George Rutherfurd: Life After War

This is the seventh post in a series about my great-grandfather, George Roscoe Oliver Rutherfurd.

George Rutherfurd with his wife Julia after arriving home in California

George Rutherfurd and the 411th Telegraph Battalion arrived in San Francisco on May 5, 1919.  The war was over.  George was returning home to a wife he hadn't seen for fifteen months and a daughter he'd never met.  Julia Barrett Rutherfurd was in San Francisco to greet her husband upon his arrival.  It must have been a joyful moment, as George and Julia had been newlyweds when they were separated by war.  George had brought Julia a beautiful cameo pin he'd bought for her in France, a lovely piece that my mother now owns.  Packed carefully in his belongings was the telegram announcing his daughter's birth.

George Rutherfurd and his wife Julia at the time of their marriage in 1918

A banquet was held for the veterans at the San Francisco Commerical Club.  Emotional speeches were given and the members of the 411th prepared to decommission and re-enter civilian life.  For George, this meant a return to Los Angeles and his job at Pacific Telegraph and Telephone.  It meant moving out of his mother-in-law, Nellie Barrett's home and into a house of his own with his wife and child.  Most importantly, it meant forging a bond with his nine month-old daughter, LaVerne.

My grandmother, LaVerne Rutherfurd Smith, said that she and her father loved each other from the start.  She thought he hung the moon, and he felt much the same about her.  LaVerne had been named for her mother's good friend, LaVerne, but this name presented a challenge for George.  He didn't much care for the name LaVerne, so he called her Tommy.  My grandmother said she wasn't sure how this nickname had originated, but it wasn't because her father had wanted a boy.  It was a term of endearment, and so special to her that she later called her firstborn son Tom.  George and his Tommy formed a mutual admiration society that would last the rest of their lives.

George, Julia and LaVerne in 1921

In 1920, George was sent on assignment to work with the phone company in Sacramento.  He brought Julia and LaVerne with him, and they lived there well into 1921.  They then returned home to Los Angeles, and in 1922, George and Julia bought their first home at 3429 West 60th Street in Los Angeles.  Three years later, they moved to 3510 West 59th Street, just a short distance away.  They remained in this home for many years.

The house at 3429 West 60th Street in Los Angeles

While George and Julia wanted to have more children, they weren't able to do so.  LaVerne was their only child.  LaVerne was very close to her parents and had many fond memories of them.  She often described her father's love of sailing.  After the war, he'd learned to sail and was at his happiest sailing out to Catalina Island on his boat.  He owned a Star boat of about 38 feet in length and took Julia and LaVerne out sailing nearly every weekend.  Julia never enjoyed being on the water as much as her husband, but she shared a great love of reading with George and LaVerne.   The family could often be found reading into the evenings at home.  George was occasionally sent to Sacramento to work with the telephone company there, but other than that, the family didn't do much traveling.  They talked about sending LaVerne on a European tour after she graduated college, but then World War II broke out and the idea had to be abandoned.

In 1941, George and Julia announced the engagement of their daughter, now a graduate of University of Southern California, to Glenn Smith, a young man she'd been dating since her teens.  A wedding was planned.  Then, Julia died suddenly of a stroke on June 30, 1941.  She did not live to see her daughter's wedding on November 1st.  Julia's unexpected death devastated George and LaVerne.

George with his daughter LaVerne on the day of her marriage to Glenn Smith in Los Angeles

To be continued...

Happy Mother's Day

I've been thinking about my direct female line recently, as I delve into the world of DNA testing for genealogy.  I've been considering a mtDNA (Mitochondrial DNA) test with the hope of learning more about my matrilineal ancestors.

As explained by CeCe Moore, author of Your Genetic Genealogist on Geni.com:

Mothers pass mtDNA to their children, both sons and daughters, but only females pass it on. Your mtDNA was inherited from your mother and from her mother and from her mother. No matter how far back in time you go, you only have one direct maternal ancestor in each generation and she is the one responsible for passing you your mtDNA.  Your mtDNA has followed this matrilineal path down through the generations for many thousands of years intact and virtually unchanged.

 I know quite a bit about my immediate female line.  My Grandma lived to be 93 and she shared a lot of stories about her mother and grandmother with me.  However, I have not, as yet, been able to trace beyond my third great-grandmother, Mary Temperance Mathis Temperance Burns*.  Would a mtDNA test help me learn more about the origins of my maternal lineage?  That's something I'm exploring right now.

Today, a tribute to the women who came before me.

My mother and me

LaVerne Rutherfurd, my grandmother

Julia Ellen Barrett, my great-grandmother

Nellie O'Hare, my second great-grandmother

*Temperance Burns -- click to read her story!

I have a 17-month old daughter who now shares this lineage, and the name of her second great-grandmother.  As I celebrate Mother's Day with her, and my son, I am grateful to all the women in our past.

Julia Ellen Barrett (Part 2)

This is the second post in a series about my maternal great-grandmother, Julia Ellen Barrett. The first post can be found here.

Julia Ellen Barrett Rutherfurd, 1918

 After meeting at Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, where they both worked, George Rutherfurd was smitten with Julia Barrett, whom he always called by both her first and middle names, Julia Ellen. By the time they met and began dating, however, war was on the horizon. On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I. George joined the 411th Telegraph Battalion and was sent to Monterey, California for training. Julia joined him there, and on August 18, 1917, they were married in nearby Salinas.

After George shipped out to France, where he would serve the duration of World War I, Julia returned to Los Angeles. She again lived with her mother, Nellie Barrett. On August 10, 1918, Julia and George’s only child, LaVerne Rutherfurd, was born. George learned the happy news via telegram in France.

The telegram George received informing him of his daughter's birth.

When George returned from the war, the family settled at 4322 Denker Avenue in what is now known as South Los Angeles. By 1930, they had moved to 3910 West 59th Street, just around the corner from Julia’s mother and younger siblings, who lived at 3429 West 60th Street.

 

Julia wanted to have more children, but for unknown reasons, this did not happen. LaVerne was her only child. My Grandma told me that her mother was very close with her family, and spent a lot of time with them. Since Julia was the eldest child, and her father had died young, Julia helped to support her mother and raise the younger children.

Julia with her brothers Bernard and Stephen Barrett in Los Angeles.

 She was good natured and well-liked, with a wonderful sense of humor. While her sister, Magdalene, was seen as the beauty of the family, Julia was known for her sweet disposition. My Grandma also described her mother as being very practical, and a take-charge sort of person. She wasn’t one to sit on her hands.

Julia with her daughter LaVerne

Julia was a reader, as was her husband, George. She loved to read. My Grandma told me that Julia had a favorite book when she was a child, called “Traits and Stories of Irish Peasantry” by William Carlton. She’d hoped that the book had stayed with the family during their move to Los Angeles, but it has never resurfaced. George gave Julia a number of books as gifts during their marriage.  I am glad to now own several of these, including a copy of "The Path to Home" by Edgar A. Guest, inscribed to Julia from George on Christmas, 1925.

On June 30, 1941, Julia died suddenly of a stroke. My Grandma told me that she believed strokes and high blood pressure ran in the Barrett family. Julia was only 46 at her death, and her loss was a great blow to her husband and daughter. She also died before her mother, with whom she was extremely close. Nellie Barrett died seven months later, on February 6, 1942.

Julia is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. George lived nearly twenty years after her death, but is now buried beside her.

Julia Ellen Barrett (Part 1)

Julia Ellen Barrett  (1917)

 My great-grandmother, Julia Ellen Barrett, was born on September 26, 1894 in Ridge Prairie, Illinois. She was the eldest of five children born to her parents, Albert Patrick Barrett and Helen Cecilia “Nellie” O’Hare.

The family lived in Illinois for much of Julia’s childhood. Albert and Nellie were married in Belleville, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis. In 1900, the census shows them living in O’Fallon, in St. Clair County. Julia’s siblings, Martha “Magdalene” Barrett, Stephen James Barrett, Charles William Barrett and Bernard Theodore Barrett were all born in Illinois.

In 1906, Julia’s father Albert moved the family to Pennsylvania. His sister, Ellen Barrett Evans, had been widowed there and Albert moved his family to assist her. Albert and his sister Ellen were close, and he had named his daughter Julia Ellen in her honor. Ellen had been married to William Evans, and they had six children. William and Ellen had run an inn together, and after William’s death, Ellen struggled to keep the business afloat. Her brother, Albert, came to assist. Unfortunately, Albert died of pneumonia on May 6, 1910, in Carrolltown, Pennsylvania. Widowed and suffering from severe asthma, Albert’s wife Nellie moved the family again, on her doctor’s advice, to the warm climate of Los Angeles, California.

Julia Barrett at her first communion in Carrolltown, Pennsylvania.   1906

Julia was sixteen when she arrived in Los Angeles with her mother and siblings. Without a breadwinner, the family needed income, and Julia went to work as an operator at the telephone company.

Julia (top) and her sister Magdalene Barrett on Venice Beach.  Los Angeles.

In 1910, there were two telephone companies servicing Los Angeles, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph (where Julia worked) and Home Telephone and Telegraph Company. These companies merged in 1916 and became known as the Southern California Telephone Company.

Julia Ellen Barrett, 1917

The Pacific Telephone Building at 716 S. Olive Street, Los Angeles.  Built in 1911.  Source

 It was at Pacific Telephone and Telegraph that Julia met her future husband, George Roscoe Oliver Rutherfurd. George had moved to Los Angeles from Douglas, Wyoming in 1913 with his mother and siblings after the death of his stepfather, Malcolm Rutherfurd. He also took a job at the telephone company to help make ends meet. He and Julia had come from similar situations, each being the oldest of five children and having lost their fathers.

To be continued...

Tombstone Tuesday: Julia and George Rutherfurd

 This tombstone at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California is the grave marker for my great-grandmother, Julia Ellen Barrett Rutherfurd. Not listed on this marker, but buried in the same plot, is her husband, my great-grandfather, George Roscoe Oliver Rutherfurd.

Julia died of a stroke on June 30, 1941 in Los Angeles. She was only 46 years old. She died just four months before the wedding of her daughter (and only child) LaVerne Rutherfurd. George lived nearly 20 years after Julia’s death. He died on August 22, 1962 at the age of 67. There has been talk of getting a new headstone that also shows George’s name, but it hasn’t been done yet.

Julia also predeceased her mother, Helen “Nellie” Cecilia O’Hare Barrett. Nellie died on February 9, 1942. She is buried alongside her daughter, in the row just uphill from Julia and George.

This being Los Angeles, Holy Cross Cemetery is also the final resting place for a long list of notables. Others buried here include Sharon Tate, Bela Lugosi, Rita Hayworth, John Candy, Loretta Young, Jimmy Durante, Fred MacMurray, Rosalind Russell and Ricardo Montalbán.