History of Isaac McCullough 1878 - 1838

Isaac McCullough

Preface: My paternal grandfather was Isaac McCullough, born in County Down, Ireland. 

Isaac McCullough

The exact date he was born is still in question. Two reliable documents in my possession, birth & census records show his birth in 1878, his death certificate shows his birth in 1882, and other records show 30 Jul 1877. Because it is unknown who actually provided the information on any of these documents it is currently impossible to know which date is correct. For the sake of this biography I've chosen to use the 1877 birth year.

Isaac McCullough was born in 1877 to William McCullough and Jan Porter. The McCullough family lived in a small stone home (somewhat similar to this picture) out in the country in Northern Ireland near Belfast. Household water came from a well and the bathroom was an outhouse. Isaac's relatives still live in this house today. My parents visited Ireland twice and after much searching throughout the Irish countryside, finally found the home where Isaac was born. Living in the house was my father's cousin and his son. Though some of the following is still being confirmed, documents and family conversations suggest that Isaac also had a sister and two older brothers. His sister, Ida, died in Ireland, age yet to be determined. Isaac and his two brothers made preparations to go to America. Whether the boy's parents were still alive at this time is not known.

The British Princess

If a recent discovery is the same Isaac McCullough, records show that he was a teenager when he and his brothers traveled to Liverpool, England, boarded the ship "British Princess" on 29 May 1894 and sailed to Philidelphia, USA. Because most relatives that would know Isaac's history have passed away or are unknown to me, Isaac's history from this time until adulthood is also a mystery. We do know from records and family conversation that Isaac learned carpentry and farming, and ended up living in Washington state. Isaac McCullough is listed in the 1910 United States Census as single, from Ireland, and living in Hanford, WA, a few miles north from the town of Richland. In an old handwritten note to me from Isaac's stepdaughter, Winifred Cronk, she said Isaac bought and lived on a ranch in Hanford. He would have been 32 at the time the 1910 census was taken.

Isaac's long time friend, Henry Homer Cronk, married Mabel Lauretta Noble at her parent's home in Nebraska on 15 Jun 1910. On Valentine's Day, 14 Feb 1912, their daughter, Winifred Lucille Cronk was born. When Homer died in an accident in Osawatomie, Kansas on 3 Jan 1918, he left behind Mabel and five year old Winifred. In May or June of 1919 (date is listed differently on two documents), Isaac (now 41) married Mabel Noble Cronk. Isaac, Mabel and Winifred lived in Hanford or Richland. Ten years later, in the 1920 United States Census, it now listed Isaac as married, 42 years old, Mabel at 35 years old, and Winifred at seven years old.

Isaac holding Emerald

On the 23rd of April, Mabel gave birth to my father, Emerald Eugene McCullough, in Richland, WA. In a letter from Mabel to her father announcing Emerald's birth, Mabel refers to Isaac as "Mac". A few months later Mabel became very ill. She died that same year of cancer of the liver on December 30th when little Emerald was 10 months old. When Emerald became an adult he too went by the nickname "Mac". Sometime during the next four years Isaac met and married Anna E. Pettit, who also had a daughter named Lena Calvin. In 1924 the McCullough family consisted of Isaac, Anna, Lena, Winifred, and Emerald.

Hood's Canal, WA

Shortly thereafter Anna gave birth to a baby boy, Robert McCullough. Around 1926 the family moved to the Pinole/Hercules area in northern California where Isaac worked for the next 8 years as a carpenter for the Hercules Powder Company. The company, originally Califonia Powder Works, relocated from San Francisco in 1881 to Hercules along the San Pablo Bay where it had easy access to the railroad. The Hercules Powder Company manufactured gun powder for the military for both World War I & II. Due to foreign competition it closed its doors in 1976. In January 1933 it was discovered that Isaac had contracted tuberculosis. Winifred would have been about 21, Emerald 13, and Robert 8. Isaac was sent to the Weimar Sanitorium in the foothills above Sacramento, a few miles east of Auburn. The Weimar center is still in operation today as a health retreat. Isaac remained at the sanitorium for 5 years, 1 month, and 26 days. Isaac McCullough passed away at age 60 from pulminary tuberculosis on 17 Sep 1938. For hundreds of years tuberculosis was a problem but doctors could not determine its cause. In the 1800s statistics showed that 1 out of 7 people died from TB. When it was finally discovered that TB targeted the lungs, treatment was usually just fresh air, rest, and a cleaner environment. Even though these changes only improved about 10% of TB patients, it was touted a success and TB Clinics and Sanitoriums started popping up all over Europe and America. In the 1880s it was finally discovered that TB was contagious. Because there was still no vaccine, in 1916 a person with TB only had a life expectancy of 5 years. The first vaccine was used on a human in 1921 but wasn't used or widely accepted until after 1945, too late for Isaac.

Isaac is buried on a wooded hillside covered by hundreds of grave markers every few feet. When I visited the Weimar's Christian-based Center of Health & Education, I told the receptionist my grandfather had been a patient in the 1930s and was supposed to be buried there. She handed me a thick registration book containing pages of former patients. I found an entry for Isaac McCullough, which also listed his grave marker number. I was directed to drive around the side and back of their property, about a 1/2 mile of winding road, where it ends at the cemetary. The day was sunny but cool. Not knowing what I would find, if anything, I sat in the car when I got to the end of the road, taking in the serenity of the place. Finally exiting the car I stepped into the shade of the heavily wooded hillside and there, immediately before me, were dozens of tiny wooden stakes with round metal medallians attached to them.

Grave Marker

On each medallian was a stamped number. I don't recall now what Isaac's number was, but it was something like 735. The markers at my feet me were only in the 100s. I began walking up and down the slopes through thick overhanging branches of old oak trees with heavy branches laden with leaves. I found sections of grave markers in the 200s, 300s, 400s, 500s, 600s, 900s, but couldn't find his marker. Wondering where his marker might be, not knowing where else to look, I hesitantly began making my way slowly back to the car. At first I felt disappointed, but as I continued ducking under branches and stepping over the hundreds of markers in this sacred place, I realized that I had indeed found where my grandfather was buried, just not a number. Feeling grateful for this re-connection to a man I never met, I knelt at an unknown marker and said a silent prayer of gratitude to at least have found the cemetery.

Marker 773

Update 2013 - My wife and I once again visited the cemetery, only this time posted on the cemetery gate was a website address http://www.findagrave.com where we were able to look up my grandfather's name. We did so using our smartphone and just like magic, it listed marker #773 for Isaac McCullough. We also clicked on a cemetery map and immediately saw where we had to walk to find #773. We walked a few minutes north, another minute west down a hill and quickly found where Isaac McCullough was buried on Sep 17, 1938. The location was near the edge of drop-off to a ravine, with the actual marker upended a few feet away from where it should have been. We carefully reburied the marker in it's designated place. A dedicatory prayer was said to dedicate and protect the resting place for Isaac McCullough. 

Update 2014 - A new granite headstone was made in Salt Lake City. With headstone, cement and tools to install it, we traveled back to Weimar, California. After several trips up and down the hillside from car to gravesite, the old wooden marker was removed, a deeper hole was dug, cement poured, and the new granite marker was in place. This is not the first granite marker in the area, but most are still the original wooden stakes. This new headstone is beautiful and permanent, no longer to be ravaged by time and the elements.

If you ever find yourself driving along Interstate 80 near Auburn, you just might want to make time to stop at Weimar, drive about a mile around the curving road behind the center to see an obscure part of American history, then stroll through a rustic wooded hillside sacred to many families, including mine.