Anna Amelia Froom

The above photo was found on the website Find A Grave.com and was posted there by Jan Froom on April 15, 2016. Pictured are Anna Amelia Saulsbury and her husband Acel Harvey Froom. The following history is also from the same website: Anna was the daughter of her immigrant father, Thomas Saulsbury.

Thomas immigrated to the United states, a single man of 18, in about 1848 from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England. When he was about 29 years old he married Isabel Elizabeth Randall in California. His was an early Pioneer family to the central Pacific coast of California.

Not sure if Anna was born in Alameda County, or Guadalupe. She was born in October of 1873 and the family moved or purchased land in Guadalupe in early 1873. Anna's siblings were Ella A. Saulsbury, David Saulsbury, Jesse Saulsbury, Thomas Saulsbury Jr, James (Jim) Irwin Saulsbury, Isabel E. Saulsbury, Harry Randolph Saulsbury, Harriet Amelia Saulsbury, May Saulsbury, and Fern Saulsbury.

Anna married Acel H. Froom in 1894 in Santa Barbara County, California, where they together they had three children: Gladys L. Froom, Darrel Acel Froom, and Randall E. Froom.

The 1900 census reported that Anna and Acel were living in Santa Maria, California. They had built a new home and were paying off a mortgage. Gladys was a toddler and Darrel was four month old. Acel was working as a tinsmith and his 18 year old brother was living with them and was doing bicycle repairs.

The 1910 census shows Anna and Acel's home was on West Church Street in Santa Maria, California. The mortgage had been paid off. The two children were busy at school, and Acel was employed as a plumber. On August 24, 1910, baby Randall was born.

An interesting bit of information came from his grandchild Jan. Jan has a note written by Acel that says: Got married to Anna Saulsbury 1894. I was then 24 years old my wife 20 years. About a year after we were married M & M went broke and I went back to Bryant & Trout which had changed; Bell selling out to Trout. I worked there 2 years and they let me go as business was poor. We had just built the home were we were now living when I lost my job.

By 1920, the census showed that Acel and Anna were doing quite well. Acel was the manager of a Sheet Metal Works (Froom Tank Company). Gladys had finished school, and she was a teacher at a public school. Darrell was working along with his father in the Sheet Metal Works, and Randall was in school.

About 1921 Gladys married Donald Ketcham. She was living in Pasadena the next year when her son, James, was born on April 5, 1922.

1930 was in the very heart of the Great Depression, but it look as if Acel and Anna were holding up quite well. Acel was not working, but Darrell was listed as proprietor of the Sheet Metal Works. Their home was valued at $8,000.

October 16, 1938, Darrell married Lillian Myers. The 1940 census revealed that they were paying $35 to rent a home on 402-A East Avenue in Santa Maria, and he continued as head of the Sheet Metal Works. In 1940, after the census was enumerated, Lillian gave birth to a child, and another child in 1945. In 1940 Acel was assistant superintendent for the City Water Works. They were still living in their home on West Church street.

The 1st day of May 1941 proved to be a very sad for Anna and her family. Her dear Acel passed away at the Franklin Hospital in San Francisco, California. San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985 for Acel Harvey Froom revealed this report: His body was received by Halstead and Company Funeral directors from Frank Schmidth of the Franklin Hospital. Mrs. Anna A Froom ordered her dear Acel's body to be shipped to the Dudley Funeral Home in Santa Maria by the Railway Express Agencies on May 2, 1941, at 7 pm to arrive in Santa Maria on May 3, at 2:25 am.

A burial plot was selected for him at the Santa Maria Cemetery. Anna gathered her friends and loved ones around her as she bid her dearly beloved Acel a fond farewell.

On October 12, 1958 Anna exhaled her last breath and returned to God her Maker. She is, again, with her beloved in the Santa Maria Cemetery, where they together they "Rest in Peace."

(Research and bio by Audrey DeCamp Hoffman)

SOURCE: Find A Grave.com