the sou`wester - Pacific County Historical Society

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the sou'wester
Published Quarterly By
The Pacific County Historival Society
State of Washington
AZJ TL". MN
1967
Volume II
N- ., 1 - 3
THE SOU'WESTER
A Quarterly Publication of the Pacific County Historical Society, Inc .
A Non-profit Organization
Subscription Rates $2 .00 Annually - Payable in Advance
Address : P. 0 . Box 384, Raymond, Washington 98577
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office
of Raymond. Washington 98577
Mrs . Harold C. Dixon, Editor
Jack Laughlin, Editorial Adviser
Raymond Herald Print
-0-
OUR SINCERE THANKS
The illustrations for the poem THE OLD HOUSE are the contribution
of Hope Wilson Clark, of Bay Center, Great-granddaughter of Daniel
"Cougar" Wilson .
(Refer to 1860 Census, House 35 in Summer
SOU'WESTER Page 32 ; also to page 54, this issue)
-0-
The tree on our masthead is from the pen of
Donald Schrotberger of Aberdeen
-0-
The Cover Photograph
(From the Frans Johnson collection, reproduced by Antilla t Kolcz)
Shown is the Cape Disappointment light and the fortification known
as the "Lighthouse Battery" set up in 1862 .
In 1875 the name of the military installation was officially changed to
Fort Canby . Since that time the names "Disappointment" and "Canby"
have been used interchangeably to designate the light .
This is the oldest lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest . It was established
on October 15, 1846 . Six years later Congress appropriated $53,000 to
build this and two others on the Pacific coast . When the American
bark ORIOLE, Captain Lewis Lentz, was wrecked on the Columbia
bar in September of 1853, its cargo of building materials, including a new
lens, was a total loss, for which the lighthouse contractors recovered $10,558
from the government, according to Bancroft . A second shipment of
materials arrived in 1854 .
The conical tower was completed in 1856 when the lantern was
mounted 53 feet above ground and 220 feet above the Pacific . A 5-wick
lamp, 18 inches across and eight feet high, it had been in service for
30 years on the Atlantic coast casting its beam through a Fresnel lens
manufactured in France in 1822 . This lantern was moved from Cape
Disappointment to North Head in 1898 and is now displayed in the Fort
Columbia Museum, at Chinook .
A Light Keeper's Night of Per I
By DR . GEORGE W . EASTERBROOK
FIRST OF THREE PARTS
T is some thirty years now since that awful night when I was put in
utmost jeopardy, and to this day every incident of that night's peril is
fresh in my mind, and many and many a time do I dream of dangling
over that cliff's edge, while hundreds of feet below surge and toss the
great rollers and breakers of the vast Pacific ocean . which throughout the
stormy winter nights pound and roar unceasingly on the hard sands at
the base of the great promontory that marks the extreme northern limit
of the great Columbia River bar, and ever dashing with tremendous force
against its rocky and precipitous sides, making its huge mass tremble
and rock, and filling the mind of the lonely watcher in the light tower
on its extreme point with a nameless dread and terror and a feeling as
though the ever-increasing force of wind and wave would sweep tower'
and man from off the verge of the beetling cliff and into the seething
watery grave below .
I was but 17 when called upon to fill a vacancy in the United
States Lighthouse Department . and placed in duty as Second Assistant
Keeper in the light tower at Cape Disappointment, at the mouth of the
Columbia River .
The main qualifications for a light keeper are a steady head and
nerve, strict obedience to the orders of the principal or head keeper and
vigilance and careful attention while upon watch : and I . seeming to
possess these to an extent at least to satisfy my principal . I was selected
for the duty, and my being of under age not deemed a bar to my advancement or detriment to the service .
In order for one to understand the situation and to realize the terrible
position my youth and foolish daring got me i nto . i t were perhaps better
here to give something of the duties of the service, and to briefly describe
the cape, and the position of the light tower at its extreme point .
In those days, before the commencement of our great Civil War, and
early in the spring of 1860 (since which time troops have occupied the
cape, and great fortifications and ramparts have been built up to and around
the lighthouse, bearing ranges of great cannon, which look sullenly through
the embrasures, and thrusting their black and frowning muzzles over the
line of parapet . seem to form an alliance with the wild waves and shifting
channels of the dangerous bar, threatening the utter destruction through
easy
fire and water, of any hostile fleet that might deem our territory
prey . And now the excavations for the fort have leveled the difficult
and shelving path along the exposed summit of the cliff to the tower, and
rendered it soft and easy of approach, and good roads and wide . lead
down to the bay below, where nestles the attractive garrison buildings of
the fort . and the' fine and commodious dwellings of the present head
4-3
keeper and his assistants, where once was a wild commingling of rough
wooded hills, fallen logs, steep and difficult trails, and the one solitary
dwelling of those lonely men keeping their watch night in and out year
after year, ever burning the midnight oil to cheer the weary mariner, and to
warn him off the reefs and shoals of our then dangerous coast) .
We all lived together in the small one-and-a-half-story brick dwelling
situated on nearly a level with and overlooking the waters of Baker's Bav
and sheltered from the severe storms of winter by the surrounding heights
of the cape, and one-half mile distant from and several hundred feet below
the scene of our nightly vigils in the light tower . Our nearest neighbors .
and in fact the only house then in sight in all that bay region was some'
three miles distant to the north and east, near where the town of Ilwaco
now stands .
(Editor's note : The Isaac Whealdon home) .
To the
southeast and with some fifteen miles of the exposed bay roiling between .
was the then small town of Astoria, where we were won' to go at times
in the small sail boat furnished by the department . for our supp ies of
provisions, etc ., and where we drew our quarte_ly pay from the customs
officer at that place, where our light was in direct view . -nd i s c joos :an'_
nightly twinkle, like a large star low down to the horizon, n - ti ied them
of our careful watch and ward from sunset to sunrise co__ i_attal :y .
The only house visible from the Lighthouse in 1860 : purchased from the
Estate of Captain James Johnson . it was then occupied by the Isaac
Whealdon family .
(Rees Williams Photo-Antilla 8 Kolcz Reproduction)
t
The tower which supported the light was a circular stone erection
some twenty-four feet outside diameter, and eighty feet in height, tapering
to the top to ten feet, perfectly smooth and kept clean and white with a
fresh coat of whitewash each season . A winding stair led from base
to top inside of this structure, to what was called the iron room, a shell
of boiler iron, supported by heavy iron stanchions, and opening out
through an iron door to an outside iron balcony protected by a rail about
breast high . This door was provided with a lock of brass, with knobs
or handles of the same metal, and fashioned as are ordinary door locks
of nowadays . Some years before my advent on duty here, the outside
knob had been lost off and had never been replaced, leaving nothing to
take hold of but the small square of bar metal over which the socket
of the knob slipped and was made fast in its perfect state .
Owing to this bad state of things I was cautioned by my principal
that whenever it became necessary in course of duty to go out and mount
to the balcony above to wipe from the glass of the window the fog and
spume of the sea, which on stormy nights would coat the glass and dim
the light, to be careful to throw a towel or other cloth in at the , foot
or threshold to keep the door from closing entirely and enable me when
outside labors were completed to gain admittance by inserting the hand
in the space left .
This was carelessness in the extreme on the part of the head keeper
to leave things in such a condition, but the light duties and the solitary
life of the keepers induced a sort of apathy and shiftlessness and a desire
to avoid what they termed unnecessary labor ; and as inspections in those
days were few and far between and hurriedly performed, this dangerous
thing was allowed to pass unnoticed, which a few dollars and a little
time might have made safe, but was rendered doubly dangerous from the
fact that a man, once outside . the door shut fast and there being no other
entrance except the one at the foot of the tower, he was a prisoner eighty
feet from the ground, exposed to the full violence of the terrific storm in
winter during probably the full term of his watch, with none to hail for
relief . Such was destined to be my unhappy fate .
I had now been some months in this service and had quite an amount
of my salary due me, payments not being regular then as now, and
often being withheld through lack of appropriation for a year or more .
'Twas one terrible stormy night in January . I was awakened from
my slumber by the midnight watch coming down from the tower and
hailed by him as his relief for the morning w atch . t o keep the dreary hours
till sunrise . I tumbled out, donned my clothes and oil suit, and with
lantern lighted commenced toiling up the steep and narrow trail . now
over, now crawling under the great trunks of fallen spruce trees which
obstructed the way . The rain poured in torrents and the trees on the
hillside and on the summit above me swayed and groaned and ground
together horribly . The trail winding up the hill and under the lee of the
storm, I felt none of its shock and blast . but now and then a giant of the
forest, twisted and torn beyond all endurance of the holding power of
its spreading roots in the thin and soaked soil, would give away and go
tearing and crashing into the gulf below on my right, coming to a stop
at last with a deep, resounding thud in the morass and quagmire at its
bottom, warned me of the time I would have traversing the three or
four hundred yards of the narrow exposed hogsback of the promontory to
the light tower at its extremity .
I was now almost to the limit of the friendly protection of the hillside,
and looked out over the storm-swept space beyond to the base of the
tower and waited a moment to gather strength, and a lull in the tempest
nor a chance to cross it safely .
The uproar was now deafening, the rush of the rain-laden wind over
the crest of the hill, mingled with the tremendous roar of the breakers
below, and the blackness of the night through which not a yard of the
trail could be seen in advance, nothing but the dim glimmer of the light
high above through the misty and salt-coated panes of the large lantern,
rendered the prospect dreary and discouraging, and calculated to deter
a stout seaman, let alone me, poor lad, crouching under the shelter of the
last friendly tree trunk, and obliged to make the passage somehow . After a
few moments a little stop seemed to come in the fury of the storm, the
moaning and grinding of the trees behind me eased a little, and a rift
in the heavy clouds allowed the way to be dimly seen along the course
to the tower . 1 started at once, intending to make it on the run if possible,
but not a dozen yards had I cleared, when the storm burst again in all
its power. I was instantly thrown flat on my face on the narrow and
sloping part of the path, my lantern dropping as I fell, down, down,
three hundred feet into the sea .
From The Washington Historian
Published Quarterly by the Washington State Historical Society
Tacoma, Washington
Vol . 1, No . 3
April 1900
-oAdvertisement on the front page of THE CALIFORNIA COURIER,
published in San Francisco November 20, 1850 :
THE HOLMAN HOUSE
Pacific City
r
The undersigned is about opening a large and commodious hotel at
Pacific City containing 60 rooms all well furnished . The hotel is situated
upon an eminence commanding a most beautiful and picturesque view of
Baker's Bay, Cape Disappointment, the grand entrance of the bay from the
Pacific Ocean, Chinook Point, Clatsop Plains and 15 miles up the Columbia
River to the old fort . The location of Pacific City is regarded as being
one of the most pleasant and healthful locations on the Pacific Coast . Believing such to be the fact, we would not hesitate to invite the attention
of the traveling community and especially of invalids to this as a place
of resort . Within a short time we hope to be prepared to accommodate
ail who may favor us with their patronage .
JAMES D . HOLMAN
(Contributed by Lucile McDonald of Kirkland)
46
Pacific County Census, 1860
Free Inhabitants in Pacific Coiuity, Washington Territory
Enumerated Beginning June 23, 1860
By Robert H . Espy
Post Office
House No .
130
131
132
Family
Dervell, Peter
Dervell, Mary (Ind .)
Dervell . Amos
Dervell, Mary
Dervell, Charles
Dervell, Malinda
Dervell, Sofa
Brenchard, Alexander
Astoria, Oregon
Age
Sex
Occupation
Birthplace
M
F
M
F
M
F
F
M
Fisherman
Canada
Wash . Terr.
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr.
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Canada
M
F
M
Fisherman
Mass .
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Fisherman
30
M
F
F
M
M
Ireland
New York
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Ireland
38
28
19
10
5
3
Im
24
Edwards, Williams P .
Edwards, Caroline (Ind .)
Edwards, Julian
41
25
McGowan, James P .
McGowan, Jane
McGowan, Maria C .
McGowan, James H .
Donohue, William
41
10
31
10m
5
134
Hudson's Bay Store House
135
Ducheney, Rocque
Ducheney . Mary
Ducheney . Juliet
Ducheney, Louis
Ducheney, Agnes
Ducheney, Mary
Ducheney . Sophiah
Ducheney, Margaret
Rondau, Sowwee
41
31
16
14
10
7
4
6m
70
M
F
F
M
F
F
M
F
M
Merchant
Canada
Oregon
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Canada
136
Fraser, John
26
M
Fisherman
Br. Columbia
137
Sangerline, Alexander
Sangerline, Drucilla
33
I9
M
F
Fisherman
Canada
Oregon
138
Smith, William
Smith, Mary (Indian)
27
M
F
Fisherman
Sweden
Oregon
18
House No .
139
140
141
142
143
144
147
Family
Age
Sex
Labell, Peter
Labell, Mary (Indian)
Andre, John
McCarty, Catharine
Haegriela, Maurice
35
28
27
16
M
F
M
F
Laborer
45
40
30
40
20
]in
42
33
30
40
M
Cooper
M
F
Fisherman
Germany
Wash . Terr.
M
F
F
M
Fisherman
50
46
18
12
9
6
I
M
F
M
M
F
F
F
Canada
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr .
Vermont
Vermont
Maine
Denmark
Ohio
Ohio
Illinois
Oregon
Oregon
Oregon
Wash . Terr.
Spier, Charles F .
Spier, Martha (Indian)
St. 'Andre, Isaac
St. Andre, Jane (Indian)
St . Andre, Susy
Harrington, William F.
Bass, J . M .
Brown, N.
Henson, Olney
Whealdon, Isaac
Whealdon, Mary A .
Whealdon, William D .
Whealdon, Francis
Whealdon, Adelia
Whealdon, Eliza M .
Whealdon, Estelle
M
M
M
Occupation
Fisherman
Carpenter
Laborer
Laborer
Fisherman
Farmer
Birthplace
Canada
Oregon
Canada
Wash . Terr .
France
Cape Disappointment Light House
153
Boyd, John
Boyd, Olivia
Boyd, William
Moses (Indian)
Moffatt, George
Belfrage, John G .
(Unoccupied :
37
32
3m
14
24
30
M
F
Light Keeper
M
M
M
M
Ass't L . K.
Ass't L . K.
Maine
Maine
Wash . Terr .
Wash . Terr.
Scotland
Scotland
Houses 133, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152)
-0-
"The site of the first school at Raymond (Riverside) now called
Riverdale, was near the old mill, the lumber being sawed there . It is
said that the floor boards in the schoolhouse were two feet in width . . .
Jane Haguet, who taught . . . in 1868, was given a pig for her services
by John Adams, but the animal was killed by a bear,"
Early Schools of Washington Territory
By Angie Burt Bowden
._,
.j
Mary Ann Gruelle Whealdon
March 21, 1814 - August 17, 1902
Isaac Whealdon
October 5 . 1809 - August 29 . 1892
The Whealdon Family
Of Whealdonsburg-now Ilwaco
By REES B . WILLIAMS
Y Grandfather \Vhealdon was everybody's "Uncle Isaac" in pioneer
days, and his friendly . hospitable home was the only stoppingover place between Astoria and Oysterville for travelers bound for
Olympia via Oysterville, North Cove, Westport and Montesano .
He built the road to the ocean beach and his son, Will, drove the stage
over the sands to connect with boats on Shoalwater Bay .
M
A post office was established in his home on November 26, 1860,
named Pacific Cite for sentimental reasons and changed later to Unity for
patriotic reasons : by October 21, 1865 Cape Disappointment had been
fortified and manned ; the Civil War was the topic of the day . The arrival
of the New York Tribune, months old, brought latest news of the war,
and the men folks from all around would gather to sit up all night taking
turns reading every word .
1.20 Years In The West
Our family traces its ancestry in this country back to one Isaac Whealdon
of Wales, who arrived in 1682 on the ship LYON with a group of Quakers
joining William Penn : in 1947 the family celebrated our 100th year in
the West . Grandfather was born in Freeport . Ohio . in 1809 . the same year
as Abraham Lincoln, and some little time later, when young Isaac accompanied his parents down the pike to see the John Gruelles' new babe, much
to the delight of the little chap he was permitted to hold her in his 'arms .
rY e,c. surprised those present by announcing "I tell thee, Mary Ann will
be my wife some day ."
That "day" was December 29, 1831 ; the
newlyweds moved to Fulton County, Illinois, where their farm is still
known as Whealdon's Addition to Ipava : six children were born to them
here, three of whom, Ruth, Rachel and Daniel died in infancy .
Having made the acquaintance of Dr . Marcus Whitman on his last
trip East, and become interested in the West, the Whealdons sold their farm
in 1 846 and, in covered wagons, journeyed to St . Joseph, Missouri in 1847 .
where they and the two Fie_ster families joined the train of "prairie
schooners''--,there were forty wagons drawn by oxen in their train-under
the command of Captain Vaughn . For the two , ;daughters, Elizabeth
(Mudge,) , (1837-1908), Sarah Ann (Keiser) (1836-1910), and son
William David (1844-1918) it was . a-pleasant six months' journey ; the
party arrived in Oregon in November . The Whealdons had intended to
stop over at Whitman's mission, Waiilatpu, but at Fort Hall decided to
continue on with the Vaughn -party, which was fortunate, for the massacre
occurred on November 29, 1847 . A land claim was taken up at Ollah,
near Oregon City, where a son Francis Marion was born on December 23,
1847 . Here Grandfather established one of the first nurseries in Oregon
from the apple, peach and pear seeds he brought with him . It was here that
Adelia C . Whealdon (Whitcomb) was born on July 10, 1851, and my
own mother, Eliza Whealdon (Williams) in 1'854 .
In despair of the life of his frail son, Francis, Grandfather first came
to the "weather beach" in 1858 : here he made many friends, including
Judge John Briscoe, who had taken a donation land claim a few miles
north of the present town of Long Beach . The boy's health improved :
then concern for his family left behind took Grandfather back to Oregon .
Shortly after his return word came from Judge Briscoe that Captain
James Johnson's farm was being offered for sale by Henry K . "Harry"
Stevens, Administrator of the Johnson Estate and Guardian of the two
minor sons . My mother said that although it had taken nearly twelve
years to clear the land, build the large two-story log house, put out fruit
trees, etc ., it took not more than twelve hours to decide to buy the Johnson
ranch and make the last trek westward .
In the spring of 1859 the, move was made to the Johnson property .
On account of a severe storm it took a week for the oyster sloop to tow a
large scow loaded, in addition to the parents and four children (Elizabeth
and Sarah Ann, both having married, remained in Oregon), with household
effects, farm equipment, horses, wagons and cattle . This was Donation
Land Claim No . 170, filed August 15, 1849 at Vancouver, Volume 3,
Page 57, in the names of James and Jane Johnson ; it contained 638 acres
in Sections 27, 28, 33 and 34, Township 10 North, Range 11 West
Willamette Meridian . According to an abstract in my possession, Grandfather bought the claim in 1858 for $1000 but did not get clear title
to the- land until 1866 .
Captain Johnson had, probably, the only home of finished lumber
in the area at that time . It was made of white pine, tongue and groove,
shipped around The Horn first to San Francisco, then to Astoria, and
finally to the shore of Bakers Bay .
5()
r
Es Y.rncrlv 741ah the Hudson *s
~_.aptain
Johnson was a ret i .'e~l ~,'4 - 1a
Bay Company, who had established himself as a bar pilot for the Columbia
River . A shrewd, money-making Scot . legend has it that he had some
wealth when he came here, and had salvaged $20,000 more in gold slugs
from a wrecked ship, all of which he had buried back of his house and
no one, not even his wife, was allowed to know where . The story of
"Johnson's Gold" has been handed down through the years, and hundreds
of eager gold seekers have wandered all over the "Old Hill" looking for
the hidden treasure . They come even today . from far and near, asking
permission from my brother Jack and me to search, with all sorts of
contraptions, for we still own ter, acres of the old claim on which we
have our homes .
11
One of the first tasks of the Whealdon family after their arrival was
to obtain bricks from the furnace room of the abandoned sawmill at Pacific
City for a fireplace. Then followed the job of clearing away the young
alders which were about to take the orchard which Johnson had set
out in 1849 . There were Golden Russets, Bellflowers, Glori Mondi,
Gate and sauce-apple trees ; also plums and cherries .
For a .. time the Whealdon family members were the only white residents
here, since the James D . Holman family had returned to Portland . Many
men came through., but no women for a long time . My mother told of the
first white woman she saw other than her mother and sisters, and how she
stood across the room and looked at her in awe . . ., My mother had very
little formal education . "I was taught to read at my mother's knee," she
said. Among the few books her family had were the Bible, Shakespeare,
Dickens and Robert Burns, and she could recite` whole scenes from a
Shakespeare play and quote Burns . She could also paint and write poetry .
(See THE OLD HOUSE, this magazine) .
There was music in the Whealdon home, Grandfather saw to that .
He had been musically gifted as a child without a ghost of a show of
developing his talent . He ran away one summer and journeyed by flat boat
down the Mississippi . While on that trip he learned to play the violin
and returned home with one in the autumn . Imagine the horror in that
holy Quaker community when it was noised about that "young worldly
Ike has returned playing one of Satan's stringed boxes ." A special Friend
meeting was called to determine whether Ike be allowed to keep, and to
play upon, the "devil's box" . After much prayerful consideration, the
Elder made a compromise with "the world . the flesh . the devil and
young Ike" whereby if he would give up the fiddle, he would be permitted
to purchase and play a Jew's harp . Other congregations were intolerant
of musical instruments in that time, also, one die-hard parson reputed to
have announced sarcastically "we will now praise the Lord on the devil's
machine ."
Elwakko Jim, for whom Ilwaco is named, was the local chief . He was
a good, intelligent Indian, and a fine neighbor . He would often send gifts
of fish or berries to my family, hinting that a little shu-gah (sugar) and
sap'o-lil (flour or bread) would be most acceptable in return . Elwakko
had several slaves . My mother's playmate, was one of them, a young girl
named Dolly . Mother, who could speak Indian jargon fluently, often
-" made the trip from Black Lake to Shoalwater (Willapa) Bay via the
slough by canoe with her . The Indians kept Tahlit slough open "for
navigation", as they constantly used it for their passage from the Columbia
River to the Bay .
Isaac Whealdon platted the Town of Whealdonsburg, now Ilwaco .
He also gave 1 .8 acres to the public for a cemetery in 1888 . This land
lay in the extreme Northeast corner of his holdings and was the forerunner
of the present Ilwaco Cemetery . Isaac Whealdon and his wife Mary Ann,
however, lie buried a few hundred feet from his pioneer home, in the family
plot he carved out of the wilderness to bury his little daughter, Estelle
Rosella, the only one of his children born in Washington Territory
(July 5, 1859 - January 7, 1864) .
Grandfather Whealdon had visions of a great city to be built here
at the mouth of the mighty Columbia River, as did the many who came
before him . but fate ruled otherwise . Yet, maybe it's better this way, for
Ilwaco . a small, friendly village of five hundred souls, is a most pleasant
place in which to live .
4
___O_
REES B . WILLIAMS
Author of The Whealdon Family
Story, was born in Ilwaco August 14,
1891 . Now retired from business, his
contagious enthusiasm enlivens many
Pacific County historical, civic, church
and charitable activities where he is a
witty toastmaster . program chairman,
songleader--or all three . His oft-heard
statement :
"I haven't TIME to do
nothing!" seems to describe his active
life .
Photo Courtesy of The Tribune of Ilwaco
ISAAC WHEALDON'S CATTLE BRAND
Recorded March 26, 1867, in Pacific County Records, Book A of Deeds,
Page_ 190 :
Isaac Whealdon's Cattle Brand (Mark for Stock) - crop off the right ear and under bit in the left ear .
(Some pioneer cattlemen filed opposite marks ; then the question arose,
sometimes heatedly . whether right and left applied to the animal head-on
or being driven' )
Postmasters
Pacific City
Unity
Ilwaco
PACIFIC CITY : Established Dec . 26, 1850, in Lewis County, Oregon
Territory : Pacific County Created February 4, 1851
Postmaster
Date of Appointment
James D. Holman
Ed . G . Loomis
December 26, 1850
May 21, 1856
Discontinued November 3, 1856 (Astoria, Oregon)
Isaac Whealdon (his home)
November 26, 1860
(Re-established)
(Refer To Page 49, This Magazine)
UNITY :
Isaac Whealdon (same home)
Jonathan L . Stout
John Hunter
Charles H . Dexter
ILWACO :
James D. Holman
Lewis D . Williams
William W . Ward
Charles C . Dalton
John H . Dalton
Lewis E. Johnson
John W . Howerton
Astor A . Seaborg
Fred Colbert
Martha E . Sprague
Rees Williams
John H . McAfee
Harry Lynehan
Minnie B . Curry
Warren G. Wirkkala
Ivan L . Jones
Harry Lynehan
Jack H . Petit, Jr .
Oct . 21, 1865 (Name changed)
May 11, 1868
August 4, 1873
May 10, 1876
July 18, 1876 (Name changed)
March 9, 1877
January 28, 1880
August 23, 1890
October 14, 1891
November 10, 1893
September 28, 1898
December 5, 1902
January 13, 1910
July 10, 1913
April 28, 1922
June 21, 1935
January 16, 1940
February 1, 1941
October 1 . 1943
November 20, 1943
February 28, 1946
July 1, 1947 (serving)
The Easterbrook Family
Of The Weather Beach
N OCEAN VOYAGE lasting forty months launched Captain George
Troop Easterbrook on his seafaring career . Born in Bristol, Rhode
Island, on September 17, 1815, he was then a sixteen year old
cabin boy on board the whaler BOWDITCH . Next, he shipped
as a sailor aboard the ship BYRON .
A
Two years after his marriage to Hannah Lawton Colt, in August 1842,
Captain Easterbrook took command of the sailing ship CORINTHIAN,
planning to return home to his wife and year-old son after two years .
But at the Sandwich Islands the owner sold the vessel and cargo, transferring captain and crew to another ship ordered back to the whaling
grounds . Returning after the second two years with a cargo of bone,
ivory and oil, that ship and cargo were also sold : he was ordered home
via the Isthmus . There the clipper ship PACIFIC, bound for California
with a full passenger list, was lying in port . Her captain having been
dismissed for cruelty, Easterbrook was ordered to take command .
In San Francisco, gold fever seized him . After spending about a
year in mining and trading in the mountains at Bidwell's Bar, he sailed
to Oregon in the fall of 1850, first settling in Clackamas County and
occasionally taking command of a ship . He came north of the Columbia,
and on January 20 . 1853 he filed Claim No . 194 at Vancouver in Volume
3, page 65, on 323 acres on the Weather Beach in Sections 21 and 28,
Township 11 North, Range 11 West of Willamette Meridian . Always
public spirited, he entered into the politics of Washington Territory,
becoming president of Pacific County's first Commissioners Court under
the new laws : serving with him were P . J . McGowan and Daniel "Cougar"
Wilson .
A combination of misunderstandings and the long separation caused
his wife to file for divorce, but because he had sent money regularly
it could not be granted in Rhode Island . Learning this, the Captain obtained the decree in Washington Territory . Then, through correspondence
and the intervention of a friend, there was a reconciliation : Mrs . Easterbrook agreed to remarriage, and she and their seventeen year old son came
to Astoria, where the marriage took place . The Easterbrooks raised sheep
on the Weather Beach with good success, for the grassy sands produced
abundant grazing . After the arrival of Mrs . Easterbrook, the Captain
never went to sea again .
The "bluff, genial and sturdy old whaler" died on his claim on June 17,
1893 . Mrs . Easterbrook, cared for by her son, Dr . George W . Easterbrook
of Ilwaco, continued to live in the old home where she celebrated her
80th birthday in 1897 .
.1
The First Family of llwaco
THE JOHNSONS
APTAIN JAMES JOHNSON first came to our area as master of a
Hudson's Bay ship, bringing natives from the Hawaiian Islands to
work for the company and live in the Kanake Village established near
Fort Vancouver . Sighting from his ship'deck a scenic site near
the landmarkYel
Yellow
hebuilt hishome - overlooking Bakers Bay
and the Columbia river bar---certainly a location to delight the heart of
any seafaring man, especially one preparing to "swallow the anchor" . When
Joseph L . Meek, the famous Mountain Man, came to ''North Oregon" on
November 21, 1850, to take the census as United States marshal, he found
on Bakers Bay, in House No . 147 :
Pilot
Born in Scotland
James Johnson
Age 45
Born in Oregon Terr .
Jane Johnson
Age 30
(Indian)
George Johnson
Age 6
( 1-2 Indian) Born in Oregon Terr .
James Johnson, Jr .
Age 3
(1-2 Indian) Born in Oregon Terr .
Age 25
Carpenter
Born in Massachusetts
Mr . Sarbridge
C
•
The 1850 farm census report showed five acres improved with an appraised
value of $1000 ; implements and machinery, $250 and a produce inventory
of 300 bushels of peas, beans and potatoes .
L . N . Blanchet, Archbishop of Oregon City, visited this home on
November 16 . 1851, as recorded in "the Catholick Book of the Catholick
Mission at Fort George or Astoria" and in the Pacific County Auditor's
office .
Much may be learned about the colorful Captain Johnson by reading
the book NORTHWEST COAST (1857), by James G . Swan, whd
He was afterward drowned while crossing
laments, "Poor Johnson!
the Columbia in a boat with Mr . John Dawson and another who shared
his fate ." This melancholy event occurred "on or about' they : 29th day
of October, 1855, according to Probate Court records in the office of
the Pacific County Clerk, where it is revealed that Johnson had a brother
livingg in the Shetland Islands, Scotland .
+
t
The two sons of Captain Johnson an al - his Lower Chinook Indian
wife, Comtia Koholwish (called Jane), who preceded her husband in
death, were active, mischievious boys . The vinegar barrel incident related
so amusingly by Swan is proof of that .
George W . Johnson
Photographs of the elder son show use of a peculiar type of crutch .
He told Charles Nelson the original injury was suffered when he, his
brother and neighbor boys were riding empty whisky barrels' down the
steep slope near the old home . A stave broke through, pinning his leg
The broken bones were never properly set, and this leg was
inside .
Then, while operating a boat-building shop at
afterwards shorter .
Oysterville, George and his wife lived on the second floor . The same
._~` leg was broken when he fell off the high porch to the beach below . Young
J . T . "Tommy" Stratton was chosen to ride to Ilwaco for Dr . George
15
e
W . Easterbrook who came, set the leg skillfully and fashioned a stirrup
type crutch enabling Johnson to walk without limping .
Captain James Johnson
Like his father, James, Jr . loved the water, spent most of his life
upon it, and met death by drowning . An item in the Pacific Journal, an
Oysterville newspaper, dated January 18, 1889 states "the upturned sloop
UNCLE ED was picked up by the tug HUNTER near North Cove last
Thursday . She was found in good condition, but no trace of her late
unfortunate master ." Captain Jimmy was well known from Astoria to
the Willapa Valley : he had been the friendly, accommodating mail carrier
for twelve years . On the day of the tragedy he and William Taylor
had sailed to South Bend for lumber with which to build the Taylor
House at Ocean Park . A sudden storm capsized the sloop . It is believed
that flying timbers dealt the captain a fatal blow, for he was a superb
swimmer and very strong . Taylor escaped by working an oarless dinghey
ashore at Stackpole Harbor .
The widow was the former Jane Cecile Haguet . Her father was
Louis Marl Haguet, a native of France lately in the employ of the Hudson's
Bay Company . and her mother Helen Poirier whom he had married . Dr .
John McLoughlin standing up with them, on February 11, 1844 . Jane
Cecile Haguet was educated at Providence Academy in Vancouver, having
been one of their first pupils in 1857 . Before her marriage to James
Johnson, Jr . on February 5, 1870 . by Job Bullard, Justice of the Peace,
she taught in the pioneer schools of Pacific County . Also surviving were
seven children : Denny, Wilfred . Frank, John, Cecelia, Percy and Victor ;
on April 13, 1889 the eighth child . Myrtle, was born .
MYRTLE JOHNSON,
about the time of
her marriage to
Fred Woodcock .
Mrs . Woodcock is a greatgranddaughter of Chief Uhlahnee of the Chinook band living
at Celilo Falls near The Dalles .
she is also a great-granddaughter of Chief Hoqueem of the
Quinault tribe, after whom the
town of Hoquiam is named .
I
(Piciure from Paul
Petit's Collection)
.1
I
4
Myrtle Johnson Woo icock and Fred Woodcock
Photographed on the o( •(•a siuit of their (Tolden Wedding
Myrtle Johnson was married cn July 15, 1907, to Fred Woodcock
of New Brunswick, British Columbia : he died in April, 1967 . Of the
four sons and four daughters born of this marriage . three daughters are
living : Oma Singer of Vancouver, Washington, Ernestine Hilts of Portland .
Oregon . and Myrtle Jean Little of Eureka . California .. ,
Mr . and Mrs . Woodcock were charter members of our Historical Society .
With grandfathers who settled early and Indian ties going back even
farther, her writings in prose and poetry reflect a sympathetic understanding
of both Indian and pioneer .
Myrtle Johnson was recognized as an Indian princess by the pioneers,
for they remembered the ceremonial visits of the ruling chiefs on the
occasion of her birth . Carved and ornamental canoes arrived at Oysterville
bringing gifts, and local natives joined the visitors in paying homage to
the new-born child .
The Quinault chief arrived in the largest . most or .- z.te Once . At least
forty feet in l ength . i t had a wolf's head emblem high on the prow . The
f_ivm
o
a from
mouth was painted brightest red, the base being clay obtained
the
river bank near Naselle ; the head was ebonized with a charred rush lampblack .
Charles Nelson was not quite six years old at the time : he
remembers his frustration in not being able, even by stretching and on
tip-toes, to touch SKANOETNL (the wolf) .
ti.
(This sketch was composed with the assistance of Dr . and Mrs . William B .
Singer ; the former Oma Woodcock is a teacher in the Vancouver city school
system .)
s-
The
Old
+}ouse
It stands in its loneliness
up on yon hillside
O'er looking the meadows
that stretch to the sea,
The home of my childhood,
neglected, forsaken,
Forgotten by others,
but still dear to me .
The roof is all broken
and shattered the windows
At midnight the wind calls
in vain through each room
That cold gleam of light
was only a moonbeam
The soul of the house
has gone out in the gloom .
The weather-worn doors now
all sag on their hinges,
And broken the thresholds
once trod by light feet,
While cold is the hearthstone,
where dear loving faces
Round the bright glowing fireplace of evening would meet .
There mother would con o'er
and o'er her old Bible
And father would scan the
last news in "The Sun"
While Will's violin would
so sweetly entreat us
To rest and glad when
the day's work was done .
9
Z
The mossy old apple trees
cluster around it
As striving to shield the
old house from the blast,
The cherry and plum trees
in rows stand behind it,
Untended, uncared for,
they mourn for the past .
When nature calls, the
old trees sweetly answer
And May time will see
them with beauty aglow :
The ruined old house
they will lovingly cover
With sprays of green, tints of
pink, wreaths of sweet snow.
The birds will come home
to the lonely old orchard
And fill its dim shades
with their caroling gay
Though fondly they carol,
they'll wake not the sleepers
At rest 'neath the alders
that grow by the bay .
Let Spring's resurrection
to us be a token
When life's tangled pathway
no more we shall roam :
In some fairer mansion we'll
find all our loved ones,
Clasp hands and be thankful,
just children at home .
ELIZA WHEALDON WILLIAMS
(Mrs . L . D. Williams)
Gramere Petit Remembered :
HE THRILL of Amelia Aubichon Petit's long life was their sea
voyage from California to Pacific City, near the present location of
Fort Canby State Park . Amable Petit had taken his family to Petaluma to build a grist mill for a Spanish general, in 1847 . When
it was completed, they took a mining claim, and some of the nuggets Amelia
scraped from crevasses with a spoon were large enough to be used by their
children as playthings .
T
Amelia Petit (October 6, 1830 - June 19, 1924) remembered many
events, such as the time when, a child of three, she made the torturous
journey over the old Hudson's Bay trail from California to Oregon with
her parents, the Alexis Aubichons . She remembered watching Mount
St . Helens "burst", emitting smoke and ashes which darkened the sky
and terrorized the settlers .
She remembered the beginning of the wheat-raising industry, how
the sacked grain from French Prairie was brought down the Willamette
in batteaux operated by Indians . How at the falls the grain was carried
around by land, reloaded on batteaux and taken to ships waiting at a
place called Boatland by the whites, but pronounced something like Portland by the Indians ; and that the latter name was chosen for the new city
by the flip of a coin .
She remembered when a bob-tailed pony and a range of mountains
shared a common name, "Skuse" . The pony is now called Cayuse and
the mountains Siskiyous . She knew Dr . John McLoughlin . She knew
a young man, and she saw him again when he made his western tour
after becoming a General in the Civil War, and then President of the
United States-Ulysses S . Grant .
Amelia Petit remembered many things-and she never forgot her
voyage up the Pacific Coast on the sailing vessel commanded by Captain
George Troop Easterbrook .
By Paul Petit of Bay Center
Grandson of Amable and Amelia Petit
(Refer to SOU'WESTER for Autumn, 1966)
-0HEAP EASIER!
Colonel George Hunter, one of Pacific County's early-day sheriffs,
in his book REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD TIMER, says he was
invited to accompany Captain Easterbrook to Astoria to meet his wife
and son . Stopping overnight with a family from the Isle of Man, the
captain mentioned his plan to marry his former wife . The host exclaimed :
"Good idea! Good idea, Captain' Heap easier warmin' up cold soup
than makir' n-w1"
k