Contemplate all the world's events Bessie experienced, for she lived over one hundred years.

Bessie Jane Baumgardner was born in Wythe County, VA, on September 16, 1895.

She married husband Otto Robertson in 1916 and bore eight children. She was a Porterville resident for 75 years and a homemaker for 80 years. An avid quilt maker, she made quilts until she was 90 years old for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Survivors include three children: son, Ernest Robertson of Strathmore, CA; daughters, Edna Byars and Beulah Offill, both of Porterville, CA; 12 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; and 33 great-great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Robertson was preceded in death by her parents, all her siblings, husband Otto Robertson, step-son William Lewis Robertson (1913-1996), and five of her eight children: Herman (age 3 months), Ralph (age 1 day) - both buried in Carson Cemetery (NM), Alfred (who died while hospitalized with spinal meningitis at age 6), an unnamed premature baby girl, and James. (James' wife Bernadeen (1930-1989), also preceded Bessie in death).

Mrs. Robertson, a resident of Porterville, CA, died there Wednesday, September 4, 2002, at age 106.

(It is unknown if Herman, Ralph, and their premature sister are in marked graves. Memorials for them were not created, but they are included here on their mother's memorial).

As stated in the Porterville (CA) Recorder, Sunday afternoon visitation is at Whitehurst Lloyd Chapel in Porterville. A Monday noon graveside service is to be held at Vandalia Cemetery in Porterville, CA, with Marshall Brookey officiating.
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During Bessie's lifetime, America experienced the border war with Mexico, WWI, the Depression, WWII, Korean War, Iran Crisis, Vietnam War, Gulf War (Desert Shield/ Desert Storm), 9/11, and the Civil War in Afghanistan.
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EXCERPTS from BESSIE'S MEMOIRS:
When I was three months old, our family moved to Sugar Grove, Smith County, VA, and lived there on the farm until I was fourteen. We then moved to Carson, NM, near Taos, where my father homesteaded 360 acres and farmed beans, alfalfa, and peas. We lived in a one room 12 x 16 foot log house my father built from pinon poles cut from the land and mud plastered walls with a dirt floor.

We worked hard gathering wood for the fire, hauling water in barrels three miles, and occasionally taking a trip to Taos for groceries. We bought sheep and goats, and killed rabbits for meat, and cooked our food in the fireplace until we got a small stove.

We were home schooled by our parents. When I was sixteen, I attended school in Carson for two years. When I was nineteen, I spent a year in Colorado to help a family. I was paid $2/week to cook, clean, do laundry, and help with the children.

In 1916, I met my future husband, Otto Robertson, in La Madera, while my family was in Cimarron for the summer. Otto was a widower with a young son, Lewis. We married in Reo Reve, NM, on December 9, 1916.

We bought a place and farmed beans. Our first son, Herman, was born there and died at three months of age. We sold that place and homesteaded 160 acres near a log house and a neighborhood well. My children Edna, Ernest, Beulah, and Alfred were born there, far from doctors and hospitals. Ralph, who died when he was one day old, is buried next to Herman in the Carson Cemetery.

Around 1924, we spent one year farming in Safford, AZ, one year in Albuquerque working a grocery store we owned, and then moved to California where both of our parents were living. Otto and his father W.W. worked clearing land in Sutter City, CA. Alfred was hospitalized with spinal meningitis and died at age 6 in 1928; he is buried in Tulare. We also lost a premature baby girl. My parents and brothers were living and working an apple and grape ranch in Cloverdale, CA. Our son, James, was born there in 1929.

The country was in deep depression when Otto got very sick. We moved to Porterville, where W.W. was working on a cotton farm, and lived on our savings. We bought our small home and managed to keep the children in school. I worked at the W.P.A. sewing room for $40/month and paid for our home, which I continued living in until my early 90s. I cared for Otto, who died in 1940, when James was twelve years old. The W.P.A. closed and I worked packing oranges. My daughters completed school and married; Ernest went to work in Los Angeles for Douglas Air Craft and James and I moved with him to Venice, until he joined the Navy (WWII).

I returned to Porterville, to my home and family, after I cared seven years for my mother in Cloverdale until she died at age 93.
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Note 1: See Otto Robertson's grave photo.
Infant Linda L. Robertson (1941), daughter of Bessie's step-son William Lewis Robertson (1913-1996), shares a headstone with her paternal grandfather, (Bessie's husband) Otto Robertson.

Note 2: Brother-in-law, Olcie Robertson, (Otto's brother) is listed in the 1910 US Census. There is a memorial for Olcie Littleton Robertson. Research is necessary to confirm this relationship link.

Note 3: Olcie's son, Earl, is listed in the 1930 US Census. There is a memorial for Earl
Robertson. Research is necessary to confirm this relationship link.