Snippets from the Dust: "I've Been Working on the Railroad"

What song will you teach your grandchildren? William and Savanna enjoy Ring Around the Rosie

Ring around the Rosie

on the front room rug. (click, to try it!) William likes to sing "Twinkle Twinkle" on his way to count the stars (click, to sing along) outside the window, trying to go to sleep. Words of "Edelweiss"

soothed my sobbing through a haircut comparable to Julie Andrews' as we pretended to sing on the mountainside with Maria Von Trapp. My Mom and Dad would race lickety-split through "For some must push and some must pull as we go marching up the hill, So merrily on our way we go, until we reach the valley-OH!" mile after mile on cross-country road trips toward Grandma and Grandpa's sagebrush roads.

So, it is time for a Happy Birthday song for Thomas Alva. Do we know where the name Alva comes from? You might remember a Thomas Alva Edison, which fitly matches an inventive young man talented in taking apart telephones,

Chevy Impalas,

and tuning pianos with a heart string.

There is someone else named Alva in the family.

The father of Tom's father's father was named Alva Albert, named after his Starkey grandfather, Alva.

Alva was born back east, in a small town in central Illinois, named Latham, in Logan County.

A town 20 miles north of Latham in the late 1870s A log cabin restored, in Latham Illinois

To help you understand how big the town was--in the year 2000, 371 people lived there. A hundred years earlier, there were likely a few less families. The nearest city is Decatur, which in 2010 claimed population of 76,000. Decatur today

has a large company named Tate and Lyle, that researches food qualities,

a factory that processes corn

Archer Daniels Midland, otherwise known as (ADM)

and another that makes large Caterpillar scrapers and trucks. Decatur today has two colleges, including Millikin University, created in 1901.

Alva was born in the springtime, on 6 April 1888, the third of seven children. His parents, Milton Starkey and Minerva Patton, had moved 400 miles from Hocking county, Ohio, across Indiana (currently about a seven hour drive) to begin their family. Marrying at ages 25 and 22, their first daughter Hattie, was born when father Milton was nearly 26 and mother Martha was nearly 23. Oral was born two years later, in 1886, and Alva arrived two years after Oral.

This photo shows Hattie, top, far left; Milton, back row, far right. Milton Chauncey, Jr stands to his right, with Martha Minerva to Milton Jr.' right. Oral stands between Hattie and Minerva. Grace, then Bessie (furthest rt, dark dress) are on far right in second row. Press red link "this photo" for further names, detail. Note the tall Starkey girls. Grace and Bessie were said to be close to 6 feet tall.

Milton farmed. Ira, another brother, was born three years after Alva, followed by Grace and Bessie-- every succeeding two years, ending with Milton Chauncey in 1895. The 1900 Census shows all the children living at home ranging in ages from 15 to 3, with the house listed as a rented farm. And records show that each of the children were born in Logan County, Illinois.

Here is Decatur some 24 years after Milton Starkey family moves

A 1910 Census shows the family still living in Decatur, Macon, Illinois with Oral, Grace, Ira, Bessie, and Milton, missing Hattie and Alva. In 1915, after each of the seven of children are mostly grown, Milton and Minerva move to Farr West, Utah, a farming community northwest of Ogden, Utah, where again, Milton farms. What his grandchildren remember about Milton is the handle-bar mustache.

The 1920 Census shows Milton and Minerva, ages 61 and 58, living in Farr West precinct of Weber County, Utah with two of their older children, Hattie and Oral, ages 35 and 23, with Milton listed as a general farmer, all household members are able to read. Martha passes away with heart problems in 23 October 1925 in Farr West and is buried in Ogden. Milton lives for 12 more years, finally passing from kidney and heart problems on 28 February 1937.

So, when Alva's parents move west, what happens to Alva? Read this:

Decatur, Illinois Daily Review Thu 27 Jan 1910

EXTRA TALL Alva A. Starkey Wanted to Enlist in Marine Corps. Special permission had to be obtained by Sergeant T. J. Kilcourse of the United States Marine corps to enlist Alva Albert Starkey, six feet three Inches tall, a young farmer residing with his father, Milton Starkey, on rural route No. 7 out of Decatur. The marine corps regulations provide a maximum height of six feet one Inch, but Starkey was such a fine specimen of manhood and so anxious to enter the service that Sergeant' Kilcourse decided to get permission from Chicago to enlist him. This was obtained and Starkey was sent to Chicago Thursday for routing to the eastern seaboard.

The 1910 Census shows, Alva, 22, living in barracks in the U.S. Navy yard in Portsmouth, Virginia.

In 1976, Uncle Glenn (upon Val's request) requested and received certification of Alva's military service:

Alva joined the United States Marine Corps on 28 January 1910. He sailed on the U.S.S. Prairie on 19 February 1913 from Norfolk, Virgina to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. Naval Base,

arriving 27 February 1913. He departed from Guantanamo Bay on 27 February, 1913 and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 31 May 1913.

This is Philadelphia naval shipyard, 1913, then a later photo in the 1950's aerial view

Alva was discharged from the marines on 27 June 1914.

He then enlisted in the Army on 21 October 1917 and served until 12 May 1919. His highest rank in the military was private in the U.S. Army SVC.

Grandpa received this photo labeled "Alva in uniform" from his cousin Barbara Kiosk.
It matches the uniforms for the US of that era. The resembles his brother Oral, but I cannot find a record of Oral in the service.

When registering for the draft for World War I on 5 June 1917, at age 29, Alva registers as a private in the "Met'n Police",
having served as a private in the U.S. Marines for four years. (Note his signature.)

He is unmarried. [And after his death, a record made by his Anna Starkey, his wife, verifies that he served as sergeant in the Army 4th balloon corps "AS" in World War II.]

Type R Balloon, and winch truck at Ross Field
At the start of World War I, observation balloon units were organized into companies, squadrons, and wings. Balloons were used as aerial platforms for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting

Just over two years after the draft register, on the 17 of June 1919, Alva marries Estella Edwards, a nurse born in Pennsylvania, daughter to English immigrants. 1920 finds the couple lodging in a boarding house in Washington D.C.

Above is a photo of WA DC in the 1920's

Alva is recorded as head, Estella as wife. Alva again is listed as being a (mounted) policeman in the District of Columbia.

Stella says she is not working at that time (January, 1920) although she had completed a registered nursing degree seven years earlier.

But she must have had a bit to do if they were housing nine male boarders, ages 65 to 22-- carpenters, clerks and accountant for the treasury and war departments, and an owner and salesman at a candy store.

Here is a photo of a candy store in D.C. c. 1920

Maybe it was from the candy store renters that Grandpa Alva learned the song, "Big Rock Candy Mountain" which he taught to at least one of his children. It has become a favorite of some of his great grandchildren, too. (To hear, try their preferred children's edition by Wee Sing in SillyVille. It a full 15 minute video--to get the Candy Mountain song, start at minute 5:36.)

Shortly after the census, a first son, Alva Earl, was born to Alva and Estella, 11 May 1920. Shortly after Alva's birth, and before 11 of August, 1922, (when second son, Glenn arrived,) the Alva Albert Starkey family entertained a change of residence. Lawlessness can abound in big cities. The couple, looking for a safer place to raise their children, decided to join Alva's parents near the small farming community out west--close to Ogden Utah. They moved to 2353 Monroe Ave and Glenn Albert was born near the hot summer's end in Farr West, Weber, Utah, so Estella could be watched over by her family as they welcomed their new son.

Four years later, Alva Earl began school. In January, after what they thought had been a successful operation for tonsillitis, six year old Earl started to bleed. His death certificate records that he had influenza as a contributing cause to bleeding in the deep vessels of the neck. Earl died shortly thereafter on 25 January, 1927.

A grief-stricken mother, threw her energies into other things. Nearly ten months later, a third son, Larry born 15 November, 1927, joined the family to assuage mourning hearts and fill empty arms.

The family were found in 1928, on 802 Canyon Road, across the street from a spacious Lorin Farr park.

These photos were taken May, 2008. (Top, is park. Next is front of home. Third row is back yard.) Alva loved to garden. He grafted roses, and taught Glenn to graft several apple trees into the one they had. He was one of the first in Ogden to grow a "fuzz-less peach" or nectarine. He also grew vegetables and several kinds of grapes. The house was very small. It had one bedroom, so small that to make the bed, you had to climb over it. The children slept outside under the grape arbors in the summer and in the winter, slept on a sofa. In about 1941, when Larry was turning 14 and Glenn, 19, was entering the service, Alva decided to add on to the house. Unsuccessful in getting a loan to remodel, Alva decided to sell. After trouble working to purchase another home on Monroe Blv, they ended up renting on 1462 Washington Blvd.

One of Alva's first jobs was a plumber to help pipe water to Ogden from Pineview Reservoir

(L. Starkey interview, June 2010).

Folks who remember Alva--along with city directory records, 1930 and 1940 census records, and death records--help us know that Alva Albert worked on the railroad.

Ogden, Utah Roundhouse

Roundhouses were buildings used by railroads for servicing locomotives and other cars. They were large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntable. Turntables were used to get an engine into one of many slots to do the repair work on the locomotive..

So, if we picked a song to describe Alva Albert Starkey, it might be "I've been working on the Railroad, all the live long day!" The 1930 Census he is listed as a drill pressman for the (coal fired) steam railroad. After some time, the trains became diesel.

A diesel engine

1940 Census lists him as machinist helper in a railroad shop.

In those days the Ogden station was called the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Recently, two railroads have joined and become the Union Pacific.

(Interview with Alva's son, Larry, June, 2010:)

Laurene: Did your dad ever take you to the railroad?

Larry: Once or twice. And he took me there and helped me climb up on one of those big steam engines and sit on that seat where the engineers sit. I was quite impressed.

Laurene: How old were you?

Larry: Ten or twelve. It was earlier than that, because I was in scouting at 12, so it must have been 10.

Larry: We used to go up to Ogden Canyon with the folks and with all the rest of their people that worked for the Railroad and go up to South [Fork] campground and spend the day there and would play horse shoes and various kinds of games.

And when we got through that night, we went back down the canyon to home.

Verla : Did you do it every weekend in the summer?

Larry: Most of them, yeah?

Verla; But you didn’t stay over night, you just went up for one day.

Larry: The only time we ever stayed overnight was when Dad and Mother and I went up Logan Canyon and went up around Smithfield there and borrowed a tent and we stayed there overnight and got up the next morning and went hunting.

We used to go out to Hot Springs in North Ogden ...

Hot Springs , Rocky Point

Dad used to go on a Sunday and go out there and they would sit around in the hot tub and we as boys would go out swimming. They had a swimming pool with hot water. We used to go out there, especially in the winter time.

Laurene: Do you remember going [places] with your [family?]

Larry: [My mother and I] went back [East] twice. And I don’t know why we didn’t go more often, because we had a pass [that] didn’t cost you anything. They were free, and except your meals if you were going to eat on the train…

Laurene: How did you get a pass like that?

Larry: Well, Dad worked for the railroad, and you had to apply for it, and then they would send you a pass you would take it and climb on the train, and when the conductor came along and you showed him the pass….

Val: Did your dad come?

I could never figure that out. Because Dad, he must have had a lot of vacation time built up on the railroad, [but he did not use it.]

Val: Do you remember where he took a vacation?

Larry: To go hunting was about the only time.

Laurene: Did he take you?

Larry: Yeah, he and I went...

Laurene: What did you hunt?

Larry: Deer.

Laurene: Did you get anything?

Larry: Oh, we got some, yeah. I don’t remember how many. He went with some other folks from Washington Blvd., the Stories, ... and he and they went several times hunting with us. We always seemed to have deer meat around.

One method of cold storage of yesteryear

Val: Where would you keep it? Did you have a freezer?

Larry: No, we didn’t have a freezer.

Verla: They had food storage places behind some grocery stores.

Larry: Yeah.

Verla: We had one that was about a block and a half away. And it was in a basket. It was very cold in there, and each person had a key to get it out.

Larry: Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that.

Val: How big was it?

Larry: Oh, they would be about that square.

Verla: About two feet square.

Val: How would they keep the building cold?

Verla: It was a room, about two feet square.

Val: Was it frozen?

Larry: Each person had a key, and you went in and got what you wanted out.

Laurene: What do you remember about the depression?

Ration Stamps

Larry: Well, I don’t know. We didn’t have a lot of problems. I know, that if you wanted to get a pair of shoes, you had to get, what do you call them, Verla?

Verla: Stamps-- Rationing stamps. They gave you a book , and you got a pair of shoes every six or nine months and you got sugar, [or other things.]

How did a railroad man travel? Alva had his son drive him. When his mother was ill, Larry learned to drive and would drive his parents to do errands, and take them on their weekend outings to the canyon.

Working to identify photo titled "Old Ford picture" sent by B. Kiosk. Some think this is Alva. Note wood spokes on wheels.

Larry: We used to have street cars that ran up and down the street in front of us. I don’t remember the year that they took those street cars off.

Laurene: And you are talking about a trolley.

Larry: Yeah. And it had a rail?

Larry: Tracks. Yeah it was tracks

Laurene: Did it have an electrical thing above it?

Larry: Yes. In fact, they used to go up when it was stopped, they used to pull off the wire up there, and then the guy would have to get out of the car and connect it up again.

Laurene: He wasn’t happy with them.

Larry: No. The kids used to tease him a lot.

Ogden Street cars

The Corner Store

Though neither of his boys followed Alva in his passion for working on railroad cars, both learned to work early and work hard. At age 12, Larry stocked shelves at a corner store.

And just out of high school, Alva's oldest son Glenn joined the National Guard. At 19, Glenn was one of the first to be called up to serve in the marines, as the United States entered World War II following Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. Surely Alva listened intently to the radio nightly with his family to learn what was happening in the South Pacific, where Glenn was stationed.

Not long after Glenn left, Estella began to fail in health. For years, son and husband would tend to her needs. She had a ladies' group who called upon her and cared for her. They celebrated with her, hosting bridal and later a baby shower when her son Glenn returned from the war and found a sweet wife, Lorraine, from Malad, Idaho, married and in time, brought a grandson into their family.

Less than two weeks after the celebrated arrival, on 10 April, 1947, Estella passed quietly away. Her death certificate explained cause as cardiac failure with rheumatic heart disease.

The next fourteen years passed without major event. Lorraine remembers Alva enjoying dancing. Alva remarried Anna Todd. A special visit happened the summer of 1953 when he traveled to see Glenn's family in Oregon and toured Silver Creek Falls. After seeing Mount Hood and other sights, dumbfounded, he pronounced, "This is as close to heaven as I'll ever get!"