Edna Blanche (Bliven) Sloan

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.

— Mother Goose

Edna Blanche Bliven was born on November 22, 1893, in Tacoma, Washington. She was the youngest child of Theodaty Bliven and Esther (Hilton) Bliven. It is unlikely that her father was much of a presence in her life. He’d essentially abandoned the family when they were living in the Midwest and moved to Washington State. The family moved out to Washington as well, but not necessarily to be with Theodaty. Every available Washington record shows Theodaty living alone, never with his family. And in fact in 1916 Theodaty married Etta Reynolds without telling her he was still married to Esther. He actually filled out the paperwork for the marriage alleging that he had not been married before, and had his adult son be a witness at his wedding! Etta divorced him three years later when she learned the truth. Since Esther had already married Albert Gruber in 1898, it’s possible a divorce was never sought by either Theodaty or Esther.

When Edna was 17, the Gruber family moved to Salem, Oregon, where she would spend the rest of her life. On New Year’s Eve 1921, Edna married Ernest R. Sloan. Prior to that, Edna had been assisting her brother, Lorenzo, with his Turkish bath business in Coos Bay, Oregon. Although both Ernest and Edna were living in Oregon, they were married in Vancouver, Washington, possibly because marriages were quicker or easier in Washington than in Oregon, but that is conjecture and the real reason is unknown. Ernest was married before and had two, possibly three children with his first wife. The 1920 census shows him to be a widower. Ernest was 15 years older than Edna and his children were nearly adults at the time he married Edna.

The couple lived on property in the Auburn area of Salem, Oregon. On August 8, 1941, Edna was canning fruit in one of the cottages and a fire started that burned two cottages, a poultry house, and outbuildings on their property. A lack of water kept the fire department from being able to put the blaze out. Fortunately, the cottages were unoccupied.

During the marriage, Edna worked as a school teacher in various rural schools around the Willamette Valley in Clackamas, Marion, and Polk counties. Sadly, in 1936, just 15 years into their marriage, Ernest had a heart attack and died. Not long after that Edna started fostering children in her home. A decision that changed the course of her life. In 1948 she found a 16-room house to live in on the outskirts of Salem, a house that was large enough to allow her to continue taking in foster children, sometimes as many as 19 at a time. She became known as the “woman who lives in a shoe,” a title that stayed with her the rest of her life and was used to describe her in an article featuring her work with children that was published in the Statesman Journal on October 31, 1950.

Times were nearly always hard for Edna and her foster kids. Not only did parents seldom pay for their children, but she was unable to get welfare for them either – the reasoning being that their parents had enough money to pay for them. Despite desperate times, somehow she always found enough food to feed the children. And neighbors and community organizations tried to help as well. One bakery sold her bread at discounted prices, a department store provided Christmas presents, and a neighbor chopped wood.

Three weeks after the feature article on Edna was run in the Statesman Journal and just four days after her birthday, Edna was involved in a terrible car accident. Her car slid in the rain and crashed into another car. Edna’s car burst into flames on impact badly burning her. Edna’s burns and injuries were so extensive that she spent 27 months in the hospital. When she was finally discharged, the state welfare officials told her that she would no longer be allowed to care for foster children because of her injuries. Edna was not to be deterred in her quest to return to her life of caring for underprivileged children. She spent a year fighting her way through the court system and won the right to once again take in foster children.

During her time in the hospital, someone submitted her name to a popular radio show called “Chance of a Lifetime.” The show picked her as its most deserving contestant after reading her story. Playing on Edna’s behalf was a Hollywood ballerina name Janice Rule, who had just the week before been a cover girl on Life magazine. Janice correctly answered three questions winning for Edna, who received $100 in groceries from Safeway, as well as a toaster, a sewing machine, food, and clothes for the children. Area organizations held benefits to raise money for Edna and her children once she started fostering again.

Edna spent most of her life as a Seventh-day Adventist and was featured in an article celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the Salem Central Seventh-day Adventist Church. The article was published in the Statesman Journal on January 8, 1977. In her interview for it she recalled her father hauling lumber to build the first church that the congregation met in – one without indoor bathrooms. Her father and brothers also helped construct the second church the congregation moved into some years later, which was used until 1937 when they moved to their current location.

Over the course of Edna’s life, with little money and with little help from the state (or the children’s parents), Edna managed to foster over 400 children. Feeding them, clothing them, and making sure they got an education. She was known by her family for being a strict disciplinarian and there were rigid rules that had to be followed while living in the house. But the children received love and a safe place to live when their parents couldn’t or wouldn’t care for them. As she aged, Edna’s heart weakened too much for her to continue foster care. She moved into a smaller home on Auburn Street, one that her father had built many years before. Edna passed to her rest on April 20, 1982 at the age of 88.

Sources

“United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMPV-7GK : accessed 7 November 2021), Edna Bliven in household of A Gruber, Precinct 1 Seattle city Ward 8, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 113, sheet 5B, family 97, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,745.

“United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLBC-NQF : accessed 7 November 2021), Edna Gruber in household of Albert Gruber, Salem Ward 4, Marion, Oregon, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 224, sheet 9A, family 213, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1284; FHL microfilm 1,375,297.

“Washington, County Marriages, 1855-2008”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPMN-SLGJ : 24 April 2021), Ernest R Sloan and Edna B Bliven, 1921.

“Licensed to Wed,” Ernest R. Sloan and Edna B. Blivens, The World (Coos Bay, Oregon), 5 Jan 1922, p. 5; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75266429/marriage-license-for-ernest-sloan-and/?xid=637&_ga=2.61049893.888329856.1634956568-885655222.1630465988 : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“United States Census, 1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC9P-NNS : accessed 7 November 2021), Edna B Sloan in household of Ernest R Sloan, East Salem, Marion, Oregon, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 22, sheet 3B, line 53, family 68, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1947; FHL microfilm 2,341,681.

“United States Census, 1940,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRT7-MJR : 19 May 2020), Edna Sloan, East Salem Election Precinct, Marion, Oregon, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 24-23, sheet 13B, line 80, family 299, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3373.

“Buildings on Sloan Place Destroyed,” The Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon), 8 Aug 1941, p. 3; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88457930/edna-sloan-property-destroyed-from/?xid=637&_ga=2.169053224.888329856.1634956568-885655222.1630465988 : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Mrs. Sloan Likened to ‘Woman Who Lived In a Shoe,'” Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 31 Oct 1950, p. 14; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88455678/edna-sloan-feature-article-on-foster/?xid=637&_ga=2.94128020.888329856.1634956568-885655222.1630465988 : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Salem’s ‘Woman in Shoe’ Seriously Burned in Auto Wreck,” Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 27 Nov 1950, p. 1; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88456387/edna-sloan-car-accident/?xid=637&_ga=2.69421081.888329856.1634956568-885655222.1630465988 : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Wreck Victims Hospitalized,” Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon), 27 Nov 1950, p. 1; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/96798736/?terms=edna%20sloan&match=1 : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Sloan Benefit Clears $400,” Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 23 Dec 1950, p. 5; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88456922/edna-sloan-benefit/?xid=637&_ga=2.96288917.888329856.1634956568-885655222.1630465988 : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Ballerina to Aid Mrs. Sloan,” Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon), 11 Jan 1951, p. 5; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88457050/edna-sloan-to-benefit-from-possible/?xid=637&_ga=2.28140597.888329856.1634956568-885655222.1630465988 : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Ballerina Has Right Answers,” Captial Journal (Salem, Oregon), 13 Jan 1951, p. 2; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88457132/edna-sloan-benefits-from-prize-won-by/?xid=637&_ga=2.1401016.888329856.1634956568-885655222.1630465988 : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Mrs. Edna Sloan Returned from Portland Hospital,” Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 19 Mar 1951, p. 5; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=88456543&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjgwMTk5NDg0LCJpYXQiOjE2MzYyNjAyMjQsImV4cCI6MTYzNjM0NjYyNH0.f2EgrpJy4CmMq_Ngv17YN_mVPVa9BT39pJ58Ls8Jz_4 : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Her Membership in Congregation Totals 65 Years,” Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 8 Jan 1977, p. 6; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=88456070&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjE5ODQ0MDg3MiwiaWF0IjoxNjM2MjYwMzQ4LCJleHAiOjE2MzYzNDY3NDh9.Q4_bNGeVek7UGsIWm0hCAdTpZrPs6k4CXTajLURAhZI : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Edna Sloan’s Caring for People Has Paid Off Handsomely,” Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 23 Sept 1981, p. 25; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=33873173&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjE5OTA3ODI1OSwiaWF0IjoxNjM2MjYwNDg0LCJleHAiOjE2MzYzNDY4ODR9.ZuGb2QjHllsUpJVVuLXy5WCl1cZc-aE2b-TtwXle6MI : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Edna Sloan, Mother to Hundreds, Dead at 88,” Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 22 Apr 1982, p. 4; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=88455407&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjE5OTAzNjkyNywiaWF0IjoxNjM2MjYwNjI3LCJleHAiOjE2MzYzNDcwMjd9.35ABRYwFcSy3pa90DuKS3of8_ZP-72T3Nuqm9bEc9EM : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

“Edna B. Sloan,” obituary, Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 22 Apr 1982, p. 32; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=88459741&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjE5OTAzNzI3NywiaWF0IjoxNjM2MjYwNzQzLCJleHAiOjE2MzYzNDcxNDN9.7PasPLeyWHbBX26QJ4AkaWf56KTIkfslV1Y2Wpw0SUc : accessed 6 Nov 2021).

Elsie Victoria Henrietta (Mattson) Pollard

Elsie Victoria Henrietta Mattson was born on April 22, 1895 in Iron Mountain, Dickinson County, Michigan. Her father, Johann August Magnusson, immigrated from Sweden to the United States in 1891 and changed his name to John August Mattson.

Very little is known of Elsie’s biological mother. She was raised by her step-mother, Huldah (Johnson) Mattson.

The family story is that Elsie’s mother was pregnant with her and John’s second child when, very late in the pregnancy, she was lifting a large tub and she hemorrhaged and died. This was the story told to me, her great granddaughter, by Elizabeth (Liz) (Pollard) Mills, Elsie’s daughter, during a family-history interview conducted on August 16, 2002. Liz did not offer any additional details about her biological mother – including what her family name was. As tends to be the case, details of events often change when orally handed down through time, but the general nature of the story remains true. Such is the situation here. The research bears out the basic gist of the story, but the details themselves vary slightly.

The index to the Dickinson County Birth Records show an “Elsa Victoria Mathson” was born in Iron Mountain, Michigan in 1895.^[1] Book 1, “Record of Births, Dickinson County,” page 77^[2] records the following birth information:

Name: Elsa Victoria Mathson
Birthdate: April 22, 1895
Details: Female – white – legitimate
Birthplace: Iron Mountain, Michigan
Father’s full name: Gust Mathson
Father’s residence: Iron Mountain
Father’s birthplace: Sweden
Father’s occupation: Miner
Mother’s full name: Augusta Vahlstrom
Mother’s residence: Iron Mountain
Mother’s birthplace: Sweden
Date of record: 27 May 1896

Some observations about the information we find in this record. In 1890 the city of Iron Mountain had a population of 8,599 people, so it was not a very large town. Thus the likelihood of someone being born on April 22, 1895 with a name so similar to Elsie’s is very slim. We are able to verify her date of birth from the information in her obituary, which was given as April 22, 1895. This is the only birth recorded for this day that comes anywhere close to Elsie’s. The father’s name is admittedly problematic, but Mathson is very similar to Mattson and we don’t know what process John went through changing his surname from Mangusson to Mattson. The Gust given name could well come from his middle name, August. We do know that he was a miner for some years after he immigrated from Sweden. Enough facts line up that this entry is likely the entry for Elsie’s birth. Also, it is worthwhile to note that the birth was recorded over a year after it happened, thus increasing the chances for incorrect information to be recorded.

The details of Augusta’s death, do not play out exactly as related by Liz in her 2002 interview. However, the recorded information is close enough to lead to the conclusion that August Vahlstrom is likely Elsie’s biological mother.

In the Dickinson County death records is an entry for the death of Augusta Mattison and her infant child.^[3] (Apparently Liz did not know that Augusta had actually given birth to her baby.) The entry read as follows:

Date of death: June 12, 1896
Name: Augusta Mattison
Female
Married
Age: 23 years, 7 months
Place of death: Iron Mountain, Michigan
Birthplace: Sweden
Occupation: Housekeeper
Parents: Chas Walstrom / Emma Walstrom
Parents’ residence: Sweden
Date of record: May 24, 1897.

The entry for the baby’s death is listed immediately after Augusta’s. Sadly the record does not reveal whether the baby was a boy or girl. The infant lived for a few short days then passed from having cholera. Again, it should be noted that Augusta’s and the baby’s deaths are recorded nearly a year after their passing:

Name: ______ Mattison
Age: 9 days
Place of death: Iron Mountain, Michigan
Cause of death: Cholera
Birthplace: Iron Mountain
Parents: Charles Mattison / Augusta Mattison
Date of record: May 24, 1897

I suspect that the discrepancy in the name of the baby’s father being recorded as Charles is that the recorder accidentally listed Augusta’s father’s first name. Again, it is helpful to note that the record was made a year after the baby’s death.

The kind person who originally created records for Augusta and the baby on the website, Find a Grave, was able to obtain the cemetery records to provide some additional information. Sadly Augusta is buried in the Swedish Potters Field, plot #25 in the Quinnesec Cemetery located in Iron Mountain. Since no plot number is provided for the infant, my assumption is that the baby was buried with Augusta. The poster (who has since turned custody of the Find a Grave memorials over to me for both Augusta and the baby) transcribed the Quinnesec Cemetery records, which read as follows: “Augusta was only 19 when she died from hemorrhaging of the womb after giving birth.”^[4],[5] An important discrepancy here is that the cemetery records Augusta’s age as 19, while the county death record says she was 23. Given that the cemetery records were recorded closer to the time of death then the county records, they may be more accurate, but there’s no way to know.

The conclusion that Augusta Wahlstrom is Elsie’s biological mother is somewhat circumstantial, but given the similarities in details between the family story and the recorded information, it seems to be the logical conclusion.

A year and a half after Augusta’s death, John married Huldah Christina Johnson on December 23, 1897. Huldah willingly raised Elsie as her own daughter and indeed Huldah was the only mother Elsie ever really knew. Together John and Huldah raised five other children: Ellen, Elmer, Mildred, John, and Pearl.

Elsie spent her youth in Iron Mountain and on August 16, 1912, at the tender age of 17, she married Alexander Pollard, whose family had immigrated from Cornwall, England. They lost their first baby, a boy, in 1913. Elsie gave birth to four more children while living in Iron Mountain: Bernice, Elizabeth, Alice, and Willard.

Elsie (holding Alice), Elizabeth, and Bernice
Photo taken in Iron Mountain, Michigan

Alex worked for Henry Ford, making $7/day – considered good money during the Depression. But Alex wanted to go west to Oregon where other members of his family had migrated to. Elsie was against it, but Alex insisted. She had to sell all her beautiful furniture to make the trek to Oregon. The family came to nothing, with nothing. Liz remembers times when they only had carrots on the table. Bernice often gave up her share so the other children could have more food.

Elsie and Alex spent the rest of their lives living in the Willamette Valley region of Oregon. Elsie contracted cancer and died at the age of 55 on Juy 25, 1950. She was buried in Belle Passe Cemetery, located on Hwy 99E between Hubbard and Woodburn, Oregon. Her obituary recorded the following information:

“Mrs. Elsie Pollard Dies. Funeral services for Mrs. Elsie Victoria Henrietta Pollard, 55, of Woodburn, who died Tuesday at a Salem hospital, will be held at 4 p.m. today (Thursday) at the Ringo chapel here. Interment will be at Belle Passi cemetery. Mrs. Pollard, who had been an Oregon resident for the past 19 years, was born at Iron Mountain, Mich., April 22 1895. She was a member of the Foursquare church. Survivors include her husband, Alexander Pollard of Woodburn; a son, Willard Pollard at home; three daughters, Mrs. Bernice Jacobs and Mrs. Alice Mulkey both of Woodburn, and Mrs. Elizabeth Mills of Sweet Home; four grandchildren; two brothers, Elmer Mattson of Woodburn and John Edward Mattson of Portland; three sisters, Mrs. Ellen Roberts, Mrs. Mildred Martell and Mrs. Pearl Walker, all of Portland; and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Mattson of Portland.”

(Published in the Woodburn Independent Newspaper (Woodburn, Oregon), July 27, 1950, page 5, column 4.

Alexander and Elsie Pollard

^[1]“Dickinson, Michigan, United States Records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9KJ-YFLY : September 25, 2021), image 61 of 541; Dickinson County (Michigan). County Clerk.

^[2]“Dickinson, Michigan, United States Records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9KJ-YFWP : September 25, 2021), image 178 of 541; Dickinson County (Michigan). County Clerk.

^[3]“Dickinson, Michigan, United States Records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89KJ-Y63C : September 25, 2021), image 108 of 387; Dickinson County (Michigan). County Clerk.

 ^[4]Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103835448/augusta-matteson : accessed 25 September 2021), memorial page for Augusta Walstrom Matteson (1877–12 Jun 1896), Find a Grave Memorial ID 103835448, citing Quinnesec Cemetery, Quinnesec, Dickinson County, Michigan, USA ; Maintained by Jacolo (contributor 47267227) Researched by Karlene Hall 47722765.

^[5]Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/226061652/infant-mattison : accessed 25 September 2021), memorial page for Infant Matteson Mattison (unknown–unknown), Find a Grave Memorial ID 226061652, citing Quinnesec Cemetery, Quinnesec, Dickinson County, Michigan, USA ; Maintained by Jacolo (contributor 47267227), Researched by Karlene Hall 47722765

Veda: A Novel

In my last blog post,  “A Quilt’s Journey Home” I wrote about a family quilt found in a thrift store in Arizona that made it’s way to a museum in Oregon and was written about in one of the leading newspapers in the state. That story and that quilt reconnected a lot of family members as they called each other to talk about the quilt’s story appearing in the paper. One of the unexpected gifts that came from that story was that I was connected on Facebook to a distant cousin whom I’d never met. That connection led to my learning about a book that she recently wrote about her family. It’s called, Veda: A Novel.

I purchased the book right away. I usually don’t have more than one book going at a time, but I didn’t want to wait to start reading this so I put the other book I was reading aside and began reading Veda. I couldn’t put it down.

So often genealogy is simply an exercise in learning names and vital statistics and you don’t often get to hear actual stories. And when you do…well, you just have to be prepared for the fact that not all the family members you “meet” on the way are going to be all that wonderful. This is the case with my grand uncle. He was Veda’s first husband. I never got to meet Veda. They divorced long before I was born. I did, however, meet my grand uncle, but I only saw him on a few occasions when I was quite young. Reading Veda made me want to shake some sense into this man….made me want to yell at him and tell him to step up and take care of his family….made me cringe that he’s one of the twigs in my family tree!

Veda is a story of resilience and impoverishment and religious fervor gone wrong. It’s a story of what happens when poverty and a lack of choices lead a person to make decisions out of necessity rather than desire. It’s a story of a mother who spends her life making sacrifices to provide for her children. Ultimately it’s a story of a mother’s love.

Ellen, the author, takes us on this journey using her mother’s voice — interspersed with entries from her father’s numerous diaries. You’ll find yourself feeling frustrated, angry, shocked, sympathetic, helpless, and sometimes overwhelmingly sad. But you also come away amazed at what the human spirit can endure without becoming bitter or giving up. Its beautifully written and though I finished it nearly two weeks ago I still hear Veda’s “voice” in my head….in many ways her story inspires me. I wish I could say the same about my uncle’s.

Veda: A Novel

Oakes’ Family Quilt

Have you ever read one of those stories about someone finding an heirloom in an antique store or flea market and researching it to help it find its way home? I have. Many times. Little did I know that this past week my family would be on the receiving end of one those lost-heirloom stories.

Sunday morning I was visiting my mother when her cousin unexpectedly called and asked if she’d read the morning’s edition of the Statesman Journal (an Oregon newspaper). She doesn’t get that paper so pulled it up online. She excitedly called me and said, “You HAVE to see this.” There on the screen was a photograph of her grandparents and other family members – it was a photo from 1938 taken at her grandparents’ 40th wedding anniversary. My first thought was wondering how did someone get that photo off my family tree on Ancestry. My second thought was wondering why it was in a newspaper article.

The reason is a good one. Back in October, someone was working in a thrift shop on a Navajo Indian reservation in Arizona. She was sorting donations when she came across an old quilt. The quilt pattern featured trees with embroidered acorns and names with birth dates. The family name was Oakes. The dates went back to the 1830s. Not wanting someone to use the quilt for a dog bed or just toss it out she set it aside. Later she took it home and started researching the names on the quilt. Discovering that most of the names were connected to Salem, Oregon, she next contacted the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem. The staff member she talked to was intrigued and a few days later the woman in Arizona mailed the quilt to the Center in Salem.

Kaylyn F. Mabey, a staff member at the center, continued the research begun by the donor in Arizona. She found an article in a 1938 edition of the Capital Journal that recorded the 40th anniversary of Albert & Pearl Oakes. The aforementioned picture accompanied that article. The names identified in the picture corresponded to the names on the quilt.

Kaylyn did some additional research to confirm dates and names, and on Sunday, March 19, 2017 published her findings along with the Oakes’ family picture and a picture of the mystery quilt. The photo of the quilt in the paper featured the name of Mildred M Oakes – she just happens to be my maternal grandmother.

This event turned out to be a great opportunity for cousins far and wide to call each other – cousins spread out from Alaska to North Carolina.

On Monday morning I met up with my mom’s cousin at the Willamette Heritage Center and he asked if we could see the quilt. Even though we hadn’t called ahead (we were so excited it didn’t really occur to us), they graciously took time to find a room where we could examine the family treasure. To be honest, we don’t even know who made it. Quite possibly Pearl herself did. She had made other quilts in her lifetime but no one knows if she embroidered or not. Maybe others contributed to it. Maybe a friend or daughter-in-law made it. We suspect it was done just a few years before the 40th anniversary – maybe even in anticipation of the anniversary. We don’t know and probably never will. We also don’t know how it ended up in a Navajo Indian reservation thrift store either – though we have some suspicions. The important thing – the really important thing – is that it is in a safe place now – and back in Oregon. It won’t serve as a dog bed or be lost in a trash heap. The hours and hours of work spent creating it – the names memorialized on it will not be lost to history. They are in a museum where members of our family – current and future generations – and museum visitors will be able see it for years to come.

Our family is grateful to the kind person in Arizona who recognized the quilt’s value and the time and effort she spent researching it and helping it find its way back to Oregon. And we’re grateful to Kaylyn and the Willamette Heritage Center  for the research, for accepting the quilt into their collection — and for publishing the story so our family could read about it and reconnect with it and each other.

The full story is available here in the Statesman Journal — Heritage: Quilt with Salem connection shows up in Arizona.

Dale Richmond Oakes (son of Albert R. Oakes) viewing quilt for first time.

Family Recipes – Pasty

Few things in life evoke fond memories of childhood and family the way a favorite family recipe  does. For me that favorite family dish is pasty (pronounced “pass” + “tee”).

This food is most often associated with Cornwall, England – although it’s history can be traced back much further. It’s considered the national food of Cornwall and since 2011 has Protected Geographical Indication status in Europe (that’s right – the EU takes time to give protected status to regional foods). In its traditional form it can best be described as a big, plump turnover filled with meat and vegetables. Most often its filled with beef (some say venison was used before beef), chipped potato, chipped rutabaga, onion, salt & pepper.

This was a popular meal with the tin miners of Cornwall. The turnover could easily fit into the miners’ pockets where it usually stayed warm until eaten for lunch. Some mines were known to have ovens on the premises and miners would carve their initials into their pasty for easy identification at meal time.

In the 1840s many miners from Cornwall immigrated to the United States and found their way to the Upper Peninsula area of Michigan where mineral mines were just beginning to be developed. With the immigrants came the pasty and it is is still a popular food in this region of Michigan. Finnish and Italian immigrants soon settled in the area as well and they tried their own variations of the Cornish pasty making modifications such as adding carrots – an addition that provoked no small amount of controversy!

My Pollard ancestors were miners who immigrated from Cornwall, England to Iron Mountain, Michigan. Happily they were pasty makers. In a move that has probably made more than a few of my Cornish ancestors roll over in their grave, my great aunt — Elizabeth Pollard Mills — decided to expand the idea of the crescent-shaped pasty and she started making it as a deep-dish pie. This format makes serving it to large groups of people much easier. I’ve added my own variation over the years – instead of chipping the rutabaga (those things are hard as rocks) – I run it through the food processor and shred it (hey, it tastes the same right?).

So, here is the Pollard/Jacobs variation of Cornish pasty:

Crust for a two-crust pie (I use the recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook).

Cover the bottom of the pie crust with a layer of rutabaga (chipped or shredded) – next add a layer of chipped potatoes (its sacrilege not to chip the potatoes) — salt & pepper to taste — next add a layer of chopped onions – then add a layer of ground beef. Repeat. Add a few dollops of butter. Cover with crust. Put aluminum foil around the edges to keep it from burning. Bake at 350-375 for about an hour or longer – until the potatoes are done.

Now – there is one more thing the last couple generations of my family have added that I’m fairly confident no self-respecting Cornish ancestor would even consider. That’s right – after it comes out of the oven we add Heinz ketchup! I must have Heinz Ketchup on my pasty!!!!

This is my comfort food. This is what takes me back to my childhood and extended family gathered ’round the table for the holidays. Pasty. Just thinking about it makes me smile….and makes me hungry!

Pictured: Elsie Victoria Henrietta (Mattson) Pollard (wife of Alexander Pollard) holding Alice Pollard (married Ernest Mulkey), next to her is Elizabeth Pollard (married Alvis Mills) and Bernice Pollard (married Adrian Jacobs) at their home in Iron Mountain, Michigan.

Pasty

Information for this blog was gleaned in part from Wikipedia and the History Channel websites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty

http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/miners-delight-the-history-of-the-cornish-pasty

 

 

Fun Friday Finds

Oh my – it has been such a long time since I published a bog post! Once you get away from it getting started again is painfully hard. Especially when my genealogy work these past few months has been so hit and miss. Life gets in the way of hobbies sometimes.

Anyway, to get back into it a bit I wanted to share some fun genealogy-related finds that I’ve come across in the last few weeks.

One of my absolute favorites is the Facebook page EBay Genealogy. On this page if you find family pictures, Bibles, documents, etc on places like Ebay, Goodwill auctions, Etsy, or in antique shops you can post the find on this page and help families reconnect with lost heirlooms.

Another new Facebook page that I just discovered is We Are Genealogy Bloggers. This site is just getting started but already has 191 members as of this writing. Fellow bloggers share their tips and hints, ask questions, and sometimes share helpful individual blog posts.

If you’re interested in Rhode Island genealogy, Diane Boumenot is starting an eight-part series on her blog, One Rhode Island Family. The series will be a wealth of information on researching Rhode Island ancestors – complete with web links. I’m looking forward to it.

 

Using Timelines to Make Sense of Inconsistencies

Lately I’ve read a lot of blogs and articles that extol the virtues and emphasize the necessity of doing timelines. To be honest, I just didn’t think they were that necessary or helpful — but that was because I’d never done one! I felt (apparently overly) confident that since Ancestry.com tended to list facts in order that if I just glanced through their timelines I wouldn’t need to do my own. Au contraire!

I just created my first two timelines for one set of confusing great great grandparents. (For this post I think it best to keep names out of it.) By creating a timeline I not only sorted out their rather confusing chronology of life events, but also discovered some facts that had not been readily apparent before doing this exercise.

The primary reason for my setting about to create these timelines was needing to sort out the birth of the great great grandparents’ youngest child. From all outward appearances – relying mainly on censuses – it appeared that my great great grandfather had left his family in Minnesota and moved to Washington – seemingly leaving my great great grandmother and their children alone to fend for themselves. Then I noticed that his youngest daughter was born well after he’d “disappeared” from their lives and moved to Washington. By creating timelines for each of them I discovered that his wife had in fact followed him to Washington – via South Dakota – and that their youngest child was actually born in Washington (and not South Dakota as reported on one of the census). While many questions remain that I have yet to unravel….at least I can follow their trail better by having created this timeline.

I learned something else while working on their timeline. I learned that their oldest son was born a full two years before they were married. His mother was only 17 at the time. When the couple did marry they lived with her parents. It appears to be a safe assumption that they let their daughter and grandson live with them before the marriage rather than turning them out. Interestingly, I discovered that the obituary for my great great grandmother that was published in a church magazine indicated that the marriage took place the year before the son was born. Since that information was provided to the church by a family member, I can’t help but wonder if the story passed down through the years was that the marriage took place before the child’s birth to legitimize him in the eyes of the family and the church.

Timelines certainly helped paint a clearer picture of the events in my great great grandparents’ lives. I may have eventually put all this together using other forms of analysis or observation – but the timelines made this process much easier and were well worth the time and effort. I’m now anxious to create these for other members of my tree — and I too can extol their virtues to others who wonder if they are a necessary part of genealogical research.

What I’ve Learned About Blogging — So Far….

So, this is just a brief post about what I’ve learned about genealogy blogging so far:

1. Starting a blog in the summer is a bad idea. This is a project best started in the midst of a cold/wet/rainy winter.

2. Trying to find things to blog about that anyone other than myself (and maybe a few family members) would be interested in reading is incredibly intimidating.

3. Once you get side tracked and take a break from blogging it is EXTREMELY hard to get started again.

That’s it….so far. I’m still really new at this so I’ll have a lot more to learn as I go along. But I had to pick this back up and start somewhere. Guess these brief observations were as good a place as any. Hoping to do something of more substance in the very near future!

Addendum: Apparently #4 would be to not blog late at night because my editing skills are far worse then (which would explain why this was posted with the title “What I’ve Learning About Blogging — So Far…..). And to think I edit for a living….sigh….!

Tombstone Thursday

Here are some headstones from City View Cemetery in Salem, Oregon. Albert Oakes and Gordon Oakes are grand uncles in my family tree. If any of these pictures help you in your research please feel free to use them.

Albert Richmond Oakes (1902 – 1987)
Marian Viola Sprague Oakes
(1913 – 2001)

Albert (Al) and Marian Oakes

Albert Oakes’ obituary

Gordon Montgomery Oakes
1914 – 1985

The bus is engraved on the headstone to acknowledge the many years that Gordon spent driving for Greyhound.

Gordon Oakes (1958)

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!

I’m pretty sure that anyone who’s been working on their genealogy for any length of time will shake their heads in disbelief when I say that after five years of researching my family I just now requested my first real document. Until a few weeks ago I relied exclusively on images and information that I could access on the internet. And that’s gotten me a long ways – but this story just begged for real documentation that I could see with my own eyes.

The story handed down over the years was that my grandfather and his twin brother were named Roy and Ray – and that they were named after the doctor that delivered them. Apparently he was named Ray Roy (or Roy Ray). That’s the story. And as with my own last name (see Thursday’s post, “I’m Not Who I Think I Am”), I had no reason to doubt that my grandfather’s name was Roy.

Then an interesting chain of events took place. An episode of “Who Do You Think You Are” aired one night a few month’s ago and most of it was filmed in Oregon. At one point one of the genealogists working on the case mentioned a website where you can search historical Oregon newspapers. I didn’t pay as much attention to that as I should have, but my cousin immediately went to the site and started finding info about my Jacobs family members. So then I jumped in and started doing my own research. I thought I’d start by searching just for my grandfather’s last name and quickly found the most interesting little paragraph published in the Morning Oregonian (Portland, Or.) on January 21, 1914. It reads as follows:

Birth announcement

Apparently my grandfather and his brother were named “Alpha” and “Omega” – NOT Roy and Ray. I’m not sure why they would have been given these names. Perhaps giving birth to twins in 1913 was so difficult that my great grandmother was letting everyone know that these would be the first and the last children she would be giving birth to. Maybe it was religious zeal. There’s no one alive to fill in the missing information on this story.

Finding this all a bit shocking I decided to order the actual birth certificate. Seemed like if I was ever going to start ordering actual documentation for my research this would be a great one to start with. I kinda had my doubts that Alpha and Omega would be the two names that would actually appear on the certificate(s) – but sure enough, when it arrived in the mail a couple weeks ago those were indeed the names that were recorded for the twin boys. In 1962 my great uncle Ray amended the certificate (only one was issued for both boys) and had his name changed to Ray officially. There’s no record that my grandfather ever followed suit. Apparently he never had reason to have to produce his birth certificate to prove who he was.

As with most of my research to date I’m simply left with more questions than answers. When and how did their names get changed? Did they always know about their original names? If not, when and how did they learn about them? Why did one make an official change and not the other? How come no one kept detailed diaries to answer all my questions two generations later?

Oh, and as for the doctor that delivered them being named “Roy Ray” (or “Ray Roy”) – not so much. Turns out it was an “O. F. Heisley” – so even that part of the story fell apart. If genealogy is the art of solving family mysteries, I’m afraid I’m creating more than I’m solving!