The Drinkwater and McCain Family Reunion

Henry Charles Drinkwater

About two years ago, I learned that my great great grandfather, Henry Charles Drinkwater, died in 1925 but was never buried. 

I had found a Find A Grave memorial for him in Minneapolis's Lakewood Cemetery, and as is my custom when I find one of my ancestors on that site, I contacted the person who had set up the memorial and asked if he would transfer the management to me so that I could easily edit it. He did so, but he also advised me that Lakewood’s records state that the final disposition of Henry’s ashes, who had been cremated according to them, was “Storage - Hold, Section 313, Tier 1, Crypt F, Garden Wall Crypt”. This was how I found out that my ancestor's ashes, or cremains, had been in storage for almost 90 years.

After learning this astonishing news I shared the information with Susan Drinkwater Wrasmann. I had been corresponding with her over the last few years about our Drinkwater ancestry. She is Henry's great granddaughter through his son William Downs while I am descended from William's sister, Lily Drinkwater McCain. 

Knowing that Henry's wife Emma had died and been buried in Jackson, Wyoming I had a desire to reunite them, but knew it would be too costly for me to do alone. I told Susan that I would like to canvas his other descendants to see if any would be willing and able to help with the associated costs of obtaining and properly burying Henry's ashes in Jackson. It would satisfy my desire and give substance to my belief that everyone should have a proper burial.

Susan liked the idea. We appealed to Henry's descendants who responded generously. This gave us the impetus to plan further. After some of his descendants told us that they had seen Henry's death certificate, and believed that he was buried, we scrutinized that document. While it did have a date of burial, we noted that box 19 was confusing because it indicated that Henry was cremated. It also said "over" and to our knowledge none of the family had ever seen the back.  

Wanting to be sure Lakeside was correct, and that we didn't bury the wrong person, Jon Freshour, another cousin (Lily's descendant), called the state of Minnesota and obtained the back of Henry's death certificate. It, we felt, was definitive. 

Now that we knew that the cemetery was correct, Jon, Susan, and I all called them to find out how we could obtain Henry's cremains. We found it was a matter of paying them after which they would ship the ashes anywhere we wanted. We paid them with donations from Henry's descendants and they were shipped to Susan's brother Mike Drinkwater's home in Utah. There they awaited a proper burial with Emma while Henry's descendants worked on "part two" of the plan.

We wanted to be sure that Aspen Hills Cemetery in Jackson would agree to our idea. Susan contacted the manager, Al Zuckerman, who not only agreed but suggested that we bury Henry's ashes in Emma's plot. Susan then contacted Hunter's Idaho Falls Monument, who designed and created a headstone that matched Emma's as closely as possible. They also mounted it with Emma's on a new granite slab.

From the beginning, we wanted to have a reunion of the descendants who could come to Jackson. Susan, Mike, their sister, Kay Coates and Mike's son Gregg, generously hosted us at a beautiful and spacious house in Teton Village rented for this historic occasion, held on September 12, 2015. I'm happy to say that descendants of all of Henry and Emma's three children who lived to adulthood (Charles Henry, Lily McCain and William Downs) were able to come to the reunion. Some had never met one another. Some had never realized that they had so many cousins. All of us were thrilled to find and be with one another.

Those who came - Back row, L-R: Kay Coates, Brent Miller, Ed Wrasmann, Susan Wrasmann, Connalu Drinkwater, Mike Drinkwater, Gregg Drinkwater, Aaron Moulton, Bruce Burrows. Behind the couch: Carma Miller, Chris McCain Miller, Kristin Burgoyne, William Seeley,  Kathleen Schofield, Paul Schofield. On the couch: Dana Drinkwater Falkner, Kathi Reynolds Seeley, Carol McCain, Mary McCain Moulton holding Shaylieann Moulton, Robin Miller holding Annaleisha Moulton. In front of couch: Laura Koehnen (leaning on Dana), Jill Miller Hayes, Averi Hayes.

Wanting a lasting keepsake of the reunion, Susan put together a compilation of writing by herself, myself and Jon Freshour in a book titled Drinkwaters and McCains, telling the ancestry of this remarkable family that came together to honor and bury our long departed grandfather. The foreword is so applicable: "In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future" - Alex Haley.

If you would like a copy of the book, please let me know, and I will obtain one for you. Here is a link to the chapter about Henry and Emma's life, starting in England, and ending with his death: Henry Charles Drinkwater, A Restless Soul, by Kathleen Ellen Schofield: http://bit.ly/1KiMivF.

Henry Charles and Emma Hall Drinkwater

I believe that I can speak for the Drinkwater and McCain families by saying, may Henry finally rest in peace.

Henry and Emma reunited. We decided to allow Henry's stone to age and darken as has Emma's.
It shouldn't take long under the pine trees of Aspen Hill.

All photos courtesy of Kathleen Ellen Schofield

Postscript: our cousin, Jon Freshour contributed much to this whole process. Unfortunately, his health prevented him from traveling to Jackson. We missed you, Jon, and we appreciate all you have done.

Great grandparents - Arthur and Lily McCain

Jackson, Wyoming plays a big role in our family history. Here, my great-great grandparents Simpson homesteaded large tracts of land that are now part of the town. Here, my great-grandparents Redmond homesteaded the Spring Gulch Ranch, which they sold to a member of Butch Cassidy's gang, reportedly for cash. They used the proceeds to buy the Red Rock Ranch at Kelly, which they turned into a dude ranch that is still in operation today. Here, my great-grandfather Arthur Clinton 'Mac' McCain, was the Supervisor of the Teton National Forest from 1918 - 1936.

Because we lived in a different town, and since Mac died when I was six,  I know him only from photos and written documents in my possession. Fortunately, he left his descendants with an account of his life, focusing on his Forest Service experiences. Written in 1929, it reveals to me that he was a man of bravery, wit and humor. Some of the experiences he describes are harrowing, like being trapped on a ledge for 2 days and nights by a forest fire. Some are humorous, like the chicken stories. Some are filled with pathos, like the time he read in a newspaper the tragic account of the drowning of a woman and her two children, "describing to a tee my Guards buckboard and horses, my wife and kiddies, the ford where they would cross to town". When he finally read the names of the unfortunate, he "almost shouted for joy, but was soon depressed with sorrow and sympathy for my oldtime cowpuncher friend" whose wife and children were the victims. 

After Mac retired in 1936, he and Lily purchased a travel trailer  so that they could be mobile. His wit is palpable as he explains:

A picture worth a thousand words

I love this photo of my great-grandparents. Two happy people sitting outside their home on wheels with the curtains on the window and the vintage automobile out front. It probably seemed like a palace in comparison to the one room log shack where Mac started his Forest Service career with Lily and their two "kiddies". 

Mac's account

This map of Montana provides us with some perspective on the rugged area where Mac and Lily lived in their first assignment at Hannan Gulch. The red pin is on the South Fork of the Sun River. Miles City, their next assignment, is in the bottom right corner of the map, and Ashland, where Mac said he moved them because there was no forest at Miles City, is about half-way between Miles City and Billings, probably about one hundred miles south of I94.

The Engineers

My father, and both of my grandfathers were engineers, all in different fields. Maybe that's why I've always liked numbers and math. Not saying that I'm good at them, just that I can keep my checkbook balanced!

Lee Marbell Burrows

My father, Lee Marbell Burrows, was an electrical engineer in Wyoming, employed by the Bureau of Reclamation. 

In Cody he worked on the Buffalo Bill Dam, which provides irrigation for the surrounding area as well as a recreation area with a Visitor Center. 

Buffalo Bill Dam

He also worked on the Alcova Dam, near Casper. Pictured here is the reservoir, at the center of the recreation area. 

Alcova Reservoir

One of my strongest childhood memories is going inside a dam with Dad. Imagine my excitement mixed with trepidation, as I looked through a big glass wall at the water, hoping that it was a very strong piece of glass.

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Lee Burrows

My Dad's father, Lee Burrows, who died before I was born, was a locomotive steam engineer and fireman, employed by the Union Pacific Railroad in Laramie, Wyoming. One of 14 children, he and my grandmother, Lois Clara Hatch Burrows, one of six children, were the parents of only one, my Dad.

He probably worked on an engine like this one, which was used to speed up freight operations east and west of the Wasatch grades in Utah and western Wyoming.

Family sources also state that near the end of his career, he was an engineer on a "Big Boy" locomotive, the largest and most powerful ever made. The Union Pacific Railroad is still in operation and has preserved two steam engines (#844 and #3977), which it uses for excursions. 

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Byron "Bike" McCain

My mother's dad, Byron Henry 'Bike' McCain, was a civil engineer, initially employed by the Bureau of Public Lands in California building highways. Mom told me that she grew used to the family's frequent moves, sometimes living in tents in the mountains, sometimes in houses in the city, attending different schools nearly every year. 

By the time I was born in 1950, Grandpa 'Bike' was employed by an international company and was traveling to the Far East building highways and airfields. Some of the places he worked were Okinawa, Korea, Guam, Japan, Iran and Pakistan.

He took this photo of one of his projects in Iran, 1961, a steel bridge built by Vinnell Corporation that he labeled "crossing the Karkheh River at Abdul Khan".