Jenner, Bertha Crockett

The Bacon, Crockett, and Donovan families were some of the early settlers in the mid to late 1800s in the Puget Sound area, including present-day Bellingham and Whidbey Island. Frances Bacon Roberts is a descendent of the Crockett and Donovan families who came to Puget Sound in the early 1850s and 1873, respectively. Born in 1907, Roberts grew up in Bellingham, attended the University of Oregon, and then taught for one year. She married in 1934 and then worked as an Employment Service interviewer. She wrote "The Crocketts, the Donovans and Their Times: A History of Two Pioneer Families" sometime after 1972.

Bertha Crockett Jenner grew up in Seattle and married Ernest Jenner in 1901. She spent many summers of her youth on Whidbey Island with her grandmother and extended family where she heard many of the stories of her family related in "Over Uncertain Trails," written in 1940.

George Bacon was the first of his family to arrive. His memoir, "Booming and Panic-ing on Puget Sound" written circa 1932, describes his experiences in the town of Whatcom from 1889 to 1897. Bacon, born in 1867, was a resident of Illinois before he moved to Whatcom. During the years covered by his account he engaged in land speculation, a logging enterprise, and lastly in the loan business. He died in 1937.

The three authors are related: George H. Bacon, the author of the published memoir, is the father of Frances Bacon Roberts. Bacon’s wife is a first cousin of Bertha Crockett Jenner.

From the guide to the Bacon, Crockett, and Donovan Family Genealogical History, circa 1932-1972, (Western Washington University Heritage Resources)