Olive Belle Eubank Patterson

Olive Belle Eubank was born to James Gideon Eubank and Mary Jane Harris in 1875 when they were living in Iowa. James and Mary were married in 1873. In the 1880 U.S. Federal Census they were living in Caldwell, Sumner, Kansas, and Olive Belle was 5 years old and her sister Lucetta Catherine was 4. In about 1888 The Eubank's left Kansas and moved to the state of Washington where they remained for the rest of their lives.

Olive married Silas Hall Patterson on October 2, 1892, in Pierce County, Washington. In April of 1887, Silas H. Patterson had been living with his parents in Pierce County, Washington, and they were listed in the census there as follows: Charles T., 41, Jenetta, 38, Silas H., 18, Charles M., 11, Gertrude, 6, Sarah J., 3, and Lizzie E., 2 years old. Charles T. was working as a railroad car painter and Silas as a "tinner".

Silas was born in Michigan in 1869 and in 1880, he was 12 years old, living in Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas, with his father Charles T., 34, mother, Janett, 31, his brother Willie, 5, and a young girl, Ella Caldwell, 17, who was an adopted daughter and a dressmaker. Silas' father, Charles, was working as a painter. Previously in the 1870 census, when he was 2 years old Silas and his family had been living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His baby sister, Mary, was 3 months old. Mary must have passed away sometime between 1870 and 1880, since she was not shown in the 1880 census record.

In a U.S. City Directory Listing for 1893, Silas was working as a painter at the Northern Pacific Railroad shops and was living on Alder Street north of 60th Street in Tacoma, Washington. In 1897 Silas was living at 3202 S. 56th Street and his father Charles T., at 6048 S. Alder, and they were both working as painters for the Northern Pacific Railroad shops. In 1898 Silas was still working as a painter for the railroad and was living on Lawrence Street south of 64th St. His father, Charles T. Patterson, was a foreman painter for the railroad and was living on Alder Street on the North West corner of South 58th Street.

In 1900 Olive and Silas were living in Lake City, Pierce County, Washington, and were listed there as: Silas, 30 Olive, 26, and their two children, Charles A., 6, and James Ernest, 9 months old. Silas was working as a painter in a car shop, and they owned their own home free of a mortgage. Charles A. was born in December of 1893, and James in September of 1899, and both were born in Washington State. Sadly, James Ernest got sick and passed away while they were living on 160 acres of homestead land in Pierce County, which was too far out from the city for a doctor to come to help James in time before he died. Descendants of Silas and Olive said that they never felt the same about the land after their son James died, so shortly after his death they moved to Tacoma where their third and last child, William, was born in 1901.

According to U.S. City Directory Listings, they were living in Tacoma, Washington, from about 1901 to 1905, in Bellingham, Washington, in 1906, and then in Spokane, Washington, in 1907 when Silas was working as a "tinner" and living on Hillyward Street. In 1908 they were living at 727 Stone Street in Spokane, and Silas was still working as a "tinner" for the Northern Pacific Railroad. In 1909 Silas Hall Patterson was still a "tinner" for the railroad and was living at 733 Stone Street in Spokane.

On January 26, 1909, Olive Belle Eubank Patterson sent the above postcard to her paternal grandmother, Nancy Ann Trent Eubank Shult, who was living in Hennessey, Oklahoma, at the time. The postcard included a photo of a new home Olive and Silas had built in Tacoma, which they were planning to move to in April. The postcard reads as follows:

Dear Grandma:

I received your ever welcome letter. I will write as soon as I have any news. We are all well. I hope you are too. This is a picture of my home in South Tacoma, we expect to move from Spokane back to Tacoma the 1st of April and we will live in it. It is all modern, 6 big rooms, 2 big halls, 3 bedrooms upstairs. It has 6 closets upstairs and a bath and toilet, 3 rooms and more downstairs, china closet and a nice big pantry, hot and cold water, and electric lights.

Love to All, Olive Belle Patterson

By the 1910 census they were once again living in Tacoma in their new home at 6222 S. Lawrence Street, and they were listed in the census as follows: Silas, 42, Olive, 31, Charles, 16 and William, 9. Living with them were two boarders, Thaddson Shields, 42, and Thomas Campbell, 43. Silas and Olive have been married 18 years, had 3 children born to them and two were still living. Silas was working as a painting contractor, and his son, Charles as an apprentice in a book binder's office. The boarders both worked as helper blacksmiths on the railroad car shop.

On August 27, 1917, Silas applied for a job as a tinsmith with the Northern Pacific Railway Company at the South Tacoma Ship Station. He indicated at the time he was 49 years old, born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and that he was married to Olive B. Patterson, and that they resided at 6222 Lawrence Street in Tacoma, Washington. In his application he was asked if he used alcoholic drinks and he replied no. He described himself as being 5'9" tall and weighed 149 pounds, with dark hair and brown eyes. His predecessor was a Mr. Henderson, who received a rate of pay of 45 cents per hour, and was on a leave of absence as of August 24, 1917. There was another record for S.H. Patterson who was occupied as a tinsmith in the South Tacoma office of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, Mechanical Division, where he resigned on January 29, 1918, and that document shows that he entered service in the above capacity on August 2, 1917.

In 1920 the family was still living in Tacoma, and their son Charles, 26, was still living with them and so was William S., 18. The family was living at 6222 S. Lawrence and they had a mortgage. Silas was working as a painter in a ship yard, Olive as a nurse in a hospital, Charles as a book binder in a book bindery, and William as a sheet metal worker in a sheet metal house.

By 1930, Silas, 61, and Olive, 55, were living alone at the same home on Lawrence Street in Tacoma which was valued at $3,000. They had a radio in their home. Silas was working as a painter for the county, but Olive was not working. In the 1940 census, Silas, 71, and Olive, 65, were still living at their home on Lawrence Street which they owned valued at $2,600. Silas was not working but Olive was working as a nurse again at the Western State Hospital, and for the 52 weeks she worked at 60 hours per week, she earned $1,200 in income in1939, which was less than 40 cents per hour. So little pay for such an important profession!

Silas Hall Patterson passed away in Tacoma, Washington on June 25, 1945 at the age of 75 years old from aortic regurgitation and arteriosclerosis. Silas received posthumously a Washington State Pioneer Certificate, having settled in Washington prior to statehood in November of 1889. He was buried at the Mountain View Cemetery. His headstone there has several Masonic symbols on it. An obituary from one of Silas' descendants reads as follows:

"Silas Hall Patterson: Death came to Silas Patterson,76, Monday at his home at 6333 South Lawrence Street, after 53 years of residence in Tacoma. He was a retired decorator and painter and had been prominent in lodge circles here. He was a member of Modern Woodmen, Woodmen of the World, Clover Lodge No. 91, F.& A.M. the Scottish Rite, Afifi Temple Shrine, White Clover chapter, O.E.S. and the Odd Fellows. He leaves his wife Olive, two sons Charles A. of Washington D.C. and William S. of Olympia; two sisters Gertrude Irene Powers of Alhambra, California, and Mrs. Elizabeth E. Gaylord of Tacoma and three grandchildren. Piper's will announce the funeral."

Olive Belle Eubank Patterson passed away on July 22, 1953, at the age of 78 while living in Tacoma, Washington.