Nadine Hursh Domonoske Oral History
Dublin Core
Title
Nadine Hursh Domonoske Oral History
Description
Nadine Hursh Domonoske
Creator
Churchill County Museum Association
Publisher
Churchill County Museum Association
Date
February, 13 1991
Format
Analog Cassette Tape, Text File, MP3 Audio
Language
English
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Duration
1:03:44
Bit Rate/Frequency
128kbps/44100hz
Transcription
CHURCHILL COUNTY MUSEUM & ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
an interview with
NADINE HURSH DOMONOSKE
February 13, 1991
OH Dom
This interview was conducted by Marian LaVoy; transcribed by Pat Boden; edited by Norma Morgan; first draft and final typed by Glenda Price; index by Gracie Viera; supervised by Myrl Nygren, Director of Oral History Project/Assistant Curator Churchill County Museum.
PREFACE
Nadine Hursh Domonoske is a tall stately woman who has courageously fought and overcome the impairment of a minor stroke. Her patrician face clouded for a moment as I prepared the microphone for our interview. She wondered aloud what she could talk about . . . with her pioneer civic minded family there was no need to wonder.
She started with the story of her grandfather, Warren Willard Williams, who amassed a great fortune in Nevada through mining, mercantilism, cattle and sheep raising. As a State Senator he was instrumental in the moving of the Churchill County seat from Stillwater to Fallon. He donated land for the court house, jail, Baptist Church and first school in town as well as laying out the street plan for the land West of Maine Street--a street named for the state of his birth. He also donated land for the fair grounds where the Nevada State Fair was held for many years. He was a remarkable philanthropic man who was gifted with foresight.
Nadine's mother, Cora Williams, married Ernest Harold Hursh who added to the family stature by serving the city as mayor as well as building a prosperous insurance agency that the family still owns. Nadine, her brother, Warren Hursh, and her husband, Merton Domonoske have guided the business since the death of her father. Warren Hursh served two terms (eight years) as Churchill County Commissioner prior to his untimely death and Merton Domonoske served three terms as a City Councilman as well as a record sixteen years as mayor of Fallon. This is a civic minded family that has given selflessly to the city of Fallon and county of Churchill.
Ed. In the interview it was discovered that there were two Lizzie Beth Williams, the first died and then another child born later was named Lizzie Beth Williams.
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Interview with Nadine Hursh Domonoske
This is Marian LaVoy of the Churchill County Museum Oral History Project interviewing Nadine Hursh Domonoske at her home
376 West Williams Avenue, Fallon. It is February the 13th, 1991.
LaVOY: Good afternoon, Nadine.
DOMONOSKE: Good afternoon, Marian.
LaVOY: Nadine, your family has played an important part in the founding of Fallon, and of the county seat of Churchill County, so I'd like you to start this interview by giving me the name of your maternal grandparents.
DOMONOSKE: My grandfather was, Warren Willard Williams.
LaVOY: And where was he born?
DOMONOSKE: New Portland Township, Maine.
LaVOY: Do you remember his birth date?
DOMONOSKE: No but I can give it to you as soon as Mert comes downstairs.
LaVOY: All right. And your grandmother, where was she born?
DOMONOSKE: Iowa.
LaVOY: Buckham County?
DOMONOSKE: No, no I think it was Burmingham [Burmingham, Buckman Co., Iowa, April 10, 1866 - March 3, 1940] or something like that, he's got it upstairs he
pulled it out of the Bible so . . .
LaVOY: How did your grandfather happen to come to Churchill County?
DOMONOSKE: Well, it's a long story, he came around the Horn [Cape Horn] at the age of seventeen, I think, on his way to San Francisco to meet with his brother, Abram Williams, who was then a resident of San Francisco and doing well, and wanted his younger brother to come and join him. Therefore, my grandfather landed in San Francisco in 1849, and then the two of them, Abram and Warren Williams joined hands and went to Gold Hill and Virginia City and started a store. They also had started
2
one at Mono Lake. That's how he came.
LaVOY: What type of a store was it?
DOMONOSKE: Merchandising store, little of everything, you know, miners and . . .
LaVOY: Well, then, how did he happen to come to Churchill County?
DOMONOSKE: Well, he was riding, he did lots of Pony Express riding and he rode through Churchill County and he liked it then, that's as I remember being told about it. Then he looked around and he decided to stay here, but first, he became a partner of Mr. Kaiser [Senator Charles Kaiser] who lived in Stillwater and had a ranch. And my grandfather snaked the biggest bands of sheep that had ever come over the Sierra's for he and Mr. Kaiser.
LaVOY: Was that the band of three thousand?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah.
LaVOY: I understand that your grandfather was the best sheep counter in the entire state, that he was just a natural mathematician, have you heard this?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, I have. He was very sharp at math. I have heard that all my life.
LaVOY: Well, when he settled here in Churchill County, I understand he got involved with a mining company, can you tell me something about that?
DOMONOSKE: He was in a mining company, when he, let's see, after he and Mr. Kaiser dissolved their partnership he had saved enough money, he had taken a look at this mine in Dixie Valley--above Dixie Valley, called Bernice. At least that's what my family calls it. And he knew the man that owned Bernice whose name was Wallace Goodell. He also has a tombstone right opposite the Williams family plot that my grandfather put up for him years ago. Anyway, he bought Bernice from Wallace Goodell, I think around 1884, give a little or take a little. Anyway, he took five hundred thousand dollars worth of silver out of that mine, of which, when he finished he started to accumulate what was later known as the Williams Estate.
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He accumulated Alpine, he'd already had Clan Alpine, 'cause that was his home.
LaVOY: Now, where is Clan Alpine?
DOMONOSKE: It was above Alpine . .
LaVOY: In Churchill County?
DOMONOSKE: Oh, yeah, you bet, it's right at the foot of the mountain there on the east side. There's not
anything left of it, Marian. People, brick by brick, walked away with it (laughing).
LaVOY: That's happened very often.
DOMONOSKE: Yes, especially when you don't have it anymore.
LaVOY: Yes. Well, then, when did he decide to come into what is now Fallon proper?
DOMONOSKE: 1901. He came in and bought what was known as the Fallon Ranch, and it was also the post office here. He never bothered to rename it in his own name. Fallon Ranch was over six hundred acres. He owned everything from Williams Avenue to the city limits west and everything north of Williams Avenue to the canal.
LaVOY: That was a tremendous piece of property.
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE:
And he owned everything south, taking out the high school, taking out Verplanks, which was I don't know how many acres they had, maybe forty, and he owned everything west past Allen Road.
Something that I thought was rather interesting, I read someplace that when James Richard owned the little store that was in the center of what is now Maine and Williams, where Maine and Williams cross, and the Indians coming from Stillwater always, they'd ask them where they were going and they'd always say, "To Jim's town." So that before the town was actually named Fallon it was "Jim Town."
Well, the reason it was Fallon is because this was the Fallon Ranch, we're sitting on it right now, where it began.
LaVOY: Where was the house for the Fallon Ranch?
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DOMONOSKE: Right here.
LaVOY: On this property at 376 . .
DOMONOSKE: And it now sits on, and now is occupied, by the way, by the Venturacci's. It's the two story house over there, that Venturacci has. I mean the Venturacci Ranch which was over six hundred acres.
LaVOY: Was that the home that your grandparents lived in?
DOMONOSKE: That was the home my grandfather bought from Mike Fallon, or not Mike Fallon, but from whichever Fallon that was.
LaVOY: Now, how did they move that house again from here? On a capstan and moved it up to where it is at the present time, and then your grandparents lived in that for awhile.
DOMONOSKE: They lived in that house from the time they bought it until the time this house was built. This house was built in 1916 so my mother said.
LaVOY: Here at 376 West Williams?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, right.
LaVOY: Well, now, tell me how did your grandfather happen to meet your grandmother?
DOMONOSKE: In Austin, Nevada, and they were married [May 13, 1880] in Austin, Nevada.
LaVOY: But you don't know how they met?
DOMONOSKE: No, she came from Susanville, I mean that is she was raised partially in Susanville. Her mother had re-married, 'cause her father had died, and her mother had re-married a man by the name of Woodstock. There were many Woodstocks in that area, I don't think any of 'em are alive anymore, but I don't know.
LaVOY: Well, now, when did your grandfather go into politics?
DOMONOSKE: I don't know.
LaVOY: How long did he serve as State Senator, do you know?
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DOMONOSKE: For one term, I think. Do you think I'm right?
LaVOY: I believe he served for eight years.
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, all right, two terms.
LaVOY: He's the one, I understand, that drafted the bill to move the county seat from Stillwater to Fallon.
Did you hear any stories about that?
DOMONOSKE: That's the reason why he ran for State Senator. He wanted the seat in Fallon, Nevada. He wanted it out of Stillwater, and he got it out of Stillwater.
LaVOY: Who were his allies in that, do you know? No, I don't.
DOMONOSKE: LaVOY: I understood that Lem Allen and Tom Dolf were two of his staunchest allies.
DOMONOSKE: I don't doubt that because Allen Street is named after Lem's family. Because they were very dear friends of my grandfather's.
LaVOY: Oh. And I. H. Kent was very opposed to it.
DOMONOSKE: Oh, he fought it.
LaVOY: Do you remember any of the story about that?
DOMONOSKE: Let's see, yeah, well, see, my grandfather also had a store on the corner of Williams and Maine, a two story stone block store. He and I. H. Kent were somewhat rivals. And I. H. Kent was a Democrat, my grandfather was a Republican, and there's an old story that whenever one was in power or in some bigger position, they would take the post office from one side of the street and put it on the other. Whether that's true or not, I don't know., but at least that's what I have heard throughout my life.
LaVOY: I think that's very very funny (laughing)
DOMONOSKE: The Democrats were in power, I . H. came and got the post office and put it on his side of the street, I guess.
LaVOY: But it was interesting to read that after your grandfather won out on putting this as the county
DOMONOSKE: 6
LaVOY: seat, I. H. moved his store that he had at Stillwater in here, and put it on Maine Street.
DOMONOSKE: Yes, he did. Well, his wife, Mary, was a very dear friend of my grandfather. They both came from the state of Maine.
Oh, I didn't realize that. I've also heard that Stillwater did not want to give the county records up to Fallon, did you know anything about that?
Well, I've heard all kinds of odds and ends.
LaVOY: Would you tell us some of them?
DOMONOSKE: I think I heard that they went down and took the records and they chased them back but they couldn't catch them or some such story like that.
LaVOY: Yes, I believe they took them in the middle of the night, and when the hue and cry was aroused in Stillwater they started chasing them and some of the records were lost because they were traveling so fast they were flying out of the wagons (laughing).
DOMONOSKE: God only knows whether that's true, Marian, but it
could be, you know.
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
Now, tell me, what land, what were some of the things that your grandfather gave to the City of Fallon that are still here? The land for the Courthouse perhaps?
Yeah, the land for the Courthouse, the land for the Baptist Church is still being used by the County of Churchill as their main office--their business office. The high school--I think he had something to do with giving that piece of land, too, if I'm not wrong.
I believe that he gave the land for the first district school in Fallon, and I have seen pictures of your mother in that class, and I believe that's on the corner of Maine and Center Street.
DOMONOSKE: That's where the Fallon National Bank sits now.
LaVOY: He donated that?
DOMONOSKE: I know he did that, so my mother said anyway.
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LaVOY: Now the jail, I understand he donated the land for that too?
DOMONOSKE: Yes.
LaVOY: Now, that's the building next to the Courthouse .
DOMONOSKE: He also donated the land for the county, used to be the county fairgrounds.
LaVOY: Yes, I love the story of how the state fair happened to come to Fallon, do you recall that? Your grandfather wanted the state fair here and so your uncle--is it Arthur Keddie?--was a state senator at that time, so he finagled getting the state fair to Fallon, and the first one was in 1915. But it was because your grandfather wanted it here.
DOMONOSKE: I'm sure that's true.
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
And he gave the land where the fairgrounds were. Now, getting back to the buildings that your grandfather put up, which I believe was called the Williams Estate building, did you know anything about the history of the building of that?
The stone was quarried from a quarry at Rattlesnake Hill, Mount Toyeh, they used to call it and it's actual name is Mount Toyeh. We've always called it Rattlesnake Hill. But he took this rockwork out of Rattlesnake Hill and it was put together by Basque sheepherders.
Now, I want to ask you, the building that you have behind this house at 376 West Williams is very interesting stone work building. Can you tell me something about that?
DOMONOSKE: Basque sheepherders built that one too.
LaVOY: What was the building used for?
DOMONOSKE: Part of it was saddles, bridles, pertaining to
LaVOY: A tack room in other words.
DOMONOSKE: A tack room, right. The other part was milk, butter, cheese, cream. It was cool, you see,
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because the walls are very, very thick.
LaVOY: Did you also have the laundry done out there?
DOMONOSKE: I don't think they did. I remember the laundry being done under that big cottonwood tree with wood fire and they boiled the water on top of the stoves. It was done by Indian women.
LaVOY: And you watched them do this?
DOMONOSKE: You bet I did.
LaVOY: Can you tell me a little about it, do you remember the names of any of them?
DOMONOSKE: One was Lizzie, one was Iowa Dalton, I really can't remember them all.
LaVOY: Well, how did they go about this washing?
DOMONOSKE: Boiled the water, put in the soap, I guess because that's what happened, then they sort of churned it together so that it was more or less like squeezing it, you know. They also used washboards. Then they took it out, washed it off in clear water and if they needed starch they'd already made the starch and they put the starch in and this all happened when it was so hot it shouldn't happen to anybody.
LaVOY: They had their hands in that scalding water?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, you bet they did.
LaVOY: Then where were the lines where they hung it?
DOMONOSKE: They were between what now is Mert's shop, the little building on the end and, between that and stretched it across the piece of lawn we have back there. 'Cause there wasn't any Russian Olive tree
there then. There were no Elm trees there then, that was just a piece of raw ground, and they were stretched across that.
LaVOY: Then did they iron them, when they dried?
DOMONOSKE: Sure they ironed them, with those great big heavy funny irons that you have to look for anymore. You wouldn't even know what you were looking for if you did see them.
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LaVOY: The ones they heated on the stove?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah.
LaVOY: Was it an all day job?
DOMONOSKE: I don't remember that, but I would have thought so (laughing).
LaVOY: Well, I would think that it would have been, too. Now, out of this union between Warren and Addie, how many children were there?
DOMONOSKE: There were five children.
LaVOY: Would you mind giving me their names and if you recall, their birth dates?
DOMONOSKE: The names were, Lizzie Beth Williams, born in Grantsville, Nevada, November 28, 1881; Abby Craigin Williams born in Ione, Nevada, November 22, 1883; Ada Bernice Williams born Austin, Nevada, and that was August 22, 1885; Lizzie Beth Williams born October 1, 1887; and Cora Estelle Williams born in Clan Alpine, Nevada, November 12, 1889.
LaVOY: Well, now, your mother, then, is Cora?
DOMONOSKE: She was the youngest . .
LaVOY: And she was born at Clan Alpine. How did she happen to be born at Clan Alpine? Did you have a house out there?
DOMONOSKE: Because that's where they lived, that was their residence. At the time it was the residence of my grandfather Williams and my grandmother Williams.
LaVOY: Oh, I see.
DOMONOSKE: You see they owned all the valley, finally, but when they started there, they started and built a home at the foot of the mountain there at Clan Alpine.
LaVOY: Now, is that about where the cemetery is now, oh, no, that's a different place completely. Clan Alpine is out by Dixie Valley someplace?
DOMONOSKE: Well, do you know where Alpine is?
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LaVOY: No, I don't.
DOMONOSKE: Oh, how can I explain it to you? On your way to Austin, I think Jim Porteus from Gabbs has it now. He bought it, and I think he's put it back together. Anyway, it's on the road to Austin and the turnoff is beyond Cold Springs Station. Clan Alpine is approximately nine and a half miles northwest from Alpine on Cherry Creek.
LaVOY: And it is still there.
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, and most of it's there. It was badly used when it was bought and owned by somebody else. But it was about a two and a half foot stone or rock walls, so it stayed rather well. And I'm sure that Jim still has part of it that's an original.
LaVOY: Now, your mother was born there, then about how old was she when she moved into Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: Eleven years old, she said.
LaVOY: And she went to the New River School, what they call that on Maine and Center. Tell me, where did your mother meet your father?
DOMONOSKE: Right here in Fallon. He came in 1907 with his father and mother. His father was a mining man and he then was working at Fairview. So they moved here.
LaVOY: Now what was your father's name?
DOMONOSKE: Ernest Harold Hursh.
LaVOY: Where was he born?
DOMONOSKE: Let's see, Mineral City, Idaho.
LaVOY: And then the family moved from Idaho to Nevada or did they go someplace else?
DOMONOSKE: Let's see, my father had a butcher shop in Fairview, Nevada, when he was around seventeen years old.
LaVOY: In 1910? And then did he also have a car that he took passengers in?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, he had what they called an EMF touring car.
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LaVOY: What did EMF stand for?
DOMONOSKE: Every morning fix 'em.
LaVOY: Oh, my goodness (laughing).
DOMONOSKE: He said it was true, too.
LaVOY And what did he do? Did he drive passengers?
DOMONOSKE: He drove passengers between Fallon and Fairview and wherever they wished to go around in that vicinity and probably Austin, for twenty dollars a piece
LaVOY: That was a twenty dollar gold piece?
DOMONOSKE: This was a twenty dollar gold piece.
LaVOY: Then he went on to school, I understand, can you tell me where he went?
DOMONOSKE: He went to Heald's Business School in San Francisco, California, and finished his business course and he came back to Fallon.
LaVOY: He opened a Buick and Chevrolet agency here, I understand, is that correct?
DOMONOSKE: That's right. He did open a Buick and Chevrolet agency. I, of course, didn't know this because I was not yet here (laughing).
LaVOY: Did he ever tell you who he sold his first car to?
DOMONOSKE: No, he didn't, he never talked about that. He was a great yarn teller, I wished I'd done what we're doing right now.
LaVOY: Well now, where did your parents meet?
DOMONOSKE: Fallon, Nevada.
LaVOY: And when were they married?
DOMONOSKE: May 11th, 1917.
LaVOY: And where were they married?
DOMONOSKE: San Francisco, California.
LaVOY: How did they happen to go to San Francisco to be
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married?
DOMONOSKE: Because they were living, they were about to live half time in San Francisco and half time in Fallon, Nevada, because at that point in their time, they could afford that. My mother loved San Francisco.
LaVOY: Oh. Well, then, did he have to leave for awhile for the military?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, I think he was gone a little over a year
probably. I think it was 1919 that he enlisted .
LaVOY: 1918 I think.
DOMONOSKE: 1918 that is, excuse me.
LaVOY: Was he in the Army?
DOMONOSKE: Yes. He was in the Army.
LaVOY: Where was he stationed, do you have any idea?
DOMONOSKE: Camp Grant Hill, Illinois, and Fort Lewis [Washington], I think.
LaVOY: And then when did he return to Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: About a year later.
LaVOY: In 1919?
DOMONOSKE: I think so.
LaVOY: And then is that when he established his real estate and insurance office?
DOMONOSKE: That's right, that's when he first started, yes.
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
And that was in the Kent Building, was it not, the first one?
I guess, I don't know, yes I believe that's correct.
Then in 1921 his brother-in-law, and I believe Arthur Keddie was the name, was killed in a plane crash in Elko. Did your father then have to come back and run the Warren Williams Estate company?
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DOMONOSKE: He came back and he then quit doing his insurance and became manager of the Williams Estate Company.
LaVOY: What was this Williams Estate Company, could you tell me?
DOMONOSKE: Well, when my grandfather Williams died, for various reasons my aunts, or the heirs that were left wanted to incorporate or have a company rather than to diminish the estate they set up a corporation to carry on the business which were many and varied and covered the whole state of Nevada.
LaVOY: So your father then, became in charge of the Williams Estate Company? How long did he manage this?
DOMONOSKE: Not more than a couple of years.
LaVOY: What did he do after that?
DOMONOSKE: Went back in the insurance business (laughing).
LaVOY: Now, perhaps was this at the time of the crash of 1929, did that affect them?
DOMONOSKE: It affected it so bad that they lost the whole thing.
LaVOY: Now, Nadine, I have heard that your relatives, your grandfather in particular owned land from Alpine Peak clear up to Idaho?
DOMONOSKE: Alpine valley, or Edwards Creek Valley is what they call it now, we used to call it Alpine Valley. He owned the entire valley, he could take his sheep from there and go clear across the valley and clear into Elko County and never step on anybody else's ground.
LaVOY: That's amazing.
DOMONOSKE: Some of the land he owned out right and some of the land was what they called "state in contract land".
LaVOY: Was that federal government land?
DOMONOSKE: I'm not sure of that.
LaVOY: Well, with this particular type of land, he was
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one of the first ones that used that type of a contract?
DOMONOSKE: I believe he was.
LaVOY: Now, you mentioned something about owning ranches up in North fork, up in Elko County, is this correct?
DOMONOSKE: He owned several ranches in Elko County, large ranches. He owned what was known then as the Holland Ranch, he owned the Haystack Ranch, he owned the Keddie Ranch, he owned all of Argenta, right out of Battle Mountain. He owned the Fallon Ranch here, which was over six hundred acres, he owned the Danielson Ranch here which was over six hundred acres. He also owned the Beowawe Ranch.
LaVOY: That's a very large ranch in Elko County, yes. Well, he certainly did well, for a man that started out with very little. You should be very, very proud of him. Now, tell me, getting back to your father, when the crash of 1929 came and the banks closed in 1932, your father went back in the real estate insurance business. Did he and someone else open an office?
DOMONOSKE: He and Elwood Kaiser opened the office, and it was then Hursh and Kaiser.
LaVOY: And that was in the old bank building?
DOMONOSKE: That's right.
LaVOY: I keep hearing about this old bank building, where was the old bank building?
DOMONOSKE: Where the thrift shop is [137 South Maine].
LaVOY: Oh.
DOMONOSKE: And that, by the way, was owned by my grandfather. He started the first bank and he owned the bank.
LaVOY: Oh, I see.
DOMONOSKE: My mother was also a Director at nineteen.
LaVOY: That's amazing. Well, did Mr. Kaiser stay with your father in the insurance business?
DOMONOSKE: No, they dissolved their partnership, friendly,
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DOMONOSKE: No, they dissolved their partnership, friendly, because they liked each other, but Elwood went to Reno and went to work for Nevada Rock and Sand. Because in those days it was pretty rough, everybody needed all the money they could get to subsist and Elwood had this very good job with Nevada Rock and Sand.
LaVOY: Now, was Nevada Rock and Sand owned by Frank Frandsen?
DOMONOSKE: Right.
LaVOY: And then he also went to work, I think, for the Dodge Construction Company too, didn't he?
DOMONOSKE: Later, I think.
LaVOY: In later years. So, then, where did your father move his insurance office?
DOMONOSKE: Well, right where we are right now, I think.
LaVOY: The Joe Jarvis Building [130 South Maine].
DOMONOSKE: He bought that from Joe Jarvis, the building.
LaVOY: And you've been there ever since?
DOMONOSKE: Right.
LaVOY: Tell me some of the things that your father did in the City of Fallon, did he hold any offices?
DOMONOSKE: He was the Mayor of the City of Fallon for one term.
LaVOY: What did your mother feel about that?
DOMONOSKE: Well, we've always, in her family and our family, we've always been civic minded so she was quite happy about it. If he wanted to be mayor it was fine with her.
LaVOY: Wonderful. Do you know, just off hand, what year he was Mayor?
DOMONOSKE: '47 to '51. [1947-51]
LaVOY: Was he also doing work for, during World War II, did he chair any . . .
DOMONOSKE: He was the Churchill County chairman for the
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ration board.
LaVOY: Now, tell me what the ration board was.
DOMONOSKE: It was--because the government was short of certain things they gave you little stamps and rationed your gas, you couldn't have any more than so many gas, if you had a "B" stamp--your gas was so many gallons. You had shoe stamps, you had sugar stamps, and tires, my dad was head of portioning out, or being sure that they were given to everybody in the right way.
LaVOY: That must have been a very touchy job at times?
DOMONOSKE: It cost him some accounts. Because he wouldn't stretch it.
LaVOY: That speaks very well for his honesty.
DOMONOSKE: Oh, he was an extremely honest and fine fellow, that man.
LaVOY: And now, Nadine, when were you born?
DOMONOSKE: I love this, because I don't even believe it. May 27th, 1918.
LaVOY: And where were you born?
DOMONOSKE: San Francisco, California.
LaVOY: Why in San Francisco and not Fallon, do you know?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, because we were then living there, that was on the six month end of my family moving back and forth. By the way, my brother, Warren, was also born in San Francisco.
LaVOY: And when was he born?
DOMONOSKE: 1921.
LaVOY: What month?
DOMONOSKE: December the 15th.
LaVOY: December 15, 1921. Well, now, Nadine, tell me something about your childhood?
DOMONOSKE: I did lots of horse back riding and whenever I caught my horse I had to saddle it myself, I had
17
to catch it myself. I did lots of swimming.
LaVOY: What was your horse's name?
DOMONOSKE: One was "Laddie" and one was "Rex".
LaVOY: What colors were they?
DOMONOSKE: One was a bay and one was a sorrel. Then I had "Shamrock" which was a half pinto, half shetland, and mean, mean, mean.
LaVOY: Shetlands have a name for that.
DOMONOSKE: Yes, they do.
LaVOY Tell me about the home that you lived in, in Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: I'm still living in it.
LaVOY: Who built this beautiful home?
DOMONOSKE: My mother had it built.
LaVOY: Did she have a lot to do with the design of it?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, she had an architect and she knew what she wanted. This was before my mother and father were married.
LaVOY: Oh.
DOMONOSKE:
Because my grandmother was not well and she was in Burlingame, California, and my mother thought she should have a permanent home in Fallon, Nevada. So she built the home for her, and it was my grandmother's home, actually, in the beginning. [Williams'Estate had home erected in 1916 at cost of 8,000 dollars. A. Henderson was builder. Churchill County Eagle, 9-23-1916]
LaVOY: Well, when did you start living in it?
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE: 1917. My grandmother went back to
Burlingame.
Oh, so your mother and your father then moved to Fallon and lived in this house.
That's right.
LaVOY: Oh. It's such a charming old home, I was trying to think of the style that it is, can you recall what it's referred to as, what the architect referred to as, it's almost a mission style? 18
DOMONOSKE: It's sort of an English, half wattle and half daub style type, because its part brick and its part wood and plaster.
LaVOY: Well, it certainly is a beautiful home. Now, what chores did you have to do as a smaller child?
DOMONOSKE: Take care of my horse and do anything my mother wanted me to, if she could talk me into it (laughing).
LaVOY: You didn't have to do any housework or anything like that?
DOMONOSKE: I didn't have any chores, no. She'd say, "Would you mind helping me wash a window?" and I would say, "Yes, I will wash the window." It doesn't bother me. But, I was never assigned any chores.
LaVOY: I see, did you have servants that helped you, that did the cooking and things like that?
DOMONOSKE: Yes. We had a cook, we had a housekeeper and that was it.
LaVOY: Now, when did you first start school? About how old were you?
DOMONOSKE: Six and a half, I think. Because I came in the mid year sort of term, so I was really a little behind when I started the first grade. So--and I went to Old High over here.
LaVOY: Where Cottage School is now?
DOMONOSKE: Where Cottage School is now, yeah.
LaVOY: Who was your first teacher, do you remember?
DOMONOSKE: I can remember in half a second . . . I disliked her. I think, it's slipped, and I never thought I'd ever ever forget her.
LaVOY: Well, I tell you, if it comes back to you in a few minutes we'll bring it on. Who was your very best friend in school?
19
DOMONOSKE: Marlea Dodge.
LaVOY: Where did she live in the town here, how close to your home?
DOMONOSKE: About, right up here where the new savings and loan is. [498 W. Williams Avenue] Her old house now is right back here on Taylor Street near the hospital.
LaVOY: Oh, well, what were some of the games and some of the things that you and she did together?
DOMONOSKE: There again, I think we swam a bit and then she
loved dolls and I didn't (laughing). But we did play together that way.
LaVOY: Good, now do you recall who some of the teachers were in high school when you went to high school here?
DOMONOSKE: You should have let me know these things then I could remember.
LaVOY: Was the famous Mr. McCracken there by any chance?
DOMONOSKE: He certainly was and I liked him, he scared everybody to death but he ruled with an iron hand in a kind way, if that means anything. He was very very honest and very very great. He was a great teacher. He taught both geometry and algebra himself, which is rather unusual for a
principal. But he did lots of really nice things
for people too. But when he said, "You stop." You stopped.
LaVOY: I think maybe we need some of those today.
DOMONOSKE: Wouldn't hurt us (laughing).
LaVOY: Did you go on to a university?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, I did.
LaVOY: Where did you go?
DOMONOSKE: I went for about a year and a half to the University of Nevada [Reno] and I couldn't find myself there, I couldn't find what I wanted to do. So I decided that I wanted to take interior decoration and I went down to Woodbury College in
20
Los Angeles where they gave a four year course in two years. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from that college.
LaVOY: In what year, do you recall?
DOMONOSKE: 1940.
LaVOY: I understand from talking to you and Mert that you have a yearly reunion with some of your friends from the school, is that correct?
DOMONOSKE: It certainly is.
LaVOY: How many of you get together?
DOMONOSKE: Let's see, there's three of us now. Four of us.
LaVOY: And where do you get together?
DOMONOSKE: In Reno.
LaVOY: They come from
DOMONOSKE: They come from Burnt Ranch, California, they come from Los Angeles, they come from San Gabriel area of Los Angeles and La Habra area of Los Angeles.
LaVOY: And have come regularly all these years?
DOMONOSKE: Most all of them.
LaVOY: What month do you usually get together?
DOMONOSKE: Sometimes May and sometimes November, October before the snow flies, if we have any snow.
LaVOY: I understand that you did a little modeling on the side, is that correct?
DOMONOSKE: That's right.
LaVOY: I can see why because you're so tall and would be a wonderful model. Who did you model for?
DOMONOSKE: Benioff Furs in Reno.
LaVOY: How long did you do this?
DOMONOSKE: About a year.
LaVOY: What were some of the favorite furs that you
21
modeled?
DOMONOSKE: There were some beautiful, beautiful, soft, soft minks that you have never seen as beautiful. I liked them the best.
LaVOY: Where did you model them in the store or at fashion shows?
DOMONOSKE: I modeled them in the store. I also took care of their books and I also was manager for the store for awhile.
LaVOY: Now, what period of time would this have been?
DOMONOSKE: 1940, let's see it was when the Mapes [Hotel] first opened, and I can't think of when that was, 1947, I think.
LaVOY: During that period of time?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah.
LaVOY: Well, now, tell me, where did you meet your handsome husband?
DOMONOSKE: Here in Fallon, Nevada.
LaVOY: How in the world did he happen to be in Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: He was the head of the Farmer's Home
Administration. He had many, many miles of it. I think he ran five thousand miles a month, because he had offices in Ely, in Caliente, where else? He had the whole southern part of the State of Nevada.
LaVOY: That was very ambitious, tell me, now, what's your husband's name?
DOMONOSKE: Name, the whole name?
LaVOY: The whole name.
DOMONOSKE: Merton Elswick Domonoske.
LaVOY: Where was he born?
DOMONOSKE: He was born, in Berkeley, California. [January
11, 1923]
LaVOY: Did he come from Berkeley to Fallon, or?
22
DOMONOSKE: He was at the University of Nevada. Then he went into the Army in World War II and was a foot soldier, Lieutenant. Then he came back to Nevada and finished his college, because he was interrupted by World War II.
LaVOY: So he graduated from the University of Nevada?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, he did.
LaVOY: You came back in the meantime and met him here in Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: Through a friend of ours, friend of mine, who was working for him. She said, "He's the nicest man, Nadine, you just have to meet him." And I said, "Leave him alone, because I know all about that, I'm doing fine and eventually we may meet, but right now, just leave him alone." So we did meet, and I don't know, so here it is you see. It's what happens.
LaVOY: Well, tell me about your courtship?
DOMONOSKE: (Laughing) We did lots of dancing. Just lots of
dancing. Lots of friends, lots of nice parties. We did do outdoor things some, and I don't know, it's hard to go back and rake it all up, you know.
LaVOY: Well, now, when were you married?
DOMONOSKE: August the 19th, 1950.
LaVOY: And where were you married?
DOMONOSKE: We were married in the Methodist Church down on Stillwater Avenue [280 E. Stillwater].
LaVOY: What did you wear?
DOMONOSKE: A wedding gown like most people do.
LaVOY: A long wedding gown?
DOMONOSKE; A long wedding gown.
LaVOY: Who were your attendants, do you remember?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, I do. Norma Cooper [Norma Frazzini Cooper] was my maid of honor, Patricia Summerbell was my bridesmaid, that was all.
23
LaVOY: And who were his attendants?
DOMONOSKE: My brother, Warren Hursh, his brother, Arthur Domonoske, and a friend of ours, Doug Hoover.
LaVOY: And where was the reception held afterwards?
DOMONOSKE: Right in here.
LaVOY: At your home?
DOMONOSKE: Uh hum.
LaVOY: Your mother had passed away by then so, oh, your mother was still alive?
DOMONOSKE: You bet your jollies she was still alive. Yep, she passed away in 1964. We got married in '50, so I was happy to have her for another 14 years, you know.
LaVOY: That's wonderful.
DOMONOSKE: You bet.
LaVOY: Where did you go on your honeymoon?
DOMONOSKE: We went to San Francisco.
LaVOY: Your favorite city by the bay.
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, it was. I can't say that it's the same now, but it was a beautiful, clean, lovely city.
LaVOY: I agree with you on that. Now, when you came back to live, where did you live?
DOMONOSKE: We lived on Ada Street in a small house that had just been built by Leila and Dutch Larkin.
LaVOY: And how long did you live there?
DOMONOSKE: About four and a half years. Then we moved and bought, through the GI loan, Mert bought a house on First and Allen, 105 South Allen. We lived there until my mother and father died. Then, of course, we moved in here. This house was part my brother's and part mine. Since my brother and his wife really didn't wish to live here, we bought our half from them.
24
LaVOY: And have lived here happily ever since?
DOMONOSKE: You betcha (laughing).
LaVOY: It's a beautiful, beautiful home. Now, tell me, with your family being so active in politics, when
did your husband go into politics?
DOMONOSKE: 1960, as an appointed Councilman.
LaVOY: In 1960?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah. Mayor Jack Tedford appointed him as Councilman in 1960, yeah. [April 14, 1960]
LaVOY: Now, during this period of time when you were living in these two different homes, was Mert running the insurance company with your brother, or was he with the FHA?
DOMONOSKE: He was partly with FHA and then my father wanted him to come into the business with him. And I was already there working for my dad. Mert said, "What do you think?" and I said, "You have to make up your mind." So he decided he loved Fallon, Nevada, and he wanted to stay. So he did go in with Dad and then later on my brother came, maybe about three or four years later my brother, Warren, came from Reno and came into the business.
LaVOY: So then it was your father, your brother and your husband that ran the business for a few years?
DOMONOSKE: It was myself, my brother, my father and my husband. All four of us.
LaVOY: Until your father passed away, and then it was the three of you.
DOMONOSKE: Right.
LaVOY: And you're still active?
DOMONOSKE: We still own it and we're still, when we can be and when I get out of this, Marian, we're going to be active again, aren't we?
LaVOY: Now, tell me, when did your husband become mayor?
DOMONOSKE: 1971. [June 11, 1971]
LaVOY: And he served how many terms, this is
25
unbelievable?
DOMONOSKE: Four terms, Marian.
LaVOY: Sixteen years as Mayor.
DOMONOSKE: Twelve as Councilman and sixteen as Mayor.
LaVOY: I think that is a record in itself.
DOMONOSKE: I think it is, too.
LaVOY: You must have some interesting stories that happened to you as the Mayor's wife. Can you recall any of them?
DOMONOSKE: Not really. I tried very hard to back him, but never to get into the business of being a "busy mayor wife" you know.
LaVOY: Well, you have been a wonderful wife, Nadine. Is there anything else now that you would care to tell that we may have forgotten, about your life?
DOMONOSKE: I can't think of anything really
great.
LaVOY: Well, you're such a dedicated, civic minded family and you have a great deal to be proud of.
DOMONOSKE: I was, for eleven years, on the State Health Advisory Board.
LaVOY: Now, what did this entail?
DOMONOSKE: It gave away Hill-Burton money to different hospitals as they needed it.
LaVOY: Oh.
DOMONOSKE: Millions and millions and millions of dollars of Hill-Burton money.
LaVOY: Hill-Burton--those were two senators?
DOMONOSKE: That was the Bill it came under.
LaVOY: What were some of the hospitals that got money? Just off the top of your head?
DOMONOSKE: Washoe General got money, Churchill County got money, the wing on Churchill County. I was really
26
responsible for that wing.
LaVOY: That's something you can be very proud of.
DOMONOSKE: Because if I hadn't been on the Board and I hadn't read my instructions right we probably wouldn't have had that wing. Most people don't know that, Marian, 'cause you aren't supposed to toot your horn when you're on that Board, you see.
LaVOY: Well, you can be very proud of the fact that the
hospital is still going strong now.
DOMONOSKE: Well, I think it's wonderful that it is, because it was, at one time, a fine wonderful small hospital, and which I think it will be again too, if it isn't already.
LaVOY: They're working toward it very rapidly.
DOMONOSKE: Sure they will, and they can, and we need it so badly. We also loaned money in Caliente, we loaned money in Tonopah, we put on a wing in Tonopah. I have stacks and stacks of it upstairs- what we did and what we didn't do.
LaVOY: How many were on the Board?
DOMONOSKE: When I first went on the Board it was a horror, it was twenty-five people (laughing). You can't have a Board with twenty-five people, it's impossible.
LaVOY: Well, were these people from all over the State of Nevada?
DOMONOSKE: These people were, yes, these people were mainly hospital administrators, one from St. Mary's, one from Las Vegas, both hospital women administrators. Then the head of the mental hospital in Sparks, some architects and I was the only housewife and I might add to you, I had to do a lot of studying (laughing).
LaVOY: You probably kept them in line.
DOMONOSKE: About the time I went off I was just learning my job really well, you know. Not being a part of a hospital in my life ever.
LaVOY: Well, I think it's great that you were on that Board and I know that you served very diligently.
DOMONOSKE: 27
Well, I tried. I was just beginning to really,
really enjoy it, you know. I served under Governor Paul Laxalt, that's where it started. Somebody dropped their appointment, and he appointed me. Then I served, that was about three and a half years and then I served four years under Governor Michael O'Callaghan, then I turned around and served again for four years under Mike O'Callaghan. It was a bit amusing because he called me from the Governor's Office and I thought when Governor Laxalt was out of office that I too, would be out of a job. This was not a paying job by the way. All you got was your per diem and hoped what you did was right.
LaVOY: You were appointed twice by Governor O'Callaghan.
DOMONOSKE: The Governor's Office called and said, "Would I accept another appointment?" and I laughed, and they said, "What are you laughing about?" I said, "Well, that's easy, I thought I was out of this." He said, "Oh, no, you're not, the Governor wants
you." I said, "That's fine." He said, "Do you mean to tell me you won't serve under the Governor?" And I said, "I didn't say that, I just want time to think about it." So, being a Republican and Michael O'Callaghan being a Democrat, I just thought he probably had his own appointment, so it surprised me -- I wasn't being funny, you know -- but it did surprise me. So I did accept, so I had four years under Governor O'Callaghan and another four years under Governor O'Callaghan. The plaques are on my wall behind my desk in the office.
LaVOY: Then you chose not to run for the thirteenth year?
DOMONOSKE: No, I didn't choose not to run, they cut the Board down. Which I thought was right, because they finally cut the Board down from twenty-five to twelve or fourteen, I can't remember which one it was. But a more manageable Board, then they cut the Board down again, when they cut down the Board again there was a lot of attrition and I think I was some of it (laughing).
LaVOY: Well, you can be very proud of the service that
you did give. All right, well, on behalf of the Churchill County Oral History Program I want to thank you, Nadine, for this most interesting interview.
28
DOMONOSKE: You are welcome, Marian, and I'm sorry about my voice, it sounds like a tiger (laughing).
LaVOY: Oh, I don't think so, I think it sounds wonderful. This is the end of the interview.
29
ADDENDUM
Addie Madison Williams was just fourteen when she married Warren Willard Williams in Austin, Nevada, on May 13, 1880. She was 4'9" and he was 6'4". He was forty-one years of age.
Their first daughter, Lizzie Beth Williams was born in Grantsville, Nevada, on October 28, 1881. She was crushed by an ore wagon on October 11, 1887. She was put in a buckboard and rushed to Austin . . . she died in her mother's arms one mile from Austin.
Abby Craigin Williams was born in Ione, Nevada, on October 22, 1883. She married John Earl Danielson evidently in the New River Hall, Fallon, Nevada on December 24, 1901. She died February 6, 1904 in childbirth. Her daughter lived and was named Betsy Abby. Many years later she married Williams Buell Nichols in Fallon, Nevada.
Ada Bernice Williams was born August 22, 1885, in Austin, Nevada. She married William Arthur Keddie in San Francisco, California on August 11, 1907. Her husband was killed in a plane crash in Elko, Nevada, in July 1921. She died in Fallon, Nevada, on January 9, 1934.
Lizzie Beth Williams was born October 1, 1887. She married Ernest John Freeman in San Francisco, California in 1908.
Cora Estelle Williams was born in Clan Alpine, Nevada, November 12, 1889. She married Ernest Harold Hursh in San
Francisco, California on May 11, 1917. She died in Fallon, Nevada. [June, 1964]
The Bernice District* is on the West slope of Clan Alpine Range in East Churchill County. From Fallon the district can be reached by automobile over the Lincoln Highway to Dixie Valley turnoff, a distance of about forty miles and then up Dixie Valley to the mine situated in Bernice and Hoyt Canyons.
*1 believe the Bernice Mine was discovered by Wallace Goodell in the late 1870's and sold to Warren Willard Williams, who actively operated it from 1880 to 1890. Williams took out over $500,000 in silver ore from the Bernice Mine and invested shrewdly in land and cattle and sheep. He was also a merchant and banker.
The following information was derived from Warren Williams' obituary, Churchill County Eagle 1: 2, 3, 4, 5, January 31, 1914:
30
"When but eighteen years of age, the strong buoyant spirit in him to turn his face westward, and in company with his eldest brother, Abram P. [Pease] Williams, afterward US Senator from California, he came around the Horn,* locating in the mining region near Sonora, Ca. in 1858.
When the Comstock excitement broke out, with his brother he fitted out a pack train, consisting of 24 mules and 10 horses, and transported goods from Placerville to Virginia City during the winter of 1859 and 1860. -He established a store in a tent on the divide between Virginia City and Gold Hill, Abram taking care of the store and Warren running the pack train. In April, 1860, they moved their store to Monoville, near Mono Lake, and ran a pack train that summer."
*Nadine told me the story that he worked as a cabin boy on the ship that was taking him to California and each morning the only food he got for breakfast was his choice of two hard-boiled eggs or one fried egg. The reason for the one fried egg was because it took grease to fry it. Needless to say, he ate two hard-boiled eggs each morning of his sea journey.
History of the Fallon ranch ownership: 1st-belonged to Frank Austin, 2nd-Purchased by Joshua Bond (Sarah Catherine (Kate) Allen). Bond built the large white house that has now been moved on the Venturacci property. Bond sold one part of his farm to Fred Harmon. Harmon later sold to Mike Fallon. Fallon sold to Warren Williams, who by further purchases added to it.
The town of Fallon: The West part of town is built from the center of Maine Street West on the Mike Fallon ranch; the East part of town from the center of Maine Street East on the John Oats ranch. When Williams was contemplating laying out a town-site he discussed the matter with John Oats to step-off so many paces at the Williams Building at the North end of the street to be called, Maine, while he, Williams would pace off the same street from the corner where Kent's now stands. Williams' legs were longer than those of Oats-consequently the street at the courthouse end of Maine is seventeen feet wider than at the Kent corner! Nadine and Merton gave the following information re who the initial Fallon Streets on the Williams property were named after. They were all close friends of Williams with the exception of one. Maine -Warren Williams' state of birth; Bailey-Joe Bailey who owned the Island Ranch and most of the Island District; Allen-Lt. Governor Lem Allen; Russell-George Russell of the Elko County Russell family; Taylor-John G. Taylor who was a wealthy Nevada sheepman; Richards-Jim Richards; LaVerne-LaVerne Wildes, first white child born in Churchill
31
County; Ada-Ada Williams Keddie; Kaiser-Senator Charles Kaiser; Carson-Kit Carson; Dalton-William T. Dalton; and Grimes-they couldn't recall the first name but Lucy Burton was a Grimes {William Grimes].
Ada Williams was married to William Arthur Keddie. He was a well known engineer working for the US Reclamation Service. He established Keddie Camp which was two and a half miles East of Fallon in a grove of trees where the Big 4 Oil Co. was drilling for oil. On July 20, 1921 he and his pilot, Jack Frost, were taxiing in an airplane that had a newer engine taken from another plane by the men. They were headed for the North Fork ranch in Elko County. The plane rose to a height of one hundred feet and something happened to the engine. Some witnesses said it had stopped-others said it was running when it hit the ground and exploded in flames. Frost was found with his arm wrapped around a sagebrush, as though he were trying to pull himself out- Keddie evidently died on impact. The men were burned beyond
recognition. G.W. Bradley was manager of the Williams Estate Company at that time, so he drove to Brockway at Lake Tahoe to pick up Mrs. Keddie and her sister, Cora Williams Hursh. He had told Ada that her husband was in an accident, but it wasn't until they were to the Argenta ranch out of Battle Mountain, Nevada, that he told her her husband was dead. Keddie who had been born in Quincy, California was forty-three years four months and thirteen days old when he died. Every florist in Reno was out of flowers the day of his funeral in Quincy because so many requests had come for floral arrangements that the entire supply in Reno
was depleted. (Fallon Standard-7-23-1921-5:5)
Nadine Hursh Domonoske
Index
Page
Allen, Lemuel Sr 5
Alpine, Nevada 3, 9
Bernice Mine 2
Addendum 29
Clan Alpine, Nevada 3, 9-10 Dolf, Tom 5
Domonoske, Merton Elswick Preface, 21-25
Fallon, Nevada Preface, 3-7, 14,
Addendum 30-31
Fallon Ranch 3-4
Addendum 30
Family life 7-9, 16-19, 23
Goodell, Wallace 2
Hursh, Cora Estelle Williams Preface, 9, 11-12, 14
Hursh, Ernest Harold Preface, 10-16
Hursh Insurance Company 12-15, 24
Hursh, Warren Preface, 16, 23-24
Jim Town 3
Kaiser, Charles 2
Kaiser, Elwood 14-15
Keddie, William Arthur 7, 12
Addendum 31
Kent, I. H. 5-6
Laundry, Indian women 8-9
Marriage 22-24
Modeling 20-21
Schools 10, 18-19 State Health Advisory Board 25-27
Stillwater, county seat 5-6
Wardell, James . . Addendum 29
Williams, Abby Craigin 9
Addendum 29
Williams, Abram P. 1-2
Addendum 30
Williams, Ada Bernice 9,
Addendum 29, 31
Williams, Addie Madison 1, 4, 9,
Addendum 29.
Williams Estate Company 7, 12-14, 17,
Addendum 31
Williams, Lizzie Beth 9
,Addendum 29
Williams, Warren Willard Preface, 1-7, 13-14,
Addendum 30
Woodbury College 19-20
World War II, Ration Board 15-16
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
an interview with
NADINE HURSH DOMONOSKE
February 13, 1991
OH Dom
This interview was conducted by Marian LaVoy; transcribed by Pat Boden; edited by Norma Morgan; first draft and final typed by Glenda Price; index by Gracie Viera; supervised by Myrl Nygren, Director of Oral History Project/Assistant Curator Churchill County Museum.
PREFACE
Nadine Hursh Domonoske is a tall stately woman who has courageously fought and overcome the impairment of a minor stroke. Her patrician face clouded for a moment as I prepared the microphone for our interview. She wondered aloud what she could talk about . . . with her pioneer civic minded family there was no need to wonder.
She started with the story of her grandfather, Warren Willard Williams, who amassed a great fortune in Nevada through mining, mercantilism, cattle and sheep raising. As a State Senator he was instrumental in the moving of the Churchill County seat from Stillwater to Fallon. He donated land for the court house, jail, Baptist Church and first school in town as well as laying out the street plan for the land West of Maine Street--a street named for the state of his birth. He also donated land for the fair grounds where the Nevada State Fair was held for many years. He was a remarkable philanthropic man who was gifted with foresight.
Nadine's mother, Cora Williams, married Ernest Harold Hursh who added to the family stature by serving the city as mayor as well as building a prosperous insurance agency that the family still owns. Nadine, her brother, Warren Hursh, and her husband, Merton Domonoske have guided the business since the death of her father. Warren Hursh served two terms (eight years) as Churchill County Commissioner prior to his untimely death and Merton Domonoske served three terms as a City Councilman as well as a record sixteen years as mayor of Fallon. This is a civic minded family that has given selflessly to the city of Fallon and county of Churchill.
Ed. In the interview it was discovered that there were two Lizzie Beth Williams, the first died and then another child born later was named Lizzie Beth Williams.
1
Interview with Nadine Hursh Domonoske
This is Marian LaVoy of the Churchill County Museum Oral History Project interviewing Nadine Hursh Domonoske at her home
376 West Williams Avenue, Fallon. It is February the 13th, 1991.
LaVOY: Good afternoon, Nadine.
DOMONOSKE: Good afternoon, Marian.
LaVOY: Nadine, your family has played an important part in the founding of Fallon, and of the county seat of Churchill County, so I'd like you to start this interview by giving me the name of your maternal grandparents.
DOMONOSKE: My grandfather was, Warren Willard Williams.
LaVOY: And where was he born?
DOMONOSKE: New Portland Township, Maine.
LaVOY: Do you remember his birth date?
DOMONOSKE: No but I can give it to you as soon as Mert comes downstairs.
LaVOY: All right. And your grandmother, where was she born?
DOMONOSKE: Iowa.
LaVOY: Buckham County?
DOMONOSKE: No, no I think it was Burmingham [Burmingham, Buckman Co., Iowa, April 10, 1866 - March 3, 1940] or something like that, he's got it upstairs he
pulled it out of the Bible so . . .
LaVOY: How did your grandfather happen to come to Churchill County?
DOMONOSKE: Well, it's a long story, he came around the Horn [Cape Horn] at the age of seventeen, I think, on his way to San Francisco to meet with his brother, Abram Williams, who was then a resident of San Francisco and doing well, and wanted his younger brother to come and join him. Therefore, my grandfather landed in San Francisco in 1849, and then the two of them, Abram and Warren Williams joined hands and went to Gold Hill and Virginia City and started a store. They also had started
2
one at Mono Lake. That's how he came.
LaVOY: What type of a store was it?
DOMONOSKE: Merchandising store, little of everything, you know, miners and . . .
LaVOY: Well, then, how did he happen to come to Churchill County?
DOMONOSKE: Well, he was riding, he did lots of Pony Express riding and he rode through Churchill County and he liked it then, that's as I remember being told about it. Then he looked around and he decided to stay here, but first, he became a partner of Mr. Kaiser [Senator Charles Kaiser] who lived in Stillwater and had a ranch. And my grandfather snaked the biggest bands of sheep that had ever come over the Sierra's for he and Mr. Kaiser.
LaVOY: Was that the band of three thousand?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah.
LaVOY: I understand that your grandfather was the best sheep counter in the entire state, that he was just a natural mathematician, have you heard this?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, I have. He was very sharp at math. I have heard that all my life.
LaVOY: Well, when he settled here in Churchill County, I understand he got involved with a mining company, can you tell me something about that?
DOMONOSKE: He was in a mining company, when he, let's see, after he and Mr. Kaiser dissolved their partnership he had saved enough money, he had taken a look at this mine in Dixie Valley--above Dixie Valley, called Bernice. At least that's what my family calls it. And he knew the man that owned Bernice whose name was Wallace Goodell. He also has a tombstone right opposite the Williams family plot that my grandfather put up for him years ago. Anyway, he bought Bernice from Wallace Goodell, I think around 1884, give a little or take a little. Anyway, he took five hundred thousand dollars worth of silver out of that mine, of which, when he finished he started to accumulate what was later known as the Williams Estate.
3
He accumulated Alpine, he'd already had Clan Alpine, 'cause that was his home.
LaVOY: Now, where is Clan Alpine?
DOMONOSKE: It was above Alpine . .
LaVOY: In Churchill County?
DOMONOSKE: Oh, yeah, you bet, it's right at the foot of the mountain there on the east side. There's not
anything left of it, Marian. People, brick by brick, walked away with it (laughing).
LaVOY: That's happened very often.
DOMONOSKE: Yes, especially when you don't have it anymore.
LaVOY: Yes. Well, then, when did he decide to come into what is now Fallon proper?
DOMONOSKE: 1901. He came in and bought what was known as the Fallon Ranch, and it was also the post office here. He never bothered to rename it in his own name. Fallon Ranch was over six hundred acres. He owned everything from Williams Avenue to the city limits west and everything north of Williams Avenue to the canal.
LaVOY: That was a tremendous piece of property.
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE:
And he owned everything south, taking out the high school, taking out Verplanks, which was I don't know how many acres they had, maybe forty, and he owned everything west past Allen Road.
Something that I thought was rather interesting, I read someplace that when James Richard owned the little store that was in the center of what is now Maine and Williams, where Maine and Williams cross, and the Indians coming from Stillwater always, they'd ask them where they were going and they'd always say, "To Jim's town." So that before the town was actually named Fallon it was "Jim Town."
Well, the reason it was Fallon is because this was the Fallon Ranch, we're sitting on it right now, where it began.
LaVOY: Where was the house for the Fallon Ranch?
4
DOMONOSKE: Right here.
LaVOY: On this property at 376 . .
DOMONOSKE: And it now sits on, and now is occupied, by the way, by the Venturacci's. It's the two story house over there, that Venturacci has. I mean the Venturacci Ranch which was over six hundred acres.
LaVOY: Was that the home that your grandparents lived in?
DOMONOSKE: That was the home my grandfather bought from Mike Fallon, or not Mike Fallon, but from whichever Fallon that was.
LaVOY: Now, how did they move that house again from here? On a capstan and moved it up to where it is at the present time, and then your grandparents lived in that for awhile.
DOMONOSKE: They lived in that house from the time they bought it until the time this house was built. This house was built in 1916 so my mother said.
LaVOY: Here at 376 West Williams?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, right.
LaVOY: Well, now, tell me how did your grandfather happen to meet your grandmother?
DOMONOSKE: In Austin, Nevada, and they were married [May 13, 1880] in Austin, Nevada.
LaVOY: But you don't know how they met?
DOMONOSKE: No, she came from Susanville, I mean that is she was raised partially in Susanville. Her mother had re-married, 'cause her father had died, and her mother had re-married a man by the name of Woodstock. There were many Woodstocks in that area, I don't think any of 'em are alive anymore, but I don't know.
LaVOY: Well, now, when did your grandfather go into politics?
DOMONOSKE: I don't know.
LaVOY: How long did he serve as State Senator, do you know?
5
DOMONOSKE: For one term, I think. Do you think I'm right?
LaVOY: I believe he served for eight years.
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, all right, two terms.
LaVOY: He's the one, I understand, that drafted the bill to move the county seat from Stillwater to Fallon.
Did you hear any stories about that?
DOMONOSKE: That's the reason why he ran for State Senator. He wanted the seat in Fallon, Nevada. He wanted it out of Stillwater, and he got it out of Stillwater.
LaVOY: Who were his allies in that, do you know? No, I don't.
DOMONOSKE: LaVOY: I understood that Lem Allen and Tom Dolf were two of his staunchest allies.
DOMONOSKE: I don't doubt that because Allen Street is named after Lem's family. Because they were very dear friends of my grandfather's.
LaVOY: Oh. And I. H. Kent was very opposed to it.
DOMONOSKE: Oh, he fought it.
LaVOY: Do you remember any of the story about that?
DOMONOSKE: Let's see, yeah, well, see, my grandfather also had a store on the corner of Williams and Maine, a two story stone block store. He and I. H. Kent were somewhat rivals. And I. H. Kent was a Democrat, my grandfather was a Republican, and there's an old story that whenever one was in power or in some bigger position, they would take the post office from one side of the street and put it on the other. Whether that's true or not, I don't know., but at least that's what I have heard throughout my life.
LaVOY: I think that's very very funny (laughing)
DOMONOSKE: The Democrats were in power, I . H. came and got the post office and put it on his side of the street, I guess.
LaVOY: But it was interesting to read that after your grandfather won out on putting this as the county
DOMONOSKE: 6
LaVOY: seat, I. H. moved his store that he had at Stillwater in here, and put it on Maine Street.
DOMONOSKE: Yes, he did. Well, his wife, Mary, was a very dear friend of my grandfather. They both came from the state of Maine.
Oh, I didn't realize that. I've also heard that Stillwater did not want to give the county records up to Fallon, did you know anything about that?
Well, I've heard all kinds of odds and ends.
LaVOY: Would you tell us some of them?
DOMONOSKE: I think I heard that they went down and took the records and they chased them back but they couldn't catch them or some such story like that.
LaVOY: Yes, I believe they took them in the middle of the night, and when the hue and cry was aroused in Stillwater they started chasing them and some of the records were lost because they were traveling so fast they were flying out of the wagons (laughing).
DOMONOSKE: God only knows whether that's true, Marian, but it
could be, you know.
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
Now, tell me, what land, what were some of the things that your grandfather gave to the City of Fallon that are still here? The land for the Courthouse perhaps?
Yeah, the land for the Courthouse, the land for the Baptist Church is still being used by the County of Churchill as their main office--their business office. The high school--I think he had something to do with giving that piece of land, too, if I'm not wrong.
I believe that he gave the land for the first district school in Fallon, and I have seen pictures of your mother in that class, and I believe that's on the corner of Maine and Center Street.
DOMONOSKE: That's where the Fallon National Bank sits now.
LaVOY: He donated that?
DOMONOSKE: I know he did that, so my mother said anyway.
7
LaVOY: Now the jail, I understand he donated the land for that too?
DOMONOSKE: Yes.
LaVOY: Now, that's the building next to the Courthouse .
DOMONOSKE: He also donated the land for the county, used to be the county fairgrounds.
LaVOY: Yes, I love the story of how the state fair happened to come to Fallon, do you recall that? Your grandfather wanted the state fair here and so your uncle--is it Arthur Keddie?--was a state senator at that time, so he finagled getting the state fair to Fallon, and the first one was in 1915. But it was because your grandfather wanted it here.
DOMONOSKE: I'm sure that's true.
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
And he gave the land where the fairgrounds were. Now, getting back to the buildings that your grandfather put up, which I believe was called the Williams Estate building, did you know anything about the history of the building of that?
The stone was quarried from a quarry at Rattlesnake Hill, Mount Toyeh, they used to call it and it's actual name is Mount Toyeh. We've always called it Rattlesnake Hill. But he took this rockwork out of Rattlesnake Hill and it was put together by Basque sheepherders.
Now, I want to ask you, the building that you have behind this house at 376 West Williams is very interesting stone work building. Can you tell me something about that?
DOMONOSKE: Basque sheepherders built that one too.
LaVOY: What was the building used for?
DOMONOSKE: Part of it was saddles, bridles, pertaining to
LaVOY: A tack room in other words.
DOMONOSKE: A tack room, right. The other part was milk, butter, cheese, cream. It was cool, you see,
8
because the walls are very, very thick.
LaVOY: Did you also have the laundry done out there?
DOMONOSKE: I don't think they did. I remember the laundry being done under that big cottonwood tree with wood fire and they boiled the water on top of the stoves. It was done by Indian women.
LaVOY: And you watched them do this?
DOMONOSKE: You bet I did.
LaVOY: Can you tell me a little about it, do you remember the names of any of them?
DOMONOSKE: One was Lizzie, one was Iowa Dalton, I really can't remember them all.
LaVOY: Well, how did they go about this washing?
DOMONOSKE: Boiled the water, put in the soap, I guess because that's what happened, then they sort of churned it together so that it was more or less like squeezing it, you know. They also used washboards. Then they took it out, washed it off in clear water and if they needed starch they'd already made the starch and they put the starch in and this all happened when it was so hot it shouldn't happen to anybody.
LaVOY: They had their hands in that scalding water?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, you bet they did.
LaVOY: Then where were the lines where they hung it?
DOMONOSKE: They were between what now is Mert's shop, the little building on the end and, between that and stretched it across the piece of lawn we have back there. 'Cause there wasn't any Russian Olive tree
there then. There were no Elm trees there then, that was just a piece of raw ground, and they were stretched across that.
LaVOY: Then did they iron them, when they dried?
DOMONOSKE: Sure they ironed them, with those great big heavy funny irons that you have to look for anymore. You wouldn't even know what you were looking for if you did see them.
9
LaVOY: The ones they heated on the stove?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah.
LaVOY: Was it an all day job?
DOMONOSKE: I don't remember that, but I would have thought so (laughing).
LaVOY: Well, I would think that it would have been, too. Now, out of this union between Warren and Addie, how many children were there?
DOMONOSKE: There were five children.
LaVOY: Would you mind giving me their names and if you recall, their birth dates?
DOMONOSKE: The names were, Lizzie Beth Williams, born in Grantsville, Nevada, November 28, 1881; Abby Craigin Williams born in Ione, Nevada, November 22, 1883; Ada Bernice Williams born Austin, Nevada, and that was August 22, 1885; Lizzie Beth Williams born October 1, 1887; and Cora Estelle Williams born in Clan Alpine, Nevada, November 12, 1889.
LaVOY: Well, now, your mother, then, is Cora?
DOMONOSKE: She was the youngest . .
LaVOY: And she was born at Clan Alpine. How did she happen to be born at Clan Alpine? Did you have a house out there?
DOMONOSKE: Because that's where they lived, that was their residence. At the time it was the residence of my grandfather Williams and my grandmother Williams.
LaVOY: Oh, I see.
DOMONOSKE: You see they owned all the valley, finally, but when they started there, they started and built a home at the foot of the mountain there at Clan Alpine.
LaVOY: Now, is that about where the cemetery is now, oh, no, that's a different place completely. Clan Alpine is out by Dixie Valley someplace?
DOMONOSKE: Well, do you know where Alpine is?
10
LaVOY: No, I don't.
DOMONOSKE: Oh, how can I explain it to you? On your way to Austin, I think Jim Porteus from Gabbs has it now. He bought it, and I think he's put it back together. Anyway, it's on the road to Austin and the turnoff is beyond Cold Springs Station. Clan Alpine is approximately nine and a half miles northwest from Alpine on Cherry Creek.
LaVOY: And it is still there.
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, and most of it's there. It was badly used when it was bought and owned by somebody else. But it was about a two and a half foot stone or rock walls, so it stayed rather well. And I'm sure that Jim still has part of it that's an original.
LaVOY: Now, your mother was born there, then about how old was she when she moved into Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: Eleven years old, she said.
LaVOY: And she went to the New River School, what they call that on Maine and Center. Tell me, where did your mother meet your father?
DOMONOSKE: Right here in Fallon. He came in 1907 with his father and mother. His father was a mining man and he then was working at Fairview. So they moved here.
LaVOY: Now what was your father's name?
DOMONOSKE: Ernest Harold Hursh.
LaVOY: Where was he born?
DOMONOSKE: Let's see, Mineral City, Idaho.
LaVOY: And then the family moved from Idaho to Nevada or did they go someplace else?
DOMONOSKE: Let's see, my father had a butcher shop in Fairview, Nevada, when he was around seventeen years old.
LaVOY: In 1910? And then did he also have a car that he took passengers in?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, he had what they called an EMF touring car.
11
LaVOY: What did EMF stand for?
DOMONOSKE: Every morning fix 'em.
LaVOY: Oh, my goodness (laughing).
DOMONOSKE: He said it was true, too.
LaVOY And what did he do? Did he drive passengers?
DOMONOSKE: He drove passengers between Fallon and Fairview and wherever they wished to go around in that vicinity and probably Austin, for twenty dollars a piece
LaVOY: That was a twenty dollar gold piece?
DOMONOSKE: This was a twenty dollar gold piece.
LaVOY: Then he went on to school, I understand, can you tell me where he went?
DOMONOSKE: He went to Heald's Business School in San Francisco, California, and finished his business course and he came back to Fallon.
LaVOY: He opened a Buick and Chevrolet agency here, I understand, is that correct?
DOMONOSKE: That's right. He did open a Buick and Chevrolet agency. I, of course, didn't know this because I was not yet here (laughing).
LaVOY: Did he ever tell you who he sold his first car to?
DOMONOSKE: No, he didn't, he never talked about that. He was a great yarn teller, I wished I'd done what we're doing right now.
LaVOY: Well now, where did your parents meet?
DOMONOSKE: Fallon, Nevada.
LaVOY: And when were they married?
DOMONOSKE: May 11th, 1917.
LaVOY: And where were they married?
DOMONOSKE: San Francisco, California.
LaVOY: How did they happen to go to San Francisco to be
12
married?
DOMONOSKE: Because they were living, they were about to live half time in San Francisco and half time in Fallon, Nevada, because at that point in their time, they could afford that. My mother loved San Francisco.
LaVOY: Oh. Well, then, did he have to leave for awhile for the military?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, I think he was gone a little over a year
probably. I think it was 1919 that he enlisted .
LaVOY: 1918 I think.
DOMONOSKE: 1918 that is, excuse me.
LaVOY: Was he in the Army?
DOMONOSKE: Yes. He was in the Army.
LaVOY: Where was he stationed, do you have any idea?
DOMONOSKE: Camp Grant Hill, Illinois, and Fort Lewis [Washington], I think.
LaVOY: And then when did he return to Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: About a year later.
LaVOY: In 1919?
DOMONOSKE: I think so.
LaVOY: And then is that when he established his real estate and insurance office?
DOMONOSKE: That's right, that's when he first started, yes.
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
And that was in the Kent Building, was it not, the first one?
I guess, I don't know, yes I believe that's correct.
Then in 1921 his brother-in-law, and I believe Arthur Keddie was the name, was killed in a plane crash in Elko. Did your father then have to come back and run the Warren Williams Estate company?
13
DOMONOSKE: He came back and he then quit doing his insurance and became manager of the Williams Estate Company.
LaVOY: What was this Williams Estate Company, could you tell me?
DOMONOSKE: Well, when my grandfather Williams died, for various reasons my aunts, or the heirs that were left wanted to incorporate or have a company rather than to diminish the estate they set up a corporation to carry on the business which were many and varied and covered the whole state of Nevada.
LaVOY: So your father then, became in charge of the Williams Estate Company? How long did he manage this?
DOMONOSKE: Not more than a couple of years.
LaVOY: What did he do after that?
DOMONOSKE: Went back in the insurance business (laughing).
LaVOY: Now, perhaps was this at the time of the crash of 1929, did that affect them?
DOMONOSKE: It affected it so bad that they lost the whole thing.
LaVOY: Now, Nadine, I have heard that your relatives, your grandfather in particular owned land from Alpine Peak clear up to Idaho?
DOMONOSKE: Alpine valley, or Edwards Creek Valley is what they call it now, we used to call it Alpine Valley. He owned the entire valley, he could take his sheep from there and go clear across the valley and clear into Elko County and never step on anybody else's ground.
LaVOY: That's amazing.
DOMONOSKE: Some of the land he owned out right and some of the land was what they called "state in contract land".
LaVOY: Was that federal government land?
DOMONOSKE: I'm not sure of that.
LaVOY: Well, with this particular type of land, he was
14
one of the first ones that used that type of a contract?
DOMONOSKE: I believe he was.
LaVOY: Now, you mentioned something about owning ranches up in North fork, up in Elko County, is this correct?
DOMONOSKE: He owned several ranches in Elko County, large ranches. He owned what was known then as the Holland Ranch, he owned the Haystack Ranch, he owned the Keddie Ranch, he owned all of Argenta, right out of Battle Mountain. He owned the Fallon Ranch here, which was over six hundred acres, he owned the Danielson Ranch here which was over six hundred acres. He also owned the Beowawe Ranch.
LaVOY: That's a very large ranch in Elko County, yes. Well, he certainly did well, for a man that started out with very little. You should be very, very proud of him. Now, tell me, getting back to your father, when the crash of 1929 came and the banks closed in 1932, your father went back in the real estate insurance business. Did he and someone else open an office?
DOMONOSKE: He and Elwood Kaiser opened the office, and it was then Hursh and Kaiser.
LaVOY: And that was in the old bank building?
DOMONOSKE: That's right.
LaVOY: I keep hearing about this old bank building, where was the old bank building?
DOMONOSKE: Where the thrift shop is [137 South Maine].
LaVOY: Oh.
DOMONOSKE: And that, by the way, was owned by my grandfather. He started the first bank and he owned the bank.
LaVOY: Oh, I see.
DOMONOSKE: My mother was also a Director at nineteen.
LaVOY: That's amazing. Well, did Mr. Kaiser stay with your father in the insurance business?
DOMONOSKE: No, they dissolved their partnership, friendly,
15
DOMONOSKE: No, they dissolved their partnership, friendly, because they liked each other, but Elwood went to Reno and went to work for Nevada Rock and Sand. Because in those days it was pretty rough, everybody needed all the money they could get to subsist and Elwood had this very good job with Nevada Rock and Sand.
LaVOY: Now, was Nevada Rock and Sand owned by Frank Frandsen?
DOMONOSKE: Right.
LaVOY: And then he also went to work, I think, for the Dodge Construction Company too, didn't he?
DOMONOSKE: Later, I think.
LaVOY: In later years. So, then, where did your father move his insurance office?
DOMONOSKE: Well, right where we are right now, I think.
LaVOY: The Joe Jarvis Building [130 South Maine].
DOMONOSKE: He bought that from Joe Jarvis, the building.
LaVOY: And you've been there ever since?
DOMONOSKE: Right.
LaVOY: Tell me some of the things that your father did in the City of Fallon, did he hold any offices?
DOMONOSKE: He was the Mayor of the City of Fallon for one term.
LaVOY: What did your mother feel about that?
DOMONOSKE: Well, we've always, in her family and our family, we've always been civic minded so she was quite happy about it. If he wanted to be mayor it was fine with her.
LaVOY: Wonderful. Do you know, just off hand, what year he was Mayor?
DOMONOSKE: '47 to '51. [1947-51]
LaVOY: Was he also doing work for, during World War II, did he chair any . . .
DOMONOSKE: He was the Churchill County chairman for the
16
ration board.
LaVOY: Now, tell me what the ration board was.
DOMONOSKE: It was--because the government was short of certain things they gave you little stamps and rationed your gas, you couldn't have any more than so many gas, if you had a "B" stamp--your gas was so many gallons. You had shoe stamps, you had sugar stamps, and tires, my dad was head of portioning out, or being sure that they were given to everybody in the right way.
LaVOY: That must have been a very touchy job at times?
DOMONOSKE: It cost him some accounts. Because he wouldn't stretch it.
LaVOY: That speaks very well for his honesty.
DOMONOSKE: Oh, he was an extremely honest and fine fellow, that man.
LaVOY: And now, Nadine, when were you born?
DOMONOSKE: I love this, because I don't even believe it. May 27th, 1918.
LaVOY: And where were you born?
DOMONOSKE: San Francisco, California.
LaVOY: Why in San Francisco and not Fallon, do you know?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, because we were then living there, that was on the six month end of my family moving back and forth. By the way, my brother, Warren, was also born in San Francisco.
LaVOY: And when was he born?
DOMONOSKE: 1921.
LaVOY: What month?
DOMONOSKE: December the 15th.
LaVOY: December 15, 1921. Well, now, Nadine, tell me something about your childhood?
DOMONOSKE: I did lots of horse back riding and whenever I caught my horse I had to saddle it myself, I had
17
to catch it myself. I did lots of swimming.
LaVOY: What was your horse's name?
DOMONOSKE: One was "Laddie" and one was "Rex".
LaVOY: What colors were they?
DOMONOSKE: One was a bay and one was a sorrel. Then I had "Shamrock" which was a half pinto, half shetland, and mean, mean, mean.
LaVOY: Shetlands have a name for that.
DOMONOSKE: Yes, they do.
LaVOY Tell me about the home that you lived in, in Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: I'm still living in it.
LaVOY: Who built this beautiful home?
DOMONOSKE: My mother had it built.
LaVOY: Did she have a lot to do with the design of it?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, she had an architect and she knew what she wanted. This was before my mother and father were married.
LaVOY: Oh.
DOMONOSKE:
Because my grandmother was not well and she was in Burlingame, California, and my mother thought she should have a permanent home in Fallon, Nevada. So she built the home for her, and it was my grandmother's home, actually, in the beginning. [Williams'Estate had home erected in 1916 at cost of 8,000 dollars. A. Henderson was builder. Churchill County Eagle, 9-23-1916]
LaVOY: Well, when did you start living in it?
DOMONOSKE:
LaVOY:
DOMONOSKE: 1917. My grandmother went back to
Burlingame.
Oh, so your mother and your father then moved to Fallon and lived in this house.
That's right.
LaVOY: Oh. It's such a charming old home, I was trying to think of the style that it is, can you recall what it's referred to as, what the architect referred to as, it's almost a mission style? 18
DOMONOSKE: It's sort of an English, half wattle and half daub style type, because its part brick and its part wood and plaster.
LaVOY: Well, it certainly is a beautiful home. Now, what chores did you have to do as a smaller child?
DOMONOSKE: Take care of my horse and do anything my mother wanted me to, if she could talk me into it (laughing).
LaVOY: You didn't have to do any housework or anything like that?
DOMONOSKE: I didn't have any chores, no. She'd say, "Would you mind helping me wash a window?" and I would say, "Yes, I will wash the window." It doesn't bother me. But, I was never assigned any chores.
LaVOY: I see, did you have servants that helped you, that did the cooking and things like that?
DOMONOSKE: Yes. We had a cook, we had a housekeeper and that was it.
LaVOY: Now, when did you first start school? About how old were you?
DOMONOSKE: Six and a half, I think. Because I came in the mid year sort of term, so I was really a little behind when I started the first grade. So--and I went to Old High over here.
LaVOY: Where Cottage School is now?
DOMONOSKE: Where Cottage School is now, yeah.
LaVOY: Who was your first teacher, do you remember?
DOMONOSKE: I can remember in half a second . . . I disliked her. I think, it's slipped, and I never thought I'd ever ever forget her.
LaVOY: Well, I tell you, if it comes back to you in a few minutes we'll bring it on. Who was your very best friend in school?
19
DOMONOSKE: Marlea Dodge.
LaVOY: Where did she live in the town here, how close to your home?
DOMONOSKE: About, right up here where the new savings and loan is. [498 W. Williams Avenue] Her old house now is right back here on Taylor Street near the hospital.
LaVOY: Oh, well, what were some of the games and some of the things that you and she did together?
DOMONOSKE: There again, I think we swam a bit and then she
loved dolls and I didn't (laughing). But we did play together that way.
LaVOY: Good, now do you recall who some of the teachers were in high school when you went to high school here?
DOMONOSKE: You should have let me know these things then I could remember.
LaVOY: Was the famous Mr. McCracken there by any chance?
DOMONOSKE: He certainly was and I liked him, he scared everybody to death but he ruled with an iron hand in a kind way, if that means anything. He was very very honest and very very great. He was a great teacher. He taught both geometry and algebra himself, which is rather unusual for a
principal. But he did lots of really nice things
for people too. But when he said, "You stop." You stopped.
LaVOY: I think maybe we need some of those today.
DOMONOSKE: Wouldn't hurt us (laughing).
LaVOY: Did you go on to a university?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, I did.
LaVOY: Where did you go?
DOMONOSKE: I went for about a year and a half to the University of Nevada [Reno] and I couldn't find myself there, I couldn't find what I wanted to do. So I decided that I wanted to take interior decoration and I went down to Woodbury College in
20
Los Angeles where they gave a four year course in two years. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from that college.
LaVOY: In what year, do you recall?
DOMONOSKE: 1940.
LaVOY: I understand from talking to you and Mert that you have a yearly reunion with some of your friends from the school, is that correct?
DOMONOSKE: It certainly is.
LaVOY: How many of you get together?
DOMONOSKE: Let's see, there's three of us now. Four of us.
LaVOY: And where do you get together?
DOMONOSKE: In Reno.
LaVOY: They come from
DOMONOSKE: They come from Burnt Ranch, California, they come from Los Angeles, they come from San Gabriel area of Los Angeles and La Habra area of Los Angeles.
LaVOY: And have come regularly all these years?
DOMONOSKE: Most all of them.
LaVOY: What month do you usually get together?
DOMONOSKE: Sometimes May and sometimes November, October before the snow flies, if we have any snow.
LaVOY: I understand that you did a little modeling on the side, is that correct?
DOMONOSKE: That's right.
LaVOY: I can see why because you're so tall and would be a wonderful model. Who did you model for?
DOMONOSKE: Benioff Furs in Reno.
LaVOY: How long did you do this?
DOMONOSKE: About a year.
LaVOY: What were some of the favorite furs that you
21
modeled?
DOMONOSKE: There were some beautiful, beautiful, soft, soft minks that you have never seen as beautiful. I liked them the best.
LaVOY: Where did you model them in the store or at fashion shows?
DOMONOSKE: I modeled them in the store. I also took care of their books and I also was manager for the store for awhile.
LaVOY: Now, what period of time would this have been?
DOMONOSKE: 1940, let's see it was when the Mapes [Hotel] first opened, and I can't think of when that was, 1947, I think.
LaVOY: During that period of time?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah.
LaVOY: Well, now, tell me, where did you meet your handsome husband?
DOMONOSKE: Here in Fallon, Nevada.
LaVOY: How in the world did he happen to be in Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: He was the head of the Farmer's Home
Administration. He had many, many miles of it. I think he ran five thousand miles a month, because he had offices in Ely, in Caliente, where else? He had the whole southern part of the State of Nevada.
LaVOY: That was very ambitious, tell me, now, what's your husband's name?
DOMONOSKE: Name, the whole name?
LaVOY: The whole name.
DOMONOSKE: Merton Elswick Domonoske.
LaVOY: Where was he born?
DOMONOSKE: He was born, in Berkeley, California. [January
11, 1923]
LaVOY: Did he come from Berkeley to Fallon, or?
22
DOMONOSKE: He was at the University of Nevada. Then he went into the Army in World War II and was a foot soldier, Lieutenant. Then he came back to Nevada and finished his college, because he was interrupted by World War II.
LaVOY: So he graduated from the University of Nevada?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, he did.
LaVOY: You came back in the meantime and met him here in Fallon?
DOMONOSKE: Through a friend of ours, friend of mine, who was working for him. She said, "He's the nicest man, Nadine, you just have to meet him." And I said, "Leave him alone, because I know all about that, I'm doing fine and eventually we may meet, but right now, just leave him alone." So we did meet, and I don't know, so here it is you see. It's what happens.
LaVOY: Well, tell me about your courtship?
DOMONOSKE: (Laughing) We did lots of dancing. Just lots of
dancing. Lots of friends, lots of nice parties. We did do outdoor things some, and I don't know, it's hard to go back and rake it all up, you know.
LaVOY: Well, now, when were you married?
DOMONOSKE: August the 19th, 1950.
LaVOY: And where were you married?
DOMONOSKE: We were married in the Methodist Church down on Stillwater Avenue [280 E. Stillwater].
LaVOY: What did you wear?
DOMONOSKE: A wedding gown like most people do.
LaVOY: A long wedding gown?
DOMONOSKE; A long wedding gown.
LaVOY: Who were your attendants, do you remember?
DOMONOSKE: Yes, I do. Norma Cooper [Norma Frazzini Cooper] was my maid of honor, Patricia Summerbell was my bridesmaid, that was all.
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LaVOY: And who were his attendants?
DOMONOSKE: My brother, Warren Hursh, his brother, Arthur Domonoske, and a friend of ours, Doug Hoover.
LaVOY: And where was the reception held afterwards?
DOMONOSKE: Right in here.
LaVOY: At your home?
DOMONOSKE: Uh hum.
LaVOY: Your mother had passed away by then so, oh, your mother was still alive?
DOMONOSKE: You bet your jollies she was still alive. Yep, she passed away in 1964. We got married in '50, so I was happy to have her for another 14 years, you know.
LaVOY: That's wonderful.
DOMONOSKE: You bet.
LaVOY: Where did you go on your honeymoon?
DOMONOSKE: We went to San Francisco.
LaVOY: Your favorite city by the bay.
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, it was. I can't say that it's the same now, but it was a beautiful, clean, lovely city.
LaVOY: I agree with you on that. Now, when you came back to live, where did you live?
DOMONOSKE: We lived on Ada Street in a small house that had just been built by Leila and Dutch Larkin.
LaVOY: And how long did you live there?
DOMONOSKE: About four and a half years. Then we moved and bought, through the GI loan, Mert bought a house on First and Allen, 105 South Allen. We lived there until my mother and father died. Then, of course, we moved in here. This house was part my brother's and part mine. Since my brother and his wife really didn't wish to live here, we bought our half from them.
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LaVOY: And have lived here happily ever since?
DOMONOSKE: You betcha (laughing).
LaVOY: It's a beautiful, beautiful home. Now, tell me, with your family being so active in politics, when
did your husband go into politics?
DOMONOSKE: 1960, as an appointed Councilman.
LaVOY: In 1960?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah. Mayor Jack Tedford appointed him as Councilman in 1960, yeah. [April 14, 1960]
LaVOY: Now, during this period of time when you were living in these two different homes, was Mert running the insurance company with your brother, or was he with the FHA?
DOMONOSKE: He was partly with FHA and then my father wanted him to come into the business with him. And I was already there working for my dad. Mert said, "What do you think?" and I said, "You have to make up your mind." So he decided he loved Fallon, Nevada, and he wanted to stay. So he did go in with Dad and then later on my brother came, maybe about three or four years later my brother, Warren, came from Reno and came into the business.
LaVOY: So then it was your father, your brother and your husband that ran the business for a few years?
DOMONOSKE: It was myself, my brother, my father and my husband. All four of us.
LaVOY: Until your father passed away, and then it was the three of you.
DOMONOSKE: Right.
LaVOY: And you're still active?
DOMONOSKE: We still own it and we're still, when we can be and when I get out of this, Marian, we're going to be active again, aren't we?
LaVOY: Now, tell me, when did your husband become mayor?
DOMONOSKE: 1971. [June 11, 1971]
LaVOY: And he served how many terms, this is
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unbelievable?
DOMONOSKE: Four terms, Marian.
LaVOY: Sixteen years as Mayor.
DOMONOSKE: Twelve as Councilman and sixteen as Mayor.
LaVOY: I think that is a record in itself.
DOMONOSKE: I think it is, too.
LaVOY: You must have some interesting stories that happened to you as the Mayor's wife. Can you recall any of them?
DOMONOSKE: Not really. I tried very hard to back him, but never to get into the business of being a "busy mayor wife" you know.
LaVOY: Well, you have been a wonderful wife, Nadine. Is there anything else now that you would care to tell that we may have forgotten, about your life?
DOMONOSKE: I can't think of anything really
great.
LaVOY: Well, you're such a dedicated, civic minded family and you have a great deal to be proud of.
DOMONOSKE: I was, for eleven years, on the State Health Advisory Board.
LaVOY: Now, what did this entail?
DOMONOSKE: It gave away Hill-Burton money to different hospitals as they needed it.
LaVOY: Oh.
DOMONOSKE: Millions and millions and millions of dollars of Hill-Burton money.
LaVOY: Hill-Burton--those were two senators?
DOMONOSKE: That was the Bill it came under.
LaVOY: What were some of the hospitals that got money? Just off the top of your head?
DOMONOSKE: Washoe General got money, Churchill County got money, the wing on Churchill County. I was really
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responsible for that wing.
LaVOY: That's something you can be very proud of.
DOMONOSKE: Because if I hadn't been on the Board and I hadn't read my instructions right we probably wouldn't have had that wing. Most people don't know that, Marian, 'cause you aren't supposed to toot your horn when you're on that Board, you see.
LaVOY: Well, you can be very proud of the fact that the
hospital is still going strong now.
DOMONOSKE: Well, I think it's wonderful that it is, because it was, at one time, a fine wonderful small hospital, and which I think it will be again too, if it isn't already.
LaVOY: They're working toward it very rapidly.
DOMONOSKE: Sure they will, and they can, and we need it so badly. We also loaned money in Caliente, we loaned money in Tonopah, we put on a wing in Tonopah. I have stacks and stacks of it upstairs- what we did and what we didn't do.
LaVOY: How many were on the Board?
DOMONOSKE: When I first went on the Board it was a horror, it was twenty-five people (laughing). You can't have a Board with twenty-five people, it's impossible.
LaVOY: Well, were these people from all over the State of Nevada?
DOMONOSKE: These people were, yes, these people were mainly hospital administrators, one from St. Mary's, one from Las Vegas, both hospital women administrators. Then the head of the mental hospital in Sparks, some architects and I was the only housewife and I might add to you, I had to do a lot of studying (laughing).
LaVOY: You probably kept them in line.
DOMONOSKE: About the time I went off I was just learning my job really well, you know. Not being a part of a hospital in my life ever.
LaVOY: Well, I think it's great that you were on that Board and I know that you served very diligently.
DOMONOSKE: 27
Well, I tried. I was just beginning to really,
really enjoy it, you know. I served under Governor Paul Laxalt, that's where it started. Somebody dropped their appointment, and he appointed me. Then I served, that was about three and a half years and then I served four years under Governor Michael O'Callaghan, then I turned around and served again for four years under Mike O'Callaghan. It was a bit amusing because he called me from the Governor's Office and I thought when Governor Laxalt was out of office that I too, would be out of a job. This was not a paying job by the way. All you got was your per diem and hoped what you did was right.
LaVOY: You were appointed twice by Governor O'Callaghan.
DOMONOSKE: The Governor's Office called and said, "Would I accept another appointment?" and I laughed, and they said, "What are you laughing about?" I said, "Well, that's easy, I thought I was out of this." He said, "Oh, no, you're not, the Governor wants
you." I said, "That's fine." He said, "Do you mean to tell me you won't serve under the Governor?" And I said, "I didn't say that, I just want time to think about it." So, being a Republican and Michael O'Callaghan being a Democrat, I just thought he probably had his own appointment, so it surprised me -- I wasn't being funny, you know -- but it did surprise me. So I did accept, so I had four years under Governor O'Callaghan and another four years under Governor O'Callaghan. The plaques are on my wall behind my desk in the office.
LaVOY: Then you chose not to run for the thirteenth year?
DOMONOSKE: No, I didn't choose not to run, they cut the Board down. Which I thought was right, because they finally cut the Board down from twenty-five to twelve or fourteen, I can't remember which one it was. But a more manageable Board, then they cut the Board down again, when they cut down the Board again there was a lot of attrition and I think I was some of it (laughing).
LaVOY: Well, you can be very proud of the service that
you did give. All right, well, on behalf of the Churchill County Oral History Program I want to thank you, Nadine, for this most interesting interview.
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DOMONOSKE: You are welcome, Marian, and I'm sorry about my voice, it sounds like a tiger (laughing).
LaVOY: Oh, I don't think so, I think it sounds wonderful. This is the end of the interview.
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ADDENDUM
Addie Madison Williams was just fourteen when she married Warren Willard Williams in Austin, Nevada, on May 13, 1880. She was 4'9" and he was 6'4". He was forty-one years of age.
Their first daughter, Lizzie Beth Williams was born in Grantsville, Nevada, on October 28, 1881. She was crushed by an ore wagon on October 11, 1887. She was put in a buckboard and rushed to Austin . . . she died in her mother's arms one mile from Austin.
Abby Craigin Williams was born in Ione, Nevada, on October 22, 1883. She married John Earl Danielson evidently in the New River Hall, Fallon, Nevada on December 24, 1901. She died February 6, 1904 in childbirth. Her daughter lived and was named Betsy Abby. Many years later she married Williams Buell Nichols in Fallon, Nevada.
Ada Bernice Williams was born August 22, 1885, in Austin, Nevada. She married William Arthur Keddie in San Francisco, California on August 11, 1907. Her husband was killed in a plane crash in Elko, Nevada, in July 1921. She died in Fallon, Nevada, on January 9, 1934.
Lizzie Beth Williams was born October 1, 1887. She married Ernest John Freeman in San Francisco, California in 1908.
Cora Estelle Williams was born in Clan Alpine, Nevada, November 12, 1889. She married Ernest Harold Hursh in San
Francisco, California on May 11, 1917. She died in Fallon, Nevada. [June, 1964]
The Bernice District* is on the West slope of Clan Alpine Range in East Churchill County. From Fallon the district can be reached by automobile over the Lincoln Highway to Dixie Valley turnoff, a distance of about forty miles and then up Dixie Valley to the mine situated in Bernice and Hoyt Canyons.
*1 believe the Bernice Mine was discovered by Wallace Goodell in the late 1870's and sold to Warren Willard Williams, who actively operated it from 1880 to 1890. Williams took out over $500,000 in silver ore from the Bernice Mine and invested shrewdly in land and cattle and sheep. He was also a merchant and banker.
The following information was derived from Warren Williams' obituary, Churchill County Eagle 1: 2, 3, 4, 5, January 31, 1914:
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"When but eighteen years of age, the strong buoyant spirit in him to turn his face westward, and in company with his eldest brother, Abram P. [Pease] Williams, afterward US Senator from California, he came around the Horn,* locating in the mining region near Sonora, Ca. in 1858.
When the Comstock excitement broke out, with his brother he fitted out a pack train, consisting of 24 mules and 10 horses, and transported goods from Placerville to Virginia City during the winter of 1859 and 1860. -He established a store in a tent on the divide between Virginia City and Gold Hill, Abram taking care of the store and Warren running the pack train. In April, 1860, they moved their store to Monoville, near Mono Lake, and ran a pack train that summer."
*Nadine told me the story that he worked as a cabin boy on the ship that was taking him to California and each morning the only food he got for breakfast was his choice of two hard-boiled eggs or one fried egg. The reason for the one fried egg was because it took grease to fry it. Needless to say, he ate two hard-boiled eggs each morning of his sea journey.
History of the Fallon ranch ownership: 1st-belonged to Frank Austin, 2nd-Purchased by Joshua Bond (Sarah Catherine (Kate) Allen). Bond built the large white house that has now been moved on the Venturacci property. Bond sold one part of his farm to Fred Harmon. Harmon later sold to Mike Fallon. Fallon sold to Warren Williams, who by further purchases added to it.
The town of Fallon: The West part of town is built from the center of Maine Street West on the Mike Fallon ranch; the East part of town from the center of Maine Street East on the John Oats ranch. When Williams was contemplating laying out a town-site he discussed the matter with John Oats to step-off so many paces at the Williams Building at the North end of the street to be called, Maine, while he, Williams would pace off the same street from the corner where Kent's now stands. Williams' legs were longer than those of Oats-consequently the street at the courthouse end of Maine is seventeen feet wider than at the Kent corner! Nadine and Merton gave the following information re who the initial Fallon Streets on the Williams property were named after. They were all close friends of Williams with the exception of one. Maine -Warren Williams' state of birth; Bailey-Joe Bailey who owned the Island Ranch and most of the Island District; Allen-Lt. Governor Lem Allen; Russell-George Russell of the Elko County Russell family; Taylor-John G. Taylor who was a wealthy Nevada sheepman; Richards-Jim Richards; LaVerne-LaVerne Wildes, first white child born in Churchill
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County; Ada-Ada Williams Keddie; Kaiser-Senator Charles Kaiser; Carson-Kit Carson; Dalton-William T. Dalton; and Grimes-they couldn't recall the first name but Lucy Burton was a Grimes {William Grimes].
Ada Williams was married to William Arthur Keddie. He was a well known engineer working for the US Reclamation Service. He established Keddie Camp which was two and a half miles East of Fallon in a grove of trees where the Big 4 Oil Co. was drilling for oil. On July 20, 1921 he and his pilot, Jack Frost, were taxiing in an airplane that had a newer engine taken from another plane by the men. They were headed for the North Fork ranch in Elko County. The plane rose to a height of one hundred feet and something happened to the engine. Some witnesses said it had stopped-others said it was running when it hit the ground and exploded in flames. Frost was found with his arm wrapped around a sagebrush, as though he were trying to pull himself out- Keddie evidently died on impact. The men were burned beyond
recognition. G.W. Bradley was manager of the Williams Estate Company at that time, so he drove to Brockway at Lake Tahoe to pick up Mrs. Keddie and her sister, Cora Williams Hursh. He had told Ada that her husband was in an accident, but it wasn't until they were to the Argenta ranch out of Battle Mountain, Nevada, that he told her her husband was dead. Keddie who had been born in Quincy, California was forty-three years four months and thirteen days old when he died. Every florist in Reno was out of flowers the day of his funeral in Quincy because so many requests had come for floral arrangements that the entire supply in Reno
was depleted. (Fallon Standard-7-23-1921-5:5)
Nadine Hursh Domonoske
Index
Page
Allen, Lemuel Sr 5
Alpine, Nevada 3, 9
Bernice Mine 2
Addendum 29
Clan Alpine, Nevada 3, 9-10 Dolf, Tom 5
Domonoske, Merton Elswick Preface, 21-25
Fallon, Nevada Preface, 3-7, 14,
Addendum 30-31
Fallon Ranch 3-4
Addendum 30
Family life 7-9, 16-19, 23
Goodell, Wallace 2
Hursh, Cora Estelle Williams Preface, 9, 11-12, 14
Hursh, Ernest Harold Preface, 10-16
Hursh Insurance Company 12-15, 24
Hursh, Warren Preface, 16, 23-24
Jim Town 3
Kaiser, Charles 2
Kaiser, Elwood 14-15
Keddie, William Arthur 7, 12
Addendum 31
Kent, I. H. 5-6
Laundry, Indian women 8-9
Marriage 22-24
Modeling 20-21
Schools 10, 18-19 State Health Advisory Board 25-27
Stillwater, county seat 5-6
Wardell, James . . Addendum 29
Williams, Abby Craigin 9
Addendum 29
Williams, Abram P. 1-2
Addendum 30
Williams, Ada Bernice 9,
Addendum 29, 31
Williams, Addie Madison 1, 4, 9,
Addendum 29.
Williams Estate Company 7, 12-14, 17,
Addendum 31
Williams, Lizzie Beth 9
,Addendum 29
Williams, Warren Willard Preface, 1-7, 13-14,
Addendum 30
Woodbury College 19-20
World War II, Ration Board 15-16
Interviewer
Marian Lavoy
Interviewee
Nadine Hursh Domonoske
Location
376 West Williams Avenue, Fallon, NV 89406
Files
Collection
Citation
Churchill County Museum Association, “Nadine Hursh Domonoske Oral History,” Churchill County Museum Digital Archive: Fallon, Nevada, accessed May 2, 2024, https://ccmuseum.omeka.net/items/show/185.
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