Nothing is forgotten.  Only left behind...
        -- Robbie Robertson, Unbound (song lyrics)

The distinction between past, present, and future is only an illusion, however persistent.
        -- Albert Einstein

Some of my paternal ancestors:

Circa 1855   

On the left, my great-grandmother, Mary Jane McLatchy (nee Harris) (1833-1893).  She had 8 children, the last one, at age 49,
was my paternal grandmother, Alice. Mary was born in Nova Scotia and died in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada

On the right, my great-grandfather, Samuel Harris McLatchy (1831 - 1912) .  He was born in Weldon, New
Brunswick and died in Oxnard, California.

Samuel Harris McLatchy later in life. The child in the photo is unidentified. 
Photo was most likely taken near Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

The name "McLatchy", is a shortening of the name of a Scotch Clan, living, for many generations,
in the mountainous highlands of Scotland, known as the "MacLatchie" family.

The first McLatchy immigant to New Brunswick was John McLatchy, who emigrated in
1783 and settled in Weldon. He was born in Shire of Ayr, Scotland.

In December, 1812 John purchased over three thousand acres of timber land on the south shore
of the Peticodiac River, of the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, about ten miles from the
mouth of that river, where it empties into the Bay of Fundy. John purchased the 3464 acres
from Joshua Hauger, paying him 1,380 pounds. John's occupation was shown as a blacksmith,
so where managed to scrape together that large sum of money is a mystery. John married a woman
named Rebekah and they had four children, two of which were named "James" -- the second,
James McLatchy, 2nd is my great great great grandfather. 

John McLatchy constructed a shipyard at what is now the village of Hillsborough and he and
his sons became shipbuilders of wooden sloops and schooners for coastal navigation, down the
coast of Canada and the United States as far south as the West Indies. Some of his descendants
became ship captains or sailors.

When John McLatchy died, the family property was divided between two of his (surviving?)
sons, John Jr. and James, 2nd. The property transfer was made on April 14, 1825.

James 2nd married Jannet Scott. The 5th child of James and Jannet McLatchy was my paternal great grandfather,
Samuel Harris McLatchy. Samuel Harris McLatchy was born in 1831 in Weldon, Albert County, New Brunswick,
Canada. He resided in the family home and farm in Weldon with this family, and then with his
widowed mother, Jannet, until his marriage.

Samuel Barnes Smith, who was married to one of Samuel's daughters, wrote in 1936 to his son
that: "Samuel Harris McLatchy, the youngest and youthfully well-to-do, good looking, member of
his immediate family, "ditched" school before finishing." He courted Mary Jane Harris of Grand Pre,
Nova Scotia. They married on 9/21/1861 and had 8 children. The last of which was my grandmother,
Alice McLatchy. Alice was born on November 24, 1882.

Samuel Barnes Smith wrote that:

"Samuel built a fine big home on his own land at Hillsborough, living the life of a country
gentleman, until their home caught fire and was destroyed, with no insurance upon it.
The family then lived temporarily in the original McLatchy homestead. During my own
several visits at Moncton, N.B. I have been entertained at this fine old residence on the
bank of the Peticodiac River, by your Mother's (Mary Eugena McLatchy) Aunt Jane and
Vinie (Lavinia), the maiden sisters of your Grandfather (Samuel Harris McLatchy)."

Fourteen years after the death of his wife, in October, 1907, Samuel McLatchy followed three of his
children who had moved to Oxnard, California.  

Samuel Harris McLatchy died in 1912 at Oxnard, CA.  According to Samuel Barnes Smith,
he died of pneumonia  after his leg was broken from a kick by a horse.

At right, my grandmother, Alice with her father, Samuel Harris McLatchy, mostly likely in San Francisco or Oxnard, circa 1908.

Circa 1888.   My grandmother, Alice Thaxter McLatchy (1882 - 1968).    

Alice McLatchy was born in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada and died at the Playa del Rey
neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.   After her mother, Mary Jane McLatchy (nee Harris) died
in 1893, Alice was sent to be raised by her older sister, Lilly, in New York city.  There
Alice attended nursing school.   Lilly moved to San Francisco, and Alice followed in 1906.

Bible given to Alice by her mother, Mary Jane McLatchy.  Dated 1888 (?)

Circa 1899.   Alice McLatchy.

When Alice was a child, she was taking glass jars of jelly that her mother had made for storage
to their cellar.  She tripped down the stairs, the jars broke, and she cut a gash in her face on
the right side.  Note that in pictures Alice usually turned her head to the right of the camera to conceal the scar.

My paternal grandfather, Charles Mills.  Circa 1906.

Alice moved to San Francisco in October 1906.  There she met Charles Mills when he
was a patient in a hospital in San Francisco where she was working as a nurse. He had
been hospitalized with typhoid fever that he contracted during the epidemic after
the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Alice McLatchy and Charles Mills were married October 27th, 1907.

My father's paternal grandparents were James Albert Mills (1852 - 1907) and Amy Emma
Mills (nee Toner) (1869 - 1946).  There apparently are no photographs in which James
Albert Mills is identified.   

Emma was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and died in Oakland, CA.

Photo is believed to be of my father's paternal grandmother, Emma ("Nanna") Mills (nee Amy Emma Toner).
Photo circa 1880 in Whitesboro, CA.  Whitesboro was a very small,  isolated lumbering and
milling village established by Lorenzo E. White on the coast of Northern California.

Whitesboro, circa 1880. Trees were felled, milled, and the lumber was sent 
down the coast to San Francisco in schooners.

The Salmon Creek Hotel in Whitesboro, circa 1882.

Whitesboro, looking inland.  From these photos, apparently there
were few amenities -- life there must have been pretty difficult at times.

L.E. White Lumber Company & Mill (circa 1885)

Emma and James Mills had their first child here Whitesboro  in 1883, Charles
Albert Mills (my grandfather).

The lumbering operations of Whitesboro are gone today -- above and below is how the area appeared in 1998.  
 

A photo found in Emma's photo album -- the date and people are unidentified.  The hills in the background
and the style of dress suggest that this photo taken at Whitesboro, CA.  Emma Mills may be
in the center.  The man on right might be James Albert Mills (my father's paternal grandfather). He
does have a striking resemblance to Emma's son, Charles Mills:
 

Is this James Albert Mills?                                             Charles Mills

Photo in Emma's photo album -- location and persons are unidentified.

Given the letter above, the marriage between Emma and James Mills was close to ending in 1893.    

Apparently the reconciliation between Emma and James was, as the attorney above  predicted, short lived. 

Above, James Mills transfers over mortgage and property ownership to Emma Mills.  It reads: "San Francisco, Nov 16, 1894. 
 For valuable consideration I hereby sell, assign, transfer and set over all my right, title, and interest in and to the within contract
and to all money paid thereunder to Emma Mills.  J.A. Mills."

1891   James and Emma Mills' son (my grandfather), Charles Albert Mills (1883 - 1925), far right, 2nd
row from top.  He was born in Whitesboro, Mendocino County, California and died while on a business
trip to Detroit, Michigan.

1891 Charles Albert Mills

Photo taken by Charles Mills, circa 1910.

Some of my maternal ancestors:

My maternal grandparents, Lucy Annie Cobb Owens and Junius Grady Owens

Helen Cobb - circa 1855

Helen Robertson Cobb is my great, great grandmother.

Helen Cobb, nee Robertson, and her husband (first name unkown) Cobb, Sr., gave birth to a son, (first name unknown) Cobb, Jr. 
This son married, and he and his wife gave birth to a son, Daniel Cobb. He married Lucy Amelia Brown (Cobb), and they gave
birth to a daughter, Lucy Annie Cobb in 1898.

Below  is a photo of Helen's grandson, Daniel Cobb, my mother's maternal grandfather.

Daniel Cobb in 1897, taken in Florida.

Lucy Amelia Brown Cobb, my mother's maternal grandmother - 1915?

The Browns, 1880.  They are my mother's maternal great grandparents, from Gloucestershire, England.
 

The Cobb Family in Florida  1911

Back row: Cis, George, and Lucy (my maternal grandmother).
Middle row: Gertrude, Gladys, and Bob Myers
Front row: Lucy, Gordon, and Daniel.

My mother's ancestry - paternal line:

The grave of my mother's grandparents, Leonard R. Owens and Gabriella Wall Owens taken in the Elmwood Cemetery in
Georgetown, South Carolina.  They had twelve children, but only four survived to adulthood. There was one
boy, Junius Grady Owens (my mother's father), and three sisters, Eulalie Chase Owens McEachern, Ruth Eloise
Owens Brinkley, and Ethelyn Owens.

My mother's paternal grandmother, Gabriella Wall Owens, 
born on Aug 26 1856. She died on Mar 27 1919.  

Gabriella  was married to Leonard R. Owens on Jun 11 1872.  
Apparently there are no surviving photos of Leonard R. Owens.

My mother's father, Junius.G. Owens at 14 years old, Nov. 1904

1909 Postcard  (Junius Grady Owens in the front row, second from the right)

Junius Grady Owens  Georgetown, SC 1910

Junius Grady Owens and Walter B. McEachern, Jr.  Georgetown, SC 1910

Junius and Walter at two years old.  Georgetown, SC 1910

From Junius Grady Owens' Tenth Grade Composition book  1910:

Junius Grady Owens (my mother's father), 1918

Still can't fall asleep?    Consult your physician for a prescription for Ambien (or, go back to reading the textbook!).

All text and images copyright (c) 2004. Michael E. Mills.  Please do not copy photos without permission.   Email: memills@gmail.com

Should the textbook not help,   See my father's and mother's biography websites.