A Moment of Courage: Making the Move to Napa

This has been a hard post to write in that I could not think of anything specific to write about. I’m sure many of my ancestors had the courage to make the journeys they did to come to the United States and later make the moves further west each generation. It takes a lot of courage to leave the place you know to go to a place that is unknown.

I do not know the reasons they moved. No record has been passed down either by journal or letter, so we can only guess at the reasons they may have made the journeys. Things were bad at home and another place looked better. Or the place at home was too crowded and the land further west offered new hope. Perhaps someone else moved first and wrote back saying, come!

There is one person I know who must have had some courage. First to leave her husband, and then to move across the state to a new place to live. This was my paternal grandmother. She was probably thinking about her four children: three daughters and one son. Like a mother hen, she wanted to protect her children from someone who drank too much and possibly became mean.

Hope came in the form of her widowed brother-in-law in Napa, California. She had been working in a cafe in Cucamonga. They lived on Foothill Boulevard, a main highway through town called Route 66. He had a coffee shop in Napa. In 1940, Napa was a small town with a population of almost 8000, but it was an unknown area. However, a small town might be a better place to bring up the children, who ranged from 10 to 16. So, she made the move.

My aunt told me the story:
"Came July 1940, drove up with 4 children and dog, Nappy.  Aunt Margaret (Vir's sister) let us live upstairs in his house on Atlas Peak Road.  He had about 15 acres and a prune orchard.  Vir traveled a lot with mining. Mom worked in Cozy Corner near the Fox Theater.  Wasn't big--three booths, counter, juke box, added popcorn machine vented to sidewalk.  There were candy jars & soft drinks.  Our cousin, Margaret, also worked there."

After a short stay with Vir, the family moved into town. Later, she returned to teaching, teaching in a one-room schoolhouse on the Silverado Trail. She had to return to school to get a California Teacher Credential and did this through San Francisco State, graduating in 1952. 

Her children thrived in Napa. The eldest daughter had already graduated but the next two walked to the high school. Vir’s son, John and my aunt, June were together in class. 

This was a smart move all because of the courage my grandmother took to answer Vir’s call to help.

#52Ancestors: Week 40 – “A Moment of Courage”
This is my ninth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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