August 10, 2005

Addendum to Farris family history.

One of the more frustrating individuals I have attempted to research is the father of William Wilson Farris's wife Harriet (Hattie) Ogden Squires. Her father, Ogden Squires, was a prominent figure in El Dorado County, California, from 1851 until his death in 1880. Ogden, among other public posts, was elected to the State Legislature in 1857 and served from 1858 to 1864, and elected County Judge in 1863, term from 1864 until 1868. His portrait hangs in the El Dorado County Courthouse and a short biography is in the El Dorado County history books. About all I was able to find out about his family history was that he died in Napa in 1880 and the first initials of his wife were “A. M.”. The only child I could find was Hattie.

Several weeks ago I received a surprise e-mail from Sue Silver who had noticed our website and contributed her knowledge of the Squires family. Based on the many facts and clues she provided, I was able to locate more particulars on the Squires family and have updated the files.

Ogden's father was Zachariah Squires, a farmer from New York and later a harness dealer in Aurora, Illinois (Near Chicago). Ogden’s mother was Harriet Ogden. I haven't attempted to trace their ancestors. We know that Zachariah had at least three children; Ogden (b. abt 1831), Zachariah Jr.(b. abt 1833), and Charles (b. abt 1836), all born in New York. Zachariah moved in about 1845 from Cortland County, New York to Aurora, Kane County, Illinois.

Ogden (and possibly Zachariah Sr.) went to California in the early days of the gold rush and settled in Placerville (then Hangtown) where Ogden is listed as a Deputy Sheriff in 1851. He probably traveled in the summer of 1850 since he is not found in any census for that year. He must have received his legal training in California since he was only 20 years old when he arrived, and he later was an attorney and judge in Placerville. He worked in the County Clerk's office until he successfully ran for the legislature in 1857.

In 1859 Ogden married Anna M."Nettie" Jackson, and they had four children according to census pages; Harriet "Hattie" (1860), Adella (1862), Chipper (1863) and Ruth (1865). After his one term in the legislature, Ogden successfully ran for County Judge and served from 1864 to 1868 when he lost his bid for reelection.

Ogden's life appears to have taken a turn for the worse following his failed reelection bid in 1867. In July, 1870 he is found with his wife and children (less Adella) back in Aurora, Illinois, in the home of his father, and in the same year's census, October – California, Ogden's wife and two of his children are listed in the home of C. L. Wilson in Lower Lake, California. Ogden returned to Placerville and practiced law. He and his wife divorced in 1877. Ogden died in 1880 at the Napa State Hospital for the Insane at the age of about 48 from tuberculosis (then "consumption"), and his wife died in 1885 at the age of 42, cause unknown.

After Ogden's death in 1880, his remains were returned to Aurora, Illinois where he was buried in the Spring Lake Cemetery alongside his mother who died in 1875. Also buried there are his father who died in 1894 and his brother Zachariah, Jr. who died in 1905.

With regard to Ogden's daughters:

Hattie's life is well known to Farris researchers. She married William Wilson Farris and had a number of children, but also died young at age 39. Her descendants are known, and several of them are interested in our Farris genealogy project and have contributed information and old photos (see the Farris section on www.jimsweb.org).

Adella married Charles Albert Bamber, Sr. and had three sons and two daughters. Neither of the two daughters have living descendants. Son Robert O. Bamber joined the military in WWI and is listed as single-37 in the 1930 census. No other record of him has been found. The descendants of the other two sons are mostly known but have not been contacted. I have posted the Bamber ancestors to my website (www.jimsweb.org) and the WorldConnect system so if any of the Bamber descendants get interested in genealogy they will easily find us there.

Ruth married Seymour Hill and had two daughters, neither of which had children.

Questions and comments regarding the Squires family and descendants:

• 1. Ogden died in the Napa State Hospital for the Insane in 1880, but his status there is unclear. He had been practicing law in Placerville until late in 1879 (a number of articles in the Placerville "Mountain Democrat" newspaper mention him in regard to cases), so it is possible that he contracted tuberculosis in Placerville prior to being committed to the institution in Napa (people with tuberculosis and other non-mental conditions were often placed in State institutions during that time period).

• 2. Ogden's son Chipper is in the 1870 census but disappears between 1870 and 1880 – we presumed he had died. Ogden's obituary states that he was survived by a wife and three daughters and doesn’t mention Chipper. I checked all the censuses from 1880 on and found no Squires surnamed individual who met Chipper’s vital statistics. He was last seen in Lower Lake, California with his mother in the 1870 census. I believe I know what happened to him.
  • Daughter Adella isn't listed with the family in Aurora or Lower Lake in 1870 – she would have been about eight years old and should be found somewhere. She was certainly Ogden's daughter as her parents are listed in her obituary. I’ve searched the 1870 census using various combinations of her name and vital statistics but can’t find her. So, whenever Adella is somewhere, Chipper isn’t, and vice versa.

  • We’ve assumed that Ogden’s child Chipper was male. The 1870 census for Illinois lists him as male, but the 1870 census for California lists him/her as female. It would be more likely that a census taker would assume the name Chipper belonged to a male. Probably, the Illinois census taker didn’t ask, the California census taker did. Chipper was most likely female.

  • Chipper’s age in July, 1870 is listed as seven, and in October it’s listed as eight. So, she/he was probably born between those months in 1862.

  • Adelle Squires Bamber’s birthdate in her obituary is November 16, 1860 and her age at her death on March 21, 1935 is listed as 73. That doesn’t compute. In all probability the informant knew her birthday but missed the year. Based on census information (1900 lists both month and year of birth), I believe her birthdate was November, 1862 which pretty much matches Chipper’s.

  • I’m going to keep Chipper in the database, but I believe, based on the above information, that Adelle’s nickname as a child was “Chipper”, and Ogden had three daughters and no sons.

• 3. Adella Squires Bamber’s daughter Nettie’s birthdate in the 1900 census is September, 1880. But, in the 1880 census taken in June, she is listed with her parents as being one year old (probably anyone less than one year old was listed that way). Charles Bamber and Adella were married in September, 1878, so I presume her correct birthdate is September, 1879. Nettie married Theodore Linn Anderson and moved to Chicago. She must have died before 1935 as Adelle’s obituary says she was survived by two sons (correct) and one daughter, Mrs. Charles Rayburn of Placerville. I have no information on whether they had any children.

• 4. Adella Squires Bamber’s other daughter Avis married Charles A. Rayburn, a successful orchard manager some 25 years her senior, in about 1920 and had one child, Charles Eugene Rayburn, in 1927 who died in infancy. Prior to her marriage to Charles, Avis was frequently mentioned in the Placerville, California newspaper (Mountain Democrat) as she was the central telephone operator of El Dorado County and active in social affairs. The last entry mentioning her name in July, 1919 states, “Miss. Avis Bamber is visiting friends in Fresno, after which she will spend some time in San Francisco.” Presumably, she ran off with Charles Bamber who had either divorced or abandoned his wife and children. His wife Florence is found in the 1920 census living with her mother and children and still listed as married. Charles A. Rayburn died in Placerville in 1937 and was buried in Bakersfield. His obituary lists Avis as his wife, but only his two children by his second marriage (previous to Avis) to Florence Chalder. Sometime after Charles died, Avis married a Mr. Hill. One wonders if he is from the Hill family in Placerville – her aunt Ruth married Seymour Hill. Avis died in 1947 with no indication she had any other children.