Rosie Leora Crawford
Born
:
September 19, 1888
Chromo, Colorado
Died:
November 20, 1956
Oakland, California
Buried: Sunset View Cemetery, Albany, california
Father:
Charles C. Crawford
Spouse:
Alexander Forbes Allan
6 Children
:
Violet Jane b. 3/14/1910 near S. Pagosa, CO d. 5/17/1997 Susanville, CA
Florence Myrtle b. 8/15/1912 near S. Pagosa, CO d. 3/4/1977 Oakland, CA
Charles Alexander b. October 1918 near El Vado, NM d. Oct 1960 El Cerrito, CA
Charlotte Anne b. 2/17/1922 near El Vado, NM d. 2001 Lodi, CA
James Forbes b. 6/17/1926 in Westwood, CA d. 9/5/1986 Hayward, CA
Peggy Joyce b. 8/1/1930 in Westwood, CA d. 1/9/2010 Herald, CA)
Rosie Leora Crawford
was the eldest daughter of Charles C. Crawford and Fannie A. Crawford.
Rosie's parents married in Elgin, Kansas and continued westward where they settled in Archuleta County of southern Colorado.
They homesteaded in Chromo, not far from the county seat at Pagosa Springs.
Chromo was a very small town, with only 150 residents even as late as 1911. Rosie's father was a fairly early settler to the area having arrived
before 1888. Chromo was a town situated along the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad line between Antonito and Durango Colorado. At elevation
7500 feet, Chromo was surrounded by high peaks (many over 10,000 feet) of the southern San Juan mountains.
The second two children (Charles & Charlotte) were born in El Vado, Rio Arribas County, NM. The last two children (James & Peggy) were born in
Westwood, California. When the timber harvesting fell off in Colorado, a big new mill was opened in California. Alexander moved the family and went
to work as a railroad engineer for the Red River Lumber Company located in Westwood, California. Westwood was a town that was created out of
the wilderness by the Walker family. The town was owned by the RRLC which was the largest pine lumber mill in the world from 1915 to 1956.
Alexander and his family lived at the corner of Fir & Fourth Streets.
Chromo schoolhouse in the early days
Mother
: Fannie Anne Crawford
The 1900 US Census for Archuleta County, Colorado, shows the household in Chromo consisting of seven people, Rosie L. (b. 9/1888), Walter
(b.10/1890), Evana (b. 12/1892), William (b.8/1895) and Frederick (b.11/1898) as well as the parents Charles C. and Fannie A. The census mentions
that Charles and Fannie had been married 13 years and had six children by 1900 with five still living.
Rosie & her brother Walter about 1892
Sometime before 1909, Rosie Leora Crawford met and married Alexander Forbes Allan, a young man who owned a home in the nearby town of
South Pagosa, Colorado. Alexander worked as a locomotive engineer on the narrow gauge D&RG lines (the highest mountain railroad in
America) on the Durango to Silverton route. Railroading in this area at the time was truly an adventure with high mountain passes, deep snow,
tall trestles and highline cuts. These lines were some of the most scenic in the nation. Piloting a heavily-laden locomotive and train was a very
dangerous occupation there.
Alexander and Rosie had 6 children and they were born in various states as Alexander's railroad and timber industry work took him from the
Pagosa Colorado area to El Vado, New Mexico (just over the nearby mountain pass) and finally to northern California. The first two children
(Violet and Florence) were born near South Pagosa, Colorado.
Violet Jane & Florence Myrtle in
Pagosa Springs, CO about 1913
Rosie's father CC Crawford with his grandkids Violet, Florence and
baby Charles in Dulce, NM about 1920
The family lived in Westwood until about 1942 when Alex retired. Westwood had little to offer for a retired couple and so the family moved down
out of the mountains to Oakland, California. Rosie had been struck by lightening as a young woman and needed better medical treatment for her
resulting cataracts. She received successful surgery to remove them at the UC SF hospital. Alex and Rosie bought a home on 52nd Street in
Oakland. The small Craftsman bungalow became the hub of the family when most of them relocated to the Bay Area.
My mother (Rosie and Alexander’s youngest daughter) remembers that their home in Westwood was always filled with people.
Rosie was a legendary cook and she never cooked for any fewer than 10 people. All six of her children brought friends home to eat and
Rosie fostered the local fire chief’s son (Douglas Luff) as one of her own. They never baked just a single pie - it was always 5 or 6 at a
time. Rosie was friendly with the local native American population (perhaps because she grew up in Chromo with both the Utes and
Jicarilla Apaches). Mom remembers that the Indians would let her pick in their berry patches and she would bring them pies and food in
return. Alex always said that the Indians got the better end of that deal.
The Allan house in Westwood, California
The Crawford women in Westwood, California about 1938 (notice the Westwood Mill's four smokestacks in the background)
Back Row: Fannie Crawford with her daughters Mary or left and Rosie on right,.
Children L-R: Nancee (Rosie's gr-daughter), Lucy Mae( Mary's daughter) & Peggy (Rosie's daughter).
Rosie Leora suffered from diabetes and congestive heart failure. On November 20, 1956, Rosie's daughter Florence called to
check on her mother who was suffering from influenza. Just minutes later Rosie died from a sudden heart attack.
Rosie Leora Crawford Allan is buried at the Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito, California.
Rosie Allan about 1940
Rosie Allan in 1950
Rosie Allan with gr-daughter Kathleen Rose in 1952
Alex and Rosie in Oakland about 1950
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