Who Were They?

This tiny photograph is the last photo from the C. Murray Album, and was tucked into the corner of a page, almost as an afterthought, though I like to really think it was so small it just didn’t fit into any of the other album slots. It was tucked in with the photo which I entitled Granny and her Grands, so I wonder if she is the girl in the photo. The photo itself is only about 1 1/5″ by 1 3/4″ and is on flimsy paper. I don’t know the era those types of photos came from; it looks to be a print of a glass plate or something similar.

Following is my summary of everything I know about the Streeter family. I am blessed to have been connected with Intense Guy, Far Side of Fifty, CatM, therescuedphoto and a couple of people on Ancestry.com who had other bits and pieces of information, all of whom helped fill in some of the blanks. I hope you all have been as fascinated by this family as I have! Genealogy can be confusing when it covers multiple generations, so I’ll try to keep this as simple as possible. I will add updates in italics as I learn more. Latest update January 7, 2015 February 26, 2015. January 24, 2017 May 15, 2018

Lucas (alt Lewis) A. Streeter (1827-1889) is the patriarch of the Streeter Family, who are featured in the C. Murray Album. Lucas is alternately recorded as Lewis and Lucius, depending on who wrote the census entry. In 1850, he married Mary Avery (1833-1907), one of 10 children born to George Avery and Delilah Cummings, and between 1850-1860 they moved from Vermont to Kansas with their five children. Update: the Lucas & Mary Streeter FindAGrave memorial is here.

Lewis was consistently a farmer and Mary was a housewife. They settled in Madison, Kansas where Lewis lived until his death in 1889. Mary remained in Madison until about 1900 when she moved to Junction City, KS, and lived there until her death in 1907. Her daughter Abbie lived in Junction City, so it is a safe assumption she moved to be closer to the family.

Lewis and Mary had five children: Charles A (1851-1928), Alford C (1853-1883 or 88), Abbie J (1855-1917), Eva (1856-about 1880? probably a niece) and Arthur G (1865-1923). They also were blessed with 10 grandchildren, although three are known to have passed away in infancy; 7 great-grand children and 2 great-great-grandchildren that we know of.

Charles, their oldest son, followed his father’s career and was a farmer. FindAGrave memorial here. In 1878 he married Alice Fullington (1851-1901) FindAGrave memorial here, and together they had five children: Anna L (1881-1906), Baby Boy Updated: John (1880), Lyman B (1884-1963), Grace F (1886-1964 or 65) and Charles F (1889-1982). After Alice passed away in 1901, Charles remarried to Mable Hull (1861-1913) FindAGrave memorial here, who continued to raise any children remaining at home. Charles and Alice also had five grandchildren. There are possibly others, but no marriage for Anna has been identified to date. Update: based on the FindAGrave memorial, Anna married John George Haney (1874-1968) in 1902, and had an infant son in 1904 who did not live. Additionally, they had John Phillip (1905-1930) and Alice Louisa (1906-2001). Alice was born on December 25th, and Anna died on December 29th, 1906. John Haney remarried to Kate Cramer (1879-1965) in 1908, who not only raised Anna’s two children, but also gave birth to three half siblings. John Phillip married Ida Block (1905-1994) and they had one child, Stanley John (1930-2003). Alice married Schley Alfred Strane (1898-1986) and I did not find any children (yet). Lyman married Catherine “Katie Mae” Hutchinson (1881-1933) in 1908. They had three children, Edith (1910-1938), Doris (1913-1998) and Charles L (1916-1984) . It is unknown if Edith and Doris married as no records have been found yet. Edith appears to have not married and passed away at the age of 28. Doris married Omar Stanley Knedlik (1915-1989). So far no children have been discovered. Charles L (1916-1984) married Martha Jane Wreath (1919-1997) in 1941 and no children have been identified. Their FindAGrave memorials are here. Daughter Grace married Martin Gilbert “Bert” Smith (1884-1962) and they had two children, Charles Gilbert (1911-1952) and Margaret Allegra (1913-1977). During his later years, Charles Streeter lived with his daughter Grace and her family in Orangeburg, South Carolina, but he returned to Kansas where he passed away. Martin Smith was a veterinarian, and later an insurance salesman. Presumably, work brought the family to Los Angeles by the 1930s, and it is at that point we lose track of them. Update: Grace passed away in 1964 or 65 — maybe even as late as 74; Margaret was a dietician with a college degree, and lived in various locations including Arizona, Fresno and Long Beach, CA when she passed away in March 1977 – alternate records say 2000. Charles married Frances Carpenter hall in 1935. He may have lived in Glendale, however he lived in Sierra when he passed away in May 1980 1952 according to social security records. Some of these people may have children who are not listed in Ancestry, or who choose to remain private.

Here’s a picture of Martin Gilbert Smith, Bessie Agnes Chatelain, Grace Streeter Smith, and Lee Chatelain in 1958. This photo comes from a fellow Ancestry user.

Alford (alt Alfred), the second son, followed in his father’s footsteps and was a farmer and also a stock raiser. In about 1881, he married Almeda Jane Reed (1854-1943). They had a child named Ethel Mae in 1883 who died in infancy at the age of 5 months. Further tragedy struck the family and Alford passed away in 1883 or 1888. There is confusion with the date because of old documents and out dated styles of handwriting that are difficult to read. He appears on the 1885 Kansas State Census however, so his likely year of death is 1888 at the age of 35. Update: his FindAGrave memorial is here. Almeda is not known to have remarried, and instead had her brother David Reed and his two daughters come to live on her farm. Between 1905 and 1920, Almeda and David moved to Long Beach, CA, where Almeda passed away in 1943. David passed away sometime between 1920-1943, but no records have been found yet to firm the date. It’s important to note that Almeda and her niece Grace Smith and family lived in Los Angeles County at the same time. Hopefully they communed together on holidays. On Almeda’s photograph in the family album, she is identified as Aunt Almeda.

Abbie, the oldest daughter, married George C. Moses (1856-1928) on January 15, 1880, possibly in St. John, CT, where George and his family resided. George was a carpenter with his father, then went into the lumber business and ran a lumber and sawmill in Kansas. They had three children: Clyde E (1880-1948), Flora E (1885-1892) and Abbie R (1887-1966). Abbie and George first lived in Manhattan, KS and later in Junction City, KS, where they both lived until their deaths. George’s family also relocated to Kansas and resided there. During my research, I was very saddened to learn that Flora had died at the age of 7. It reminds us that childhood diseases were much more serious than they are today! A dedicated site reader sent me two obituaries about Flora. It appears she became ill suddenly and died rather quickly in May 1892. How very sad!

 

Abbie and George had two grandchildren. Their son Clyde married Ethelyn Geminy (1881-1910) in 1902 and they had a son named George G (1904-1978). Sadly, Ethelyn passed away in 1910. Clyde and baby George returned to his family home and he went into business with his father in the Moses & Son Lumber Co. Clyde later remarried to Lois Geminy – yes, his sister in law – (1889-1969) and they had a son named C. Everett (1913-1991). George G married Helen (1904-1989) and no children have been identified at this time. Everett married Rosalyn Denton (1912-1973) and they had two children, Kenny (1940-1984) and a living and unidentified sibling. C. Everett married Margaret (1916-2008). Their children were Robert E., Marilyn, Margot, Lois and Marysue. The FindAGrave memorial for Abbie, George, Clyde, Flora and Abbie R can be found here. The FindAGrave memorial for C. Everett and Margaret is here.

Eva, the second daughter, was born in 1856 and died some time before 1880, as she appears on the 1870 census at age 14, but not on any other census. Update: a reader suspects Eva may have been a niece. 

Arthur, the third son is somewhat of an enigma, as not much information has been found on him. He worked the farm with his father, and on May 1, 1889 he married Kate L. Parish at her parents’ home. Arthur and Kate had a son daughter named B. Alford in 1891 who died at the age of 15 months in 1892. At some point, In 1893, Arthur and Kate removed to Los Gatos, CA where Arthur was possibly a photographer. Kate suffered from consumption, which today we know was probably tuberculosis, and the warmer California air was thought to be better for her. We have a photograph of Arthur with a camera. Kate passed away in June 7, 1896 of an unknown cause consumption. In January 2014 I asked a FindAGrave volunteer to photograph the marker for B. Alford, and in February 2015 it was posted! Click here for the marker and also for mother Kate L. Streeter. See the articles below for two clips about Kate’s funeral. Of note, the first clip is dated June 12, while the notice of her funeral was June 19th. Basically, she came home to die.

 

There is little more information about Arthur provided by a site reader. Arthur had indeed become a photographer while in San Jose, CA, and upon returning to Kansas, opened a studio that was well regarded in the newspaper. He appears to be compared to the studio of Louis Teitzel, whose work has been featured on this site, and which happens to be a photograph of Arthur and Kate Streeter.

We also have learned that Arthur married Nellie Blair when he was 34 years old. I had long suspected this, but couldn’t find any sort of citation, and so hesitated to add it to this summary. However, this enterprising reader found a clip about their wedding.

The wedding took place in late September or early October, as the weekly newspaper was dated October 6, 1899. After this point we lose the trace on Arthur until he passed away in 1923 in Kansas.

Here we come to the end of our odyssey of the C. Murray Album, but hopefully not to its end. It is possible there are other descendents out there through possible marriages for some of the daughters. Because women change our names at marriage we are difficult to trace in census records. Hopefully someone will be searching on a family name and stumble across this website!

The C. Murray Album was purchased at a yard sale in Glendale or Montrose, California in the 1980s. It’s unknown how it came to be for sale in the first place, especially considering that a number of the photographs were identified and many dates were given. The places named on the photographs are the third clue I used in my research for identifying the family. Anyone looking for full information on the family can find the tree I created on Ancestry.com and named Streeter Family.

I believe this album belonged to Grace Smith, who brought it with her when her family relocated to Los Angeles, CA. Since I haven’t been able to trace her family, I don’t know if she had descendants beyond her children, or if the line simply died out. My research did reveal that in the 20th century, many many women did not marry at all, and that many couples were not blessed with children. Somehow between Grace’s passing and the 1980s, the album lost its historical value to family members and was sold. Such is the case with many old photographs, part of the lesson being identify, label and date your photos!

If you wish to view all the the photos, click on the C. Murray Album category and you can scroll back through previous posts.