Amanda "Minnie" Livergood

1856 - 1923  (67 years)

• Name	Amanda "Minnie" Livergood
  Born	1856	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Gender	Female
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/205553573
  Residence	1861	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  	Baptist
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-268360
  Died	27 Dec 1923	San Jose, Santa Clara, California, United States
  Buried	Oak Hill Memorial Park, San Jose, Santa Clara, California, United States
  Person ID	I268360	Generations
  Last Modified	7 Nov 2024

  
  

  Father	Andrew G. Livergood,   b. 1817, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1880, , Michigan, USA  (Age 63 years)
  Mother	Mary Catherine "Polly" Smith,   b. 1818, , Vermont ,   d. 1897, , Michigan, USA  (Age 79 years)
  Married	26 Oct 1843	, Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada   [2]
  Family ID	F25529	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Oakland Tribune, Dec. 29, 1923. "BEST\emdash In San Jose, Dec. 27, Mrs. Minnie Best, a native of Michigan, aged 67 years." Amanda "Minnie" Livergood was actually born in 1856 in Ontario, Canada, but her parents, Andrew G. and Mary Livergood, moved the family from Canada to Michigan sometime in the 1860s. Amanda "Levergood" and Thaddeus Best were married in Santa Clara County on Sept. 25, 1876. The capital "L" in Amanda's surname looks like an "S" on the marriage certificate and was indexed as "Severgood." However, the first letter is clearly an "L" on the attached clerk's record of filing. In the 1880 census, Minnie and Thaddeus Best were in Pajaro, Santa Cruz County, with a son, Albert, age 1. Sadly, Albert died in 1889, and a daughter, Ethel, died in 1891. Minnie and her husband divorced in 1896. In the divorce case, Minnie testified that Thaddeus had been in the East for over a year, and when he returned, she didn't want to live with him anymore because she was was happier without him. (San Jose Mercury, Dec. 1, 1896.) After that, she supported herself for many years by working as a housekeeper (1900, 1910 census). Thaddeus Best left California and moved to Cambridge, Mass., where he remarried in 1897 and died in 1928. In 1920, Minnie was living in Watsonville with her sister, Clara (Livergood) McGowan. When Clara died in 1922, Minnie Best was the sole beneficiary of her will. (Santa Cruz Evening News, Aug. 17, 1922, p.3.) Minnie died on Dec. 27, 1923, leaving a respectable estate valued at about $13,000, which would be equivalent to over $200,000 in 2022 dollars. Most of the estate went to Robert McGowan [Clara McGowan's brother-in-law] and Ida McGowan [Robert's wife] except for small bequests to Mrs. Anna Dye, Mrs. A. Wolters, Mrs. S. G. Strickler and Gussie Wolters. (Santa Cruz Evening News, Nov. 15, 1924, p.9.) Minnie Livergood Best (1856-1923) - Find a Grave... (no date) Find a Grave. Available at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/205553573/minnie-best (Accessed: 5 November 2023).

  
  

• Sources

  [S1946] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo Twp. - 1861 (South Division), Div. 1 Page 4. [S41] Vit - ON, Oxford - Brock District Mar Reg, pg 28 Rev. Heman Fitch, Baptist Church. Andrew LEVERGOOD, Waterloo, to Polly SMITH, Waterloo. Wit: Robert McLean, Amanda Fitch. Oct 26 1843

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1856 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Baptist - 1861 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 27 Dec 1923 - San Jose, Santa Clara, California, United States Buried - - Oak Hill Memorial Park, San Jose, Santa Clara, California, United States  = Link to Google Earth