Amelie Marie Chittenden

Amelie Marie Friedrich Chittenden was intrepid. She was born in Metz, France. Her family immigrated to America (New York City) when she was around 18. Amelie's brothers were artists, trained in stained glass making. Her brothers established a very successful business, creating stained glass masterpieces for many churches throughout the U.S., as well as installations for the wealthy (in Newport Beach, for example). She lived in luxury on 5th Avenue. Her mother would not allow her to even roll up her sleeves, because only servants rolled their sleeves. But, Amelie married an adventurer. Newton Henry Chittenden was a respectable lawyer, sharing office space at his brother's firm on Wall Street, but he had a yen to go west.

After their marriage, Newton took Amelie to Minnesota. There they lived in a small log home with no amenities. Amelie gave birth to her first child, Clara, in Minnesota. Newton was often out exploring. During one of his absences, their tiny log home was invaded and Amelie and the baby's lives were threatened by some Native Americans (or, at least, they felt very much threatened). Amelie said the Indians were looking for whiskey. Whether or not that is true, I don't know.

After that, Newton took the family to California. Newton continued to travel extensively (including an official exploration - commissioned by the Canadian government - of the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia), but he was home long enough to father 4 more children, Henry and Edith (twins), Albert and Edward. His frequent absences ultimately led Amelie to file for divorce on the grounds of abandonment. Although Newton traveled a great deal, he loved his family and fought to remain married. Failing that, he fought for custody of the children, but did not succeed. The children never knew that he fought for them. His granddaughter, Kathryn Chittenden Haines, learned of it while looking up court documents during her genealogical research.

After the divorce, Amelie returned to her family in New York. She did not want to live on her family's charity, so she took a job as Foreman, managing her brothers' stained glass manufacturing. Meanwhile, her western bred children were unhappily cooped up in their strict grandmother's New York townhouse. Amelie decided that was not a healthy life for them, so after drawing straws to decide their destination, she moved her family to Spokane, Washington where she made a homesteading claim. In the Spokane Valley, she, alone, raised and educated her children. She and her children built their log home, tilled and farmed the land, raised the livestock and sold the produce. Amelie home schooled her children, and they all graduated from college and beyond.

Mom (Kathryn C. Haines) said that Amelie died in Seattle. I think Mom would know since she was a careful genealogist and was Amelie's granddaughter. However, Amelie is buried in San Diego, California. Why there? Did one of her children live in San Diego?