Grandfather of the Surety
Reigned 1108-1137, laid groundwork for unified monarchy by increasing royal domain, destroying castles of robber barons, favoring Church and burgher class. Was cronically at war with Henry I of England, whose inroads from Normandy he checked.
Alias:<ALIA> /Stephanie/
Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Name Prefix:<NPFX> Princess
Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore, House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha;
Leander William Smith was the third of four children born to Martin CoolySmith and Julia Ann Bratten. He was born the 25th or the 28th of August,1869 on the Martin Cooly Smith Ranch located about a mile southwest ofElrod, Ripley County, Indiana and grew up on the farm with his twobrothers and sister. He went through about five grades of school.
Leander married Minnie C. Burroughs the 15th of November, 1891 at the ageof 22. Minnie was born the 1st of April, 1871 to Stephen and MaryBurroughs who are thought to have been Irish. Leander and Minnie settledon a place in Springdale about three miles away from the old home placein Elrod. They lived on 40 acres of land and operated a country store.Leander was soft hearted and generous. He sold too much on credit.Minnie became ill with what we think was T.B. and they went bankrupt.
Their daughter Ella Ann Smith was born the 22nd of January, 1893 inSpringdale, Ripley County, Indiana. Minnie doted on little Ella. Afterlosing their place they moved back to the Martin Cooly Smith Ranch inElrod where Leander's mother cared for the small family. Minnie died the8th of April, 1897 at the age of 26. She is buried in Dillsboro, Indianain the cemetery behind the Washington Baptist Church. According to MaryHofer, Leander's second daughter:
"Dad must have really loved Minnie. Before he died it was all back toMinnie. "She was so thin, such a little shrunken thing. I could pickher up in my arms and carry her. There was just nothing to her.""
Leander went to Pueblo, Colorado about 1900 to work in the yards of theRio Grande Railroad. Leander's brother, Enoch was already there andDenver Dale soon followed. While in Pueblo, Leander met Grace Ella(Dever) Stringer. She was a widow taking in washing and ironing tosupport herself and her 5 year-old son, William Almer Stringer. Gracewas born the 14th of July, 1870 in Missouri, the child of John Dever andMary Lovica Connelly. Her father had died when she was nine. She wasneglected by her mother and repeatedly molested by her step-father,William Francis Langdon. Grace's first husband William Stringer was achronic alcoholic. Their first child had died at birth with theumbilical cord wrapped around her neck.
Mary Hofer talked about her parents:
"Ma was a straight-forward woman who'd had a hard life. She told him(Leander) she didn't love him but if he'd accept her as she was she'dmarry him. A kind, gentle man, he loved her as she was. They weremarried in either 1901 or 1902." Leander and Grace wanted to get Ellaand bring her to Pueblo with them but Leander's parents wrote and saidthey were so attached to her they could not give her up. "Mom said thatwas the one big regret in her life. She said that that was absolutelywrong. They should have insisted to take her along but they didn't."
Denver Dale returned to Elrod from Pueblo in 1902, when their mother wasgoing to have surgery at Christ's Hospital in Cincinnati, HamiltonCounty, Ohio. She refused the surgery and died the 24th of December,1902. Ella stayed with her grandfather and Uncle Dale. A couple of menraising her didn't provide her with enough guidance. When hergrandfather died in 1904 Ella went to live with Denver Dale and hiswife. When she was 18 she finally went to live with her dad and Grace inColorado.
George Elsworth Derby fell in love with Ella. They were married the 17thof March, 1912 in Pueblo, Colorado. Albert Clarence Derby was born the12th of July, 1913 in Pueblo and Lucille Love Derby was born the 17th ofSeptember, 1915 in Pueblo, Colorado. With the love of her husband, Ellawas able to overcome her past, so full of traumatic losses andabandonments.
Leander did not see or correspond with Ella or her children after shemarried. When he was living in Richmond, California, Lucille, hisgranddaughter, came to see him to see what kind of man would nevercontact his daughter or grandchildren. By this time Leander had become aSeventh Day Adventist and very much regretted what he had done to Ella.Mary says, "He sure cried when he met Lucille at the train in Richmond.She fell in love with him and he with her." Lucille lived with Graceand her grandfather for a while. Here she met her husband Grant Cowden.Grant and his father were renting the front apartment of the Smith's BayView home.
Leander and Grace had one child, Mary Lenora Smith, born the 19th ofFebruary, 1906 in Pueblo, Colorado. They tried homesteading outside ofPueblo on the Leaky Place. They lived in a kind of shack that they laterused as a barn once Leander built them a small house. The shack had asod roof with timbers across the ceiling. Mary says:
"I remember being quite young and pointing up to the rafters. There wasa big rattler crawling up there and I can remember my mom being realupset, saying it wasn't a fit place to have a child with rattlerscrawling all around over-head. He built a new place but it leaked. Iremember sitting on a little step and hearing a rattler rattling. It hadgone up the step and was inside the kitchen in back of the door. Anothertime we were picking beans in the bean patch. (Bill, my brother and I)had a little dog. It was nosing ahead of us. The rattler bit it. Theplace was full of rattlesnakes. It was terrible and we were poor as thedickens."
Mr. Byrnes (sp?) offered Leander and Grace a job as caretakers of hisIndicator Ranch. They took the job and moved their family, Leander,Grace, Bill Stringer and Mary to the Indicator where they earned $50 amonth plus their keep. The Indicator was so far from town that Marydidn't go to school until she was eight and a half. Bill left forCalifornia in 1911 at the age of 15.
In 1915 Leander, Grace and Mary left the Indicator and traveled to SanDiego, California by train. Leander worked building the ExpositionGrounds. When that job was finished he couldn't find any other work sothey moved to Los Angeles. By this time Mary Langdon, Grace's mother,had come from Pueblo to live with them. She remained with them until herdeath in 1934. Grace nursed a cancer patient until she died, earningenough to pay for food and a very cheap lower flat. Leander stillcouldn't find work so the whole family moved north to Richmond,California in 1917. They traveled by boat from San Diego to L.A. or fromL.A. to San Francisco. Mary Smith is not sure which. Leander got a jobwith Standard Oil as a laborer. The family moved to Stege, between ElCerrito and Richmond on Bay View Avenue in 1918. The house was atwo-story home with a full dirt basement.
Leander worked at Standard Oil until they laid him off just beforeretirement. Mary says:
"Years ago they laid them off just before pensioning age so they wouldn'thave to pay them a pension. My dad was well liked at Standard Oil. Hekept going back and kept going back to see if there was any work.Finally they told him he might as well give up. It was ordered fromhigher up. All the older men were to be laid off permanently."
After being laid off, Leander worked as a laborer for variouscontractors. Grace took care of a little girl, Caroline. Mary helpedwith Caroline and took care of the housework. By 1923 Grace was quiteill and Mary did most of the work. They had a cow and had worked up amilk route. Mary would carry 2 quarts of milk in her arm and 3 quarts ina little rack as she walked around the neighborhood making deliveries.Mary married Alfred Wilhelm Hofacker the 28th of March, 1924. She and Allived in Richmond until they lost their home in May of 1929. Al fellbreaking his back and was off work for six months. They moved in withLeander, Grace and Mary Langdon. Al, Mary, and their infant son,Richard, lived in the front of the house on Bay View Avenue for a year.After Al and Mary moved out Leander rented out the front apartment.
The house was dark and dreary inside. They used only one 40-watt lightbulb to light a whole room. Leander and Grace bought corn flakes by thecase and sometimes ate them three times a day. Leander had severe palsyand ate his corn flakes from a medium size bower pottery bowl. The spoonwould clang from one side of the bowl to the other as he tried to eat.Often he would put the spoon down and drink his corn flakes. They alsobought a juicer and juiced all their fruits and vegetables.
Sometime in the early 1940's Leander and Grace went to live with Al andMary in San Pablo. Mary cared for her mother as she deteriorated due toher addiction to the phenobarbital she was prescribed for female problemsover the years. She become psychotic and finally completely withdrew.Grace died the day she arrived at the county hospital in Martinez,California in May of 1944 at the age of 63. Leander continued livingwith Al and Mary.
Leander must have had hardening of the arteries because once every coupleof weeks he would pass out, lie on the ground for a while and then regainconsciousness. When he regained consciousness he was extremelycontrary. This went on for many years. When his grandson, Richard,would find him lying in the field or on the sidewalk and ask him if hecould help him he would say, "No, I'm just lying down resting and I likeit down here." He and his dog Mickey walked the neighborhood daily.
Leander was a gentle, loving man who had a very stubborn, contrarystreak. Mary tells of a time when her dad made the statement, "Deer eatsheep." She argued with him saying, "Dad, deer eat plants they don't eatsheep." Finally after more arguing he said, 'Well, if the deer gethungry enough they will eat sheep.'" That was the end of the discussion.Leander and Mary teased each other and bantered back and forth. Marywould act sassy with him but only in fun. He treated boys and girls verydifferently. With Kathlyn, his granddaughter he was kind and generous.During World War II he bought her a used bike when she came home fromschool crying because she was tired. However, he had a whole list ofchores for Richard to do any time he saw him. Richard got so he stayedat school late to avoid the conflicts.
The Hofer family always went to the movies once or twice a week. Leanderwas a Seventh Day Adventist and their sabbath is Friday. If no onereminded him it was Friday he would accompany them to the show. He wouldlaugh until the tears rolled down his cheeks watching Charley Chaplin.The night of his death Leander seemed fine but he told Al and Marygoodbye, not goodnight before going up stairs to bed. He died in hissleep at their home the 16th of January, 1946 at the age of 76. BothLeander and Grace are buried in Grave 21, Tier 3 at the SunsetviewCemetery, El Cerrito, California.
Compiled and wrtten by Susan Kimes Burgess in 1991 and corrected in July2003.
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1880 Census:http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=census/search_census.asp
Source Information:
Census Place Washington, Ripley, Indiana
Family History Library Film 1254308
NA Film Number T9-0308
Page Number 546CName Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace OccupationFather's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
M. C. SMITH Self M Male W 42 IN Farmer VA OH
Julien SMITH Wife M Female W 39 IN Keeping House MD MD
Enech SMITH Son S Male W 18 IN IN IN
Anna SMITH Dau S Female W 13 IN IN IN
Leander W. SMITH Son S Male W 10 IN IN IN
Dale SMITH Son S Male W 1 IN IN IN
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(The letter below was transcribed by Susan Kimes Burgess, July 16, 2003.Except for Norman's signature, this letter was typed by Norman's wife,Helen. He had familial palsy as did Mary Lenora Smith Hofer and herfather, Leander W. Smith which made writing very difficult and hard toread. The older they got the worse the shaking became. The reference toLeander, John, and Hannah Smith coming from England has since provedfalse. Leander and his brother were born in Vermont. Hannah may havecome from England.)" 2/28/79
Dear Mary and Al:I have never seen a picture of Minnie. If there was one it was notlabeled and I have no idea of what to look for. I found a picture ofElla when she was a little girl and sent it to Lucille a few years ago.
I have found the family history of our great grandfather Leander andhis children. Our great grandfather married an Irish Girl Sutton, andour grandfather Martin married a Bratten, also Irish. I am almostcertain that Minnie was from an Irish family.
I know Uncle Lee married and was located about 3 miles at Springdalefrom the old home place at Elrod. He was located on 40 acres of land andoperated a country store. My father told me he went bankrupt running thestore and with the illness of Minnie. She must have become ill shortlyafter they were married. I have always been of the impression it wasT.B. but I am not sure about that. I only know she passed away about sixyears after they were married. Dad never spoke an unkind word aboutUncle Lee. I was always sure he was Dad's favorite brother. Shortlyafter Minnie's death Lee went to Peublo (sic), Colo. Uncle Enoch wasthere and my father went there also. They all worked for a time for theRio Grande Railroad in the Yards. Shortly within a year or so, my Fatherreturned home when Grandmother Smith had surgery, at Christ Hospital inCincinnati where she passed away.
Minnie, our grand parents, and Anna are all buried in the WashingtonBaptist Church Cemetery at Elrod on the same lot as my Dad and Mother.
I will send a copy of Minnie's obituary from the Smith familyBible. It is glued to the front cover and can't be removed.
I do not know if Uncle Lee or Uncle Enoch came to the funerals ofour grandparents. They were both gone before you and I were born.
Ella was left with our grandmother Smith. After grandmother died,she stayed with Grandfather Smith and Dad, then with Dad and Mother untilshe was 18. I was about 7 when she went to Colorado. She was a very bigproblem and never wished to take any advice. I know she caused yourfather many heartaches when she arrived there as well as here at home.
I am sending the list of children of our great grandfather so youcan see something of the past. He was English having come to thiscountry with a brother John and mother Hannah. He worked in the granitemines of Vermont and came to Indiana from Cincinnati, Ohio. He boughtland, cleared it and raised hay and sold it accumulating 9 or 10 farmswhich were given to his children. They all settled in Ripley County. Iam also sending a list of grandmother's brothers and sisters and herfather and mother.
Our family here are well. I had a low blood sugar and low bloodpressure attack in December, which threw me in to a coma for awhile. Iwas in hospital four days, but since then I have been doing fairly wellas long as I watch my diet which has to be adjusted to my insulinintake. We hope to take a two weeks trip to Florida in April if thingsgo well from now on. I celebrated my 74th birthday January 31st, so I amabout a year older than you. Take care and stay as well as you can.
Our Best to you andyours,
Norman M. SmithHelen has typed for me as you can see I don't do too well at writing."
-------------------------------------------------------------------Their daughter Ella Ann Smith was born the 22nd of January, 1893 inSpringdale, Ripley County, Indiana. Minnie doted on little Ella. Afterlosing their place they moved back to the Martin Cooly Smith Ranch inElrod where Leander's mother cared for the small family. Minnie died the8th of April, 1897 at the age of 26. She is buried in Dillsboro, Indianain the cemetery behind the Washington Baptist Church.
According to Mary Hofer, Leander's second daughter: "Dad must havereally loved Minnie. Before he died it was all back to Minnie. 'She wasso thin, such a little shrunken thing. I could pick her up in my armsand carry her. There was just nothing to her.'"
Leander went to Pueblo, Colorado about 1900 to work in the yards of theRio Grande Railroad. Leander's brothers, Enoch and Denver Dale, werealready there. While in Pueblo, Leander met Grace Ella (Dever)Stringer. She was a widow taking in washing and ironing to supportherself and her 5 year-old son, William Almer. Grace was born the 14thof July, 1870 in Missouri, the only child of John Dever and Mary LovicaConnelly. Her father had died when she was nine. She was neglected byher mother and repeatedly molested by her step-father, William FrancisLangdon. Grace's first husband William Stringer was a chronicalcoholic. Their first child had died at childbirth.
Mary Hofer talked about her parents: "Ma was a straight-forward womanwho'd had a hard life. She told him (Leander) she didn't love him but ifhe'd accept her as she was she'd marry him. A kind, gentle man, he lovedher as she was. They were married in either 1901 or 1902." Leander andGrace wanted to get Ella and bring her to Pueblo with them but Leander'sparents wrote and said they were so attached to her they could not giveher up. "Mom said that was the one big regret in her life. She saidthat that was absolutely wrong. They should have insisted to take heralong but they didn't."
Denver Dale returned to Elrod from Pueblo in 1902, when their mother wasgoing to have surgery at Christ's Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sherefused the surgery and died the 24th of December, 1902. Ella stayedwith her grandfather and Uncle Dale. A couple of men raising her didn'tprovide her with enough guidance. When her grandfather died in 1904 Ellawent to live with Denver Dale and his wife. When she was 18 she finallywent to live with her dad and Grace in Colorado.
Leander did not see or correspond with Ella or his grandchildren aftershe married. When he was living in Richmond, California, Lucille came tosee him to see what kind of man would never contact his daughter orgrandchildren. By this time Leander had become a Seventh Day Adventistand very much regretted what he had done to Ella. Mary says, "He surecried when he met Lucille at the train in Richmond. She fell in lovewith him and he with her." Lucille lived with Grace and her grandfatherfor a while. Here she met her husband Grant Cowden. Grant and hisfather were renting the front apartment of the Smith's Bay View home.
In 1915 Leander, Grace and Mary left the Indicator and traveled to SanDiego, California by train. Leander worked building the ExpositionGrounds. When that job was finished he couldn't find any other work sothey moved to Los Angeles. By this time Mary Langdon, Grace's mother,had come from Pueblo to live with them. She remained with them until herdeath in 1934. Grace nursed a cancer patient until she died, earningenough to pay for food and a very cheap lower flat. Leander stillcouldn't find work so the whole family moved north to Richmond,California in 1917. They traveled by boat from San Diego to L.A. or fromL.A. to San Francisco. Mary Smith is not sure which. Leander got a jobwith Standard Oil as a laborer. The family moved to Stege, between ElCerrito and Richmond on Bay View Avenue in 1918. The house was a twostory home with a full dirt basement.
Leander worked at Standard Oil until they laid him off just beforeretirement. Mary says: "Years ago they laid them off just beforepensioning age so they wouldn't have to pay them a pension. My dad waswell liked at Standard Oil. He kept going back and kept going back tosee if there was any work. Finally they told him he might as well giveup. It was ordered from higher up. All the older men were to be laidoff permanently."
After being laid off, Leander worked as a laborer for variouscontractors. Grace took care of a little girl, Caroline. Mary helpedwith Caroline and took care of the housework. By 1923 Grace was quiteill and Mary did most of the work. They had a cow and had worked up amilk route. Mary would carry 2 quarts of milk in her arm and 3 quarts ina little rack as she walked around the neighborhood making deliveries.Mary married Alfred Wilhelm Hofacker the 28th of March, 1924. She and Allived in Richmond until they lost their home in May of 1929. Al fell,breaking his back and was off work for six months. They moved in withLeander, Grace and Grace's mother, Mary Langdon. Al, Mary and theirinfant son, Richard lived in the front of the house on Bay View Avenuefor a year. After Al and Mary moved out Leander rented out the frontapartment.
The house was dark and dreary inside. They used only one 40 watt lightbulb to light a whole room. Leander and Grace bought corn flakes by thecase and sometimes ate them three times a day. Leander had severefamilial palsy and ate his corn flakes from a medium size bower potterybowl. The spoon would clang from one side of the bowl to the other as hetried to eat. Often he would put the spoon down and drink his cornflakes. They also bought a juicer and juiced all their fruits andvegetables.
Sometime in the early 1940's Leander and Grace went to live with Al andMary in San Pablo. Mary cared for her mother as she deteriorated due toher addiction to the phenobarbital she took for years. She becamepsychotic and finally completely withdrew. Grace died the day shearrived at the county hospital in Martinez, California in May of 1944 atthe age of 63. Leander continued living with Al and Mary.
The Hofer family went to the movies once or twice a week. Leander was aSeventh Day Adventist and their sabbath is Friday. If no one remindedhim it was Friday he would accompany them to the show. He would laughuntil the tears rolled down his cheeks watching Charley Chaplin. Thenight of his death Leander seemed fine but he told Al and Mary goodbye,not goodnight, before going upstairs to bed. He died in his sleep attheir home the 16th of January, 1946 at the age of 76. Both Leander andGrace are buried in Grave 21, Tier 3 at the Sunsetview Cemetery, ElCerrito, California.
Grace Ella Dever was born the 14th of July, 1870 in Missouri, possiblySpringfield, to John Dever and Mary Lovica Connelly. Grace had one olderbrother, Elmer, who was born in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri.Her father was twenty years older than her mother. He was a cobbler andboot maker. John Dever provided well for his family, "getting them thebest of everything." Her mother spent most of her time tending herflower garden. She was fanatical about flowers and was never interestedin keeping the house or children clean. Mary Hofer tells about hermother's life:
"My mom didn't learn to walk until she was three years old because hermother kept her in an old box while she tended her yard. Years laterGrandma used to tell me, "Put the young'un in a box and keep up youryard. That;s what I did." When Mom was nine years old her father died ofstomach cancer. They said it was from holding the boot against hisstomach. Mom said all the joy in her life went out, when he was gone.She had lost her best friend.
My mother always said she was very sensitive as a child. She didn't playwith the kids at school because she was always so ungodly dirty. She'dbeg her mother for a clean dress. The children felt sorry for her so shejust hung out on the outside. She went through five grades of school.She could remember going to school with her hair braided on one side andtied with a string and on the other side tied with a piece of rag. Momsaid the grease was so thick on her pillow slip you could scrape it offwith your thumb nail.
After Dever died, my grandmother took in boarders to try and make endsmeet. She married Will Langdon (William Francis Langdon), one of herboarders. He was a terrible man. He didn't work. Grandma always saidshe married him for a home and then Mom always answered, "Don't hand methat garbage. He owed you five months board and had no job when youmarried him!" Mom hated him cause he was always trying to make a pass ather. Her one joy in life was the piano. She used to walk several milesto her piano lessons with her shoes slung over her shoulder. Just beforegoing into the lesson she would put on her shoes. She did get a piano ofher own but I don't know how. Will used to pester her when she waspracticing but he never did get to first base.
They were so poor they had no stove to cook on. For a long time theyslept on pallets in the same room. She'd wake up with Will on her palletbothering her. Grandma had a double standard and over-lookedeverything. She thought a man couldn't help himself.
Ma talked terrible to her step-father. He made her angry because hewouldn't look for work. He just sat around and read. One day Mom foundhim out sitting under a tree reading when he was supposed to be outfinding a job. She took a gun and told him to go and get himself a jobor she'd blow his brains out.
When Mom was twelve she worked on the outside as a servant girl. Shelived at the home where she worked and came home only on Sunday when shewas paid. Her mother would take the money and buy a real expensive roastand they'd eat like kings for a day or two and then the family wouldstarve the rest of the week. Grandma just didn't have good sense.
Mom had three half-sisters born to Will and Mary Langdon: Martha Sylvia(Mattie), Carrie, and Mamie. Carrrie and Mamie were very beautifulwomen. Sometime after the three girls were born Will and Mary Langdonmoved their family to Pueblo, Colorado.
Ma was very sick for quite a few years as a young woman. The doctor's inthose days thought the cure all for a woman was to get married and have achild. A doctor told Grandma Langdon the only thing that would helpGracie's health was for her to have a child. So she married WilliamStringer (in 1892 ), some man Will Langdon knew.
She used to say that, that marriage could have been a success if hehadn't been an alcoholic. She'd ask him why he got drunk and he'd say,"You gave me the wrong knife and fork or something like that." Theirfirst child was a daughter, born with the cord wrapped round her neck.The last she saw her little girl Mom was lying in bed looking out thewindow and Will (Stringer) was sitting in the hearse with a little casketon his lap, dead drunk with a bottle of whiskey to his lips. She lefthim and went to Grandma Langdon's. He'd go to Grandma's saying how he'dquit drinking and all this and that and the other. Ma said she was halfconvinced he had quit so she went back to him and got pregnant right awayagain. He hadn't changed. She tried hard, she worked and sent him towhat they called the Keely cure for alcoholics but nothing helped.
She was pregnant with no money. Some of her Catholic girl friends gother into a Catholic hospital where Bill (William Almer Stringer) was bornthe 13th of April, 1896. After he was born the nurses were acting allhush hush and finally she asked what they were trying to keep from her.She told them, "If it's anything to do with my husband you can't tell meanything that would hurt me. I don't care what has happened to him."They told her he was dead and she said, "Well good."Before Bill was born she worked at a printers T.B. sanitarium as anurse. Many printers got T.B. from breathing all those chemicals.Everyday they'd come and haul one of them, away. They came to convalescebut died. Many people died of T.B. then.
After Bill was born Mom took in washing and ironing to try and make aliving. That's how she met my dad, Leander William Smith. He was one ofher customers, a widower with one daughter, Ella. His parents werecaring for Ella in Indiana while he worked in the Rio Grande Railroadyard in Pueblo, Colorado."
Leander was born the 25th or 28th of August, 1869 in Elrod, RipleyCounty, Indiana, the third of four children born to Martin Cooly Smithand Julia Ann Bratten. They were farmers. Leander had owned a store for atime while married to Minnie C. Burroughs but he went bankrupt. MaryHofer continues with her mother's story:
"When Mom and Dad were married they wrote to Dad's parents wanting Ellato come live with them in Colorado but Grandpa and Grandma Smith were soattached to Ella they couldn't give her up. Mom said later that was theone big regret in her life. She said that that was absolutely wrong.They should have insisted to take Ella but they didn't and not longafterwards Grandma (Smith) died. So the grandfather and Uncle Daleraised her. Her grandfather died in 1904 when she was 11. Then shestayed with Uncle Dale and his wife and later came to live with us (when18)."
Grace was 35 and Leander was 36 when Mary Lenora was born the 19th ofFebruary, 1906 in Pueblo, Colorado. The family lived on a homestead theycalled the Leaky Place. First they lived in a shack with a sod roof andopen timber ceiling. This was later used as a barn after Leander built asmall home where it leaked. Mary says:
"I remember pointing up to the ceiling timbers. There was a big rattlercrawling up there. I remember my mom being real upset Saying it wasn't afit place to have a child with rattlers crawling all around overhead.Dad built a new place and that's where it leaked. The place was full ofrattlesnakes and we were poor as the dickens.
Mr. Byrnes (sp?) came around and offered Dad this job as care-taker ofthe Indicator Ranch for $50 a month and our keep; so we moved to theIndicator."
Mr. Byrnes had an office in town and didn't live on the Indicator. Theranch must have been quite a distance from Pueblo because Mary remembersher mother saying it was terrible to live where a person couldn't send achild to school. Mary didn't start school until she was eight and ahalf. Bill only went through three years of schooling. Grace took himout of school when the teachers said he just wasn't capable of learning.Bill worked digging ditches. Mary says, "I just know he could have beentaught. He was just slow. His father had delirium tremors when mom gotpregnant. He was in no condition to father a child." In 1911, when Billwas 15 years old he went to California by train. Grandma Langdon hadmoved to California to care for Mamie who had T.B. Doctors thought achange of climate might help her.
Leander, Grace and Mary Smith moved from the Indicator Ranch outsidePueblo, Colorado to San Diego in 1915 by train. Leander worked as alaborer building the Exposition Grounds in San Diego, California. WillLangdon sent Mary Langdon to live with them that same year. MaryLangdon, Grace's mother lived with them until her death in 1934. Shethought, "The good Lord provided Gracie to take care of her." Graceresented this very much but never had the courage to cross her mother.When the Exposition Grounds job ended Leander couldn't find work so thefamily of four moved to Los Angeles. Leander still couldn't find a job.Grace earned enough money for food and the rent of a very cheap lowerflat, nursing an old lady with cancer. When Leander still could not findwork the family moved north to Richmond, California. Neither Leander norGrace ever drove a car.
In 1918 they moved out to Stege, between Richmond and El Cerrito on BayView Avenue. This was a twostory home with a full basement. Thebasement had a dirt floor. They kept a cow and worked up a milk route.Grace churned butter down in the basement. She was ill much of the timeso Mary took care of the house and milk route. Grandma Langdon worked inher flower garden. Leander worked for Standard Oil as a laborer but justbefore reaching retirement he was laid off. He then worked as a laborerfor various contractors. Mary married Alfred Wilhelm Hofacker the 28thof March, 1924 in Richmond, California. Alfred changed his name to AlWilliam Hofer in 1934. They moved to San Pablo and lived there for sixyears until they lost their place during the depression. Al and Mary,with their infant son, Richard, moved in with Leander, Grace and MaryLangdon for a year in 1929.
After Al and Mary moved out of the front apartment. Grace and Leanderrented it out. Elmer Dever stayed with them for a while. Kathlyn,Mary's daughter remembers visiting her grandparents once a week. Theyalways went in the back door since the front was rented. When the visitwas over they would usually go to the movies because it was sodepressing. The house was very dark inside. They used only one 40 wattlight bulb to light a whole room. She doesn't ever remember eating ameal at their home. Grace would sometimes fix her a piece of brown breadwith butter and brown sugar on it. If she used natural sugar instead, itbecame very gritty. Sometimes Leander would give Kathlyn and herbrother, Richard, dimes when they came to visit. Grace and Leanderbought corn flakes by the case. They sometimes had them three times aday. They also bought a juicer and juiced all their fruits andvegetables. The only time Kathlyn remembers her grandmother lookinghappy is when she sat and played the piano. Her music was very importantto her. She had a beautiful touch. Other pianists would come to listento her play and try to imitate her technique.
Grace became addicted to Phenobarbital. We don't know why her Russiandoctor began prescribing it to her. She began taking it before enteringmenopause and continued it until her death at the age of 74. This causedher to become psychotic and very irrational the last years of her life.Grace was an intelligent woman. She asked the doctor's to take her offthe medication. She realized it was making her crazy, but they justincreased the dosage.
Sometime in the early 1940's Leander and Grace moved in with Mary and AlHofer. They lived on Road 20 in San Pablo, California. Leander andGrace stayed in what had been Richard and Kathlyn's bedroom. MaryLangdon had died in August of 1934. Richard stayed in the apartmentabove the garage. Mary cared for her mother as she deteriorated. Gracehad psychotic episodes where she would beat her head against the wall andtry to choke herself to death. She got so she refused to eat and lostweight. Near the end her screaming at night was horrific. Kathlyn sleptat the neighbors for several weeks before Grace's death so she couldsleep. It was a terrible time for Mary as she tried to stop her motherfrom injuring herself. Grace then withdrew and would not respond. Aland Mary called in another doctor who said she was mentally aware butthat the medication was creating these problems. She was so ill that itwas too late to try and stop the Phenobarbital. She was taken toMartinez County Hospital at about two in the afternoon and died at aboutfour the next morning in May 1944. She is buried in Grave 21, Tier 3Sunsetview Cemetery, El Cerrito, California. Leander continued livingwith Al and Mary for another two years. He died in his sleep in their SanPablo home the 16th of January, 1946. He is buried with Grace atSunsetview Cemetery in Grave 21, Tier 3. Mary Lenore says:
"Ma had a hard unhappy early life which she never really got over. Theman she cared for (as a young woman) had always treated her proper but hemarried a prostitute. Later the woman told her she never wished mom anybad luck but she wished she'd gotten him instead of her. I remember, Ifound Ma crying one evening when Al and I were there. She'd heard Al saysomething to me that her love had said to her at one time. She told meit brought back memories that still hurt. She said she loved him so much.
She often wondered if her life would have been different if she'd marriedthis other man. She was a very frigid woman and she knew something waswrong. She went to doctors. They put her on special diets andeverything imaginable. Just once she got something out of sex and shesaid she thought she'd die. This, I guess, was with her first husband.Mom knew things weren't right with her and she told me how it ought tobe. She cared for Dad and appreciated him. He was such a kind personand he loved her so much. But, she somehow couldn't feel for him likeshe thought she should. I think it was her terrible childhood and herawful step-father."
Grace was a kind and generous woman with others but not with her ownfamily. Every Thanksgiving she would bake eight to ten pies and givethem all away. Her own family got no pie. Whenever Mary had somethingnice, like a doll, her mother would make her give it away. Somehow shecouldn't see the needs of her own family.
Compiled and written by Susan Kimes Burgess in 1991 and corrected inJuly, 2003.
Note:
William Anson Halbert was born in Henry County ,Virginia. Die on December
28 , 1808 in Pendleton District , South Carolina.
Served in the Revolutionary War as a Lieutenant in the Henry County ,
Virginia Militia.
Served with Capt Henry Lee's Troop , 1st Regiment , Light Dragoons (The
Compendium of American Genealogy ,First Families in America ,pg.334.)
Member of the Provincial Congress from Syrrey County , North Carolina in
1775(The compendium of American Genealogy ,pg. 208)
The following information was furnished by Eleonore J. Crespo: William
Halbert enlisted in the Partisan Legion for the war and was a citizen of
Virginia at the time of his enlistment. In March 1780 , he was appointed
a Second Lieutenant. He was given 486 acres of land on Russell Creek S.C.
, In a land grant issued by Thomas Jefferson, for his service in the
Revolutionary War.
William Anson Halbert was said to have had a red beard , blue eyes and be
of stout build.
He died 28 December 1808 Anderson County, SC.
Sources;
1.Southside Virginia Families:John Bennett Boddie,1955,Redwood City
,Calif.
2. Southern Historical Families ,Vol. IX, John Bennett Boddie,1971
Baltimore ,Md.
3 .Grace Thomas ,4600 So.Wellington,Salt Lake City , Ut .84117
4.Karen Halbert Moore , 8999 Hillsboro H.S. Rd.,Hillsboro ,Mo. 63050