Glen Delbert Tolman (1915-1976)

Glen Delbert Tolman

 Glen Delbert Tolman

DOB:  4 Jan 1915 Eugene, Lane, Oregon, USA
DOD: 27 Mar 1976  Caldwell, Canyon, Idaho, USA*

Buried: Mar or Apr 1976 in Eugene, Lane, Oregon, United States

   *[Glen was traveling for work (he delivered mobile homes) when he  

    died (probably a heart attack) in his motel room. His body was sent back  

    to  Eugene, Oregon for burial]

 Glen about age 3

     Glen Delbert Tolman was the full-brother of Ethel Florence Tolman. They were the only children of Bella Eugenia Nestegard. Glen was only 8 months old when his mother Bella died of T.B.

     When their mother died, Ethel (2 1/2) and Glen 8 months, went to live with their Aunt Jessie and Uncle Art. Arthur Tolman was the brother of their father, George Earl Tolman.

     

   Cousin Crissie, Aunt Jessie

Ethel & Glen Tolman 

     In 1918 when his father married Pearl May Banta, he was about 3 years old. His step-mother Pearl raised Ethel Florence and Glen Delbert as her own and also gave George two more children, Clifford Earl and Esther May. I will be writing about them in the next few weeks. 

George, Pearl

Ethel & Glen

      In searching for Glen in the US Census records I have found that he is not listed in the 1920 Census. I can not find him with his father, step mother & sister, nor with his Uncle Art, Aunt Jessie and their two children. He should have been 5 years old. His sister Ethel is listed with his father and new step-mother Pearl. But where is little Glen? Did the census enumerator forget to list him or was he somewhere else at that time? Or did Art and Jessie think that he would be listed with his parents so neglect to report that he was living with them? 

     My mother, his niece says that Glen was close to his Aunt (Hattie) Pearl (Tolman) Laycock. She was the sister of his father George. [But I can’t find him with her in any of the Census’ reports either]. This would not bother me so much if he had only shown up in the next Census of 1930, but I can not find him there either.

     Coincidentally, there is another Glenn Tolman born about a year later and born in Idaho who is NOT this Glen Tolman. This second (incorrect) Glen does show up with his parents and later his wife in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 US Census records, but still no record of my Uncle Glen Tolman.

Marriages:

1) Lois Faye Smith

DOB: 15 May 1916 Sioux City, Woodbury, Iowa, USA
DOD:  7 Jan 2007 Coburg, Lane, Oregon, United States  

Glen & Lois married 10 Jun 1937 in Eugene, Lane, Oregon. She was from Coburg, Oregon. They were married for many years before divorcing (sometime after March of 1953, as (his niece) Bernice Collingwood & Tom Archibald  were married in their home in Coburg, Lane, Oregon on 8 Mar 1953*). They each later remarried. [Lois married Russ Easley on 13 Nov 1975 in Reno, NV]. Lois and Glen had one child.

2) Mary May Hughes-Davis.

DOB: 24 May 1914 Cornelius, Washington, Oregon, USA
DOD: 20 Mar 2004 Reno, Washoe, Nevada, USA

Buried:  Springfield Memorial Gardens in Springfield, Oregon.

      * (she was survived by a brother Harry Hughes, and two sisters 

     Bubbles Dalebout and Evelyn Lozier).

     Mary had been previously married. She married Glen Tolman on May 16, 1965, in Eugene, Lane, Oregon. He made her a widow in 1976.

 Mary and Glen Tolman

Children

Child of Glen and Lois:

Grace "Darlene" Tolman

DOB: 7 Jun 1937 in Eugene, Lane, Oregon, United States
DOD: 27 Mar 1967 in Eugene, Lane, Oregon, United States

     she died by falling off an out-of-control horse, onto a highway hitting her   

     head.

     She married a man named Ray Bruce and had four children, 3 boys and a girl who were born from 1959 to 1966. I would like to meet these cousins and learn more about them.

     I find it interesting that I have cousins who are my grandma’s sibling’s grandchildren (my second cousins) who I don’t even know and other second cousins who I knew growing up and still know; keeping in touch via facebook and other online media and occasional face to face visits. Some I have memories of and others, like the Bruce kids, I have never even met.

Glen, Ethel, Esther, Clifford Tolman

    It seems that Family is more than just shared blood lines…it is often experiences and interactions that have created memories and affection. It makes me kind of sad that I never knew these cousins, but I did know their grandpa Glen Tolman, albeit from the point of view of a young child [who of course didn’t really interact much with the adults, but watched them from afar and listened from my “comfort zone of adults” (grandma, mom, dad) as they interacted.]

Step-children (children of Mary Davis-Tolman)

Gary Davis

Gregg Davis

Larry Davis

Census Record searches done:

 1910 US Census

     …shows George Tollman (Tolman) Age 25 as Head of Household. His father’s name is Albert Tollman (Tolman) (Father's Birth Place: Illinois Mother's Birth Place: Canada English). So this is our George, father of Glen. Their home in 1910 was in Sumner, Pierce, Washington. Household Members are listed as George age 25, Albert age 59, Nettie age 19 and Linnie age 15.

     George got married the next year, 1911 to Bella. Glen was born 5 years  after this Census.

1920 US Census

…shows George age 35 living in Springfield, Lane, Oregon and married to Pearl M. [Banta] Tolman age 23 and his daughter Ethel F. Tolman age 6. There is no mention of Glen here, although he was 5 years old. Ethel was about 1 ½ years older than Glen.

1920 US Census

    …shows Arthur & Jessie Tolman living in Santa Clara, Lane, Oregon (this is an area near Eugene); Art is age 37, Jessie is age 36 and Crissie (their daughter) is age 15. Again there is no mention of Glen, who had lived with them from the time of his mother’s death until sometime after his father George remarried in 1918 to Pearl. Where could Glen have been?

1930 US Census

     …records can not be found for this Glen Tolman, who would have been about 15 years old. If you have any ideas of where he might be, please let me know.

     It is not often in my experience, that someone never shows up on a US Census. It is possible that Glen will show up in later Census records when they are released. Whomever picks up the gauntlet and carries on my research will want to investigate further to see if Glen does appear in a Census record in 1940, 50, 60, or 70.

     I must admit that it bothers me to not have much in the way of paperwork to document his life. But I can assure you that there are many who knew him, and some who are still alive (my mother, me, my aunts and uncles, many of my older cousins) that will attest that he did live, and he did have family that knew and loved him. He also has grandchildren that should be in their 40’s or 50’s in this year of 2011. I hope that somehow they will come across this article and contact me with the information that they have and their memories of their grandfather, Glen Delbert Tolman.

 Occupation

     In his young adulthood, Glen worked as a dairyman. Yes, he milked cows for a dairy in the Coburg/Mohawk area near Springfield/Eugene, Oregon. Later in life he worked driving truck. He was employed as a truck driver towing large mobile homes, delivering them to various places in Oregon and surrounding states. It was on one of these deliveries that he fell asleep in a motel and did not awaken. I’m do not know for sure, but I believe that he died of a heart attack.

     Interestingly enough, his brother Clifford Tolman and one of his nephews, Rick Montgomery also were in the dairy business. Rick even owned his own dairy at one time. Both of them also stayed in the Eugene, Oregon area.

     As short as this week’s article may be, it took a lot of research to obtain the little that I found. Sometimes, the information comes easily, sometimes, like this last two weeks, it is like finding gold in a coal mine, Impossible. Glen Tolman has been on my mind almost constantly while I endeavored to find a paper trail of his life. Unfortunately, he is one who appears to have slipped through the cracks. I did finally find his name in his 2^nd wife, Mary Tolman’s obituary. Most everything else is word of mouth, and family paperwork, and is accepted on faith.

     If you should find an official birth record, or social security number, or death certificate, or any other paperwork (employment stubs, tax returns, whatever), I would be grateful to have a copy or the original, to put into my genealogy archives. 

     Also, if you should have any memories of him, I would love to hear them!