Silas Otto Williford (1894 - 1964)

Born 14 Jul 1894 in Wagoner, Creek Nation, Oklahoma Indian Territory

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Julia (Newman) Williford — married about 1920 in San Joaquin County, California

Died 15 Aug 1964 at age 70 in Stockton, California

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Robert Green [send private message]

Biography

Silas Otto, or Ott as he was called, was the eldest of four children. He was the only son of Henry Marshall and Effie Mae (Tetrick) Williford, born in Wagoner, Creek Nation, Oklahoma Indian Territory in 1894. When he was about 8 years old the family moved west to California's San Joaquin Valley. He grew up in Porterville, California.

By the time World War I broke out Ott received his draft notice in 1917. When he was actually drafted in 1918, he had moved to Stockton, California. He served as a Corporal in Company B of the 603rd Engineers that shipped out to Europe in 1918 and came back home from France in 1919.

In 1918, before he was drafted into the army, Ott married Mary Julia Newman, the daughter of Jess and Josie (Ruiz) Newman, in San Joaquin County, California.

After the war, when 25 years old, Ott and Julia settled in Stockton, California, where he would live out his life. In 1921 they lost a son during childbirth. They would not have another child.

Ott worked in a wood planing business for many years before becoming a house painter. He was an avid baseball fan and closely followed the Stockton Ports, a minor league professional baseball team based in Stockton. He tried to attend as many home games as he could at Billy Hebert Field.

Ott was a smoker and lung cancer killed him in 1964 when he was 70 years of age. He and Julia are both buried in the Stockton Rural Cemetery in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSTM-8ZW : accessed 3 June 2016), Silas Otto Williford in household of Henry M Williford, Township 17 N. Range 18 E. Wagoner, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, United States; citing sheet 16A, family 361, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,241,853.

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVPS-T4K : 29 October 2015), Neal O Willeford in household of Henry Willeford, Porterville Ward 2, Tulare, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 197, sheet 12B, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,374,124.

• "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZKC-8F2 : 23 February 2021), Otto Williford, 1917-1918.

• "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8ZX-547 : 9 March 2021), Otto Williford and Mary Julia Newman, 14 Apr 1918; citing San Joaquin, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 1,841,864.

• "United States, Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916-1939", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HWHL-KNMM : 15 May 2021), Otto Williford, 1918.

• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH4D-QPC : 31 January 2021), Otto C Williford, 1920.

• "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CVC4-Z76Z : 9 December 2020), Otto Williford in entry for Williford, 1921.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCND-73G : accessed 17 October 2021), Otto Williford, Stockton, San Joaquin, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 61, sheet 14B, line 92, family 311, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 211; FHL microfilm 2,339,946.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9D6-MQN : accessed 3 June 2016), Silas Williford, Ward 6, Stockton, O'Neal Judicial Township, San Joaquin, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 39-67, sheet 7B, family 143, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 325.

• "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:87X6-14N2 : 9 December 2020), Otto Williford, 1964.

• "United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W7N9-85MM : 26 October 2019), Otto Williford, 1 Jul 1919; citing Military Service, NARA microfilm publication 76193916 (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985), various roll numbers.

• Find A Grave Memorial for Silas Otto Williford [1]