Elbert & Sarah Harbert | The HARBERT Family of Harrison County, West Virginia

PREFACE

        The story of the lives of Elbert Francis Harbert and his wife Sarah Ellen Shriver-Harbert and family was an elusive mystery which captured my imagination and drove me in an often obsessive search to know and understand their fates. Elbert was my grandfather - Hallie L. Harbert's uncle. Although Hallie was successful in documenting and recording a relatively thorough history of the "History of the Descendants of Noah J. Harbert" (his grandfather), his knowledge of Noah J. Harbert's son - his uncle Elbert - was scant. He only knew that he left Harrison County, West Virginia sometime after the Civil War and settled "somewhere near Lincoln, Nebraska."   The journey was an exciting one.

        While many who seek to discover the hidden gems of their genealogical past often come up empty-handed, my search uncovered a literal goldmine of material beyond a genealogical researcher's wildest dreams! From untold hours of searching the obscure reaches of cyberspace, to traveling over 12,000 miles by passenger car I followed the threadlike trail left by Elbert & Sarah. It revealed an amazing story of a family which endured the hardship, trials and heartaches of the early Nebraska frontier to develop in them a strength of character only such trials could produce.

        This story is told via a rich tapestry of public documents, photographs, personal stories and letters I've been privileged to accumulate from their descendants. It was a great pleasure to meet these living cousins and I cherish the relationships I was privileged to develop with them. I owe them an enormous debt of gratitude - and it is to them I dedicate this story...

Elbert F. Harbert - born near Clarksburg, Harrison County, VIRGINIA - May 9, 1845

Elbert Francis Harbert was born May 9, 1845 - the 7th of 10 children to Noah J and Acsah Shinn-Harbert near Clarksburg, Harrison County (West) Virginia. Noah J & Acsah Shinn-Harbert's children in order of birth were:

John Clement
Harbert
born: 31 May 1833

Frederick Washington
Harbert
born: 22 May 1835

Stephen Shinn
Harbert
born: 22 Apr 1837

Lucretia Jane
Harbert
born: 23 June 1839

Mary E
Harbert
born: 25 Dec 1841

Autsin R
Harbert
born: 1 April 1844

Elbert Francis
Harbert
born: 9 May 1845

Tabitha J
Harbert
born: 30 July 1848

Marquis Lafayette
“Lafe” Harbert
born: 7 Oct 1850

Noah A
Harbert
born: 15 Sep 1854

Elbert's future wife - Sarah Ellen Shriver - was born May 9, 1847 near Boothsville, Marion County, (West) Virginia, just across the Harrison County line.

In 1860, we find Elbert is 14 yrs old living with his family near Clarksburg, Harrison County, (West) Virginia. The Civil War is just around the corner. He is listed with his family in the census as follows:

1860 US Census - Harrison County, VIRGINIA - Post Office: Clarksburg
Noah Harbert 50 Male Farmer - Birthplace, Va
Acsah Harbert 47 Female - Birthplace, OH
Austin R Harbet 16 Male - Birthplace, Va
Elbert Harbert 14 Male - Birthplace, Va

At 19 years of age, Elbert enlists for service as a private in the Civil War. Both Elbert and his older brother, Stephen Shinn Harbert served for the Union during the Civil War in Company K, 1st West Virginia Cavalry. Elbert is honorably discharged on July 16, 1865. Two years later at the age of 22 - on October 13, 1867 - he married Sarah Ellen Shriver, daughter of John Shriver Jr. (a carpenter and mechanic) and Mathilda Mundell of Boothsville, Marion County, West Virginia.

A little over 9 months after they are married, their first child - Charles Lewis Harbert - is born in Harrison County, West Virginia on July 25, 1868. Elbert is providing for his young family by farming. Three years later, on December 14, 1871, their second child - Genetta May Harbert - is born in Marion County, West Virginia. Elbert is now a merchant. A year and 3 months later - on March 13, 1873 - a second daughter is born to Elbert & Sarah... Lela Ann Harbert. The family is still living in Marion County. Elbert's attempt as a merchant apparently proves unsuccessful. He is now working as a miner.

Southside, Mason County, West Virginia - @ 1876 - April 1887

                Apparently, Elbert and mining did not agree! By February 23, 1876 Elbert has moved his young family west away from the security of the nucleus of the HARBERT family in Harrison County to Mason County - where their 4th child - John Clyde Harbert is born. Elbert is back to doing what he apparently knows best - farming. While living near the whistlestop of Southside, Mason County, West Virginia - in addition to John Clyde Harbert, the remaining 5 of their 9 children are born, and their oldest child - Charles Lewis Harbert - died, on February 17, 1877.

Eva Virginia Harbert                          born: September 7, 1879
Iva "Ivy" Ellen Harbert                     born: December 13, 1880
Walter Lee Harbert                          born: September 20, 1882
Vivian "Blanche" Harbert                   born: April 5, 1885
Ethelyn "Ethel" Grace Harbert        born: September 17, 1886

                On June 10, 1880 - the 1880 U.S. Census of Arbuckle District, Mason County, West Virginia lists Elbert & Sarah Harbert and their young family as follows:

Area near Shady Fork Rd - where Elbert & Sarah Harbert & Family and their neighbors the Amsberry's lived near Southside, Mason County, West Virginia...

While living at Southside, Elbert & Sarah Harbert became acquainted with their neighbors - the Amsberry's. The Francis E Amsberry family left the Southside, WV area on March 4, 1885 and moved to Custer County, Nebraska - enticed by the offer of free government land. Francis E. Amsberry sent his son - James Martin Amsberry - back to Mason County, WV in January 1887 to collect some debts which were owed to him. It was during this trip that James Martin Amsberry met up with his future wife - Lela Ann Harbert - one wintry day in a country store. Young Lela Ann had grown up and James was apparently quite taken by her! He visited her parents while he was there. Conversation ensued and apparently Elbert too was enticed by the popular call of the day to move West! Three months later in April 1887, Elbert F. Harbert pulls up stakes and moved his wife and young family to Custer County, Nebraska. I found this story - recorded by James Martin Amsberry in a poem written to his wife. This poem was included in an autobiography written by James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert's daughter - Vivian Louise Amsberry-Wardwell entitled: "My Mother's Daughter." It was given to me by Vivian's great-neice, Gilda Holderman-Taylor. The following is an excerpt of that poem in which James Martin Amsberry relates his account of this event and his influence in Elbert F. Harbert's family's decision to move to Custer County, Nebraska in April 1887.

Excerpt of poem written by James M. Amsberry - future Son-in-Law of Elbert F. Harbert - which gives his account of meeting Lela Ann Harbert and her family again in the winter of 1887 and his influence in their decision to leave Southside, Mason County, WV for Custer County, Nebraska in April 1887...

My Forest Queen

Dedicated to my faithful, affectionate wife, Lela A. Amsberry

She was born in West Virginia -- there’s no better place on earth
For the noblest of God’s creatures to derive a fitting birth --

She was schooled among its forests, its valleys and its hills,
Her bare feet trod the pebbles of the bright and sparkling rills.

In the valley where the bluebird and the martin sought to nest
In the boxes she erected -- in the place she loved the best,

Where the cunning gray squirrel chattered - in the white oak trees so tall
Where the top-knot red bird whistled, and the quail sent forth his call.

There she rambled in the wildwood, gathering flowers in the spring;
‘Mid the beautious scenes of childhood - while the woods with music ring.

Sometimes she sought the babbling brook where fish are wont to sport;
With bended pin for fishing hook - she brought the flounder forth.

I knew her in her childhood there - from three years old to ten
Then came out west and staid four years, then wandered back again.

I met her in a country store upon a wintry day
Her ruddy cheeks appealed to me - ‘Though aged fourteen, they say.

I visited her parents there - They followed me out west,
They were my friends and neighbors too, I treated them my best --

April 1887 - Move to Mason City, Custer County, Nebraska

Elbert Francis & Sarah Ellen Shriver-Harbert moved from Southside, Mason County, WV to Mason City, Custer County, Nebraska - April 1887

According to Elbert's obituary, he moved his family to Mason City, Custer County, Nebraska from Mason County, West Virginia in April 1887. Although I have no documentation as to exactly how they made the move, we do know how Francis E. Amsberry & family (their daughter Lela Ann Harbert's future in-laws) relocated to Mason City, Nebraska a few years earlier. This is documented in a booklet entitled: "The William A. Amsberry (Amsbary) and Related Families" - Compiled by Ruby Roberts Coleman - 1002 Highland Dr, Ogallala, Nebraska in 1970. An excerpt describing the Francis E. Amsberry family's move to Custer County, Nebraska is detailed below:

On March 4, 1885 the Francis E. Amsberry family left West Virginia for Nebraska. His son, John Allen Amsberry and his nephew, Darius Amsberry, had found valuable government land in Custer County and had notified relations about the opening for settlement. Francis rented a freight or immigrant railroad car, 60' X 10'. On this they stored their furniture and belongings and used it for quarters to get to Nebraska. They departed from Gallipolis, Ohio. Most of the 12 children either went with them or followed later.

It's probable that Elbert Francis Harbert & family rented an immigrant boxcar and made the move to Nebraska - departing from Gallipolis, Ohio only a few miles to the north from Southside, WV in a similar manner. What kind of life would await them in Nebraska?

Tragedy struck Elbert F. Harbert's family quickly. Only ten months after their arrival in Custer County, Elbert's wife - Sarah Ellen Shriver-Harbert died at the age of 40 as a result of hemorrhage. Elbert at 42 years of age is left alone to care for his eight children ranging in ages from 16 to 1½ years old. According to grand-daughter Vivian Amsberry-Wardwell, the children were... "farmed out to willing friends." At the time of their mother's death, their children were the following ages...

Genetta May Harbert - 16 years
Lela Ann Harbert - 14 years (turned 15 the next month in March)
John Clyde Harbert - 12 years
Eva Virginia Harbert - 8 years
Iva “Ivy” Ellen Harbert - 7 years
Walter Lee Harbert - 5 years
Vivian Blanche Harbert - 2 years (turned 3 in April)
Ethelyn “Ethel” Grace Harbert - 1½ years

Children of Elbert Francis Harbert & Sarah Ellen Shriver

Charles Lewis
Harbert
born: July 25, 1868
died: February 17, 1877

Genetta May
Harbert-Combs-Covell
born: Dec. 14, 1871
died: Nov 17, 1962

Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry
born: Mar. 13, 1873
died: Nov. 24, 1952

John Clyde Harbert
born: Feb. 23, 1876
died: Sep. 11, 1956

Eva Virginia Harbert-McGowan- Bishop
born: Sep. 7, 1879
died: June 20, 1962

Iva "Ivy" Ellen Harbert-Anderson
born: Dec. 13, 1880
died: Sep. 25, 1902

Walter Lee
Harbert
born: Sep. 20, 1882
died: Feb. 3, 1943

Vivian Blanche Harbert-Herndon
born: Apr. 5, 1885
died: 23 Feb 1970

Ethelyn "Ethel" Grace Harbert-Porter-Bush
born: Sep. 17, 1886
died: Jul. 22, 1977

Life changed very quickly for the family. Elbert & family, who were recently separated from their family back home in West Virginia by the move to Custer County, were now forced to deal with the loss of their wife & mother - Sarah Ellen - who was undoubtedly the pulse and heartbeat of the home. In the absence of any written history or documentation, I will simply try to piece together a composite picture of the changes the family encountered as best I can in the form of a timeline...

February 26, 1888
Death of Sarah Ellen Shriver - due to hemorrhage

1888 photo of oldest 4 Harbert children at time of their mother's death (funeral photo?).

December 19, 1888

Genetta May Harbert (10 months after her mother’s death) at 17 years of age - was married to James Andrew Combs, age 23, in Mason City, Custer County, Nebraska - by M. C. Harrington, Justice of the Peace. James M. Amsberry (Genetta May's future brother-in-law) signed affidavit as applicant and acknowledged that he is acquainted with both parties. Verbal consent for the bride was given by her father, Elbert F. Harbert.

February 28, 1889

Elbert F Harbert - Post Office Address: Mason City, Nebraska - files a claim for 40 acres in Algernon Township, Custer County, Nebraska [SWth of the NWth of Section 4, in Township 14N, of Range 18W] under provisions of the Timber-Culture Act of June 14, 1878.

(Area in Distance) Elbert F. Harbert's Timber-Culture claim in Algernon Township, Custer County, Nebraska - Application made - February 28, 1889

March 20, 1889

Lela Ann Harbert - (one year after mother's death) at 16 years of age marries James Martin Amsberry, age 28 (3 days short of his 29th birthday) at the home of his sister & brother-in-law Jacob & Rose Amsberry-Greenlee in Mason City, Nebraska - by Rev. H. M. Elliot.

James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry & Family

Ethelyn Grace
Harbert-Porter
as a young girl

James Melvin Combs & Bertha E Combs
Children of Jenetta May Harbert-Combs & James A Combs
[circa 1892 - Fairfax, MO]

Vivian Blanche was adopted by a Samuel & Sarah Shadle family of Algernon, Nebraska @ January 1890 at about 5 years of age (if not before). By 1895 the Shadle family has moved to Centropolis, Kansas...

School photograph of Vivian “Blanche” [Harbert] Shadle @ Centropolis, Kansas... [circa 1890’s]

October 1889
Bertha E Combs - daughter of James Andrew Combs & Genetta May Harbert is born in Nebraska

January 7, 1890
Carl Everett Amsberry - oldest son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert is born in Mason City, Custer County, Nebraska

About 1890...
Young Vivian Blanche Harbert - 2nd youngest child of Elbert & Sarah is adopted by the Shadle Family of Algernon, Nebraska...

June 1890
Elbert F Harbert - listed among the “Surviving Soldiers, Sailors & Marines...” on the Special Schedule of the 1890 U.S. Census - as living in Algernon Township, Custer County, Nebraska...

November 7, 1890
James Melvin Combs - son of James Andrew Combs & Genetta May Harbert is born in Ansley, Custer County, Nebraska

June 13, 1891
Roy Francs Amsberry - son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert is born in Mason City, Custer County, Nebraska

January 9, 1893
Elbert F. Harbert - files a second homestead claim in Broken Bow Towhship, Custer County, Nebraska [Section 15, in Townhsip 17 of Range 20W] under provisions of the Timber-Culture Act of June 14, 1878

September 23, 1893
Tinsie Ethel Amsberry - daughter of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert is born in Mason City, Custer County, Nebraska

June 22, 1894
Elbert F. Harbert’s homestead claim in Broken Bown Township, Custer County, Nebraska - CANCELLED

November 17, 1894

Jenetta May Harbert-Combs writes a letter to her brother John Clyde Harbert from Fairfax, Atchison County, Missouri - where her husband was raised. At the time the letter was written, Jenetta May HARBERT-Combs was almost 23 years old, had been married almost 6 years, and had two children: Bertha (5 years old) and James Melvin (4 years old). Her sister Lela Ann HARBERT-Amsberry was 21 1\2 years old and had been married 5 1/2 years, and had 3 children: Carl Everett (4 1/2 years), Roy Francis (3 years), and Tinsie Ethel (1 year). John Clyde HARBERT was 18 1/2 yrs old and was possibly helping a man named Hackenberry with a laundry business which had been started by James & Jenetta May Harbert-Combs. Eva Virginia Harbert was 15 years old and had just arrived in Fairfax, Missouri and had just secured a job for $20.00 \ week. Iva “Ivy” Ellen Harbert was almost 14 years old. Walter Lee Harbert was 12 years old. Vivian Blanche Harbert-Shadle was 9 1/2 years old. Ethelyn Grace Harbert-Porter was 8 years old. Was their father Elbert still living in Algernon Township in Custer County? Elbert is not mentioned in this letter. Below is a digital copy of the letter, and below it is my attempt to transcribe and correct it...

John Clyde Harbert
1892 - 16 years old

Fairfax, Mo

November 17th, 1894

Well John, I thought I would answer your letter which I received a few days ago - the letter you wrote me some time ago. I will admit that I didn’t answer it as I should. You wanted to know if you could get any work here. Well, I have been a looking out for you but I fail to find anything that you could work at this winter. If you can hold your job you had better stick to it. You can sure get your board - and I don’t think that Hackenberry needs to quit the laundry because the times is hard he more making expenses?? and I know this confidently. I want you to keep me posted as what Hackenberry is a going to do. If he quits the business we will come back there and run it ourselves as I know that we could do as well there as we are doing in the business that we have started here. Eva got here all right. We met her at the depo. She has got work at $20.00 per week. I (s)end you the children’s ages:

Jennette M Harbert Born: December 14th, 1871
Lela A Harbert Born: March 19th, 1873
John C Harbert Born: February 25th, 1876
Eva V Harbert Born: September 7th, 1879
Ivy E Harbert Born: December 13th, 1880
Walter L Harbert Born: September 20th, 1882
Vivian B Harbert Born: April 5th, 1885
Ethel G Harbert Born: September 17th, 1886

March 1, 1895
The Shadle family (who had taken in or adopted young Vivian “Blanche” Harbert) has by this date has moved from Algernon Township, Custer County, Nebraska to Centropolis, Kansas and is listed in the Kansas State1895 Census

September 11, 1895
Guy Matthew Amsberry - son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert is born in Mason City, Custer County, Nebraska.

September 13, 1896
John Clyde Harbert at 20 years of age marries Jennie S Johnson in Aurora, Hamilton County, Nebraska. Among those present at the ceremony are John's siblings: Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry & her husband James M Amsberry (who signed as one of the witnesses on the marriage certificate), and Eva V Harbert. Notably not present is John's father Elbert.

Marriage Certificate of
John Clyde Harbert & Jennie Johnson

Wedding Photo of John Clyde Harbert & Jenny Johnson

Wedding Register of John Clyde Harbert & Jennie Johnson

24 Nov 1896
Two months after her brother John's wedding, Eva Virginia Harbert at 17 years of age marries John C McGowan, age 27 of Westerville, Custer County, Nebraska - in Ansley, Custer County, Nebaska, by C. S. Elison, Justice of the Peace. James A Combs & Genetta May Harbert-Combs are witnesses.

Eva Virginia Harbert-McGowan

Eva Virginia Harbert & husband John C. McGowan

August 23, 1897
Francis Clyde Harbert - only son of John Clyde Harbert (21) and Jennie Sylvetta Johnson (24) - is born at Aurora, Hamilton County, Nebraska.

Francis Clyde Harbert circa 1897

Francis Clyde Harbert
circa - 1901

February 11, 1898

Russell Combs - son of James Andrew Combs & Jenetta May Harbert is born in Missouri.

June 15, 1898 - March 7, 1905
Elbert F. Harbert is admitted to the Leavenworth, Kansas Home for Disabled Soldiers & Sailors... Disability: “Piles” and resides there until March 7, 1905 when he leaves under his “own request”

December 15, 1898
Ruby E McGowan - only daughter of John C McGowan and Eva Virginia Harbert is born in Custer County, Nebraska.

25 Dec 1899
Iva “Ivy” Ellen Harbert at 19 years of age - marries Adolph M Anderson - age 21 of Sargent, Nebraska - in Ansley, Custer County, Nebraska. Mr. & Mrs. J. M. Amsberry of Ansley, Nebraska, are witnesses.

Iva "Ivy" Ellen and Lela Ann Harbert

Iva Ellen Harbert & Adolph M Anderson
Wedding Photo - December 25, 1899

June 12, 1900
John C. McGowan (farmer) , wife Eva & daughter Ruby living in Ansley, Custer County, Nebraska.

June 15, 1900
Young Ethelyn Grace Harbert was adopted by Manley James & Frances E Porter at an early age. Probably soon after her mother's death. She is listed as "E. G." with her adoptive parents in the 1900 U.S. Census as follows:

1900 US Census - Beaver Crossing, Seward County, NEBRASKA
Enumeration District No 152
Date: 15th day of June 1900
Dimery Avenue (No House Numbers)
PORTER, M J. (Head) M Aug 1845 54 M 25 PA NY NY Harness Maker
F E. (wife) F Jun 1842 57 M 25 6 3 NY CT NY
E. G. (Daughter) F Sep 1886 13 S VA PA NY at school

June 16, 1900
James A Combs (farmer), wife Jannett M & children: Bertha E, James M & Russel living in Atchison, Atchison County, Missouri.

June 20, 1900
John C. Harbert (working in billiard hall) living in Fairfield City, Clay County, Nebraska with wife Jennie & son Francis.

June 26, 1900
Iva H Anderson living with her husband Adolph M Anderson and his family in Broken Bow, Custer County, Nebrasia. Adolph is working as a carpenter.

April 2, 1901
Hugh Martin Amsberry - born in York, York County, Nebraska.

About 1901
Eva V Harbert-McGowan & husband John McGowan have a son - born in Ansley, Custer County, Nebraska. (see letter on next page dated 1902 in which she states: "... the baby is crying at the top of his voice...")

June 15, 1902
LETTER FROM EVA V HARBERT-McGOWAN to SISTER-IN-LAW JENNIE JOHNSON-HARBERT...

Perhaps the most insightful glimpse into the tough times the family went through is brought to life in a soulful letter Eva Virginia Harbert-McGowan writes to her sister-in-law, Jennie Johnson-Harbert. While attempting to admonish and encourage her "sister" Jennie in her marriage with Eva's brother John Clyde Harbert - she no doubt voices what the rest of her siblings feel... a deep loss in the death of their mother. But it also leaves us questioning the fate of their father up to this time. The following letter gives us some insight into the family dynamics at the time.

Below is Eva's letter to Jennie, and below it a transcription of the letter...

Ansley, Nebraska
June 15, 1902

Mrs. J. C. Harbert

Dear sis:

I received your much kind & welcome letter yesterday and was very glad to hear from you but was sorry to hear you & John can not agree. I felt deeply grieved to think he has left you. I can not think it is for good. I shall do all in my power to get him to come back. I shall write him a letter today begging him to come back for the sake of Francis if not for the sake of anyone else. John Harbert is at York. I got a letter from Lela day before yesterday & she said he was there. They want us to move to York & I think we shall go but do not know for sure yet. Walter came down from the Bow [Broken Bow] today. He has been working up there for about 2 months. You did not ask me for any of my advice, but I will give you a little anyway. For the sake of Francis I would try to get John to come back – but if it wasn’t for him I would tell you to let him go for I am independent enough if John would leave me (even with the two children that I have got) I would let him go & my children would have to be very hungry before I would seek his assistance. Well Jennie I do not know what to say in your behalf to John & if I say anything I don’t suppose it will do any good for I think he is pretty hard hearted if he is my own brother. I do not know any of the particulars but I think you are probably both to blame to a certain extent – if you both tried to do right you would get along I think. I hope you will take no offense at what I have said for I meant none whatever. This is a cruel world at the very best & we will have to trust in God & bear our trials as best we can. I think it will all come right in the end I hope it will. And I know how sad it is for us to be parted from those we love & above all for children to be parted from their parents as I have never known a mother’s love nor a father’s either for a good many years. Jennie we all have troubles in this world if not in one way why we have it in another. Being motherless ever since I was 8 yrs old I know something about the cruel ways of this world. I never got much sympathy either but I can sympathize with those that are in trouble. Well I must close for this time as the baby is crying at the top of his voice. Hoping everything will come out all right & that you will write soon. I am your most devoted sister.

Eva V. McGowan

June 16, 1902
Register at U.S. General Land Office - Lincoln, Nebraska - reports that Elbert F. Harbert, who made T.C. (Timber-Culture) entry No. 7351 for the SW quarter of the NW quarter, Section 4, Township 14N, Range 18W, has failed to make final proof after notice.

September 25, 1902
Iva "Ivy" Ellen Harbert dies at York, Nebraska at 21 years of age. She had been married only 2 years and nine months...

Iva "Ivy" Ellen HARBERT-Anderson

Ivy Ellen Harbert (Anderson's) OBITUARY

Iva Ellen Harbert & husband Adolph M Anderson

July 21, 1903
Letters from James M. Amsberry & Lela Ann HARBERT-Amsberry to S-I-L Jennie Johnson-HARBERT

Less than a year since her death, the family is still mourning young Ivy's loss as they attempt to support their "sister" Jennie Johnson-HARBERT (and her 5 year old son Francis Clyde Harbert) in midst of a troubled marriage. It's been a little over a year since Eva's letter (above) to Jennie. John and Jennie are still separated. James & Lela Ann (HARBERT) Amsberry write the following letters to Jennie in Aurora, NE from their home in Waco, NE - a distance of 29 miles by train.

Mrs. Jennnie Harbert
Aurora, Nebr.

Dear Sister,Waco, Nebr., July 21, 1903

Replying to yours, just received, would say that
I want to see you on a matter that I don't care to discuss
or explain in a letter. I can come to Aurora Friday
afternoon and would like to know where I can see
you and have a short private talk.
Please don't say anything to anyone about this and
let me hear from you, so I can find you without
having to inquire. Meet me at the train (No. 39) or
tell me where you work, or where you will be at that
time and oblige.Very Respectfully
We are all well.                   J. M. Amsberry

P.S.
              It may come to pass that we are the Lord's
agents to answer your prayers.          J.M.A.

Waco, Neb. - July 21, 1903

Dear Jennie - James wrote you a letter last week as we have not heard from you, thought perhaps you did not get it. He addressed it Mrs. J. C. Harbert, and thought perhaps the postmaster made a mistake and sent it to John. We want to see you on a little matter of business if you can come down, and if you can't Jim will come up there if agreeable with you and you will let us know where & when he can see you. It is for your wellfare that we want this interview with you. I wish you could come down.
I got your letter & was glad to hear from you and to hear that you were both well. This leaves us all well. Eva is down to May's. I think John must have showed off in fine shape. But every dog has its day I suppose he will have his, unexpectedly some of these days, I never thought I had a brother that was so heartless. No, Walter never told me anything. I guess he is as ashamed of John's actions as any of us. I don't see how you can have any love left for him. Well, for fear I say too much I will close. Please ans(wer) soon and let us know if you can come down or if it will be all right for Jim to come up there. He can go without it costing him anything. Love to all.

Lela

July 24, 1903
Letter from Lela Ann HARBERT-Amsberry to Jennie Johnson-Harbert

James goes to visit Jennie and returns home. They learn that Jennie has filed for a divorce. Lela writes Jennie the following six-page letter letting her know that she has the family's support...

Waco, Neb. - July 24, 1903

Dear Jennie: - Jim has got home and reported, and says you have begun divorce proceedings. That is just what John has been wanting you to do all the time. He told me, he intended to get loose from you as soon as he could, but when he investigated he knew he had not a ghost of a chance. I'll bet that was his business in Aurora a few days ago. Had heard that you was going to do that and wanted to find out if it was true, so he could tell some one else and make plans accordingly. Of course I don't know that he is interested in any one else, but after he and Firth come to York, he run around with Emma Bennett, a woman of disreputable character and also has 2 illegal children. Wasn't that nice after we had let him live in our house and introduced him to our friends, and then for him to show so little respect for us, to parade the street with that dirty thing. Eva and I both overtook them coming up Lincoln Ave. and saw him with her with our own eyes, and a little sister of the nasty thing brought notes to him right at our house. If it was my case I wouldn't give him a divorce to save his neck. That is just what he has been waiting for and I'd fool him a pop. you can't only get an alimony by being divorced from him and it would be very doubtful if you would even get anything, by him not being worth anything. Jim has talked with the county attorney and he says the best way is for you to lay your case before the County Atty. at Aurora, and make a double charge against him for the non-support of yourself and child. John will have to give bond, that he will pay you so much a month, for support or go to the pen, and whenever he breaks that bond it will land him there just the same. That way you will have him cinched. You can go to your attorney and have the divorce case dropped. The other case with the County Attorney will not cost you anything, for it will be a state case, as there is a law against a man deserting his family which makes it a Penitentiary act. John don't care anything for you or any of his folks only just when it will benefit himself. And Jennie be careful about letting Francis go with him, for he told me that, the boy and loose from you was what he wanted and all he wanted from that quarter. I wouldn't have told all this, but he has acted so mean with us about the rest he owes us that I won't keep no secrets for him. I am done with him, if he is my brother. As far as his wellfare is concerned you may consider Jim & I your friends. I guess if he lands in the pen, it won't be any worse disgrace than we are enduring now anyhow. It makes my heart ache to know that you are going to give him a divorce, for I can just see him laughing about it now. I want him to have to pay you about $50 a month, and have to keep on the wrestle to earn it and not have so much to spend with some other woman about like Em Bennett, or pour it down his neck.
Let me hear once in a while how you are getting along, and how much you have punished him. I like to see the good work go on. We are all well, and I will close hoping you will see the County Atty and find out for yourself, that it will be better to not give him a divorce. With love to you both and your grandma. I am
As Ever A Friend

Lela

P.S. - Jim thinks just as I do about this matter, for he has been looking up the law and consulting attorneys for about a month, well ever since John went to Kearney. Walter told us he didn't save a cent of his money, and didn't think that he sent you any. He married you and had that child for him and I want him to support you. If it is necessary to go into court in this matter I'll be with you. Res. (respectfully)

Lela

March 7, 1905
Elbert F Harbert leaves Leavenworth, Kansas Home for Disabled Soldiers & Sailors of his “own request...”

February 23, 1906
Elbert F Harbert readmitted to Leavenworth, Kansas Home for Disabled Soldiers & Sailors

April 24, 1907
Vivian Louise Amsberry - youngest daughter of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert - is born at Mason City, Custer County, Nebraska

Vivian Louise Amsberry
[circa 1910]

November 21, 1907
Walter Lee Harbert at 25 years of age & Catherine “Kate” Wright - age 20 - slip off to Grand Island, Hall County, Nebraska and get married

February 25, 1908 - January 15, 1909
Elbert F Harbert readmitted to Leavenworth, Kansas Home for Disabled Soldiers & Sailors and lives there till January 15, 1909...

October 24, 1908
Kenneth Lee Harbert - oldest son of Walter Lee Harbert & “Kate” Wright - born in Nebraska

January 21, 1909
Almost 21 years after his wife Sarah Ellen Shriver-Harbert’s death, and only 6 days after leaving the Leavenworth, KS Disabled Soldier's Home - Elbert Francis Harbert - at age 63 - dies at Leavenworth, Kansas as the result from a broken neck he sustained after falling from a barn loft while working in the country. He was buried in the Ash Grove Cemetery (Coffman Cemetery) after a funeral at 10:00am conducted at the home of his daughter & son-in-law, Mr. & Mrs. James M Amsberry in Mason City, Nebraska on January 27th. On this date, his obituary states his children are living in the following locations:

Mrs. Nettie Combs - Rockport, Missouri
Mrs. J. M. Amsberry - Mason City, Nebraska
John C. Harbert - Denver, Colorado
Mrs. J. C. McGowan - North Platte, Nebraska
Walter L Harbert - Ansley, Nebraska
Vivian Blanche Harbert - Kansas City, Missouri
Miss Ethelyn Grace Harbert - Lewiston, Nebraska

Graves of ELBERT F HARBERT and his wife SARAH ELLEN SHRIVER-HARBERT in Coffman Cemetery, Custer County, Nebraska

[note: Birthdates of Elbert & Sarah are not correct! - A question I have been unable to answer: Who would have paid for this marker and not known the correct years of their births?...]

ELBERT F. HARBERT's Obituary - January 1909
[name mis-spelled]

February 17, 1910
Vivian Blanche Harbert at 25 years of age - marries James Alvin Herndon (a dentist) aged 31 at Grace M. E. Church, in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri.

April 15, 1910
1910 U. S. Census - James A. Herndon (Head) 32 years of age - Occupation: Dentist Office - living with wife Blanche V [Harbert-Herndon] (wife) 25 yrs of age - Occupation: Stenographer-Newspaper - living in Kansas City, Missouri

April 21, 1910
James Martin (50) & Lela Ann (37) [Harbert] Amsberry & family are living in Algernon Township, Custer County, Nebraska

May 19, 1910
Walter L Harbert (27) - Occupation: Carpenter-House - living in Ansley, Custer County, Nebraska with wife Catherine (25), and son, Kenneth L Harbert

August 6, 1910
Melvin George Harbert - son of Walter Lee Harbert & “Kate” Wright - born in Ansley, Custer County, Nebraska

April 24, 1911
James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann (Harbert) Amsberry & family move to Miller, Buffalo County, Nebraska

November 6, 1912
Kathryn Elinor Harbert - daughter of Walter Lee Harbert & “Kate” Wright - born in Nebraska

February 12, 1913
Tinsie Ethel Amsberry - daughter of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert - marries David “Earl” Deardorf in Custer County, Nebraska

February 15, 1913
Carl Everett Amsberry (son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert) married to Viola Pearl Hayden in Aurora, Hamilton County, Nebraska

March 13, 1913
James Martin Amsberry - husband of Lela Ann Harbert - writes poem: “My Forest Queen” from Miller, Buffalo County, Nebraska. Although his love and devotion for her is evident in this tribute to her, the feeling may not have been mutual. It appears from the last several lines that James is aware of his wife's cool affection and a pending change in their relationship....

MY FOREST QUEEN

Dedicated to my faithful, affectionate wife, Lela A. Amsberry

She was born in West Virginia--
There's no better place on earth
For the noblest of God's creatures
To derive a fitting birth--

She was schooled among its forests,
Its valleys and its hills,
Her bare feet trod the pebbles
Of the bright and sparkling rills.

In the valley where the bluebird
And the martin sought to nest
In the boxes she erected
In the place she loved the best,

Where the cunning gray squirrel chattered
In the white oak trees so tall
Where the top-knot red bird whistled
And the quail sent forth his call.

There she rambled in the wild wood,
Gathering flowers in the spring;
Mid the beauteous scenes of childhood
While the woods with music ring.

Sometimes she sought the babbling brook
Where fish were wont to sport;
With bended pin for fishing hook
She brought the flounder forth.

I knew her in childhood there
From three years old to ten
Then came out west and staid four years
Then wandered back again.

I met her in a country store
Upon a wintry day
Her ruddy cheeks appealed to me
Though aged fourteen, they say.

I visited her parents there -
They followed me out west,
They were my friends and neighbors too,
I treated them my best --

Two years elapsed - she is my wife.
A rugged road we've trod.
Two dozen years of life we've seen
Beneath the fatal rod.

Six children came to bless us here
Beneath the circling sun--
It seems to me but yesterday
Since our voyage was begun.

But, if I'm called to leave her here
To tread Life's path alone,
I'll not regret the choice I made -
That Fate thus made us one.

She bore the battle bravely;
Was ever brave and true.
In poverty she did her part,
Tis said of very few.

And now my song is ended.
I will fill the cup of Life,
And drink the health of Lela Ann,
My faithful, loving wife.

***********
Miller, Nebraska - March 13, 1913
J. M. Amsberry

11 December 11, 1913
Ethelyn Grace Harbert [PORTER-adopted name] at 27 years of age marries Jerry “Walter” Bush (age 32) a rancher from Hulett, Wyoming - at Zion Evangelical Church, Beaver Crossing, Nebraska by Rev. Theo. Marks.

Ethel Harbert-Porter & Jerry Walter Bush - Marriage Certificate

Jerry Walter & "Ethel" (Harbert) Bush & Family

Ethelyn "Ethel" Grace HARBERT-Porter-Bush

Jerry Walter Bush
[husband of Ethelyn "Ethel" Grace Harbert]

Jerry Walter & "Ethel" (Harbert) Bush & Family
January 1961

"Ethel" HARBERT-Porter-BUSH

About 1914
Mary Ellen Herndon - daughter of James Alvin Herndon & Vivian Blanche Harbert - born in Missouri

1915
Two of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert’s oldest children and their spouses [Roy Francis Amsberry & Lucille Marguerite Reilly, and Tinsie Ethel Amsberry & David Earl Deardorf] move to Oregon. With two of her children now married and gone, and her father now having passed away six years ago, Lela must feel her world beginning to unravel... This marks a turning point in her life. She has carried a heavy load for her relatively young 42 year-old frame. She has seen the death of her mother in 1888 shortly after the family's move to Nebraska; was married and began raising a family shortly thereafter in 1889 at the young age of 16; suffered the loss of her sister "Ivy" in 1902; was grieved by the bitter separation/divorce between her brother John Clyde Harbert and his wife Jennie about the same time; and suffered the loss of her father in 1909. A few months later, Lela Ann Harbert - with two youngest children - Hugh Martin Amsberry & Vivian Louise Amsberry, makes the decision to move to Oregon. The following spring Lela's husband - James Martin Amsberry - sells his newspaper "The Miller Sun" and joins the family in Oregon. Their youngest daughter - Vivian Louise Amsberry - recounts the adventure in her autobiography "My Mother's Daughter." This excerpt documents the hard times the family faced and is a tribute to their tough pioneer spirit!

WESTWARD—HO! 1915-1916

By careful eavesdropping I learned that a huge canal had been opened in a country named Panama, which connected two oceans together. Also there were whispers that some Archduke in Austria-Hungary was assassinated which caused a great war to start, threatening the entire world.

I didn’t know if that was what motivated my three oldest siblings...

[Editor’s Note: Only TWO of the oldest siblings moved to Oregon at this time - Roy & Tinsie and their spouses. Oldest son Carl and his wife are living in Alliance, Nebraska on June 5, 1917 where he registered for the WWI Draft]

...to pick up and run, but before the year was out, all three couples moved to Oregon. Because of this family exodus, it didn’t seem strange when one day a few months later, Mama gathered up Hugh and me, and with the proceeds accumulated from her sewing, she bought train tickets and headed to join them. She admonished Hugh, “Now, I’ve made some black bloomers for Vivian, and if she wants to stand on her head, you leave her alone!”

We slept in a chair car and landed in LaGrande three days later. Roy met us there with a horse and make-shift carriage and drove us through Summerville, a little off-the-beaten-track village with fewer than eighty inhabitants; then we went a couple of miles into the country to his rented apple-ranch. The orchards contained some prunes, but mostly there were Ben Davis apples. Roy said, “The hogs won’t even eat ‘em without cream and sugar!”

Those apples were our survival that year. Mama and Lu managed to use them up in pies, dried apples. apple-butter, canned apples. apple sauce, ad infinitum. The final yield didn’t pencil out, however, because that was the year of the yellow-jacket. Those miserable insects were so thick that they would burrow through the paraffin which covered a gallon stone jar of apple-butter, and clean out that delicacy without a trace. Roy’s baby, James, was only a toddler and his little bare feet took the brunt of constant attacks. One day he was stung nineteen times. The bees would get him with their last gasp of life, leaving their stingers in his flesh to record the dastardly act. Then they would get in his mouth and sting his tongue. James got so he would let out one whoop, then go ahead with his business.

In the fall Mama had cooked for a field of threshers. She worked in a small shack, steamy and humid, cooking quantities of potatoes, meat and vegetables, baked bread and pies. She never let down. After each horrendous day, she had a bit of whimsy to report, and she earned enough money to take us back to Portland.

We lived with Tinsie and I enrolled in Montavilla School -but we didn’t stay long. Mama wasn’t comfortable in the city. There was much unrest with people talking about the threat of our country entering the war. Soldiers paraded the streets in mass patriotism and their voices resounded with the songs of “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”, and “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm After They’ve Seen-Parie?” It was quite frightening, then after Guy was swooped up at twenty years old and became a soldier, Mama couldn’t cope so we went back to be with Roy.

By this time Roy had come into some logged-off land. His place was five miles from the flag-stop, Palmer Junction. The ticket window was in a country store, the only building in existence. When Roy came to meet us, he was wearing a pair of hand—hewn skis and carried two more pair over his shoulder. He gave, Mama and me each a pair. We strapped on our magical shoes and I struck out across the country like a veteran. It didn’t take much talent. The snow was six feet deep on the level where nary a fence-post dared to protrude above the glistening landscape. It was so still. Nothing in sight but a few saplings left by the ravaging logging crews.

In season Roy set chokers at Grande Ronde Logging Camp. In his spare time he had built a platform over which was erected a tent. That was where he and his family were living. We moved in with the four of them. It was crowded but we made do! I loved the togetherness and was fascinated by the smoke curling from the stove-pipe which poked out the side of the tent.

Roy and Guy had bought eighty acres of this land for $15 an acre. Roy split his forty with Mama. After the spring run-off somehow or another my Dad suddenly became united with the family. Much later I learned that he had sold the Miller Sun at public auction.

That was an eventful summer. Through sheer determination and a race for time, the adults - including Hugh on occasion -were able to cut, drag, and peel enough pole-logs to build two houses and a barn. It took winches, brute-strength, endurance~ and lots of patience but the poles were finally stacked on each other, the chinks filled with mud and the rooms lined with building paper and ready for occupancy before winter. Our house was like a mansion compared to the tent. Self-designed, homecrafted! It had gables and a lean-to kitchen, always filled with the fragrance of Mama’s sweet-smelling bread. There was a nondescript ladder which led to a loft, filled with wonderful treasures where we kids could pilfer and rummage through a stored trunk. It was also a handy access for the rats to find their way down behind the building paper, but they were short-lived. Several times I saw mama with a pitchfork - even in the middle of the night - making short work of the varmints.

Life was primitive in that house, but at nine I was happy in any environment. Mama cooked on an iron stove which didn’t even have the grace of a warming oven. There was a cabinet which housed our dishes and cooking utensils, and a wooden box which held the water bucket and wash-pan. This pan was our entire bathroom facility except for a path which led to a nearby clump of bushes. A table, some benches and make-shift beds completed the furniture list.

Not only did I enjoy the house, but just outside there was a little brook that
flowed merrily on its way to faraway places. It rippled and squirmed itself into a larger stream which I followed for nearly two miles to Cabin Creek School. The building was a one-room log affair. The record enrollment was thirteen, but that year there were only eight kids.

I had much pleasure from those walks. The burned-out treesnags attracted many birds, and Cabin Creek was a great respite from heat and fatigue. On my way home - should I choose to doff my country foot-wear - I would wiggle my toes in the friendly waters, and listen to the chattering birds.

When I arrived home Frances would be in ecstasy at my presence, and off we would go, running away from James and making his life miserable. He was very little and slow, and his stumbling along, trying to keep up with us, labeled him as a first-class nuisance.

Frances and I loved to pull down the saplings, then get astride them and bounce until our lungs ached from our exhilaration. To add insult to those treasured trees, we dug out dried pitch and chewed the “pine gum”, the only chewing gum I ever knew except an occasional chunk of paraffin during jelly-making season. We had no toys so we contented ourselves with dressing up caterpillars and butchering “still-born” chicks for our play dinners. We made do, and had a happy time doing it.

I didn’t spend all my time playing, however. There were chores to do. I even learned to milk a cow. Mama always managed to keep busy, but what I recall most about my dad was his sitting in a straight-backed chair in the middle of the kitchen, quoting from the Bible or singing hymns. When he sang, I wondered why my mother didn’t join him, but rather she acted angry that he was filling the house with song. She seemed more compatible with the music produced by the howling coyotes at night, or the frogs frequenting our brook. She taught me to appreciate the separate tones of the frogs as they held their evening concerts.

The next few years are rather mixed in my mind. Apparently Mama became tired of carrying water uphill from the spring, and eating whatever wild game my brothers could trap and retrieve ahead of the coyotes. So without fanfare, she bundled me up and took me off again into an unknown world. I saw my dad only a few times after that.

About 1917
James A Herndon - son of James Alvin Herndon & Vivian Blanche Harbert - born in Missouri

June 5, 1917
Jenetta May’s oldest son - James Melvin Combs - is 26 years old, married to “Nell” and is living in Clay Center, Kansas and is working for the traffic department for the Union Pacific Railroad

June 5, 1917
Carl Everett Amsberry (27) - son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert is married and living at 215 Yellowstone Ave., Alliance, Box Butte County, Nebraska and is working as a printer at Herald Publishing Company

August 21, 1918
Francis Clyde Harbert - 21 & self-employed (son of John Clyde Harbert) & mother Jennie S Harbert are living at 1106 “M” Street, Aurora, Hamilton County, Nebraska

September 7, 1918
Walter Lee Harbert (35) self-employed carpenter, married to Catherine - living in Mullen, Hooker County, Nebraska

September 10, 1918
John Clyde Harbert is living at 722 West 7th St, Sioux City, Iowa & working for Nebraska Farmer

1918
Gail Bush - daughter of Jerry “Walter” Bush & Ethelyn “Ethel” Grace Harbert-Porter-Bush - born in Nebraska

January 3, 1920
1920 US Census - James Martin Amsberry (59) - is living as a boarder in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon; Occupation: Carpenter-House

January 6, 1920
1920 U.S. Census - John McGowan (50), (boarder), (divorced), Occupation: Machinist-Round House - living in Norfolk City, Madison County, Nebraska. Daughter Ruby McGowan (also daughter of Eva Virginia HARBERT) living with him.

January 8, 1920
Lela Harbert-Amsberry (46) occupation: Seamstress-Dept. Store - living with son Guy (24) occupation: Printer-Newspaper, son Hugh (18) occupation: Machinist-Garage, and daughter Vivian (12) - at 668 Kerby Ave, Portland, Oregon

January 8, 1920
Carl Everett Amsberry (30) - son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert - is married (wife Viola) and living at 154 3rd St, Portland, Oregon - and is working as a printer at a newspaper

January 15, 1920
1920 U.S. Census - Jennie S Harbert (46, roomer, divorced ) living with son Francis Clyde Harbert (22) at Aurora, Hamilton County, Nebraska

January 15, 1920
James A Herndon (41, dentist) & wife Vivian Blanche HARBERT-Herndon (34), daughter Mary Ellen (5) and son James A [Jr] (3 1/2) are living at 3828 Bellefontaine, Kansas City, Missouri - only about 4 miles away from her sister - Jenetta May Harbert-Combs-Covell & family in Kansas City, Kansas...

January 16, 1920
Jenetta May Harbert-Combs has apparently remarried within the past 11 years. She is listed with the name: COVELL, Nettie and is living at 58 North 10th St, Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas - and is widowed. Her son Russell Combs and his wife Ruth and son Cameron G Combs are living with her. Russell is working as a Meter Reader for a gas company...

February 17, 1920
Ethelyn Grace Harbert-Porter-Bush (26) & husband Jerry Walter Bush (33) and daughter Gail (2) living on their ranch in Crook County, Wyoming

May 6, 1921
Jerry Porter Bush - son of Jerry “Walter” Bush & “Ethel” Harbert-Porter-Bush - born in Hulett, Crook County, Wyoming

About 1925
According to the 1930 US Census - Eva V Harbert-McGowan-Bishop has divorced her first husband John McGowan (which isn’t too surprising given her comments in her June 15, 1902 letter to sister-in-law Jennie S. Harbert), has remarried a “Bishop” and is also divorced from him, and has a 5 year-old daughter “Iva” Bishop - who would have been born about 1925 - and was no doubt named after her sister “Ivy” Iva Ellen Harbert-Anderson who died in 1902.

February 11, 1928
Francis Clyde Harbert (son of John Clyde Harbert) marries Inez Pearl Guilford at the home of Rev. Ervine Inglis, Pastor of the Vine Congregational Church in Lincoln, Nebraska

Inez Pearl Guilford & Francis Clyde Harbert

June 29, 1929
Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry and daughter Vivian Louise Amsberry leave Portland for a trip to visit her sister - Ethel Harbert-Bush & family in Hulett, Wyoming, and brother Walter Lee Harbert & family in Santa Ana, California. Vivian wrote a detailed account of this two-month, 6,244 mile whirlwind trip their 1929 Chevy in her autobiography entitled... "My Mother's Daughter." I can't imagine two women making such a trip with the modern automobiles and interstate system we have today... let alone two women making the trip in 1929. This narrative attests to the "tough stuff" Lela Ann Harbert & her daughter Vivian were made of! The following is an excerpt of her book detailing this memorable trip...

I did receive an occasional note from Fred, each looking like a doctor’s prescription and about as long, but in every case I could make out his constant invitation to visit him. I convinced myself that he did care for me, so then I had to convince Mama we should take a trip and include Sunnyside on our route.

It didn’t take much convincing for Mama. She loved to go. Earl used to accuse her of sitting by the door with her hat on in case someone came along and offered to take her some place!

We were both able to get leave of absence from our jobs so we started immediate preparation for a two-month trip. It was time, anyway, to start seeing the world.

I had my hair cut short and bought a cheap permanent which fried my locks into a mass of steel wool. Our 1929 Chevy had room enough behind the front seat to put my cedar chest. Chock-full of clothes and cooking utensils, this filled in the gap between our seats so when we folded the front seat forward and spread a thin mattress across the whole area, it served as a fairly comfortable bed.

On Saturday, June 29, 1929, we left home about 5 p.m. and drove as far as The Dalles. Up at dawn, we continued by way of Couer D’Alene and Billings, suffering our share of Rocky Mountain roads and drenching rains, flat tires and flooding rivers. Five days later, we arrived at Aunt Ethel’s - Mama’s youngest sister in Hulette, Wyoming. Uncle Walter had a 4000-acre spread there -his own electric generator and “ice house” where he stored ice, winter-gathered from the Belle Fourche River. I was amazed that with their primitive life-style, Aunt Ethel, had carried forth with her fragments of the outer world, and had remained such a proud and dignified lady of culture.

Mama, who hadn’t seen her sister for many years, was in seventh heaven, slopping hogs and feeding chickens. As for me, I rode horses with Gayle, my 11-year--old cousin and flirted with the ranch hands, especially Lorenzo. Sometimes we sat on the porch watching the lightening bugs and listening to the radio playing “Little Brown Jug”, and other cowboy-type classics until one evening an electric storm came up, setting the whole universe ablaze with its flashing. It terrified me and drove me to my room for protection.

The rains continued! The rivers swelled! What bridges still surviving were too hazardous to cross. We were trapped! I was sure it would rain forever and we would never get away - at least not on schedule!

After five days of pounding rain, the sun came out for a while. I was very nervous to get started, so next morning we kissed everybody good-bye and after finding one of my gloves that Lorenzo had hidden and promising him he could see me if he ever got to Portland, we took our leave.

Our first road was a cliff-hanger of hub-deep red clay. It was all I could do to keep in the indicated tracks. It was a relief to hit solid ground, only to be confronted with the Belle Fourche River again. A car was mired down in the middle of the water. Several men were walking around knee deep, trying to figure a way out. I stopped on the bank and surveyed the situation.

“Quicksand!” yelled one of the men.

I guess a young maid in love will bridge any chasm, so I simply set my gears in low, paced a steady speed and eased into the river. Slowly I plowed right through and up the opposite bank.

Whoops and hollers took place! The men waved their hats in the air and whistled. I just sat there tickled...and giggled!

I can see why that area is referred to as the “Big Country." It has a sky that just won’t quit, filled alternately with white clouds and black threatening areas, broken only by rain patterns, then incredible sunsets.

It had been our plan to take in all the attractions possible, so we stopped at Cody and visited the Buffalo Bill Museum, then headed for Yellowstone Park via Shoshone Canyon.

The next few days were spent in awe of the primitive masterpiece of Yellowstone, set aside in the vastness of the lofty peaks of the Rocky Mountains, then the breathless site of the Tetons - sharp, glacier-bearing giants rising in a series of sheer precipices from the shores of Jackson Lake. A ranger told us it was the most difficult pass to cross in this part of the world.

The very independence of the mountains offered up a challenge, so onward - and upward - we went! The entire seven miles to the top in low gear, but at the summit - 8429 feet - we stopped and reveled in our experience. Mama had undying faith in my driving performance which gave me the courage to try any situation.

Back down the mountain, we drove until 9 p.m., looking in vain for a place to camp, and ended up in the yard of a small country store.
We made inquiry about the road to the next town.

“Ladies,” said a friendly proprietor. “It’s thirty mile away, over a rough road and through a mean canyon. There ain’t even a. camp-ground. Ye’r welcome to stay in my yard here.” He waved his arm in a half-circle, so we decided to take his advice.

Mama was drooling over a small garden and asked if we might buy something. “So long since we’ve had any fresh vegetables.”

“Why, sure, ma’am. What’d you like?”

We bought huge radishes, green onions and leafy lettuce, paid him 20 cents for the lot, and made gigantic sandwiches. Delicious and life-saving they were!

At Utah state line we loaded up with cherries, apricots and melons from the many quaint fruit stands along the road. Before we knew it we had spent 50 cents Who cared? We were dying for fruit!

At Salt Lake City I wanted to ramrod on through to Sunnyside, but we decided to stop and give ourselves a good cleaning-up and not arrive at Fred’s too frazzled. We managed to locate a public shower, then walked seven long blocks over the widest boulevard I had ever seen, and took in our first all-color movie, “On with the Show”.

After a restless night and a 45 cent pancake breakfast, we forged ahead.

It rained all the way - the lightening was persistent. Roads were muddy and slippery which slowed our progress. At noon we bolted down some roast beef sandwiches. then turned upward into the mountains over an isolated desert road, partially hidden by masses of sage brush and tumble weed. An occasional jack rabbit was the only sign of life. The horizon was lost in an entanglement of rays shining through jagged gray clouds, as we continued, we were unable to fathom how a town could possibly be buried in that tiny space between the hills.

I thought we had reached the end of the world, when we came to some scattered houses, then a small store where a group of boys stood by and watched us in amusement.

“Is this Sunnyside?” I asked, pointing to the store.

“Yes, this is it!” said the spokesman of the 1st.

“Is this the end of the line?”

“No...you can go up there!” he said, pointing to a road that must have been all of two blocks long.

Just then a man came rushing up and introduced himself as Fred’s father. He took us to his house, where we were heartily welcomed by Fred and other members of the family.

The next nine days were pure rapture. Fred introduced me to all his friends, showed me every possible item of interest, spent every living minute with me. Rumors circulated over the countryside about us. I was a wealthy woman from the city traveling with my aunt, or Fred and I were to be married soon and he would return with me to Oregon for our honeymoon. I wished!

Fred told me about his plans for the future, but never once did he indicate that I would be sharing that future. He treated me like someone special in his life, but the only time we were alone was when we got stuck in a mine shaft in the dark and had to wait until the “tripper” came in and picked us up.

I so wanted to be a part of his future, but what could I have been thinking, married and trapped in a place where to spend an exciting Sunday afternoon
was to explore the entrance of a coal mine, or take a stroll to the asphalt mill where great tongues of flame lapped out of burning mouths at sweating workmen;
where the only active recreation would be a trip over to Columbia to dance where fights were the norm, punctuated with an occasional shooting? The whole
situation, when I look back on it, was appalling, but at that time I was walking around in a bubble of illusion and not accountable.

Fred and his sister with some friends accompanied us to Fish Lake where we spent the night, then without fanfare we said our good-byes. As we drove
down the road, I reviewed the past few days and realized that sometime somewhere - Fred had conveyed the thought to me that he would ask me to be his wife if I
hadn’t been previously married. In my fantasy I had ignored his remark and passed over it. Maybe something would still work out. For now I would have to try to put
it out of my mind.

Mama and I headed off for Bryce Canyon. A short walk to the rim of the canyon and there burst upon us the most astonishing blend of exquisite beauty
ever produced by forces of erosion. We could hardly believe that Bryce Canyon existed until we had gazed a second time, so amazing was its beauty. It was like a
flashing vision - clusters of bizarre rock formations in a myriad colors. In contrast, we talked to some travelers who had just come across Mojave Desert, our next
day’s route. Between the man and woman, their description went something like this:

“...People clear up to their hubs in sand - so hot we had to keep ice-packs on our necks - plowed through carcasses of dead animals and people put up a fight against vultures. If we’d had car trouble, we’d a been gonners...”

Fortunately we found another couple whose story was less terrifying: “...road as good as any we’ve been over...”

The next day another visual feast. Cedar Breaks. Sculptured chasms, painted cliffs, the colors changing marvelously in response to the sun; pink or terra-cotta changing to orange.

We spread out our lunch of cheese and crackers, but the flies and yellow-jackets took over, so we hurried back to the car. My back had been hurting for
a couple of days, no doubt due to changing a tire 70 miles away from Fish Lake, so that night we rented a cabin for $1.00 a first!

We had warm showers and a good bed. I even slept through a fire that occurred in the cabin next door. We paid $2.00 for our breakfasts the most expensive meal on the trip, but we figured we’d better fill up. We didn’t know when we would get anything more to eat.

Crossing into the State of Arizona, we wound through the Kaibob National Forest, dodging deer and rare white-tail squirrels which flitted ghost-like through the aisles. We caught a glimpse of white masonry, half hidden by the trees, and arrived at Grand Canyon Lodge about noon.

We hurried to the rim of earth’s greatest gorge. At first glance we said, in breathlessness, “There ‘tis!” then settled back to let our first impression sink in. Suddenly we discovered that it was not always the same, that we were getting a series of impressions instead of a single one. As the light changed, so did the canyon, and before long our minds were racing to keep up with this moving picture unfolding before our eyes. I had no words to describe its splendor. Only to see was to believe.

Torrential rains overtook us. The roads were well water-soaked and all the loose dirt had been washed off the surface, filling up the ruts so it was nearly impossible to follow the road. We were traveling only about ten miles an hour.

Suddenly the car swerved, and we found ourselves mired down over the running boards. We used our bedding. and everything we could spare, trying to get some traction, but to no avail. We kept sinking deeper.

Mom had blobs of red clay big as buckets hanging to her hands. I was in the car doing all I could to get loose. In despair I sat back to relax and glanced up at her. She was humped over, her arms dangling like a gorilla. I couldn’t suppress my mirth and burst out in unrestrained laughter. Mama couldn’t see the humor and she flew into an indignant wrath which only added to her ridiculous posture.

I climbed out of the car, helped her get her footing, and said, “You stay here in the car and load up that gun. If anyone bothers you, SHOOT!” I’ll walk back and see if a can find help.

“You be careful, now,” Mama warned, and I started slogging through the mud.

Through the misdirection of some well-intended traveler, we were off the main road. I passed dead sheep and horses and wondered if we were doomed. When I reached the highway, many other cars were also stuck. I stood watching all those earnest and optimistic people tugging and pulling to finally free themselves from the sticky earth. It was time to get busy with my Lillian Gish act - pitiful little me with an aged mother awaiting my return and heaven only knew what could be happening to her...! I knew nothing could happen unless the sky fell in. There wasn’t a living soul out there.

The people were very sympathetic and kind and all four cars of them trouped back with me, and in a few hours had us on the road again, such road being the worst we had encountered. Down we went - up we struggled - over flat rocks, through barn-yards and water-holes, over hills and steep grades, prairie with no semblance of a road bed. We did everything but climb trees. One family was going our way, so they stayed with us the whole distance. Our radiator had sprung a leak and kept boiling over -and no water except that which I was able to dip from wayside puddles every mile or so. When our companions saw that we could make it on our own, they gave us what water they had. We thanked them and we wished each other well.

Limping on into Zion Park, only then did we realize we hadn’t eaten since morning. While Mama heated a can of soup on our kerosene stove, I crawled under the car on my back in the muck and drained what was left in the radiator, and poured in some leak-fix compound. Wotta mess ! We had to eat in the car instead of on the running-board because it was so wet. After soup, a young collegian from Iowa came over and stood in the rain talking through the open window until we finally had to start undressing before he took the hint and went home - two oak trees, a can of garbage and one puddle away !

“Touched by a light that hath no name, A glory never sung, Aloft on sky and Mountain wall Are God’s great pictures hung.”
So sayeth the immortal John Whittier regarding Zion Park. Upon opening my eyes to the magic of Creation, we took the road which wound its way around the base of great slabs of marble. Rain was a stranger to those parts, yet it stayed with us and washed the magnificent walls, and over their precipices came tumbling a hundred water-falls, carrying with them the crimson of the rocks to stain the water in the rivers below. After the showers subsided, the warm desert sun shone forth for a moment, the temples of Zion standing out in a blaze of color, and only the water-falls and music of the river stayed to remind us of rain.

With alternates of rain and suffocating heat - each canceling the other - we continued through Nevada to a little town called Las Vegas. It was inhabited by a few foreigners and muscular laboring men - workmen on a huge dam spanning the Colorado River. We thought we were about to arrive at the dreaded desert area, and stopped at a service station to inquire where we could camp, also to check the distance across the desert.

“You’re halfway across it now,” we were told. The attendant said the weather was ten to twenty degrees cooler than usual because of the rain. I guess the Good Lord was with us because we survived that day - and we would surely live for another.

We went to bed around 9 p.m. but it was so sultry we got up at midnight and continued on. About 2 a.m. the car sputtered and konked-out completely. It was an empty feeling out there alone in the dark of the moon, and the only sign of life were two beacon lights - one ahead and one behind us - each of which was ten miles away.

I looked under the hood with my trusty flashlight and found that the motor was still there. Helplessly, I closed the hood and climbed back into the car, stepped on the starter again, and what do you know! Old Betsy started purring like a kitten!

Gathering up the breath I had lost, I decided the trouble had been a plugged gas line. Windows open all the way to create some breeze, we. passed four more beacon lights before any signs of daylight. Dawn burst upon us with a splash of light as we pulled into the fruit inspection station. Fruit was so precious to us. We had a couple of pieces from the day before, so I smiled my sweetest at the inspector. He smiled back, patted me on the head and walked away. Bless his heart!

My first impression of California would have made the Chamber of Commerce blush in shame - just sand and cactus - but upon arriving in Santa Ana, we found palm trees, poinsettias and all sorts of flowers, sunshine and soft breezes - and art galleries. We bought a box of oranges for 50 cents, and I thought we had arrived in Paradise.

My Aunt Kate and Uncle Walter and their kids, Kathryn, Melvin, and Kenneth, shared in showing us southern California. We danced our way to Avalon on a Catalina Island ferry. We made a brief run to Tijuana and Agua Caliente, Mexico, but the dismal and dirty shops were dark and quite scary and I was glad to get back to the U.S. of A.

Dancing, bathing, shopping and other activities made up eleven fun-packed days, then we took our leave. Aunt Kate made a wager that I couldn’t drive the 503 miles to San Francisco in one day. Another challenge! We nearly expired from the heat and I was commencing to wither when I managed to get established behind an inter-city bus where I stayed and let it lead us the final fifty miles.

The next day we spent conquering the hills of the great bay city, sometimes feeling as if we would need to weight down the back end of the car to keep us from turning a somersault!

We left early in the evening and headed homeward with exactly $4.41. When we arrived at Ukiah, we located a Western Union Station and sent a sisterly message to Tinsie, reading: “WELL BUT BROKE WIRE TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS SOON AS POSSIBLE.” Next morning the money was in our hands and after filling our stomachs and having the car greased, we were on our way through the magnificent Redwoods toward Oregon Caves.

The temperature had cooled considerably. Fog rolled in which made it difficult to make much headway, then we were detained a while due to a landslide. Fatigue was creeping into my bones. Arriving at Oregon Caves about mid-afternoon, we drank to capacity the cool, delicious Oregon water!

The trip through the caves was next. With some trepidation I took five steps into the gapping opening, and claustrophobia overtook me. I would have turned around and run away but my pride wouldn’t let me be called a quitter. As soon as we moved away from the entrance, I mentally transplanted myself into a whole new world of wonderland. For thousands of years Nature’s artists had carved and molded within this mountain of marble, formations of scenic wonder. Through corridors, connecting countless chambers, we viewed weird but majestic creations. We were gingerly walking in the heart of the Siskiyous, four thousand feet above sea level. For two hours my whole being was under the spell of the fantastic beauty until I spotted daylight. I bolted for the exit as if I were being pursued by a vampire. What a relief to be out in the open once more.

The dinner was delightful. We were entertained by talented lodge personnel, after which we retired to a patio. A huge bonfire was started for the guests and many singing and instrumental numbers took place. Suddenly all was quiet. Then the soft sound of a trumpet came from the hills behind us, a saxophone whispered in the distance ahead, then of f to our right was heard the moaning notes of a trombone - all in symphonic harmony. A spell was cast over everyone as we listened to those magic tones. Not a sound was heard except the music from the distant instruments. They were ethereal for a few moments - then the bonfire burned to the ground...and expired!

Mama and I hurried to our car, but before we got our bed arranged and settled down, the park lights were turned off. The blackness that enveloped us was menacing. There was not a twinkle of a star - the chirp of a cricket or the cry of a night-bird to let us know we were not alone.

I tried to erase the thought creeping into my weary mind that some danger was lurking nearby to attack us. I had set the hand-brake tightly and put the clutch in gear, but in spite of that, I was having visions of dropping off a 2000-foot precipice or being buried alive by a landslide. I lay still for a while, not wanting to share my fears with Mama, but I soon started trembling. With these hideous thoughts churning my muddled mind, my trembling developed into bouncing until Mama had to fold me in her arms and bodily hold me down until I fell asleep.

After the night of frightful dreams, we awoke at 5 a.m. and my aching body was in knots. I looked around and saw that my fears had been unfounded. We were situated on solid level ground and were very secure. However, I wanted to leave the place where I’d had such a fearful experience, so after working an hour to get the car going, I drove crazily down the long grade, back to our world. We went 85 miles through acres of gladiolas to Medford before we stopped for breakfast, back to good old pre-war prices where a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee sold for fifteen cents!

We stopped at Crater Lake, feasted for a few moments on the deep ultramarine waters, fed a few chipmunks, then anxiously pushed homeward. On August 21 we rolled into our front yard with 6244 miles on the odometer, a total cost of $157.78 for our two-month escapade.

We were very tired from our share of car trouble and a minimum of eight flat tires, but indelibly marked on our consciousness was the image of a glorious adventure, and it opened up in me an innate desire to travel.

Belle Fourche River with site of Bush Ranch in distance
Hulett, Crook County, Wyoming
[Photo taken June 6, 2008]

Site of old BUSH Ranch
Hulett, Crook County, Wyoming
[Photo taken June 6, 2008]

Site of old BUSH Ranch
Hulett, Crook County, Wyoming
[Photo taken June 6, 2008]

Belle Fourche River at entrance to Bush Ranch where Vivian Louise Amsberry made her daring crossing in the above narrative...
[Photo taken June 6, 2008]

1930

1930 U.S. Census - Ryan Precinct, Multnomah County, Oregon - shows Lela A Amsberry (age 57) (Head) - Divorced - living with daughter Vivian L Amsberry (22), and grand-daughter Roycilla (18).

According to their daughter - Vivian Louise Amsberry - her parents divorce sometime between 1920-1930 was devastating to her father, and was a decision her mother must have struggled with for a long time. In fact, by this date not only was her brother John Clyde Harbert's marriage over, but so was her marriage and those of her two sisters - Genetta "Nettie" Harbert-Combs & Eva Virginia Harbert-McGowan. It's interesting to note that these four oldest siblings of Elbert & Sarah whose marriages all ended in divorce were all married at relatively young ages, and both Genetta May and Lela Ann both married within a year of their mother's death. Genetta May was only 17 when she married James A Combs who was 2 months short of being 24 (7 years age difference). Lela Ann had just turned 16 the day prior to marrying James M Amsberry who would turn 29 three days after their wedding (12 years difference in their ages). John Clyde was 20 and his bride Jennie S Johnson was 23. And Eva Virginia was 17 when she married John C McGowan who was 27 (10 years age difference). In contrast, the three youngest siblings whose marriages endured - married later in life. Walter was 25 and his wife Kate 21 when they were married. Vivian Blanche was 24 (2 months shy of being 25) when she married James A Herndon (32 years of age). And Ethelyn Grace was 27 years old when she married Jerry Walter Bush who was 30.

Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry's daughter Vivian Louise gives us some valuable insight into her mother's internal struggle as she contemplated ending her marriage with James Martin Amsberry - the father of their 6 children in her autobiography... "My Mother's Daughter."

Mama never seemed to be out of a job. Once she accompanied a little girl to a famous orthopedic hospital in St. Louis and stayed with her during treatment, suffering the torments of a Missouri summer. Another time she took care of an invalid lady in Portland. I remember how upset she became when Dad called on her there. I couldn’t understand what was going on, but not terribly long after that Mama started talking about a divorce. Apparently she loathed the idea because it was against all the things she held honorable and holy, but she finally took the step, and the union was severed. She must have come out of that marriage an emotional cripple. She repelled the sight of Dad and equated her life with him as a form of slavery thus befalling every married woman. She grouped all the male gender together as having a single purpose in life, that of “using” the female counterpart for his pleasures. The very odious overtones of her remarks scarred me for life. For years I thought of sex as a dirty word and something to be hidden in a closet!

I’m sure that separation was devastating to Dad because he seemed to love Mama very much in his own way. That was manifested in the endearing poetry he wrote about her...

April 3, 1930
Francis Clyde Harbert (son of John Clyde Harbert) is 32 year-old Proprietor of Radio Shop living in York, Nebraska with wife Inez who is working as a Bank Clerk, and mother Jennie S Harbert (57).

In spite of being raised by a single mother since he was about 5 years old, Francis Clyde Harbert persevered. He was married in February 1928, graduated from York Business College in the spring of 1928, and by this time in his life was married and owned his own business - HARBERT'S Kodak & Art Shop at the height of the Great Depression! Below are some photos of Francis in his younger years and of his various business ventures in Aurora & York, Nebraska...

April 11, 1930
1930 US Census - Lela Ann Harbert's ex-husband - James Martin Amsberry (70, divorced) is living at the Oregon State Insane Hospital, Salem, Marion County, Oregon. Their daughter Vivian Louise explains the unusual circumstances which resulted in his placement there...

At the peak of all this distress, one day my dad disappeared. He had been living with Roy, but because it was too much added work for Lu, Dad was now living with Tinsie and Earl. Tinsie was worried to extraction about him. She combed the neighborhood and it must have come as quite a shock when she learned that someone had committed Dad to the State Hospital in Salem. Tinsie didn’t take it lightly. She made a full investigation. Sure enough, it was true.

In those days, nobody could be released from that hospital to anyone except a member of the family. What to do? The Depression was in full swing and none of Dad’s children was in a position to provide a home for him. He was comfortable where he was. He had the run of the grounds, plenty of good care and lots to eat.

We wrote many letters and went to see him often. He seemed happy. His diary attests to that! He appreciated our visits and never failed to ask about Mama. In his diary was a notation, “... she (Mama) secured a divorce...Neither are remarried...My desire is to live sensibly the rest of my life...One thing, if it is the Lord’s desire, I hope to be restored
to the mother of my children, the wife of my youth.”

He kept brief but scrupulous notes in his little black book. He had an incredible memory for dates and events. Another book he carried in his pocket was a paper-back called “101 Poems”. The pages in it became more withered and crinkled with each visit which showed that he read it often. Dear old Dad! I only wish I had known him better. I was so young when he was no longer in my life that I didn’t have the closeness that Tinsie did, but when I was with him I was impressed at his passive, gentle way...

April 5, 1930
Eva Harbert-McGowan-Bishop (49, divorced) living with daughters Iva (5) and Ruby McGowan (31, single) living in Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska. Eva’s occupation is listed as clairvoyant...

April 9, 1930
Jenetta May’s son - James Melvin Combs & wife Nell are living at 2501 Poplar Ave, Kansas City, Missouri. He is working as an accountant for the Burlington Railroad

April 10, 1930
Walter L Harbert (48), occupation carpenter - living with family in Santa Ana City, Orange County, California

April 14, 1930
Carl Everette Amsberry (40) - son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert - is living at 708 Cashmere St, Wenatchee, Chelan County, Washington - and is working as a printer at a newspaper. He is married to Viola, and has one son Donald (9) and one daughter
Verla Ray (8)

April 16, 1930
Jenetta May’s youngest son’s (Russel’s) wife - Ruth M - has remarried a man by the name of Fay Elwick. They have a son Lawrence Elwick, and Ruth & Russell’s son Cameron G Combs is living with them.

April 18, 1930
Genetta May’s ex-husband James A. Combs is listed as divorced and is living alone in Fairfax, Missouri. He is working as a carpenter.

April 17, 1932
Melvin George Harbert (son of Walter Lee Harbert) marries Florence Evelyn Allen at Indio, Riverside County, California.

Melvin George Harbert & wife Florence Evelyn Allen
later in their lives
[photo courtesy of Dianne Harbert-Keller]

August 4, 1934
Jennie Sylvetta Johnson-Harbert (ex-wife of John Clyde Harbert & mother of Francis Clyde Harbert) dies at 61 years of age in York, Nebraska

May 25, 1935
Genetta May’s oldest son - James Melvin Combs - dies of metastatic cancer in Kansas City, Missouri and is buried in Mt. Moriah Cemetery. He leaves a widow, Nell.

Grave of James Melvin Combs
[son of Genetta May Harbert-Combs-Covell]

November 11, 1935
Roger Francis Harbert, son of Francis Clyde Harbert & Inez Pearl Guilford-Harbert, born in York County, Nebraska

Roger Francis Harbert - Baby Photo

Roger Francis Harbert &
his father Francis Clyde Harbert

October 30, 1937
Mary Ellen Herndon (daughter of Vivian Blanche Harbert & James Herndon) marries Fred C Horan in Jackson County, Missouri

July 1, 1938
Vivian Louise Amsberry (daughter of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert) marries James Howard Wardwell

April 20, 1939
James Martin Amsberry (Ex-Husband of Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry) dies at Salem, Marion County, Oregon.

February 3, 1943
Walter Lee Harbert dies at Santa Ana, Orange County, California

Walter Lee Harbert - son of Elbert Francis Harbert
Santa Ana, California - taken shortly before his death
[photo courtesy of Dianne Harbert-Keller]

April 20, 1947
Jerry Porter Bush (son of Ethelyn Grace Harbert & Jerry Walter Bush) marries Norma Jean Hines in Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming

November 24, 1952
Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry dies at Clackamas, Clackamas County, Oregon

Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry

Gravesite of James Martin Amsberry and his beloved wife Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry
Pioneer Cemetery, Portland, Oregon
[photo taken June 2007]

Lela Harbert-Amsberry Family & Friends (about 1937)
[photo courtesy of Gilda Holderman-Taylor, Lela's Great-Granddaughter]

Lela Harbert-Amsberry & Family
1946 AMSBERRY REUNION

September 11, 1956
John Clyde Harbert dies of a stroke in St. Louis, Missouri - buried in St. Matthews Cemetery. Much of the information on his death certificate is incorrect. His "usual address" at the time of his death was 3531 Page Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri - the same address as the informant, a Mrs. A. Brown, who apparently did not know his correct middle name or the correct spelling of his mother's maiden name. According to information from his grandson - Roger Francis Harbert, John attempted to keep in contact with his son Francis Clyde Harbert at various times throughout the years, but their relationship was limited. I believe John lived a lonely life in his later years and probably lived to regret the decision he made earlier in his life to leave his wife and son. He is buried in an unmarked grave in St. Matthew's Cemetery - St. Louis, Missouri.

John Clyde Harbert's Death Certificate

John Clyde Harbert - later in life

Site of unmarked grave of John Clyde Harbert - St. Matthew Cemetery - St. Louis, Missouri

October 15, 1961
Carl Everett Amsberry (71) - son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert - dies in Seattle, Washington

June 20, 1962
Eva Virginia HARBERT-McGowan-Bishop dies in San Mateo, California

September 3, 1968
Jerry Walter Bush - wife of Ethelyn Grace Harbert-Porter-Bush dies at Apache Junction, Pinal County, Arizona. He is buried in the Hulett Cemetery within view of his family’s ranch in Hulett, Crook County, Wyoming

March 14, 1972
Tinsie Ethel Amsberry-Deardorf-Fullington (daughter of Lela Ann Harbert & James Martin Amsberry) - dies at Portland, Oregon

August 23, 1972
Guy Matthew Amsberry (son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert) dies at Blaine, Whatcom County, Washington

April 12, 1974
Ruby E McGowan dies in Belmont, San Mateo County, California

August 1, 1976
Kenneth Lee Harbert (son of Walter Lee Harbert) dies in Orange County, California

August 2, 1976
Roy Francis Amsberry (son of Lela Ann Harbert & James Martin Amsberry) dies at Portland, Oregon

July 22, 1977
Ethelyn Grace Harbert-Porter-Bush (youngest child of Elbert F Harbert & Sarah Ellen Shriver-Harbert) dies at Sturgis, Meade County, South Dakota. She is buried with her husband in the Hulett Cemetery within view of the BUSH Family Ranch in Hulett, Crook County, Wyoming

Gravesite of Ethel Harbert-Bush & husband Jerry Walter Bush
Hulett, Crook County, Wyoming
[photo taken June 2008]

December 16, 1985
Francis Clyde Harbert (son of John Clyde Harbert) dies at York, Nebraska

December 20, 1985
Hugh Martin Amsberry (son of James Martin Amsberry & Lela Ann Harbert) dies at Bend, Dechutes County, Oregon

November 17, 1993
Melvin George Harbert (son of Walter Lee Harbert) dies at Lake Forest, Orange County, California. Melvin lived in Laguna Niguel, California when he died at 83 years of age and was owner of an auto-parts store. Melvin and his wife Florence Evelyn Allen had three children: Dianne Valerie, Sue Ellen, and Wright Phillip Harbert. His son, Wright Phillip Harbert was the last male descendent of his grandfather, Walter Lee Harbert. I became aware of these descendants of Elbert Francis Harbert in the spring of 2006 after finding their father's obituary online. After contacting them by phone, Melvin's daughters Sue Ellen and Dianne Valerie were very gracious and helpful. While I was privileged to meet Dianne & Sue in June 2007, I was not able to meet Wright Phillip Harbert as his sisters informed me their brother had passed away just a few months earlier in August 2006. Below is a photo of Melvin's three children taken shortly before Phillip's death.

Sue Ellen Harbert-Caldwell, Dianne Valerie Harbert-Keller & Wright Phillip Harbert
[Children of Melvin George Harbert, Grandchildren of Walter Lee Harbert, Great-grandchildren of Elbert Francis Harbert & Sarah Ellen Shriver]

___________________________________________________________________________________

This ends my story of the family of Elbert Francis Harbert and his wife, Sarah Ellen Shriver. However, as is the case with genealogy & family history, as new information is obtained, I'll update their story accordingly. It was an exciting few years I spent gathering information and visiting the people and places which were once familiar to them.

My parents (Harold & Mary Lou Harbert) and I spent a few weeks in June of 2007 and 2008 traveling together in this pursuit. In addition to the invaluable time I was able to spend with them, we saw some beautiful scenery and were overwhelmed with the generous hospitality of many of our newfound cousins to whom we are indebted and extremely grateful. I wish to take the opportunity here to express my gratitude to a few of them... THANK YOU...

To my dear cousin Gilda Holderman Taylor... we can't thank you enough for all the trouble you went through finding last-minute acommodations for us in Portland and for insisting we meet your brother Steve Holderman & family in Ontario on our way out. (these 3 hillbillies from North Carolina never had it so good!) You treated us like royalty. The penthouse suite at the Marriott overlooking Portland was a new experience to us, and one I'm sure we won't experience again any time soon. We'll never forget the relaxing and leisurely two days we spent with you seeing the sights of Portland... from the Rose Garden and Zoo to the Pittock Mansion. Of course, the highlight of our trip there was the thoughtful family gathering you arranged for us at cousin Kris' home. What a wonderful family...

Steve & Cinda Holderman & Family... thanks for your warm welcome and gracious Oregon hospitality! Although it was ackward having total strangers (albeit family) drop in for dinner and a place to stay for the night, you maneuvered it splendidly! We hope "Meeting the Faulkers" was as enjoyable as it was for us meeting the Holderman's! Come visit us in N.C and let us return the hospitality some day.

Kristine Kennedy-Goodrich & Kathleen Kennedy-Douglas... what a wonderful way to finish our visit to Portland, than a meal and get together with family! You all really made us feel welcome. Special thanks to both of you and everyone else who brought food and sacrificed any prior plans to spend the evening with us. We will never forget it...

Cousins Dianne & Sue Harbert and their respective spouses Bill Keller & Phil Caldwell... thanks for the wonderful time we had in Southern California. It was great having a day to meet and spend with you all. The time was just too short! We'll have to catch up some other time...

Mom & I at the Columbia River, Gilliam Co, OR

Dad & Mom at Columbia River, Gilliam Co, OR

Wildflowers along the Columbia River
near Bonneville Dam, Multnomah Co, OR

Our luxurious accommodations at
the Marriott-Riverfront in Portland overlooking the Willamette River

Dad & I at the Columbia River, Gilliam Co, OR

Train along the Columbia River, Gilliam Co, OR

Dasies in bloom along the Columbia
near Bonneville Dam, Multnomah Co, OR

Pittock Mansion - Portland, Oregon

View from Pittock Mansion - Portland, Oregon

Our family get-together at Kris's home in Beaverton, Oregon - June 20, 2007
[unfortunately - some of the family had left by the time I got the camera out!]
[Back Row from Left: Leonard Wesley Denniston & wife Denise Sue Amsberry (grand-daughter of Roy Francis Amsberry), Don Wardwell (son of Vivian Louise Amsberry), Mary Lou Harbert (my mother), Brian Curtis Harbert (ME!), Gilda Holderman-Taylor (daughter of Earlene Deardorf, grand-daughter of Tinsie Amsberry, and great-granddaughter of Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry), Harold Harbert (my father); Front Row from Left: two young boys are grandsons of Denise Sue Amsberry-Denniston; and at right - Kristine Lee Kennedy-Goodrich (daughter of Dorothy Jean Deardorf, grand-daughter of Tinsie Amsberry, and great grand-daughter of Lela Ann Harbert-Amsberry)

Mom & Dad (Harold & Mary Lou Harbert)
along Hwy 1 - California Coast Highway

The breathtaking scenery along the California Coast on Hwy 1

The breathtaking scenery along the California Coast on Hwy 1

California-Carolina Cousins: sisters Dianne Valerie Harbert-Keller & Sue Ellen Harbert-Caldwell (daughters of Melvin George Harbert, grand-daughters of Walter Lee Harbert & great grand-daughters of Elbert F Harbert); Harold Harbert (my father) & (myself) Brian Harbert

A Woody with some surfboards and a Corvette Convertible were just a few of the many antique cars on display at the youth benefit Sue was assisting with that day. She is an artist and had a booth set-up there at the benefit displaying some of her paintings. It was difficult to concentrate on my newfound cousins while I was drooling over those cars!

The June 2008 Trip

After learning from cousins Sue & Dianne Harbert in Southern California that their brother had passed away in August 2006 and that their uncle Kenneth Lee Harbert - the only other male descendant of Walter Lee Harbert - did not have any male children to carry on Elbert's branch of the HARBERT line I was afraid Elbert's lineage was destined to fade into obscurity.

On a hunch, I made a phone call in the winter of 2007-2008 attempting to find out if a Roger F Harbert living in Colorado was a descendant of Elbert's only other son... John Clyde Harbert. I hit paydirt and later a veritable genealogist's goldmine! I first talked with one of his sons - Steven Harbert. He explained his father Roger was out of town, but that he would have him call me back. A few days later I received a phone call from Roger. He explained to me that he indeed was related to John Clyde Harbert! John Clyde Harbert's only son - Francis Clyde Harbert was his father, and Roger was his only son. Roger stated he had attempted to research his Harbert ancestry several years ago without success. He relayed to me his father had left him several boxes of letters, photos, and other memorabilia which he had stored away. His father talked very little about his father - John Clyde Harbert, and subsequently, Roger knew very little about the family.

After my phone call, Roger pulled out the boxes and started pouring through them. The photos, letters, and documents he has graciously shared with me have helped me paint Elbert F & Sarah HARBERT's family story in living color instead of black & white. The letters - many of which are over 100 years old - are priceless... and give us a first hand glimpse into the often trying times Elbert's family endured.

The climax of our June trip this year was meeting our newly-found cousins Roger & Connie Harbert in Bozeman, Montana (where his wife was filling in as an itinerant pastor) and his son - Steven Harbert & wife Cynthia at their home in Greeley, Colorado. A special thank you to Roger & Connie Harbert and their son Steven Harbert and wife Cynthia for their warm welcome and hospitality. We had a great time and hope you will keep in touch!

Roger has certainly done his part to ensure Elbert's line of the HARBERT family goes on. He has three sons and two grandsons.

On another hunch, I made a phone call to a Norma Jean Hines-Bush in Sturgis, South Dakota. She is daughter-in-law of Elbert & Sarah HARBERT's youngest daughter - Ethelyn Grace "Ethel" HARBERT-PORTER-BUSH. She was also very helpful in providing information on the family. We visited her home in Sturgis and had a wonderful visit. A special thank you to Norma Jean Hines-Bush-Foreman for her warm and gracious welcome! She allowed me to photograph copies of Ethel & Walter's marriage certificates, old photos, and lists of births, deaths & marriages from the family bible. Because of the torrential rains & flooding they were having, we were unable to meet her daughter, Sandra Bush-Lockhart. [I haven't given up on meeting you and your brother someday... keep in touch!]

The day after meeting Norma Jean Hines-Bush, we drove over to Hulett, Wyoming - hoping to find the location of the BUSH Ranch where Walter & Ethel (Harbert) Bush made their home early in their marriage. We stopped a fellow on the side of the road and asked him if he knew the location of the old BUSH Ranch. He replied he didn't, but told me if anybody knew, it would be Sallyann BUSH-Neiman who worked at Neiman Enterprises up the road. We drove over there and inquired if she was there. As it was, she had company from out of town and was taking the day off. Staff at Neiman Enterprises called her home and allowed us to speak with her. Although she was already entertaining company, she graciously invited us to come over and gave us directions to her home. Sallyann Bush-Neiman and her husband James S Neiman were just two of the most down to earth and accommodating people we've ever met. A special thank you to both of them! They invited us into their home and we spent several minutes getting aquainted and talking about the BUSH family. Sallyann affirmed that she did indeed remember "Aunt Ethel & Uncle Walter" (her great-aunt & uncle) and remarkably informed me that their old Ranch was "just across the river, behind the neighbor's house..." How lucky could I get??? They hopped in their SUV with their invited company (whose day and plans we had crashed) and told us to follow them! They drove us across a bridge which crossed the Belle Fourche River and before we knew it, we were at the old BUSH RANCH - Homeplace of Walter & Ethel (Harbert) BUSH which I had read about in Vivian Louise Amsberry's autobiography "My Mother's Daughter". We had a great time walking around the site and enjoying the awesome scenery with Devil's Tower looming in the distance. The old bunkhouse and an outbuilding were still standing... as well as a real luxury... a three-holer outhouse! After we toured the old ranch, they took us back across the river to the Hulett Cemetery where "Uncle Walter" and "Aunt Ethel" were buried. I would probably never have found this information without their assistance...

BELOW ARE SOME PHOTOS OF OUR JUNE 2008 TRIP