Norma Emily Cowell

Norma Emily Cowell was the only child of Elsie Margaret Harrington and Otis Marion Cowell. She was born 14 November 1909, five years into the marriage of her parents. She lived the whole of her life, from birth to adulthood to old age and death, as a Manteca gal. Though this website celebrates her descent from her great-grandparents John Sevier Branson and Martha Jane Ousley, Norma was undoubtedly more aware of her father’s lineage. Her grandfather Joshua Cowell is known as the Father of Manteca for his role as a founder and early major landowner. Otis was Joshua’s only son. Manteca was, one could say, in Norma’s blood.

Elsie’s marriage to Otis, along with the marriage of her sister Eunice to Winfred Converse, another scion of Manteca pioneers, ensured a long-term presence of the Branson clan in the immediate area that is still, to an extent, in effect today. During the span from 1900 to 1915, Manteca and the surrounding farmland would become home not only to those two couples, but to Elsie and Eunice’s mother Nancy Anne Branson Napier and her husband “Babe” Napier, and to sister Irene Harrington and her husband Claude Salmon. They were joined by Alice Branson Williams Henry, daughter of Thomas Branson, and by Clarence Johnson, son of Nancy’s sister Mary Jane Branson. Clarence’s presence in turn drew his foster parents, Theresa Branson Moore and Will Moore. The women relatives were often involved in social and community functions. Norma grew up in the midst of this milieu. When she reached adulthood she, along with her first cousin Josephine Converse Bianchi (Eunice’s only daughter), shouldered the responsibility of continuing these activities as the older generations grew less able to do so. Among other expressions of these bonds, Norma was part of Phoebe Hearst Parlor #214, the local lodge of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, and served as an officer. Another example was bridge club. Her grandma Nancy and great aunt Theresa enjoyed this pastime even in their twilight years, and it was Norma’s privilege to handle hosting duties that would have been a burden for the old ladies. Norma was musically talented, and often served as organist at gatherings of one sort or another.

Shown at right is Norma in 1926 at Manteca Union High School, posing with her first cousin and classmate Josephine Agnes Converse. Both girls were sixteen at the time.

Norma was quick to “get out into the world.” She began working as a telephone operator at sixteen. At seventeen, she became a wife. Her husband was Theron Ormal Hodson, son of Frank Hodson and Mary Hubbard. He had been born 20 October 1903 in Cottage Grove, Lane County, OR. His parents had divorced when he was a child. After the split, the boy and his mother had moved in with her mother, Lizzie Hubbard, in Hermiston, Umatilla County, after which Mary had earned money as a housekeeper and cook in private homes and small boarding facilities. At some point in the 1910s she had decided she wanted a bigger change of venue, and had left Oregon in favor of Modesto and Turlock, Stanislaus County, CA. As a consequence, Theron had spent his teens in the San Joaquin Valley. He was a graduate of Turlock High School. By the time of his wooing of Norma, Theron had established himself in his adult life, his mother having become Mrs. Felipe German and having relocated to San Jose. Theron was already employed as a lineman for Pacific Gas & Electric Company, as he would continue to be until he reached retirement age. The wedding took place 1 July 1927 in Stockton, San Joaquin County, CA at the home of Reverend Reuben H. Sink, with the rites officiated by him. Just seven months earlier, the reverend had officiated at the wedding of Norma’s first cousin Wanda May Salmon and her bridegroom Charles William Patrie, an event held in the very same locale. Norma and Theron honeymooned briefly at Silver Lake and a month later enjoyed a longer getaway to Yosemite.

Following the example of her parents, Norma and Theron did not have a child until five years into the marriage, and then had only one. As a consequence, Norma grew free early in her middle age to to concentrate on her many social interests and obligations. Her decades-long involvement in Phoebe Hearst Parlor #214 led to her elevation to Grand President of the whole Native Daughters organization in the summer of 1955. The photo at the upper left of this biography, taken in 1956, is from her term as Grand President. The photo commemorates an official visit Norma made to a conclave of the Native Daughters lodges of Albany, El Cerrito, and Richmond in Contra Costa County, CA. County, CA. Theron also participated in Manteca social club activities, though in his case it was with the male counterpart, the local Oddfellows lodge.

By the 1960s many of the Manteca clan had either died off, or grown up and moved away. Norma and her son and Josephine Bianchi and a few others remained lifelong. Norma passed away 22 November 1989, having just reached eighty years of age. Theron survived her. He passed away 26 June 1998 in Manteca. Both husband and wife were interred at East Union Cemetery of Manteca, which is where the graves of Norma’s parents are also located.

This 1933 photograph of some of the Manteca clan comes from the memorabilia of Norma’s aunt Mary Josephine Harrington McDonald Baysinger. This memorabilia collection is also the source of the photo of Norma and Josephine Converse as high school girls reproduced higher on this page. The two cousin-classmates wrote a note to their aunt on the back, which aided in determining who was in the snapshot. On this group picture, though, no names nor messages were preserved. All individuals have recently been identified anyway, but only through a process of photo comparison and logic; it remains possible that one or two of the guesses are wrong. For example, Theron Hodson has been identified simply by process of elimination. Standing in back, from left to right: Eunice Lucille Harrington Converse, Winfred Delorane Converse, Elsie Margaret Harrington Cowell, Milton Delorane Converse, Alzoe Agnes Gianelli Converse, Theron Ormal Hodson, and John James “Babe” Napier. Left to right in the chairs (the middle row of people): Bridget Agnes Byrnes Gianelli, Nancy Anne Branson Harrington Napier, Theresa Branson Moore, Otis Marion Cowell. The three adults squatting on footstools in front are, left to right, Norma Emily Cowell Hodson, Josephine Agnes Converse Bianchi, and Plinio M. Bianchi. The identity of the baby and toddler are known -- their apparent ages are, in fact, the means of determining the date the picture was taken -- but their names are held back because these two family members are still alive as of 2009.

Descendants of Norma Emily Cowell with Theron Ormal Hodson

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