CHRISMAN, Vida (Silver Lake OR)

VIDA CHRISMAN

IDENTIFICATION ON PHOTO: "Vida Chrisman"
PHOTO TAKEN: unknown photographer, Oregon, circa 1907
PURCHASED: 2016 Vintage Industry Antiques, Springfield OR

Inscription on back reads "Vida Chrisman, to Aunt Nancy Porters"

This is VIDA ROSALIA CHRISMAN, born 15 Nov 1891, only child of Francis Marion Chrisman (1865-1948) and Judah E. Robinett (1865-1939). She was born in Silver Lake Oregon.

The Chrisman name is well-remembered in the central Oregon area. People of the county still tell the story of the Christmas Eve disaster that occurred at Francis Chrisman's mercantile in 1894. This story at "Offbeat Oregon" was written by Finn J.D. John in 2011. This story at Oregon Live contains photographs of several of the residents of Silver Lake at that time, including Francis Chrisman, owner of the building where the catastrophe occurred. 

The story was covered in the Portland Oregonian in 1938, and included photos of the Chrisman family who were all still living in Portland at that time.

Clearly Chrisman and his family survived the events of 1894, as they are found on subsequent Census records. Vida would have just turned 3 at the time.

1900 Federal Census > OR > Lake > Silver Lake
CHRISMAN, F.M., head, Oct 1865, 34, born in OR to MO parents, merchant
CHRISMAN, J.E., wife, Feb 1865, 35, born in OR to OR parents, Sales Lady
CHRISMAN, Vida R., dau, Nov 1891, 8, born in OR, at school

1910 Federal Census > OR > Lake > Silver Lake
CHRISMAN, Francis M., head, 44, general merchandise dealer
CHRISMAN, Juda E., wife, 45, mother of 1 child;1 living, hotel landlady
CHRISMAN, Vida R., daughter, 19

In 1914 Vida married Oliver Nathaniel Hill (1899-1965).
Their children:
 1915 - Cecile Vida Hill (d. 19 Sep 1999) m. Andrew C. Biggerstaff (driver for Post Office)
          - they had three children, which I will not post here as they are most likely still living
 1918 - Caroline D. Hill (d. 17 Nov 2003) m. 1) James Hubbard, 2) Verner Rasmussen
 1924 - Charlotte "Dolly" Olive Hill (d. 1997) m. 1) Clayton Sandlin, 2) William Cardwell, 3) Eugene C. Ellison

1930 Federal Census > OR > Multnomah > Portland > 1025 E Broadway
HILL, Oliver N., head, 39, born in Iowa, worker at box factory
HILL, Vida R., wife, 38
HILL, Cecila, dau, 15, born in Nebraska
HILL, Caroline, 11, born in Oregon
HILL, Charlotte, 6, born in Oregon

Vida died 6 Jan 1969 at age 90.

Vida gave this photo to her Aunt Nancy Porters. Vida's paternal grandmother's maiden was named Nancy Porter, but it is highly unlikely that Vida would refer to her grandmother as "Aunt". But Grandma Nancy had a brother James who married Nancy Lebow, who would be a grand-aunt to Vida, and could easily have been referred to as "Aunt Nancy." 

Furthermore, Nancy Lebow-Porter died in Cottage Grove, Lane county, OR, which is less than 20 miles south of Springfield OR where this photo was found.

Great-Aunt Nancy was born in Lane County Oregon in 1860, to parents Thomas Simpson Lebow (1828-1908) and Hannah Jane Shields (1837-1907) who came to that region from Tennessee and Illinois respectively. Nancy married James Carlos Porter, and had no children. In the 1900 Census, the couple are living in Silver Lake OR, the same small town as the Chrisman family. By the time of the 1910 Census, the Porters are back in Lane County, living at Cottage Grove. Nancy died in 1933 and is buried at the Shields Cemetery in Cottage Grove, next to her husband.