Bernice (Bailey) Rohner (1876 - 1951)

Born 15 Jun 1876 in Rollin, Lenawee, Michigan, United States

Ancestors

Wife of George Edward Hannaford — married 5 Apr 1893 (to 3 Mar 1927) in Santa Clara, California, USA

Wife of Franz George (Röhner) Rohner — married 23 Sep 1936 (to 23 Mar 1951) in Alameda, California, United States

Descendants

Died 23 Mar 1951 at age 74 in Palo Alto, San Mateo, California, USA

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Biography

Bernice (Bailey) Rohner migrated from Michigan to California.

Bernice was born 15 June 1876 in Rollin, Lenawee, Michigan, United States to Burrill T. Bailey and Mary Haynes. She was the youngest of eight children.

In the 1880 census Burnice (age 5) was the daughter of Burrill T. Bailey in Rollin, Lenawee, Michigan, United States.^[1]

Name	Sex	Race	Age	Status	Relation	Occupation	Birth Place
Barritt T. Bailey	M	White	42	Married	Head	Minister	Michigan
Mary Bailey	F	White	42	Married	Wife	Housekeeper	Michigan
John M. Bailey	M	White	19	Single	Son	Works on farm	Michigan
Elbert F. Bailey	M	White	13	Single	Son	Student	Michigan
Leroy Bailey	M	White	8	Single	Son	Student	Michigan
Burnice Bailey	F	White	5	Single	Daughter		Michigan

Around 1890 the family moved to Santa Clara County of California.

Bernice married George Edward Hannaford 5 April 1893 in San Jose, California.^[2]The first five of their seven children were born here.

1. George Earl Hannaford
2. Ruby Alice Hannaford
3. Raymond Arthur Hannaford
4. Ernest Hannaford
5. Victor Roy Hannaford
6. Donald Vernon Hannaford

In the 1900 census Bernice (age 24) was the wife of George Hannaford in San Jose, Santa Clara, California.^[3]

Name	Sex	Race	Age	Status	Relation	Occupation	Birth Place
John (George) Hannaford	M	White	27	Married	Head	Butcher	California, USA
Bernice Hannaford	F	White	24	Married	Wife		Michigan, USA
George L Hannaford	M	White	6	Single	Son		California, USA
Ruby Hannaford	F	White	3	Single	Daughter		California, USA
Raymond Hannaford	M	White	8/12	Single	Son		California, USA

Raymond died on 2 November 1900 and was buried in Oak Hill Memorial Park, San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, United States.^[4]

In the 1910 census Bernice (age 32) was the wife of George E Hannaford in Soquel, Santa Cruz, California, United States.^[5]

Name	Sex	Race	Age	Status	Relation	Occupation	Birth Place
George E Hannaford	M	White	37	Married	Head	Us Mail	California
Bernice Hannaford	F	White	32	Married	Wife		Michigan
George L Hannaford	M	White	16	Single	Son	Laborer	California
Ruby A Hannaford	F	White	13	Single	Daughter		California
Hazel G Hannaford	F	White	6	Single	Daughter		California
Victor R Hannaford	M	White	3	Single	Son		California
Donald B Hannaford	M	White	2	Single	Son		California
Samuel Hannaford	M	White	75	Widowed	Father	Own Income	England

Grief struck again when daughter, Ruby, perished in the flu epidemic of 1917-18. Ruby had just graduated from nursing school and died taking care of patients. ^[6]

In the 1920 census Bernice (age 44) was the wife of George E Hannaford in Highland, Santa Cruz, California.^[7]

Name	Sex	Race	Age	Status	Relation	Occupation	Birth Place
George E Hannaford	M	White	47	Married	Head	Mail Carrier	California
Bernice Hannaford	F	White	44	Married	Wife		Michigan
Hazel Hannaford	F	White	16	Single	Daughter		California
Roy Hannaford	M	White	13	Single	Son		California
Donald Hannaford	M	White	12	Single	Son		California

Hannaford family circa 1920 in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Yet again, Bernice was struck with grief when George died from a self-inflicted gunshot 3 March 1927 in Loma Prieta, Santa Cruz, California.^[8]

Bernice married a second time to Frank G. Rohner 22 September 1936 in Alameda, California.^[9]

In the 1940 census Bernice (age 63) was the wife of Frank Rohner in Menlo Park, San Mateo, California.^[10]

Name	Sex	Age	Status	Relation	Occupation	Birth Place
Frank Rohner	M	65	Married	Head		Germany
Bernice Rohner	F	63	Married	Wife		Michigan
Marian Hannaford	F	10	Single	Granddaughter		California

In the 1950 census Bernice (age 73) was the wife of Frank Rohner in San Mateo, California, United States.^[11]

Name	Sex	Age	Status	Relation	Occupation	Birth Place
Frank Rohner	M	75	Married	Head		Germany
Bernice Rohner	F	73	Married	Wife		Michigan
Alvin Rohner	M	45	Divorced	Son	Grocer	Iowa

Bernice died 23 March 1951 in Palo Alto, Santa Clara, California. She is buried next to Frank in the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Menlo Park, San Mateo County, California^[12][13]

Bernice Bailey Hannaford Rohner 1876 - 1951

by Ethel “Tiny” Bernice Bailey Hannaford

She married at sixteen. For several years she helped care for her bed-ridden mother and partly paralyzed father in addition to her own family. When she was twenty-four, she was deeply grieved by the death of a baby boy (Raymond). During the years she lived at the mountain ranch, she raised a family of five. There was no running water. Her cooking was done on a wood range. She baked bread, not just only for her own family, but sold it to neighbors. She was a substitute mail carrier when her husband was ill or on vacation. She drove the horse-drawn mail cart over the mountain roads. She directed and helped pick, can and pack cherries from the orchard. Her door was always open to her many friends and relatives and friends of her children.

At age forty-two, she was stunned by the death of her beloved daughter, Ruby. When she was fifty-two, her husband died. She moved to Palo Alto and made a home for her three grown sons, Earl, Roy and Don. In 1935 death again struck. This time to son Roy. In 1936 she married Frank Rohner and took Roy’s child, Marian, to raise. They lived on Portola Road where Frank ran a dairy, later moving to San Carlos; then to East Palo Alto into a half-finished house Frank was building. It was without many modern conveniences, but she was happy with “her man”. They both enjoyed old fashioned dances and pinochle. She was a mother to her step children and loved her grandchildren. She was thrilled to become a great grandmother.

Frank was a Catholic and she often went with him to church, though she preferred going to the Baptist or Methodist church.

In her last years she suffered with back trouble.

In her last illness, she had been in a coma for some time but suddenly she spoke clear and loud to me saying, “don’t forget the song, Tiny”, referring to the hymn Shall We Gather at the River, that she had previously requested to be sung at her funeral. I assured her I would remember. Those were the last words she uttered though it was twelve hours before she died.

Research Notes

• Mary Haynes Bailey kept diaries. Her granddaughter, Ethel Bernice “Tiny” Bailey Hannaford was in possession of these diaries. She wrote the following excerpts from the diaries. The diaries then passed to her daughter, Ruby Ethel Hannaford Taylor. They are now in the possession of her daughter Gracie Yvonne Taylor and they are in very fragile condition.

1. They (Burrill Bailey's family) left Michigan 2 November 1885 arrived in Arizona 7 November 1885. I think they came by train. From Solomonville, where they first lived, they went to Bailey Wells. Bailey Wells was names for Joshua Bailey, brother of Burrill. It was a stage stop and Burrill and Mary set up a boarding house.

2. When a child in Arizona, an Indian chief wanted to trade ponies for her (Bernice).

Sources

1. ↑ 1880 Census: "1880 United States Federal Census", Year: 1880; Census Place: Rollin, Lenawee, Michigan; Roll: 591; Page: 424c; Enumeration District: 167, Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6742 #31779214 (accessed 13 June 2024), Burnice Bailey (5), single daughter, in household of Barritt T. Bailey (42) in Rollin, Lenawee, Michigan, USA. Born in Michigan.
2. ↑ State of California, County of Santa Clara, Marriage Book K, page 350. Groom George E. Hannaford, age 20. Bride Bernice Bailey age 17. John Barr, Minister of the Gospel
3. ↑ 1900 Census: "1900 United States Federal Census", Year: 1900; Census Place: San Jose, Santa Clara, California; Roll: 110; Page: 33; Enumeration District: 0062, Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7602 #6559501 (accessed 13 June 2024), Bernice Hannaford (24), wife, in household of John Hannaford (27) in San Jose, Santa Clara, California. Born in Michigan, USA.
4. ↑ Burial: "U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current", Find A Grave: Memorial #178844577, Ancestry Record 60525 #143142632 (accessed 13 June 2024), Raymond Arthur Hannaford burial (died on 2 Nov 1900) in Oak Hill Memorial Park, San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, United States of America. Born on 20 Oct 1899.
5. ↑ 1910 Census: "1910 United States Federal Census", Year: 1910; Census Place: Soquel, Santa Cruz, California; Roll: T624_106; Page: 7a; Enumeration District: 0131; FHL microfilm: 1374119, Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7884 #178527328 (accessed 13 June 2024), Bernice Hannaford (32), wife, in household of George E Hannaford (37) in Soquel, Santa Cruz, California, USA. Born in Michigan.
6. ↑ Death Registration: "California, U.S., Death Index, 1905-1939" Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 5187 #229033 (accessed 3 November 2021) Name: Ruby A Hannaford; Birth Year: abt 1897; Death Date: 3 Nov 1918; Age at Death: 21; Death Place: Santa Clara, California, USA.
7. ↑ 1920 Census: "1920 United States Federal Census", Year: 1920; Census Place: Highland, Santa Cruz, California; Roll: T625_148; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 218, Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6061 #62064279 (accessed 13 June 2024), Bernice Hannaford (44), wife, in household of George E Hannaford (47) in Highland, Santa Cruz, California. Born in Michigan.
8. ↑ Death Registration: "California, U.S., Death Index, 1905-1939" Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 5187 #229024 (accessed 3 November 2021) Name: George Hannaford; Birth Year: abt 1873; Death Date: 3 Mar 1927; Age at Death: 54; Death Place: Santa Cruz, California, USA.
9. ↑ Marriage: "California, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1850-1941" Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8797 #2135917 (accessed 3 November 2021) Name: Bernice Hannaford; Gender: Female; Marriage Date: 23 Sep 1936; Marriage Place: Alameda, California, USA; Spouse: Frank George Rohner; Spouse Gender: Male; Record Type: Index to Marriage Licenses and Certificates.
10. ↑ 1940 Census: "1940 United States Federal Census", Year: 1940; Census Place: Menlo Park, San Mateo, California; Roll: m-t0627-00331; Page: 22A; Enumeration District: 41-51, Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2442 #74490930 (accessed 10 September 2023), Bernice Rohner (63), wife, in household of Frank Rohner (65) in Menlo Park, San Mateo, California. Born in Michigan.
11. ↑ 1950 Census: "1950 United States Federal Census", National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: San Mateo, California; Roll: 6104; Page: 15; Enumeration District: 41-235, Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62308 #268539715 (accessed 12 September 2023), Bernice Rohner (73), wife, in household of Frank Rohner (75) in San Mateo, California, USA. Born in Michigan.
12. ↑ Death Registration: "California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997" Place: Santa Clara; Date: 23 Mar 1951 Ancestry Record 5180 #6283981 (accessed 3 November 2021) Name: Bernice Hannaford Rohner [Bernice Hannaford Bailey]; Gender: Female; Birth Date: 15 Jun 1876; Birth Place: Michigan; Death Date: 23 Mar 1951; Death Place: Santa Clara; Mother's Maiden Name: Haynes; Father's Surname: Bailey.
13. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108685805/bernice-rohner : accessed 03 November 2021), memorial page for Bernice Bailey Rohner (15 Jun 1876–23 Mar 1951), Find A Grave: Memorial #108685805, citing Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Menlo Park, San Mateo County, California, USA ; Maintained by Henry Marsh (contributor 47793153) .