Dora Evelyn Elkins

Dora Evelyn Dustin was born July 31, 1881, probably in San Bernardino, California, and was the third child of six children born to Joseph Hiram Dustin and his wife Melissa Leffingwell Dustin. Melissa was the daughter of Ira and Sara Jane Scott Leffingwell, and Joseph Hiram Dustin was the son of Joseph and Sarah Littlefield Dustin. In 1909 Dora married Charles Harry Elkins, the son of Samuel Elkins and Elvira J. Watson.

In the 1910 U.S. Federal Census for the Arrowhead Settlement of San Bernardino, California, Dora and her husband, Charlie H. Elkins, had been married for one year. He was 29 and she was 28 years old, and he was working as a teamster. They owned their own home but had a mortgage. He was born in Kansas and she was born in California. His parents were both born in Kentucky and her mother in Illinois and her father in Texas. Seventeen other people on the same census page were from China and were working as truck farmers. Others on the page were working as rock crushers, firemen, blacksmiths, cooks and a laundress in a steam laundry.

Previously in the 1900 census for Highland, San Bernardino, California, Charles Harry was living on Baseline Road with his parents and brother, who were listed as follows in the census: Samuel, 50, Elvira J., 51, Harry, 19, Otto, 12. Samuel and Elvira had been married for 31 years, had given birth to 7 children, 6 of whom were still living. Their other children were Lucy born in 1870, Hattie, born in 1872, William, born in 1875, Dolley Ella, born in 1877, and Stephen, born in 1879, who were listed in the 1880 census living in Lincoln, Linn County, Kansas, and Samuel and Charles Harry were working as farmers. Since Charles Harry was born in Kansas in 1881 and his brother Otto was born in California in 1887, the family must have moved from Kansas to California sometime between 1882 and 1886.

Previously in the 1900 census for Colton, San Bernardino, California, Dora was living with her parents and they were listed in the census as follows: Joseph H. Dusten, 53, Melissa, 43, Dora E., 18, Margaret I., 6, and Bertha J., 4. Joseph and Melissa had been married for 21 years, had given birth to 6 children, 4 of whom were still living. Dora's father, Joseph, was working as a teamster and owned his own home free from a mortgage. Dora's older sister, Ida May, was already married and two of her brothers, Hiram and Walter, had passed away when they were young.

By September of 1918, Dora and Harry Elkins were living at 357 Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino, California. He was working as a conductor for the Pacific Electric Railway Company. He was 37 years old when he completed his U.S. World War I Draft Registration Card that year and described himself as being of medium height and build with brown eyes and black hair.

In the 1920 census for San Bernardino they were living at 640 11th Street and they were both 38 years old, and now had a daughter named Dorothy Harriett Elkins, who was 7 years old. Charles Harry as he was listed in the census record was working as a motorman for the Pacific Electric Railway Company.

By the 1930 census they were listed as Harry C., 48, Dora E., 17, and Dorothy H., 17. They owned their home in San Bernardino located at 57 Garden Drive, which was valued at $4,000. Harry was working as a laborer at odd jobs. Twelve years later when Harry Charles Elkins completed his U.S. World War II Draft Registration Card in 1942, he was living at 165 11th Street in San Bernardino and was working for Mr. Santaville, an Engineer for March Field in Riverside for the WPA Project. He was born April 30, 1881, in Kansas City, Kansas. He gave the name and address of the person who would always know his address as Mrs. Charles Campbell, 1547 Perris Hill Road in San Bernardino, California, but I don't know how she was related to him.

Harry passed away on December 22, 1953, in San Bernardino County, California. His wife Dora passed away 8 years later on August 9, 1974, while living in Citrus Heights, Sacramento, California. After the death of her husband, she probably moved to Northern California to live near or with her daughter, Dorothy. Both Charles Harry and Dora Evelyn Elkins were buried in the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery in San Bernardino, California.

Their daughter, Dorothy, born August 2, 1912, married Dr. Herald George Wixom, born in 1914, and in the 1940 census they were living in O'Neil, San Joaquin County, California, and were listed as follows: Herald, 26, Dorothy, 27, and son, Lynn, 7 months old, who was also born in California. Previously in 1935 they had been living in Manhattan, Kansas. Herald was working as a veterinarian doctor for the state, and for the 52 weeks he working at 45 hours per week in 1939, his income was $2,580, They were renting their home for $20 per month.

Herald George Wixom was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George H. Wixon of 952 Eleventh Street in San Bernardino, California, according to a newspaper article that appeared in 1939 when their first child, Lynn Herald Wixon, was born September 11, 1939, at St. Joseph's hospital in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California.

Per a 1941 U.S. City Directory listing, Herald and Dorothy were living at 215 University Street. in Stockton, California. By 1945 they were living at 304 Racine Street in Rapid City, South Dakota, and Herald was working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Per a 1953 U.S. City Directory listing, Herald and Dorothy were living in Sacramento, California, and he was working as the assistant chief of the State Department of Agriculture. In a 1955 directory they were living at 2409 Manor Court and Herald was working as the assistant chief of the Bureau of Livestock Disease Control for the State Department of Agriculture. In 1964 and 1965 directories they were at the same address and Herald was the division chief for the State Department of Agriculture at the division of Animal Industry.

They were still living at the same address in 1967, 1968 and 1970, when Herald's title was Assistant Director of the State Department of Agriculture. A Mr. Gerald Wixom and his wife, Virginia, were living at 401-C 9th Street in Sacramento, and he was working as a salesman for K-Mart. Perhaps this was another son of Herald and Dorothy, and if he was born after Lynn in 1939, he would have been about 30 years old in 1970.

Dorothy and Herald both passed away while living in Sacramento County, California, he in 1990 and she in 1991, and they were both buried in the Mount Vernon Memorial Park in Fair Oaks, Sacramento, California.

I'm not sure if their son, Lynn, is still living at this time. However, I did see a record for a Lynn H. Wixom who was living at 63 Solana Drive in Oroville, California, 95966 with a telephone number of 530-589-1393 who would be about 76 years old now.

This is about all I know regarding my second cousin thrice removed, Dora! Below is a link to her Find A Grave.com website page.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26804814