Abraham Binnard, 1868-1923
Abraham5 Binnard (Izrael4, Mosiek3, Jacob2, Lewin1) was born 24 February 1868 at Rochester, Erie County, New York.[1] He lived with his family in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1870[2] and Rochester, New York in 1875[3] before moving with them to Turner, Oregon in the late 1870s.[4] By 1880 the Binnards moved to Palouse, Washington, where Abraham grew up.[5] He must have been an athletic young man. In November 1886 the Morning Oregonian printed a report of a foot race that took place in Colfax, Washington between Abe Binnard of Palouse and George Warner of Colfax. Warner won. The article related, "It was for $50 a side, and considerable money was bet on the outside."[6]
James Binnard, Abraham's father, died at Palouse in 1888.[7] By 1890, several members of the Binnard family had moved to Spokane, Washington. Abraham's brother, Ike, had opened a clothing store called Binnard & Son in partnership with their mother, Anna. Two other brothers, Aaron and Daniel, operated a second-hand store.[8] Abraham also moved to the city and on 10 November 1891 was married there to Margaret “Maggie” Roach.[9] She was born 18 November 1876[10] at Mokulumne Hill, California[11] and lived at Butte and Anaconda, Montana as a girl.[12] They are erroneously enumerated on the 1900 census for Spokane as Abraham and Louise Binnard, with a son, Abraham, age 7.[13] The information for the 1900 census conflicts with what was reported a decade later. In 1910 Abraham Binnard and wife Margaret are living on Crescent Avenue in Spokane. They had been married for 18 years and each had only been married once. No children were living with them and Margaret is said to be the mother of no children.[14] Abraham had a variety of business interests. He owned shares in mines and it was said that "during his life [he] had visited every mining camp of importance in the west."[15] In 1897 he, Morse B. Davis, and I.M. Jacobs organized the Montana Mining and Smelter Company to build a smelter at Twin Bridges.[16] He also was a partner in other enterprises. In 1905 A. Binnard and A.S. Ash filed articles of incorporation for both the Peerless Hotel Company of Oroville, California and the Combination Liquor Company of Spokane.[17] For many years he was a traveling salesman for the Kirkwood Distillery Company of Spokane,[18] and in 1911 and 1912, while still living in Spokane, he was a partner with Aaron L. Jaffe in Jaffe-Binnard Company, dealers in wholesale liquors in San Francisco.[19] The 1914 directory of Butte, Montana lists Abe Binnard as a clerk for the Cross Road Liquor Company.[20] In December 1914 Abraham and Margaret went to San Francisco,[21] where they took an apartment at 776 Bush Street.[22] Relatives said they planned to visit family and attend the fair,[23] by which they meant the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, a world's fair scheduled to run from February to December 1915. Abraham requested and was granted a permit from the city to operate a shooting gallery at 1215 Fillmore Street.[24] Perhaps it was through this business that his wife was able to gain access to a revolver. On the morning of 14 February 1915, while her husband was sleeping, Margaret shot him in the back of the head and then turned the gun on herself. When Abraham regained consciousness, he found his wife dead on the floor. She left a suicide note in which she blamed sickness and financial difficulties for her action.[25] Abraham's sister, Sarah Cummings, said that Margaret suffered from headaches. She further stated that "there is no truth in the report that they were in financial difficulties, for the family has large property holdings . . . Mrs. Binnard never had a firearm in her possession to my knowledge, for she was afraid of them. She used always to speak with horror of suicides."[26] Abraham survived the shooting and moved to Salt Lake City, where he was residing in December 1915.[27] The next year he was in El Paso, Texas, where on 4 April 1916 he married Esther (Turner) Stuart.[28] Esther, daughter of Thomas and Eunice (Teeples) Turner, was born in Fillmore, Utah on 6 May 1879.[29] Her first marriage, to J.G. Stuart, took place on 19 September 1900 at Rathdrum, Idaho.[30] Their marriage was short; the 1910 census shows Esther Stuart, divorced, living in Spokane and working as a waitress.[31] In December 1916 Abraham joined Fred Markman in opening at jewelry store, The Markman Jewelry Company, at 105 San Antonio Street in El Paso.[32] Markman had come to Texas from San Diego and was the husband of Ruth Fisher,[33] daughter of Annie (Binnard) Fisher, Abraham's first cousin. The 1917 El Paso city directory shows Abraham residing at 9 The Cornelia and affiliated with both The Markman Jewelry Company and The California Wine House, a liquor distributor.[34] The association with Markman was probably short; in 1918 Abraham was working only for the California Wine House.[35] He and Esther are enumerated on the 1920 census of San Francisco and he was still in the liquor business.[36] On 21 October 1923 Abraham suffered a heart attack and died in the lobby of the Hotel Gardner in El Paso. His body was shipped to Lewiston, Idaho for burial.[37] His obituary states that he was survived by his wife and an adopted daughter,[38] but the name of the daughter is unknown. His wife remarried to Elmer E. Quinn on 31 December 1925 in Ogden, Utah.[39] For a few years she operated a grocery store in Salt Lake City, but moved to Los Angeles in the 1930s. She died there on 2 November 1940 under the name Esther Binnard[40] and was buried in Salt Lake City.[41] Children: 1. Adopted daughter, name unknown[42] __________________________ [1] "Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F611-3NR : accessed 05 Oct 2012), Abraham Binnard and Esther Stuart, 04 Apr 1916. [2] 1870 U.S. census, north half of the Ninth Ward, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, p. 11, entry for Abraham Binnard, son, in household of James Binnard; dwelling 13, family 89, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 July 2012); Family History Library Film: 552711. [3] 1875 New York state census, Fourteenth Ward, Rochester, Monroe County, p. 84, dwelling 692, family 776, entry for Abraham Binnard, son, in household of James Binnard; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org : accessed 4 April 2012); Family History Library microfilm 833780. [4] 1880 U.S. census, Turner, Marion County, Oregon, p. 3, dwelling house 19, family 19, entry for Abraham, son, in household of Anna Binnard; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 April 2012); Family History Film 1255082. [5] "Shoots Husband and Slays Self," Spokane Daily Chronicle, 15 February 1915, p. 13. [6] "Foot Race at Colfax," Morning Oregonian, 5 November 1886, p. 3. [7] Clarence Alan McGrew, City of San Diego and San Diego County: the Birthplace of California (Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, 1922), 2:272. [8] Spokane Falls City Directory, 1890 (Spokane Falls, Washington: R.L. Polk & Co., 1890), 129. [9] Washington, County Records, 1803-2009," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-23400-109850-63?cc=1910364&wc=MTTX-DPD:180933901,185618701 : accessed 11 Apr 2014), Spokane > Marriage certificates 1891-1893 volume 1, page 2, Abraham Binnard and Maggie Roach; citing State Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch, Bellevue. [10] "List of United States Citizens (for the Immigration Authorities)," S.S. Olympic, 3 July 1912, stamped p. 114, line 28, Margaret Binnard; digital image, "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); citing NARA microfilm T715, roll 1892. [11] "Demented Woman Shoots Husband; Mrs. Margaret Binnard Wounds Sleeping Man and Takes Her Own Life," Idaho Statesman, 15 February 1915, p. [1]. [12] "Tragedy Felt in Boise; Brother of Man Shot in San Francisco Resident of This City, Idaho Statesman, 16 February 1915, p. 7. [13] 1900 U.S. Census, Brown Precinct, City of Spokane, Spokane County, Washington, enumeration district 62, page 12B, dwelling 13, household 121, entry for Abraham Binnard; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); citing Family History Library microfilm 1241751. [14] 1910 U.S. Census, Eagle Precinct, Spokane City, Spokane County, Washington, enumeration district 206, page 20A, dwelling 356, family 367, entry for Abraham Buinard; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); Family History Library microfilm 1375684. [15] "Abe Binnard is Dead in Texas," Spokane Daily Chronicle, 26 October 1923, p. 3. [16] "Has a Bright Future; A. Binnard of the Twin Bridges Smelter Brings in the First Bullion Turned Out By the Plant," Butte Weekly Miner, 7 October 1897, p. 5. [17] "New Incorporations," Olympia Daily Recorder, 28 July 1905, p. 3. [18] "Abraham Binnard Shot By Wife," Spokesman-Review, 15 February 1915, p. 1. [19] Crocker-Langley San Francisco Directory for the Year Ending August 1911 (San Francisco, California: H.S. Crocker Co., 1911), 273, 1939; (1912), 1989. [20] R.L Polk & Co.'s Butte City Directory for the Year Commencing April 1914 (Helena, Montana: R.L. Polk & Co., of Montana, 1914), 120. [21] "Abraham Binnard Shot By Wife." [22] "California, San Francisco County Records, 1824-1997," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 5 October 2012), Coroner’s Records, February 1915, Margaret Binnard, February 15, 1915; citing California, San Francisco County Records, 1824-1997, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, California, United States. [23] "Abraham Binnard Shot By Wife." [24] "Permits Granted By the Police Commission," Municipal Record (City and County of San Francisco), 14 January 1915, p. 7. [25] "Demented Woman Shoots Husband.” [26] "Abraham Binnard Shot By Wife." [27] "Return to Homes," Idaho Statesman, 7 December 1915, p. 7. [28] "Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F611-3NR : accessed 05 Oct 2012), Abraham Binnard and Esther Stuart, 04 Apr 1916. [29] Ibid. [30] "Idaho, Marriages, 1878-1898; 1903-1942," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FWD6-V2K : accessed 06 Oct 2012), J. G. Stuart and Ester Turner, 19 Sep 1900. [31] 1910 U.S. Census, Beacon Precinct, City of Spokane , Spokane County, Washington, enumeration district 169, page 1B, dwelling 356, family 367, entry for Esther Stewart; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); Family History Library microfilm 1375683. [32] "San Diego Jeweler Moves to El Paso and Opens House," El Paso Herald, 23 December 1916, p. 11. [33] Petronius, "In Society," San Diego Union, 14 April 1914, p. 11. [34] El Paso City Directory, 1917 (Dallas, Texas: John F. Worley Directory Co., 1917), p. 242. [35] Ibid, (Hudspeth Directory Co., 1918), 268, 196. [36] 1920 U.S. Census, 32 Assembly District, San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, enumeration district 207, page 14A, dwelling 19, household 144, entry for Abraham Bernard; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); citing NARA microfilm T625, roll 138. [37] "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JD29-ZRX : accessed 05 Oct 2012), Abe Binnard, 21 Oct 1923; citing reference cn 29269, State Registrar Office, Austin, Texas. [38] "Abe Binnard is Dead in Texas.” [39] "Utah, Marriages, 1887-1966," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F8GD-JXX : accessed 06 Oct 2012), Elmer E. Quinn and Esther Bennard, 31 Dec 1925. [40] "Esther Turner Binnard," Salt Lake Tribune, 5 November 1940, p. 21. [41] Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database entry (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 29 January 2014), entry for Esther Turner Binnard, Memorial 46405873, Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah; created by Renae Burgess Linn. [42] "Abe Binnard is Dead in Texas.” |