Person:George McBride (14)

George Washington McBRIDE, the only son of Francis and Hannah (Martin) McBride, was born on the 19th of July or August 1849, in Washington County, PA. Birth records were not kept in Washington County at this time, so there is no official record of George’s birth. The amount of education that George received is unknown. At the time of his father’s death in 1857, the family lived in Rock Island County; in 1860 the family lived in Camden Bridges (now Milan), Rock Island County; on the 4th of July 1873, he married Malinda Arvilla CURTIS in Monmouth, IL. (Where did this couple find a preacher or Justice of the Peace on the 4th of July?). Following their marriage, George and Malinda moved to Rock Island. Residences and work activities for George and Malinda for a period of 50 years are given in Rock Island City Directories and a history of Rock Island County published in 1877.

1872: boatman, boards Highland at northeast corner of Eagle St. 1876: river man, residence Swan, 3s [blocks south?] of Toledo. 1877: fireman; republican; living on 11th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. 1878-81: laborer, lives 718-10th St. 1882-85: railroad car repairer; living at 2107-4th Ave. 1885-88: car inspector, residence at 2107-4th Ave. 1888: car inspecter; Rock Island & Peoria RR; living at 731-14 1/2 St. 1889-91: car repairman, RI & Peoria Railroad, residence at 731-14th St. 1891: car repairman; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad; same home as above. 1892: teamster. 1895: laborer; living at 1305-6th Ave; Malinda is a nurse. 1897: no occupation listed; living at 605-12th St; Malinda is a nurse. 1899: laborer at Rock Island Arsenal; Malinda still a nurse; 605-12th St. 1905: laborer at Rock Island Arsenal; Malinda at home; living at 2823-6th Ave. 1913-1920: laborer at Rock Island Arsenal; Malinda at home; living same house. 1921: no work listed; living at 2525-5 1/2 Ave. 1924-1927: no occupation; living at 2525-5 1/2 Ave.

George and Malinda raised two daughters and four sons to adulthood; they also had two stillbirths. In 1918-19 there was a pandemic of flu that killed 35 million people worldwide and 675,000 in the USA. George contracted the flu the year after the pandemic officially ended and the disease undermined his health to the point that he was forced to retire from his job on the Rock Island Arsenal. He died from acute nephritis, possibly a complication of the flu, seven years later on August 15, 1927 at age 78. Russel McBride remembers George W., his grandfather, but did not know that George had a sister, Margaret. George and Malinda lived in a duplex with Malinda’s parents until the later died. When George died, Malinda and her son Francis and foster-son Buddy (see below) moved to the farm community of Erie, IL, to live with her daughter, Hannah. Russel recalls that they lived in a small house across from a church and that Francis worked part time as a custodian at the church. In 2003 I could not find a small house in Erie that fit Russel’s description, although I found a vacant lot where such a house might have sat. Russel also recalls that for several years George and Malinda served as unofficial foster parents for a neighbor boy, Charles “Buddy” Krause, at a time when Buddy’s parents could not care for him. Buddy was one year younger than Russel; his father was Edward Krause, a successful electrician; his mother, Ellen, had mental problems and spent time in the mental hospital in East Moline, where she apparently died. The Rock Island City Directory for 1923 shows that Edward and Ellen Krause lived at 2529 1/2-5th Ave, near the McBrides. Buddy was raised like a member of the McBride family and when Matilda and Francis moved to Erie, so did Buddy. In 2003 Buddy lives in a merchant marine retirement center in Sailor Snug Harbor in Nelson Bay, Sea Level, NC, and corresponds with Bernice McBride Wendell and me. A nurse at his facility told me that Buddy was confined to a wheelchair and was deaf- but that he could read. I emailed him a short message asking for information and a week later he sent me a letter. I later found that a visitor friend wrote Buddy’s letters.

“George W. McBride, 78 years of age, 2525 Fifth-and-a-half avenue, Rock Island, a resident of this city for 55 years, died in his residence at 8 o’clock this morning. His death was attributed to complications. He had not been well since 1920, when he had influenza. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on July 19, 1849. He married Miss Malinda A. Curtis in Monmouth, Ill. On July 4, 1873. He moved to Rock Island from Monmouth 55 years ago. He was a retired federal employee, having been retired at the Rock Island arsenal in 1920. Survivors are the widow; two daughters, Mrs. John Witherspoon of Blue Island, Ill., and Mrs. Frank Miller of Erie, Ill; four sons, George F., Walter E., Albert R, and Clarence C. McBride, all of Rock Island; 13 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.”

Malinda “Matilda” Arvilla CURTIS was born February 1, 1852 or 1853, in the farming community of Lena, Stephenson Co., in northernmost Illinois. Her father, Barber J. Curtis (1823-1894), was born in Indiana. In 1850 he was a farmer, in 1860 he was a carpenter, in 1880 he was a physician, and in 1882 he sold carpets. Her mother was Patience Gail Cain (1833-1875), who was probably born in PA, but whose family also farmed in Stephenson County, IL. Patience went by the name of Matilda, because that is how she appears in census records. Barber and Matilda had nine children. Barber remarried (Kate (Wilt) Kelly) after Matilda’s death in 1875; Barber and Kate had one son, Lloyd. By 1870 the Curtis family had moved to Port Byron, IL, which is only about 15 miles from Rock Island. Minister T.C. Workman baptized Malinda in the Methodist Episcopal Church on May 7, 1870. After her children were all born, Malinda worked as a nurse, at least during the period of 1895-1899, when she is listed in the Rock Island city directories. After the death of husband George in 1927, she and son Francis, who was in poor health most of his life, moved in with Malinda’s daughter, Hannah McBride Miller, who lived in Erie, Whiteside Co., IL. Erie is 35 miles east of Rock Island. Malinda died at the age of 80 in Erie on April 25, 1932, just one month before I was born. Her death certificate indicates the cause of death was Chrome Brights disease (old name for various kidney diseases), from which she suffered for 20 years, and senility. The informant for the death certificate was her son, Edward Miller.

“MRS. M’BRIDE IS TAKEN BY DEATH IN HOME IN ERIE Former Resident of Rock Island Dies at Age 80 Following Several Years’ Illness Mrs. Malinda A. McBride, 80 years old, former Rock Island resident, died in her home at Erie, Ill., at 6:45 o’clock last night following an illness of several years. Mrs. McBride, whose maiden name was Malinda A. Curtis, was born in Lena, Ill. Feb. 1, 1852, a daughter of the late Dr. and Mrs. B.A. (sic) Curtis. When she was a child she accompanied her parents to Port Byron where she resided until her marriage to George W. McBride, July 4, 1870. The couple resided in Rock Island until Mr. McBride’s death in 1927, when the widow moved to Erie. She was a member of the First Methodist church of Rock Island. The family home was formerly at 2525 Fifth-and-a-half avenue, Rock Island. Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Hanna Miller of Erie and Mrs. John Witherspoon of Blue Island, Ill.; four sons, George F. McBride of Erie, Albert R. McBride, Clarence C. McBride and Walter E. McBride, all of Rock Island; a brother, William Curtis of Pasadena, Calif., 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.”

1. ↑ Typed note from Walter McBride (~1960) gives DOB as 19 August 1849, Washington Co., PA.; obituary gives month.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} George W McBride, in Death Certificate.

   born 19 Jul 1849
   died 15 Aug 1927 in Rock Island, Rock, Island, Illinois
   
   transcript

3. ↑ Memorial Park Cemetery Internment Records 6/2003..
4.   Named in BC of son Clarence, reference 70; info from Walter McBride and other family members. His obituary giv.
5.   Name and DOB from family data..
6.   1877: Past and Present of Rock Island County, IL; Kett and Co., Chicago; page 293; archived by Blackhawk Genea.
7.   History channel on TV, 5/17/2003..
8.   The Argus, Rock Island, IL; 15 August 1927..
9.   A note from son Walter McBride (~1960) gives YOB as 1853; so does 1870 census; obituary in The Argus, Rock Isl.
10.   Records of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Port Byron, IL; publication of the Genealogical Records Committee o.
11.   Obituary in The Rock Island Argus, April 26, 1932..