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Note: In the 1960's I found a box of papers in the back garage where we lived. One of the documents I found was a letter from the editor of a newspaper in Spokane, WA to my parents stating that it was legal to marry the same person twice. When I asked my parents about the letter I was told that it would not be discussed as long as my maternal grandmother was alive. After Grandmother Silvers passed away in 1978 I was told the following: Mother & Dad wanted to be intimate but Mother was teaching and in those days, teachers could not be married. So they went to Idaho and got married in 1939, but kept it a secret. In later years I talked to my Uncle Jack Silvers (Mother's brother,) about the wedding and he stated that he learned of the 1st marriage from Dad just moments before their second wedding in June, 1940. Uncle Jack stated that Dad said Grandmother Conway knew about the marriage, but that Grandmother and Grandpa Silvers did not. Uncle Jack said he let Grandmother & Grandpa go to their graves without learning of this secret. After mother passed away in 2001 I found the marriage license and certificate documenting the occasion and date. Janet Batchelor 2001
My Family and Me: a story told by Frances Evelyn Silvers Conway to her daughter, Janet Conway Batchelor
What I know about my maternal ancestors: Charles Lund was a college professor at the university in Munton, New Brunswick. His poetry was published in a book called Uncle Charlies Poems.
The family came from England. So one of our family traditions was to always have fruitcake and steamed pudding at holidays.
Grandma Kinnear was a warm and fun person. Grandpa was kind and easy-going. I remember staying overnight with them and having a great deal of fun. They were always interested in what I was doing in school.
My Mother: Mother (Mabel Maude Kinnear Silvers) was an excellent horsewoman. As a girl, she liked to ride her pony. She told me that when she was 14 she got tired of being bucked off her pony so she sold it for a gold bracelet. Mother like to play cards, dance and cook. Both she and Dad went to Springdale School in Buena, Washington. Mother was a very proud person. She was very industrious and conservative; a good business woman. She always made the most of everything she had. Mother was very intelligent and taught me to be frugal.
What I know about my paternal ancestors: The Young family came from Kentucky to Nebraska to farm. Then in the 1890's they moved to the Yakima Valley in Washington to become fruit farmers. Grandma was a very tiny woman. She only weighed about 100 hundred pounds. She was very old fashioned and set in her ways. Grandpa was deaf as a result of having measles at age 34. They were very conservative people.
Grandma Silvers (Agnes Young Silvers) always had baked beans on the table at Thanksgiving because the first year she and grandpa were married, all they had for Thanksgiving was beans and they were glad to have them. At first, they lived in a sod house, but later they got a real one.
My Dad: When Dad was a boy he wanted to be a streetcar conductor. He earned his living fruit ranching in the Yakima Valley. Dad enjoyed card games, dancing and people and he loved animals. Dad worked very hard in the orchard. What made him special was his love of life and devotion to the family. He taught me independence.
Me: I was born November 28, 1915. Originally I was to be named Elizabeth Agnes but Grandma Silvers didn't like that idea, so I was named Frances Evelyn Silvers. When I was born my family lived at the Penner house in the Buena district. I remember that when I was very small, perhaps two or three years of age, I used to run away and then get spanked with a hairbrush. I spent my childhood days making mudpies and playing with my sister, Mildred.
When I was growing up the presidents of the United States were Franklin D Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge. Cars and radios were new to us then. I went to elementary school in Zillah where my favorite subjects were reading and penmanship. I didn't like history and arithmetic. My favorite teacher was my first grade teacher, Miss Witt. My Aunt Goldie made me a pink dotted swiss dress trimmed with lace to wear to the first grade. I felt so dressed up and special.
In those days we had much less freedom than young people do now. We wore dresses to school and listened to classical music. After school we rode the bus home becaue we had chores to do, like water the cow and chickens and gather eggs. I saw my first movie when I was about 10 years old. It was So Big from a story by author Edna Ferber.
After elementary school I went to Zillah High School for four years (9th-12th grades). My favorite activity was Spanish Club. My closest friends were Betty Brown, Marie Johnson (later Gulstine) and Alice Munson. I stayed in touch with Marie Johnson Gulstine all the rest of my life. We like to have slumber parties. High School is where I met my future husband, Bob ConwayMy family also belonged to and attended Grange meetings. I like them because it was something special to do. I dreamed of going on to college and becoming a Home Economics teacher.
I graduated from high school in 1934 and entered college at Washington State College in Pullman Washington that fall. At first I lived in the Community Hall dormitory. Later I joined the Delta Zeta Soroity. I was president of my sorority and got to go to the national DZ convention in Pasadena, California.
Family dinners were a tradition in our family. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Fourth of July were important holidays. At Christmas we always hung our stockings up. They were a new pair of Grandpa's work socks. We got oranges and hard candy in them.
My husband, Robert Harold Conway, was born on February 14, 1912 in Yakima. He grew up in Toppenish, Washington. His favorite subjects in school were math and shop. He liked to play football and fix up old cars. His greatest ambition was to be a chemical engineer, but after spending time in the chem. Lab, he decided he needed an outdoor occupation. He earned every cent it took for him to go through college. After high school he entered the Civilian Conservation Corp where he helped build parks, etc. He waited seven years before entering college. He worked all the time he went to school and paid his own way plus sent money home to his parents. He graduated with honors in an engineering program.
We met when I was 14 and he was 17 +. . We used to have square dances at home. They were a family affair. Bob came with a couple of friends one night and that is how we met. I thought he was cute. We didn't start dating until college after I met him again in 1937 while at the post office. When we were courting we used to go on picnics and go to dances. We became engaged in August or September of 1939. We got secretly married in ST. Marys, Idaho on October 14, 1939. We got married again on June 15, 1940 at my parents home in a formal ceremony. The best part of the day was when the ceremony was over. There were about 75 people there.
When we were first married, Bob worked in the supply room for the college, in the dormitory dining rooms and at the print shop, melting down type. We lived in Pullman until Bob graduated in 1940, then moved to Yakima where Bob was an engineer for the Soil Conservation Service.
Our son, Jack Donald, was born April 16, 1944. Our daughter, Janet Lois, was born September 22, 1945. My first thoughts of her were how little she was and hairy. We named her Janet Lois because we couldn't agree on any other names. We thought she looked like the Conway side of the family. Janet could crawl out of the playpen even before she could walk.
We always had sit-down family breakfast and dinner. For vacations we went camping and did some stream fishing. One of our favorite places to go was Clearwater Lake in Wells Gray National Park, British Columbia. One of our favorite trips as a family was in 1954 when we drove the newly opened Lewis & Clark Trail Road and then visited Yellowstone National Park.
I'm glad I got to travel all over the world, including Europe, Thailand, Poland, Czechoslovokia, the Panama Canal and other areas. I especially enjoyd Paris and Germany. I visited East Germany before the Berlin Wall was taken down.
Arthur Lathrop, my first grandson: Janet was staying at our house waiting for him to be born. We took her to the hospital . Arthur was only 30 minutes old when we first saw him. He seemed to resemble his Dad.
FRANCES EVELYN SILVERS Daughter of George Andrew Silvers and Mabel Maude Kinnear November 28, 1915 - October 11, 2001 Wife of Robert Harold Conway February 14, 1912 - April 15, 1993 ======================================
Zillah City Cemetery Zillah, Yakima County, Washington
Frances Silvers Conway Wife of Robert Harold Conway November 28, 1915 October 11, 2001, Cremated and buried in grave with husband ===============================
Social Security Death Index ------------ Name: Frances S. Conway SSN: 538-14-5672 Last Residence: 85351 Sun City, Maricopa, Arizona, United States of America Born: 28 Novrmber 1915 Died: 11 October 2001 SSN issued: Washington (Before 1951 ) ---------------- Name: Robert H. Conway SSN: 538-10-4692 Last Residence: 85351 Sun City, Maricopa, Arizona, United States of America Born: 14 February 1912 Died: 15 April 1993 SSN issued: Washington (Before 1951 ) ==========================================
Census Microfilm Reports: 1920 Washington Living in Buena, Yakima County, Washington On January 20, 1920 Series: T625 Microfilm: 1945 Page: 149B ----------- Geo. A. Silvers - - - - Head - - - 30 yrs. - M - - Fruit Farmer - - - NE - IL - WI Mabel M. - - - - - - - - -Wife - - - -27 yrs. - M - - - - - - - - - - - - - -CAN - CAN - CAN Frances - - - - - - - - - Dau - - - - 04 yrs. - S - - - - - - - - - - - - - -WA - NE - CAN Mildred E. - - - - - - - - Dau - - - - 02 yrs. - S - - - - - - - - - - - - - -WA - NE - CAN ==============================================
Census Microfilm Reports: 1930 Washington Living in Buena, Yakima County, Washington On April 22, 1930 Series: T626 Microfilm: 2524 Page: 8A ----------- George A. Silvers - - - Head - - - 40 yrs. - M - - Fruit Grower - - - NE - IN - WI Mabel M. - - - - - - - - - Wife - - - - 37 yrs. - M - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CAN - CAN - CAN Frances E. - - - - - - - -Dau - - - - -14 yrs. - S - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WA - NE - CAN Mildred E. - - - - - - - - -Dau - - - - -12 yrs. - S - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WA - NE - CAN Jack D. - - - - - - - - - - Son - - - - -07 yrs. - S - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WA - NE - CAN ======================================
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