Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders and his Grandmother

Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders (kneeling) with his dog.
Standing behind him on the left is his grandmother, Martha Emily (Woodside) Baker.
I'm not certain who the other three people in the photo are.
The man standing on the right looks very much like Bud did when he got older,
so the man may be one of Martha's brothers.  The woman beside him is likely his wife.
The man standing beside Martha may be her son, Frank.
The photo is dated Aug 3, 1933.  Bud was 20 years old at the time.

Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders

My paternal grandfather, Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders, as a small child
with his aunt, Ruby (Baker) Finney, who was Nora Belle (Baker) Saunders's sister.
The back of the photo indicates it was taken in Dillon, Montana, but there is no date.
Judging from the approximate age of Delbert (2-3 years), this photo is probably around 1912-1913.

My paternal grandfather, Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders,
with his grandmother, Martha (Woodside) Baker.
The back of the photo says it was taken in Bannack, Montana.
There is no date on the photo but it is likely from around 1915.

My paternal grandfather, Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders
(standing with his hand shading his eyes).

The others in this third photo include Delbert's grandmother, Martha (Woodside) Baker (standing) and her second husband Dan Dwight (standing, cropped) whom she married after her first husband, Fred Baker died.  The younger woman sitting in the center of the photo is Delbert's aunt, Maime (Baker) Myers, who was Nora Belle (Baker) Saunders's sister.  The child on he lap is her son Kenny Michaels, who was a child of her first marriage to Joe Michaels.  Kenny died in childhood and was not spoken of after Mamie remarried Henry Myers, whom she remained married to until death.  The man in the lower right corner is Frank Baker, my grandfather's uncle and Nora Belle (Baker) Saunders's brother.  There is an unknown boy poking his head into the frame of the photo on the left.  There is no indication on the photo who this child is, but I love the expression of curiosity on his face.  There is no location or date indicated on the photo, but it is likely from around 1918.

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.