Martha (Woodside) Baker

My great-great-grandmother, Martha (Woodside) Baker,
around the time she was in her late 60s (the early 1930s).

This was my paternal grandfather's (Delbert "Bud" Saunders) grandmother.

A hearty pioneer, she lived much of her life in the wilds of Montana and played a large role in raising my grandfather as a child.  Family lore has it that she traveled to Montana with her husband, Fred, from Illinois, by covered wagon.  As with many pioneer women she was reputed to be very capable and strong, but also extremely tenderhearted and generous.   If my grandfather's ways were any imitation of hers, she must have been an amazingly compassionate soul.  My grandmother Irma (D'Angeli) Saunders, Bud's wife, always told the story of how astoundingly tall she found Martha to be, when they first met.  Being that Irma measured in just barely above five-feet, that might not have been saying much except that Martha  stood near the same height as my grandfather, who was himself about six feet tall.

I love the beautiful serenity of her face in this photo.  Her eyes are so gentle and kind.  They are the same eyes I remember from my grandfather's face.

In the bottom right corner of the photo is written the word "Mother" in my great-grandmother,'s (Nora Belle (Baker) Saunders) hand.  My first inclination was to PhotoShop it out, but I quickly thought better and decided to preserve it for posterity.

The Baker Family

The family of Fred Baker and Martha Emily (Woodside) Baker,

my paternal grandfather's (Delbert Saunders) maternal grandparents.

Fred is the man on the right side of the group.  His wife, Martha, is the woman standing in the doorway with her arms folded.  Their children are Nora Belle (in the white shirt, next to Martha), Nellie (standing between Martha and Fred), Frank (the boy standing in front of Martha), Ruby (the girl in white at the left-front of the group) and Mamie (the girl in the dark dress at the right-front of the group).  Nora Belle Baker was my grandfather Delbert's mother - my great grandmother. The photo was taken at their family home in Dillon, Montana.

Fred Baker was born in 1858 in Summit County, Utah.  He died in 1910, in Dillon, the year before my grandfather was born.

Martha Woodside was born January 22, 1866, in McDonough County, Illinois, to parents Nancy Jane (Seybold) Woodside and John Robinson Woodside.  As a young woman, Martha taught school  in Illinois.  She died February 4, 1939 in Stockton, California.  After her first husband, Fred, died, Martha married Dan Dwight.  Because Fred Baker died before my grandfather  Delbert was born, Dan Dwight is whom he called "grandfather."

Martha and Fred had a child who died May 11, 1887 following what the Glendale Gatherings social column listed as "a measles epidemic [that] has been engulfing the neighborhood."  I think the child's name was Bessie.  She would have been the oldest of their children.

Nancy Jayne (Seybold) Woodside

The woman in this photo is my paternal grandfather's (Delbert Saunders)
great-grandmother, Nancy Jayne (Seybold) Woodside.
The child in her arms is her granddaughter, Delbert's aunt, Mamie Baker.
The photo was taken in Dillon, Montana.

Nancy Jayne was born October 17, 1836, in Rockbridge, McDonough County, Illinois, to parents Mary "Polly" (Hardisty) Seybold (born June, 6 1814 in Washington County, Kentucky) and Dotson Seybold (born in February 1802, in Washington County, Kentucky).  Nancy Jayne was the third of twelve children including Elizabeth Margaret (born November 13, 1832); William Washington (born December 18, 1834), John Vinson (born February 12, 1839), Rhoda (born March 22, 1841), Harriet Emily (born September 12, 1843), Henderson Franklin (born February 15, 1847), Lucetta (born October 15, 1848), Charles Harrison (born May 26, 1851), Joseph Lafayette (born May 12, 1854), Marion (born February 10, 1857) and Luther Bush (born October 5, 1859).

Nancy Jayne married John Robinson Woodside on January 4, 1852 in Macomb, McDonough County, Illinois. John was born September 16, 1830 in Rockbridge, Lexington County.  Census records show that he had been working on Dotson Seybold's farm in 1850, where he most likely met Nancy Jane.

Nancy Jayne gave birth to eleven children, seven of whom survived to adulthood.  They were Mary Ellen (born March 12, 1857), Lewis Gregory (born July 28, 1859), David Newton (born May 17, 1864), Martha Emily (my grandfather, Delbert Saunders's grandmother) (born January 22, 1866), Cyrus Dick (born in 1868), Napoleon (born in 1869), Joseph "Doc" Marion (born in 1872), Rhoda Belle (born January 11, 1875), as well as three other children named Adanajah, Charley and Louisa whose birth dates are unknown and who, along with Napoleon, appear not to have survived to adulthood.

Up until at least 1860, the family resided in Blandinsville, McDonough County, Illinois, where John is listed in the Census at age 29, with Nancy at age 22.  Their children at that time included Mary (age 3) and Lewis (age 3 months).  John was working as a mill hand at that time with valuation of $500.

The 1870 Census finds them in Atchison, Nodaway County, Missouri, where John, then age 40, was working as a farmer with valuation of $400-$600.  By that time Nancy was age 33, and her children included Mary (age 13), Lewis (age 11), David (age 6), Martha (age 3) and Napoleon (age 1).  Napoleon was born in Missouri.

By 1880 the family had moved to Nodaway, also in Nodaway County, Missouri, where John (then 50) was still working as farmer.  Nancy (then 43) had seven children, including Mary (age 23), Lewis (age 20), David (age 16), Martha (age 13), Cyrus (age 11), Joseph (age 8) and Rhoda (age 4). Joseph and Rhoda, who are also born in Missouri.

John and Nancy Jayne's marriage ended in divorce, some time between 1880 and 1895.  On June 7, 1895, the Dillon (Montana) Tribune noted in the newsy columns that Mrs. Woodside, her daughter Rhoda and Mrs. Baker (i.e. Martha Emily Woodside Baker) had returned to Glendale, Montana to live.  Nancy Jayne is counted in the 1900 Census as living in Glendale township, Beaverhead County, Montana, at age 63 with her son, Cyrus Dick (age 31) who was at that time a farm laborer.

Nancy Jayne died January 1, 1901, in Glendale, Montana.

Ancient family legend has it that Woodsides came from Scotland and went by the name "Cunningham."  During the reign of the Irish High King, Brian Boru (in the early 1000s), the family departed Scotland for Ireland and changed its name to “Woodside."

Ampilia (Longoni) D'Angeli

Another of my paternal great grandmother,

Ampilia (Longoni) D'Angeli, at her home in Oakland, CA.
The photo is dated 1931, at which time she would have been
50 years old, and my grandmother would have been 18.

Irma's New Coats

My paternal grandmother, Irma D'Angeli, modeling her new coats.
The above photo is dated 1928, at which time she would have been 15 years old.

The above photo was probably taken about the same time (1928),
since she is wearing the same pair of shoes.
The man peeking around from behind her right shoulder
is her father, my great grandfather, Pietro D'Angeli.

Irma D'Angeli as a Teen

My paternal grandmother, Irma D'Angeli,

as a teenager, in their family's garden.

Amazingly, she kept that same hair style until she died
and it never seemed to look dated.

Eating watermelon.

 With a friend named "Joe."

Modeling a new outfit.

Ampilia & Nino

My great grandmother Ampilia (L0ngoni) D'Angeli.

Ann was my paternal grandmother, Irma's, mother.

The little boy is "Nino" and though it is uncertain,
he may be the child of Ampilia's son (my Grandmother Irma's brother) Andrew,
and is believed to have died in childhood.
The picture is dated June 1928.

Ampilila (Longoni) D'Angeli

My great grandmother Ampilila (Longoni) D'Angeli, at her home in Oakland, CA,

probably around 1930.  Ann was my paternal grandmother, Irma's, mother.

 She was a "mail-order" bride whom my Great Grandfather, Pietro, sent for
after after establishing himself in the US.  Ann was born in Italy, in 1881.

Despite the somewhat severe expression on her face in this and other photos,
my father tells me she was a very soft, warm, loving person.

Pietro D'Angeli

My great grandfather Pietro D'Angeli, at his home in Oakland, CA,
probably around 1930.  Pietro was my paternal grandmother, Irma's, father.

Born in Italy in 1877, family lore has it that, as a young man, Great Grandpa D'Angeli worked smuggling chocolate and stamps from Switzerland into Italy. In the early 1900s, when it came time for him to enter the mandatory military service, he was afraid they would arrest him so he immigrated (illegally) to the US by way of South America. He landed in San Francisco the day before the great earthquake of 1906. After the earthquake they gave him a rifle and told him to guard a part of the city. Instead, he threw down the rifle and "escaped" to Oakland, vowing to never return to San Francisco, which he deemed "too dangerous."  He worked as a street-car mechanic, on College Avenue, in Oakland, for most of his life, building a home for his family there, in the Rockridge district.  He proudly walked to and from work daily, and each evening carried home the family's supply of wood for the wood-burning stove in their kitchen.

The D'Angeli Family

A formal portrait of the D'Angeli family,

probably taken about the time my grandmother, Irma,
was in her mid- to late-teens (1928-1931).

From left to right: Irma Rita D'Angeli, her sister Madeline, her brother Andrew,

her mother Ampilia and her father Pietro.

Irma D'Angeli's Third Grade Class

My paternal grandmother, Irma Rita D'Angeli.

(front row, sixth from the right)

and her third grade class,

Rockridge Elementary School, Oakland, CA, 1922.

The D'Angeli Children

My paternal grandmother, Irma Rita D'Angeli (bottom left),
with her sister Madeline (bottom right) and her brother, Andrew (top).
Irma was born in Oakland, CA, in 1913, to immigrant parents,
Pietro D'Angeli and Ampilia (Longoni), from Como, Italy.