52Ancestors52Weeks Week 50 Theme: Lines.....The Story Behind Bob and Skip Hansen's Big Catch on a 4 Pound Test Line

 

Robley (Uncle Bob) Hansen proudly displaying his "Big Catch" as captioned by Alma Hansen around 1951-2.  From the Bob Hansen Family Album.  Reno, Nevada. 

Bob and Skip Hansen holding their German Brown caught in the Truckee River, Reno, Nevada (from the Bob Hansen Family Album). 

 "The Big Catch"

  The theme for this week is Lines.......Family lines? Telephone lines? Railway lines? Fishing lines?.....This story had been floating around in my mind all summer waiting for its turn to be written down.   The theme for this week's writing challenge was the perfect opportunity to finally  get it down on paper.  Or in this case, on the blog... My husband and I had been helping Cousin Skip clean out his garage this last summer.  One of the first things we came across was "The Fish".  I also came across Uncle Bob's family album which Skip shared with me.  In the album were the pictures that were taken by Aunt Alma after the big event.  There were no dates written on the photos, but they were taken after Skip finished Junior High which was either in 1951 or 52.  Skip also pulled out the newspaper article from his wallet, where he has kept it all these years, and shared with me also.   Here is Skip and his Dad's Fish Story!  

The Fish

 Skip wrote....."Many years ago, when I was finishing up my Junior High schooling, Dad and I went to our usual fishing spot up the Truckee (River) a bit.  Dad had a nice bamboo fly rod, 4 lbs test line and 2 lbs test nylon leader.  He hooked a beautiful brown that he didn't want to loose.  Dad kept pressure on the line to hopefully keep the eagle hook from getting tossed off by the fish.  He fought for a little over an hour.  He finally got it close enough and tired enough so that I could net it.  It was too big for the net.  It started to flip back into the river.  Dad leapt down off the higher embankment cranking his Shakespeare reel madly.  We got the fish!  He entered it into the Sportman Contest; it weighed about 10 lbs, I think more, but that's close enough.  Another fisherman weighed in a catch at a lb. more.  Dad's dried out a bit while we continued to fish.  No bites!  I think the struggle scared the rest away.  Dad's would have outweighed the other had we stopped fishing immediately and taken it in to weigh and register. I was rewarded by getting to clean it after we weighed in at Crystal Springs.  Dad did the taxidermy.  It hung on the wall at the Sportman for several years.  When they closed we had a bit of a problem retrieving it.  Good memory!" 

  It now proudly resides in the garage, mounted on a piece of driftwood.  

  Here is the newspaper article from the Reno Gazette Journal (date unknown) that Skip kept in his wallet.  As you can see, some details are a little different, but it is,  after all, a fish story! 

   

  The Sportman store was located at the corner of 4th and Vine for many years and was owned by the Piazzo brothers Chet and Link.  They opened the original store in 1938.  The brothers sold their interest in the store in 2000 and it is no longer in business.  (Reno Gazette Journal April 12, 2000).  I remember shopping there a few times in the 90's; Uncle Bob's prize fish was up on the wall somewhere!

Chet and Link Piazzo, Reno Gazette Journal

 

The beautiful Truckee River in the summer,  courtesy of the Water Education Foundation.

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 44 Voting.......Roy Burrows Was Elected To City Council in 1915 As Women Exercised the Suffrage For the First Time in Reno

 

Roy Alexander Burrows b. January 23 1881 Grass Valley, California d. October 23 1943 Reno, Nevada.  Picture taken at the Riverside Studio in Reno 1920. 

  The theme for this week is voting...do you have any politicians in the family tree? Anyone involved in the women's suffrage movement?  I learned that My Great Grand-Uncle Roy Burrows served for several years on the Reno City Council.  In fact, he won another term in 1915 after women in Nevada were given the right to vote in local races.   His wife Lucie would also participate in another local election as a clerk in 1918. 

        It would still be another 5 years before women could vote in national elections. 

      Taken from the Nevada State Journal May 5 1915:  

ALL RECORDS FOR VOTING SMASHED BY ELECTORS OF RENO

"Reno smashed all records for voting yesterday....The large vote was due to the fact that women exercised the suffrage for the first time in the city of Reno and few of them neglected the opportunity to participate in an election that held a large interest for the community....

  In the Sixth ward there was real excitement; Roy A. Burrows and Joseph E. Johnson running neck and neck as the count progressed. On account of the large number of candidates for councilman the vote progressed slowly in the sixth, and that added zest to the contest, for there was the element of suspended interest to thrill those interested. Burrows won finally by 54 votes.....

  First Women Voters...There was rivalry among the women voters to see which would be the first to cast the ballot. Lucy M. Van Deventer claimed the honor in the first ward. Miss Minnie Flanagan was the first in the booth in the second ward.  And Mrs. Josie Lancaster was the first to cast her ballot in the third ward. 

  Women took the time to go to the polls, while many men neglected to perform their civic duty. For instance, in the second ward 162 men who were eligible to vote failed to put in an appearance, while only 8 women did not vote. 

  One new face will appear at the city hall, that of Roy Burrows, elected to the council from the sixth ward. Burrows will fill the vacancy that has existed for about a year. "

  The article continues on...

  "Early in the day women, voting for the first time in Nevada, outnumbered the men as voters. They did not have the slightest difficulty and it was evident that they had studied their sample ballots well and had made up their minds for whom they intended voting, and they did it without confusion.

  The afternoon found the streets thronged, every store in town having closed at 1 o'clock to permit their employees to vote and work for their favorites....there wasn't the least bit of disturbance in any section during the day in any part of the city. In this respect this election was one of the quietest held in Reno.  Although Chief of Police Hillhouse had taken the precaution to station extra officers at the polling places there was nothing for them to do". 

Nevada was a "black hole" in the west when it came to suffrage in 1914. 

  Women were not granted the right to vote on Nevada's entrance into the Union in 1864.  A bill was introduced in 1869 to allow women the vote by Curtis J. Hillyer, who argued that "women possessed at least as much intelligence as men, followed the same laws, paid the same taxes, and most importantly would introduce a new standard of public morality to the public process".  Both houses of the Nevada legislature passed the amendment that year, but it failed the mandated second vote two years later. It would be forty years more before suffrage became an issue again in the state, and on November 3, 1914, women were given the right to vote.  They voted for the first time in local races in 1915, in statewide races in 1916, and gained the right to vote nationally with the 19th Amendment ratified in 1920.  

https://nvsctlawlib.libguides.com/c.php?g=1078723&p=7870328

  A big question on the ballot in the election of 1915 was the saloon ordinance.  The initiative would have cut down the number of saloons in town to forty. The above article read..."A strenuous campaign was waged both for and against the measure, and the final count shows that the proposed ordinance was defeated by a majority of 1,411".  It would be interesting to see how many women voted for the ordinance as opposed to men! Was the prognostication of  Curtis J. Hillyer correct? 

  Roy Burrows was not new to politics in Reno.  He had previously been on the Central Trades Council in 1907, and had appeared before the Reno City Council (Nevada State Journal Aug. 31, 1907) to get a permit amended so that laborers could hold athletic events on North Virginia Street and Commercial Row on Labor Day of that year.  Maybe he got the bug to run for a bigger office at that time, or just saw the need to provide leadership in a growing community. 

   Roy was a prominent  contractor and builder in Reno, and was instrumental in constructing many beautiful neighborhood homes in the older part of the city.  For a time, he worked with Robley/Bob Hansen (his nephew), as Roy Burrows and Hansen Contractors until Uncle Bob started his own construction business in town.  In 1936 Roy took out a building permit for a brick home at 524 Ridge Street in Reno, to build  a home for F. P. Strassburg (a stock broker).  The architect was the prolific F. J. De Longchamps.  (Reno Evening Gazette April 2, 1936).  De Longchamps was a local architect and  is best known for his design of the Washoe County Courthouse, the Riverside Hotel, the Reno Post Office, and several buildings on the University of Nevada, Reno campus to name a few!  He also designed stately brick homes for prominent Reno residents, as well as smaller English Tudor cottages, that still remain a charming part of old Reno. 

  Roy's wife Lucie (Mrs. Roy Burrows in the Fifth Precinct) was listed as an election official for the September primary election  in 1918.  The first three names listed were those of inspectors, the last were clerks.  She served as clerk for the Fifth Precinct that year.  Nevada State Journal August 8, 1918.  I can imagine how excited she was to vote for the first time in the 1915 election!

  Roy  was first elected to the city council in 1912 and served through 1916.  He ran again in 1920 according to this ad in the Reno Evening Gazette September 4, 1920. 

Reno State Journal 1931.  He was still running for City Council.  This was a year after his daughter Gertrude died of appendicitis at the age of 13 (see the post from October 12, 2020 on Roy Burrows and his family for more history). 

Roy Burrow's obituary from The Union (Grass Valley) October 26, 1943.  He passed away on October 23, 1943 in Reno, Nevada.   He was remembered as a contractor and builder, but it should be remembered that he also participated in the growth and development of his community by serving his constituents as a councilman from the Sixth ward for many years. 

   Roy's wife Lucie participated in the election process as well after the 1914 vote to allow women suffrage in Nevada elections.  Many women were instrumental in the fight for women's suffrage in Nevada (indeed, they were not "given" the right, but had to fight for it).   I could not find any sources to give me insight into Lucie's part in the change in state law, or what she thought about women's rights to vote,  but I do know she thought her right to cast a vote as a full citizen was important enough to get involved in the local  primary election of 1918.  

**********

  The Burrows/Hansen side of the family was always staunchly Republican.  Mom (Margaret Hansen Boothby) remembers being allowed to walk into town each day to watch the proceedings of the Republican Convention to elect Eisenhower on Grandma Hansen's (Vere Burrows Hansen) brand new TV.  She thought it was "beyond exciting to watch all the wrangling and parading and voting" while Grandma Hansen explained what was going on. She remembers that it was the beginning of her interest in politics.  And of course, remember that  Grandma Hansen did shake the hand of Teddy Roosevelt in 1903!  (see the post of 1/14/21 "Her Patriotism Unbounded").

  There were also many political arguments in Mom's house when they lived with Nana (Emma King Hayes Van Duzer) as Nana was an FDR Democrat and Mom's dad (Harold Hansen) was a Republican.  "They could really get into it!"  I can imagine!  Mom always took great pride in voting, and passed it down to my sister and I.  

 Other Burrows/Hansen family members who were elected to public office:  

John Hartwig Hansen (Mayor of Grass Valley) (see the post of 5/3/20 "John Hartwig Hansen")

William Lockyer (California Attorney General (6 years) and California State Legislator 25 years  (see the post of 10/16/20 "Alfred Lord Tennyson and Arnold Schwarzenegger; Their Connections to the Burrows Family in Grass Valley").

 

  My Dad, Dale Boothby, also served on the Nevada County School Board for 20 years, which was an elected position.   Mom took me to the firehouse (our polling place) to see his name on the ballot!  My family has a wonderful history of serving their communities for which I am thankful. 

Relationship Reference:  Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Harold Hansen->Vere Burrows Hansen (sister to Roy Burrows).  

  

52Ancestors52Weeks Weeks 41 and 42 Themes: Change and Sports.....Robley Hansen's Early Skiing Days And Some Surprising Connections

     This is a picture taken from my Uncle Bob's (Robley Hansen) family album.  This is an early snapshot taken of Uncle Bob (bottom left, on one knee) and the Zero Ski Club sometime around  1929/1930.  I was not able to find any information on what the Zero referred to, but this group may have been the Auburn Ski Club or the precursor to the Reno Ski Club founded in 1930.  What I found interesting was that in the album the very young man third from the left, bottom, was identified as Wayne Poulsen.  I'll get back to Wayne Poulsen later in the story.

     My Uncle Bob became an avid skier after he moved from Grass Valley, California to Reno, Nevada right after his high school graduation in 1926.  He took up a winter sport that fit right in with his Norwegian heritage!  His father, John Hartwig Hansen, was also an avid skier, skater and swimmer who  espoused a healthy lifestyle by way of vigorous exercise.  I suppose Uncle Bob took it a step further by adding his canned spinach! 

I found the article above saved in Uncle Bob's early family photo album.  There is no date on it, but on the reverse is an advertisement for the movie Queen Christina starring Greta Garbo.  That movie opened in theaters on December 26, 1933, so this article was written either at the end of December 1933 or in January or February of 1934.  Uncle Bob was the Club president.  He also wrote newspaper articles for the Club....

  This article was probably written around the same time as the first article.  Mount Rose Highway is still the center of Reno's winter playground today. 

Aunt Alma identified this as "The Reno Ski Club" with Uncle Bob 4th from the left.  Cecil Crawford is to his left, and James Crawford is third from the right.  Taken around 1933/34. 

Bob Hansen posing for the camera...

   Aunt Alma was a skier too....taken in 1933 in front of the house on 270 Thoma street, Reno. She began appearing in the album pictures in 1930. She and Bob married in October of 1931. 

Bob Hansen date unknown

  Uncle Bob and Cecil Crawford skiing together.  Date unknown. This looks more like spring skiing...still a popular past time in the area! 

  Spring skiing at its finest.....


  

    Bob and Alma skiing with friends....probably taken around the early 30's. 

  And now we come back to Wayne Poulsen.  Wayne grew up in an era (along with Uncle Bob) marked by an explosion of winter sports and leisure activities.  As a young boy Wayne and his friends would ski on Reno streets when ever there was snow. They'd grab onto a truck bumper and get a tow up to the top of the road.  He became fascinated by Norwegian skiers and ski jumpers, taught himself to ski, and ultimately became an accomplished skier.   

   Wayne eventually became a pioneer in the ski industry and was instrumental in bringing the sport of skiing to the greater Lake Tahoe/Reno area.  He is best known as the founder of the Squaw Valley ski community, which became an internationally celebrated ski resort and would host the 1960 Winter Olympics.  

  Aside from Wayne's accomplishments in the world of skiing, I was more interested in his relationship with Dr. James Church.   In 1932, during his senior year in high school, Wayne trekked into the unexplored back country of the Sierra Nevada with James E. Church as his aide.  Dr. Church, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, pioneered snow survey methodology that is still in use today.  Dr. Church needed an accomplished  skier to accompany him to the back country to collect data and conduct research. They initiated snow pack surveys to accurately predict the spring run off that was vital to the agricultural industry in California.  Poulsen worked with Dr. Church for the next six years, exploring and charting the mountains surrounding the Lake Tahoe Basin.  Poulsen would carry a 35 pound camera , tripod and a 12 foot tube while they made their circuit to different areas of Lake Tahoe.  Dr. Church had a cadre of volunteers that helped him with his surveys in the 30's, Poulsen being the youngest.  Wouldn't you know, Uncle Bob was a volunteer working for Dr. Church.   I believe he got started  in helping Dr. Church conduct snow surveys due to his connection with Wayne.  That is a very unique and special  connection! 

If you want more information on Wayne Poulsen, please see the website

                                      https://waynepoulsen.wordpress.com/

 for more information.  He led a very interesting and colorful life which included a distinguished career as a WWII military pilot. 

     Change:  Change always seems to go hand in hand with the passage of time....  Poulsen died in 1995, and on July 2, 2005 Poulsen Peak in Squaw Valley was commemorated in Wayne's honor and in remembrance of his accomplishments and contributions to the sport of skiing and the region. 

     On September 13th 2021, the name Squaw Valley was officially changed to Palisades Tahoe after the resort owners acknowledged the controversial term of "squaw" as being a derogatory and offensive ethnic and sexist slur.  Sometimes change is good! 

Relationship Reference:  Bob (Robley Hansen)->John Hartwig Hansen m. Vere Burrows Hansen

  

  The three Hansen brothers were Jack, Robley, and Harold (my grandfather). 

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: 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). 

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).