Sea Genes

W. A. Monroe, 79, Pioneer, Passes

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Gained Prominence in Business and Civic Affairs – Funeral Wednesday.

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Death came Monday to William Allison Monroe, 79, well-known engineering accountant and pioneer of 1889. He died in Sacred Heart hospital following a stroke sufferred four days before.

He was the husband of another well-known fgure in Spokane’s history, Mrs. Mary Monroe, educator and civic leader. They came to Seattle in July, 1889, from Newark, Ohio, where they were married in 1886. A few days after the great fire of August 4, 1889, they came to Spokane from the Coast city, and had resided here since.

Their home was at 5711 Cowley, near the Lincoln school Mrs. Monroe served as principal from 1891 to 1929. Closely identified with affairs of the community for more than two generations Mr. Monroe, like his wife, was held in high regard. Her membership in the Spokane park board also added to the large circle of friendship.

Held Important Positions.

Mr. Monroe became deputy city auditor soon after his arrival, serving with Theodore Reed. In the early part of the century he was deputy to General James a Drain, then county clerk.

In 1905 he joined Winters, Parsons & Boomer, railway contractors, and advanced to manager of the company, which built many railways, dams and other projects in the west. He still held this connection at his death, and one of the early arrivals yesterday was H. H. Boomer, San Francisco, who started for Spokane when he learned of Mr. Monroe’s illness.

Mr. Monroe also was a mamber of the board of directors for the Old National Bank Building company.

Besides the widow, Mr. Monroe is survived by a sister, Mrs. Jessie Stewart, and a brother, Charles P. Monroe, both of Columbus, Ohio; two nephews there, and William L. Matthews, a nephew, spokane.

Honorary pallbearers selelcted by Mrs. Monroe for funeral services at 1 o’clock Wednesday at Smith & Co.’s are all intimate associates. They are Mr. Boomer, L. M. Davenport, M. F. Fry, D. W. Twohy, A. W. Witherspoon, Joseph Moris, William Kuhlman, John W. Duncan, Professor George Craig, Cheney; E. A. Shadle, Lyman C. Reed and Orville C. Pratt.

Active bearers will be W. L. Mathews, Stanley G. Witter, Jerry O’Brien, J. S. Lee, John J. Hasfurther and Robert C. Patterson. Dean McAllister, Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist will read the service. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery.

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Spokane Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington, 19 March 1940, page 6, column 3.

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Spokesman-Review 19 March 1940, p. 6, c. 3.

Charlie Martin

Sultan

Charlie Martin, 56, died at his home at Sultan February 28[.] He was born at Seattle December 31, 1894, and had been a resident of Sultan since 1925. Surviving Mr. Martin is a half-brother, Tom Brown of Auburn. Funeral services will be held Monday at 1 p.m. at the Sultan chapel of Purdy & Kerr and cremation will follow.

Everett Herald, Everett, Washington, 1 March 1951, page 29, column 2.

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Elizabeth M. Mills

Mrs. Elizabeth M. Mills, 71, of Granite Falls, died at her home early Monday morning after an extended illness. She was born October 23, 1878, in Pennsylvania and resided in Granite Falls for the past 40 years. She is survived by her husband, Robert Mills at home; three sons, Darrel A. Mills and Keith Mills of Granite Falls and George E. Mills of Bellingham; one sister; Mrs. Lou Connally in Pennsylvania, and three grandchildren. Funeral arrangements will be announced later from the chapel of Challacombe and Fickel.

Everett Herald, Everett, Washington, 5 March 1951, page 15, column 5.

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Obituary - Elizabeth M. Mills - Everett Herald, Everett, Washington 5 March 1951, page 15, column 5.

Frank S. Maling

Funeral services for Frank S. Maling, 70 years old, of 6031 Beacon Ave., will be held at 10:30 o’clock Monday forenoon at the Home Undertaking Company. Burial will be in Riverton Crest. He died Thursday at Redmond.

Mr. Maling, born in Canada, had lived here since 1898. He was a retired farmer.

Surviving are a son, Howard S., and a stepson, William Biart, both of Seattle.

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Seattle Daily Times, Seattle, Washington, 12 October 1946, page 14, column 5.

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"Frank S. Maling," Seattle Daily Times, Seattle, Washington, 12 October 1946, page 14, column 5.

One of my great grand uncles died in a small town. His obituary was picked up by the Associated Press wire service. It appeared in the New York Times and the Seattle Daily Times. He didn’t have any real connection to either place. He was a Mainer. He was born in and he died in Maine. He lived there, and in California and Hawaii.

Another person I’ve researched a bit, George A. Radford, lived in Seattle, Washington most of his life. His obituary appeared in both the Seattle Daily Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The article in the PI has a great deal more information than the piece in the Times. The latter only briefly mentioned his funeral arrangements while the PI gave information about his family and affairs.

"G. A. Radford Found Dead in Bed," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, Washington, 1 January 1940, page 10, column 2.

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"George A. Radford Funeral," Seattle Daily Times, Seattle, Washington, 2 January 1940, page 23, column 7.

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Why so much in one paper and not the other? They’re both in the same city and should have the same coverage, right? Not necessarily. There are a number of reasons an event is covered in one but not the other. A major reason is business, another reason is politics, a third reason is interest from readers for certain kinds of information. A fourth, and increasingly popular reason, is entertainment coverage, which beats out coverage of the everyday events of our lives. Yet another reason, related to the business of newspapers, is selling advertisements.

Successfully researching a person’s history beginning with only a newspaper article, as I did with Mr. Radford, depends on how much information is given in the article, or articles, which cover the person. If I had only relied on the Times article I wouldn’t have had much to go on and would need to have used a great many other sources. Because Mr. and Mrs. Radford didn’t leave children, where would I look without references to their family as it appeared in the PI article?

Is there more than one newspaper for an area? Use them.