BIOGRAPHY OF JOSEPH ALLEN BUCKMASTER
AND
ELLA MAE (SELOVER) BUCKMASTER
AND
ELLA MAE (SELOVER) BUCKMASTER
By: Norma Storrs Keating
© 8 August 2021- All rights reserved
© 8 August 2021- All rights reserved
Joseph Allen Buckmaster
(Photo Credit: Percy A. Buckmaster)
Joseph Allan Buckmaster, his wife Ella Mae, and their seven children, were one of the earliest families to make their home in Yorba Linda. They arrived sometime between the 13th of July 1911 when The Bradshaw Monitor newspaper (Bradshaw, NE) reported Ella traveled from Whittier, California to visit her mother in Nebraska, and August 25, 1913 when both Joseph and Ella signed a petition requesting the Orange County Board of Supervisors to establish a library in their new hometown.
Joseph Allen Buckmaster was born on the 25th of February 1861 in Kirksville, Adair County, Missouri. He was the eighth and last child born to George Washington Buckmaster and his wife Sarah Chantry. His parents were both Easterners. George was born in Delaware in 1821 and Sarah in Pennsylvania in 1823. Both of their families migrated Westward to Henry County, Iowa where they met and married in 1847. George and Sarah had five children born in Iowa before they moved on to Adair County, Missouri about 1857 where he worked as a farm hand.
When Joseph was fourteen months old his father died while serving as a Private in Company B, 21st Regiment Missouri Volunteers during the Civil War. His mother Sarah moved the family back to Guthrie County, Iowa near her parents. She filed for a widow’s pension in February 1863 and named her eight children (aged 17 to 2 years) as dependents: Stephen P., John W., Esther E., Thomas H., Hannah E., Mary M., Emma A., and Joseph A.
The Buckmaster family remained in Guthrie County, Iowa for several more years. Joseph’s oldest brother Stephen and sister Hannah married there in 1870 and the 1870 United States Census counted them as residents of Thompson Township, Guthrie County, Iowa.
Joseph Allen Buckmaster was born on the 25th of February 1861 in Kirksville, Adair County, Missouri. He was the eighth and last child born to George Washington Buckmaster and his wife Sarah Chantry. His parents were both Easterners. George was born in Delaware in 1821 and Sarah in Pennsylvania in 1823. Both of their families migrated Westward to Henry County, Iowa where they met and married in 1847. George and Sarah had five children born in Iowa before they moved on to Adair County, Missouri about 1857 where he worked as a farm hand.
When Joseph was fourteen months old his father died while serving as a Private in Company B, 21st Regiment Missouri Volunteers during the Civil War. His mother Sarah moved the family back to Guthrie County, Iowa near her parents. She filed for a widow’s pension in February 1863 and named her eight children (aged 17 to 2 years) as dependents: Stephen P., John W., Esther E., Thomas H., Hannah E., Mary M., Emma A., and Joseph A.
The Buckmaster family remained in Guthrie County, Iowa for several more years. Joseph’s oldest brother Stephen and sister Hannah married there in 1870 and the 1870 United States Census counted them as residents of Thompson Township, Guthrie County, Iowa.
But change was coming once again for young Joseph. His oldest brother Stephen P. Buckmaster, taking advantage of the new homestead lands opening up to the West, was one of the first settlers of Baker Precinct, York County, Nebraska in December 1869 when he built the first frame house in the county. It was blown down later in the winter. Toward the end of October 1870 his mother Sarah and brother Thomas Henry also laid claim to land in Baker Precinct where they homesteaded the northeast quarter of section 6 on Beaver Creek.
|
The family lived in a sod house on the prairie for a few years and endured the hardships of pioneer life. Joseph worked on his mother’s farm, herding cattle and doing various chores. By the time he was sixteen he was running the place for her. Having charge of a farm on the prairie was not an easy job. Pioneers talked for years about Easter Sunday in April 1873 when an enormous storm blew in beginning with rain and thunderstorms about 4pm. By nightfall rain turned into sleet and snow. It snowed for three days and three nights so hard that it was impossible to see anything. Snow filled ravines and animals perished. Farmers even took their livestock into their sod houses to keep them alive. When the storm passed many families had to be dug out of their sod houses which were covered in snow up to the roofs with only the chimney showing.
|
Nebraska Sod House (Old Settler's History of York County)
|
And then there were the grasshoppers Joseph had to contend with. On the 20th of July 1876 a cloud of grasshoppers arrived and covered the county, darkening the sun in some places. They ate any kind of vegetation available. Everyone in York County had lean times until the following harvest brought food for them and their animals. The next year they once again were fighting grasshoppers that hatched from eggs laid the year before. A bounty was even paid by the county for bags of dead grasshoppers!
In 1879 when the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad was extended from York to Grand Island, the Town of Bradshaw was founded in York County about five miles from the Buckmaster homestead. Enterprising merchants opened a general store, blacksmith shop, post office, and hardware store. By 1884 Bradshaw had attracted a newspaper, a doctor, and several more businesses, including a lumber yard run by Joseph’s brother, Thomas Henry Buckmaster.
As Joseph grew up he was surrounded by his brothers and sisters and their expanding families. The 1880 United States Census reveals that Sarah and five of her children were living in York County, Nebraska. Sarah’s household included her unmarried daughter Mary, Joseph, and her married son Thomas Henry and his wife. Her eldest son Stephen and newly married daughter Emma both lived nearby. Neither Stephen nor Thomas Henry were listed as farmers. Stephen worked as a clerk in a grocery and Thomas Henry was a carpenter.
The Buckmaster Family was well known in the county since Stephen was appointed as the first Justice of the Peace in January 1870, and his brother John William made the first assessment after the creation of Henderson and North Blue Precincts. Stephen was also chosen as treasurer of the first school district established in the spring of 1871.
Around 1885 Joseph bought 80 acres in Baker Precinct, section 6 which he farmed while still maintaining his mother’s homestead. Four years later, on the 31st of December 1889, he married Miss Ella Mae Selover at her mother’s home in York County. Ella was the daughter of Martin VanBuren Selover and Julia Hoffman Spaulding, both of whom were born, raised and married in New Jersey. About 1867-1868 they migrated West to Waterloo, Black Hawk County, Iowa where Ella and her twin brother, John Elmer, were born on the 7th of February 1870. Martin Selover was also drawn to the promise of land in Nebraska and, by 1880, had moved his family again to Township 9, Range 4 in York County.
Five months after they were married, Joseph and Ella experienced an incredible natural phenomenon together. Two storms approached Bradshaw from different directions on the evening of June 3rd 1890. As they converged near the edge of town, a giant cyclone was created which roared through the small village destroying almost everything in it’s path. Due to the heavy rain and darkness a true assessment of the damage could not be made until morning. Some people were buried in the ruins of their homes. Every building in town was damaged in some way, including Thomas Henry Buckmaster’s lumber yard which was practically destroyed by the storm. There were countless injuries and twelve died as a result of the storm. Citizens of the surrounding area and nearby towns came to help those affected. Over time the Town of Bradshaw was rebuilt. New churches, schools, homes and businesses rose where the compete destruction had occurred. By 1902 there were 25 business and one doctor in town.
While all of this was going on around them, Joseph and Ella began growing their family. Son Lloyd Martin was born on the 23rd of November 1890, followed by Percy Allen on the 7th of July 1892. Joseph began to expand his farm, purchasing another 80 acres of land in 1893. It was on this land that he built a new home for his family. Six more children were born on the farm near Bradshaw: Esther Belle on the 10th of March 1894; Howard Edward on the 27th of February 1896; triplets Earl, Pearl and Merl on the 13th of May 1899; and John Henry on the 25th of June 1901. Unfortunately, none of the triplets survived. They were buried together at Council Cemetery, York, York County, Nebraska.
By 1899 Joseph owned 160 acres of land and did some business with other farmers in the area using his steam thresher and corn sheller. He was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and had filled several township offices over the years. In October of 1899 he moved his family into Bradshaw where they occupied the former home of Charles Peterson. Esther, Lloyd and Percy were enrolled in the Bradshaw Primary School.
It seems that about this time Joseph opened a hardware store in Bradshaw. He ran ads in The Bradshaw Republican Newspaper throughout 1900: “Call on J. A. Buckmaster for Hardware, Guns, Grass seed, McCormick Binders, Westinghouse Threshing Machines, and the best Stoves on earth.” and “J. A. Buckmaster carries a full line of Hardware, Anti-Rust tinware, the famous asbestos sad iron, guns and the best stoves on the market.” Then in early August 1900 the newspaper reported that Joseph and Chas. Hubbell were going to Oklahoma “in search of business locations.” Subsequently, the newspaper reported that Joseph had sold the hardware business to a Mr. R. C. Buckley and moved his family back out to his farm by the end of October 1900.
Joseph and Ella obviously stayed in Bradshaw until the end of June 1901 when John Henry was born. However, by the time their next child appeared in 1903 they were in Whittier, Los Angeles, California. The last three children were born there: Julia Lucretia on the 30th of September 1903; George Linden on the 12th of April 1907; and Harry Glen on the 12th of April 1909.
It is unknown if they ever went to Oklahoma as The Bradshaw Republican had suggested twice in news items. If they did, they did not stay there very long. Since Joseph’s older brother Thomas Henry and his married sister Hannah Elizabeth Stanfield were both living in Los Angeles with their families, it would seem likely that they convinced Joseph and Ella that there were wonderful opportunities for a good life in California. Indeed, there were a lot of people from York County living in the Los Angeles area. The Nebraskans’ Picnic Association held a large gathering in Long Beach on the 17 th of August 1907 attended by about 1,000 former Nebraskans from Lincoln, Omaha, Grand Island, York and many more places. Included in the group were the Joseph and Thomas Henry Buckmaster families, Mrs Grace Selover Mills, and David and Hannah (Buckmaster) Stanfield.
The Joseph A. Buckmaster family was enumerated on the 4th of May 1910 in Los Nietos, Los Angeles County, California by the United States Census Bureau. By the time Ella was reported to have returned to Nebraska to visit her mother on the 13th of July in 1911 the family had moved to Whittier. Then, on the 10th of September 1912, Joseph A. and Ella M. Buckmaster purchased three parcels of land in the Newmark Tract in Yorba Linda , Orange County, California from R. N. Newmark.
Sometime between then and the 25th of August 1913 when they signed the library petition, Joseph and Ella moved their family into Yorba Linda and opened a hardware store on Front Street. The 1913 City Directory for Yorba Linda has the following listing:
Buckmaster, Miss Esther, Bkpr, J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, Floyd, J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, Howard, J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, Joseph A. (Mrs Ella M.), J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, Percy, J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, J, A. & Sons (J. A., Floyd, Howard, Percy) props Yorba Linda Hardware Co.
Buckmaster, Miss Esther, Bkpr, J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, Floyd, J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, Howard, J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, Joseph A. (Mrs Ella M.), J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, Percy, J. A. Buckmaster & Sons
Buckmaster, J, A. & Sons (J. A., Floyd, Howard, Percy) props Yorba Linda Hardware Co.
The Buckmasters followed many families from Whittier who also decided to “pioneer” in Yorba Linda. Land was available and drew farmers to plant orchards on the open tracts. But pioneering wasn’t much easier in Yorba Linda than it had been in York County, Nebraska. Santa Ana winds blew the fine dirt into every nook and cranny of the makeshift homes. Water had to be hauled from the river and rattlesnakes were lurking about. Neighbors relied on each other and worked together to make their new town a livable place. In the space of a few years a new school was established, a library was created, the town center attracted businesses, churches were erected, and homes were transformed from one room tent structures to really comfortable buildings.
|
Between 1913 and 1919 there were several changes in the family dynamics. Lloyd was the first to leave when he married Irma Marguerite Moore on the 23rd of December 1915 in Yorba Linda. Next Percy and Myrtle Belle Paraday tied the knot on the 19th of October 1916 in Monument, Colorado. The two men established a thriving business together by 1919 when they advertised the “Yorba Linda Garage” in the City Directory. The lived near each other on Valencia Avenue in Yorba Linda.
In October 1919 Joseph and Ella again endured a parents heartbreak when their son John Henry passed away at the age of eighteen. He was buried in Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton. By now Joseph had sold the hardware store to Ella’s brother, Charles R. Selover, and Evan C. Townesend and returned to farming. The January 1920 United States Census states he is a farmer once again. Also in the household are his wife Ella M., and five remaining children: Howard E., Esther, Julia L., George L., and Harry G.
|
Buckmaster's Garage (Photo courtesy of Orange County Archives)
|
But that family picture did not last very long. Wedding bells rang again shortly afterward in 1920 as Howard married Irene Velma Jones in Riverside on the 3rd of August and on the 23rd of October the Buckmaster home was the scene of the ceremony uniting their daughter Esther Belle and Howard Brown in marriage. Howard was a native of Bradshaw, Nebraska and had been living in Yorba Linda for some time where he engaged in the plumbing and tile business.
Orange County, California deed records show that Joseph completed 27 land transactions between 1912 and 1922. He bought another parcel of land in Yorba Linda from R. N. Newmark in 1915, 1916, and 1919. He “sold” property to his daughter Esther in 1917 and to his son Lloyd in 1922. Other prominent Yorba Linda men he bargained with were Nathan T. Brooks, Eldo West (father of author Jessamyn West), and Hurless Barton.
Another wedding in the family took place on Leap Year Day- the 29th of February- in 1924 when daughter Julia Lucretia married Samuel Gilman, who was the manager of the Yorba Linda Packing House. So now Joseph and Ella had the last two sons at home with them, both of whom were teenagers and able to help their parents with the farm chores after school. The house was not quiet however, since 8 grandchildren lived nearby and were able to stop for cookies after school. Lloyd and Irma had two sons and two daughters (Robert, Lucille, Charlotte, Glen), Percy and Myrtle had one of each (Marjorie, Percy), and Howard and his wife also had one of each (Ray, June.). Ella’s mother and several Selover and Buckmaster sisters and brothers also lived close enough for an occasional visit. (See Selover and Buckmaster#2 biographies written separately.)
Joseph and Ella celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary on New Years Eve 1924 and then he unexpectedly died during the night on the 1st of January 1925. What a heartbreaking day for Ella. He was buried in Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton next to his son John Henry. His will was probated by Ella on the 30th of January in the Superior Court of Orange County. Ella was appointed the executor and inherited his property on Valencia Street in Yorba Linda. She was now a young widow aged 55 years with two sons to support.
Both George and Harry lived with their mother for several more years. The Yorba Linda Star Newspaper reported the Buckmaster family held a large Holiday gathering at the Yorba Linda Woman’s Club on Christmas Day, 1928. Included in the party were “Mrs. Ella Buckmaster and sons Harry and George; Mr. and Mrs. Sam Gilman and children; Mrs Ben Selover and children; Mr. and Mrs. Howard Brown; Mr. and Mrs. Loyd Buckmaster and children of Long Beach; Mrs Della Miller of Fullerton; Charles R. Selover of Yuba City; Mr. and Mrs T. H. Buckmaster, Mrs. Rachel Weeks, Mrs. Annie Plummer, Mr. and Mrs Vasco Mills and children, all of Whittier and Mrs. J. H. Selover.”
The 1930 United States Census taken on the 2nd of April listed Ella M. Buckmaster as the widowed head of household living at 119 Valencia Street in Yorba Linda with her two sons George and Harry, both of whom were single. George was a garage mechanic and Harry a laborer who did odd jobs. Just 3 days later George tied the knot with Violet Ella Scott in Yuma, Arizona! Harry lived with his mother until the 2nd of January 1937 when he married Gladys Mae Griffith, also in Yuma, Arizona.
By 1935 Ella’s mother, Julia Hoffman (Spaulding) Selover, had moved into the house on Valencia Street. When she turned ninety in March 1938, a gala party was hosted by her son, Benjamin and his wife at their home in Yorba Linda. The buffet supper was attended by over thirty family members representing three generations of her descendants, all of whom lived in Orange and Los Angeles Counties.
At the time of the 1940 Census enumeration. Julia was 92 years old and Ella was 70 years old. The family next door was familiar- daughter Julia, her husband, Sam Gilman, and their children George, age 13, and Joan, age 11. Unfortunately, Julia H. Selover passed away on the 18th of December 1940 after a long illness. Her obituary in The Bradshaw Monitor related that the Daughters of Veterans conducted her funeral service at Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton on December 20 . Ella lived alone in her house on Valencia Street until 1945 when she, too, passed away on the 14th of September.
The children of these two Yorba Linda pioneers ended up spread out in California. Julia was the only child to remain in Yorba Linda until she moved to Solvang to live with her daughter late in life. Lloyd, Esther, Howard and George remained in Orange County but they no longer resided in Yorba Linda. Percy became first a gold miner in Colorado, then a carpenter, and eventually lived in Sacramento. Harry migrated to San Diego.
|
Resources for this article:
FamilySearch.org Ancestry.com Find-a-Grave.com Newspapers.com Fold3.com Rootsweb.com: York County, Nebraska USGenWeb: York County, Nebraska Page Yorba Linda Public Library Fullerton Public Library History Room York County Nebraska and Its People by T. E. Sedgwick, Vol. 1 (FHL# 1000193, item# 1) University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Virtual Nebraska web page for Bradshaw, York County Internet Archive: Memorial & Biographical Record Compendium of Local Biography by Geo. A Ogle & Co., Chicago, ILL (1890), pg. 414-415 |
Records for this article:
California Birth/ Marriage/ Death Indexes Orange County, California Marriage records WWI & WWII Draft Records York County, Nebraska Marriage Records Henry County, Iowa Marriage Records Guthrie County, Iowa Marriage records Civil War Widow’s Pension File# 16051: Sarah (Chantry) Buckmaster Yorba Linda City Directories: 1913, 1919 1920 Great Register of California: Yorba Linda Precinct# 1 Orange County California Index to Deeds: Vol. 15-23 ( 1910-1925)[FHL# 2050100, 2950101, 2050102, 2050103, 2050158, 2050159, 2050160, 2050161] |
|
Newspapers:
The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 18 May 1899, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 1 Feb 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 1 Mar 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 22 Mar 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 29 Mar 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 2 Apr 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 10 May 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 7 June 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 28 June 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 12 July 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 19 July 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 2 Aug 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 16 Aug 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 30 Aug 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu., 2 Aug 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 13 Sept. 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 20 Sept. 1900, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Republican (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 25 Oct 1899, pg. 1 Blue Valley Journal (McCool Junction, Nebraska), Thu. 29 Aug 1907, pg. 4 The Bradshaw Monitor (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 13 July 1911, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Monitor (Bradshaw, Nebraska), Thu. 28 Oct 1920, pg. 1 The Santa Ana Register (Santa Ana, California), Fri. 29 Oct 1920 Santa Ana Register (Santa Ana, California), Tue. 27 Jan 1925, pg. 17 Santa Ana Register (Santa Ana, California), Sat. 29 Dec 1928, pg. 2 The Bradshaw Monitor (Bradshaw, Nebraska) Thu. 6 Feb 1930, pg. 1 The Yorba Linda Star (Yorba Linda, California) Fri., 11 March 1938 The Bradshaw Monitor (Bradshaw, Nebraska) Thu. 7 April 1938, pg. 1 The Bradshaw Monitor (Bradshaw, Nebraska) Thu. 2 January 1941, pg. 1 |
US Census Records:
1850 Lick Creek Twp., Van Buren County, Iowa: family 134-134 1860 Wilmothville, Clay Twp., Adair Co, MO: family 1070-873 1870 Casey, Thompson, Guthrie Co., Iowa: family 94-94 1880 Town 10, Range 3 West, York Co., NA: family 25-25 1900 Bradshaw, York Co., NE: ED 171; SD 4; Pg. 15A; line 33; family 219-221 1900 Whittier, Los Nietos, Los Angeles Co., CA: ED 110; SD 6; pg. 3B; line 57; family 66-71 1910 Los Nietos, Los Angeles Co., CA: ED 281; SD 7; Pg. 6A, line 10, family# 114-114 1920 Yorba Linda, Placentia Twp., Orange Co., CA: ED 361; SD 9; Pg. 12A; line 1; family 1-1 1920 Yorba Linda, Placentia Twp., Orange Co., CA: ED 361; SD 9; Pg. 2A; line 35; family 34 1930 Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Orange Co., CA: ED 30-36, SD 20; Pg. 2B; line 50; family 51-41 1930 Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Orange Co., CA: ED 30-36, SD 20; Pg. 2B; line 71; family 54-44 1940 Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Orange Co., CA: ED 30-36; SD 19; Pg. 2A; family 30 1940 Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Orange Co., CA: ED 30-36; SD 19; Pg. 2A; family 31 1940 Fullerton, Fullerton, Orange Co., CA: ED 30-33; SD 19; pg. 16B; line 65; family 509 State Census:
1856 Iowa State Census for Charleston, Lee Co., Iowa: page 130-131, family# 33-33 |
