HEADSTONE ERROR: Actual birth year is 1877 (verified by family & gov. records)
SIBLINGS (5): Wylie (1886-1916), May Lenwood (1885-1964), Ethel (1892-1985), Will Ambrouse (1889-1975), Aleane Gertrude (b. 1898)
FATHER: James Wales Ross b. 1853 in Mississippi
MOTHER(S): Lucy Catherine Shoemaker (1859-1909) b. in Hickory Springs Arkansas; buried in Eureka Springs.
Lucy's Maternal Grandmother: Tennessee Edmondson b. 1836; m. John Shumaker/Shoemaker b. 1830.
Tennessee's Maternal Great-grandmother: Lucia Willis Hudson (1812-1873)
(See attached photo of family document)
*DNA MATCHES: (James & Marie's great-grandchildren [Dale, Karen & Mark Tucker] are DNA-matched to two unknown 3rd cousins named Wayne Ross and Mathew Boswell (we'd love to connect with our cousins/Lee family's descendants, so please message me via my links and photos or at the bottom of this page!)
TIDBITS of My Great-Grandfather James "Lee" Ross:
For the first decade of his life, young Lee lived on a small farmstead @ 23 miles southeast of Little Rock, Arkansas in/near the town of England, circa 1880. Their home was right beside the "Main Line" train tracks... and it's there that Lee fell in love with trains, which became his lifelong passion! Lee loved trains so much so, at @age 11, he packed a hobo bag and "jumped a train" to "ride the rails" into his unimaginable future! During his travels, Lee worked for the railroads (and wherever else he could find work and food along the way)! No one, (not even he) knows exactly where he ventured, but he laughingly told us "he owed the railroads at least a million dollars for all the free rides he took back then!"
After nearly a decade "riding the rails", Lee had grown-up working his way around the country. When he arrived in San Francisco he joined the US Army. Soon after, he met a lovely young lady on the street who smiled at him and offered him a tasty looking piece of chocolate! It turned out to be a mud pie covered in chocolate, sprinkled in salt! He didn't think it was funny, but she laughed mightily! And so they began dating (and eventually became my great grandmother Marie Manchester Ross!)
Marie's family, The Manchester's, lived nearby on a large hill overlooking San Francisco called Bernal Heights, whener Marie helped run her parents family-owned mercantile store [possibly out of their home or nearby, called Manchester's Store], and most likely where she got the chocolate!
While in the Army, Lee worked as both a cook and a carpenter, depending on the season. During winter months, he was garrisoned at the Presidio in San Francisco, cooking for the troops. In summer, he became a Cavalryman in Troop 1, riding high into the Sierra Mountains to build the trails, roads and infrastructure of Yosemite National Park (nicknamed "Cavalryman's Paradise" by the troops; see photos). [Note: the Army was the official administrator of both Yosemite and Sequoia national parks from 1891-1913].
After the chaos of the great San Francisco earthquake and fires in 1906, then the death of Maria's mother in 1908, Lee and Marie married, and moved into the Army's family housing units at the Presidio. About a year later came the birth of their first child, daughter Aleane (see photos of her first horse-drawn wagon ride, with her grandpa standing by!). A few years later, two daughters and two sons followed (in birth order): Aleane May, Ethel Marie, Charles Lee , Jean Helen, and Roy Russel Ross.
After serving in the Army, Lee and Marie relocated to Stevenson, CA, to become proprietors of Stevenson Grocery Store (photo attached to their daughter Ethel's memorial page). As seen in photos, James Lee & Marie Ross's favorite roadtrip was in Lee's "Machine" to Sequoia National Park for picnics , which was half a days drive away (note the water bag on the front bumper, to water "The Machine" along the way!) Lee always referred to motor vehicles as "machines" (and a few years later, his pride and joy was his International Harvester Machine, a truck)!
Later, the family relocated to the town of Gustine and settled in permanently. Meanwhile they built a successful motel business, and many of Gustine's homes and farms (including work on McBrides farm); all the while raising their 5 children (all linked below).
In about 1932, Lee built, and Marie managed the first motel on Gustine's "west-side" named "The Gustine Auto Courts" (off Hwy 33), which they operated until they retired well into their 80's. Their 'motel' consisted of a row of @ 8 efficiency units with kitchenettes, complete with a carport between each unit; and a laundry house out back. The Ross family lived in a large family unit on one end, which served as both the office and their residence; until Lee built a larger 'main house' and motel office across the street (which was down the road a ways, across the tracks from the dairy processing facility). He (upon request) later built a small travel-trailer park behind the motel, and created a fish pond with a miniature "San Francisco Bridge" crossing over to it! (My mom still remembers sadly, the day she'd grown to big to crawl over it, and got stuck between the rails, lol!)
Always vigorous and full of energy, Lee did many carpentry and garden projects at home as well; he cultivated and hybridized many types of plants, most notably watermelons, cantaloupes; and a very unique walnut grove (hybridized with specialty black walnuts). More than everything, he especially loved building and playing with his several amazing train sets that encircled elaborately constructed landscapes, complete with towns, utilities, out buildings, bridges, trestles, rail-road crossings, and service depots to drive through; with all the bells and whistles of course! Meanwhile, Marie managed the motel, kept the books, and fed many a "ho-bo's" on her back-porch 'soup kitchen' (in remembrance of Lee's many long, hard 'hungry days' when he was "riding the rails"!
Every so often, Lee would take his "machine' back home' to visit his family in the Little Rock area; and his sisters New Mexico and Oklahoma. Marie accompanied him on several of those trips. (We'd love to connect with our cousins ( any/all of their descendants); please message me if you're reading)!
Lee and Marie's lives were good, happy and content; self-made and hard earned ... well-lived indeed!
(Bio by great granddaughter Karen Tucker, 2020; from remembrances of granddaughter Kitty Tucker and her kids Karen, Dale and Mark)
SIBLINGS (5): Wylie (1886-1916), May Lenwood (1885-1964), Ethel (1892-1985), Will Ambrouse (1889-1975), Aleane Gertrude (b. 1898)
FATHER: James Wales Ross b. 1853 in Mississippi
MOTHER(S): Lucy Catherine Shoemaker (1859-1909) b. in Hickory Springs Arkansas; buried in Eureka Springs.
Lucy's Maternal Grandmother: Tennessee Edmondson b. 1836; m. John Shumaker/Shoemaker b. 1830.
Tennessee's Maternal Great-grandmother: Lucia Willis Hudson (1812-1873)
(See attached photo of family document)
*DNA MATCHES: (James & Marie's great-grandchildren [Dale, Karen & Mark Tucker] are DNA-matched to two unknown 3rd cousins named Wayne Ross and Mathew Boswell (we'd love to connect with our cousins/Lee family's descendants, so please message me via my links and photos or at the bottom of this page!)
TIDBITS of My Great-Grandfather James "Lee" Ross:
For the first decade of his life, young Lee lived on a small farmstead @ 23 miles southeast of Little Rock, Arkansas in/near the town of England, circa 1880. Their home was right beside the "Main Line" train tracks... and it's there that Lee fell in love with trains, which became his lifelong passion! Lee loved trains so much so, at @age 11, he packed a hobo bag and "jumped a train" to "ride the rails" into his unimaginable future! During his travels, Lee worked for the railroads (and wherever else he could find work and food along the way)! No one, (not even he) knows exactly where he ventured, but he laughingly told us "he owed the railroads at least a million dollars for all the free rides he took back then!"
After nearly a decade "riding the rails", Lee had grown-up working his way around the country. When he arrived in San Francisco he joined the US Army. Soon after, he met a lovely young lady on the street who smiled at him and offered him a tasty looking piece of chocolate! It turned out to be a mud pie covered in chocolate, sprinkled in salt! He didn't think it was funny, but she laughed mightily! And so they began dating (and eventually became my great grandmother Marie Manchester Ross!)
Marie's family, The Manchester's, lived nearby on a large hill overlooking San Francisco called Bernal Heights, whener Marie helped run her parents family-owned mercantile store [possibly out of their home or nearby, called Manchester's Store], and most likely where she got the chocolate!
While in the Army, Lee worked as both a cook and a carpenter, depending on the season. During winter months, he was garrisoned at the Presidio in San Francisco, cooking for the troops. In summer, he became a Cavalryman in Troop 1, riding high into the Sierra Mountains to build the trails, roads and infrastructure of Yosemite National Park (nicknamed "Cavalryman's Paradise" by the troops; see photos). [Note: the Army was the official administrator of both Yosemite and Sequoia national parks from 1891-1913].
After the chaos of the great San Francisco earthquake and fires in 1906, then the death of Maria's mother in 1908, Lee and Marie married, and moved into the Army's family housing units at the Presidio. About a year later came the birth of their first child, daughter Aleane (see photos of her first horse-drawn wagon ride, with her grandpa standing by!). A few years later, two daughters and two sons followed (in birth order): Aleane May, Ethel Marie, Charles Lee , Jean Helen, and Roy Russel Ross.
After serving in the Army, Lee and Marie relocated to Stevenson, CA, to become proprietors of Stevenson Grocery Store (photo attached to their daughter Ethel's memorial page). As seen in photos, James Lee & Marie Ross's favorite roadtrip was in Lee's "Machine" to Sequoia National Park for picnics , which was half a days drive away (note the water bag on the front bumper, to water "The Machine" along the way!) Lee always referred to motor vehicles as "machines" (and a few years later, his pride and joy was his International Harvester Machine, a truck)!
Later, the family relocated to the town of Gustine and settled in permanently. Meanwhile they built a successful motel business, and many of Gustine's homes and farms (including work on McBrides farm); all the while raising their 5 children (all linked below).
In about 1932, Lee built, and Marie managed the first motel on Gustine's "west-side" named "The Gustine Auto Courts" (off Hwy 33), which they operated until they retired well into their 80's. Their 'motel' consisted of a row of @ 8 efficiency units with kitchenettes, complete with a carport between each unit; and a laundry house out back. The Ross family lived in a large family unit on one end, which served as both the office and their residence; until Lee built a larger 'main house' and motel office across the street (which was down the road a ways, across the tracks from the dairy processing facility). He (upon request) later built a small travel-trailer park behind the motel, and created a fish pond with a miniature "San Francisco Bridge" crossing over to it! (My mom still remembers sadly, the day she'd grown to big to crawl over it, and got stuck between the rails, lol!)
Always vigorous and full of energy, Lee did many carpentry and garden projects at home as well; he cultivated and hybridized many types of plants, most notably watermelons, cantaloupes; and a very unique walnut grove (hybridized with specialty black walnuts). More than everything, he especially loved building and playing with his several amazing train sets that encircled elaborately constructed landscapes, complete with towns, utilities, out buildings, bridges, trestles, rail-road crossings, and service depots to drive through; with all the bells and whistles of course! Meanwhile, Marie managed the motel, kept the books, and fed many a "ho-bo's" on her back-porch 'soup kitchen' (in remembrance of Lee's many long, hard 'hungry days' when he was "riding the rails"!
Every so often, Lee would take his "machine' back home' to visit his family in the Little Rock area; and his sisters New Mexico and Oklahoma. Marie accompanied him on several of those trips. (We'd love to connect with our cousins ( any/all of their descendants); please message me if you're reading)!
Lee and Marie's lives were good, happy and content; self-made and hard earned ... well-lived indeed!
(Bio by great granddaughter Karen Tucker, 2020; from remembrances of granddaughter Kitty Tucker and her kids Karen, Dale and Mark)
HEADSTONE ERROR: Actual birth year is 1877 (verified by family & gov. records)
SIBLINGS (5): Wylie (1886-1916), May Lenwood (1885-1964), Ethel (1892-1985), Will Ambrouse (1889-1975), Aleane Gertrude (b. 1898)
FATHER: James Wales Ross b. 1853 in Mississippi
MOTHER(S): Lucy Catherine Shoemaker (1859-1909) b. in Hickory Springs Arkansas; buried in Eureka Springs.
Lucy's Maternal Grandmother: Tennessee Edmondson b. 1836; m. John Shumaker/Shoemaker b. 1830.
Tennessee's Maternal Great-grandmother: Lucia Willis Hudson (1812-1873)
(See attached photo of family document)
*DNA MATCHES: (James & Marie's great-grandchildren [Dale, Karen & Mark Tucker] are DNA-matched to two unknown 3rd cousins named Wayne Ross and Mathew Boswell (we'd love to connect with our cousins/Lee family's descendants, so please message me via my links and photos or at the bottom of this page!)
TIDBITS of My Great-Grandfather James "Lee" Ross:
For the first decade of his life, young Lee lived on a small farmstead @ 23 miles southeast of Little Rock, Arkansas in/near the town of England, circa 1880. Their home was right beside the "Main Line" train tracks... and it's there that Lee fell in love with trains, which became his lifelong passion! Lee loved trains so much so, at @age 11, he packed a hobo bag and "jumped a train" to "ride the rails" into his unimaginable future! During his travels, Lee worked for the railroads (and wherever else he could find work and food along the way)! No one, (not even he) knows exactly where he ventured, but he laughingly told us "he owed the railroads at least a million dollars for all the free rides he took back then!"
After nearly a decade "riding the rails", Lee had grown-up working his way around the country. When he arrived in San Francisco he joined the US Army. Soon after, he met a lovely young lady on the street who smiled at him and offered him a tasty looking piece of chocolate! It turned out to be a mud pie covered in chocolate, sprinkled in salt! He didn't think it was funny, but she laughed mightily! And so they began dating (and eventually became my great grandmother Marie Manchester Ross!)
Marie's family, The Manchester's, lived nearby on a large hill overlooking San Francisco called Bernal Heights, whener Marie helped run her parents family-owned mercantile store [possibly out of their home or nearby, called Manchester's Store], and most likely where she got the chocolate!
While in the Army, Lee worked as both a cook and a carpenter, depending on the season. During winter months, he was garrisoned at the Presidio in San Francisco, cooking for the troops. In summer, he became a Cavalryman in Troop 1, riding high into the Sierra Mountains to build the trails, roads and infrastructure of Yosemite National Park (nicknamed "Cavalryman's Paradise" by the troops; see photos). [Note: the Army was the official administrator of both Yosemite and Sequoia national parks from 1891-1913].
After the chaos of the great San Francisco earthquake and fires in 1906, then the death of Maria's mother in 1908, Lee and Marie married, and moved into the Army's family housing units at the Presidio. About a year later came the birth of their first child, daughter Aleane (see photos of her first horse-drawn wagon ride, with her grandpa standing by!). A few years later, two daughters and two sons followed (in birth order): Aleane May, Ethel Marie, Charles Lee , Jean Helen, and Roy Russel Ross.
After serving in the Army, Lee and Marie relocated to Stevenson, CA, to become proprietors of Stevenson Grocery Store (photo attached to their daughter Ethel's memorial page). As seen in photos, James Lee & Marie Ross's favorite roadtrip was in Lee's "Machine" to Sequoia National Park for picnics , which was half a days drive away (note the water bag on the front bumper, to water "The Machine" along the way!) Lee always referred to motor vehicles as "machines" (and a few years later, his pride and joy was his International Harvester Machine, a truck)!
Later, the family relocated to the town of Gustine and settled in permanently. Meanwhile they built a successful motel business, and many of Gustine's homes and farms (including work on McBrides farm); all the while raising their 5 children (all linked below).
In about 1932, Lee built, and Marie managed the first motel on Gustine's "west-side" named "The Gustine Auto Courts" (off Hwy 33), which they operated until they retired well into their 80's. Their 'motel' consisted of a row of @ 8 efficiency units with kitchenettes, complete with a carport between each unit; and a laundry house out back. The Ross family lived in a large family unit on one end, which served as both the office and their residence; until Lee built a larger 'main house' and motel office across the street (which was down the road a ways, across the tracks from the dairy processing facility). He (upon request) later built a small travel-trailer park behind the motel, and created a fish pond with a miniature "San Francisco Bridge" crossing over to it! (My mom still remembers sadly, the day she'd grown to big to crawl over it, and got stuck between the rails, lol!)
Always vigorous and full of energy, Lee did many carpentry and garden projects at home as well; he cultivated and hybridized many types of plants, most notably watermelons, cantaloupes; and a very unique walnut grove (hybridized with specialty black walnuts). More than everything, he especially loved building and playing with his several amazing train sets that encircled elaborately constructed landscapes, complete with towns, utilities, out buildings, bridges, trestles, rail-road crossings, and service depots to drive through; with all the bells and whistles of course! Meanwhile, Marie managed the motel, kept the books, and fed many a "ho-bo's" on her back-porch 'soup kitchen' (in remembrance of Lee's many long, hard 'hungry days' when he was "riding the rails"!
Every so often, Lee would take his "machine' back home' to visit his family in the Little Rock area; and his sisters New Mexico and Oklahoma. Marie accompanied him on several of those trips. (We'd love to connect with our cousins ( any/all of their descendants); please message me if you're reading)!
Lee and Marie's lives were good, happy and content; self-made and hard earned ... well-lived indeed!
(Bio by great granddaughter Karen Tucker, 2020; from remembrances of granddaughter Kitty Tucker and her kids Karen, Dale and Mark)
SIBLINGS (5): Wylie (1886-1916), May Lenwood (1885-1964), Ethel (1892-1985), Will Ambrouse (1889-1975), Aleane Gertrude (b. 1898)
FATHER: James Wales Ross b. 1853 in Mississippi
MOTHER(S): Lucy Catherine Shoemaker (1859-1909) b. in Hickory Springs Arkansas; buried in Eureka Springs.
Lucy's Maternal Grandmother: Tennessee Edmondson b. 1836; m. John Shumaker/Shoemaker b. 1830.
Tennessee's Maternal Great-grandmother: Lucia Willis Hudson (1812-1873)
(See attached photo of family document)
*DNA MATCHES: (James & Marie's great-grandchildren [Dale, Karen & Mark Tucker] are DNA-matched to two unknown 3rd cousins named Wayne Ross and Mathew Boswell (we'd love to connect with our cousins/Lee family's descendants, so please message me via my links and photos or at the bottom of this page!)
TIDBITS of My Great-Grandfather James "Lee" Ross:
For the first decade of his life, young Lee lived on a small farmstead @ 23 miles southeast of Little Rock, Arkansas in/near the town of England, circa 1880. Their home was right beside the "Main Line" train tracks... and it's there that Lee fell in love with trains, which became his lifelong passion! Lee loved trains so much so, at @age 11, he packed a hobo bag and "jumped a train" to "ride the rails" into his unimaginable future! During his travels, Lee worked for the railroads (and wherever else he could find work and food along the way)! No one, (not even he) knows exactly where he ventured, but he laughingly told us "he owed the railroads at least a million dollars for all the free rides he took back then!"
After nearly a decade "riding the rails", Lee had grown-up working his way around the country. When he arrived in San Francisco he joined the US Army. Soon after, he met a lovely young lady on the street who smiled at him and offered him a tasty looking piece of chocolate! It turned out to be a mud pie covered in chocolate, sprinkled in salt! He didn't think it was funny, but she laughed mightily! And so they began dating (and eventually became my great grandmother Marie Manchester Ross!)
Marie's family, The Manchester's, lived nearby on a large hill overlooking San Francisco called Bernal Heights, whener Marie helped run her parents family-owned mercantile store [possibly out of their home or nearby, called Manchester's Store], and most likely where she got the chocolate!
While in the Army, Lee worked as both a cook and a carpenter, depending on the season. During winter months, he was garrisoned at the Presidio in San Francisco, cooking for the troops. In summer, he became a Cavalryman in Troop 1, riding high into the Sierra Mountains to build the trails, roads and infrastructure of Yosemite National Park (nicknamed "Cavalryman's Paradise" by the troops; see photos). [Note: the Army was the official administrator of both Yosemite and Sequoia national parks from 1891-1913].
After the chaos of the great San Francisco earthquake and fires in 1906, then the death of Maria's mother in 1908, Lee and Marie married, and moved into the Army's family housing units at the Presidio. About a year later came the birth of their first child, daughter Aleane (see photos of her first horse-drawn wagon ride, with her grandpa standing by!). A few years later, two daughters and two sons followed (in birth order): Aleane May, Ethel Marie, Charles Lee , Jean Helen, and Roy Russel Ross.
After serving in the Army, Lee and Marie relocated to Stevenson, CA, to become proprietors of Stevenson Grocery Store (photo attached to their daughter Ethel's memorial page). As seen in photos, James Lee & Marie Ross's favorite roadtrip was in Lee's "Machine" to Sequoia National Park for picnics , which was half a days drive away (note the water bag on the front bumper, to water "The Machine" along the way!) Lee always referred to motor vehicles as "machines" (and a few years later, his pride and joy was his International Harvester Machine, a truck)!
Later, the family relocated to the town of Gustine and settled in permanently. Meanwhile they built a successful motel business, and many of Gustine's homes and farms (including work on McBrides farm); all the while raising their 5 children (all linked below).
In about 1932, Lee built, and Marie managed the first motel on Gustine's "west-side" named "The Gustine Auto Courts" (off Hwy 33), which they operated until they retired well into their 80's. Their 'motel' consisted of a row of @ 8 efficiency units with kitchenettes, complete with a carport between each unit; and a laundry house out back. The Ross family lived in a large family unit on one end, which served as both the office and their residence; until Lee built a larger 'main house' and motel office across the street (which was down the road a ways, across the tracks from the dairy processing facility). He (upon request) later built a small travel-trailer park behind the motel, and created a fish pond with a miniature "San Francisco Bridge" crossing over to it! (My mom still remembers sadly, the day she'd grown to big to crawl over it, and got stuck between the rails, lol!)
Always vigorous and full of energy, Lee did many carpentry and garden projects at home as well; he cultivated and hybridized many types of plants, most notably watermelons, cantaloupes; and a very unique walnut grove (hybridized with specialty black walnuts). More than everything, he especially loved building and playing with his several amazing train sets that encircled elaborately constructed landscapes, complete with towns, utilities, out buildings, bridges, trestles, rail-road crossings, and service depots to drive through; with all the bells and whistles of course! Meanwhile, Marie managed the motel, kept the books, and fed many a "ho-bo's" on her back-porch 'soup kitchen' (in remembrance of Lee's many long, hard 'hungry days' when he was "riding the rails"!
Every so often, Lee would take his "machine' back home' to visit his family in the Little Rock area; and his sisters New Mexico and Oklahoma. Marie accompanied him on several of those trips. (We'd love to connect with our cousins ( any/all of their descendants); please message me if you're reading)!
Lee and Marie's lives were good, happy and content; self-made and hard earned ... well-lived indeed!
(Bio by great granddaughter Karen Tucker, 2020; from remembrances of granddaughter Kitty Tucker and her kids Karen, Dale and Mark)
Gravesite Details
Coupled gravesite, with beloved wife Marie E. Manchester Ross
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