Search brief: Capt. Richard B. Holbrook Jr.'s second family (for a browser agent)

Written 9 Oct 2026 for an assistant with a browser signed in to FamilySearch. Copy everything below the line. The full case is Capt. Richard B. Holbrook Jr.'s second family in South Dakota.

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The question

Capt. Richard Blackmer Holbrook Jr. was born on 16 Sept 1872 on Whidbey Island, Washington. He was a Puget Sound and Alaska steamboat master. In 1900 he married Jessie Clifford at Seattle, and they had sons Richard Clifford ("Dick", b. 1902) and Daniel Philip ("Phil", b. 1904). He was in the Seattle directories with Jessie up to 1919: at 560 Mercer St in 1918 and 1919, and at 8629 51st Av S in 1917. His WWI draft card, of 12 Sept 1918, names Jessie as his wife. A Canadian entry card, stamped at Seattle in March 1918 or 1919, has him going alone to Fort McMurray, Alberta, "to make a home." He has not been found in the 1920 census.

He died on 22 Sept 1923 at the Bismarck Evangelical Hospital, North Dakota, as "Richard Holbrook of Pollock, S. Dak.," a farmer aged 51. His death certificate gives "Sept 16" as his birthday and "married," but leaves "Husband of" blank. The informant was "Mrs Maud Holbrook, Pollock S. Dakota." The Bismarck Tribune says he was "survived by his wife, and two sons, Douglas, age 7, and Donald, age 5." He was buried at Pollock, Campbell County, South Dakota. A grandson's family story (1998) says he met Maud in Seattle, where she worked in a coffee shop near the ferry slips, and took her to a wheat farm near Pollock. No marriage of Richard and Maud, no divorce from Jessie, and no census showing them together has been found.

Who was Maud? The leading candidate, not proven:

• Maud (Maude) Elizabeth Noel, born at Braidwood, Illinois, on 18 Dec 1888 by a family tree (about 1889 by her age when she married).
• Her parents were Samuel Hall Noel, an optician born in England in 1861, and Elizabeth N. Todd, also born in England. They lived in Seattle, and later Auburn and Algona, Washington.
• She married John Randolph Morilon, born 20 May 1882 at Leavenworth, Kansas, at Seattle on 12 Aug 1910.
• Their sons:
  • John Noel Morilon, known as Donald or "Mick," born 19 July 1911 at Seattle, died 1997 by a family tree.
  • Douglas Noel Morilon, known as "Jack," born 25 Aug 1916 at Helena, Montana, died 2003 at Hillsboro, Oregon.
• By Sept 1918 she lived apart from Morilon, at 2208 14th Av W, Seattle. In 1920 he remarried at Helena, calling himself a widower.
• By an Ancestry tree she later married Hiram Marion Wallace and had sons born at Fort Yates, N. Dak., in 1927 and 1932. She died on 6 Mar 1986 at Hillsboro, Oregon.
• The 1950 census has Hiram M. Wallace (55) with his wife Maude E. (60, born in Illinois) in Corson County, South Dakota.
• Douglas's obituary says his childhood was spent "in Canada, Washington, Idaho, Oregon and North and South Dakota with various relatives," including "helping run a family sawmill."

The problem: no record yet names her as Maud Holbrook. Also, her Donald was 12 in 1923, not 5 as the newspaper said. We need a record that names her both ways (as Noel, Morilon or Wallace, and as Holbrook), or shows her and the boys with Richard.

Don't confuse these other Mauds:

• Maude L. Holbrook of Seattle: wife of Jos. R. ("Ray") Holbrook in 1919, a clerk in 1922. Probably Maud L. Leonhardt, who married C. Ray Holbrook in 1913.
• Maud E. Worf of Aberdeen, S. Dak., 1920: wife of Charles H. Worf, with sons Donald, Wallace and Douglas. She is unrelated.

What to search, most useful first

1. 1920 U.S. census: Richard Holbrook himself. Born about 1872 in Washington. Try anywhere, especially:

   • Campbell, Walworth or Corson County, South Dakota;
   • North Dakota;
   • Washington, Montana and Idaho. Note any household with him and a Maud, or him with boys named Donald and Douglas.

2. 1920 U.S. census: Maud and the boys. Maud, born about 1888-89 in Illinois, with sons Donald (about 8, born in Washington) and Douglas (about 3, born in Montana). The surname could be:

   • Holbrook;
   • Morilon, or variants such as Morillon, Marilon, Morlon, Morelon or Corilon;
   • Noel. Also search by the boys' first names and birthplaces with no surname, adding a mother named Maud.

3. 1920 U.S. census: the house at 4023 12th Av NE, Seattle. This is the household of Rev. John A. Holbrook and his wife Eva. The 1920 directory also lists "Holbrook, Maud Mrs" at this address. Give every person in the household, and for any Maud her age, birthplace, marital status and children.

4. 1921 Census of Canada, Alberta, especially around Fort McMurray and the Athabasca country. Look for Richard Holbrook (born about 1872, USA), or Maud with Donald and Douglas, under any of the surnames above.

5. The Social Security NUMIDENT file ("United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007"). Search for:

   • Donald (or John) Morilon, born 19 July 1911;
   • Douglas Morilon, born 25 Aug 1916. These entries often give both parents' names and any other surname used. Note especially any Holbrook or Wallace.

6. South Dakota State Census, 1925, Campbell County. Look for Maud or the boys as Holbrook, Morilon or Wallace. Each person's card gives their birthplace: Washington for Donald, Montana for Douglas.

7. The marriage of Maud and Hiram Wallace, in South Dakota or North Dakota, about 1923-1930. Record the name she gave, whether she said she was widowed or divorced, and her parents' names. Also look for any marriage of Richard Holbrook to a Maud, in any state, 1915-1923.

8. 1930 and 1940 U.S. censuses, Hiram (M.) Wallace's household. Try Sioux County, N. Dak., and Corson or Campbell County, S. Dak. Are Donald and Douglas there, perhaps as stepsons, and under what surname?

9. FamilySearch Family Tree: Richard Blackmer Holbrook (1872-1923). Report what spouses and children the tree gives him, and which sources are attached. Read only; do not edit.

10. The 1998 forum post and any replies. These are outside FamilySearch, so open them in the browser:

    • https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/holbrook/125/
    • https://www.support.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/holbrook/125/
    • https://web.archive.org/web/*/genforum.genealogy.com/holbrook/messages/125.html
    • https://web.archive.org/web/*/genforum.familytreemaker.com/holbrook/*

    The post is "Richard 'RB' Holbrook, Pollock South Dakota 1923" by Dan Holbrook, 21 April 1998. Copy the post and every reply in full, with authors and dates.

11. Optional:

    • Campbell County, South Dakota, probate or estate records, 1923-1925, for Richard Holbrook. Check the FamilySearch catalog for films of the county's probate records, and browse any images.
    • Find a Grave, for a Richard Holbrook buried at Pollock in 1923.

How to report

For each record found, give:

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• a full transcription of the entry or household, with each person's name, relationship, age, birthplace, and parents' birthplaces if given.

Write what the record says, not what you expect. Mark any doubtful reading with [?].

A match on names and an approximate age is not an identification. Say what ties the record to these people, such as birthplaces, parents' names or other household members, and what doesn't fit.

For each search that found nothing, say what you searched: the collection, the names and spellings, and the dates and places.

Don't copy details of people born after about 1930, who may be living, beyond what's needed to identify a record.