Preface

** All Text on this page has been copied verbatim – with permission – from this book: “Shurtleff Family Genealogy & History – Second Edition 2005” by William Roy Shurtleff & his dad, Lawton Lothrop Shurtleff **

Born in 1887, Roy Lothrop Shurtleff was one of the founders of Blyth Witter & Co., one of the earliest and most successful investment banking companies on the West Coast of the United States.

Roy was a man of high principles and foresight. His actions not only saved the company during the Great Depression (1929-1934), but helped build it into a major financial institution that soon attained national, and eventually international, eminence.

Roy became a well-known San Franciscan and Californian, and his civic activities were many and varied. Hazle, his wife and the mother of their three children, was also involved in civic life and created a number of institutions that are still active.

From his mother Charlotte’s first marriage, Roy had a half-brother, Charles, and two half-sisters, Jessie and Nettie Meek. All were quite a bit older than Roy, yet played an important role in his life and the lives of his children.

Hazle and her brothers and sisters, the children of Frank and Fannie Lawton, were a remarkable group. Men and women of real character and strong moral/spiritual fiber, they were vivacious, extremely well liked, and full of energy and fun.

Roy was deeply interested in the history of his family, and his two-volume genealogy, Descendants of William Shurtleff, written over a period of 13 years following his retirement, is a respected work in its field. In this family one can discover a close-knit and devoted group of true pioneers, adventurous, enterprising, and constantly on the move—from their place of origin in New England, to Quebec, Kentucky, Illinois, and finally California.

The only child of Samuel Matthew and Charlotte (Avery) Shurtleff, Roy lived a vigorous, active life, in remarkably good health, to the age of 97.

Of Roy and Hazle’s 31 descendants living at the time of his death in June 1985, a number have attained prominence in their fields.

Roy and Hazle were my grandparents. Though Hazle died when I was only seven, I still remember her warmth and many kindnesses. Roy was alive throughout most of my life, until he died in 1985. Not only were his accomplishments many, but his character of dedication, determination, humor, and warmth made him a man that his family and the world should remember. The strong and good impression that these two people made on me led me to want to know more about their lives and the lives of their parents.

Roy and Hazle’s three children, Nancy, Eugene and Lawton, share with me wholeheartedly the feeling that the lives of Roy and Hazle, and those of their ancestors and children and near kin, should be set to writing.

As the oldest grandchild, I have the pleasure of undertaking to tell this story.

This book will make no attempt to create heroes, or make people look better than they really were. It will try to depict wholeness, true to character. In fact, Roy and Hazle’s three children, mischievous when young, make easy targets to poke fun at. We have not refrained from doing so, for the enjoyment of their descendants.

Sources. Fortunately, there are a number of excellent written and photographic original documents on the lives of Roy and Hazle Shurtleff, their ancestors, and their children, not to mention the many typical sources of genealogical information, such as censuses, cemetery records, etc. These plus more than 50 interviews with extended family and friends form the basis of what follows. Let us look first sources concerning their ancestors:

1. The Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of Cleveland, Ohio (1894) contains excellent information on the lives of George Avery and Maria Louisa Avann, Roy Shurtleff’s maternal grandparents.
2. In 1898 George S. Conover wrote and edited the History of Ontario County (New York). Published in Syracuse, New York, by D. Mason & Co., it consisted of two parts: a general county history (518 p.) and family ketches (396 p.). In the latter part is a detailed history of Friedrick Augustus, Baron de Zeng, and his descendants. This Saxon nobleman, born in 1756, was Hazle C. Lawton’s great-great-grandfather.
3. In 1912 Benjamin Shurtleff published his two-volume, 1496-page genealogy Descendants of William Shurtleff. After 1912 until his death in 1952, Benjamin kept gathering material related to this family history.
4. In 1934 Dr. Charles A. Meek of Berkeley, California, who was Roy’s half brother, wrote and self published a carefully researched, nine-page booklet titled Genealogy: Avery & Meek. It focused on the lives of Maria Louisa Avann Reanier (1824-1912) and John David Meek (1836-1883), while giving fairly thorough treatment to Charlotte Avery.

Source documents directly concerning Roy and Hazle Shurtleff and their descendants are:

1. From 1906 to 1930 Hazle kept a large, 138-page photograph album that contains many excellent family photographs, plus numerous newspaper clippings describing Hazle and Roy’s engagement and marriage.
2. From late 1934 until 1937 Nancy Shurtleff kept a detailed daily diary.
3. In 1937 Hazle wrote a 45-page log of their two-month trip to Europe titled Our First European Trip.
4. In early 1941 Roy wrote 16 pages in his son Lawton’s new family log /journal. These are the most detailed and vivid recollections of Roy’s early years. Lawton continued the journal in the years that followed. His last entry was on 9/9/99 recording the sad and untimely death of his brother, Gene, who had worked so closely with Roy at Blyth & Co. for so many years.
5. Between 1938 and 1947 Hazle wrote a number of poems and letters.
6. In 1946, 1947, and 1948 Hazle kept detailed appointment calendars, documenting her daily activities.
7. In 1954 Forty Years: Blyth & Co., Inc. A Profile, by David W. Ryder, was published to commemorate the firm’s fortieth anniversary (55 p.).
8. The Blyth Story by Hubert J. Soher, published in 1964, is the best source on Roy’s business activities and contributions (124 p.).
9. In 1976 Roy published his revised version of the Shurtleff family genealogy Descendants of William Shurtleff. In this two-volume, 1205-page work he included many of his early memories (p. 488-90).
10. In 1981 the University of California Oral History Program did a series of interviews with Roy. Containing a good deal of original information, these were published in 1982, titled The University’s Class of 1912, Investment Banking, and the Shurtleff Family History (69 p.).
11. During the 1980s Bonnie Meyer did extensive research on her family history and genealogy, all of which she shared with William Shurtleff. Bonnie was the daughter of Helen Elizabeth ReaMer and the second great-granddaughter of Maria Louisa Avann, who was Roy Shurtleffs great-grandmother.
12. During 1983-86 William Shurtleff conducted 35 to 40 hours of interviews with Roy’s three children, several of his friends and associates, and numerous members of the extended Lawton family. These have been transcribed. An original or copy of most of the above documents is owned by William.

In 1994 my father, and co-author, Lawton Shurtleff, offered to integrate the hundreds of family photographs into the text of the first edition of this book. He soon noticed many ways in which the text could be improved—unanswered questions, gaps in the story, untold family tales, and memories. His research and writing, acquisition of new photos, insights, questions, analysis and perseverance over the past decade have dramatically improved the quality of many chapters about the Shurtleff side of the family throughout this book.

William Roy Shurtleff Lafayette, California November 2004