Born Dec 4, 1890 (Trowbridge Genealogy), in California (census records). During her childhood the family was based in the east bay, but spent extended amounts of time in Alaska where father Nelson ran a mining company.
In 1910, at age 19, she lived in Berkeley with her sister Leslie and Leslie's husband and children, along with brother Nelson and their mother. She was not employed. There is also no record of her attending Cal, although her older sisters did.
In 1910 she married John Franklin Trusty, one of several brothers who moved from Maine to Marin County, from a family of Maine farm laborers, originally French Canadian. Three of his brothers lived in San Rafael in 1910 running a bookstore. In 1914 Olive (and presumably John) lived in Glen Ellen, southeast of Santa Rosa, where several members of the Trowbridge and Turner families had moved to take up poultry farming. (Olive registered to vote as a Progressive; John appears not to have registered. Brother Joseph M. Trusty, previously of the San Rafael bookstore, also registered to vote in Glen Ellen in 1914, and was working as a cook. Joseph later went on to become an attorney working in SF.)
Piecing together census records and personal communication from living family, Olive Rose and John had four children:
- Kathryn Mary, 1913
- Olive R., 1914
- John Franklin, 1915
- Thomas, 1916
Olive Rose died in 1918 in the flu epidemic, while pregnant again. The children were given to relatives and neighbors, and by two years later her husband John was living in lodgings in Merced, working as an auto mechanic. Thereafter he moved around California, and died in Los Angeles at the age of 76.
Kathryn went to live with her aunt Mattie Evelyn Trusty, the divorced ex-wife of eldest Trusty brother William Robert Trusty. (William and Mattie had been the manager and asst manager of the bookstore.) In 1920 Mattie was living in San Rafael (census) and/or Corte Madera (SF phone book) and working as a manager at a publishing company in San Francisco. She appears to have kept on friendly terms with at least some of her in-laws -- in 1918 Peter Trusty (one of the bookstore brothers) was also living in Corte Madera and listed her as next-of-kin on his draft registration. (Peter was an interesting character. He was a mechanic and inventor, and though he was blinded in WWI he continued to work, doing engineering work for the war effort during WWII in Los Angeles.) (Ex-husband William also ended up in Los Angeles, working as a book salesman, and re-married to a much younger woman.)
Olive went to live with her aunt and uncle, Eloise (Trowbridge) Ellis and Frank Ellis. She could not have lived with them very long. Eloise died in 1923, and when Frank remarried to his widowed sister-in-law (Kate Elliot (Trowbridge) Turner) in 1924, Olive was no longer living with him. (At least, my grandmother, who became Frank Ellis's stepdaughter, did not mention her.)
By 1930 Mattie Trusty had moved to Los Angeles and had custody of both Kathryn and Olive, and worked as a manager for publishing company. They lived in the home of Edith Lacey, also a single career woman, and are listed as Edith's partner and daughters, respectively, suggesting a warm family-like arrangement (not just lodgers of convenience).
Kathryn married Elmore Darwin Johnson and had two children. She died in Riverside CA at the age of 95. Olive attended UCLA, and died in Nevada at the age of 96.
Olive Rose's son Thomas was adopted by John's sister Sara Jane "Sadie" and her husband Fred Hawkes, in Maine. John Franklin was taken in by neighbors Julian and Louise Kendrick. He wasn't formally adopted but he took their name.
[Posted edited based on the information in the comment below.]
Olive Rose Trusty was my grandmother on my father's side of the family. She was married to John Franklin Trusty. She had 4 children and was expecting a 5th when she died of the influenza in 1918. Their children were Kathryn born in 1913, Olive born in 1914, John Franklin Trusty Jr. (my dad) born in 1915, Thomas born around 1916/17.
ReplyDeleteAfter Olive's death her husband John was unable to care for the children alone so they were raised by other relatives and neighbors. Kay and Olive where raised by Evelyn Trusty who was previously married to William Trusty, John's brother. Thomas was raised by John's sister and husband in Maine. He was adopted by them and took the name of Hawkes. My father was the only one adopted outside of the family by neighbors Julian and Louise Kendrick. He was never formally adopted but he chose to take their name since they raised him. Louise was very careful to stay in touch with my Dad's birth family so we are so blessed to have 2 families. The Trusty side and the adopted Kendrick side.
It is so nice to find more family members through this blog!
Hi Lee,
ReplyDeleteThanks for getting in touch! It's wonderful to hear from the Trowbridge side of the family. Clearly there are some errors here which I'll update soon.
Can you confirm whether these pictures are of Olive? I'm particularly curious about the bottom two, showing a young woman.
I would also be interested in whether you have any photos from the Trowbridges. We lost almost everything from that side of the family when my grandmother's mother (Olive's sister) remarried, died, then the stepfather remarried and took all the family possessions with him.
Feel free to contact me by e-mail if you'd like to communicate further: mlwilson at ucsc dot edu.