392. CHARLES ALLEN9 ALMY (Joseph8, Thomas7, Holder6, Joseph5, William4-3, Christopher2, William1),b. Bolinas, CA, 12 Apr 1873; d. San Francisco, CA, 18 Mar 1937.
He m.(1) San Jose, CA, 6 Apr 1895, MARY O' TOOLE, b. San Rafael, CA, 7 Jun 1875; d. 22 Jun 1913. He m.(2), San Jose, 1914, ANNA MARIE CARLISLE, d. Portland, OR, 1949.
Child of Charles and Mary:
| i | AZALEA10, b. CA, 19 Sep 1895; d. Oakland, CA, 11 Sep 1982. She never married. Her SS No. is 558-66-7173. |
Child of Charles and Anna Marie:
| ii | LUCRETIA, b. San Rafael, CA, 24 Feb 1918; d. Sacramento, CA, 16 May 1986; m. Portland, OR, 30 Jan 1948, DE WITT HENRY LYMAN, b. Beaverton, OR, 3 Mar 1922; son of James De Witt and Winifred (Stokes) Lyman. Children: 1. Jildo Allen Lyman, b. San Rafael, 1938; d. Chico, CA, 1941. 2. Madeline Ann Lyman, b. San Rafael, 1940; d. Imola, CA, 1965. Lucretia and De Witt resided in Sacramento, CA. |
Charles A. Almy was a guard at San Quentin Prison for many years. His daughter Lucretia wrote the following about him. "My father was quite a hunter and often brought home game. When he was seventeen, he ran away to sea. While serving on a whaler out of San Francisco, he became separated from his ship in a heavy fog. He drifted for seventeen days on the China Sea. He and his companions were picked up by another ship and landed in China. My father signed on another sailing ship for the return home.
"My father stood over six feet tall and weighed over two hundred pounds. In spite of his size, he was a gentle man. He was always fair in everything he did. Even the convicts at San Quentin liked and respected him. Once my father had a crew of convicts on a two story building to repair the roof. The day was hot and the tar for the roof reeked. My father was overcome by the heat and the fumes. The roof was quite steep and my father started to slide off the roof. (Convicts were forbidden to touch a guard.) But in spite of rules, one convict grabbed by father, as he slid by. Immediately, a guard in a nearby tower, leveled his rifle on the convict and called for him to release my father. The convict raised one arm and called for help. The guard sent several guards to investigate. It was discovered that my father had fainted and he was taken to the prison infirmary. If the convict had let my father go, as ordered, my father would have fallen two stories and landed on cement. He, no doubt, would have been killed. For his heroic act, the warden permitted my father to bring a cigar, which the convict was permitted to smoke in the warden's office. Small payment for such a deed, but it was more than normally permitted."
Azalea Almy was a long time resident of Oakland and retired from the Berkeley school system in 1961 after 44 years of teaching which began in 1917.
The Charles Allen Almy family is in the 1900 Federal census in San Rafael, Marin County, CA, as follows. Charles Almy 27, b. CA, Apr 1873; Mary 25, wife, b. CA, Jun 1874; Azalia 4, dau, b. CA, Sep 1895; and John J. O'Toole 24, brother-in-law, b. CA, Jan 1876.
REFERENCES: FAMILY RECORDS; FEDERAL CENSUS.