This page is dedicated to a 100+ member of our family:
IN MEMORIUM
(February 7, 1896 - August 9, 1998)
"Annie" Hindorff
The following was edited and posted for the occassion of Annie's 100th birthday largely from material written by her daughter, Margaret (Hindorff) Ray, for the Fallbrook Historical Society in 1993:
Annie was born on February 7, 1896, to Denver O. and Lucy Ellen (Gird) Lamb in Fallbrook, California. Her given name was Martha Jane Lamb, but she never used that name. She has always been "Annie". Many are the tales she still tells of family, friends, and more than a century of life. Annie's mother, also a native Californian, received many cards and letters on her 100th birthday. Annie commented about her own 100th year that "I'm the second one in the family!"
The house where Annie was born still stands at the north end of the Fallbrook Country Club in what is now the northern part of San Diego county, California. That home was built on the northern 1000 acres of the Gird Ranch, which was on the lower end of a fertile valley (now bearing the name Gird Valley). Annie was one of five girls and three boys raised at that home.
Annie has always enjoyed a wide variety of interests and activities. The laws of nature and all natural phenomena fascinate her. She gained a love for growing plants, whether from seeds, from cuttings, or by grafting. She learned to recognize a great variety of birds, enjoying the observation of their activities. She once raised parakeets to sell. Her only other "earned" money was from picking tomatoes for about a month.
Annie's father had a small camera and created a darkroom for processing photos. Then the girls got a better camera and took many beautiful pictures of the canyon, the trees, the rocks and hills, and even some family, too. On outings, they took the camera to capture scenes, events, and people of interest. Many of these are still family treasures.
About 1915, Annie learned to drive in a Model T Ford. She continued to drive until she was 80.
On October 22, 1924, Annie married Eric Hindorff, a widower with three children. They resided then at his house at the northern end of Gird Road, still her home today. They raised his three children, who had lost their mother, and three more born during the next few years. The happy family was a joy to Annie and Eric.
In addition to the usual household chores, there were the numerous tasks otherwise required to sustain the family. A large vegetable garden, including a berry patch, was tended. There was a cow to provide the milk, butter, and cheese. Some chickens provided eggs and, occassionally, meals. In the summer, many jars of fruit were canned. Grapes, figs, and peaches were dried. Peanuts, from the garden, were roasted to preserve them. Popcorn was dried and shelled for later popping in a wire popper over a fire in the fireplace. Annie made her own bread for many years. Of course, there were often baking-powder or soda biscuits, and also corn bread. Much of the time, Annie took care of the chores, then she began to occassionally delegate them to the growing children.
Water was pumped from a well along the Fallbrook Creek, up the hill to a water tank, by a gasoline engine. Later, an electric motor drove the pump. The only "refrigeration" was an evaporative cooler hanging under the water tank. Wash water was heated in a large kettle over a wood fire. Until electricity was available, clothes were ironed with heavy irons heated on the wood-fueled cook stove. Until just a few years ago, Annie split wood with wedges and a sledge hammer.
Each summer, after canning was done and before school started, yardage was picked out to make new dresses for the girls. She has always continued to use the treddle Singer sewing machine she got in 1923. As they grew, the girls were also taught to cook, sew, crochet, knit, and embroider.
While she was raising her family, Annie was always busy, but she found time to go camping at the beach, to a picnic at the river, or to the mountains. Annie enjoyed desert outings and rock hunting, cutting and polishing some of the prettiest ones she found. She also loves music and dancing, especially the schottish and square dances (the old-time way). She played chords on the piano to accompany her husband's fiddle playing. She played accordian once in a mistrel show given by the Rebekah Lodge. She still likes the old-time tunes best.
After the children were grown, Annie helped Eric more with his work. They had many colonies of bees, which she helped to tend, including extacting the honey for market. Eric was deputy Bee Inspector for the county for some time and Annie was a lot of help in that work. They trapped animals for the fur market, then, later, trapped predators for the government. They hunted and caught live rattlesnakes for sale to markets in Los Angeles and for the government to make anti-venom during World War II.
Eric died in 1962, but Annie continued to be central to her family. Mail time is exciting for her. She has a wide correspondence with many members of the family and people she's known for years, including school mates and girlhood friends. For years, she walked up and down the hill several times each day, to open or close the gate, mail a letter, and pick up the mail and the paper. She is noted for her long, "newsy" letters on a wide variety of subjects and her occassional poems. She has always enjoyed reading, including the newspaper, even the ads. She keeps up with local, national, and world news.
Annie's once auburn hair has grayed and she walks slower, but even at 100 years she would not be kept down, enjoying walks in the yard, the flowers, the birds, and changes in the weather. There's that twinkle in her eyes, the instant smile, and the same sharp wit she has had all her life. With nearly 100 descendants, including great-great-grandchildren, Annie's life has been full and loving. Equally, she has always been very interested in and proud of her heritage, that of the Lamb, the Gird, and the Hindorff families, pioneers all.
Martha Jane "Annie" (Lamb) Hindorff quietly passed from this world in the early morning of August 9, 1998, at the age of 102 years, 6 months, 2 days. She was buried next to her loving husband Eric Charles Hindorff in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, Fallbrook, California.
See Family Group Sheet
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