Sears Family Associaton Blog

Sears Gazetteer – Wyoming

Post author By Andrew
Post date 15th December 2023
No Comments on Sears Gazetteer – Wyoming

The Sears Gazetteer contains a list of locations in the USA with the name Sears, compiled by Ray Sears over the years. Also see Alabama, Maine, Mississippi, Alaska, New Mexico, Virginia and others on this site.

Wyoming has at least 2 geographical placemarks, Sears Ditch and Sears Draw. Let’s see if we can make a ditch and a draw as interesting as the other geographical features of Wyoming…

Sears Ditch

The Sears Ditch is located in Carbon County, Wyoming. J.D. Sears is cited in the USGS publication, Water Resources of Carbon County, Wyoming. Perhaps the Sears Ditch is named after him?

A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. Ditches are commonly seen around farmland, and there are more than a few ranches in Wyoming. A Bar A Ranch, Durham Bison Ranch, Hornbuckle Ranch, Fiddle Back Ranch, T A Ranch, White Grass Dude Ranch.

There’s even a Groenewold’s XB Ranch listed at 155 Sears Rd in Newcastle, Wyoming, though it might be closed now.

Sears Rd in Newcastle, Wyoming? Maybe we’ll get back to that.

Sears Ditch is considered a canal in Carbon County, 41°14’50″N, 106°51’16″W according to the Geographic Names System. Geonames ID 5837821, GNS Feature ID 1594071

A GNIS feature ID is a permanent, unique identifier for a feature in the Geographic Names Information Service (GNIS) database. GNIS is the U.S. federal government’s authoritative gazetteer. It contains an entry for each named place or point of interest recognized by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names within U.S. territory, based on submissions from federal, state, and local government agencies as well as from the general public through The National Map Corps.

The ditch is close to other Reservoirs, Creeks, and Ditches. Pilson Ditch Number 2 might be a good fishing hole.

The Sears Ditch runs off Otto Creek, about 45 minutes away from the Grand Encampment Museum in Encampment, Wyoming. Encampment is located in Southern Wyoming on the Colorado-Wyoming border.

Encampment, Wyoming

Encampment, WY, population 450, formerly Grand Encampment before some postal rules caused them to drop the name and perhaps led to its drop in population, was founded after a copper strike in the Sierra Madres in 1897. The mining bubble burst in 1908 when the mining company was indicted for over-capitalization and fraudulent stock sales. No less than 6 towns became ghost towns after the mining company failed.

In 1905, Encampment was the site of the third largest rabbit ranch in the country, with three thousand head of hares.

Nearby to Encampment is Riverside, Saratoga, Ryan Park, Tenmile, and Old Haymaker Place, Wyoming.
Old Haymaker Place is about 40 minutes or 30 miles north of Encampment. Not sure if there is much to do in Old Haymaker Place, though I did see a car parked in the middle of a ranch field off WY-130 (the Snowy Range Road) on street view.

From 1902 to 1908, the Ferris-Haggarty Tramway, outside Encampment was the longest aerial ore tram in the world.

Encampment’s aerial tram

The longest aerial ore tram in the world

Encampment may be a small town in Wyoming, but in the year 2000, Lost Springs, Wyoming was one of only 4 places in the US to have had a population of 1. Now it’s booming with a population of 6, and still on the charts as the least populated municipality in Wyoming. Wyoming being the least populated state in the US, with 576,851 inhabitants but the 9th largest by land area. Wyoming’s municipalities cover only 0.3% of the state’s land mass but are home to 68.3% of its population. That’s a lot of ranch land.

The smallest town in the world, at 9.9 acres is Buford Wyoming.

Sears Road in Newcastle, Wyoming

In researching the new-found Sears Rd in Wyoming, I found a link to a Sears family who owns a “29,000-acre ranch first established in 1878, which literally sits at the end of a long and winding road.”

A really fascinating story about the history of the 4W Ranch, (formerly Hammond Range started in 1879) run by a Sears family, 6-generation ranching family. https://www.tsln.com/news/4w-ranch-on-thecheyenne-river-combines-rich-history-and-smart-management/ and https://www.tsln.com/news/asdasda-91/

There are actually two Sears Roads, one in Sheridan and one near Newcastle.

The Sears Rd near Newcastle looks to be a dirt road in the middle of a ranch. Flat plains and cows for miles.

According to WYOHISTORY.ORG, Newcastle, Wyo. began as a product of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in the late 1880s. The city’s first ordinance banned the discharge of firearms within the city limits. The town’s first mayor was Frank Mondell, who had a .45-calibre bullet lodged close to his spine while serving in the US congress for 26 years. There might be a coincidence here.

Cowboys, miners and railroad workers were a tough bunch.

There was a water shortage in the town, and water was sold at 10 cents a gallon, which is actually pretty standard at about $0.02 per bottle of water, or $0.75 in today’s dollars. Still, the Burlington Railroad needed more than 66,000 gallons of water so they built some water pipelines.

Back in 1902, the Newlands Reclamation Act allows for construction of irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands, in states including Wyoming. The North Platte Project, originally the Sweetwater Project, provides irrigation to about 335,000 acres in Wyoming and Nebraska. The Pathfinder Reservoir, one of those government irrigation projects built in Carbon county, is Wyoming’s second largest reservoir.

W.E. Sears & the Platte Valley Railroad Committee

In 1928, a group of citizens formed the Platte Valley Railroad Committee and purchased a bankrupt Saratoga and Encampment (S&E) Valley Railroad in 1928. W.E. Sears was on the Platte Valley Railroad Committee for the purchase of the “Slow and Easy” Railroad.

Willis Edwin (W.E.) Sears obituary is in a Sears Family Association Newsletter. A cattle rancher, He married Minnie M. Huston, who was descended from five generations of family born and living in Wyoming.

https://www.searsr.com/member/NEWS20.pdf

Julian Ducker Sears

Julian Ducker Sears (1891-1970), or J.D. Sears, was a field geologist, scientist-administrator and Acting Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. J.D. contributed to publications and surveys of the Baxter Basin gas field in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, among many others in his long career. J.D. was given the Interior Department’s Distinguished Service Award in 1961, and was a Fellow of The Geological Society of America.

Baxter Basin Gas Fields

The Geology of the Baxter Basin Gas Field, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, by Julian D. Sears is a gripping 27-page page-turner on the Baxter Basin and, well, its geology.

The Baxter Basin Gas Fields were proven in 1922 with the completion of 2 wells in Sweetwater County. As of 2020, the population of Sweetwater County was about 42,272 people.

As of 2020, Carbon County, Wyoming has a population of 14,537.

That’s a lot of people for Wyoming.

Sears Draw

Sears Draw is in Sheridan Wyoming. A draw is a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them. The area of low ground itself is the draw, and it is defined by the spurs surrounding it. Draws are similar to valleys on a smaller scale, however while valleys are by nature parallel to a ridgeline, a draw is perpendicular to the ridge, and rises with the surrounding ground, disappearing up-slope.

Sears Draw sits near the intersection of Sears Road and SR Buffalo Creek Road, about 25 miles from Sheridan, Wyoming. 44.8091419 (North), -106.6561679 (West) and 4,029 feet in elevation.

Other Draws, or nearby valleys include Ash Draw, Grouse Draw, Spear Draw, Lanters Draw, Jones Draw, and Lanbaugh Number 4 Draw.

Sears Homes

J.C. Penney (James Cash Penney) opened a Golden Rule Store in Kemmerer, Wyoming, on April 14, 1902. This is now located in the J.C. Penney Historical district of the town. Penney sold to the coal miners in town and started expanding the Golden Rule stores. He moved the company’s head office to Salt Lake City in 1909. The JC Penney Company was rebranded from the various Golden Rule stores in 1913.

Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward would take his ideas and run with them.

There are a few Sears kit houses in Wyoming.

Take a 1.2-Mile Walk to See Wyoming’s Homes Built From Sears Kits

Apparently J.C. Penney also sold homes too!

CATALOGING HISTORY

References

USGS Water Resources of Carbon County, Wyoming – https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5027/pdf/sir2006-5027.pdf

Memorial to Julian Ducker Sears (1891-1970) – https://www.geosociety.org/documents/gsa/memorials/v02/Sears-JD.pdf

Little Snake River Museum – https://www.littlesnakerivermuseum.com/

Sears Place Names – https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?msa=0&mid=1mrx4tylhpGvxCfG7xmzeQX8xBIo&ll=39.101799189140515%2C-95.99427599999999&z=5

Grand Encampment Museum, The Gem of Southern Wyoming – https://gemuseum.com/

WyoHistory.org – https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/encampment-wyoming

https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/saratoga-and-encampment-valley-railroad

Wyoming Tails and Trails – http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/ghost3.html

Draw (terrain) – https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11664274

Otter Creek Natural Atlas Otter Creek | Natural Atlas

GeoNames graphical database with 11+ million place names GeoNames

GeoNames Fulltextsearch : sears https://www.geonames.org/search.html?q=sears&country=

OpenStreetMap https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:gnis:feature_id

Search results for “sears” – OpenStreetMap Wiki https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?search=sears&title=Special%3ASearch&go=Go

Fishbrain, find your best fishing spot https://fishbrain.com/

City of Newcastle, WY Cemetery Viewer, https://crookgrowdev.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=6cb0a8a790404d0a8186359a4f257d9a

Wyo History https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/newcastle-wyoming

http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/

Bringing it back: Sears family continues to operate, improve ranches – Wyoming Livestock Roundup

The Cattle Boom of 1868-1886 https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/wyoming-cattle-boom-1868-1886

Wyoming Key Facts https://state.1keydata.com/wyoming.php

Geology of the Baxter Basin Gas Field, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, by Julian D. Sears https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0781b/report.pdf

Park History – Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Gazetteer

Sears Gazetteer – Arizona

Post author By Andrew
Post date 2nd January 2022
No Comments on Sears Gazetteer – Arizona

Arizona has 5 placemarks. Sears Kay Ranch, Sears Park, Sears Point, Sears Tank, and Sears Trailhead. A few more are listed here.

Just be aware, there are some restrictions when hiking the Sears Trail.

No more than 15 people are allowed to be in a group.
No more than 15 head of livestock are allowed in a group.

The Sears-Kay Ruins

The Sears-Kay Ruins are located in Cave Creek, northeast of Black Mountain in Tonto National Forest, near Seven Springs, Arizona.

Sears-Kay Ruins Interpretive Sign - hawks eye view

Discovered by soldiers on patrol in 1867, they date back to about 1050. US Soldiers occupied the area during their campaign against the Apache and Yavapai. The ruins of the Hohokam people are now named after the Sears-Kay Ranch. Abandoned around the year 1200, the ruins are composed of about 40 rooms in 5 separate buildings.

A replica of a room in the ruins can be found in the Cave Creek Museum.

There is some speculation by Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum that Perry Mesa was named after William Perry Sears, a son of J.M. Sears.

Tags 1893 World's Fair, Arizona, John Marion Sears, Sears Gazetteer, Sears Park, Sears Point, Sears-Kay Ranch, Sears-Kay Ruins

Gazetteer

Sears Gazetteer – Nebraska

Post author By Andrew
Post date 24th August 2021
No Comments on Sears Gazetteer – Nebraska

The Sears Gazetteer contains a list of locations in the USA with the name Sears, compiled by Ray Sears over the years. Also see Alaska, Alabama, Idaho, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Virginia and others on this site.

There are 3 placemarks in the Gazetteer for Nebraska, 4 if you include the 2 Sears Ranch placemarks in Cherry, Nebraska.

By Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Co.
Library of Congress Printed Ephemera Collection;
Portfolio 134, Folder 13.[1], Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4444458

Sears Lake

Sears Lake is located in Grant County, Nebraska, near the Village of Hyannis, Ashby, and Duluth.

There isn’t much information on Sears Lake. According to Wikipedia, Hyannis, the village closest to the lake was laid out in 1888 when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was extended to that point. Only 13 years prior to that, the U.S. purchased 11,000 miles of the Sand Hills from the Sioux tribe for $25,000. The remainder of the territory was ceded to the U.S. after years of conflict and bloodshed during the Great Sioux War of 1876.

President Andrew Johnson reserved areas of Nebraska Territory for the Santee Sioux Indians of Crow Creek, Dakota. Special Agent Reuben Sears scoped out the lands around the Missouri River Bluffs in Nebraska, noting the reservations were “some of the most disadvantageous locations” in the state. – S. Rep. No. 4, 55th Cong., 1st Sess. (1897)

The year 1888 was also when Arthur Abbott and his family settled in what was to be Cherry County, just northeast of Hyannis. “The first term of court for the county was held in 1887 at Hyannis and the first case tried was for cattle stealing. At that time, there was but one store in town and no courthouse, so Judge Abbott presided over the trial outdoors.”

Arthur’s son, Christopher, “married Helen Sears whose father was well known for his building construction in the Hyannis area.” according to the web site for the Abbott Ranch, abbot-ranch.com. They were married in 1914.

Sherman Sherwood Sears, Helen’s father, is buried in Hyannis Cemetery.

Christopher Joseph Abbott (1889-1954) was born in Bird City, Cheyenne County, Kansas, according to https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/NE/masons.html. He was a banker, in the lumber business, and a director of Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. In the 1920’s, Christopher Abbott was the wealthiest man in Nebraska and the largest landowner in the state. His 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom “mansion” was built by architect George Beringhof, a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright, according to Oldhousedreams.com.

A description of the Abbott Ranch from the October 1978 issue of National Geographic:

From the main highway the road back to the ranch is nine tough miles of ruts and sand traps. The farther you go, the more you wonder where you made the wrong turn. Suddenly, around shoulder of a a high ridge, there is ranch headquarters. The main house, in a grove of cottonwoods and box elders, is 67 years old, high-ceilinged and spacious. Nearby stands the bunkhouse and cookhouse, and set into the side of the ridge is a combination butcher shop, creamery, and commissary that can feed the ranch crew for two months if blizzards close the road.

The Abbott family has seven generations of family members who were ranchers.

Sears Dr. and “Doc” Sears

Within Hyannis, there is a Sears Drive, where “Doc” Sears (https://www.sandhillscowboys.com/gary-l-doc-sears-dvm-2019-cowboy-hall-of-fame-inductee) and his veterinary practice has resided for over 50 years.

Sears Ranch

Sears Ranch is located in Cherry County, Nebraska, on Packingham Lake Dr near the community of Kennedy and city of Valentine. Sears.com has a few photographs for sale of Homesteaders in Cherry County and around Nebraska. I couldn’t find more details on the ranch, perhaps it was owned by Sherman S. Sears?

Sears School

Sears School is located in Valentine, Nebraska, and is just over 3 miles from the Sears Ranch. Valentine was founded in 1882.

Kearney County, Nebraska

J.H. Sears published the Historical Atlas of Kearney County, Nebraska, 1894

Resources

Nebraska State Historical Society
https://www.nebraskahistory.org/

Nebraska Historic Buildings Survey Reconnaissance Survey Final Report of Cherry County, Nebraska
https://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/reports/cherry_county.pdf

Nebraska Genealogy
https://accessgenealogy.com/nebraska-genealogy
https://www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/services/refrence/la_pubs/geneal5.htm

The Nebraska Project
http://www.billfrakes.com/nebraska-project

Nebraska Memories
https://www.memories.ne.gov/

Custer County Museum
https://www.custercountymuseum.org/amenities-1

VisitValentine
https://visitvalentine.org/

Tags Abbott Ranch, Arthur Abbott, Cherry County, Christopher Abbott, Doc Sears, Helen Sears, Hyannis, Nebraska, Sears Gazetteer, Sears Lake

Gazetteer

Sears Gazetteer – Alabama

Post author By Andrew
Post date 28th March 2021
No Comments on Sears Gazetteer – Alabama

The Sears Gazetteer contains a list of locations in the USA with the name Sears, compiled by Ray Sears over the years. Also see Maine, Mississippi, Alaska, New Mexico, Virginia and others on this site.

There are 6 placemarks in the Gazetteer for Alabama. McEwen Cemetery, Sears Camp, Sears Chapel Methodist Church, Sears Elementary School, and Sears Marina.

Sears Chapel and McEwen Cemetery

The Sears Chapel Methodist Church and McEwen Cemeteries are located on US Hwy 231, 3.7 km (2.3 mi) and about a 3 minute drive north from Rockford Alabama, in Coosa County. There are actually two cemeteries with the same name located across the road from each other, with one purchased at a later date. The congregation was founded in 1859 by the Sears and McEwen families. The present building was constructed in 1895.

The Histories of Sears Chapel Methodist Church – Coosa Co., AL.
Methodism in Alabama

Sears Chapel United Methodist Church
Jimmy Emerson, DVM
Flickr

In addition to Flickr, the web site ShotHotspot has some photos of the church and cemetery available here. Some names listed in the cemetery records include Martha T Waldrip (Sears), John A Sears, Tabitha J Sears, Tommie Sears, and John K. McEwen.

John K. McEwen

John K. McEwen’s family plot in the cemetery might be the most elaborate. A second hobby involved designing and building a family burial lot. In 1897, he marked off a lot forty feet square at Sears Chapel Cemetery. He cut the rock and masoned the high monument which bears the inscription: “Burial Ground of John K. and C. D. McEwen Aug 4, 1897.” He built the coping to designate his lot. The lot has an arched, marble entrance; the walk-way has inscriptions written into it, and among the tombs is a cenotaph to Jesus. McEwen said, “I made it wormproof and waterproof and now I’m trying to live so it will be fireproof.” He often said that the cemetery was constructed better than his house because he expected to be there longer.

The 15-ton white marble arch in his family’s corner of the cemetery was designed by Italian sculptor Cesare Pillade Falconi. Alabama is known for its white marble, and once even had a gas station in Sylacauga called the Marble Castle, made from surplus marble tombstones. The Comer Museum & Arts Center is another amazing marble structure with a spiritual and storied past.

John A. Sears and Tabitha Jane Sears

John A. Sears (1812-1884) was one of the founders of the Sears Chapel, along with the family of his son-in-law George Washington McEwen and his daughter Mary Catherine Sears. Both became Masons. Sears was a millwright, known as the best in the county, and was living in Rockford in the 1860s. His wife was a well-respected midwife. Ronald D. Bridges, George’s great-great-grandson, posted a biography of John, his wife Tabitha Jane Sears and his family to the USGenWeb Archives. In it is mentioned their children Mary Catherine Sears, Elizabeth Francis Sears, Martha Thomas Sears, Tabitha Antoinett Sears. Other families include Owen T. Sears and his wife Elisabeth Rush, Thomas J. Buckner and his wife, Elizabeth’s sister Temperance Rush.

In Coosa County, John and Tabitha had another son, Joseph Wiley Sears. They moved to Hatchett Creek, just north of Rockford in the late 1850’s.

John’s father was Joseph S. Sears. Many of Joseph’s descendants joined him from Georgia and east Alabama to Coosa County.

Rockford, Alabama

Rockford Alabama, population 544 as of July 1, 2020, was also known as Pondalassa or Ponedelassa, the name of original post office. Up The Pike To Rockford – Coosa Co., AL.

Sears Camp, Chilton County, Alabama

Not much information available on the Sears Camp.

Sears Marina

Sears Marina is a marina on Mitchell Lake and Sofkahatchee Creek in Piedmont, Elmore County, Alabama, south of Riddle, Alabama.

Sears Elementary School

Sears Elementary School appears to be an abandoned school in Birmingham, Alabama. Located across from Higgins Cemetery, the school on Google maps has seen much better days. It is one of many abandoned schools in Alabama.

Sears Cemetery

Not in the Gazetteer, the Sears Cemetery in Franklin, Macon County Alabama.

Sears Bluff Road

Sears Bluff Road is located off Highway 9 in Eclectic, Alabama.

Resources

Encyclopedia of Alabama http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/
Coosa Families http://sites.rootsweb.com/~alcoosa/families/coosa/index.htm
Alabama Department of Archives and History https://archives.alabama.gov/
Alabama Genealogical Society https://algensoc.org/
Autauga Genealogical Society http://sites.rootsweb.com/~alags/

Tags Alabama, Coosa County, John A Sears, Rockwood, Sears Chapel, Sears Gazetteer

Gazetteer

Sears Gazetteer – Montana

Post author By Andrew
Post date 15th December 2020
No Comments on Sears Gazetteer – Montana

Montana has 11 placemarks, including the former town of Sears, Montana.

Much of the information below comes from the Montana Memory Project, and “Courage Enough Mon-Dak Family Histories Bi-Centennial Edition”.

Sears Creek

Sears Creek is located in Richland County, at 47.5502937°N, -104.2654957°W.

Richland County was previously known as Dawson County.

Early Ranches of Dawson County.

https://mtmemory.org/digital/collection/p15018coll43/id/24243

A quote from a quote, “Quoting from the Sidney Herald Centennial Souvenir Edition, 1964, and from the records of Walter Kemmis: “When the Thompson Kemmis family arrived in Glendive, Montana Mr. Meadors met them. While Walter, 14, was following him around town to do some business, they visited Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Sears who had a shoemaker shop. In later years Walter was to know J. D. well, as he ventured into the sheep business in the valley, and Sears Creek was named after him.”

https://mtmemory.org/digital/collection/p15018coll43/id/23906

J.D. Sears

“from an obituary John D. Sears, old-time resident of Glendive, Montana died at Tom’s Creek, Virginia, on December 2. He was 96 years of age. He left Glendive 25 years ago and since then has lived in Virginia. His wife preceded him in death about two years ago. He formerly owned a shoe shop on Merrill Avenue and was one of the early settlers in Glendive. He and his wife were the first two members of the local Methodist Church. He leaves two daughters, Mrs. E. S. Becker of Virginia and Mrs. Gunn of Washington and several grandchildren, among them Harry and John Matthews, formerly of Glendive and Leland Becker who is now in Siberia. – Dawson County Review. Mr. Sears once resided on Sears Creek at Midway, the creek being named after him. He had a sheep ranch at the present site of the Pete Maney farm. Surviving pioneers in Sidney and territory will hark back in memory many years at this news of his death.”

Special Timber Agent Downey of Miles City, Montana was thoroughly chastized when he tried to get Mr. Sears in trouble for cutting down 10 cords of public forest.

Another J.D. Sears, geologist Julian Ducker Sears (1891-1970) and a memorial to him.

https://www.geosociety.org/documents/gsa/memorials/v02/Sears-JD.pdf

This J.D. Sears surveyed and mapped the Lake Basin Field of Montana.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0691d/report.pdf

Tags J.D. Sears, Montana, Sears Creek, Sears Gazetteer

Newspapers

Eleonora Sears – Newspaper Navigator Profile

Post author By Ray Sears
Post date 19th November 2020
No Comments on Eleonora Sears – Newspaper Navigator Profile

The Library of Congress launched a new version of the Newspaper Navigator on September 15, 2020. The Newspaper Navigator is a next-generation Cognitive Search indexer containing over 1.5 million newspaper photos with associated captions. Images are recognized, objects detected, captioned, and searched by visual similarity.

Inspired by Beyond Words, a crowdsourced way of detecting and captioning images in historical newspapers, Benjamin Lee and his team trained models on over 16 million supervised images and OCR-corrected text.

Ray Sears has curated a few images and text from the collection, including Eleonora “Eleo” Randolph Sears, a superstar athlete from a long line of tennis players, one of Boston’s First Families and great-great granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. Additional sources of information added by Andrew Sears from around the interweb.

This post is many pages long. If you want to learn more, grab the book Prides Crossing by Peggy Miller Franck, and don’t forget to click on the page links at the bottom!

Eleonora Sears

Eleonora Randolph Sears (September 28, 1881, Boston – March 16, 1968 Palm Beach) was an American tennis player of the interwar period. In addition, she was a champion squash player, and prominent in other sports; she’s considered one of the leading all-round women athletes of the first half of the 20th century.

(Note: the dates of her birth differ between Wikipedia and some other sources. And the spelling of her name changes depending on the source.)

Newspapers

Newspaper Navigator Profile – Zelda Sears

Post author By Ray Sears
Post date 18th September 2020
No Comments on Newspaper Navigator Profile – Zelda Sears

Ray Sears has curated a few images and text from the collection, including Zelda Sears.

Zelda Sears

Zelda Sears, (January 21, 1873 – February 19, 1935). She was born as Zelda Paldi near Brockway Township, St. Clair County, Michigan, into a multi-lingual family that spoke French, Italian and English. Her father, Justin Lewis Paldi, was a first-generation Italian immigrant engineer and horse breeder, and her mother Roxa Tyler was of English heritage.

She married Herbert E. Sears
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelda_Sears

Washington Times 15 Apr 1909 p. 11

Miss Zelda Sears, Gained Her First Insight Into Theatrical Matters in Newspaper Work. Zelda Sears, who is now the society “busybody” in “The Truant,” at the Belasco with Miss Mary Mannering, was a newspaper woman before she went on the stage. Her insight into things theatrical was gained during many years of experience as dramatic critic on Chicago papers. Miss Sears is still an enthusiast on the subject of newspaper work, but she likes still more the profession which she is now following.

Los Angeles Herald, January 17, 1909, Page 4

Zelda Sears (1873-1935) was an American actress, screenwriter, novelist and businesswoman. By age 12, she was working as a salesgirl. Sears was eventually hired to contribute pieces to the Port Huron newspaper by the managing editor. Leaving Port Huron at the age of 17, she journeyed to Chicago. Sears became fascinated with Sarah Bernhardt who was performing in Chicago. She observed the famous actress and was able to obtain an interview on one occasion. Later she joined the acting troupe of John Stapleton. Her first meaningful part came by way of Harry Parker, who was general manager for William A. Brady. Sears’ stage career was further boosted by her acting in a production of “Lovers Lane”. Other plays in which she appeared were “Women and Wine”, “The Blue Mouse”, “Keeping Up Appearances”, “The Nest Egg”, “The Scarlet Woman”, and “Undertow”. She came to Hollywood to be a scenarist for Cecil B. DeMille and MGM in the early 1930s, and went on to have roles as screenwriter and actress in multiple films. – (from historyforsale.com)

https://news-navigator.labs.loc.gov/search?select_state=All&select_start_year=1900&select_end_year=1963&search=zelda+sears&plus_library=259529&minus_library=&positive=&negative=&facet_names=&facet_index=&selected_facets=&view=gallery&date_ascending=&start_time=1600394597298

From the Library of Congress, Newspaper Navigator Dataset: Extracted Visual Content from Chronicling America

Beyond Words

http://beyondwords.labs.loc.gov/#/

Newspaper Navigator

https://news-navigator.labs.loc.gov/search

Tags actress, film, Herbert E. Sears, mgm, Michigan, Newspaper Navigator, screenwriter, Zelda Sears

Newspapers

Elijah Clark Sears – Newspaper Navigator Profile

Post author By Ray Sears
Post date 18th September 2020
No Comments on Elijah Clark Sears – Newspaper Navigator Profile

Ray Sears has curated a few images and text from the collection, including Elijah Clark Sears.

Elijah Clark Sears

Elijah Clark Sears, Dakota Farmers Leader, Canton, SD
21 Jun 1907 p. 1

Mr. Sears was born at East Hampton, Connecticut, 23 Jun 1805, [son of Willard Sears and Betsy Clark] and will be 102 years old next Sunday, June 23.

He comes from Revolutionary stock- his father and his two uncles served with the Connecticut troops under Washington and Putnam.

He was seven years old when the war of 1812 began and his eldest brother served as a volunteer in that second war with England. His first vote was cast for the Federalist candidate in 1828 when General Jackson was elected as a democrat. Then he joined the Whigs and became a republican when the party was organized in 1855.

Of the many important events in his long life, none gives him so much satisfaction, even unto this day, as the saving of three little girls from drowning in Lake Pocotopaug near East Hampton, when he was a boy of 19. The little girls were sliding on the ice which broke and they went under the water.

Young Sears saw the accident and ran to their rescue. He jumped into the water and after a sever struggle succeeded in getting the little ones out safely.

He saw the first steamboat that slowly plowed the placid waters of the Connecticut river under the name “Oliver Ellsworth.” It was shortly after Robert Fulton’s experiment on the Hudson. He describes the boat as being very slow and had canvas wings, as they termed them, on the sides which acted as motive power, but without much power. The invention was a failure of course.

He was a great tifer in his younger days and always turned out with the militia, but his days of martial glory are over. He is living in the quiet enjoyment of a grand and glorious old age, cheered by loving relatives and friends, with excellent appetite and all the comforts the old patriarch could wish for, under the loving care of his daughter, Mrs. Shields, and his grand daughter, Mrs. Mary Smith.

Last Monday morning Mr. Sears was out in the garden hoeing his new potatoes which he has raised from original seed. He is quite proud of this experiment and he is assured of success. As state before, his father was a soldier under General Washington, and he is therefore one of the genuine sons of the revolution, and so far as the writer knows, the only son living. He was recently elected an honorary member of the order of the Connecticut sons of the Revolution.

The Leader extends congratulations to the grand old man in advance of his one hundred and second birthday which he will celebrate next Sunday at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Shields.

Dakota farmers’ leader, June 26, 1908
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn00065127/1908-06-26/ed-1/

https://news-navigator.labs.loc.gov/search?select_state=All&select_start_year=1900&select_end_year=1963&search=elijah+clark+sears&start_time=1600394597298

From the Library of Congress, Newspaper Navigator Dataset: Extracted Visual Content from Chronicling America

Beyond Words

http://beyondwords.labs.loc.gov/#/

Newspaper Navigator

https://news-navigator.labs.loc.gov/search

Tags Betsy Clark, Canton, Elijah Clark Sears, George Washington, Newspaper Navigator, Sons of Revolution, South Dakota, Willard Sears

Gazetteer

Sears Gazetteer – Idaho

Idaho has a single placemark, Sears Creek.

Turning off Highway 13 onto Sears Creek Road takes us to Sears Creek, a tributary of South Fork Clearwater River. Sears Creek is not on the List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers for Idaho. It is often dry during low-flow. According to this soil and water conservation application, it is assessed as a prime spawning stream.

Sears Creek Road crosses Wall Creek, and ends at Old Elk City Wagon Road. This road is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

From 1895 to 1932, the Elk City Wagon Road provided a vital route for wheeled traffic into the rugged Clearwater Mountains in north central Idaho. The Wagon Road linked the gold fields of the upper Clearwater country with established transportation routes to the west. Built roughly along the route of the Southern Nez Perce Trail, the wagon road connected Harpster in the west to Elk City to the east.

Harpster, established in 1897, is the closest town to Sears Creek. Harpster is about 8 1/2 hours from the Canadian border, 3 1/2 hours from Missoula, Montana. The area in and around Harpster includes 2,244 nearby mines

The communities of Stites and Harpster look back upon a history which includes the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce), Lewis and Clark, gold seekers, loggers, cowboys, and homesteaders.

At the turn of the 20th century, Stites and Harpster, the terminus for the railroad and Elk City Wagon Road, provided a transportation hub for the upper Clearwater gold country and Camas Prairie farmers and ranchers.

Today, the communities provide a focal point for historic adventure and outdoor recreation.

Hardy Sears, born 1841 in Randolph County, Missouri, is mentioned on the Albion Valley Historical Society web site. He settled on a creek, though it wasn’t the Sears Creek…

He served in the Union Army. Mined in Nevada and Montana, raised cattle on the Promentery in Utah. He helped complete the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah and was present when the golden spike was driven in celebration of the event. Minidoka hotel business.

In 1870 Hardy Sears and Dan Stark settled on adjoining pieces of land that could be watered by a creek. Here they built their cabins.

Hardy Sears, Wife and Stepchild Lewis J. Huggins
DeOldify

Hardy became the proprietor of the Sears Hotel, which he purchased in 1894 after serving with the confederacy in the Civil War. The hotel was sold and torn down in the late 1950s.

Willis Sears was one of Hardy’s sons. Willis served as a postmaster in Idaho for 35 years.

Willis is famous for having saved “Diamondfield Jack’s” life.

Willis Sears, Albion Postmaster, rode from Minidoka to Albion with Charley Christ in July, 1901, with papers from Boise that commuted the sentence of Diamondfield Jack Davis to life imprisonment. They made the ride on the day Davis was to have been hanged.

A fascinating story about Willis and Diamondfield Jack is on the Minicassa.com web site, The Willis Sears-Diamond Field Jack Connection.

Jackson Lee “Diamondfield Jack” Davis was accused of the murders of sheepherders, while patrolling for sheepherders working on cattle land in Idaho.

Diamondfield Jack befriended Sears, and lived quite awhile longer than 1901. His death sentence eventually came to him via a taxi cab in Vegas.

By 1900, Diamondfield Jack had exhausted all of his appeals. He was again scheduled for execution, this time on July 3, 1901. The public was opposed to this and believed Diamondfield Jack to be innocent. Aware of public support from some very influential citizens, the Board of Pardons extended the execution date to July 17. Word arrived in Cassia County three hours before the sheriff would have carried out the execution.

On July 16, 1901, the Board of Pardons commuted Diamondfield Jack’s death sentence to that of life imprisonment. He was again moved to the Idaho State Penitentiary to serve his time.

On December 17, 1902, the Board of Pardons granted Diamondfield Jack a pardon. He moved to Nevada and made a fortune in the Tonopah mining district. He later lost his fortune and was killed in 1949 when he was struck by a taxi cab in Las Vegas, Nevada.

One famous senator, and someone who shaped Idaho is the late Frank Church. The Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness Area, a 2.4 million acre wilderness park is the largest area outside of Alaska.

Frank Church served as US Senator of Idaho from 1957 to 1981.

Also see:

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness
https://raogk.org/counties/idaho/

Idaho State Museum (TripAdvisor)

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g35394-d214899-Reviews-Idaho_State_Museum-Boise_Idaho.html

IDAHO Official Government Web Site
https://history.idaho.gov/maps/

Tags DeOldify, Diamondfield Jack, Frank Church, Hardy Sears, Harpster, Idaho, Sears Creek, Sears Creek Road, Sears Gazetteer, Willis Sears

Gazetteer

Sears Gazetteer – Oregon

Travelling in and around the Oregon Trail, we have 6 placemarks in the Sears Gazetteer for Oregon.

Sears (historical), Locale-Hood River
Sears Canyon, Valley-Crook
Sears Cemetery, Cemetery-Lane
Sears Creek, Stream-Crook
Sears Flat, Flat-Lake
Sears Lake, Lake-Tillamook

Let’s start with Sears Creek and one that’s not on the list, Sears Road.

Like Idaho, Oregon has a Sears Creek, and a Sears Road which runs over North Fork Getting Creek. Sears Creek is in Crook County, Oregon, between the Ochoco Highway and Marks Creek. Established in 1882, Crook County was named after General George Crook.

General George Crook
Wikipedia, DeOldify

Crook County Genealogy resources are available at Familysearch.
The Bowman Museum is located in Crook County.

Sears Road runs from Row River Rd to Cloverdale Road, a distance of about 10 miles and 13 minutes. Trees, farms, fruit and vegetable stands and houses line the scenic rural drive, sometimes running parallel to the Pacific Highway.

Sears Road got some goat crossing signs a couple of years ago, according to this change.org petition and the Cottage Grove Sentinel. Apparently people travel at a high rate of speed and there have been some fatalities. One initiative which was funded was to remove 61 “fixed objects”, or trees from around the roadway to improve visibility and remove hazards.

The goats would travel to another Sears location, the Sears Rock Pit, or Sears Quarry off Sears Rd.

Just southeast of Creswell, Oregon on Sears Road is the a castle, built in the last couple decades by the Marquess family. The Creswell Castle is a private residence.

The Creswell Area Historical Society (CAHS) and Museum has some resources for researching early setters and land claims. Kalapuya Indians were living in the area when the first pioneers arrived by wagon train in 1852. Creswell was incorporated in 1909.

Also on Sears Road is the Sears Ranch.

George C. Sears, was the County Assessor of Multnomah county, Oregon, according to An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon, by Rev. H.K. Hines, published 1893. He was born in Richford, Franklin County, Vermont, in 1841. His father was the Hon. Aldin Sears of northern Vermont, his mother was of the Carlton family.

Aldin Sears, George’s father, followed the gold rush west in 1850, building “flumes and quartz mills”. His oldest daughter, Lucy V “came out alone by steamer and the Isthmus, and after his second daughter came in 1851 he founded the first school in Columbia, Tuolumne county. His wife and three sons, including George C. followed in 1852.

George Sears founded a mercantile business called Penniman & Sears, which he ran for about four years, and also purchased lumber claims and built a sawmill, before moving to Santa Cruz. He moved to Portland in 1871 and worked with another partner in the grocery and commission business.

Mr. Sears engaged in the lumber business and later bought an interest in a livery stable on the corner of Second and Washington streets, continuing under the firm name of Sears & Wilmer.

In 1878, Mr. Sears received the nomination of County Assessor upon the Republican ticket and was elected in the June Following, He was re-elected in 1880. In 1882 he became Sheriff, but declined the renomination in 1884, owing to illness in his family.

He married his wife, Jennie Aldrich of RI in 1865. His wife passed in 1885.

In 1884 Mr. Sears began the purchase of property in eastern Oregon for ranch purposes, to which he has added from time to time and owns upward of 4,000 acres, controlling a large range of Government land, which he has stocked with horse and cattle.

His children are listed in the history, along with his various organization memberships. He is also mentioned in A History of the Nezperce National Forest, by Albert N. Cochrell, as a leading cattleman and leader of industry.

Mr. Sears has always proved himself the rigid man for the position, never swerving from the path of duty, but with his characteristic energy and ability and his prompt execution of the law, he has deserved the approbation of all good citizens.

Another placemark in Oregon is the Sears Cemetery at the Cottage Grove Bible Church in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Sears Cemetery contains at least 29 Sears family members, the first buried being Rhoda Sears (1784 – 1861). Her spouse was John Sears (1852-1915).

Jane Carter Sears is the second oldest marker, 1820-1890.

The very presidential Burford/Sears family, the offspring of Hezekiah and Levina (Sears) Burford also settled in Oregon.

Hezekiah (1811-1884): m’d SEARS, Levinia; settled on a DLC in Willamina, Yamhill Co prior to moving to Polk Co and then to Marion Co where he died; founder of Monmouth University, now known as Western Oregon State College; traveled to Oregon with the John E. Murphey train.

His children:
Elizabeth A: d/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
George Washington: s/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
James Monroe: s/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
John Milton: s/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
Julia Ann C. (1844-1920): m’d SIMMONS, d/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
Martha E.: d/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
Mary Jane: d/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
Thomas Jefferson: s/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford

The Oregon Pioneers web site also mentions Elizabeth Sears Byerly and her husband’s 10 children.

BYERLY, Absalom (1833- ): m1. ALLEN, Mary Florence; m2. CROW, Dolly; s/o Martin and Elizabeth (Sears) Byerly; father of 10 children including Henry, Leroy, Arabella, Frank, Otto, Eugene, Edward, William, Maude and Mary
BYERLY, Catherine D. ( -1917): m’d BYERLY, Henry; maiden name unknown at this time
BYERLY, Henry (1830- ): m’d 1852 [ ] , Catherine D.; s/o Martin and Elizabeth (Sears) Byerly
BYERLY, Martin (1810-1893): m’d SEARS, Elizabeth; father of 6 children including Absalom, Henry, Jane, Michael, Jefferson and Adelaide; emigrated with 2 horse carriages, 12 yoke oxen and 3 wagons
BYERLY, Michael ( -1852): s/o Martin and Elizabeth (Sears) Byerly; died on trail

Carrol Jackson Sears was married in 1837 to Martha Jane Carter (1820-1890).

From Ray Sears:

This family is from pioneer Carroll Jackson “Jack” Sears (1815-1901) – !BIRTH-MARRIAGE-DEATH-CHILDREN: Letter from Dale Sears, Lilburn, GA; 1784-1852; Letter dtd 25 Jan 1995; ; copy in poss of Ray Sears; In 1837 he moved to Washington co, AR and had all three children. In 1852 he took Jane, three sons and mother to OR via wagon train. The Carroll Jackson Sears homestead is in Cottage Grove, OR. Three Sears brothers that live in Jacksonville, FL own the land.

Also listed, John and Dorcas Sears and their family.

SEARS, Dorcas (c1819- ): m’d c1836 SEARS, John
SEARS, Elizabeth J. (c1837- ): d/o John and Dorcas Sears
SEARS, Frances A. (1843- ): d/o John and Dorcas Sears
SEARS, James B. (c1842- ): s/o John and Dorcas Sears
SEARS, John (c1811- ): m’d c1836 [], Dorcas; family residing in Sacramento, CA by 1850 Census
SEARS, Mary G. (c1840- ): d/o John and Dorcas Sears; m’d bef 1865 LEWIS, George Washington (1842-1922)

Also See:

The Westward Expansion of the Oregon Trail
https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/oregon-trail

Oregon Historical Society Museum
https://www.ohs.org/museum/

Tripadvisor’s Attractions

End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

Tags DeOldify, George Sears, Oregon, Sears Cemetery, Sears Gazetteer