francescabellcoursenperritt.com

Author: Jill Foster

  • Buried in an Unmarked Grave

    Week 4-Overlooked

    Woman Playing Violin designed by Freepik

    Did Katharine Connor’s parents use Finney as their baby girl middle name lest Katharine’s mother family not be overlooked?  When Katharine married Isaac Roberts on November 13, 1828, in Charleston South Carolina, what did she think about changing her name to Mrs. Isaac Roberts? When she died in Albany, Oregon on December 1, 1889, and was buried in Sandridge Cemetery, did she plan to be buried in a unmarked grave?

    I don’t have answers to these questions but thanks two men who interviewed Oregon pioneers—Edwin C. Roberts and Fred Lockley, I know something of this woman’s character.

    Katharine grew up with music. She danced and sang and played the violin. After marriage and becoming a Methodist, she gave up dancing. Luckily, she still played the violin.

    Early Life

    Katharine Finney Connor was born in 1802 to John Connor and Katharine Finney. Her family lived in Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, Untied States at the time of her birth.  During her youth, she learned to play the violin quite well and still played as an adult. Before she married she had been one of the best dancers in the county of Charleston.

    Marriage and Family

    How and where Katharine met Isaac Roberts is not known. They married far from South Carolina on November 13, 1828. Clancy Smith married them in Jefferson County, Missouri. Their marriage record reads:

    Let it be remembered that on the 13th day of November 1828, I Chancy Smith, a Justice of the Peace in and for said County (Jefferson) did join in the state of matrimony Isaac Roberts and Catherine F. Conner. Given under my hand this 13th Nov, 1828, Record Nov 13th 1828, Chancy Smith, Justice of the peace, C Smith clerk.

    Dancing days were over after Katharine married this strict Methodist northerner who didn’t play cards or dance.

    Their children, all born in Missouri, were Thomas who died as an infant, James Bruffey, Emily Catherine, and Samuel Huston.  Samuel Houston was named for a cousin of Katharine’s.

    Migration to Willamette Valley– Portland, Oregon

    Isaac, Katharine, James, Emily and Samuel Roberts left Independence, Missouri in the spring of 1850.

    Katharine Roberts, a pioneer woman of tact, bravery and quick thinking demonstrated these qualities during the trip West in a run end with a Sioux Chief in the Great Plains region. This chief rode into their camp and wanted to trade for their daughter Emily Roberts. Natives often traded with the people going west. He asked, “How many ponies?” Rather than discussing this topic Katharine picked up her violin and started playing. After a while, the chief left without losing face by having been turned down outright.

    Katharine, like most settlers traveling by oxen hauled wagons, probably walked much of the time. Roughly 2000 miles separated Independence, Missouri and Portland, Oregon. The pace was slow- 11 to 17 miles per day and the days were long. The trail was more of a suggestion than an actual road. Bumps and holes made riding quite jarring. Katharine’s family arrived in Portland in the fall of 1850. They made a tent camp along the Willamette River near what is now 1st and Pine Street.

    Portland, Oregon

    Mr. William Warren, who was building a hotel, offered the Roberts accommodation in his building while it was being finished. The dining room and kitchen were finished. The Roberts expecting to pay took his offer; but, Mr. William would accept no money.

    Katharine had cooked the long spring and summer over an open campfire in all kinds of weather. Living indoors and cooking on a stove would be luxurious. But William Warren had ulterior motives for his generosity. He was interested in her daughter, Emily Roberts.

    Her daughter Emily Roberts had turned down William’s proposal of marriage. Emily had another suitor. Edward Griffin and Emily Roberts married on October 26, 1851. They were married by James Wilbur at the newly constructed Methodist Church on Taylor and 3rd Street. This was the church the Roberts helped build.

    By December 9, 1850, the Roberts were living in their own home. Their house was the only house built on the block bounded by 4th, 5th, Columbia and Clay Streets.

    The Move to Roberts Bridge

    A chunk of land on the Calapooia River 10 miles south of Albany, Linn County, Oregon Territory, USA came to be known as Roberts Bridge or the Roberts Bridge community.

    This is the site of Katharine’s next home. Katharine had mixed feelings about leaving her Portland community. Her friends and her church were in Portland. On the bright side, this move presented an opportunity to both her and her daughter Emily.

    The United States Congress had enacted the Donation Land Claim Act before the Roberts arrived in Portland. It became effective on September 21, 1850. By this act, Katherine’s son, James Bruffey Roberts who was a white male U.S. citizen over 18 could claim 320 acres of federal land. He needed to take out the claim between 1 Dec 1850 and 1 Dec 1853. James did take out a claim next to his mother and father’s claim. 

    The plus for both Katharine and her daughter, Emily was that married women could own land by this act. As a married couple Katharine and Isaac took out a 640 acre claim, and 320 acres were in Katharine’s name. Allowing a married woman to own property was uncommon in the United States before this time. Here is a copy of the BLM GLO Land Patent Details.

    The last in this family group to claim land here were Emily Roberts Griffin and her husband, Edward Griffin. Since they had married before December 1, 1851, they qualified for 640 acres. Their claim adjoined Emily’s parents claim and 320 acres was in Emily’s name.

    Later Years

    Katharine and Isaac had lived on their homestead less than 10 years when Isaac died there on September 6, 1860. After Isaac died, she acquired a home in Albany at the corner of 4th and Maple Street.

    Her son-in-law, Edward Griffin put this ad in the States Rights Democrat in December of 1868.

    Albany Home

    Katharine moved from Robert’s Bridge area to Albany. She lived in Albany by the time the 1870 census was taken.

    The 1870 U.S. census described Katharine F. Roberts as sixty-eight-year-old widow, born in South Carolina, with real estate valued at $550 and personal property of $1200. Also at this place was James A Warner, a thirty-four-year-old surveyor. Here is a snippet of that record.

    In 1880, she was still living in Albany and James Warner is still rooming there too. In this census record, Katharine is spelled beginning with a “K” which was her way of spelling her name.

    Death

    Katherine died on December 1, 1889. Her obituary reads:

    The mother of James Roberts, who died near Shedd on the first inst., was interred at Sand Ridge Cemetery. A sermon was preached by Rev. Gould at the home of James Roberts, where a large number of friends were gathered, many of whom followed her to her last resting place.

    Some References

    • “Interview with Edwin C Roberts in Albany Oregon”. Leslie L Haskin, 1940. wpa-interviews, Linn Genealogical Society.
    • Lockley, Fred, “In Earlier Days”, The Oregon Daily Journal(Portland, Oregon),28 Feb 1914, page 4 (col. 8 paragraph 4)
    • “Missouri Marriages, 1750-1920”, database, FamilySearch 

  • Lincoln Assassination

    Week 12- historic Event

    Jane Ann “Jeanie” Bulman Coursen Reacts

    San Francisco Chronicle April 15, 1865

    On Friday, April 14, 1865, at 9:30 pm, Abraham Lincoln was shot while seated in a box at the Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. This was the first assassination of a sitting U. S. president.

    The American people reacted, most with shock and grief. Some were glad.

    The new technology of the telegraph enabled this somber news to be spread across the United States within hours of its happening, The same news took weeks to spread around Europe.

    The news was received in California on Saturday morning, April 15. The memory of Lincoln’s assassination stayed in the minds of many Americans a long time. Among these people were the members of the Coursen family.

    Sixty-five years later an Oregon journalist named Fred Lockley asked Edgar E. Coursen about his first memory. Edgar replied,by telling about his mother’s reaction to the news and the effect her reaction had on him as a child of four.

     His Mother, Jane Ann Bulman Coursen

    “You ask me what is my first recollection?” said the Edgar E. Coursen…” My first recollection takes me back to the time when I was about 4 or 5 years old. We lived on Fulton Street opposite Alamo Square in San Francisco. The Catholic archbishop now owns the property in which I spent my boyhood.”

    “My mother was a rather calm woman. She raised the window and said to someone outside, with great excitement, “The president has been shot.” I was scared, because I thought something dreadful must have happened; so I asked her what was the matter. She said, “Abraham Lincoln, the president, has been killed.” It left a very vivid impression upon my mind.”

    Whitfield’s Letter

    In 1880, Whitfield Hurd wrote a letter to Ellen Douglass Coursen. Ellen, the oldest living child of Gersham Coursen and Jeanie Ann Bulman Coursen. Ellen, intrigued by family history, wanted to know more about her mother and father. She had contacted Whitfield who was from the Hurd line of the Coursen family.

    This letter along with a genealogical chart copied from the Coursen Family Bible by James F. Campbell was one of the papers found in Grandmother Perritt’s scrapbook. James was Catherine Coursen’s husband.

    The Coursens used “Jeanie” as the first name for their mother. Records before this time use Jane Ann.

    About Jane Ann Bulman

    The bible chart page relays information about Jane Ann:

    • Jane Ann Bulman was the widow of a man with the surname, Stout.
    • She was born on September 2, 1830
    • She married Gersham A. Coursen on September 21, 1854
    • She died on March 9, 1877

    I have photocopies of the Coursen Family Bible which added information. Gersham and Jeanie were married by Rev. J.A. Benton in Sacramento. She died in San Francisco at a quarter to 10 o’clock on March 9, 1877.

    The New Jersey marriage record for Jane Bulman and Jacob Stout records their marriage on August 9, 1848. Johann Gardner performed the ceremony. It was in Harlingen, New Jersey. Jane Ann was 18; Jacob was 24. Jane’s mother, S.G. Bulman, was in attendance.

     Here is a snippet of the record from Marriages, Somerset Co., 1846-1867

    Groom Jacob Stout and Bride Jane Ann Bulman from Rockyhill
    Parents of Jacob Chilian and Sarah Stout; Parents of Jane Ann, Mrs. S. G. Bulman

    The 1850 census has Jacob and Jane Ann living in Montgomery, Somerset, New Jersey with Jacob’s family.

    Migration

    On January 23, 1851, Jacob W. Stout obtained passport papers from the state of New York. Written at the top of this paper was “wife name Jane Ann Stout.”

    Soon after they migrated to California by ship. They would have crossed the Isthmus of Panama by mule. Adding to the rigors of this trip was the condition of Jane Ann. She was pregnant.

    Soon after arriving in California Jacob and Jane Ann’s child, William Presley Stout, was born, the year still being 1851.

    By July of 1852 this family of 3 were living in San Francisco County. William was a 1-year-old.  Here is a snippet from the 1862 California State census.

    Jacob died June 30, 1854, and is buried in Sacramento City Cemetery. Jeanie Ann married less than a year later. The new husband was Gersham A. Coursen whom she married on September 21, 1854.

    Family Life with Gersham

    They lived in Sacramento for about ten years. Their first three children born in Sacramento included Evelin Eugenia, Ellen Douglass, and Edgar Eugene. In 1864, they moved to their home at 1060 Fulton Street in San Francisco. Madeline May, Grant Ober, Sherman Adams, Rosamond Alexandria, Geraldine Anabel and Catherine Eleanore were born here.

    Listed as a housewife on the 1870 census record didn’t describe what she did. Jeanie Ann had been a schoolteacher in her early life, so she home schooled her children. Edgar Coursen states in an interview with Ed Lockley this. “I never went to school…my mother taught me at home.” Edgar also said his mother had a beautiful singing voice.

    Edgar was an extremely able student and had a gift for music. When he was only 14 years old his parents enrolled him in the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig, Germany.

    It must have been hard for Jeanie to send Edgar so far from home. She couldn’t have predicted that she would never see him again.

    She had lost other children. Evelin had died on May 16, 1860. Madeline was less than a year when she died on May 27, 1863.

    In the spring of 1877, Edgar at his school in Leipzig received the letter of his mother death. He was 2 years into his studies there. He reacted by studying harder. He said,” the death of my mother was a great sorrow to me, but I threw myself into my work, all the harder studying the violin and piano.”

    Jeanie Ann Coursen Died

    There was a short announcement in the San Francisco Examiner on May 3, 1877.

    Gersham never moved from their home on Fulton Street. He never remarried.

  • Brick Wall

    Week 11

    A figurative brick wall is a challenging obstacle or obstruction. A brick wall can also refer to a wall made from bricks. In my paternal grandfather’s case both definitions apply. He knew how to build brick walls, and his ancestors are mostly unknown to me.

    Thomas’s and Luise’s Brick House

    Thomas Steven Lonski, my grandfather, knew how to build brick walls. He built brick walls for two Seattle area houses. I lived in one of these houses with my family during my first eight years of school. The other brick walls were for his house on Lander Street. He, his wife, Luise, and his children, Ruth, Walter and my father, Albert, lived in this house for many years.

    The house Thomas built for his family had a partly daylight basement as it was built on a slope.

    A living area with a living room, dining room, kitchen, half bathroom and entry hall topped the basement level. Upstairs were 3 bedrooms and a full bathroom. a steep roof topped this home.

    Luise in front of the brick house Thomas built for them

    Albert’s Brick House

    The brick walls he built for my family held up a different sort of house, although this house also sat on a slope. We had a great view of Lake Washington from this house.

    Both Thomas and my father, Albert, worked on building this house. Thomas lay brick early in the day. Albert worked in the late afternoon and evening after his day job at Boeing Company.

    Sometimes the neighbor who lived directly behind this building project. Thomas told this man named Edward Kennedy that the finished product would be a two-story house with a peaked roof.

    One evening, while my father worked on our house, Edward came over asking about the thickness of floorboards, the height of the walls and the size of the attic. Edward looked and sounded decidedly grumpy. My father didn’t know why. Then my father explained that this house was to be a one-story building with a flat roof. Albert showed Edward the building plans, Edward smiled broadly; he knew his view would still be there.

    After this, the old man laying bricks at Albert Lonski’s house site became known as a prankster and someone you shouldn’t play poker with.

    Thomas Lonski with his grandchildren.

    So, my Grandfather Lonski built the bricks wall for my childhood home. More importantly, he was there for me during my formative years.

    He took me on outings. If we ate out, we usually ordered French Dip sandwiches—his favorite.

    During these times grandfather would tell me about our Lonski family. I remember his facial expressions. When he said his mother’s name, Marianna Napontiac, he looked wistful. His mouth was soft, and his eye pupils widened.

    On the other hand, when Grandfather spoke of his father, Michael Lonski, his eyebrows came together, and his voice became louder. He said his father had once been Michael von Lonski. Because of problems with alcohol, he sold the “von” part of his name. Since von in German means from or of, could this mean Michael had owned land and sold his right to it?

    When Grandfather was young, his hometown in Poland, was Tuchel (now called Tuchola). He lived with his mother, father and seven brothers—John, Michael, Paul, Vincent, Franz, William (named for the Kaiser) and Joseph. He was a middle child, born on December 17,1880. In 1880, 3,066 people lived in Tuchel. He grew up hearing both German and Polish spoken in his household so was fluent in both languages.

    Military School

    Grandfather told me he was in the German army from 1902 to 1904.  There was compulsory military service for preteen boys in Kaiser Wilhelm’s army.

    A young Thomas Lonski at Military School

    When Gdansk Was Danzig

    He and his two brothers would visit the large port city of Danzig (now called Gdansk) when they were young men. They would roam the streets of this city by the Baltic Sea together looking for fun. Paul, born in 1877, was 3 years older than Thomas. Vincent born in 1882, was 2 years younger. Here is a photo of the three together.

    Vincent, Thomas and Paul in town before they went to Canada

    Switzerland

    He left home in 1910, he said, to avoid further military service. He found work in Switzerland as a tailor working as a cutter and fitter. I remember him talking about cutting many layers of wool fabric with extra-large scissors. I have the thimble he used from this job.

    Canada

    By 1913 he had migrated to Canada, obtained his British citizenship and lived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at Bose 1135. In May of 1913 his brothers Paul and Vincent met him in Saskatoon. they had in New York aboard the SS Zeeland. They had sailed from Antwerp, Belgium. These three young men Paul, a carpenter, Vincent, a plumber and Grandfather headed for Salmon Arms near Kamloops, British Columbia. They staked a land claim and built a cabin.

    Paul and Vincent returned to German Poland in December of 1913. Paul returned to a wife in Dusseldorf and Vincent to a brother, Joseph Lonski, who also lived in Dusseldorf.

    Grandfather stayed in Salmon Arms a while. He told my mother he lived with a woman there and left her rather abruptly. He went to Vancouver, B.C. where he met my grandmother, Anna Luise Taubert.

    Anna Luise Taubert

    Luise Taubert

    Grandfather said a friend named George wanted to talk to the pretty German girl working for the von Roons. The von Roons were Germans living in Vancouver, B.C., Canada while the political situation in Germany settled down. because George didn’t speak German and Thomas did. Apparently, the things my grandfather said to Luise caused her to take an interest in him. Around this time the von Roons decided it was safe to go back to Germany. Luise decided to stay in Vancouver; Grandfather thought it was because of him.

    Thomas crossed the border into the United States in 1816. Luise Taubert came to Seattle separately by ferry. They married at the courthouse in Seattle, Washington on April 18, 1916.

    Thomas lost all contact with his family. He always looked unhappy when he spoke of this.

    Climbing the Lonski Family Tree

    About 20 years ago, I started writing down information about my family on tree forms. I didn’t find anything beyond what Thomas wrote on his application for social security. His father was Michael Lonski. His mother was Marianna Napontiac.

    Then came the story of Camp No. 7, located in Tuchel and surrounded by the beautiful Tuchola forests. This was the forest Grandfather thought of when he hiked the trails around Mount Rainier close to Seattle.

    Prisoner of war camps were located in and near Tuchel in WWI. Camp No. 7 was a prisoner of war camp ran by the Germans. Poles, Italians, French, and British captured persons with imprisoned there. Conditions there were horrible and many died.

    At this time, I thought of genealogy as my hobby, It was supposed to be fun.

    Renewed Effort

    I revisited the Lonski family recently finding casualty list for German soldiers in WWI. The list (Verlustisten) named German and Austro-Hungarian soldiers who were dead, wounded, caught, missing or returned. I found 6 Vincenz Lonskis on this list. The Vincenz of Tuchel who died October 29, 1914 may have been Thomas Lonski’s brother. There were other men with the Lonski surname. There were 10 men named Franz Lonski, 11 named Johann Lonski, 5 named Josef Lonski and 1 named Paul Lonski.

    Then I started having war dreams. I again stopped looking.

    Thus, my grandfather, who had built the brick walls for our home, left me with another brick wall. It is the “I’m stuck” kind. But, I am extremely grateful he left Germanic Poland before WWI, knew and loved me and told me his stories.

  • Siblings

    Week 10

    To have an entire family group’s history laid out like the many dishes at a Turkish banquet occurs, but not often. For the Reynolds family, the stories were all there in Grandma Perritt’s scrapbook. I just provided the labels.

    The family I am referring to is the Edwin and Margaret Reynolds family. I will focus on their children who included Bessie Reynolds and her siblings.

    About a quarter of Frances Perritt’s holds newspaper clippings and photos of her mother’s siblings. Frances’s mother, Bessie Reynolds had six sisters and two brothers who lived to adulthood.

    I have in my possession an 8” by 6” studio photo taken by Davies photo studio located on Third and Morrison Street in Portland, Oregon. It was likely taken in 1917 when Louis Reynolds was visiting relatives in Portland before he took a job in New York.

    The Photograph

    The photo is labeled on the back thus.

                   1st row L to R: Aunt Mamie, Uncle Louis, Great Grandmother Reynolds, Uncle George

                   2nd row L to R: Aunt Bertie, Aunt Fannie, Bessie (Grandmother Goughler), Aunt Addie

                   3rd row: Aunt Tootie, Aunt Millie

    Reynolds Family

    I am confident one of Frances’s daughters labeled this photograph. I know this because of the relationships mentioned. Rose and Betty’s great grandmother, Margaret Ferguson Reynolds, in the front row is easily recognizable from her other photos. The aunts and uncles would have been great aunts and uncles to Rose and Betty.

    In 1969, Millie and Mamie were still alive at the ages of 83 and 78. I remember meeting them outside Calaruga Terrace in Portland, Oregon when I was dating my future husband.

    Because of Grandma Perritt’s scrapbook, I feel I knew these people. It has been an invaluable resource in my search for stories about the Reynolds, Cabells and Fergusons.

  • Bessie’s Recipe Book

    Week 48-Family Recipe

    Mac Goughler and Bessie in living room of Portland home. Mac was Bessie’s last husband.

    I met Great Grandmother Goughler and two of her younger sisters in the summer of 1969. This lady, Bessie Reynolds Cabell Curtiss Goughler, was the great grandmother of my fiancee, Craig Foster. The showing of my engagement ring somehow reminded her of the men she had loved and married.

    Bessie said,

    Do not to grow too attached to Craig as it has been my experience that husbands died. I found another. I married three and I outlived them all.

    Later on, I lived part time with Bessie’s granddaughter, Rose Foster, while my husband served in the army. When the topic of ancestors came up Rose would talk about the Coursens and the Cabells. The Coursens were from her father’s side. The Cabells were from Frances Perritt’s side. She said her grandfather, Edgar Coursen played the pipe organ for 43 years at the First Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon. The Coursens did not drink. As for the Cabells and her grandmother Bessie, Rose said they made bathtub gin. I did not find this recipe in Bessie’s recipe book.

    Bessie Cabell Curtiss Goughler’s Recipe Book

    Among the family papers and other items, I inherited from Grandma Perritt was a loose-leaf leather receipt book. Bessie used it for a recipe book. Bessie typed the individual recipes into 3 and 1/2” by 7” paper stencils and mimeographed copies. Bessie wrote recipe for Plain Cake and her clear distinctive handwriting. Bessie had a stylized way of forming the number 2. She started out with a little loop. I know this because I have her letters and all the 2s have loops at the beginning.

    As an illustration, here is her recipe for Plain cake written in cursive with a loopy 2.

    Bessie’s Birth

    Bessie, born to Margaret and Edwin Reynolds on November 30, 1874, in Baker City, Oregon, was a middle child. George, Addie, Frances and Bertha came before her. Margaret Stewart, Mildred, Louis and Mary Lydia came after her.

    The Ferguson Family Bible entry for Bessie reads, “Bessie Ferguson Reynolds girl baby November 30th 1874.”

    First Husband-John Breckenridge Cabell

    Bessie Ferguson Reynolds married John Breckenridge Cabell on August 23, 1893, at 8 pm in the evening. The Ceremony took place in the Baker city Episcopal Church Rev. Isaac Dawson officiated. She was only 18 while John was 43.

    John and Bessie had two children before John died on September 6. 1901.

    The Next Five Years

    The next five years treated Bessie poorly, ending with the death of her father, Edwin Reynolds on September 1, 1906. These years saw Bessie poor and living with family members in Baker City.

    In March of 1904, she took her younger sister, Millie Reynolds, and her son, Rudy, to Portland, Oregon to look for work. In Portland, Bessie Millie and Rudy lived in a room located at 6th and Madison Street. This was not far from where Millie found a job at one of the oldest department stores in the west. This store, Olds and King, was located at 5th and Washington Street.

    Her 8-year-old daughter, Frances Cabell, traveled to Juneau, Alaska, with another sister of Bessie’s, Margaret Reynolds Russell. Frances spent an adventurous 8 months there living with her Aunt Tootie and Uncle Ed Russell.

    Second Husband—Arthur Marshal Curtiss

    Shortly after the loss of her father, Bessie remarried.  Arthur Curtiss, older than Bessie by 4 years, had worked as a blacksmith in Baker City.

    Since they both lived in Portland they married in Portland on December 9, 1906. Here is a clipping from Grandma Perritt’s scrapbook.

    Sadly, this marriage ended in 1916. Arthur died on April 26, 1916, in Portland, Oregon.

    Hawaii

    Bessie voyaged to the Hawaiian Islands in October of 1917 to see her first granddaughter, Rose Coursen. The 6-month-old Rose, the first child of Frances and Raymond Coursen, lived with her parents, on Maui Inland. Frances had married Raymond in May of the year before. Bessie spent 3 months in this scenic spot. Here she got to know her granddaughter before she returned to the mainland on January 19, 1918.

    Bessie Curtiss and her granddaughter Rose Margaret Coursen

    Third Husband–George “Mac” Goughler

    In October of 1918, she married Mac Goughler, a printer in Portland.

    In October of 1918, she married Mac Goughler, a printer in Portland and the owner of The Daisy Press. Bessie was married to Mac Goughler about 30 years. The 1920 U.S. census records show George, Bessie, Rodolph. Helen, George’s daughter from his first marriage, was in this Multnomah County census record.

    Mac died on January 19, 1950. This time Bessie did not remarry.

    Last Year of Life

    She attended our wedding event where her grandson and I were married in December of 1969. She died a year later on December 7, 1970.

  • Isaac Roberts Migrates

    Week 8–Migration

    OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

    A number of Frances Perritt’s relatives migrated to the Oregon Territory in the 1850s. The Isaac Roberts family, being among this group came west with Blunt’s wagon train of about 200 wagons. They traveled in what is known as a prairie schooner made of wood and covered with a canvas trap. Oxen pulled their wagon. When they began their journey in April, their family included Isaac Roberts, his wife, Katharine, and his children, James Bruffey, Emily Catherine and Samuel Houston.

    From their home in Independence, Missouri, they anticipated a trip of about 2,000 miles. Isaac had not picked their final destination. It was to be either northern California to look for gold or the fertile Willamette Valley where they could make a donation land claim and farm. At the beginning of the trip, they were leaning toward the looking for gold opportunity.

    Edwin C. Roberts, the grandson of Isaac’s, describes their journey as long and hard.

    The original intention was to go to California but when they reached Eastern Oregon their stock was poor, their wagons were becoming worn out and all their equipment was badly run down, so they came on (to Oregon) and to The Dalles. General Grant, then a young Lieutenant at the time came out to meet the train.

    The Roberts were among the settlers who arrived in Portland in 1850. They are listed by name in this newspaper article.

    The Morning Oregonian, Friday, December 4, 1925

    Emily is listed with the names beginning with G as Griffin, Mrs. Emily Catherine Roberts. The others in this family are; Roberts, James B.; Roberts, Samuel Houston; Roberts, Isaac; Roberts, Mrs. Elizabeth (Connor).Elizabeth was substituted for Katharine in error in this article.

    Time in Portland

    On December 9, the 1850 census was taken in Portland City, Washington County, Oregon Territory. The Roberts family lived in dwelling 150. Isaac is listed as a blacksmith. Here is a snippet of this record.

    He made cutlery and edged tools. Earlier that year Isaac had purchased land from Colonel W. W. Chapman at the cost of about $800. These 5 lots were bounded by Fourth, Fifth, Columbia and Clay Street. This block is near to where the Keller auditorium is now in 2022.

    He built the first house in this block during that winter. In 1850 a twenty-eight-year-old man named George Gibson lived with the Roberts. His occupation was listed as a joiner. Joiners fixed wood pieces together without using nails or screws. They often did finish work on houses – door frames, window frames, shutters, fireplace surrounds and built-in cabinets. Isaac’s house needed this type of work in the winter of 1850.

    The Roberts helped build and attended the Taylor-Street Methodist Church. Emily, James and Robert sang in Portland’s first church choir. The choir was directed by Emily’s beau, Dr. Edward Henry Griffin. Emily and Edward’s wedding vows were exchanged at this church on October 26,1851.

    To the Willamette Valley

    In 1852, Isaac and Katherine moved farther south to the Willamette Valley. They took out a land claim near Shedd, Linn, Oregon. He settled at what is now called “Roberts Bridge” on the Calapooia, right in the center of the valley. 

    Robert’s Bridge, Linn County, Oregon

    In the 1860 census, Isaac is listed as a blacksmith. It could be that more of his income came from his metal work than from his farm work.

    When Isaac and Katherine left Portland in 1852, James Roberts and Samuel Houston Roberts came with them. They were still with them in 1860. James age 29, was a farmer and Samuel age 21,was a carpenter.

    James farmed his own homestead of 320 acres. His claim adjoined his parents’ claim. 

    Emily (Roberts) Griffin and her husband Edward Griffin homesteaded a 640 acre claim next to her parents claim.

    Emily had this to say about her family’s homesteading.

    Father and mother took up a donation land claim 10 miles south of Albany and, they were anxious for us to take up a section also, so we moved to the claim adjoining theirs. My husband put out the first big orchard in Linn County. In those days raising Spanish cattle and wheat farming were about the only activities ranchers were engaged in. They had no gardens and rarely raised any vegetables. After nine years on our ranch, we moved to Albany, so where the children went to school.

    Here is a map showing the boundary lines of Donation Claim Sections. This is original Plat on file in the Oregon City office of L. T. Bann, Register. The date was 24 Feb 1881. It shows Isaac and Katherine Roberts claim as well as James Roberts claim and Emily and Edward Griffin claim.

    Map of Roberts Claim, bottom left

    Death

    Isaac died September 6, 1860, on his land claim at Robert’s Bridge, Linn, Oregon. His obituary published in the Pacific Christian Advocate reads:

    Obituary-Died at his residence in Linn County on the 6th inst., (6 Sep 1860) d; Isaac Roberts, in the 63rd year of his age.

    He is buried in Sandridge Cemetery located near Lebanon, Linn, Oregon, USA. his white marble head stone reads:

    “Isaac Roberts; born in New York, July 17, 1798

    Died in Oregon, Sept. 6, 1860,

    A kind husband and loving father,

    A friend to man, a believer in God and his revealed word.”

  • Howard Melvin Shelton Foster

    Week 9–Family Secret

    Howard Melvin Foster at Jefferson , Oregon in 1986

    On the whole, Howard Foster did not display secretive qualities. He willing talked about any topic that came up. He answered questions about himself in detail. If he didn’t know the details he filled in the details. The only thing he knew about his birth grandfather father was the name, John Lawrence Shelton.

    Howard Melvin Foster, a glass half full person, was my father-in-law. Also, he was Grandmother Perritt’s son-in-law. I spent some time with him and my mother-in-law, Rose. This was when my husband was in the army, stationed in Shemya, Alaska. My obstetric doctor practiced medicine in Portland, Oregon where my in-laws lived.

    Being the positive person Howard was, he was not about to share the unhappy parts of his life. If something bad had happened he quickly forgot about it.

    Being the nosy person I am, I asked questions about his life. If the event was good, I got detailed answers. If not, I got half answers.

    Howard’s Brother Dick

    Charles Richard Foster, his half-brother, was born three years after Howard. They were close while growing up. Charles or “Dick” as the family called him, grew up to be an alcoholic. Howard grew up to be a family man with a house in the suburbs, a business of his own, a loving wife, two sons and a dog named Eagle.

    Dick, on and off the wagon, showed up at regular intervals, drunk and asking for money. Howard helped him until he broke with Dick when his boys were under five.

    I asked what happened to Dick. Howard said he thought he died sometime in the 1950s and his family lived in Silverton, Oregon. Years later, I was searching for a Charles Richard Foster and found him in a Silverton Phone Directive for 1997.

    Dick Foster, Spokane, August 1943

    Early Life

    A wild story about Howard’s early life came from his half-sister, Jean Wardian. How Howard came to have a half-sister, and two half-brothers is a different story I will tell now.

    Edna Naomi Miller fell in love with Carl Shelton in Portland, Oregon. They lived in the same Portland Ward. They were both in their early twenties. When Howard was born on July 31, 1914, in Portland, Oregon, Edna was 25 and Carl was 24.

    Back to the wild story, the first part is true. Auntie Jean, Howard’s half-sister, said Howard’s small family moved to a small logging community in the northeastern part of Oregon. They moved to Enterprise and Enterprise is where Carl died and is buried. I found his grave in Enterprise Cemetery. He had died July 24, 1915, just a few days before Howard ‘s first birthday.

    The wild part of this story involves the reason they moved.  Jean said, “Carl’s parents were well off, well known in the Portland music scene and were trying to get custody of Howard.”

    Howard Melvin Shelton at 3 months

    New Father

    Edna married again on June 10,1916 about a year after Carl died.  Howard grew up knowing no other father beside Charles Wallace Foster.

    The Fosters used Shelton as Howard surname in the 1920 U.S. census. Here it is for OK Gulch, Wallowa County, Oregon.

    1920 census showing Charlie Foster’s Family in OK Gulch, Wallowa, Oregon

     Using Foster as His Surname

    After Howard started school in Lewiston, Idaho, he used Foster as his last name. Here is the 1930 U.S. census from Mount Pleasant, Skamania, Washington.

    1930 census showing Charlie Foster’s family in Skamania county, Washington

    A Problem Develops Later in Life

    In 1963 Howard needed a name change. He went through the Multnomah County circuit court system to change his name.  His birth certificate named him Howard M. Shelton. In life people and institutions call him Howard Melvin Foster.

    He graduated from Fort Vancouver High School as Howard Foster.

    He studied for four years at Reed College as Howard Foster.

    He married Rose Coursen on June 3,1940 as Howard Melvin Foster.

    His two boys carried the surname of Foster.

    His printing business was called Balwin-Foster Printing Co.

    As a scout master from 1961-1965 he was known as Howard Foster.

    He served his country in WWII and separated from the army as Private First-class Howard M. Foster.

    I don’t know the immediate reason he needed to do this in 1963. I do know his church was planning a group trip to Israel and Rome. Howard would need a passport for this trip and a birth certificate with the name he had used for 45 years.

    Certificate of Change of Name

    On April 2, 1963, Howard Melvin Shelton, on his own behalf, petitioned the Circuit Court that his name be changed from Howard Melvin Shelton to Howard Melvin Foster. On April 29, 1963, his name was changed, and an official Certificate of Change of Name was issued to Howard.

    Going Ahead to 1972

    Moving ahead, I spent more time with my in-laws in Portland waiting for the baby. During my last month of pregnancy, my obstetrician wanted me to cut out my trips between Seattle where my parents lived and Lebanon where my grandmother lived. Being consigned to Portland, I had more chances to ask Howard about his life. He didn’t want to talk about his experiences in WWII.

    Years later, going through Howard’s papers, I found his separation papers containing a summary of some of what he did. I was impressed. I don’t know if he didn’t talk about this last assignment because he didn’t want to, or he wasn’t supposed to. Here is the quote from his separation papers.

    Title-Description-Related Civilian Occupation

    Master, Ship: Served with 329 Harbor Craft in European Theater of Operations. Served aboard General McNarney’s private yatch. Was second in command of the boat. Drew all rations and supplies to be used. Acted as purchasing agent and bought on the civilian market. Supplies to be used that couldn’t be secured through the army.

    At the time Howard was the Ship Master of this yatch, General Joseph T. McNarney was commanding general of the United States Army Forces, Mediterranean Theater. Howard separated from the army on March 17, 1946.

    Howard Foster, center and army friends oversea on leave in France. Taken in 1944 or 1945.

    Granddaughter

    Then my daughter was born on a hot day in August of 1972 in Portland, Oregon. The grandparents had time to bond strongly with this new human.

    In February of 1973, my husband came home from Shemya, Alaska. Soon after we headed to Fort Devens, Massachusetts where my husband finished his enlistment.

    The grandparents were grieved with our going. This suggests the emotions in the family legend of Howard’s parents taking Howard away from his grandparents about 58 years ago.

    We did come back to Oregon, living and working about 50 miles south of Portland. Howard and Rose attended their granddaughter’s wedding in 1998.

    Howard died on December 27, 2000, in a care home in Portland, Oregon. We buried him in Skyline Memorial Gardens in Portland, Oregon. He has a flat bronze veterans headstone marker.

  • Fanny’s Letter

    Fanny’s Letter

    Week 7–Letters and Diaries

    About 30 years ago when Tom Hambright was working as a curator for the Key West Art and Historical Society. He found some old letters Ferguson letters written in 1849 and 1850. In 2012 Mary Haffenreffer transcribed most of these letters. She published them along with her research about Ferguson family in the Florida Keys Sea Heritage Journal, Fall 2012 and Winter 2013. She sent me a copy of an earlier letter from Fanny Howes Ferguson to her second son Thomas Jefferson Ferguson. Thomas was living in Key West Florida in the 1840s. Fanny’s letter mentions 10 her children, informs Thomas of his upcoming sister Elvina’s wedding and mentions his cousin Cornelia Howes Higgins, daughter of Malchus Reed Howes. Fanny was planning the wedding of her oldest daughter, Elvina, to James P. Sanders and thinking about how much she wants Thomas and all her other sons to be there. Thomas is living in Key West, Florida a long way from Danbury, Connecticut where Fanny lives. In this letter, she gives news about Thomas’s other siblings- George, Daniel, Isaac Reed, Albert, Fred, William, Fernando and his two sisters Elvina and Fannie A.  She mentions her husband but not by name. She writes:

    Danbury Oct 29th 1840

    My Dear and long absent son,

    In the silent hours when labors and care is laid Aside and the rain pouring down in torrents I take up my pen to inform you of this situation of our family which perhaps never will interest no one but you. We have only 2 sisters left with us. George took Fernando last march to live with him till he is a man. George with his wife and 3 children and Fernando made us a long visit last summer, Daniel his wife and one child visit us frequently, they live in Norwalk. Fred & Elbert has not visited us this year, William lives in Miltown [apprenticed] to Mr. Crosly learning the shoemaker trade, he come to see us, and I regret to think that I can’t have it to say that Thomas visits us too, but you are separated far from us in a country where you are surrounded I fear with Indians, I frequently see accounts of their [?] in Florida, and it makes me shudder for fear I shall find your name among the sufferers, but you grant that I never may, I do feel to hope that you will someday come to visit us, last summer we looked forward with bright hope, and begun to anticipate the day when we should embrace you but going to the post office I found a letter there, which told us we must suspend that hope for one year, which caused tears to flow but was glad that we could hear particulars from under your own hand, of your business and situation, and that you intended to come Another year, it would be very pleasant to us, and no doubt it would to come if you could be here on the 19th of next month which is Thanksgiving not only thanksgiving but wedding day, tis expected that Elvina will be married on that day to James P sanders, I expect our relatives all will be present and you are respectfully invited to attend(Elvina would like some of your Figs to treat her company with) Reed and Lydia A Lewis are chosen to stand up with them, you are perhaps would like to hear something about James, suffice it to say we are all pleased with him. We live where we did last year and your Father works at the hatting business, and is doing well, his health is good, and he is quite a reformed man, in the land of civil habits, I wish you to write as soon as you receive this and let us hear how you got along this summer. I hope you will not stay there and expose your life [?] and you all to the massacre of Indians, do come where you can lie down to sleep and not be in danger, this leaves us all well, our friends and relatives likewise. Cornelia Amanda Higgins with her little son 16 months old has visited us this summer, also her step mother from mobile, they met in New York and was to your brother George’s together, the evening is far spent and I must  draw to a close but not till I tell you that Alan Percy is married to Deborah Ann Heveland little you gave my love to Betsey, your housekeeper, and tell her I want she should look well to you and except for yourself the best wishes and prayers of your mother.                                                                                                                                    Fanny Ferguson

    Fanny and Nathaniel

    Fanny and Nathaniel married in Fanny’s hometown of Southeast, Putnam, New York on March 16, 1811.

    They called their first son George Washington Ferguson; the second they named Thomas Jefferson Ferguson. For the third son they used a typical Scottish naming pattern. They named this one for Fanny’s father, Daniel Howes. Their third son was called Daniel Howes Ferguson. When the gold fever struck- four of Fanny’s sons wanted to go. Thomas, Daniel and Albert journeyed to California to find gold. Only two returned, Albert died in San Francisco.

    Less than a year after Fanny wrote the letter, Nathaniel died at their home in Danbury. He died on November 9, 1846 in Norwalk at the age of 70. Only her youngest daughter, also called Fanny, was still at home. Fanny A. was 8 when Nathaniel Ferguson died.

    Road Block

    Fanny and her daughter, Fanny A, lived in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut in 1850. This is where I found the surname, Meeker for Fanny.

    Several years later, I found a marriage announcement in the Republican Farmer, a Connecticut newspaper.

    On October 15, 1843, in Connecticut, USA, Mrs. Fanny Ferguson married Joseph S. Meeker.  Above is an 1843 news clipping from the Republican Farmer referring to Fanny and Joseph’s marriage in Norwalk. Joseph died November 2, 1846 in Norwalk, Connecticut.

    She was still using the last name of Meeker in 1870. She lived with her sister, Esther Ryder and her brother-in-law in Danbury. Fairfield County, Connecticut. Here is a snippet of the 1870 census for Danbury.

    A final Trip

    Fanny died April 30, 1879 while visiting her daughter Fanny A. Stewart in Davenport, Iowa.

  • E.W.Reynolds-Thrills & Chills

    Week 6–Surprise

    Edwin Reynolds

    Early 1900s

    Baker City, Oregon

    The Envelope-A Thrilling Find

    I found an envelope glued onto a page of Grandma’s Perritt scrapbook soon after the scrapbook came into my possession. The envelope, labeled Wesley Papers, contained an affidavit from Rulough J Dutcher. The affidavit was typed on yellow paper and copied from the original. Finding this thrilled me as this was oldest paper in Frances’s scrapbook. The original bore the date August 25, 1879 and location of Otsego, New York. It starts like this.

    Summary

    I, Rulough J. Dutcher, of the village of Richfield Springs in said County, certify and declare, that I am the only survivor of the children of Cornelius Dutcher. I was born at Granville in Washington County in the state of New York, and am now sixty nine years of age. Mary Dutcher, a daughter of my father by a former wife was ten years older than myself.

    He goes on to said the Dutcher family moved to Cherry Valley, Otsego county in 1820. Mary married Smith Reynolds here in 1822. Smith Reynolds died in 1826, after which Mary traveled to Albany, New York to live with a sister. Mary meet James Edwin Reynolds, a widower, in Albany. They married in February of 1834 and came to Cherry Valley where Mary had two children. Her son, Edwin Wesley was born in October 1837.

    How James Wesley Left Mary Dutcher

    The surprising part of this story is that James wasn’t there for the birth of this son, Edwin. By the summer 1837, James lived in Canada with his new wife, Lucy Pennell.

    The oldest son of James Wesley and his third wife, Alfred Z. Wesley wrote to Bessie Reynolds Cabell Curtiss in 1912 telling her something about why James E. Wesley left Cherry Valley, New York. He wrote:

    Mr. Dutcher (Rulough) must have made a mistake in dates (the date of Edwin’s birth in 1837). Father (James E. Wesley) told mother that he had trouble with this man Dutcher, and he left there (Cherry Valley). They were in the blacksmith business, and Dutcher was cheating him.

    Rulough Dutcher did make a mistake the birth order of Edwin’s and Mary’s children. Their daughter was born first. Later census reports (1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900) are consistent with the year 1837 being the year of Edwin’s birth. The 1840 U. S. census reports that Mary Wesley had two children under 5, a boy and a girl. Assuming these children were born two years apart, their births would be in the 1835 to 1837 range.

    In this same letter from Alfred to Bessie Alfred wrote of his father’s marriage to his mother.

    …Now dear, my sister has my mother’s marriage certificate where she was married in Mill Village, Queen’s Co., Nova Scotia, by Rev. Moody, pastor of the Episcopal Church of Liverpool, N. S., on the 3rd of July, 1837 and on the 12th day of October,1838, I was born. The Rev. Moody christened me and was my God father. He lived to be 95 years of age, and I remember him well. After me came five sisters, Emma, Ellen, Cassie, Jessie and Fannie. Father’s son by his first wife was Friend Charles. Wesley and his daughter was Merceilla. My stepbrother and sister were born in Albany, N. Y. His first wife was Nancy Smith, a native of Macclesfield Eng. We are directly descended from the Rev. John Wesley in America. Father had a heavy scar on one side given by his brother John when boys with a hatchet. My brother (Friend Charles Wesley) died in Halifax when I was 9 years old and Merceilla in 1875. Hoping these lines will find you all well, and with love to mother (Margaret Reynolds) and all my nieces and nephews. I am your loving old Uncle T. Alfred Z Wesley.

    So, James Edwin Wesley married Lucy Pennell in Nova Scotia. Edwin Wesley was born in Apple Valley, New York 3 months later.

    I don’t know why James Wesley left Mary Dutcher Reynolds Wesley in the short time before Edwin’s birth. As a result of this abandonment, Mary went back to using her first husband’s surname, Reynolds. Edwin Wesley became Edwin Reynolds.

    Oregon

    Little more is known about Edwin’s early life. We know he came to Oregon in 1856 at the age of 19. He spent three years steam boating on the Columbia traveling between Portland and The Dalles.

    Eight years later, Edwin Reynolds married Margaret St. John Ferguson at the Portland home of the Daniel Ferguson family. Her mother, Jeannette, and her brother, James Ferguson, were witnesses. March 2nd was the day. The Ferguson family bible records it this way,

    Edwin W Reynolds and Margaret were married in Portland, Oregon the year AD 1864 by the Rev Mr. Cornelius, a Baptist minister. 

    First Home

    Margaret and Edwin moved into their first home in Auburn shortly after they married. During the first few years of their marriage Auburn was the largest town in Eastern Oregon. It was the first county seat of Baker Country. Edwin Reynolds ran one of the twenty stores here, a Hudson Bay Company store. Their home was one of about a thousand which dotted the landscape around this booming gold mining community.

    Two children were born to the Reynolds while they lived in Auburn. George Putnam Reynolds was born on October 15, 1864, at Auburn. Addie Jeannette Reynolds was born October 15, 1864, in The Dallas, Wasco County, Oregon.

    Shortly after Addie’s birth the Auburn gold mine pinched out. The family moved to the nearby town of Baker City where they settled and raised their family.

    Baker City

    Edwin’s first business in Baker City was an express office. He ran this ad in the Oregonian for between 1867 and 1872.

     

    Miles F. Potter in his book about early gold mining in Oregon listed some of Baker City’s first business establishments. One was Reynolds and Ferguson’s express office.

    The Wells Fargo part of Edwin Reynolds express business involved gold dust and mail. Baker City, a mining town, needed employees who would handle robbers. Another part of this job was exchanging, storing and transporting gold.

    In 1874, Edwin served as city recorder, filling out the term of W.J. Eastabrook who had resigned. The next year Edwin lost his city recorder post to J. M. Shepherd even though the editor of the Bedrock Democrat supported him and wrote, “Mr. Reynolds is a good scribe and a first-rate accountant”.

    In 1887 the Baker City water committee undertook solving the problem of supplying water to the town. In November of 1889, Edwin Reynolds was appointed water superintendent and held that position until 1891. At the end of this appointment Mayor McCord addressing the city council said this in thanking Edwin.

    Our city water system is not on a paying basis (there were no charges for water). We have good wells, reservoir, pump, boiler and appliances; also, about 7 ½ miles of water mains and 71 fire hydrants.

    Children

    Edwin and Margaret had seven more children. They were Frances, Bertha, Bessie, Margaret Stewart, Mildred, Louis and Mary Lydia.

    The Chilling End

    The abrupt end of Edwin’s life came as a shock. This event at the end of Edwin’s life shocked Oregonians as this event was widely reported in the papers.

    At the Oregon State Archives in 2000, as I searched for Reynolds death records, I found Edwin’s. It listed the cause of death. “The cause of death was as follows: prussic acid poisoning(self-administered). Other information on this record is:

    Place of death: Portland, 362 Third; Married; Father, Jas. Edwin Wesley; Father’s birthplace, England; Maiden Name of Mother, Dutcher, Date of Death, Sept 1, 1906; Burial Lone Fir Cemetery; Date, Sept. 4, 1906

    Afterthought

    Edwin had been ill for at least 3 years. He and Margaret had recently moved from Baker City to Portland, Oregon. They lived at the Iris Hotel where he died.

    Edwin thought he had liver disease. He had watched his son-in-law die a slow death of this illness in 1901. He did not want the same ending.

    Edwin Wesley Reynolds was a hard working, intelligent, civic-minded family man; but he was not patient.

    Taken on 23 December 2010 at the Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland, Oregon

  • Tootie Reynolds

    Tootie Reynolds

    Week 3– Nickname

    Nicknamed “Tootie”

    To carry the nickname “Tootie” seems paradoxical for this Alaskan pioneer who with her former husband founded the Daily Alaska Dispatch, Alaska’s first daily paper.

    Frances Cabell called Margaret Reynolds Russell, a sister of her mother, Aunt Tootie. When Margaret became Tootie to her family is unknown; it probably happened early in her life. She was born on April 5, 1877, to Edwin and Margaret Reynolds in Baker City. Her older sister, Bessie, who was born about 2 and ½ years earlier, would have been curious about the new baby. Maybe Bessie mispronounced Margaret’s name. More likely the delightful little noises the baby made caught Bessie’s attention and Margaret Stewart Reynolds became Tootie. As an adult, Margaret even signed her letters to Bessie as, “your loving sister Tootie.”

    Juneau, Alaska

    On February 15, 1898, Margaret Reynolds married Edward Crawford Russell in Seattle, Washington. As a result, she started going by the name, Mrs. Ed C. Russell.

    In the same year, she and Edward “took a printing press to Alaska… and after issuing a weekly(newspaper) for a time, they bought another weekly in Juneau and published it as a daily. This paper, the Daily Alaska Dispatch, grew and thrived under their care. Edward was the editor, and Margaret took care of business details. In August of 1900 she traveled to Seattle to find a new foreman for the print shop.

    Looking After Frances

    Margaret and Ed did not have children of their own, but they did like children. In March of 1904, Margaret’s sister, Bessie, needed someone to look after her 8-year-old daughter, Frances Cabell. So, on March 3. 1904, this item appeared in the Daily Alaska Dispatch. It read, Mr. and Mrs. Ed. C. Russell returned on the Cottage. Miss Frances Cabell, a niece of Mrs. Russell, accompanied them to spend the summer in Juneau. Frances spent the spring summer and fall with her aunt and uncle in Juneau.

    During the time Frances lived with her Aunt Tootie and her Uncle Ed, she wrote letters. She wrote to her mother in Portland and her uncles and aunts in Baker City. She wrote about her Aunt Tootie’s activities.Tootie washed clothes by hand, prepared meals, read the Dispatch and talked to neighbors and returning ship captains.

    One thing Aunt Tootie particularly enjoyed was buying and wearing hats. She bought large hats with wide brims- hats that would add height to a woman’s frame as well as being decorative. Keeping one of these hats on her head was difficult. Often the hat needed to be secured with hat pins as long as 12 inches.

    In late April, Aunt Tootie even bought Frances a hat which Frances promptly wore to church on Sunday.

    Sometime in October of 1904, Aunt Tootie took Frances home to her mother in Portland. Tootie didn’t return to Juneau until December. An item in the Dispatch, dated December 6, 1904 reads,”Mr. and Mrs. Ed C. returned…Mrs. Russell spent the past two months visiting with relatives in Portland.” 

    Selling the Dispatch and After

    Two years after the Russells returned Frances to Portland, they sold the Daily Alaska Dispatch at a profit. Tootie sent a photo with a “X” marking the the spot where their newspaper office was located in Juneau.

    After selling, they traveled and their marriage fell apart. Exactly when they separated is unknown.

    In 1920, they lived separately. Ed lived in a boarding house in Seattle working as a journalist. On the 1920 census record he said he was married, so he may have remarried.

    At this time, Margaret lived in Portland, Oregon. She was divorced and working for a printing company. Later, she would run a small job printing shop. She died March 13, 1932, at her sister, Addie Reynolds Mack’s house.

    Remembering Margaret Stewart Russell

    Some people remember Margaret as the young woman who went to Alaska near the end of the Juneau Gold Rush. The first daily newspaper in Alaska was successful largely due to her business acumen.

    Frances remembered this woman as her Aunt Tootie who gave her as amazing Alaskan adventure. This Margaret with the ridiculous nickname of Tootie was someone the family put their arms around.

    Frances Perritt labeled all photos of Margaret as “my Aunt Tootie.” She even used Margaret real first name for her first child-Rose Margaret Coursen.