Silas Earl Ross, 1887-1975

Silas Earl Ross, or "Si" was born in Glendale, Truckee Meadows to pioneer rancher and farmer Orrin Charles Ross. He attended public schools in Glendale and Reno, then entered the University of Nevada, where he received his degree in mining engineering in 1909. After graduation he remained at the University to teach chemistry and at the same time he worked in food, drug, and soil analysis for the State of Nevada.

In 1914 Ross became a funeral director, first as an employee of the Perkins-Gulling Company, then as a partner in the Ross-Burke Mortuary. He was very active in promoting and developing professional standards and regulations for the mortuary industry, and was a member of, and spoke frequently before, the National Funeral Directors Association and the National Selected Morticians organization. He retired in 1966.

Mr. Ross was very active in civic and fraternal affairs. He was a Reno City Councilman for eight years, serving also as mayor pro tem. From 1932-1957 he was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada, serving the last seventeen years as Chair of the Regents. He was also interested in Nevada state politics and was chair of the Republican State Central Committee for a number of years.

Silas Ross was particularly active in the Masons of Nevada. He joined in 1908 and earned the highest award, that of the 33rd degree. He became the Nevada Grand Master in 1923 and gave many speeches on the history of Freemasons in Nevada, the meaning of being a Mason, and on subjects appropriate to building dedications and cornerstone layings. 

Because of his interests in Masons, funeral practices, and medicine, he collected, compiled, and wrote many brief histories on those subjects, as well as on historical cemeteries.

Ross married Emily Coffin (daughter of Trenmore Coffin) in 1913. They had one son, Silas Earl Ross Jr. (1916-1967) who was a Reno physician. Silas Ross died in Reno in 1975.

Scope and Content

The Silas Earl Ross Papers are contained in three archival boxes. The material covers the period of ca 1869-1975 and was donated to the Department of Special Collections by Mrs. Silas Ross in 1975.

Papers in the collection reflect Mr. Ross' profession; his interests in Freemasonry, cemeteries, and the history of medicine in Nevada; and his tenure as University of Nevada Regent. Of particular note are autobiographical sketches, research notes and papers on prominent Nevadan Masons; the many speeches Ross gave; and business records of his father, Orrin Charles Ross, who owned two ranches, the Red Rock and the Home Ranches. There are also business records of the Perkins, Gulling Company (the predecessor of the Ross-Burke Mortuary Company) which include articles of incorporation, legal agreements, financial statements, and legislative bulletins and bills concerning the mortuary industry in Nevada. The newspaper clippings are of articles about Ross and his interests; the scrapbook contains newspaper articles about the July 1864 Constitutional Convention of the proposed state of Nevada. The photographs in the collection include images of historic cemeteries, cornerstone laying ceremonies, and miscellaneous other events and people.

Processed by: Susan Searcy
September 9, 1987

The collection is divided into the following series:

Series 1	Autobiographical Notes of Silas Ross
Series 2	Biographical and Historical Notes of General Subjects
Series 3	Nevada Physicians and Hospitals
Series 4	Cemeteries
Series 5	Writings by Silas Ross
Series 6	Mortuary Business
Series 7	Freemasons
Series 8	University of Nevada
Series 9	Glendale School
Series 10	Carson Opera House; Geiger; J. Bulette, etc.
Series 11	Ross Family Business and Legal Papers (primarily of Orrin Charles Ross)
Series 12	Newspaper Clippings
Series 13	Photographs

Box 1 

Series 1 & 2   Autobiographical and Biographical Notes

This series contains historical research and notes compiled by Ross on himself (especially his Masonic affiliations and tenure as University of Nevada Regent), his father Orrin Charles Ross, and various historical Nevada figures. This series also includes a census of small rural Nevada cemeteries.

Series 3   Nevada Physicians and Hospitals

Included in this series are a list of physicians and surgeons practicing in Nevada between 1957­1964, a list of physicians registered with the Storey County Clerk between 1875-1885, a list of Reno hospitals which gives dates and addresses, a chronology of the history of St. Mary's Hospital, and a history of the Washoe Medical Center.

Series 4   Cemeteries

Included are photos, maps, and research notes on the St. Clair District, Churchill County Cemetery; Hillside Cemetery, Reno; and the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery, Carson City.

Series 5   Writings by Ross

This series includes papers and speeches presented by Ross at public and professional events and Masonic ceremonies. Some of the material found in Series 7, "Freemasonry", also includes speeches (and vice versa), but because of the collection's original arrangement they were kept in their original location. Subjects in "Writings" include mortuary practices (for the Funeral Directors Association and the National Selected Morticians); an outline of medical practices in Nevada from 1855-1875; a tribute to Bill Krieger; cornerstone laying ceremonies for the first building on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus and the Eureka County High School; the "Masonic Road from Pioneer Aurora to 20th Century Reno"; the "Pathway Through Two Masonic Generations"; and the history of Aurora.

Series 6   Mortuary Business

Included are records of the Perkins, Gulling Company, including financial statements; articles of incorporation; legal agreements between J.J. Burke, Frank O. Chick, and Silas Ross; and notice of name change from Perkins, Gulling to Ross-Burke Company. Ross' appointments to the State Board of Embalmers are also present, along with legislative bulletins and bills concerning the Nevada mortuary industry, and practical advice on funeral practices and rules and regulations. 

Series 7   Freemasonry

This division includes papers on the history of Freemasons in America; the "Discovery of Francis Bacon's Cipher Signatures in James Anderson's "Constitution of the Freemasons"'; Shakespeare's monument as a Masonic shrine; general provisions of the DeMolay organization; historical notes on local and national Masonic lodges and Negro Masonry; various consecration ceremonies; and ceremonial procedures.

Series 8   University of Nevada

Included are a history of the Regents of the University of Nevada, a typescript of the newspaper article of 1885 describing the cornerstone laying ceremony for the University, and copies of state statutes regarding the university and its administration.

Series 9   Glendale School

Includes a report on the Nevada public school system, a manuscript on the history of Glendale, articles of incorporation of the Glendale Historical Club, Inc., and the by-laws of the Glendale Parent-Teachers Association.

Series 10   Carson Opera House, D.M. Geiger, and J. Bulette

Legal and financial documents of the Carson Opera House Association including correspondence, receipts, annual statements, oath of trustee H.M. Yerington, resolution selling the Opera House land to Yerington, and bank deposit slips.

Box 2 & 3

Series 11   Ross Family Business and Legal Papers

Most of the material in this series pertains to the ranching business of Orrin Charles Ross and his properties the Red Rock and Home Ranches near Sparks. Included are deeds, receipts, agreements, annual statements for the People's Drain Ditch Company, quit claim deeds, mortgages, land patents, contracts for land sales, typescript minutes of the 1878 Washoe County Commissioners meetings, account ledgers (including one for the North Truckee Ditch Company), probate settlement papers for the estate of Robert H. Leigh, abstract of title for Anderson's Addition in Reno, power of attorney, a work diary, and leases.

Series 12   Newspaper Clippings and Scrapbook

Primarily clippings about Ross or his special interests, and a scrapbook of Territorial Enterprise newspaper clippings on the Nevada State Constitutional Convention Proceedings of July 1864.

Series 13   Photographs

Images in which Ross is a subject, or which Ross collected because of their relationship to his Masonic or mortuary interests.

Folder #   Subject

1. Shamrock plant blooming
2. Hamilton County Masonic Temple. Tombstones.
   Group portrait of the Departments of Food and Drugs - Weights and Measures, State of Nevada. ca 1910.
   Roman Catholic Cemetery, Eureka, NV. Group portrait of men, ca 1920s.
   Two men barbecuing meat.
3. Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony, Temple Sinai.
4. State building cornerstone removal by Masons, 1966.
5. Pioneer Theater Masonic ground breaking ceremonies, 1966.
6. Miscellaneous people.
7. Masonic cornerstone ceremonies, Centennial Monument, Virginia City, 1958. Wolfpack dinner, 1971.

Box 4

The following microfilms were made from originals in the library of Mr. Ross, probably in the 1960s. Inscriptions on some of the materials indicate that the Masonic material originally belonged to Trenmore Coffin, father-in-law of Silas Ross. All of the microfilms are negative copies.

NC820/7/13

Proceedings to organize the M.E. Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the State of Nevada and the First Grand Convocation of the Grand Chapter Held in Virginia City, Nov. 18, 20, 21, 22, 1873 and the Second Grand Convocation Held in Virginia City, Nov. 16-18, 1874.

NC820/7/14

• Grand Lodge of Free and Associated Masons (F.& A.M.) of Nevada. Transcripts. [1892].
• Constitution, Grand Lodge F.& A.M.) of Nevada. 1872.
• Constitution, Grand Lodge F.& A.M.) of Nevada. 1872.
• Amendments to Constitution, Grand Lodge of Nevada. 1878.
• Constitution, Grand Lodge of Nevada. 1882.
• Constitution, Grand Lodge of Nevada. 1900.
• Constitution, Grand Lodge of Nevada. 1911.
• Bylaws, Carson Lodge No. 1, Carson City. 1882.
• Bylaws, Washoe Lodge No. 2, Washoe City. 1872.
• Bylaws, Amity Lodge No. 4, Silver City, Nev. 1870.
• Bylaws, Oasis Lodge No. 11, Belmont, Nev. 1882.
• Bylaws, Elko Lodge No. 15. 1894.
• Bylaws, Eureka Lodge No. 16, Eureka, Nev. 1882.
• 300 Points of Order (Masonic).
• Proceedings, Vol. 1, Royal Arch Masons of Nevada. 1873-1879.
• "Scottish Rite Masonry in Nevada." 1928.
• "50 Years of Scottish Rite Masonry in Nevada." 1951.

NC820/7/15 

• Grand Lodge of Free and Associated Masons (F.& A.M.) of Nevada. Transcript of Appellant W.D. Jones in 2 appeals from Lander Lodge No. 8 of Austin, Nev. [1892).
• Constitution of Grand Lodge F&AM, Nevada. 1882.
• Typescript history of order of Masons.
• Constitution of the M.W. Grand Lodge, 1865-1881. 1882.
• Constitution Grand Lodge of Nevada and Bylaws Washoe Lodge No. 2. 1872.
• Same as item above.
• Constitution of the M.W. Grand Lodge, State of Nevada. 1900
• Constitution of the M.W. Grand Lodge, State of Nevada, Together with the General Regulations, the Ancient Landmarks, and Digest of Decisions. 1872. (2 copies)
• Constitution and Bylaws, Amity Lodge No. 4. 1870.
• Bylaws, Silver Star Lodge No. 5, Gold Hill, Nev. 1869.
• Bylaws, Elko Lodge No. 15. 1894.

Box 4

NC820/11

• Microfilm (negative) of the following:
  • A New Hieroglyphical Bible, 1828. Inscribed "Emily Lee Coffin" from Addison Coffin.
  • Nu Testament in Fonetik Speling. 1855.
  • Platt, Samuel. The Skeleton in the Closet: A Study of the International Foreign Policy of the U.S. 1962.

Manuscripts | Special Collections

Please direct questions to Jacquelyn Sundstrand
Updated October 28, 2008