The following written work is a biographical sketch written by Silver Rose Parnell, who loans it to findagrave.com for limited personal use of its members. It is copyrighted and may not be used elsewhere for any purpose whatsoever without the express written permission of the author.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Emzaella was born in Rawhide Precinct, Esmeralda County, NV to Francis "Frank" John Channing and Bertha Lewis.
Her name is unusual and has been remarked upon by many people. In more than 30 years of genealogy research, I have never seen it elsewhere, HOWEVER, there were many girls born during that approximate era with the first and middle names of EMZA ELLA. My guess is that her name was either artificially affixed so she could also have another middle name OR, it grew together over the years. We really don't know.
Her father, born in Lake Gulch, CO, was a well-known gold miner and "gold mine promoter" whose name occasionally appeared in the newspapers in connection with his mining concerns. Family history tells us that he made and lost TWO million-dollar fortunes (which was a huge amount in those days), but died poverty stricken, like most gold miners.
Emzaella's mother, Bertha Lewis, born in Black Hawk, CO to blacksmith David Price Lewis and his wife, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jane (Davies) Lewis, died very young, leaving 2-yr old Emzaella and 8-month old sister Frances motherless.
Emzaella and Frances were raised by relatives in Denver, Colorado until they were old enough to return to their father in the gold fields. He married their step-mother, Catherine A. Sproul in 1925.
Emzaella used to regale her grandchildren with stories about life in the Mojave Desert when she used to help her step-mother run the Rand Hotel in Randsberg while her father mined the area. She described their 'refrigerator' - a metal box covered by a burlap bag with water dripping on it from above. She also had a pet tortoise.
Emzaella met her future husband, John "Jack" Edwin Laird in Randsberg. He was a handsome man, and cut quite a figure at the local grange hall where the dances were held. Mrs. Wilson, who knew my grandmother and who lived in Randsburg for more than 50 years, told me that Jack was a "catch" and a great dancer! He fell in love with Emzaella and followed her to Denver where she had gone to nursing school. According to her, he begged her to come back and marry him, but she resisted because she did not want the life of a miner's wife. She'd had enough of that kind of life, thanks to her father (who was, by some accounts, a rough sort of man who did not show affection to his children.) Jack convinced her to marry him, promising they would stay in Randsberg only one year. After she graduated, they married in about 1932, but she was stranded in that desert town for 7 years because her husband became ill with tuberculosis and languished in the hospital at nearby Red Mountain until he passed away on March 25, 1939.
Emzaella and her two toddlers eventually found their way to Auburn, California, where they grew up and married. During this time she had a brief unhappy marriage to a Mr. DeCosta whom she married in December of 1940 and divorced within a short time.
Although Emzaella had endured a somewhat sad and difficult life, it did not sour her temperament. She was a DELIGHT to be around. She had nothing bad to say about anyone, choosing to look on the bright side of things. She always used to tell me, "all you need is the golden rule," and, as far as I know, she always kept her own advice.
Sometime after her children moved out of the house, Emzaella sold her home in little Auburn, California and moved to San Francisco, where the foggy climate was beneficial to her asthmatic condition. She LOVED the fog and relished the cool days. It almost seemed as if she was making up for all the dry years of her youth in the deserts.
Always devoted to her family, she was the matriarch that kept everyone together, despite long geographical distances between family members. When her daughter Ruth was newly married and desperately poor, Emzaella sent money to the family every month, even though she could not afford it. She gave of herself unstintingly, something which was glaringly obvious in her later years when the barrenness of her apartment spoke volumes.
She lived on the same street for 30 years, and all the merchants and restauranteurs knew my grandmother and loved her chatty nature. When I visited her, all the neighbors knew me by name. When I was young, I used to be embarrased that, if we were waiting for a trolly, she would turn to the person nearest her in line and strike up a conversation. Now I am just like her! Ask any of my neighbors in the apartment complex where I live. I am very chatty.
In 1990, Grammy Emzaella began to have a series of strokes. Her health had broken down irreparably. When she went to her daughter's house in South Dakota for her yearly Christmas visit, they could not let her return home to her beloved San Francisco. Instead, they took care of her with great love and devotion in South Dakota until she passed away shortly after her birthday in 1991. Giving of herself until the end, she arranged to have her body donated to science, therefore we have no place on earth to visit her.
My grandmother, Emzaella, continues to be an inspiration to me. She was the only adult who was kind to me and demonstrated that she cared about me. She died many years ago, but it seems like yesterday. I miss her every day. This memorial is for her.
I love you, Grammy.
Biography Copyright (c) 2011,
Silver Rose Parnell
All rights reserved.
Written permission required to use copyrighted material for any purpose.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Emzaella was born in Rawhide Precinct, Esmeralda County, NV to Francis "Frank" John Channing and Bertha Lewis.
Her name is unusual and has been remarked upon by many people. In more than 30 years of genealogy research, I have never seen it elsewhere, HOWEVER, there were many girls born during that approximate era with the first and middle names of EMZA ELLA. My guess is that her name was either artificially affixed so she could also have another middle name OR, it grew together over the years. We really don't know.
Her father, born in Lake Gulch, CO, was a well-known gold miner and "gold mine promoter" whose name occasionally appeared in the newspapers in connection with his mining concerns. Family history tells us that he made and lost TWO million-dollar fortunes (which was a huge amount in those days), but died poverty stricken, like most gold miners.
Emzaella's mother, Bertha Lewis, born in Black Hawk, CO to blacksmith David Price Lewis and his wife, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jane (Davies) Lewis, died very young, leaving 2-yr old Emzaella and 8-month old sister Frances motherless.
Emzaella and Frances were raised by relatives in Denver, Colorado until they were old enough to return to their father in the gold fields. He married their step-mother, Catherine A. Sproul in 1925.
Emzaella used to regale her grandchildren with stories about life in the Mojave Desert when she used to help her step-mother run the Rand Hotel in Randsberg while her father mined the area. She described their 'refrigerator' - a metal box covered by a burlap bag with water dripping on it from above. She also had a pet tortoise.
Emzaella met her future husband, John "Jack" Edwin Laird in Randsberg. He was a handsome man, and cut quite a figure at the local grange hall where the dances were held. Mrs. Wilson, who knew my grandmother and who lived in Randsburg for more than 50 years, told me that Jack was a "catch" and a great dancer! He fell in love with Emzaella and followed her to Denver where she had gone to nursing school. According to her, he begged her to come back and marry him, but she resisted because she did not want the life of a miner's wife. She'd had enough of that kind of life, thanks to her father (who was, by some accounts, a rough sort of man who did not show affection to his children.) Jack convinced her to marry him, promising they would stay in Randsberg only one year. After she graduated, they married in about 1932, but she was stranded in that desert town for 7 years because her husband became ill with tuberculosis and languished in the hospital at nearby Red Mountain until he passed away on March 25, 1939.
Emzaella and her two toddlers eventually found their way to Auburn, California, where they grew up and married. During this time she had a brief unhappy marriage to a Mr. DeCosta whom she married in December of 1940 and divorced within a short time.
Although Emzaella had endured a somewhat sad and difficult life, it did not sour her temperament. She was a DELIGHT to be around. She had nothing bad to say about anyone, choosing to look on the bright side of things. She always used to tell me, "all you need is the golden rule," and, as far as I know, she always kept her own advice.
Sometime after her children moved out of the house, Emzaella sold her home in little Auburn, California and moved to San Francisco, where the foggy climate was beneficial to her asthmatic condition. She LOVED the fog and relished the cool days. It almost seemed as if she was making up for all the dry years of her youth in the deserts.
Always devoted to her family, she was the matriarch that kept everyone together, despite long geographical distances between family members. When her daughter Ruth was newly married and desperately poor, Emzaella sent money to the family every month, even though she could not afford it. She gave of herself unstintingly, something which was glaringly obvious in her later years when the barrenness of her apartment spoke volumes.
She lived on the same street for 30 years, and all the merchants and restauranteurs knew my grandmother and loved her chatty nature. When I visited her, all the neighbors knew me by name. When I was young, I used to be embarrased that, if we were waiting for a trolly, she would turn to the person nearest her in line and strike up a conversation. Now I am just like her! Ask any of my neighbors in the apartment complex where I live. I am very chatty.
In 1990, Grammy Emzaella began to have a series of strokes. Her health had broken down irreparably. When she went to her daughter's house in South Dakota for her yearly Christmas visit, they could not let her return home to her beloved San Francisco. Instead, they took care of her with great love and devotion in South Dakota until she passed away shortly after her birthday in 1991. Giving of herself until the end, she arranged to have her body donated to science, therefore we have no place on earth to visit her.
My grandmother, Emzaella, continues to be an inspiration to me. She was the only adult who was kind to me and demonstrated that she cared about me. She died many years ago, but it seems like yesterday. I miss her every day. This memorial is for her.
I love you, Grammy.
Biography Copyright (c) 2011,
Silver Rose Parnell
All rights reserved.
Written permission required to use copyrighted material for any purpose.
The following written work is a biographical sketch written by Silver Rose Parnell, who loans it to findagrave.com for limited personal use of its members. It is copyrighted and may not be used elsewhere for any purpose whatsoever without the express written permission of the author.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Emzaella was born in Rawhide Precinct, Esmeralda County, NV to Francis "Frank" John Channing and Bertha Lewis.
Her name is unusual and has been remarked upon by many people. In more than 30 years of genealogy research, I have never seen it elsewhere, HOWEVER, there were many girls born during that approximate era with the first and middle names of EMZA ELLA. My guess is that her name was either artificially affixed so she could also have another middle name OR, it grew together over the years. We really don't know.
Her father, born in Lake Gulch, CO, was a well-known gold miner and "gold mine promoter" whose name occasionally appeared in the newspapers in connection with his mining concerns. Family history tells us that he made and lost TWO million-dollar fortunes (which was a huge amount in those days), but died poverty stricken, like most gold miners.
Emzaella's mother, Bertha Lewis, born in Black Hawk, CO to blacksmith David Price Lewis and his wife, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jane (Davies) Lewis, died very young, leaving 2-yr old Emzaella and 8-month old sister Frances motherless.
Emzaella and Frances were raised by relatives in Denver, Colorado until they were old enough to return to their father in the gold fields. He married their step-mother, Catherine A. Sproul in 1925.
Emzaella used to regale her grandchildren with stories about life in the Mojave Desert when she used to help her step-mother run the Rand Hotel in Randsberg while her father mined the area. She described their 'refrigerator' - a metal box covered by a burlap bag with water dripping on it from above. She also had a pet tortoise.
Emzaella met her future husband, John "Jack" Edwin Laird in Randsberg. He was a handsome man, and cut quite a figure at the local grange hall where the dances were held. Mrs. Wilson, who knew my grandmother and who lived in Randsburg for more than 50 years, told me that Jack was a "catch" and a great dancer! He fell in love with Emzaella and followed her to Denver where she had gone to nursing school. According to her, he begged her to come back and marry him, but she resisted because she did not want the life of a miner's wife. She'd had enough of that kind of life, thanks to her father (who was, by some accounts, a rough sort of man who did not show affection to his children.) Jack convinced her to marry him, promising they would stay in Randsberg only one year. After she graduated, they married in about 1932, but she was stranded in that desert town for 7 years because her husband became ill with tuberculosis and languished in the hospital at nearby Red Mountain until he passed away on March 25, 1939.
Emzaella and her two toddlers eventually found their way to Auburn, California, where they grew up and married. During this time she had a brief unhappy marriage to a Mr. DeCosta whom she married in December of 1940 and divorced within a short time.
Although Emzaella had endured a somewhat sad and difficult life, it did not sour her temperament. She was a DELIGHT to be around. She had nothing bad to say about anyone, choosing to look on the bright side of things. She always used to tell me, "all you need is the golden rule," and, as far as I know, she always kept her own advice.
Sometime after her children moved out of the house, Emzaella sold her home in little Auburn, California and moved to San Francisco, where the foggy climate was beneficial to her asthmatic condition. She LOVED the fog and relished the cool days. It almost seemed as if she was making up for all the dry years of her youth in the deserts.
Always devoted to her family, she was the matriarch that kept everyone together, despite long geographical distances between family members. When her daughter Ruth was newly married and desperately poor, Emzaella sent money to the family every month, even though she could not afford it. She gave of herself unstintingly, something which was glaringly obvious in her later years when the barrenness of her apartment spoke volumes.
She lived on the same street for 30 years, and all the merchants and restauranteurs knew my grandmother and loved her chatty nature. When I visited her, all the neighbors knew me by name. When I was young, I used to be embarrased that, if we were waiting for a trolly, she would turn to the person nearest her in line and strike up a conversation. Now I am just like her! Ask any of my neighbors in the apartment complex where I live. I am very chatty.
In 1990, Grammy Emzaella began to have a series of strokes. Her health had broken down irreparably. When she went to her daughter's house in South Dakota for her yearly Christmas visit, they could not let her return home to her beloved San Francisco. Instead, they took care of her with great love and devotion in South Dakota until she passed away shortly after her birthday in 1991. Giving of herself until the end, she arranged to have her body donated to science, therefore we have no place on earth to visit her.
My grandmother, Emzaella, continues to be an inspiration to me. She was the only adult who was kind to me and demonstrated that she cared about me. She died many years ago, but it seems like yesterday. I miss her every day. This memorial is for her.
I love you, Grammy.
Biography Copyright (c) 2011,
Silver Rose Parnell
All rights reserved.
Written permission required to use copyrighted material for any purpose.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Emzaella was born in Rawhide Precinct, Esmeralda County, NV to Francis "Frank" John Channing and Bertha Lewis.
Her name is unusual and has been remarked upon by many people. In more than 30 years of genealogy research, I have never seen it elsewhere, HOWEVER, there were many girls born during that approximate era with the first and middle names of EMZA ELLA. My guess is that her name was either artificially affixed so she could also have another middle name OR, it grew together over the years. We really don't know.
Her father, born in Lake Gulch, CO, was a well-known gold miner and "gold mine promoter" whose name occasionally appeared in the newspapers in connection with his mining concerns. Family history tells us that he made and lost TWO million-dollar fortunes (which was a huge amount in those days), but died poverty stricken, like most gold miners.
Emzaella's mother, Bertha Lewis, born in Black Hawk, CO to blacksmith David Price Lewis and his wife, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jane (Davies) Lewis, died very young, leaving 2-yr old Emzaella and 8-month old sister Frances motherless.
Emzaella and Frances were raised by relatives in Denver, Colorado until they were old enough to return to their father in the gold fields. He married their step-mother, Catherine A. Sproul in 1925.
Emzaella used to regale her grandchildren with stories about life in the Mojave Desert when she used to help her step-mother run the Rand Hotel in Randsberg while her father mined the area. She described their 'refrigerator' - a metal box covered by a burlap bag with water dripping on it from above. She also had a pet tortoise.
Emzaella met her future husband, John "Jack" Edwin Laird in Randsberg. He was a handsome man, and cut quite a figure at the local grange hall where the dances were held. Mrs. Wilson, who knew my grandmother and who lived in Randsburg for more than 50 years, told me that Jack was a "catch" and a great dancer! He fell in love with Emzaella and followed her to Denver where she had gone to nursing school. According to her, he begged her to come back and marry him, but she resisted because she did not want the life of a miner's wife. She'd had enough of that kind of life, thanks to her father (who was, by some accounts, a rough sort of man who did not show affection to his children.) Jack convinced her to marry him, promising they would stay in Randsberg only one year. After she graduated, they married in about 1932, but she was stranded in that desert town for 7 years because her husband became ill with tuberculosis and languished in the hospital at nearby Red Mountain until he passed away on March 25, 1939.
Emzaella and her two toddlers eventually found their way to Auburn, California, where they grew up and married. During this time she had a brief unhappy marriage to a Mr. DeCosta whom she married in December of 1940 and divorced within a short time.
Although Emzaella had endured a somewhat sad and difficult life, it did not sour her temperament. She was a DELIGHT to be around. She had nothing bad to say about anyone, choosing to look on the bright side of things. She always used to tell me, "all you need is the golden rule," and, as far as I know, she always kept her own advice.
Sometime after her children moved out of the house, Emzaella sold her home in little Auburn, California and moved to San Francisco, where the foggy climate was beneficial to her asthmatic condition. She LOVED the fog and relished the cool days. It almost seemed as if she was making up for all the dry years of her youth in the deserts.
Always devoted to her family, she was the matriarch that kept everyone together, despite long geographical distances between family members. When her daughter Ruth was newly married and desperately poor, Emzaella sent money to the family every month, even though she could not afford it. She gave of herself unstintingly, something which was glaringly obvious in her later years when the barrenness of her apartment spoke volumes.
She lived on the same street for 30 years, and all the merchants and restauranteurs knew my grandmother and loved her chatty nature. When I visited her, all the neighbors knew me by name. When I was young, I used to be embarrased that, if we were waiting for a trolly, she would turn to the person nearest her in line and strike up a conversation. Now I am just like her! Ask any of my neighbors in the apartment complex where I live. I am very chatty.
In 1990, Grammy Emzaella began to have a series of strokes. Her health had broken down irreparably. When she went to her daughter's house in South Dakota for her yearly Christmas visit, they could not let her return home to her beloved San Francisco. Instead, they took care of her with great love and devotion in South Dakota until she passed away shortly after her birthday in 1991. Giving of herself until the end, she arranged to have her body donated to science, therefore we have no place on earth to visit her.
My grandmother, Emzaella, continues to be an inspiration to me. She was the only adult who was kind to me and demonstrated that she cared about me. She died many years ago, but it seems like yesterday. I miss her every day. This memorial is for her.
I love you, Grammy.
Biography Copyright (c) 2011,
Silver Rose Parnell
All rights reserved.
Written permission required to use copyrighted material for any purpose.
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