 1884 - 1936 (51 years)
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| Name |
Joseph William "Joe Willie" Worth [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] |
| Born |
19 May 1884 |
Lockwood, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England  [2] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Occupation |
Yarn spinner, woolen mill owner |
| Died |
5 Mar 1936 |
San Marino, California [4] |
| Buried |
Church of Our Savior, San Gabriel, California [7] |
| Person ID |
I224 |
Don Worth's Ancestry |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2016 |
| Father |
Dyson Worth, b. 27 Sep 1859, Lindley, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England , d. 21 May 1920, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada (Weller St.) (Age 60 years) |
| Mother |
Emma Garlick, b. 3 Apr 1859, Idlemoor, Idle, Bradford, Yorkshire, England , d. 20 May 1931, Pasadena, California (Age 72 years) |
| Married |
25 Dec 1882 |
Rastrick, Yorkshire, England (Rastrick Church) [9] |
| Family ID |
F111 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Agda Josephina Almén, b. 16 Nov 1885, Masthugget, Göteborg och bohus, Sweden , d. 20 Dec 1979, San Diego, California (Age 94 years) |
| Married |
9 Apr 1910 |
Göteborg, Sweden [10, 11] |
| Children |
| + | 1. Blanche Helfrid Worth, b. 8 Apr 1911, Paris, Ontario, Canada , d. 1 Nov 2000, Orange, California (Age 89 years) |
| + | 2. Elsie EVELYN Worth, b. 27 Jul 1912, Peterboro, Ontario, Canada , d. 6 Nov 1994, San Diego, California (Age 82 years) |
| | 3. Roy Almén Worth, b. 21 Sep 1913, Peterboro, Ontario, Canada , d. 15 Jul 2000, San Clemente, California (Age 86 years) |
| + | 4. Walter Dyson Worth, b. 28 Jul 1916, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada , d. 5 Aug 2000, Durango, Colorado (Age 84 years) |
| | 5. II Joseph William "Bill" Worth, b. 13 Aug 1923, Pasadena, California (Huntington Mem. Hosp.) , d. 26 Jan 1997, Bellingham, Washington (Age 73 years) |
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| Last Modified |
8 Jun 2013 |
| Family ID |
F110 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- "Joe Willie" as he was called by his wife and friends, was born on College St. in the Lockwood area near Yorkshire, England. He was named after his two grandfathers, Joseph Worth and William Garlick. He was the first grandson for each of them and there was some disagreement over whether he should be named Joseph William or William Joseph. He was raised and educated in England and moved to Sweden with his family at the age of 13. Later he went to school in Hamburg for a couple of years where he learned the textile trade.
While courting Agda, who lived on the outskirts of Göteborg, he would ride a streetcar and sometimes miss the last car back. He would end up walking home and getting back in the wee hours of the morning.
They were married in Sweden on two different days, having both religious and civil ceremonies. Walter and Edgar were not at the wedding - they were already in Canada by then. Lily was in hospital with a broken leg and blood poisoning but her father attended. And Helfred was already sick with the Appendicitus that eventually killed her. They had a british minister (Rev. Sydney Malkinson) and were married in St. Andrews, the English church in Goteborg, and had a large reception in a rented hall. They left Sweden immediately for Canada.
Upon their arrival in New York, they stayed three weeks with Agda's cousin Olga. Then they travelled to Canada, settling first in Paris, Ontario, where they worked with Joe's brothers, Edgar and Walter, at Penman's Mills. Joe and Agda rented a place there and Edgar and Walter boarded with them. Joe and Edgar were Superintendents of Penmans. Later, they moved to Peterborough, and convinced their father, Dyson, to come and establish Bonner-Worth Mills. Joe became Superintendent of the mill and was elected to the school board in Peterborough. The familys lived on Weller Street there.
On a return visit to Sweden, Joseph fell ill with Rheumatic Fever. The steamship was stopped by a German U-boat but, despite the fact that Joe was a British citizen, because he was so sick the U-boat captain let him go. The fever damaged his heart and was the eventual cause of his death.
In June or July of 1923, Joe and his brothers sold Bonner-Worth to Dominion Woolens and he and his family moved to Altadena, South Pasadena, and then to San Marino, California, near Los Angeles. Joe and his brothers set up a worsted wool yarn mill in East Los Angeles at 4400 Worth St. in the same year. By 1933 Worth Bros. employed one hundred and fifty people and it was only one of two mills in operation on the west coast.
Joe gave a speech to the Swedish Club in Los Angeles (of which he was the President) on the significance of the number 13 in his life. He was married on the 13th (one of the two ceremonies), left Sweden on the 13th of the month, was in cabin 413 on the ship, and he had lived 13 years in England, 13 years in Sweden, and 13 years in Canada. He noted that he was in the 13th year in the United States and wondered where he was going from there. He died before the year was out. The story was submitted to Ripley's Believe It or Not but never published.
Joe was a Knight Templar Mason and was active in the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, chairing its textile sub-committee. He was also active in the Pasadena Athletic Club and the St. James Episcopal Church.
Joe suffered from angina. His daughter, Blanche, remembers the night he died. It was a month before Blanche's birthday. He and Agda had come to visit her when her husband, Jud, was in a meeting. He played with Cynthia and Doug (they were just tiny then.) She aked them to stay for coffee and wait for Jud to come home, but Joe said he wasn't feeling well. So he sat down and wrote her a check for $10 for her birthday. She protested that her birthday was still a month off, but he said she should buy something and show him what she got. He died later that night.
RESEARCH NOTES: Lily Worth says Joseph & Agda's wedding took place on April 8 and 9. Blanche Worth says it occurred on the 9th and 10th. Records would seem to indicate the civil ceremony was April 5 and the church ceremony was April 9.
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| Sources |
- [S16] Interview with Roy and Virginia Worth. (EF#17, SN#19, 10 Feb 1977).
- [S48] Birth certificate for Joseph William Worth. (EF#43, SN#107, 3 May 1977).
- [S7] Interview with Evelyn (Worth) Burden and Harvey Burden. (EF#87, SN#113, 6 May 1977).
- [S106] Interview with Blanche Judson. (EF#19, SN#21, 12 Feb 1977).
- [S25] Newspaper clipping describing the history of Bonner-Worth spinning mills. (EF#20, SN#22, 10 Feb 1977).
- [S12] Interview with Lilly Worth and Agda Worth. (EF#18, SN#20, 12 Feb 1977).
- [S19] Interview with Walter D. and Barbara (Woods) Worth. (EF#6, SN#6, 1 Jan 1977).
- [S75] California of the South, A History Biographical, Vol IV, S. J. Clark Publishing Col, Chicago, Los Angeles, Indiannapolis, 1933. (EF#102,, (SN#129, 17 May 1977)).
- [S105] Marriage record for Dyson and Emma (Garlick) Worth. (EF#140, SN#227, 16 Aug 1977).
- [S143] Swedish Church Records.
- [S144] Records of St. Andrews, Goteborg, Sweden.
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