When Arthur Frank Vanek and Mona Inez Leeson wed on August 31, 1949 they linked the following family trees, [Maternal ~ Muench and Leeson] [Paternal ~ Vanek and Gremaux].
LEESON SCOTTISH FAMILY HISTORY
George and Helen
Murison, cousin to Albert Edward Leeson family.
GEORGE
MACKIE MURISON
GEORGE MACKIE
MURISON, third son of ROBERT and ELIZABETH, first went to sea at an early
age but as was afore mentioned, joined his brother in Douglas County,
Washington and homesteaded a place.
He married HELEN BELL
in June 1911. She was a Scotch lady who had come to Douglas County with
her brother, JOHN BELL, and Sister, MARY BELL, to homestead South of the town of
Mansfield, which had just been plotted in 1909 when the Great Northern Railway
built a line that far.
HELEN, JOHN and MARY
BELL had left Scotland for South Africa (Cape Town) but after a short stay,
being disillusioned with the weather, etc., they came to Washington State. JOHN
and MARY BELL kept on with the homesteads for a while after HELEN married
GEORGE. But it was poor land and no water so they finally gave up and sold
their property.
In the meantime, GEORGE
had brought his bride home to the 'dug-out' he and JAMES (JIM) had first lived
in, but which had been added on to. He soon built a new house and a son they named
JAMES WILLIAM was born to GEORGE and HELEN on May 21, 1915. He had a cleft
palate and in those days not much was known in how to cope with this
disability. So to their great sorrow he died June 11, 1915. Baby JAMES WILLIAM
is buried in the Mansfield Cemetery.
HELEN BELL was born April 4, 1872, so the mother, HELEN, was 43 years old when her daughter was born. They didn't have any more children and she proved very restless. So she and her sister, MARY, traveled a lot to Portland, Vancouver and other seaport towns.
HELEN BELL was born April 4, 1872, so the mother, HELEN, was 43 years old when her daughter was born. They didn't have any more children and she proved very restless. So she and her sister, MARY, traveled a lot to Portland, Vancouver and other seaport towns.
Finally, about 1918,
Uncle GEORGE rented his farm and he and his wife bought a home in San Diego,
California, at 2331 State Street. Here they lived during the winter months,
coming back to Mansfield in the summer where for a while brother, JOHN BELL,
had a little house.
MARY BELL lived with
GEORGE and HELEN most of the time as she was a spinster, older than HELEN, but a
very dear little lady that the Murison children dearly loved.
They usually traveled between Seattle and San Diego by boat as GEORGE never really lost his love of the sea. They bought a house in Mansfield, about 1925, and spent their summers there, and after selling their house in San Diego, spent a few winters in Mansfield.
George and Helen celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in Mansfield, June 1936. In May 1938, they boarded a boat in Vancouver, B.C. for Sydney, Australia to visit George's brother, ALEXANDER, and families. The brothers hadn't
seen each other in over forty years so they had a grand visit and stayed until
July 1938.
In the winter of 1940, while GEORGE and HELEN were spending the winter in San Francisco, California, GEORGE got pneumonia and died on February 6, 1940. He is buried in Olivet Memorial Park, Grave 869, Lawn E-Sec.H Plot Sycamore.
They usually traveled between Seattle and San Diego by boat as GEORGE never really lost his love of the sea. They bought a house in Mansfield, about 1925, and spent their summers there, and after selling their house in San Diego, spent a few winters in Mansfield.
George and Helen celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in Mansfield, June 1936. In May 1938, they boarded a boat in Vancouver, B.C. for Sydney, Australia to visit George's brother, ALEXANDER, and families.
In the winter of 1940, while GEORGE and HELEN were spending the winter in San Francisco, California, GEORGE got pneumonia and died on February 6, 1940. He is buried in Olivet Memorial Park, Grave 869, Lawn E-Sec.H Plot Sycamore.
After GEORGE's death
HELEN continued to travel, having sister MARY with her at times. Brother JOHN
had passed away. MARY passed away in Seattle about 1944. HELEN was living in
Mansfield at the time and didn't go to the funeral.
HELEN continued to live in her big house in Mansfield, getting to be quite a recluse, and suffered several minor strokes before she finally died of a stroke November 4, 1951 at the age of 79, leaving her remaining property to a nephew, ROBERT BELL, son of her older brother, ROBERT BELL, SR, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
HELEN BELL MURISON is buried in the Mansfield Cemetery at Mansfield, Washington.
HELEN continued to live in her big house in Mansfield, getting to be quite a recluse, and suffered several minor strokes before she finally died of a stroke November 4, 1951 at the age of 79, leaving her remaining property to a nephew, ROBERT BELL, son of her older brother, ROBERT BELL, SR, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
HELEN BELL MURISON is buried in the Mansfield Cemetery at Mansfield, Washington.
