Florence Elizabeth (Green) Bixby (1876 - 1961)

Born 18 Jul 1876 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States

Wife of Frederick Hathaway Bixby Sr. — married 31 Aug 1898 in Berkeley, California, United States

Died 2 Aug 1961 at age 85 in Rancho Los Alamitos, Long Beach, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Florence Elizabeth “Polly” Green was born in San Francisco in 1876, the daughter of Adam Treadwell Green and Harriet Hancock “Hattie” Jones.

In 1880, the Green family lived at 13 Haight St., San Francisco, California. The household included Adam T. Green, 47, born in New York, a merchant; his wife, H.H. (Harriet), 30, born in New Hampshire; their two daughters, both born in California, Florence E., 4; and Marybelle H., 2. Also living with them was Adam Green’s nephew, A.T. Sutherland, 17, born in California, a clerk in a store (father b. England; mother b. NY); and two Irish women (a servant and a nurse). ^[1]

Florence attended the Anna Head School in Berkeley, CA. After her early education at Miss Head’s School, Florence attended the University of California (Berkeley), and graduated in 1898. She married Fred Hathaway Bixby that same year. They then moved to Rancho Los Alamitos (Long Beach, California). Florence became well known for the Christmas parties hat she would host with her family at the Rancho. Extended family, and tenants and employees of the Rancho along with their families were invited, and the parties sometimes exceed 300 attendees. ^[2]

In 1910, the Bixby family lived on their ranch on Anaheim Road, Long Beach Township, Naples Precinct, Los Angeles county, California. The household included Fred H. Bixby, 34, a farmer; his wife of twelve years, Florence E., 33. They had had five children; their children, Katharine, 10; Elizabeth F.(Florence), 9; Deborah, 6; John H., 4; and Frederick H., an infant. Also living with them on the ranch were 23 “servants,” including a bookkeeper, chauffeur, laborers and teamsters. ^[3]

In 1920, the Bixby family was enumerated twice. Once at a rented home in Oakland Township, Berkeley, California, and once at their ranch in Long Beach, California. The Oakland address was 1725 Arch (?). The Long Beach address was their farm on Anaheim Road. Fred owned the ranch without a mortgage. Members of the household (s) were Fred H., 44, a farmer/rancher; his wife Florence, 43; their children, Katharine, 20; Florence E., 19; Deborah, 15; John T./J., 13; and Frederick H., 9. All the children were in school. All members of the household were born in California. Living with them in Oakland was a maid, Amanda Crowley, 50, born USA, a widow. Living with them in Long Beach was a hired man, Clark S. Chatham, 24, born in CA. ^{[4] [5]}

In 1926, Fred and Florence and three of their children returned from Europe aboard the S.S. Berengaria. The departed Cherbourg, France on 11 September, and arrived in the Port of New York on 17 September, 1926. The Bixby passengers were Fred, 50, born 20 April 1875 in Wilmington, CA; Florence, 49, b. 18 July 1876 in San Francisco; Fred, Jr., 16, b. 10 May 1910 (error) in Los Angeles; Elizabeth (Florence), 25, b. 17 Nov 1900 in Long Beach, CA; and Deborah, 22, b. 11 Jan 1904 in Long Beach. Their address was Rancho Los Alamitos, Long Beach, CA. ^[6] NOTE: Fred Bixby, Jr. was born 5 April 1910. The RMS Berengaria, a luxury ocean liner, was a ship with an interesting past. She, or “he” as Kaiser Wilhem ordered it, was built in Imperial Germany, named the S.S. Imperator, and launched in 1912. She was the largest passenger ship at the time, larger than the recently-sunk Titanic. During WWI, the Imperator layed in harbor, and was seized after the Armistice by the US Navy, and subsequently used as a troop transport ship, returning troops from France to New York. At the end of the war, she was transferred as war reparations for the loss of the Lusitania, to England, in 1919, and became the star ship of the Cunnard Line (until the launching of the Queen Mary), and was renamed the RMS Berengaria. The Berengaria became known as the “ship of millionaires” during the roaring 20s, making the round trip voyage from Southampton to New York. But she suffered several fires caused by electrical problems, as well as other troubles, and by 1938 was slated for demolition. At the height of the Depression in England, it was estimated that her dismantling for scrap metal would employ 200 men for two years. First, her furnishing and assessories were auctioned off. Then the demolition began, but was stalled by the outbreak of WWII. Her complete dismantaling was not completed until 1946. ^[7] Click on the following link for YouTube video of phots and clips of the RMS Berengaria. ^[8]

In 1930, the Bixby family lived on their ranch in Alamitos Township, LA County, California. The household included Fred H. Bixby, 54, who owned the property, valued at $62,9000. They also had a radio. Fred, a farmer, was not a veteran; his wife Florence G., 53, b. CA. She was 22 and Fred was 23 when they married; their children, Florence E., 29; and Fred, Jr., 19, in school. ^[9]

In 1940, the Bixby family lived on their farm on Anaheim St., Signal Hill, Los Angeles, California (near Long Beach) Fred, 64, owned the farm, valued at $10,000. He was listed as the manager of the ranch, working 60 hours per week, and had an income of $5000+ as a paid employee. His wife Florence, 63, and he had both completed four years of college. Their daughter Florence E, 39, was listed as a self-employed cattle rancher, working 30 hours per week, with zero income (a strange arrangement; probably to favor the family in taxes?). She had completed four years of high school. They had lived in the same house for at least five years. Also,living with them was a maid (66hrs/wk; $862 income) and a cook (50hrs/wk; $1200 income). The cook, Lydia Shinkle, 63, had lived with the Bixby family for at least five years. Lydia, Fred and his wife Florence all had outside incomes. ^[10]

Florence published “Is There a Thing Called Spring?”, a book of poetry in 1936. She founded and was one-time president of the Long Beach Day Nursery, and served on many other civic and cultural positions. When she died, she was survived by three children. She was preceded in death by her husband, son John, and daughter Deborah (Mrs. Robert C. Green). (Source: Cal Hist QJ, Cal Hist Soc, 40, No. 4, Dec 1961, News of the Society in Memoriam, Florence Green Bixby by Homer D. Crotty, pp 365-366)

• Florence died, aged 85, in 1961, in Long Beach, CA, and is buried with her husband and four of their children in San Gabriel Cemetery, San Gabriel, CA. ^[11]

In 1946, the Bixbys acquired the Mary Cassatt 1880 painting Mother About to Wash Her Sleepy Child, which was possibly the first of Cassatt’s Mother-and-Child images. Florence bequeathed the painting to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (LACMA) , in 1962, after her death. Image attached. ^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6PF-MJZ : 19 February 2021), H H Green in household of Adam T Green, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States; citing enumeration district ED 223, sheet 383B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,079.
2. ↑ Cal Hist QJ, Cal Hist Soc, 40, No. 4, Dec 1961, News of the Society in Memoriam, Florence Green Bixby by Homer D. Crotty, pp 365-366 (https://online.ucpress.edu/ch/article-abstract/40/4/365/27636/Florence-Green-Bixby?redirectedFrom=PDF)
3. ↑ 1910 US Census, Long Beach Twp, Naples Precinct, Los Angeles, California (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVL7-K65)
4. ↑ US Census, Oakland Twp, Berkeley, Alameda, California (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH36-VHV)
5. ↑ US Census, Long Beach, Los Angeles, California (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHQH-RQR)
6. ↑ New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1925-1957 (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXMN-6C3)
7. ↑ Wikipedia, S.S. Imperator (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Imperator)
8. ↑ YouTube (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AYd46N1483E)
9. ↑ US Census, Alamitos Twp., Los Angeles, California (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCFD-2JF)
10. ↑ 1940 US Census, Signal Hill judicial Twp, Los Angeles, California (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9WL-BG3)
11. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #87365729
12. ↑ LACMA (https://collections.lacma.org/node/233513)