GERTRUDE BARRON EDMUNDS

Gertrude Barron Edmunds was born in 1847 in Concord, New Hampshire, the daughter of Thompson Barron and his second wife, Amy Ann Chapin. (It is known that the latter's mother's name was Ann Brown Hawkins.)

Thompson Barron who has been described by his descendants as "a very severe man," was a Universalist minister and preached in Newport and Concord, New Hampshire, but the family home was in Concord. Two daughters were born to him and his first wife (whose name is not known.) They were Josephine Barron, who never married, and Emmeline Barron, who was known also as Emroy or Auntie Em, and married John Shirley, a New Hampshire lawyer.

Following the death of his first wife, Thompson Barron married Amy Ann Chapin, who came from a family of doctors and lawyers. They had three sons, Ike, Horace and Fred; and four daughters, Ella (the mother of Ella Carr of Andover, N.H.), Catherine, Florence, and Gertrude.

Gertrude Barron Edmunds was graduated from a women's college in Woodstock, Vermont, and taught school in the east for one year. Then in 1872 she traveled with Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Quimber and their twelve children from New Hampshire to Virginia City, where she taught for two years at the Six-Mile Canyon school.

In Virginia City she met Frank Marion Edmunds, who was born in Andover, New Hampshire, near her home town, but they never had heard of each other until they emigrated to Nevada. They were married on Christmas Eve, 1874, at the Quimber home, which stood near the Fourth Ward School in Virginia City.

During their married life they lived in Virginia City. Then near Jacksonville, Florida; again in Virginia City, Reno, and finally Butte, Montana. They had three daughters, Marion Edmunds Cahlan; Alice Emily Edmunds Sauer; and Amy Gertrude Edmunds.

Mrs. Edmunds devoted her life to her husband. She passed on to her children the strict discipline and upright principles of a typical New England family, although they were living in the roistering atmosphere of Virginia City in their impressionable years. For instance, the name of Julia Bulette, colorful demi-monde of the Comstock, was taboo in the Edmunds household, and the Edmunds girls had strict orders to cross the street if they saw this sinful woman approaching. She trained her daughters in the womanly arts of sewing, cooking, and dainty handwork, and she concentrated on their excelling in their studies and saw to it that they all received a college education as she had.

She was an imposing looking woman, with a queenly carriage, which emphasized her height of about five feet, seven and one-half inches. Her eyes were blue. Perhaps her outstanding characteristic was her beautiful dark hair, so long she could sit on it when it was combed out. She wore it in thick braids, coronet fashion, which added to her regal appearance. Although friendly she had no sense of humor and was not demonstrative where affection was concerned.

Following the death of her husband in Butte, Montana, in 1906, she spent most of her time in the homes of her married daughters, Marion Edmunds Cahlan and Alice Edmunds Sauer. She set the same, exacting standards for her grandchildren as she had required of her daughters, and this was particularly difficult in the Cahlan household, where there were two lively and sometimes mischievous boys whom she loved but never quite understood. With all of her reserve, however, she was very kind.

Her unmarried daughter, Amy Edmunds, was teaching in Minneapolis, and she went there and made her home for several years, then returned to Reno to the Cahlan home or to Washoe Valley to the Sauer ranch.

She suffered a short illness at the ranch and succumbed to a heart attack on June 28, 1925. She was 78 years old at the time of her death. After funeral rites in Reno, her body was sent to Oakland, California, for cremation. Her ashes were placed in the same grave with her husband in the Masonic Cemetery in Reno.

Written Dec. 13, 1959
(By Florence Lee Jones Cahlan)
Las Vegas, Nevada

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

1. Mrs. Alice Edmunds Sauer, Carson City, Nev.

2. Mrs. Marion Edmunds Cahlan, Las Vegas, Nevada

3, Mrs. Ella Carr, Andover, N.H.

1850 New Hampshire, Merrimac County, Concord, p. 58?, film T515-3
Barron, Thompson, age 34, male, white, Univ. clergyman, born Massachusetts
--------, Amy A. ,age 30, female, white
--------, Emroy, age 8, female, white
--------, Josephine, age 6, female, white,
--------, Caroline, age 4, female, white,
--------, Gertrude, age 3, female, white
--------, Ella, age 3/12, female, white

1860 New Hampshire, Grafton County, Wentworth, p. 115? or 563 hand penciled in, film M653-671
dwelling 848, family 830
Thompson Barron, age 44, male, Uv. Clergyman, personal $1300, Born Massachusetts
Amy A.-------------, age 40, female, born New Hampshire
Emroy E.----------, age 17, female, music teacher, born New Hampshire
Josephine---------, age 15, female, domestic, born New Hampshire
Caroline-----------, age 14, female, born New Hampshire
Gertrude----------, age 12, female, born New Hampshire
Ella A.--------------, age 9, female, born New Hampshire
Flora---------------, age 7, female, born Ohio
Horace G.--------, age 5, male, born Ohio
Isaac T.-----------, age 2, male, born New Hampshire

1870 New Hampshire, Sullivan County, Newport, p. 29, stamped page 551 (taken 7 Jul 1870)
dwelling 224, family 251
Barron, Amy A., age 50, female, white, keeping house, real estate $2500, personal $500, born New Hampshire
———, Josephine, age 25, female, white, teacher, born New Hampshire
———, Caroline, age 23, female, white, dress maker, born New Hampshire
———, Gertrude, age 22, female, white, teacher, born New Hampshire
———, Ella A., age 19, female, white, without occupation, born New Hampshire
———, Florence H., age 16, female, white, without occupation, born Ohio
———, Horace T., age 14, male, white, without occupation, born Ohio
———, Isaac T., age 12, male, white at home, born New Hampshire
———, Freddie T., age 7, male, white, at home, born New Hampshire

1880 Nevada, Storey County, Virginia City, E.D. 46, page 2B (taken 7 Jun 1880)
78 South Howard St., dwelling 19, family 22
Edmunds, Frank M., white, male, age 35, head, married, engineer, born New Hampshire, parents born New Hampshire
————-, Gertrude, white, female, age 32, wife, married, keeping house, born New Hampshire, father born Massachusetts, mother born New Hampshire
————-, Cora, white, female, age 4, daughter, single, at home, born Nevada, parents born New Hampshire
————-, Alice, white, female, age 2, daughter, single, at home, born Nevada, parents born New Hampshire
————-, Amie, white, female, age 1, daughter, single, at home, born Nevada, parents born New Hampshire

1900 Montana, Silver Bow County, Silver Bow Township, Butte City, second ward, E.D. 102, sheet 4B (taken 4 Jun 1900)
314 West Copper, dwelling 63, family 82
Edmonds, Frank M., head, white, male, Feb 1845, age 55, married for 26 years, born New Hampshire, parents born New Hampshire, engineer
————, Gertrude, wife, white, female, Dec 1857, age 52, married for 26 years, mother of 3 children, 3 living, born New Hampshire, father born Massachusetts, mother born New Hampshire
————, Amy, daughter, white, female, Nov 1878, age 21, single, born Montana, parents born New Hampshire, school teacher

1910 Montana, Silver Bow County, Butte City, ward 4, E.D. 98, sheet 6B (taken 23 Apr 1910)
no dwelling or family numbers on this page - need to look up lodger dwelling
Edmonds, Amy, lodger, female, white, age 31, single, born Nevada, parents born New Hampshire, public school teacher
————, Gertrude, lodger, female, white, age 60, widow, mother of 3 children, 3 living, born New Hampshire, father born Massachusetts, mother born New Hampshire

1920 Nevada, Washoe County, Reno Township, precinct 14, Reno City, ward 4, E.D. 49, sheet 12A, stamped page 113 (taken 13 Jan 1920)
815 North Center[?], dwelling 302, family 289
Cahlan, A.W., head, owns, male, white, age 49, married, born Nevada, father born Isle of Man, mother born England, carpenter for railroad
———, Marian E., wife, female, white, age 45, married, born Nevada, parents born New Hampshire
———, Albert E., son, male, white, age 20, single, born Nevada, parents born Nevada
———, John F., son, male, white, age 16, single, born Nevada, parents born Nevada
Edmunds, Gertrude B., mother-in-law, female, white, age 72, widow, born New Hampshire, father born Massachusetts, mother born New Hampshire

Reno Evening Gazette, Monday, June 29, 1925
Pioneer Woman of Reno Dead

Mrs. Gertrude Edmunds, seventy-eight years of age, for fifty-four years a resident of Reno and the Washoe valley, died this morning at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W. F. Sauer, on the Sauer ranch, near Bowers Mansion.

Mrs. Edmunds was one of the best known of the pioneer women of Western Nevada, and is survived by three daughters, Mrs. A. W. Cahlan and Mrs. W. F. Sauer of Reno, and Miss Amy G. Edmunds of Minneapolis, all of whom were with her when the end came.

The remains will be accompanied to the Coast tomorrow where cremation will take place.