Mary C. Sprott's Memories of Mountain Home, Part I

These memories were shared by Mary C. Sprott, my great-great-grandmother. She was born in Scotland in 1860, emigrated to America in 1876, and came to Porterville, California in 1893. Mary passed away in Porterville in 1951. She first went to Mountain Home in 1895.

Many years ago I went to spend the hot summer months at Mountain Home, a camp at an elevation of some 6000 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In those days this camp was very popular and six or seven hundred people would occupy its cabins and camp sites. Do not imagine that it resembled the summer resorts and camps popular now-a-days. Far from it, Mountain Home was crude and primitive in its improvements and the surroundings as nature made them. It was not an especially beautiful spot so far as scenery was concerned, but it possessed a certain quality of natural majesty and charm, derived I think from the magnificent trees of its virgin forest. At that time we reached it by team and wagon. Several sawmills were operating not far from the camp and a badly graded road was built for hauling lumber from these mills. We used to pass the night about twenty miles from our little home town and drive up the grade next morning. Our spring wagon would be heaped with bedding, suitcases and various small articles for our camp. The larger and heavier baggage being hauled on the empty wagons returning to the mills. The grade was narrow, winding and very steep. The teamsters all had bells on their teams to warn people of their coming, that they might take refuge in some of the nooks in the mountainside provided for this purpose. The mountain on the left rose very steeply, almost a precipice and on the right side dropped a precipitous thousand feet. If one were not too nervous one could look down and see far below the path of little ribbons - Bear Creek, and a small flat called the Dump, to which lumber from one of the mills was flumed, to be hauled by team to the Railroad.

Mountain Home about 1898

I confess I always turned the corner of the grade with a slight anxiety, expecting to see a ten or twelve horse team with large lumber wagon and trailer bearing down on us. Many of the teamsters rode on the rear wheel horse, a “jerk line” guiding their team and in one hand a rope controlling the all important brake. Other teamsters preferred to ride high up on a dizzy looking perch, one foot on the iron brake, lolling negligently on their uneasy seat, but guiding their great teams with skill. Occasionally an accident occurred, of course, but considering the amount of hauling and danger of the road these accidents were very few. I personally came in contact with two. The first time I went to Mountain Home, as we made camp for the night at the foot of the grade, a man came leading mules to water at the creek. He informed us there had been an accident, the brakes on one of the teamsters' wagons had broken and the load had run onto the horses; or rather mules, killing the wheelers. Fortunately the teamster was not riding and saved himself by jumping from the top of the load.

Another time I had ridden with a friend from camp some miles down the grade, and as we returned we saw on a little flat two big teams standing, and a man we knew was running back to the turn in the road with an axe in his hand. He called to us that six mules had gone over the grade and that we could not pass. The mountain not being very steep there we rode up and over, and when we got to the further side, rode down the road to see what we could see. A trailer blocked the road and the great wagon had lodged in a tree near the brink, the mules were several hundred feet below grazing calmly. The teamsters told us the edge of the road had given way and the team had hung on one side of the big tree and the wagon on the other. They had cut the harness and the mules rolled to the foot of the slope, fortunately not very steep there. Apparently they were none the worse for it.

At a point some six or seven miles above the camp on Bear Creek the character of the country changed and the grade, though, still steep in places, had a less perilous aspect. A small fruit ranch marked the spot where the Change occurred, from it one obtained a marvelous view, extending over the lower foothills to the wide valley beyond. The hills to this point had been covered with chamise and deer brush broom and yerba santa, very few trees. From there the forest began and we travelled over a shady road with giant oaks, pines and cedars on all sides. As we neared Mountain House great firs and redwoods (Sequoia Gigantea) appeared. We had with us my riding pony and had taken turns riding and as we reached camp I happened to be on horseback.

The Mountain Home area today (Balch Park)

On coming to California I had decided that I should ride cross-saddle and had purchased a very confortable small saddle, made at a local saddler's and had made for me a pair of bloomers - quite voluminous - of tan wool covert cloth; my legs modestly concealed by canvas leggings. However my appearance attracted some attention and I found later caused the hotelkeeper's daughter, a girl who became my warm friend, to gain courage to appear in her own. Her father had objected to her wearing them ~ thinking they might seem too rapid, but observing my highly respectable, not to say slow appearance, concluded she might safely try her cross saddle, and soon he became an ardent convert, as he found how much fewer sorebacks his horses had and how much less cinching was required of him. I liked it because one was so much more independent in mounting, but I think it was a long time till I felt myself as secure as in my side saddle with its two horns on the left to grip with my knees. Cross saddle riding depends on balance and I nearly fell off several times in turning quickly until I learned the art.

Mary Sprott dressed to ride

To be continued . . .

Aunt Madge Ran a Boarding House

My grandfather, Charles Canfield, moved from Massachusetts to Los Angeles when he was a small boy. His father died shortly after the family moved, and his mother didn't keep contact with their eastern relatives so we knew very little about them until fairly recently. Although I love to find distant ancestors, I am equally eager to learn about recent generations. What happened to my great aunts and uncles and their families?

A query to Forest Hills Cemetery a few days ago provided a puzzle piece I have been seeking. My grandfather's aunt, Margaret Lydia Canfield, aka Madge Canfield, died in 1953, probably near Boston. Aunt Madge was 77 years old when she died.

Madge Canfield's childhood home in Kingsville

Maggie Lydia (as she was known when she was a girl) was born and raised in Essex, Ontario, Canada, to David and Margaret Canfield. David W. Canfield and his father Rial had a number of business interests, many related to the lumber trade. But before the turn of the century, the family moved to the U.S. (where David had been born). In 1900, Madge is with her parents and one brother in Terrell, Texas, and is working as a stenographer. Ten years later, Madge is 34 years old and running a lodging house at 20 Concord Square, Boston. Nine lodgers were rooming with her. Her parents are also in Boston, about a mile away, operating a boarding house with ten lodgers at 521 Massachusetts Ave. Father David was working as a salesman of cash registers so it seems likely that Madge's mother Margaret was managing their boarding house. By 1920, Madge's parents had both died, and she was living at 29 Winchester Street, Brookline, Massachusetts where she operated a boarding house until at least 1944 and possibly longer.

Brookline Village, circa 1920

While Madge ran a boarding house, her four brothers engaged in various occupations. My great-grandfather Charles Canfield was a telephone operator as a young man; then he sold adding machines in Boston and New York City. He eventually became a manager for Burroughs Adding Machines. Brother Homer had been in the "bicycle business" but he later partnered with Charles as a sales agent. Brother Arthur was a commercial agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad in Texas while their remaining brother, David, initially worked for the Rock Island Railroad out of Illinois. From at least 1916 to 1936, he lived in Galveston and worked as a switchman, first for the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway and then for the Texas and New Orleans Railroad.

A Burroughs Adding Machine

While Homer never married and died at 38, and Charles followed a few years later at 42, the three remaining siblings lived into their 70s and 80s. Arthur and Madge did not have any known children, but David had three children - Floyd W., David H., and Walter E. They were my grandfather's first cousins.

Charles B. Canfield and son Charles in the middle. Are the other children Charles's cousins Floyd and David?

Three Brothers Came Over From Ireland . . .

"Three brothers came over from Ireland," my grandmother said to explain the origins of her mother, Ruth Conaway. "Your Aunt Malana had the family history but she gave it to her nephews, Charles and Clair Conaway, and they lost it." With this bit of information, I began my research into the Conaways. I found three brothers who immigrated from Ireland, but thus far have not been able to conclusively tie our Conaways to them.

Adolphus V. Conaway, my great-great-grandfather,

 was the son of Benjamin and Nancy (Horn) Conaway

Here's what I do know. Ruth's dad, Adolphus Conaway was the oldest son of Benjamin D. Conaway and Nancy (Horn) Conaway. Benjamin and Nancy lived in Knox County, Ohio, an area so remote and undeveloped that even today, the Amish move there from Lancaster, PA, to get away from the crowds. Benjamin and Nancy were married in 1837 and had Malana (1839), Adolphus (1841), Phytama (1844), and Alexander (1845). About two months after Alexander was born, Benjamin died, possibly of typhoid. He was buried in the Dennis Cemetery, a small cemetery next to Dennis Chapel in Knox Co.

Dennis Cemetery, Knox County, Ohio

In 1840, Benjamin and Nancy were living in Miller Township, Knox Co. Nearby were John Conaway and his son Joshua Conaway. I believe John Conaway was Benjamin's father, uncle, or another relation with whom Benjamin had cast his lot. John and Benjamin were both carpenters, and in 1841, Joshua Conaway apprenticed his ward to Benjamin. He “placed and bound his ward named Joseph M. Riggs as an apprentice to the said B. D. Conaway to learn the art trade mystery or occupation of carpenter and hande joiner which he the said B. D. Conaway now follows . . . the said Joseph M. Riggs shall well and faithfully dwell with a serve the said B. D. Conaway as an apprentice . . . until he shall arrive at the age of twenty one years.” 

Benjamin Conaway agreed to teach his apprentice the 
"art trade mystery or occupation of carpenter."

John Conaway had been born in Maryland, but was raised in Brooke County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Evidence indicates that his parents were John Conaway, who was from Maryland and died about 1806 in Brooke County, and his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth remained in Brooke County until between 1816 and 1820, when she moved to Ohio along with her son John. We find them in Coshocton County, Ohio (which borders Knox County) in 1820. 

On May 2, 1815, John Conaway bought 160 acres, range 9, twp 5, sect. 7, NE 1/4. He paid this off by 1825 and promptly began to divide the land into lots and establish a town, offering to assist purchasers in erecting their homes. Between March 8, 1828 and May 9, 1843, John sold lots of land to at least 29 different men for a total amount of $1,250. Some lots (numbered 1, 4, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22) were never sold. Presumably this was land John kept for family use or sold in parcels larger than a lot. A thorough search of the land records reveals no land purchases by either Benjamin or Joshua - it seems very likely that they lived on land provided by John. Click the link below to see the land owned by John Conaway - little is left of the small town that was once there.

John Conaway Land Patent

However, in the mid-1830s, John appears to have moved to Miller Township, Knox County where he built a saw mill on Vance's Creek. Here we find John, Joshua and Benjamin living in their own households when the U.S. census was taken in 1840. Benjamin would die only six years later leaving his wife, Nancy, with four young children.   

John Steward Cummings

Lately, each time I consider writing about one of my ancestors, I realize I need more information. I start searching for it, end up lost in online records for weeks, and the posts don't get written. Today I had the opposite experience. I found a "new" record about my ggg grandfather, John S. Cummings, and realized I have lots of information about him. Time for a new post!

John Cummings is the grandfather of Harriet Adelphia Cummings, my dad's grandma. He lived a full life that started in the Cooperstown area and ended near Trout Creek (not far from where Harriet was born). I visited these beautiful places in upstate New York a few years ago.

The new record I found today was from the "New York Town Clerk's Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War." This record shows that John's parents were James and Mary (Cole) Cummings. John enlisted in August, 1864 when he was 44 years old and was a private in Company G, the 1st New York Volunteer Engineers. By the time he enlisted, he had fathered six children - Nancy (1846), James (1849), Emma (1852), George (1854), Charles (1857) and Louisa (1859). I always think of wars being fought by single young men, but John is a reminder that families were often left behind to manage on their own.

1st New York Engineers

In actuality, John's family didn't have to manage for too long without him as John was discharged along with the rest of his company July 3, 1865.

The 1860 census shows that John and his wife Ruth (Niles) each had their own farm land. According to the census, John's land was worth $600 while the value of Ruth's land was $1,000. Ruth formally acquired land from her father, Thomas Niles, via a deed dated August 23, 1860, recorded March 29, 1861: Bk. 53, p.673:

Thomas Niles, seller, of town Masonville, Del. Co., N.Y. to Ruth A. Cummings, of same, sells, grants, and conveys all that certain piece of land in said town of Masonville, 45 A. to be laid out in a square as nearly as maybe, in the S.E. corner of lot No 60 and around 40 A. in the S.E. corner of lot No 60, in Rappelyea pat. containing in the whole 85 A. of land, with the appurtenances, & all the estate, title, and interest therein, of the said party of the first part, and warrants her complete possession.

Signed, Thomas Niles

Masonville General Store, New York

The land Thomas Niles sold to Ruth was on the lower border of the town of Masonville, in the Trout Creek area. I don't know how long she kept the land, and Ruth died sometime between 1860 and 1870.

An historic 1869 map of the township of Tompkins shows John's land. It was about 8 miles southwest of Ruth's land. If you click on the link below and zoom in to District 30 (which is green), you'll see "J. Cummings" in the lower section. (Although this is a commercial site, anyone can look at the maps for free.)

Map of Tompkins

The next link shows an overlay of the 1869 map with the current landscape. You may need to move the map to view District 30. You can change the opacity of the overlay by moving the lever on the right.

Overlay of 1869 map and current view

One more link - this time to a satellite view of the area marked to show the approximate location of John's land. The land is currently forest, which surprised me. But in researching the area, I learned it wasn't very profitable farmland, and over the years, people left the area and the land was reforested.

Current View of John Cummings' land

John remarried by 1870, but by 1875, he was a widower again. Even so, his house was full as George (20), Emma (22), Charles (18), Louisa (16), and Anna (11) were all living with John in 1875.

The 1875 New York state agricultural census shows the family was fairly prosperous. John's farm was worth $5,000. Among other crops, they harvested 80 tons of hay, 400 bushels oats, 180 bushels potatoes, 78 bushels of apples (off 150 trees), and 178 pounds of maple sugar. They had 13 milch cows and made 1400 pounds of butter. The complete list is below.

1875 Agricultural Census

Dairy farming was a main industry of Delaware County, and William Gifford, father to John's daughter-in-law Mary Jane also operated a successful dairy farm.

In 1889, John Cummings died at or near Dry Brook, likely at home. Dry Brook is a local name for the area where John lived in Tompkins. He was buried in the Cannonsville Cemetery, but his remains were moved to Hale Eddy Cemetery, Sanford, Broome Co. NY when the Cannonsville reservoir was built in the early 1960s.

H. A. Cummings, Sales Agent

My grandfather, Charles Holland Canfield, told colorful stories of his mother, Harriet Adelphia Cummings. 

Harriet Adelphia (Cummings) Canfield,

born 1875

One of the best stories was about how Harriet met his father, Charles Benson Canfield, who was a territory manager for Burroughs Adding Machines. “Mother heard that a territory of Burroughs in New England was open. She got orders, asked for the territory and was given it. She sent in the orders using only her inititals—they didn’t know she was a woman. A crusty upstate banker wanted to know why Burroughs was sending a woman salesman. They sent my dad to check it out.” These events transpired by 1901, when Charles wrote a love letter to Harriet in Unadilla, New York. What makes this story even more interesting is that Charles was a married man in 1901. However, Charles' first wife, Rose, died at the end of 1902, and two years later, on October 29, 1904, Harriet and Charles were married in Manhattan.

Charles Benson Canfield, born 1869.

Photos, letters, news articles, and my grandfather's stories provide a timeline of events for his newlywed parents. One photo shows Harriet relaxing at Old Orchard Beach in Maine in 1905.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine

A 1905 Boston directory listed "Canfield Bros. Adding Machines," while a New York City directory for 1905-1906 lists "Canfield Brothers, Agents" with an office at 1300 Broadway and Charles's home at 550 Lenox Avenue. Pictures of Charles, his father, his brother, and Harriet are labeled "Lakeside Farm, April 30, 1906."

Lakeside Farm, April 30, 1906

A small card with a blue ribbon announced the 1907 birth of Charles Holland Canfield at 622 W. 137th Street, Riverside Apts. Shortly after, my great-grandfather wrote a touching letter to his newborn son.

In 1908, the family took a car trip to Cedar Rapids and Detroit.

Then, in 1909, Charles and Harriet moved to Springfield, MA. A year later, the 1910 census shows them living at 279 Washington Street, Groveland, MA. In August of 1910, the family was staying at the Bangan Bldg, in Providence, RI, and in October of the same year, they boarded a boat bound for Galveston. Their final destination was Los Angeles. Charles was ill with diabetes and they hoped the climate would be beneficial for his health.

On the boat to Galveston, 1910

The Brothers Baldwin

My great-great-great-grandfather, James A. Baldwin, was a blacksmith who made his home with his wife, Susan, in Cannon, Kent Co., Michigan. In 1872, when he was only 38, he was killed in a gun accident. 

According to a news account, "Last Sabbath, Mr. J. A. Baldwin, of this village, in company with another person, were going out in a buggy, hunting.  When about 3 miles out on the State road, and while stopping to talk with a man, the gun dropped down through the buggy, (a skelton,) and, probably striking the axle tree, discharged itself killing Mr. Baldwin instantly. The deceased is said to have been a first-rate mechanic, but of intemperate habits. We learn that he left a wife and six children, in very destitute circumstances." (Rockford Weekly Register, Nov. 13, 1872)

James and Susan were the parents of three daughters -- Elizabeth, Nellie, and Maude, and four sons --James, Harry, Eudoras, and Ralph. 

The first son, James, appears to have died before 1872. A biography of the second son, Harry, says he "early assisted in his father’s shop where he became a skilled artisan as did two of his brothers." (A Third Volume Devoted to Kent County, 1924).

An advertisement in the Grand Rapids Press, 1913

Public records show that the Baldwin brothers worked as blacksmiths throughout their lives. In 1880, Harry was married and working as a blacksmith in Grattan. My great-great-grandfather Eudoras (Dora), was living with Harry and his wife, and also working as a blacksmith. Ralph worked as a blacksmith in Luther, Michigan in the mid-1880s. Dora then operated a blacksmith shop in Rockford for many years. He was self-employed as a "Carriage & wagon mnfr & blacksmith" according to the 1884 Western Michigan Directory.

About 1881, Dora married my great-great-grandmother Hattie, and they soon had two children. The family was together in 1894, but in 1900, Hattie and her children were living in Grand Rapids, and Dora was living and partnering with his brother-in-law, George Crakes in Charlevoix. Ralph, who had married in 1888, appears to have separated from his wife. Over the years, Dora and Ralph moved around, going back and forth between southern and northern Michigan. 

In 1891, Harry moved to Grand Rapids where he would stay the rest of his life. He established a blacksmith business there and over time, became a substantial citizen in the city. Harry patented the Baldwin ice tongs and by 1915, was employing seven men in "manufacturing, building wagons, making chain, ice tongs, and other ironmongery." (‪History of Michigan, Volume 4‬, 1915)

An advertisement in the 1916 Grand Rapids City Directory

Harry ran for office and was elected alderman in 1903. He served a total of fourteen years as alderman, then served as commissioner for two terms. "He takes deep interest in all that concerns the welfare of his home city and native county, and here he has a secure place in popular confidence and esteem." (A Third Volume Devoted to Kent County, 1924)

An article in the Grand Rapids Press, 1907

While Harry was a picture of civic responsibility, Ralph appears to have followed a different path. A newspaper headline proclaimed "Too Fond of Drink" and went on to explain, "A little punishment evidently fails to satisfy Ralph Baldwin of Solon Center. Wednesday, shortly after finishing a jail sentence for being drunk he was arrested again by the police and Judge Hess fined him $5 and costs, which he paid." (Grand Rapids Press, July 27, 1906)

The last record I have found of Dora is the 1920 census, where he was living in Norman, Michigan, and working in a blacksmith shop. He was listed as "Widowed." Meanwhile, on the same census, his wife, Hattie, was working as a housekeeper in Courtland, Michigan, and was listed as "Married."

A unique family heirloom - the Baldwin ice tongs,
passed down to me and hanging in my kitchen

The Stephens Family Immigrates to America

Henry Stephens, my great-great-grandfather, immigrated to the U.S. in the 1840s when he was a boy. The Stephens family was part of an increasing tide of German immigrants who came to America during the 1800s to escape crop failures, political unrest, and a widespread lack of opportunity. Many German immigrants went to Wisconsin, where the population grew from 11,000 in 1836 to over 305,000 in 1850. The soil and climate in Wisconsin was similar to that in Germany, and suited immigrants like Henry's father, Mathias, who had been a farmer. A biography of Henry's older brother John said he was from Trier, Germany, and immigration records show that a family of eight, headed by Mathias Stephany, a 40-year old farmer, immigrated in 1843 from Konfeld, which is about 20 miles from Trier, Prussia. This may very well be our Mathias Stephens.   

Henry Stephens, born about 1833 in Prussia, died in 1908 in Waterloo, Iowa

Matthias and his first wife Eve (Schuh) Stephens had four sons. Henry, their last son, was born about 1833, but sadly Eve died a week after he was born. Mathias then married Eve's sister, Barbara, and in 1843, Mathias, Barbara, and six children, immigrated to America, arriving in New York City after a ship's voyage of sixty-three days. 

Upon arriving in America, the family traveled to Milwaukee by way of the Hudson River, Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. There, Matthias paid $62.50 for forty acres of timbered land in the town of New Berlin. 

The Peck cabin, the first house in Madison
(no connection to the Stephens family)

According to the biography of John Stephens, "Their first home was a log cabin, the floor of which was mother earth; snow would sift through the shake roof until it would be an inch or two deep on the beds in the morning, while the chimney was a stove pipe thrust through the roof. Indians were almost as numerous as the white inhabitants." (Portrait and Biographical Record of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, 1894)

Another biography, of Henry's brother Nicholas, reports: "The family lived under a tree while building a log cabin, with Indians, deer, wolves, etc., for neighbors." (History of Waukesha, 1880)

The red border shows the 80 acres Matthias purchased in 1846, the West half of the
Southeast quarter of Section 14, Township 6 N, Range 20 E.

John Stephens recalled deer were plentiful. One of the men would take an old-fashioned cow-bell and station himself in their 'runway,' and at the approach of the deer he would ring the bell, thus attracting their attention, while his comrades would slip up and shoot them from the opposite direction."

Mathias and Barbara appear to have been fruitful in their new home. By 1870, their land was valued at $6,000 and they had $600 worth of personal property. Mathias had numerous children - possibly more than 12, and several of his children had large families, ensuring that the descendants of Mathias in the U.S. are many. They are now spread all over the country.

The gravestones of Matthias and Barbara Stephens, Holy Apostles Cemetery,
New Berlin, Waukesha, Wisconsin

There are numerous Stephens family members buried in the beautifully kept Holy Apostles Cemetery in New Berlin, Wisconsin.