USA > Washington > Thurston County > Early history of Thurston County, Washington : together with biographies and reminiscences of those identified with pioneer days > Part 32
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March 2-Married, B. F. Ruth to Mrs. Vail, all of Thurs- ton County.
May 4-Died, at Tumwater, Ebenger Eastman, forty-five years old.
June 29-Married, J. D. 'Spirlock to Cordelia Rickard.
July 27-Married. Thos. M. Reed to Eliza C. Giddings (21st inst.).
November 23-Married, Amos Brown to Annie M. Peebles.
November 23-The first circus to appear in Olympia, per- formed on the southwest corner of Main and Fourth Streets.
Died. Col. M. T. Simmons (on the 15th inst.). Col. Sim- mons was one of the original settlers in Thurston County.
1868
July 18-Died, Mrs. Gabriel Jones. She was seventy years of age and came West in 1844.
October 3-The Echo, a weekly paper, organ of the I. O. G. T .. commences publication.
October 10-Married, Park Winans of Walla Walla, to Lida Moore, of Olympia (on the 6th inst.).
November 21-Married, on the 15th inst., Thos. M. Cham- bers to Annie E. S. Grainger.
Died, on the 14th inst .. Mary A., wife of Wm. Billings. aged twenty-seven.
1869
January 2-Married. Frederick Prosch to Helen M. Elder.
At the same time and place, H. M. Elder to Miss C. A. Ruddle.
January 9-Capt. D. B. Finch presents to Olympia Lodge of Good Templars, the Olympic building, southwest corner Fourth and Columbia Streets, on condition that the lodge maintain a free reading room.
I. Lightner and G. Rosenthal, pioneer merchants, form a partnership.
January 16-Died, R. W. Moxlie, a pioneer, for whom Moxlie Creek was named.
389
PIONEER REMINISCENCES
March 13-Died, on Mound Prairie, Rev. Chas. Biles, a pioneer of 1853.
April 3-Two velocipedes appear upon the streets of Olympia. One a two-wheel affair and the other a three-wheel, the latter of home construction.
April 17-Died, Isaac Wood, a pioneer of 1851. Mr. Wood was the first brewer in Thurston County, his brewery being located at Fourth and Columbia Streets.
The Marshville ( Westside) bridge, is completed.
July 10-Died, James A. Watson. He had been connected with the press of the Sound since 1861.
George Francis Train lectured in Olympia.
July 17-Tumwater bridge completed.
July 24-Secretary of State William H. Seward addressed the people of Olympia.
August 7-Married. (Aug. 3), Albert A. Phillips to Miss Nellie Gillispie, of Whidby Island.
September 18-Married, David Longmier to Elizabeth Pollard.
November 20-Town hall dedicated with dance, Friday evening, Nov. 26. (This hall was destroyed by fire, June +, 1914).
November 27-Married, W. W. Miller to Mary M. Mc- Fadden, in Lewis County.
December 25-G. A. Barnes commenced the erection of the first brick building, which still stands on Main Street, between Third and Fourth. In this building the first bank in the Territory was started.
1870
February 27-Marshall F. Moore, Governor of the Terri- tory, dies at Olympia.
June 25-Married, J. B. Biles to Julia Burkett.
August 13-First installment of Gov. Salomon's immigra- tion arrive. It comprised forty families of over 100 persons.
August 27-Gen. Hazard Stevens and P. B. Van Trump return after making first ascent made of Mount Rainier, al- though Captain F. W. Ferrell claimed to have ascended it in October 1847, in company with John Edgar, and a French- man and Indian, names unknown.
390
THURSTON COUNTY
September 17-Census completed. Olympia 1203; Thurs- ton County 2246.
October 15-Olympia infested with band of incendiaries, and a vigilance committee is organized.
October 22-Married. C. M. Bradshaw to Florence Holmes. December 4-Died, Mrs. C. H. Hale, aged 52 years.
1871
January 21-An association of Pioneers formed. All citi- zens eligible whose residence date back to 1860.
May 20-Died, Mrs. L. D. Durgin.
Also. Eliza C., wife of T. M. Reed.
November 18-Woman's Suffrage Association for Thurs- ton County formed.
December 30-Puget Sound Courier commenced publica- tion as political organ of the Federal office holders.
Olympia receives formal notice of acceptance by Northern Pacific Railroad of land subsidy and location of termini at Olympia.
1872
January 20-Died. John Law, aged seventy-four (Nov. 12. 1871). an emigrant of 1852.
January 27-First Unitarian Sunday school organized.
February 3-Married. J. W. Brazee to Minnie Biles.
March 2-Died. Jos. Cushman, an early pioneer.
May 18-Married (May 12th) .J. J. Gilbert to Fannie A. Y'antis.
June 22-Married, L. P. Venen to Emma Clark.
Died, on Bush Prairie. Tallitha Kindred.
August 17-Married. C. H. Hale to Mrs. P. C. Case.
Charles Vivian. father of the Order of Elks, made his first appearance in Olympia.
September 21-Piers laid for building now Recorder office.
October 26-Public reception tendered Judge McFadden on his return home during his campaign for Congress.
November 2-Married. W. E. Boone to Mercie Slocum (Oct. 30).
November 9-Married (Nov. 6) Wm. Billings to Jeanette M. Ballentine.
391
PIONEER REMINISCENCES
Died, II. R. Woodard, a pioneer of 1852.
Judge McFadden's election to Congress is celebrated by his townsmen in Olympia.
Olympia experienced the hardest earthquake that has ever occurred here.
November 30-Married, J. M. Lammon to Mary Hallett. December 21-Married, Nathan Eaton to Lestina Himes.
392
THURSTON COUNTY
EARLY FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS.
The first lodge of Free and Accepted Masons to be in- stituted north of the Columbia River was organized in Olympia, December 11, 1852. The names of the petitioners were : Thorn- ton F. McElroy, James W. Wiley, Michael T. Simmons, Nicholis Delin. Smith Hays. Ira Ward and A. K. Skidmore, under dis- pensation granted by M. N. Berryman Jennings, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Territory of Oregon and was known as No. 5, under the Oregon jurisdiction. This lodge exists today under title of Olympia Lodge No. 1, under juris- diction of the Grand Lodge of Washington.
The first meeting of this organization was held Saturday evening, Dec. 11. 1852. The lodge was opened with T. F. Mc- Elroy as Worshipful Master; J. W. Wiley, Senior Warden and M. T. Simmons, Junior Warden.
The second meeting of the Lodge was held December 18. 1852. At this meeting a petition for the degrees was received for the degrees from B. F. Yantis, one of the earliest and most respected pioneers of the Territory. At a subsequnt meeting. B. F. Yantis was the first to receive the three degrees in this lodge. B. F. Shaw, of Vancouver, having received the pre- ceding degrees. received the Master Mason's degree the same evening as Mr. Yantis.
Olympia Lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Oregon, June 15, 1853 and was numbered 5. Upon the organ- ization of the Grand Lodge of Washington. December 8. 1858. Olympia Lodge became No. 1 under the new jurisdiction.
Another pioneer fraternal society is Olympia Lodge No. 1, I. O. O. F.
This lodge was organized under a charter dated April 10. 1855, by the Supreme Lodge I. O. O. F. of the United States. The following were named on the charter list: C. C. Hewitt, J. L. Head, James C. Head, Daniel Kiser. Cyril Ward.
I IL NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
AUTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
OLD MASONIC HALL
DEDICATION
It would, perhaps, have been more appropriate to have dedicated this little volume to the brave and sturdy Thurston County Pioneers, whose life stories I have striven to set forth in their own language wherever possible, and such, indeed, was my intention at the beginning of this work, but as time went on and I grew to realize the trials, hardships and privations which were the lot of the women who crossed the Old Oregon Trail in the middle of the last century, I became more and more impressed with the magnificent courage displayed by one who has ever been the guiding star of my life. Surely making this arduous trip not once, but three times, entitles her to an honorable place among the pioneers of whatever section.
She started from a home of comparative wealth and ease in Minnesota while still in the freshness of her youth with her husband and two small children, of whom the writer was the youngest, arriving in Sacramento, California, after six months hard travelling, during which time the family never slept un- der a roof other than the canvas wagon cover, and endured all hardships with an unparalled cheerfulness and fortitude ever striving to assist and encourage her husband and to train her children in the right way. Many an evening the writer can recall being tucked into her little bed in the wagon box by those kind hands and sinking off to sleep, lulled by the monotonous sound of the horses crunching their grain from the long feed box on the ground beside the prairie schooner.
The stay in California was short, barely long enough for the family to recover from the fatigue of the long journey and for this modern Cornelia to add one other gem to her jewel casket, then, becoming satisfied that all the shining gold of which this young couple had dreamed, had already been picked up out of the streets by earlier pioneers, they decided to retrace their journey as far as the Grande Rounde Valley, in Oregon. Here, although the loose gold had also been al- ready gathered in, there were plenty of opportunities for gain-
ing a competence for the thrifty and industrious, virtues which these people certainly possessed.
Within a few years prosperity had shed its golden glow over the adventurers to such a degree that they decided they had acquired enough to give them a comfortable start in their old home as they were homesick and possessed of an over- whelming longing to see once again the friends of their youth
Bundling the children into the wagons in which the first start was made, the long trip back to Minnesota was under- taken. Here the money acquired in the West was invested in a farm which proved to be an unfortunate venture, for the ground was worn out and exhausted and the knowledge the young people had of all agriculturaal pursuits was purely theoretical. The final result was that the money was soon all spent and then the rememberance of the many opportunities they had left in the Golden West lured them to return.
Again the family and plunder were loaded in the wagons and the return trip along the now familiar trail was started. There were four children by this time, and on the way, some- where back in Iowa, another baby was born to this heroic woman. A lay-by of only a couple of days was all she asked before the onward march was resumed.
At one time, while passing through Utah on the first trip west, their train was fired upon by the Indians while the emi- grants were preparing their evening meal, the miscreants then charging down and, with horrid yells and flourishing of blankets and robes, endeavored to stampede the horses picketed a short distance from the wagons. The bravery of the men in rushing to the rescue was all that prevented this catastrophe. In the morning the way led on through a deep ravine with rocky walls crowding close by the trail on either side. The frightened emigrants were sure they would be fired upon by the enemy from the tops of these walls but there was no other alternative than to proceed. The women drove the teams while the men with their guns over their shoulders, walked beside the wagons, guarding their families, their lives and their every earthly possession. But they were not further molested.
In remembrance of this grand, courageous and loval woman, I lovingly dedicate this book to MY MOTHER.
CONTENTS
Page
Foreword
3
Wail of An Old Settler
5
Historical Sketch
6
Isaac I. Stevens
56
Elisha P. Ferry.
65
Samuel L. Crawford
67
D. C. Beatty
81
Mrs. John G. Parker
95
John Miller Murphy
107
The B. L. Brown Family
116
Mount Rainier-Poem
120
Mrs. Jane W. Pattison
122
Louis Bettman
132
Thomas Prather
134
William Mitchell
142
Andrew Chambers
147
Mrs. A. Chambers' Story
164
Mrs. Jacob Ott
173
Dr. Alonzo G. Cook
177
Chas. D. King.
180
William Lemon
182
I. Harris
186
A. S. Yantis
189
Gustave Rosenthal
195
J. H. Sternberg
198
Robert Frost
201
D. R. Bigelow
206
George W. Mills
212
W. O. Thompson
219
Dr. N. Ostrander
226
The James Family
229
Albert A. Phillips
233
B. W. Johns
237
Dr. A. H. Steele
241
Thos. M. Macleay
244
Judge O. B. McFadden
246
The Sylvesters
248
Gen. W. W. Miller
250
Page
C. C. Simmons
252
H. R. Woodard
255
Stephen D. Reinhart
258
A Trip to Steilacoom .
260
The Crosby Family
267
B. F. Yantis
272
Reese A. Brewer
274
Wm. Billings
275
R. H. Milroy
278
John B. Allen
280
Recollections of a Native Son_ 282
A Reluctant Bridegroom
291
George D. Shannon
294
P. M. Troy's Reminiscences 29€
Building a Meetin' House
298
Mrs. John G. Sparks
300
Early Newspapers
302
T. M. Reed
306
Tumwater Reminiscences
309
David T. Drewry
316
Bush Family
320
Capt. S. Willey
325
E. N. Sargent
326
P. D. Moore
328
Capt. S. W. Percival
332
Settlement of Hawk's Prairie_ 355
Priest Point Park
359
Judiciary of Thurston County_ 364
Mason Irwin.
366
M. J. Gordon
367
T. M. Reed, Jr.
367
C. H. Ayer
368
Byron Millett
369
O. V. Linn
369
John R. Mitchell
370
C. E. Claypool
370
Chronological Table
373
Fraternal Organizations
392
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