Viola Mae
Holt Blankenship
Viola (called Mae) was born 26 Sept 1883 in Auburn,
Nemaha County, Nebraska
She died 24 Jan 1938 in Port Townsend, Jefferson County,
WA of pneumonia
Her father was George Washington Vernon Holt born 24 Apr
1852 in MO. He died 28 Dec 1922 in Oak Harbor, Island County, WA George WV Holt’s parents were: James Holt
and Martha Stark
Her mother was Mary Ellen Weatherly born 10 Jan 1847 in
Nashville, TN. She died 17 Jul 1917 in Oak Harbor. Mary E. Weatherly’s parents were Washington
Yancey Weatherly and Emily Jane Brannock
Mae’s folks married 6 Oct 1872 in Washburn, Barry County,
MO
Mae’s siblings:
1) Alva
Smith Holt 1876-1934 m. Cassie, Laura Belle Kindig
2) William
Alfred Holt 1878-1937 m. Bertha Fotland
3) Arlie
Vernon Holt 1880-1943 m. Cecilia
4) Mary
Maude 1881-1960 m.
Skaggs
5) Viola
Mae 1883-1938 m. Blankenship
6) George
Albert “Bert” 1887- 1923 m. Bessie Holman
7) James
Robert Holt 1889-1918 drowned in Chehalis River
Since the 1890 census was lost in a fire, the first
census that Mae appears in is 1900
1900 Census: Napavine, Lewis County, WA
Holt, Alva S 24 b May 1876 MO MO TN
blacksmith
Holt, Cassie 20 b Dec 1879 OR IL IL
Holt, Bert 15 b
May 1885 ID MO TN
day laborer
Holt, Mae 17 b Jan
1883 MO MO TN cook
Note: her father, George W was shown living nearby. Wife
wasn’t listed, however.
Mae married Lew Gene Blankenship 24 Dec. 1903 in Winlock,
WA
In 1905 she was living in Salem, OR
In 1908 she was in Oak Harbor
In 1910 she was in Eugene (although the census lists her
as living in Eola). Her third child, Elva was listed as being born in Eugene
In 1914 she was in Albany, OR
They moved to Port Townsend in May, 1928.
1910 census: they
were in Eola, Polk County, Oregon
1920 census: they were in Greenwood, Lewis County,
Washington
1930 census: Jefferson Co, Port Townsend, WA
Lewgene, 52, laborer, paper mill, IL, IL, NJ
Viola M, 46, NE, MO, TN
George, 16, OR
John 7, WA
Jim, 7, WA
1932 City Directory:
Blankenship, L.F. (May)
papermaker Nat’l Ppr Prod Co
home: 5th ward RD3 Port Townsend, WA
LewGene & Mae’s children:
1) Velna 1905-1982 b. Salem OR
ma. Darryl Walker
2) Arthur
Gene 1908-1989 b. Oak Harbor, WA ma Katherine Girmus
3) Elva
Ellen 1910-1994
b. Eugene, OR ma.
Lyall Arey
4) George
Arlie 1914-1994
b. Albany, OR ma. Lorraine U’Ren
5) John
Alva 1923
- 2009 b. Galvin, WA ma Nisbet,
Marcellla Bell Smith
6) James
Ira 1923
- 2008 b. Galvin, WA ma Lillian Luttrell
Mae’s father died of myocarditis at age 71. Her mother
died of valvular heart disease at age 70
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Viola Mae Holt Blankenship
Velna Blankenship Walker
Velna was the first child born of LewGene Blankenship and
Viola Mae Holt. She was born on July 16, 1905 in Salem, Oregon. She had one
sister and two brothers until she was 18 and her folks were surprised with twin
sons in 1923.
She was living in Oak Harbor, Wa in 1908 when her
brother, Arthur, arrived. Her sister, Elva, is listed as being born in Eugene,
Oregon in 1910 but she didn’t make the census for that year because it was
taken in May and she arrived in September when the family was residing in Eola,
Polk County, Oregon. In 1920, she is
listed as living in Greenwood, Lewis County, Wash.
In 1926 she married Darrel E. Walker in Salem, Oregon.
Darrel was the son of Jess Walker and Ella Cathcart of Oberlin, Kansas
In 1927, their first son, Robert Lee Walker, was born in
Suver, Oregon on Aug. 31.
In April of 1930 Darrel & Velna were living at 408
Clara Street in Camas, WA. He was a pipefitter at the local paper mill. They
apparently moved shortly after that as their second son, Claude Ellis, was born
July 19, 1930, in Port Townsend, WA.
Darrel’s obit lists him as coming to Port Townsend in 1927 so possibly
Velna stayed on in Camas and followed him later.
On July 3, 1938, Darrel was killed in an accident at the
paper mill. The Port Townsend newspaper article read:
Man Killed By Fall at Kraft Mill
Darrel E. Walker, 33, accidentally plunged into the hold
of ship loading paper at Local Plant
Falling accidentally through a
hatch into the hold of the American-Hawaiian ship Texan as it was being loaded
with paper at the kraft mill dock here, Darrel E. Walker, 33, a longshoreman,
was instantly killed at shortly before 10 o’clock Sunday night.
It was estimated he fell a
distance of approximately 32 feet before striking on his head and badly
fracturing his skull. A doctor, who was immediately called, said death was
instantaneous. As far as can be learned no one actually saw him start his fall,
although other workmen reported seeing his body as it hurtled through space
after he passed through the hatch. It is not known what caused the fall, but
opinions were expressed that he either stumbled or stepped accidentally into
the opening.
Funeral services have been set
for 2 o’clock tomorrow (Friday) at Carroll’s Mortuary chapel. The Rev. Samuel
L. Brown of the Baptist Church will be the officiating minister and pall
bearers will be members of the Port Townsend local of the longshoremen’s union,
of which the deceased, was a member.
Mr. Walker, who had numerous
friends here, came to Port Townsend December 27, 1927, and built his permanent
home. He was a native of Oberlin, Kansas, where he was born October 28, 1904,
the son of Mr. and Mrs. J.O. Walker. His people were old settlers of that part
of the country.
He came west in 1925 and the
following year was married to Miss Velma Blankenship. The Blankenship family moved to Port Townsend at
about the same time as the Walkers.
Mr. Walker is survived by his
widow and two sons, Robert and Claude, of Port Townsend; his parents, Mr. and
Mrs. J.O. Walker of Oberlin; two sisters, Mrs. Hap Coy of Denver, Colo. and
Elynor Walker of Oberlin; a brother, Ray of Denver, and three grandparents,
Mrs. R.L. Walker and Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Cathcart of Oberlin. Mr. Walker’s
parents and possibly other members of the family are coming here from Kansas to
attend the funeral rites
This was the first and only known vessel to be named
Texan in American-Hawaiian’s fleet. She also had the dubious honor of being the
first American-Hawaiian (A-H) vessel sunk during World War II, and was the
oldest vessel in the fleet at the time.
1938 was a hard year for Velna.
She not only lost her husband of 12 years, but her mother died in January of
the same year. To support herself, she
decided to go to barber school in Spokane. Her two boys would live with her
brother, George, and his wife, Lorraine at their house on Hastings Avenue.
Although Velna always cut everybody’s hair in the family
all her life, she never did open up her own beauty shop. When she returned to Port Townsend, she had
various jobs. She worked at Fort Worden at
the army base but I’m not sure if it was
in a kitchen or the dry cleaners. Maybe neither. I do remember that she worked the counters of
two drug stores. O’Neill’s downtown Port Townsend where her homemade soup was a
favorite at the lunch counter, and at the Uptown Drug Store.
She sold her house at 2024 Clay in
Port Townsend after Claude and Lorraine married in 1955. She had kept it as a
rental but had trouble managing it. Darryl had built it up out of a small house
that was on the lot. I loved that house and always wished I could buy it.
On January 25, 1949, Velna
married Ralph Mastracchio at the Catholic Church in Port Townsend. Velna wasn’t a Catholic but Ralph was. He was stationed at the nearby Fort Worden in
the army and played in the army band. He
was from East Greenwich, RI, and from what I’ve heard and can remember of him,
he was a little bit of an oddball. Their
marriage only lasted a short time.
Velna lived with her father at his Kuhn Street
house and helped take care of him. When her younger brother, John,(my dad) got
divorced in 1952 and was awarded custody of three of the kids, Velna stayed on
to help take care of them as well. It
was a small house and we were crowded but happy. I remember this period of time well. Velna’s bedroom was a cozy place to spend
time. Her jewelry box held colorful beads, bracelets, scatter pins, screw-on
earrings, and hair clips. She also had silk scarves, belts, hats, and a little
tin powder puff music box.
Her talents were well
known. She could sew anything –and
did! She was also an artist and drew and
painted all her life. She also had the distinction of having her design for the
school seal chosen at Centralia High School in 1923. She was an avid reader and letter writer. We exchanged letters all my life. Sadly, I didn’t save them and I’ll forever
regret it.
Because she lived through the
depression, her favorite places to shop were second hand stores and thrift
shops. She was very handy and could turn
anything into something useful.
She was 38 when I was born and
during a period of time when my father was overseas during World War II, she
was awarded temporary custody of me when my mother (a very young and restless
teenager) was coming up short in her mothering skills. This caused a rift in
their relationship and she and my mother were enemies for the rest of their
lives. Velna didn’t take kindly to women
not doing right by their children and husband.
When my sister, Janie, also came
to live with us in about 1954 (my mother had originally taken her to
Pennsylvania when she remarried) it became obvious that the house was just too
small for that many people Velna moved to Seattle and got a job in the kitchen
at Virginia Mason Hospital.
When Claude was hired by
Underwood Typewriter Company in Seattle, he and Lorraine bought a houseboat on
Lake Union. They were cheap, about $1000-1200 to purchase and paid about
$20/moorage. Velna liked theirs so much
she got one herself and moved in a few docks down.
In January of 1958, Claude and
Lorraine opened their business at 303 Prospect Street in Bellingham. Lorraine
was working at a bank and Claude knew he couldn't operate the business without
someone there to answer the phones while he was out selling and repairing typewriters
and office machines so he asked his mother to come and she did.
She lived at 1017 Jersey Street
with Claude and Lorraine, then the house next door. She didn't drive so Claude
drove her where she needed to go. Claude and Lorraine bought a house at 306
Potter Street in Bellingham but after dealing with problems from the City of
Bellingham, he decided to move the business out of downtown and they converted
the house on Potter into the business location that it remained 'til the end.
They bought a farm on Wynn Road in 1965 and Velna moved there with them. She
didn't always like it there as she felt it was too isolated, and since she
didn't drive, she had problems getting around. In 1974, while on Social
Security, she moved into the Lincoln Square in downtown Bellingham. It was
just down the street from the old Potter Street house where they had lived
previously.
Velna died on her sister’s 72nd birthday –
September 6, 1982. She was 77 years old.
Elva on left/ Velna on right
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