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Emma
(Brown) McGirk |
Emma Linda (Brown) McGirk was born in
Medicine Lodge, KS on March 14, 1879, the daughter of James
R. and Lydia (Miner) Brown. She
was the first of the couple's children to be born in Kansas after the family had
migrated from Cardington, Morrow County, OH, with a stopover in Iowa.
In 1889, Emma and her parents settled near Kingfisher (Crescent), OK, taking part in the great Oklahoma Land Rush.
Emma and her sister Bertha
attended the one-room Excelsior Schoolhouse, seen here, during the winter
of 1894-1895. The school was taught by their future sister in law, Nannie
(Snyder) Brown. (Click to seen an enlarged version of this image, our
"Photo of the Month" in September
2002.)
As a young woman, Emma moved to Southern California. On May 9, 1901, she married Leonidas Soland "Lon" McGirk Sr. in San Diego, in the Central Christian Church. Lon was born on Sept. 19, 1876 at McGirk, TX, the son of John A. and Ellen (Shobe) McGirk. He came to California with his parents in 1885 and settled in El Monte, CA.
They had three children -- Alba Laura Kristensen Peck, Naomi Linda Walker Herrington and Leonidas Soland McGirk Jr.
Lon was an ore miner. He worked in Death Valley, CA; Bisbee, AZ, Hermosillo, Mexico; Sonora and Baja, CA, said to be "the Mother Lode country of California;" in Alaska and in Northern Siberia.
One
of the McGirks' dwellings is seen here. This bluish image is from a
postcard sent to Emma's nephew in Oklahoma, with handwriting on the back:
"To George Barnum from his Aunt Emma with a Merry Christmas and Happy New
Year." The date is not known, but is thought to be from the turn of the
20th century.
The McGirks' time together lasted just 17 years. On Aug. 30, 1918, Emma passed away in Santa Cruz, CA, where she is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery. The cause of death is not known, but she was just 39 years of age.
In 1918, likely after Emma's death, Lon left for an expedition to Northern Siberia. According to a manuscript by daughter Alba, he was "on a boat that had originally belonged to Robert Louis Stevenson -- 'The Casco.' The [ship] is mentioned in the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. 'The Casco' was shipwrecked off the coast of Siberia and Lon McGirk and some of his party lived with the Eskimos for two weeks before they were rescued by the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear."
Lon outlived Emma by 37 years. He died on Aug. 7, 1955, and is buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Whittier, CA.
Son Dr. Lon McGirk Jr., a surveyor, served with the U.S. Geological Survey in 1950, mapping the Inyo Mountains east of Owens Valley, CA. He later received a doctorate in economic geology at Stanford University, taught at the Mackay School of Mines in Reno, NV, and was listed in American Men of Science and Who's Who in the West. After he suffered a debilitating stroke, his wife Mary Louise (Blair) McGirk authored a book, 'Tis the Set of the Sails (New York: Pageant Press, 1964) detailing her husband's "illness, his recovery, and the varied and unexpected problems and incidents presented to me, his wife, as a result of this episode."
 
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Mary Louise (Blair) McGirk's 1964 book, 'Tis the Set of the Sails |
Daughter Alba McGirk marred Harold Magnus Kristensen, an immigrant who taught school in Denmark before coming to America in 1918. He later taught at Atterdag College in Solvang, CA, a Danish community. Alba later married Edward Peck. She was a history buff whose neatly typed notes and writings on the family have contributed significantly to our understanding of this branch. Her correspondence with cousin Blanche (Clark) Tarter produced a number of important letters and papers.
Copyright © 2000-2002, 2008 Mark A. Miner