Name} Williams, Simeon Clyde (Si) | Family History} Hancock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title} | Race} White | Sex} Male | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth: Date} Exa 20 Dec 1897 | Place} Covington, Kenton, Kentucky | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Marr.: Date} Exa 24 Apr 1924 | Place} Woodland, Yolo, California (Link) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Death: Date} Exa 18 Aug 1984 | Place} Napa Nursing Center, Napa, Napa, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Burial: Date} Exa 21 Aug 1984 | Place} Rose Memorial, Fort Bragg, Mendocino, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grave Marker} Yes |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parents: } Theodore John Williams & Myrtle A. Bird Relationship No.} 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1st Household No.} 190 = 137 Sixth Street, Detroit, Michigan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation 1} Musician Occupation 2} Accountant Occupation 3} Landlord Occupation 4} Chicken rancher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Religion/Church} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouses: Prime}
McFarren, Bessie Crystal (Bess) Total Number of} 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes: I was born on December 20th, 1897, in Covington, Kentucky.
After that, my parents went to Detroit, Michigan,
I lost part of my foot due to a streetcar accident in Detroit when I was two years old. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
My family came to California in about 1904. We moved from Michigan to
San Francisco by train. It went through the Grand Canyon. We were in San Francisco for a short period. All of our worldly possessions were contained in one trunk. We had very little money to live on. In 1904, San Francisco storekeepers still looked with suspicion on paper money. They wanted gold and silver coins. Fortunately, my father found a job immediately at Atlas Peak in Napa County. There was no school available for me in the Atlas Peak area, however. So after less than a year there, my family moved from the ranch to the town of Napa. My father rented a house at 120 Main Street. I started to school when I was seven at Lincoln School on North Main Street. It was a very large two-story wood-frame building. I spent one year there. During 1905, Napa had one of its worst floods. I remember seeing the wooden walk in back of 120 Main floating. People were rowing boats on Main Street as far north as the Catholic Church. After a year, we moved in the Spring of 1905 to a two-story, ten-room house on Sonoma Road. We rented it from the Hanson's for $5.00 per month. It was near the Cutting Ranch, a 400-acre fruit ranch, where my father worked for several years until he started boring water wells. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake occurred while we were living there. ![]() My father built a well-boring outfit with a derrick 28 feet tall and a hand-turned auger. This combination could drill water wells to 100 feet deep. He worked at boring water wells in the Napa area, especially all 26 wells in the Cutting tract, until his death. Lengths of 1¼-inch diameter galvanized pipe coupled together were used for lowering a 6 foot by 7 inch auger into the ground as the well deepened. I worked for my father as a well borer for several years. In September 1918 I was 20 years old when I registered for the World War I draft. I was never drafted — probably because my right foot was partly gone. The draft board described me as tall with a medium build, light brown eyes, and dark brown hair. ![]() The photograph at the right is of Simeon and his granddaughter Linda. It was taken a few days before he passed on in 1984. It was a special day for Simeon because Linda had arranged for Norbert Banse to come to the rest home and provide a small violin concert for the residents. The rest home made a big deal out of honoring Simeon. He was so proud of Norbert and happy to hear him playing some of Simeon's favorite violin selections. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Time of Birth} | Time of Death} 3:10 pm | Fraternal/Social} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Baptism Date} | Place} | ![]() ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Confirm. Date} | Photos} Simeon in 1908 (age 11) and in 1919 on his motorcycle. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Immigr'n Date} N/A | Port} N/A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Education: Grade} Eleventh grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Military: Service} U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Health Condition} Amputated leg Cause of Death} Lung cancer |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2004, 2010 by Daniel W. Hancock. All Rights Reserved. |
![]() |
Next Page ![]() |