Monday, February 28, 2011

Matrilineal Monday – Birdie Eldora Leona Belknap


Birdie Van Horn in Seattle, Washington

Birdie Belknap was my great aunt born August 3, 1880 in Eldora, Hardin, Iowa, USA (guess where one of her middle names came from).

She was the daughter of Thomas Belknap and Mary Fiddler. Although she may not have any direct descendant searching for her, (as I have not found any children for her, as to date) she was a part of the family who should not be forgotten. It has been an interesting journey searching for records to piece together a bit of her life.  What I have so far is that she was married first to Alex Pandelas in Butte, Silver Bow, Montana in 1917. It looks like she was divorced about 1920.  She remarried at the end of 1920 to William Henry Van Horn in Telkwa, British Columbia, Canada where her father T. J. Belknap had a ranch.  Great Aunt Birdie died in Everett Snohomish, Washington, USA on July 4, 1967 at the age of 86.

I’ve been lucky that my Mom has kept some of the postcards and letters that her Aunt Birdie sent to her. Here is a picture of Aunt Birdie taken by one of her friends from St. Paul, Minnesota on July 21, 1962 in Seattle, Washington for the World’s Fair.





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1 comment:

  1. Just want to say how touching it is that you're keeping Birdie's legacy alive. She must have been quite a gal--going to the World's Fair in crutches!

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