Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
> COOKE-GARCIA-WARD FAMILIES
Marriage Cert.: John Amos Ward (I) & Dorothy M. Wilson
Tataviam Culture


Click image to enlarge

thumbnail
Front

thumbnail
Back

Marriage license and certificate of John Amos Ward (I), 21, of Newhall, and Dorothy Marie Wilson, 16, of Castaic. Married in Los Angeles, September 18, 1939.

John was a son of Margaret Sylvia Rivera (Garcia), who was a daughter of Petra Garcia, whose ancestry on her mother's side traces to individuals who lived in the Santa Clarita Valley prior to European contact in 1769.

The marriage was performed by a Methodist Episcopal minister, E.A. Stickelman of 205 N. Broadway (Los Angeles), and witnessed by Frank A. Copeland of Castaic. The license states that written consent has been given and filed on behalf of Dorothy.

The certificate identifies both John and Dorothy as "white" and says it is their first marriage.

It says John was born June 22, 1918, at Fillmore, and lists his occupation as truck driver. It identifies his parents as Eldridge Amos Ward, born in Pittsburgh, Penn., and Margaret Rivera, born in Castaic.

It says Dorothy was born February 27, 1923, in Leavenworth, Kans. It identifies her parents as Edward Calvin Wilson, born in Leavenworth, and Geneviare Clara Wilson, born in Lake City, Iowa.

John's address is given as 412 Pine Street. This is noteworthy. This is a home of the Erolinda Rivera Cesena family.

Erolinda's husband, Leonardo Cesena, died from pneumonia on Jan. 30, 1928 (death certificate on file). A month and a half later, on March 12-13, 1928, one of Erolinda's children, 15-year-old Phillip Cesena, was killed in the St. Francis Dam disaster. The floodwaters carried his body clear to Santa Paula. Erolinda filed a death claim with the city of Los Angeles and was awarded the amount she sought, $3,150, with which she built the 856-square-foot home at 412 Pine Street in 1929. Various Cesena family members continued to live in the house (which was renumbered 24148 Pine Street in the mid-1950s) until the beginning of the 21st Century. Squatters were living in the house when, on Nov. 2, 2014, a candle tipped over and the structure was gutted by fire.

We don't know the exact relationship between Erolinda Rivera Cesena and Sylvia Rivera (or Sylvia's father, Pete Rivera, who also died in the dam disaster) that would have caused John Ward to be living in the house in 1939.

(Erolinda Rivera Cesena was born in Los Angeles on April 5, 1878, to Ramon Rivera and Manuela Sanchez. Leonard[o] Cesena was born Dec. 2, 1859, in Mexico. Documents on file.)


TLP3901a: 9600 dpi jpeg courtesy of Tricia Lemon Putnam.
WARD FAMILY

thumbnail
Marriage Cert.: John (I) & Dorothy 1939

thumbnail
John (I), Eleanor, Kenneth Ward 1940s


L.A. Times: Death of Bobby Ward Jr.
10-19-1992

thumbnail
Robert "Bobby" Sr. 1938-2011

RETURN TO TOP ]   RETURN TO MAIN INDEX ]   PHOTO CREDITS ]   BIBLIOGRAPHY ]   BOOKS FOR SALE ]
SCVHistory.com is another service of SCVTV, a 501c3 Nonprofit • Site contents ©SCVTV
The site owner makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the site owner. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.