This is a wonderful photo of my grandmother, Nora Marie (Kieron) Blacker (1900-1937), comfortably lying next to Samuel Thomas Hauser, III (1878-1941) and his wife, Retta Brown (Clark) Hauser (1878-1940). The Hausers were very good friends of the Blacker family. In fact, they were such good friends that my mother has always referred to them as “Uncle Tom” and “Aunt Babe”.
After their homes were destroyed in the 6.2 magnitude earthquake of October 1935, several members of my mother’s family (10 in all!) lived with Uncle Tom and Aunt Babe in their “mansion” on Floweree.
My Great Aunt Kate Blacker was particularly close to Tom and Babe, even helping to care for Babe in the last few months before her death in 1940. After Babe’s death, Kate and Tom became engaged. Kate was 58 years old and had never been married. Sadly, Tom died almost exactly one year after Babe died so Tom and Kate were never married.
In his holographic will, Tom named Kate as the principal heir (Tom and Babe never had children). Tom’s sister contested the will and the matter went all the way to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before a decision was finally reached in October of 1944. Stay tuned to a separate post with all the details – and the final outcome!
And just a a few more interesting points. Tom’s father Samuel Thomas Hauser (1833-1914) served as the seventh Montana Territory governor from 1885 to 1887. And the photo was taken at “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” at Holter Lake.
“Family Friends Friday” is a Daily Blogging Prompt suggested by Thomas MacAntee at geneabloggers.com.
