Anna Monroe

13. Anna Monroe [8], daughter of George N. S. Monroe [543] and Ellan Smith [542], was born 1 Feb 1890 ? in Kansas, died on 1 Feb 1967 in Livermore, California at age 77, and was buried on 4 Feb 1967 in Greenlawn Cemetery, Bakersfield.

General Notes: Anna: as read with certainty in the 1910 and 1920 federal census records.

Anna or Anne: as doubtfully read in the 1930 federal census records.

Ann: We had initially taken her name to be Ann as the basis for Charlotte Ann Quinlan’s middle name.

Annie: Sic on the copies of her marriage license issued in 1945 and 1951.

Monroe: we learned her maiden name from Harold Edward Quinlan’s entry in the California death registry.

Munroe: Sic on the copy of her marriage license issued in 1945.

Her birth: The 1930 federal census records suggest an approximate birth-date near 1891, although her death records give 1894. This, if correct, would have made her just 13 or 14 at the birth of her first child. The 1910 federal census records suggest an approximate birth-date near 1889. I thus opt in favor of the average year for the census entries, in preference to the year supposed from her death records. Her certificate of baptism, issued in 1951, indicates that she was born on February 1, 1888 in Burlingame, Kansas.

Her birth-place: Clearly stated as Kansas in the 1910 federal census entry. This challenges the information given in her parents’ 1920 census entry that they only arrived in 1895.

Charlotte Quinlan’s cousin Colette reports that "Anna’s sister Janet [sic] was born in Scotland but Anna was born in the states as were sisters Francis (Fanny) and Margaret, and brother Bill Monroe."

Her father’s family: In August 2003, Lee said she remembers Leona Jane claiming that her daughters were descendants of President Monroe. She presumably made this statement by virtue of Ann’s last name, further circumstantial evidence that I have determined the correct mother for Harold Edward Quinlan. When I presented to Lee evidence suggesting that such a descendancy was impossible, she stressed that "mother always said we were related to President Monroe."

1907: Anna is baptized in Assumption Church in Topeka, Kansas, on January 31, with Ellen Quinlan serving as her sponsor. She is married to Edward (with her name stated as Annie) on February 11, according to a marriage license issued by the probate court of Shawnee County under judge R. F. Hayden. A Catholic Priest named F. M. Hayden performed the marriage ceremony on February 12.

Colette Quinlan reports that "Hazel, Colette’s mom, knew all of Anna’s sisters and her brother Bill, because they traded at her dad’s (Rhine Henry Stapel) store. Colette remembers Janet as a great seamstress who made a number of dresses for her when Colette was a child in Topeka." Charlotte reports from Colette and Georgia that Anna "was very quiet and never said a word. Whenever anyone said something to her, she would say, ’Hmm.’" Colette also remembers visiting Anna in the later years of her life, when she was living alone in Livermore after her husband died. Colette’s side of the family was living in Livermore too, and Colette would go by for lunch. She remembers Anna apologizing for serving her nothing but a lettuce and mayonnaise sandwich, but she also remembers thinking it was delicious.

1910: She appears with her husband in the 1910 federal census, in Rossville, Shawnee, KS, her occupation given as none.

1918: I had initially thought that she and her husband probably moved to California circa 1918, as her death certificate (discussed below) gives her length of stay in the state as 49 years in 1967.

1920: However, the family appears in Kansas in the 1920 federal census.

1930: She is attested in the 1930 federal census records for Bakersfield, which records that both of her parents were born in Scotland.

1940: Her father’s probate documents give her address as 2706 California Avenue, San Francisco, CA.

A copy of an envelope addressed to her from a photographer’s store in Bakersfield in March 1952 gives her address as 618 Monterey Street, Bakersfield, CA. Written on the slip is the phrase "Save these put in Bible."

Her death: She died of arteriosclerotic heart disease, and also had pernicious anemia. The California Death Index provided the main lead, but the 1894 birth-date listed therein may be wrong. It lists Kansas as her birth place, Alameda as her death place, and her SSN as 577-07-9010. This death certificate is the basis for her birth and death dates, and the names of her parents. Although there is a mild conflict with a guesstimated birth-year derived from the census entry mentioned above, we certainly have the right woman: widowed, with a George Quinlan informing, born in Kansas, and buried in Bakersfield.

Anna married Edward William Quinlan [7]² [MRIN: 5] circa 1912 in Kansas.