Eugene Steele
&
The Greenwade Family
PART 2
It is the summer of 1901 in San Francisco and Myrtle is pregnant with her first child. The new home on 20 Camp Street is a spacious five-bedroom Edwardian flat offering ample room for the growing Steele/Greenwade family. Both Eugene's younger brother Alexander (now 18) and Myrtle's father Henry (age 31) still live them.
A 1901 Census describes employment for the three male members as follows:
Alexander Steele is working as a button maker in his grandfather Eugene Moore Steele's store.
Eugene Charles Steele is still working as a bottler/chauffeur.
Henry Greenwade is a day laborer (In 1901, a "day laborer" was essentially a worker hired on a daily basis to perform manual labor, often without a specific job or employer. They were employed for physical jobs they could find, sometimes for just days or weeks at a time. This often meant doing a variety of tasks, including agricultural work, construction, loading, and unloading. The work was typically manual and not necessarily skilled)
20 Camp St home in San Francisco
Living in San Francisco also led to a new romance for Henry. The new lady was Margaret Shields Murdock.
Margaret was born on October 20, 1865 in Plumas, California. She was one of six children in the family of Samuel and Anna (Shields) Murdock. Both parents came from Ireland. Her father Samuel (Born September 8 1819) came from Killinchy, Down, and her mother Anna (Born November 1st 1831) was born in County Down.
Samuel raised livestock in the area of Monroeville, Princeton, Colusa, Ca. According to wikipedia
Monroeville, Princeton, and Colusa are three locations in California. Monroeville is a historical town, once the county seat of Colusa County, located near the Sacramento River.
A census from June 1900 shows Margaret (now known as Maggie) working as a cook at a private home in Chico and she is a cousin to one of the other staff members.
How Margaret and Henry met is unknown, but on September 26, 1900 the couple were wed by a Rev. Frank S Ford. Below is the news announcement from from the SF Examiner.
Some of the top news stories in 1901, that Eugene and Myrtle would have read about were these:
- Queen Victoria has passed away on Jan 22. Her eldest son, Edward VII, will succeed her on the throne.
-President William McKinley would start his second term. Tragically he was assassinated with the subsequent presidency going to Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.
-U.S. Steel was established by John Pierpont Morgan
On January 8th, 1901 Myrtle gave birth to a baby boy they named Eugene Clinton.
For the first few years, her father Henry and his new bride, Maggie lived in the house on Camp Street. One year later Maggie gave birth to their first child, a daughter they named Neva born on December 27 1901.
It must’ve been quite the busy household. There were the five adults, Eugene, Myrtle, Alexander, Henry, and Maggie with two little children Eugene and Neva. For Myrtle, the advantage to having her new step mother in the home was having an extra pair of hands to assist with the children and other household duties.
Margaret Shields Murdock
Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
From 1902 to 1910, these were some of the major events the Steele/Greenwade family would have read about and experienced!
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In 1902 The first electric air conditioning unit was invented.
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1904 Construction of the Panama Canal began.
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1906 In their fair city by the bay, they would experience a 7.9 earthquake. Although the quake itself lasted 45 to 60 seconds, the majority of the worst shaking happened during first 30 second causing widespread destruction and the deaths of around 3,000 people. Both the earthquake and fire destroyed a significant portion of the city.
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1908 Henry Ford invented the Model T Motor Car
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1909 William Howard Taft becomes President
MORE EVENTS WITHIN THE
STEELE-GREENWADE FAMILY
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On March 5, 1903, a second child was born to Myrtle and Eugene, a boy they named Luther Samuel in honor of Myrtle's Uncle Luther.
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Also in 1903, Myrtle's father Henry took on a job as a yard foreman for the United States Railroad.
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Another baby girl for Henry and Maggie was born on March 17 1905 and she was named Grace.
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1905 was also the year that Eugene's younger brother Alexander would meet and marry Mabel Victoria Corden.
Born on July 20, 1885, in San Francisco CA, Mabel was one of three children in the family of Thomas James and Annie T (O'Keefe) Cordon. Her siblings were Edwin and Esther.
Their father Thomas was born in 1859 in Richmond, Virginia. He worked as a Day Laborer doing whatever odd jobs came his way. Mother Annie was born on April 12 1854 in New Brunswick Canada and came to America with her family in/around 1860.
Their first home was located on 580 Charter Oak in San Francisco. Alexander is now the top salesman in his grandfather Eugene Moore Steele's Buttons and Pleating shop while Mabel worked as a psychologist at the Alameda County Guidance Clinic. Below is a photo from the Oakland Daily Magazine publication, Mabel is on the far left.
The title of the photo was, "Honor Roll, Students Rewarded For Doing Their Part":
"Twenty five honor roll students at the Child Guidance Clinic of the Alameda Health Center assembled at a party given in their behalf as a reward for their attendance at sessions, their good deportment and progress they made."
MORE ON ALEX AND MABEL TO COME IN A FUTURE BLOG
The year is 1908, Myrtle is pregnant with her third child. Her parents and step sisters along with all the members of Alex's family have thankfully survived the big 1906 earthquake.
In/around 1909-1910, Myrtle's father Henry traveled south of San Francisco to an area called Gilroy*-an area we know as the Garlic Capital of the World. A census shows him living as boarder in a rooming house belonging to Harry and Edith Hall.
FROM THE CITY OF GILROY WEBSITE:
The first inhabitants of the greater Gilroy area are often referred to as the Ohlone Indians. They were part of the Mutsun Nation, which at one time was comprised of some 22 Central Coast tribes; this region was home to the Amah Mutsun, officially titled the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Ohlone/Costanoan Indians. They lived primarily by hunting and gathering, and some gained extensive knowledge of the healing powers of the flora and fauna that surrounded them. Their lives were tragically altered by the late-1700s arrival of the Spanish missionaries and their military units.
Henry's periodic trips to the Gilroy/Santa Cruz areas was to look for new land to operate a ranch on. Two years later in 1910, Henry found a property located on Murphy Ave in Gilroy. Below is a current photo of the property as it looks now. Henry, Maggie along with their two daughters Grace and Neva moved here in Spring of that year. Neva was eight and Grace five. Henry's crops each year were mostly focused on fruit.
On September 11th, 1908 Myrtle gave birth to a baby girl they named, Justine Eleanor. Now with three children, it was time to relocate the family to a larger home. The new house was located at 334 Arleta Ave. Eugene still worked for a local bottling company. His job title was a teamster- one who drove the Horse-Drawn Beer Delivery Wagon as shown in the photo below.
Although the new home on Arleta was somewhat bigger for Eugene and his family, things changed in 1912 when Myrtle learned she was pregnant again. Their new home was at 824 York St and on June 22, Myrtle gave birth to a baby boy they named Charles E Steele. Sadly, the child only lived to age 2 passing away exactly two years later on his birthday, June 22 1914.
With the devastating loss of their baby son, the Steele family relocated once again to a new home located at 2374 Bryant St. San Francisco. A voter census shows that Eugene now works as a hose man for the San Francisco Fire Department. He did so until it was time to retire.
By the end of 1929, all three of Eugene and Myrtle's children were married starting families of their own. In total there were 5 grandchildren and over the years 25 great grandchildren! Myrtle's sisters Neva and Grace were also married.
THE GREENWADE FAMILY~
SECOND GENERATION SONS & DAUGHTER
Included in this posting is a little bit on the lives of Eugene and Myrtle's three children. Extended stories on them to follow in a future posting.
Mabel Victoria Corden
John Cameron Gilroy (The First English-Speaking Settler in CA) was born in a southern district of Inverness-shire, Scotland in 1794. At 19, he left home, hiring aboard a British trading ship which arrived, in 1814, at what was then the Spanish harbor of Monterey. It’s unclear when the young sailor changed his surname to Gilroy, his mother’s maiden name, but he was baptized Juan Bautista Gilroy at the Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo, and before long was conversant with Spanish. On his portion of the rancho, Gilroy raised cattle, wheat and also ran a soap-making business.
Mabel and Alexander were married on November 2, 1905.
Eugene "Clinton" Steele
Just like his father, Clinton worked for a retail brewery as a chauffeur or teamster driver of a delivery beer wagon.
In 1923, Clinton would marry a lovely lady by the name of Rose Margaret Roberts.
Born on April 5, 1902, in San Francisco, Rose was one of ten children in the family of John & Margaret (Timmons) Roberts.
Her father John (Born June 1852 in England) arrived in the US in 1866. He worked as a peddler, also known as a hawker or huckster, a person who traveled from place to place selling goods, often door-to-door or in public spaces like markets.
His wife Margaret (Born February of 1862 in Australia) arrived in the US in 1889.
Rose Margaret Roberts
Her Parents
MORE ON NEVA AND GRACE TO COME IN A FUTURE POSTING
John Roberts
Margaret Timmins
Clinton & Rose were married on May 23, 1921. They had two daughters Dolores Louise "Dee" born on April 19. 1922 and Ruth May born on March 17, 1925.
Luther "Babe" Samuel Steele
Eugene's brother Luther went into the mirror making business as a professional glass cutter. In 1922 he met a lady by the name of Edith Lorraine Ramsden.
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Edith Lorraine Ramsden
Born on March 19, 1904 Edith was one of three girls in the family of Joseph Appleton Ramsden (Born 1850 in Hyde Cheshire England) and Emily Garratt (Born November 13 1878 in San Francisco). Joseph worked as a gardener, possibly for Golden Gate Park. Below are their photos
Her Parents Joseph and Emily
Luther & Edith were married on July 18 1922. They had two children, a daughter Shirley born on August 3. 1922 and a son Edward born on May 4, 1928.
Justine Eleanor Steele
Justine was the youngest and only daughter of Eugene and Myrtle. In 1929 she would met Naval Officer William P Lindecker.
William P Lindecker
Born on May 10 1908 William was one of two boys in the Lindecker family. His father William James (born May 2 1878) worked for a wholesale store as a drayman -(By definition) these were essential workers for transporting goods in urban areas and ports before the widespread use of motorized vehicles.
His Mother Myrtle May (Born July 1886) had family that came over from the Bavarian area of Germany. Below are photos of William's parents.
His Parents William and Myrtle
During a Saturday afternoon research on ancestry.com- I reached out to a member (Marilyn) who was descendant of the Lindecker family. She happened to live just three towns over from me and we continued to correspond via email for a few weeks until she asked me if I would like to have some original photos of the Lindecker Family.
Although she had planned to give the small collection of photos to her sons or other family members, it seemed no one was interested.
That being said, I arranged for her to meet me at my office job. What she gave me was quite incredible and will be shared in a future posting.
Justine and William were married on October 15, 1929. Their only child was a daughter named Laverne. She loved swimming and was so good at it, that she tried out for the Olympics during the 1950's. Sadly she not make it onto the team but over the years I have come across dozens of articles on her awards.
On February 27, 1943 Eugene Charles Steele passed away at age 66.
While this may seem like a young age for a person to die, the average life expectancy at for men (born in the 1800's) during the 1940's was around 61-65 years.
On September 7, 1965 Myrtle May passed away at age 86.
From her early days in Kentucky to the eventual move to California where she would meet her future husband Eugene, Myrtle lived a very full life. Her obituary shows she even was the great great grandmother of two other children.
