Jessie Lorene Clifford
Daughter of John and Emma (Bruner) Clifford, born in Arkansas and with her widowed mother at Gothic, Colorado, in 1880. She married Richard Blackmer Holbrook at Seattle in 1900 and was the mother of Richard Clifford Holbrook; in 1922 she was called a widow, though her husband was farming in South Dakota with a second wife. In 1928 she married Thomas Harris Absalom, and by 1940 they lived in Wheatland, California.
Life
- 1876Born6 May 1876, Siloam Springs, Benton County, Arkansas
The census gives age 3, born Arkansas. The full date and town are from the Collins-Reed master tree.
documentedprobable - 1880Lived
- 1893LivedAug 1893, Delta, Delta County, Colorado
A witness, as Jessie Clifford, to her mother's marriage to John Dunlap.
documentedproven - 1900Married Richard Blackmer Holbrook28 Sep 1900, Seattle, King County, Washington
At 8:45 p.m., at the minister's residence; both first marriages.
documentedprovenSources
- 1910Lived
- 1917Lived8629 51st Av S, Seattle, Washington
As Richard's wife: "Richd B (Jessie L) master mariner h 8629 51st av S."
documentedproven - 1918Lived560 Mercer, Seattle, Washington
As Richard's wife, with his mother and her son Dick at the same address; the same in 1919.
documentedproven - 1920LivedMercer St, Seattle, Washington
Head of household, married, owning her house on Mercer Street; her husband is not in it.
- 〃Lived
- 1922Lived225 N Broadway, Seattle, Washington
"Jessie Mrs lndrs r225 N Bway": a laundress, rooming, while her son Phil lived at 560 Mercer.
documentedproven - 1925Lived560 Mercer, Seattle, Washington
"Jessie (wid Richd D) h560 Mercer"; in 1926 "(wid Richd B) cook."
documentedproven - 1928Married Thomas Harris Absalom (1867-1953)6 May 1928, Kent, King County, Washington
- 1948Died29 Aug 1948, Yuba County, California
From the Collins-Reed master tree; source not yet attached.
compiledprobable
Family
- Father
- John Marshall Clifford
In 1880 a daughter of the widowed Emma Clifford, father born "Mo."; her brother Eli's NUMIDENT and death certificate name their father John Clifford.
documentedprovenSources
- 1880 U.S. census, Gothic, Gunnison County, Colorado: Emma Clifford household
- Reasoning:
research/collins-reed/meredith_collins_research.md
- Mother
- Mariah Emma Bruner
Daughter in Emma Clifford's household, Gothic, Colorado, June 1880.
documentedprovenSources
- 1880 U.S. census, Gothic, Gunnison County, Colorado: Emma Clifford household
- Reasoning:
research/collins-reed/meredith_collins_research.md
- Spouse 1
- Thomas Harris Absalom (1867-1953)
Her second husband. Born Wolfscastle, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Also spelled Absolom.
- Spouse 2
Pedigree
Notes
With her husband, sons and mother in Kitsap County, Washington, in 1910; headed her own household on Mercer Street, Seattle, in a house she owned, in January 1920, recorded as married, with her sons, her mother and roomers, while her husband worked away; living with Thomas Absolom in Wheatland, California, by 1940.
Called a widow by the Seattle Times in November 1922, when her son Dick was shot; then a laundress rooming at 225 North Broadway, and back at 560 Mercer by the time of the shooting. Her husband was alive, farming near Pollock, South Dakota, with a second wife, Maud, and two young sons; he died at Bismarck on 22 Sept 1923. Listed in the Seattle directories as “wid Richd B” from 1925.
Open questions
- Her death record (29 Aug 1948, Yuba County): the colonial tree marks the death documented; the page keeps compiled until the record is attached.
- Did she and Richard divorce, and did she know of his second family? King County divorce records, 1915-1923; the license application for her 1928 marriage, which may say whether she was widowed or divorced.
Mollie's typescript
Mollie's collateral chart records her marriage in Seattle to Richard Blackmer Holbrook Jr. and their sons Richard Clifford and Daniel Phillips Holbrook.
RICHARD BLACKMER HOLBROOK JR. (8) Thomas 1, etc.) Married Jessie Clifford in Seattle, Washing- ton.
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