52Ancestors52Weeks Week 21 Theme At the Cemetery: Meeting Josiah S. Boothby and Other Boothby Relatives at the Penland Cemetery

Headstone of Josiah Stewart Boothby Penland Cemetery Lexington, Oregon.  Photo by Patti Alden

                                    

   Have you ever planned a trip with your husband, with the express purpose of secretly squeezing in a visit to a cemetery?  We had been camping and exploring the Painted Hills and the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument area of eastern Oregon for a week or so in October of 2017.  We were 550 miles from our home in northern Nevada.  In the middle of our trip I opened Google Maps on my Ipad and began talking out loud.  "But, Sweetie, Heppner and Lexington are only 2 1/2 hours away! And who knows when we will ever get back up here again?" That was my sneaky plan all along, and luckily my husband thought it would be a great adventure to drive north from our RV home base in Dayville, Oregon to find the Penland Cemetery.  "My Great Great Grandfather is up there.  I know exactly where he's buried according to Find A Grave.  I'll never get a chance to see him again.  I have to go there!" And off we went. 

  

    There is just something about visiting a place where a distant relative lived, and was eventually buried. There is an unexplainable pull or draw.  Do you think you might meet them walking down the street?  Perhaps you might feel their presence somewhere.  For me,  I just enjoy looking at scenes or places that my ancestors might have also looked at during their lifetime.  I imagine myself looking through their eyes.  It was their own unique place in the world and I want to feel like I am making a connection there. 

  That is exactly what I felt as we found ourselves south of the little town of Heppner, Oregon.  We drove north through the Umatilla National Forest on State Highway Route 207 for quite awhile until the trees abruptly thinned out and we were suddenly on top of prehistoric basalt lava flows as far as the eye could see.  Not a tree in sight. Just golden fallow wheat fields and green fall alfalfa fields growing in patches on the thin top layer of soil.  In between the flows were small valleys where the water found its way over thousands of years.  The road would follow the hills and valleys and when we got back up the hills out of the valleys it literally felt like we were on top of the world.  This was the landscape that my Great Great Grandfather saw.  

  

  We made it to the town of Heppner and took pictures of the Morrow County Courthouse (built with dark blue basalt)  and then found a pizza place for lunch (it was called "Two Old Hags Pizza" but served a great Hawaiian).  We drove around and found the local historical society which was closed for the season.  At least I know where that is now.  Then, we were off to the cemetery in nearby Lexington where Josiah S. Boothby was buried.  I couldn't wait to meet him!  I had emailed the nice man in the county office several days before we visited, and he said the gate was always open.  Google Maps took us right through sleepy little Lexington and out Cemetery Hill Road to the cemetery.  

The Penland Cemetery with Lexington in the background.  Photo taken October 2017 by Patti Alden

Yes, the gate was unlocked.  Penland Cemetery Gate Lexington, Oregon.  Picture taken October 2017 by Patti Alden

  It took a few minutes of searching and matching landmarks to find the headstone I was looking for.  I remember that the cemetery was so quiet.  All you could hear was the occasional breeze blowing by.  We did not see a  living soul anywhere.  We didn't hear a car drive by or  working farm equipment, or even a plane overhead.  I took a picture of the area directly across the street from the cemetery.  The October sun was still warm, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.  It was a very moving experience.  

    I spent some time taking pictures, experiencing the calm and pondering the life of my Great Great Grandfather.   He was a Civil War Veteran, having served 3 years in the Union army, before coming to Lexington.  He was elected as a representative in the state legislature for Morrow County after moving to Oregon.  He worked as a farmer in the area, and survived the Heppner flood of 1903. I have previously written about the Heppner Flood in a February 23, 2021 post.   Josiah was a respected member of his church and community.  He had a total of seven children.  

  I did find one of his daughters in the Penland Cemetery, in the adjoining plot.   She was his last child, born in 1874 in Kansas to his second wife Susan Yates.  His daughter had come to Oregon with the Boothbys and married Charles Beymer who was a farmer originally  from Ohio.   Her name was Lulu E. (possibly Ella) Boothby Beymer, and she died shortly after giving birth to her second daughter in 1900.  She was 27 years old.  Both of her living daughters were raised separately by different family members.   

Lulu E. Boothby Beymer's headstone Penland Cemetery Lexington, Oregon.  Photo taken by Patti Alden

  It was a quiet trip back to our campsite, but punctuated by absolutely beautiful scenery of the Blue Mountains in the distance and the Umatilla Forest once again while the sun slowly set.  I felt like I was just a little bit closer to knowing my Boothby relatives.  In the last several years since that visit, I have found more information on my Oregon relatives.  My Great Great Grandmother Affa Woodcock Hayman was buried in an unmarked grave in the Heppner Cemetery (see my March 26, 2021 post).  I am planning another trip to the area to do more research, and of course, visit a cemetery or two.  But this time it won't be such a secret! 

Relationship Reference:  Me->Dale Boothby->Sterl Boothby->Josiah Thomas Boothby->Josiah Stewart Boothby

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 19 Theme Mother's Day: Lillie Mae Hayman Horner Boothby

 

Lillie Mae Hayman Horner Boothby b. about 1870 Maine d. 6 May 1930 San Francisco, California

   The theme for this week is Mother's Day.  I haven't written much about Lillie Mae Hayman Horner Boothby.  She was my paternal Great Grandmother, the mother of my Grandfather Sterl Boothby.  I have previously written about Lillie Mae's mother Affa Hayman (March 26, 2021) and her untimely death.  As I researched Affa's children,  including Lillie Mae, I was impressed by their resiliency and the families they raised.  Lillie Mae raised a total of seven children.   Here is her story. 

    Lillie Mae was born around 1870 in Calais, Washington County,  Maine to her parents Martin Dinsmore Hayman and Hannah "Affa" Woodcock.  When she was just 6 months old, the family moved to Portland, Oregon where her father worked as a teamster driving horse drawn street cars.   

  I looked at the 1880 US Census for Umatilla County, Midway Precinct more closely for this post.  It appeared that Martin had moved the family to Umatilla County to try his hand at farming.  They lived near the little town of Hermiston.  Dry land wheat farming was just beginning in eastern Oregon at this time.    Most occupations of male heads of family in the Midway precinct were listed as farmer, stock raiser or herder.  Martin's occupation was listed as farmer.  Martin was 40 and Affa was 37 years old.  Interestingly, both Martin and Affa listed themselves as disabled (the definition being either maimed, crippled or bedridden).  I have not been able to find any other mention of disabilities for both of them, although Affa died young and under questionable circumstances.  Perhaps this played a part in her death.  

  By 1880 Lillie Mae's older sister Lizzie was working as a domestic servant in Heppner.  Lizzie was enumerated on both the 1880 Census for Midway and Heppner, on two separate dates.  Lillie Mae was 10 years old, her older brother Holmes was 16 and her younger brother was 8 years old.  They were all attending school.  This must have been a financially rough time for the family because shortly after this census was taken the family moved to Heppner Oregon where Martin first tried farming and then worked at a lodging house.  He and Affa were eventually divorced.  The boys went with Martin to Dayton, Washington where Martin worked as a hotel clerk.  Perhaps his disability prevented him from performing hard laborious farm work at this point. 

    Lizzie was married to F. Dee Cox at the age of 16 and in 1884 Affa gave consent for 15 year old Lillie Mae to marry Silas Horner, as she testified that she was no longer able to provide for her girls.  Affa married William Kirk in 1885.   She sadly  passed away in August of 1886 in Heppner, Oregon.  

  Silas Horner was born in Indiana in 1852 and trained as a harness maker.  Both he and a German immigrant named George Nobel were listed on the 1880 Census for Umatilla County, Midway precinct, so most likely they knew the Hayman family.  George was a harness maker as was Silas.  He and George came to Heppner sometime before 1884 and went into business with each other by 1886.  The Heppner Herald of July 23,  1914 described the current business of E. G. Noble's Harness and Saddlery as having started in 1886 with  his father George.  The name of the business at that time was the Noble, Horner and Harrington Harness Company.  The business "never sacrificed quality for the sake of profits and men came 150 miles from the interior to buy their harness from them.  Heppner Harness was a byword for long service and honest goods".  The article went on to say that in a few years the firm changed to Kirk and Hayes.  I am not sure if this is the same Kirk that was Affa's second husband (William Kirk), or one of his three sons who were living in Heppner in the 1880's.  In 1894 George Noble's son purchased the business back.  There was certainly a relationship between the Haymans, the Horners, the Nobles and the Kirks.  Affa Hayman was buried in an unmarked grave in the Nobel plot in the Heppner Cemetery in 1886.

  There was an almost 18 year difference in age between Silas and Lilllie Mae when they married in 1884.  After the harness firm changed hands, Silas and Lillie Mae were living  north of Portland in Clackamas (Clark County, Washington) where their first son, Marion M. Horner was born 29 April,  1886.  Silas' new occupation on Marion's birth record was "tinsmith".  Perhaps he was trying to branch out from harness making.  Lillie Mae was back in Heppner by August of 1886, as her presence was written about in the sworn statement regarding her mother  Affa's death.  Their daughter Ceola was born 13 March, 1889 in Astoria, Clatsop County, Oregon.  There is no 1890 Census,  and I cannot find any information on Silas' occupation during that time.  But, Silas and Lillie Mae remained in Astoria, because  Harry Richard Horner was born there on 29 March, 1893.  By 1895 the family was in Camas, Washington (just north of Portland) where their last child  Clyde Dale Horner was born 30 May, 1895.  Silas purchased 160 acres of land in Clatsop County that same year.  The land was near what is now the  Saddle Mountain State Natural Area, just south east of Astoria.  After he and Lillie Mae divorced, he remarried Louisa Hagan who had a son "near Snohomish" (Washington) in 1905. Louisa was 34 years old; Silas was 53 years old and working as a farmer.  

    Silas and Lillie Mae divorced sometime after 1895, and Lillie Mae moved back to the Heppner, Lexington Oregon area.  In  1898 she married Josiah Thomas Boothby, a farmer who was living in Lexington, Oregon.  I think the 1900 Census sheds some light on their relationship at the time:  Josiah's occupation was listed as "Farmer", and Lillie Mae's occupation was also listed as "Farmer".  Very unusual for the time!  Lillie Mae and Josiah went on to have three sons together.  

                             

  

Thomas Josiah Boothby b. 5 November 1899 Lexington, Oregon d. 26 April, 1952 Portland, Oregon. Picture taken in Grass Valley, Oregon around 1909. 

Sterl Kenneth Boothby b. 17 January, 1907 Kent, Oregon d. 10 September, 1960 Grass Valley, California.  My Grandfather!  Picture taken in Grass Valley, Oregon around 1909.  Note:  Sterl moved his family from San Francisco to Grass Valley, California in 1947 where he owned and operated Grass Valley Drug.  I have a very unique connection to two Grass Valleys!

 

Harold Glenn Boothby b. 18 September, 1908 Grass Valley, Oregon d. 5 March, 1943 San Francisco, California. Picture taken in Grass Valley, Oregon around 1909. 

  The 1900 US Census also shows us what the Boothby family looked like in Lexington, Oregon...

Boothby, Thomas J. (Josiah) Head   aged 44  ...........Farmer

Lillie M. Wife  aged 39  ..............................................Farmer

Thomas J. (age 7 1/2 months)

Horner, Marion, Stepson aged 14................................Farmer

Horner, Ceola, Stepdaughter  aged 11

Horner, Harry, Stepson aged 7

Horner, Clyde Stepson aged 5

  Lillie Mae and Josiah also lived in the small central Oregon towns of Kent and Grass Valley, where Josiah engaged in farming. They were enumerated in Grass Valley, Oregon in the 1910 US Census.  Both towns are located in the rolling grain fields of southern Sherman County.   Kent is considered a ghost town. 

 Methodist Church Grass Valley, Oregon.  According to Dan Earl of Grass Valley, it is the most photographed church in Sherman County.  oldmethodistchurch.com


  

Lillie Mae and Josiah Thomas Boothby before 1915.

  Lillie Mae and Josiah were married until Josiah's death in 1915.  He went to Portland to have an operation for cancer, and did not survive.   He was remembered as being a loving father who "made no distinction between his own children and his stepchildren", and was a "good husband" (Heppner Gazette Times 28 October, 1915). 

 

  Lillie Mae continued to provide for her youngest boys as she moved to Newberg, Oregon after Josiah's death and worked as a dress maker.  The 1920 Census listed her as head of her family, and living with her sons Thomas J., Sterl and Harold.  Thomas was 20 at the time, and working as a laborer in a juice plant.  They lived at 203 Sheridan Ave. in Newberg.  

  This was on the back of  Thomas Josiah's baby picture.  I'm not sure whose writing this was, possibly Lillie Mae's.  It says "This coat was worn by Tommy, Sterl, Harold, Elmadean, Tressa and Esta."  Elmadean was the daughter of Ceola, and both Tressa and Esta were the daughters of Harry and Mable Horner.  Lillie Mae most likely made the coat for her children and it was handed down and worn by her grandchildren.  

Marion Horner worked as a shingler as an adult, and lived in Sebastopol, California.  Ceola married Willard Heyler in Grass Valley, Oregon and lived in Oakland, California after they divorced.   Harry lived in North Bend and Coquille, Oregon and worked for Raleigh Products as a salesman.   Clyde Dale attended the University of Oregon and became a physician/surgeon in San Francisco, California.  He was known as "Uncle Doc" by the family.   My father was named after him.  

  Thomas went on to serve in WWI, and did not attend college. Both Sterl and Harold attended Oregon State University and both became pharmacists.  Both of Sterl's sons also became pharmacists in California. 

  Lillie Mae was the Great Grandmother I wish I had known.  She certainly was  a survivor with a resilient spirit;  she overcame a stressful childhood, a very early marriage, the loss of her mother, rearing  a total of seven children in isolated Oregon farm country and then experiencing the death of her second husband.  She continued to make sure her children were taken care of and had good educations.  She was living in San Francisco in 1930 with her two youngest sons Sterl and Harold  when she died on the 6th of May.  The cause of death was "streptococeus cellulitus of neck and face"; a bacterial skin infection caused by strep and that is now treated with antibiotics.  She was 60 years old.  

I have posted this picture before.  It was shared on Ancestry.com by RobertPotter62 and shows Lillie Mae (second from right, sitting in the tree) with her siblings Holmes, Lizzie and Harry.  This was taken sometime between 1920 and 1930.  I think I can see some of her personality in this picture!

Relationship Reference:  Me->Dale Richard Boothby->Sterl Kenneth Boothby->Lillie Mae Hayman Horner Boothby