Swinhope Burn Families

Dedication

In Loving Memory of Nina Etta Nattress Colbath 1892-1989

My inspiration for my genealogical research came from a letter to my sister written in 1980 from our great aunt Nina NATTRESS COLBATH. It was a brief family history which included three generations of her paternal line and two generations of her maternal line. As her life had unfolded, she had lovingly collected names, dates and bits of newspaper clippings honoring her family and documenting their history.

Biography

Nina Etta NATTRESS was born January 31st, 1892 in Sheffield, Franklin Co, Iowa, the third child of Joseph NATTRESS and Anna Rebbecca SMITH of Gratiot, Lafayette Co, Wisconsin. In 1886, her parents married in that county in Shullsburg, and immediately migrated to Iowa. Nina had two older siblings who were also born on her parents farm in Sheffield; Robert Earl born December 7th, 1887, and Claribel  born October 10th, 1889.

Her family moved to Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co, Iowa in 1894 where her little brother Charles Wesley (my grandfather) was born February 26th, 1894. In September of 1894, her brother Robert 'Robbie' contracted typhoid fever and became serious ill. While nursing her son, their mother Anna Rebbecca NATTRESS also became ill with the fever. Robbie slowly recovered, but sadly their mother died November 18th, 1894, leaving her bereaved husband Joseph to care for their four young children.

To help their father, the children were sent to live temporarily with relatives. Nina and her sister Claribel lived with their father's sister Anna NATTRESS MATSON and her husband Charles MATSON and their children at their farm near Alta, Buena Vista Co, Iowa. Her younger brother Charles who was only 9 months old at the time lived with his maternal grandmother, Ruth REDFEARN SMITH at the family farm near Gratiot, Lafayette Co, Wisconsin. It was her father Joseph's wish that they would again live as a family, so after he re-married in 1900 to Cora Rose BETHARDS, the children were re-united and lived together again on their farm near Storm Lake, Buena Vista Co, Iowa.

Nina and her siblings settled into life again together with their father and new step-mother. They attended the local rural schools in Storm Lake where Nina excelled as a student and graduated from Storm Lake High School in 1911 with the hopes of attending nursing school. After graduation, Nina was offered a teaching position in the Storm Lake area where her cousin Mable MATSON was also working as a rural school teacher. The teaching contract was tempting to the family during a difficult time, so she put off her eduction and accepted the offer.

She worked for four years as a rural teacher before applying and being accepted into nursing school at the University of Iowa. After graduation in 1918, the war in Europe had greatly changed the political atmosphere of the nation. The United States had entered the war and nurses were now in great demand. Nina enlisted with the American Red Cross, and served throughout the war.

By 1920, she was living in Waterloo, Blackhawk Co, Iowa working as private practice nurse where she would meet her future husband James COLBATH. Jim was a civil engineer who had served during World War I with the Corps of Engineers in France. They would marry in 1925 and make their home in San Francisco, California where Jim worked for the National Park System building roads and bridges at many National Parks such as Yosemite and Sequoia in California and Crater Lake in Oregon.

Nina and Jim COLBATH traveled and lived in many areas of the west while Jim worked on his engineering projects. In 1930, they were residing in the El Capitan apartments on Farrell street in San Francisco. They did not have any children and lived the majority of their married life in Santa Cruz, in northern California. Jim continued working as an engineer until his retirement in the 1970's and then they moved to San Diego to a retirement community.

After the move to southern California, Nina and Jim attended many family events with her brother Charles 'Chuck' NATTRESS and his family. When we were together during these family gatherings, I do not remember any discussions about the family history. It would be several years before I would learn of her interest in genealogy.