Very Extended Family The Family Of Ella Davis Counts Six Generations Among Its Numbers

Rose Schade is 3 months old. She is still too young to know she has a grandmother, a great-grandmother, a great-great-grandmother and a great-great-great-grandmother. Plenty of arms to hold her and decades of life to share.

“I have never heard of any family having six generations, all alive and well and all residing in the same state,” says Janice Prescott, the baby’s great-grandmother who lives in Hoquiam, Wash. When people hear this, she says, their reactions are either amazement or disbelief.

The ages of the six generations are 90, 72, 56, 36, 17 and 3 months.

Ella Davis, the 90-year-old matriarch, lives in Clarkston, Wash. Her ancestors helped blaze the Oregon Trail before settling in Garfield County. Ella married a railroad man named Harry and was just 17 when she gave birth to a daughter, Wilma (Bly), the first of five children. Wilma also married young, at 15, and one year later gave birth to Janice.

“My folks were young enough to do a lot with their four kids,” says Janice. “My mother was energetic and she made me energetic. I learned how to be a mother from her and how to take care of children. Ever since I was a young girl I knew that was all I wanted to do.”

Right after high school, Janice married Fred, a carpenter from Spokane. She was 17. One year later she had her first of five children.

Recent studies show that girls who marry and have children at a young age are at a greater risk of discontinuing their education, living in poverty and eventually getting divorced.

While that may be true of today’s teenagers, when Janice was in her teens, marrying young was more common, she says. Married 39 years, Janice attributes her successful marriage, in part, to the role models in her life.

“I lived with my grandmother for a short time,” Janice explains. “My grandmother taught me family values. Grandma Davis was always so gentle and kind. My mother was more reserved, but she still gave me the background I have now.”

Janice’s parents divorced, and “I learned from her mistakes,” she says of her mother, Wilma, who lives in Asotin, Wash. “I was determined when I got married that we would not get divorced. I watched others and learned from what they were doing.”

Janice’s son Bryan continues the six-generation chain.

Bryan Prescott married Phyllis and was 19 when his daughter Wendy was born. Now Wendy, 17, has given birth to Rose, making Bryan and Phyllis grandparents in their mid-30s. Bryan, Wendy and Rose all live in Spokane.

“It’s fun having a new baby without having a baby,” says Phyllis Prescott, “and it’s easier the second time around.”

The benefits of an extended family are numerous, says Janice. “The wisdom of the older ones is gleaned by the younger ones, whether they realize it or not. There was never a lack of grandmothers around to look up to.”

The best part, says Janice, “is to know you have so many people who care about you and to know you’re never alone.”

No one has called the family to be on a talk show, nor have they received an award for their lengthy lineage. They are not in the Guinness Book of World Records. (A seven-generation family in Wisconsin holds the record; however, it’s unknown whether the matriarch is still alive since she would be 116 years old.)

Regardless of records, this six-generation Washington family is still an impressive bunch.

This summer the entire clan attended a family reunion for Wilma’s 50th wedding anniversary to her second husband. “How many are able to have their mom attend their own 50th wedding anniversary?” asks Janice.

With more than 100 relatives present, the photos were snapped for an hour during which 90-year-old Ella, full of life, held her great-great-great-granddaughter.

Lucky Rose. Such a legacy is a valuable gift to give a newborn.