Anna Reisa Wellington
1920-1983
Originally born Anna Reisa Murray, Anna
was the daughter of Larry and Rachel Murray who were casual friends of Garren and
Norrine Wellington and in fact stayed at the Wellington Estate for a period of years
from 1930 to somewhere near 1934.The generational ties here are strong as Anna was
also the grandaughter of Richard "Dickey" Murray; who was part of the expedition
that traveled to the area with Lannan Wellington in the 1870's. I think its worthy
to note that "Dickey" Murray didnt fare too well after reaching the new
territory, Murray became a bit of a wanderer and parted ways with Lannan a few years
after arriving here. Murray had a few children through a couple different relationships,
one of those children was Larry Murray who later married
Rachel Roccione and
the two had a daughter named Anna.
Rachel
Murray with baby Anna 1921-22
Anna Reisa
Murray 1923
Anna
around 5 or 6 years old.
Anna saw the best and the worst of the
world growing up as a child. Anna's parents were mostly poor folk, Larry Murray bounced
from job to job and it was usually feast or famine yet Anna was close to both of
her parents as a child and things seemed normal as you'd expect for a young child.
Family
life became more volatile in the struggle to make ends meet and Anna witnessed some
of the stresses and pressures that people go through as the Murrays struggled in
their relationship. Around the time Anna was 7 years old, her father hit some good
fortune as he was hired at the lumber mill at Wellington Timber Company, a year later
in 1928 Larry Murray received an award for quick thinking on the job when he took
action at the saw mill that evaded a potential accident and injury situation, upon
winning this accomodation he met Garren Wellington in person.
Garren and his wife
invited the Murrays to dinner at the estate and the couples found they had some things
in common, Garren and Larry enjoyed the same drink, good cigars, and billiards. Norrine
and Rachel both were interested in art and photography, in fact Rachel Murray had
quite a talent for painting. A year later Larry Murray was promoted to a crew foreman
and Norrine and Rachel spent more time together as friends and from here the friendship
of the two couples had been established.
This
is a photo of Anna Murray all dressed up for a train trip to the city with her mother
and Norrine Wellington.
**
The Depression hit every one to some degree and
it did so to the Murrays as well. Norrine convinced Rachel and Larry to move to the
estate and live there for as long as needed to help them get by. Garren had a partial
4th level added on to the estate house some years before and it was more than big
enough to accomodate all sorts of people, thus the Murrays agreed.
During the
next few years Anna would experience a different side of life. Anna was able to go
on trips to the city, eat in upscale restaurants, she sat at formal dinners, and
Norrine took endless opportunities ordering clothes for Anna like an Easter dress,
a Sunday dress, and any other thing Norrine thought was cute and adorable. There
was no decadence during the Depression, but for young Anna, life seemed to be as
grand as ever.
Anna reveled in the cozy new home life and she also
developed her first crush during this time, it could have been one of the Tabockney
children, who also stayed at the estate for some time, but thats not who she had
a crush on. Anna had a crush on a young man, athletic looking guy easlily 6 foot
tall, brown hair brownish eyes, the guy was 22 year old Liam Wellington.
Liam,
being much older and involved in other things, thought Anna was a cute kid but he
didnt pay much attention to her, he was known to mistakenly call her "Annie"
which young Anna didnt care much for; yet it got worse when Liam found out some liked
to tease Anna by calling her "AnnaBanana"
The fate of this two would
change in many ways as the years went on.
A
very appropriate young Anna photoed at the estate in 1931.
Anna and her mother Rachel were enjoying
there residing at Wellington Estate; however Larry Murray didnt feel the same way.
Larry's hours at the timber mill were being cut, as was everyones, and his taking
to the bottle was increasing with each passing year. Larry had quite a temper especially
after drinking it up all night and could become violent, when confronted about
this by the Wellingtons and everyone at the estate he decided to leave and his family
was going with him. Rachel was not pleased with this decision but felt obligated
to at least try to stand by her husband thus sometime in late 1933 to early 1934
the Murrays left the estate.
Leaving the estate triggered a turbulent time for
young Anna, her father started to resent the Wellingtons influence and at one point
accused Norrine of interfering. Larry's drinking problems continued to worsen and
sometime in 1935 Rachel took Anna and left Larry. Larry Murray first thought Rachel
came back to the Wellington estate; and Norrine would have hoped as much, instead
Rachel took refuge with another man.
**
Anna was now part of a turbulent and
broken family, she was furious with her father over making them leave the estate,
and now was detached toward her mother for taking refuge with another man. Anna didnt
feel comfortable with her mothers new relationship, she felt uncomfortable, like
some stranger in a strangers home, shortly thereafter Rachel and her new boyfriend
were having troubles and arguing openly quite often.
Anna was nearly 16
years old as all of this was going on around her, she ended up going back and forth
living with her mother and father. After the holiday season in 1936 Larry lost his
job at the timber company as he had been reprimanded many times for issues related
to drinking. Larry told Anna he was leaving town to find other work in a bigger city,
and he did just that, he left.
Anna
Murray photo somewhere around age 15
A growing
up quickly photo of Anna taken at age 17
By the time Anna was 17 she was spending
considerable time on her own; estranged from both of her parents she was "shacking
up" with people here and there and was leaning to the more shady side of people
in terms of who she associated with.
Anna had completed 3 years of high school,
just barely, her attendance at school was dropping off more and more, and her notoriety
for hanging around night clubs was on the rise. Anna was gaining a reputation as
having a liking for the older guys, college age or more. Anna was known to have casually
dated a popular young man in town named Jimmy Corey; and in fact, Anna was becoming
known for dating a number of characters around town and years later Anna would also
become known for not telling the truth about her age.
Anna took a number of cleaning
jobs here and there where she could find them, but mostly hung around two local bars
serving drinks and flirting with patrons.
New Years Eve at the Katzbars tavern
in 1937 would change the course of Anna's life when she met; or one could say was
"re-introduced" to a suave young man named Liam Wellington.
**
Above
is a steamy and controversial photo of Anna around age 18, its uncertain if Anna
was doing photos "on the side" in some regard or whether the photo was
taken by Liam during the time they dated, we'll never know the answer, but the visual
provides an idea of the sexy side of Anna.
**
It will likely never be known
as to who "reeled in" who between Anna and Liam but what we do know is
that the two became an item from that new years eve forward.
Anna was a strikingly
attractive young woman and stood out in such a way anywhere she went. Anna had developed
very good curves, slender legs, and she had "blondie" blonde hair; not
that there werent other pretty women in town, but none of them had the look
that Anna did.
Prior to new years eve 1937, Liam hadnt seen Anna in some 4 years
or better. Anna had grown up considerably in that time, Liam courted Anna
for a period of time in 1938 but the relationship clearly grew more intense and by
the holidays of 1938 Liam announced his intentions to marry Anna.
Anna's reunion with the Wellingtons was
spendid; though there was some concern about the age difference, the Wellingtons
felt is was good that Liam "settle down" with someone rather than continue
on as the roaming care-free bachelor he had been thus far.
Norrine always adored
Anna and was shocked at what a beautiful young woman Anna had become.
For Anna
it was a cinderella story, her first crush who she later had basically forgot about
had now come back and was going to be her husband. Rachel Murray would attend the
wedding in 1939 but Anna would be given away by Garren Wellington since efforts to
find the whereabouts of Anna's father were unsuccessful.
A dream come true, Anna
was about to become Anna Reisa Wellington.