Charles Chester McClain 1880 - 1968 |
Charles Chester McClain was born in 1880 in Bellaire, Ohio. Chester's father Charles McClain was an immigrant from Tyrone County, Ireland, joining his elder brothers who had settled around Bellaire . Chester's mother Elizabeth Peters was a native of Wheeling, West Virgina (across the Ohio River from Bellaire), though her parents also had come from Northern Ireland shortly before her birth. Elizabeth died young leaving 5 year old Chester and his sister Ella, 7 months. Their father remarried and eventually moved the family to San Francisco, California. They remained in San Francisco and lived through the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire. Chester was working on a cattle ranch near Red Bluff at that time, but he returned to SF shortly after the Quake and Fire to marry his sweetheart, Carrie Guthrie. |
Chester and Carrie had three children: William, Flora and David. All three of their children graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. Chester went to work as for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a clerk and worked for them all his life, retiring when in his 80's. At the time of his retirement, he held the record for the longest employment with SP. About 1920, the family moved across the Bay to Oakland into a new Craftsman style bungalow they designed. Chester commuted to SF every day, first by ferryboat (before the Bay Bridge was built), then by train. Chester lived through amazing times: the 1906 Quake, WWI, the Roaring 20's, the Great Depression, WWII, the postwar boom of the 1950's and most of the Revolutionary 1960's. |
Flora, David & William |
Chester played clarinet in the the Southern Pacific Railroad Marching Band, which toured all over the western states. He also sang barbershop quartet and with the SP Glee Club. |
Chester far right singing Barbershop Quartet |
Chester on right in his SP Band uniform at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk |
Chester and Carrie about 1947 |