Elsie May (Underwood) Crocker (1907 - 2001)

Born 6 May 1907 in Raft River, Cassia, Idaho, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Ferris Emerson Jones — married 21 Jul 1928 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, U.S.

Wife of Donald L Petersen — married 9 Jul 1960 in Vancouver, Clark, Washington

Wife of Arthur Lee Crocker — married 20 Apr 1963 in Multnomah County, Oregon, U.S.

Died 20 Jun 2001 at age 94 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Amber Brosius [send private message]

Biography

Elsie May Underwood was born on 6 May 1907 in Raft River, Idaho ^[1] . She was the third child, and first daughter, of Walter and Flora Underwood. In the 1990s, Elsie wrote a typescript of her family and childhood, which has been transcribed and can be read in installments on the Heritage Huntress blog.

In the early 1920s, Elsie moved to Oregon with her family, where she married Ferris Emerson Jones on 21 July 1928 ^[2]. They eventually divorced. On 9 July 1960 she remarried a man named Donald L. Petersen^[3], but their marriage lasted only a short while. Her third and final marriage was to Arthur Lee Crocker on 20 Apr 1963^[4], and it lasted until his death in 1992.

Elsie had no biological children, but considered Lee's children from his previous marriage as her own ^[5].

Elsie remained vigorous into her 90s. She and Lee resided at Willamette View Manor in Milwaukie, Oregon, where they both found involvement in the community. Elsie tended a rose garden and would frequently leave roses outside her neighbors' apartment doors in the morning ^[5].

Census records

(To view transcriptions of these census records, click the link for the desired year.)

The first census in which Elsie appeared was the 1910 Federal census. In this census, the Underwood family appeared divided. Both households were in Burley, Idaho, but Walter Sr. was alone on a farm while Flora and the children were in a house.^[6][7] The reason for this is uncertain, but it seems likely that Walter was getting the farm ready for the family. However, there is another possible reason. The child Vida appeared in this census, and her sister Elsie later recollected that

She only lived a few months. The Fremsteads took care of her but she passed away. We all came doun with “typhoid fever” except Dad and my oldest brother Walter. (Drinking water was the cause.) Mom always thought she could have saved Vida. ^[8]

Perhaps this census was taken at the time of this illness, and the family was in town in order to be treated for the typhoid fever while Walter Sr. kept up the farm.

At the age of 12 in the 1920 census, Elsie was residing with her family in Whitney, Ada, Idaho.^[9]

1930 census

At 5829 SE 50th St in Portland, Oregon. (Two families appear at the same address; this one is numbered 68a.^[10]

Ferris E. JONES: head; home owned; home valued $3000; has radio; not a farm; male; white; age 23; married; married at age 21; did not attend school this year; can read and write; born in Oregon; father born in Illinois; mother born in Washington; code A: 97; speaks English; occupation: collector; industry: Tires + Rubber-Co.; code D: 6365; worker class: W; employed; not a veteran.

Elsie M. Jones: wife – H; female; white; age 22; married; married at age 20; did not attend school this year; can read and write; born in Idaho; father born in England; mother born in England; code A: 89; code B: 00; code C: 0; speaks English; occupation: none.

1940 census

At 5829 SE 50th St in Portland, Oregon.^[11]

Ferris E JONES: Head; male; white; age 33; married; did not attend school this year; H-2 highest grade completed; code B: 10; born in Oregon; code C: 97; residence in 1935: Same House; not a farm; Was this person at work for pay or profit in private or nonemergency Govt. work during the week of March 24-30?: Yes; code E: 1; 60 hours worked; occupation: Credit Man; industry: Tire + Battery Co; worker code: PW; code F: 124 69 1; 52 weeks worked in 1939; income [illegible]; Did this person receive income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or salary: No.

Elsie May JONES: wife; female; white; age 32; married; did not attend school this year; H-2 highest grade completed; born in Idaho; residence in 1935: Same House; not a farm; Was this person at work for pay or profit in private or nonemergency Govt. work during the week of March 24-30?: No; If not, was he at work on, or assigned to, public Emergency Work (WPA, NYA, CCC, etc.) during the week of March 24-30?: No; Was this person seeking work?: No; If not seeking work, did he have a job, business, etc.?: No; Indicate whether engaged in home housework (H), unable to work (U), or other (O): H; 0 weeks worked in 1939; income 0; Did this person receive income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or salary: No.

Sources

1. ↑ Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, "Idaho, Birth Index, 1861-1912, Stillbirth Index, 1905-1962," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Sep 2015), entry for Elsie May Underwood's 1907 birth; citing Idaho Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Boise, Idaho.
2. ↑ Multnomah, Oregon, Marriage Licenses, 13157, Jones-Underwood, 1928; Oregon State Archives, Salem.
3. ↑ Clark, Washington, marriage certificate no. B38780 (1960), Peterson-Jones; digital image, Washington State Archives, "Clark County Auditor, Marriage Records, 1843-2012," Washington State Archives - Digital Archives (http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov : accessed 26 Nov 2012).
4. ↑ Oregon, Marriage Index, Oregon, Crocker-Petersen; Marriage Index, Oregon, 1961-2008 (by Groom's Surname) 0005.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Personal memory of Amber Brosius
6. ↑ 1910 U.S. census, Cassia, Idaho, population schedule, Burley Precinct, enumeration district (ED) 112, sheet 5B, dwelling checkmark, family 140, Walter Underwood; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Feb 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll T624_223.
7. ↑ 1910 U.S. census, Cassia, Idaho, population schedule, Burley Precinct, enumeration district (ED) 112, sheet 10A, p. 258 (stamped), family 221, household of Flora Underwood; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Oct 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 223.
8. ↑ Crocker, Elsie. unpublished typescript.
9. ↑ 1920 U.S. census, Ada, Idaho, population schedule, Whitney, enumeration district (ED) 34, sheet 7A, p. 259 (stamped), dwelling 1, family 1, household of Walter Underwood; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Feb 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll T625_287.
10. ↑ 1930 U.S. census, Multnomah, Oregon, population schedule, Portland, enumeration district (ED) 26-139, sheet 2A, p. 8650 (handwritten), dwelling 68, family 68, household of Ferris E. Jones; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Feb 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 1950.
11. ↑ 1940 U.S. census, Multnomah, Oregon, population schedule, Portland, enumeration district (ED) 37-157A, sheet 7B, household 182, household of Ferris E. Jones; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Sep 2015); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T627, roll 3387.

• Oregon, Index to Oregon Divorces, divorce of Donald Petersen and Elsie, 6 Feb 1967; Oregon Health Division Index to Oregon Divorces, 1966-1970 3.

• Advance Publications, Inc., "The Oregonian," database, America's News (http://www.newsbank.com/ : accessed 11 Jan 2015), Obituary of Elsie M. Crocker; citing "Obituaries" in 28 June 2001 Sunrise edition of The Oregonian, page B04.