Albert McKinley Beatie, ninth child of John and Alice Ellen Hawes Beatie was born at the family ranch on Cow Creek, across the Sacramento River from Anderson. He did chores at home and attended the local one-room school; one time, his sister, Blanche was his teacher for one year.

Albert had just time to learn to be a country boy when Alice Eillen moved the family to Stockton in 1911, because his father's health was failing. So Albert finished Elementary School and High School in Stockton. His father died soon after the move, and Albert went directly from High School to work as a teller in a bank, a position he held the rest of his life.

Albert was a member of the East Side Presbyterian Church and sang in the choir with his sisters, Emma and Florence. He was also active with the youth group.

In his late twenties, he became engaged to Ethel Gilmore. They had a house and were buying furniture. But there was a problem; their mothers were not speaking to each other nor to their potential daughter or son-in-law. So Albert and Ethel planned a trip to Yosemite to force the ladies to be more courteous. While there, Albert's appendix ruptured and he died soon after Ethel had driven them home, June 5, 1926.

Source: Shasta Historical Society
August 1996