2022 Scavenger Hunt Questions & Answers
Scavenger Hunt Day #1 – Thomas William Lawson McCall (1913-1983)
This scavenger hunt focused on the life and family of the 30th Governor of the State of Oregon. Serving from 1967 to 1975, Governor McCall is known for opening the government-sanctioned “Vortex” rock festival in 1970 at Milo McIver State Park in order to separate Vietnam War protesters from an American Legion convention, the 1971 “Bottle Bill” requiring deposits on soft drink containers, establishing safeguards for the state’s waterways and farmlands by curbing pollution and suburban sprawl, and dealing with the fuel and electricity shortages of 1973 and 1974.
Dorothy’s father gave them a ranch near O’Neil (between Redmond and Prineville) as a wedding gift. The land transaction itself is not available in the BLM’s General Land Office Records database (https://glorecords.blm.gov), but the ranch is said to have been all of Section 21, Township 14 South, Range 14 East, Willamette Meridian.
References:
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/mccall_thomas_l
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/mccall_dorothy_lawson
According to Washington Health Vital Statistics records, her birth name was Grace Audrey Owen. She reported her name as “G. Audrey McCall” on the 1940 U.S.Census.
References:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TX-G961-C
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/312310:6493
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/396946:1209
The twins were Jean McCall and Samuel Walter McCall.
References:
Birth Record, Massachusetts: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L1MN-J7V
Birth Record, Massachusetts: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1MN-KJW
1920 Census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RX4-4H
1930 Census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRZ4-B3
He earned $22.50 per week. Upon his marriage, he received a $2.50 per week raise, and this (annualized) amount was reported on the 1940 census. There was a good article about his time in Idaho in the Eugene Register-Guard newspaper on 24 November 1974.
References:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DaRVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3475%2C6276489
Tom McCall proposed on Friday, 19 May 1939, and they were married the next day. The marriage was kept confidential at the time because of martial status discrimination in employment. The secret was hard to contain and they lost over half the family income when she became a housewife. Audrey gave a lengthy interview with The Oregonian in the 1970s, and the story was published as “Fire at Eden’s Gate: Tom McCall & The Oregon Story” by reporter Brent Walth.
References:
https://www.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/11/audrey_mccall_governors_widow.html
It was located in the Roads End area of North Lincoln County. This was north of the city of Oceanlake when he built the home in 1964, became north of Lincoln City when that city was incorporated in 1965, and is today part of Lincoln City following the annexation in 2012.
References*:
Oregonian, August 6, 1967, Page F3, Column 1, last paragraph
Oregon Journal, August 9, 1973, Page J11, Column 3, paragraph 1
Oregon Journal, December 27, 1973, Page J9, Column 1, paragraph 1
*Images available via the https://multcolib.org/genealog
Several newspapers quoted hospital spokeswoman Lenore Naillon as 7:50 AM being the time of death.
References:
Sunday Oregonian, January 9, 1983, front page*
Bend Bulletin: https://news.google.com/newspapersid=UqAmAAAAIBAJ&pg=6238%2C4228322UPI
United Press International: https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/01/08/McCall-dies-at-age-69/8308410850000
*Image available via the https://multcolib.org/genealog
Scavenger Hunt Day #2 – Nellie Davis (née Tayloe) Ross (1876 – 1977)
This scavenger hunt focused on the life and family of the 14th Governor of the State of Wyoming. Serving from 1925 to 1927, Governor Ross was the first female governor of any state, followed two weeks later by the second female governor, Miriam Amanda (née Wallace) Ferguson of Texas. From 1933 to 1953 she served as the 28th Director, and first female Director, of the United States Mint under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
They had four – George Tayloe Ross (1903-1991), James Ambrose Ross (1903-1928), Alfred Duff Ross (1905-1906), and Bradford Ross (1913-1997). Alfred was only enumerated in the 1910 census, and the other three were enumerated in the 1920 census.
References:
1910 Census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBC-9LG
1920 Census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RV9-X9Z
Grave Marker: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29169467/alfred-duff-ross
George Tayloe Ross and Bradford Ross were present. There are many on-line photos of the event with the children named in the photo captions.
References:
https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s61844b7/3656948
https://wyofile.com/taking-office
http://spcrphotocollection.wyo.gov/luna/servlet/detail/SPCRACV~3~3~899942~196469
They were initiated by Chief Jumping Eagle of the Sioux Nation.
References:
https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6fn242d/3675142
https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=63298
She and Bradford arrived in New York aboard the SS “America” on 28 April. The ship’s route had been Bremen, Germany, on April 17; Southampton, UK, on April 18; Cherbourg, France, on April 18; and Cobh, Ireland, on April 19 before first stopping at Boston, Mass, on April 27. Without precise boarding information or other documentation, we don’t know exactly which country they visited, so Germany, UK, France, and Ireland were all acceptable answers to this question.
References:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99DQ-JSC8-H
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G5WY-FRL
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYT715_4479-0621
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1215675:1909
Sometime in 1935, Nellie Ross moved from the Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC, to the Dresden Apartments, Unit #75, 2126 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC, so both answers were accepted on this question.
Reference (Mayflower Hotel address):
1935 Newspaper Article (hostess of a bridal shower):
Reference (Dresden Apartments address):
1940 Census (with 1935 address):
William A. Tayloe (1866-1873) and James W. Tayloe, Jr. (1871-1873) both died before she was born.
Reference:
Grave Marker:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44937955/william-alexander-tayloe
Scavenger Hunt Day #3 – Elisha Peyre Ferry (1825 – 1895)
This scavenger hunt focused on the life and family of the two-term 10th Governor of the Washington Territory and the first Governor of the State of Washington. Governor Ferry served a single term, from 1889 to 1893, and during his time in office oversaw the reconstruction of the fire-ravaged cities of Seattle, Ellensburg, and Spokane Falls. Ferry County in NE Washington was posthumously named after him in 1899.
He was the President of the Village Board, Waukegan, Illinois, for two terms. Some players listed selection as one of the 11 Presidential Electors from Illinois in 1852 and 1856. However, an elector does not hold a “public office” with duties to carry out governmental administration.
References:
Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln arrived in the afternoon that Monday, went to the Ferry house for dinner and then over to Dickinson Hall to give his speech. The hall sat on the edge of a bluff near State and Washington Streets and from there the Dickinson warehouse fire that evening was visible down on the flats. Despite not be threatened, the people attending Lincoln’s speech left to watch the fire. Elisha and Sarah’s son Abraham Lincoln Ferry was born the next day. History is silent as to whether Lincoln was present at the time of the birth.
References:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.26755726&view=1up&seq=166
http://livinghistoryofillinois.com/pdf_files/History%20of%20Lake%20County,%20Illinois.pdf (page 142)
McNaught, Ferry, McNaught, and Mitchell.
References:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87096369/elisha-p-ferry-dead
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044010083186&view=1up&seq=88
https://www.sos.wa.gov/legacy/images/publications/sl_meanygovernors/sl_meanygovernors.pdf (page 48)
They were both members of Seattle Scottish Rite. Some players discovered that Ferry was also a charter member of Harmony Lodge #18 in Olympia, Washington, but his son-in-law John Leary, the Mayor of Seattle, was not.
Reference:
The photographer was A. D. Rogers. The Washington Digital Archives, the digital collections at the University of Washington, and others have copies of this photo (with the photographer credit).
References:
https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/wastate/id/556
https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/6785ABEF74CD0D00CE8604B77F78DC79
He was last enumerated in the Washington State Census in 1892.
Reference:
https://digitalarchives.wa.gov/DigitalObject/Download/445e7ae9-8620-47db-b71e-843e28775b75
Sarah was shown with seven children, three still living. The real question is whether this is correct as there are other enumerations of 5, 9, 10, 12 found in various places. Although a mother certainly would not forget how many children she had, it is unknown who provided that information to the census taker.
References:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYB7-J5J
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/29822219:7884
https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/DigitalObject/Download/9dd99970-e511-488f-8464-e8ff3755a234
Scavenger Hunt Day #4 – Don Gaspar de Portolá y de Rovira (cir. 1717/8 – 1786)
This scavenger hunt focused on the life and family of the first Military Governor of “the Californias” who served there from 1767 to 1770. The exact date of Governor Portolá’s birth is unknown, but it followed the birth of his brother Antonio on 2 October 1716 and was before his younger brother Francisco. Both Gaspar and Francisco received Confirmation on 9 June 1720 in Balaguer, Catalonia, Spain. After a long military career, Gaspar de Portolá died at 5 PM on 10 October 1786 in Lérida, Spain.
They were Don Francisco de Portolá y de Subirá and Doña Teresa de Portolá y de Rovira. The best reference the Quiz Masters were able to find was a 1983 authored work titled “Gaspar de Portolá : explorer and founder of California” by Fernando Boneu Companys, translated into English by Alan K. Brown, which is available free on the Internet Archive. The author even includes an extensive family tree.
Reference:
https://archive.org/details/gaspardeportol00bone/page/64/mode/2up
He was commissioned on 26 April 1743. There are several authored works available (Internet Archive, Google Book, and HathiTrust Digital Library) which include images of the promotion records (in Spanish).
References:
https://archive.org/details/diarygaspardepo00tegggoog/page/n14/mode/2up
https://books.google.com/books?id=1TgLAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA6#v=onepage&q&f=false
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=txu.059173018131262&view=1up&seq=13
He expelled the Jesuit Order at the direction of King Charles of Spain (1716 – 1786) who had issued a royal order on 27 February 1767 to expel the Jesuits and turn over their missions to the Franciscan Order.
References:
https://www.loc.gov/item/2018751329
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t81j99x02&view=1up&seq=19
The San Fernando Mission was established at that location. The Internet Archive, HathiTrust Digital Library, and Digital Public Library of America all have transcribed copies of Portolá’s journal.
References:
https://archive.org/details/diarygaspardepo00tegggoog/page/n20/mode/2up
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822031037609&view=1up&seq=19
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=txu.059173018131262&view=1up&seq=21
https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/spanish-missions-in-california/sources/1284
They experienced a violent earthquake followed 10 minutes later by an aftershock. These were followed by six or seven severe earthquakes on 31 July and four or five earthquakes on 2 August.
References:
https://archive.org/details/diarygaspardepo00tegggoog/page/n28/mode/2up
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=txu.059173018131262&view=1up&seq=29
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822031037609&view=1up&seq=27
https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/spanish-missions-in-california/sources/1284
On 16 November 1542 Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo named it Bahía de los Pinos.
References:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015070225357&view=1up&seq=64
https://cnmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/JRC-Unit-Lesson-4.pdf
They reached it on 23 May 1770 and camped in the Carmel region at a location given as Punto de Pinos (Point of Pines). One of the players questioned the name of the ship in the question. The CCGS Quiz Masters were able to find letters from several people during that time period, some giving the ship’s name as San Antonio, and some as El Príncipe. Junípero Serra wrote “The San Antonio alias El Príncipe, whose captain is my countryman Don Juan Perez from the shores of Palma …” in a 1769 letter. Could it have been a case of old/new name of the ship based on a refitting or an ownership change? We don’t know, but it would be an interesting historical investigation for someone.
References:
https://archive.org/details/gaspardeportol00bone/page/325/mode/2up
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000003283365&view=1up&seq=140
http://www.militarymuseum.org/Portola.pdf
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822043017045&view=1up&seq=67
Scavenger Hunt Day #5 – Thomas Welles (cir. 1590 – 1659/60)
This scavenger hunt focused on the life and family of the fourth and sixth Governor of the Colony of Connecticut. Serving from 1655 to 1656, and again from 1658 to 1659, Governor Welles removed first from England to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 and from there to Connecticut Colony in 1636.
An examination of the Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714, by Joseph Foster, page 1597, does not list a Thomas Welles in the correct time period to be the same as the future Governor. Out of curiosity, one of the Quiz Masters checked the Alumni Cantabrigienses by John Venn, and Thomas Welles is not listed there either.
References:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044089401954&view=1up&seq=330
They were married on 28 September 1615.
The Welles Family Association uncovered this new information, but they have not included an image of the original parish register on their website.
References:
https://www.wellesfamily.org/uploads/1/3/1/5/13151991/vols_1_2_3_flyer.pdf
He served as Governor, Deputy Governor, Treasurer, and Secretary.
References:
https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/The_Judicial_and_Civil_History_of_CT.pdf (pages 114, 116, 119, and 120)
https://ctstatelibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Thomas-Welles.pdf
https://www.wethersfieldhistory.org/articles/governor-thomas-welles
They were convicted and executed as witches.
References:
https://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/rpt/2006-R-0718.htm
https://ctstatelibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Thomas-Welles.pdf
https://www.jud.ct.gov/lawlib/history/witches.htm
https://archive.org/details/collectionsofcon22conn/page/56/mode/2up?q=Mary+Johnson
https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/The_Judicial_and_Civil_History_of_CT.pdf
He left it to his “Grandson Robert, son of John (deceased).” One of the players located a copy of the Will as recorded in the Probate Court, Hartford, Connecticut.
References:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89065289563&view=1up&seq=139
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ucw.ark:/13960/t4sj1zt9m&view=1up&seq=196
https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/History_of_the_Welles_Family.pdf
Players were asked to identify on which side of the current state capitol building the “Welles” statue can be found. However, there is mixed online information regarding this, and two of our players pointed out that the statue (on the south side) is of Gideon Welles, not Thomas. Gideon (1802 – 1878), the 24th U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1861 –1869), was the four-great grandson of Thomas Welles.
Reference:
He was his eight-great grandson. Another relationship came to light during the scavenger hunt. A great granddaughter of (Day #5) Governor Thomas Welles, Dorothy Chester, was married to Martin Kellogg, the first cousin, four times removed, of (Day #3) Governor Ferry’s wife Sarah Brown Kellogg. Dorothy Chester was also the great great granddaughter of colonial colonist Dorothy (née Hooker) Chester (circa 1589-circa 1662) who was the Day #5 subject in our 2021 scavenger hunt.
Reference:
https://famouskin.com/famous-kin-chart.php?name=17293+thomas+welles&kin=8007+gerald+ford