Mothers

Ruby Lee Joy Manning

Ruby was Virginia's mother, and Sally's stand-in mother during the last ten years of her life. She was a warm, accepting, loving woman who gave to others from her limited material resources and her unlimited caring. She raised five children--Virginia, Dorothy, George (Potsi), Kathy, and Patty--and "adopted" a sixth, Sally.
During her last years she lived with Virginia and Sally, until she no longer knew where she was and we were afraid she would wander. All her children love her still, very much.

Sarah Louise Embury Smithson

Louise was Sally's mother. She was educated, cultured, and emotionally torn. Her anger at her life, and the people in her life, poisoned her. Born in Berkeley and raised when young in Mexico, she spent the older years of her youth boarding in Berkeley and caring for her younger siblings.

Sally was her only child. Louise did not work till her husband, Tom, died, and then became a reading teacher. She loved gardening, music, and reading.

Louise came from a family of strong women. She had two sisters and two brothers, and her mother, Sarah DeForest Hanscom Embury, had two brothers and three sisters. Adelaide was Louise's aunt and took special care of her during those difficult times in Berkeley.

She died from ALS, after having it for 10 years, curled into a fetal position and on a feeding tube.

Louisa DeForest Hyde Hanscom

Louisa Deforest Hanscom, born Hyde, was Sally's great-grandmother. She was born in Connecticut in 1845 and educated in New York. She married Meldon LeRoy Hanscom and left with him for the west coast. After a few years in San Francisco, they moved to Empire City, Oregon and later Parkersburg, Oregon. She had six children: Meldon, Edmond, Marion, Adelaide, Sarah, and Gertrude. Sarah was Sally's grandmother.

In this photo she is 47 years old. It was taken on October 20, 1892 in Oakland, CA.