Opal Edna Jane Cavanaugh (1906-1946)

Sometimes I find new cousins. This is one of the really fun things that happens as a genealogist. And it happened to me again this week.

My great-grandfather, Art Cavanaugh, had a younger sister, Opal. She died before my father was even born. I've put together a pretty good summary of her life with the documents I have discovered so far, and finally located her grave in the local cemetery, but her children's families are still works in progress. This week, though, I have added quite a lot to their stories.

Opal Edna Jane Cavanaugh was born 16 June 1906 in Springfield, Greene, Missouri to John Houston Cavanaugh and Mary Calier Read. She was the youngest of 6 children;  her birth followed brothers Lexon Charlie, Elmer Diamond, Orvel Burgess, Arthur Virgil, and sister Zona Ruby. In about 1915 the family moved to Yakima, Washington where Opal was living with her parents in the 1920 census. She fell in love about that same time and soon married Gordon Alvin Schmitt, a Canadian citizen, on 5 Jan 1921. Gordon was a farm laborer who traveled from Canada in 1920 to Yakima to visit his sister, Mrs. Sam (Violet) Falconer.

Marriage certificate of Gordon A Schmitt and Opal E J Cavanaugh, 5 Jan 1921, Yakima County, Washington. Ancestry.com. Washington, Marriage Records, 1865-2004. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.  Original data: Washington State Archives. Olympia, Washington: Washington State Archives. Accessed 26 July 2016.

After their marriage, Opal and Gordon moved to Canada where Opal became a citizen and they began their family. Daughter Ivy Myrtle was born in 1923 and son, Fraser Jasper, followed in 1925. In 1926, Gordon was in Michigan where he filed his first papers for naturalization. In 1927, Opal traveled back to Yakima with just her son Fraser. I haven't located a record of a divorce, but both Opal and Gordon  were quickly remarried. Gordon married a woman named Elsie about 1928, and they had a son Kenneth born in 1929. Opal married John Delmonico on 10 June 1929 in Yakima.

In 1930, Opal E. Delmonico was found on the federal census in Everett, Snohomish County, Washington. She was a lodger, employed as a waitress in a café. She was listed as married, but John is found in Beaver, Clallam County, Washington working in a logging camp. He was listed as divorced. Opal's son Fraser hasn't been located on the census yet for 1930. Gordon and Elsie were found that year in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana with their mixed family; Ivy, Elsie's two children from a previous marriage, and little Kenneth.

By 1940, Opal was back in Yakima county. She and Fraser were living next door to her parents, John and Mary. Opal was listed as Opal Peterson, widowed. Another marriage may have occurred, though a record of it hasn't been located. Fraser was found in the Selah schools for several years and was a handsome young man. While his earlier years were rather chaotic, this time in Selah, near his grandparents, was hopefully a happier time for him.

Fraser Jasper Schmitt, Selah High School yearbook, 1943. Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 

Image is cropped from original, accessed online 26 Jul 2016.

In Indiana, 1940 was probably not as happy a time for Opal's daughter, Ivy. About 1933, Gordon made a decision about Ivy's future that is difficult to understand.

An older couple in the area had lost a daughter to pneumonia. Gordon decided to give Ivy to the Earlywines. He is reported to have said, "This is my daughter, she is now yours." After that, Ivy lost track of all the Schmitt family except for her grandparents, John and Magdalena Schmitt. Very few members of the family even knew about her. Later in her life, she did have some contact with her brother Fraser. 

(as told to me by Elaine Schmitt Hill, a first cousin of Ivy's. She got the information from Ivy's daughter Judy.) 

Ivy was living with W F and Bertha Earlywine in Hensley Johnson county, Indiana in 1940. She was listed as a lodger. She retained the Schmitt name until she married James A. Hill about 1942.

Opal was married once more after 1940 to Ernest Caldwell. She died on 1 September 1946 in Yakima, Washington and was buried at Tahoma Cemetery with a simple cement stone. She was only 40 years old. Her adult life was full of heartache and hard times and it's very sad that she died so young. I don't know the circumstances of her death; I'll order a copy of her death certificate soon to learn more.

Grave of Opal Cavanaugh Caldwell, Tahoma Cemetery, plot C 80 NW 7, 
Yakima, Yakima county, Washington. Photo taken by author on 29 May 2016.

Opal (Cavanaugh) Caldwell obituary, newspaper clipping from Yakima Daily Republic, 
published on 2 Sep 1946. 
Copy obtained from the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society's obituary file on 28 Jul 2016.

Ivy and James had seven children, two sons and five daughters. Ivy died on 23 September 1985 in Multnomah, Oregon. Five of her children, Judith, Janice, Allan, Cheryl and Terry, are still living and I've recently made contact with several of them. The eldest child, Franklin Wayne Hill was born in 1943 and died in 2008. A daughter, Karen Lee Hill Main, was born in 1956 and died in 2008.

Fraser was married first to Helen Schweitzer Fisher and they had at least two children. Son Max Jay Schmitt was born in 1947 and son John Huston Schmitt was stillborn in 1949. I've not been able to find Max so don't know what became of him. Fraser married three more times, Alice B Allen in 1952, Ruby L Yost in 1959 and Elberta M Whitman in 1979. I don't know if he ever had other children. He died on 30 March 1980 and is buried at West Hills Memorial Park in Yakima, Washington. I go there every Memorial Day to decorate the graves of my grandparents, Art & Katie, great aunt Evelyn and great uncle Melvin. Next year I'll also look for Fraser's grave and pay him a visit.