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| Harry Berryman, Gladys Eva, G.S. Holbrook, Emma Katherine, Helen, & Earl. |
George Simeon Holbrook
On Tuesday, 06 January
1846 Simeon George Holbrook and his wife Murtilla Seaward had a son named George Simeon Holbrook. He was the second child
born to Simeon and Murtilla. George's older brother Arthur was born 16 December 1843 but would die at the age of 11 years
old. So George was the youngest child until the birth of a sister Julia Peacock, 21 months later. I assume that she did
not live long because I cannot find her in any other documentation after her birth record.
When George was born his
parents lived on 39.92 acres they had purchased for $1.25 an acre on 02 Dec 1844 in Chemung, McHenry County, Illinois. George's
father was probably farming this prairieland.
When Murtilla was pregnant with George's sister Pheba Catherine Holbrook,
she traveled back to Massachusetts to have the baby. I imagine that she must have had problems in her previous pregnancy so
she probably wanted to be near her in-laws when she had the baby. Pheba Catherine was born 06 October 1848, exactly 1 year
to the day that her sister Julia had been born. Murtilla must have had an easier time this time because Kate, who she was
always called lived a long life.
Murtilla, Kate, and George returned to Simeon and within the year they moved to Adams
County, Wisconsin for a short time. I don't know why they went to Wisconsin but it was very near by. They then returned to
Dixon, Lee County, Illinois. Murtilla's Father and Mother lived in Dixon and they had many acres of land. Her dad must have
been quite wealthy or land poor.
The next 10 years of their life is a mystery. The next time you find George Simeon
and his sister is on the 1860 census at which time George and Kate were living with their Uncle Christopher Gore Holbrook
in Polo, Ogle County, Illinois. Uncle Christopher was 51 at this time and had a son Charles Lazelle Holbrook who was 18 and
living there also and farming his father's 120 acre farm. Christopher was a banker. His wife had died within 3 months of giving
birth to Charles. So I would imagine George who was 14 and Kate who was 11 were probably a big help to Christopher and Charles.
There is no way to know how long they lived with their Uncle Christopher but their mother Murtilla re-married this
same year, 1860, to Charles Snyder. Knowing this and that Murtilla was still living in Dixon prior to her 2nd marriage I would
assume she and Simeon were divorced sometime between 1850 and 1860. The reason for the divorce is not yet known. As far as
I can tell George never lived with her again, but Kate did right after Murtilla married Charles Snyder.
On Tuesday,
12 August 1862 George Simeon Holbrook enlisted in the Union Army at Quincy, Illinois. He was assigned to Company K, Twenty-
fifth Wisconsin located at La Crosse, Wisconsin. Later his Company was sent to Fort Snelling, Minnesota and then to Mankato,
Minnesota where he helped guard a number of Indians, 37 of whom were hanged at the same time. His position in the Company
was that of a Musician, Bugler to be exact. There was another young man who was the drummer for the Company. His Uncle Christopher
Gore Holbrook secured his release from the army because he was underage, only 16 years old on 28 November 1862.
In
1863, George sailed from New York to California via the Isthmus of Panama. From California he made his way to Virginia City,
Nevada where he met Samuel Clemmons (Mark Twain) who became a life long friend.
In 1865 he went to Alder Gulch, Montana
where he did mining and contracting and then later returned to Nevada.
In approximately 1870 or 1871, he worked as
a driver freighting goods by wagon from Mexico to Salt Lake City, Utah. One day after a thunderstorm they found that all their
food was spoiled and moldy because of the wet conditions. So they stopped at a farm to ask for food. A Mormon man by the name
of Samuel James gave them milk and bread which he told his stepdaughter to get for them. Her name was Jenny Bromhead. George
found out she was going to work for a lady in Lehi who had a Boarding House. He made it his business to stop by there as often
as possible but George and Jenny had to keep their courtship secret because of her strict Mormon parents.
On 20 July
1872 George wrote from Stockton, Utah to Jenny in Lehi at Mrs. Long's Boarding House. He said he was working there in Stockton
building a smelting works and was trying save money to build a house in the city for Jenny so they could get married. It appears
that they had not yet told Jenny's mother (Anne James) or stepfather Samuel James of their plans. He said in his letter that
he would be going to the Comstock mine the next week. He then probably worked at the Comstock putting timber in the mine to
shore it up as they excavated it. At this time the timbers were hand hewn and fitted in the mines.
George and Jenny
(Jane Ann) Bromhead were married on Tuesday, 19 November 1872. There is a family legend that they were told no by her family
so he stole her away during the night and they ran away to Virginia City, Nevada to be married and later were remarried in
Salt Lake City, Utah, to please her mother probably at the Mormon Church or Temple.
Our family records tell us that
George Simeon Holbrook and Sam Clemens were friends from Clemens' Virginia City days. We read of a short story Clemens wrote
about George and Jenny's elopement, possibly titled "The Mormon Bride", but we have been unable to locate the story.
Jenny
became pregnant in 1873 and decided to travel back to Lehi, Utah to her mother to have her first child. Grace Lenore Holbrook
was born on a Monday, 8 December 1873. After the birth when Jenny was recovered, she and Grace returned to George in Virginia
City, Nevada.
The next three children were born in Nevada. Floyd Gade Holbrook was born in Virginia City on 22 March
1876. Clarence Holbrook was born in Tuscarora, Nevada on 20 January 1879 and died on 27 February 1879 at just over a month
old and I am confident that Clarence was buried in Tuscarora. Lee D. Holbrook was born in Tuscarora on 13 March 1880.
In
June 1881, Jenny and George and their 3 children traveled by train and stagecoach to Butte, Montana. Their youngest son, Lee,
who was 14 months old, had the measles. He had a very hard time in the heat and was very uncomfortable on this trip. The weather
was hot and dusty and he died soon after arriving in Butte. Grace who was his 8-year-old sister wrote of this in her diaries.
The family moved up to Walkerville, which is a suburb of Butte. It was 1½ miles up Anaconda Hill from Butte. This
is where Grace and Floyd entered grade school.
Jenny went to her mother's in Lehi, Utah to have her last child. Gladys
Eva Holbrook was born 21 November 1887. Gladys was 14 years younger than her sister Grace. So Grace was a big help around
the house while Jenny was recuperating after arriving back home in Walkerville.
George worked as a mine carpenter
and a building contractor for most of his life. He worked in erecting the buildings at the Old Alice Mine, one of the first
in that district. He also built many other buildings for other mines in the Butte and Walkerville area.
George served
as the City treasurer under Mayor John Holland. He was a Charter member of Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 24 A.F.&A.M. He was a
great lover of the outdoors and took his family camping for a month or two at a time. He was an avid hunter and fisherman.
They were living at 135 Daly St. in Walkerville at this time. Grace took piano lessons from a young age and continued
until she was married. She was then prepared to teach piano which she did off and on throughout her life. She always had a
piano until she sold the house on Fullerwood Dr. and moved to an apartment after her husband Peter Kendrick became ill and
they moved to an apartment.
George and his family attended Trinity Methodist Church regularly and it was in this Church
that Grace met and started dating Peter Kendrick and later they were married in this same Church.
Simeon George Holbrook,
George's father, came to visit them in Walkerville. When he was traveling to see them he fell from the train and it seriously
injured him. Grace mentioned that he was never quite right after that injury. I assume he had a head injury. He was confused
most of the time, and he lived there with George and family until his death on Friday, 10 December 1897. He was buried in
the Holbrook plot in the Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Walkerville, Montana. I am suspicious that he may have been senile or had
Alzheimer disease as well as having been injured.
In 1889 Jenny had a severe stroke and it left her paralyzed on her
left side. Gladys was only 2 years old and Grace was 16 years old, so Grace had to in effect become a mother to Gladys. George
hired a nurse to help with Jenny's care; her name was Emma Courtenay. Jenny died 30th of October and was buried on Halloween
day. As they were transporting her casket to the cemetery by wagon they hit a bump and the bottom of the wagon broke and the
casket fell through. It must have been a very traumatic event for the family but with George's sense of humor he probably
felt Jenny was just trying to make her funeral memorable.
George again married, Emma Katherine Richardson. There is
confusion as to when he married this woman. His obituary says he married her in 1890, which is only possible if he had two
wives at the same time. Which I suppose is a possibility since Jenny and Kate Richardson were both Mormon. But I think there
is just a mistake in the obituary. The 1910 Census states that Emma Katherine Richardson and George Holbrook were married
for 8 years at the time of the census, which is first hand account from George and Kate which is the strongest evidence that
they were married in 1902. This would mean that he had waited 2 years to marry again after Jenny's death in 1900. Kate was
not the most likeable person and he was not happy with her. George grudgingly stayed with her until his death.
In
1920 George took a trip to Florida to visit Grace and her family who had moved to St. Augustine in 1910. This trip was to
be the last time Grace and her family was to see George alive. I have a picture of George and his Grandson Paul Kendrick on
the Fort green in St. Augustine. Paul was only 6 years old.
After this trip George returned to Walkerville where his
home and Kate were. His daughter Gladys and her family lived in Walkerville as well and I am sure that they were a great tonic
for him. He loved Earl and Helen his grandkids and spent much time visiting with them.
He wrote his last letter to
Grace in the first part of January 1923, which was just after his birthday on the 6th. He spoke of an illness, which he had
and was hoping to get rid of, and also complained about his wife, Kate as usual. He passed from this life on Wednesday, 31
January 1923 at the age of 77. He was buried in the Holbrook plot of the Mt. Moriah Cemetery near his beloved wife Jenny.
Kate applied for a Civil War Union Army pension which she was awarded and received it for the rest of her life. She
died in 1955 and is buried next to Floyd Holbrook in the Holbrook plot in Mt. Moriah Cemetery.
George Simeon Holbrook
had an interesting life and was a pioneer of the Old West. He was of the first generation of Holbrook's to be born outside
of New England since their arrival to America from England in 1636.
Disclaimer: This is written with the best
evidence that I could find and I do not claim that it is without flaw. I will update and correct anything that I find to be
missing or wrong with further research. I added opinion and assumptions and always stated such when I did this. I feel like
I knew George Simeon Holbrook and Jane Ann (Jenny) Bromhead from the letters, family accounts and documentation that I have
heard, seen, and discovered.
They were a strong, honest and pleasant couple who worked hard suffered many hardships
and still provided for their family and were active in their church and community. I am proud to be their great granddaughter
and hope that others who read this will glean a bit of the same feeling. May we all be as good a people and leave as rich
a legacy for our progeny.
With humility, respect and gratitude to George Simeon and Jenny Holbrook,
I
remain,
Shirley Kendrick Johnson
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