52Ancestors52Weeks Week 45 Theme: Stormy Weather ........Snow , Snow and More Snow! Family Pictures Are Wonderful Documentation of Storms.....

  This week's theme is stormy weather....I have always been struck by how many pictures I have of family members posing in the snow.  Living in Northern California and Northern Nevada always meant winter and spring snow storms.  What better way to remember the fun after the storm than by having your picture taken? 

  These are a few pictures taken from various family albums on both my mother's and father's side of the family.  They document how we all "weathered" the storms in our own  neck of the woods.  Enjoy!

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Written on back...."Gertrude Elizabeth, her two sleds and her two playmates and all the snow we've had this winter"  (no date).....probably taken around the early 20's.  Reno, Nevada.  Gertrude Burrows (middle) lived on Thoma Street in Reno with her parents Roy and Lucie Burrows. 

Dorothy Ross Hayes  in the snow with her dog.  Auntie Dot was born May 17, 1910, and this picture looks like it may have been taken around 1915/16-ish.  Grass Valley, California. 

Dorothy Hayes (Arthur) fourth in from the left and Betty Hayes (Hansen) on far right, bending over.  Auntie Dot was born in 1910, and Grandma (Betty) was born in 1917, so this was probably taken around the early 30's.  It looks like a girls' day out in the snow, somewhere in northern California, complete with skis and a sled.  

Robley Hansen (Bob) with giant fur mittens.  Taken around the late 20's, early 30's.  Uncle Bob was living in Reno at this time.  From the Bob Hansen Family Album. 

Claire and Margaret Hansen (Mom) wearing their wool snowsuits after a Grass Valley snowstorm around  1946-47? This is one of the pictures that survived the 1950 house fire.  This is one of my favorite pictures!

 Lavinia Claire Hansen in her wool snowsuit.  Taken the same date as the above picture. 

 Millicent Gay Hansen on a toboggan on her way down a street in Reno, Nevada.  Gay was born March 9, 1934 so this picture may have been taken around 1936.  Her parents were Robley (Bob) and Alma Hansen.  From the Bob Hansen Family Album. 

Skip Hansen and Greta in front of the new house on Arlington in Reno Nevada, 1948.  Skip's parents were Robley (Bob) and Alma Hansen.  From the Bob Hansen Family Album. 

  Alma and Bob Hansen after the snowstorm in 1948.  I love the perspective in this picture!   From the Bob Hansen Family Album.  

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And, yes, I have pictures of houses and neighborhoods to go with pictures of people in the snow! 

Francis (Hayes)  and Joe Holman's house in Grass Valley after a 1946 snowstorm.  Auntie Fran and Uncle Joe lived across the street from Nana (Emma King Hayes Van Duzer) and the Harold Hansen family on South Auburn street for awhile.  This is another picture that survived the fire at the Hansen house in 1950.  I believe this is the same storm that my Mom and Auntie Claire are pictured in above. 

1012 S. Arlington, Reno, Nevada.  "First Winter in Home That Bob Built 1948".  Taken from the Bob Hansen Family Album. 

Unknown young man shoveling snow in front of Grass Valley Drug mid to late 40's.  Sterl Boothby was owner and head pharmacist in the late 40's and then the 50's. 

Frank and Dena Brondolo.  Picture taken in 1952, on Mainhart Drive,  Grass Valley, California.  They lived in San Francisco, but loved coming to Grass Valley and then up to Reno for some casino fun.  Frank was Terry Brondolo Boothby's (Nino's) older brother.  From the Brondolo Album.

 Mainhart Drive in a snowstorm, sometime in the 50's.  Grass Valley, California.  This is the house that my Dad, Dale Boothby, grew up in!

Late 1960's snowstorm on Banner Mountain, Nevada City, California. That is Dad's (Dale's) jeep buried in the snow.  This is the house that I grew up in!

The Alden home after a January 2021 snowstorm, Reno, Nevada.  

Still documenting!  (My Grandson ).....Reno, Nevada. 

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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.  

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  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 Week 40 Theme: Preservation...............The Burrows and the Hansens Took a Road Trip to Virginia City

     October is National Family History Month! Since October of 2001 families have been encouraged to think about their family histories and origins, and ways to honor them. The theme for this week is preservation.  This prompt got me thinking about how my family has preserved our history in the last several generations, and how we preserve it now.  

   I recently found this photograph in the Bob Hansen Family photo album.  The location of this photograph tells a story, as well as the grouping of family members.  The Burrows and the Hansens were very proud of their family history and the unique connections between Virginia City, Nevada and Grass Valley, California. This was one way they shared and preserved their family history for future generations.  They took a multi-generational road trip........

  This picture was captioned by Alma Goins Hansen, who probably took the picture as well.  She wrote: "Lucy Burrows, Bob, Mother H, Skip, Jack, Dad Hansen, Gay...Geiger Grade Lookout     Road to Virginia City".  Lucy Burrows was the wife of Roy Burrows; they lived in Reno where their 13 year old daughter Gertrude died of appendicitis in 1930 and Roy was in the construction business.  Roy was an older brother of my Great Grandmother, Vere Burrows Hansen (Mother H. in the picture).  Bob and Jack were two of three sons of Vere and John Hansen (Dad Hansen in the photo).  Bob married Alma Goins, and their children were Skip and Gay; they lived in Reno as well where Uncle Bob was also in the construction business.  The John Hansens, as well as Jack Hansen, lived in Grass Valley, as did my Grandfather Harold Hansen, who was not on this particular trip.  So, three generations of family were on this trip exploring family history.  It must have been quite a day!

  I love the candid feel to this picture. I'm not sure what Uncle Jack was thinking of Skip at this particular moment....he was probably worried Skip might go backwards down the steep drop offs that Geiger Grade is famous for!  Uncle Jack probably drove his parents over the hill (over the Sierra Nevada mountains to Reno) in one of his fancy cars, as he loved to buy a new car every year or so. Vere was always very interested in family history and was the family archivist all those years ago.  Her origins were very important to her and she made sure everyone else knew the family history also.  She probably thought you were never too young to get in the car with your family and visit the cemetery. 

  Geiger Grade is the curvy, steep and very scenic 20 mile route from Reno, Nevada up to the mining town of Virginia City, Nevada. The summit sits at 6,889 feet and provides spectacular views of the Truckee Meadows.  My own family has driven that route many, many times to visit the unique mining city, ride the train and wonder about the stories I had heard of family who lived here at one time.  However, quite a bit of detail was lost (to me at least) of the more important details in this narrative.  I was not taken to Virginia City as a young child (that I can remember) and only experienced the area after moving to Reno from Grass Valley as an adult.   I have been rediscovering those details in the last few years and making sure they are preserved beyond just the oral stories and visits to cemeteries.  I too value my family history! 

 

This picture was taken the same day as the above picture.  

    Pictured are Lucy Burrows, Bob Hansen, Jack Hansen, John Hansen and Vere Hansen.  This picture was taken sometime before John Hansen died on April 10, 1945; probably around 1940 and right before Bob and Jack enlisted in the war.   I was glad to see Lucy Crampton Burrows in these pictures.  Her family history revolved around Virginia City, as well (see my post from October 12, 2020 Roy Burrows). She probably provided quite a bit of oral history that added to this trip, as she was born in Virginia City in 1884 and spent her early childhood there.  

  Uncle Bob moved to Reno after his high school graduation from Grass Valley High School in 1926.  He loved exploring the area and probably learned about family history from Uncle Roy and Aunt Lucy.  

Virginia City photo taken around 1930 by Bob Hansen from the Bob Hansen Family Album.  This looks like the view was taken down C Street towards Carson City.  You can see the St. Mary in the Mountains Catholic church steeple on the left in the distance. 

  Even before this particular trip other family members would make a day of it and visit the town and cemetery to remember family buried there.   In fact, I shared this story of another relative, Alta Powers, who had quite the adventure at the cemetery in Virginia City in 1935 when she went to place flowers on Harriet Hurd's grave (see February 20, 2021..How a Weird Tale Solved a Family Mystery).  Unfortunately, this bit of information was not handed down to the next generations as they (and I) had been searching for this particular gravesite for years. Which goes to show, oral history is very, very fragile. 

3 June 1935 Nevada State Journal

Margaret Hansen Boothby (Mom) with Gay Hansen in the photo booth at the Bucket of Blood Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada.  Around 1944-45? Another trip to visit the cemetery, and some new memories made with cousins. 

  I have previously posted quite a bit of history and the results of my research on the Burrows and Hurds who lived and worked on the Comstock during the silver mining boom in the late 1800's.  That part of our family history has never been formally researched or written down up until now. Auntie Claire made a good start by constructing a family tree, back when the internet was just starting to be a  useful tool used by genealogists.  I have been working to flesh the tree out with more research,  organize the many pictures that were saved from this branch of the family, and present it all to my children and other family  members so that it becomes meaningful and personal to their own lives.  That's what preservation means to me. 

  Preserving family history is on on-going and ever-changing process.  My goals are much different than the goals of the family members in the above pictures.  I am continuing the work started by my Auntie Claire who was the "keeper of the stuff" many years ago, and by my Great Grandmother Vere Burrows Hansen who kept everything to begin with (we are so very lucky!).   It seems that now I am the "keeper of the stuff".  So, what do I do with it all?  I am working to digitize,  archive and store all of our  pictures and documents (and there are a lot!) so that my grand children and great grandchildren can enjoy them and wonder about them  as much as I have over the last few years.  I am working to document those few precious cherished items handed down that tell certain stories themselves before they are gone.  I am in the process of doing much more research and writing down family history, as well as the memories and stories of family members who are able to contribute.  And the best part of preserving all this is that I get to share it with family (and friends) through email, texting, blogging and social media.  Those are things that were certainly not available way back when! But, in the end, I would like to change it all back to print form.  Something tangible for future generations.  I am not sure I trust technology!  And who knows where technology will take us in the future?  How will my great grandchildren be documenting my life? Who will be the "keeper of the stuff"? More things to ponder. 

  How do we preserve family history?  In my family, we have honored family members by visiting the towns and places where they lived and the cemeteries where their final resting places are.  We have passed down pictures, cherished items and oral histories.  My personal preservation efforts have utilized even more modern methods with the help of technology.   But, in the end, I still do go visit cemeteries every so often.  When my grandchildren are a little bit older,  we can even all go together.  After all, it is  a family tradition! 

These pictures were taken from a very recent fall visit to the Knights of Pythias Cemetery, located on Nevada Street here in Reno.  It is the final resting place for Lucie A. Burrows, her parents Lena Koehler and Henry Crampton,  and her daughter Gertrude Burrows who died so young.  I hope their stories will not be forgotten. 

  Relationship Reference: Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby (sister Claire Hansen Clark)->Harold Hansen->Vere Burrows Hansen m. John Hansen

Sons of Vere and John Hansen:  Jack, Robley (Bob) and Harold Hansen

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).