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The Family of Eugene and Mary Ann Steele-(original posting Sept 8 2020)
Just as people do now, when putting together a family photo album, sometimes full pages are of just one person and their family. Such was the case in the 1800's album, a full page of Christine! Below are a few close up pictures from this page above.
Before I continue with the story of Eugene Moore and Mary Ann Steele, I thought it be interesting to share with you what Eugene and his wife Mary Ann actually looked in the colorized photos above.
Through ancestry.com, I was able to locate an early voter registration census from the mid 1870's. It describes Eugene as:
Standing at approx 5 feet six ½ inches. Eugene had fair skin, with dark blue eyes and brown hair. Quite the handsome man!
Eugene and Mary Ann were married sometime in or around 1872. To save money for a new home, they first lived with her parents Thomas and Hanora in Almaden (Santa Clara). Three years later, Mary Ann gave birth to their first daughter Christine B Steele in July of 1875.
As to exactly what the middle name of B stood for is unknown. However, I suspect it may have been Bertha or even possibly Beatrice.
Looking up popular girl’s names of the 1800’s showed that names in the B category for a middle name were few and far between, but the name of Bertha however, was the most popular one at that time!
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Two years later on January 20th 1877, Mary Ann would give birth to their first son Eugene Charles Steele
Then the following year, another son Robert Joseph Steele was born on April 30th 1878.
FARMING
Upon his arrival in California in 1871, Eugene (senior) had secured a job on a farm ~similar to the work what he had done back in Maine.
Yet, I wondered if during the period of 1872 until 1881, if he had taken on any other jobs at this time. A search on this through both phone directories and voter censuses did not provide the answer I was searching for.
However, in separate search in what farms in both San Francisco and Santa Clara counties were like in the 1800's, I came upon the website called, Calisphere at the University of CA.
On their website was a long essay called, 1866-1920: Rapid Population Growth, Large-Scale Agriculture, and Integration into the United States.
According to the author Joshua Paddison:
"California's booming agricultural economy created an endless need for farm labor. Although family farming was typical in the Midwest, California agriculture was dominated by large-scale industrial farming,"
So I can only surmise that Eugene continued work as a farmer while saving up money for a new home. At that time, the average wage for a farmer per week was $16. Below is an image of a typical farmer at that time.
But in 1881, Eugene secured a job as an engineer working at Mission Rock Dock.
"The rock's size was enlarged continuously until the mid-20th century. Finally, in 1946, the now obsolete grain terminal was set on fire after San Francisco decided to expand its Pier 50 to engulf the former island."
From what I can gather, men on the island worked on newly arrived cargo such as grain and it appears that since there was no specific port of entry at the time to San Francisco, the island was built for newly arrived ships of various imports/exports.
Last photo taken of Mission Rock Warehousebefore it burned down on Jan 9th 1946
Also born within the same year of 1881 was a second daughter they named Irene.
Two years later on September 9, 1883 a third son was born -named John Alexander Steele.
Being steadily employed at Mission Rock, meant more money could be saved and put towards either renting or purchasing a home for their continually growing family.
By the 1880s, most working class people lived in houses with two rooms a downstairs, a kitchen and two or even three extra bedrooms. Most had a small garden in the back or front of the property.
At the end of the 19th century, some houses for skilled workers were built with the latest luxury - an indoor toilet! Below are real estate ads for homes from the following publications:
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"The Alameda Argus"
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"The Daily Alta"
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"The San Francisco Chronicle"
Although the cost to either rent/buy a home in the 1800's might seem low compared to the costs in 2020, a family of two adults, along with three or more children also had to factor in their monthly household budget based on the salary of the full time working husband.
A typical household budget during that time would look something like this:
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Groceries~ fresh vegetables and fruit, bread, flour, molasses, sugar, spices.
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Fresh Meat
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Dry Goods~ such as clothing/shoes and boots/hats
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Fuel- such as coal or wood
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Sickness~such as doctors and any medications
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Sundries~such as men's razors, soap, tooth powder
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Entertainment such as attending a play or a live performance or purchasing a piano/Victrola (A Record Player) for the home.Up keep of the horse(s), food and buggy (if they had one)
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Firearms (if needed)
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A maid or nanny (if the husband did well for himself)
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Cleaning supplies for upkeep of the home and clothes
Here is an ad for an Auction Sale. Perhaps the family who owned these possessions was moving to another location within the US or overseas. Even then, the concept of downsizing one’s home existed!
In 1881, the Steele Family bought/rented their first home which was located on a street called De Boom. This street is actually named after a famous California Pioneer and land developer by the name of Cornelius De Boom. The street was a small tract of land with perhaps two or three houses but sadly no longer exists.
During my search about this street, I came across a really fascinating website created by a woman named Christine Witzel.
There is actually quite a lot of history on the De Boom Family that I wanted to share with you. A few of the names she writes about will seem familiar to you as they are the names of some of the well known streets in San Francisco!
Christine writes that the genealogy of the family goes all the way back to 1849 and as described by her on the website https://christinewitzel.com/romaine-c-deboom/the-sf-de-boom-tract-legacy/, the history is as follows:
"How do we know that Cornelius De Boom was looking for business opportunities in 1849, not gold, when he sailed his own ship into San Francisco Bay? Only because Emma, his nephew’s youngest daughter was fiercely proud of her family – both past and present. She saved hundreds of “precious family documents,” photographs and paintings which form the basis of this website, dedicated to her memory.
“Jean Corneille De Boom – later known as John Cornelius, or simply Cornelius, was born on June 13, 1818 in Denderlieu., Belgium.
“The De Boom family owned a fleet of sailing ships based in Antwerp where Cornelius graduated from navigation school. Everett Witzel remembers his mother Emma telling him that Cornelius was instructed by his father to take ships “to go and to trade as best as you can.” Cornelius established branch offices in Santiago and Valparaiso, Chile, very busy trading centers at the time.
“Cornelius was in Chile in the fall of 1848 when the news arrived of the discovery of gold in California. Sensing business opportunities, he set sail for San Francisco and arrived on February 18, 1849 after a voyage of about two months. He quickly set up yet another office in San Francisco to act as agents for the family firm and became the Honorary Belgian Consul. By 1850 he had left the local firm to engage in real estate.
"One of his partners was John Townsend and together they speculated on property at Hunter’s Point and elsewhere. In 1850 Cornelius invited his brother, Peter Romain De Boom, for whom De Boom St. is named, to come to San Francisco. Cornelius also became an honorary member of the Society of California Pioneers.
“As a real estate developer “In 1849, when San Francisco flourished overnight into a metropolis, it was Cornelius de Boom and a Dr. John Townsend that laid out in the Potrero what was probably the city’s first real estate development project. But it was too far from the center of town, and failed,” wrote Robert O’Brien in his article Riptides: “On the Outskirts of Town”, printed in the San Francisco Chronicle July 18th, 1951.
Carving the east side of Potrero Hill for a railroad line, c. 1870s
“Yet, these two substantial citizens – Dr. John Townsend and John Cornelius de Boom conceived the idea of developing a nearby community where the weather was good, the air clean and fine fresh water springs were to be had. They acquired in 1849 the eastern portion of the Bernal Rancho touching the bay, had a surveyor lay out a tract and engaged the youthful, cultured brothers, Robert Eugene and Philip Schuyler Hunter, as their real estate agents…. Those were the Hunters whose name had been attached to the point, the nucleus of this project, ever since. In addition, they also created the Portsmouth Square Neighborhood (as shown in this 1851 photo below)
Christine further writes that, “One ancestry tree (now deleted off ancestry.com) described a Marie Badarous who “married to Jean Corneille De Boom on 17 Mar 1856 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co, CA. Marie Marguerite Badarous was born about 1838 in Paris, Paris, France. She died in San Jose, Santa Clara Co. Cornelius and Marie had no children.
“In June 1864 Cornelius De Boom left San Francisco for Europe, where his mother could not live any longer without seeing him again.
“Cornelius was 52 when he died in Paris on September 21, 1870 The Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had begun just two days before when the Prussians encircled the city.”
CONTINUING WITH THE STEELE FAMILY
Our Great Grandma Nellie Ellen Steele was born on October 18th of 1885.
Sadly this photo had the top part missing when I originally scanned it. Uncle Bill remembers seeing it on Grandma Barbara's mantle for many years. The young boy on the right is thought to be Alexander. I love this photo and Nell's face to me looks so much like our dear cousin Nell.
Three years later in 1888, the family then moved into a new home located on 719 Willow Street in San Francisco.
(Approximate Location) of the Steele Family Home at
719 Willow St in San Francisco)
Two more children would be born into the Steele family~
A baby, Charles Steele born in January of 1890 but sadly died six months later on June 30th.
A daughter Josephine was born in February of 1891. **
It was also in 1891, that Eugene quit his job as engineer at Mission Rock Dock and began working as an express man for several months before working as a piano mover for the company Byron Mauzy.
But two years later, tragedy struck the Steele family again when the mother Mary Ann Steele died on August 11th 1893. She was nearly 39 years old. Exact cause of death is unknown, however I suspect it may have been from Bubonic plague- a common problem in many nineteenth century urban areas, especially in San Francisco.
According to writer Tilli Tansey, from the website nature.com:"An outbreak of the plague in 1893 killed thousands in Canton (a former gold mining town in El Dorado County near Colma), spreading along rivers and steamer routes. At the end of the nineteenth century, the plague was identified in a recent Chinese immigrant to the then-independent Hawaiian Islands. The pathogen probably crossed from there to San Francisco, on a regular trade route"
After Mary’s passing, Eugene was left to raise his family of seven children ranging in ages from eighteen to two. It appears that family continued to live at Willow Street home.
At that time, Christine who was 18 and Eugene age 16 were probably the ones who looked after the younger siblings while their father worked.
By 1894, Eugene and his family had moved to a property located on 415 11th & 1/2 St in San Francisco.
Looking towards 11th Street when the Steele family lived there
Over the next six years, several family events followed and while some were joyous there were also others that represented more sad times within the Steele family!
On June 11th of 1897, the youngest daughter Josephine would die of Typhoid Fever at the wee young age of only six years and four months.
The following year in 1898, the oldest Steele sibling, Christine would marry a Mr. John Joseph McMahon of Shelby Tennessee.
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On June 13 1900, Christine would give birth to a son they called Norbert. Younger sister Nell would soon move into their home to help take care of the household and new nephew.
In February of 1901, Christine learned that she was pregnant again but while giving birth on Nov 3 would tragically die due to placenta previa bleeding (or hemorrhage)
Since I choose not to have children myself, I wondered what placenta previa was.
As described by the Mayo Clinic:
"Placenta previa is a condition in which the placenta is attached close to or covering the cervix (opening of the uterus). It occurs in about one in every 200 live births.
This often happens as the lower part of the uterus thins during the third trimester of pregnancy in preparation for labor and causes the area of the placenta over the cervix to bleed during in childbirth."
It is not known whether the baby lived but presumably did not.
In 1899, the oldest son, Eugene would marry Myrtle May Greenwade of Camargo Montgomery County- Kentucky.
Then on Feb 21st 1900, Robert would marry Loretta T Plunkett of San Francisco.
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As the new decade of 1900 began, it would bring new changes and new beginnings to the Steele family.
After Mary Ann's passing, Eugene never married again. But, it was in 1905 that he found his niche in life by creating a new company called,
"Steele's Pleating and Button works"
As described in a (previous) posting, Eugene's company- was first called, Steele’s. Within the first year the business was so successful, that the name would be changed to Steele’s Button Works and then finally to Steele's Pleating and Button Works. Over the years, the company continued to grow and expand moving to various locations in San Francisco and was quite heavily advertised. In my files, I have nearly 50 clippings of his business listings from both directories and newspapers!
Both of his sons Alexander and Robert along with (Robert's) own son Donald worked for Eugene until the business closed.
This 1908 picture below of Fillmore St looking north at intersection with Ellis St, shows the approximate area where Eugene's Business was located.
Irene N Cook [Steele] was not only Nell’s older sister but later on became her sister in law as well!
Both sisters married two brothers from the Holmes Cook family-Charles and Harry.
In fact, according to Aunt Shirley-there was a bit of a love triangle rivalry between Harry, Charles, Irene and Nell.
Nell pinned for Harry while he was only interested in Irene. Charles was also interested in Irene and as things progressed I am sure the two brothers talked a lot about the situation and what to do.
Eventually Charles began to fall for Nell, yet she still had her sights set on his brother Harry. Must have been an interesting predicament!
In the end, Aunt Shirley told me that Nell married Charles out of spite!!
Irene and Harry were married in 1903.
Nell and Charles were married on November 4 1905.
After both families lost their homes in the 1906 earthquake and fire, the Cooks lived in temporary tents and/or shacks built by the army in Golden Gate Park.
However, four years later, it appears that the two families moved in together. I found a 1910 census which shows Charles, Nell, Irene and Harry along with their children living at this property at 1212 19th St.
A total of five children meant a rather busy household!! At that time Nell's daughter Evelyn was 3 and son Edmund almost 2. Irene and Harry's children were Gerald (age 7) Harold (age 4) and Little Irene (almost 2) . This photo below was taken around that time.
According to several of our Aunts and Uncles, the two families of Charles/Nell and Harry/Irene were quite close and spent many happy times together!!
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In 1905 , the last of the Steele siblings Alexander would meet a Miss Mabel V Corden of San Francisco. Their marriage took place on November 5th.
By 1907, father Eugene had moved to the neighborhood of 1420 Post St in San Francisco.
Then in 1910, he moved to a small home at 2308 Filbert St.
By this time, Eugene was now 65 and somewhat retired from his Pleating and Button Works business. Concerned over their father's health and well being, the Steele Siblings (Alexander, Nell, Irene, Eugene and Robert) decided to hire - a live in housekeeper/care taker by the name of Estelle C Daley. Estelle was born on May 25,1884 in Forest Sierra CA
After surviving the big quake of 1906, one would hope the month of December in the following year would bring happiness and celebrations with the upcoming holidays. Sadly this would not be the case for Robert Steele.
His wife Loretta would suddenly pass away on December 14th 1907 at age 27. Cause of death was unknown.
Left to raise his two young daughters Lenore and Geraldine on his own, Robert moved in with his Dad Eugene the following year. It was during this time that he got know the caretaker Estelle and six years on June 28th 1913 Robert and Estelle were married!
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With a growing family that now included three boys (Arthur, Robert Jr and Vincent), Eugene moved out 1912 to a small apartment on 971 Mission.
On May 5th, 1922 the patriarch of the Steele family Eugene Moore passed away. He lived to age 76 and 11 months and was able to see his family grow to 26 grandchildren!!
I would like to conclude this posting with a story that Uncle Bill once shared with me over a Christmas dinner.
Eugene used to drive a car called a Stanley Steamer that looked quite similar to this one in the photo below.
The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was founded in 1902 with the last car produced in 1924.
According to Uncle Bill,
"Eugene would come to see his daughter Nell and family in Cloverdale driving from San Francisco in an old Stanley Steamer Car. The car would just about make it there!
"However, making the trip home was a different story altogether!
"There was always some difficulty in getting the car started up again or it would break down completely. With no local garage to fix this exact type of vehicle, the car mechanics would have to come all the way from San Francisco by train to fix it and get the car going again!"
Stay safe and be well!
Linda
The Irish Family Ancestry Detective
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