Back to Earl Hanson and His SP Ditcher Gang
Enos Calva Hanson & Evangeline Rosela (Stringer) Hanson

"Earl" Hanson (given name: Enos Calva Hanson) was born on November 4th 1849 in Indiana. His father, John Milton Hanson of Ohio, was a Quaker, and his sister, Evangeline (Hanson) Martin, was one of the founders (in 1891) of George Fox College, a Society of Friends institution in Newberg Oregon. Seven of his nine siblings are buried in Newberg Cemetery.

He married "Eva", Evangeline Rosela Stringer/Courter (born 1875; died 1958), about 1906. It was the second marriage for both. Eva was widowed by her first husband in about 1902. She took a job as a housekeeper for Earl Hanson and his family (the 1900 census shows him sharing a home with some of his siblings). His previous marriage to (unknown first name) Frank produced two daughters, Rose and Lenora. Earl also had a son born in about 1876, Enon E., whose mother is unknown. Earl Jr. was listed in the 1910 census as locomotive engineer (for Southern Pacific).

Eva joined the Society of Friends after marriage, and raised their their daughters, Elvira (1906) and E. Roberta (1915) as Quakers. Eva was 40 years old when Roberta was born. Her eldest daughter Viva Vivian Courter (by her 1st husband George Courter) was already married when her littlest sister E. Roberta was born. Roberta passed away in 2000.

Prior to working on the railroad he worked with horses. (the 1900 census lists him in the category of Horse Trainer or Trader). When he began working for Southern Pacific is not clear, probably 1916 or prior. He worked for SP, apparently as the foreman of a ditcher gang, until his death on April 28, 1928 of complications following gallblader surgery.

(above) Earl and Eva, circa 1927
(left) Earl and long time friend / workmate Clark Radford sitting in a ditcher bucket, about 1916.