and eventually  introduced their first line of  flatware, as well the publication of  their first series of illustrated catalogs. (shreve.com/our-story).  Grandma Meacham died in 1912, so she could have devised her design for the set of silverware from Schreve's after 1906.  

  If you have lived in or visited Reno or Sparks you may remember this Golden Rooster from John Ascuaga's Nugget.  It is solid (not hollow) 18 carat gold. Weight is 15 pounds.  Newman's Silver Shop of Reno and Schreve's of San Francisco teamed together to create this masterpiece for the Nugget Casino.  It was auctioned off in 2014, selling for $234,000.  (Reno Gazette Journal  27 July, 2014). 

What a unique connection to the treasures of Grandma Meacham!

  

The Hurd Family: Stories From the Comstock During the Turn of the Century (Hurd)

Ina and Alta Hutchinson Virginia City, Nevada Circa 1900  Shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com

  Ina and Alta Hutchinson were the daughters of  Hattie Hurd Powers and Avery Rhodes Powers.  They were both born in Virginia City, Nevada.  Ina was born in 1895 and Alta was born in 1899.  In 1900 the family lived on the east side of "C" Street with Robert Meacham and Altana Powers Meacham.  Robert Meacham was the step father to Avery, and owned the local lumber yard in town.  Avery also worked at the lumberyard as an accountant.  

                                                     Ina Powers circa 1897-8 shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com

  Ina attended the Fourth Ward School and graduated in 1912 in a class with 6 students.  She went on to graduate from the University of Nevada, Reno, and then taught at Southside School before continuing her education at the University of California, Berkeley in 1932.  She worked as a speech therapist, and as a teacher of the deaf.  She was affiliated with the John Tracy Clinic for the Hard of Hearing.  She also taught at Pasadena Junior College.  She passed away in 1948 at the age of 53.   

  

Ina Powers before 1920 shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com

  Alta Powers worked as a telegraph operator, a stenographer and a bookkeeper in Reno, Nevada.  She lived with her parents in Virginia City and then later with her aunts Annie and Edith in Reno.  She lived with her mother in Reno when her parent's  marriage ended and Avery remarried.  Later in life, she moved to California, living in Oakland and Pasadena.  She led a very busy social life, and was a member of several social and business groups.  She and her friend Lois Cloud were mentioned in many newspaper snippets during the 30's and 40's.  She loved to travel and was an amateur photographer.  She was even on a basketball team in 1932...

13 February 1932 Nevada State Journal

  Alta was also a keeper of the family stories.  I was fortunate to find her typed memoirs on Ancestry.com.  These are priceless, as they really give a feel for living on the Comstock at the turn of the century.  Pay attention to the story of the piano, as it comes up later in the story of the Hurd girls.  This is the second set of Memoirs; I cannot find the first set.  This was shared by an Ancestry member named azbombero in 2014.  

  

    

Alta Powers as a young lady shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com

Alta Powers shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com

  Alta passed away in 1999 at the age of 99, and is buried in Inglewood, California. It looks like she and her friend Lois Cloud were residents of a residential care facility in Jackson, California towards the end of their lives.   Alta was buried in the same mausoleum section as Lois at the Inglewood Park Cemetery. 

Relationship Reference:  Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Harold Hansen->Vere Burrows Hansen->Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows.  Hattie Hurd Powers was the second to youngest sister of Elizabeth Jane.  

  What's next? .....Alta was also a keeper of "the stuff".  What happened to the Hurd belongings?  And where was Harriet Hurd buried?  

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 6 Theme: Valentine "Playing House on Pleasant Street" (Hansen/Boothby)

Dale Boothby summer 1950    Grass Valley, California

 

Margaret Hansen   summer 1950     Grass Valley, California

  This week's theme is Valentine.  This is the story of how my father, Dale Richard Boothby and my mother, Margaret Ann Hansen met when they were both 9 years old. They dated in their senior year of high school,  eventually married and stayed happily married for 51 years.  I thought this was a perfect story for Valentines Day.  And, the prompt got my Mom to finally write it down. 

     This story is in the words of my Mom....(thank you for sharing your memories!)....

  "After our house fire we moved in with Nana in her big house on South Auburn Street, where A&A Sheet Metal is now.  Their office building is where our apple and pear orchard were and the house was on the hill behind that.  I think that was 1950."

  "In the summer time we all moved into town to Pleasant Street, a big house with a yard and a little rental in the back.  I don't know if it was to be purchased or if we were renting at the time, but we lived there such a short time I don't remember a lot about the house.  I do remember that the Boothbys lived at the very end of Pleasant Street in small house that had a hedge in front so you could not see into the yard.  Once Claire (Mom's younger sister) and I went up the street and "lurked" near the hedge to listed to Nino and Nonna talking in Italian.  It was very exotic!!" 

  "There were lots of kids our age, or close, living nearby so we had others to play with during the long summer days.  The polio epidemic struck GV that summer and one boy up on High Street came down with it so we were pretty much confined to our own yard after that.  Dale and Kent Boothby were some of the kids we played with.  Dale got a new Schwin bike that summer and brought it down for us to see.  I asked to ride it (I had never ridden a bike before) and took it for a short ride on the sidewalk in front of our house and then onto the dirt walkway next door where the cement ended and where there were rocks at the edge between the trail and the street.  The bike and I fell off the walkway and onto the rocks where I ended up with a skinned leg from the rocks.  I went screaming into the house, bleeding and scraped up, and left the bike laying where it fell. I was getting patched up when an indignant Mrs. Boothby came down the street to get the bike and yelled at me and my mother about leaving the bike near the road and how I had scratched it all up.  You can tell I've never really forgiven her for being more concerned about the new bike than my wounds!!  Dale and Kent came down often and we played "house" with Dale and me as parents and Kent and Claire as the kids.  We had a basement reached from the outside of the house where we set up chairs and a table for our housekeeping events."

  "At that time kids were all about cowboys and horses.  We played Cowboys and Indians, went to the Saturday movies where a western was always part of the day along with cartoons and a feature film.  Everyone we knew had cap guns (Claire and I were not allowed the gun thing, but had a "cap cane" where you'd insert the cap on one end and bang it on the ground to make it go off.  I thought that was really dumb, but there you were if your parents did not approve of guns).  I read books about horses, made stick horses out of tree branches and a rope, etc.  So one day a man came around the neighborhood with a cute Shetland pony and lots of different outfits for boys and girls and would, for a fee, take pictures of the kids sitting on the pony.  Claire and I begged to be allowed to have our pictures taken and we dressed up in the costumes and the man took the pictures.  He sent the photos in the mail later.  A lot of other kids in the neighborhood also had their pictures taken with the pony that summer, including Dale and Kent."

  "In later years, when anyone would ask how we met, Dale would say, 'We met when were in the third grade and played house in her basement and we've been playing house ever since!' It was his standard line and always got a laugh.  We were in the same class in 5th grade and in 9th grade were in Latin I class together.  We took all four years of Latin where we got to know each other pretty well, started dating in our senior year after we had both been accepted at UOP (University of the Pacific).  The rest is history, as they say.  It was always a point of pride for us to be able to say we'd known each other since we were 9 and living on the same street and then Dale would say his famous line.  We 'played house' for 51 years." 

 

Margaret and Dale Boothby 25 June 1961  and at their 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration in 2011. 

  

The Hurd Family: Edith Hurd and a Family Tradition of Teaching (Hurd)

31 August 1930 Nevada State Journal 

  Edith Hurd was my Great Great Aunt, the youngest sister of my Great Great Grandmother Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows.  This is her story!  

I share a birthday with Edith Francis Hurd, who was born February 4, 1875.  Picture shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com. 

  Edith Francis Hurd was the last child born to William and Harriet Hurd.  She was born in Mahanoy, Pennsylvania right before the family came back out to Virginia City, Nevada.  She was only a year old when her father William died in a mining accident in the Ophir Mine.  Edith had several older sisters who taught in Virginia City, first at the First Ward School, and then at the Fourth Ward School.  The family made sure that the youngest daughter would have a good education, as she  attended Bishop Whitaker's School for Girls in Reno, and graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno before going on to become a teacher and eventually a principal in Reno.   She had an amazing career and was the contemporary of  many women who have very familiar names to anyone living in Reno:  Miss Mamie Towles,  Miss Echo Loder,  Miss Libbie Booth,  Miss Grace Warner,  Miss  Rita Cannan,  Miss Alice Maxwell, and Miss Jessie Beck.  If those names sound familiar, it is  because elementary schools in this area bear those names!  

                                Here is a timeline of Edith Hurd's life and career.  

1875 Edith was born on 4 February Mahanoy, Pennsylvania, and the family moved back to Virginia City, Nevada.  In 1876 William was killed in a mining accident in the Ophir Mine.  

1891 Edith was 16 years old when she traveled from Virginia City to Reno to attend the Bishop Whitaker School for Girls (2 Sept. 1891 Nevada State Journal).  Ozi Whitaker was the Episcopal Bishop of Nevada.  On his arrival in Reno, he saw the need for educational opportunities for girls and built a school on land donated by Charles Crocker of the Central Pacific Railroad. It is located where Whitaker Park is now.  It was completed in 1879, and had a dormitory for boarding 40 girls and was a day school for local girls.   Edith may have been a boarder.  Highly qualified educators provided rigorous courses through 12th grade as well as exposure to traditional Christian values. Monthly tuition was $65 a month, and so attracted daughters of wealthy Nevada families and boarders from the east.  The school closed in 1894. (Mella Harmon, "Bishop Whitaker's School for Girls (site) Reno Historical). 

Bishop Whitaker's School for Girls    Courtesy of Jerry Fenwick (Mella Harmon, "Bishop Whitaker's School for Girls (site) Reno Historical)

  Her mother Harriet died in 1893, leaving the rest of the family to make sure she completed her education.  Edith's family was not wealthy, but she had many siblings that most likely made sure the tuition was paid.  Education was always a top priority for the Hurd girls.  She was on the Roll of Merit in 1893, and the Honor Roll in 1894 in the Music Department.  

1896 June 9 Edith Hurd graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno (the University was moved from Elko and opened in Reno in 1886).  She graduated from the Normal School  which was a department specifically designed to  prepare high school graduates for teaching in the many remote  mining towns in the state. 

1900 The US Census enumerated Edith as living in Rebel Creek,  Humboldt County (half way between McDermitt and Winnemucca on Highway 95).  She was a boarder, and was working as a teacher.  What an experience that would have been!  That area of Nevada was, and still is, out in the middle of nowhere.  

By 1903 Edith was back in Reno.  She was teaching,  as in 1905 she won a contest sponsored by the Palace Dry Goods Company (July 21 1905 Reno Evening Gazette): 

She returned from Portland on August 19, 1905 (Reno Evening Gazette).  She had attended the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair.......

 

1916 According to the Nevada Educational Directory of 1916 Edith was teaching at the Orvis Ring School (Libby Booth was principal), living at 339 W. First Street in Reno.  

1917 Edith was teaching at the South Side School, and making $1,000.  Her friend Echo Loder was Principal at the Mary S. Doten School, where Ina Powers was also teaching. Ina was the daughter of Edith's sister Hattie, and had graduated from UNR also.  (GoogleBooks.com State of Nevada Educational Directory) 

1923 The Reno City Directory listed Edith as teaching at a High School (it didn't list which one). 

1925 The Reno City Directory listed Edith as the Principal at McKinley Park Elementary, which was just down the street from where she lived on 339 West First Street. This was the first mention I had found of her career as a Principal.  

McKinley Park Elementary around 1915 Courtesy Special Collections, University Nevada, Reno Libraries.  The school was about 6 blocks from Edith's home on West First Street. Across the Truckee River from her house was the Trinity Episcopal Church.  This picture was taken before the construction of the Keystone Avenue Bridge to the west.  The trees were just newly planted. 

  Just a little side note on McKinley Park Elementary....it was designed by George Ferris in 1909 and was part of the "Spanish Quartet" schools built in Reno in the early 20th century.  The other three were Mt. Rose Elementary (still in use as a school),  Mary S. Doten on Lander Street (no longer in existence), and Orvis Ring Grammar School on Evans Avenue (no longer in existence).  McKinley Park Elementary is now the McKinley Arts and Cultural Center overseen by the City of Reno.  renohistorical.org is a wonderful resource for history in the Reno area if you are interested. The school was built on the sight of  McKinley Park, which was named after President McKinley who had been assassinated in 1901.  

   Edith Hurd also taught at  the Southside School which was on East Liberty Street.  The newer art deco annex was built in 1936, and the original building built in 1903 does not exist any longer.  

  The last mention I could find of Edith's position as Principal of McKinley Park was in an article written in February of 1936 in the Reno Evening Gazette.   I believe she retired after that, as she had been teaching since the turn of the century.  At that time she was living at 120 Stevenson Street, which was on the same corner block as 339 West 1st Street.  I am not sure if it was an apartment building at the time, or how the address changed,  but she did live with her sister  Winnifred  Curtis and her family at one time at the West First street address and then her sister Annie and her sister Hattie, as well as Hattie's daughter Alta at the Stevenson street address.  It was an address that Morrill Curtis was living at in 1920, and may have been his property.  I need to do more research into this property.  

  Edith did not marry, but kept up a busy social life with her friends and family.  It looks like she also loved to travel during her summers off....

12 August 1912 Reno Evening Gazette.  Miss Sweiss was also a teacher.  

24 June 1935 Reno Evening Gazette

  And, she found time to spend with her niece Ina during Ina's  summer vacation....

  

Ina Powers Sample was the daughter of Edith's sister Hattie.  Ina taught in Reno, and then went on to become a teacher at Pasadena Junior College.  She specialized in teaching the hearing impaired.  24 July 1943 Nevada State Journal. 

  

27 July 1960 Reno Evening Gazette

  There are so many other stories I found in the newspapers about Edith.  Too many to share all of them.  She must have been a popular teacher, as she was reported to be "near death" in 1907 from typhoid fever (thank goodness she recovered), she underwent an operation at St. Mary's in 1926, she saved a young lady from a car wreck on the Truckee Highway in 1932, she was an Eisenhower supporter in 1956 and entertained friends at the Mapes in 1957.  She led a wonderful life and had a very successful career.  

  What fascinates me the most  about my Great Great Aunt is that I had no idea she even existed until a few years ago.  I have lived in Reno for 37 years and have driven by McKinley Park School at least a thousand times.  I have driven by the cemetery where Edith is buried many, many times, as I lived in the same neighborhood.   I finished my Masters at the University of Nevada, Reno, helping to start a brand new department of Early Childhood Special Education in 1986.  I worked in the Washoe County School District for 31 years, teaching young children with developmental disabilities and working with their families.  My first teaching job was at Mamie Towles Elementary in 1984.  I spent a total of  7 years teaching at Alice Maxwell Elementary during my career.  Now, all these parts of my life have a very different meaning in the context of my family history.   I also have a unique place in this story of education in the Truckee Meadows! 

  I am so proud of the many wonderful women that came before me and laid educational foundations here in Reno.  And now, I can count my relatives in that group.  Ella Hurd taught at the First and Fourth Ward school in Virginia City, Carrie Hurd graduated and also taught at the Fourth Ward school in Virginia City, Hattie Hurd's daughter Ina graduated from UNR and taught handicapped children, and of course, Edith's teaching career that began in remote Rebel Creek in 1900.  I secretly wish that an elementary school had been named after Edith Hurd.....!

  And how can I not mention my mother, Margaret Hansen Boothby, who was (and still is) a life long educator in Nevada County, California.   I watched her juggle a teaching career along with family and community responsibilities while I was growing up in Nevada City.  I had a wonderful role model!  I will also mention Gay (Hansen) Sandberg, who was an educator in the Washoe County School District for many, many years (daughter of Robley Hansen, Harold Hansen's brother).  She taught Government and Civics at the Jr. and Senior High level, teaching at McQueen and Hug High Schools.   Claire Hansen Clark, my aunt,  had a short teaching career before raising her family in California.  We have a unique family tradition of teachers on this side of the family to be sure. 

  

  Just a few years ago, my mom and my daughter and I  visited the Fourth Ward School in Virginia City (which is now a museum) and just marveled at how our relatives carried out their teaching duties.  It was a great trip back in time!

Patti (Boothby) Alden and Margaret (Hansen) Boothby 18 June, 2017 Fourth Ward School, Virginia City, Nevada

Fourth Ward School Virginia City, Nevada 2017 (photo by Patti Alden)

Fourth Ward School Interior 2017 (photo by Patti Alden)

Relationship Reference: Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Harold Hansen->Vere Burrows Hansen->Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows (older sister to the Hurd girls).