Keziah McKibbin (Pierce) Tate (1859 - 1933)

Born Jul 1859 in Valparaiso, Porter Co., Indiana

Ancestors

Wife of Charles Mitchell Tate — married 19 Oct 1887 in Ottertail County, Minnesota

Descendants

Died 11 Jan 1933 at age 73 in San Leandro, Alemeda Co., Calif.

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Biography

Kezzie was named for her father's aunt, Keziah McKibbin. Her formative years were spent in Valparaiso, Indiana, where her parents worked as schoolteachers. Her father died when she was only two years old.^[1]

By 1878, her mother, brothers and sister had moved to Minnesota, but Kezzie, for a short time anyway, continued living in the Valparaiso area. In 1880, she was living as a boarder with a large family headed by a farmer, Daniel Wood, and was working as a schoolteacher.^[2]

By 1882, Kezzie was living with her mother and siblings in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, where she must have met her husband, Charles Tate. They were married October 19, 1887 in Otter Tail County. Kezzie and Charles were the parents of three children: Charles William Tate, born September 1888 and died 1 January 1889 at Pelican Lake, Minnesota; Homer Franklin Tate (1893-1959);^[3] and Jessie Elvira (1895-1920).

In 1895, Kezzie and Charles were living in Detroit, MN, where Charles was working as a bookkeeper. In about 1897, the couple were living in Fargo, North Dakota, and then three years later, they had moved to Corning, California, where Charles was working as a carpenter. They later moved to the Bay Area in Berkeley, near where the UC Berkeley campus now stands. The California voter roles indicate that Kezzie was a registered Socialist and her husband a registered Republican. That must have been interesting. (Later she switch over to Republican.)^[4]

Throughout her life, Kezzie either worked as a teacher, or as a nurse, so she must have been well educated. There was a tradition that Kezzie and her brother Hollis were "bookish," probably following the example of their mother, Marietta.

In her later years, Kezzie lost most of her family members. First her husband passed away, and later her daughter passed away in childbirth. Her son disappeared ... so by the time Kezzie passed away, she was without a family and living in a county hospital with a diagnosis of age-related dementia.

She died 11 January 1933 at San Leandro, California at the age of 72. After her death at the county hospital, her remains were cremated by the county and unfortunately there were no family members to pick up the ashes.^[5][6]

Biography by her great grandnephew, David M. Pierce, September 7, 2014. If you decide to use the biography in your research, please give me credit as its author. Thank you.

Sources

1. ↑ Files of Della Stenstrom. Family group sheet compiled by Mary Anderson 24 October 1985.
2. ↑ 1880 Fed Census, Porter Co., Pleasant Twp, Ind. Kezia--boarder & school teacher.
3. ↑ 1893 birth record of Homer in Vital Records Detroit Lakes, Becker Co., MN.
4. ↑ 1900 Fed Census, Tehama Co.,Corning Twp, CA, vol 46, Ed 180, Sh. 16, Line 21; 1910 Fed Census, Alameda Co., CA, Oakland Twp, Berkeley City, ED 48, L 36; 1927
5. ↑ Death Certificate # 1397, Ca. St. Board of Health, V.R. Oakland; 1933, Death Certif. #12, Oakland, Alameda Co., CA, V.R.
6. ↑ Find a Grave Memorial for Keziah Peirce Tate.