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Tag: writing

  • Written

    Week 49 -Written- Helen Wolfe Lonski (my mother)

    Well-chosen words, piles of poems, long letters to the editor of the local newspaper and stories scribbled on scraps of paper abounded. Helen Margaret Wolfe Lonski left these items in my care. That was a lot of written words to go through. She knew written words caused conflict.

    She wrote these two short poems about the responsibility people had to use words wisely.

    Responsibility One

    Every time your tongue’s unkind
    Something dies
    In another soul.
    If to healing words
    Voice is given
    Something shriveled
    Comes alive
    In another being.

    Responsibility Two

    Words wound,
    Words mend,
    Words hurt,
    Words heal.

    Even as a young child stories, books and words fascinated her. Growing up on a hop farm in Brownsville, Oregon. She did chores. She wrote about one chore she really liked.

    One of the fun jobs we had was keeping the cows out of the corn patch that grew in their grazing ground. Mother gave us a blanket and books. She packed us a good lunch in a basket. I got two shining dimes a day for my labor. The older children got more. How rich I felt with two small silver pieces.  One thousand dollars could not have been as much. When I saved $2.00 in dimes I took my family to the ice cream parlor for a treat. That store is still in Brownsville with its old crooked planked floor.

    Then Helen’s family consisted of her father, Bert Wolfe and her mother Edna Olsen Wolfe. Her two older siblings were Harry and Mildred.

    Helen had been born on December 26, 1917. Then the Wolfes lived on Bert’s hop farm near Independence, Oregon. They moved to Brownsville in 1920 where Bert established a new hop farm. Helen didn’t remember the Independence farm.

    One of Helen’ early memories was the sad one. The family buried Helen’s father, Bert Wolfe in the Brownsville Pioneer Cemetery in November of 1925. Helen wrote a poem about this. She called it,

    To A Father Asleep

    They told me Time would heal the wound
    That passing years would leave the mark
    Only Of a vague pain of thy gentle memory.
    They lied. I felt then only numbness and a strange awe
    That grownups usually indifferent, were suddenly kind.
    Taking us three children by the hand
    My aunt led us
    For one last look at your dear face.
    It seemed you were quietly sleeping.
    If I could but touch your hand
    I longed to tell you
    Of the letter that had come for you that day,
    The sadness of the dog, Laddie, since you went away,
    But the urgent pressure on my shoulder restrained me.
    My aunt spoke slowly
    "Your father was a man greatly beloved."
    She motioned toward a bank of flowers
    Making the air heavy with their perfume,
    White Lilies, gorgeous hot house flowers.
    I missed the honest gleam of buttercups,
    The homely glow of dandelions.
    Flowers that you had graciously accepted
    From small sticky fingers.
    Helen favorite grown up woman was the aunt in this poem who spoke slowly and held her hand. Helen wanted to be like this aunt, her mother’s only sister, Sigrid Olsen.  Sigrid received her nursing diploma from the College of Medical Evangelists at White Memorial School of Nursing in 1920. Helen Wolfe received hers from the  same nursing program in October of 1941. While Helen studied at Loma Linda campus in California, she happily wrote this poem.

    Laughter

    	Laughter is an elusive thing,
    	As hard to hold as quicksilver,
    	Bright, flashing through your fingers.
    	Glinting from many friendly voices
    	As sunbeams on granite cliffs,
    	And sparkling out from happy days
    	As moon light on moving waters.

    At White Memorial Hospital

    Here is a photo of her dressed in white to view a surgery.

    After a year of book studies at Loma Linda, Helen went to Los Angeles. She was a student nurse at White Memorial Hospital. While there, she did rotations. She didn’t like all the rounds as she implies in the next poem.

    L.A. County General, Hospital Before Antibiotics

    It seemed to me
    As up and down we walked
    These contaminated halls,
    That little bugs crawled in and out,
    And over all the walls.
    The floor it moved beneath our feet
    Almost of its own accord.
    Dread diplococcus and sporocysts
    Swat lustily aboard.
    The kids all yelled with a hearty will
    And resisted nose drops mightily.
    Vexed and perplexed, I endeavored to quell
    The noise that eddied around me.
    As I soothed their unhappy little noses
    Bathed their bodies, and changed their beds
    Life was full of big red roses,
    Howling kids, and 'coughs, and sneezes.
    Sorry, I regretted choosing nursing,
    When I landed on contagious diseases. 

    Helen graduated from White Memorial School of Nursing on October 1, 1941. She received a certificate from the California Board of Nurses Examiners stating she was a registered nurse.

    Brawley

    At the end of her nurse’s training, she went to work at a 6-bed hospital in Brawley. This private hospital served the Brawley Community in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1950, the larger Pioneers Memorial Hospital opened in Brawley.

    Helen received a letter from the California State Nurse’s Association. The postmark reads Brawley, California, 30 Sep 1942. The 610 Imperial Ave. address matches that of the Brawley Hospital.

     It was here that she met Albert. Before they dated each other they dated mutual friends. Albert Lonski did his basic training at Camp Elliott, near San Diego.  He, a marine sergeant, shipped out in November of 1942. Camp Elliott trained Marine recruits for the South Pacific.

    The Colorado Desert, Brawley’s location, had a tropical climate. Albert wrote to Helen. She answered in kind, and they exchanged letters throughout the war.

    Helen wrote this poem.

    Desert Night East of L.A.,California

    We see
    Night light soft and dim,
    On the white of the yuccas,
    Ten million bright stars,
    A round full moon
    Tangled in the tall pines.
    We hear
    The tiny tinkle of a small brook.
    The hillside holds its breath
    We dare not speak

    left, Albert and Helen in Brawley—-right, Albert’s wallet photo of Helen

    From Albert Stationed in the South Pacific

    Albert first sent this to Lebanon. Helen was in California with her mother, Edna Wolfe.

    The favorite letter Helen got form Albert reads.

    Dearest Helen, 
    Again, I find a few minutes to write you a few lines of my troubles. For the last couple of days it has been raining so much that we almost have to swim to and from our tents. The water is about 6 inches deep around our tent now and it is still raining. Oh, what I would do for a little bit of that California sunshine and a little bit of that moonlight with you. It's been 5 months since we left San Diego that November day and I haven't been with you, my love since that June day in Brawley, remember? I wish they would hurry up and finish this damn war so I could go back home to peace and quiet with you again. 
    By the way, I still think of you all the time and miss you very much. 
    This is a tropical hell hole without you; if you were here, it would be a paradise, my love. 
                                 I love you, 
                                 Albert

    Helen Goes to the European Front

    One reason Helen enlisted in the military was she hoping to be stationed close to Albert. She received basic training at Camp White in Oregon. She started here on January 13, 1944. On January 10, 1944, she became an army nurse and 2nd lieutenant. She saw duty in France, Le Mans and Charters. She arrived somewhere in England aboard the hospital ship, named Charles A Stafford in September of 1944.

    The journey from England to Normandy was difficult.

    The Tent Hospital

    This 1,000-bed tented hospital functioned as an Allied Military hospital. It operated between November 21, 1944, and April 5, 1945. After the April date Allied patients were transferred to other hospitals. The first few months at 170th General Hospital located near Le Mans, Normandy, France were cold, wet and uncomfortable. Helen arrived with the 83 nurses assigned to this hospital on November 13, 1944.

    Here is a description of early camp conditions from the WW2 US Medical Research Centre- Unit Histories- 170th General Hospital. The quoted information is from the Improvisation, procedures, equipment, manpower section.

    170th General- Le Mans, France

    Improvisations had to be made for the lack of certain equipment. Lamps were manufactured out of bottles filled with kerosene. Much borrowing from neighboring units had to be done to keep life from being miserable. The TAT (To-Accompany-Troops) equipment was hauled to the hospital site from the railway station.

    On 21 November, 404 patients were admitted, and there were still no ambulances for disposition and evacuation, the water supply was not yet declared potable, and electric lights were not yet installed. The coal allotment for December had been hauled in, and tents, stoves, and beds set up.

    Soon after the Hospital opened, a PW (Prisoner of War) enclosure was built, and before Christmas 250 German PWs and 28 French civilians were working in the Hospital Plant. It would not have been possible to efficiently run a hospital of this size with such a low T/O of personnel(T/O is short for Table of Organization and referred to a specified number of personnel). Forty (40) EM Enlisted Men) were tasked with guard duty alone. The 170th General Hospital had been operating under canvas since it opened on 21 November 1944, with the help of borrowed tentage.
    Unfortunately, only 8 wards had been winterized, and it took another three weeks before winterization of all the wards was completed. Stoves and fuel were now available, but there was no electricity. The unit managed to borrow one 30 KW (kilowatt) generator from the 19th General Hospitaland, after about two weeks, Engineers installed two of their own generators. No canvas repair kits were available, and as of 31 December, it was impossible to repair leaking tents. Lumber was missing, GC (Geneva Convention) Red Cross markers were nowhere to find, red and white paint was not made available. Circulating pumps could not be obtained, and therefore only one shower unit could be installed for the patients.

    The hospital staff had no accessible bathing facilities for three- and one-half months. The water was obtained from a 200-foot well on the grounds, and a concrete underground water tank of 15,000-gallon capacity served as the main storage tank. Individual washing was done by everyone, and there was no dry cleaning in the neighborhood. Everyone slept in his clothes, as it was too cold to undress without fires.

     Nurses had to keep wearing their class A uniforms, and had no sweaters, no leggings, no overshoes, other people missed overcoats, raincoats, and had no extra clothing. Luckily some extra combat clothing had been obtained on 7 November. Messing was improved after receiving ranges, but keeping food warm remained a problem, and the lack of certain items such as salt and pepper shakers and coffee cups caused problems when serving bed patients. There was a shortage of stovepipes, and there were insufficient personnel to operate everything, so, 60 PWs were employed in the three messes to help serve 1,500 to 1,600 people three meals a day. There was no concrete slab on the floors, no drainage gutters were provided, and dish washing facilities were totally inadequate …

    Around this time Helen and her tent mates had a run in with General George Patton. This is what Helen said about this meeting.

    A Chance Meeting With General George Patton 
    Into our tent stamped a big bluff man with general bars on his shoulders. He was yelling, “what is all that female underwear doing in my command, 3 miles from the front.” We (the army nurses) had saved rainwater in our helmets and some drinking water with which we washed our panties and brassieres in our helmets. Then we hung them with large safety pins from the outside tent ropes. These items were dancing in the breeze. They were all different colors, and I thought they looked interesting, but not military. It did show women lived here and women determined to keep clean.
    He hooked a thumb at me. “Where is she going all dressed up?”
    We did have our good uniforms in our bed rolls. I had been invited for a dinner and a shower at the navy outfit camped on the still mined Utah beach.
    He yelled, “Get a fence up with clothes lines and hide that female underwear. I don’t like the Navy washing our Army girls.”
    I went to a shower and good dinner at the Navy camp. He stomped away yelling, “Female underwear 3 miles from the front.” But in a soft low voice I heard, “They are certainly pretty.”
    We had good showers the next day.

    By the end of November living conditions were better. Helen sent this letter to her Aunt Sigrid telling her about camp life. This was a little before they cared for many patients.

    4 Nov 1944
    Dear Aunt Sigrid & Maudie,
    We’re still in our cow pasture. We’re quite comfortable now. All in getting used to it, I guess. I don’t wear all that extra clothing I did at first.
    Hope you’re not working too hard. I ‘m, not yet.
    I’m staying home tonight trying to write some letters.
    There seem to be always some plan to go out such as it is. We ate steaks the other night. We’re getting stubborn and won’t go out unless they feed us.
    I’m trying to write and talk at the same time.
    We don’t do anything but a little drilling now and then. We have our bed rolls now and are warm enough. We’re sort of acclimated now too, so I don’t wear so many clothes around. In fact, I go to bed wearing only one pair of flannel pajamas.
    Would you send me some calcium tablets. We don’t get milk, and my nails are getting brittle, we get good food now though.
    Love, Helen

    The End of the War

    V-E Day, May 7, 1945, saw the end of the war in Europe. Helen wrote a poem.

    No War Now

    Listen to the silence.
    Hear the quiet.
    Feel the mystic moon sighing.
    Now, there is no crying
    Tonight. The World is at peace.

    on January 1, 1946 Helen traveled to camp Philip Morris. This was a large Army staging camp near the port of Le Havre, France. From here she returned to Presidio of San Francisco near San Mateo in the United States.

    Helen and Albert

    Albert was already out of the service. He had separated from the United States Marine Corp in September of 1945. He attended engineering classes at the University of Washington in Seattle. In February of 1946, he visited Helen in San Mateo. They married on February 26, 1946, in Burlingame. Here is Helen’s wedding photo.

    Helen wrote two poems about love.

    Pulse of Independence

    Two hearts ought not to beat as one. 
    For if one stops, 
    The other stops too. 
    They should beat alone 
    So, when   lying close 
    They do not sing a single note, 
    But together they play a melody. 

    Circles
    Love is not pie 
    To be divided 
    And slices given 
    To friends and relatives. 
    My love for you 
    Is a full 360 degrees 
    That encircles you, 
    Front back and sideways. 
    You cannot turn away from it. 
    And if I choose 
    To love a few hundred other people, 
    It takes nothing away from you. 
    For my love is expandable.

    Helen’s mother and aunts in Lebanon, Oregon honored the new couple with a reception in the spring of 1946. Helen wore the dress a German prisoner of war had sewn for her in France. This tailor fashioned the dress from a white silk parachute.

    Old Marrieds

    Here is a photo of Helen and Albert taken in 1980. Their last abode was at 33063 Berlin Road, Lebanon, Oregon.

    I wrote a poem about them at this time in their lives.

    Old Marrieds

    By Jill Foster

    The old man builds with rock, wood and colored glass
    Drawing his projects before.

    The old woman plants her gardens
    With trillium, dog tooth violets and abandon,
    Sowing her seeds freely.

    Th old man gives great, lavish gifts
    Planning months ahead.

    The old woman sprinkles presents about
    Buying books for any child she knows.
    Giving tidbits of home cooked treats to stray pets and people
    And kind words all around.

    The old man loves with his hands and eyes,
    Touching and looking his feelings
    Saving his words.

    The old woman gives volumes,
    Poems, postcards, letters,
    Using words to create gentle bonds
    And insightful meanings.

    These two bound together by choice
    Apart in their ways, stand together
    Making their world
    A little better.

  • Water and Steamboats

    Part 3 of the Daniel Ferguson Story

    Frances Perritt, my husband grandmother, saved a clipping of her grandmother’s obituary. Her Grandmother, Margaret St John Ferguson Reynolds, was Daniel’s daughter. The part in the obituary about Daniel reads:

    Her father Daniel H Ferguson was a mill man and steamboat owner. In the early days and at one time he owned the dam where Oregon City locks are now located.

    The obituary of Louis P. Reynolds reads that “he was the grandson of the late Daniel H. Ferguson who was one of the principal owners of the Willamette Falls Canal and Milling Co. of Oregon City, in 1852 to 1853.”

    In my search for the owner of Willamette Falls Canal and Milling Co., I found several articles about Robert Moore saying he was the owner of this company. Then after much searching, I found a newspaper article In the Oregon Argus, dated August 21, 1858. This article explained the ownership of this company. But first a little background would be appropriate.

    Before Daniel bringing his family to Willamette Valley, he prospected for gold on the Yuba River in northern California. He and his brother, Thomas, had other business besides gold mining. One was investing in fast growing towns. Thomas wrote in a letter to his wife in Florida in April of 1850. He said “I have invested in Lindd <sic> City (Linn City, Oregon) one thousand dollars.”

    Daniel and Thomas were in business together. They referred to themselves as Ferguson & Ferguson or the Ferguson Brothers.

    So, Daniel had some dealings with Linn City a couple of years before his arrival in Oregon.

    The Main Water Ways of Oregon

    Before railroads came to the Willamette Valley, travel by steamboat was the main way to get between Astoria and Marysville. Shipping on the upper and lower Willamette was a profitable enterprise.

    Two river dominated Daniel’s life after he moved with his family to Oregon—the Columbia and the Willamette. The Columbia River separated Washington Territory from Oregon Territory when Washington Territory was established on March 2, 1853.

    The Willamette River flows through the Willamette Valley north from Eugene. The upper tributaries of the Willamette originate in the mountains outside Eugene.  On its way north to the Columbia River this river flows through the many Oregon towns. Some of these towns along the upper Willamette are Eugene, Corvallis, Albany, Salem, Newburg, Wilsonville, Oregon City, and Portland. It empties into the Columbia River at Kelley Point, Portland, Oregon. It is the 13th largest river by volume in the United States. The Willamette Falls is located between West Linn and Oregon city. It is the second largest waterfall by volume of water in the U.S.

    This large waterfall was an obstacle to steamboat travel on the Willamette River between the upper and lower river.

    Photograph of Willamette Falls in Oregon City, Oregon, from California Historic Society and USC

    Grass crops like wheat and rye did well in the upper Willamette Valley. The excess crops needed to be transported down the Willamette to Portland and beyond.

    Ideally transporting these excess crops on the river would solve the problem. The typical steamship was large and deep keeled. It couldn’t maneuver in the shallow water of the upper river beyond Oregon City. The Lot Whitcomb, built in Milwaukie, Oregon in 1850, ran on the lower Willamette. She traveled between Milwaukie and Astoria. Daniel planned to enter this new industry with boats designed for the shallower upper river waters. Getting the right design of steamboat was not the only problem.

    The other problem was getting the goods from the upper river to the lower river.  There was a 35 feet drop over Willamette Falls at Oregon City. A portage road around the falls existed at this time.

    Robert Moore’s Linn City

    Donation Land Claim Map 1852 Linn City and Oregon City from West Linn Historical Society

    Robert Moore’s Linn City (West Linn) was situated on the west bank of the Willamette River. Oregon City on the east side was directly across the river. In 1846, Linn City consisted of about 15 houses occupied by mechanics employed by Moore. They worked in his flour and lumber mills. His employees also ran a ferry which crossed the river to Oregon City. Moore also owned Willamette Falls, Canal, Milling and Transportation Company and a newspaper, The Spectator.

    Daniel Ferguson in Linn City

    When the Ferguson family came to Portland, they soon acquired a home there. Their house stood on 2nd Street, one door down north of Mill Street. It was close to the Willamette River. Soon after they were settled in Portland, Daniel started traveling upriver to Linn City. By 1853 Daniel even had living quarters on the hillside overlooking Linn City. Robert Moore lived nearby. By the time, this man was tremendously overweight, unhealthy and had debts.

    In December 1852, Robert Moore transferred the title and the land of this company to Daniel. Robert gained some capital and a promissory note. Daniel acquired a ten-year mortgage. Daniel was now the owner of the Willamette Falls, Canal, Milling and Transportation Company. He also owned the land where the Oregon City Locks are now located. Daniel’s ownership of these properties lasted only a few months.

     In January, 1853, he asked the provincial government of the Oregon territory for permission to incorporate this business. Then in March of that year he transferred the title and the debt to this new corporation. People referred to this company as the Willamette Falls Company, the Willamette Falls Canal Company, D. Ferguson Company and Messrs., Ferguson and Company.

    Daniel’s Building Projects at Canemah

    In June of 1853 Daniel ran this ad in The Weekly Oregonian.

    Wanted Immediately

    Twelve good drillers and blasters; Fifty good common labors, person used to quarrying and working rock; Six good carpenters, such as are used to working timber; Three good hands used to boating and rafting timber; Also One good blacksmith, one that is competent to do all kinds of black smith work.

    Constant employment and good wages will be given to such by applying to the office of the Willamette Falls Canal Company.

    Daniel H. Ferguson         Superintendent

    “Wanted Immediately,” Weekly Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 2 July 1853, p.3; digital images, GenealogyBank (http//:www.genealogybank.com

    Daniel wanted to build a breakwater. His men would dig a basin big enough to accommodate a steamboat while loading and unloading cargo. This work would be carried out at Canemah. Canemah was at the southern end of portage around Willamette Falls. It was used by native Americans as a takeout place for canoes before carrying the canoes around the falls. Here boat traffic from the upper Willamette River stopped. People and goods were unloaded and taken around the falls to Oregon City around the falls. Then they were loaded into another boat.

    Before Daniel left Canemah he and his men had built a sawmill, gristmill a warehouse, and a wharf.

    In August of 1853 Daniel Ferguson is praised by the editor of the Oregon Spectator. The article reads.

    At Canemah, within the past twelve months…Our neighbor too, Linn City is not behind in enterprise and good works. Under the energetic management of D. Ferguson and Company, a fine breakwater and dam are rapidly advancing to completion. Mills and warehouses are now framed and soon to be erected, all calculated to give unsurpassed facilities for transportation of merchandise above and below the falls together with magnificent water power which could drive all the mills of Lowell and Rochester combined. The work is built so far as we can judge, in the most durable and permanent manner, with great strength and on a judicious plan. Nature has done wonders for the locality, and Messrs., Ferguson and Co. are most ably seconding her labors.

    “Improvement,” Oregon Spectator, (Oregon City, Oregon) 26 August 1853, p.2 col 2; digital images; Historic Oregon Newspapers,(http://oregonnews.edu

    In the January 7th 1854, the editor of the Spectator again praises Daniel’s work in Linn City. The editor describes the breakwater Daniel is having built. The editor also describes a device Daniel is having built that will make unloading and loading the boats much easier.

    …The plan is admirable, and no giant power of water could have been more completely controlled and managed. The breakwater is some thirty rods cast from, and running parallel with the west bluff of the river, and continues near one-fourth of a mile up the river from the perpendicular falls, so that by a connection of the west bluff with the breakwater by a dam passing along near the brink of the precipice, the various designs and objects in view of water into are fully accomplished, viz: the reception of water into the harbor for the admission of steamers, and for the purpose of driving their and extensive saw and flouring mills and enable them  to exchange the lading from boats above and below the falls, loaded with the various products of the upper country, and those below laden with  goods, can come together and have their freight discharged by a timber built into cribs, which  are piled with stone and sufficiently covered with plank. The works are placed upon the solid rock and are as lasting and durable as the very hills. Ferguson and Co. are much applauded for the undertaking of that which seemed almost impossible…

    “For the Spectator,” Oregon Spectator, (Oregon City, Oregon) 7 January 1854, p.2 col 3; digital images; Historic Oregon Newspapers,(http://oregonnews.edu

    The Steamboats

    In 1851, the only way boating on the upper Willamette was by canoe. The trip to Salem and Marysville (Corvallis) was long, tiring and not practical for transporting goods.

    In 1853, four steamboats operated out of Canemah. They were the Oregon, the Wallamet, the Portland and the Belle. Daniel’s Willamette Falls Company, owned the Belle and the Oregon. In April 1854 ,Daniel planned to launch another steamboat that was being built at Canemah. This steamboat, the Gazelle, would run on the upper river between Marysville and Canemah.

    The Belle, which was already in service ran on the lower river. With the launch of the Gazelle the company would have three steamboats on the Willamette River.

    On March 4, 1854, Daniel puts this ad in the Weekly Oregonian.

    Notice to the Public

    The Willamette Falls Co. is now ready to receive and forward all kinds of merchandise, through their new warehouse, up and down the river. The steamer Belle, Capt. Wells, is running from Portland to the falls in connection with the steamer Oregon from our new warehouse to the head of navigation on the upper Willamette.

    The new steamer Gazelle, under the command of Capt. R. Hereford, will be ready to run in a few days.

    Charge for passing freight over the fall is $1 per ton.

    Passengers will be conveyed to and from Oregon City at all times with dispatch.

    D. H. FERGUSON, Superintendent

    Notice to the Public,” Weekly Oregonian, (Portland, Oregon) 4March 1854, p.5 Col. 1, digital images, GenealogyBank.com,  (http://www.genealogybank.com

    On March 11, 1854, Daniel puts this ad in the Weekly Oregonian.

    On March 18, 1854 the Gazelle made her first run on the upper Willamette with Capt. Robert Hereford at the helm.  A local newspaper had this to say about the run.

    The fine weather and good music tended not a little to enhance the pleasure of the ladies and gentlemen on board, and all were highly entertained and pleased. Her tables are laden with Oregon’s choicest productions, together with a select variety of imported fruit, etc. Who wishes for better accommodations, even in this Tyee day of Oregon refinement?

    “Gazelle (sidewheeler,1854)”, Wikipedia, Sept. 1, 2011, (http://en.wikipedia.org:

    In this description of the Gazelle’s first trip on the upper Willamette, the editor uses the term “Typee day. The term, “Typee day”, comes from a novel by Herman Melville called Typee and published in 1846. It means a relaxed and unhurried day. This is a high point in Daniel’s life’s work and is about to change. It would be a long time before Daniel had a Typee day again.