10. | MARQUISS, Frank Clifford was born on 27 Jan 1887 in Broken Bow, Custer, Nebraska, USA (son of MARQUISS, Earl Douglas and COCKAYNE, Mary E); died on 4 Mar 1976 in Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, California, USA; was buried on 8 Mar 1976 in Cayucos, San Luis Obispo, California, USA. Notes:
Frank Clifford ``Cliff´´ Marquiss was born in Broken Bow, Custer County, Nebraska on January 27, 1887. Members of the Marquiss family had earlier donated an acre of land to Broken Bow Township, Nebraska for a school site. The school was made of sod and Frank attended that school from grades 1 through 8, but did not attend high school.
Frank met Anna Gilkison while she was working as a telephone operator and living with her older sister ``Jennie´´ (Nancy Jane Gilkison) in Broken Bow. ``Jennie´´ operated a boarding house that Frank and his brother were staying in, and that is how Frank and Anna met. They married in 1908 when they were both 21. Frank operated a sheep ranch.
Frank went on to attend a medical school for 2 years (circa 1911-1912) in Richmond, Virginia. While in Virginia their first daughter, Burnell, was born in December of 1911. His father, Earl Douglas Marquiss, died in July 1912 while Frank and Ann were still living in Richmond. Frank had wanted to be a medical missionary in China, but the death of his father and financial demands prevented his completion of his training. He then went to a school in possibly Ohio to become an ordained Baptist Minister. Frank also taught math in Ohio, before moving to Wyoming.
Frank served as a judge in Gillette, Wyoming and had a Ford (and possibly Buick) dealership there also. He also did sheep ranching and surveying. Their 2nd child, Burnell, died at age 4 in Denver where she had been taken for medical care. During the World War I era Frank ran for Wyoming State Senator. His campaign calling card identified him as the "Bone Dry" Democratic Candidate For State Senator. The back of the card showed that he "Pledged To Support National Prohibition, Immediate Prohibition Enactment, Strict Prohibition Laws to Enforce the Ammendement, and State Hail Insurance". The card went on to state "A vote for the ammemdment will Dethrone King Alcohol and help 'Ditch' Kaiser Bill".
Frank and Ann, his parents and his brother Ted, had a total of 5 homesteads that together formed the Little Buffalo Ranch. Ted got a starter buffalo in Canada and the ranch began raising buffalo. Frank had a smaller ranch east of Gillette near Devil's tower that he used as a breeder ranch for the Little Buffalo Ranch. Frank sold his share of the Little Buffalo to Ted. The smaller ranch was claimed by his nephew (Charles' son) while Frank was in India.
Frank C. Marquiss gained a position with the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, headquartered in New York City. The Society employed him as their "Attorney for India". The family (Frank, his wife Ann, son Kenneth, and daughter 'Jeanne') departed for India in September of 1919 from Seattle aboard the S.S. Suwa Maru.*
The family initially lived in a rented house in Madras. While Frank worked at "Bishop Ville", Vepery, Madras, he had a house built in Kodikanal. During the summer, his wife and children lived in that home in the hills in Kodikanal. The family eventually sold it for $6,000 to 2 older English ladies. The twin daughters were born in the rented house, and then the family moved into the new house when it was finished. Ann was in a tuberculosis sanitarium for a time while the family was in India.
While in India, he worked as attorney and treasurer for American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and also worked with the Men´s & Women´s Christian College, acting vice-consul for both the American and Swedish Governments as well as for the Methodist and Swedish Lutheran (or Methodist) Mission. Dr. Ida Scudder was a well known female physician in India. She persuaded him to design a hospital for her in Vellore, India.
The family left India via Sri Lanka on March 26, 1926 aboard an Australian crewed ship via the Suez Canal to Egypt and Palestine. Their older daughter, Jeanne, celebrated her 9th birthday in Egypt. They then traveled to Italy, France, and Switzerland. The twin daughters, Lois & Lena, celebrated their 5th birthday in Switzerland. During their stay in Switzerland, Frank absent mindedly left the twins in a toy store. A policeman took the twins to the local police station, where they were ``recovered´´ by Frank.
The family sailed from Cherbourg, France on June 1, 1926 aboard the S.S. Leviathan** in 2nd class. They used the money saved by the sailing 2nd class to pay for their tour of Europe and to purchase a new Dodge open touring car in New York. They arrived in New York City on June 7, 1926. The family drove from New York to Broken Bow, Nebraska and stayed with Anna´s sister ``Jennie´´ for 6 weeks to be with Anna´s mother, Lydia. Lydia died during their stay there. After her funeral, the family resumed their trip across the U.S. to California.
Frank stayed in Glendale, California doing deputization work for the Baptist Foreign Missions. From there he went to a sheep and alfalfa ranch in Imperial Valley (1927) about 15 miles from Calipatria, California on the south end of the "Salton Sea". The family stayed in Banning, California while Frank stayed on the ranch in Imperial Valley. The family later moved to Redlands, California during the ``Great Depression´´.
Frank worked at whatever he could find, often in construction. He spent some time building Camp Roberts (U.S. Army) near Paso Robles, California. The family moved to San Bernardino, California in about 1936. They later lived at and operated the "Lighthouse" service station and cafe in Beaumont, California around 1940. The family then moved to Rialto, California in 1944, and in 1946 to Bloomington, California. In Bloomington they had 15 acres of oranges and lemons. Frank also was the manager of the local water district. He also filled in as a substitute minister for the Bloomington Congregational church. Frank and Ann eventually sold the Bloomington property and moved to Morro Bay, California in 1963.
Notes:
*On March 28, 1943 the Japanese merchant ship, "S/S Suwa Maru", tried to run the American blockade of Wake Island and took two torpedoes from the American Submarine Tunny. The Captain of the Suva Maru grounded the ship on the south shore of Wake Island before it could sink. One week later she was completely destroyed by a torpedo attack from the US submarines Seadragon and Finback. Later there were pictures of it in Life Magazine.
**S/S Vaterland, a 54,282 gross ton passenger liner, was built at Hamburg, Germany, as the second of a trio of very large ships for the Hamburg-America Line's trans-Atlantic route. When completed in the spring of 1914 she surpassed her slightly older near-sister, S.S. Imperator, as the World's largest ship. Vaterland held this honor until 1922.
In April 1917, when the United States entered the war, Vaterland was seized and turned over to the U.S. Navy, which placed her in service later in the year as USS Leviathan. In October 1919, she was transferred to the U.S. Shipping Board and again laid up at Hoboken until plans for her future employment could be determined. These finally materialized and, in April 1922 the ship steamed to Newport News, Virginia, where she was completely renovated to suit American tastes and post-World War I standards. As S.S. Leviathan, she was the "queen" of the United States' merchant fleet, and operated in the trans-Atlantic trade into the early 1930s.
Frank married GILKISON, Anna Eliza on 19 Apr 1908 in Broken Bow, Custer, Nebraska, USA. Anna (daughter of GILKISON, James and HOLLINGSWORTH, Lydia Jane) was born on 26 Sep 1886 in Graham, Kansas, USA; died on 8 Aug 1982 in Lockwood, Monterey, California, USA; was buried on 12 Aug 1982 in Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, California, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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