Laurada Jarvis Hannifan Oral History
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CHURCHILL COUNTY MUSEUM & ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
an interview with
LAURADA JARVIS HANNIFAN
November 9, 1990
This interview was conducted by Marian Lavoy; transcribed by Pat Boden; edited by Glenda Price; first draft typed by Glenda Price; final typed by Pat Boden; index by Gracie Viera; supervised by Myrl Nygren, Director of Oral History Project/Assistant Curator Churchill County Museum.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewer and interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Churchill County Museum or any of its employees.
PREFACE
Laurada Jarvis Hannifan is a quiet and gentle woman who lives in a pleasant home that is situated next door to the house that she lived in as a child. The afternoon of our interview we were both apprehensive that her vocal chords would not remain strong enough for a complete interview, but she persevered and the resulting oral history was clear and concise.
Laurada's father, Joseph Jarvis, was very active in numerous business ventures in the early days of Fallon. He was involved in banking, mercantile business, civic duties and everything that a dedicated and ambitious man would try.
We discussed Laurada's university days in Reno as well as her married life in Fallon. The effect of the opening of the Fallon Naval Air Station on the life of John and Laurada was devastating. The ravages of a cancerous tumor felled John, and following his early and untimely death, she was left a widow to raise the family. She rose to the challenge and did an excellent job. Laurada may be quiet and gentle, but she has proven her ability to carry on in spite of any difficulty.
Interview - Laurada Jarvis Hannifan
LaVOY: This is Marian LaVoy of the Churchill County Museum Oral History Project interviewing Laurada Hannifan at her home, 584 Esmeralda Street, Fallon. It is November the ninth, 1990. Good afternoon, Laurada. Would you mind telling me the names of your mother's parents?
HANNIFAN: Laura Conner [Laura Ada Smales] and William [Edward] Conner.
LaVOY: Do you know where and when they were born?
HANNIFAN: He was born [November 8, 1862] in Detroit, Michigan, and she was born [June 1, 1868] in [Pomeroy] Ohio. [married: Trinidad, Co., March 14, 1886]
LaVOY: Where did they live?
HANNIFAN: They moved across the country. I think, first to Colorado--he was a miner--and then they moved to Butte, Montana.
LaVOY: Oh, I see. He spent most of his time as a mining man?
HANNIFAN: Yes.
LaVOY: I heard someplace that he lived in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Did you ever hear any stories about Cripple Creek?
HANNIFAN: No, I never did hear about that.
LaVOY: When did he come to Nevada?
HANNIFAN: In about 1907.
LaVOY: And where did he live in Nevada?
HANNIFAN: In Fairview first.
LaVOY: Fairview was a mining town?
HANNIFAN: A mining town.
LaVOY: And then where did he live?
HANNIFAN: And then he moved into Fallon.
LaVOY: Did he go to Wonder and Rawhide, too?
HANNIFAN: Yes, but he didn't really live there. That wasn't his permanent address.
LaVOY: Can you tell me, do you have any personal memories of your grandparents?
HANNIFAN: Oh, yes, they lived right next door to us while I was growing up.
LaVOY: Here on Esmeralda Street?
HANNIFAN: Right. We lived at 554, right next door here, and they had a house that would have been in between here. It's since been moved off. They had lived in Fairview, too, and when they moved in here they built a little house, and he went to work for the City of Fallon.
LaVOY: Would you mind telling me the name of your father's parents?
HANNIFAN: John and Emma Jarvis.
LaVOY: And when and where were they born? Do you know?
HANNIFAN: In Wales.
LaVOY: And they both immigrated to this part of the country?
HANNIFAN: To Pennsylvania first.
LaVOY: And then from Pennsylvania they came West?
HANNIFAN: No. They stayed there, and my father and his brother left home because they didn't want to work in the coal mines. They left home when they were about fourteen or fifteen.
LaVOY: And moved West?
HANNIFAN: And moved West.
LaVOY: Where did they first come out West?
HANNIFAN: My father came to Virginia City and I don't know where his brother went.
LaVOY: Was he a miner in Virginia City?
HANNIFAN: No. Frankly, I don't know what he did in Virginia City. He didn't ever talk about that. He moved to Reno after that.
LaVOY: Did they serve in the Civil War?
HANNIFAN: No.
LaVOY: I read some place that one side of your family, either the Conners or the Jarvises, served in the Civil War, and I wondered if you had any information on that.
HANNIFAN: My grandmother's father was in the Civil War.
LaVOY: On the Northern side?
HANNIFAN: The Northern side. From Ohio.
LaVOY: Do you have any personal memories of your father's parents?
HANNIFAN: No, I never knew them, and he lost all contact with them.
LaVOY: Well, moving on, could you tell me what your mother's maiden name was?
HANNIFAN: Ada May Conner.
LaVOY: And where was she born?
HANNIFAN: She was born in Leadville, Colorado. [Engleville, Co.]
LaVOY: Do you have the date?
HANNIFAN: I have it, but I don't have it right here. [January 18, 1887]
LaVOY: All right, we can come back to that. Did your mother have any brothers or sisters?
HANNIFAN: Yes, she had one brother who died in 1950, here in Fallon, from scarlet fever.
LaVOY: Where was your father [Joseph Jarvis] born?
HANNIFAN: In Pittston, Pennsylvania. [November 18, 18703
LaVOY: Pittston?
HANNIFAN: Uh huh.
LaVOY: P-I-T-T-S-T-O-N?
HANNIFAN: Uh huh.
LaVOY: Did he have any brothers or sisters?
HANNIFAN: Just the one brother whose name was John, and he lost track of him after they moved west.
LaVOY: What was your father's occupation in Fairview?
HANNIFAN: He was in the bank out there with R.L. Douglass.
LaVOY: In what capacity?
HANNIFAN: I think as a general manager.
LaVOY: Did Mr. Douglass own the bank or did they own the bank together?
HANNIFAN: They were in partnership. My mother worked as a bookkeeper in the bank and that's how they met.
LaVOY: Oh. That was an interesting way to meet one another. How long did she work in the bank?
HANNIFAN: Oh, I think from 1907 until they were married in 1908-so just that one year.
LaVOY: Well, where were they married?
HANNIFAN: In Sacramento.
LaVOY: Do you remember the date?
HANNIFAN: No, just 1908. I don't know what the date was on it. [August 18, 1908]
LaVOY: All right.
HANNIFAN: I have that too, but not right here.
LaVOY: How did they happen to come to Fallon?
HANNIFAN: Well, Fairview was beginning to decline, and they decided to move into Fallon because it was growing rapidly.
LaVOY: And what did your father do in Fallon?
HANNIFAN: He had interests in several different businesses, one in the brewery . .
LaVOY: Oh, excuse me, was there a brewery in Fallon?
HANNIFAN: Um hum.
LaVOY: Where was it?
HANNIFAN: It was about where the car wash is across from the Fallon Steam Laundry. [in the rear of the Gold Dust Saloon]
LaVOY: And what was the name of it. Do you remember?
HANNIFAN: I think it was just the Fallon Brewery.
LaVOY: And they made beer? [Gold Dust Beer]
HANNIFAN: Um hum.
LaVOY: Did they have a lot of capacity for it or…
HANNIFAN: I think it was just a small one. I didn't ever know too much about it.
LaVOY: Okay. Then what else was he involved in?
HANNIFAN: Then he went into partnership with J. H. Bible and they had the Fallon Mercantile Store where the Sagebrush [198 S. Maine St.] was. They had that for several years. Then they bought the Grey-Reid's store which is now Palludans--the whole block there--the whole building [201 S. Maine St. to 255 S. Maine St.]. They had everything: groceries, hardware, clothing for several years. Then they rented part of it to Sprouse-Reitz, the corner, and they rented part of it to Safeway and kept the hardware for themselves.
LaVOY: Now, how many years was it that they did this?
HANNIFAN: They bought the Grey-Reid's store in 1928 and I think they sold it--I'm not sure of the date--about 1944 to Eric Palludan.
LaVOY: Oh. You mentioned J. H. Bible. Is that Jake Bible, Senator Alan Bible's father?
HANNIFAN: Yes, it is.
LaVOY: What caused them to close the store, or to sell the store?
HANNIFAN: It was just time for him to retire. They'd been in it for a long time.
LaVOY: Now, some place that I was reading, I read that your father and, I believe it was Jake Bible, lived above what is now the Sagebrush Cafe for a while until the building was built. So I surmise that must have been the bank building. Is that correct? And, I will take it back, it was not Jake Bible. It was G. C. Coverston and your father that lived above the Sagebrush where the Sagebrush is now while the building was being built. Do you know anything about that?
HANNIFAN: No. I've never heard that before.
LaVOY: I read it in the paper. I was going back through the old papers and there was a little article and I thought I would ask you if you remembered anything about that. What other businesses was your father in?
HANNIFAN: Oh, he owned a building on Maine Street. It's where E. H. Hursh is now. There was a bar in there. He just rented the building for a bar. He was also in a meat market with a Mr. Austin on Maine Street.
LaVOY: Was it the Austin and Jarvis Meat Market?
HANNIFAN: Yes.
LaVOY: I believe someone told me that Harry Heck's father was the head butcher in that. Is that correct?
HANNIFAN: Yes, and he was also when they had the meat market in the Mercantile, he was also there too.
LaVOY: Is that the father of the man that had the meat market here in town that’s currently going?
HANNIFAN: Yes.
LaVOY: Then, your father seemed to have been very involved in different businesses. Was there any other one that you can think of?
HANNIFAN: No, he was a City Councilman several times. He was appointed first, I think, in 1913 to take somebody's place and then quite a few years later he ran for the City Council. I think he must have been in that for three or four terms. One of his pet projects was the Fallon swimming pool [City pool at Oats Park]. He was on the Council when that was built. [Jarvis was appointed to City Council, March 28. 1912, and elected to two terms in 1915 and 1917, Ward 3. He was also elected in 1935, 1939, and 1943, and resigned on April 1, 1946.]
LAVOY: Approximately what year was that?
HANNIFAN: 1937 or 1938.
LaVOY: Still going strong.
HANNIFAN: Right (laughing).
LaVOY: Must be very proud as you pass by that knowing that your father was involved with it.
HANNIFAN: Right.
LaVOY: In going back over my notes, the article that I read in the newspaper said that "G. C. Coverston kept books and roomed with Joe Jarvis in the unfinished second floor of the Churchill County Bank, now the Sagebrush Cafe."
HANNIFAN: I don't know anything about that. I'll have to go back and read it too. (laughing)
LaVOY: I wish I could remember what the date was, but I will find it for you if you would like to see that. Harold Rogers also told me that your father was such a kind man that he remembers him co-signing a note for Harold's mother many, many years ago.
HANNIFAN: Yes. He was involved with a lot of people and was very, very generous always.
LaVOY: Now, what clubs did your mother belong to?
HANNIFAN: She belonged to Eastern Star, and I think two different bridge clubs, and PEO.
LaVOY: I believe she was a charter member of PEO, was she not?
HANNIFAN: Yes, she was.
LaVOY: How many children did your mom and dad have?
HANNIFAN: They had three.
LaVOY: And what are their names?
HANNIFAN: The boy was named Joe--Joseph. He was born in 1909 and died in 1912 from appendicitis. Then I was born in Fallon in 1916, and in 1919, my sister, Inabelle, was born in Fallon.
LaVOY: Where did you live?
HANNIFAN: Next door to this house, at 554 Esmeralda.
LaVOY: Did you have a room of your own?
HANNIFAN: Inabelle and I had a room together.
LaVOY: I love to inquire about the homes at that point of time. Did you have electricity in your home?
HANNIFAN: Yes, we did.
LaVOY: How about indoor plumbing?
HANNIFAN: Yes.
LaVOY: How did you heat your home?
HANNIFAN: We had an oil stove in the living room and a wood and coal stove in the kitchen.
LaVOY: Describe the kitchen to me. You had a wood and coal stove there?
HANNIFAN: This is when we were little. Later on we had an electric stove.
LaVOY: This was when you were very small.
HANNIFAN: I remember when my sister was born in 1919, the lady who came to help, Mrs. Mulvaney, sat in front of the oven with the oven door open and gave Inabelle a bath in her lap with the heat from the oven (laughing) keeping her warm.
LaVOY: That's very interesting. Do you remember Mrs. Mulvaney's first name?
HANNIFAN: (laughing) No, I don't.
LaVOY: Was she a local nurse?
HANNIFAN: Yes, she was.
LaVOY: And Inabelle was toasted in front of the oven.
HANNIFAN: Right.
LaVOY: As you grew up, what were some of your housekeeping responsibilities--as a small child really?
HANNIFAN: Well, we had to keep--we were supposed to keep--our room clean.
LaVOY: Did you?
HANNIFAN: Sometimes. (laughing)
LaVOY: How did your family spend the evening?
HANNIFAN: Reading, mostly, and, later, on listening to a phonograph.
LaVOY: What type of a phonograph was it?
HANNIFAN: The kind that you wind up. (laughing)
LaVOY: Had the big horn on it?
HANNIFAN: No. It didn't have a big horn. It was the very latest thing.
LaVOY: What were some of the songs that you listened to?
HANNIFAN: "The Sidewalks of New York" was one of my father's favorites and some of the Welsh songs and some of the Irish songs.
LaVOY: Well, where did you go to school?
HANNIFAN: Here in Fallon.
LaVOY: Who was your first teacher? Do you remember?
HANNIFAN: No, I don't remember my first teacher.
LaVOY: Could you describe the classroom for me?
HANNIFAN: It was in the old high school which was right down at the end of this street where the Cottage Schools are now. It was quite dark, and--it was two stories--and from the second story it had a great big tin slide for a fire escape which we had to use every once in awhile.
LaVOY: For a fire drill?
HANNIFAN: Yes. It was frightening because it was so high.
LaVOY: And all of you had to go out and down that high slide?
HANNIFAN: Um hum.
LaVOY: Was there someone at the bottom to catch you?
HANNIFAN: Oh, the teachers were at the bottom. (laughing).
LaVOY: Oh, my goodness. Then where did you go to high school?
HANNIFAN: I went to high school here at this high school on Maine Street--which is now the junior high--and I graduated in 1934.
LaVOY: Tell me something about high school. I've heard so many stories about Mr. McCracken, I believe his name was. Do you have some to add to the lore?
HANNIFAN: Well, I was in his algebra and geometry classes. He was an excellent teacher and I was afraid of him. I think everybody was. (laughing) But, actually, I got along fine with him because I really liked the algebra and geometry and did well in those classes. So, I didn't have any problem with him.
LaVOY: Did you go to the school dances, or did they have any?
HANNIFAN: They had a few, and I did go.
LaVOY: Do you remember what kind of music you had at the dances?
HANNIFAN: No, I don't.
LaVOY: You said you graduated in 1936?
HANNIFAN: 1934.
LaVOY: In 1934, did you go on to school?
HANNIFAN: Yes, I went to the University of Nevada. I graduated from there in 1938.
LaVOY: What did you study at the University?
HANNIFAN: I majored in history and in botany.
LaVOY: Do you recall any of the teachers from the University?
HANNIFAN: Jennie Wier was the main one. She was in the history department--the head of the history department.
LaVOY: What were the names of the buildings that you lived in?
HANNIFAN: I lived in Manzanita Hall the first year. I roomed with Ethel Kent McNeely. Then, I had pledged Kappa Alpha Theta, and I moved to the Theta house in 1935 and lived there the next three years.
LaVOY: Can you tell me about some of your activities in the Theta house?
HANNIFAN: Well, I was treasurer for one year. We had a lot of Fallon girls there during those years. I made a lot of good friends from other communities. I was on the varsity riding team and the varsity rifle team and-I'm stopped--(laughing). I can't remember.
LaVOY: You mentioned the varsity riding team. Tell me something about that.
HANNIFAN: Well, we rode twice a week out where the Moana swimming pool is now--and there was nothing there then--rode all over that part of the country.
LaVOY: Did you do fancy riding like dressage or just regular riding?
HANNIFAN: Just regular riding. I really enjoyed it, too.
LaVOY: The rifle team--that interests me very much because you just don't seem like the type that would be toting a rifle around. Tell me about that, Laurada.
HANNIFAN: (laughing) That was run by the ROTC Department and they had a women's rifle team. Quite a few of us were very active in it and we won quite a few of the matches.
LaVOY: Was Doc Martie in charge of that?
HANNIFAN: No, I believe he came afterwards.
LaVOY: In the sorority house you mentioned that there were some girls from Fallon. Can you mention some of their names for me?
HANNIFAN: Norma Jean Mills Best, Elizabeth Best Sawyer, and Anne Gibbs Berlin, Elizabeth Kolhoss Tedford, and Lois Downs--I don't know her married name.
LaVOY: While you were in the University, who was your very best friend?
HANNIFAN: I think Elizabeth Osborne Ross.
LaVOY: Did your sister come--I guess it'd be two years after you entered . . .
HANNIFAN: Three years.
LaVOY: Three years after. So you were a senior when she was a freshman?
HANNIFAN: Right.
LaVOY: Did she pledge the Thetas, too?
HANNIFAN: Yes, she did.
LaVOY: Well, when you finished school, did you go out and work?
HANNIFAN: I had decided I did not want to teach. That's what everybody else was doing, and I did not want to do that. I wanted to go to Armstrong Business College but, Mr. Bible and my dad told me if I wanted to work in the office in the Mercantile I could have the job, so I took that. Mostly because I had already met John and decided I wanted to be here in Fallon. (laughing).
LaVOY: I can understand that. You mentioned the Armstrong Business School. Where was that?
HANNIFAN: In Berkeley, California.
LaVOY: So you came back and you worked for your father and Jake Bible. Tell me, did you have any pets when you came home?
HANNIFAN: No. I didn't.
LaVOY: Left the horses and everything in Reno?
HANNIFAN: Left everything. (laughing)
LaVOY: I was going to ask you where you met your husband?
HANNIFAN: Well, I had always known the family, and his sister, Grace, was in my class clear through high school. So, actually, I had known him for some time.
LaVOY: Tell me your husband's name?
HANNIFAN: John Rayel Hannifan.
LaVOY: R-a-y-e-l?
HANNIFAN: Right.
LaVOY: Was he born and raised here in Fallon?
HANNIFAN: Yes, he was.
LaVOY: Do you know the date?
HANNIFAN: 1910 he was born. [April 26, 1910]
LaVOY: Tell me something more about him. What were some of his hobbies?
HANNIFAN: Well, he was--actually, he loved the farming more than anything else. He also became very involved with the Democratic Party, belonged to the young Democrats first and then went on from there.
LaVOY: You mentioned he liked farming. Was he raised on a farm here?
HANNIFAN: Yes, his parents had a farm in Wildes District. That's where he grew up.
LaVOY: What were his parents' names?
HANNIFAN: John and Katherine Hannifan.
LaVOY: Did he have any brothers or sisters?
HANNIFAN: Yes, he had a brother, Martin; a sister, Eileen; and a sister, Grace.
LaVOY: And Grace was your close friend?
HANNIFAN: Yes, in high school.
LaVOY: Well, when did you decide that you were going to get married? Tell me about your courtship.
HANNIFAN: Well, we went together for about two years, or a little more. Then we decided we would get married.
LaVOY: Was this after college?
HANNIFAN: Yes. We decided in 1940 that we'd get married in 1941. All of our friends--close friends--were married about the same time, so it was a very exciting time for us.
LaVOY: Did you have showers and whatnot?
HANNIFAN: Oh, yes, one surprise shower that I almost fainted 'cause it was really a surprise. (laughing)
LaVOY: Who gave that?
HANNIFAN: Anne Berlin.
LaVOY: Can you tell us who was there and some of the things that happened?
HANNIFAN: I think there were about thirty or thirty-five girls there from--you know, that I had known all the time. I walked into this building--she said she would meet me there--and walked in, and here they all were. I didn't realize what it was for a few minutes, and when I did, I, honestly, almost did faint.
LaVOY: Walked into a building, was it a home or...?
HANNIFAN: (laughing) .
LaVOY: Where was the building now, Laurada?
HANNIFAN: The building was about on the corner of Williams and Maine Street. It was called the Esquire Club. We walked through the bar to the back where they had a large meeting room and that's where everybody was. (laughing)
LaVOY: So you had your shower in the back of the barroom.
HANNIFAN: Right. (laughing)
LaVOY: For all intents and purposes, it sounds like it was lots of fun.
HANNIFAN: It was lots of fun after I recovered.
LaVOY: Where were you married?
HANNIFAN: We were married in Reno at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church.
LaVOY: On Wright Street.
HANNIFAN: Yes.
LaVOY: Did you wear a long gown?
HANNIFAN: No, it was a very small wedding with just our parents and my sister.
LaVOY: And who were your attendants?
HANNIFAN: My sister was my attendant.
LaVOY: That's Inabelle.
HANNIFAN: Inabelle, and Martin Hannifan was John's attendant.
LaVOY: And where did you go on your honeymoon?
HANNIFAN: Well, we went to San Francisco and Monterey and Hollywood.
LaVOY: You got clear down to Hollywood?
HANNIFAN: Um hum.
LaVOY: Did you see anything exciting down there?
HANNIFAN: Not really--we didn't know what we were looking for. (laughing)
LaVOY: How long were you gone?
HANNIFAN: Oh, about ten days.
LaVOY: Then returned to Fallon?
HANNIFAN: Um hum.
LaVOY: Did you live in Fallon then for many years?
HANNIFAN: Ever since. We moved into a little house on LaVerne Street. I continued to work and John was a deputy assessor at that time. He was making one hundred dollars a month and I was making seventy-five dollars a month.
LaVOY: You were very prosperous for those days.
HANNIFAN: Oh, very. (laughing) And that was in the days when Campbell Soup cost nine cents a can. We ate a lot of soup.
LaVOY: When did you have your first child?
HANNIFAN: In 1942.
LaVOY: And what was that child's name?
HANNIFAN: His name is John Joseph.
LaVOY: Then when did you have your other children?
HANNIFAN: Kerry was born in 1944, Elizabeth Anne was born in 1947, and Eileen was born in Reno in 1951.
LaVOY: Are any of them living here in Fallon yet?
HANNIFAN: Eileen lives here and teaches school.
LaVOY: Eileen Montgomery?
HANNIFAN: Yes.
LaVOY: The other children are living where?
HANNIFAN: John lives in Elizabethtown, Kentucky; Kerry lives in Sedona, Arizona; and Elizabeth lives in Xenia, Ohio.
LaVOY: Oh, they married men that moved to those areas?
HANNIFAN: Elizabeth married a serviceman and he was at Wright-Patterson Air Field. They stayed in that area after he got out of the service.
LaVOY: I see. Now, I understand that your husband died very suddenly. Would you tell me something about that?
HANNIFAN: No, he didn't die suddenly. He had been sick for five years.
LaVOY: What was the problem?
HANNIFAN: He had a brain tumor.
LaVOY: I didn't realize that. Did he die in Fallon?
HANNIFAN: No, he died in Reno, St. Mary's Hospital.
LaVOY: And when was that?
HANNIFAN: In 1962. [November 7, 1962]
LaVOY: After his death, did you go to work or did you stay home?
HANNIFAN: I had gone to work in 1958--teaching--because he was sick then and I needed to work.
LaVOY: Where did you teach?
HANNIFAN: I taught first at Oats Park School.
LaVOY: What grade?
HANNIFAN: Seventh grade. Then when they built E.C.Best I moved over there and I was there for thirteen years. Then when they built Minnie Blair, I moved over there and I was there for eight years.
LaVOY: When did you retire?
HANNIFAN: In 1981.
LaVOY: Have you done any traveling since your retirement?
HANNIFAN: I've gone back to visit in Kentucky and Ohio, and I just came back last week from Sedona, Arizona. I was down there for four or five days. I've done that several times, but that's all. I haven't done any other extensive traveling.
LaVOY: What organizations are you active with, Laurada?
HANNIFAN: At the present time, actually, only PEO. I did belong to AAUW and when my husband became ill, [end of side A, long pause in recording] I dropped everything else. I was a substitute teacher for one year and then I started to teach in 1958.
LaVOY: You mentioned that your daughters were living in different areas. Would you mind giving me the married names of your three daughters?
HANNIFAN: Elizabeth's married name is Creswell.
LaVOY: Elizabeth Creswell?
HANNIFAN: Right, and Eileen Montgomery--just two daughters and two sons.
LaVOY: All right, thank you, we needed to have that. I was looking back through some of the newspapers and I noticed that on March 14, 1936, you came home to visit relatives and attend the golden wedding celebration of your grandparents, the Connors. Do you remember anything about that--where it was held?
HANNIFAN: No. I'm sorry but I just don't.
LaVOY: I also wondered about your grandfather. Was he the public works administrator for Churchill County?
HANNIFAN: Yes, he was for awhile.
LaVOY: What did that entail?
HANNIFAN: Well, he had to oversee all the different jobs that the public works systems had--the swimming pool was one of them--and he was also, before that, the electrical engineer for the City of Fallon.
LaVOY: What was involved being the electrical engineer?
HANNIFAN: Seeing that the electricity was provided for the City, and it was said that when he died, all the records were in his head.
LaVOY: That has happened in many of the small towns in Nevada.
HANNIFAN: He was the only man who knew where everything was.
LaVOY: Did he look after the water system, too, for a number of years?
HANNIFAN: He may have. That I don't remember, but he probably did.
LaVOY: I believe I read that he was in charge of the water system of Fallon for sixteen years. But, let's get back to this public works administration. It just dawned on me that that was during the time of the Roosevelt administration, and they had people that were unemployed. They put them on jobs, working, and he was the supervisor for that. Is that what-?
HANNIFAN: That's right. He supervised the whole thing.
LaVOY: What were some of the jobs that he supervised. Do you remember at all?
HANNIFAN: Actually the only one I remember is the swimming pool and I believe that part of Oats Park came under that, too.
LaVOY: That was the same time as the CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps] was going strong. Did any of the CCC boys work on the stonework around the pool?
HANNIFAN: They may have, but they worked mostly in the outlying areas on concrete ditches and structures for the TCID--more outside than in the city.
LaVOY: I see. Do you have anything else that you'd like to add to our tape, Laurada?
HANNIFAN: Well, yes, in 1951 and 1952 the Navy expanded and bought our ranch in the Wildes District. We had moved there in 1947 and built a new house.
LaVOY: You and your husband?
HANNIFAN: Yes. We heard these rumors about the Navy expanding. Finally in 1951, they came and made us an offer which we had to accept. We had no choice. There were seven families and we had to move. We had a hard time getting a down payment from the government. We had to contact Senator McCarran [Patrick McCarran] several times and we finally got enough of a down payment to buy one hundred acres on the Reno Highway from Walter Phillips. The Navy sold back our house to us and we moved it all the way from Wildes District to the Reno Highway. That was very traumatic because we didn't want to move. (laughing)
LaVOY: You mentioned that seven families had to move. I did not realize this. What were the names of some of the others?
HANNIFAN: John's father and mother, John and Katherine Hannifan, and one of the McCart families, two of the Williams families--Chet Williams and his brother--and the Anderson family.
LaVOY: Where your ranches were, is that the end of the north runway now?
HANNIFAN: Yes, that's exactly where it is.
LaVOY: And you had no way of turning them down?
HANNIFAN: No, we couldn't. They said they'd take it away from us if we tried to.
LaVOY: And how did Pat McCarran help you?
HANNIFAN: He got the appropriation for the money, finally. That was the worst part of it when it was finally finalized. They gave us the money, but in three different payments, so we were just kind of stopped on everything we tried to do. First on, buying another place; then on moving our house; and then getting set up on the ranch out there. It all turned out all right, but it was a crisis for us at that time.
LaVOY: You mentioned moving your house. How did you move it?
HANNIFAN: We hired a moving company from Reno, Bevilacquas [A. Bevilacqua and Sons House Movers] and they moved it down the highway. We didn't have to pack anything and nothing was broken. It all had to be put back together-- plumbing and wiring and everything--when we got it down out there. But it was an excellent moving job at the time.
LaVOY: The Bevilacquas are noted for their moving. Did they jack the house up and then put the slides under it?
HANNIFAN: Oh, yes, and it was a big house--a fairly big house.
LaVOY: How long did it take them to get it ready to move?
HANNIFAN: About two weeks, and then they moved it in one day.
LaVOY: Did they move it before traffic in the morning?
HANNIFAN: No, I think they finally got it out there about three o'clock in the afternoon. I remember following it out there all the way.
LaVOY: Did they have to take wires down to take it through the town?
HANNIFAN: They lifted the wires, you know, lifted them with big poles.
LaVOY: And took it right down Williams Avenue.
HANNIFAN: Right, I think it went down Williams Avenue I can't remember that part of it. I can remember the highway part.
LaVOY: You said you bought a hundred acres of the Phillips ranch. Is that the area where the Flower Tree Nursery [Flower Tree Garden Shop and Florist 975 Reno Highway] is now?
HANNIFAN: Yes, it's from the Nursery west. That Ace Hardware Company is on the front part of it and then our house set back from that. Burnettes [3333 Reno Highway] own that, I believe, and it went clear south to the river.
LaVOY: How long did you keep this hundred acres?
HANNIFAN: I sold the house after my husband died. I sold the house and thirteen acres in 1965 because I was there by myself with the two girls. I couldn't financially, or any other way, keep it up. We moved into town to a house just north of the hospital. Both boys had gone to college by that time so they weren't here. I sold the rest of it after that.
LaVOY: Who did you sell it to?
HANNIFAN: I sold it to a Mr. Segura.
LaVOY: Does he still have it?
HANNIFAN: No. He sold it later on to Gerry Wallace.
LaVOY: That's the property that has the "For Sale" sign on it now?
HANNIFAN: Right.
LaVOY: And they're hoping Mervyn's will come in and build on it.
HANNIFAN: Right.
LaVOY: When did you move into this home here at 584 Esmeralda?
HANNIFAN: I built this house in 1975 and I've been here since.
LaVOY: And this house is next to the house where you grew up. Is that correct?
HANNIFAN: Yes. That's right.
LaVOY: Big full circle.
HANNIFAN: (laughing) It was, it really was.
LaVOY: Well, I want to thank you very, very much, Laurada, and on behalf of the Oral History Program at the Museum. This will be a very interesting interview, particularly with your comments on the Navy, because we are planning on having one section of our Oral History Program involve the Navy. This is the first part of that, I want you to know. This is the end of the interview. There is one tape, two sides.
ADDENDUM
William Edward O'Conner followed mining most of his life. Somewhere along the line he ran afoul of one of the miners' unions and, for a reason unknown to Laurada, he changed his name to Conner. He lived in Cripple Creek, Colorado; Butte, Montana; Utah and New Mexico before coming to Nevada. He and Laura Ada Smales were married in Trinidad, Colorado, on March 14, 1886 and had a double wedding with her youngest sister, a Mrs. Griffith. After coming to Nevada they lived a short while in the Nevada mining camps of Wonder, Rawhide and, finally, Fairview.
Joseph Jarvis was a very active man and, among his many other duties, became a member of the Truckee-Carson Fair Association in 1914. He was also on a 1917 committee to decide how the four thousand dollars allotted to Fallon for the new building on the fair board grounds was to be built. The Legislature appropriated the money and Governor Boyle made the group organize according to charter--Governor Oddie had just let them organize loosely. Jarvis was the treasurer for the Nevada State Fair for years.
It was interesting to note that when the new Harmon School was dedicated the whole sum of 600 pounds of ice was donated to the post-dedication picnic dinner by Smith and Jarvis! This was July 24, 1914.
The Churchill County Eagle had the following notes: Joseph Jarvis of the banking house of Douglass and Jarvis of Fairview was in town as a member of the Grand Jury September 26, 1907.
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