Thursday, June 30, 2011

CLASS OF 68


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    [A transcript of the program for the graduation exercises of the Coulee City High School class of 1968, followed by the 1964 commencement program for Coulee City Elementary]

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              GRADUATION
               EXERCISES


                Coulee City High School

                                *

                            May Twenty-six
                           May twenty-eight
                Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-eight
                                 High School Gymnasium

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                                      Baccalaureate

     Sunday, May 26, 1968, 8:00 p.m. -- Coulee City High School

Processional -- "March of the Priests"

Invocation  --------------------------------------------- Rev. Donald Schwab

Scriptures -- Galatians 6:1-9
                       Romans 12: 9-21 --------------- Father Michael Simpson

Hymn ,  "Holy, Holy, Holy" ------------------------------------- Congregation

Address -- "The Need for Personal Responsibility" ---------------
        --------------------------------------------------Father Michael Simpson

Hymn,  "All Hail the Power of Jesus Name" ---------------- Congregation

Benediction --------------------------------------------- Rev. Donald Schwab

Recessional ---------------------------------------------- "Coronation March"

                           Accompanist, Rhonda Isaak

                                              *

                          GRADUATING SENIORS

Jane Aldrich                            Kathleen Bechtol
Warren Bolyard                      Michael Bise
Loreen Cox                             Kathleen Davis
Dan Dorlarque                        Janice Dormaier
Carol Edgemon                       Marvin Edgemon
Richard Hennigh                      Robert Houston
Larry Jensen                           Allen Jorgensen
Carol Killingsworth                  Marvin Miller
Stephen Miller                         Susan Nutt
Joseph Olin                             Gail Pitts
Merle Simons                          Samuel Taschereau
Susan Thompson                    Nick Thiry
Kathryn Vaughn

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                                      Commencement

     Tuesday, May 28, 1968, 8:00 p.m. -- Coulee City High School

Processional -- "Pomp and Circumstance"

Invocation --------------------------------------------------------Loreen Cox

Salutatory ----------------------------------------------------- Kathy Bechtol

Presentation of Awards --------------------------------------- Les Lillquist

Address ------------------------------------------- Dr. Homer Cunningham
                                            Professor of History, Whitworth College

Presentation of Class---------------------------------- Donald K. Gordon

Presentation of Diplomas -------------------------------- Don Thompson

Valedictory ---------------------------------------------- Carol Killingsworth

Class Song ---------------------------------------------------- Senior Class

Benediction ---------------------------------------------------- Kathy Davis

Recessional ----------------------------------------------------------- "Aida"

Accompanist ------------------------------------------------- Rhonda Isaak

                                              *

       Class Motto:  "May We Be The Answer; Not The Problem"

                        Class Colors:  Light Blue and White

                               Class Flower:  Gladiolus

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                        EIGHTH GRADE

                      COMMENCEMENT

                                1964



                            Coulee City

                            Elementary

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   1.  Processional - - - Rhonda Isaak

   2.  Flag Salute  - - -  Loreen Cox

   3.  Piano Solo - - - - Carol Edgemon

   4.  Class Will - - - - Steve Miller

   5.  Clarinet Solo - - - Jane Aldrich

   6.  Class Prophesy - - Kathy Davis

   7.  Piano Solo  - - - -  Joe Olin

   8.  Awards  - - - - - -  Mr. Culp

   9.  Class Song - - - 8th Grade Class

  10.  Presentation of Diplomas  - - -
                                - - - Mr. Riggs

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Graduates:

 1.  Linda Acton
 2.  Jane Aldrich
 3.  Kathy Bechtol
 4.  Mike Bise
 5.  Warren Bolyard
 6.  Loreen Cox
 7.  Kathleen Davis
 8.  Danny Dorlarque
 9.  Carol Edgemon
10. Marvin Edgemon
11.  Dick Hennigh
12.  Robert Houston
13.  Larry Jensen
14.  Allen Jorgensen
15.  Carol Killingsworth
16.  Marvin Miller
17.  Steve Miller
18.  Joe Olin
19.  Jeannie Pitts
20.  Merle Simons
21.  Sam Taschereau
22.  Nick Thiry
23.  Susan Thompson
24.  Kathryn Vaughn
25.  Linda Westphal

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             CLASS MOTTO

         A Good Education is an

            Arch to Build Upon


            Class Flower - Iris

      Class Colors - Blue and White

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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

SPEED IS PARAMOUNT

     [This article appeared in the Wenatchee World in 1934.]

Speed Is Paramount In Escavating For Foundations

     GRAND COULEE DAMSITE, Jan. 24.--The first of a series of information bulletins, which will be issued every week or 10 days by E. Paul ford, general superiontendent for David H. Ryan, excavation contractor, to those interested in the progress of the building of the Grand Coulee dam, reveals the equipment being used here at present.
     With the excavation project divided into two schedules, Ford has listed equipment according to the amount used on each side of the river.

          Machinery Listed

     Schedule No. 1, subcontracted by Goodfellow Brothers, Inc., of Wenatchee, is being handled with the following equipment:
     Two  F&H 1 1/2-yard Diesel shovels.
     One  Bucyrus-Erie E2 Diesel shovel.
     One  Doehring 301  1-yard gas shovel.
     Ten  8-yard International dump trucks.
     Four  White 5-yard dump trucks.
     One  60 caterpillar equipped with bulldozer.
     One  caterpillar road maintainer.

     Schedule No. 2 is using the following equipment:
     Two  Northwest No. 80 new 2-yard gas shovels.
     Thirteen Sterling 12 yard dump trucks.
     Nine  Auto Car 5-yard dump trucks.
     Two  75 Diesel cats.
     Two  Le Tourneau 12 yard carry all scrapers.
     One  35 Cat. equipped with McMillian hydraulic scraper.
     One 60 cat.
     One 30 cat equipped with a bull dozer.
     One 75 Diesel cat equipped with a bull dozer.

          Will Have 50 Trucks

     Ford declared that when work is in full swing, about 50 trucks would be employed here.  Five or six more Sterling trucks are scheduled to arrive from California today, Ford said.  The above list does not include smaller equipment, much of which is present at the damsite.
     The bulletin further explained that the official starting time of the job was fixed by the government as of january 2, 1934.  One hundred fifty days dating from that time, was allotted for the completion of the excavation with a $1000 a day penalty being fixed for each day required after June 2nd.

          One million yards of excavation on the west side is called for, and another
     million on the east side of the river, 2,000 yards of solid rock being included
     on each side.

     M. S. Ross of Los Angeles has subcontracted for 800,000 cubic yards of schedule No. 2 in so far as the loading of the trucks is concerned, and the hauling of this yardage has been let to McCutchen Transportation company of Los Angeles.  The balance of the east side excavation 200,000 has been lt to the Rowland Construction company of Seattle.
     "Due to the fact that quite a large amount of the equipment being used is strange to the operators in this section of the country" the letter reads "and due further to the fact that all employees are obtained as near to the site of the operations as is possible, through the National Reemployment Service, a large percentage of labor turnover has been necessary in order to select efficient and competent operators.  however, the crews are gradually being organized and in a very short time the operations should be up to a maximum of efficiency."

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

SALES BEGUN AT TOWN SITE

     [Unfortunately, many of the early clippings collected by my mother in the early 1930s were not well labled.  This article from the Spokesman-Review was most likely in 1933.]

Julius C. Johnson, Almira Banker, Offering Lots at "Franklin"--Lumber Yard In.

DRILLS TO CROSS RIVER

Lynch Brothers to Take Cores on East Side of Dam Site--Pits Seek Bedrock.

     COULEE DAM SITE, Wash., Oct. 27.--Among the towns springing up like mushrooms near here must be numbered that of Julius C. Johnson, Almira banker, who has his real estate shingle up at "Franklin," three miles away, on the floor of Grand Coulee.
     Mr. Johnson has platted 40 acres in town lots, which he is selling at $70 to $100.  Water for domestic purposes has been found at a shallow level and the promoter said that the reservoir to be established later under the reclamation plans will be just 100 yards from the "city limits."  A lumber yard is going in on the plot.

          Drills Dig Down.

     At the dam site proper today, Field Engineer C. M. Cole said he was well satisfied with the showings of the core drillers and test pit contractors.
     Lynch brothers, diamond drill contractors, Seattle, will move their equipment to the east bank of the Columbia river next week, said "Dusty" Rhodes, foreman.
     Set-ups for two 800-foot 45-degree angle holes and one straight hole in the river will be the next operations.
     The diamond drills have completed or are at work on nine holes of a total of 58 to be sunk.  Hole No. 71 is the deepest to date, 798 feet, with bedrock reached at 129 feet on a 45 degree angle.  That hole, near the shore line, is far below the bed of the river.
     [Table of Figures on Holes omitted here]
     All of the holes sunk so far are on the west side of the river.  Surveys of the holes to determine whether they are adhering to the angle are accomplished through the hydro-fluoric acid method.
     A small glass tube containing the fluid is lowered into thehole and left at a measured depth 25 minutes.  By that time it has etched itself into the glass sufficiently to be read by the engineers.  The precision of the drilliers is shown by the fact that none of the holes has been off more than a degree or two.

          Pits Seek Bedrock.

     Test pit hole A, far up the side of the mountain above the road leading away from the dam, is down 205 feet with no bedrock, according to Rumsey Brothers, contractors.
     Hole B is down 120 feet, with no bedrock, but it also is high up above the river on the west side.
     Two holes have reached bedrock at shallow depths on the east side.  A third hole, D, is being started.

          Beer Licenses Needed.

     Al Meyers and L. Corilla were bisited by the Grant county commissioners today, the latter declaring that neither had a county license to sell beer.
     Mr. Corilla, at the New Deal, took out a Douglas county license, only to learn from the commissioners that his building was on the line of both counties.  Both men agreed to take out proper licenses at once.

CLINGS TO ROCK THIRTEEN HOURS

     This article appeared in the Spokesman-Review in October of 1933.  My uncle, Clair Seaton, then barely 18 years old, was one of the heroes in this rescue.

Man Is Rescued From Columbia River Perch.

     GRAND COULEE-DAM SITE, Oct. 8.-- After being marooned 13 hours on a small rock in rapids in the Columbia river half a mile south of here, Lee Paul was rescued early today after nearly six hours' effort.
     Paul and Fred Williams were thrown upon the rock yesterday when their lumber-laden raft was smashed in the rapids.  Williams leaped into the river and swam to shore.  For four hours he tried to induce Paul to swim, but Paul, who had an 18-foot pole he had been using to guide the raft, thrust it into the stream and declared it too deep and the water too swift.  It was only a lucky break that Williams had made shore.

          Thought They Were Fishing.

     The government launch from the dam site had passed the men on the rock in the afternoon but men aboard had supposed Paul and Williams to be fishing.
     Williams climbed the steep cliffs, 1000 feet high on either side, and came to the dam site for aid.  Meanwhile, Paul had burned his coat and his cap in an effort to attract attention.  He shouted for three hours and was heard by the rescue party en route, but descent of the precipitous walls was hazardous and slow.

          Balk at Steep Walls.

     Many responded to the call for aid, there being two construction crews here from which men turned out, but at the sight of the steep walls few ventured the descent.  Others climbed down part way only to turn back with giddiness.
     Bill Rath, an old-timer in these parts who knows every nook and crevice along the river ban,, led three others--Clair Seaton, William Gill and Virgil Richardson--to the river bank.  Descent was made only after much use of rope, and once they had to send back for more.

          Heaves Line from Boat.

     Seaton rode upstream in his outboard motorboat past the rocks and tried to let the current carry his boat to the rock, but the stream merely washed it to the side, too far to assist Paul.  A heavier boat was obtained and let downstream at the end of a long rope held by men on shore.
     About 60 feet was as close as the boat could be maneuvered.  Seaton with a mighty heave of a life preserver on a quarter-inch line, succeeded in reaching the marooned man.  Paul was pulled to shore, exhausted from the cold and fright.

Monday, June 27, 2011

COPYRIGHT, PERMISSIONS. & BLOG POLICY

Updated 29 July 2014

     Some information used in this post comes from "Copyright Basics," Circular 1 from the U.S. Copyright Office.

     Some content in this blog consists of material published before 1922, and is out of copyright.

     Some content comes from letters (such as the WWII V-mail, Marvin's WWII letter, the 1968 letter from France) and other material by members of the family which are published for the first time in this blog, and may thus be copyright 2011.  Permission is granted for free use of those and of any original content that may be considered intellectual property of Cousin Sam unless otherwise noted in a particular post.  I only ask that you contact me by email to let me know who you are, how I may contact you, what you are using, and how you are using it.

     The Ross Family Record, published in this blog between February 21 and April 22, 2011, was completed by Henry Ross Wiggs in 1971, and may be considered copyright 1971.  The same permission applies as in the preceding paragraph.

     I have requested permission from several area newspapers to post transcripts of some of the clippings collected over much of the last century by my mother, along with some collected by myself and other relatives, concerning my family's history.  Some of the clippings have become separated from their source information, and unless I can verify when and where they were published, will only be paraphrased if used.  The exception will be obituaries, death and funeral notices, wedding notices, and similar items which are not general news articles but are public record.

     Articles with the name of a newspaper and date of publication after 1922 are intellectual property of that paper and, with the above noted exception, only one or two copies may be made depending on the paper, and only for personal use or internal reference without prior written permission from that paper.

     Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

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     On October 23, 2011, I spoke with Les Lillquist about permission to post a transcript of the text of his master's thesis from 1969, A History of Coulee City, Washington.  He was most happy to give that permission.

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     I requested permission from Mr. Paul Graves to post one of his columns, as it speaks clearly along the lines of what I believe strongly and have stated in my relatively young blog.  It is the kind of message that I believe should be shouted around the whole world.  His reply, dated June 24, 2011, says in part:

     Feel free to do so. If it is of value to someone, that’s great. I thank you for your appreciation, and your courtesy of asking to use it on your blog. Soon, I hope to have my own blog up and running so these columns can be available to persons beyond the Spokesman’s reach.

Peace,
Paul

     The column in question was first posted in Cousin Sam, but has since been moved to Cousin Sam's Faith. It may be again relocated to the In the News section under its publication date.


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     From the Coulee City News Standard on May 16, 2011:


     Sure I don't mind at all! This newspaper is part of the history of all of us. Please do share.

ShirleyRae Maes, Editor/Publisher/Owner
News Standard May 16, 2011


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     In response to my request, The Spokesman-Review (which also owns rights to the Spokane Daily Chronicle, no longer published) has been most gracious.  I received this on May 11, 2011 from the editor, Gary Graham:


     You're welcome to post the clippings as long as you are not using the blog to sell goods or services. Based on what you've said, this appears to be a strictly personal, family blog, which is fine with us.

Gary

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     On October 5, Sent the following message to Mr. Rufus Woods, publisher of the Wenatchee World:

Dear Mr. Woods,

In July I received permission from one of the surviving members of the Grand Coulee Dam Bicentennial Commission to post the book, From Pioneers to Power, in my family history blog,  A few of the articles contained in it were originally published in the Wenatchee World, so I believe I should have your permission to include them in my blog edition.

As a grandson of Sam Seaton, many of the people mentioned in the book, and several of the contributors, are related to me.  Also, over the years my mother collected many newspaper clippings   about the area and about family members, some over 75 years old and out of copyright, but many newer, and I would greatly appreciate permission to use them also.

Hu Blonk was a long time family friend who wrote many articles about the Grand Coulee area and about members of my family.  His wife, Martha Haskins Blonk, graduated from Almira High School in the same class with my mother in 1930.  I would be most grateful for permission to post some of his work about my family and home country.

His reply:

Sam:

It's so good to hear from you. Of course, feel free to post those stories with our blessing.

Hu was quite an inspiration - I feel fortunate to have worked with him for many years. What an amazing human being with a wonderful sense of humor.

I'll pass this note along to my father.

Best regards,

Rufus

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     On November 21, 2011, I received the following reply from The Star:

Hello Sam,
You have permission to include in your blog stories published in The Star that help tell the story of your family history.
Good luck with your work.

Scott Hunter, editor and publisher
The Star
http://www.grandcoulee.com/
P.O. Box 150
Grand Coulee, WA 99133

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PIONEERS TO POWER:  On July 24, 2011, I spoke with Edith Alling Lael, one of the surviving members of the Grand Coulee Dam Bicentennial Commission, about using material from their book, PIONEERS TO POWER, copyright 1976 by the G. C. D. Bicentennial Association, updated from the original 1958 edition, since much of it is either by or about members of my family and where they lived, including the Grand Coulee Dam itself, since it is located on the site of my grandfather's homestead and the Grant County ferry, which he operated.  The lake it created covers the sites of the homesteads and ferries of several other members of the family.  All of my uncles and many other members of the family worked on or were in some way involved with the construction of the dam, and later, my grandfather was an operating engineer at the dam after it opened.  Edith has kindly granted permission to use as much of the book as I wish, and mentioned that her grandfather helped to build the Grant County ferry.  Their policy on use of material is very similar to my policy on use of any original material from this blog.

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BLOG COMMENT POLICY

     I welcome comments, provided they are appropriate to the post to which they are placed, and to the family research and history with which this blog is concerned.  Comments deemed inappropriate will be removed.

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Friday, June 24, 2011

MARGARET'S SWITZERLAND TRIP

     (Margaret's account of this trip in 1977 was published in the November 3, 1977 issue of the Coulee City News-Standard.)

 Returns from Switzerland trip

     Margaret Taschereau recently returned from a 24 day trip to Switzerland.  She was accompanied by her sister, Eleanor Manchester of Lake Tahoe.  We are printing some highlights of their trip.
     They arrived in Geneva Sept. 14 and spent a day there seeing the city and taking a boat tour of the lake.
     9-16   Caught the train to Fribourg and then to Flammatt where a cousin, Anthony Bertossa, met them.  Anthony's house is almost a museum with things from over 20 years in the Congo.  His wife is Belgian, whom he met and married in the Congo.
     9-17   Anthony took us to old Fribourg.  Castles, narrow cobblestone streets and huge old bridges over a narrow deep canyon and tiny river.  Sunday they took us to Gruyere Castle and to a cheese factory.
     9-19   Caught a train to Brienz and the house where grandma [Anna Kienholze, 1858-1936] was born.  The house is beautiful, sits on a steep hillside.  Very well kept.
     9-20   Visited the church grandma attended.  A lot of the carvings in it had great grandfather's name [John Kienholze] on them.  At the carving school he established we met a teacher who had studied under him.
     For the next few days visited Luzern, Chiasso and Lagano.  Cousin Emelio and Valeria Bertossa live in Chiasso which is on the Italian border.  They took us to Como, Italy, about a 10 minute trip.  Como looks very beautiful but the lake is chocolate goop and the streets are littered and smell.  They have some fabulous shops, however, which are clean and modern.  We toured the huge old LaDoma church, supposed to be next to St. Peters in Rome in size.
     All the grocery stores we saw in Switzerland had few canned fruits or vegetables, Del Monte mostly.  A big section of coffee, mostly MJB, and cocoa, Nestles.  There are several Nestles plants in various towns.  A big section of soaps, not many with names we knew but familiar pictures and company names.  Large sizes mostly.  Lots of American candy bars and lots of fruit juices, both canned and frozen.
     9-25   Took the train to Zurich.  Took in the zoo, the Landesmuseum (a castle with big rooms of the old years).
     9-27   We took a guided tour to the Rhine River Falls.  A big share of the trip follows the wandering Rhine, Germany often on the other side.
     Next few days visited Basel, St. Moritz (that trip took 4 hours) and Zurich.  Went to St. Moritz on the Schnellzuge, fast train, to Chur beside a lot of lakes.  Then a narrow gauge halfway up the sides of narrow canyons and through a lot of tunnels, a dizzy one hour ride.  I intended to stay overnight and take a ride to the top of an alp but Eleanor wanted to go back to Zurich after we had dinner and walk around a bit.
     Spent 10-1 in Zurich, looked in a coupe of cathedrals and sight seeing, attended a church there the next day.  The church had no name and everything was in German.  They sang the martin Luther hymn," A Mighty Fortress" so we decided it must be Lutheran.  Later we met a girl on a train who had been a Kelly girl at the Seattle Worlds Fair and she explained about the church.  It was the State Protestant Church.  On the Swiss Income Tax forms are boxes to mark for either Catholic or Protestant and the state pays the ministers.
     Swiss road signs are very good, no passing has a picture of 2 cars smashing, some are rather funny.
     10-4   Left Zurich airport for London and wandered around some in the afternoon.  Next day took an all day guided tour of the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace.  Thirty-five busloads of people lined up in the rain to watch some fancy horses and soldiers.  Then the only good English meal we had, a roast beef dinner that was part of the tour deal.
     Afternoon we toured St. Paul's Cathedral, really worth seeing.  then the Towers of London, people usually say the Tower of London, but there are a lot of towers.  The girl guide spent an awful lot of time on bloody history.  The one tower where the crown and jewels are is kept spic and span and heavily guarded.  Mostly not really my cup of tea.  The Tower Bridge is quite beautiful.  London Bridge is not!  The tide rises and falls around 20 feet under the Tower Bridge.
     10-6   Toured the Thames, about a 20 mile drive to the edge of Windsor Castle and the boat.  It was raining but nice for riding.  Went through 3 locks which keep the river level and keep the salt out.  Boys of Eaton were sculling on the river in the rain and almost no clothing.
     Poor old London is a mess.  It has all the troubles of big U.S. cities multiplied, minority races moving in, whites out, old Roman streets trying to handle cars.  London had 8 million people, is down to somewhat over 7 million, but that means the tubes and trains, buses and cars are jammed.  They work staggered shifts trying to help, some places open at 8, others at 9, others 10.  Lots of streets are closed to all but buses and taxis.
     10-7   Up at 7:00 and walked through shops till 12:00.  Took taxi to airport and flew out at 3:00 for 8.5 hour flight to Chicago.  Had to circle for an hour and then run 1/4 mile through the rain to go through customs etc.  Back out in the rain again for what seemed like 1/2 a mile to plane for Spokane.  We got to bed at Cliff's [Clifford Taschereau's house in Spokane] at 2:00 in the morning.  My clock went around twice, Sam figures we were up 27 hours.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

TOURING THE ORIENT

    (After Henry died, Margaret did a little traveling, and wrote articles about her trips.  These, from 1976, were published in the Coulee City News-Standard.  They didn't have spell-check in those days, and I've replaced a lot of abbreviations.)

     The editor had a card from Margaret Taschereau who is touring the Orient.  The card was written 11/7 in Hong Kong.
     Dear Pat: Finally in Hong Kong, a day late.  Plane sat in Seattle fogged in for 3 hours so missed pan Am at San Francisco.  So we got on a Japan Air Lines flight, flew back over Seattle to Anchorage and then to Tokyo.  Anchorage had snow and the miles of lights like Christmas.  Had 2 nights with no day between.  Tokyo from the air at night is really something.  All the hills are almost solid lights tonight.  Will get all the guided tours, but lose one free day here.  Was nice in Tokyo this morning, hurricanes tonight.  Not supposed to get here.


Touring the Orient  (Dec. 9 issue)

     (Margaret Taschereau recently spent three weeks on tour of the orient with a group of other grocers.  She has written quite an article about her trip and we will share it with you as space allows.)

. . . . "Left Coulee City Nov. 4, was to catch flight to San Francisco on the 5th.  Seattle was fogged in, sat on the runway for nearly four hours and missed Pan Am connections in SF.  Caught a Japan Air flight and flew back over Seattle to Anchorage and on to Tokyo.  Flight time 8 hrs.
     Tokyo was fantastic at night from the air.  Our hotel, the Den Hurami, was the only really Oriental place we stayed, beautiful.
     One night in Tokyo and on to Hong Kong.  Stayed at the Furama Hotel.  Spent next day 11/8, wandering around Hong Kong and took the Star Ferries to Kowloon and back.  Some people went to Macao to the gambling places.  I shopped and looked.
     11-9.  Guided tour up to the Castle Peak Restaurant by cable car, so steep our necks and lungs hurt.  Hong Kong is building everywhere.  They are taking off hilltops and putting them in the bay to make new streets.  The airport is all on man made land.  They build skyscrapers on what is left of the hill.  New skyscrapers all up the mountains.  British names for most of the streets.  Almost everyone speaks some English, nearly all western clothes.
     China border seemed almost not to be there.  A road led up a very long hill, beautiful trees, duck and fish farms at the foot of it.  Along the road are tourist trap sales booths.  There were 10 busloads of tourists parked in space for 5.  At the top of the hill was a big chain and barbed wire gate with Hong Kong soldiers on our side and red Chinese on the other.  They didn't want any snapshot down the hillside and across the plain we couldn't see any border.  A wide river forms part of border.
     One odd place was Kathing, the Walled City, built about 700 years before Columbus.  They exist almost entirely off tourists.  For some reason almost no children being born there, so in perhaps 3 generations there won't be any Hakkas.  The women rule the city, they look 80 but the guide said almost none live past 60, most die much younger.
     Beautiful places were Repulse Bay, named for a British ship, and Victoria Bay.  Both are places where mostly the wealthy live.  They have small clean beaches, no houseboats and squatters.  Above them are the huge resettlement skyscrapers built for the low income people.  A living room, bath, kitchen in about the space of one of our rooms.  Our guide and family live in one by lying about their income.  Otherwise they would have to share the rent with another family and live in one of the downtown buildings, sharing the kitchen, bath and living room and each family has only a tiny separate bedroom.  Single family homes have no bedroom.  Asked how two families got along that way, she said "They respect each other".  A driver's license in Hong Kong costs $400 American dollars.  Almost no one could have a car anyway.  There is no place to put them.
     The Tiger Baum Gardens are unbelievable!  They are carved and painted into and onto a straight up hillside.  Steps turn and twist up the hill.  The carvings are of Chinese legends like the War of the Black and White Rats, and a sort of Romeo and Juliet Prince and Princess story, many Gods and Tigers, Frogs and Dragons.  And a tall, tall pagoda that is like a huge Christmas tree perched on a carved out ledge way too small for it.  Can't go in because a woman jumped out of it.  An apartment house is built facing the hillside and one on our tour snapped a picture of the apartments and then noticed he had snapped into a room with someone in the tub.
     The hotels in which we stayed all had revolving restaurants on top except the one in Taipei which was an old hotel.  I made a point of having a meal in each one of them so i could try things new.  I didn't get up enough nerve to try raw fish or wild bird eggs.  I liked most of the things, the fruits, salads and deserts were really special.  Some meats were too spiced, the roasts were very good.
     (to be continued)


Touring the Orient (continued from Dec. 9 issue)

     11-10  The flight to Bangkok too 3 and 1/2 hours.  We took the tour up the canal to the supposed to be farm in the afternoon.  We went in sort of canoes, 12 in each, outboard motors.  They overload the boats so whenever another boat passes water slops over into the boats and into the houses.  on the big canals Coast Guard men stand on top of boats and slow down the traffic.  The canals and river are not salt, but high tide keeps the water from going to the sea, but the push of the river keeps the salt water out.
     This first canal went right through the city and through groves of bananas and coconut trees.  Every time we came to a bridge everyone had to bend almost flat and the same for tree limbs.  Naked boys would swim up to the boats and ask for coins, they would get a few.  No zoning anywhere so a pretty painted house and a shack side by side.  All the cities had 1500 temples.  The canals had lots of them, little ones, big, old, new ones.  The farm house wasn't, it was a tourist trap, some cobras, a mongoose, some monkeys, some snack foods.
     11-11  We went to a Rose Garden park and watched some beautiful dancing and dancers and some scary kinds of athletics and fighting with sticks and swords.  A demonstration of elephants as lumberjacks was good.  And long lines of shops, one was interesting.  Ladies demonstrated spinning the silk of silkworm cocoons and showed silkworms from egg to worm and moth.  And the processing and weaving of silk to garment.  They had a non bloody cock fight.  They don't put the steel spurs on the birds and the defeated bird doesn't die.
     11-12  We toured a floating market.  We took a larger boat which carried all of us.  We traveled on the river by the Navy base and a lot of Navy boats and freighters anchored all over the river, rice boats, houseboats, and everywhere tourist boats.  Then into a large canal that was one long line of little boats with women taking vegetables and chickens and selling them house to house.  Along shore are shops for the tourists and big platforms that had potted orchids in benches and hanging from a sort of ceiling.  And fruit orchards of incredible variety.
     The Indura Hotel had a Cowboy Room with a Western Buffet, beautiful food that no cowboy ever ate.  The room had beautiful murals of Texas, Wyoming, Montana and Bonanza.  I didn't see any of Washington.  They did have good roast beef.
     11-13  Pan Am to Hong Kong, 3 1/2 hours flight time.  Then Cathay to Taipei, 1 1/2 hours flight time.  But 3 airports in one day took up the entire day.
     11-14  Our tour of Taipei took us to a beautiful museum that was up a mountainside which was worth the trip itself.  Taiwan has to be close to the top of any list of most beautiful country in the world.  The museum building was all in the little hand painted blocks, walls, ceiling, floors; and priceless things on display really Chinese and nothing Westernised.  Another was the Chaing Kai-shek Memorial.  The changing of the guards at the entrance was very British, but the Memorial was all Chinese, gorgeous.  We stopped by a fish farm where peopled paid by the hour to fish.  But the owners feed the fish well before the people come, so few fish get caught.
     11-15  We took a plane to Hualain across the mountains from Taipei.  It has the most beautiful beach we saw and a clean one.  the airport and hotel and houses are all made of marble.  That is the only rock they have.  We took the bus trip up 45 miles into the Taroga Gorge.  American engineers surveyed and supervised building the road, but the Chinese didn't build it for the tourists and use it is getting.  They built it for the monks and hill people and to get marble out.  So now when buses meet, the inside bus stops and the outside bus squeezes by.  The river is beautiful, the water is the clearest and cleanest looking, but for some reason no fish live in it.  There is quite a large dam part way up.  A lot of the power plant is on top of the dam.  The blue and black marble are the most valuable.  We watched truck sized blocks of marble being sawed into sheets by huge saws with as many as 30 blades.  A stream of water kept each blade cool and washed the mud away into settling ponds where it became mud for making pottery.  So all the marble is used.
     (to be continued)


Touring the Orient  (Continued from Dec. 16 issue)

     11-16  From Taipei to Osaka and Kyoto, flight time 3 1/2 hours, but day gone by the time at Kyoto Grand.
     11-17  Kyoto is the old Capitol of Japan and is more Japanese than any other city.  It wasn't bombed during the war by some kind of gentleman's agreement.  We toured the old Shogun Capitol building.  It was built with a squeaking floor so that no one could surprise the Shogun.  Visited a handicraft building where Cloisonne painting and other disappearing arts were being done.  Young people aren't learning them.
     11-18  Took the Bullet Train to Tokyo, a marvelous ride, 3 hours, smooth and goes through a lot of countryside, farms, lakes and towns, nonstop, 120 mph, doesn't feel fast.
     11-19  Took a tour of the temples and gardens in the morning.  It was a day that 3, 5, and 7 year old Japanese children were being taken to the temples for blessing, all in traditional clothes, seldom seen anymore.
     Then in the afternoon we met some Japanese grocers, women of whom had been to Seattle on a grocer tour.  They took us through some modern supermarkets.  Only the wealthy buy much in them.  Others buy in the cheaper open stall markets.  They gave us a fabulous dinner after the tour.  Each of us had to tell something about our store and town.  They all nodded recognition after i told them that Coulee City was 40 miles from Moses Lake were Japanese pilots train.  The daughter of one of the men interpreted.  She had graduated from Kansas City University and was a real cute whiz.
     11-20  Was a free day, poured rain, the only bad day of the trip.  Visited a museum and spent rest of day going through shops in the hotel.
     11 21  Start of trip home.  Spent almost all of daylight at the Tokyo airport.  Arrived next day in San Francisco.
     NOTES:  Hong Kong was comfortable all the time we were there.  Taiwan was a little chilly and windy and drizzle now and then.  Bangkok was 86 and 80% humidity and changed little day and night.  The Indura Hotel had a shocking cold air conditioner in the rooms.  The guide told us to cool off in the lobby before going to our rooms.  I did and also wrapped up when I got to my room.  Everyone else got colds, some bad.  Tokyo and Kyoto were cold.
     In every city we visited temples.  In Bangkok the paving stones are ballast rocks from sailing ships.  When loaded, the ships left the rocks.  In Bangkok, especially, every house, houseboat, store, and hotel had a big or small shrine in the yard or on the roof, even the buses and cars.  In Bangkok we visited the tiny and enormously valuable Emerald Buddha, the solid gold Buddha a little bigger than life size, the colossal Reclining Buddha, which is longer than the store [a little over 100 ft].  His feet are as long as the store is tall [about 15-20 ft].  Some got tired of temples so we didn't take a couple of tours which I wanted to take.
     Bangkok and Tokyo were not laid out as cities and are having a real mess.  Bangkok is filling canals for streets so has some nice wide ones.  Tide still comes in around houses right back of the Indura Hotel.  Bangkok has no rock and no solid foundations for anything.  They build wide and juge and figure on shape holding them up.  Houses are built tiny and light.  The Indura seems to be about a half mile square and is 19 stories.
     In Bangkok we saw 4 intersections that had police and light controls.  those intersections were like the Union Jack, not just an avenue and a street.  They are just now building a few overpasses over railroads and canals.  Almost every adult owns a car and few pay taxes.  Because of no duty, cars made in japan cost less in Bangkok than in Japan.
     Bangkok had a curfew from 10:00 til 3:00 for everyone except a few with special badges.  But we saw no demonstrations and few soldiers except arount the Imperial palace.
     In both Tokyo and Bangkok, almost every teen boy has a motorcycle and they dart in and out of traffic breathtakingly and have a lot of accidents.  Because of so few lights at intersections, pedestrians cross almost anywhere in Bangkok.  Most make it because traffic stands still much of the time.  Tokyo has good traffic lighting.  Tokyo has a lot of 4 and 3 decker streets, but most streets dead end abruptly.  our bus driver took us to the wrong side of a department store and took half an hour to get to the other side where our Japanese people were.  After 6:00 at night in Tokyo, all traffic seems to be cabs.  Our guide told us always to try to get a cab with an upside down Y on the bubble.  Those were owned by individuals and they would be more careful.  She called the company drivers Kami-kazi, they don't care if a company car gets smashed.
     The service stations in Tokyo have overhead pumps, but the hoses hang down and swing, look deadly to me.  I never saw a service statinon in any of the other cities and never saw a wrecking yard.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

FERRYBOATS ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER

     In their collaboration on the Columbia River Indian tribes and on their book, Half-Sun on the Columbia, Dr. Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown acquired considerable material, some of which included interviews with several members of my family, including my grand aunt, Cora (Seaton) Rinker, and my mother, Margaret (Seaton) Taschereau.  Although it appears that they must have, I do not know if they personally interviewed my grandfather, Sam Seaton, before his passing in a head-on crash in 1971, but they did have access to many articles published in the Wenatchee World, written by Hu Blonk, a long time family friend who had interviewed Sam and Mary many times, and who's wife was in the same high school graduating class (Almira, 1930) as my mother.

     They expanded their research into the broad spectrum of life on the river, which led to:

Ferryboats on the Columbia River
INCLUDING THE BRIDGES AND DAMS
ROBERT H. RUBY and JOHN A. BROWN
SUPERIOR PUBLISHING COMPANY
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON,   c. 1974
     There are a number of references to Tom Seaton, Sam Seaton, and some other members of the family.  It is a must read book for anyone interested in the history of the area, and life on the Columbia, with much priceless information (even though a few errors crept in during the process of putting the book together).

     Government.  On page 54:

     In May, 1934 the Washington State Department of Public Works denied Sam Seaton a franchise for his ferry at the site of grand Coulee Dam on grounds of slow service and operating seven years without a certificate of necessity.
     There was a lot more involved.  See the posts of May 13 and 16 in this blog on Sam Seaton.  Also, some newspaper articles from that time will be appearing in this blog in the near future.

     Cargoes.  On page 62:
     Tom Seaton remembered a scow ferry at Grand Coulee in the early twentieth century on which hans lange and the Osborne brothers ferried their cattle to summer pastures north of the Columbia.  Their practice was to ferry as many cattle as space would permit; then let the rest jump into the river to follow.
     On page 64:
     From the beginning of "The Ferryboat Era" until its end, of all cargoes ferried across the river, and most eagerly sought by residents, was mail.  From Plum, Sam Seaton in 1915 ferried it across the Columbia to a remote section of the north bank, charging 25 cents a month per family for the thirty boxes he serviced.
     On page 68:
     Sam Seaton believed some ferries had been installed just to run liquor.  "Six ferries," said Sam, "operating within fifteen miles, not only looked suspicious; they were suspicious."
     Passengers.  On page 85:
     One August day in 1926, Sam Seaton landed his ferry on the left bank to board and cross the river a builder of dams to inspect the site where Sam's passenger wished one to be built.  The visitor was engineer, humanitarian and Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.  He seemed to enjoy his hike on the Okanogan County side. . . .  Before he left, he gave the ferryman's son and daughter [Clair and Margaret] each a quarter.  On August 4, 1934, the one to whom Hoover would later yield the Presidency of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, came to the same site to view the newly begun Grand Coulee Dam.
     In his later years, Sam was emphatic that Roosevelt should not be given credit for building the dam, but Herbert Hoover.

   Troubles.  On pages 97-98:
     In 1902, Tom Seaton turned his back from the wheel for just a few moments before detecting an Indian meddling with it causing the ferry to swing squarely against the current.  Seaton jerked him away, frantically reeling the rope to head the boat back to shore.  Suddenly the boat lurched, jerking Sam [should read Tom] over the wheel and pinning him between it and the post on which it was hung.  An Indian turned the wheel extricating Seaton.  Between the two of them they worked the boat ashore.  A Spokane doctor who happend to be traveling that way, patched up Seaton's bleeding arm.
     On page 102:
     On January 13, 1928, Sam Seaton crossed two thousand sheep for Shorty Warden through soft ice.  He also ferried two hundred head of cattle to within 150 feet ofthe west shore.  Unloaded on the ice, the cattle ambled off toward the shore--that is until they ran into some hay around which they clustered to eat.  The massed bovine avoirdupois caved in the ice.  Some managed to swim ashore; some were dragged out by automobiles and five or six drowned.  Horse accidents in icy crossings were common.
     Automobiles. On page 141, the caption under the top picture reads, "THIS IS SAM SEATON'S FERRY."  To be exact, it was the Grant County Ferry, operated by Sam Seaton.

     Page 142 includes pictures of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's visit to the Grand Coulee Dam construction site on August 4, 1934.

     Page 143 provides pictures of bridges built at the beginning of the construction.  The caption at the bottom of the page adds:
     When Grant County established a ferry crossing here in 1921 there was up Grand Coulee only a wagon road which Model-Ts negotiated with great effort.  Sam Seaton, the ferrymnan, supplied timbers for a speaker's platform when congressmen and dignitaries of the U.S. Bureau of Reclemation met here to promote the building of a dam.  Sam had built his house of timbers floated downriver from Fort Spokane.  Seaton was still operating his ferry when on July 16, 1933 Washington State governor, Clarence D. Martin, before five thousand people, turned the first shovelful of earth to mark beginning of construction.
     Page 144 shows a picture of an Indian couple on their horse-drawn wagon crossing the new highway bridge (undated), and of a flock of sheep crossing the top of the Dam in 1944.  Before 1933, these would all have crossed on the ferry.

     Four pictures of the Seaton ferry, proper, established by Tom Seaton (1843-1920), my great grandfather, are shown on page 145.  The caption under the top two pictures mentions:
     On the right is the last ferry run here.  On board are Tom's son, Elmer, the ferryman, and his family and the Vallie Rinker family.*  The Seaton ferry was located some three miles upriver from the head of Grand Coulee on the main thoroughfare from Wilber to Nespelem.  The Colville Indian Agency moved its headquarters from Ft. Spokane to Nespelem in 1913.  Before this, cargoes and passengers bound for Nespelem crossed on the Barry ferry downstream from the head of Grand Coulee.  After 1913, the Nespelem-Wilbur route followed the Tom Seaton ferry crossing.
     Upriver another four miles was the Plum ferry, a ranchers' ferry.  Although M. B. Frank and M. J. Kelly were licensed for a ferry at Plum in 1899, a year after the South Half of the Colville Indian Reservation was opened for mineral entry, no through route was established since the north approach led to the closed-in Swawilla Basin.  In 1917, a ferry was constructed at Plum after the South Half was opened for homesteading the previous year.  Sam Seaton, brother** of Tom, put in a barge and launch. . . .  The crossing, however, was little used.
       *  Tom's older daughter, Cora (1879-1977), married Washington Rinker (1871-1922).
     **  Sam (1886-1971) was Tom's son, not his brother.
     Tom's other children were: Bailis (1880-1905), who died in Spokane: Cleveland (1881-1885), who died in Missouri; Bessie (1882-1970), who married Charlie Dumas, mentioned below; Halley (1883-1887), who died in Missouri; and Elmer (1888-1933), mentioned above.

     The caption over the lower two pictures on page 145 mentions the residence of Charlie Dumas on the Okanogan County side of the river.
     Thomas Seaton located the ferry here in 1899.  The road on the north followed an Indian trail to Nespelem.  In 1915, Tom laid out a wagon road.  On his death the ferry passed to Dumas, a relative.  After Dumas, Elmer Seaton, Tom's son, owned the ferry. Indians had demanded free crossings of Tom Seaton.  He compromised them by charging half fare.  Ferries continued crossing here until Grand Coulee Dam was built when rising waters forced closure of ferry service.
     Demise.  On page 149:
     Aware that a dam was to be built at Grand Coulee, Grant County arranged with Sam Seaton to move his ferry from Plum down there.  Seaton ran the ferry until dam construction began in 1933.  Thinking the money the federal government offered him for his ferry "a mighty puny price," Sam refused the offer.  Although, as he put it, "they lawed up one side and down the other," it was no use.  The day the bulldozers came, Sam found their restraining order a stronger weapon than his shotgun.
     More about the shotgun incident and what became of that shotgun, as well as many other recollections,  may be found in SAM SEATON RECALLS DAYS OF THE OLD FERRY, posted in this blog on May 13.  See also SAM SEATON 1886-1971, posted May 16; Notes for SAMUEL JONES SEATON, posted May 13; and SAM SEATON'S LEGAL CASE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT re: GRAND COULEE DAM, and SAM SEATON'S LEGAL CASE, pt. 2, also posted May 13.

Monday, June 20, 2011

CHIEF MOSES & TOM SEATON

     The life of Chief Moses, Sulktalthscosum or Half-Sun, spanned the transition from native to white civilization.  As a child he knew the Indian camp, the trail, and hunting and fighting on the buffalo plains.  He won a name for himself by opposing the white man by stealthy attack and in open battle.
     As he matured, he gained the responsibilities of being chief of the Salish-speaking people of the mid-Columbia valley, he became a diplomat, and, convinced of the futility of resisting the growing white encroachment, he held his united tribes at peace in spite of almost unendurable pressure.  He maintained his independence from government control as long as he could, but eventually he lost this contest and in the 1880s became a reservation Indian.
     He had long been friends with Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces, and when Joseph and his people were finally permitted to return to the Northwest from Indian Territory, he joined Moses on the Colville Reservation.

          The above is from the jacket of the book,
               HALF-SUN ON THE COLUMBIA
               By Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown
               University of Oklahoma Press, Norman  c. 1965
               second printing, June, 1966

          This book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the West, of Native Americans, and of the Inland Northwest in particular.

     Thomas B. Seaton (my great grandfather, 1843-1920) was part of the railroad migration in the late 1880's, settling on a piece of land north of Wilbur, Washington.  In the very early days, he operated a Halfway House on his property and later established a store and Post Office there, which he called Hesseltine.  Hesseltine was located not too far above the old Columbia River crossing where he would later establish one of the first ferries in the area.  See the May 16 post, SAM SEATON 1886-1971, and the May 13 post, SAM SEATON RECALLS DAYS OF THE OLD FERRY.
     The Indian people who used the old crossing seldom stopped at the homestead before the store was established, but afterward, they came by quite often.

     Moses and Tom Seaton became good friends.  The following, concerning the fall of 1898, is from pages 345-346 of "Half-Sun on the Columbia":
     He {Moses} still kept his humor.  An old friend, Tom Seaton, was establishing a new ferry four miles above the mouth of the Grand Coulee, on the old Indian route linking Nespelem and Wilbur, and was moving his store from Hesseltine, fifteen miles northwest of Wilbur tot he south ferry-landing.  Having recovered sufficiently from an illness of the previous month, Moses set out with two wagons on a day in mid-November and crossed at Seaton's ferry.  It may have been on this trip that he discussed fares with Tom.  He said, "My people own half the river, so they should cross it for half fare."
     "All right," said Seaton, "I will take you half way across and then you and your women can just get off and walk the rest of the way."  Then relenting, "It's a deal."  Moses laughed heartily at the concession.
     Across the river, he visited Seaton's store.  He may have been reminded of the times when he and Joseph used to stop at the Hesseltine store or of the times he and his wives stopped there, and how the women used to alight nimbly from their carriage and beat him to the store on a calico quest, fumbling in their bright handkerchiefs for coins.  No doubt he remembered, too, how he used to go straight to a bucket of eggs on a counter in the back and begin sucking one right after another.  Now he raided the eggs again.  Seaton interrupted his feast, demanding, "All right, Moses, pay for the eggs."
     The old chief replied, "One half the eggs [like the Columbia River] belong to me."  Then, after a pause to let Seaton feel the impact of his humor, he asked, "How much eggs?"
     "Twelve and a half cents a dozen," answered Seaton, "but i never was much good at figurin' half cents.  You can have 'um for twelve."
     Their sources of this story are a letter of Thomas B. Seaton in 1898, the October 28 and November 18 issues of the Wilbur Register, and Tom's daughter, Bessie Seaton Dumas (1882-1970). 

Friday, June 10, 2011

FAMILY TREE RESEARCH INDEX


George Washington and Queen Elizabeth II

DESCENDANTS OF COL. GEORGE ESKRIDGE, pt. 1:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-col-george-eskridge-pt-1.html

DESCENDANTS OF COL. GEORGE ESKRIDGE, pt. 2:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-col-george-eskridge-pt-2.html

DESCENDANTS OF COL. GEORGE ESKRIDGE, pt. 3:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-col-george-eskridge-pt-3.html

DESCENDANTS OF COL. GEORGE ESKRIDGE, pt. 4:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-col-george-eskridge-pt-4.html

DESCENDANTS OF COL. GEORGE ESKRIDGE, pt. 5:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-col-george-eskridge-pt-5.html

DESCENDANTS OF COL. GEORGE ESKRIDGE, pt. 6:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-col-george-eskridge-pt-6.html

DESCENDANTS OF SAMUEL JONES SEATON:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-samuel-jones-seaton.html

DESCENDANTS OF SAMUEL JONES SEATON, pt. 2:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-samuel-jones-seaton-pt-2.html

SEATON WEB LINKS:  http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/seaton-web-links.html

DESCENDANTS OF ANDREAS PETERSON LONGACRE, pt. 1:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-andreas-peterson.html

DESCENDANTS OF ANDREAS PETERSON LONGACRE, pt. 2:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-andreas-peterson_17.html

DESCENDANTS OF ANDREAS PETERSON LONGACRE, pt. 3:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-andreas-peterson_18.html

DESCENDANTS OF JAMES ALEXANDER:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-james-alexander.html

DESCENDANTS OF JAMES ALEXANDER, pt. 2:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/05/descendants-of-james-alexander-pt-2.html

Monday, June 6, 2011

Web Sites & Links: Ancestry Research

Archive.org: Open Library:

Lee Chronicle: Studies of the Early Generations of the Lees of Virginia


http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/dictionary/
French-English Dictionary

http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/newspapers.aspx
Washington State Library

http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/
If anyone in your tree came through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924, go to this site (free).

     For building the tree, I am using http://www.ancestry.com/ as a guest member, which is free.  Before getting started,  go to the "Learning Center" tab and check out the information there.  As you are building the tree, when you go to "View profile", as you scroll down the right side, you will find "Recent Member Connect activity".  If there is anything there, click on "See details".   If anyone else has been working the tree, this will give you parents names, and the date of birth and death.   At the bottom right you can click on "Search the web for (person's name)".   If you are lucky, you might find something like "Descendants of (person's name)", which can keep you busy for a long time if it includes very many generations.   Then again, you might find "700000 people connected with European Royalty".  Good luck there. 

     The Downtown Spokane Public Library has a Geneology department on the third floor, open at all times the library is open.  Eastern Washington Genealogical Society has volunteers to answer questions and assist beginning genealogists at certain hours.  For up to date information, check the Genealogy section of the library's web site:  http://www.spokanelibrary.org/.

Washington State Digital Archives: http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/

http://www.archive.org/index.php
The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.

Genealogy Trails: Washington State Genealogy and History:
http://www.genealogytrails.com/wash/

Genealogy Trails: Grant County:
http://genealogytrails.com/wash/grant/index.html

HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State Historywww.historylink.org

http://c.mfcreative.com/email/campaigns/2012/allcensus/AncestryCensusGuide.pdf?o_xid=52386&o_lid=52386&o_sch=Email


Top FREE genealogy websites:

Family Search www.familysearch.org (For research, historical records and
volunteering to help index) (the free official family/genealogy site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is very good for searching public records from many countries, and especially the social security death index.)

Find a Grave www.findagrave.com (Millions of online memorials, from transcribed headstones)

World GenWeb Project www.worldgenweb.org (Genealogical data per country)

US GenWeb Project www.usgenweb.com (Genealogical data per state)

National Archives www.nationalarchives.gov (Archived Genealogical data from the US Government)

Genealogy Today www.genealogytoday.com (Genealogical Data)

Access Genealogy www.accessgenealogy.com (Online Genealogical Data)

Family Tree Searcher www.familytreesearcher.com (Online family trees)

GeneaBios www.geneabios.com (Genealogy Biography database)


More highly recommended Free sites:

Cyndi's List  www.cyndislist.com (Online genealogical data)

Roots Web  www.rootsweb.org (Online message boards and genealogical data)
          The Genealogy Society web site is www.rootsweb.com/~waewgs/

Genforum  www.genforum.org (14000 forums devoted to genealogy)

Jewish Genealogy  www.jewishgen.org (Jewish Genealogical data)

Billion Graves www.billiongraves.com (online memorials with gps tracking to each headstone)