Category: Family

Felton Family

The back of this Kodak Kodachrome photo, taken in the formal dining room of the Felton home at Warm Beach, WA, is printed with the date December 1959. A.C. Felton is on the left, Icy Pearl Felton is in the center, and I don’t know the visitor on the right. The Feltons collected antiques and enjoyed entertaining family and guests. Grandpa liked to dress the part of a gentleman farmer.

This photo was taken in the late 1950s or early 60s at the Felton home in the Warm Beach area south of Stanwood, WA. Fran Geer is behind Icy Pearl Felton (Granny), and Alvin Christian Felton (Grandpa) is at the bottom step. Don and Fran Geer lived in Warm Beach and became like family to the Feltons, thus becoming like family to the Mosers. The Chow dog is Gay, a family pet.

According to Kodak, this photo was printed in January 1958 and most likely shows the Feltons preparing for a formal Order of Eastern Star event in Stanwood. From left, Helen Moser, Virginia Felton, Icy Pearl Felton, and A.C. Felton are at the Warm Beach home.

Grandpa Felton was a salesman, even into his retirement years. When I was a boy, he was with the Alexander Hamilton Institute, selling “The Modern Business Course” to businessmen. He would go on the road in his Lincoln Continental (a V12 engine) to meet with business owners who wanted to learn more about business administration. Notice I used the term “businessmen” because I never recall any discussion about meeting a businesswoman in those days.

Icy Pearl Felton (1893-1970) and Alvin Christian Felton (1892-1962) in an undated photo, probably taken in the 1950s.

The photos below, dated April 1944, were likely taken by Margaret Hageman during a visit to Deep Creek, WA. Icy Felton (Granny) and Helen Felton (Mom) are on horseback. People in Eastern Washington went to the general store by horse-drawn wagon. The bottom photo shows Granny wearing riding gloves, which are still in the family.

A Few Words about Virginia E. Felton

Aunt Virginia was the aunt everybody should have. Click here to find out why.

Moser Family

Deception Pass, August 1962: From left are Tom, Carl, Todd (aka Alvin Todd Moser), Helen, Betty Levish, and Betty Lou Leavish. Betty was a Hallaway and is the mother of Betty Lou. The Hallaway family were friends of the Feltons when they lived in Indiana, but it may have been before then. Mom was a Felton.

This photo was taken at Grandma Moser’s home in 1967. From the left are Grandma Moser, Helen, Tom, Carl, and Todd. Based on my hairstyle, I believe this was before I was drafted. Grandma Hertha Hulda Steinke Moser lived in Snohomish and died the following year. Margaret Hageman, a Moser family friend from Snohomish, took the photo.

This was most likely taken in Yakima for a First Baptist Church album in 1963 or 64. Mom was an active member of the church until her passing. From the left are Tom, Helen, Todd, and Carl.

This undated photo shows Mom and Dad, probably in 1945 or 46, at an unknown location. They were married in 1946, so it could be a honeymoon photo.

Didn’t every boy have a Radio Flyer wagon in 1950? And they were all painted red. I don’t know where this photo was taken, but I’m wearing earmuffs, and the shadows are long, so it was winter. It may have been in Pullman, where we lived while Dad attended WSU. I also recall having the wagon when we moved to Yakima.

Tom with his parents, Helen and Carl, in 1952. Helen would have been pregnant with Alvin Todd, who was born in October that year. The car was a Dodge coupe Dad purchased after WSU graduation.

Most of the Moser family was located in the Puget Sound area while my brother and I were growing up in the Yakima Valley. In this photo (circa 1957), I am on the left, next to my cousin Rick Moser, standing on the road along the Snohomish River, where Rick’s family operated a dairy farm.

Yakima Herald-Republic article (circa 1966) “Jobs Many For Mother.” Mom was selected “Mother of the Year” by the Order of Foresters for her work in the “School for Retarded Children” at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Yakima. Notice that she is identified as Mrs. Carl Moser; this was Central Washington culture, as reflected in the journalism of the day. More about Helen here.

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A Bit of Family History

The earliest record of the Moser clan that I have found dates back to Balthasar Marstaller Moser, born in 1487 in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. According to Ancestry.com, the family hung around Stuttgart for at least six more generations until Johann Georg Phillip Moser, born in 1684, immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1728. Johann Georg Phillip was only 108 years behind the Pilgrims. The Mosers were not exactly early explorers in the New World.

To be fair Johann Georg Phillip was a busy man in his early years. He married his first wife, Elisabetha Wollinger in 1695, and she died in 1714, leaving no issue. His second marriage in 1712 was to Anna “Eva” Eckersweiler. Their first son, Johan Adam Moser was born in 1710. I’ll let you do the math. Also of interest is that Johann Georg Phillip Moser and his wife, Anna “Eva” Eckersweiler, both died on October 5, 1762, in Pennsylvania. I’ll let you use your imagination.

Based on my very modest research, I believe I am the first lawyer in a clan that seems to have needed one over the years. They weren’t always on their best behavior. I have cousins (not named) who thought of me as a “Get Out Of Jail” card like you would find in a Monopoly game. I mostly succeeded.

My cousin, Amanda Jill Nordine, nee Felton, daughter of Alvin Jones (Bus) Felton and Jeanne Marie (Beck) Imbody, researched the Felton side of our family extensively on Ancestry.com. The earliest record goes back to John William Felton (dates uncertain), father of Peter Georges Felton, born in Germany in 1852 and died in Huntington, Indiana, in 1934, father of Alvin Christian Felton, my grandfather (1892 – 1962).

Six Moser Brothers

These six Moser brothers are the sons of Henry Alexander Moser and Sarah Lydia Pyle. Walt and Fred are in the top row, and Bert, Harry, John, and George are in the bottom row. They were all born between 1882 and 1895. They also had several sisters and other brothers. My grandfather was Harry Thomas Moser, born in 1886.

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The Five Moser Brothers

Harry Thomas Moser and Hertha Hulda Steinke Moser had five children, all sons.

The top photo was taken at a Moser Family Reunion on August 22, 1982. From left: Edwin, Carl, Larry, Theodor, and Donald Moser.

The bottom photo was taken post-WWII, probably in Snohomish, Washington. They lined up in birth order, with the youngest on the left: Edwin, Larry, Donald, Carl, and Theodor. Ed is wearing a military-issue jacket with awards and badges. Most of the brothers served in WWII. Ed and Carl met in Europe during the war. Larry was a gunner on a B-52 bomber.

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