THE FALLBROOK LAMBS

 

 

The Fallbrook, California LAMBS

Memoirs, Anecdotes, and Family Histories
Edited and compiled by Teddie Anne DRIGGS

Painted Graphics by Teddie©2000 
Denver Orrin Lamb ~ My Maternal Great-Grampa
 Denver O. Lamb, SR. was a son of James O. & Mary Jane LAMB.
[The original black & white photo made from glass plates is from the collection of Annie Lamb Hindorff, courtesy of Margaret Hindorff Ray]

D. O. LAMB was much more than a dirt-crusted farmer!
Read of the Amazing Achievements of D.O. LAMB - a self-educated man

CLICK on image
  Denver Orrin Lamb, SR. - as he appeared in 1878, at age 19.
At the time, he was an Apprentice to Capt. John Day, Los Angeles, Calif. from 1875-1878.
 

John Day; Surveyor General for all the state of Nevada and friend of D.O. Lamb

Capt. John Day had been a friend to James O. Lamb. They were both old "salts of the sea" and both came out West from back East, but he became tutor, mentor, employer, and friend to young Denver Orrin Lamb, Sr. 

 

LAMB Anecdotes - humorous stories D.O. told "on" himself !  (to be added)

 

the Sinking of the
OLIVETTE - Read this Amazing TRUE Story !
 

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Lucy Ellen "Ella" (Gird) Lamb - age 61, wearing the necklace she cherished, that D.O. gave to her.
 My Great-Grammie Lamb

Painted Graphics by Teddie©2000 

Coming Soon!
Stories about Ellen Gird-Lamb

To read more about Ella's parents and family origins ~ GIRD Family


CLICK on hyper-linked images to view in larger size

Early view of D.O.'s Family.

 

 BELOW.  .  .A Family Portrait of the Children taken about 1903:
- taken at the Lamb Ranch by D.O.

CLICK on images to enlarge

Painted Graphics from original black and white photo by Teddie©2000

CHILDREN of  Denver Orrin LAMB & Lucy Ellen GIRD - (D.O. and Ella):
Back row - L to R:
Kate, John, Nettie, & Murray

Front row - L to R:
Denver, Jr., Edna holding baby Lucy, & Annie

Order of birth:

Nettie Margaret LAMB -" Nettie"
Mary Katherine LAMB - "Kate"
Edna Kinsley LAMB - "Edna"
Daniel Murray LAMB - "Murray"
John Grant LAMB - "John"
Martha Jane LAMB - "Annie"
Denver Orrin LAMB, JR.- "Den"
Lucy Gird LAMB - "Lucy"

Annie's Webs ....
 Searchable Surname Index
posted at WorldConnect with RootsWeb. com

 Do a SEARCH in my "L" files for the Denver Orrin LAMB, SR. Family

 

Lucy Ellen GIRD-LAMB with two of her daughters - "Easter Bonnets"
Taken near Fall Brook, California, around 1900-1910.

Stories about Some of the Lamb children

Click on thumbnail photos to see full size images

Nettie Margaret LAMB
When D.O. and Ellen first moved to their ranch on Gird Road they lived in the barn he had built while he was building their house. Nettie, the oldest child, was a baby at the time. One day Nettie was trying to reach something she wanted that was on top of a dresser or counter. She tried desperately to be as tall as she could, but she was just too short. She looked about the room for something she could put there to stand on so she could reach the object. In a last effort, she busily spread a sheet of newspaper in front of the high place and carefully stepped up on the paper in a vain attempt to reach the item she wanted so much.

Mary Katherine LAMB,  was the second child born to D.O and Ellen LAMB. The doctor didn't get there in time when Kate was born. After that D.O. took care of his own family when the children were born. His sister-in-law, Mary GIRD-PETERS, came to care for Ellen while she recovered and D.O. washed the dishes. He said, "Mary dirtied every dish in the house when she cooked a meal."

Edna Kinsley LAMB

Daniel Murray LAMB

John Grant LAMB

Martha Jane LAMB (Annie LAMB-HINDORFF) could recall at age 100, the rag doll she had as a very little girl. One time her brothers, John, Murray and Denver, snatched it from her and threw it high into the air. This happened inside the house, and the doll went up into the open ceiling where their father was remodeling for a new kitchen. Annie said she cried, of course, "..but Mama said, "Never mind - we'll get her back later." Next time Papa got back into the ceiling, he recovered the doll, throwing it down to my waiting arms."

When Annie was about 3 or 4 years old, she was watching her Papa use the forge down near the barn under a big tree. He had to go away for a minute to get something and told little Annie "Don't throw any of those dry leaves into the hot coals while I'm gone." When he came back, the forge was blazing up very high, with a lot of dry leaves on top of the hot coals. Her Papa put out the fire. Then he said, as much to himself as to Annie, "Well, I guess I told you to do that, now didn't I?"

 Denver Orrin LAMB, JR. - "Den" 
Denver O. Lamb Jr. - taken on the Lamb Ranch on Gird Rd.
"Den & the violin"

"Den" was quite musically talented as a young boy and wanted to learn to play the violin, so D.O. bought him a violin. Denver practiced and practiced in private. When he felt confident enough, he put on a little recital for his older sisters, Annie, Kate and Edna. The song he played was " America" and the girls knew full well what it was he played, but when he had finished his lovely rendition (feeling proud of his accomplishment), the girls decided to tease their brother a little, so they said,
"That was great Den, but what was it?" Denver put away his violin and never played it again. The girls felt guilty about it for the rest of their lives, regretting that they had hurt their brother so much when he was really a very gifted musician - they had only meant to tease him a little.
[This story of "Den & the Violin", courtesy of Annie Frances (Hindorff) Driggs, daughter of Annie Lamb-Hindorff]

 

Lucy Gird LAMB - the baby of the family
[I made this image of Lucy from a family group photo]

Other Lambs, not of our Flock: 
Happy to Announce the LINK with: Lamb genealogy  http://www.lambsite.com/lambgen
Contains   Lamb biographical sketches
Author: Glen Lamb - "I have gathered a small list of biographical sketches from (published) histories and have posted it on (www.lambsite.com) and am working at transcribing some. Please feel free to check there for more biographical sketches about Lambs."

Glen's "Lambsite" does however, include a LINK to my Website, and Biographies of several of our Lamb Flock,, and a LINK to this website, namely:

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Early FALL  BROOK  SCHOOLS
Read about the following stories:
 

Reche Grove School

West Fall Brook School

Fall Brook School

Reche School

Reche Club

[See 1890s Map of Fall Brook]

The New Fall Brook School  (later called,  Reche School) designed and built in 1896 by D.O. LAMB, SR.
Denver O. Lamb, SR. served as a School Board Trustee from 1898-1908 for Fall Brook (later Reche) School. He also served as a School Board Trustee of Fall Brook High School from 1908 to 1928 and President of the School Board from 1914 to 1928.

After the first school burned in March of 1896, a new building was proposed and bids were submitted to the Board of Trustees.  Mr. Lamb's bid & proposal for the new Fall Brook School building were chosen from among those submitted. The new larger school house was completed by Fall, and classes commenced on November 9, 1896 in the new Fall Brook School.

Read more about the Early Fall Brook Schools

Credits: FALLBROOK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
 - From the "History of Early Fall Brook Area", By Margaret Ray (a granddaughter of D.O. Lamb), and Lois Cunningham

All eight of D.O. & Ellen Lamb's children went to school at the Fall Brook School.

Of their grandchildren:

[photography by D.O. Lamb, 1896]

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Life on the Lamb Ranch [to be uploaded in the next day or two]
 Anecdotes of Annie (LAMB) HINDORFF  & other stories

The D.O. Lamb Ranch was situated in Live Oak Canyon, along Gird Rd. named for Ella's parents. Fall Brook Creek flowed through part of the Lamb property. It had once been part of the big Rancho Monserate. Part of the Lamb Ranch is now the location of the Fallbrook Country Club and Golf Course.

NOTE: Many of the old photos of my mother's LAMB family which are displayed on this web site, were taken by D.O. Lamb and later, by his daughter, my Grandmother, Annie Lamb-Hindorff, using her old box camera.

The Midi: "Sweet Betsey From Pike"

This was my Great-Grampa Lamb's FAVORITE SONG, and his daughter, Annie, my Grannie Hindorff, said her Papa would sing it all day long every day and never repeat a verse in that day. Sweet Betsey was a very popular tune from the Gold Rush Days.

 

Sweet Betsey From Pike

Oh, do you remember Sweet Betsey from Pike
Who crossed the wide prairie with her lover Ike?
With two yoke of oxen, a big yellow dog,
A tall Shanghai rooster, and one spotted hog.
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.

Out on the prairie one bright starry night,
They broke out the whisky and Betsey got tight;
She sang and she shouted and danced o'er the plain,
And made a great show for the whole wagon train.
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.

The Injuns came down in a wild yelling horde,
And Betsey was skeered they would scalp her adored;
Behind the front wagon wheel Betsey did crawl,
And fought off the Injuns with musket and ball.
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.

They soon reached the desert, where Betsey gave out,
And down in the sand she lay rolling about;
While Ike in great terror looked on in surprise,
Saying, "Get up now, Betsey, you'll get sand in your eyes."
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.

The wagon tipped over with a terrible crash,
And out on the prairie rolled all sorts of trash;
A few little baby clothes done up with care
Looked rather suspicious - though 'twas all on the square.
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.

The Shanghai ran off and the cattle all died,
The last piece of bacon that morning was fried;
Poor Ike got discouraged, and Betsy got mad,
The dog wagged his tail and looked wonderfully sad.
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.

They swam the wide rivers and cross the tall peaks,
And camped on the prairie for weeks upon weeks,
Starvation and cholera and hard work and slaughter,
They reached California spite of hell and high water.
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.

Long Ike and sweet Betsey attended a dance,
Where Ike wore a pair of his Pike County pants;
Sweet Betsey was covered with ribbons and rings.
Said Ike, "You're an angel, but where are your wings?"
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.

A miner said, "Betsey, will you dance with me?"
"I will that, old hoss, if you don't make too free;
But don't dance me hard. Do you want to know why?
Doggone you, I'm chock full of strong alkali."
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.

Long Ike, and sweet Betsey got married of course,
But Ike, getting jealous, obtained a divorce;
And Betsey, well satisfied, said with a shout,
"Good-by, you big lummux, I'm glad you backed out."
Hoodle dang, fol-de-dye do,
hoodle dang, fol-de day.
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MORE Stories ...

TO COME!

 

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Updated: Friday, 01 August 2003

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