Ruby Tipton Pattillo 1893 - 1969 My Grandaunt on My Father's Side

One of only a few photos I have of Ruby

Ruby and her twin sister Maude were born March 25, 1893, in Los Angeles, California when the family was living at 142 East 81^st Street. Our family lore suggests that their mother Carrie Brooks Stover Pattillo gave birth to three sets of twins. Only Ruby and Maude lived to adulthood. I have found no records for the other sets of twins. It is also believed that it was a difficult birth and that Ruby was deprived of oxygen for a time. As a result, she suffered some sort of mental deficiency. Possibly because of this and for other reasons Ruby was estranged from the family during much of her life. As a result, not a lot is known about Ruby or the life she lived.

Ruby was listed on the 1900 and 1910 censuses living with her family. In 1900, Ruby was seven and the family home was at 212 Jefferson Street in Los Angeles. They were still in Los Angeles in 1910 when Ruby was seventeen. I found Ruby in the 1914 directory living at 1309 W. 51st Street and in the 1917 book living at 1329 W. 53^rd Street. 

Harper Dell Royce's headstone found on the FindAGrave site

Ruby and Royce's marriage certificate 

On April 4^th in 1927, Ruby married Harper Dell Royce. It was a second marriage for Harper who first married Daisy Jane Kurtz in 1892. Harper was born in Murray, Iowa on July 14, 1871. He was the son of Dorvil Arthur Royce and Frances Bell. Harper was listed as a widow on the 1910 census. That same year he moved to Los Angeles. Harper was more than twenty years older than Ruby. Sometime after 1934, Harper married for a third time to Lillian Hester Kurtz. I have not found any record of the dissolution of Ruby’s marriage but presumably, they were divorced. Harper was killed in a car accident on May 8, 1947, and is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Los Angeles.

I found several voter registrations for Ruby between 1930 and 1958. Interestingly, from 1930 to 1936 she registered as a Republican but in 1946 she switched to the Democratic party and continued to register as a Democrat until 1958. She was living in Los Angeles during this time at various addresses. On her 1930 registration form she was listed as a typist – so she was employed whereas when she was married to Harper she was listed as a Housewife in 1934. At that time, they were living at 111 Melrose in Los Angeles. 

336 N. Kilkea Drive where Ruby lived in 1939

In 1939, Ruby resided at 336 N. Kilkea Drive, Los Angeles. In 1946, she registered at 663 ½ S. Kenmore Avenue, and in 1956 and 58 she was at 443 S. Catalina Street. No other details were provided on those registration records.

 

443 S. Catalina Street where Ruby was living in 1956 and '58

At various times Ruby’s father James, her brother Elmer and his wife Winifred, and her sister Mary each lived with Ruby’s twin Maude and Maude’s husband Otto. I also have records of their cousins Ada and James Nelson Pattillo living with family members. But, at no time after reaching adulthood did Ruby live with her sister Maude or any other member of the family – at least not that I’ve found a record for or heard about. So, she was an independent woman.

Ruby died on May 14, 1969, and is buried in Los Angeles but I don’t know where specifically.

Maude and Ruby as toddlers

Ruby's mother Carrie left and Ruby holding her cat

1914 Los Angeles Directory lists Ruby at 1309 51st Place

306 W. Palm where Ruby lived in 1932

Marriage record for Ruby and Royce

Grainy headshot of Ruby

Sources for the Post: US census, City of Los Angeles Directories, Voter Registration records, Ruby's marriage certificate, Google search and Google Earth, my second cousins Laine and Joyce

Mary Pattillo 1886 - 1981 My Grandaunt on My Father's Side

Mary as a young woman

Mary Pattillo was the second daughter of Carrie Brooks Stover and James William Pattillo. She was born in Texas – probably in Shackelford County where her father purchased five acres from S.W. Rudd for $550 in 1884. When the 1900 census was taken, her family had moved to Los Angeles, California where Mary was living with her parents, older sister Jo, two younger sisters Maude and Ruby, and two brothers Lewis and Elmer. Mary was thirteen at the time. In 1908 and 1909, the family was living at 1217 Birch in Los Angeles, according to directory listings. Mary attended a private Catholic school in Los Angeles.

When Mary was 24 she appeared on the 1910 Los Angeles census still living with her family on 37^th Avenue. She was employed as an exchange operator. Two years later she was living at 2707 LaSalle and was employed as a clerk at the California Fruit Growers Exchange. The Southern California Fruit Exchange began in 1893 as a way of stabilizing the market for growers and it still exists in 2018. 

In 1911, when Mary was 23 her older sister Jo and younger brother Lewis were both married in June and September. 

James William Pattillo with his three oldest children
Jo, Mary, and Lewis

When Mary was 25, she married Russell Fraser on August 22, 1912. Russell was 27. According to the 1910 census, Russell was the son of Bruce E. Fraser from New York and Lacie Fraser from Canada. He had a younger sister Marion. For some reason, this marriage ended in divorce, and by 1914, Mary was again living with her parents, sister Ruby, and brother Elmer at 1307 West 51^st Street in San Pedro, California. In the 1916 Los Angeles directory Mary was still working as a clerk – it does not say where and at that time she was living with her Cousin Ada Pattillo at 1233 ½ West 7^th Street.

Mary’s sister Maude was also married in 1912 and their mother Carrie Brooks Stover Pattillo died in January of 1916 when Mary was 28.

The Fruit Growers Exchange where Mary worked in 1910
found on Google

Mary married a second time to Cary O’Steen on March 26, 1918, when she was 31. Cary was the son of Lewis A. O’Steen and Emma Cora McKinney. Cary was born in Columbia, Florida on August 29, 1887. According to the 1900 census Cary completed school through the 5^th grade. He and his family lived at 1 Hickory Sink, Suwannee, Florida in 1900. In 1910 the census showed that Cary was a stenographer for a boat line and was living on Lake Avenue in Hillsborough, Florida.

Around 1915, Mary adopted the Christian Science religion as did her sister Jo. Both were very devoted. Mary’s Grandniece, Joyce Tucker Modugno recalls that her Grandaunt Mary was always “reading one of those little red books” associated with the religion.

By 1917, Cary was living in Los Angeles where he registered for the draft for WWI. He and Mary appeared together on the 1920 Los Angeles census living at 3919 Vermont when Cary was working as a commercial bookkeeper. Mary’s mother-in-law Emma, 62 was living with them at that time. By 1929 Cary was working for the Burbank Mutual Life and Benefits Association. His name appeared on a financial report that I found on Google and identified him as the secretary-treasurer of the company.  Another document found on Google was a summary of a lawsuit which named both Cary and Mary as well as a Raymond O’Steen. The documentation is difficult for a non-attorney to understand but what I gather is that Cary and Burbank Mutual were sued in Monterey County Superior Court. Money was owed and Cary had hidden $2992 in a safe deposit box under the fictitious name of C. Collins – apparently to avoid paying what was owed. The 1900 census shows that Cary had two brothers and two sisters – none were named Raymond so the person named in the suit may have been an uncle or a cousin.

Despite these difficulties, Mary and Cary remained together appearing on the 1930 and 1940 censuses.  In 1930, they owned their home at 3 Country Club Knoll (now Drive) in the Sunset Canyon Country Club of Burbank. The home was valued at $3500 – the least expensive home in a very nice neighborhood and they had a swimming pool.

Mary and Cary's home in Burbank on Country Club Knoll

In 1940, their son Jack Cary O’Steen was also listed on the census. Jack was born on August 12, 1928, in Riverside. He was an adopted son and since he was not with Mary and Cary on the 1930 census he must have been adopted shortly after his second birthday.  In 1946, when Jack was eighteen he registered for the draft and got married. On his draft registration, he is described as being 6’2” tall, weighing 138 pounds and having brown eyes and black hair. He married Jeannine Dorsey the daughter of Roland and Sarah Isabel Dorsey. Jack and Jeannine were both residents of Washington DC according to their marriage license but for some unknown reason, they were married by a Justice of the Peace in Guilford County, North Carolina. Jeannine was born in DC. At some point, Jack moved back to Los Angeles and in 1954, when he registered to vote, he was living at 1196 West 10^th Street. Jack died on June 21, 1985 – he was 56. 

Mary holding one of her nephews or nieces

When Cary registered to vote in 1944 he was employed as an accountant for the city which seems curious given his fiscal shenanigans just a few years earlier. He registered as a Democrat and was renting a home at 125½ Witmer Street, Los Angeles – the same address he and Mary lived at when the 1940 census was taken, and where they were living in 1935. Today, there is a multi-story parking garage at that location. Cary died sometime after 1944 but I have been unable to find a death record for him.

Mary was working as a bookkeeper in 1940. At some point, Mary either divorced or left Cary and went to live with her sister Maude and Maude’s husband Otto Baty on Zelzah Street in Granada Hills, California – that was in the 1950s. When Maude and Otto moved to Los Osos Mary moved with them. She remained there until shortly before her death on June 12, 1981, after spending some time in a convalescent home. She was 93 years old when she died - the last of her five siblings to die.

Joyce described Mary as "a woman ahead of her time, she was nice, attractive as a young woman and had a wonderful personality. Mary experienced a very sad life marrying Cary O'Steen who provided a very comfortable and seemingly secure life for Mary including a beautiful home in Burbank on Country Club Drive. She wore lovely jewelry and clothes.  They adopted a baby boy, named Jack when it was apparent that Mary couldn't carry a child to birth. The lifestyle and the marriage however soon fell apart when Cary was convicted of embezzlement and was sent to jail." That is about the time Mary started living with her sister Maude. Her son Jack rarely communicated with his adoptive mother after he left home. Joyce’s memory of Mary is of “a very sweet, small older lady, dressed in a “house” dress. I also remember her sitting on her bed and reading her religious pamphlets.”  Joyce’s daughter Krista inherited a large amethyst ring from her grandmother who inherited the ring from Mary.

Mary during the time she lived with her sister Maude and
brother-in-law Otto, probably in Los Osos

Another grandniece, Laine Lawrence recounted this story that her mother Elma shared about her aunt Mary, “Jo, Carl, and children were going to visit relatives in Fresno (before they moved there) and picked up Mary on the way.  Mary played golf at the time so it must have been while she was living in the Country Club community.  She was wearing knickers and Carl was scandalized by her apparel.  It was in the winter and Carl's car was a touring car with no windows only curtains.  So everyone but Mary was freezing crossing the Grapevine and Carl had to apologize for making such a fuss about her wearing knickers.  This story always made me think Mary was a very "modern" woman and a woman with self-confidence.

Unlike Joyce and Laine, I have no personal recollections of Mary. My connection is through Mary’s brother Lewis Pattillo, my grandfather who was very quiet. I don’t recall him ever talking about Mary or any of his other siblings. 

Souces For This Post: 1900 - 1940 censuses, directories, emails from Laine and Joyce.