Who is this adorable girl named Cuba?

It's funny how we are drawn to certain people. I have many pictures of people I don't know anything about and yet Cuba has called out to me. I'm sure her name has a lot to do with my curiosity as I think its sounds exotic and it isn't a common name.

I have a few pictures of Cuba. On the front of the photo above in my dads handwriting is: Friend of Dads  Cuba.

I also have this picture of Cuba and my grandfather (Francis Harold Saunders). On the back of the photo is written: Cuba & Doc. This was also written in my dads handwriting.

My thinking went something like this. This is a friend of my grandfathers and they know each other well enough for a picture to be taken of them then they were small. My grandfather was born on Roberts Island so she must be from this area. I hunted around the census records checking out neighbors in the area with no results.

So move forward in time and I'm looking up relatives in Vallecito and what do I find but the following.

  

1910 Census: Cuba M Saunders

1900 Census: Mildred C Saunders

Cuba was my Grandfathers 1st Cousin. They shared the same Grandfather Moses Saunders.  She was born and raised in Vallecito. I did a little more digging and was able to connect with Cuba's grandsons wife. She confirmed Cuba and Mildred are one and the same. Cuba is a nickname. She will always be Cuba to me!  

There are several pictures of Cuba/Mildred in the book Vallecito History mentioned a few posts back.

No better lesson learned then by first hand experience. Never assume anything when doing research. Always rely on a consensus of information to lead you in the right direction. 

Thanks for sharing your time with me!

1920's Oh the changing times.

I just want to give a big Thank You for the emails and blog comments I received after my first post! The responses I received are more then I expected and so positive my heart has truly been touched.

So on to my next post:

Dr. Francis Harold Saunders (DVM) is my grandfather. He started his veterinary practice in Stockton CA in the early 1920's that continued well pass his death into the 1980's. If you or your family happened to live in the Stockton area during this time there was a good chance Doc Saunders treated your animals.

This is college picture of Doc Saunders. What a handsome fellow he was~

I have lots of stuff to share on him, but today I want to share something I learned about a veterinary college he attended.

In the San Joaquin County Biographies there is biography on Francis Harold Saunders (DVM).To view the bio click here.  In the bio it mentions that he entered the San Francisco Veterinary College where he remained for one year, then entered the Washington State College, from which he was graduated in 1921.

I was curious why he would leave San Francisco Veterinary College after one year to move to a school further away. If your traveling from Stockton (Roberts Island), Washington was quite a bit further to travel.

As I started researching (aka googling) I found that San Francisco Veterinary College closed in 1918. I found a article (click here to view) that mentions that as the horse was replaced by the automobile and other internal combustion conveyances, many city-based veterinary colleges including San Francisco closed.

This makes since to me, so mystery solved! I just find how interesting it is that time and time again as a society advances with inventions and such there are almost always unintended consequences.

As a side note as I was looking into this I read that San Francisco Veterinary College was started by a man by the name of Dr. E.J. Creely. I thought this name sounded familiar and sure enough what do I find in on of my binders on my grandfather but a picture of a Dr Creely (turns out the son of Dr. E.J. Creely).  Not sure why stumbling on this tickled me so but it made my day!