Clarissa Smith Van Law

Clarissa Smith Williams was the daughter of William Nugent Williams and Clarissa West Smith. She married Dr. Earl George Van Law, September 28, 1905, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Earl was the son of Clarence M. Van Law and Sarah Van Law, who had been living in Denver, Colorado, in 1900, at 2038 Lafayette Street, and Clarence was working as a railroad agent.

In the 1910 U.S. Federal Census for Salt Lake City, Utah, Clarissa is listed as Clara Van Law, 29, and her husband Earl Van Law is also 29, and their son William C. is 4 years old. Clarissa's husband, Earl, is working as a dentist. They are living at 37 West Temple Street, with Clarissa's parents, William N. Williams, and Clarissa, who are 59 and 52 years old. Also in the home are their other children, Josephine, 22, Eva, 19, Georgia, 17, George A., 15, Bathsheba, 13, and Lyman, 11. Clarissa's father, William is working as a furniture merchant.

On May 25, 1911, Clarissa and Earl had a daughter, Helen, but sadly, she passed away on July 27, 1914, when she was just a little over 3 years old. She is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, Plot: I-1-17.

When Earl George Van Law completed his World War I Draft Registration card on September 12, 1918, in Salt Lake City, Utah, he described himself as being tall with a medium build, grey eyes and brown hair. He was born August 31, 1880, and was 38 years old at the time of his registration. He was living at 870 East 2st Street in Salt Lake City, with his wife Clarissa, and working as a dentist at 913-15 Walker Bank Building in Salt Lake City.

In the 1920 census, Earl and Clarissa are living at 269 B Street in Salt Lake City, with their sons William, 13, and Earl, Jr., 6. Earl Sr., is still working as a dentist and has his own office. They also own their home. In a U.S. City Directory for Salt lake City in 1929, Clarissa and her husband Earl were living at 1401 Sigsbee Avenue along with their son Earl, who is listed as a student. This directory also says that William C. Van Law had moved to New York.

There is a record for William C. Van Law who sailed from San Franciso, California, on December 14, 1926, to Honolulu, Hawaii, on board the ship "Maui", which arrived there on December 18, 1926. He was 20 years old at the time, although his birth date on the ships manifest states he was born July 16, 1904, in Salt Lake City, which was about a year before his parents were married. It would also make him 22 years old and not 20 years old. This must be a typographical error. He departed from Honolulu on December 22, via the same ship and arrived in San Francisco on December 28, 1926. Since he was only there a few days, I guess this was a pleasure trip rather than an LDS Mission.

There is a 1930 U.S. Census Record for William C. Van Law, 23 years old, living as a lodger with three other men, the owner of the home and two other lodgers, in Ogden, Weber, Utah The owner of the home is employed as a watch repairman at a jewelery store, another is a salesman at a.wholesale grocery, and the other is a sales engineer for a public utility. William is listed as a manager of a department store.

In the 1930 U.S. Federal Census for Osborn, Maricopa, Arizona, Earl and Clarissa were both 49 years old, and were living with their son Earl G., Jr., 17, but Earl was not shown as being employed in this census. And by July 21, 1931, Clarissa had passed away. Her death certificate says that her death had contributory causes of pulmonary tuberculosis. She was only 50 years, 11 months and 15 days old when she died. Her residence at the time of her death was 321 - 3rd Avenue, Salt Lake City, and she died in the Salt Lake City LDS Hospital. I can't find Earl in the 1930 census.

Seven years after Clarissa's death, on November 23, 1938, Earl married Della Cynthia Ann Eldredge Spiker, who had also been a widow. By the 1940 U.S. Federal Census for Salt Lake City, Utah, Earl and Della are both 59 years old. She was born March 10, 1879, in Meadowville, Rich, Utah, to Joseph Underwood Eldredge, 34, years old, and his wife Vianna Merrill Prat Eldredge, who was 27 years old at the time of Della's birth. Della married John A. Spiker, on August 28, 1898, and they had four children, Lulubelle, Ruth, John and Richard. In the 1920 census for Unionville, Pershing, Nevada, Della and John had two children, Ruth V., 17, and Richard E., 11, and John was working as a miner in a silver mine at that time.

But by 1930, Della was a 52 year old widow, living in Salt Lake City with her 20 year old daughter, Margaret (Ruth?), and her 21 year old son, Richard. They were renting a home located at 60 East 1st North Street for $40 per month, and Della was working as a clerk in the recorders office, Richard as a laborer in the oil industry, and Margaret as a stenographer for the post office. Della passed away on September 20, 1966, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In the 1940 U.S. Federal Census for Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, Clarissa and Earl's son, William C. Van Law, is 33 years old, married to a woman named Wilma E. 33, and they have two sons, William C. Van Law, Jr., 3 and James F. Van Law, 8 months old. They are living at 1543 W. Macon Street, and own their home which is valued at $10,500. William has had 4 years of college, Wilma has had 4 years of high school. William is working as the manager of a department store, and for the 52 weeks he worked in 1939 at 50 ours per week, his income was $3,600. They were living at the same place in 1935.

Earl George Van Law, born August 31, 1880, in Belaire, Ohio, to Clarenece M. and Sarah Fry Van Law of Zanesville, Ohio, passed away on November 19, 1952, at the Salt Lake City Hospital from arteriosclerotic heart disease. He was 72 years old, and his profession is listed as Electrical Engineer/Dentistry, and his usual business was dental surgery. He was burned November 22, 1952, in Salt Lake city Cemetery. His wife Della passed away September 20, 1966, and is also buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, but she is not buried near Earl, since Earl is buried next to his first wife, Clarissa Smith Williams Van Law, in Plot: I-1-17. Della is buried in Plot: U-16-6.

Wilma Erwin Van Law, who was born February 5, 1907, passed away on May 23, 1958, when her two sons were 21 and 19 years old. She is buried in the Graceland Cemetery, Decatur, Macon, Illinois, Plot E. Her husband, William C. Van Law, was living at 314 Southmoreland Place, Decatur, Illinois, in 1993, which is odd because there is a U.S. Social Security Death Index for William C. Van Law, born July 16, 1906, stating that he passed away on May 22, 1990, and is buried in the Graceland Cemetery, Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, next to his wife Wilma.