Grace Watson - Grace Watson Osborn Dini

The following are the notes I have in my database for my wife's grandmother Grace Watson Osborne Dini:

THIS IS THE EULOGY OF GRACE (MOMDA) WATSON OSBORNE DINI AS PREPARED BY TOMMI OSBORNE

MOMDA

Grace Watson was born July 28, 1894, one of fourteen children born to David B. Watson and Mary Ellen Watson (nee Jordan) at Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Grace's father, David B. Watson, was a Scottish dance master from Aberdeen, Scotland and a brewer by trade.

After the death of her husband in 1903, Mary Ellen remarried in 1906 and moved to the boom town of Rhyolite, Nevada. Grace, Freda and Edwin, the three youngest children accompanied them. Grace, as a young girl worked as an operator for the telephone company at Rhyolite.

When the Rhyolite boom was over the family moved to Tonapah, then to Mason Valley, Nevada and lived on what was known as the Morris Ranch at the southern end of the valley.

In Mason Valley Grace met and married a prosperous valley rancher Sidney Phelps Osborne. Children from this union were Ellen L. Osborne (Scierine, Large), Roy E. Osborne, and Earl R. Osborne. In later years, after a remarriage and divorce, Grace married Edward Dini, a local farmer. She cared for him through many years of multiple sclerosis. Grace died June 7, 1970.

These are the facts and figures of Grace's life; but they cannot reveal the life of Grace. She was truly the "blithe spirit" of the poem. He happiest moments were playing the piano. With no formal musical training Grace really brought life to any music she played. In her last years, and ill herself, she spent hours playing for those "poor old souls" (her words) at the convalescent home in Carson city. Momda (as all of her children called her) never acknowledged that her stay in the home was necessary, or permanent. With that attitude of course, she soon could come home to Yerington. She continued to visit and play for the people in the convalescent home as long as she could.

Momda was a singularly uncomplicated person. Direct, and loving, she didn't need to look for the best in people .. that was all she truly saw.

To see and hear Momda laugh was a joy in itself. As her grin grew wider her eyes disappeared and her laugh was so infectious that you found yourself joining her in laughter, even if you didn't know the joke.

Momda loved people and parties, but she was also a dedicated homemaker, caring for and serving those she loved all her days. Even in the worst times there was joy in living around Grace.

She loved and worked for the church in Yerington even though her attendance was irregular in her later years.

Momda died July 1970, but her loving joyous spirit lives on in her children.

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Family lore has it that there is Indian background in the current Osborne generations. There are several photographs of Grace in which there is a striking resemblance of Grace's facial structure to that of an Aleut or Eskimo (in the eye of the author, RCL). In a family photograph taken in about 1901, Grace is the only one with this appearance, but there is no question of the resemblance. Grace's son Roy shares this striking resemblance, especially in his earlier photographs. Even at the age of 76 there is no question as to the genetic influence. To a certain extent, her daughter Ellen also had this appearance. Her other son, Earl, has a slight American Indian appearance.

Surprisingly, photographs published in The Jordan/Stanchfield Family History, written by Linda Von Rueden Troolin and Jan Jordan Lokensgard in 1994, show both of Grace's parents have Indian facial appearances. This is especially amazing because David Bain Watson was born in Scotland

The Jordan/Stanchfield Family History written by Linda Von Rueden Troolin & Jan Jordan Lokensgard, 1994, Chapter III has:

12. GRACE (MOMDA) WATSON was born in Guelph, July 28, 1894. The information on Grace was written by her son Earl Osborne, and will be paraphrased or quoted in the following sentences. After her father's death her mother remarried a man named Jack Holly. She was one of three children who migrated from Canada, with her mother Mary Ellen and new step-father, to Rhyolite, Nevada, September 1, 1907. Shortly after they arrived there Jack Holly died. While in Rhyolite, Grace worked very hard to help her mother support the family. She stayed out of school the first year she was there to assisted her mother with her laundry business, by ironing. Grace helped to care for her two younger siblings Freda and Edwin. She also worked at the Miner's hospital her mother ran and was one o the first telephone operators in Rhyolite.

When her mother married a third time the family moved to Mason Valley and soon after Grace joined them. In Mason Valley Grace met and married a prosperous valley rancher, Sidney Phelps Osborne, March 28, 1912. He was born in Burlington, Michigan September 9, 1877 to Charles and Emily Osborne. Phelps' mother returned to Michigan to give birth to Phelps as she preferred to have he firstborn child born in a more civilized environment than existed in Nevada at that time.

Ranching was Phelps' primary occupation, but he enjoyed prospecting for gold but never did strike it rich. Phelps was a Methodist and enjoyed attending church. He was involved in the social activities of the Mason Valley Improvement Club, a group of relatives, friends, and neighbors, who got together on Saturday nights to entertain and enjoy each others company. Phelps joined in many a skit or play and also loved the dancing.

Grace and Phelps divorced, and Phelps continued to ranch until WW II.
During that time he worked at the Hawthorne Munitions Ordinance Station. He retired after the war but continued prospecting as a hobby. He died on Halloween of 1948, at Hobart Wray Hospital, Fallon, Nevada. He is interred at the Valley View Cemetery in Mason Valley, Nevada. He left a legacy of love for the land and particularly for Mason Valley.

Grace married Edward Dini, a local farmer. She cared for him through many years of multiple sclerosis.

Those are the facts and figures of Grace's life, but they cannot reveal the life of Grace. She was truly the "blithe spirit" of the poem. Her happiest moments were spent playing the piano. With no formal musical training, Grace really brought life to any music she played. In her last years, ill herself, she spent hours playing for "those poor old souls" (her words) at the convalescent home in Carson City. Momda as her children called her, never acknowledged that her stay in the home was necessary, or permanent. With that attitude, of course, she soon came home to Yerington. She continued to visit an play for the people in the convalescent home as long as she could.

(After Grace;s death her son Earl took possession of her piano. In the 1990s Earl sold his house and moved into smaller abode. His son Danny then took possession of the piano. When Danny sold his house in 2006, Danny passed the piano on to his nephew Jess Osterberg. There is a picture of Grace playing the piano in the mid-fifties with granddaughters Darlene and Kathleen looking on. The picture is in the picture section of Grace;s record.)

Momda was a singularly uncomplicated person. Direct and loving, she didn't need to look for the best in people, that was all she truly saw. To see and hear Momda laugh was a joy in itself. As her grin grew wider, her eyes disappeared and her laugh was so infectious that you found yourself joining her laughter even though you didn't know the joke.

Momda loved people and parties, but she was also a dedicated homemaker, caring for and serving those she loved all of her days. Even in the worst of times, there was joy in living around Grace.

She loved and worked for the church in Yerington even though her attendance was irregular in her later years.

Momda died June 7, 1970 but her joyous spirit lives on in her children.

Go to my web page at royc.cts.com and check My wife Darlene's Paternal Ancestry and you can follow Grace's ancestry back several generations. Email me at royc@cts.com if you need any additional information.

Roy C. Leggitt