I am up late, as usuall. I wish I had the poetic flare I had in college. I could sit up all night and just right the coolest stuff.
Now I have a mother flare, the family history flare. I have been looking for clues to my past, and have found some, some real great ones too. But I still haven't found what I am looking for. I want to try to find someone who has it all. Like my grandpa Sim has it all. A wealth of knowledge of his family, and pictures and stuff to boot.
The real prize would be to track down my elusive Lena A McCollum. She married Philip H McCollum. He died in 1964. Supposedly due to a house fire. But a friend of his fathers told me it was a disease or something.
Suicide. He killed himself. Somehow, the LA Times forgot to mention that little fact. Mostly due to his father, the ever so great Ross McCollum, president of National Oil, being friends with, and in a band with, the sherrif of Los Angeles.
So Ross paid of Lena and she went back into the world with stories I would love to know. She is probably alive today, and most likely one of the few who can hel me put this scattered tree together.
As far as I can tell, the McCollums moved to the United States in The 1800's. Stephen being one of the first In my family. They were farmers of New York. Man, they had so many kids too, 9 to be as exact as I can be. And by some miracle, one of them lived long enough to get married and have kids too. Stephen married a Lucy Horton from new york, but I don't know anything about here.
The one that lived was Geroge mcCollum. I should mention that most if not all the other boys died in the civil war.
George married a Martha Betts, don't know anything about here either, but they had a grip load of kids too. I guess you have to if you a going to farm hundreds and hundreds of acres of rich network soil. 8 kids to be exact.
3 of the boys decided to set out west. Crazy right? Leave all that farm, all that heritage? Only one brother left with three sisters to help on the farm.
I can imagine how I would feel if my children wanted to leave for some kids of pipe dream. Gold, big business, oil, money...that's what's out west! Opportunity dad, opportunity.
I hope to never have my children leave on bad terms, but I feel like this is what happened, it was treason is how I feel it went down. But I don't really know.
The girls, Edward, and Fred stayed.a few of them had kids, and their kids had kids, and some are alive today, but have not really gotten the picture yet. That being what happened to the family, and where are all the prices that are left. I would like to gather as many memories as I can, pictures, scraps, etc, and make a great book.
I degres, the three, Albert, the youngest, Frank, and Roy set out into California. I don't know in what order, but they did.
Albert married a woman ny the name of Leona Henderson. She came from a strange sort of circumstances that we will have to get into another time, but let's just say that she ended up right where she needed to be, literally. Albert ran a coffe and tea merchant trade business there, was a cook, and a restaurant owner. Leona was a dress maker, waitress, and from what I know, just the most wonderful woman. There are a few today that knew her.
They had only one child. And I might need to remind you that these folk were coming from a long line of people who didn't fair so well when it came to having children live, and procreate.
Elmer James Simister. Worked in the military as a photo shop guy. He did all the coloring of the plates and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Skinny as a rail, and by the pictures we have, happy as a clam, all the time. He married Beth Simister, another miItary gal. They had my father James wilford McCollum.
Their fate is not an easy one to describe, but simply put, they suffered through what I can only assume to be the worst of all alcoholism has to offer.
Jimmy had to move to Utah to live with aunt and uncle Leon ans Louise while they got "better". Beth died first, sadly, and Mac as they called him never made it out alive.
Albert had passed before Leona and she lived alone in California, sitting on her porch, watching the Oakland temple being built. She later went to that magnificent temple.
The other brothers I don't know an awful lot about, I only found the out at all because Albert had listed Frank Edwin McCollum as a nearest relative of his on his military card and I traced the addresses to match. Used his name to link him to the same frank e McCollum in new york with a brother named "Burt". And that was that. Frank had a son name Ross. He was quite educated. Excellent schooling, and a bright mind.
He went into engineering and work for the Rockefellerers back east until he decided he could do it on his own. I don't know the whole story but he made it back out here and bought a well, and went into the oil business. He was filthy rich. All the luxuries of life I would imagine. I read a book about him, it made him out to be this great pioneer in the oil business and I thought he was a great man...until I discovered his son.
I don't know anything about Phillip. Few people do, and some of those have not been very forthcoming with the details of his life, and if they had, they are suspect to to be true at all.still others I do trust. Ross was....well let me just say the suicide of his son was probably the best brush we can use to paint that picture. His legacy of money still lives on through various charities and trusts, mostly to schools.
Ross would have been Elmer's paternal 1st cousin.
The other boys I don't know anything at all about. I only hope someone read this and can shed some light on it. It's so sad that today people don't keep books of remembrance, or talk to their kids about their heritage. It is a miracle that I am her at all, and that's just my fathers paternal line.
Albert married Leona in California....how she got California is another great story.
She was born in 1886 in coffeey county Kansas to David Henderson. Her mothers name was Cora henderoson, as far as we can tell. Cora died giving birth.
David lived with his brothers and sisters on account of the parents were both deaf mutes. They cou
Don't hear nor speak. They met in school.
I imagine it was a close family, because oshortly aft the death of Cora, David remarried. Sarah Antrim.
Acids sisters left to California as well right around the same time the McCollum boys left. They headed out and said they would send word once they had a job.
Soon, they sent for Leona and her grandmother sophrona. They left everyone, forever it seems.
The sisters were servants in a well to do house, serving food, champagne, etc. at some point they moved to Washington state. Vashon island to be exact. I've been there, to the house that my great grandmother and her sweet aunts took her in and protected her. It was a small wood house on a beautifull hill. Covered in daffodils. They raised chickens and generally farmed. At some point she met a man name burton Edwin Anderson, he was from Texas, but was there for some reason.
They got married and moved to Canada for a few years. She later returned, divorced.
I don't know what caused her to go to California, but she did, and she met Albert.
IF ANY ONE HAS ANYTHING THEY CAN ADD....PLEASE DO. THERE ARE S MANY STORIES TO TELL.
Y
