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MILLER Family History, Part VII

October 2023

Hattie (MILLER FORBES SHAW) MERTENS (1869-1954)

Hattie Mae (MILLER FORBES SHAW) MERTENS 11HBG421. Hattie Mae Miller was born on May 2, 1869, in Iowa. She was likely named for her maternal grandmother Harriet (Cottrell) Andrews. She first married Hill Beacher Forbes on September 3, 1891, in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County, California, and had two children, one son surviving.[Cen 1900] She later married Clarence Norton Shaw, a carpenter from Kansas, about 1902 and had two more children. Later, in her 70s, Hattie married Ralph W. Mertens.

11HBG4211. Raymond Leland Forbes 25 Jul 1892 23 Apr 1964 (71)
11HBG4212. Louis Carlton Forbes (1893-1898) (1898) (2)

11HBG4213. Herbert Dennis ShawGold Star (1904) 1 Mar 1942 (37)
11HB4G214. Dorris Ann Shaw 2 May 1908 31 Aug 2004 (96)

Hattie and Hill were married on September 3, 1891, in Arroyo Grande by C. W. F. Nelson of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Witnesses to their marriage were Hattie's brother Orrin and his fiancée Sarah Startzer, who married later that same month.[Mar 1891]

Hattie's first son Raymond was born in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County, California. After Hattie's father died in 1896, she, her mother, and younger sisters moved north to Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California, and then further north to Gridley Township, Butte County, California by 1900. Hill's 16-year-old half-sister Ethel McCracken lived with the family and attended school in 1900.[Cen 1900]

Hill Beacher Forbes reportedly died around 1902 in Marysville, Yuba County, about 18 miles south of Gridley. He would have been about 32 years old.

Hattie remarried to Clarence around 1902.

She settled for a time in San Francisco where daughter Dorris was born.

Hattie and Clarence settled outside of Fresno, Fresno County, California, by 1910.[Cen 1910, 1920] There Clarence worked as a carpenter for J. R. Church.[Draft 1918]

In 1910, Hattie committed her mother to the State Hospital at Stockton, San Joaquin County, where her mother died two years later.

Hattie and Clarence may have separated by 1930 when both were enumerated in the census separately. Hattie worked as a hospital waitress at the Veterans' Home of California in Napa, Napa County, California.[Cen 1930A] Clarence, on the other hand, was enumerated twice in Fresno, first at the Fresno County Hospital[Cen 1930B] and second with his widowed mother.[Cen 1930C]

In 1940, Hattie lived with the Frank and Nettie Heffelfinger family at 210 Randolph Street in Napa. There she and Nettie worked as practical nurses at private homes. In 1939 she had worked for 12 weeks and earned $90.[Cen 1940]

CM1C Herbert Dennis SHAW
Photo courtesy of cousin Jeanette Ditty

Son Herbert died during World War II when the U.S.S. Houston (CA-30), a Northampton-class heavy cruiser, was sunk on March 1, 1942, by the Japanese. He was a Construction Mechanic First Class (CM1C). The ship had been patrolling Indonesian waters when it ran into a Japanese invasion force in the Sundra Strait, off the northwest corner of the island of Java in the late hours of 28 February. The wounded ship sunk a few hours later at 00:40 on March 1st. 693 of the crew of 1,061 were killed and the 368 survivors were taken prisoner by the Japanese.


Mertens-Stewart-Miller Connections
Ralph's son Herbert Mertens was married to Ruth Stewart, whose family lived up Calistoga Road not far from Hattie's sister Cora (Miller Fisher) Williams8 in 1940. Ralph was living with his nephew Ralph Hurd in St. Helena that year.

Hattie later remarried to Ralph W. Mertens about May 1943 when both were in their early 70s. Both were living in Calistoga at the time.

Hattie Mae (Miller Forbes Shaw) Mertens died on June 17, 1954, while residing in Fresno County, California. She was 85 years old. "Hattie M. Shaw," as written on her headstone, was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Fresno.[Grave]

Sources
  • Cen 1870: 28 Jun 1870 Census, Graham Township, Johnson County, Iowa
  • Cen 1880: 5 Jun 1880 Census, Morro Village, Morro Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Mar 1891: 3 Sep 1891, Marriage License, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Cen 1900: Jun 1900 Census, Gridley Township, Butte County, California
  • Cen 1910: 19 Apr 1910 Census, Township 3, Fresno County, California
  • Draft 1918: 12 Sep 1918, World War I Draft Registration, Fresno, Fresno County, California
  • Cen 1920: 24 Jan 1920 Census, Belmont Avenue, Township 3, Fresno County, California
  • Cen 1930A: 10 Apr 1930 Census, Veterans Home, Napa Township, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1930B: 7 Apr 1930 Census, Township 3, Fresno County Hospital, Fresno County, California
  • Cen 1930C: 11 Apr 1930 Census, Township 3, 279 Howard, Fresno, Fresno County, California
  • Cen 1940: 12 Apr 1940 Census, 210 Randolph Street, Napa, Napa County, California
  • Grave: Mountain View Cemetery, Fresno, Fresno County, California, Find A Grave <http://www.findagrave.com>

Orrin Elbert MILLER (1870-1941)

Orrin Elbert MILLER 11HBG422. Orrin Elbert Miller was the eldest son of Isaac Dennis. He was born in July 1870 in Iowa and named after his maternal grandfather Orrin Andrews. He married Sarah Startzer on September 30, 1891, in San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County.[Mar 1891] Sarah was a first cousin, once-removed through his paternal great-grandmother's second marriage. They had five children:

11HBG4221. Hazel Miller 5 Jul 1892 11 Jun 1968 (75)
11HBG4222. I.D. Miller May 1896 (> 1920) (> 23)
11HBG4223. Arlene Ann Miller 24 Jun 1897 23 Nov 1988 (91)
11HBG4224. Harold F. Miller 30 Jan 1900 4 Feb 1965 (65)
11HBG4225. Esther Lillian Miller 2 Apr 1904 20 May 1906 (2)
Orin MILLER family abt. 1896
Orrin, Sarah, Hazel, and I.D., c. 1896

As a young boy, Orrin and his family migrated to California and moved around San Luis Obispo and southeastern Monterey County before finally settling in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County, in May 1887. There Orrin apprenticed as a blacksmith, worked for two years in Hollister, San Benito County, California, and afterward return to Iowa where he likely met his cousin, Sarah Startzer.

Orrin married Sarah Startzer, his father's first cousin through his paternal great-grandmother's second marriage. They were married on September 30, 1891, in San Luis Obispo by the Rev. James Healey, Minister of the Gospel. Both were 21 years old. Witnesses to their marriage were Orrin's brother-in-law Hill B. Forbes and his father I.D. Miller7.[Mar 1891] The following year the couple settled in Hollister, San Benito County, where Orrin worked as a blacksmith. His voter registration described him as 5' 10" tall with a light complexion, blue eyes, and light hair.[Vote 1892]

Orrin is believed to have inherited the Arroyo Grande estate following his father's death in 1896. As told by nieces, he had tricked his mother into signing the estate over to him, and afterward his mother and younger siblings moved to northern California. Orrin's family home was described as a large log house east of town, along the southeast bank of Arroyo Grande Creek, and identified with that later covered by the Zenas G. Bakeman home on the 300 block of Coach Road.[Madge 181] This area had been belonged to Francis Z. Branch and given to his daughter, Mrs. Anna Branch Newsom, [Madge 246] families for whom the nearby Branch Mill Road and Newsom Springs Road are named.

Miller Bros. BlacksmithsOrrin and brother Walter set up a blacksmith shop in Arroyo Grande and by 1900 Sarah's elder brother Valentine Startzer and his family lived two houses away.[Cen 1900] Orrin continued to work as a blacksmith through at least 1920 with son Harold.[Cen 1920]


Tragedy struck the Millers on May 20, 1906, a Sunday afternoon, when 2-year-old daughter Esther was swept down an irrigation ditch that ran across the back of the house and down over a quarter of a mile to Arroyo Grande Creek. Upon realizing that she was missing, a search began and two hours later neighbor William Thomas Clevenger found her lifeless body caught at the opening of a flume that carried water across the creek.[News 1906] Esther was buried in the Arroyo Grande Cemetery.[Grave]

By 1930 Orrin became a receiver at a creamery and continued through 1940. In 1940 the area was named as being along Huasna Road.[Cen 1930, 1940]

Orrin and Sarah attended the fourth annual Arroyo Grande Reunion picnic about 1935, which was organized by former Arroyo Grande residents who moved to the San Francisco Bay area and held at John Hinkle Park in Berkeley, California. An accounting of the event recorded that Orrin "came home to Arroyo Grande as happy as a kid at his first circus, because he had spent the day at Berkeley Park visiting with boyhood friends whom he had not seen for years."[Madge 196]

Orrin Elbert Miller died on August 1, 1941, in San Luis Obispo County and is buried at the Arroyo Grande Cemetery.

Sarah (Startzer) Miller died two years later on October 4, 1943, in San Luis Obispo County, California. She is also buried at the Arroyo Grande Cemetery with her husband. Their son Harold joined them there in 1965.

"History of San Luis Obispo County and Environs," 1917[Morrison & Haydon]

"Orrin E. Miller.--Through his connection with the interests of Arroyo Grande as the leading blacksmith of this section, Mr. Miller has become one of the well-known men of the county. He was born in Johnson County, Iowa, July 6, 1870, the son of Isaac D. and Candace (Andrews) Miller, natives of Iowa and Pennsylvania respectively. The father served in the Civil War enlisting in Company D, Twenty-fourth Iowa Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, and during an engagement was shot in the leg and madea cripple for life. In 1872 he came to California, and the following year settled in Morro and engaged in farming until 1877[sic], when he moved to Arroyo Grande and bought a tract of six and a quarter acres north of the town, where he is engaged in raising fruit and general produce. He is a member of the Grand Army Post and the I.O.O.F."

"Orrin E. Miller attended school at Morro and Cholame Valley, began the trade of blacksmith with Joseph Eubanks of Arroyo Grande in 1888, worked for him three years and then went to Hollister, where he worked two years at the same trade; and from there he went to Iowa, and followed his trade three years. He returned to California at the end of this period and in partnership with his brother Walter, erected a shop near the creek, in Arroyo Grande, where he has since been located and carries on a thriving business. Mr. Miller also owns six and one-half acres north of the town which is set to fruit and nuts, and equipped with an electric pumping plant for irrigating."

"The marriage of Orrin E. Miller united him with Sarah Startzer, a native of Iowa. They have four children; Hazel, teaching school in Arizona, Ida, Arline, and Harold. Mr. Miller is a member of the Odd Fellows and has passed through all the chairs, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is well liked in his community, where he is recognized for his integrity and industry."

"Orin Miller," 1935[Madge 181]

"Orin Miller belongs to one of the pioneer families of the vally, as his parents came to Arroyo Grande in the 1880's. They lived in a large log house on the site now covered by the Zenas Bakeman home, east of town.1"

"There was never a dance or picnic anywhere in the valley in those days but that Orin Miller was one of the leaders in planning the entertainment. And how he liked to run in a foot race."

"Orin and his brother, Walter, were for many years the village blacksmiths, until poor health caused Walter Miller to sell his half of the shop and go over into the San Joaquin valley to become a dairy rancher.

"Orin Miller has always made the valley his home. Here he and his good wife have reared their four children and worked for their community in every way they can to improve it. Their little granddaughter, now going to the local grammar school, is the fourth generation of the family to make their home in the valley."

"Mrs. Miller was a Miss Starcher (sic) whose family were also pioneers of our valley."

1. 300 Block of Coach Road

Sources
  • Cen 1880: 5 Jun 1880 Census, Morro Village, Morro Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Mar 1891: 30 Sep 1891, Marriage License, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Vote 1892: 30 Aug 1892 Register, Precinct 2, Hollister, San Benito County, California
  • Cen 1900: 22 Jun 1900 Census, Arroyo Grande Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • News 1906: Arroyo Grande Hearld, 26 May 1906
  • Cen 1910: 16 Apr 1910 Census, Arroyo Grande & Ranchita Road, Arroyo Grande Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Cen 1920: 25 Feb 1920 Census, Branch Precinct, Arroyo Grande Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Cen 1930: 18 Apr 1930 Census, Upper Arroyo Grande Valley Road, Branch Precinct, Arroyo Grande Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Cen 1940: 5 Apr 1940 Census, Huasna Road, Arroyo Grande Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Morrison, Annie L. and Haydon, John H. History of San Luis Obispo County and Environs with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County and Environs Who have been Identified with the Growth and Development of the Section from the Early Days to the Present. Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1917.
  • Madge: Ditmas, Madge C. According to Madge: Early Times In South San Luis Obispo County And The Arroyo Grande Valley. Arroyo Grande, California: South County Historical Society, 1983.
  • Grave: Arroyo Grande Cemetery, Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County, California, Find A Grave <http://www.findagrave.com>

John Walter MILLERΔ (1871-1947)

John Walter MILLER 11HBG423. John Walter MillerΔ was born in November 11, 1871, in San Luis Obispo County, California. He married a woman named Cora M. Wilkinson of California about 1891 and had at least six children:

11HBG4231. William Leland MillerBlue Star 11 Feb 1893 10 Jan 1947 (53)
11HBG4232. Clarence Walter MillerBlue StarΔ 5 Jun 1895 2 Apr 1965 (69)
11HBG4233. James Roy Miller 31 Jan 1898 Apr 1978 (80)
11HBG4234. Meynard S. MillerBlue Star 24 Feb 1900 12 Dec 1992 (92)
11HBG4235. Orval A. Miller 19 Aug 1902 28 Dec 1983 (81)
11HBG4236. Burneice Dorothy Miller 28 Oct 1904 11 Apr 1992 (87)

Miller Bros. Blacksmiths John Walter began his family in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County. He and his elder brother Orrin set up a blacksmith shop there by 1900. By 1910 he and his family either moved inland to Nipomo Township or the their home along Nipomo and Los Berros Road, southeast of Arroyo Grande, which was included in Nipomo Township. John worked there as a blacksmith in his own shop and his 17-year-old sister Iva lived with them.[Cen 1910]

The Miller family moved south to the oil fields of Kings County, California, by 1917, when son Clarence registered for the draft and gave his residence as Hanford, Kings County. The following year, son James also registered for the draft and gave his and his mother's address as R. B. 100, Hanford.[Draft 1918] The 1920 census recorded the family at Paddock, Lucerne Township, in the northern outskirts of Hanford. John farmed grain while his sons worked in the oil fields.[Cen 1920]

Lucerne
Lucerne Valley was named in 1887 after residents decided the old name, Mussel Slough, a branch of the King River, did not represent the scenic nature of the fertile area.
"Orin Miller," 1935[Madge 181]

"...Orin and his brother, Walter, were for many years the village blacksmiths, until poor health caused Walter Miller to sell his half of the shop and go over into the San Joaquin valley to become a dairy rancher..."

The Millers moved to 1636 East Street in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California, by 1923, when eldest son William moved to Burma to drill for oil.[Con 1923] By the 1930 census, they and their son James were enumerated at 237 Willard Street. John Walter and James worked as oil pumpers.[Cen 1930]

The Millers bought a home about 2 miles east at 3625 East 15th Street by 1935. It was valued at $3,000 in 1940. Daughter Burneice and her husband Thomas Givens lived with them and paid them $12 rent. John Walter continued to work full time as an oil pumper and Thomas was a general construction laborer who had been unemployed for 12 weeks during the previous 12 months.[Cen 1940, Draft 1942]

John Walter Miller died at the age of 75 on September 19, 1947, in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California. He was buried at Sunnyside Memorial Park (later renamed as Forest Lawn Memorial Park) in Long Beach.[Grave]

Cora M. (Wilkinson) Miller died 13 years later on October 17, 1960, in Los Angeles County, California, at the age of 85 years. She was also buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Long Beach.[Grave]

Sources
  • Cen 1880: 5 Jun 1880 Census, Morro Village, Morro Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Cen 1900: 9 Jun 1900 Census, Arroyo Grande Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Cen 1910: 21 Apr 1910 Census, Nipomo Township, San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Draft 1917: 5 Jun 1917, World War I Draft Registration, Balfour Precinct, Fresno County, California
  • Draft 1918: 12 Sep 1918, World War I Draft Registration, Hanford, Kings County, California
  • Cen 1920: 2 Feb 1920 Census, Paddock, Lucerne Township, Kings County, California
  • Con 1923: 3 Jul 1923, Consular Registration Application, Rangoon, Burma
  • Cen 1930: 8 Apr 1930 Census, 237 Willard Street, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California
  • Cen 1940: 3 Apr 1940 Census, 3625 East 15th Street, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California
  • Draft 1942: 1942, World War II Draft Registration, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California
  • Grave: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California, Find A Grave <http://www.findagrave.com>
  • Madge 1983, Ditmas, Madge C. According to Madge: Early Times In South San Luis Obispo County And The Arroyo Grande Valley. Arroyo Grande, California: South County Historical Society, 1983.

Cora Ethel (MILLER FISHER) WILLIAMS8 (1880-1967)

Cora Ethel (MILLER FISHER) WILLIAMS 11HBG425. Cora Ethel Miller8 was the daughter of a Union Civil War veteran from Iowa. She was born in Old Creek, the southern portion of Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, California, on January 29, 1880. She lived throughout California, but raised her two families in Sonoma and Napa Counties. She had seven children by her first husband, Theodoric "Bud" Leathe Fisher4, who died at age of 33, in 1911. She remarried to Albert Williams on January 21, 1915[Mar 1915], a week before her 35th birthday. They had another four children. All together, she gave birth to 11 children, and by the time of her death, at age 87, was grandmother to 41 grandchildren, 108 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-great grandchildren!

11HBG425A. Howard Earl Fisher 30 Jan 1899 15 Jan 1966 (66)
11HBG425B. Pearl Elizabeth Fisher9 7 Jan 1901 30 Oct 1941 (40)
11HBG425C. Mildred May Fisher 27 Dec 1902 8 Apr 1989 (86)
11HBG425D. Carrie Truett Fisher 12 Aug 1904 18 Aug 1936 (32)
11HBG425E. Merle Everett Fisher 23 Feb 1906 18 Aug 1990 (84)
11HBG425F. Sonoma C. Fisher 8 Dec 1907 2 Jul 1993 (85)
11HBG425G. Alta Vivian Fisher 3 Aug 1909 22 Feb 1910 (6 mos.)

11HBG425H. Elsie Alberta Williams 7 Mar 1914 15 Feb 2001 (86)
11HBG425I. Gladys Elaine Williams 30 Jun 1916 29 Mar 1998 (81)
11HBG425J. Harold Williams 17 Apr 1918 20 Apr 1918 (3 days)
11HBG425K. Edward Carl Williams 4 Apr 1920 6 Mar 2012 (91)

Five MILLER Generations Mildred May (FISHER) FECHTER Hazel Elizabeth (MALUGANI) GOSS Chet Ronald PETTEK Gayle Ann (GOSS BARNHART) PETTEK Torynne Deanne (BARNHART) WALIZER Vern Edward WILLIAMS Marilee "Missie" (WILLIAMS) BOSSI Cora Ethel (MILLER FISHER) WILLIAMS Gaylynne Joyce (BARNHART) KAINOA

Five Generations
Back Row: Mildred May Fechter, Hazel E. Goss, Chet Ronald Pettek, Gayle Ann Steele and Torynne Deanne Walizer
Front Row: Gaylynne Joyce Kainoa, Cora Ethel (Miller) Williams, Vern Edward Williams, and Marilee Bossi

Cora was a large woman. At her peak, she stood 5' 9" and weighed around 245 to 250 pounds.

Cora lived in Old Creek-Cayucos as a baby and then the family moved to the Cholame valley in and around Parkfield and Imusdale, Monterey County, around 1884. In 1887, the Miller family returned to San Luis Obispo County and settled in Arroyo Grande until the death of her father, Isaac Dennis Miller, in 1896. Months after Isaac's death, the family moved north to Healdsburg, Sonoma County, where Cora Ethel finished the 8th grade and then studied for two years at Healdsburg Academy (later Healdsburg College and finally Pacific Union College), the first Seventh-Day Adventist college in the west.

In 1898, at age 18, Cora married Theodoric Leathe Fisher, a Nebraska native, on 22 March 1898 in Fulton, Sonoma County, California. They were married by J. Brown. They lived in Forestville briefly, where their first son Howard Earl was born, and then moved briefly to Stillwater, Churchill County, Nebraska, along with Theodoric's parents, where they worked for the John W. and Hannah Freeman family.[Cen 1900]

By the January 1900, the Fishers had returned to California where daughter Pearl was born in Lockeford, San Joaquin County. They then returned to Forestville for by the birth of Mildred in 1902. Soon afterward they moved to the Asti Winery & Vineyard in the Cloverdale-Asti area around 1903.

Theodoric's father died in 1906 and in 1910 his mother remarried to Ira T. Williams, a widower Civil War veteran. During this time, Theodoric slowly wasted away from consumption (tuberculosis) over a period of six years, the last three or four he was mostly bedridden. Cora helped support the family by picking hops. Theodoric became friends with his new elder stepbrother, Al Williams, who kept the family fed with fresh game. They lived there until the Theodoric's death.

Theodoric "Bud" Leathe Fisher died the following year on January 25, 1911, in Cloverdale. He was only 33 years old and left Cora with six children, ages 3 to 11.

The following year Cora's mother died at Stockton State Hospital following two years of being institutionalized.

Cora remaried to Al Williams in Solano County, California, on January 21, 1915, a week before her 35th birthday; however, on their affidavit for marriage license she was recorded as 32 years old and Al was recorded as 38 years old, two short of his 40 years.[Mar 1915] With this marriage, Cora's former mother-in-law, Harriet (Chapman Fisher) Williams, became her mother-in-law once again!

Cora had been living in Napa, Napa County, when she and Al wed, and worked as a masseuse at Nance's Hot Springs in Calistoga for 21 years. She later worked as a nurse.

Fisher Sisters, abt. 1925
Fisher Sisters, c. 1925
Cora Malugani, Iva (Miller) Chord, Pearl (Fisher) Malugani,
Rubye Fechter, Cora "Mom" (Miller Fisher) Williams, Hazel Malugani,
and Carrie (Fisher) Shelly

In 1919, the Williams moved to a vacant barn, miles from town in the hills above Calistoga on Gates Road, where youngest son Edward was born. The following year, the family moved to the Blunt place behind the Petrified Forest, which Al helped excavate and turn into a park. The Williams lived at the Blunt ranch for eight years before moving to the 115-acre Gill place in Sonoma County, just over the Buchi Grade. Cora is recalled to have driving a Durant Star up and down the gravel mountain roads between home and Calistoga.

In 1932, son Earl's home burned down and he and his young family moved in at the Gill place. Cora, Al, and the Williams children moved out to the Cogan place on Sharp Road, a 25-acre plot in the Porter Creek valley that they bought in 1933 with a loan that son-in-law Raymond Fechter backed for $2,000. This place was an old three-bedroom home with porches on two sides. It burned down about 1936 when mice got into matches stored in the pantry.

After the Cogan place fire, Al and Cora moved in with daughter Sonoma (Fisher) Clarke for several years while they rebuilt on the Cogan property for $3,000, with $1,500 from insurance. Al, sons Merle and Ed, Raymond Fechter, and Bill and Dave Sharp all dug the foundation for the new house.

Albert Williams died on May 14, 1940, at the age of 65, while still living with the Clarke family. He is variously reported to be buried at Oak Knoll (alternatively "Okie Knoll") Cemetery on Sharp's property off Petrified Forest Road or the Butler property above Porter Creek Road.

Cora lived next-door to half-sister Mildred and her Fechter family off Petrified Forest Road in 1950. This was likely the small ranch on Sharp Road where the Cogan place had been. Her daughter Elsie and granddaughter Bette Ann lived with her.[Cen 1950] Cora lived on Sharp Road until 1957 when she moved in with her youngest son, Edward Carl Williams and his wife Carrie Lee (Moore) Williams in Richmond.

80th Birthday Celebration

"Mrs. Cora Williams, well-known Porter Creek resident, was honored on the occasion of her 80th birthday by a party in St. Joan of Arc Hall, Yountville, Jan 24."

"Attending the affair were 154 relatives and their families, including her sister, Elma Belvail of Napa; her sister-in-law Mrs. Mayme Johnson of Oakland; and her children Earl Fisher, Sonoma (Mrs. Bud) Clarke of Yountville, who served as hostess; Merle Fisher of Richmond; Elsie (Mrs. Max) Hitchcock of Napa, Gladys (Mrs. Willis) Clarke of Vallejo, and Ed Williams of Richmond."

"Mildred (Mrs. Raymond) Fechter of Calistoga was ill and unable to attend."

"Also present at the pot-luck dinner were 33 of her 39 grandchildren, 70 of her 89 great grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren, two from Fort Bragg and two from Santa Rosa."

"Highlighting the party was a huge decorated sheet cake, around which were placed the honoree's many gifts."

"...Believing in hard work never hurt anyone, Mrs. Williams for 21 years was a masseuse at the mud baths in Calistoga. After that she did practical nursing and cared for her little ranch in Calistoga until son Ed and his wife Carrie insisted she come live with them in Richmond Annex."

"In her lifetime she has seen 15 presidents take office, the men in her family go off to wars, the kerosene lamp give way to gas and then electric light, and the coming of the automobile."

"Her first car she had in 1920 when she and her oldest son [Howard Earl] drove to Los Angeles to visit her own family for the first time in 20 years."

"Other wonders in her life include the development of radio, the airplane and TV. She resisted TV for a long while, remaining loyal to her radio programs. When the family took up a collection so she could have a TV of her own she banked the money. It wasn't until she was visiting Ed Williams and was ill in bed that she became enamored of video. Now she has daily favorites to watch and bedtime comes only after the Jack Parr show."

"She doesn't get around much these days but finds lots to keep her busy and interested between family visits. Her eyesight and hearing are still near perfect and she only wears glasses for the crocheting, quilting and embroidery she loves to do. During the year she amasses quite a stockpile of dish towels and pillow cases for distribution to her loved ones at Christmas time..."

Cora Ethel (Miller Fisher) Williams suffered from severe diabetes at the close of her life. She was hospitalized at Santa Rosa General Hospital and had to have her legs amputated. She died there on July 18, 1967, at the age of 87. She was buried at Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California.

Obituary

"Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday [at the Treadway and Wigger Funeral Chapel, 623 Coombs Street, Napa] for Cora Williams, 87, who died in [Santa Rosa General Hospital, 7th & A Streets, Santa Rosa] Tuesday."

"Mrs. Williams was the matriarch of a family of more than 280 native Californians and presided at the last annual family gathering on Mother's Day in Napa."

"She was born in Cayucos and married Theoderic (sic) Fisher in 1898 in Fulton. He died in 1911 and in 1914 [sic] she married Albert Williams in Santa Rosa."

"Later the next year the couple moved to the Napa Valley where they settled first in St. Helena, then in Calistoga until 1957 when she moved to Richmond."

"She was a member of the Calistoga Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Pathfinders."

"She was mother of Mildred Fechter of Calistoga, Sonoma Clarke of Yountville, Merle Fisher of San Pablo, Elsie Hitchcock of Napa, Gladys Clarke of Vacaville and Edward Williams of Richmond."

"...and burial at Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito with Elder Ralph McGann of the Richmond Seventh Day Adventist Church officiating."

Sources
  • Cen 1900: 14-16 Jun 1900 Census, Stillwater, Stillwater Precinct, Churchill County, Nevada
  • Mar 1915: 21 Jan 1915, Affidavit for Marriage License, Solano County, California
  • Cen 1920: 17 Feb 1920 Census, Rincon Precinct, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California
  • Cen 1930: 16 Apr 1930 Census, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California
  • Cen 1940: 24 Apr 1940 Census, Calistoga Road, Santa Rosa Township, Sonoma County, California
  • Cen 1950: 20 Apr 1950 Census, Petrified Forest Road, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

Elma Finetta (MILLER SMITH) BELVAIL (1884-1962)

Elma Finetti (MILLER SMITH) BELVAIL 11HBG426. Elma "Babe" Finetta Miller was born May 12, 1884, in Parkfield, Monterey County, California. Her middle name was likely for her paternal aunt Finetta (Miller) Schley. She married George Edward Smith on May 19, 1904, in Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California.[Mar 1904] She was 20 years old and he was 31. They had one son:

11HBG4261. Maurice Eugene Smith (Sr.) 2 Mar 1905 15 Feb 1983 (77)
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard continues to hold a shipbuilding speed record for constructing the destroyer U.S.S. Ward in only 17½ days in 1918. It also built the only West Coast-built dreadnaught battleship, the U.S.S. California, in 1919. In the early 1920s the shipyard joined Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to build submarines for the Pacific Fleet.

By 1910 the Smith family was living in Yountville, Napa County, California, where George worked as a laborer at a stock farm.[Cen 1910] They later moved into Napa to 613 Lincoln Avenue by 1920, likely during World War I, where George worked as a general helper at a shipyard[Cen 1920], presumably Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 19 miles to the south.

Elma and George were listed as living a mile west on Lincoln Avenue at 1423 in 1925 and 1926. George worked as a machinist.[City 1925]

Elma and George split up and Elma remarried to Lewis Belvail on September 28, 1928, in Yolo County, California. Lewis was a widower whose wife, Mary Elizabeth Phillips, died earlier the same year in January. Lewis had a 24-year-old daughter who wed five months before he and Elma did.

The Belvails moved to 1436 I Street in Napa, Napa County, California, by 1930. Lewis worked as a shipfitter at a navy yard[Cen 1930], also presumed to be Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

Elma and Lewis apparently separated by 1940. Elma moved several blocks west to 2078 Lone Oak Avenue by 1940, where she was enumerated by herself and worked as a garment worker[Cen 1940A, City 1942]; however, interestingly, George Smith was enumerated next door (subsequent day on a different page) at 2076 Lone Oak Avenue.[Cen 1940B] Lewis Belvail, on the other hand, was enumerated the same day in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, living as a boarder with 52-year-old widow Laura F. Shire and her daughter Frances. Lewis worked as a flangeturner at a navy yard.[Cen 1940B]

George Edward Smith died on April 8, 1943, and was buried in Tulocay Cemetery in Napa. He was 69 years old.

Lewis Belvail reportedly died on April 30, 1959, in Shady Cove, Jackson County, Oregon. He was 78 years old.

Elma moved about a mile southeast to 1628 Georgia Street where she lived from at least 1947 through 1960.[City 1947-1960] Elma Finetta, a Seventh Day Adventist, was the head of a union in the Napa Valley.

Elma Finetta (Miller Smith) Belvail died on March 10, 1962, at the age of 77. She was living in Napa County at the time. Elma was buried at Tulocay Cemetery in Napa.

Sources
  • Mar 1904: 19 May 1904, Marriage License, Sonoma County, California
  • Cen 1910: 19 Apr 1910 Census, Yount Township, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1920: 15 Jan 1920 Census, 613 Lincoln Avenue, Napa, Napa County, California
  • City 1925: U.S. City Directories, 1925 & 1926, 1423 Lincoln Avenue, Napa, Napa County, California
  • Mar 1928: 28 Sep 1928, Marriage, Yolo County, California
  • Cen 1930: 4 Apr 1930 Census, 1436 I Street, Napa, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1940A: 12 Apr 1940 Census, 2078 Lone Oak Avenue, Napa, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1940B: 13 Apr 1940 Census, 207[6] Lone Oak Avenue, Napa, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1940C: 12 Apr 1940 Census, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California
  • City 1942: U.S. City Directories, 1942, 2078 Lone Oak Avenue, Napa, Napa County, California
  • City 1947: U.S. City Directories, 1947-1960, 1628 Georgia Street, Napa, Napa County, California
  • Grave: Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, Napa County, California, Find A Grave <http://www.findagrave.com>

Minnie Isabelle (MILLER) KIVETTΔ (1886-1928)

Minnie Isabelle (MILLER) KIVETT 11HBG427. Minnie Isabelle MillerΔ was born July 24, 1886, in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County, California. She married Daniel "Dan" Webster Kivett, a native of Missouri born to parents from North Carolina, on August 5, 1903, in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California.[Mar 1903] They had four children:

11HBG4271. Ogle London Kivett 29 Jul 1905 18 Feb 1968 (62)
11HBG4272. Warren Luciene Kivett 27 Jun 1908 14 Dec 1972 (64)
11HBG4273. Elma Oceola KivettΔ 3 Aug 1910 10 Nov 1990 (80)
11HBG4274. Amy Isabel Kivett 28 May 1922 30 May 1991 (69)
Minnie KIVETT, c. 1904

Minnie and Dan married on August 5, 1903, in Santa Rosa. Minnie's age was reported to be 18, but she more likely had just turned 17. Daniel was reportedly 22, but may have been as old as 25.[Mar 1903]

After their marriage, the Kivetts lived in Asti, Sonoma County, where their first son was born. By 1908 they moved to Shirley Avenue (later Shirley Street) in Graton, north of Sebastopol, where their second son was born, and lived there through the 1910 census and the birth of daughter Elma. Dan worked there as a house carpenter.[Cen 1910]

By 1920, the Kivett family removed north to Anderson Township (likely referring to the Anderson Valley), Mendocino County, California, where Dan continued working as a house carpenter.[Cen 1920]

Minnie Isabel (Miller) Kivett died on September 7, 1928, in Sonoma County and was buried at Santa Rosa Odd Fellows Cemetery.[Dth 1928, Grave] She is recalled to have suffered from severe diabetes and at the end of her life had to have her legs amputated. Minnie was only 42 years old.

Dan and his children continued to live in Analy Township, Sonoma County, where he worked as a farmer.[Cen 1930] Come 1940, Daniel was living along Edison Street in Graton, Analy Township, but was an unemployed fruit ranch laborer who had only worked 15 weeks the year before.[Cen 1940]

Dan later moved to San Joaquin County around 1952[Dth 1967], where his daughter Amy had started a family in the late 1930s.

Daniel Webster Kivett died of cardiac arrest brought on by arteriosclerotic heart disease and adenocarconoma prostate (prostate cancer) on December 10, 1967, at Palm Haven Convalescent Hospital in Manteca. He had been living at 140 South Garfield Avenue, presumably with his daughter Amy. Dan was 90 years old. He was buried on December 14 at Park View Cemetery, between Manteca and Stockton.[Dth 1967]

Sources
  • Mar 1903: 5 Aug 1903, Marriage Index, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California
  • Birth 1905: 29 Jul 1905 Birth, Asti, Sonoma County, California
  • Cen 1910: 25 May 1910 Census, Shirley Avenue, (Graton), Analy Township, Sonoma County, California
  • Birth 1910: 3 Aug 1910 Birth, Sonoma County, California
  • Cen 1920: 2 Jan 1920 Census, Anderson Township, Mendocino County, California
  • Birth 1922: 28 May 1922 Birth, Graton, Sonoma County, California
  • Dth 1928: Death Record 48594, Sonoma County, California, filed 28 Jul 1928
  • Cen 1930: 5 Apr 1930 Census, Analy Township, Sonoma County, California
  • Cen 1940: 1940 Census, Editon, Graton, Analy Township, Sonoma County, California
  • Draft 1942: 1942, World War II Draft Registration, Sonoma County, California
  • Dth 1967: Death Record 3900-2674, Manteca, San Joaquin County, California, filed 13 Dec 1967
  • Grave: Santa Rosa Odd Fellows Cemetery, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, Find A Grave <http://www.findagrave.com>

Iva Edith (MILLER CORD) ARENDTΔ (1892-1931)

Iva Edith (CORD) ARENDT 11HBG428. Iva Edith MillerΔ was born July 8, 1892, in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County, California. She married George Frederick Arendt on May 20, 1911, in Fresno County, California.[Mar 1911] They had two children together. She later married Raymond William Chord and had one more daughter:

11HBG4281. Arendt 9 Jul 1915 --  -- 
11HBG4282. Blanche ArendtΔ 26 Feb 1917 30 Jun 1985 (68)

11HBG4283. Evaline (Chord) --  --  -- 
Iva Edith (CORD) ARENDT, c. 1904

In her teen years, Iva lived for a time with her elder brother John Walter and his family in Nipomo Township, San Luis Obispo County. There, enumerated next, was Iva's future in-laws, Frederick and Caroline Arendt from Germany, by way of New York and New Jersey. George's whereabouts at this time are unknown.[Cen 1910]

8th Cavalry Regiment
The 8th Cavalry Regiment was ordered to the Philippines in 1905 to defend the against renewed guerilla activity during the Moro Rebellion (1899-1913), which followed America's annexation of the Philippines from Spain following the Spanish-American War of 1898 (during which the U.S. supported the Philppine Revolution against Spain) and the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902, in which the Revolution resisted their new American overlords. In the Philippines the 8th Cavalry Regiment patrolled supply and communications lines on the islands of Luzon, the northern, largest island, and Jolo, the former Moro seat of the Sultan of Sulu. The 8th Cavalry Regiment returned from the Philippines in 1907.

Before their marriage, George enlisted in the U.S. Army 8th Cavalry Regiment in San Francisco on March 21, 1905. He served for three years, much of which was likely in the Philippines where his regiment was deployed. George was discharged on March 20, 1908, at Fort Robinson in northwest Nebraska.[Army]

Iva and George married on May 20, 1911, in Fresno County by Duncan Wallace, Minister of the Gospel. She was 18 years old and he was 27. Both had been living in Coalinga at the time. Witnesses to their marriage were Mrs. A. E. McElligot [sic] of Madera, Madera County and Charles H. Kerney of Fresno.[Mar 1911]

Iva and George had two daughters in San Francisco, one of whom likely died young. They lived at 1308 Larkin Street in the Nob Hill district where George worked as a painter.[City 1917] They moved about a mile south to 156 Oak Street by the following year when George registered for the draft. He continued as a painter at the U.S. Naval Teaming Station and was described as tall, stout, and with blue eyes and brown hair. [Draft 1918]

After Iva and George separated, Iva moved north to Napa, Napa County, California, where she worked as an insane asylum attendant at Napa State Hospital.[Cen 1920A] George moved south to Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, where he opened up an auto tire repair shop and rented at 651 Santa Monica Boulevard.[Cen 1920B] Both reported still being married but daughter Blanche, 2 years old, was placed in the care of the Joseph and Marion Frediani family at 469 (later recorded as 569) 2nd Street in Calistoga, Napa County.[Cen 1920C] The Fredianis are recalled to have been close family friends.

Iva and Ray

Iva and Ray Chord married after 1920; he was five years younger and a native of St. Helena, Napa County. They and Blanche lived along St. Helena Highway (Route 29) in Yountville. There Ray worked as farm truck driver and Iva worked as a hospital dietician, perhaps still at Napa State Hospital or even the Veterans Home of California in Yountville.[Cen 1930A] A week later daughter Blanche was enumerated again, but as a lodger living with the widow Marion Frediani, her son, and two young grandsons at 569 (previously recorded as 469) 2nd Street in Calistoga.[Cen 1930B] One of the Frediani grandsons, Charles Campbell, went on to marry one of Blanche's cousins, Rubye Fechter.

Iva and Ray are recalled to have had a daughter Evaline, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Iva was recalled to be care free and loved to party, but that love of partying caused her demise. During Prohibition she and Ray drank some "bad whiskey" which killed her and made the other party-goers violently ill. According to her nephew, Edward Carl Williams, who was at her bedside in a Napa hospital, Iva underwent the most horrible death imaginable. She bit her lips and tongue and tried to gnaw at her hands in a mortal struggle which she finally lost.

Iva Edith (Miller Arendt) Chord died on February 20, 1931.[Dth 1931] She was only 38 years old. Iva reportedly was buried at Tulocay Cemetery in Napa.[Grave]

St. Helena Star, February 27, 1931
"POISON LIQUOR IS BLAMED."
"Officers Probing Death of Veterans' Home
Dietician and Three Men."
"Mrs. Ivy E. Chord, 36, dietician at the Veterans' Home, passed away at the Victory Hospital in Napa last Friday under circumstances which have caused an investigation to be made by the authorities."
"Mrs. Chord, was stricken blind at her home in Yountville Thursday afternoon of last week. Suffering greatly, she was removed to the Victory Hospital at 4 o'clock Friday morning in a dying condition, passing away two hours later."
"Mrs. Chord was the wife of Ray W. Chord, also an employe of the Home, their home being in Yountville. According to the officers, her death was apparently due to poisonous liquor which she had partaken of Tuesday evening and Wednesday. Chord also drank lightly of the liquor, he told the officers, but did not suffer any serious effects. Mrs. Chord had been employed at the Home for the past ten years and was highly esteemed. She was known as a woman of high character and never drank to any great extent."
"Mr. and Mrs. Chord lived next door to Robert Baer, Yountville man who had been arrested as a prohibition law violator many times. Mrs. Chord and another woman neighbor had attempted to administer assistance to Baer as he lay fatally ill on Tuesday afternoon of last week. After his passing, Mrs. Chord allegedly removed two pints of liquor from his home, thinking it advisable under the circumstances of his death. This was confirmed from the husband by District Attorney Rutherford. Later Sheriff Steckter and District Attorney Rutherford learned that Baer had received a five-gallon lot of whiskey the Sunday before from San Francisco, some of which he apparently had disposed of to friends."
"Officers are investigating to determine whether James J. Farrell, who passed away at the Home February 18th, and Anthony Storm, who died the next day, from acute alcoholism [had] imbibed the same liquor."
"According to word received Tuesday by Coroner Treadway from a Berkeley chemist, the presence of wood alcohol, in the woman's stomach was reported, and her death was officially announced by the authorities as the result of drinking 'alcoholic liquor which contained large amounts of denatured alcohol.'"
"Sheriff Steckter also announced Tuesday that the five-gallon can in which the poison liquor had been taken to Baer's home had been found and that the dregs of liquid remaining in it would probably be sufficient to make [an] analysis."
"He also declared that proof that the contents of the can and the small amount of whiskey in a flask given to the officers by Chord were from the same original container would constitute an important step forward in the probe of the case."
"Both liquids are to be examined by the Berkeley chemist to determine if they also contain wood alcohol, Steckter said."
"Mrs. Chord is survived by her husband and a 14-year-old daughter, Blanche. She was the sister of Mrs. Hattie Shaw, of Yountville, Mrs. Elma Smith Belvail, of Napa, Mrs. Cora Williams, of Calistoga, Orrin E. Miller, of Arroyo Grande, and Walter Miller, of Long Beach."
"Funeral services were held in Napa Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, Elder Dart, chaplain of the St. Helena Sanitarium, officiating. The services were largely attended by many relatives and friends. The remains were taken to Oakland for cremation."

After Iva

By 1940, Ray, was living and working as a power operator at the Veterans Home of California.[Cen 1940A]

George moved from Santa Monica to 154 South Commonwealth Avenue in Los Angeles, where he lodged with eight other lodgers in a home run by the widow Amelia J. Schellenback by 1935. He worked as a house painter, but reported only having worked 12 weeks in 1939. This home was about 7 miles north of where daughter Blanche (Arendt) Bendel and her young family lived.[Cen 1940B]

George Frederick Arendt died on June 8, 1959, in Los Angeles County. He was 75 years old. George was buried in Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood, Los Angeles County.[Grave]

Raymond William Chord died on April 25, 1975, in San Francisco County. He was 77 years old. Ray was also buried at Tulocay Cemetery in Napa, along with his father and younger brother.[Grave]

Sources
  • Army: U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914
  • Cen 1910: 21 Apr 1910 Census, Nipomo Twp., San Luis Obispo County, California
  • Mar 1911: 20 May 1911, Marriage License 9139, Fresno County, California, filed 29 May 1911
  • City 1917: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, San Francisco, San Francisco County, California
  • Draft 1918: 12 Sep 1918, World War I Draft Registration, San Francisco, San Francisco County, California
  • Cen 1920A: 6 Jan 1920 Census, Napa State Hospital, Juarez Precint, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1920B: 2 Jan 1920 Census, 651 Santa Monica Boulevard, Malibu Township, Los Angeles County, California
  • Cen 1920C: 19 Jan 1920 Census, 469 2nd Street, Calistoga Precinct, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1930A: 4 Apr 1930 Census, Yount Township, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1930A: 10 Apr 1930 Census, 569 2nd Street, Calistoga, Napa County, California
  • Dth 1931: 20 Feb 1931 Death Index, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1940A: 9 Apr 1940 Census, Veterans Home of California, Napa Judicial Township, Napa County, California
  • Cen 1940B: 24 Apr 1940 Census, 154 South Commonwealth Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
  • Dth 1959: 8 Jun 1959 Death, Los Angeles County, California
  • Grave: Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, Napa County, California, Find A Grave <http://www.findagrave.com>
  • Grave: Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, Find A Grave <http://www.findagrave.com>