William Lionel Marrom

In the immortal words of Charlie Chan, William Lionel Marrom was #1 Son. Firstborn of Joseph and Annie, "Onel" (as he was known to my husband and his sister) was born in Dingle, Idaho on December 21, 1896. As far as I can tell, he had many of the traits associated with a firstborn child: reliable, conscientious, organized, and belief in obeying rules.

As illustrated in his photo on the post, he also had flair!

He helped his father with an expansion store of Eagle Dry Goods in Logan, Utah. It was in Logan I believe where he met is future wife, Maurine Rogers.

I'm skipping around a bit as I only have brief vignettes of his life. I would love to hear any experiences you may have had with Onel.

In the early 1950s, Onel was a police officer with the Salt Lake City Police Department. He lived on McClelland Street. His path crossed my family at this point, as my grandmother was a neighbor a block or so away on the same street. I later lived on this same street as a child. Something right out of an Americana scene, it was lined with sycamore trees so there was cool shade in the summer and lots of leaves and "itchy balls" in the fall.

My husband remembers visiting with Onel who wore his gun on the left hip even though he was right handed. When asked about that, he explained that he didn't wear out his belt loops as fast.

While in Utah, Onel and Maurine had two children, a son - Rodney, and a daughter, Pat. They moved to Seattle and remained in the Pacific Northwest for the remainder of their lives.

Onel became an accomplished rock hound, collecting, cutting, polishing and creating beautiful objects from the rocks he found.

Army Recruit

On November 7, 1891, Joseph enlisted in the U.S. Army as Sam Marrom. He enlisted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a period of five years. The Recruiting Officer was Captain M. Harris of the 1st Cavalry. The following is a quote from the enlistment form:

"I certify that I have minutely inspected the above-named man, Sam Marrom, previous to his ---- enlistment, and that he was entirely sober when enlisted; that, to the best of my judgment and belief, he is of lawful age; and that I have accepted and enlisted him into the service of the United States under this contract of enlistment as duly qualified to perform the duties of an able-bodied soldier, and in doing so, have strictly observed the Regulations which govern the Recruiting Service. This soldier had d brown eyes, d brown hair, dark complexion, is 5 feet 5 1/2 inches high." Signed by Captain Harris.

In addition it was noted that "Sam" had 3 vac each arm scar ov lef eye and a scar on his right knee.

On the enlistment paper Sam is listed at being born in Touroggen (assumed to Tauroggen), in the state of Russia. He stated he was twenty-one years old and his occupation was a salesman.

According to his son, William Lionel, he was stationed in Ft. Meyer Virginia.

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Hyman

The pictures included in this post were passed down from Kay Marrom. Unfortunately no stories that connect them to Joseph were included. It is thought perhaps this was the family he lived with while he was in New York.

All of the pictures were taken at studios in the New York area. These include:

• Wedding picture from A.Smith Studio on 43 Canal Street, New York


• Couple picture was made by D. Goodman "The American" Photographer located at 159 Rivington Street, New York


• Couple picture in overcoats was taken by a studio that appears to located on Broadway (studio information is quite faded)


• Hyman family portrait was made by Adelsohn's Studio located at 55 Belmont Avenue (Brooklyn, I think)

From Google searches, it would seem that A. Smith's studio and D. Goodman's studio are less than one mile apart. Not knowing the exact street address of the studio on Broadway, I am not certain of the location. If it were on East Broadway, it would be in the same vicinity of these other two studios.

In reviewing the maps further, it would appear this area had a high ethnic population. There are two synagogues in the close proximity, the Bialystoker Synagoge and the Eldridge Street Synagogue. Among the list of congregants shown on the Museum at Eldridge Street website, there are three Hymans shown in the 1880s; G. Hyman, H. Hyman and M.L. Hyman in the 1880s and 1920s.

Annie Selk Marrom

The following is a brief overview of Annie's life.

• Annie was born 10 May 1879 in Monticello, Wright, Minnesota. She was the fifth of six children born to Christian Selk and Ingeborg Olsen. The Selks had emigrated from Denmark in 1871.
• In 1882, the Selk family moved west to Dingle, Idaho.
• On 21 April 1896, Annie married Joseph Samuel Marrom in Paris, Bear Lake, Idaho.
• Late in 1896 they became first time parents. All of their children were born in southern Idaho. Their children, in birth order, were: William Lionel (known as Onel to the family), Norma, Howard, Grace, Clifford Stanley (known as Ted to the family), Nathan Aaron Hawley (known as Nate to the family), Alice, Esther (known as Kay to the family), and Beverly.
• Joseph died in Salt Lake City in 1937 as mentioned earlier.
• Annie remarried in 1943. She married Jerry O'Keefe.
• In 1959 Annie suffered a stroke and died shortly afterward from complications. (1 November 1959).

Annie's grandchildren called her "Nanny" and remember her as a beautiful lady with silver-white hair who was always kind and gentle. Most of her children had dark hair like their father with the exception of Kay who was blonde and resembled her mother in both looks and temperment.

Meet Joseph Samuel Marrom

This is a brief outline of what we know about Joseph.

• January 2, 1874 Joseph is born to Samuel and Esther Marrom. His birth has been reported as being in either Tilsit, East Prussia or Tauroggen, Russia. Tilsit is now Sovetsk, Russia and Tauroggen is now Taurage, Lithuania.
• Esther passes away while Joseph is still a baby. Samuel remarries and has several more children.
• Family stories say Samuel operated a hotel in Tilsit.
• About 1886 Joseph emigrates to the United States. Per family stories, Joseph lives with relatives in New York and Chicago. At this time, no information on relationship and names has been established.
• November 7, 1891 Joseph enlists in the U.S. Army at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He enlists as "Sam Marrom and states Taurrogen, Russia as his birthplace and salesman as his occupation.
• April 21, 1896 Joseph marries Anna (Annie) Selk in Paris, Idaho. Paris is near Bear Lake.
• 1912 - 1921 Joseph serves as city councilman and two-terms as mayor of Preston, Idaho.
• About 1930 Joseph moves to Salt Lake City.
• About October 1937 Joseph suffers a stroke and dies of pneumonia on December 1, 1937.