O'Connor Family 1905

Grenola, Kansas 1905

Armon was back for a visit from South Africa and Genie traveled from Oregon to visit the family.

John Wolfe
San Francisco
Early 1940's

J. Van Wolfe Journal Entry - April 18, 1925

Yesterday I began the huge task of typing out my grandfather's journals. I was impressed by this initial entry and how the yearly anniversary of April 18th played an important role in my grandfather's life. Methinks this will be an emotional journey as I travel through all their lives.


"April 18, 1925, Karl Maloney, Nile Canaday, Arley Thompson and myself, Van Wolfe, made an agreement to meet 10 years from today (4/18/35) on the court house square at main and San Joaquin Streets, 4/18/35, 8:30 a.m. Stockton, California. My ambition is to possess a good paying business by then."

George and Rua Faggart Wolfe

On my trip to Manteca, California in April 2011, I was able to wander the cemetery where several of my ancestors are buried. Here are the headstones for my Great-great-great grandparents.

1940 Census Information

I just came across this blog regarding the release of information for the 1940 Census. I can't wait to be able to look at it. The census will provide some excellent information according to this blog post at Nutfield Genealogy.

French Camp School 1919 , Fair Oaks School 1923

This first picture is of the French Camp School 1919, (Stockton, California). My grandfather, Van Wolfe is in the picture as are his sisters Frances (Adeline) and Eleanor (Birdie) Wolfe.

This second picture is of the Fair Oaks School 1923. The bottom of the picture says "Low-High 8th grade - Fair Oaks School - Stockton, California - 1923-24 - Mr. Hawkinson - Teacher". My grandfather is in the back row on the right side with the big tuft of hair.

J. Van Wolfe

Another picture of my grandfather, but I am not sure who anyone else is in this picture, except that it is just a school picture. Looks like it might be like an 8th grade graduation. He is in the front row, second from the left.

Walworth California Company

My grandfather, Van Wolfe, worked for Walworth Company in the early 1930's. This photo has him at the far right. The back of the photo has written:

Walworth Calif Co.
317 North Grant St.
Stockton, CAL

Feb. 14, 1931

Ray S. Pease
Van Wolfe
Tom Godsil (?)
Louis Brandt





My grandparents were married Feb. 28, 1931, 14 days after this picture was taken.

The first picture is the McKinley School - Stockton, California - Ball Team 1923

My grandfather, Jacob Van Cott Wolfe is in the back row, 3rd from the left.This second photo is the Stockton High Football Team - September 1925. My grandfather is in the second row, 5th in from the right.

Laundry of yesteryear

Found these items and many more in a lonely trunk in California. They belonged to my mother's side of the family - most likely her grandmother's (Eugenia [Genie] O'Connor Lobdell) and her great grandmother's (Fannie Stiles O'Connor). It was fun washing them up and hanging them out to dry. Hopefully I get them pressed soon and take some more pictures of them.

Fannie Stiles O'Connor's Coffee Pot

Tonight my daughter and I were polishing a beautiful silver coffee pot that was my great great Grandmother, Fannie Stiles O'Connor. Several years ago, when we went to California to celebrate my grandmother's (Wilma Lobdell) 90th birthday, I was blessed to bring this pot home.  On the back of the pot it has Fannie's maiden name engraved which would date this back to at least 1867.

Along with the coffee pot, I brought several pictures and one of them is of Byron and Fannie in their Grenola, Kansas home, with their youngest daughter Elizabeth.   If you look carefully, you can see this very coffee pot sitting on a lovely table in the room behind them.

Harriet and Mina Wolfe - Sisters

I do not know much about these sisters at present, but hope to find out more over time through research. On the same trip that I found the pictures of my Grandfather's sisters, I found these pictures of his aunts (his father's sisters). The ladies came from a large family, their parents being in a previous post - Jacob and Frances Wolfe. It is likely that this picture is taken on the San Joaquin river in the area where they owned a large tract of land in the late 1800's. The township was Castoria, which now would be on South Airport Way and the family talked of it as Durham Ferry. Both sisters married, but Harriet died young after having two daughters. In some of my research so far, it looks like Mina adopted one of Harriet's daughters and another sister, Amanda, adopted the other daughter. I will try to feature them in an upcoming post. But, for now, this current picture is of Harriet and Mina on the San Joaquin.

Adeline Frances and Eleanor Wolfe

On a recent trip to California, I was blessed to come across several pictures I don't recall ever having laid my eyes on.  My grandfather was the oldest of 4 children.  When he was about 2 years old, his parents were blessed with twin girls who they named Adeline Frances and Eleanor (who I found out was nicknamed Birdie).  These two girls did not look anything alike, and after hearing some stories, have realized that they were nothing alike in personality either.  These are just two of the pictures that I was able to scan and bring home.  I am sure these girls gave much delight to their home (maybe a little vexation too, from time to time.)

Random quote

Now, I have planned mainly for this blog to be a blog regarding family genealogy, but have been thinking of this quote from an era of time gone by and feel today is the day to post it. I thoroughly enjoy Jane Austen and also enjoy watching the movies that have been made from her books. This quote is from Sense and Sensiblity:

Elinor Dashwood: What do you know of my heart? What do you know of anything but your own suffering. For weeks, Marianne, I've had this pressing on me without being at liberty to speak of it to a single creature. It was forced on me by the very person whose prior claims ruined all my hope. I have endured her exultations again and again whilst knowing myself to be divided from Edward forever. Believe me, Marianne, had I not been bound to silence I could have provided proof enough of a broken heart, even for you.


:)

                                     JACOB WOLFE

Among the worthy pioneer settlers of San Joaquin county is numbered Jacob Wolfe, who is likewise a leading representative of agricultural interests here and is well known as an apiarist. His home is located on an excellent farm of four hundred and thirty acres south of Lathrop, and the tract is under a high state of cultivation. Its fine appearance, however, is in marked contrast to the appearance which it presented when it came into his possession. Great Changes too have occurred throughout the county during his residence here, and he has seen its wild lands reclaimed for farming purposes while towns and villages have sprung up and all the comforts of an advanced civilization have been introduced. With the onward march of progress he has kept apace, as is evidenced by his fine ranch.
Mr. Wolfe is a native of Union county, Illinois, born on the 22d of September, 1832, and is a son of the Rev. George and Rua (Fogart) Wolfe, who were also natives of Illinois. The paternal grandfather, Jacob Wolfe, was born in Pennsylvania and was descended from German ancestry. The father was a minister of the German Baptist church, having devoted nearly a half century to that holy calling. He was known as Elder Wolfe and exerted a strongly felt influence in behalf of the moral development of the community in which he made his home. He removed with his family from Hancock county, Illinois, to California, in 1856, making the journey by way of the isthmus, and on reaching the Pacific coast he located in Monterey county, California, where he remained for a short time. Subsequently he established his home in Santa Clara county, California, where he resided for several years, and in 1860 he came to San Joaquin county, settling near the farm upon which his son Jacob Wolfe now resides. He was one of the honored pioneers of this locality and was a well known citizen, whose labors contributed to the material prosperity and upbuilding of the community as well as to the intellectual and moral advancement of San Joaquin county. He engaged in preaching the gospel, carrying the glad tidings of great joy into many a frontier community. He was a most earnest and logical speaker, and hs influence has caused his memory to be enshrined in the hearts of many who knew him. In all the various departments of church work he took a most active interest, and he became a bishop of the German Baptist church. He was ever tolerant of the opinions of others, while adhering firmly to those in which he believed, and he was a man of broad charity and wide sympathy. His death occurred in 1890 and thus California lost one of its most honored men.
Jacob Wolfe, the only surviving child of George Wolfe, was six years of age when his parents removed from Illinois to Lee county, Iowa, where he remained through the succeeding ten years. When a youth of about sixteen years he went with his parents to Hancock county, Illinois, and thence he emigrated to California, his wife and her parents being among the members of the party tht came by way of the Isthmus to the Pacific coast. Mr. Wolfe and his wife established their home in Monterey county, California, but soon afterward removed to Santa Clara county, where they remained until 1861, when they came with their children to San Joaquin county, where Mr. Wolfe has since made his home. He first purchased eighty acres of raw land, on which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made. With characteristic energy he began its development and soon transformed it into rich and productive fields. To the original purchase he has added from time to time until he now owns four hundred and thirty acres of land, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation. His property is attractive in appearance and consitututes a desirable piece of real estate. While residing in Santa Clara county he turned his attention to bee culture in 1858 and has continued in active connection with this industry down to the present time. He now owns six hundred colonies of bees, and his son-in-law, B. C. Stuckey, who resides with him, has four hundred colonies. Mr. Wolfe is the pioneer in this industry in San Joaquin county, and his opinions are quoted as authority in all matters pertaining to the apiary. Annually he takes from the hives a large amount of honey, which is of excellent grade and quality and has a ready sale on the market.
In Illinois on the 6th of April, 1854, Mr. Wolfe was united in marriage to Miss Frances S. Lane, who was born in Ohio and is a daughter of Frederick Lane, a native of Virginia. They became the parents of the following children: George F., who is a resident of Hanford, California; John W. and Henry E., who are living in San Joaquin county; J. Milo, who is located in Lathrop, California; Emma, the wife of Frank H. Robinson, of Lancaster, Los Angeles county, California, now the editor and proprietor of the Lancaster Gazette; Nina M., at home; and Harriet, the wife of B. C. Stuckey, of San Joaquin county.
Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe are members of the German Baptist church, have taken an active part in its work and have contributed generously to its support. Mr. Wolfe is now serving as one of its deacons. In his political affiliation he is a Democrat, having firm faith in the principles of the party, but never seeking or desiring public office. He has served as a trustee of the Rustic school district, and is interested in all that pertains to the educational as well as the social, material and moral development of his community. On the 6th of April, 1904, he and his wife celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary, which was the occasion of a family reunion and an event long to be remembered by all who participated therein. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe are numberd among the honored pioneer settlers of the county, and no history of San Joaquin county would be complete without mention of them. They have during the long years of their residence here won the favorable regard, good will and trust of all with whom they have come in contact, and in business circles Mr. Wolfe sustains an unassailable reputation, because he has ever been straightforward, prompt and just in his dealings.
Source: History of the New California Its Resources and People, Volume II
The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905
Edited by Leigh H. Irvine

Rev. Geo. Lobdell

Dies Here After Lengthy Illness

Former Chico First Christian church pastor, Rev. George L. Lobdell, 80, of 1421 Locust Street, Chico, died yesterday afternoon at the Enloe hospital after a long illness.

Services will be held at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning at the Nugent Funeral Chapel with Rev. Henry L. Searle of the First Christian church officiating. Interment will follow in the Masonic plot of the Chico cemetery and the Chico lodge No. 111, F. and A.M. will officiate.

The son of the late Britton and Maria Lobdell, Rev. Lobdell was born in North Sanford, N.Y. On March 10, 1865. His parents were farmers there. The youngest of ten children, he lived on the farm home and received his education. He taught in the Business college in Binghamton, .N.Y.

He went to Kansas where he was pastor at the Christian church of Grenola. He later moved to Eugene, Oregon, and graduated as minister from the University of Oregon and Eugene Divinity College.

Rev. Lobdell came to Chico as pastor of the First Christian church on September 16, 1906. A new church building was erected during the six years he was here. He was minister of the following Christian churches: Stockton, Eureka, Petaluma, Pacific Grove, Burley, Idaho; Salt Lake City, Utah. Rev. Lobdell retired in 1933 and returned to Chico to live.

He was a member of Chico Lodge No. 111, F. and A.M.; the Morning Star Chapter of O.E.S., No. 61, of Petaluma, and the Scottish Rite Bodies at Santa Rosa.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Eugenia Lobdell and the following children: Robert Lobdell of North Sacramento; Mrs. A.T. Henderson of San Diego and Mrs. T.H. Blanchard of Pasadena. Eleven grandchildren survive him: Jean Lobdell, North Sacramento; Jean Eileen Blanchard and Donald Eugene Blanchard of Pasadena; Mrs. Margaret Chapman, San Diego; Robert Henderson, F-2c, U.S. Navy in the South Pacific; John Henderson, Frances Ann Henderson, Donald Henderson, Emma Lou Henderson, Richard Henderson and Charles Henderson, all of San Diego. Two great grandchildren: Paul Chapman, Jr., and Richard Chapman, both of San Diego, also survive him. A sister, Clara Williams of Oakland, and the following nieces and nephews: L. Hapgood Lobdell, Britton Lobdell, George Lobdell, all of Chico; and Mrs. James Dye and Mrs. Paul Pierce of Pasadena, Calif.

Bob and Billie Lobdell.....

I found this neat little article in the Monterey County, California website regarding my Great-grandfather, George L. Lobdell, and his family. The picture was not included on the website.

Monterey County: Biographies

REV. GEORGE L. LOBDELL, D. D.

Rev. George L. Lobdell, is pastor of the First Christian church, of Pacific Grove, and his efforts are constituting a valuable asset in the moral progress of the community. A native of New York, he was born at Sanford, Broome county, March 10, 1865, and is of Welsh descent, his parents tracing their family tree back to 1600.

In the beginning he attended the district schools and later became a student in the high school of Afton, New York. Later he took a commercial course at the Binghamton Business College, and became an instructor there. Subsequently he established the Lobdell Business College in Putnam, Connecticut, and on leaving the east went to Indiana, whence he removed to Oregon, where he was graduated from the State University and the Eugene Bible University, winning the degrees of B. D., A. M., and D. D.

His first pastorate was at Junction City, Oregon, his student church, and next he went to Dallas, Oregon. He next accepted a call to Chico, Butte county, California, in 1906, and there did excellent work as the pastor of the Christian church for six years. He was then pastor of the church of the same denomination for three years at Stockton, San Joaquin county, was at Eureka for two years, at Petaluma for five years, and became a resident of Pacific Grove in 1922. While in Chico he built a new house of worship and added four hundred and fifty members to the church in six years. While in Stockton he started the movement for the erection of a new one hundred thousand dollar church. At Eureka he brought three hundred professing Christians into the fold and he had the largest Sunday school of any church in Humboldt county. During the war, he was one of the four-minute men in Petaluma. He is now treasurer of the state missionary board, and has been a member of the board for a number of years. His church in Pacific Grove leads all Christian churches in the state, per capita, in giving to foreign missions, and is strongly organized in all its branches of work.

Dr. Lobdell belongs to the Blue Lodge of Masons at Stockton, and the Scottish Rite bodies of Santa Rosa. He is a member of the Elks lodge of Petaluma and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias.

Dr. Lobdell was married Novebmer 16, 1902 to Miss Eugenie O'Connor, a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music at Boston. She studied under prominent vocal teachers and was a teacher of music in the Mary Nash College of Music at Sherman, Texas. She also taught music at the State Normal School, at Danville, Indiana, and was teacher of music in the Eugene Bible University, at Eugene, Oregon. She is a mezzo soprano of fine quality and power and has a class of pupils in Pacific Grove, in voice culture, all of whom appreciate her guiding powers. She is a soloist in the church and acts as choir leader. Rev. and Mrs. Lobdell have two children: Frances, aged thirteen, born in Chico, and Robert, aged eight, born in Stockton. By a former marriage, Dr. Lobdell has a daughter, Esther, wife of Thomas Gray, of San Francisco. The family of Dr. Lobdell occupies an enviable position in those social circles where intelligence, culture and true worth are accepted as passports. Throughout the years of his connection with the ministry-years spent entirely on the Pacific coast-he has not only labored most earnestly but, also most effectively, in the upbuilding of the Christian church, his influence and labors being far-reaching.

Source: History of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, California : cradle of California's history and romance : dating from the planting of the cross of Christendom upon the shores of Monterey Bay by Fr. Junipero Serra, and those intrepid adventurers who accompanied him, down to the present day. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1925, 890 pgs.

O'Connor Home, Grenola, Kansas

In 2006 my family and I drove west to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday. On the journey home, it was just my daughters and myself, so we took the opportunity to go to the little Kansas town of Grenola. I had hopes of finding the actual house that Byron and Fannie O'Connor had lived in, but wasn't able to. I am not sure what the present population of the little town is now, but it gave me such satisfaction to see this place where my great-great grandparents had lived along with my great-grandmother (Eugenia (Genie) O'Connor) and my great-great-great grandmother (Elizabeth Dille O'Connor).

I am blessed to have some inside photos of at least one of the homes they lived in along with a few outside pictures. They did live in at least 2 homes during their 30 years there, but I still need to identify the locations of each of the houses specifically. Regardless of where they were, I am delighted to have some of the pictures of them, and even some of the pictures that you can see in the photos. It's a delight for me to view them over and over again, knowing what a special heritage I have been given.

The first two pictures show two different directions in the house, which I think is so wonderful so we get a better view of the first floor.  The second two photos are of the same house, but obviously several years apart in being photographed as the trees are much larger and the fence is gone.  The young girl in the picture is Elizabeth O'Connor, Byron and Fannie's youngest child, born in February 1893.

Chester Lee Stiles and Hannah Milburn

In my last post I gave a brief outline of Thomas Daily's family.  In that outline I also mentioned his great-grandson, Lee Stiles.  Lee grew up in the Mishawaka, Indiana area and stayed there for his whole life.  At one point in early 20's he made a trip to Pike's Peak with a friend, which would have been in the early 1860's.  Eventually he married a young lady from the area named Hannah Milburn.  The two of them had two daughters, one who stayed in the area all her life, and one who moved on to Texas and continued her life there.  I have posted here a picture of both Lee and Hannah.