Taking Research on the Road: Part 1: Stockton, Sacramento, Marysville, Lincoln

Cross posted on Poetry, Pottery, and Prose.

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Today, my latest submission for the Inlandia Literary Journeys column published, which I titled, “In Praise of the Research Road Trip”. I’ve done a lot of that for Clay Bodies. From finding where my grandparents lived in Laguna Beach to visiting the Capistrano factory site to discovering the location of the Bullock’s bust in a Macy’s in Pasadena, everything is made more tangible when the physical properties of a thing are able to be observed. How heavy is it? What was the view from the living room window? What was the actual footprint of the factory? What kinds of trees and birds are there? Sometimes there are barriers to discovery. The house obstructed by a guard shack. Incomplete records. Only a partial address. You get the picture.

But it’s worth it.

Some names to refer to as I dig in:

• My mom’s dad is Brad. Brad’s dad is Rufus. Rufus’s dad is B.B.

• Rufus’s wife is Mary Leary. Her sister in law is Josephine Leary, and it was her hotel where Rufus was staying when he met his future wife.

• Rufus’s mom is Mary Simpson.

Stockton

Some lessons learned: Check the opening and closing times of places you want to visit. We rolled into the San Joaquin Catholic Cemetery at about 4:23pm. The cemetery closes at 4:30pm. I convinced the security guard to let me through and I used GPS to lead me to an area I hoped would be near Josephine Leary’s grave, but alas, it was not. Chalk that one up to not doing my homework. Onward.

Next, I wanted to find an address from an old census record, 1248 East Sonora, the Leary household where my great grandmother Mary Leary lived before and likely right after she married my great grandfather Rufus. At first I thought perhaps the neighboring house was it but despite being broken up into four units, it seems more likely that the address belongs with an empty lot next door. Nevertheless, I considered this a success. This wasn’t a major stop on my list, but I was glad to have tried. I’d looked at Google street view and couldn’t get a clear view of the addresses.

Location of the Leary family home in Stockton.

Sacramento

On a free night in Sacramento, Lloyd and I checked out Old Sacramento Waterfront. Specifically, I had wanted to see the Delta King, a permanently docked steamship that with its twin the Delta Queen used to make daily runs between San Francisco and Sacramento. Before we booked the Airbnb, we booked the Delta King, but then chickened out and canceled because of some of the reviews. Some said the quarters were too tight, or the walls too thin, or a lack of privacy. I’m a little sorry we switched, but glad we managed to take a look and grab dinner on the ship.

Rufus was born in Bellingham, Washington. According to a newspaper clipping, when he was about two years old, his family—father, mother, and older half-brother Charles—arrived in California from Seattle to stay at the Golden Eagle Hotel. I speculate that they traveled by steamship but it’s also quite possible that they took the train. The reason I lean toward steamship is that it’s docked immediately adjacent to K street, which is a straight shot to the Golden Eagle hotel, located at the corner of K and 7th streets. The train station, on the other hand, is on I street, and so I speculate that had they taken the train they might have chosen a hotel closer to the station. It couldn’t have been the Delta King or Queen themselves, though, because they weren’t christened until 1927. As for the fate of the Golden Eagle Hotel, we made several laps around the block where it should have been, and determined that it was long gone.

One fun fact I had previously overlooked: Also arriving at the Golden Eagle? A Mr. Charles Gladding of Lincoln, e.g. baby Rufus’s future employer.

Baby Rufus arrives with dad B.B., mom Mary, and older brother Charles.The Golden Eagle Hotel in Sacramento. Picture found on Calisphere.

Marysville

One of the biggest mysteries in researching my grandfathers has been, who was Rufus’s mother? In the process, I’ve discovered that Rufus’s father was married twice, and that his mother was the second wife. Making it a bit harder to parse, though, is the fact that both women were named Mary Ellen. (As was Rufus’s own wife…)

Mary Ellen Simpson was raised in Marysville, where the Simpsons made their home after crossing the continent. In fact, there is a Simpson Lane, a Simpson Bridge, and there once was a Simpson Ferry. Mary’s father James was killed in a gunfight. The Simpsons were part of Rufus’s roots, and therefore mine, so a stop in Marysville seemed appropriate. We drove down Simpson Lane, across Simpson Bridge (neither of which have any current signage) and we found James Simpson’s grave in the Historic Marysville City Cemetery, the first city-owned cemetery west of the Rockies, where I noticed a soggy notebook someone else had left behind on a bench. Small details. I also was able to get a close-up look at the grave monument and the moss (lichen?) that had built up on its surface over time, and wonder about the many hands that had worn away some of the surface of the stone.

Detail of scroll work with lichen/moss.

Detail of the top of the M in Simpson.Detail of the engraving on the monument.Foot of the monument with silk flowers.

Me with the monument.

Lincoln

Marysville was the furthest out. We went there first, and then worked our way back. After we left Marysville, we drove to Lincoln, home of Gladding, McBean. Remember that guy Charles Gladding from the Golden Eagle Hotel in Sacramento? He was so impressed by baby Rufus… Okay, no, that’s not how it happened. I have no idea how it happened. But what a coincidence! Charles Gladding was the founder of Gladding, McBean, initially a manufacturer of clay sewer pipe but also architectural terra cotta and tile. I knew Rufus had worked here and I wanted to see it in person, so I said, “Hey Siri, directions to Gladding, McBean in Lincoln”. So she took me literally. And we went to the heart of the operations, probably where no civilian is supposed to go.

We finally made it around front to the main entrance.

I went inside the office and asked if we could look around and met their very nice office clerk Lori Pantel. I noticed she had an engraved brick on her desk so I asked if I could take her picture with it. So neat!

I’m going to end for today. Watch for Part 2 which contains an amazing discovery.