My paternal grandmother, Esther Bryant Slane was born on June 23, 1890 in Norwood, Hamilton County, Ohio, the daughter of Charles Edward and Cora Bryant Slane. She had a reputation as an adventurer, went to Portland, Oregon on a holiday and never returned. During my youth she lived next door to us in a house my father built for her in Ardenwald, Portland, Oregon. After my grandfather died, she supplemented her income by "adopting" dozens of foster children, many of which were as close to me as my own aunts and uncles.

In later years, a man posing as a roofing contractor knocked on her front door and told her she needed a new roof. He marched her down to her bank and promptly drained her bank account of a substantial sum. Afterwards it was discovered that the "contractor" had done nothing more than paint the roof a silver color. Learning of this, my father arranged for my grandmother to come live with us in Glendale, California until her death on December 28, 1984.

Tags:   Esther Slane Bryant Locke

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My Great Grandmother Minnie Gannon was born in May 1871 in Massachusetts, her mother, Sarah, was 28. She married my great grandfather Franklin H. Locke on June 6, 1892, in Missoula, Montana. They had two children during their marriage. She had eight brothers and five sisters.

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My paternal grandmother, Esther Slane Locke (the infant propped up in the chair, with the short haircut) is pictured with her relatives: (L-R) my great grandmother Helen J. Bowler (née Pierson), my great grandmother Julia A. Carpenter; my great aunt Helen Slane (leaning on Julia Carpenter); my great grand aunt Marion E. Bowler and my great grandmother Cora Bryant Slane.

My great, great grandfather Jackson Slane was one of the early pioneers that settled in Norwood, Ohio, a village on the outskirts of Cincinnati that was originally named Sharpsburg after an early settler named John Sharpe and renamed Norwood due to its heavily wooded location north of town. He was active in civic affairs as reported in the Cincinnati Times-Star on November 1, 1887, "There is some talk of the Foraker Club, of which Jackson Slane is President, attending the Music Hall meeting in a body next Friday night." The Foraker Club was a Republican grass-roots organization named after Ohio Governor James B. Foraker, who was a former resident of Sharpsburg and for whom a Norwood street is named. "Last night over thirty strong members of the club attended the great Music Hall meeting. It was the first organization to march into the hall...Mr. Jackson Slane, President of the Club, was at the front." Cincinnati Times-Star, November 5, 1887.

A letter was sent by the Governor thanking the group for its support. A copy of the letter was printed in the paper on November 28, 1887: Executive Mansion, Columbus, Ohio, November 14, 1887, Jackson Slane, Esq. President, Norwood, Ohio. "Dear Sir, Please thank the Foraker Club of Norwood for the splendid work they did at the recent election. Be assured I appreciate what my old neighbors have done in this behalf. Very truly yours, J.B. Foraker",

Jackson Slane was one of the leaders of Norwood's efforts to incorporate the Village of Norwood. "The question of incorporation is one that is being agitated just now. Col. P.P. Lane and Jackson Slane, Esq. are leaders of the incorporation movement." Cincinnati Times-Star, December 6, 1887.

The Jackson Slane household was also highly cultured. The aforementioned newspaper noted four days later "Last evening the South Norwood Musical and Literary Society was entertained at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Slane....all the Norwoods were represented as well as the neighboring suburb of Ivanhoe. The first number was a piano duet by Mrs. J.E. Whitaker and Miss Anna Slane."

Jackson Slane died on June 19, 1890, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the age of 60, and was buried there.

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One of my dad's closest friends growing up was his first cousin, Cameron Slane Ward. Cameron was born on September 19, 1922, in Washington; his father, James Kent Ward, was 42 and his mother, my great aunt, Helen Cameron Slane was 33. He had four brothers and two sisters. He died on November 15, 1997, in Mendocino County, California, at the age of 75.

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