Cleo as Colgate

My grandfather Cleo saved packets for many of his trips. He and my grandmother Vera were frequent cruisers. They are going to be awesome additions to the stories I can tell about them with genealogy. For instance, in June 1986, Cleo and Vera took a cruise through the Panama Canal on Sitmar Cruises T.S.S. Fairsea. The best part of this packet is the three photos of my grandfather from the cruise’ masquerade party. I never would have thought of costuming as Colgate toothpaste.

Colgate toothpaste costume front
Cleo ready for masquerade night
Colgate toothpaste costume back
Squeeze from the bottom
Colgate toothpaste costume in action
Wearing the costume at the masquerade

Update: Turns out my grandparents tried out the idea on an earlier cruise, in January 1983. That time my grandmother donned the toothpaste:

Vera wears a Crest toothpaste costume
Vera as Crest

Elizabeth Holler’s missing 1870 census

I love it when I find something that other researchers on Ancestry haven’t.

Spent the last couple days tracing my maternal 2nd great grandmother, Elizabeth (Holler) Hathaway. From the Hathaways of America book, I knew her birth place and date, date of marriage, and date and place of death (Seattle). Plugged those into Ancestry and started digging.

Using Ancestry’s tools I was able to easily find her census records for 1860, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930. For some reason, Ancestry doesn’t have her date of marriage, though it is in Wisconsin marriage registry that Ancestry has indexed. No matter though, I have other sources for that.

There are 8 other people who have her in their public trees on Ancestry. All of them have pretty much the same information I have above. But missing was the 1870 census. In the 1880 census she had a sister Nancy who was born in Illinois about 1865. There were also three nieces/nephews living with the family with last names of Curry.

I looked at older sister Susannah to see if I could find a marriage between her and anyone named Curry, but didn’t find anything promising. Then I looked at older sister Mary. There were some records of a Mary Ann Holler marrying an Isaac Newton Curry in 1869 in Shelby County, Illinois. So I jumped over to FamilySearch and looked at the 1865 Illinois census and found a George Holler living in Ash Grove Township in Shelby County. But that census is one of those where only the head of household is recorded, so I don’t know for certain if it’s the correct George Holler.

Holler family in Illinois for 1870 census

Jumped back to Ancestry and pulled up the 1870 Census for Ash Grove, and start paging through images, 38 in all. On sheet 30, I found a George Holler living with Mrs Holler, George Jr, John F., Mary A., Elizabeth, Matilda, and Nancy. The names match up with the Holler family in the 1860 and 1880 censuses. I suspect Ancestry couldn’t find it because the first name of George’s wife wasn’t recorded and the family name was speller Haller. Seems like the Soundex matching doesn’t match Haller and Holler. (This census record conflicts with Mary being the spouse of Isaac Curry, but it definitely is the right family.)

Now I have as complete of a census record as I’m going to get for my great great grandmother.

Cleo Knapp Hathaway

Cleo Hathaway

My grandfather Cleo Knapp Hathaway was born to Raymond Hathaway and Gertrude Knapp on 2 June 1925 in Buckley, Washington. The Hathaways moved from Buckley to Wallingford and later to Fremont and then Ballard.

Cleo attended Ballard High School. He dropped out to work, but was later persuaded to return by the principal of the school. He graduated in 1942.

Unlike many others of his day, he did not enlist in the military for World War II. Instead, he joined the merchant marine and served on ships supporting the war effort in the Philippine Islands. He used the money he’d saved during the war to bankroll Ray’s Frame Shop, a furniture framing shop run by the family. Business was not steady enough to provide for all of them, so in 1952 Cleo joined the Seattle Fire Department. Cleo rose through the ranks and retired in 1977 as a Deputy Fire Chief.

In 1948, Cleo married Vera Lou Hallin, who he’d met at a dance in Vasa Park held by the Swedish Club. Their first house was on 65th and Dibble in Ballard, but they moved a few years later to Olympic Manor in Crown Hill. In the 1970s, they moved to Sunset West on Shilshole. They had two daughters.

Cleo suffered from congestive heart failure beginning in the 1970s. He had pacemakers implanted over the years, which allowed him to enjoy an extended life. In the late 2000s, he had to limit his activities due to the condition. He died on 3 March 2010 at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle while undergoing an operation to improve the performance of his pacemaker.