Nina Frances Harrington
Nina Frances Harrington, youngest of the seven children
of Nancy Anne Branson and her first husband Peter
Harrington, was born 11 April 1889 in Merced, CA. Her father died when she was nine months old. Nina
grew up in the Merced boarding house owned and operated by her mother and by her aunt, Mary Jane Branson
Johnson.
Her mother married second husband John James “Babe” Napier in the second half of the 1890s. Nina therefore had a stepfather from that point on, but Babe was often away mining in the Mariposa County hills and also took part in at least one expedition to Alaska as part of that region’s gold rush. He does not appear to have had a heavy influence on Nina’s life. Nancy and Mary Jane chose to keep the boarding house going until approximately 1902 or perhaps slightly later. By that time, the youngest of the two groups of children, i.e. Nina herself and her first cousin Bretelle Johnson, were poised to marry and begin their lives elsewhere, relieving Nancy and Mary Jane of the need to financially support offspring.
While the boarding house existed, Nina was the youngest resident. She was surrounded by people -- her mother, her five surviving siblings, her stepfather, her aunt, her two cousins George and Bretelle Johnson (the latter pair’s sibling, Clarence, lived nearby as the ward of another aunt, Theresa Branson Moore), and a large slate of lodgers, most of them bachelors working for the town’s major employer, Southern Pacific Railroad. Even though she was the baby of the family, Nina was probably expected to carry a load of responsiblities beyond her years, especially since Mary Jane Johnson was not available to serve as co-proprietoress in the daytime. Mary Jane was present in the evenings to do the laundry, but in the daytime she worked full-time shifts at a drygoods store and sometimes hired herself out as a cook and laundress on nearby ranches. Nancy, on the other hand, was on site round the clock as cook and housekeeper and surely depended on the assistance of her daughters. Nina must not have known much privacy. It is small wonder she eagerly looked forward to a life where she did not have her elders looking over her shoulders. She was wed at only sixteen years of age. (All five Harrington girls married early, Eunice also at sixteen, and two others in their teens.) By the time of the wedding, a family exodus had taken place. Merced had ceased to be the home base of the clan. Instead it was now farther north in the Central Valley in San Joaquin County. Nancy and Babe had purchased acreage near the town of Manteca. Manteca is likely to have been where Nina’s wedding took place.
Nina’s husband was John Everett Riddell. He was known as
Everett, born 26 October 1881 (his World War I draft card states 1882) in Canada, from
whence he had come in 1900. It is very likely that he was attracted to Merced due to the railroad jobs,
and became a lodger in the boarding house. (No records remain to prove this was how he and Nina met, but it
is known to be the manner in which Bretelle Johnson met her husband-to-be, Gifford M. Fowle.)
Nina and Everett moved to Stockton, where her older siblings John and Josephine had gone. Nina’s other siblings, Elsie, Eunice, and Irene, established themselves on farms near Manteca. All were now married, the last being either Nina or Irene -- Irene’s wedding having taken place in October, 1906. Clarence Johnson would also come to Stockton and subsequently to Manteca. San Joaquin County would over the next ten years collect a widening clutch of Bransons, including Nancy’s brothers Alvin and Thomas and some of their children. Many of these individuals would live out the remainder of their lives in the area. Nina and Everett would spend most of their child-rearing period there. In the late 1910s into the 1920s their address was at 1332 Weber Avenue. In the latter part of the 1910s, Everett became the secretary of a Farmer’s Association. However, he interrupted this job in order to help out the nation during World War I by working as a checker for a construction company at the Liberty Shipyards in Oakland. His draft registration card, filed 12 September 1918, not only confirms that occupation, but shows the family temporarily dwelling in Oakland at 465 28th Street. The Stockton phase may also have included time spent on land in Shasta, Butte, and Glenn Counties. Various public records hint that Everett was involved in developing farm/ranch acreage in those areas, perhaps as part of his Farmer’s Association work, or as personal investments he was able to pursue due to the connections he had developed as secretary of the enterprise. It is not known if he and Nina had title to, or invested in, these parcels, but it seems quite possible.
After the children -- Mildred (born 1907) and Donald (born 1909) -- had grown up, Nina and Everett put Stockton in their past. In the mid-1930s, they briefly lived in San Francisco. Everett’s occupation in the 1935 voter register lists his occupation as collector, but collector of what is not explained. During this time, their son Donald, who had lived apart from them for at least half a decade, was part of their household. Soon they moved to the town of San Mateo, residing on El Camino Real and opening a service station. Not only was Donald with them there, but also their daughter Mildred, with her son Everett and her second husband Stan Hillard. Judging by the register, everyone shared the same home, but it could be the two kids were quartered elsewhere in the community, but at addresses they regarded as temporary, so they used Nina and Everett’s address in order to be sure of getting their ballots.
In late 1939 or in early 1940, Nina and Everett established
themselves in Santa Cruz. This would be
where they would remain for the rest of their lives. They lived within the town itself. Together they
owned Union Service Station, which Everett operated, Nina helping with office matters. Nina also worked
as a clerk at Melvin’s Drug Store. Mildred and Stan also moved to Santa Cruz at the same time. The
younger couple also had a service station, theirs being at 1504 Mission. Mildred and Stan lived outside
of town on a twenty-acre ranch in the hills near the site where UC Santa Cruz would eventually be built.
The choice of venue is not surprising given the beneficent climate. Everett appreciated the gardening
opportunities. He and Nina had a huge hothouse, where he grew prized begonias. He is believed to have earned
money from his horticultural efforts. If only a hobby, it was one he pursued with unusual dedication.
In the late 1940s, after coming back from service in the U.S. Army during World War II, Donald chose to reacquaint himself with civilian life by moving to Santa Cruz, along with his wife Josephine. Donald worked at Union Service Station. Also in the late 1940s, Nina’s sister Eunice and brother-in-law Winfred Converse spent an interval residing in the city. However, within a few years the only close kinfolk remaining in the immediate area were Mildred and Stan. Even grandson Everett Hillard moved away to Los Altos Hills and then on to Salinas. However, Nina cherished her relatives and made an effort to keep the bonds strong. She is mentioned frequently in surviving correspondence by cousins, even those who had not seen her in decades. A grand niece recalls that Nina came to stay and help cook and provide comfort for nephew Robert Seafield McDonald in Alameda when he was dying of cancer in the mid-1950s. Nina was renowned as an excellent cook -- this was a well-known legacy of the boarding house days, shared by several women of the clan. By middle-age, she had the figure to show for it.
Everett died 30 September 1965. As a widow, Nina went to live with Mildred and Stan on their ranch. She passed away 13 December 1970.
Nina and Everett with their daughter Mildred in 1909 or 1910. This photo is from an album belonging to her sister Josephine Harrington McDonald Baysinger. Note the curly hair on Everett. The occasion, judging by other photos from the same album, was the staging of an amateur play by members of the extended family. Everett may have placed a wig on his head. In all other available photos of him, he has straight or nearly-straight hair. Nina’s hair is mussed because she and her sisters and cousin Bretelle had been wearing wigs and caps during the play.
Children of Nina Frances Harrington with
John Everett Riddell
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