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Note: Fred Ellsworth and his twin sister Alice were born on March 4, 1864 in Macomb, McDonough County, Illinois. Fred's father, the Rev. Milton Bourne, had retired from the Methodist ministry in 1863 due to a serious illness. He bought a farm in Macomb, Illinois where he had been assigned in early years as an itinerant preacher. In May of 1865 Milton Bourne died. Fred and Alice were 2 years old. His mother Malvina continued to live on the farm in Macomb with the 3 older children from Milton's previous marriage and five of her own.
In 1866, Fred Ellsworth's older half-sister Josephine married Samuel Kelso. (Josephine will have five children, and she and Samuel and most of these children will live and die in Macomb. They are buried in Bardolph Cemetery.)
The 1870 US Census lists Malvina and the family of 8 children in Macomb, McDonough, Illinois.
On Feb 27, 1878 Fred's older brother Wilbur (age 24) marries Georgianna Rile of Macomb. Her family has been in Macomb since 1850. The couple move to Gage County, Nebraska to farm.
The 1880 US Census lists Malvina and 4 children living in Macomb, McDonough, Illinois: Henry, age 25; Fannie age 19; Alice and Fred age 16. Around this time, Wilbur returns to Macomb to finish his interrupted law studies and in 1882 when he passed the bar he moved the entire Bourne family (sans Josephine) to Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska. Fred and Alice were age 18 at this time.
Beatrice is the county seat of Gage County, Nebraska, located 39 miles south of Lincoln, Nebraska. The town was founded in 1857. In the 1880s it was also a railroad hub. Wilbur becomes a very successful lawyer, judge, city clerk, and mayor of the town. Fred worked for the Beatrice National Bank. A booklet commemorating its 25th anniversary is among Beverly Gardner Van Polen's memorabilia. It contains many photos of the town. He also studied law and passed the bar.
FRED ELLSWORTH BOURNE married LUCY ROSE BARNES on December 23, 1891 in Nora Springs, Iowa. He was 27 years old. She was 26. The couple married in Iowa, but returned to live and have their children in Beatrice, Nebraska. Note: Lucy Rose's uncle John owned a farm near Nora Springs. Bethel Church, where her parents married, is in Manly, Iowa, just south of Nora Springs.
MYSTERY: How did Fred and Lucy meet? MALVINA GARDNER BOURNE had relatives in Iowa...Her mother, MALINDA HAMMOND GARDNER, died in Masonville, Delaware County, Iowa in 1875. Both families were led by preachers in the Methodist Episcopal church--might they have met through the church? Did Milton Bourne know Benjamin Coe Barnes through the training for the ministry?
The 1900 US Census for Beatrice, Gage Co, Nebraska lists Fred Ellsworth Bourne as a county judge, living with his wife and 3 children, aged 7, 6 and 4 in a home he owns. His mother Malvina Gardner Bourne died on March 14 in 1907. The 1910 Census shows the family remained in Beatrice.
In 1911 there is a major flood in Beatrice and many of the low-lying sections of the area have to be evacuated. Could this have inspired the Bourne family to move? According to Mildred Bourne's obituary, the family moved to California in 1911. But the Berkeley High yearbook tells us that Mildred attended Salem High School in Salem, Oregon in 1913 and transfered to Berkeley High mid-year.
The children attended UC Berkeley (CAL). Donald Ellsworth Bourne registered for the WWI draft listing his address as 2339 Blake, Berkeley, Alameda, CA. His age 21, Occupation: Nailer at Red River Lumber, Westwood, CA, temporarily agricultural, student. At this time Fred Ellsworth is an attorney working in the Geology Department at the University of California. It is likely the family were members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Oakland, Alameda, California. This is the church where daughter Mildred would later marry James Ewing Gardner. Fred Ellsworth was listed in the 1920 census in Berkeley, Alameda Co, California as an Attorney General Public at age 55.
The California Death Index lists Fred Ellsworth Bourne date of death as 15 Dec 1956, in Merced, CA. The same index lists Lucy R. Bournes date of death as 2 Jun 1964 in Merced, CA. They were living with their son Donald in an extension on his home in Dos Palos, Merced, CA. during their final years. Donald Bourne with his school superintendent associates leased land and built a house and several cabins in Wawona, Yosemite National Park. The various families would vacation in these cabins in the summer.
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