Mary Isabelle Crane was called Belle by her friends, Sally by her second husband, and Granny by her many grandchildren and great grandchildren. A biography of Granny Bridges was written by her granddaughter, Rhoda Belle Andrews, entitled "Family".
She told her granddaughter that she had borne ten children but only five survived. Belle lost three sons, one lived a few days and two were stillborn. She had a very hard life. She married Dave Hutson when she was 15, was widowed at 22, and remarried to Dave's half-brother, Mike Bridges, when she was 23. When talking to her grandchildren, she always referred to her first husband as "Mr. Hutson" but Mike was Pa to all because Mattie's daughter Floy pronounced Grandpa that way and all liked it. Belle said that (marrying at) 15 was too young to understand love, so she always liked and respected Mr. Hutson but she loved Mike Bridges.
When Belle and Dave left Texas, their party included their two little girls, his half-brothers Mike and Coy Bridges, and an acquaintance. The country was big and flat and very lonely for two small girls and their mother. Their travel route included a boat trip to the Dalles. When they arrived at the docks there, a stevedore tossed their new truck to the dock side, and it burst its seams spilling all of Belle's linens and nicest belongings over the dirty dock.
Mike and Belle raised five daughters, Dona and Mattie Hutson and Minnie, Ethel, and Penny Bridges. Minnie died at the age of 14 years and is buried in Ellensburg.
Belle and Mike Bridges operated the Palace Hotel in the 1930's until the hotel was burned out and subsequently operated the Butler Hotel until a short time before their deaths. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren all remember visits with Granny and Pa Bridges.
Excerpts from 1913 issues of the Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington EVENING RECORD show that in January 1913 they attended a surprise party for the Wheatons on the 18th and had their own surprise party on Saturday, January 25. The paper indicated "The evening was spent with music, which was furnished by Messrs. Kinkade and Wheeler." Three days later the paper indicated that Granny was called to North Yakima by a message stating the serious illness of her daughter, Mrs. Bert (Ethel) Mays. Additional trips to be with her daughter were noted on February 4th and May 1st.
Belle's niece, Helen Davis Jensen, reminesced that, "Aunt Belle and Uncle Mike were great - they had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary (1933) and Ellensburg had really paid tribute to them- since they had been there from the time the town had just one store, etc., etc. They still ran a small hotel. Aunt Belle had such a sense of humor - fun to be with. I had heard of her all my life. She told me she was married first to Mike's brother."
On Belle's 77th birthday, she and Mike entertained a group of about 25 relatives and two of their oldest friends at a mid-day dinner. The two friends, Mrs. Laura Wheeler and Mrs. Nancy Hays, were pioneers with the Bridges. Mrs. Louis Bender, a daughter of Mrs. Hays, also was included in the guests. Among the group were two great-granddaughters, Doris Kinkade and Marie Startup. (Ellensburg notice of April 6, 1938).
Granny and Pa Bridges were married 57 years when they both died in a car accident in Fresno, California where they were visiting Penny's family. Both were killed instantly. Their bodies were returned to Washington and they are buried in Ellensburg. Belle was 81 years old when she died.
She told her granddaughter that she had borne ten children but only five survived. Belle lost three sons, one lived a few days and two were stillborn. She had a very hard life. She married Dave Hutson when she was 15, was widowed at 22, and remarried to Dave's half-brother, Mike Bridges, when she was 23. When talking to her grandchildren, she always referred to her first husband as "Mr. Hutson" but Mike was Pa to all because Mattie's daughter Floy pronounced Grandpa that way and all liked it. Belle said that (marrying at) 15 was too young to understand love, so she always liked and respected Mr. Hutson but she loved Mike Bridges.
When Belle and Dave left Texas, their party included their two little girls, his half-brothers Mike and Coy Bridges, and an acquaintance. The country was big and flat and very lonely for two small girls and their mother. Their travel route included a boat trip to the Dalles. When they arrived at the docks there, a stevedore tossed their new truck to the dock side, and it burst its seams spilling all of Belle's linens and nicest belongings over the dirty dock.
Mike and Belle raised five daughters, Dona and Mattie Hutson and Minnie, Ethel, and Penny Bridges. Minnie died at the age of 14 years and is buried in Ellensburg.
Belle and Mike Bridges operated the Palace Hotel in the 1930's until the hotel was burned out and subsequently operated the Butler Hotel until a short time before their deaths. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren all remember visits with Granny and Pa Bridges.
Excerpts from 1913 issues of the Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington EVENING RECORD show that in January 1913 they attended a surprise party for the Wheatons on the 18th and had their own surprise party on Saturday, January 25. The paper indicated "The evening was spent with music, which was furnished by Messrs. Kinkade and Wheeler." Three days later the paper indicated that Granny was called to North Yakima by a message stating the serious illness of her daughter, Mrs. Bert (Ethel) Mays. Additional trips to be with her daughter were noted on February 4th and May 1st.
Belle's niece, Helen Davis Jensen, reminesced that, "Aunt Belle and Uncle Mike were great - they had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary (1933) and Ellensburg had really paid tribute to them- since they had been there from the time the town had just one store, etc., etc. They still ran a small hotel. Aunt Belle had such a sense of humor - fun to be with. I had heard of her all my life. She told me she was married first to Mike's brother."
On Belle's 77th birthday, she and Mike entertained a group of about 25 relatives and two of their oldest friends at a mid-day dinner. The two friends, Mrs. Laura Wheeler and Mrs. Nancy Hays, were pioneers with the Bridges. Mrs. Louis Bender, a daughter of Mrs. Hays, also was included in the guests. Among the group were two great-granddaughters, Doris Kinkade and Marie Startup. (Ellensburg notice of April 6, 1938).
Granny and Pa Bridges were married 57 years when they both died in a car accident in Fresno, California where they were visiting Penny's family. Both were killed instantly. Their bodies were returned to Washington and they are buried in Ellensburg. Belle was 81 years old when she died.
Mary Isabelle Crane was called Belle by her friends, Sally by her second husband, and Granny by her many grandchildren and great grandchildren. A biography of Granny Bridges was written by her granddaughter, Rhoda Belle Andrews, entitled "Family".
She told her granddaughter that she had borne ten children but only five survived. Belle lost three sons, one lived a few days and two were stillborn. She had a very hard life. She married Dave Hutson when she was 15, was widowed at 22, and remarried to Dave's half-brother, Mike Bridges, when she was 23. When talking to her grandchildren, she always referred to her first husband as "Mr. Hutson" but Mike was Pa to all because Mattie's daughter Floy pronounced Grandpa that way and all liked it. Belle said that (marrying at) 15 was too young to understand love, so she always liked and respected Mr. Hutson but she loved Mike Bridges.
When Belle and Dave left Texas, their party included their two little girls, his half-brothers Mike and Coy Bridges, and an acquaintance. The country was big and flat and very lonely for two small girls and their mother. Their travel route included a boat trip to the Dalles. When they arrived at the docks there, a stevedore tossed their new truck to the dock side, and it burst its seams spilling all of Belle's linens and nicest belongings over the dirty dock.
Mike and Belle raised five daughters, Dona and Mattie Hutson and Minnie, Ethel, and Penny Bridges. Minnie died at the age of 14 years and is buried in Ellensburg.
Belle and Mike Bridges operated the Palace Hotel in the 1930's until the hotel was burned out and subsequently operated the Butler Hotel until a short time before their deaths. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren all remember visits with Granny and Pa Bridges.
Excerpts from 1913 issues of the Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington EVENING RECORD show that in January 1913 they attended a surprise party for the Wheatons on the 18th and had their own surprise party on Saturday, January 25. The paper indicated "The evening was spent with music, which was furnished by Messrs. Kinkade and Wheeler." Three days later the paper indicated that Granny was called to North Yakima by a message stating the serious illness of her daughter, Mrs. Bert (Ethel) Mays. Additional trips to be with her daughter were noted on February 4th and May 1st.
Belle's niece, Helen Davis Jensen, reminesced that, "Aunt Belle and Uncle Mike were great - they had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary (1933) and Ellensburg had really paid tribute to them- since they had been there from the time the town had just one store, etc., etc. They still ran a small hotel. Aunt Belle had such a sense of humor - fun to be with. I had heard of her all my life. She told me she was married first to Mike's brother."
On Belle's 77th birthday, she and Mike entertained a group of about 25 relatives and two of their oldest friends at a mid-day dinner. The two friends, Mrs. Laura Wheeler and Mrs. Nancy Hays, were pioneers with the Bridges. Mrs. Louis Bender, a daughter of Mrs. Hays, also was included in the guests. Among the group were two great-granddaughters, Doris Kinkade and Marie Startup. (Ellensburg notice of April 6, 1938).
Granny and Pa Bridges were married 57 years when they both died in a car accident in Fresno, California where they were visiting Penny's family. Both were killed instantly. Their bodies were returned to Washington and they are buried in Ellensburg. Belle was 81 years old when she died.
She told her granddaughter that she had borne ten children but only five survived. Belle lost three sons, one lived a few days and two were stillborn. She had a very hard life. She married Dave Hutson when she was 15, was widowed at 22, and remarried to Dave's half-brother, Mike Bridges, when she was 23. When talking to her grandchildren, she always referred to her first husband as "Mr. Hutson" but Mike was Pa to all because Mattie's daughter Floy pronounced Grandpa that way and all liked it. Belle said that (marrying at) 15 was too young to understand love, so she always liked and respected Mr. Hutson but she loved Mike Bridges.
When Belle and Dave left Texas, their party included their two little girls, his half-brothers Mike and Coy Bridges, and an acquaintance. The country was big and flat and very lonely for two small girls and their mother. Their travel route included a boat trip to the Dalles. When they arrived at the docks there, a stevedore tossed their new truck to the dock side, and it burst its seams spilling all of Belle's linens and nicest belongings over the dirty dock.
Mike and Belle raised five daughters, Dona and Mattie Hutson and Minnie, Ethel, and Penny Bridges. Minnie died at the age of 14 years and is buried in Ellensburg.
Belle and Mike Bridges operated the Palace Hotel in the 1930's until the hotel was burned out and subsequently operated the Butler Hotel until a short time before their deaths. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren all remember visits with Granny and Pa Bridges.
Excerpts from 1913 issues of the Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington EVENING RECORD show that in January 1913 they attended a surprise party for the Wheatons on the 18th and had their own surprise party on Saturday, January 25. The paper indicated "The evening was spent with music, which was furnished by Messrs. Kinkade and Wheeler." Three days later the paper indicated that Granny was called to North Yakima by a message stating the serious illness of her daughter, Mrs. Bert (Ethel) Mays. Additional trips to be with her daughter were noted on February 4th and May 1st.
Belle's niece, Helen Davis Jensen, reminesced that, "Aunt Belle and Uncle Mike were great - they had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary (1933) and Ellensburg had really paid tribute to them- since they had been there from the time the town had just one store, etc., etc. They still ran a small hotel. Aunt Belle had such a sense of humor - fun to be with. I had heard of her all my life. She told me she was married first to Mike's brother."
On Belle's 77th birthday, she and Mike entertained a group of about 25 relatives and two of their oldest friends at a mid-day dinner. The two friends, Mrs. Laura Wheeler and Mrs. Nancy Hays, were pioneers with the Bridges. Mrs. Louis Bender, a daughter of Mrs. Hays, also was included in the guests. Among the group were two great-granddaughters, Doris Kinkade and Marie Startup. (Ellensburg notice of April 6, 1938).
Granny and Pa Bridges were married 57 years when they both died in a car accident in Fresno, California where they were visiting Penny's family. Both were killed instantly. Their bodies were returned to Washington and they are buried in Ellensburg. Belle was 81 years old when she died.
