Manwells in California

By Cathie Manwell Adams

Our great-grandfather Manwell, George W. Manwell, was born in New Lanark, Scotland on August 2, 1835.  He was the son of George W. Manwell and Elizabeth (McKay) Manwell.  The family immigrated to the United States (New York) in 1847.

When our great-grandfather was 15 years old he left home and traveled to California via the isthmus, settling first in Death Valley, California.  By 1860, George was living in Honey Lake Valley, California working as a herdsman.  Sometime between July 1860 and July 1862, George married Margaret Alford, daughter of William Alford and Margaret (Kelsey) Alford.  Their first son was born in April 1863.  And herein lies a story tied in with California history. 

Although our family bible recorded that the first child of George and Margaret (also named George W.) was born in California, the 1870 U.S. Census indicates that he was born in Nevada.  In 1863, the residents of Honey Lake Valley were in a conflict with the residents of Quincy (Plumas County) over an attempt by Plumas County to tax them.  The Honey Lake Valley residents claimed they were residents of Nevada.  This dispute was finally resolved in 1864 with the formation of Lassen County, wherein the Honey Lake Valley became part of Lassen County.  So in a way, both the Census and the family bible are correct.  George and Margaret obviously considered themselves residents of Nevada at the time their son was born but he actually was born in California.

George and Margaret moved to Placer County before 1868 when their second child, E. T. Manwell (our grandfather) was born and were living in Placer County when the 1870 U.S. Census was conducted.  At the time of the Census, George was working as a blacksmith.  They subsequently moved to Wheatland, Yuba County, California prior to 1873 when their only daughter Effie was born in May of 1873.  Their family was complete with the birth of a third son, Clyde, on October 14, 1878.  By the 1880 U.S. Census, George was employed as an engineer.

George and Margaret’s oldest child, George W. Manwell, married Minnie E. Wesscher (daughter of J. H. Wesscher, a physician) on November 23, 1887 in Wheatland.  George and Minnie had two children, Jeannette Belle (Jennie) and Charles.  They moved to Healdsburg in Sonoma County sometime before 1900.  Although Jennie was married three times, she only had one child, Mildred, by her first husband, William Johnson.  Mildred was born June 1, 1909 and had three children by two different husbands.  We have only been able to find her son by her second marriage, Leonard Avilla, Jr.  At this time, we do not know if Charles Manwell has descendants.

George and Margaret’s second child, Edmund Tecumseh Manwell (our grandfather), was born August 19, 1868 in Placer County, California.  Because E.T.’s life has been recorded very substantially by other documenters, I will be very brief in the description of his life.  E.T. was an educator and one of the moving forces behind the formation of Wheatland High School.  He became a lawyer and served for a time as a California State Legislator.  At the time of his death, E.T. was the District Attorney for Yuba County.  He was killed in the hop field riots on the Durst ranch on August 3, 1913.  E.T. married Ellen Gertrude Scott on August 22, 1889.  They had nine children.

George and Margaret’s only daughter Effie was born in May 1873 in Wheatland.  She was married very briefly to William Howton and then married John Callison.  Effie and John spent most of their married life in Smartsville.  Effie never had any children.  In our family, Aunt Effie is famous for her homemade ice cream recipe, which has been passed down faithfully by the family and is enjoyed many times every summer by her descendants.  (Unfailingly at all family get-togethers!)

George and Margaret’s last child, Clyde, born October 14, 1898, died at the age of 19.  He was participating in a football game between Wheatland and Marysville (in Marysville) on New Year’s Day 1898 when his back was broken.  He died two days later.  His monument at Wheatland Cemetery was erected by the members of his football team.

Margaret died in 1904 and George died in 1911 at his daughter Effie’s home in Smartsville.  They are both buried at Wheatland Cemetery.  Last summer (2004), my sister and I obtained a copy of George’s obituary published in the September 16, 1911, “Marysville Appeal”, page 1.  The obituary is wonderfully fanciful and tells us that George was quite the storyteller.  During his life, he claimed to have been born “at the Firth of Forth at the mouth of River Clyde.”  And also to have been a nephew of Rob Roy McGreggor (sic).  I don’t know about the Rob Roy story–we can’t find any family connection–but I do know that he was born in New Lanark which is on the banks of the Clyde.  However, not at the mouth, and definitely not on the Firth of Forth–a look at a map of Scotland clears that up rather fast because the River Clyde does not drain into the Firth of Forth (or even come close to it).  George also claimed to have fought in the “Indian and Mexican wars.”  It is possible that he was involved in some hostilities with Indians during his stay in Death Valley or in Plumas County, but the Mexican-American war was over by the time he was 13 (and still living in New York).

Edmund Tecumseh Manwell (E.T.) and Ellen Gertrude (Nellie) Scott were married on August 22, 1889.  They had nine children: Edmund R. “Ray” Manwell, Marjory Frances (aka Margaret) Manwell, George “Angus” Manwell, Helen Gertrude Manwell, Clide (Emma) Manwell, Clyde Manwell, Malcolm Tecumseh Manwell, Delphin Manwell, and John Darwin Manwell.  Around 1906, the family moved to 412 7^th Street in Marysville.  The family home is presently undergoing renovation by the current owner and hopefully restoration will soon be complete.  Several of Edmund and Ellen’s grandchildren remain in the Marysville area and all but three live in Northern California.  Nellie died in November 1918 from complications due to the “Spanish Flu.”  E.T. and Nellie are both buried in the family plot at Wheatland.

E.T. and Nellie’s oldest child, Ray, was born December 11, 1890.  He married Ruth Bradley Smith in September 1912 and had two children by this marriage, Edmund Tecumseh “Jimmy” and Virginia.  By the time of his father’s death in 1913, Ray was an attorney and was appointed District Attorney to replace his dad.  This resulted in Ray prosecuting his father’s purported killers.  (The identity of the person to actually pull the trigger has never been established.)  How Jimmy, who followed in his dad’s footsteps and became an attorney, got his name is a story in itself.  Ray and Ruth lost two children before Jimmy was born in 1915.  There was concern that he also would die and so Ray and Ruth did not name him immediately.  The nurses at the hospital felt that the baby should be called something and named him “Jimmy”.  It stuck for life.  Ray and Jimmy practiced law together in Marysville for many years.  Jimmy married June Finnegan (both deceased, buried at Sierra View Cemetery, Olivehurst) and had two children, Edmund and Phillip.  Ed is currently an attorney in San Francisco and Phillip teaches at Las Positas College in Livermore.  Neither of them ever married.  Ray and Ruth’s daughter, Virginia, married Ellis McKinsey in 1941 and had only one child that survived infancy, Ronald.  (Both Virginia and Ellis are deceased and are buried at Sierra View Cemetery along with two of their babies.)  Ray and Ruth were divorced while their children were still young, but Ruth remained a big part of all our lives until her death in 1965.  She was known as Grandma Ruth, because after Ray’s mother died, she raised his minor brothers as if they were her own.  Grandma Ruth taught school for many years in Marysville.  After a couple of short-lived marriages, Ray married Helen Paillex in the early 1940's and had two more children, Ellen and Roger, both of whom still live in the Marysville area.  Ellen married John Ramsaur (deceased).  She has no children.  Roger has three children, Blair, Lindsey, and Peter.  Helen died in August 1965 and Ray died in March 1966.  Ray, Helen, Grandma Ruth, and at least one of Ray’s other wives are all buried at Sierra View Cemetery.

Marjory Manwell, born in December 1892, was married five times but had no children.  Aunt Marj was the driving force behind keeping the family together.  Twice a year she would hold family dinners at the Café Vienna, which was located just south of Marysville on the road to Wheatland.  She also hosted many dinners in San Francisco for various members of the family who happened to be visiting “The City”.  Her favorite San Francisco restaurants/night spots were Venitos, May’s Oyster House, and Bimbo’s, which was famous for the Girl in the Fish Bowl.  Even after my husband and I moved to Washington State, Aunt Marj would fly us to California to attend her annual New Year’s Party at Bimbo’s.  To Aunt Marj, family was all-important.  She was always ready to help any family member who needed assistance.  Aunt Marj was a wonderful storyteller (I wonder if this was a talent she inherited from her grandfather Manwell) and could be relied upon to drop tidbits of family lore at her dinner parties.  Unfortunately, while she was alive, no one actually thought her stories were true but they definitely enlivened the dinner conversation.  We should have paid more attention–her mother actually was related to Mary, Queen of Scots!   Maybe more of her stories were true.  Aunt Marj died in 1973 and is buried along with her last husband (Earl LeBoeuf) in the Manwell family plot at Wheatland.

Angus (George Angus) Manwell was born November 4, 1894 and only lived 23 days.  He is buried in the family plot at Wheatland.  There is an odd footnote to Angus’ short life.  The 1900 U.S. Census lists him as one of E.T. and Nellie’s children “George A., born November 1894, age 5".  I can only speculate that whoever in the household that gave the census information thought they were supposed to list all children born to the marriage, whether living or deceased.

Helen Gertrude Manwell was born in February 1896.  She married Archie McMath in Aug 1916.  Helen and Archie had three children, Peggy, Buddy, and “Baby Emma” and were later divorced.  Aunt Helen served in the Army during World War II.  Peggy has a son, Glenn, by her second marriage and Buddy had two children, Mary Vee and Richard.  Baby Emma never married and died in 1987 at the age of 67.  Aunt Helen died in 1970 and is buried in the family plot at Wheatland.

Clide (Emma) Manwell was born September 28, 1898.  She married William Hutchison in 1923 and had one daughter, Mary Margaret (who still lives in Marysville).  Aunt Emma and Mr. Hutchison were divorced and Aunt Emma raised Mary Margaret at her house at 630 D Street in Marysville where she had a beauty parlor located in the front of the bottom level and rented out apartments located in the back.  Mary Margaret tells a story about her mom’s name.  It seems that when she was born, she was named Clide (and the 1900 U.S. Census confirms this, although the census taker assumed she was a boy!).  In 1901, when the next child was born to E.T. and Nellie, it was a boy who they named Clyde.  Since it must have been a little awkward to have two children with names pronounced the same, Clide became Emma, which enraged Aunt Emma according to Mary Margaret.  I can only imagine–you are a three-year old little girl named Clide who suddenly isn’t Clide anymore, but Emma.  Talk about sibling rivalry!  Aunt Emma died in May 1975.  Mary Margaret married Warren “Dorsey” Purviance in 1945 (deceased) and they had one son, Rodrick Scott.  Rod has two daughters and a grandson.

Clyde Manwell was born August 27, 1901 and died in May 1950 (also buried at Wheatland).  He married Bertha Maracci in May 1923 and they had one son, Clyde Scott “Scotty” Manwell.  We have not been able to find out any further information regarding Scotty.  Bertha moved from Burlingame to Santa Cruz in 1958 and it was reported in the family that Scotty had married and taken his wife’s last name!

Malcolm Tecumseh Manwell was born October 23, 1907 and died in December 1965. Uncle Mal married Margaret Shaw (deceased) and they had two daughters, Sandra (deceased) and Valpey.  Sandra married Dan Ahart and had three sons and a daughter (and now has several grandchildren) and Valpey married John Ridings and had two sons and two daughters.  Valpey came to the Manwell Family Reunion in Marysville in June 2002 and brought her son, John, and his children, and her daughter, Maggie, and Maggie’s children.  Valpey has nine grandchildren, including twin grandsons.  She is now remarried to Bob Hubbs, but John Ridings remains a close friend of many of the Manwell’s.  Uncle Mal, Aunt Margie, and Sandra are all buried in the family plot at Wheatland.

Delphin Manwell was born in August 1909 and died in January 1983, the last of E.T. and Nellie’s children to die (his younger brother died in 1975).  Delphin was married twice, although nothing is known of his first wife other than her name was Margaret.  During the 1930's Delphin worked in the CCC and in the 40's and 50's owned The Stag, a local Marysville bar and liquor store.  He married Lillian Burke Armstrong (deceased), who had a daughter by a previous marriage, Wanda.  Wanda (married name, O’Hara) still lives in the Marysville area.  Following Uncle Delphin’s birth, the entry “The End” was written in the family bible–but wait, there’s more!

John Darwin “Jack” Manwell was born July 10, 1912 and died February 11, 1975.  He married Mavis Elizabeth Yetter (deceased) on February 18, 1939.  Jack and Mavis had six children: Cathryn Ellen (Cathie), Barbara Rae, Malcolm Tecumseh, II; Elizabeth Ann (Becky), Virginia Marie (Jinner), and John Darwin, Jr.  Cathie is a retired legal assistant in Spokane, Washington with five children and 16 grandchildren, including two sets of twins; Barbara is a teacher in Sacramento and has twin sons and two granddaughters; Malcolm is a lawyer in Santa Rosa and has four sons; Becky was a trucking dispatcher for thirty years in Red Bluff (recently retired) with a son and a daughter; Jinner is a teacher in Denver and has two sons; and John, Jr. is the chief forester for Boise in LaGrande, Oregon and has three sons.

In June 2003, 17 descendants (grandchildren and great-grandchildren) of E.T. and Nellie Scott Manwell gathered in Marysville for a family reunion.  We plan on having another in the future, but hope to have more family join us next time as we locate more and more of our relatives.