Finding Mabel

This story begins with an estrangement between sisters, Carrie and Mabel Skiff in the early 1890s, caused by a series of events hereinafter described, set in motion by their court-appointed guardians John W. and Delilah Shelton.

Mabel’s Childhood

Mabel Ethel Skiff was born 25 November 1880 in Union, OR to Willis and Mary Calista [Moe] Skiff. She was one of nine children born to the family, four of which survived to adulthood. The family lived a comfortable existence in the town of Union. Father Willis was a public official who owned interest in a local flour mill. When Mabel was 5 years old, her father disappeared while on a business trip. Years later, the disappearance was ruled a murder after a body was discovered in the washed-out bank of a local creek. Following his death, Mabel’s baby brother and mother died.

In September 1889, at the age of nine Mabel and her sister Carrie, 13, were adopted by local attorney and businessman John W. Shelton and his wife Delilah. Both girls had inherited their mother’s dark expressive eyes and olive complexion. Mabel in particular, was a special pet and companion of Mrs. Shelton. They traveled together often, to Portland and also the San Francisco area in California to visit Mrs. Shelton’s brother and family.

Backstory to a Conflict

In 1892 while the two were on one of their California trips, Mr. Shelton did the unthinkable. He filed for divorce without his wife’s knowledge and eloped with Mabel’s sister Carrie. They were married 27 October 1892 in Weiser, ID, Carrie was 16 years old. When Mabel and the first Mrs. Shelton returned, a battle in the courts ensued.

John W. Shelton died 12 September 1894 in Portland, OR after an illness of several months. On his death, the former Mrs. Delilah Shelton swept in and took charge. Funeral and burial arrangements were made, Carrie forced out of the couple’s hotel apartment and cut off financially. The court battle continued until Delilah was avenged two months later and the marriage to Carrie annulled. The victory was bittersweet however, Shelton had died a bankrupt man. In order to avoid his debts, Delilah took Mabel and left. Neither sister, Carrie or Mabel, would see each other again following the funeral.

A Sister Never Gives Up

Mabel’s sister Carrie was left a widow two weeks shy of her 18^th birthday. Homeless, without financial support, but not without friends in the city. She was able to obtain a stenographer job with a local law firm owned by George E. Chamberlain. With his interest and support she was given opportunities to step out of her stenographer role and take on work normally given to male law clerks. She had a keen mind and natural aptitude for the law. When Chamberlain’s political ambitions took off, she went with him to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office, the Governor’s office and later the Senate in Washington D.C. He was aware of her background and circumstances and at various points used his political connections to help try and find Mabel.

Eakin Letters

In 1905 while Governor of Oregon, Chamberlain wrote to Robert Eakin, a former attorney from Union; a man he had approved the appointment of to a circuit court judgeship. Chamberlain asked Eakin to use his connections to the Skiff family to discern whether they had any contact with Mabel, or had any leads in the whereabouts of Delilah Shelton, Mabel’s guardian. The response was as follows:

Letter dated May 9, 1905

“Dear Sir

Your letter of the 8^th is at hand relating to Mabel Skiff and Mrs. C.B. Shelton’s anxiety as to her whereabouts. In reply I will say that I do not know where Mabel is at this time. I have made a good deal of effort all these years to keep track of her, but have not been successful. Mrs. Delilah Shelton, with whom Mabel has always been near and is now I believe, became very bitter against me some years ago so that I have not heard from her directly since she left Portland. I had a talk with Nolan Skiff a brother residing at Pine Baker Co. Ore. until recently (I believe his family are there yet.) And he informed (last month) that he heard that Delilah Shelton was running a boarding house when he last heard of her, at Glen Ferry or Mountain Home, Idaho – or some other small RR town this side of Pocatella [sic], but thought she had gone from there, He and his brother Orrin Skiff living here have written frequent letters to her (Mabel) for several years but have reason to believe that either she does not get them or is worked upon to such an extent that she will not answer. I have talked to both the Brothers about her and offered to do any thing in my power to get the children on friendly terms. I would go out of my way to do this for Mrs. C.B.S. also. I am fully of the opinion that it can only be accomplished by a personal interview with Mabel, as it is doubtful if she will answer any letters if she receives them. I will have an interview with Orrin here and if he has any clew [sic] as to the present place of residence of Mabel I will write you again. Also I will write to Nolan about it. I have urged the Brothers especially frequently to make extra effort and I would aid them to get in communication with Mabel. I think it very important and desirable that this should be done. Mr. Willis Skiff was one of the best friends I had in this county. And my wife was very intimate with Mrs. Skiff. and took an unusual interest in the children, whom we have known since their birth or nearly so. And I have no doubt of your statement that Mrs. C.B. Shelton is a perfect lady. 

I have met her in your Portland office a few times and recognized her writing in correspondence with you as Governor. Hoping that she may succeed in getting on friendly times with Mabel. 

I am yours truly, 

Robert Eakin 

An additional letter dated January 8, 1906 shed a little further light.

My Dear Governor, with relation to the address of Mrs. Delilah Shelton, I have learned that her husband’s name is “Morgan” and they reside at Napa, California. My informant states that he was unable to learn the first name or initials of Mr. Morgan, or to learn any thing about Mabel.

Respectfully yours,

Robert Eakin

It is of interest to note that Eakin was an associate of J.W. Shelton and represented him in several legal matters including a portion of the divorce proceedings. This would understandably have led to a falling out with Delilah Shelton, and additional reason for her to avoid his investigative efforts.

Trail Goes Cold

At this point the trail goes cold and we know from Skiff family descendants that none of Mabel’s immediate family members including Carrie were reunited in life. So, what happened to Mabel? Is it possible to trace her story using modern research methods with historic records and newspapers available on the internet?

Follow the Clues

What clues can we follow from Eakin’s letters that may point to an avenue of research? First, after Delilah and Mabel left Oregon they went to Idaho and ran a boarding house in a railroad town, possibly Glen’s Ferry or Mountain Home. Second, Delilah remarried, to a Mr. Morgan. Third, in 1906 they lived in Napa, California.

Genealogical Detective Work

Keeping in mind that these clues are merely pointers to possible records to search, and not substantiated yet, let’s turn to the California Digital Newspaper project first. Perhaps a Delilah Shelton or Morgan and Mabel might have been mentioned in a Napa newspaper of the time period. Luck appears to be on our side, in the June 6, 1914 edition of the Napa Journal on page 8, we found a notice for the Fraternal Brotherhood Election listing a president named, Mrs. Delilah Morgan and vice-president, Mabel Sheldon (close enough). Subsequent searches also revealed news articles from 1908 and 1909 about a farm with fine strawberries owned by Mrs. Thomas Morgan who resides near the Water Works on Hagen road. The same Thomas Morgan who worked as section foreman on the S.F.V. & N.V. electric railroad, spur track. We also find a record of the purchase of the land on Hagen road by Mrs. Delilah S. Morgan. We are on the right track.

Next up, the 1910 Federal Census records found at Ancestry.com. In Napa, CA we find an Irish immigrant named Thomas Morgan, age 50 with the occupation of roadmaster for the railroad. In his household are a wife named Delilah, age 50, born in Iowa, stepdaughter Mabel E. Sheldon age 26 who was born in Oregon, and a nephew named Thomas Percy, age 12, born in California. We hit the jackpot. Not only did we find our Mr. Morgan with a railroad connection, but Delilah, Mabel and Delilah’s nephew. Remember Delilah and Mabel’s frequent trips to California to visit her brother? Percy was his only son.

We follow the census records forward from this point. In 1920 we find the same core household of Thomas, Delilah, and Mabel. The family has moved to Morton St. in Alameda, CA and Mabel age 31 works as a machine operator at Electric Lamp Works. In 1930, Mabel has left Thomas Morgan’s immediate household. It’s possible that she has experienced a change in circumstances or life event such as marriage, independence, or possibly death. Thomas and Delilah have moved again, to Clement St. in San Francisco and run a boarding facility for five people listed as feeble-minded. Thomas is 68 by this point and Delilah 70. Neither appear in the 1940 census, it would not be unreasonable to suspect that they may have died by that point.

Mabel’s trail has gone cold again, so back to digitized historic newspapers we go. On the assumption that Thomas and Delilah have died between 1930 and 1940 we search for death notices or obituaries in the hope that a stepdaughter’s name and residence may have been listed. We find a death notice for a Thomas Morgan with enough clues to let us pick up the trail again.

“MORGAN — In this city, October 2^nd, 1938, Thomas, devoted father of Mabel E. Sammons, devoted uncle of Percy Thomas of Alameda, native of Ireland, member of the Loyal Order of Moose of Napa, California.” (San Francisco Examiner, 4 Oct 1938, p. 11)

Note the date and location of the newspaper. San Francisco, the last known census recorded residence of Thomas & Delilah Morgan in 1930. His Irish ancestry is corroborated, and ties to a previous residence in Napa, CA. Also listed is a daughter named Mabel and nephew Percy Thomas. No question, this is the right Thomas Morgan. But where is Delilah? Has she predeceased him? And notice Mabel’s new last name.

Back to the 1930 Federal Census records we go, this time searching for Mabel Sammons. We find her in Alameda, CA with husband Lemay E. Sammons, a machinist for a hotel supply company. Also living in the household is Dora A. Sammons, her mother-in-law. Mabel’s age is listed as 36 and her birthplace Oregon. This particular census also records the age at which she was married as 29, which gives us an estimated year the couple married, between 1922-1923.

We use this bit of information to return to the online historic newspapers again where we find a marriage license recorded in the Peninsula Times Tribune.

Marriage license issued in San Jose for Leman E. Sammons, 34 and Mabel E. Skelton, 29, both of Alameda (Peninsula Times Tribune, Palo Alto, CA, 9 Nov 1922, p. 5)

At this point we have enough information to confidently apply for copies of vital records for Mabel and the Morgans. Once received by mail, the marriage and death certificates provide additional corroborating evidence. Thomas Morgan’s was signed by Mabel Sammons, stepdaughter. His certificate also gives cemetery information which allows us to further research and pinpoint Delilah’s death to 1935 as well as her burial location.

Carrie Skiff

Mabel Skiff

Found and Not Forgotten

Just as the sisters photographs now reside side by side in an archival folder in the Willamette Heritage Center collections, we have connected them again by preserving their stories on Ancestry.com.

Mabel’s story after the separation from her birth family can be summed up in the following words. Her guardian Delilah took her to Idaho where she may have run a boarding house. Delilah met and married Thomas Morgan, an Irish immigrant with a railroad background. They came to Napa, CA by 1901 and purchased 17 acres with a home and property to grow strawberries while Thomas oversaw the building of electric track line for the Napa Valley Electric Railway Co. By 1920, the family had moved to Alameda, CA where Mabel took a job in an electric light factory. Mabel married Lee Sammons in the Fall of 1922. He was a machinist for the hotel industry. Delilah Shelton Morgan died in 1935 of heart disease and Thomas Morgan in 1938. Mabel and husband Lee continued to live in Alameda until their deaths in 1947 and 1942 respectively. Mabel died from a coronary occlusion at the age of 67. Her body was cremated and remains interred with the Morgans in Woodlawn Cemetery.

References:

• George Earle Chamberlain Papers, MSS 1025, Oregon Historical Society
• U.S. Federal Census Records, 1910-1940, Ancestry.com
• Vital Records, California State Archives
• “More New Comers,” Napa Journal, 13 Sep 1901, p. 3
• “Building Spur Track,” Napa Journal, 25 Sep 1908, p. 8
• “Fine Strawberries,” Napa Journal, 3 Sep 1909, p. 7
• “Fraternal Brotherhood Election,” Napa Journal, 6 Jun 1914, p. 8
• Obituary, Thomas Morgan, San Francisco Examiner, 4 Oct 1938, p. 11
• Marriage License, Sammons – Skelton [sic], Peninsula Times Tribune, 9 Nov 1922, p. 5