Elijah Hupton Quillin
1822–1886
BIRTH 31 AUG 1822 • Warren County, Tennessee, USA
DEATH 21 MAR 1886 • Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married
Sarah (Sally) Elvira Parks
1844–1902
BIRTH 18 DEC 1844 • Hunt County, Texas, USA
DEATH 06 DEC 1902 • Santa, Barbara, D'oeste, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Daughter of Willis Edwin Parks and Catherine Worley. Sarah was married
previously to William "Billie" South in 1861 in Robertson County, Texas, USA..
Billie was killed about 1863 during the Civil War.
Willis Parks was the widowed father of Sarah and traveled with the Quillins
to Brazil.
"E. H. Quillen, his wife, and five children went to Brazil with McMullan. After the breakup of the colony, the Quillens apparently settled in the western part of the grant along the Piexe and Guanihara rivers. There "Parson" Quillen, educated as a schoolteacher, conducted religious services which "acted as a centripetal force which periodically drew the American colonists together." The Quillens remained on the frontier until the 1870s. After the departure of their only remaining neighbors, the Alfred Smiths, they moved to Santa Barbara. One of Quillen's sons became a dentist; another, according to Barnsley, "is in the Sertao [the inland part of the country] , the less said the better."
SOURCE: Griggs Thesis
Sarah Elvira Parks Quillin and Parks Quillin
Elijah Hutton Quillen (son of Jesse Quillin and Jemima)41, 42, 43 was born September 21, 1829, in TN44, and died March 21, 1886, in Santa Barbra D'oeste, Sao Paulo. He married (1) Elizabeth Plumer on May 01, 1847, in Union County Ark.He married (2) Sarah Elvira Parks on February 12, 1863, in Lampasas TX, daughter of Willis Edwin Parks and Catherine Worley.
Notes for Elijah Hutton Quillen:
Elijah H Quillin was A Babtist Parsons
He Was A leader in the Movement to Brazil in the Mid To late 1800s
Elijah Started a church in Sao Paula Brazil
Elijah was a learned man An Educated MAn
HE together with a few others started the first non-catholic movement in brazil
Elijah Taught Kids in School and also Taught Prudente de Morais Future President of Brazil
Sir,
There are two Quillins buried at the campo Cemetery:
Ana Helena Quillin: b 12.2.1931/d 21.2.1931 "Rest in Peace" in Portuguese - certainly an infant.
Maxie Quillin: b 01.27.1875, d 01.26.1945 "The Lord is my Shepard"
This is certainly du to the fact that a Rev. Parson Elijah Hupton Quillin, a missionary of the Southern Baptist Convention, settled in Iguape, on the coast of São Paulo, with the McMullan's expedition. he later moved to "the Station" (Americana, like a lot of them), and is probably buried in Americana.
There are several references to him in the book - I bought an excellent used copy at Amazon.com.
2E. The Elusive Eden, de William Clark Griggs, University of Texas Press, 1987.
By far the most scholarly and focused book I know. It addresses the colony that was established in Iguape.
Your Obedient Servant
Daniel Carr De Muzio
More About Elijah Hutton Quillen:
Burial: March 22, 1886, American Cemetary Silos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
More About Elijah Hutton Quillen and Elizabeth Plumer:
Marriage: May 01, 1847, Union County Ark.
More About Elijah Hutton Quillen and Sarah Elvira Parks:
Marriage: February 12, 1863, Lampasas TX.
Children of Elijah Hutton Quillen and Elizabet Plumer:
-
Leroy Quillen, b. 1849, d. date unknown.
-
Leona Quillen, b. November 01, 1850, d. date unknown.
-
Orleina (Aulina) Quillen, b. November 13, 1852, d. date unknown.
Children of Elijah Hutton Quillen and Sarah Elvira Parks are:
5 Baby Quillen, b. November 18, 1863, d. November 18, 1863.
6. Parks Quillen, b. December 12, 1865, Dallas Tx, d. January 13, 1897.
7.Reino Quillen, b. December 16, 1867, iguape S. Paulo Brazil, d. March 29, 1894.
8.Rodolpho Tilman Quillen, b. July 02, 1872, Ponta Grossa Parana Brazil, d. March 11, 1943.
9.Maxie Quillen, b. January 27, 1875, Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, d. January 26, 1945, Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
10.Belona (Bedictia) Quillen, b. February 25, 1877, S. Paulo Brazil, d. July 02, 1893.
11. Orlando Quillen, b. February 15, 1883, S. Paulo Brazil, d. November 10, 1921.
12. Anna Helena Quillen, b. Abt. 1884, S. Paulo Brazil, d. date unknown.
CENSUS OF THE MCMULLEN COLONY -
COMPILED BY William Bowen,
November 9, 1867 (Brazil)
Source:
The Elusive Eden, page 151
Family 14 E.H. Quillin Male 40
Sarah Quillin Female 35
Leroy Quillin Male 19
Leona Quillin Female 17
Aukina Quillin Female 15
Leonidas Quillin Male 13
Parks Quillin Male 2
W. E. Parks Male 50
Sources:
The Confederados, Dawsey
The Elusive Eden - Griggs
The Lost Colony of the Confederacy - Harter
Off to Brazil
After much research and trips down to Brazil, Frank McMukken put together a group of like-minded families to start a colony in Brazil. McMullen initially recruited his family members for the effort. Among them, his uncle, Judge John Dyer, his strongest family ally in the plans to emigrate. Dyer, already living in New Orleans so that he could facilitate arrangements for departure for Brazil, reported to his nephew that he did not anticipate any problems in enrolling a number of [eople adequate to fill a small ship. Already McMullen"s mother, his sisters Lou and Vic and their husbands, and his younger brother Ney were making plans to emigrate, as was McMullen's old college friend Columbus Wasson. Judge Dyer planned to bring his wife Amanda as well as his two sons Wylie and James and his daughter Harriet. Other friends and family from Hill, Navarro, Limestone, Freestone, Grimes, and Brazos counties already had determined to follow the young leader to Brazil.
One of the first to join the colony was Parson Elijah H. Quillin, a crippled Baptist minister from Hill and Navarro counties who was also trained as a teacher. Like many other Texans, Quillin was bitter about the defeat of the Confederacy and determined that he could not, with a clear conscience, remain in the occupied South. The well-known Quillin, his wife, Sarah, and their five children represented a notable beginning for the colony rolls, and the minister was undoubtedly influential in the decision of others to follow McMullen.
By August 1866, Frank McMullen who had organized the planned colony in Brazil had recruited prospective colonists from central Texas. Among other prominent families, Othniel Weaver, the patriarch, decided that he too would leave. It is unclear what was transpiring in Waco at that time, but Othniel, Daniel, his son, Riley, his nephew, Sarah Garlington, his daughter, Allen Garlington, his grandson, and Fannie Garlington Gill, his granddaughter (along with her husband, Billy Bud) all decided to make the journey to the new colony tentatively named "New Texas". It is not clear why Sarah’s other child, Nancy, did not make the move. She was about fourteen in 1866 but was married to James G. Stanley on October 1st, 1868 back in Drew County, Arkansas when her mother and siblings were in Brazil.
McMullan had secured the English Brig Derby for $7,50.00. It was to be outfitted for the transport of 150 colonists. The Derby, was rated at 213 tons and did provide enough space for at least 30 families, as well as baggage and moderate amounts of farm equipment and implements. It normally carried a crew of eight to ten men and was commanded by Captain Alexander Causse. (Kass)
McMullan had gathered one hundred forty-six Tex-ans and eight Louisianians – Plantation owners and their families, and their entourage – to make the journey. Among the group were McMullan’s
Brigantine, two-masted sailing ship with square rigging on the foremast and fore-and-aft rigging on the mainmast. The term originated with the two-masted ships, also powered by oars, on which pirates, or sea brigands, terrorized the Mediterranean in the 16th century. In northern European waters the brigantine became purely a sailing ship. Its gaff-rigged mainsail dist-inguished it from the completely square-rigged brig, though the two terms came to be used interchangeably. For example, brigan-tines with square topsails above the gaffed mainsail were called true brigan-tines, whereas those with no square sails at all on the mainmast were called herma-phrodite brigs or brig-schooners.
Galveston Beach 1867
mother, Nancy two of his sisters, Lou and Victoria, and a brother- in-law. (Some from Waco and Bosqueville). By the standard of the time, the passengers were relatively prosperous. They had sufficient funds to charter a ship and outfit it for the voyage at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. To modify the Derby for the emigrants, the settlers had had additional bunks, partitions, living accommo-dations constructed on the vessel, but even so, space and comfort were at a premium. The pas-sageway between the living quarters were so narrow that only one person could move through at a time. A hole had been cut in the forward cabin to allow air to enter the below decks sleeping quarters.
The cargo the the settlers carried with them was valued at twenty-eight thousand dollars. They took along seeds, plows, and other agricultural imple-ments, wagons, and machinery. Several cotton gins and gristmills and metal forging equipment added considerable weight to the cargo. They carried their firearms, cats and hunting dogs as well. To fit such extensive cargo and so many passengers into the ship had required careful planning. The Derby, which was twenty-eight feet wide and ninety-eight feet long, had only the interior space of a medium-sized house for cargo, crew, and 154 passengers.
Passage was paid by the group in advance with a promise that the Brazilian government would reimburse them upon arrival, as was the agreent bet- ween McMullen and the Brazilians.
The port of Galveston presented its own special problems. Washington D.C. had sent General Sheridan down to Texas to prevent Confederates from crossing the Mexican border and setting up a government-in-exile. He had done his job so well that even the French army and its Foreign Legion, there to protect Maximilion, had pulled back from
the border, fearful of causing an international incident. Sheridan's legacy remained in Galveston, a city of looted stores, as anarchic and burned-out-looking as any city in the South. There, a bureau-cratic port authority was making passage out of Galveston Harbor very difficult for Confederates seeking to leave, even though the hos- tilities had ended over a year earlier, when the last Confederate warship had sur-rendered.
The Derby was scheduled to leave from the port of Galveston.
Colonists from central Texas made their plans. Billy Budd gave over his share of his father's estate to his siblings, his father having just passed away earlier in 1866. To Billy and Fannie, this must have been seen as a great adventure. Remember, he was only 23 and Fannie was 16. After a preliminary get-together many of the would-be immigrants planned
to meet up at Millican, the northernmost railroad station of the Houston and Texas Central Railway, in Bra-zos County. None of these Texans had ever ridden on a train before. In order to conserve money, the group rented a baggage car that could carry the families and their belongings. Although less than comfortable, the baggage car fit the bill. The trip to Houston was cold, miserable, and almost unbearable. After a short stop, the train proceeded to Galveston, which took the rest of the night. That morning they arrived in Galveston. These colonists had set up a tent city on the beach while awaiting other colonists to join them, thus negating the need for hotels or boarding houses.
Billy, Fannie, Othniel, and the rest of the family were not part of the group that took the train, they, instead covered the distance from Waco to Galveston in covered wagons and on horseback. By mid-December, they along with the other extended families arrived in Galveston and joined the others who had arrived earlier, on the beach.
Altogether there were twenty-four families in the emigrant group with Mr. Weaver (known as Parson) being the oldest at 72 years of age. The average age was thirty-three. There were twenty-seven women, sixty child-ren under 18, and sixty-seven men, with twenty-two being bachelors, of which most were former Conf-ederates. Many were small farmers, but there were a good many professional people represented.
After many delays in New Orleans, on December 22, 1866, the Derby left for Galveston with her crew of ten. Captain Causse was in charge, sailing under the British flag. He arrived in Galveston on January 8, 1867, which provided guarded optimism for those settlers still encamped on the beach.
The small ship anchored "In the Stream" just north of the island proper, near the docks. McMullen and the other colonists immediately began making arrangements to get on board. A committee of the older men secured food, supplies, and two barrels of kraut to tide them over until they reached Brazil. The emigrants checked their baggage one last time and then began to dismantle the little tent city prior to boarding the ship.
The condition of the ship was brought to the attention of the Port officials; and after some repairs were made. Unfortunately, there were still several small leaks that were not adequately remedied which will play a role later on in the trip. The ever-crooked Union Port Authority in Galveston forced another payment from the emigrants before the ship was cleared to go. After cramming everything they could on the little ship, everyone finally boarded.
The ship with its 150 odd people, sailed up the coast past New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta. The first day after the Derby has left the yellow waters of the Delta, it sailed on a Southeast course. The second day out from the Crescent City, the winds became baffling and variable and continued that way until February 8, when they became calm. The brig became virtually adrift, moving only as fast as the Gulf Stream would take it. As the ship sailed closer to Cuba, the breezes picked up and shipboard life became routine... with the pas-sengers basking in the warm sun, or trying to learn Portuguese from Mr. McMullen.
On February 9, there was no inkling that any problems might be encountered. By mid-afternoon, the welcomed breezes turned into a high wind as a squall line bore down on the Derby from the northwest. As the northern hit, the sea quickly assumed the proportions of a tropical storm. With great difficulty, the Captain held the wheel. After dark, the fury of the storm increased. By 9 pm the yardarms were touching the water. A small leak that had been apparent since the onset of the trip worsened. Water poured from a crack, adding depth to that which had spilled below deck from the open hatches. Some of the passengers took to manning manual pumps. Parson Quillin walked the swaying deck, shaking his head and saying "O we are gave up, we are gave up!" Scared?" asked fellow passenger Balona Smith, "There's no name for it!" was the reply. By 4 am one of the passengers on deck saw the rocks of Cuba no more than 1000 yards away. The Derby struck a reef. All the passengers rushed to the central salon while it was discovered that the crew was trying to lower one of only two lifeboats to escape. The crew quickly changed their minds when the leaders of the Texans, who had ordered them to stop, reinforced their request with drawn revolvers.
The huge waves continued to pound the ship against the rocks. She was taking on water rapidly and seemed to be sinking fast. The passengers and crew thought that all hope was lost when a gigantic wave carried the Derby pell-mell towards the rocky shore, dropping the ship as if it were a toy almost on the beach – solidly wedged between boulders. Thankfully the ship held together. Remarkably, the only injury was to Mr. C. A. Crawley, formerly of Fairfield Texas, who was thrown off of a table where he had been sleeping and broke his collarbone.
Guanajay, Artemisa, Cuba - about halfway between Bahia Honda and Havana
Obviously, the wreck of the Derby necessitated a new assessment by all as to the future course of action.
Of immediate concern was the abandonment of the ship. With great difficulty, the passengers and most of the water-logged possessions were safely unloaded and taken to the beach. Although the wreck had occurred on a desolate shore with no dwellings in sight, persons who lived nearby soon appeared and spread the word to the nearby settlement of Plaza de Banes of the fate of the Derby and two other ships that had also been wrecked during the storm, one carrying 500 Chinese laborers, miraculously suffering the loss of only one life.
From family notes as related by his son, Fleet Gill:
"One night Pa was one of the men on watch and they caught a Cuban carrying off their belongings. They knew they were supposed to turn him over to the authorities, but the man begged so piteously because under Cuban law he’d be thrown into a dungeon for 4 or 5 years. Pa and the other man guarding the pri-soner talked it over and decided to let him escape. They pretended to be asleep and the prisoner slipped away. Immediately they “Discovered” him to be missing, so the other guard pretended to shoot at him so he would run faster. They found the prisoner dead, where one shot had accidentally reached him. Soldiers came and investigated, trying to find out who actually killed him. But no one except Pa knew for sure that they hadn’t. Pa hadn’t fired his gun, so he hid in the ship until the soldiers were gone so he wouldn’t have to swear a lie about the incident."
In another case or perhaps the same one in a different version: Cubans had begun to gather near the ship and some had started carrying away belongings that had floated away from the raft. As the colonists watched, one of the Cubans came up to the side of the ship, grabbed an armload of goods, and scampered away. Jess Wright leaned over the side and pumped three bullets into the man at a distance of sixty feet. The rest of the crowd on the shore scattered at the crack of the gun. Wright's hasty action was not well-received by the Cuban authorities, and had it not been for the intercession of Confederates in Cuba, who had made friends with government officials there, Wright would probably have been marched against a firing squad wall.
It was now up to Mr. McMullan to try to resolve this very unfortunate situation. On February 22, he arrived at the Brazilian Embassy in Havana. He eventually found his way to New York on February 18th. He had vir-tually no money and had been advanced some funds from acquaintances. What money he did have was lost in the ship wreck.
After much discussion, the Brazilian Consul in New York agreed to provide assistance to the stranded group.
While all the negotiations and arrangements were being made in New York, the colonists were still being treated By Juan Vermay, described by the col- onists as “The noblest of men”. He personally went to Havana to raise money for the group of stranded emigrants.
The good news for the colonists was that about three-quarters of their supplies and baggage were salvageable.
While in New York, with the help of the Brazilian Consul, McMullen was able to secure the Collins Hotel in that city for his group of Texans. He also was able to arrange transport for his group to travel to New York in order to catch yet still another steamer for Rio. Through the ever generous Juan Vermay, the group was transported to the nearest train station for the next leg of their odyssey to Havana.
After the thirty-mile train trip to Havana the Texans were set up in their new temporary housing provided by the Brazilian government. The citizens of Havana, aware of the plight of the group offered a widespread as-sortment of aid; including clothes, food and money. To this, the Texans were most grateful. A special thanks was given to Juan Vermay who had put up the entire group at no cost for almost a month.
On March 13, the side-wheel steamer, Mariposa arrived in Havana. Unfortunately, most of the stateroom on that ship were already taken so the majority of the group had to settle for steerage. Again, the weather was not on the side of the Texans as the ship ran into storm after storm, finally having to put in at Norfolk for four days where at least one family said enough is enough. That was the William B. Nettle family. They decided that it was preferable to deal with Yankees in Texas than to get back on a ship. From the deck the passengers could see Fortress Monroe, where Confederate President Jefferson Davis was being held in a cell. They cheered and yelled, but were too far away for President Davis to hear them.
Due to the storms, and the delay that they had caused, the ship that had been procured for the colonists “Merrimac” in New York, sailed without them to Rio. Instead, the colonists found themselves still stranded at Fortress Monroe in Virginia. Finally on March 26, the Mariposa arrived in New York.
The travelers were soon ensconced at the Collins Hotel on Canal Street in New York City, for a month-long wait for passage to Brazil. While in New York, the southerners were warmly welcomed by ex-Confederates who had moved there, and in newspapers covered their arrival. Generally speaking, they looked to be in pretty good shape, considering what they had gone through. The Collins Hotel was at best adequate. All am-enities had been removed including furniture by the owner. At least the old hotel kept the group warm and dry in the freezing weather. Not having winter clothes, the colonists were forced to don several sets of clothes for warmth with the best set on top. The majority of the men proudly wore their uniforms of Confederate gray. Assistance finally arrived from sympathetic New Yorkers, especially from former Confederate , as a result of an appeal in the New York Times. The Methodist Church proved particularly helpful.
Fresh from his scrape with the Cuban law, "Cowboy" Jess Wright once again found cause to draw his guns. His hunting dogs, who had miraculously survived the wreck of the Derby, were stolen from the docks where the Mariposa had berthed; so, strapping on his six-shooters, he stalked the thieves through the streets of the big city. His method was simple and direct, he whistled for the dogs as he tramped up and down the side-walks. Finally, in front of a saloon he whistled again and immediately heard the two hounds begin to howl. The gray-clad westerner, like the fearless troops at Gettysburg, pulled out both pistols and charged. He slammed through the swinging doors and pointed the guns, demanding the animals. He got them with little difficulty. This is not the last time we will see Mr. Jess Wright.
The Texans planned to leave New York for Rio De Janeiro on the steamer North America on April 22. The McMullen group was to be joined by a couple of other Confederate emigrant groups including that of Dr. James McFadden Gaston of South Carolina with over one hundred emigrants, that were also heading south to Brazil. A Mr. O'Reilly, a young Irishman .whose first name has not been found in any accounts of the colony, joined the McMullan party in New York City. He was looking for adventure, and, after arrival in Rio de Janeiro, he and another young man named Dillard, joined the Brazilian Army to fight against Paraguay in order to collect the bonus offered by the government. At the front, however, both men deserted and joined the Paraguayans to collect another bonus. They were later captured by the Brazilians, court-martialed and shot. Mr. Dillard, first name also unknown, was part of the original McMullan group and had sailed on the Derby, meeting up with Mr. O'Reilly in New York.
The prospect for a pleasant journey south aboard the North America seemed dim. Even though the ship was one of the best and largest steamships on the South America run, it was renowned for its lack of courtesy, service or comfort - especially for those passengers stuck in steerage where, unfortunately, most of the ex-confederates were berthed.
The trip south was relatively uneventful, however, when the ship pulled into the port at Rio, it collided with another ship, causing a large hole in the bow. To stem the large flow of water that was pouring into the hold, the crew rigged up a temporary patch consisting of a large sail. The emigrants could not wait to get off. After processing by port authorities, the colonists received instructions to proceed to the so-called Emigrant Hotel, also called the Government House, which had been converted into temporary quarters for the expected arrivals from the United States.
Don Juan Vermay, a wealthy brick and tile manufacturer, as well as a large plantation owner, heard of the tragedy of the Derby and moved quickly to provide assis-tance. He accommodated the large group at his hac-ienda, which was on the outskirts of Guanajay --- about fifteen mile from the wreck site --- in grand style until the situation could be stabilized.
Many of the male passen-gers stayed on the beach with the baggage and sal-vaged equipment to guard against looting by the local populace. There were a few instances of looting, with Billy Budd being in the middle of one incident.
The now generally poor Texans could find no way to get from the docks to the Government House other than by walking, lugging their baggage with them. The hotel was actually a very large con-verted mansion set upon very beautiful grounds. They were very fine accommodations, after all that the group had been through. On Sunday morning, May 23, the colonists received news that the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro himself, was coming to the hotel to visit with the new arrivals. A frenzied effort was made to be sure that every-thing was perfect and they were all dressed in their best clothes to greet their new ruler. It was a spectacular afternoon ending with all the em-igrants throwing their hats in the air and shouting "Viva, Viva Dom Pedro Segunda". For many, this was the culmination of months of misery, pain and worry.
Modern Day Photo of the 'Governmen House" in Rio provided by Dom PedrII "Cassa de Saude"
The McMullen group only stayed a couple of days in Rio, as on May 25, they boarded the Marmiam and head-ed south towards Sao Paulo in route to their final destination, Igaupe, the nearest town to their new land grants.
Unfortunately for the Texans, arrangements for housing had not been made and the group was not aware that the next small steamer to steam up river would not be available for at least a month. A large house was scoured up, but the remainder of the group had to settle for a tent city in the street. The entire group was now virtually destitute and were on the brink of starvation, being reduced to bananas and water. For-
tunately the Brazilian government came through through in time with provisions. The donation of food supplies increased speculation among the colonists that before long additional support, including tools, and perhaps, even money, would be forthcoming.
Despite the tribulations, time passed quickly for the colonists in Iguape, perhaps because for the first time they could see their new country and discuss the home they were going to, with a belief that they would actually be there, before many more days were to pass. For many, the realization that it would be nec- essary to speak Portuguese encouraged at-tempts to learn the scores of nouns, verbs, and adjectives that are essential to understanding. Others busied themselves in meeting mer-chants, determining markets for crops, and loca-ting sources for seed and equipment. Women attempted to adjust to the new met-hods of cooking as well as get acquainted with the new foods with which they were totally unfamiliar.
Iguape
By the time the steamer was available to begin the shuttle of the colonists up the Ribeira de Iguape, all were ready and anxious to go. Finally the promised land appeared to be a reality.
All would be surprised to learn that the colony lands were indeed large -- probably larger than McMullan or the officials in Brazil anticipated. The previously unchartered headwaters of the Sao Lourenco River and the lands between Peruibe on the coast and Conceicao, all previously ceded to McMullan, were found to contain over 53 square leagues, or nearly 500 square miles, an area half the size of Rhode Island.
Ribeira de Iguape
On June 8, about 27 the first contingent of former Texans including the now gravely ill McMullan boarded a dilapidated, makeshift river steamer to make the first leg of the trip. By 8:00 a.m. they had left Iguape as a damp fog covered the low marshlands along the Ribeira's banks. It was a dismal beginning for a long, difficult trip. The steamboat was slow, averaging only about four knots, and the Americans stood at the rail, straining to see the countryside. Low trees and "capim" grass dotted the shoreline, and blue cranes and plovers were seen frequently on the sandbars that appeared from nowhere on the surface of the water. Little change in scenery occurred during the long day, and all looked forward to docking and getting a good night's rest. But, as luck would have it, about 6:00 p.m. the steamer was grounded , stuck on an unseen sandbar in mid-river. Every attempt was made to free the craft, but the effort was to no-avail. The passengers and crew would spend the night on board.
As a dark and gloomy morning appeared on June 8, the situation was un- changed. The bar held the steamer tight. The craft had to be freed, never-the- less, and to do so, all the able-bodied men climbed into the watery sand and pushed time and time again on the boat's stern as the little steam engine revved to maximum speed. Finally, the vessel moved, and the men crawled back on board, tired, but anxious to continue. They did not guess that the boat would become stranded again two hours later, and the frustrating procedure would have to be repeated. Their journey continued and on June 9 the steamboat pulled ashore and its passengers dis-embarked. They had come as far as was safe for the steamer and would continue in two large wooden dugout canoes that were expected from settlements upriver. The canoes did arrive and the next morning the Texans continued up the Ribeira under misty, cloudy skies. One settler grumbled "Only mud and water everywhere."
The group traveled four more days and finally entered the mouth of the Juquia River on June 16, a welcome sign, for that meant they were close to the “Government House” constructed for the colonists at Morro Ro-dondo, which was The McMullan property. They arrived on the 18th and found that the house was in bad repair and generally disagreeable. William Bowen, a close friend of McMullan had already been in the area a year. He took the ill Mr. McMullan to his own home and put him to bed. He then met with all the other travelers to see what plans needed to be made.
Late in the morning of June 19, Billy Bud Gill, who had left the rest of the colonists at Iguape, including his then pregnant wife Fannie, to investigate other available lands further into the interior of Brazil, arrived at Morro Rodondo overland from Campinas, a prospering town to the north of the village of Sao Paulo. Al-though no detailed findings seem to have been noted, a man named Tully reported that he and Gill inves-tigated properties at Soracaha due north of Morro Rodondo on the Estrada Real. Gill described the property as mountainous but rich, and stated that he had been offered 18,000 coffee trees and 9,000 acres of land by a Colonel White for $6,000.00. Upon completion of the reports by Gill and Tully, fourteen men left by canoe for the upper Sao Lourenco.
From family notes as related by Fleet Gill:
"Pa, being such a good “walker,” was chosen to help select a site for their new home along with another young man. They walked around 1000 miles up the Amazon River looking for a place to settle. The two men selected 3 places from which a final choice was to be made. The first was Santa Rem; 100 miles further was another site, west of San Paula. Here they left their canoes and had to travel across country; the site they finally selected was named “America Villa.”
The men had to travel only six miles up the river before they reached the McMullan's grant, which was pro-nounced “nothing extra, clay and sand.” In general, the more they traveled up river, the more pessimistic they became. They passed one large coffee plantation, which was decaying. All of the leaves on the trees were either dead or dying. It was probable that at this point the men were starting to question the decision on the selection of lands.
Fortunately, after they reached the main junction of the Sao Lourenco with the Itariri, the prospects quickly improved. By June 26, the previous misgivings had completely turned around as the region was described as a beautiful valley capable of supporting at least 800 families, with plenty of room for everyone. The stage was now set for the remainder of the colonists to come up river to the Sao Lourenco’s tributaries. By the end of June, the last contingent of Americans prepared to leave Iguape for “El Dorado” as the McMullan colony was by then called.
At Iguape, the colonists boarded a steamer for the trip up river. After a full day’s ride, the steamer came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the river. As none of the colonists could speak Portuguese, they were unable to question the boatmen as to the reason for their halt. The answer came quickly when three large dugout ca-noes pulled up alongside the steamer. Two of the canoes were reserved for the women, children, and bag-gage, while the third one was reserved for the men. The coming of the night brought a cold, chilling rain. Another miserable boat trip awaited them. In pitch dark blackness on a large unfamiliar river, the canoes made there way. The sky, every once in a while, was lit up by lightning. Thoroughly soaked, the canoes car-rying the women and children, arrived at a small dock around midnight. There they met an Englishman, Clement H. Wilmot, as well as several men of the McMullan party, who had arrived on an earlier canoe. The men helped the wet and bedraggled emigrants up a long slippery path to the home of a local rice planter. Wilmot took them to a large storage building filled with rice. He told the women to cover their children’s heads, especially their ears then crawl into the rice. All slept soundly and emerged “dry as powder” the next morning.
The canoe carrying the men missed the small pier in the rain and darkness and ended up docking a short distance away, where they found a small hut. Unlike the women, they were wet and tired had no place to sleep. They built a fire and hoped that their families fared better.
The next morning dawned clear and bright. The men made their way back down to the Rice Plantation where they found their families fared a lot better than they did. After a warm meal, all were prepared to climb back into the canoes for the last leg of the trip. Family by family left in canoes for the trip upriver. One family, the Radcliffs, had to make a stop when Mrs. Radcliff, long expectant, gave birth. This was the first child born in Brazil from the McMullan party. Their little daughter was named Maude. After a few more stops the family groups reached their destination: Morro Rodondo, where there had been previously built a “Government House” The large building was constructed of palm slats, set up “picket fashion” three inches apart, then covered with palm branches. The barracks-type dwelling had no inside divisions, no windows, and a door at each end. It hardly represented a welcome sight but was a lot better than no housing at all. It was not large enough to accommodate all of the group, so the ones not able to fit in, set up tents for their temporary stay. Within days, the colonists believed, all would be able to leave to go upriver to select their own plots of land. The Quillins and Garners and others had filled the large building to capacity before the arrival of the last canoes. Within days, the colonists believed , all would be able to continue up the river where they would select their own plots of land in "El Dorado."
Parson Quillin's personal library, which contained a considerable number of Sunday school lesson books and music books, as well as some storybooks and books of poetry, received extensive use by many of the emigrants. Quillin took advantage of the situation and began a Sunday school. Alfred I. Snith, the former music teacher, led the singing, and the Americans "woke the echoes with songs never heard in those valleys before."
The Brazilian government made arrangements for food. A commissary was constructed, and each family drew foodstuffs on a regular basis, just like soldiers in camp. Without the support of the Brazilians, the situation would have become dire indeed.
Delays were inevitable, including the untimely, yet unexpected death of the leader of the colony, Frank Mc-Mullan. He had suffered from the effects of tuberculosis for years and finally succumbed on September 29, in Iguape. Most of the Texans had come back to Iguape for the final days and after McMullan’s death some would not return up river to the colony. Those not returning, decided to stay in more populated areas such as Sao Paolo and Campinas. The news of McMullan’s death was widely spread, both in Brazil and in the United States…South and North. McMullan’s burial presented challenges as Brazil was a Roman Catholic country and the only cemetery in Iguape was Catholic, which refused to bury the Protestant American. The plight soon became known, and a German immigrant stood up and offered his “backyard” for a burial site. The family, having no other options thankfully accepted the offer.
Many of the colonists did go back to the headwaters of the Sao Lourenco. But some, as early as June , 1867, located lands within the colony site for their own use. Many difficulties were encountered on the river, particularly waterfalls and snags, which prevented easy access by water. Perhaps the worst of these was at the junction of the Sao Lourenco and the Itariri, where three huge waterfalls slowed progress. In the main channel, the water fell straight down about twenty feet with terrible force. However, a side stream offered a gradual descent over rocks and boulders for over one hundred yards, with waters foaming along between, leaving the rock bare. The wooden canoes, too heavy for portage, had to be pushed, pulled, and lifted with poles to get up each fall. The slightest mistake meant certain death. In the mean time, the boat had to be lifted and forced by the men seemingly beyond human power. Baggage had to be carried from boulder to boulder in jumps.
The main tributaries that fed into the Itariri – The Peixe, the Guambaha, the Azeite, and the Ariado, all sup-plied huge amounts of cold, clear water to the Itariri and the Sao Lourenco. On these four streams, the Mc-Mullan colonists settled. In their movement into the region they first encountered the Peixi, so called because of the large number of fish it harbored. The second was the Guanhanha, or “land without evil,” and the third was the Azeite, or “River of oil.” The Ariado, like the others, was enveloped by thick, green forests, leopards, and seemed to be the “outer limits” to the Texans, who had never seen vegetation so dense.
Drawing of the Wickham homestead at Santerem - Typical first home style
On the Ariado settled the Alfred I. Smith family as did William Bowen and his family. Nelson Tarver and his family settled on a little branch of the Ariado near the junction of the main river, the Azeiti. On the Guanhanha, the stream west of the Ariado, several American families found homes. Parson E. H. Quillen lived there, as did the Fielder brothers, the Greens, and the Beasleys...... Parson Quillen wasted no time in once again starting his Sunday School. For a long time, only those families who lived on the Guanhanha attended the services, but eventually, the word spread up the valleys and the rivers about the religious services, which became the one social event that brought the different families together. Quillin, an eloquent preacher, held the colonists spellbound during the sermons. There was no church building, only the shade of trees and make-shift seats, but "the lessons were just as interesting and the hymns just as sweet" as if the service had been held in a cathedral. Americans "made the woods ring with There is a Happy Land and many other traditional Baptisthymns." The worshipers were often accompanied by J. Stampley, who, according to one account, "could make a fiddle talk, and when he played the old hymns, Show Pity Lord, he could make tears flow from a rock."
Bachelor William Hargrove built a house on the Guamhanha river bank. Jesse Wright and his family, as well as his infamous hounds, also found a home on the Guamhanha. Othniel Weaver and his family, including Billy Bud and Fannie Gill, decided to homestead on the Peixe River, They planted crops and found that the ground was so fertile that two sweet potato slips would cover a whole acre. The family stayed for 3 years. Two children were born in Brazil: Willie Antonio and Charlie Tillman. Charlie Tillman was named for Charlie Tillman who was the Democrat, Governor of South Carolina, and running for President of the United States. (This information was in family notes, but unfortunately, is just a tradition. The South Carolina Governor (Tillman) was in office years later and was only 21 years old in 1867 – not having made a name for himself yet. Also, his name was Benjamin, not Charles) Charlie died and was buried in Brazil. (From the manifest of the British Lion we see that there is listed an infant, less than a year old, named Charles Gill with the Gill-Weaver family. It could be that the manifest was written in advance of sailing and that Charlie had died prior to sailing and was in fact buried in Brazil. Charlie was not listed on the Texas Census in 1870 taken a year later) The Garners and the Cooks also became neighbors of the Weavers, settling on the Peixi. Several others also settled on the Peixi River, but no record has been found as to who they were.
Approximate location of the McMullan colony
JESSE R. WRIGHT
HOMESTEAD
WEAVER - GARLINGTON -GILL HOMESTEAD.
ALDRED I. SMITH HOMESTEAD
QUILLIN - PARKS HOMESTEAD
Romance also bloomed on the headwaters of the Sao Lourenco as Eugene Smith, son of Alfred I. Smith and Sue Bowen, daughter of William R. Bowen announced their engagement. The two asked Parson Quillin to perform the wedding ceremony at the Bowen home on the Ariado, and preparations were made for a two-day festa. The wedding was performed in the morning, after which all sat down for a marriage feast in "central Texas" style. About mid-afternoon fellow colonist C.A. Crawley arrived for a visit on the way to Peruibe to purchase supplies. All were delighted to see their companion, especially the parson, who was dissatisfied that no witnesses save family was present to sign the wedding certificate. To correct the situation, he called the newlyweds into a room in Bowen's house, made them pronounce the vows again, then secured Crawley's signature on the official papers. The general sense of well-being that existed on the colony lands camouflaged a power struggle that had been developing since Frank McMullan’s death. After much wrangling between the two parties involved, a letter was drafted to the Brazilian Secretary of Agriculture about the situation. Among the sixteen signatories on the letter included: Othniel Weaver, Daniel Weaver, Riley Weaver, and William A. Gill (Billy Bud).
More troubles occurred when unexplainably, the government food supply was shut off. An appeal for assis-tance was made to the government which did result in money being sent to the Mayor of Iguape, but the items purchased and sent upriver were of very poor quality. The meat was spoiled and inedible. The flour proved to be so bad that it was used only as food for the pigs. No coffee or sugar was supplied.
Earlier requests to the government for a road to be built were finally approved but it was virtually too late for the struggling colonists. As crops matured and most of it in decent condition there were absolutely no buyers or a reasonable way to get it to market. Desperate, the farmers sold for a pittance or gave away months of hard labor. For many, this became the last straw, and they packed their bags and returned to Iauape, Rio, or the United States. On November 7, the four-member George A. Linn family boarded the steamer Ella S. Thayer for New Orleans.
At this point, clearly, the colony was falling apart. This Brazilian adventure took on a new aspect for all con-cerned. The emigrants attempted to settle on colony lands, but were delayed by the sickness and death of their leader, Frank McMullan. The power struggle that developed within the colony only served to split the colony. The exhaustion of money and food supplies was a final blow. When the road was not completed and crops found no markets, there was no doubt in the minds of most colonists that, to survive, they would have to leave the Sao Lourenco and go to a region more suited to their experience. Most of the Texans did not abandon their fervent dreams for an exciting new life in an unexplored new land.
By early 1869 many of the colonists began moving out to other more suitable areas which were more popu-lated and offered more opportunity, mainly to the area of Santa Barbara and its sister city Americana. Some, however, returned to the United States, including the Weavers, Garlington, and Billy Bud with Fannie and child.
After the falling apart of the McMullen colony, settlers were moving away from the headwaters of the SaoLoureco. The reasons were varied. The road to Peruibe was incomplete making it extremely difficult to get goods to market. Stories of the relatively successful American settlement at Santa Barbara could not help but lure some who wished to live once more in a town. The Cooks went over the mountains to Santos but had to bury their young son, Pet, beside the trail. Cortez Fielder and his wife Sara, with two children, headed for the high coastal plain country. N.B. McAlpine, who married Sue Tarver, headed for the region of the Norris colony near Santa Barbara. William Hargrove married Julia Beasley, and the two returned to the United States. C.A. Crawly and his wife, Rachel Russell Crawley, went to Santos, then Santa Barbara. Rachel's father Thomas Garner, followed the couple to their new home. Parson Quillin moved to a spot on the railroad from Sao Paulo to Santa Babara that was locally known as t" he station."
Jess Wright, with the hounds, found himself moving to Retiro, near the communities of Americana and Santa Barbara. He was a neighbor of one of the most successful and prosperous Confederados in that area, Mr. Harvey Hall. Mr. Hall was a wealthy plantation owner from Columbus, Georgia who in 1866 sold all his possessions and land for 10 cents to the dollar and moved to Brazil to start over. Through hard work and perseverance, he succeeded in creating a duplicate plantation and plantation home on the Capivari River, near Americana. Crowning the estate was a spacious, typical Old South mansion, a restful respite for guests and travelers. Mr. Hall became very successful, bringing in another fellow Georgians by newspaper adver-tisements, such as blacksmiths, housebuilders, furniture, and wagon makers to join the colony there.
One day in October 1877, eleven years after he had come down to this strange land, he was shot dead by Jess Wright, the Texas Cowboy, in a field near his home. There were no witnesses, but it was surmised that the shooting had followed an argument between the two men. An apparent feud between the two men came to a climax over Hall's shooting one of the cowboy's mules who had wandered into Hall's plantation and was trampling the cotton fields. In a rage, Wright approached Hall and demanded satisfaction. Within minutes Hall lay dead.
After saying a quick goodbye to his wife and family. Wright fled the colony. Before nightfall, a posse of Con-federates and Brazilian State Guard came looking for him, but Wright had caught a ride on a passing train and was in the port city of Santos, one hundred miles away, by the next morning. From there he caught a ship to New Orleans, safely out of reach. We do not know if he took his hounds with him. Both families were prominent. The Wrights had their friends and the Halls had theirs, and the ugly incident marred relationships within the colony for years to come. Things were especially bad for those who helped Mrs. Wright and the children go to Texas to join her fugitive husband, now employed as a lawman. The belief was that Jess had learned to use his six-shooter too well during the Civil War. Charlie Hall, son of the deceased, planned to go to Texas and hunt down Mr. Wright and settle the score. Cooler heads prevailed and he was dissuaded by his younger brother and the matter was eventually dropped.
Charlie Hall, his son, died in 1910 and the old home place remained in the family until 1917 when his widow sold it to a wealthy pharmacist in Americana. It was turned into a school and is still in operation today.
By mid-May families started to give up and leave. The three members of the John Baxter family, without money and desperate, were allowed to return to the United States on the U. S. Warship Guerriere on May 31, 1969. On September 6 of the same year, The Gills, Weavers, and Garlingtons boarded the British Lion at Rio de Janeiro, en route to New Orleans.
...On September 10, 1871, McMullen colonist, Reverend Richard Ratcliff established the First North American Baptist Church at Santa Barbara. The congregation at Santa Barbara grew through the 1870s but received a severe challenge when pastor Ratcliff decided to return to the United States about a year after the death of his wife. With five young children, Ratcliff believed that he could not give them proper care in Brazil and moved to Mexia, Limestone County, Texas. Paron Quillen took over the church's ministry. In 1879, a second Baptist church, named the Station Church, was located on the railroad leading into the interior, was started in Santa Barbara, and Parson Quillin was appointed by the Southern Baptist Convention in the United States to be the missionary pastor. In 1880 a report from the church's membership to the North American Baptists lauded Quillen as being "able in the pulpit, exemplary in daily life; sound in doctrine, simple in manners, esteemed by the Americans and popular with the Brazilians; perhaps more conversant with Brazilian affairs than anyone is known to them, and adapted in every respect to the missions."
....In 1879 the Southern Baptist Convention agreed to accept the First Baptist Church of Brazil as a self-supporting mission. So the English-speaking church at Santa Barbara, led by the Reverend E. H. Quillin, actually began the Southern Baptist mission effort in Brazil.
The first years of all mission efforts are stressful, but few suffer the multiple problems of the Santa Barbara field. Heading the list of difficulties was E. H. QuillinHe was born in Tennessee in 1829, and his family moved had moved to Texas, where he was ordained to the Baptist ministry in 1858. He pastored the Santa Barbara Baptist Church for four years. His wife had attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and requested a joint missionary appointment with her husband. She was a school teacher and an accomplished linguist, at least according to her husband.
When the foreign mission board first decided to sponsor the Santa Barbara mission., critical evaluation of Quillin began to arrive from Texas, B.H. Carroll, one of the most influential figures in Texas Baptist ranks, warned the head of the foreign board that Quillin might well embarrass Baptists. An anonymous source recently returned from Brazil reported that the pastor was a "confirmed opium eater and in every way indiscreet." He urged the head of the board to warn newly appointed missionary W.B. Bagby, who replaced Quillin as pastor in Santa Barbara about him.
A second source of trouble was one of Quillin's converts. The Reverend Antonio Teixeira de Albuquerque emerges from the murky chronicles of the colony either as one of its foremost converts or as its premier confidence man. Texeira had been a Catholic priest who converted to Methodism before finally joining the Baptists. Texeira was a fine linguist and reputedly the best pulpit orator in Brazil. At first, Quillin raved about his coup and warned that Methodists were circulating malicious rumors about their turncoat. But five months later Quillin conceded that his premier Brazilian convert was an imposter, a drunk, a gambler, and a habitue of houses of prostitution. "He would now make a good Catholic priest -- he has every essential element."
Quillin also regretted the apostasy of a Mr. Pyles, a minister from Florida who had settled in the community. Pyles was inclined to "spiritism and speculative theology, I fear he will not be useful."
But clearly not all the problems were external to Quillin. Even if one ignores the rumor of his drug addiction, there was still the problem of his poverty. Theoretically, the Santa Barbara church was a self-supporting mission station as it represented itself to the foreign mission board. But if Quillin is to be believed, there was little support involved. The pastor received no salary and when the Reverend W.B. Bagby arrived, Quillin resigned to pursue more lucrative opportunities. Although he was crippled and unable to labor (perhaps the pain from his injury accounts for the charge of drug addiction), he had to support a wife and six children.
Toward this end Quillinproposed an elaborate scheme of missionary education. Arguing that both practical life and practical preaching were necessary for Brazil, he proposed that the foreign mission board support a mission school for Brazilian children. He and his wife would manage the institution. His elaborate proposal began with the claim that traditional denominational mission efforts in Brazil had failed to convert many people. A free school with an able faculty without a dogmatic or religious course o0f instruction would be far more successful. For five days a week no religious activities beyond prayers and "moral lectures" would be permitted. Weekends would be devoted entirely to voluntary religious instruction. Such a school, Quillin argued, would unite the community as well as spread the gospel.
The new liberal Brazilian constitution tolerated all religious groups but protected the favored status of Catholicism. Therefore, there was little chance of converting the present generation. But education could teach the young and extend civilization.
Quillin tried to establish a mission school at Piracicaba using $500 to $600 of his own money. But his effort failed, and he has his investments. So he returned to Santa Barbara, where he opened a coed school with thirty regular students and requested a subsidy of $3,000 annually from the foreign mission board, a request which the impoverished agency approved.
Upon his return to Santa Barbara in 1881, Quillin penned a bleak portrait of the American community. The sources of his pessimism were complex: their fear that the Brazilian government was moving towards the emancipation of slaves, the continuing Jesuit influence in government, the timidity of the chief executive toward continuing emigration from the Southern United States. As a result of these tendencies, "the hearts of many are failing, and some of our best citizens are busily arranging for an early return to the land of their fathers, " To what extent Americans would abandon Santa Barbara he would not estimate, but he believed that some Southerners would remain and that "North American industry and enterprise will... go down to posterity as a living reality, and that the little church that is under the aegis of your Mission Board will survive and help evangelize Brazil.
The vision the emigrants shared was one of dual spiritual citizenship in both the divine and political sense. "We are in Brazil, under Providence we will remain. Yet we are American citizens and in this will always remain.....Our chief aim -- move forward a little... (which) will permeate the circle of Brazilian life long after our name may have faded (from) the record of time."
After Quillin turned the congregation over to Bagby in 1881, the new missionary momentarily turned the Santa Barbara congregation into a thriving parish. But Bagby remained only two years, and after 18783 it declined again. In 1885, the Reverend Hector Soper, formerly of the English Mission in Rio, became pastor. He allegedly introduced the temperance movement to Santa Barbara but remained only one year. Although Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians equally represented the religious preference of the Santa Barbara colony, even the Baptists conceded that their two rivals were better established and supported.
The popular parson's physical condition, however, was not good. Always a cripple, Quillin's health began to deteriorate rapidly in the middle of the 1880s, and on March 21, 1886, he died of a liver ailment. He was buried in the Campo Cemetery at Santa Barbara.
THE CHILDREN OF ELIJAH QUILLIN AND ELIZABETH PLUMER
1.
Leroy Quillin
1849–
BIRTH 17 JAN 1849 • Hempstead County, Arkansas, USA
DEATH Unknown
Married: 1874. Brazil
Mariguinhas De Jose
2.
Leona Quillin
1850–1870
BIRTH 1 NOV 1850 • Hunt County, Texas, USA
DEATH BEF 1870 • Navarro County, Texas, USA
Married: 14 mAY, 1863, Navarro County, Texas, USA
Per Marriage certificate. However, she would have been only 13 years old at that time and there is no record of William N. Anderson traveling with her and her family to Brazil in 1867
William Nicks Anderson Jr
1847–1873
BIRTH 4 NOV 1847 • Richland Crossing, Navarro, Texas, USA
DEATH 12 DEC 1873 • Navarro County, Texas, USA
3.
Orleana (Aulina) Quillin
1852–1875
BIRTH 13 NOV 1852 • Arkansas, USA
DEATH 4 FEB 1875 •
Married: Nov 1873, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Emele Combe
BIRTH:
DEATH: Sao Paulo, Brazil
4.
Leonidas Don Quillin
1854–
BIRTH 13 MAR 1854 • Texas, USA
DEATH Unknown
THE CHILDREN OF ELIJAH QUILLIN
AND SARAH PARKS
1.
Infant Quillin
1863–1863
BIRTH 18 NOV 1863 • Lampasas, Lampasas, Texas, USA
DEATH 18 NOV 1863 • Lampasas, Lampasas, Texas, USA
2.
Parks Quillen
1865–1897
BIRTH 12 DEC 1865 • Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA
DEATH 13 JAN 1897 • California, USA
Parks is buried with his mother, Helena R. Quillin, and near his sister Alice Quillin Rohwedder.
Rowland Heights, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Married:
Anna Pacheco
1869–
BIRTH 1869
Parks and Anna had at least two children
3.
Reino Quillen
1867–1894
BIRTH 06 DEC 1867 • Iguape, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 29 MAR 1894 • Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married:
______ Pinto Tanner
4.
Rodolpho Tilman Quillin
1872–1943
BIRTH 02 JUL 1872 • Ponta Grossa, Paraná, Brazil
DEATH 11 MAR 1943 • Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married:
5.
Max (Maxie) Quillin
1875–1945
BIRTH 27 JAN 1875 • Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 26 JAN 1945 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married: Apr. 4, 1908, Monte Mor, Sao Paulo,
Brazil
Helena Huelinger Rohwedder
1886–1979
BIRTH 22 DEC 1886 • Jaguari, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 2 APR 1979 • Ontario, San Bernardino,
California, USA
Saughter of German immigrantJurgen (Jorge)
Rohwedder and Maria Hubinger Fahl
Children:
1.
Dulce Camargo Quillin
1903–1984
BIRTH 1 JAN 1903 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 29 AUG 1984 • Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married:
Gregorio Marcello
1902–1971
BIRTH 17 NOV 1902 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 22 MAY 1971 • Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2.
Sarah Maria (Sallie) Quillin
1908–1992
BIRTH 12 DEC 1908 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 19 NOV 1992 • Petaluma, Sonoma, California, USA
3.
Robertina (Robbie) Quillin
1909–2005
BIRTH 19 DEC 1909 • Ribeirão Prêto, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 2005 • Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married:
Curtis Ezel Thomas
1904–1988
BIRTH 5 FEB 1904 • Americana, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 31 OCT 1988 • Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Son of Abran Curtis Thomas and Mae Alena Kennerly and grandson of Confederados Robert Porter Yjomas and Emily Perkins
Children:
4.
Elsa Quillin
1911–1999
BIRTH 16 MAY 1911 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 31 JUL 1999 • Petaluma, Sonoma, California,
USA
Married: 17 Jun 1874 • Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, Sao
Paulo, Brazil
Henrique Clinton MacKnight
1911–1991
BIRTH 1 JUL 1911 • Santa Bárbara, Sao Paulo,
Brazil
DEATH 13 NOV 1991 • Petaluma, Sonoma, California, USA
Son of Henry Oscar McKnight and Nettie Augusta Thomas, grandson of Confederados Wilbur Fisk McKnight and Mary Caroline Carlos
Children:
1.
Arlette Quillin Thomas
1939–1994
BIRTH 22 APR 1939 • Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 2 NOV 1994 • São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married:
Gilberto Iguatemy Martins
1934–1993
BIRTH 04/16/1934 • Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 07/03/1993 • Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Son of Plinio Iguatemy Martins and Dagmar Caldeira Miller
1.
Helena Roberta McKnight
BIRTH 16 MAY 1934 • Santa Barbara
D'Oeste, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 8 JUN 2009 • Orem, Utah,
Utah, USA
Married:
Marvin Kenneth Soiland
1927–
BIRTH 28 JUN 1927 • San Francisco,
California, USA
Son of Roy Soiland and Gertrude
Coretta Solbakken
2.
Frances Augusta MacKnight
BIRTH 8 JUN 1935 • São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 5 JUN 2009 • Orem, Utah, Utah, USA
Married: 28 Feb 1958 • Los Angeles, California, USA
Daryl Letho Gee
1933–
BIRTH 13 SEP 1933
Frances Augusta MacKnight was born on 8 June 1935
in Santa Barbara, D'Oeste, San Paulo, Brazil, of Hen-
rique Clinton MacKnight and Elsa Quillin. She was
the second of four children; she followed a sister, Hel-
Hena (Soiland), and was followed by two brothers,
Henrique (Rick) and Roberto (Dinho). She was the
fourth generation born in Brazil of Southerners who
went to Brazil after the Civil War. Her family settled
in Santa Barbara, which is near what is now the indus-
trial center of Americana.
Her family still resides on the farm that the family originally settled and where Frances, her father, and other family members were born. She joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when she was 16 years old. Her family came to the United States when she was 18 years old and settled in San Diego. There she met her husband to be, Daryl Letho Gee in 1954.
She later returned to Brazil on a mission for the church, following which they were married in the Los Angeles California Temple. Daryl was in the Navy and they spent the first year of their marriage in Maryland where Daryl was in school. He later accepted a commission in the Navy, following which they mutually agreed that he would make the Navy a career. They lived in a number of locations including California, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and again in California where Daryl retired. They were blessed with six children: Catherine (Taylor), Sandra (West), Keith, Elena, and Daphne (Nelson). After the children were in school, some in college, Frances returned to school and received a bachelor's degree in Spanish and a master's degree in Spanish and English as a Second Language. She spoke six languages and excelled at teaching, although she did not pursue that as a full-time career.
She became involved in volleyball, mostly because of the talents of her children in that sport. Following Daryl's retirement from the Navy, they spent ten years in Washington, D.C., where Daryl was employed in the satellite communications business. He was called to be the Bishop of the Temple Ward and they became temple ordinance workers where they had wonderful experiences for many years. Frances continued her activities in volleyball and became a national and international official. Two of her daughters (Maile and Daphne) followed her example and became national officials also.
Following Daryl's second retirement, they moved to Utah where a number of their children were living. After two years, they applied for a mission, hoping to be assigned to Brazil. They were successful and were assigned to the Porto Alegra Brazil Southern Mission. After only a few months, they had to return home due to the illness of Frances. When they learned that they would be unable to return to Brazil, they petitioned the Missionary Department to transfer them to the Temple Department and allow them to finish their mission in the Washington, D.C. Temple. Their request was approved and they spent more than two years there. Frances served in many capacities, enhanced by her wonderful language skills. She served as a shift supervisor and later as Assistant Matron when Daryl was called to serve in the temple presidency. Following their return home, they served in the Mt. Timpanogos Utah Temple for several years, where she again served as a shift supervisor.
In 2006, after several years of trying to find the source of health issues she was having, she was seen by The Mayo Clinic where she was diagnosed with a terminal neurological disease called Cortico Basal Ganglionic Degeneration (CBGD), a cousin to ALS. She suffered courageously with the disease for seven years, being cared for at home by her family. She passed away on 5 June 2009 and was buried on her 74th birthday, 8 June 2009 in the Veteran's National Cemetery in Bluffdale, Utah. She left a wonderful and inspiring legacy that will always be shared by those who knew and loved her.
3.
Henrique G. MacKnight
BIRTH MAY 1939 • Brazil
4.
Robert Edwin MacKnight
BIRTH 31 JAN 1941 • Santa Bárbara, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 22 JAN 1964 • Alameda, Alameda, California, USA
Married: 28 Oct 1959 • Oakland, Alameda, California, USA
Donna Faye Mobley
BIRTH 10 MAY 1943 • Littlefield, Lamb, Texas, USA
Daughter of Carl Myrle Mobley and Lorene Ruth Helson
5.
Jandyra (Didi) Quillin
1913–1990
BIRTH 20 MAR 1913 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo,
Brazil
DEATH 31 MAR 1990 • Pomona, Los Angeles,
California, USA
Married: 02 Dec 1933 • Rebouças, Parana,
Brazil
Walker Joao Keese
1910–1966
BIRTH 16 JUL 1910 • Sta Barbara d'Oeste,
Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 6 JAN 1966 • Petrópolis, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
Son of William Walker Keese and Ausgusta
Mathide Kennerly, grandson of Confererados
Keese and Kennerly
Walker Joao Keese, My Father By Willis Alice Keese
Writing about my father as I remember him during the five and a half years I lived with him is hard for me because what I remember about him are not good things. My father had a terrible temper and I was afraid of him even though I still loved him. My brothers and I got spanked a lot with his belt buckle. When I was five years old we lived in Monte Mor where I was born. My father worked nights and my mother worked days so I was in charge of taking care of my two younger brothers while my father slept.
One day I got stuck between the toilet and the wall and I started to cry. My Dad woke up and he was irate. It was pretty scary. It was while living in Monte Mor that the neighborhood children teased me unmercifully. They would tease me about my blue eyes by saying, "Olho de gato, quarenta e quatro", which means "cat's eyes, forty four". It rhymes in Portuguese. They would also laugh at my skin for I had a lot of freckles. They called me "banana nanica". The Rohwedder family lived in Monte Mor as well and I had two girl cousins who used to take me to church with them on Sundays. They were Presbiterian. I loved going to church with them. One day my cousins let me return home from church by myself and I got lost. I could see a big black woman down the street I thought I had to go on, but she scared me so I just stood there not knowing what to do. Finally, she noticed me and came to ask where I lived. I remember the name of my street and told her. Well, it was not down her street. She was very kind. She held my hand and took me home. Mama was leaning out the window with a worried look on her face.
My great-grandmother, Maria Hubinger Rohwedder, was alive at that time and I can still see her coming to our house with a basket on her arm. I knew that in that basket were good things to eat. Then we moved to the "Fazenda da Rocinha" in Morro Azul in Rio de Janeiro. I loved that place. Aunt Willis would come to visit and it was while we lived there that she taught me how to knit. We climbed up a tree and knitted there. A good memory I had there was when cousins came to visit. Jose Buarque de Macedo, Filho (Zezinho) gave me a doll. He made me feel so special. I was a bed wetter and the way my father tried to cure me of it was by whipping me in the morning if my bed was wet. So, one day I woke up before he showed up, crawled out the window and hid under it by the wall. He found me there and I must have looked petrified. It must have softened his heart because he stopped whipping me for that.
Another incident happened when my mother gave me a plate of food and told me to go out to the patio to eat. When I laid my plate on the cement it may have cracked it, I really don't remember if I broke it or not. My father was up on the water tower fixing something and saw me. He must have thought I had broken the plate because he came down and hit me over the head with the tool in his hand. My head started to bleed, as is the case with head injuries and he grabbed me and took me to a sink to wash the blood off. I think that frightened him. It was not long after that incident that Mama left him and moved in with her parents in Dobrada.
My father went to Dobrada once to try to get mama to go back with him but she wouldn't do it and he became very angry. He was kind to me then and promised to give me some fabric for mama to make me a dress. It never happened. Years later when I went to Rio de Janeiro to visit Aunt Fannie, I mentioned that and she took me shopping for some fabric. She always watched out for my Dad.
The next time I saw him I was fourteen years old. I went with a friend to visit cousins in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, and we got together for an hour. Before I left Brazil when I was eighteen to come to the United States, I wrote him and he went to the airport to say goodbye. I got to see him one more time and that was when he came to visit me and my family in 1965. It was such a wonderful experience to see him and get reacquainted. It was a very healing time for both of us. It was so interesting to hear him speaking English when he first arrived here. The Americans who immigrated to Brazil taught English to their children who in turn taught it to their children. The interesting thing is that their accent remained that of the 1860's. When Papai noticed the difference, he became embarrassed and stopped talking in English.
Children:
1.
Willis Alice (Alicinha) Keese
1934–2018
BIRTH 30 JUL 1934 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 7 AUG 2018 • Orem, Utah, Utah, USA
Married 1st 23 Dec 1953 • China Lake, California, USA
Wayne Rex Carpenter
1934–1971
BIRTH 21 FEB 1934 • Pueblo, Pueblo, Colorado, USA
DEATH 17 MAR 1971 • Ridgecrest, Kern, California, USA
The Republican-Courier, Findlay, Ohio -
Friday, March 19, 1971
College Play Actor Killed With Gun Using 'Blanks'
Ridgecrest, Calif. (AP) - An actor was shot to death
during a college play rehearsal Wednesday night with
a gun that supposedly contained blanks, Kern County
sheriff's deputies said.
Killed was Wayne R. Carpenter, a 37-year-old father of six. Carpenter was taking part in a rehearsal for the play "Oliver" as part of a Bakersfield College Desert Division night class. Three of his children are in the cast ad were at the re-hearsal. Coroner's Deputy Jim Gay said Thursday an autopsy recovered traces of lead from Carpenter's body. Gay said that when the blanks were prepared for the play, traces of lead apparently remained in the cartridges.
Carpenter was hit by a shot fired from about 15 feet by Wint Dillon, a Marine Sergeant at China Lake. Dillon was not held, deputies said. Witnesses said Carpenter fell about 4 1/2 feet from a platform on which he was standing and lay on the floor while the play continued. However, when he started groaning the play was stopped and the wound was discovered. It was the first time the gun had been used in rehearsals, deputies said.
Children:
Married 2nd: 10 Feb 1972 • Ridgecrest, Kern, California, USA
Clarence Rodney Povey
BIRTH 27 APR 1927 • Smithfield, Cache, Utah, USA
DEATH 11 SEP 2001 • Lake Havasu City, Mohave, Arizona, USA
Clarence was married 1st to Georgia Mae Sparks. She passed away on June 24, 2003, in Utah. Clarence and Georgia divorced, having three children:
1. Shauna Povey
2. Clarence Rodney Povey Jr.
3. Richard Povey
Willis immigrated to the United States the summer she turned 19 and married Wayne Rex Carpenter a few months later on December 23, 1953, in Mesa, Arizona. Wayne and Willis had six children. Her husband, Wayne, died suddenly on March 17, 1971, in China Lake, California. Willis married Clarence R. Povey on February 10, 1972, in Ridgecrest, California. He had three children, Shauna, Rodney, and Richard, and Willis loved them as her own. Clarence died after a long illness on September 11, 2001, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Willis joined the LDS Church when she was 16 years old in Rio Claro, Brazil, and spent her life serving faithfully in many callings, including her service as a sister missionary in the England Leeds Mission. Willis loved being a mother and always had a special connection with small children. She enjoyed being of service to people, reading, crocheting, and spending time with family. She was sweet, kind, and loving and will be dearly missed by all who knew her.
Willis was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands, her two brothers, Jorge Walker Keese and William Maxey Keese, her step-son, Richard Povey, and two grandsons, Nathan Wayne Carpenter and Sidney Povey.
She is survived by her children: Sidney Ralph (Eva, Logan, Utah), Robert Nelson (Shelly, Kempner, Texas), Raymond Wayne (Denise, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), Alice Ann Lucherini (Monte, North Logan, Utah), Merlin Parks (Orem, Utah) and Yara Marina Wilson (Duff, Pleasant Grove, Utah), two step-children, Rodney Povey (Orem, Utah), Shauna Russ (Fallon, Nevada) and 31 grandchildren, 56 great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren and her half-brother, Daniel Keese.
Memorial Services will be held Saturday, August 18, 2018, at 11:00 am at the LDS Church located at 762 East 1200 North, Orem, Utah, where a visitation will be held
prior from 9:30 to 10:45 am.
Flowers may be delivered to the church Saturday morning
after 8:00 am.
Willis will be laid to rest next to her husband, Clarence R.
Povey, in the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cem-
etery in Boulder City, Nevada.
2.
Jorge Walker Keese
1935–2007
BIRTH 22 AUG 1935 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 28 MAR 2007 • Pomona, Los Angeles, California,
USA
Married: 21 Sep 1959 • Nevada, USA
Divorced Oct 1966 • Los Angeles City, California, USA
Lillian Henrietta Segool
1932–2017
BIRTH 15 FEB 1932 • Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts,
USA
DEATH 19 APR 2017 • Chino, San Bernardino, California, USA
OBIT Find A Grave
Jorge (Bobby) Walker Keese was born on August 22, 1935, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and he passed on to the other side on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 at home surrounded by his family, where he fought a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was loved very much and will be terribly missed. He came to the United States where he met and married Lillian; He started working at Huffy Bicycles in Azusa in the '60s. He worked there for 28 years until he went to work for Wil-Jo Corporation until he retired. He was an avid member of AA in Pomona for the last 16 years.
He was a very caring and funny man to all who knew him. He leaves behind his wife Lillian Keese of Pomona, 3 Daughter's, Marlene (Vaughn) Miller of Ontario, Dianne Bruce of Pomona, Debbie Keese Of Ontario. 4 Grandkids Elliott Bruce of San Bernardino, Ryan Bruce of Pomona, Mindy Vera of Ontario, Brett Vera of Ontario and 3 Great-Grandchildren, Jacob & Sarah of San Bernardino, Lotus Jade of Ontario and 1 Dog Scotter his long time companion.
He will dearly be missed by his many relatives & friends. He will be dearly missed, we would like to thank Hospice for all their help & support. Memorial Services will be held at 12:30 p.m. today, March 31 at the Triangle Club, Pomona. In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to the Triangle Club, 1655 Berkeley, Pomona, CA 91768. Todd Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Obituary Lillian H. Keese
LILLIAN H. KEESE
Lillian H. Keese, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
to Ethel and Raymond Segool, passed away at home
on April 19, 2017, at the age of 84. She had been under
the warm love and care of Hospice for the past two years.
Lillian retired from Sam's Club in Chino [formerly
PACE]. She enjoyed her "Greeter" position immensely
and received numerous recognitions/accolades for her
dedication and loyalty.
Lillian's favorite pastime was getting her hair done, putting on her sparkly clothes, and having her special friends take her to a casino.
Lillian was preceded in death by her husband of 50+ years, Jorge Keese (Bobby).
Lillian is survived by her 3 loving daughters: Marlene Miller (and husband, Vaughn), Diane Bruce, and Debbie Best
The "loves of her life" were her grandchildren: Elliott, Ryan, Mindy, Adrian, and Brett; and her great-grandchildren: Jacob, Sarah, Ryker, Lotus, and Violet, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Lillian is also survived by her two sisters, Sheila McClure and Brenda Lalla. She was preceded in death by two brothers Harold Segool and David Bly; and two sisters Ethel Croce and Lorraine Boisclair.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to VNA/Visiting Nurses Association in Claremont or Kid Care International in Pomona. We can't say enough about the excellent care from VNA with Lillian during her time of need.
Services will be held at Granite Creek Community Church, 1580 N. Claremont Blvd., Claremont on Friday, May 12th at 11:00 am.
Published by Daily Bulletin on May 2, 2017.
Children:
3.
William Maxey Keese
1937–1987
BIRTH 11 JAN 1937 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 24 OCT 1987 • Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married:
Miss Valderes _____
Obituary (Willis Alice Keese)
Our beloved mother and grandmother, Willis Alice Povey, passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home in Orem, Utah on August 7, 2018, at the age of 84. Willis was born the first of three children in Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 30, 1934, to Walker Joao Keese and Jandyra Quillin Keese. She spent her childhood in Brazil with many aunts, uncles, and cousins that she loved.
Willis immigrated to the United States the summer she turned 19 and married Wayne Rex Carpenter a few months later on December 23, 1953 in Mesa, Arizona.
1.
Sidney Ralph Carpenter
1954–
BIRTH 3 DEC 1954 • Los Angeles, California, USA
Married:
Eva _____
2.
Robert Nelson Carpenter
1956–
BIRTH 13 FEB 1956 • Los Angeles,
California, USA
Married:
Shelley Bahs
3.
Raymond Wayne Carpenter
BIRTH ABT 1958
Married:
Denise
4.
Alice Ann Carpenter
1959–
BIRTH 15 JAN 1959
Married:
Monte Lucherini
1958–
BIRTH 22 OCT 1958
5.
Merlin Parks Carpenter
1960–
BIRTH 22 AUG 1960 • San Bernardino, California, USA
Married:
Sofia Avila
6.
Yara Marina Carpenter
1962–
BIRTH 8 JUN 1962 • San Bernardino,
California, USA
Married:
Duff Wilson
1.
Marlene Keese
Married:
Vaughn Miller
2.
Dianne Keese
1951–
BIRTH 4 NOV 1951
Married: 11 Jul 1970 • San Bernardino, California, USA
Divorce: 16 Feb 1983 • San Bernardino, California, USA
Stephen Lewis Bruce
1950–
BIRTH 21 FEB 1950 • Los Angeles, California, USA
3.
Debbie Keese
Married:
Mr. Best
6.
Lucy Quillin
1915–1997
BIRTH 28 MAR 1915 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 10 JUN 1997 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married: 27 Jun 1936 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Giuseppe (Jose) Barbieri
1909–1974
BIRTH 24 APR 1909 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazi
DEATH 24 FEB 1974 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Children:
1.
Jose Barbieri Jr
1937–1983
BIRTH 18 MAY 1937 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 10 OCT 1983 • Matão, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married:
2.
Josette Barbieri
BIRTH Brazil
Married:
Meenas Selles
Giuseppi Barbieri, Josette Barbieri, Mecenas Selles, Lucy Quillin. - Marriage Jan, 1964
7.
Alice Quillin
1917–1968
BIRTH 24 AUG 1917 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 1 MAY 1968 • Azusa, Los Angeles, California,
USA
Married her cousin: 08 Dec 1945 • Campinas,
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Jarbas Guimarães Rohwedder
1918–2004
BIRTH 13 MAY 1918 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 3 JUN 2004 • Los Angeles, California, USA
Children:
1.
Maria de Jesus Bartolomeu
Rohwedder
1938–1967
BIRTH 22 OCT 1938 • Minas Gerais, Acre, Brazil
DEATH 30 MAY 1967 • Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
2.
Lucy Elisa Rohwedder
1951–1988
BIRTH 27 SEP 1951 • Rio Claro, Minas Gerais, Brazil
DEATH 27 MAY 1988 • Los Angeles County, California, USA
3.
Willis Helena Rohwedder
1955–1995
BIRTH 8 OCT 1955 • Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 15 FEB 1995 • Los Angeles, California, USA
8.
Jorge Quillin
1919–1920
BIRTH 28 JUL 1919 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 5 NOV 1920 • Monte Mor, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Willis Quillin
Debs was born on April 27, 1914, in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was the son of Watson Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro. Watson changed his name to Frederick at some point in his life. He was born in Ohio and was awarded his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1896 from Western Dental College in Kansas City, Missouri. Esther Matus Villatoro was born in Chiapas, Mexico. Frederick and Esther moved to Brazil early on in their marriage.
9.
Willis Quillin
1921–1991
BIRTH 22 JUL 1921 • Dobrada Mata, Brazil
DEATH MAR 1991 • St Helena, Napa, California, USA
Married: 16 Mar 1944 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Debs Warren Webster
1914–1994
BIRTH 27 APR 1914 • Santos, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 15 AUG 1994 • Petaluma, Sonoma, California, USA
Son of Watson Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro
Debs was married twice.
His first wife was Sarah Vasques Madeira, daughter of
Alvaro Borges Da Silva Madeira and Rosalia Rodrigues
Vasques. They had one daughter. Sarah died just after
six years of marriage in 1942.
Sarah Vasques Madeira
1900–1942
BIRTH 23 FEB 1900 • Rio Grande, R.G.Sul, Brazil
DEATH 14 JUL 1942 • Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married: 4 Apr 1936 • Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Source:
Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
Jana Iverson
Excerpted
In the summer of 1952, Debs Warren Webster, and his family, emigrated from Brazil to the United States. They traveled on the ocean liner, The S.S. Brazil. After arriving in New York, Debs and his family bought a car and some camping equipment and traveled across the United States to California.
About seven to nine months after my Grandpa Debs and his family arrived in Glendora, California, they bought a new house. It turned out that their Sponsor, Mr. West, was a home developer. Debs and his wife Willis bought a home in one of Mr. West's housing tracts in Pomona, California. Debs and his family moved into their new house in early 1953.
Within the walls of this modest 1,008 sq. ft. home lived six people - Debs and Willis Quillin Webster, Helena Rohwedder Quillin - Willis's mother, Maria Elizabeth Webster (Mrs. Iverson) - the daughter of Debs first wife, who was fourteen at the time, and my two uncles. Remember, there were only 2 bedrooms. I'm sure Grandpa and Grandma Webster got the master bedroom. So, who got the second bedroom? My mom thinks she may have shared it with her Grandma Helena. I guess my two uncles must have slept in the living room.
Sarah V. Madeira
Debs was a very generous and kind man. He helped his relatives a great deal. A year or two after my Grandpa and his family immigrated to the United States, other family members emigrated from Brazil as well. These were Grandma Willis' relatives. Where did they stay? At this very house. My mom remembers that at one time there were eleven people living in this modest little home. It is hard to imagine eleven people living in this 2 bedroom, 1 bath home! It is not sure how long they stayed at that home. Probably long enough to get themselves established in the United States.
Sidney Quillin Webster Jr., 35, of Livermore, California, a Mechanic for many years, died on Tuesday, August 22, 2000. Visitation is scheduled for Monday, August 28, 2000, 11 a.m. until time of funeral services at 1 p.m., at Wilson Family Funeral Chapel, 3070 East Avenue, Livermore. Burial will be at Roselawn Cemtery.
Child by Debs and Sarah:
Debs Warren Webster
Willis and Debs - 1984
1.
Maria Elizabeth Webster
1938–2018
BIRTH 24 JUL 1938 • Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 27 OCT 2018 • Clovis, Fresno, California, USA
Married: 3 Sep 1960 • Los Angeles, California, USA
Jan Albert Iverson
1936–2009
BIRTH 23 MAR 1936 • Los Angeles, Los Angeles,
California, USA
DEATH 29 APR 2009 • Fresno, Fresno, California, USA
Son of Arthur Harry Iverson and Ingrid Anna Gilbert
Children:
1.
Jana M Iverson
Married:
Brent J. Last
2
Jon Iverson
3.
Brent Iverson
Maria Elizabeth Webster
Children by Debs and Willis
Jan Albert Iverson
2.
Sidney Quillin Webster Sr
1942–
BIRTH 30 AUG 1942 • Rio Claro, Brazil
Married: 9 Nov 1963 • San Mateo, California, USA
Divorced: Feb 1969 • San Mateo, California, USA
Lucy Hart Stocking
1945–2009
BIRTH 10 JAN 1945 • San Francisco, California
DEATH 24 SEP 2009
Children:
1.
Sidney Quillin Webster Jr
1965–2000
BIRTH 17 FEB 1965 • San Francisco, California, USA
DEATH 22 AUG 2000 • Livermore, Alameda, California, USA
Sidney Quillin Webster Jr., 35, of Livermore, California, a Mechanic for many years, died on Tuesday, August 22, 2000. Visitation is sche-duled for Monday, August 28, 2000, 11 a.m. until time of funeral services at 1 p.m., at Wilson Family Funeral Chapel, 3070 East Avenue, Livermore. Burial will be at Roselawn Cemetery.
3.
Edwin Quillen Webster Sr
BIRTH 7 FEB 1945 • Matao, Brazil
Married: 3 Sep 1965 • Seattle, King, Washington, USA
Marianna "Myra" Stepetin
1941–2003
BIRTH 5 MAR 1941 • Aleutian Islands, Saint Paul,
Aleutians West, Alaska, USA
DEATH 21 JAN 2003 • Seattle, King, Washington, USA
Daughter of Auxenty Stepetin and Kosopatra Krukoff
Children:
1.
Edwin Quillin Webster Jr
1967–
BIRTH 8 FEB 1967 • San Francisco, California, USA
10.
Edwin Quillin
BIRTH 12 MAR 1923 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 02 APR 1978 • Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Married:
Private
11.
Nattie Quillin
1925–1999
BIRTH 29 JAN 1925 • Dobrada
Sao, Brazil
DEATH 20 MAR 1999 • Ontario,
San Bernardino, California, USA
Married: 8 FEB 1954 • Mesa
Maricopa, Arizona, USA Boyd Oved Jacobs
BIRTH 13 DEC 1926 • Upland,
San Bernardino, California, USA
DEATH 20 JAN 1992 • Fontana,
San Bernardino, California, USA
Children:
1.
Annie Lizzie Jacobs
1945–2003
BIRTH 23 NOV 1945 • Rio Claro, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 23 JULY 2003
Married: 23 Oct 1965 • San Bernardino, California, USA
Divorced: 16 Sep 1982 • Ouray, Colorado, USA
Juan Raymon Maestaz
1945–2004
BIRTH ABT 1945
DEATH 2004 • Colorado, USA
12.
Parks Quillin
1927–1983
BIRTH 19 JAN 1927 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 18 FEB 1983 • Pomona, Los Angeles, California, USA
Unmarried. Buried beside his mother, Helena R. Quillin
13.
Ana Helena Quillin
1931–1931
BIRTH 02 DEC 1931 • Sumaré, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 02 DEC 1931 • Sumaré, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Died young
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California)
10 Jan 1954, Sun., Page 25
More Maxie Qui;;in Family Photos
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California)
10 Jan 1954, Sun., Page 25
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.)
10 Jan 1954, Sun., Page 25
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.)
17 Nov 1991, Sun., Page 6
Sarah, Roberta, Elsie and Jandyra
Sarah, Willis Alice Keese, Helena Rohwedder, Willis Quillin, Debs Webster
Roberta Quillin, Willis Alice Keese, Willis Quillin
Standing - Elsie, Willis Quillin, Alice Quillin, Nattie Quillin, Jandyra Quillin, Sarah Quillin, Seated- Helena Rohwedder
William Maxie (Billy) Keese, Judyra Quillin Keese, Willis Alice Keese, Jorge (Bobby) Walker Keese
Billy Keese and Valderes
Keese children, Willis Alice, Jorge (Bobby) and William (Billy) Maxey.
Elsa Quillin, Henrique MacKnight and Debs Webster
Willis Quillin, Willis Alice Keese, Clarence R Povey, Elsie Quillin,
Henry C MacKnight
Billy Keese, Jaoa Walker Keese, Willis Alice Keese, Jandyra Quillin, Bobby Keese
Bobby Keese, Willis Quillin, Maxie Quillin, Edwin Quillin, Helene Rohwedder, Willis Alice Keese, Janfyra Quillin, Alice Quillin, Nattie Quillin
Willis Alixe Keese, Parks Quillin, Helena Rohwedder, Nattie Quillin, and Annie Lizzie Jacobs (on floor)
Aug 1953
Willis Quillin and Debs Warren Webster
Seated - Debs and Willis,
Elizabeth, Sidney and Edwin Webster
Helena Rohwedder Quillin, Boyd Jacobs
and Nattie Quillin
Giuseppi Barbieri, Valderes _____, Billy Keese, Lucy Quillin
Lucy Quillin, Josette Barbieri, Jandyra Quillin
Marcello Famil May 1966
Gremar, Gregorio, Dukce, Grelciano, Domingos, Antonio Euclides, Lourdes, Gregorinho, Gregorio Jr
Max and Helena
Max and daughter, Robertina (Bobbie)
6.
Bellona Quillin
25 Feb 1877 in São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2 Jul 1893 in Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
7.
Orlando H Quillin
1883–1921
BIRTH 15 FEB 1883 • São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH 10 NOV 1921 • Dobrada, Sao Paulo, Brazil
8.
Anna Helena Quillen
1884–
BIRTH 1884 • São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DEATH São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil