GRANDPA FURBY, born as Charles Edwin Furby (no "Sr." yet) Nov. 18, 1861 at #3 Cross St., Hackney, South Hackney, Middlesex, London, was the son of Alfred H. Furby, plumber, and Rebecca Burgess. Grandpa Furby told us that his mother was "6 feet 1 inch in her stocking feet". At the age of 7 he was apprenticed to a silversmith and went to live in his house. He ran away when he was 11. He never attended school but lived by his wits on the streets of London. He later returned to his family and learned the plumbing trade. He taught himself to read and learned much about math and geometry as he became a skilled metal worker.

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GRANDMA FURBY, Hannah Marina Gardener was born June 6, 1863 in the Islington district of London. Her father, William Gardener (Nov. 11, 1841), was a coal porter.

Her mother was Fanny Elizabeth [Cooke] Gardener, born Nov. 4, 1839. Because her mother was in poor health, Hannah's maternal "Grandmother Cooke" took "Annie" temporarily while Fanny was expecting her next child. However, she continued to live with her grandmother while her mother had a total of 13 children and many miscarriages. Annie considered her grandmother as her real mother all of her life. She said that whenever she saw her real mother, her mother was either pregnant or grieving over the loss of a child. Of the 13 children, only 4 lived past the age of 2!!

Her grandfather, John Cooke, was a turner. Annie shared in his estate as a daughter when he died. She received a better than average education at that time, attending private school until age 12. It seems that girls could not attend school beyond the age of 12. She married Charles Edwin Furby (Sr.) in 1879 and lived at #8 Wall St., Islington, London.

Annie and Charlie Furby had 4 children: John Charles: - 1880; Emily Francis - 1882; Annie - 1884; and Charles Edwin, Jr. - 1886. Annie died of spinal meningitis two months before Charles Jr. was born. The flat they lived in consisted of two rooms, one above the other, an open staircase in between. The building was very old, brick and owned by absent Gentry landlords. Annie, (Grandma Furby), said that her children were the fifth generation of the family to live in various parts of the building. The only heating and cooking in the flat was from an open fireplace downstairs.

IMMIGRANTS TO AMERICA

As mentioned earlier, Grandma Furby received part of her Grandmother Cooke's estate, equal to that received by the Cooke's actual sons and daughters. When she married Grandpa Furby, they used some of the money to buy a "pub" called the "White Hart". They ran it for awhile but it was unsuccessful and Grandpa Furby was very dissatisfied!

Meanwhile Grandma's sister Emily Gardener, (later "Davies"), was working as a parlor maid for the Robbins family, landed gentry, who, with the Rawlins family, owned land and water wells in the town of Hanford, California, USA. She brought home stories about the New Land of California. Ernest Davies, her husband, then had the opportunity to accompany and take care of a shipment of horses that were being sent to Hanford, California. My Grandpa Furby got a place on the crew too, went to Hanford, loved what he saw and made the decision to take his family, with my "Great Uncle Davies" and his family, to Hanford, California.

When one realizes what a decision this would be - - today - - for me and my family to attempt such an undertaking!!??!! One must keep in mind what living conditions they were leaving behind! My dad was 2 years old when they all arrived in Hanford on Dec. 8, 1888. All this was arranged through a travel agent who specialized in arranging passage for Immigrants to America. Grandpa bought a "2nd class" passage on a Dutch ship. However, due to loose shipboard control and tough Dutch Captains, they were forced to travel "steerage"! I remember Grandma Furby telling me about the hardships they endured. How one time she, herself, went up to the Captain and demanded fresh water so they could at least wash. (Grandma was one tough gal when she wanted and demanded something!!) Grandpa learned later that they could have sued for their money back. It was a game that was played on many unknowing immigrants in those days.

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They left Blackwell Docks on a small vessel that took them across the English Channel to Amsterdam. The farewells were complete with hugs, kisses, many tears and much excitement. The Channel crossing was during a storm - - what a baptism of sea travel!?! They then took the train from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, staying overnight in each city.

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At Rotterdam they embarked on a large Dutch vessel named "Edam". The statistics for the vessel and voyage are as follows:

    ·   Both steam and sail powered.
    ·   Carried both freight and passengers, (steerage and 2nd class only).
    ·   All Dutch crew, who spoke no English; the Surgeon could speak poor English.
    ·   650 Passengers; 14 were English; Dutch and German spoken only.
    ·   Ship built in 1885; the finest of its kind.
    ·   Normal passage time to New York - 14 days; this trip took 21 days - storm.

Fog was encountered the third day at sea. The fog horn sounded every 3 minutes for 3 days, causing ear pain for the passengers. It finally stopped sounding off, with the sea calm but still foggy. During a night or two later another ship just missed running the Edam down. The passengers gathered on deck to see the lights of the other ship, as it passed close to them!

The first storm came when they were 6 days at sea. All hatches were battened down with the passengers below deck, sitting up all night in steerage with all chests and boxes tied at one end of the storage space. Fortunately nothing broke loose.

Near the middle of the Atlantic the second storm struck. The captain later admitted that this was the worst storm he had ever encountered. He reported the mast touched the sea's surface three times during this struggle. All passengers were locked below deck again, none being able to sleep the entire night. Occasionally a sailor would come down below, with the sea momentarily pouring in the hatch after him. During one night of fighting the storm, word was sent below to prepare for life boats in the open sea. Everyone dressed warmly and prayed. On the second night of this storm, ropes holding steerage freight in place broke and the boxes broke open. The steerage deck was awash with clothes, tools, personal belongings. etc. all soaked in sea water.

Finally the weather cleared and remained so for the rest of the voyage. All the passengers were allowed to spend lots of time topside. People performed their country's dances - - mostly Dutch folk. The Edam had used up all of its fuel fighting the storms, so the straw mattresses were used as fuel to finish the voyage and reach the docks.

Conditions were terrible for those in steerage. This area was one large space with 3 tiered wooden bunks. There were 8-10 toilets in steerage, with no partitions or curtains for the women.. The food was Dutch cuisine, served in big "washtubs". Large tubs of raw, pickled herring, cheese filled with caraway seeds with dark, heavy bread, this was the boring menu!! Grandma Furby wasn't one to just sit there and take it without a fight! She made the purser take her to the captain, who agreed to instruct the cook to give them meat once a day and one can of condensed milk, plain cheese and two loaves of plain white bread with an occasional jar of "marmalade-de-pomme". My Grandma's comment to the marmalade: "God knows what's in it, but thank heaven we can eat it!". Of course, any extra fare (for the English) made the other passengers envious and soon followed bad feeling, English vs Dutch. Soon fighting broke out, English vs Dutch. However the captain put an end to it by posting a note: Anyone caught fighting would be placed in irons for the remainder of the trip!!

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After landing at Ellis Island, passing small pox vaccination check and all other rules and regulations required, the Furby Family boarded a train and set out for Hanford, California. The transcontinental trip took one week, but was certainly better than the voyage to their new land.

They finally reached their destination in December, 1888. On the family's arrival in Hanford, only one store was left standing, due to a fire one week earlier which , thankfully, left the homes intact. The building that escaped the fire was the Baker Hall, a two story building. It was still standing as late as 1955.

BEGINNING A NEW LIFE

They thought California weather was "terribly hot". They were headed for the Rawlin's Ranch, about 3 miles south of Hanford. (These were the landed gentry for whom Grandpa Furby and Ernest Davies had brought horses over to Hanford from England.) There was an abandoned chicken house on the Rawlins' property and it was here that the Furbys set up their first house keeping in the New World.

In this early, small western town their was no need of a plumber, since everyone had outhouses and wells. So, after working several months as a laborer, ditch digger and ranch hand, Charlie Sr. went to San Francisco to work as a plumber. Meanwhile, Annie took in washing and did housework for the few wealthy families in Hanford. When Charlie finally returned to Hanford, they had saved up enough money to build a very small house on Third St. south of the railroad track (spur to Coalinga).

Charlie Sr. finally got work with the Foster Plumbing Shop, the first plumbing shop in Hanford. His main job was making sheet iron water tanks and putting together the connections for windmills. He also made well casing. The houses in town were supplied by artesian wells, so he worked on these pipe lines. In old world tradition, the three children always had part time jobs and all earnings were turned over to their parents.

By 1900 the family had prospered enough to build a large two-story Victorian house in the nicest part of town on Douty Street. It was large enough to take in boarders, which Annie did to help pay expenses. (By the way, one of her boarders, Elmer Ricketts, later married daughter Emily.)

Early schooling was a tough situation for the Furby kids, John (8), Emily (6) and Charles (2). Their accent was a source of constant snickering by the other kids, as well as the way they dressed. They had British clothes, having neither the money nor time to get other clothes like the locals. Uncle John said he failed one lesson because he used "blunt" instead of "dull".

The three children eventually graduated from high school. John attended the University of California (Berkeley) for one year. At that time there were 250 Freshmen in his "Cal" class!! Emily and Charlie Jr. each graduated from San Jose Teachers College. While there, Charlie was involved with the basketball team as equipment manager.