Mary Finley Haskell 1848 - 1950

HASKELL, MORLEY

Posted By: deb (email)
Date: 10/13/2010 at 09:22:56

Porterville, California, Thursday, July 27, 1950

Mrs. Mary Haskell Pioneer Resident Dies At Age of 101

Mrs. Mary Haskell, resident of California for the past 78 years and of Porterville for 65 years passed away at the home of her son at 605 North Hockett street at 8:20 p.m. Wednesday following a long illness.

Mrs. Haskell would have been 102 years of age had she lived to her birthday on Nov. 6 of this year.

Rites to be Saturday
Funeral services will be conducted at the Loyd Chapel at 10 a.m. Saturday by the Rev. J.E. Robinson, pastor of the First Methodist Church, of which Mrs. Haskell was a member. Interment will be in the family plot in Vandalia Cemetery.

Mrs. Haskell was born on Nov. 6, 1848 in Iowa, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Morley. Her father served as captain of a wagon train which came west, during the Civil War, and he was stationed for a time in California.

When the war ended, he returned to his Iowa home, bringing a guest, Seth H. Haskell of Oldtown, Me, who had been a member of his unit. In 1869, when Mary Morley was 21, she and Mr. Haskell were married.

In 1872, Mr. and Mrs. Haskell came to California, living at Millerton, near Fresno, where their second son, Frank was born. They saw Fresno as a single store at the end of the railroad. Millerton being county seat of Fresno County at the time. They remember when the first vineyard was planted in the valley.

Mr. and Mrs. Haskell moved to Tulare County in 1885, filing a homestead along the north side of Deer Creek southeast of what is now known as Worth Colony. Frank Haskell, the son, still operates the property.

Enroute to Porterville, the Haskells saw only one house, a stage station, as they by-passed Visalia, the only good sized town in the area.

The Haskells farmed and raised cattle. Mrs. Haskell ran a small butter business, selling her product in town. Mr. Haskell passed away in 1915, and in 1920, Mrs. Haskell left the Deer Creek ranch and moved to Porterville.

Interests Maintained
Bedfast for the last ten years of her life, Mrs. Haskell nevertheless maintained an active interest in world and community affairs. She read all the newspapers until her 100th birthday, but confined her reading to headlines after that. Although bedfast, she crocheted and made quilts for her friends until several years ago.

Mrs. Haskell had two children. The eldest, Joseph, passed away at the age of 19. She made her home with the other son, Frank, after moving to town.

Mrs. Haskell also is survived by a brother, John Morley, of Los Angeles; three grandchildren, three great-great grandchildren, and by several nieces and nephews