From the files of Frank Clyburn Clyburn Family News Vol. 11, June 2000

Woodrow Wilson Clyburn

8/25/1916 to 9/12/1995

-by Fae McBain

Woodrow was the 8th child born to Narcy Hulda and Stephen Franklin Clyburn. He was born at Beaver Creek on the Klamath River, in California. Mom almost died when Woody was born because she also had a tumor. They called a doctor from Yreka and he came down to Beaver Creek and told her if she didn't come to the Hospital in Yreka that she would die. She told him that she would die if she had to have surgery to get the tumor removed so she stayed at home and with the help of a local woman managed to survive. The tumor drained and she recuperated.

When Woodrow was about a year old they (the folks) moved from Beaver Creek to Lime Gulch which was several miles up the Klamath River from Beaver Creek. The move was made with pack horses and by walking. I don't know if the place on Lime Gulch was a mining claim or a homestead originally. The folks purchased it from a man by the name of Hutchenson.

At that time Mom told Pop that she wasn't ever going to move again and she didn't!

Woodrow lived at Tulelake CA and Merrill, OR for a short time but most of his growing up was done at Lime Gulch on the Klamath River. He attended the Honolulu School at Gottville which was three miles or so down the Klamath River from Lime Gulch. He attended long enough to get his Elementary School Diploma there.

Im 1926 the new house was built on Lime Gulch. Woodrow and Joe shared the back bedroom (off the kitchen). Mom kept us kids under control with little slender switches off of the peach tree. One time when she got after Woody with the switch he kept saying "Don't hit me where the hole is in my shirt!"

Woodrow had a bicycle that he somehow managed to get. It wasn't a new one but he liked it and he was the only one of the family to ever get one as we grew up there. While still a teenager he purchased an old Ford pickup and later a Ford with a rumble seat.

He trapped in the winter and one time he asked Frances and me if we'd go with him to check the traps. He said the he would give us each a mink if he caught three of them. Much to our surprise he caught three and he paid up! Francis and I both ended up with enough money from our mink to each get a permanent wave for our hair. This was my first permanent. Francis may have had them before I just don't remember.

Woody worked wherever he could get a job and on Saturday nights, if there was a dance somewhere, he would drive Francis and me there. This would usually be down the river to Quigley's Store or to Hamburg, CA.

The only girlfriend that I remember him having was Gloria Stockett. They went together for a long time. Gloria and Dorothy Stockett lived about three miles up Beaver Creek from the Klamath River. Some weekends we would fill up Woodrow's vehicle with girls, including the Stocketts' and Eileen Williams and head for the Siskiyou Mountains so that we could play in the snow

He liked to hunt, fish, trap and mine for gold. He was the only one of the boys except Tom that was a real gold miner.

During world War II he volunteered for the Navy SeaBees. He was at Guadalcanal and several other Pacific Islands in the war. He developed malaria while on Guadalcanal and was hospitalized in New Zealand for quite a few months. He came home on leave still sick with the malaria and Dr. Newton, a Yreka doctor, told him to get back to the Navy Hospital as quick as possible! He was skin and bones. He always was tough and he survived!!

On September 5, 1946 Woody married Violet Knight in Reno, Nevada. Franklin Lee Clyburn was born a year later on August 9, 1947 and daughter Lynda Mae Clyburn was born on October 11, 1948. He and Violet lived on the Klamath River, Montague and at Camp Nelson (in the hills east of Bakersfield, CA). Violet had pretty red hair and I enjoyed giving her home permanents off and on when she lived in Montague.

After Woodrow retired from the U.S. Forest Service he went into mining in a big way. He was always out in the hills looking for gold. He gave me a beautiful cross the he made from gold he mined just west of Yreka.

Woody also spent time in Alaska, working on a gold dredger. That was at Coal Creek, off the Yukon River north of Fairbanks. I was on a Greyhound Bus one time and spoke with a couple who had worked on the same dredger! They were on their way North at the time - this fellow worked on the dredge while his wife cooked.

Woodrow lies buried in the Clyburn Family Plot in Evergreen Cemetery at Yreka, CA. He has three brothers, his mother, his father and an aunt to keep him company there.

Hi Fae:

Thirty nine years ago I was sitting in a beer parlor in Portland, Oregon with some friends when Pearl harbor was bombed. One year later I was in New Caledonia waiting for a ship to go on into Guadalcanal.

One month later I was on Guadalcanal and today, 39 years later, I'm sitting on the bank of Lake Meade, fishing.

A mudhen just dove down and stole my bait. I'm going after my 22 rifle and have mud duck for supper!

Hope this finds you in the best of health.

Your brother,

Woodrow Clyburn.

of Oak Bar, California Earl Guyles Knight Sr. was born at Oak Bar, Klamath River, California on December 8, 1899. He was the 4th oldest surviving child of James Howard Knight, (born 1824-25 England), and Mary Eliza Cadwell, (born in Canada on November 12, 1854) (later research indicates this could be 1859). Mary's parents were George Cadwell (research shows he was born about 1818, Kent, England) and Daisey (Leavett) Cadwell (later research shows she was born 24 Aug 1824, Seaton Ross Parish, York, England). James (I believe his first wife's name was Theresa) also had a child by a previous marriage, Thomas Knight, who apparently stayed in Michigan (marriage certificate list them as living in Chase, Michigan) when the family moved west.

Earl Guyles Knight, Sr. (a Corporal in WWI) married Vera Ellen Burris, (born June 24, 1909 in Potter Valley, Mendocino Co., CA). Vera (Burris) Knight's folks were Thomas James Burris and Ellen (Hays) Burris of Potter Valley, CA.

Earl ranched on Dona Creek with his brothers (the house burned while he lived on Dona Creek) and also at Oak Bar and they also ranched at the mouth of Little Humbug Creek, where the golf course is now. He also ranched close by Hornbrook for a while. He also mined some above where the school at Horse Creek is now. Also he and some of the older children worked in the cotten fields at times (not sure where). Several of his children went to school at the Rocky Mountain School between Little Humbug Creek and Barkhouse Creek on the Klamath River. (I remember going to the Riverside School, just down river from Rocky Mountain School, the last year that it was there myself - Editor Note). In later years Earl built a house on the hill above the Oak Bar Ranch (owned by brother George Knight at the time) and lived there many years.

Earl and Vera Knight had nine children and Vera died in childbirth August 1,1939. Earl Guyles Knight, Sr. died in Yreka on April 18, 1958. Earl also had a second wife after Verra's death, Nettie (Jordan) Knight (nothing known re: Nettie, except during the time of Earl's marriage to her the family lived in the Hornbrook area).

Mary Martha Knight, their oldest child, was born on August 10, 1924. George Edward Knight was born on June 17, 1928. Violet Mae Knight (my mother) was born on January 9, 1930. Doris June Knight was born on Aug. 31, 1931. Earl Guyles Knight was born on May 23, 1933. Agnes Louise Knight was born on Dec. 31, 1934. Patricia Lucille Knight was born on July 16, 1937. Baby son was born stillborn and a baby daughter stillborn also and both buried on the right side of the barn (long gone) on the Dona Creek ranch at Oak Bar (a few years ago they were moved and reburied at a different location at Dona Creek Ranch due to erosion of the original graves). A baby girl Gladys Knight died at birth Oct 14, 1935 (buried in Knight plot, Evergreen cemetary in Yreka). An unnamed baby died in childbirth along with mother Vera (Burris) Knight 1939 (mother and child buried in Knight plot in Evergreen Cemetary in Yreka, CA). All were born at Oak Bar, Klamath River, CA, although Patricia apparently was born in the hospital in Yreka, CA. Some may have been born at Knight Ranch on Dona Creek also considered to be part of the Oak Bar Community.

Mary Martha Knight (died Aug 1, 1976) married William Walter Welborn (born in Texarcana Texas Jan. 5, 1903) on November, 23, 1944 in Redding CA. They had six children: William Earl Welborn (born Jan 12, 1946); Walter Lee Welborn, (born Sept. 19, 1948); Robert Allen Welborn, (born Sept 27, 1949); Michael JamesWelborn, (born October 27, about 1954); Sharon Louise Welborn, (born Nov 1, 1958); Karen Marie, (born Dec 19, 1961). All were born while Mary and Bill lived in Dunsmuir, CA. Mary died on Feb 15, 1980 and is buried in the Mt. Shasta Memorial Park in Mt. Shasta, CA.

George Edward Knight married Imogene Ruth Rosenbalm (born Jan 21, 1931) and they had two children. Karen Ann Knight (born on May 1, 1958) and David Edward Knight (born on July 7, 1959). (Imogene had two children by a former marriage: Daniel Turturici born Oct. 26, 1949 and Michael Turturici born Aug 7, 1952 - Editors Note).

Violet Mae Knight married Woodrow Wilson Clyburn (born Aug. 25, 1916 Gottville, Klamath River, CA- died Sept 12, 1995) on Sept. 5 1946 in Reno, Nevada. Violet and Woodrow had two children and one stillborn child (not sure of date) buried in Porterville, CA. Franklin Lee Clyburn (me!) (born on Aug. 9, 1947) and Lynda Mae Clyburn (born on Oct. 12, 1948). Both were born in Yreka, CA (although living on the Klamath River at the time of the births). Violet & Woodrow later divorced and she married Ronald Charles Douglas on March 1954 (born Feb 9, 1931- died June 14, 1989) and they had a daughter Darlene Marie Douglas, (born in Yreka, CA Feb 28, 1959). Ronald was the son of Irma Marjorie White and Charles Douglas of Walker, Klamath River, CA.

Doris June Knight (died Sept 10, 1980) married George Taylor (died on Jan 20, 1971) on Aug 22, 1950 at Lover's Camp, Klamath River (below Hamburg, CA). They had two children, Donna Mae Taylor, (born Sept 9, 1952) and Dan Martin Taylor (born June 11, 1954 - died 1998). Both children were born in the hospital in Yreka, CA while George and Doris lived at Oak Bar, CA. Donna first married a man by the name of Jacobs, divorced then married Robert Ellis James on Feb 7, 1977 (Bob died on Feb 12, 1998). Danny married Debra Swan (born Dec 25, 1953).

Earl Guyles Knight, Jr. was born on May 23, 1934 at Oak Bar, Klamath River, CA. Earl married Barbara ? They had one son, John Knight (born 1956) (John goes by the last name of Gassaway - Editor's Note). Earl is currently residing in Beverly Manor in Yreka, CA after suffering from a stroke (Earl passed away 7 March 2002 - Editor's Note).

Agnes Louise Knight married Ralph Edison Howarth, Jr. on June 23, 1954 at Oak Bar, CA (outside under the Oak Trees). (Ralph was born on August 7, 1930 in the McCloud, Ca hospital although his family was living in Mt. Shasta at the time). Agnes and Ralph had four children: Kathryn Louise Howarth (born on Sept. 12, 1955); Ralph David Howarth (born on May 7, 1958); James Edison Howarth (born on Jan. 13, 1957); Paul Lester Howarth (born on Sept. 19, 1962- died in a fire in Weed, CA 18 January, 1994).

Patricia Lucille Knight (died April 19, 1993) married Fred Smith and they had a child Raymond Eugene Smith, (born Sept 1, 1956). Patricia later had two daughters, Lucille Ann Smith (born 8/19/1959) and Kelley Marie Green (born 3/17/1962).

born Dec 31, 1934 at

Oak Bar, CA My name is Agnes (Knight) Howarth. I was born and raised down the Klamath River. My dad was Earl Guyles Knight, Sr. I always said I crawled out of under one of the rocks, for my birth was not recorded. We lived on Dona Creek, at Oak Bar, CA and for 2 or 3 years in Hornbrook, CA. But it seems we always ended back down river.

I went to live with my Uncle George when I was 7 years old. My dad could not care for all of us any longer, so his brother, (George) took Doris myself and Pat. He put us through School, which I was the only one to finish High School and when I Married My sweet Husband forty six years ago , he gave me away at our wedding.

We had a little outside wedding, under the big oak trees. I made a backing with chicken wire. I had heart trellis and had it covered with wild ferns, which I gathered myself. Our friends let me get a bunch of their roses that I mixed with the ferns. We went up to Medford, then along the Oregon coast for our honeymoon and back to Redding then back home to Mt Shasta to make our home.

Now I have one brother left. There was seven of us to begin with. We had 4 children. Our daughter Kathy, our sons James, David, Paul, six grandchildren. We lost Paul and his 2 children in 1994 in a fire.