Brothers Separated for Twenty-five Years Reunited

My grandfather Aldred Erskine had an older brother named Cyrus Melvin Erskine. Sometime after Cyrus filled out his World War I registration card in 1917 he disappeared. No word, no connection was made with Cyrus for a long time. The story in the family is that Cyrus was declared legally dead after he had been missing for about 25 years. I have not found an official death record to verify this part of the story, but today we know more about Cyrus because of the newspaper record that documented his sudden return to the family. My mother had this newspaper clipping in her scrapbook. Her father, Aldred Erskine was a police officer for Burbank, California. One day when he was at work, Cyrus showed up to surprise him. Here's the full story from the newspaper account:

Burbank 

If Police Desk Sgt. Aldred Erskine could duplicate at will that expression of suspense, surprise and joy that he enacted spontaneously last night, he probably would be snapped up by the movies. His eyes popped, his mouth flung open as if moving automatically on hinges and his face turned pale momentarily as he looked up from his desk at police headquarters to peer into a smiling face that seemed familiar. Suspense across his face faded to surprise and then joy, "Cy!" exclaimed Erskine as he hopped off his chair and lunged forward to clutch an extended hand.

Clutches Extended Hand
It was the hand of Cyrus Erskine, a brother the police officer hadn' t seen for twenty-five years. The story goes back a quarter of a century when the four Erskine brothers - Aldred, Cyrus, John and Thomas were living in the family home at Richmond in northern California. The eldest of the four, Cyrus, a young man then, decided to go east. He settled at Dallas, Tex. Later he moved to Miami, Fla., where he engaged in the real estate business during the Florida boom.  

Address Lost 
Meanwhile, the other three brothers, now grown, moved from the family residence. Cyrus left Miami. Addresses were lost and correspondence, previously only occasional, ceased entirely. Last fall Cyrus decided to return to the coast. On Christmas day he arrived in San Francisco , hoping to find his brothers somewhere in the bay region. Thumbing through the telephone book, he found the name of Thomas Erskine at Richmond. Not sure that was his brother, he telelphoned. A few hours later the pair was reunited at Thomas' home. Aldred and John, the latter a resident of Glendale, soon received word that the "long, lost" brother, feared dead, was very much alive.

Arrives Without Warning
 John drove north during the week-end to see Cyrus. He returned last night and without any previous warning dropped Cyrus off at police headquarters, and the third of the series of reunions followed. A sheet metal man, Cyrus has decided to settle here, and seek employment in the aircraft industry. He is making his home for the present at the police officer's residence.

Research To-Do

• This Blog post was originally posted on 25 Jan 2012. Updates were made in 2025.
• The date and name of the newspaper is unknown. Aldred retired from the police department on 1 Nov 1951, so this brother reunion was before that date. I expect to be able to find the article in the local Burbank newspaper. 
• 1910 Census 
• 5 June 1917 WW I Draft Registration, residence listed as Oakland, Alameda County., California
• 1920 Census, residence unknown
• 1930 Census, residence unknown 
• 1940 Census, residence unknown
• 1950 Census, residence was Long Beach, Los Angeles Co., California. Wife was listed as Jessie B.

Minnie Steffen's Quilt Top

Quilt Top Made by Minnie Steffens Erskine

Minnie Steffens Erskine made this quilt top and it was given to my grandparents Aldred and Bee Erskine when Minnie passed away. Aldred was Minnie's son. The quilt remained in Bee's possession after her husband Aldred passed away. In 1976 when my grandmother Bee passed away the quilt top was given to my mother Dorothy. Bee's full name was Frances Berniece Hartley.

Minnie and her husband Charles Clarence Erskine lived in Burbank, California, in the same neighborhood as my mother did when she was growing up. Grandma Minnie always saved the chicken legs for her granddaughter Dorothy, who remembers "popping in to see her" grandma Minnie often.

My mother has always wanted to finish the quilt, add the batting and the backing, then the quilting. I'm not sure why the quilt still remains unfinished. Minnie was born on 26 February 1873 in Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa. She was living in Iowa during the 1880 US Census and on 18 November 1890 she was married to Charles Clarence Erskine in Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minnesota. Their first seven children were born in Superior, Douglas Co., Wisconsin, including my grandfather Aldred Erskine. The last three children were born in Fairview, Richland Co., Montana. Three of the ten children died in infancy. Eventually the family settled in California.

The quilt top makes me think about all the unfinished projects I have that are stored in closets and boxes around the house. Some of my finished projects I have taken out of frames, folded them up, and placed them in my cedar chest. Will anyone wonder about my unfinished projects or about my finished projects that are tucked away out-of-sight? I wonder about great-grandma Minnie's quilt top. Was the fabric for each doll taken from scraps that she used to make clothing for her ten children? Or maybe Minnie made clothes for my mother when she was young and the scraps were used to make this quilt top? Minnie's two daughters died before they reached one year of age. Was the quilt started in the hopes of giving it to one of her daughters? Maybe after the loss of both daughters, Evaline Dorothy and Minnie May, my great-grandmother could never bring herself to the point of finishing the quilt. Did the quilt bring all the sad memories of her daughters to the surface?

I will never know the answers to my questions about my great-grandmothers unfinished quilt. The lesson I learn from this is that I should record somewhere the stories about my own unfinished projects. There are reasons why I hang on to the unfinished projects I have stored in boxes and closets. Maybe the reasons for my unfinished projects can be turned into stories about me. Will my great-grandchildren in the future wonder about the stories related to my unfinished projects?

I think everyone might have at least one unfinished project and a story to go with it.

The 1867 Erskine Family Bible

I didn't know that we had a family Bible in our family's possession until a few years ago. My mother gave the Bible to my brother and he told me about it. Publication date was 1867. The "family record" pages are all filled out, including marriage and other events that pre-date the publication. I took several pictures of the Bible, from all angles, and all pages with writing on them. The last two pages of the Bible are almost completely gone.

The Bible belonged to my 2nd great-grandfather, Thomas Erskine 1836-1904 and his wife Evelinah Huff 1836-1909. He wrote his marriage date and place in the Bible on one of the Family Record pages. The couple had five children, Cyrus Melvin, Frances Wilda, Mary Jane, Charles Clarence, and Florence Lillian. (Charles is my great-grandfather.) The two daughters, Mary and Florence, preceded both Thomas and Evelinah in death.

Thomas Erskine was 5' 9" tall, light complexion, auburn hair, and blue eyes. He joined the Ohio Volunteer Infantry at McArthur, Vinton Co., Ohio on 10 March 1864. He was captured in the battle of Gainesville, Florida and taken to the Andersonville Prison. Thomas was one of the very few who escaped from Andersonville. He was discharged 13 June 1865 and went to Missouri where his was Charles was born.

Thomas died on 8 May 1904 at Menomonie, Dunn Co., Wisconsin and was buried at the Evergreen Cemetery. His wife Evelinah went to live with their oldest son Cyrus in Cloquet, Carlton, Minnesota after his death. Eventually she moved to California and lived with their daughter Frances. Evelinah died 9 February 1909 at Ukiah, Mendocino Co. California.vv