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
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.
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
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.
In 1900, many family letters traveled between Portland, Oregon and Baker City. John Cabell received treatments in a sanitarium in Portland for a liver ailment. Bessie Cabell lived in Baker City with her parents and their two children.
In Frances’s Scrapbook and collections, I found these letters. The letters tell how this family struggled to get back to their mountain home. This home was where Bessie began her married life and where their children spent their first years. They had married on August 23, 1893 at St. Stephens Church in Baker City.
Marriage record for John B. Cabell and Bessie F. Reynolds
In the beginning, they lived in a cabin on a mountainside, high above the gold mining town of Granite, Oregon. This particular spot held a place in the hearts of the John and Bessie Cabell. They lived there during the mining season. In the off season they lived in Baker City.
Their Cabin on the Mountainside
The large Baker City house standing at 1325 3rd Street belonged to Frances’s grandparents, Edwin Reynolds and Margaret Ferguson Reynolds. This is where Frances was born on March 8, 1896. Her father, John Cabell owned and worked a silver mine, La Bellevue, with his brother, Frederick Cabell. La Bellevue Mine was located at an altitude of 7,490 Feet in the Blue Mountain range. The nearest town, Granite, was a few miles down the mountain and at the level of 4,675 feet. John, Bessie, Rodolph and Frances lived in a small cabin downhill from La Bellevue Mine. People who spent the winter here were often snowed in. They got their mail about once a month and ate a lot of beans. John had spent winters in the mountains; but Bessie had not.
Nell, the sturdy mare in the photograph, transported the family from their cabin to Granite. In Granite, they bought groceries, got their mail and used the phone at Granite Grand Hotel. This photo shows John holding their first child, Rodolph on Nell, the horse, with Bessie looking at them. Bessie’s sister, Frances Cooke, is standing in the back. This photo was probably taken in the spring of 1895.
Letters from John
Then a long illness triggered two stays for John at Portland Sanitarium before he died on September 6. 1901. John Cabell wrote often to his young wife, Bessie Reynolds Cabell, during his time at Portland Sanitarium.
In John’s letters to Bessie, he called his son “My Rascal Rodolph. He called Frances the “Baby”.
On June 29, 1900, John wrote, “Tell my little rascal Rodolph not to run his legs off because he can’t have his Papa when he goes to the mine. Tell the baby she must think of her Papa every day.
During his stay at Portland Sanitarium, Bessie sent him this portrait photograph of Rodolph and Frances. The portrait, made by Parker’s Studio in Baker City, Oregon, owned by Roland and Viola Hazeltine Parker. Viola’s father, Martin Hazeltine, was an extremely successful land photographer and traveled throughout the West. He settled in Baker City and set up a studio there.
Frances, aged 4, and Rodolph, aged 6, are dressed in bows and frills. Frances, with her naturally curly hair and square face, smiled a quiet little smile. When I first met her 70 years later, she welcomed me with that smile.
Papa Plans to Come Home
In his August 9, 1900, letter, John calls Frances his little girl. He writes, “Tell Frances I am going to bring her a rocking chair.”
John expressed his longing for home and family in every letter. He wanted it to be their mountain home uphill of Granite. He began buying and sending items home– overalls, boots, a warm coat for Bessie and a mackintosh for everyone. The mackintosh he sent for Frances dragged on the ground.
Bessie complained; John replied, “Hem it up.”
Meet Me in Sumpter
The trip back to eastern Oregon involved a train ride on the Oregon Short Line from Portland to Baker City. From there he would catch the Sumpter Valley Railway from Baker City to Sumpter. Bessie was to meet John in Sumpter, arriving in her horse cart pulled by their mare, Nell.
In 1900, the narrow gauge Sumpter Valley Railway carried people and goods from Baker City to Sumpter. Then it traveled beyond to Prairie City. The Oregon Short Line Railroad offered service between Portland, Oregon and Baker City.
John outlined the plan in his letters to Bessie. First he would take the train from Portland to Baker City. Then, from there he would board the Sumpter Valley train to Sumpter. This train, pulled by a steam powered locomotive, traveled 60 miles with many stops. Sumpter where Bessie and the children planned to meet John, was about 29 miles from Baker City.
Many of John’s July letters gave Bessie directions on how to do this.
He wanted Bessie to practice driving the horse cart with Nell under the harness. He told her it would give her and the children a nice break from her parents. He reminded her Nell would need extra hay and oats for long drives and to hobble Nell at stops. Bessie found they needed a new cart and harness. They debated letting Bessie’s Eleven-year-old brother, Louis Reynolds, drive to pick up John alone and decided against it. Louis accompanied Bessie and the children to Granite on the first part of the journey to get John back.
They coordinated their arrivals through the telephone at the Grand Hotel at Granite and telegrams to Baker City. With the repaired harness and the new cart, they did it. The last 1900 letter from John sent from Portland Sanitarium arrived August 11, 1900. It was addressed to Mrs. J. B. Cabell, Granite, Oregon. Bessie had made it to Granite.
Mistake in the 1900 Census Numbers
The first time John was counted was at the Portland Sanitarium in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon. The date on this record is June 14, 1900. One of John’s earlier letters from this institution to Bessie is dated June 7, 1900. So, it would seem, John entered Portland Sanitarium in early June.
On June 18, 1900, Charles Stuller, enumerator for the 1900 U.S. Census survey for Baker City, Baker, Oregon arrived at the door of Edwin Reynolds house on 3rd Street. Here he counted nine people. They were Edwin Reynolds, Margaret his wife, Louis, Millie, Bessie Cabell, John her husband, Grandson Rodolph and Granddaughter Frances.
Two days later, June 20, 1900, another census taker counted John, Bessie, Rodolph and Frances. This time they were in the Granite City District of Grant County, Oregon.
Sadly, John returned to Portland Sanitarium about eleven months later in July of 1901. In August, Bessie, Rudolph and Frances followed him and were with him when he died on September 6, 1901.
Afterward
In 1985, a grandson, the son of the one John called my rascal Rodolph visited the cabin on the mountainside. This grandson, Rodolph Cabell, Jr. took a photo of what was left of the cabin.
On the back of this photo, Rudy, Jr. wrote remains of cabin in which John Cabell and Bessie (his wife) lived.
francescabellcoursenperritt.com 