ROBERTA, QUINTUS, CORINTHA, AND THOMAS; DEE'S SIBLINGS

 

Roberta E. Billington was born in Limestone, Texas on April 6, 1856.  She was the first girl born to Florinda Atkinson Billington and James A. Billington.  She joined her brother, D.S. Billington who was born the year before.  She was the only girl of the family that lived to adulthood.  She was known as Bertie to her many friends, teachers, and community.  She attended school in Carrollton, Missouri after coming north from their Texas ranch in 1867 with her mom and dad, and brothers Dee, Meriot, James William, and baby Thomas Jefferson.

 She was 22 years old when she married Thomas W. Hardwick in Carrollton, Missouri on October 9, 1878. Tom’s family was well known in Carrollton, but he left the area in 1864 to join the confederate army and then after the Civil War, to explore the western frontier states which made him familiar with the land in nearly every state west of the Mississippi river. His knowledge of the country, and also his abilities as an interpreter, (for he could speak several Indian languages and could also understand and use their sign language), made him eagerly sought after by the government as a scout to conduct many famous expeditions.

 

Tom lived some time in Teton, Montana, then in 1877 he bought land in the Deadwood area and became a deputy sheriff there.  He made several trips back to Carrollton that year possibly to court Roberta in addition to visiting his family.  The local Carrollton newspaper reported their marriage ceremony was at 7 in the evening and they left on the 9:30 train for St. Louis for a one week honeymoon.  When returning to Carrollton, they announced their plan to make their future home in Deadwood.  While in the Deadwood area, they worked their cattle ranch and also raised thoroughbred horses. Roberta and Tom Hardwick may have encouraged the Billington brothers, Dee, Meriot, and James W., to come to the Dakota Territory which they did in the following years. Dee lived in the Deadwood and Spearfish, DT area until 1936 (7), Meriot  got a job in Kansas City, Kansas about 1891, and James W. and his wife Adalaide Beuter left Deadwood and raised their two girls on a ranch near Dallas, Texas between 1890-1897.

 

Roberta died on Oct 8, 1879,  from complications in childbirth.  Tom drove Roberta’s body by wagon, back to Carrollton, to be buried near her family. The Oak Hill Cemetery is the resting place not only for Roberta, but also her parents, her aunt, uncle, several Billington cousins, eight of her Atkinson relatives on her mother’s side, and eighteen of her Hardwick relatives.  

 Several years later Tom wrote an autobiography and had it almost completed when it, together with a trunk full of his memoirs, routes and relics, was burned in a Deadwood fire.  THIS MAY BE THE REASON WE HAVE NO PHOTOS OF ROBERTA OR TOM HARDWICK..

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Dee's siblings that passed away as young children: 

Quintus Sebastian: Dec. 1858-Dec. 10, 1864- 6 years old, Tyler, TX

Corintha Aldonia: Nov. 4, 1862-Oct. 4, 1864 - 2 years old, Tyler, TX

Thomas Jefferson: April 13, 1867-Aug. 9, 1869 -2years old, Carrolton, MO

The unusual names for the children possibly came from their parents who wanted their children to strive for a high education or social status. Most of the names appear in the Bible. Florinda had a brother named Quintus.  Other than that name, and James,  the other first and middle names of all the siblings do not appear on either side of the family tree. However, all the children that lived to adulthood used nicknames instead of their real names. 

Future Blogposts will feature the lives of Meriot Ciscilian Billington, and James William Billington and their families.  Dee's life stories were featured on previous Blogposts and can be found under "Other Posts" scrolled down from this one.  

Elfred Dee Billington (6/3/1923-8/17/1973)

 

Many thanks to ElDee's three children, Kathy (Billie),Chris and Les, for writing the following  biographical sketch to share with all Billington families that love and remember him dearly. 

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To write up something about LD Billington is like trying to write about Superman.                That’s how we all feel about him.

 Early on dad and Uncle Bill were sent to live with the Heilean’s during the depression. They were sent there to work for the family and that’s where dad got his love of Swedish pancakes.

 Grandpa was working for the forest service up in Clyde Park. He had gotten a phone call to go look for a lost car that was from out of the area. It was very cold and bad weather had come in. Uncle Bill and grandpa went out to look for the family. LD was upset he couldn’t go along, so he strapped on his skis and took off looking for them himself. He ended up climbing a tree to survey the area and found the family at the base of the tree he had climbed, dead and frozen. They had tried to start a fire but to no avail. Unfortunately, it was determined that the tree had a lot of pitch on it and if they had just started it on fire it would have kept them warm. He raced home, worried he was going to be in trouble and let uncle Bill know about the family.

 LD loved sports, and played football, basketball and ran track. In fact, he still holds the record for the 400-yard dash. (this could be because the 400 is now the 440 in meters. 

Between his junior and senior year, grandpa was bitten by a snake while haying and LD had to lance the bite and suck the venom out.

 

LD had to quit school his senior year to take care of his mom and younger siblings after his father had died.

Through his friendship with Les Sanders he met Dorothy Sanders. And it was love! They got married on November 22, 1945, on Thanksgiving Day. Al Walker and Mary Sanders stood up with them.

 

 On their first anniversary LD was running heal boom on a logging crew out of Perma. He loaded the last truck of the day, and the driver wouldn’t take the truck out, worried about the brakes. LD was wanting to get home, so he jumped in the truck and on the way out, the truck brakes did fail. He jumped out of the truck, away from the load, but unfortunately the binder cables broke, and the logs rolled over on him. Every bone in his body was broken except his neck and one arm. When Dorothy got to the hospital, she was told he had 15 minutes to live. She was 19 years old at the time. It totally crushed his left ankle. The local doctor wanted to amputate his left leg. LD told them he didn’t want that, saying “I’d rather die.” Charlie Sanders, his father-in-law, stepped in and found a new orthopedic surgeon out of Missoula named Dr. Honeycutt. Unfortunately, the day he was to arrive in Mission for the surgery, the roads were closed due to weather. The local doctor was moving forward with the amputation since Dr. Honeycutt was not there, however, Dorothy, being 19 and scared, called her dad. Charlie Sanders came to the hospital and blocked the doors to the OR until Dr. Honeycutt could get there. Ultimately the surgery was successful, but the ankle was fused. He spent almost a year in the hospital recovering from all his injuries. (LD also received his draft notice on the day of the accident. Needless to say, he didn’t end up serving.)

 

After his recovery, they bought 80 acres from grandpa Sanders and started a dairy. 

Later, LD went to work on the Yellowstone pipeline. The crew was all southern individuals and LD was the only Yankee, which they liked to remind him of. They liked to give him grief about being a Yankee, and he would remind them of their national history and that at the time of the Civil War, Montana was a territory. The family moved to Plains and later to Hot Springs. He quit when they asked him to move to Wallace, so they came back to the ranch in Mission. 

A short time later, LD ended up back in the woods on a logging crew. The family would visit him in Swan Lake and he would come back on the weekends to Mission to continue working on the ranch. In the winter, the logging company had the logging crew plow the roads, so LD ran the snow plow in Swan Lake, to keep the roads open. He did this until one day he went into the office to speak to his boss, Lyman Claridge. As the family was sitting in the pickup watching the door, the door flew open and out flew Lyman. LD came stomping to the truck and explained that he had quit his job. “Can’t work for no SOB that makes me that mad”.

 

That action started his career as a farm machinery salesman out of Missoula, selling Massey Ferguson equipment. He sold all over Western Montana. 

A few years later, he started driving truck. He continued to work on the ranch on the weekends, keeping him always busy. In fact, he purchased property in Helena from Dorothy’s Uncle George. He went back and forth between Mission and Helena to work the property, while also still driving truck. He continued to drive long haul until he had his last accident in the fall of 1970. He had slipped off the truck when he was trying to take his tarps off his truck. He had again shattered his left ankle, which had been injured years earlier in a logging accident. He was brought to St. Pats in Missoula but ended up in Ennis Montana to see Dr. Losee, a renowned surgeon that had worked on many famous athletes. After surgery, he returned home for the next two years, focused on the ranch. He leased Gordon Lackner’s mountain pasture up 9-mile, out of Missoula, supplementing summer pasture for grazing.

 

He passed away suddenly in his sleep on August 17, 1973. He only got the opportunity to meet 

one of his 6 grandchildren.

The night before he passed, out of the blue, Grandma Eva, Aunt Carol, Aunt Donna and others stopped by and had a great visit with ice cream and laughs.  

 Suffice it to say, he was our Superman.

To show just what kind of man LD Billington was, when Kathleen Billington was in Highschool, her English class was given an assignment to write about someone that had impacted their life, someone they held in high esteem. When the day came to read them aloud in class, Mike Emery stood up and had written about LD Billington. He talked about how his car had broken down, and LD stopped and helped him, bringing Mike and his car to LD’s own home and working on Mike’s car until he got it going. Kathleen had no idea this had happened. This was just who LD Billington was. 

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At Eva's house

Thanksgiving 1945

Billy, Stella Blondie, ElDee

Stella, ElDee,Blondie

age 18

NOTES: 

*We owe ElDee a lot of  gratitude for our family history information most of which has been shared on this blog.  It was during ElDee's long haul trips to California that he met Aunt Estelle in Watsonville.  She shared the stories of her father Demetrious (Dee) and ElDee shared them with me.  He encouraged me to write to her and Aunt Cecil which I did and began a relationship with them through the mail. I had no idea at the time, that I would move to California only about 3  hours from Watsonville. When I visited her, I asked her to record the stories on my cassette tape recorder and I then typed them out and send the typed edition back to her for approval to make corrections, additions, and permission to publish them.  Thank you ElDee for making family history and family connections!!

 *The name Dee has been passed down, not only to El Dee, but to his daughter Christie Dee and nephew Jay Dee.  

*Affectionally known as LD by his immediate family members or ElDee by his cousins, he was a superman of a guy and oh so likeable, or even loveable, to all who knew him. With his winning smile and his jolly whit, he could make us all laugh every time we were near him. His "never to be forgotten" greeting with huge hugs brought warmth and joy just to be around him. His jovial teasin' just made him more endearing. His "So long, we'll see ya, Ya Betchya" good-byes always brought on one more lingering hug...we're missing you, Uncle ElDee and think of you often with love and admiration.

 

*Anyone wanting to add notes, comments, pictures, or corrections to this blogpost, please email me at lana.rankin@yahoo.com and I will include them in the next blogpost. 

 

Estelle Margaret Billington -Sid's baby sister

 

Estelle Billington

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March 9, 1909  the 9th Billington baby was born to Dee and Estella Billington in Spearfish, South Dakota. They named her Margaret Billington.

A glorious birth, a glorious day, was darkened a few days later by the fact that the baby's sister, Jean, suddenly passed away, March 11, and mother Estella was fighting for her life with intense post partum infection. Dee arranged for two cars to leave Spearfish to take Estella to the hospital late that cold March night.  He also arranged for two cars to leave Deadwood at the same time to meet half way.  The steep winding gravel road was not dependable so they wanted to make sure they got her safely to the hospital.  Estella did not survive her surgery and Dee was left rushing back and forth from home to hospital, from baby, to Jean, to mother Estella. Arranging two funeral's back to back must have been a heavy burden for Dee and the family.  

Many of the townspeople became interested in the family situation.  Some told Dee he was just not going to be able to raise that baby girl and she should be adopted.  A rich couple in town really wanted her.  Some relatives from Canada wanted her.  People would actually get mad at him for insisting the family stay together. Dee gave the baby girl her mother's name, Estella Margaret, shortened to Stella.

Dee moved his family to the house next to the livery barn, which he owned, so he could be near his children. The same nurse that had been with her mother, took baby Stella home with her.  She lived on a farm.  She didn't take very good care of her.  Sister Binks and brother Sid went to see Stella one day and found her dirty and covered with flies.  The nurse was working out in the fields.  Binks went crying to Dad, "You've got to bring her home! She is going to die there!"  She was sickly apparently because she could not digest ordinary milk.

Dee went to get baby Stella and the nurse said, "You might as well leave her here, she's going to die anyway." 

Dee said, "Then she'll die at home and she'll be clean!"

Dee took the baby around to one friend after another begging someone to take care of her.  They would take one look at the sickly, skinny baby and shake their heads.  "She's going to die, Dee, and we don't want to be responsible."  Apparently she was allergic to breast milk, cow's milk and goat's milk.

Mrs. Billie Curry, a neighborhood black woman, heard about the situation and went to Dee.  She said, "Mr. Billington, I will take care of that baby and make her well."  Right away Dee hired Mrs. Curry to take care of Stella. Her sisters, Binks and Cecile, watched as Mrs. Curry boiled oatmeal, barley, and rice and poured off the liquid and gave it to the baby, instead of milk.  From that day on she gained weight and grew. Binks and Cecile made sure to take extra tender loving care of Baby Stella.  Mrs. Curry had raised eight children of her own and she had common sense about child care beyond what most "educated" people knew at the time. 

One day Dee came home and was horrified to find the baby outside in a box, stark naked.  He took her in and was about to scold Mrs. Curry, but she said,   "You put her right back where you found her, the sun is good for her!" 

Dee sold the livery stable when Stella was three years old (about 1912) and moved the family        back to their home on the edge of town.  Elva Anderson,  a friend that helped the family move, took Stella on her horse, boarded the creek, and brought Stella back to the Billington House. 

Mrs. Curry took care of Stella until she was 4 years old, then she left for Denver.  Mrs. Curry returned when Stella was in the 2nd grade. She took a job at Johnson's Cafe as a cook.  She knew Estella would be coming there for dinner, so she waited until then and scooper her up in her arms and shouted, "My baby, my baby!"   She was so excited to see her again.  Stella was excited to see Mrs. Curry as well, but she was embarrassed to be called a "baby." Mrs. Curry spent a lot of time telling Stella over and over how much her mother loved her; how her mother hugged and kissed her those few days after she was born.  Mother Estella was so proud of her baby girl, but she was too ill to do much mothering.  Mrs. Curry knew that Stella needed to hear about her mother's love for her. One tender moment Estelle retold was the day Mrs. Curry took her to the cemetery to visit her mother during an afternoon summer drizzle.  Estelle remembers being surrounded by a warm amber mist,  her hand gently, but securely, hanging onto one loving guiding finger, walking slowly down the road together. 

Stella age 4

As Stella grew she was grateful she was not adopted by another family.  She was grateful to be raised by a wonderful father and family who loved her dearly.  She was also very grateful to Mrs. Curry for bringing her back to health and providing years of mothering she really needed.  

When Stella was about 8 years old Binks married Joe Colaw and they moved to Chicago.  Stella stayed with Binks for about 4 years, and while attending school there she had a teacher who called her Estelle.  She liked it better than Stella and kept that name from that time on.  During those 4 years she spent her vacation trips coming back home to spearfish by train. When she returned home for good,  about age 14, she went to high school and college in Spearfish.  

Stella in chair, Binks behind her

Estelle had a great relationship with her father.  Her sisters often said she knew a different father than they did.  When they were young he worked 12-15 hours a day so they didn't see much of him.  He had the livery stable and he was "all business." The livery business meant sometimes taking passengers, usually salesmen,  to Lead, or Deadwood,  or Sundance Wyoming, often staying on an overnight trip.  The male siblings left home when Stella was young, so the feeling of family was different. Sid had left when she was 1 1/2. She saw Sid for the first time when she visited Montana in 1928. Leo left when she was 2 and Les when she was about 9.  Les and his wife Dale did come back to Spearfish to visit a few times during their marriage.  Leo came back to Spearfish to raise his family there and Estelle became very close to his children, Douglas,  Betty, and Leo, Jr.  Betty even called Estelle her sister. 

One story from Estelle's youth is when she was about 8 or 9.  She saw a horse at her neighbor Heidi's house.  Somebody had come to visit them.   She thought they wouldn't mind if she took a little ride, so she untied the horse, and took off a little ways away over the railroad tracks.  But the horse stumbled on the tracks and she fell off.  Just as she was getting back on, Dee found her and said, "You know, they hang people for stealing horses!"  But Estelle insisted she didn't steal it..just borrowed it.

At another time she was with her dad getting a horse for her to ride.  Seeing one horse, Dee decided it wasn't the one he wanted for her.  So while he was getting the other horse, she got on the first one and decided to try a trick she saw a short time ago at the fair.  This trick didn't seem so hard to just go under the horse and up on the other side.  She got  under the horse all right, but couldn't get up.  The horse started galloping across the pasture with Estelle hanging on for dear life and one foot stuck in the stirrup.  She found out that trick riding was harder than she thought.

                        

Stories from one of Estelle's letters: 

"One morning during summer vacation Evelyn and I wondered what we would do that day.  They called us the Katzenjammer kids which gives you an idea how our minds worked.  Evelyn's mother was paid to keep me during the day when school was out. As the gypsies had recently paid their annual visit to Spearfish, we decided we would be gypsies that day.  We put cocoa on our faces and put on long skirts (her mother's I guess) and scarfs on our heads.  We took a deck of cards and started out panning the neighborhood.  Of course everyone knew us but played the game and gave us cookies or something, but no money.  Then we crossed the bridge and went to Mrs. Cowgill's house.  She was nearly ninety and almost blind.  She also was very superstitious.  We spread out the cards and told her "fortune." Lo and behold! she gave us each 50 cents.  That was a lot of money for a kid then.  We ran home to tell Mrs. Hurst (Evelyn's mother) thinking we were pretty smart.  Mrs. Hurst tho't it was funny and got a good laugh about it.  I couldn't wait for Dad to get home so I could tell him about it.  Instead of a laugh, I got that look that told me he was ashamed of me.  He said, "Are you a gypsy?"  

"No." 

"Can you really tell fortunes?"

 "Well, no."  

"Then you told a lie. You took money and didn't give her what you said you did.  That is stealing.  We are going to go give Mrs. Cowgill's money back and tell her you are sorry."

That was a long walk back to Mrs. Cowgill's.  It was hard for me to understand why I had to give my money back and Evelyn didn't, but I never forgot the lesson."

"Dad rarely ever told me I couldn't do something.  He would say, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." or "I'd rather you didn't" and tell me why.  Then it was up to me.  Sometimes I would rebel but then think better of it.  I knew he had his reasons.  Since he rarely said, "No" it had weight  when he did."

"Dad hated a lie and didn't have much use for a liar. He expected us to be honest in every way.  In the fourth grade we were studying about Abraham Lincoln and how he walked six miles after work to return a few cents to a lady he had overcharged.  I thought that was wonderful and was telling Dad about it.  He said, "Of course, wouldn't anybody do that?"

"One time some kid came to the house that I didn't want to pay with.  I told Dad to tell him I wasn't home.  He said, "I can't do that.  You will have to tell him yourself."

I said, "Then he'll know I'm here."

Dad said, "That's right.  What can you do about it?"

"I'll have to tell him I don't want to play with him."

"That's right.  Tell him the truth, but do it in a nice way."

"Evelyn was a little older and smarter than I.  She could think of things to do and I was dumb enough to do them. On our way back to school one noon as 2nd graders, she said we would stop in Lowen's General Store. Only old Mr. Lowen was there at noon. She would pretend she wanted something on the dry good side.  I was to steal apples from the bushel baskets by the door hiding them in my black bloomer legs.  It was working pretty well until we started out the door and Mr. Lowen put his hand on my shoulder and demanded, "Who is going to pay for those apples?"

"What apples?"

"These apples!" he said picking me up and standing me on the counter and shaking the apples out of my bloomer legs.

He put me across the counter and gave me one good spanking saying, "Don't ever steal anything again as long as you live!" ..And I never did.  So ended my life of crime."

During her young adult years, Estelle attended Normal College of Spearfish. Both High School and College were in the same building. She studied to be a teacher which only required a two year certificate at the time. After college, Estelle had several teaching jobs in the South Dakota area. Her first job was at a one room school in Harding County. Her second job was over the mountain, 16 miles from Spearfish in Whitewood.  Her third job was at a country school in St. Onge, and then her fourth, right in Spearfish.

So when Estelle was 30, her friends were thinking she wasn't trying to find someone to date. Estelle wasn't really interested in anyone and didn't think she needed anyone because she had her Dad. But her friends used to invite her to parties and line up dates for her.  She insisted to come by herself and leave by herself to these parties/dances, etc.  At one party she met a photographer who wanted to take her picture.  She said she didn't like to have her picture taken.  He said maybe she hadn't found anyone who really knew how to take a good photo. So he convinced her to come to his studio and take six pictures.  She took one home and he enlarged the others and set one of the best in the window of  his studio down town next to pictures of Greer Garson and Barbara Stanwick. The next day her school children came to school telling her they saw her picture with the movie stars.

When her brother, Les, lost his wife, Dale, in May of 1938, Estelle and her father decided to spend some time staying with him in Merced, California.  She got a teaching job there for a  year, then applied for another job in Carmel, CA. Dee stayed 2 years in Merced and then joined Estelle in 1940 after she was settled there.  She happened to like music and dancing so when she heard about a USO dance for the soldiers in the area, she decided to check it out. At the dance she noticed a handsome young man who was not dancing and she asked him to dance, but he didn’t want to because he didn’t really know how, so she offered to teach him. Not sure he liked that idea, he obviously did like Estelle.  Jim Fontana married Estelle that next summer on June 11, 1944 in Carmel. She was proud to have her dad give her away on that special day.  Dee passed away the very next month, July 5. 

Estelle and Jim on Wedding Day

Interestingly, Estelle discovered that Jim's mother had nine children and died at the age of 38 with the birth of the ninth..a story that matched Estelle's.

Jim went to the University State College in Berkley, CA in 1945 after his Military Service.  From there he was recruited to teach alternative High School in Watsonville, CA.  Estelle was able to get a job there teaching 1st grade at Sunset Elementary. So the couple moved to Watsonville, CA.  Both her boys were born in Watsonville. James Dee was born April 17, 1946 and Robert Leslie, was born May 4 1949. Estelle was a stay at home mother until the boys started school, then she became a first grade teacher at Radcliff Elementary School. This class was designed for limited non-English speaking students, who were mostly Asian. She designed her own curriculum using instructional materials like wooden puzzles that were made in a shop class at a local Adult night school.

 

Estelle was well versed in Early Childhood Literature and read to her boys every night. 

She had a library of the best books for her family.

One summer Estelle wanted her boys to see Mt. Rushmore because it played such an important role in her younger years. She had watched as dynamite exploded on the exterior of the mountains and the carving began. She remembers children looking down in the vast grassland, finding Indian arrowheads while the adults stood watching the monument emerge arguing over the controversy of it all. One of the curator’s lived near the family and he brought home a small piece of Washington’s nose and gave it to Estelle as a souvenir. She kept it for years, but it was lost in the move to California. That trip in her old 1951 DeSota was a trip to be remembered. They stayed with her long time friend who still lived in Spearfish. She showed the boys her first teaching job in the badlands area..the one room school house. She told the boys all about the Spearfish Park and the surrounding areas where she played growing up.

She was a delightful 1st grade teacher for many years, but when retired, she went right on helping in the community. She played the piano for her local church group which often met at her house. She was very strong in her faith and she was always so kind; she never had a bad thing to say about anyone. She looked on the bright side, even when she had strange things happened. For example, in 1989 she was a Pink Lady Volunteer at the local hospital in Watsonville when an earthquake struck the region. She happened to be in the elevator at the time, and it stopped mid floors, so after waiting for hours, she pried the door open a little bit, but could barely see people feet. When she couldn’t get anyone’s attention, she grabbed someone by the ankles. So surprised to see her they said, “Oh, are you all alone down there.” She replied, “Not exactly alone, the Lord is with me!”

 Estelle had white hair early, by the time she was about 40 years old.  This seems to run in the family. Dee had white hair at 40, the same with Estelle's son, Bob. 

Bob Fontana

Estelle spent a lot of time reading in her rocking chair, and telling stories of her days in South  Dakota. She also loved to retell the stories that her father told her about his life from Texas to Missouri to South Dakota Territory.  She would laugh while sharing the humorous stories and she used western vernacular when sharing direct quotes from the characters. She had no TV, but she had a friendly dog, and a collection of wonderful books.

Stephanie, Estelle and Rebecca Rankin

For years Estelle collected tiny fascinating doll house miniatures and kept them on three book shelves in her living room.  The grandkids and nieces all loved those doll house miniatures and even though they were told not to touch, they did, and Estelle could always tell when something had been moved out of its place. She often did crafts with her children, grandchildren, and nieces, especially at Christmas time. Angels, Santa Claus with his sleigh, and other outdoor decorations made special holiday memories. 

She spent many days in her backyard flower garden. Her lawn and her pink rose bush were  meticulously cared for and her holly tree in the front yard was her pride and joy.  She was known as the snail killer.  It was part of her daily ritual to check on her flowers and look for the dreaded snails.  This yard and garden was a prize she shared with everyone who came by.

Johnathan Tina and Stephanie in back
Mikey, Sara with Scotty in front

She had an especially bright sunny yellow breakfast nook which she wallpapered herself.  Grandkids, relatives, and visitors always felt warm, cozy, and welcomed there. Estelle was well known for her thoughtful, cheerful, and positive manner.  Much of her time was spent visiting others, especially her sister Cecile who was in a convalescent home near the end of her life. Estelle made a point of visiting friends and family to share their grief or to share their triumps..she was there for them.  She was a great example of a Christian woman.  On “Grandma’s Day”  her preschool granddaughter, Stephanie, would go along with her on these visits. Stephanie could feel her giving spirit, which is now a trait Stephanie and other grandchildren have acquired  just by following in her footsteps.

Thankfully Estelle shared so many of her stories and her father's stories with us.  Much of this blogpost information came from Estelle's letters, her son Jim's memories, and the memories of her granddaughters Rachael and Stephanie, and her nieces Jean and Kathleen Harrah.

During her golden years, although she had lost some memory,  Estelle still remembered her roots  and expressed her desire to be buried back in Spearfish, Rosehill Cemetery, near her father and other family members.  She was granted her wish in 2001.

Anyone wanting to add photos, stories, or corrections to this blog, please contact me at  lana.rankin@yahoo.com and I will made updates on the next blogpost. 

 Favorite photos:

 

Estelle and Lana with Scotty (seated)
Johnathan, Sara, Stephanie, Rachael, Mikey

Fontana's and Rankin's
Stephanie, Mikey, Tina, Johnathan, Sara, Estelle, Jim, Scotty
Becca

 

Back Yard Bloopers!   

Leo and Leslie Billington--Sid's brothers

 

Leo Sheldon Billington

According to the local newspaper, The Black Hills Daily Times: "Born--At Deadwood, Monday, August 22, 1887, to the wife of Dee Billington, a son.  The little shaver tips the beam at 12 pounds, and is a hummer."  Dee and Estella decided to name him Leo Sheldon Billington. This was Estella and Dee's first surviving son. Their first son, Bertie Meriot Billington,  passed away at 5 months old the previous year.       

       

Leo about age 4

Leo about age 10

The newspaper also announced that Leo's grandmother, Florinda Billington, came by stagecoach from Kansas City, Missouri to see him in October of that year.  The following year, in June of 1888, another Billington boy was born.  They named him Leslie Loring. Loring was his mother's middle name, his grandfather's middle name and his great grandmother's maiden name.

                                      

Leslie Loring Billington about 1 year old

Leslie 

As the boys grew, their grandfather, Elijah Loring Boyden, loved taking photos of them in his photography studio, (Boyden's  Gallery) in Spearfish.  

    

Sidney

Leo

In 1888 Dee moved his family to Spearfish, SD and  became a part owner of a livery stable on Main Street. The words  DEE BILLINGTON'S BARN were written in huge letters on the side of the livery.   In addition to offering to rent out stable stalls to the public, Dee bought an automobile which the newspaper was quick to announce:  "Dee Billington appears with the handsomest, most substantial and most comfortable three seated carriage, treating friends to a delightful spin about town."

Although Dee believed that you can never replace a good horse, perhaps he thought he should let the townsfolk decide how they wanted to travel.  So these two boys, so close together in age were 4 and 5 years old before their little brother Sidney Albert came along in September of 1892. The three of them grew up around the livery stable, loving to be around horses and automobiles. They went to school in Spearfish, but you can be sure, Dee had a bunch of chores for them to do after school. They learned to be good mechanics as well as good horsemen.  

The tale we heard about those boys is that they didn't always go straight to the livery after school.   Sid was often told by more than one townsfolk, "Hey, Sid, your Dad's looking for ya!"  To which he replied, "Well, maybe if I lay low, he'll find Les first!" 

Leo and Les' sister, Edna, was born in September of 1890, but only lived two months.  Their sister Hazel, was born in 1895; Cecile in 1899; and Jean in 1901.  The girls attended the local school together. Their mom, Estella, made a practice of always having a surprise ready for them when they came home.  It could be a baked goodie, new doll clothes, doll furniture or some toy she had made especially for them while they were at school.  Perhaps she was doing her best to make sure they came home quickly and did not wander off like their brothers did.  

When Leo was 21, Les  20, and Sid 16, their baby sister was born, March 6, 1909.  Unfortunately, their mother, Estella, had a severe infection following childbirth and passed away on March 13.  To add to the tragedy, their sister Jean also passed away the same week, on March 11. The family was shocked of course, but Dee did his best to keep the family together and keep going.  He moved the family from the house on the edge of town, to a house next to the livery so he could go back and forth as needed by his family and his business.  He also hired a local lady, Mrs. Curry,  to take care of the baby, and tend her needs as she was allergic to milk of all kinds.  

Friend, Baby Estelle, Hazel

Leo received a message from the family's close friend, Elva Russel, which read, "Leo, you must be your Papa's right hand now, for I know his heart is shattered and he can not see his way clear but it will soon be clear if you take the hold that is left to you.  Words are such little things in time of trouble and we, ourselves, are so weak but strength will be given you from a higher power and some sweet day you will know the wisdom of it all.  I only wish I could be near you today but since I can't, I must write and tell you that I, too, share your sorrow." 

Russell family 

Leo did get right to work helping his dad, but the next summer (1910) he worked on a ranch in Wyoming. When he came back home again, he met a young lady from near by Sturgis, S.D.,  Ashley Lawrence (1887-1967) and they were married in 1911.  By 1916  he had two children, Douglas and  Elizabeth. They were living in Wasta, South Dakota and  Leo worked at the Wasta Mercantile Company. Leo, Jr. was born in 1917. They lived a short time in Marysville, Kansas and then moved back to Spearfish where Leo worked as an auto mechanic and electrician at Bracky's General Store around 1926 until 1942. His draft registration in April of 1942 states he was working at the Oregon ShipBuilding Corporation, in Portland, Oregon. From there he went to Great Falls, Montana and passed away in December of 1942.

Douglas was the first of Leo's children.  He was very close to his sister Elizabeth (Betty). She tells us that when he was three years old he was reading to his neighbor friends who were older, but they couldn't read.  When he was 11-12 years old he had a chemistry lab in the basement and by the time he was in the eleventh grade, the chemistry teacher had him teach the class several times.  The teacher proudly told the towns people all about Douglas. He went on to earn  B.A., M.A., and PHD  Degrees in chemistry and metallurgy. Betty mentioned that he was one of eight scientists that discovered Beryllium and that all eight men lost their hair while working in that lab. When Douglas realized what the atom bomb could do, it abhorred him, and right then he dedicated himself to peace-time use of nuclear energy. He often conducted institutes in Italy, France, and Switzerland on peace-time use of nuclear energy. Douglas was a staff member of the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C. and worked for 28 years with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge Tennessee.  When he was home from his many working trips across the U.S. and Europe, his wife, Lenora O'Neil and daughter Linda, where happy to see him enjoy his painting hobby, playing basketball or golfing. He also enjoyed building model railroads and reading science fiction.  Active in the community Art Center, the local Country Club, and Elks he still took time to join professional organizations and serve on advisory boards of the Journal of Nuclear Materials and the Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids.   Douglas was well known in the scientific community of his time.  He lived out his retirement years in Oak Ridge, Tennessee until  April of 1982.

                                     

Douglas 

               

Douglas and Leo, Jr.

Dr. Douglas S. Billington

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Elizabeth Jean Billington

Elizabeth Jean Billington, born June 19, 1916, Spearfish, SD. by age 3 was in Marysville City, Kansas with her two brothers, while dad worked as a mechanic on automobiles at the local service station. They family missed Spearfish and came back about 1921 and Betty and brothers all attended Spearfish schools, along with their cousin Estelle. Betty was able to complete all of her schooling in Spearfish.  She cherished the fact that Estelle always called her "little sister."  They remained close their entire lives. 

Betty also had a close relationship with her Grandpa Dee.  He often stopped by at their house and sat on the porch swing telling stories about his experiences.  He was free with his thoughts of philosophy of life, and when she was about ten years old, she first began to listen to him carefully.  One of his sayings that influenced her was when he said, “The people of the world must get together and tell their leaders they are not going to kill one another to solve the leader’s problems.” Betty came to adopt his point of view.

Dee with Roger Bishop, Jr, Estelle, 
Betty, and Leo Jr. 

Betty married Daniel Dwight Felton on Aug. 1, 1936 in Crook County, Wyoming. Dan was from Clough, Meade County, South Dakota. Betty probably met Daniel through his cousin Maxine Felton who went to school in Spearfish with Betty their senior year in 1936.  Betty was 20 and Dan 22.  Maxine, Betty and Dan were probably good friends that year and spent the summer together. By 1940 the the Feltons lived in Spearfish and Daniel was an educator and the High School Coach. They had two little girls, Gladys Fay and Lynn Ashley. Two more daughters, Jean Cedelia, 1940 and Elizabeth Arlene 1941 soon joined the family. 

At some point they moved to the Seattle Washington area and Betty also became an educator and she began to direct programs of student exchange.  The American Field Foreign Student Exchange Program was the first one she directed in Renton, Washington.   This was a 2 year program, but no other teacher wanted it, so she continued the program for the rest of her teaching career. Betty hosted and arranged for students from Europe, South America, and later worked as a volunteer with American Cultural Programs hosting students from Center American and Japan.  Also working with the World Affairs Council, an organization that promotes world peace by dialogue and trade, she arranged home visits for government guests and even hosted many herself.

Because of Grandpa Dee’s influence, Betty also took each of her grandchildren, when they were 10 years old, to another country to live with a family for a month to 6 weeks.  The idea was to show them that people are the same the world over.  This experience for them was similar to Dee’s interest and experience living with Indian tribes to observe their social structure, beliefs, customs, and government. Betty was a major influence in her community and  her family until her death in July of  2004.

Betty with Eva Billington

Leo, Jr. 

Leo, Jr. 

Leo Lawrence Billington, born September 20, 1917 in Spearfish, DT was known as Leo, Jr. He attended college for two years then enlisted in the Army Air Corp in Oct 31, 1941, Misssola, Montana. He worked on his uncle Pat Bishop's Ranch in Dixon, Montana for some time in 1940. Then he worked at the Jocko Camp, Potomac, Lake, Montana, for J. R. Swanson early in 1941. For a time he lived in the Seattle area and his job was to work on maintenance of their monorail there. One of the things he did was wash the windows on the monorail using a new invention..the squeegee. So when he visited his cousin, Roger Bishop, Jr., at his two story farm house in Oregon, Leo volunteered to wash all the windows and he was very efficient at it.  Such a kind young man, warm and gentle, so much so that when talking to the little Bishop children, he would get down on their level and listen to them with much attention.  Little is known of why he moved to Texas sometime before 1984. He lived in Conroe, Texas where he was employed at one of the City of Conroe’s Warehouses.  According to the Conroe City Directory, 1984, his wife at that time was named Mary.  Except for their death dates of 1987 and 1990 in Conroe, any further information about this couple is not yet known.

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In the meantime, Les was in Flagstaff,  Arizona in June 1917 working for the Navajo Copper Company as a mechanic.  During WWI he went into the US Army 158 Infantry 40 Division and served as a cook for his fellow soldiers.  He married Dale Hattie Ferrell around 1920 and was an auto mechanic in San Francisco, CA.  From 1935-1940 Les was a proprietor for a local retail grocery store in Merced, California. Dale and Les made several trips to Spearfish to visit family over the next few years. Dale passed away in 1938. His dad, Dee, and sister Estelle, stayed with him for some time in 1940 after Dale died.  Some time later he married Fern Hope Wells and    Les worked as a master mechanic at the Merced Irrigation District until his death  May 16, 1949.  Estelle's second son, Robert, was given the middle name Leslie, just two weeks earlier, May 5, 1949. Les is buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery for Veterans in Bruno, San Mateo, CA.   

Les did not have children that we know of, but he surely loved his nephews and nieces back in    South Dakota and Montana.  One December he sent the Montana family a Christmas present packed in a California orange crate.  Sid picked it up at the post office and placed the crate next to the wood burning stove to keep the oranges from freezing.  Christmas morning the kids, who were expecting to have oranges for breakfast, quickly opened the crate to discover a mountain of melted ribbon candy.  Sid just laughed and called for his hammer and chisel and whacked off a piece for each of the kids.  Much to their delight, that candy lasted until March.

Anyone who has additional photos/facts/stories about our Billington cousins featured in this blog, please send the information to me at lana.rankin@yahoo.com and I will add them as an update on the next blogspot.

Next Blogspont:  Estelle Margaret Billington Fontana