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Johnny Harris and the McAllisters
A deleted section from The King of Sandon, simply cut for space, with some additions for the website.
In 1919, Johnny Harris received a visit from Wallace residents Harry C. and Stephanie McAllister, who were en route to Nelson for a mining convention. [1]
At the time, Harry dealt in stocks and bonds, but around the turn of the 20th century he had been a travelling salesman for a Portland wholesaler. He then became Oregon’s state fish warden and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for sheriff of Multnomah County in 1912. [2] His exact relationship with Johnny isn’t clear; he came to Wallace long after Johnny left that city.
The Sunday Oregonian, Jan. 14, 1912 and April 14, 1912
But Stephanie had a direct connection to the Slocan: her father was Stephen Bailey, who once owned the Payne mine that sparked the Silvery Slocan rush. Stephanie was an accomplished harpist, who studied music at conservatories in the US and Europe. [3] She married Harry in Wallace in 1915. [4] Stephanie had already been married and divorced twice before. Hopefully the third time would be the charm. [5]
Harry established his own brokerage in Wallace in 1917. [6] Stephanie was listed as one of the co-incorporators of the company. [7] They advertised in nearly every issue of The Wallace Miner and Shoshone News-Press. Stephanie also bought the Brooks Bakery on Cedar Street in Wallace, which she later sold to H.J. Rice. [8]
Shosone News-Press, Jan. 30, 1917 and The Wallace Miner, Feb. 1, 1917
During the First World War, Stephanie “gave practically all her time to Red Cross work” and during the flu epidemic of 1918-19 she “nursed continuously wherever service was needed until the epidemic subsided.” [9] She and Harry also adopted a daughter, Harriet.
Stephanie and Harriet visited Johnny Harris in Sandon in the summer of 1921 and they were about to head to Halcyon Hot Springs when Stephanie became seriously ill. Harry raced to Kootenay Lake hospital in Nelson from Wallace along with their family physician, who operated on Stephanie for an acute peritonitis attack. But it was too late. She died, aged 46. [10] She was buried in Fairmont cemetery in Spokane. Johnny was one of the pallbearers. [11]
Stephanie’s obituary in the Nelson Daily News (seen below) contained a noteworthy anomaly: it said Stephanie and Harriet had been visiting “Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Harris at their home in Sandon.” [12] This is one of three newspaper references to the first Mrs. Harris, whose identity is the subject of considerable intrigue. I’ve written here about a potential candidate.
Nelson Daily News, Aug. 30, 1921
At some point after Johnny married Alma Lommatzsch in 1926, they went to Wallace to see Harry. We know this because the back of a photo in Alma’s photo collection at the Sandon Historical Society says “Fourth of July canyon en route to Wallace, Idaho from Spokane to visit the Harry McAllisters.” In 1923, Harry had married Anne M. Willis, “an acquaintance of long standing,” who was the manager of a packing plant in Coeur d’Alene. [13]
The stock market crash of 1929 dealt a crushing blow to Harry, who lost securities worth $129,000 and an apartment building in Wallace. He and Anne moved to Spokane, where he became a partner with Edwin Lavigne in a mining brokerage. He managed to rebuild some of his fortune before he died in 1938, age 67. He was survived by Anne, his daughter Harriet, and a stepson, Bill Willis of Trail. [14]
NOTES
[1] “Attend mining convention,” Wallace Miner, 19 Jun 1919
[2] “H.C. M’Allister, widely known resident, dies,” The Spokesman-Review, 38 Dec 1938 and “McAllister sends ‘His best,” The Oregonian, 26 Apr 1912. After his death it would be erroneously reported that Harry had sought the state’s Republican gubernatorial nomination.
[3] “Wallace matron dies in Nelson,” Nelson Daily News, 30 Aug 1921
[4] “Popular salesman married,” Shoshone News-Press, 3 Apr 1915
[5] Ancestry.com family tree for Stephanie Bailey
[6] “New brokerage company,” The Wallace Miner, 25 Jan 1917
[7] “Mining miscellany,” Shoshone News-Press, 28 Jan 1917
[8] “Mrs. M’Allister dies suddenly,” Shoshone News-Press, 30 Aug 1921
[9] “Death of Mrs. M’Allister,” The Wallace Miner, 1 Sept 1921
[10] “Wallace matron dies in Nelson,” Nelson Daily News, 30 Aug 1921
[11] “Many attend funeral of Mrs. H.C. M’Allister,” Shoshone News-Press, 1 Sept 1921
[12] “Wallace matron dies in Nelson,” Nelson Daily News, 30 Aug 1921
[13] “Harry C. McAllister announces marriage,” Shoshone News-Press, 14 Sept 1923
[14] “H.C. M’Allister, widely known resident, dies,” The Spokesman-Review, 28 Dec 1938