George Benjamin Brewer 1867 to 1945

George Benjamin Brewer was born October 17, 1867 in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois to Abraham and Rebecca (Lacey) Brewer. The family stayed in the Danville area during George's early years, which is where he met his first wife Lacy A Gebhart. 

At the age of 19, George married Lacy On May 1, 1887 in Danville.

In 1900, George and Lacy are living at 514 Washington Ave and George is working as a candy maker in Danville. I have yet to identify who George was working for when he was making candy. Perhaps he was in business for himself? 

In 1906, while George is still making candy for a living, he loses his wife Lacy. Lacy (Gebhart) Brewer died on February 11, 1906, leaving George with 11 children 18 years of age and under. I have not found a death certificate for Lacy yet, so I do not know what caused her death at such a young age of 42. 

Some time between Lacy's death in 1906 and May of 1910, George headed off to California. We find George in San Bernardino, California with 3 men listed as his brothers (Frank C, Benjamin, and Oliver) and they are all working as machinists in a Garage. Meanwhile, George's oldest son George Adrian is married and living in Chicago and his oldest daughter Lacy is married and living in Danville. I haven't found all the children in 1910 yet. I'm not sure who they went to live with when George removed to California. 

Some time between 1910 and 1913, George remarried to Emma Pauline Renner because in 1910, we find him living in Wilmington Township, Los Angeles County, California with Emma, 2 step daughters and his youngest child Helen (age 7). George is working as a Steel Cutter at the LA Ship Yards. 

By 1922, George and Emma have purchased their home at 2567 Elm Ave in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California. In the city directories George and Emma are listed at this address at least up until George's death in 1945. The home is no longer there. A strip mall has been put in its place unfortunately.

From 1924 to 1932, George is listed as an oil worker. In the 1924 directory, it states that he was working for Henderson Petroleum Corp. In 1930, he's listed as a Pumper for Oil Wells. According to Wikipedia:

"In 1903, California became the leading oil-producing state in the US, and traded the number one position back-and forth with Oklahoma through the year 1930" and that "new oil fields across southern California were being discovered with regularity including Long Beach in 1921". 

Furthermore, Wikipedia goes on to say that:

"The Long Beach Oil Field is a large oil field underneath the cities of Long Beach and Signal Hill, California, in the United States. Discovered in 1921, the field was enormously productive in the 1920s, with hundreds of oil derricks covering Signal Hill and adjacent parts of Long Beach; largely due to the huge output of this field, the Los Angeles Basin produced one-fifth of the nation's oil supply during the early 1920s. In 1923 alone the field produced over 68 million barrels of oil, and in barrels produced by surface area, the field was the world's richest."

George would have been working in the oil fields during this most productive time. It appears he must have gotten out of the business around 1933 because he's listed as a gardener and laborer from 1933 to 1937. George was 66 years old in 1933. I'm sure the oil field work was getting to be a bit much at that age. 

It looks like George may have retired around the age of 72. He is no longer listed with an occupation from 1939 until his death in 1945. 

George passed on November 12, 1945 at 78 years of age having lived quite a varied and interesting life. 

William Earl Putnam 1885 to 1939 Indiana and Illinois

William Earl Putnam was born on June 10, 1885 in Brightwood Township, Marion County, Indiana to William Tasker Putnam and Lillie Estavilla McGahan. 

William had 2 older sisters Sadie Gertrude Putnam and Lillian Fay Putnam and 1 younger brother Fred Albert Putnam. He also had 2 half brothers from his father's first marriage in Maine. Their names were Ernest and Samuel. 

In 1900 when William was 14, the family was in Chicago, Illinois. His father William Tasker Putnam was working as Foreman for the Railroad while William and his brother Albert were in school. Fay is still living at home at this time, but no occupation is listed for her. 

Here is a picture of William Earl as a younger man. 

By 1907, the family is in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois. This is where William Earl meets and marries Lacy Mae Brewer. 

In 1908, William Earl Putnam is working as a cashier for the National Biscuit Co (later known as Nabisco) when Lacy Mae gives birth to their first daughter Dorothy Mae Putnam. 

Their second daughter Kathryn Estavilla Putnam is born in 1909. By this time, William Earl Putnam is a manager at National Biscuit Co. 

When the third (Helen Elizabeth 1910) and fourth (Wilma Margradell 1912) daughters are born, William Earl's occupation is listed as bookkeeper, but for whom is unknown.

In 1913 when son William Ernest Putnam is born, William Earl is working as a bookkeeper for Golden Rule. 

On 12 Sep 1918, when William Earl registered for the WWI draft, William was working as a bookkeeper for Schmitt & Leachman (a department store) in Danville.

In the 1920 census, the family is found in Danville and William is working as a bookkeeper in the Dry Goods industry. 

By 1930, William Earl and Lacy have moved the family to Indianapolis. They are living at 2209 East New York Street and William is a bookkeeper in an auto factory. William's son, William Ernest, is 16 and working as a  newspaper office boy. 

William Earl Putnam passed away May 17, 1939 from a cerebral hemorrhage with Broncho Pneumonia as a contributing factor. 

William is buried at Washington Park East. 

Lacy joined him in the after life on Jan 9, 1957 and is buried next to him in Washington Park East.

 

Kathryn Estavilla Putnam

 

My grandmother Kathryn Putnam was the quintessential grandmother. There were always candies in the dishes on the coffee table and big hugs and kisses.

Kathryn died when I was only 5 years old, but my memories of her are all wonderful. When I would visit, she would be in her easy chair in the corner of the living room next to grandpa in his own easy chair. I remember her sitting there with her knees bouncing, arms stretched out and a big smile on her face. She just couldn't wait for me to run over there to her. Here is a picture of her in that easy chair with my grandpa Everett Poland Sr.

As I have dug into my family history, I have learned that grandma Kathryn had quite and interesting life before she became my grandma. 

Kathryn Estavilla Putnam was born on July 25, 1909 in Danville, Illinois to William Earl Putnam and Lacy Mae Brewer Putnam. Kathryn was the 2nd of 6 children born to William Earl and Lacy Mae. She got her middle name from her grandmother Lillie Estavilla McGahan Putnam. 

In June 1928, Kathryn married her first husband Kenneth Frederick Scott in Hancock county Indiana. This marriage didn't last long as they were divorced in May 1929. 

In June 1929, Kathryn married her second husband William Andrew Deakins in Indianapolis Indiana, but that marriage didn't last either. Kathryn and William were divorced in Nov 1933. 

In December 1933, Kathryn married for the third time to Charles Wilbur Anderson in Indianapolis, Indiana. This marriage lasted until July 1942. 

On April 4, 1943, Kathryn married for the last time to my grandfather Everett Poland Sr. 

Kathryn and Everett bought a house near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Eagledale Drive and lived a quiet, normal life. The couple only had 1 child, my father Everett Poland Jr on June 26, 1950. They were members of the Catholic Church and my father attended Cardinal Ritter High School. 

Kathryn enjoyed gardening. She even reached out to the Gardening column in the Indianapolis Star newspaper looking for starts of Lilac bushes, advice about Lillies, and how to deter moles among other things.

Kathryn passed away August 16, 1976.