d/o Reuben B. Morris & Margaret E. Magel. w/o Herbert C. Goms. They had one child, Richard H. Goms Sr. who they raised in Minneapolis, MN. After the death of Herbert, she divided her time between her brother's wife in Phoenix, AZ, her sister, Cora Reichel, and her family in Richland, WA where their daughter, Coretta, was employed at Hanford, and our family in Longview.
Many years ago, my mother gave me an old pink and white quilt. She told me the mother of my grandmother, Esther M. Goms, nee Morris, made it on a Singer treadle sewing machine. I was twenty-five when Esther passed away. I knew that she was born in Livingston, Montana and had two older sisters and a brother. When I began researching my dad’s family for my book, mom gave me her Delayed Birth Certificate. It shows she was born September 30, 1895 to Reuben and Margaret Morris, nee Magel. There are three sources, including two witnesses, which testify to her birth. At that time, Park County did not have a method of recording births. In 1945, when she applied for the new government program of Social Security, she had to provide proof of her birth, obtaining the certificate from the State of Montana. Her marriage license and death certificate reveal the same birth date. Within the last couple of years, I learned of several Montana free newspaper websites. Each newspaper contains a Local News section. My research began with the Livingston and Park County papers, at http://news.google.com/newspapers?. Although other births were announced, her birth was not mentioned in the October 1895 newspapers. I decided to check the October 1894 issues. To my surprise, there it was, in two newspaper articles:
Livingston Herald, Livingston, Montana, October 3, 1894, p. 3, c. 1
Born Sunday, September 30, to the wife of R. B. Morris, a girl.
Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, October 7, 1894, p. 1, c. 4
R. B. Morris is the father of a daughter. The event occurred last Sunday.
Grandma Esther was actually a year older than she thought. This evidence helped me solve the mystery of the quilt.
When I got to the January 1895 issues, I discovered that while the family slept, one cold winter night, their ranch house burned down. If I had seen this article first I would have assumed that she had not been born yet. But now I know instead of only three children, there were four; Esther was three months old.
Livingston Herald, Livingston, Montana, January 17, 1895, p. 3, c. 4
The ranch home of R. B. Morris two and a half miles west of Livingston was totally destroyed by fire about 1 o’clock Saturday [January 12] morning. Mr. Morris and his family were asleep when the fire broke out, and when they awoke the rear of the house was in flames. Exit by way of the door was already cut off, and the family was forced to escape by means of a rear window, leaving everything behind save a pair of blankets and a buffalo overcoat. The children were covered in these, and the family went to a neighboring ranchman, where they were provided with temporary quarters. The loss was about $1300 with only $200 insurance. A subscription paper was circulated in Livingston Saturday and a snug sum realized for the temporary relief of the family.
Reading about the “pair of blankets” used to bundle up the children triggered something in my memory about the quilt my mother had given me years before. Margaret made the quilt. As an “only child,” my father received the quilt from his mother, Esther. Being it was pink and white and small, only 69 inches by 52, it must have been my grandmother’s baby blanket.
Then I realized I had in my possession the exact blanket used to wrap up my infant grandmother and carry her to safety. What a treasure.
Many years ago, my mother gave me an old pink and white quilt. She told me the mother of my grandmother, Esther M. Goms, nee Morris, made it on a Singer treadle sewing machine. I was twenty-five when Esther passed away. I knew that she was born in Livingston, Montana and had two older sisters and a brother. When I began researching my dad’s family for my book, mom gave me her Delayed Birth Certificate. It shows she was born September 30, 1895 to Reuben and Margaret Morris, nee Magel. There are three sources, including two witnesses, which testify to her birth. At that time, Park County did not have a method of recording births. In 1945, when she applied for the new government program of Social Security, she had to provide proof of her birth, obtaining the certificate from the State of Montana. Her marriage license and death certificate reveal the same birth date. Within the last couple of years, I learned of several Montana free newspaper websites. Each newspaper contains a Local News section. My research began with the Livingston and Park County papers, at http://news.google.com/newspapers?. Although other births were announced, her birth was not mentioned in the October 1895 newspapers. I decided to check the October 1894 issues. To my surprise, there it was, in two newspaper articles:
Livingston Herald, Livingston, Montana, October 3, 1894, p. 3, c. 1
Born Sunday, September 30, to the wife of R. B. Morris, a girl.
Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, October 7, 1894, p. 1, c. 4
R. B. Morris is the father of a daughter. The event occurred last Sunday.
Grandma Esther was actually a year older than she thought. This evidence helped me solve the mystery of the quilt.
When I got to the January 1895 issues, I discovered that while the family slept, one cold winter night, their ranch house burned down. If I had seen this article first I would have assumed that she had not been born yet. But now I know instead of only three children, there were four; Esther was three months old.
Livingston Herald, Livingston, Montana, January 17, 1895, p. 3, c. 4
The ranch home of R. B. Morris two and a half miles west of Livingston was totally destroyed by fire about 1 o’clock Saturday [January 12] morning. Mr. Morris and his family were asleep when the fire broke out, and when they awoke the rear of the house was in flames. Exit by way of the door was already cut off, and the family was forced to escape by means of a rear window, leaving everything behind save a pair of blankets and a buffalo overcoat. The children were covered in these, and the family went to a neighboring ranchman, where they were provided with temporary quarters. The loss was about $1300 with only $200 insurance. A subscription paper was circulated in Livingston Saturday and a snug sum realized for the temporary relief of the family.
Reading about the “pair of blankets” used to bundle up the children triggered something in my memory about the quilt my mother had given me years before. Margaret made the quilt. As an “only child,” my father received the quilt from his mother, Esther. Being it was pink and white and small, only 69 inches by 52, it must have been my grandmother’s baby blanket.
Then I realized I had in my possession the exact blanket used to wrap up my infant grandmother and carry her to safety. What a treasure.
d/o Reuben B. Morris & Margaret E. Magel. w/o Herbert C. Goms. They had one child, Richard H. Goms Sr. who they raised in Minneapolis, MN. After the death of Herbert, she divided her time between her brother's wife in Phoenix, AZ, her sister, Cora Reichel, and her family in Richland, WA where their daughter, Coretta, was employed at Hanford, and our family in Longview.
Many years ago, my mother gave me an old pink and white quilt. She told me the mother of my grandmother, Esther M. Goms, nee Morris, made it on a Singer treadle sewing machine. I was twenty-five when Esther passed away. I knew that she was born in Livingston, Montana and had two older sisters and a brother. When I began researching my dad’s family for my book, mom gave me her Delayed Birth Certificate. It shows she was born September 30, 1895 to Reuben and Margaret Morris, nee Magel. There are three sources, including two witnesses, which testify to her birth. At that time, Park County did not have a method of recording births. In 1945, when she applied for the new government program of Social Security, she had to provide proof of her birth, obtaining the certificate from the State of Montana. Her marriage license and death certificate reveal the same birth date. Within the last couple of years, I learned of several Montana free newspaper websites. Each newspaper contains a Local News section. My research began with the Livingston and Park County papers, at http://news.google.com/newspapers?. Although other births were announced, her birth was not mentioned in the October 1895 newspapers. I decided to check the October 1894 issues. To my surprise, there it was, in two newspaper articles:
Livingston Herald, Livingston, Montana, October 3, 1894, p. 3, c. 1
Born Sunday, September 30, to the wife of R. B. Morris, a girl.
Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, October 7, 1894, p. 1, c. 4
R. B. Morris is the father of a daughter. The event occurred last Sunday.
Grandma Esther was actually a year older than she thought. This evidence helped me solve the mystery of the quilt.
When I got to the January 1895 issues, I discovered that while the family slept, one cold winter night, their ranch house burned down. If I had seen this article first I would have assumed that she had not been born yet. But now I know instead of only three children, there were four; Esther was three months old.
Livingston Herald, Livingston, Montana, January 17, 1895, p. 3, c. 4
The ranch home of R. B. Morris two and a half miles west of Livingston was totally destroyed by fire about 1 o’clock Saturday [January 12] morning. Mr. Morris and his family were asleep when the fire broke out, and when they awoke the rear of the house was in flames. Exit by way of the door was already cut off, and the family was forced to escape by means of a rear window, leaving everything behind save a pair of blankets and a buffalo overcoat. The children were covered in these, and the family went to a neighboring ranchman, where they were provided with temporary quarters. The loss was about $1300 with only $200 insurance. A subscription paper was circulated in Livingston Saturday and a snug sum realized for the temporary relief of the family.
Reading about the “pair of blankets” used to bundle up the children triggered something in my memory about the quilt my mother had given me years before. Margaret made the quilt. As an “only child,” my father received the quilt from his mother, Esther. Being it was pink and white and small, only 69 inches by 52, it must have been my grandmother’s baby blanket.
Then I realized I had in my possession the exact blanket used to wrap up my infant grandmother and carry her to safety. What a treasure.
Many years ago, my mother gave me an old pink and white quilt. She told me the mother of my grandmother, Esther M. Goms, nee Morris, made it on a Singer treadle sewing machine. I was twenty-five when Esther passed away. I knew that she was born in Livingston, Montana and had two older sisters and a brother. When I began researching my dad’s family for my book, mom gave me her Delayed Birth Certificate. It shows she was born September 30, 1895 to Reuben and Margaret Morris, nee Magel. There are three sources, including two witnesses, which testify to her birth. At that time, Park County did not have a method of recording births. In 1945, when she applied for the new government program of Social Security, she had to provide proof of her birth, obtaining the certificate from the State of Montana. Her marriage license and death certificate reveal the same birth date. Within the last couple of years, I learned of several Montana free newspaper websites. Each newspaper contains a Local News section. My research began with the Livingston and Park County papers, at http://news.google.com/newspapers?. Although other births were announced, her birth was not mentioned in the October 1895 newspapers. I decided to check the October 1894 issues. To my surprise, there it was, in two newspaper articles:
Livingston Herald, Livingston, Montana, October 3, 1894, p. 3, c. 1
Born Sunday, September 30, to the wife of R. B. Morris, a girl.
Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, October 7, 1894, p. 1, c. 4
R. B. Morris is the father of a daughter. The event occurred last Sunday.
Grandma Esther was actually a year older than she thought. This evidence helped me solve the mystery of the quilt.
When I got to the January 1895 issues, I discovered that while the family slept, one cold winter night, their ranch house burned down. If I had seen this article first I would have assumed that she had not been born yet. But now I know instead of only three children, there were four; Esther was three months old.
Livingston Herald, Livingston, Montana, January 17, 1895, p. 3, c. 4
The ranch home of R. B. Morris two and a half miles west of Livingston was totally destroyed by fire about 1 o’clock Saturday [January 12] morning. Mr. Morris and his family were asleep when the fire broke out, and when they awoke the rear of the house was in flames. Exit by way of the door was already cut off, and the family was forced to escape by means of a rear window, leaving everything behind save a pair of blankets and a buffalo overcoat. The children were covered in these, and the family went to a neighboring ranchman, where they were provided with temporary quarters. The loss was about $1300 with only $200 insurance. A subscription paper was circulated in Livingston Saturday and a snug sum realized for the temporary relief of the family.
Reading about the “pair of blankets” used to bundle up the children triggered something in my memory about the quilt my mother had given me years before. Margaret made the quilt. As an “only child,” my father received the quilt from his mother, Esther. Being it was pink and white and small, only 69 inches by 52, it must have been my grandmother’s baby blanket.
Then I realized I had in my possession the exact blanket used to wrap up my infant grandmother and carry her to safety. What a treasure.
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