Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Serendipity do-da!

This Blogsite has been one of the most rewarding things (to me) that I've ever done.

I just had a lady email me;

"Hi Ernie,

I came across your website and am enjoying it. I'm also a Mary Cull Lockhart descendant (Mary, Annie Lockhart Lovejoy, Hattie Lovejoy Clarke, Joe Clarke) from Covelo originally. Just wanted to say hello!

Kathy Clarke Smith, Ukiah"

We have been coresponding back and forth about Mary (Cull) Lockhart, and the Lovejoys. I haven't got around to asking her how she is related to Cecile Clarke of the Laytonville Clarkes and the founder of the Clarke Museum in Eureka.

Then I had a lady email me with this photo:
Great Great Gramma Jane (Taylor) Branscomb

"Hi Ernie,
I'm a volunteer at the Western Sonoma County Historical Society and we are working on a large project of
documenting all of our artifacts.
We have a photo of Jane Taylor Branscomb - and I found your website while trying to get some historical background
on her.
I thought you may like to have a copy -
Enjoy,
Sally Morrison"

This is the first time in my life that I have seen this photo of Great Great Gramma Branscomb. I don't know much about her Sonoma County days. The photos that I have seen of her were from her later days after 10 children and running a general store in Branscomb Calif. Aparently she was much loved in the community and was known as Gramma Branscomb.

I had to laugh to myself, what it must have been like to move from relatively civilized Sonoma County, to Branscomb California. Just downstream from Mud Creek. I'd bet that those lace gloves didn't last long!

17 comments:

omr said...

That's great Ernie! What year was that picture taken? Every historical mention of her describes her beauty, now I see why.

As for Mrs. Clarke Smith...
From the Lockhart Family section:
"George and Annie had two children, Robert, who was born in 1899, and Harriet who was born in 1895. She married Bill Clarke and they had three children. The George Lovejoys moved to Covelo where their descendants still live." pg 58 In the Shadow of the Cahto.

Born of Joseph Henry Clarke, Bill Clarke and Cecile Clarke were brother and sister. Mrs. Smith may be one of Bill's son Joseph's six children, which would make Cecile Clarke her great aunt?
There is also a William Clarke, brother of Joseph Henry Clarke, uncle to Mrs. May Winchester (and Cecile). William, the eldest son arrived near Cahto 1867 and bought the 1000 acres known as the Clarke Ranch.

Near as I can figure.

Bunny said...

I think she's very pretty and her clothes are fabulous. I'm glad you are hearing from all these people and filling in some blanks in your history. I'm impressed with all the research you boys are doing. Gotta love the computer.

spyrock said...

i am just stunned. she is so beautiful. i have found similiar type pictures of my relatives. some of them, i don't know who they are. but the ones of my mother i do. the ones of my uncle i do. that's what i like about this. you see them at 8, 18, 38, and 80. who are these people. just another you. en lach ech.

ROSS SHERBURN said...

SPYROCK!are you feeling alright???? you didn't say much???

Ernie Branscomb said...

Spy
Actually, my whole family is strikingly beautiful… with a few very remarkable exceptions.

You closed with “en lach ech.”. At first I thought that phrase was German, but I have decided that it is Yiddish. I looked up several direct translations, which don’t make sense. What does it mean in “Spyrock.”

Cristina said...

Wow. What a beauty. The portraits of that time are so striking; I treasure the few I have safely stowed away (I take them out once or twice a year to ooh and aah over them).

Anonymous said...

Ern. we have a copy of that beautiful picture. Grandpa was born 1832 and I expect Grandma was 16-18 in the photo. I would think it was taken around 1857. She was the wagon train captain's daughter.

Read the Thomas Clarke Family story in Vol. II Elder Book beginning pg. 94. It was written by Ethel Reilly Monestier whose great grandfather was Thomas Clarke of the Clarke Ranch, whose children were: Wm, Alfred, Frank, Joseph and Eliza Ann. The story tells of their arrival in Mendocino Co. Ethel's Uncle Bill was Harriet Lovejoy's husband. Harriet was Ern, Oregon and my relative through Gramma Ruby; Annie was(GGMiddleton's sister) married to George Lovejoy at Wilderness Lodge. Ethel's Aunt Cecile Clarke had the Museum in Eureka. I have a video of Hattie's story at Wilderness Lodge before she died . Her story is in Vol. I Elder Book.

By the way, all of the Elder Books are now at Chevron in Laytonville.

Penny

Ernie Branscomb said...

All of these stories were just stories that the old people told when I was kid. The only difference is that now we are the old people, and we are the keepers of the history.

I like the fact that I have a bunch of history hung within the framework of this blog, and I can go back and refer to it.

Penny, we need to somehow get those books into the Radio Shack in Garberville.

spyrock said...

i susied the spelling. so here is a direct translation.
In Mayan tradition, there is a greeting that many people working with Mayan wisdom know of. It is the law of In Lak'ech Ala K'in, which means I am another yourself (A modern day interpretation). It also means I am you, and you are me (A traditional Mayan interpretation). We have come to understand that this Mayan greeting is an honoring for each other. It is a statement of unity and oneness. In Lak'ech Ala K'in mirrors the same sentiment of other beautiful greetings such as Namaste for East India, Wiracocha for the Inca, and Mitakuye Oyasin for the Lakota. It doesn't matter which culture you come from. But when one of these sacred greetings is given, there is always an action of placing the hands over the heart.
i already posted this some time ago. i think river commented on it.
the reason i was so brief in the post ross was talking about was because i was building a fence after work and i wanted to get it done before my grandaughter maryah's graduation. maryah spells her name mya which is close to maya and her ancestors probably were mayans because she looks like a mayan.
we just got back from the graduation and mya looked beautiful. her mother is british, so shes not your normal mayan type. shes a mayan with an attitude. tonight mya looked stunning as well.

Carol said...

Lovely lady, Ernie! What a fun discovery!

Anonymous said...

Ernie, I have a fun discovery of my own. I have a copy of the Mistletoe yearbook from 1941. It is a Willits high school yearbook but has in it the kids from Laytonville high school. Included within are wonderful pictures of your mom, my mom and this picture I thought was cousin Penny but I was wrong. It was Roberta Eriksen. Those two could be twins I tell ya. How come two people can look so much alike?
So now you are telling me I should leave this historical document at a Radio Shack?

Oregon

Anonymous said...

Pretty amazing the similarity in some of those Mistletoe photos, Oregon. Mom was pretty fun, and I enjoy that I resemble her especially in our younger years :0)Wish I were as sweet.

Cousin.

Omr said...

There is a nice account of Benjamin and Jane Branscomb and their moving around California in this Branscomb genealogy site.
From there you can link to the (Sheriff)Joseph Edmund Branscomb page and find this account of his death:
" Joseph was said to be a staunch abolitionist. During the troubled years of the Civil War he became the sheriff of DeKalb County. A newspaper article in the Maysville Register told of Joseph’s death: Joseph had arrested some members of the Harvey gang who had robbed and terrorized people in the area. Later these people arranged with a Jacob J. Stoffle to kill the sheriff. Stoffle shot Joseph on 8 July 1865, and Joseph died from his wounds on 31 July. Stoffle fled to Kansas; a posse went after him but did not apprehend him. Another newspaper article, dated 5 January 1870, reported Stoffle’s capture; Stoffle’s backers threatened to lynch the persons who brought him in, and the captors let him go. He was finally apprehended and brought to justice in 1877 by Joseph’s son Charles and Joseph’s brother William (see the entry for #1A Charles). This time Stoffle pled guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The Governor pardoned him two years later, perhaps because he was ill with tuberculosis. He died soon afterward."

Anonymous said...

Ernie.
Nice seeing you yesterday.
re: Sally Morrison, did she give you birth place, date for Mary Cull? Anything about her parents?
This a question that we don't seem to have answers.They were from Ireland, but that's all I know.
Cousin

Rose said...

Great outfit!!

Anonymous said...

...please where can I buy a unicorn?

Anonymous said...

...please where can I buy a unicorn?