Stockdale-Steele family papers, approximately 1841-1990

The Stockdale-Steele family is the combined families of Claire Louise “Pete” Stockdale (b. July 7, 1923) and James “Jimmy” H. Steele (b. June 11, 1919, d. May 3, 1958) both of whom are related to the Hackett and Harker families who have various connections to Washington history, including Seattle, Centralia, Chehalis and Walla Walla, as well as to Catholic and Roman Catholic institutions including Holy Family parish, Holy Names Academy, and the Junior Catholic Daughters. Both the Stockdale and Steele families kept correspondence with multiple World War II Air Force service members.

John Francis Hackett (d. 1911) married Nancy Newcom and John Frank Timmons’ daughter Sarah Timmons (b. September 15, 1858, d. October 17, 1922) and settled in Centralia in the 1890s. Their children Charlie, William, Emma, and Minnie were born and raised in Centralia. The Hackett family set up multiple businesses in Centralia including pharmacies. Minnie Hackett (d. January 14, 1980) married a lumber worker named James W. Steele (b. August 18, 1888, d. March 17, 1966) and had two children in Chehalis, Washington: Sally “Sarah” Steele and James “Jimmy” H. Steele. Minnie documented her children’s lives in Chehalis through photographs and scrapbooking. Jimmy attended North Kitsap Union High School and Broadway High School and went on to marry Claire Louise “Pete” Stockdale on October 22-23, 1949. Steele worked as a supervisor at Boeing and was a pilot during WWII.

Aloysius Harker (b.1848) and Mary Broden Harker (1866-1869), an Irish and Canadian Immigrant, were founders of the town of Davenport in 1872. The Harker family were Roman Catholic involved in the Holy Family parish and Aloysius Harker was related to a foundress within the Jesuits of the Holy Family church. Their children, Maybelle (also sometimes spelled Mabelle and Mabella), Lenore, and Vera were born in the 1880s-1890s and attended Seattle schools (‘The Rainier’ grammar school). Vera and Lenore both wrote and collected clippings of poetry which were stored in scrapbooks. Relatives of the Harker family were known to be a reporter for the Seattle Daily News in 1930‐1940’s, a suffragette, and a democratic national delegate from Washington state. Vera Harker (b.1886) married Claire Willis Stockdale (b. 1883), the son of Robert Allen Stockdale (b. June 2, 1857, d. March 8, 1943) and Stella H. who arrived in Washington Territory around Walla Walla in the 1860s. Claire worked an as an abstractor and died when his children were still young. The three children: Mary Phyllis, Allen, and Claire Louise “Pete” attended Broadway High School for some years and Claire Louise and Phyllis also attended Holy Names Academy. Pete and Phyllis both collected memorabilia including yearbooks, dance cards, and autograph books. Phyllis Stockdale (b. April 18, 1912) graduated from Holy Names Academy and was a Troop Leader for the Junior Catholic Daughters in the 1930s. During WWII Phyllis was briefly engaged. In the 1950s she was possibly employed by the U.S. Department of War. She travelled to London in 1953 from which she kept many souvenirs including from the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 2nd, 1953. In later life, she and her sister continued traveling which they documented in photographs. She was also involved in The Pioneer Association of the State of Washington and Historic Seattle. Allen was an artist in school and became a staff sergeant in World War II. He died on April 26, 1945, after his plane was shot down in an operational mission to Lechfeld, Germany. Following his death, Vera Harker kept firsthand correspondence with the War Department while applying for dependency benefits and life insurance. Claire Louise, nicknamed “Pete” and also referred to as Louise and Louisa, avidly collected newspaper and magazine poetry clippings which she saved in scrapbooks like her mother. She also did drawing and bookmaking. During WWII she was involved with Sherman's Dine and Dance and kept correspondence with multiple air servicemen, two of whom went missing in action and were later designated killed in action. She and James “Jimmy” Hackett Steele had one daughter, Teresa Steele Kalet.