Wedding Wednesday: Fred and Wanda (Allen) Moore and A Special Gift

Wanda (Allen) and Fred Moore, 1932

A funny thing happened when I started writing this post. After all the detailed research I've done (sometimes back to the 1500s), I realized I didn't even have the wedding date of my paternal grandparents! I don't know how I overlooked that all these years. 

That is one benefit to writing a genealogy blog. It gives you the opportunity to focus on and summarize all you know about one person or family. This exercise often leads to additional, more indepth research that I had never gotten around to before. This is usually especially true about ancestors who are not in my direct line and often do not have any descendants. I have a lot of interesting photos of ancestors who fall into this category, so this has prompted me to peer into their life a bit more than I would have otherwise. Everyone deserves to be remembered, so I am always happily satisfied to have gotten a bit of their life down for posterity.

Anyway, back to Fred and Wanda, my dad's parents. I knew they were married sometime after the 1930 Federal Census and before my aunt's birth in January 1934. When I realized that I didn't have their exact wedding date, I asked my aunt if she knew what it was. Since she didn't, I sent off an inquiry to the archivist for Washington State. Last Spring when I visited Seattle, I drove by both of my grandparents' addresses from the 1930 Census and realized that they only lived a few blocks from each other. From this I assumed that they must have met in the neighborhood, so I told the archivist that I was pretty sure that they were married in King County. I was quite surprised to receive a very quick reply with a link to their marriage certificate from Jefferson County dated September 12, 1932. I was even more surprised to see that they were both recorded as residents of Umatilla, Oregon at the time of their marriage. For me, this document has led to more questions than it gave answers: Why would they both be living in that small town just over the Washington State line BEFORE their marriage when I know they must have met each other in their Seattle neighborhood?  

My mother just told me that Wanda and Fred met in a library where Wanda was a librarian and that Wanda's family didn't approve of her marrying Fred, so maybe they ran away to Oregon together. But, then, why would they come back to Washington to marry? I don't recognize the names of the witnesses at all, so it appears they married at the Methodist Parsonage of Edmonds, Washington with neither of their families in attendance. 

Why did they get their license in Jefferson County, but get married in Snohomish County, causing the recorder to cross out "Jefferson" and write in "Snohomish" as the place for the marriage? 

Why is it marked "Unofficial"? When I inquired in this regard, the archivist explained: 

"I believe the reason it is 'unofficial' is that in 1932, marriage certificates were filed in the county in which the marriage took place, which was Snohomish County, and probably specifically Edmonds.  A copy of the certificate was filed in the county where the license was issued, which is Jefferson.  This particular record came from Jefferson County.  You might find a 'non-unofficial' record at the Snohomish County Auditor’s office.  (Marriage licenses are now file with the State Department of Health)."

It seems there is more of this story to discover.

The following is really more fitting for Treasure Thursday, but because of the serendipity involved, I will include it with this post.

Another funny thing happened today. As I was writing this post, my mom came over and gave me the fan that Wanda gave to me before she died, not knowing that I was writing about her today. It is very special because my father had given it to Wanda when he was in the Navy and then she gave it to me. On the outside of the box is his inscription to her and and hers to me: "For: Mom, From:Tony" and "For you, CeCe, now. Much love, Grandma"

The fan is made of pure ivory and purchased in Hong Kong during my dad's naval days, c.1959.  I had forgotten all about it and was pleasantly surprised to receive it today. Of course my favorite part is the writing on the box - first my dad's and then my grandmother's. I am so glad that she had the foresight and sentimentality to make this special gift. I will cherish it and, one day, add my writing to it.

Amanuensis Monday: Letter from My Great Aunt Cleo, 1990

The author, Cleo Proctor Cavanaugh

In my possession I have an eighteen page letter written in 1990 by my maternal grandfather's sister, Cleo Proctor Cavanaugh (1905-1995). This letter has assisted me in solving many genealogical puzzles. My research has shown some of its content to be incorrect, but it has always provided hints and a starting place for my research. For that, I am very grateful to Aunt Cleo. I cannot transcribe the long letter all in one post, but I will make a start here [with my comments]:

Our grandfather Ephraim Proctor was born in Kentucky, Feb. 20, 1822 on his father's plantation. Ephraim's father owned slaves, but the slaves were freed before the Civil War. I understood however they never left the plantation having no place to go and also because they were well treated. [I sure wish I knew if this was true.]

Our Uncle Charley Proctor told us he remembered seeing his Great Grandmother Jane who was married to Dr. Martin Gillett [I have found wives Lura and Hannah], our Great Great Grandfather who was born before the American Revolution [actually 1776] . Uncle Charley was five years old at the time [born in 1851]. It was through Dr. Martin that we inherited our one-sixteenth French. [Dr. Gillett was not 100% French, but from a Colonial family whose origin could be traced to France many generations prior.]  It could have been here too that we inherited the thalassemia, a blood cell deficiency...Since it is a Mediterranean linked trait, it could have come from there. I would like to say here the body pretty much compensates for the thalassemia. [Cleo and her siblings were carriers of a rare form of dominantly-inherited beta thalassemia.] It's because of being born with it. Doctors have told me this and from things I've observed I believe this is true. However, if both parents have the trait, their children cannot live well or long. [25% chance]

Ephraim Proctor came to Equality, Illinois from Kentucky as a young man and started a livery stable business with buggies to taxi people around. He also had heavy wagons for hauling goods.
In Sept. 1875 someone came to his door after hours and wanted to be taken out in the country and as he couldn't get a hold of any of his men (no phones) he took them himself. It was a stormy evening and on the return trip, his buggy [got stuck] in a swollen creek. He was soaked and became very chilled and so caught pneumonia and died at age fifty-three Sept. 17, 1875 and is buried in Equality, Ill.
Ephraim Proctor and Mary Ann Hewitt were married Feb. 20, 1850. They had eight children, five of them living to adulthood.
Charles Campbell Proctor born April 9, 1951
William Ephraim Proctor born Dec 16, 1852
John Martin Proctor born July 29, 1855
George F. Proctor born Sept 20, 1859
Mary and Sallie Proctor born Jan 13, 1862
Martin Hewitt Proctor born Sept 17, 1864
Daniel Hewitt Proctor born Sept 17, 1866

Mary Ann Hewitt was born Sept. 21, 1827. Her ancestors came over on the Mayflower [true]. This is true because her brother my great uncle [William Martin Hewitt] had his ancestors traced and his daughter Zori Staples was a member of the DAR. [I think she means the Mayflower Society.] Great Uncle Hewitt was at our house many times and my Aunt Sallie took me to their beautiful home on Cascade Av, in the Mt. Baker area in Seattle. He had built and owned the first street railways in Minneapolis, Minnesota and operated them for many years. Uncle Charley and our dad both ran street cars there for him when they were young. Uncle Hewitt was a millionaire which meant something in those days. They had two children, Sylvester [actually Lawrence Scott] and Zori. Their family moved to Los Angeles where Uncle Hewitt died [William Hewitt died in Seattle on May 27, 1918].
Aune Proctor and I visited Zori in the largest department store in Los Angeles at the time. It was Robertson's. She was an interpreter for foreigners who came to sell their goods. She was highly educated and spoke many languages. [According to her descendants, some of this may be incorrect.] I wish now that I had gotten her papers on the ancestors. She had one son Ned Staples who died of TB at twenty-one years. He was married to his nurse first before he died. [Edwin "Ned" Staples died in 1923 at 28 years of age. He and his wife/nurse Dorothy Hope had a daughter together.] Sylvester never married [Lawrence married Josephine Ben Hoyen on March 18, 1907. They were divorced by 1910].

Mary Ann Proctor Hewitt died Dec 4, 1892, two months after being burned in a bonfire. She was burning rubbish her sons had gathered together in the backyard. The children [26-42 years old] had all gone to Sidney, Iowa on a Saturday afternoon to have some fun. They told her that they would burn the rubbish when they returned. She didn't wait and started the fire. The long full skirts worn in those days were a hazard around fire. She suffered terribly after being burned all up the back. Her daughter Sallie took care of her. Of course if antibiotics were in use at the time she probably would have lived. She is buried near Sidney, Iowa where the family had moved when our dad Daniel Hewitt Proctor was sixteen years old.

To be continued next Monday...

Benny and Cleo Cavanaugh

Sepia Saturday: School-boy Crush

When I look at the little boy in this photo, I see my sweet son; but this boy was born just over one hundred years earlier. He is my maternal grandfather Everett Herman Proctor, circa 1915. The back of the photo says that the woman with him was his school teacher. At this time, the Proctors had moved from Columbia City to the area around Star Lake in Kent, Washington, so this woman must have been the teacher at the one-room Star Lake School at 272nd Street and Military Road. (The school appears to still be there.)

It is funny how you can feel the mood in this yellowed photo, even after all of these years. Look at their expressions and body language. I think there was a school-boy crush at work here and I think it may have been a little bit mutual. (Obviously, Everett was very charming, just like his great grandson.) What do you think?

*If you like this post, please visit my friends over at Sepia Saturday for more great photos and thoughts.

Laguna Beach Historical Society - Worth a Visit

Yesterday we happened upon the Laguna Beach Historical Society during our beach walk. It is housed in a quaint little cottage built in 1923 on Ocean Ave in Laguna Beach, CA. If you are in the area be sure and stop by and check it out. The house is beautiful and completely original. They also have an excellent collection of authentic historical photos, antique clothing and household items on display.
I understand that there is a need to raise $15,000 to preserve and make available Laguna Beach's collection of priceless historical documents, newspapers and photos. Some of which can already be seen here.
The property is owned by the bank next door and leased to the historical society for $1 per year. Hopefully, this wonderful little piece of history will be preserved for many more years to come, continuing to allow visitors a glimpse into the past.

Sepia Sunday: Proctor Logging Camp in Washington State, Summer 1947

Everett, Aune, Jayne Cook, Janis Proctor, Jean & Johnny Cook

Proctors and Cooks;  Joyce and Jayne;  Aune, Jayne and Jean



Ray, Johnny (in-laws=yawn), Everett, Aune & Rusty the Dog, Joyce & Jayne

The Everett Proctor Family at Ray Proctor's logging camp in the woods near Mt. Vernon or Startup, Washington in the Summer of 1947.

I am a little late for my Sepia Saturday posting, so it will be Sepia Sunday this week.

Sepia Saturday: William Emery Travis - a brief sketch

William Emery Travis c.1880s

This photo is one of the oldest in my collection. It was in the possession of my grandmother Aune Proctor. Written on the back it said, "Will Travis, brother of Everett's mom...Millie (Amelia Travis Proctor)."  By looking at my family tree, I can see right away that my great grandmother Millie had two brothers who could fit this description - William Emery Travis and Wilbur Reuben Travis. Since I know that Wilbur went by the name "Rube", I am quite sure that this "Will" must be William Emery. He was born November 20, 1859 in Sidney, Iowa to Abraham and Ruth (Stoalabarger) Travis.

Will's life is fairly easy to document. In the 1860 Federal Census he is living with his parents and, at six months old, is still unnamed. Abe and Ruth must have had a difficult time naming their children, since my great grandmother Millie is also recorded as unnamed at five months old in the 1870 Federal Census. Will appears to have continued living with his parents in Sidney until he married Minerva Henrietta McCluskey (known as Ettie) on February 16, 1888. By 1900 he is living in Brock Village, Nemaha, Nebraska working as a peddler and grocer of dry goods. In 1910 he is a landlord at a hotel on Main St in East Muddy, Richardson, Nebraska and in 1920 he is a hotel keeper in Weeping Water, Cass, Nebraska. In 1930 he is in yet another Nebraska town named Gresham in York County where he is working as a restaurant proprietor. He died at 80 years old in that town on April 6, 1940.

Will and Ettie had six children between 1888 and 1899. According to the 1900 Census, five survived. They were Donald, Walter, Thomas, Herschal Abe and Millie (probably Amelia named after her aunt and my great grandmother).

Now I have the basics of his life, but I sure would like to fill it in with some stories. It appears that only the descendants of Herschal Abe have dabbled in genealogy so far and the ones that I have contacted have not returned my messages. So, for now, I will close this brief sketch of the handsome young man pictured above. Hopefully, someone will find this post someday and tell me a little about Will.

(If you liked this post, please check out my friends over at Sepia Saturday and their terrific blogs.)

Remembering Aune on her 99th Birthday

Today my maternal grandmother Aune (Reini) Proctor would have been 99 years old. She passed away Oct 24, 2007. Since it seems that she did not have an obituary published, here is my version of what it should have said:

Everett and Aune Proctor c.1930s

Aune Maria Reini was born on January 21, 1912 in Hamilton, Washington to Finnish immigrants Matti Wiita and Mathilda (Huhtala) Reini. Her parents had each independently come to the U.S. from South Ostrobothnia, Finland (1900 and 1902) and married on July 6, 1906 in Washington State. Matti often worked as a foreman for the logging industry and Mathilda sometimes ran a boarding house in Seattle for newly arrived Finns. 

Aune had a difficult young adulthood, which ultimately resulted in her growing into a very strong, fiery woman. She lost her two sisters, whom she very much loved and adored, and three newborn children all within a span of 11 years in her young life. She was only 13 when her oldest sister Helia died. Soon after, Aune became very ill and spent much of her 14th year in bed. Her illness was most likely due to her intense grief at losing her sister. She and her sisters had all shared a bed growing up, resulting in a special closeness between them. Aune thought so highly of her sister Helia that she spoke of her with deep love and in the most glowing of terms, almost on a daily basis, for the rest of her long life. To make matters worse for the young woman, she lost her close sister Miriam only 11 years later. After Miriam’s death, she cried so much and so often that she feared she would damage her young daughter's psyche. She managed to go on with her life, but she would always suffer the effects of the loss of those closest to her.

Aune, Helia and Miriam Reini, c.1925

Aune married Everett Herman Proctor, whom she met at a dance, on May 5, 1927 in Snohomish County, Washington.  She often remarked that it was love at first sight. The young couple moved into a "shack" on Everett's parents Daniel and Millie Proctor's property, where they lived until, at least, 1930.

Aune and Everett c.1930s

Aune suffered from various maladies into her thirties. She had difficulty carrying her pregnancies to term and delivered all five of her children prematurely, which resulted in three of them dying before she could take them home from the hospital. (They are buried in Greenwood Memorial Park in Renton, WA.) This caused her and her husband great sadness. Her daughters Jean and Janis were able to overcome their premature starts and grew into relatively healthy children. From that point and on into her nineties, Aune enjoyed excellent health.

She began working at Boeing around 1940. For almost 30 years, she worked full time while raising her family. She enjoyed it so much that when women were urged to quit their jobs after WWII, she continued on and, eventually, managed her department. At the same time, her husband Everett was working his way up in the ranks, and was given the job of Supervisor at the Seattle Water Department. One could say that they were ahead of their time as a "career couple," long before that became the societal norm.

Everett and Aune 1956

Aune excelled at fashion and drawing. She absolutely loved to go shopping and put together outfits for her children and grandchildren. She also expertly sewed special occasion dresses for her daughters and granddaughters. She spent much of her retirement, joining her daughter Janis at the mall, or taking the bus on her own, for a day of shopping. When she was home, she would sit and sketch female silhouettes for hours. Those who knew her, often remarked that she should have had a career as a designer or buyer for a retail store.

Aune c.1940s

She became a young widow after 47 years of marriage, when Everett passed away in 1974 while they were living in Rancho Bernardo, CA. She soon moved a few blocks to the home of her daughter Janis Moore and her family, spending the summers with her elder daughter Jean Hewitt in Salt Lake City, UT. She lived a very active life and was immersed in her grandchildren’s activities on a daily basis (including doing their paper routes and mowing the lawns when they were supposed to do it themselves). In her day to day life, other than her regular shopping trips, she enjoyed her religion, crossword puzzles (she could spell anything), Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, dancing, sweets and babies (of which she was provided a never ending supply in the form of grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren). She was a hardy old woman, seemingly immune to common illnesses like cancer and heart problems that plagued others her age. She had been repeatedly exposed in her younger years to handfuls of asbestos, extended x-rays and secondhand smoke, but none of this had an effect on her. She seemed like she would live forever...

Aune c.1970s

In the summer of 2007, her daughter Janis was finally unable to continue to care for her full time, as she had been doing for quite a few years prior, because her husband Tony was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. So, her elder daughter Jean arranged to have her cared for in a nursing home in Salt Lake City. At first, Aune seemed to enjoy her time there, socializing and taking part in the daily activities. However, she soon deteriorated and passed away after only having been there about four months. There can be no doubt that her legacy continues to live on in her large family. At the time of her death, she had 9 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren and 2 great, great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, her sisters Helia and Miriam, her half-sister in Finland Hilma (Wiita) Myllykangas, her brothers Louie and George, her half-brother Einar Huhtala, three infant children and one grandchild Kathleen Cook.

Aune c.1990