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). 

53Ancestors52Weeks Week 5 Theme: In the Kitchen (Brondolo/ Boothby)

Me (Patti) on the floor of my Nino's kitchen on Mainhart Drive, Grass Valley, California.  Marked on the back in pink ink:  Xmas 1962.

  The theme for this week is "In the Kitchen".  I am taking a break from my mother's side of the family for a moment to remember my dad's maternal Italian side...the side of the family that always made food that smelled and tasted so different from my mom's more predictable Cornish/English side of the family.  Eating food prepared and cooked by my "Nino" (Tersilla Palmina Brondolo) was always a treat for the senses.  Simmered garlic and onions,  savory lamb, rosemary, oregano,  yummy cheeses, a medley of  Italian lunch meats she called "miscolanza", and of course, salami come to mind.  Oh, and the sourdough bread.  And the bread sticks wrapped in prosciutto.  

   And olive oil!  Everything had olive oil in it or was cooked in olive oil.  Way before it was popular on our current cooking shows. Nino  also made a marinade that involved chopped  Italian parsley, garlic,  and olive oil which she put over button mushrooms, anchovies and artichoke hearts. I suppose it would be very similar to a chimichurri sauce, which is an Argentinian sauce  also  made with parsley, olive oil and garlic but usually with some version of peppers thrown in.  

  My earliest memories of Nino in her kitchen were from Mainhart Drive in Grass Valley, California.  Looking at the picture taken of me when I was just a baby makes me wonder how she cooked  meals for her family in that tiny and nonfunctional-looking  space.  It was indeed her "Villa Rusticana" as she called it.   I do know that many BBQ's were held outside in the summer time in the beautiful wooded backyard. 

             

Backyard BBQ on Mainhart Drive, Grass Valley.  Friend Muriel with Terry (Nino). 

  Most of what she made became regular fair at our annual Easter dinners at her home in Sonoma, California, after she moved out of Grass Valley.  The smell of her frita (she pronounced it free tah ) is what I remember the most.  These were small cakes made with egg, swiss chard, bread crumbs, and lots of seasoning.  They were fried in, of course, olive oil.  She made copious amounts of these to serve along with the mescolanza spread  before our Easter dinner.  You could smell them even before you got in the house!  We still make these every Easter , except every year they turn out just a little different than the year before.  Our goal is to get them to taste "just like Nino's", but it is difficult, as she never liked to write down any of her recipes.  

  I am fortunate to have a typed version of her frita recipe.  It was typed out by Aunt Dena.  My Auntie  Eilene (Boothby) watched Terry prepare her recipe one afternoon and wrote everything down.  Nino made Auntie Eilene promise not to make frita until "after she was gone", as these were her specialty.    The recipe still doesn't help much...with directions like "go by smell".  We have the basic ingredients down, but the portions are a little different every time.  But, when we do make them our house still smells the same as her house did and evokes the same memories, which is what is most important in the end.  

Little Mary with Aunt Dena (Brondolo).  I am sure they were fretting over setting the table for the big Easter dinner.  Aunt Dena was always in charge of the table.  

Sonoma, California

If Easter was in March, we celebrated two birthdays!  Nino's birthday was March 31, and Mom's birthday was March 30th.  Nino always loved any kind of celebration. 

Aunt Dena (Brondolo), Dottie, and Nino with Mom blowing out her candles. 

                                               Sonoma, California (1990-something). 

  Of course, along with the food came all the memories of loved ones that made our lives so special.  Nino kept her  dear childhood friends for her whole life, and they in turn became a part of our family.  My sister and I have many fond memories of visiting in Sonoma during the summer and playing cards with Dottie and Muriel, or spending time with Little Mary and Aunt Dena.  Aunt Dena was Nino's sister-in-law, but they considered themselves sisters.  

  I have many of Nino's old wooden spoons, cooking pots and pans as well as hand crocheted potholders made by her mother, Nonna.   I also have her set of beautiful china which I try to use at least once or twice a year.  Having these things, as well as being able to recreate her famous fritas, bring back many wonderful memories.  My children's memories will be a little different from mine of course, but at least we can share this recipe for several more generations.  And the salami.  And the prosciutto.  And the mortadella.  And the marinade mushrooms.  And the lamb.  I could go on and on! 

 

Caterina "Nonna"  Bertonasco Brondolo in her garden in San Francisco.  She was born in 1876 in the small village of Vesime in Northern Italy.  She came to America aboard the SS Giuseppe Verdi in 1917.  

Relationship Reference:  Me->Dad->Nino->Nonna

The Hurd Family; Lives in Pennsylvania, California, Nevada and Beyond Part 3 (Hurd)

 The Hurd Sisters:  Annie, Hattie, Edith and Winnie in Virginia City, Nevada 1888. 

Picture shared by Mimi Swaney (Great Granddaughter of Winnie Hurd) on Ancestry.com. 

  I am amazed at the sweetness of this picture, and equally amazed that it even exists.  It is in the collection of family pictures shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com.  Her Great Grandmother was Winnie Hurd.  She assured me that names were written on the back, so I am pretty confident these are accurate.  The pictures were handed down to Mimi through Alta Powers, Hattie's daughter. 

  These are my Great Great Aunties, sisters to my Great Great Grandmother Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows.  They had two more older sisters that lived with them on the Comstock, Ella Mae and Carrie Hurd.   Here are their stories....

   Ella Mae Hurd   (born 16 April, 1860 Nevada City, California--died 14 June, 1914 Butte, Montana).  Ella Mae was born between Frank Hurd and William George Hurd while the family was living in Nevada City.  She lived with her family in 1870 in Mahanoy, Pennsylvania, aged 11.  The 1878 Virginia City Directory listed her as a teacher at the 1st Ward School on the north end of town.  On the US Census of 1880 she was listed as living on Sacramento Road in Virginia City, Nevada with her mother Harriet, her oldest brother John, her brother Frank, and her five younger sisters.  The Fourth Ward School website lists her as a teacher during the school year 1879-80. 

  Ella Mae married Nelson B. Hutchinson in Virginia City on 5 May 1881. Several children were born in Virginia City,  and then the family moved to Butte, Montana.   (Sometime between 1880 and 1894 Ella's older brother Frank had moved to Butte, also).  Nelson was a machinist in a copper mine. Ella and Nelson had at least 6 children.  Nelson Jr.  worked as a stationery engineer at a copper mine, then there was Veva, William (he also worked in the copper mine), Alfred (a soldier in WWI and a miner in a quartz mine), Winnifred (she died at age 5), and Edith.  It is interesting to note that Nelson was born in Pennsylvania.  

Annie and Ella Hurd in Virginia City, Nevada. Annie is the younger of the two, I believe on the left.  Picture shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com

Carrie Amelia Hurd  (born 17 February 1864 Nevada City, California--died 9 May, 1926 San Francisco, California).   Carrie was born in Nevada City, moved with her family to Mahanoy, Pennsylvania in 1870, and then back to Virginia City, Nevada.  The 1880 US Census lists her age as being 16 years old.  The Fourth Ward School website lists her as a graduate in the 1880-81 school year (she must have graduated at the age of 17).  It also lists her as a teacher in the school year 1884-85

  On 6 October, 1886 Carrie  married Fred W. Clough (pronounced Cluff) of Amador County.  Strangely enough, Fred was the son of Orson Clough by his second wife.  His  first wife was Sara J. Bluett.  Sara Bluett was the sister of Harriet Bluett, Carrie's mother.  Carrie's older brother William George was living in Amador County (Volcano) in the 1870's until his death in 1880 from tuberculosis. Carrie and Fred lived in Angels Camp, Calaveras County, California, where Fred was a hoist engineer in a gold mine.   They had one son, Lawrence F. Clough, born in 1891 and who sadly died in 1916 in Angels Camp.  I am unable to find his cause of death. In the 1900 US Census Carrie's nephew Roy Burrows (Elizabeth Jane's son) was living with the family in Angels Camp, working as a laborer.  Family connections were obviously very important to the Hurds.  

Written on back "Aunt Carrie Clough Angels Camp Mother's sister".

Most likely written by Vere Burrows Hansen (my collection). I think she looks very much like her sister Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows! 

  Winifred Melvine Hurd (born 3 September, 1868 Nevada City, California--died 29 August, 1932 Reno, Nevada).  Winifred was the last child born in Nevada City before the Hurd family moved back  to Pennsylvania. She was 12 years old in 1880.  I am not able to find any information on where she attended school or where she graduated.

   On 6 July, 1896, she married Morrill Joseph Curtis in Virginia City, Nevada. He was almost 20 years older than Winifred and had been previously married twice. His first wife passed away in 1882 at the age of 31, leaving a son.  His second wife, Emma Pixley, died in 1895 also at the age of 31 years. Their daughter was Eugenia Curtis Dolley.  Winifred and Morrill had three sons: Elbert Dean, Melvin J., and Allen B. Curtis.  

 

 Winifred Hurd Curtis taken in Reno Nevada.  Shared by Mimi Swaney  on Ancestry.com.     This is Mimi's Great Grandmother.  Picture taken before the turn of the century, possibly around 1892 when Harriet Hurd died.  

    Morrill became known for being a prolific architect, designing many civic buildings in Nevada.  He also designed the Goldfield Hotel (Goldfield, Nevada)  and the Mizpah Hotel (Tonopah, Nevada).  His second father-in-law was Seymore Pixley. 

 

His most recognized building is perhaps Morrill Hall, the first building of the University of Nevada, Reno.  Constructed in 1885-86.  Photo courtesy of  University Archives, University of Nevada, Reno Archives.  The building was named in honor of Congressman Justin Smith Morrill who established the Land-Grant Colleges through the Morrill Act of 1862. 

M. J. Curtis died in 1921 and was originally buried in the Masonic Cemetery in San Francisco.  His grave was eventually moved to Colma, California along with the rest of the cemetery. 

Winifred passed away 29 August, 1932, and was buried in the Masonic Memorial Gardens (a part of Mountain View Cemetery)  off Stoker Avenue in Reno, Nevada. 

  Annie Hurd (born 2 July, 1871 Mahanoy, Pennsylvania---died 11 September 1962 Reno, Nevada).  Annie was born in Pennsylvania, and moved to Virginia City with her family.  She was 4 years old when the fire swept through Virginia City and she was 5 years old when her father was killed in the Ophir Mine.

    

Annie Hurd taken in Pennsylvania before coming to Virginia City.  Shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com

Annie Hurd  Virginia City, Nevada. Shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com.

 I was not able to find any information on where she went to school, but I did find a graduation picture of her on Ancestry. 

Annie Hurd graduation Shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com

  The 1900 US Census listed her as living with her older sister Winnie and her brother-in-law Morrill.  They lived on First Street in Reno.  On 15 October 1902 she married John Smith, a miner from England who was working on the Comstock. They did not have any children.   They also lived in Butte, Montana, along with Annie's older brother Frank and her older sister Ella.  Annie trained and worked as a practical nurse after moving back to Reno. 

  

  Hattie Lenore Hurd (born 11 February 1873 Mahanoy, Pennsylvania--died 4 October 1953 Oakland, California).  Hattie was born in Pennsylvania, and moved to Virginia City with her parents.  She was 3 years old when her father died in the Ophir Mine.  She graduated from the Fourth Ward School in the  1889-90 school year. 

Hattie Lenore Hurd Graduate of Fourth Ward School 1890 shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com

  Hattie married Avery Powers on 22 December, 1897 in Virginia City.  He was born in Canada, and was living with his family in Virginia City as early as 1880.  His step father, Robert Meacham, ran a lumber business on the Comstock for many years.    Both of their girls, Ina and Alta, were born in Virginia City.  Ina graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1913,  taught at Southside School in Reno, and then became a teacher of  handicapped children in Pasadena, California.  Alta never married and was living with her mother and two Aunts Annie and Edith in 1940 at 120 Stevenson Street in Reno.  She  worked as a bookkeeper at an insurance company.  Hattie and Avery divorced before 1922, and Hattie also worked as a bookkeeper.  She passed away in 1953 in Oakland where Alta was living at the time. 

    And that leaves one more Hurd daughter, Edith Francis Hurd.  I will leave her story for another post.   One thread that moves between all the Hurd girls was that of education.  Education was an important part of all their lives, and was at the same time woven into the history of  Nevada.  Which in turn became a part of my history.  

          It gives me a unique sense of my place right here in northern Nevada.  

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 4 Theme: My Favorite Photo (Harold Hansen)

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   Week 4 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge brings us to the theme of "My favorite photo"....

  How on earth do you pick a favorite photograph out of hundreds and hundreds on both sides of your family?  There are so many memories and stories to choose from. I have had this photograph of my grandfather, Harold Hansen, in my favorites file on my computer for some time.  I spent this last summer going through photographs that he took, or were taken of him, on his trip to Norway in 1930.  Later in his life he wrote his "Life Story", which my Aunt transcribed, and I added it to the blog (April, 2020).  I especially loved the stories of his trip to Norway.   Most of the pictures he took on his trip were in a house fire in 1950; many were rescued, but were burnt or had singed edges.  As I was going through other files and boxes, I discovered a manila envelope with "Norway" written on the front.  Inside were many more pictures of my grandfather on his trip, taken by family members.  This picture was in that envelope.  I did not include this picture in my summer posts, so this seems like a perfect place to add it. 

  I remember looking at it for the first time and thinking about his face.  This must have been at an early stage in his trip, perhaps before he left the dock from San Francisco.  His clothes look brand new, not like in other pictures where you can tell he was dirty and disheveled from working off his passage.  I can imagine his  father taking this picture before he left.   His face had such a look of youthful exuberance and expectation!  

  He was a young man, out of high school, looking for adventure and possibly a vocation to take up in life.  His father John Hartwig Hansen was from Norway and still had close family living near Oslo.  He was a sailor in his youth.  John Hartwig Hansen wrote to  his brother-in-law Harald Klemmetsen  who ran a shipping business and got Grandpa on the ship Balboa to Norway.   Grandpa was to work off his passage and in the process see if sailing might be a good future vocation.  He figured out pretty fast that sailing was not the life for him,  but had a wonderful adventure none the less and got to connect with his Norwegian family and heritage.  It was a trip that provided a life time of memories. 

  I received a packet of letters from my mother this summer that my grandfather had written home while on his trip.  I have been in the process of transcribing them.  I am sharing a letter he wrote after his arrival in Norway.  It is a long one, but it describes his trip from San Francisco to Norway and everything in between.  I think my favorite part might be his last line before he signs off as "Heine H.".  

I shared this picture in a previous post.  My grandfather Harold Hansen is with his father, John Hartwig Hansen,  right before his trip to Norway in June of 1930.  This picture was most likely taken the same day as the top photo.  Who took the photo? 

Relationship Reference:  Me->Mom->Harold Hansen->John Hartwig Hansen

The Hurd Family: Lives in Pennsylvania, California, Nevada and Beyond Part 2 (Hurd)

Frank S Hurd, buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Butte, Montana

  There were three sons born to William Hurd and Harriet Bluett: John Henry Hurd (his life story was written about in my last post), William George Hurd and Frank S. Hurd.  John lived a long life as a miner, but the other two brothers made different occupational  choices, lived in different parts of the west, and passed away rather young.  

  Unfortunately, I was unable to find very much information on William George when I first began researching this part of the family several years ago.    He was born while the family was living in Nevada City, California in 1858.  He was listed in the 1870 US Census as living with his family in Mahanoy, Pennsylvania,  aged 13 years.  The next bit of information I found on William was in a Voter Registration list of 1879 for Amador County.  He was aged 21 and living in Township 4 (Sutter Creek).   The 1880 US Census showed William still living in Amador County, California, Township 3, aged 22, and his occupation was "watchmaker".  Township 3 encompassed the little town of Volcano.  He may have chosen to live in Amador county as his uncle, William Bluett (Harriet's brother) lived in Pine Grove, Amador County, which is located very near Volcano.  His aunt Sara Jane "Jenny" Bluett also lived in Township 3, and she was married to  Orson Clough. I will use another post to go into the Clough family in Amador County.  William's younger sister Carrie married one of Orson Clough's sons by his second wife, so Amador County had a connection to the Virginia City Hurds in several ways. 

  Just recently (as in yesterday!), I came across a clue that led me to the obituary of William G. Hurd, and the confirmation of his residence, occupation and death.   I was searching the Find A Grave website for burials in Volcano.  Find A Grave is a site where contributors can add pictures of grave markers, family photos, obituaries, and  life stories of people in their own families or people they are researching.  Many people contribute as a hobby.  It is a wonderful research tool for family historians. 

   I came across a William G. Hurd buried in the Catholic Cemetery (no marker).  I contacted the contributor to the site and asked him to send me the obituary that he used to add the memorial. He had added William's memorial just this past August.  He graciously agreed to change William's place of  burial  to the Volcano Protestant Cemetery right across the street,  on the Find A Grave website.  Here is the copy he provided me of the obituary.  The date is January 1, 1881, but the name of the newspaper is unknown. 

   

  So, the mystery of what happened to William G. Hurd was solved.  I was sad to read that he died at such a young age from consumption (tuberculosis), but was also glad to read that his mother, Harriet Bluett Hurd, was at his side. The Hurd family had lost another male family member. William Hurd had died in 1876 in a mining accident in Virginia City, Nevada. 

  Frank S. Hurd was born in 1862 while the Hurd family was living in Nevada City.  He was listed on the 1870 US Census with his family in Mahanoy, Pennsylvania, aged 8 years.  The 1880 US Census listed Frank as living with his mother Harriet, his older brother John, and 6 sisters on Sacramento Road in Virginia City, Nevada. He was working as a "Grocer's Clerk" and was 18 years old.  

  In May of 1894 Frank married Elizabeth Ann Tyack Hawke in Butte, Montana.  She was a widow with three children.  Their daughter, Electa Viola Hurd, was born May 22, 1896 according to a delayed birth certificate registered in 1942.  Frank was listed in the Butte City Directory as a bookkeeper at T J Bennetts and Co. (grocers) in 1896.    Sadly, Frank passed away March 20, 1896 at the age of about 35.  Electa's actual birthdate may have been a year earlier than 1896, as she is listed with his stepchildren in both obituaries. Or, she was born before March 20.  More research is needed into the origin and dates of the newspapers which would set the actual date of death, proving that Electa's birthdate is incorrect, or that his headstone year of death is incorrect, possibly 1897.  The headstone reads Brother and may have been purchased at a much later date by members of the Hurd family and the year of death  may have been mis-recorded.  

Frank Hurd Obituary.  Unknown newspaper source, probably the paper out of Reno, Nevada. Unknown date. The Mrs. Cluff listed as his sister would be Carrie Hurd Clough, living in Amador County, California. 

Frank Hurd Obituary Unknown date or newspaper source (probably The Weekly Tribune out of Butte, Montana).  Centerville was just outside the city limits of Butte at the time, and is now a part of Butte, Montana. 
 

  Why did Frank Hurd decide to leave Virginia City and move to Butte, Montana?  An excerpt from Montana, Its Story and Biography, Vol. 3 (from Ancestry.com)...tells the story of James Tyack, the father of Frank's wife Elizabeth Ann Tyack.  Elizabeth was Lydia's older sister. 

"Mr. Bennett (no relation to T J Bennetts & Co.) .....married Lydia Tyack...December 1895...Lydia Tyack, a graduate of the public schools of Virginia City, Nevada.  Her father, James Tyack....journeyed by way of the Isthmus of Panama to California, (from the east coast of America) thence to Nevada  where he was a pioneer worker at the old Comstock Mine.  In 1889, having accumulated a competency in his mining operations, he located in Butte, Montana, where he spent the remaining years of his life.  His wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Peters, still resides in Butte."

  James and Hannah were born in Cornwall, England, as was Elizabeth and several siblings.  Lydia was born in Virginia City, Nevada.  James' story was very similar to so many Cornish emigrants who brought their mining skills and culture to western mining towns of America.  He may have known Frank and the Hurds in Virginia City, possibly through the grocers store where Frank was a clerk.  Elizabeth and her first husband Joseph Hawkes (a miner) also lived in Virginia City in 1880 on South H Street. Elizabeth was 19 years old.  Their third child was born in 1891 in Butte, and Joseph died sometime between 1892 and 1893.  Frank may have gone to Montana knowing James and Hannah Tyack and their daughters from their time in Virginia City.  Frank arrived in Butte around 1890 or 91 and was in a convenient position to marry their daughter, who was a widow by at least 1893.  Or,  it was just plain coincidence! 

Either way, Frank's early death cut short their time together, and took a father figure from 4 little girls.  Elizabeth passed away in 1928 at the age of 67.