In the 1930’s, after “Little May” had died and Mr. Tucker was out of the picture, Bessie lived near the Sacramento River in Corning with her mother Sally Wilder.  They lived near her sister Grace and her family, and near sister Neva and her family.  As a single parent, Bessie worked at the La Mirada olive processing plant in Corning, and also picked olives for her brother Orenzo.  Later she worked at the Corning high school cafeteria.  Bessie was a good cook who loved to bake and made wonderful light bread.

She attended the Christian Science Society Church while living in Corning and at one time served as a reader in that church.

As was common at that time, Bessie made quilts.  She hand-pieced a quilt top (flower garden pattern shown below; also known as the Grandmother’s Flower Garden) when she was fifteen during the summer of 1910 while she was tending turkeys in the Corning area. In addition to quilting, Bessie liked to crochet.  She made doilies and baby dresses from fine cotton thread. She crocheted a beautiful dress out of fine thread for loved family member Teri Williams. When Teri grew taller, Bessie added length to the dress so she could continue to wear it.

As a member of a pioneer family, Bessie had many memories of growing up in rural California at the turn of the century. One family reunion, in the mid 1970’s, when we all visited the old cabin in the woods, Bessie told us of how, in the summers, the family would make the trip up the mountain to the summer cabin her father and brother built. They would walk behind the wagon and heard their angora goats along the way. She recalled the iron pot belly stove they would haul on the wagon up to the cabin and how her Mother Sally would purchase several large bags of flour and beans, later using the cloth from the bags to sew the girls dresses. She talked fondly of how she and her brothers and sisters would sleep outside under the pines and the stars on the lovely quilts her mother would sew. Those summers in the mountains they would run free herding goats and tending to the young'uns. In the fall the family would head back down to the valley and winter just south of Paskenta, California. Eventually the family would leave the cabin and summers in the mountains, and move closer to town.

Bessie recalled the following memories about the typhoid epidemic in 1909.  “They took us to Red Bluff in a horse and buggy to the ‘pest house’ where people were quarantined.  We stopped at the Brunks and they fixed sandwiches for us.”  While the Wilder family was in quarantine in Red Bluff, a fellow from the foot of the mountain took care of Grandpa Wilder’s (James’) goats.  While he was there, he ate the family’s 5 gallon supply of jam (made from hand-picked berries) that Mary K. Wilder (her brother Orenzo’s wife) had made for the entire family to have the coming winter along with several large bags of dried venison jerky. 

Later in life, Bessie moved from her house on Fourth Street in Corning to an apartment on Fifth Street, where she lived for a short time.  She then made the decision to move to Eureka to be close to her granddaughter’s family living there.  Her sister Neva also lived in the area and Bessie looked forward to spending time with her.  However, Neva passed away before long, leaving Bessie quite depressed.  She was also having difficulty tolerating the damp coastal climate, so moved to Colusa, CA and lived close to her niece, Alta Davis (Jennie’s daughter).  When she was unable to live alone, Bessie spent her last years at Bressler’s care home, a country home in Arbuckle, CA.  She died on March 15, 1987, and is buried in Sunset Hill Cemetery in Corning, CA.

Family story provided by Teri Wolcott and Faye Williams.