Uncle Hugh Hill Wellons

I only met my mom’s Uncle Hugh one time. My grandfather’s brother Hugh was named for Hugh Hill, an inventor and local businessman who hired my great grandfather and his oldest son Branson to work in his toy factory.

Hugh moved to California, which is why I only met him once. He would have still been alive when we took our train trip to California and stopped by to see Aunt Jessie, so I don’t know why we didn’t meet Uncle Hugh out there at the same time.

He lived in San Bernardino. How exotic is that for a member of the Wellons clan? He lived there 51 years. And he was a musician, playing piano in a local club (The TikTok in Rialto) and he was a member of the MGM orchestra. These were not his day job, but something done after work and on weekends. I believe he worked for the state Department of Transportation. His WWII draft registration on October 16, 1940 says that he worked for the Santa Fe Railroad.

FindaGrave shows that he was buried at Mountain View Cemetery at the corner of Waterman and Highland Avenues.

His obituary in the San Bernardino County Sun on October 11, 1990 (page 22) says he was survived by two sons, Douglas S. And Hugh T. The S is for Shaw, the maiden name of Hugh’s wife.

His obituary only lists Oscar Wellons as a surviving brother. Was there bad blood between Hugh and some of the family? Surely not.

He’s not in the 1940 census in Anderson. He’s also not in the 1940 census for San Bernardino. That’s because that is when he moved to California.

There’s a lovely article in the April 23, 1940 San Bernardino County Sun describing the wedding that took place at the home of his wife. Her father was a minister and officiated at the ceremony. His best man, Jack Comer, was the orchestra leader he worked for at the time. Jack sang at the wedding!

His wife, Clella Mae Shaw Wellons, was born in 1917 and died in 1990 the same year as her husband. FindaGrave shows Hugh’s birthdate as December 28, 1911 and his death on September 3, 1990. I could not find a death certificate in California records. Maybe their privacy law is slightly different.