Solomon Scalf (1857 - 1932)

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Biography

Solomon Scalf was born March 27, 1857. He was the oldest child of John Henry Scalf and Clarinda Sellards. Solomon and his brother John Breckenridge were living in the home of Joel Smith in 1880 Meeker County, Minnesota as boarders. By 1900 Solomon had married and was living in Ward County, North Dakota.

Henry Scalf states the following concerning Solomon and his wife:

“Solomon Scalf was the first to leave the parental home. He married Mary Frances Fuller, Jan. 28, 1883. They were the parents of six children, all born at Dassel. Solomon is best described by a nephew who knew him intimately, and said: "Solomon was a patient and enduring man, never unkind and always considerate of others.

Solomon homesteaded at Norma, North Dakota, in 1900 and at one-time, he and his half-brother, William Shortridge, conducted the Lewis Store, an establishment widely patronized. In 1908 he moved to near Coronach, Sasketchewan, Canada, a small hamlet north of the Montana border. It was 25 miles to Scobey, Montana, the grain center of the region and Solomon freighted his wheat there. In 1925 he moved to Coronach where he died, June 3, 1932. His widow survived until February 1937, and died at Centralia, Washington.” (Chronicles of the Scalf Family, Chapter VIII)

The census records of 1900 Ward County, North Dakota lists Solomon and his family. However, his wife’s name is not Mary or Frances. His wife’s name is Vera or Vina F. Scalf on this census. The first child, John H. was born about 1885 according to the census and would coincide with the marriage date of 1883 as stated by Henry P. Scalf. Vera is listed as 34 years old on this census with an estimated birth date of 1866.

By 1910, Solomon’s wife is listed as Mary F. and her age is 43 with an estimated birth date of 1867, which is very close to the age of Vera from the 1900 census. We cannot determine if Vera/Vina and Mary Frances were the same person but it does appear that the enumerator either made a mistake or Mary Frances had three names.

The death of Mary Frances Fuller is confirmed at the link listed below. She was born 1865 and died 1937 in Centralia (Lewis County) Washington. She is buried at Salkum (Mt. Hope) Cemetery in Lewis County, Washington.

Several of the Fuller family members are buried here.

OBIT OF MARY FRANCES FULLER SCALF DATED 12 FEB, 1937:

Mary Frances Scalf, 71, died Saturday morning in a local hospital. She was born September 26, 1866, in Virginia. She is survived by four sons, John of Cottage Grove, Ore.; James and William of Harmony where the deceased made her home, and George of Yorktown, Canada; a brother, James A. Fuller of Salkum; two sisters, Mrs. Roxie DeLong of Centralia and Mrs. Henry Hammill of Stanfield, Ore., and 19 grandchildren. Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at 2 o’clock at the Salkum church, and interment was in the Salkum cemetery under the direction of the Fissell Funeral Home. (Courtesy, Lewis County Historical Museum)

Sources

• http://www.scalf-family.org/MFleenor/Chapter%2013%20-%20Brittan%20Scalf.htm