This is my second year working on this year-long
prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week
in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing
about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.
This week we’re to select an ancestor we would like to meet.
Actually, I would love to meet all of them!
 |
| Elizabeth M. Gleeson |
Of the ten children of John Gleeson
and Margaret Tierney, four never married. Three of the daughters had interesting
lives and I wish I could have met them. My father’s sisters told me they met
them and I have some sense of them, along with records I have found.
Elizabeth M. was the oldest, born 20 November 1865
in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada.[1]
She was baptized at St. Philips Church in Richmond on 24 December.[2]
The family moved to Mitchell, Davison County,
Dakota Territory about 1880.[3] Elizabeth
was often referred to as “Lizzie.” Lizzie and her sister, Helena, had parts in
the W.S. Gilbert’s play, “Engaged” in February 1892.[4] They
were active with the Catholic Church in town.
Shortly afterwards, the family was living in
Anaconda, Deer Lodge County, Montana. In 1900, Lizzie was living with her
younger sisters, Helena and Margaret. All three worked for the school district.[5]
There is a story that “Aunt Glee” (that was how my
aunts referred to her) had gone up to Alaska during the gold rush there. Oh, I
wish I could have heard the stories of that adventure. In 1903, she was living
at 225 3rd Avenue North in Dawson, in the Canadian territory of Yukon.[6]
What is interesting, the gold rush was over by the time she was there and the
population was under 5,000.[7] I
wonder what she was doing?
 |
| Aunt Glee |
Later she was a manager at an apartment house, in
Portland,[8]
and later lived in Los Angeles at 829 South Lake Street, where she paid just
$11 for rent.[9]
In Los Angeles, she was a registered Democrat.[10]
She died 14 Aug 1942 in Los Angeles of heart failure.[11] A
funeral Mass was held at Immaculate Conception Church.[12]
She was buried at Calvary Cemetery.[13]
There is no tombstone.[14]
I visited this cemetery in 2008 and found that
half of the family buried there had no tombstones. How I wish I could add
stones to their grave sites.
This story as I tell it seems so sterile. I know,
if I could meet her, I’d have so much more to fill in the dash between her
birth and death.
[1] St.
Philips Church, Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, Dec. 1865, B55, Elizabeth
Gleeson, digital image, "Ontario, Canada, Parish registers,
1836-1917," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org
: 28 Dec 2011).
[2]
Ibid.
[3] 1880
U.S. census, Davison Co, Dakota Territory, pop. sched., Mitchell, ED 35, p 13,
474 (stamped), dwelling 109, family 112, John Gleeson, digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com).
[4] "About
the City," The Anaconda Standard,
7 February 1892, p.3, col. 1, Helena Gleeson, Lizzie Gleeson; digital image, Chronicling America
(http://chroniclingamerica.org/ : accessed 22 June 2012), Historical American
Newspapers.
[5] 1900
U.S. census, Deer Lodge County, Montana, pop. sched., ED 16, Sht 5, line 46,
Helen M. Gleeson, digital image, Ancestry
(http://www.ancestry.com).
[6] Alaska-Yukon
Gazetteer & Business Directory, (R.L. Polk & Co., 1903), p. 394,
Elizabeth M. Gleeson.
[7] “Dawson
City,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson_City
: accessed 26 Jan 2019).
[8]
1930 U.S. census, Multnomah Co, Oregon, pop. sched., Portland City, ED 26-49,
sht 2b, dwelling 20, family 77, Elizabeth M. Gleeson, digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com),
NARA T626.
[9]
1940 U.S. census, Los Angeles Co, California, pop. sched., Los Angeles, ED
60-936, sht 10a, household 384, Elizabeth M. Gleeson, digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com),
NARA T627, roll 392.
[10] “California
Voter Registration, 1900-1968,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com),
1934, Prec 717, Miss Elizabeth M. Gleeson. Also 1936, Prec 978. Also 1938,
Prec. 979-A. Also 1940, Prec 979-A.
[11] State
of California, Department of Public Health, Certificate of Death, no. 11509,
Elizabeth M. Gleeson, digital image, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org : accessed 24 Jan 2019), “Califonria, County Birth
and Death Records, 1800-1994.”
[12] “Gleeson,”
Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug 1942, p.
A16.
[13] State
of California, Certificate of Death, no. 11509, Elizabeth M. Gleeson.
[14] Visited
the cemetery 1 Aug 2008 and found no tombstone in Section N, L76, grave 2.
Copyright © 2019 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.
Gosh, she led an interesting life! I would love to hear these stories, too.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that women who did not marry, tended to lead more interesting lives, at least lives that are documented.
DeleteGold rush! This was one adventurous and courageous woman. Wish you could meet her!
ReplyDelete