Person:Bertha Walston (1)

[Walston GEDCOM.FTW]

1878 Apri 12 - According to her handwriting in her Bible, Bertha Walston was born on April 12, 1878. If the date is correct, she was born in Mercer Co., IL. Her parents were Philip Walston and Lydia Lloyd. However, her birth year has also been given as being in 1880, not 1878.

1880 - Her parents lived in Mercer Co., IL.

1881 - Bertha age 3, her parents lived in Hopkins, Nodaway Co., MO.

1882 - Early in 1882, her mother Lydia went from Nodaway Co., MO, to Mercer Co., IL, to see her parents. She took her 3 children (Conrad 5, Bertha 4, and infant Bessie age 7 or 8 months) with her.

Late Spring 1882, Philip Walston, his wife Lydia, and children Conrad, Bertha, and Bessie left Nodaway Co., MO, and traveled by team and wagon to Sheridan, Wyoming. The only route to get to Sheridan at this time period would have been the Bozeman Trail.

1882 - The Walston family settled in Big Goose Valley, about 5 miles from Sheridan.

1886 Nov 9 - Bertha age 8. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to Bertha's brother Earl Lloyd Walston. The newborn infant was cared for by a Mrs. Works.

1893 - Bertha age 15. Bertha's uncles Oliver Lloyd and Benjamin Lloyd came with their wives to Sheridan, WY, on the passenger train. They took Bertha and Bessie Walston back home with them to Elm Creek, Nebraska. Bertha went to live with her uncle Oliver Lloyd, his wife Frankie Vernon, and their children, who were her cousins.

1895 Feb - Bertha now almost 17. Her aunt Frankie (Vernon) Lloyd died, age 42. It is likely that Bertha stayed living with her uncle Oliver to help with his small children, but whether she did stay or not, is not known. At this time (1895) her uncle Oliver lived on his farm.

1896 - Bertha's uncle Oliver Lloyd moved off his farm and went to live in the town of Elm Creek with his children. It is possible that his niece Bertha, now 18, went with him to help with the children.

1897 - Bertha would be 19 years old.

1899 - Bertha was either 21 or 19 years old. Her father sent for her and she traveled by train to Weiser, Idaho, which was as far as the train line went. Her father lived in Salubria, which was not far from Weiser.

1900 census - Bertha Walston worked as a servant in a home in Weiser, Washington Co., Idaho.

1901 - Bertha went to live with B.B. Day and his wife to the Billie Black place they had purchased on Hornet Creek, near Council, Idaho.Bertha's father Philip Walston and her brother Guy Walston went to Council. Earl Walston, Bertha's youngest brother, went with their sister Bess Walston Day and her husband Eph Day to the town of Warren where Eph Day had gotten a job. Their sister Claire Walston will still living back in Beckton, Sheridan Co., WY.

1902 March 15 - Bertha Walston married Isaac Rusow in Council, Washington Co., ID.

1903 - Isaac Rusow's mother settled on a homestead on Mill Creek, about 5 miles from Council. According to her homestead Land Case Entry File, her son lived on the place and improved it. She made no mention that his new wife was also there, but I assume both Isaac and Bertha lived on Mary Rusow's homestead with her.

1905 Jan 7 - a son James Philip Rusow was born. This is my uncle Jim, who said he was born in Council. My guess is, uncle Jim was born either in Council or out on the Mary Rusow homestead on MIll Creek. Isaac and Bertha Rusow lived on Mary Ann Rusow's homestead until she lost it.

1907 Sept - Mary Ann Rusow defaulted on a loan and lost her homestead. My guess is, Isaac and Bertha left the homestead at this time and moved into Council. Isaac Rusow's mother continued to live with them.

1908 Sept - Isaac and Bertha's daughter Mary Lydia Rusow was born, probably in Council.

1909 April 23 - son Guy Preston Rusow was born. Guy had some sort of problem with his heart. He was very frail and always in poor health. He did not play with the rest of the children and my mother remembered him from say, 1917 to his death in February 1920 as being an invalid.

1909 April 27 - Isaac Rusow's mother Mary Ann Rusow died of pneumonia. She was buried in the Winkler Cemetery per Ressa Yantis.

1910 census - Fruitvale, Idaho.

From Idaho to Adel, Oregon:

1913 end of June - Isaac, Bertha, and their children James, Mary, and Guy left for Adel, Lake Co., OR, with David Rusow, his wife Maude, and their children. Both men had found work as ranch hands for the MC cattle ranch near Adel. They pitched tents down in the willows by the river on the MC ranch for their wives and children to live in while they worked out on the ranch.

1914 March 23 - Isaac and Bertha's daughter Nora Leona Rusow (my mother) was born in a tent down among the willows on the MC cattle ranch. She was delivered by David Rusow's wife Maude.

1. ↑ Walston GEDCOM.FTW.

   Date of Import: Aug 7, 2006

2. ↑ Walston GEDCOM.FTW.

   Date of Import: Aug 7, 2006

3. ↑ Walston GEDCOM.FTW.

   Date of Import: Aug 7, 2006

4. ↑ Bible Record - Bible of Bertha Walston Rusow in the possession of Helen Greenslit Graves
   BIRTHS PAGE.

   Bertha Irene Walston was born April 12, 1878, written in her hand. This Bible passed to her daughter Nora Rusow Greenslit Kaufhold. When Nora died in 1981, the Bible passed to her daughter Helen Greenslit Graves. The Bible is in her possession as of January 2005. .

5. ↑ Walston GEDCOM.FTW.

   Date of Import: Aug 7, 2006

6. ↑ Death Certificate of Bertha I. Rusow
   Oregon Vital Records.
7. ↑ VFW Cemetery Records, Cloverdale, OR.

   The burial date of Bertha Rusow appears in the cemetery records with the notation that she had been cremated and her urn was buried in the gravesite of her son Marlo. Both names appear in the cemetery records under the location of Marlo's grave. Helen Graves saw the cemetery book when she visited the cemetery and the gravesite.

8. ↑ Walston GEDCOM.FTW.

   Date of Import: Aug 7, 2006