Elsie Howe & Charlie Whitfield

Elsie Howe Whitfield and her three
children Irene, John & Lewis

Charlie Whitfield was born Charles Martin Whitfield on 4 December 1886 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA. His parents were Lewis Edward Whitfield and Mary Francis Becker. They lived on a farm, which is now part of Chicago. He moved with his parents to Washington Territory in 1888 and lived in Black Diamond, a coal mining town, for several years. After that they moved to the Olympic penninsula.

His siblings were Jay Ainslie (or Ainsley or Anesly) Whitfield (who was judge in Eastern Washington), Frances Mary Whitfield (known as "Writie" or "Rita" who married Carl Campen), Audrey Whitfield (died age 5) and Irwin Ward Whitfield (never married).

Elsie Caroline Howe was born on 25 August 1889 in Covert, Michigan to John Elon Howe and Effie Adella Lyon. She moved with her parents to live several places in Washington state before settling in Fall City, Washington.

Elsie Howe & Charlie Whitfield were married 24 June 1908 in Carnation/Tolt, Washington.

Children:
Irene Margery Whitfield born 27 June 1909
Lewis Edward Whitfield born 30 August 1910
John Charles Whitfield born 15 October 1911

Charlie Whitfield

She died 24 June 1914 leaving three small children motherless. (Her oldest was almost five at the time of her death.) She was buried in Fall City Cemetery.

The story I was told was that she'd asked her husband, on her deathbed, to marry her best friend. Her best friend was Gertrude Howe Ranf, a cousin of hers, who was widowed with one child.

Charlie Whitfield married Gertrude Howe Ranf on 25 October 1915.

Children:
Donald Wayne Whitfield stillborn in 1916
Warde Charles Whitfield born 12 August 1917
Shirley Eileen Whitfield born 25 August 1919
Glenn Martin Whitfield born 6 July 1921
Audrey Jean Whitfield born ?

The mixed family didn't work very well and Irene and Lewis were mostly brought up by their maternal grandmother Effie Lyon Howe.

Lewis Whitfield died at age 13 from what they called "polio of the spine" and was also buried in Fall City Cemetery.

Charlie Whitfield died 12 April 1963 in Tacoma, Washington in a hospital.

Credits

Photographer: unknown commercial photographer

Author/artist/designer/programmer of page: Rowan Ainslie Chisholm