Belle Cooledge

Belle Cooledge

I wish that a long happy life may be yours

With sorrow never so few,

All the kind wishes, that a friend can wish,

I will wish “dear Lizzie” for you.

Belle Cooledge

Sutter Creek [Amador County, California] May 10^th, 1884 (A neighbor of ours)

Belle Cooledge was a neighbor (per the autograph album) of Lizzie Dunlap.

Belle is located in the 1900 census.[1] She is married to Walter S. Cooledge, born June 1831, New Hampshire; who is a “Clerk, Water Co.”; she has given birth to two children, one child lives. She was born in Pennsylvania, October 1857. Belle and Walter have been married for 19 years (married circa 1881).

A bit about Walter. Walter was born Walter Scott Cooledge, 8 June 1828, in Hillsborough, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire.[2] Walter died 4 November 1908 in San Joaquin County, California.[3]

Belle was living in Elkhorn, San Joaquin County, California in the 1910 census.[4] Her daughter Belle Cooledge was living with her and listed as a teacher. There are two boarders in the household also listed as teachers.

The 1920 census finds Belle and her daughter Belle living in Sacramento, Sacramento County, California.[5] The daughter, Belle Coolidge, is listed as a teacher at high school.

I didn’t locate Belle in the 1930 census, but she and her daughter were located in the 1928 Sacramento City Directory.[6] The daughter, Belle Cooledge, is listed in this directory as a Dean of Pub Schools! And by 1938 this daughter was the Dean of Sacramento Junior College.

The 1940 census finds mother and daughter still living in Sacramento.[7] Belle (the mother) was listed as Belle McF Cooledge. This is our clue as to Belle’s maiden name!

Belle McFarland Cooledge died 5 February 1949, in Sacramento, California.[8] She is buried with her husband in the Lodi Memorial Cemetery, Lodi, California.[9] Her daughter was also buried in the family plot with her parents. There is further information available about Belle on her FindAGrave page.

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[1] 1900 US census, Amador County, California, population schedule, Township Four, Enumeration District (ED) #8, 

page 107 (stamped), sheet 9A, dwelling #195, family #195, Walter S. Cooledge household; digital image, Ancestry.com 

(www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Oct 2015); National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm #T623, 

roll #84; citing Family History Library (FHL) film no. 1,240,084.

[2] “New Hampshire, Births and Christenings Index, 1714-1904,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Oct 2015), entry for Walter Scott Cooledge, 8 Jun 1828, Hillsborough, Hillsborough County, Abraham Cooledge, Hannah; citing original birth indexes New Hampshire Registrar of Vital Statistics, Concord; citing FHL microfilm 1,000,489.

[3] “California Death Index, 1905-1939,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Oct 2015), entry for Walter S. Cooledge, 4 Nov 1908, San Joaquin County; citing original death records, California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics, Sacramento.

[4] 1910 US census, San Joaquin County, California, population schedule, Elkhorn, Enumeration District (ED) #173, 

page 49 (stamped), sheet 13A, dwelling #345, family #359, Belle Cooledge household; digital image, Ancestry.com 

(www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Oct 2015); National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm #T624, 

roll #103; citing Family History Library (FHL) film no. 1,374,116. 

[5] 1920 US census, Sacramento County, California, population schedule, Sacramento, Enumeration District (ED) #103, 

page 255 (stamped), sheet 10A, dwelling #215, family #232, Belle Coolidge household; digital image, Ancestry.com 

(www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Oct 2015); National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm #T625,

roll #126.

[6] "U.S. City Cirectories, 1822-1989," (Sacramento : Sacramento Directory Co., 1928), pg. 187, entry for Belle Cooledge; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Oct 2015).

[7] 1940 U. S. Census, Sacramento County, California, population  schedule, Sacramento, enumeration district (ED) 34-51A, page 866 (stamped), sheet 61A, dwelling #912, Belle C. Cooledge  household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.Ancestry.com : accessed 10 Oct 2015); National Archives and Records  Administration (NARA) microfilm T627, roll #282.

[8] “California Death Index, 1940-1997,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Oct 2015), entry for Belle McFarland Cooledge, 5 Feb 1949, Sacramento County; citing original death records, California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics, Sacramento.

[9] Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 Oct  2015), entry  for Belle McFarland Cooledge (1 Oct 1859 -5 Feb 1949), Memorial No. 37409987, Records of the Lodi Memorial Cemetery, Lodi, California; page created by Tim Cook, 23 May 2009.