MARY ELIZABETH DECON (1833-1890)

WILLIAM THOMAS PICKERING (1873-1962)

1. Marguerite Mary Pickering (1897-1982)

2. Gladys Gleniva Pickering (1898-1952)

3. Clarence William Pickering (1902-1966)

3. Joseph H. Pickering (1864- ??)

4. Sidney James Pickering (1867-1935)

5. Mary Elizabeth Pickering (1869-??)

6. Robert Pickering (1871-1923)

7. William Thomas Pickering (1873-1962)

Joseph Pickering (1838-1879)

1. Anna Butt (1855- 1919)

Patrick Quinlan

Margaret Quinlan

Newton N. Smith

Frank Smith

Belle Smith

Newton Smith

2. Thomas Butt (1859- ??)

John Butt (1832 – 1859) . . . Husbands. . .

Mary Elizabeth Beemer (1878-1939) Mary Elizabeth Sheffield (1878-1971)

William Thomas PickeringJuly 29, 1873 - March 23, 1962

William Thomas Pickering was proud of his English heritage – 100% English he always said. His

mother, Mary Elizabeth Decon was born in Sheffield, England in 1833. Mary was married to John

Butt and they had two children, Anna and Thomas. He died in Nottingham, England. Following

his death, she married Joseph Pickering and migrated to the United States. She died in Grand

Junction in 1890.

Joseph Pickering Jr. & Sr.Elizabeth & William Pickering Mary Elizabeth Pickering

. . . Wives . . .

Joseph Pickering/Pickrine (in his Bible he spells it "Pickrine") was also born in England and he

and his wife came to the United States in the late 1850's or early 1860's. It seems likely that the

couple crossed the great plains on a wagon train sometime between 1860 and 1864. Thomas,

Elizabeth's son by her first marriage, was, according to the 1870 census, born in 1859 in England

and Joseph, her eldest son by her second husband, was born in Utah in 1864. Given the fact that

the Civil War was raging, it must have been a difficult transit. William Pickering's father was an

accomplished fiddler and he "fiddled" across the country. There is some confusion in the census

records about the family movements. In the 1870 census taken in Parowan, Utah, Joseph and

Sidney were listed as being born in Parowan. In the 1900 census taken in Idaho, Sidney's

birthplace is listed as Nevada.

The family settled near Parawon, Utah. This area of Utah was know for iron mining and smelting,

but the occupation the elder Pickering listed in the 1870 census was "cowherder." Given his

profession, the family surely did not live in town. In the newspaper article related to Sidney's trial,

it refers to him as a young man from Paguitch, a small town at the other end of Parowan Canyon

roughly twenty miles away.

Names, dates, and census documents: One of the most

difficult aspects of family history research lies in the

often confusing world of census and other records. Birth

certificates and marriages were often not officially

recorded. Census documents are always a challenge

since names are often spelled the way the enumerator

hears them and, unless the family is looking over his

shoulder to insure accuracy, the information is listed the

way he records it in the official record. For example,

what is the family's last name? Pickering; Pickrine;

Pickerin; or Pickerine? All four are listed in

documents related to the family. In Joseph's Bible, he

writes Pickrine -- surely a person should know how to

spell their last name. In the 1870 Census, the records

are very hard to read and ancestory.com interpreted the

record as that of "John D. Pickerine." Closer

examination of the census sheet seems to indicate that

the enumerator may indeed have listed the head of

household as John rather than Joseph. In documents

related to Sidney and Robert they list their last name as

Pickerin. In the Utah death index it indicates Robert

"Pickerin" died in 1923. In the 1900 census, Sidney is Robert & Wm. Pickering

listed as Sidney "Pickerin." Even first names can be problematic. The 1880 census document

lists the eldest child as H. Joseph and the second son as J. "Sydna" For whatever reason the

document lists middle initials first. Since his parents were English the spelling of their second

son's name could have been either Sydney or Sidney, though Sidney was the more common

spelling in America and thus the confusion. Sidney or Sydney's first name may have been James.

He was called Sidney in the family but took James later in life. Though Margurite Pickering

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always referred to the third son as Robert, he is listed in that document as Reuben. In Anna

Smith's obituary, it mentions her brother Robert. Birth locations are also a trial. The 1900

census would have galled William Pickering had he seen it. It lists his mother and father as

both being born in Missouri!! He is listed by his daughter Gladys as being born in Idaho in

both the 1920 and 1930 census.

In the stories he told his eldest daughter, Marguerite, William Pickering gave her the

flavor of the far west in the 1870's and 1880's. He told her that even at a young age he and

his brothers carried six shooters and would often practice on whatever was available. He

told her a story about one of his older brothers shooting a bear and the beast chased him

home. His father, in fact, became the victim of gun violence in 1879. Someone standing

outside his home late one evening shot him to death through a window. The Pickering’s

son, Sidney, was charged with the crime and sent to prison, but William Pickering never

believed his brother was guilty. If the census data is accurate, Sidney was 12 at the time

of the murder

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Dee Billings-Gonzales, the grand-daughter of Gladys Pickering had a person with the

Deseret News do some research for her on the murder of William Pickering's father. The

researcher from the newspaper wrote, "While we do have prison commitment registers

from the Utah State Penitentiary, there is a gap in coverage from 1878-1880 which,

according to a newspaper article and supporting court records I found would be the time

period of sentencing for the young Pickering. The newspaper article notes, 'Sentenced--

Trial Set. Young Pickering, of Panguitch, who shot his father dead last fall, has been tried

in the Second District for the crime, and on pleading guilty, was sentenced to two years

imprisonment in the Penitentiary.' The Deseret News researcher also wrote that she

"located three entries in the Territorial Second District Court minute entry books relating

to a Sidney Pickering being indicted for murder. The dates range from 20 July 1880 to

approximately the beginning of September 1880. I believe this may be the same individual.

On 20 July 1880 Pickering is arraigned and pleads

not guilty. On 2 August 1880 he is indicted for

murder and changes to a guilty plea to voluntarily

manslaughter. Sometime between 4 August and 1

September 1880 he is sentenced for manslaughter. He

was later pardoned by Territorial Governor Eli H.

Murray on 6 March 1882.“1

Dee Billings Gonzales believes the family lived for awhile in Salt Lake City. They are still

listed as living in Parowan in the census taken in June, 1880, but this was a month before

the trial. It would make sense that Elizabeth moved her family to Salt Lake to be close to

her son and, when he was released, she moved her family to Blackfoot, Idaho. The 1900

census reported "Sidney Pickerin" was living in Albion, Idaho (about 100 miles from

Blackfoot) so he evidently remained behind when they moved to Grand Junction. There is

no documentation available to prove the Idaho move but a newspaper story celebrating the

1 Deseret News (September 1, 1880)

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87th birthday of William Pickering noted that he had lived in Idaho as a young

man. Marguerite Weaver remembered her dad saying they had lived in Blackfoot. To further

prove the Idaho connection, in the 1920 and 1930 census Gladys Pickering listed his birthplace

as Idaho and he likely told her he'd come to Grand Junction from that state (in the same

census, whoever talked to the enumerator at 118 Grand listed it as Utah). Sidney James

Pickering died in Montana in 1935. According to Marguerite Weaver, Robert Pickering

became a copper miner in the digs near Salt Lake. He later lost a leg in an accident and died in

Salt Lake City, Utah in 1923. Thomas Butt eventually moved to Portland, Oregon. No

indication what happened to Joseph Pickering, Jr. or Mary Elizabeth Pickering, but they were

not listed as surviving in Anna Smith’s obituary in 1919.

Anna Butt left home before the death of her step-father. She married Patrick Quinlan in 1876

and had a daughter, Margaret, by him in 1877. She divorced Quinlan in 1883 and married

Newton N. Smith in Grand Junction in 1885. Newton Smith was one of the founding fathers of

Mesa County and Grand Junction. The area that had once been the Ute Indian reservation

was opened in the fall of 1881 and Grand Junction was incorporated the next year. Newton

Smith was one of three "Commissioners for Election for the Incorporation of the City of

Grand Junction" and that same year he and his brother opened a grocery and sundries store.

He was the first county treasurer and became assessor in 1906.2 The town really started to

grow when the D&RG railroad came through the area. In 1885, when Newton Smith brought

his new bride home, there were 385 people living in the city limits but by 1900 the population

grew to 1,000 with fruit, sugar beets, and other industries starting to prosper in the Grand

Valley. For Grand Junction, two of those prospering industries were drinking and

prostitution. In 1882, there were twenty-two saloons in Grand Junction and so many brothels

they were confined to a special red light district nicknamed "the Barbary coast" along

Colorado Avenue.3

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2. Garry Brewer, Mesa County Assessors, 1883-2008 (Grand Junction, 2008)

3. Stephen Mehls, Valley of Opportunity: A History of Western Colorado, Chapter VIII, "The

Urban Frontier" BLM Cultural Resource Series No. 12 (1982)

Grand Junction (1884)

Grand Junction (1900)

Anna and Newton had three children; Frank E. (1886), Belle (1889), and Newton, Jr. (1892) all

born in Grand Junction. Among their other enterprises, Anna and her husband owned a

large rooming house for two decades at 459 Pitkin (across the street from Maple Park) that

catered to Railroad employees. Marguerite Weaver remembers her aunt Anna's home as

large and friendly and both her and Gladys always felt welcome there. The Smiths had close

ties to the railway industry besides their rooming facility. Both Newton Jr. and Frank worked

for the railroad. One wonders if Newton Smith helped his brother-in-law, William Pickering,

find work there as well. In 1918, Anna and Newton moved to Santa Ana, California hoping

the change in climate would help Newton's health. Their son Frank lived there and Newton,

since he was a Civil War veteran, could also use the medical ministrations at the Old Soldier’s

Home. He died in California in October, 1918, and is buried in the Veteran's Cemetery

Sawtelle. Anna died in Grand Junction on December 26, 1919 and is buried in the family

plot on Orchard Mesa

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Anna Butt-Smith and her daughter

Margaret Quinlan

Elizabeth

Pickering Anna Butt-Smith

Newton Smith, Jr.

Margaret Quinlan-

Deacon

Smith family plot at Orchard Mesa Cemetery in Grand Junction

Elizabeth Pickering and her son William moved to Grand Junction in 1887 to a small "ranch"

along Kannah Creek near Whitewater, Colorado. The 1900 census indicates William rented

the property. According to Kathy Jordan, a Grand Junction historian, "In 1888, after the

completion of the bridge over the Grand (now Colorado) River allowed easy access for horse

and buggy travel to Orchard Mesa, Elizabeth Butt4 filed on the 40 acres of land that would

become the Orchard Mesa Cemetery. Then she sold the acreage to N. N. Smith and George

Thurston.5" Marguerite Weaver believed her grandmother had a stroke and spent the rest of

4. For whatever reason, Elizabeth Pickering was listed as Butt in the cemetery sale. In her obituary

she is also listed as "Mrs. Elizabeth Butt, the mother of Mrs. N.N. Smith.”

5. Kathy Jordan, "Orchard Mesa site contains 9 cemeteries," GJ Sentinel (June 11, 2010)

http://www.gjsentinel.com/lifestyle/articles/orchard_mesa_site_contains_9_c

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her life in a wheel chair, but Elizabeth's obituary lists the cause of death as stomach cancer.

Since the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire, there is no indication if she moved into Grand

Junction to live with her daughter after the cancer was discovered, but that would certainly

seem likely. She died in August, 1890 and is buried in the Municipal Cemetery on Orchard

Mesa in Grand Junction. Her daughter Anna and grandchildren Margaret Deacon and

Newton Smith, Jr. are buried nearby. Marguerite Weaver believed her father wanted to be

buried near his mother but Mamie -- and perhaps Clarence -- would not allow it.

6. It does seem a little odd that William Pickering's mother and both his wives were named Mary

Elizabeth and that both wives were born in 1878.

7. There is some confusion about "Marguerite" Pickering's name. In her Bible, the fly leaf indicates

Mary Marguerite (written in her handwriting), but the dedication page (written in 1911 when the

Sunday School Scholars Bible was given) refers to her as Margaret M. Pickering. She is listed as

Margaret in the 1900 census. She claimed that birth certificates were the exception rather than the

norm and she went to considerable trouble to eventually get one. Her father and two other witnesses

who knew her mother were required to sign the application. Her birth certificate issued in 1949 lists

Marguerite Mary Pickering. In a 1977 interview, Norabelle Weaver-Easley noted that her mother’s

name was Mary Marguerite.

In September, 1895, the young rancher married Mary Elizabeth Beemer6. They were still

living on Kannah Creek in 1897 when their first child, Marguerite Mary7 was born at home.

Gladys Gleniva Pickering was born in 1898 and Clarence William Pickering in 1902.

William Pickering (1898)Mary Elizabeth Pickering Wedding Photo (1895)

Western Colorado became a nexus for the cattle industry and, when the Ute Reservation was

opened up, cattlemen came into Mesa county. Growing up in Mesa county I shared the same

negative opinion about the quality of the land south of Grand Junction with its dry, brown

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8. Mehls, Chapter VI, "The Stockmen's Frontier, 1880-1920”

9. Mehls, Chapter IX, "The Federal Government in West-Central Colorado”

grama grasses. Like so many I thought green was nutritious and brown worthless, but the

conventional wisdom was wrong. The cattlemen who came into the Grand Valley in 1881

got a six year head start on William Pickering and thus had an advantage -- they were at the

beginning of the cattle bubble while he was late. Competition was stiff and sometimes

violent. Typically, stockmen had a summer and winter range. They drove their cattle to

higher altitudes during the summer and back down to the home place all winter utilizing

federal lands for grazing in both locations. Though there are no extant documents

verifying the Pickering business practices it is probable they followed the conventional

system on Kannah Creek; winters at the home place and driving the cattle up toward

Grand Mesa in the summer. The Homestead Act of 1862 plus the Timber Culture and

Desert Land Acts passed in 1873 allowed stockmen to get as much as 800 acres for a small

investment (they did have to irrigate the land). When the D&RG came through Grand

Junction cattlemen in western Colorado had a real advantage.8

In some ways, William Pickering picked a very difficult time to be in the ranching/farming

business. The 1870's and 1880's had been somewhat better but, starting in 1893, the country

entered the worst depression in its history. The depression was particularly hard on those

who lived off the land and they moved into urban areas by the tens of thousands. The so-

called "irrigators" were especially angry particularly over the role of the Federal government

in land management. They also felt they were victims of the Denver controlled banks and

water companies. Any farming/ranching enterprise at Whitewater would have been

dependent on water for success and each year's losses put them closer to bankruptcy.

Colorado was one of the states that responded to the economic troubles by turning to the

Populist party and Mesa County was the most radical.9 Long after Populism was dying in the

eastern part of the state it was still strong in Grand Junction. There is no evidence he

participated in the political uprising other than voting for Populist candidates, but William

Pickering did move his family into Grand Junction. For Mary and the children it must have

been a refreshing change

Gladys Pickering (1914) Gladys Pickering (1900)Gladys and Marguerite

Pickering

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Clarence Pickering(1905) Clarence Pickering

Grand Junction rail yard (1904)

William Pickering (1936) working as a D&RG hostler

For thirty years (1908-1938) the

head of the Pickering clan worked

for the Denver and Rio Grande

Railroad. Grand Junction was a

major hub for D&RG with a large

rail yard to service the growing

company. They even had an eight

stall brick roundhouse as well as

machine shops and repair facilities.

To illustrate the importance of the

railroad in western Colorado, in

1912, twenty-seven people in nine

cars tried to drive from Grand

Junction to Salt Lake (285 miles).

It took them eleven days of very

arduous driving. Rather than drive

back they shipped their cars by

rail.

Pickering’s primary job was as a

hostler. He didn’t operate engines

on the road, but was in charge of

moving rolling stock in the yard

and the engines in the round house.

This allowed him to be home every

night. According to his eldest

daughter he was offered a

promotion to the more prestigious

and better paying job as a road

engineer but was forced to turn it

down because there was no one to

care for his children. He retired in

1938 at age sixty-five.

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In a closer examination of the Pickering family dynamics, it might not have been the hard

scrabble existence at Kannah Creek that caused the move into town. For most of his marriage,

William Pickering had a cross to bear in his home life. He had a troubled marriage and his wife

was often absent. About 1908 he started at D&RGW and the 1910 census shows him living

alone on Crawford while his wife, Mary, was living on Pitkin Avenue. All three children spent

most of the time from at least 1910 to 1913 in Rifle, Colorado. William and Mary finally

divorced in 1915 after twenty years.

Norabelle Lough, William Pickering, Gladys

Billings holding Marguerite Lough, and

Marguerite Weaver (1938) Photo was taken in

front of 118 Grand about the time Wm.

Pickering retired.

His eldest daughter married Royal James Weaver in 1914 and Gladys married Delbert Billings

two years later. From 1920 until his retirement and move to California, his daughter Marguerite,

her husband Roy, and their five children lived with him at 421 Crawford and then 118 Grand (see

Marguerite Pickering-Weaver bio). It would be interesting to know the dynamics of the

household, but Marguerite did not say. For Marguerite and her children William Pickering

occupied a special place. His grandson, "Bud," saw him as a father figure. In fact, William

Pickering, his two daughters, and his ten grand children all lived within a one block radius -- the

Pickering/Weaver clan at 118 Grand and the Billings family at 117 White. His son, Clarence,

became a machinist and moved to Oklahoma. In 1927, he married Bessie Hoff, a beautician and

artist sixteen years his senior. In 1929 they moved to California and spent the rest of their lives

there.

Following his retirement, William Pickering

traveled to California to spend time with

Clarence and Bessie. It seems that there

was a widow named "Mamie" McKinney10

living next door. Marguerite Weaver always

believed Mamie trapped her father into

marriage11 and twenty-two years in

California. With an eligible bachelor next

door Mamie was always finding something

for the retired cowboy to fix. Marguerite

Weaver believed that some of those tasks

were invented. Marguerite Weaver went

from seeing her dad every day to an

occasional visit in the summer.

10. Mary Elizabeth ("Mamie") Sheffield was

born in 1878 in Camden County, Georgia. She

married Newton Stafford in 1897 until his death

in 1915. She then married Porter McKinney in

1919 until his death in 1937. According to her

grand-niece, Elizabeth Edwards Glick, "Aunt

Mamie raised my mother Lila Christine Clark

from the time my mother was 5 years old (my mother's father was killed when she was 10 months old).

The McKinneys and my mother came to California in 1923/4." Mamie had no children of her own

11. William Pickering had been a bachelor since 1915 when he and Mary divorced. Mary died in 1939,

the year before he married Mamie. In the Catholic faith remarriage was possible only after the death of

the spouse.

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William & Mamie Pickering Gladys Billings, William

Pickering, & Marguerite

Weaver

William Pickering in his

orchard in Baldwin Park

According to Elizabeth Edwards-Glick, Mamie's grand-niece, "My first memories of Aunt

Mamie and Uncle Bill are of visits to see them at their home in Huntington Beach. The house

was about two blocks from Coast Highway just across from the beach. Their yard was

mostly sand. Aunt Mamie had planted several succulents. About 1943 they purchased the

empty lot next to my parents house in Baldwin Park. They moved into a trailer on the lot

while Bill built their house. First he built the back half with bedroom and bath. They moved

into that part of the house while Bill finished building the front with living room and kitchen.

As soon as the house was finished, Mamie planted pansies along the front sidewalk. It was

the first time I had seen pansies. In time a summer house, garage, and work shed were

added. Most of the construction was completed with used lumber, some from used fruit

crates. The depression was fresh in their minds, war time rationing was in effect, and

nothing was wasted.”

Clarence Pickering, Marguerite Weaver, William

Pickering, & Gladys BillingsWilliam Pickering and his geese

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One of the benefits of working for the D&RGW was a rail pass anywhere in the nation once a

year and the Easleys used it to visit Baldwin Park. During the mid-1950's the family drove to

California on their yearly visits so Grandma Weaver could go. For the Easley kids, this was

their only opportunity to get to know their great-grandfather. He had a large yard filled with

trees, flowering plants, cats, geese, a screened summer house, a little guest cottage, a turkey

farm and zoo across the street, close proximity to Huntington beach and the Pike, a short drive

to Knott’s Berry Farm, and, of course TELEVISION. In the late forties and early fifties

Grand Junction did not have a TV station. Baldwin Park, California had dozens and the TV-

starved Easleys ate it up.

Marge, Wayne, Ronald Edwards, & Larry at

Huntington Beach

Clarence & Bessie, Norabelle, Wm. Pickering,

Larry, Wayne, Marge, & Ronald

The Easleys always felt very comfortable at the Pickering residence. It was almost a ritual every

summer -- Mamie would pick us up at the train depot in Los Angeles and, on the way home, we

would stop at the Farmer's Market. We sort of wondered why Grandpa never came but,

according to Mamie's great-niece, he never drove anywhere. This may explain why he returned

to Grand Junction only once in twenty-two years. When they traveled, according to Marguerite

Weaver, it was to Georgia to see her relatives. For most of the Pickering grand/great-grand

children the situation meant no contact at all with the patriarch of the family.

Part of the ritual in California was one day at

Huntington Beach, a trip to the Pike at Long

Beach, another day at Knott’s Berry Farm, a trip

to see Uncle Clarence in Buena Park, and many

days enjoying the Baldwin Park residence. So

many things to do there in his little oasis away

from the world. Coming from arid Grand

Junction, the lush "jungle" gave a new experience

-- just watch out for the geese. We never realized

Grandpa Pickering built his home and all the

buildings surrounding it. We just realized it was

cool and cozy. We especially liked the fact that we

got to sleep in his little guest house.Weavers and Pickerings at Knott’s Berry

Farm

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There was also Pinochle, and we spent countless hours playing Pinochle with a master. Since

Mamie played and all the Weaver-Easley clan did as well, the adults probably played in the

evening, but the important games were the ones played in the afternoon between Grandpa

Pickering and the Easley kids. He never pulled punches and always played to win. His

favorite phrases were, "bid em up or sleep in the streets,” “if only I had one more trump, I

would have made the bid,“ and "if the dog hadn't tripped on the stump he would have caught

the rabbit." ." Even poor Wayne, the baby of the family, went set if he forgot to discard

William T. Pickering died in California

on March 23, 1962. He is buried in

Westminster Memorial Park in

Westminster, California near his son,

Clarence. Mamie moved back to

Georgia where she died in 1971 at the

age of 93.

Five Generations 1960: William Pickering’s daughter,

grand daughter Norabelle, great-granddaughter

Marge, and great-great grand daughter Cendie