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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2014)
The Good Ol ’ Days By Tobie Finzel Israel Spencer Israel Spencer, one of the earliest settlers in the Upper Nehalem Valley and for whom Spencer Park is named, came to Oregon in 1876. A native of Madison County, New York, Israel enlisted in the 136 th New York Regiment in 1862 at the age of eighteen and served until the end of the Civil War in 1865. He returned to southwestern New York for three years before heading to Michigan to work as a lumberjack. He married in 1872, but a year later his wife died in childbirth. The baby girl, Emily, survived and was raised by his late wife’s parents. Israel left Michigan in early 1876 and traveled by the only cross- country railroad to California and via the side-wheeled steamship, AJAX, from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon. He hoped to find a homestead in the Willamette Valley, but all the good land had already been claimed. At the regional land office in Oregon City, he met two other men from the Upper Nehalem Valley who were there to perfect their claims. They convinced him that there were some good parcels still available near theirs, and he joined them on their return journey. He acquired a quarter section for $60 from a homesteader who was eager to move on. This homestead was located on what became known as Spencer’s Addition and later, O-A Hill. In 1879, Israel began a courtship by correspondence with Sarah Gillihan, a homesteader’s widow, in Chelatchie Prairie, Washington. She had a young daughter, Bertha, by her first marriage, one of many things she had in common with Israel. They were married in Portland in June 1880. Because the road to the Upper Nehalem wasn’t yet completed, Sarah stayed in Forest Grove with Bertha until July when that work was done. There were ten other families settled along the Nehalem River and Rock Creek, each homestead separated by tall stands of old growth timber and dense underbrush. There were no stores or other businesses at that time, just a post office, Vernonia, named for the daughter that another widower and homesteader, Ozias Cherrington, had left with eastern relatives. Six weeks before their first anniversary, Israel and Sarah celebrated the arrival of Omar, their first son, aided by the local midwife, Mrs. Pringle. By then, Israel had built a sixteen by twenty foot cabin of split cedar boards. A fireplace constructed of dried mud and wooden slats provided the cooking space and heat. The chimney caught fire a few times before the wood became charred sufficiently to become fire- resistant. They soon added a lean-to kitchen with dining space to the south side of the cabin. Old newspapers provided the wall covering and added a bit of insulation. Young Omar learned to read from that multi-functioned wallpaper. A woodshed, dairy barn, hog house, chicken coop, well house, and the small but all-important structure known then as the backhouse constituted the remaining buildings on the property. Later constructions included of a much bigger barn and improved or additional farm structures. With no general store in town and such long distances to travel to “the outside,” homesteaders like the Spencers grew, hunted or fished most of what they ate. Potatoes and other root crops such as rutabagas and turnips did well enough in the valley’s cool night temperatures. The garden near the house provided sweet corn, popcorn, beans, peas, squash, onions, beets, radishes, and parsnips. Along with the wild blackberries found abundantly near the river, fruit trees brought in from the Tualatin Valley produced the apples, plums, pears, and cherries to sweeten the diet. Chickens, turkeys and at least one hog per person greatly enhanced the wild game and fish of the homesteaders’ earliest fare. Wheat and oats grown on the property could be ground into flour and oatmeal at the Dietrich’s water-powered saw and grist mill five miles away in Pittsburg. Two or three times per year, the three-day round trip by horse-drawn wagon to “the outside” was needed. The Spencers raised extra turkeys which they’d transport live in a big crate to a Forest Grove merchant who would exchange them for the sugar, salt, coffee, fabrics, and other staples they could not produce themselves. With no refrigeration, poultry went from barnyard to kitchen immediately. Meat stayed on the hoof until slaughtered and then quickly brined or dried for later consumption. Hog butchering, a major production, was usually done in the fall. A boiling cauldron of water and lye helped remove the hair more easily. The cleaned hogs were then cut up and salted in other words may15 2014 down in barrels of brine for two weeks. Shoulders, hams and sides of pork then went into the smokehouse for the final curing. In early 1891, Israel sold the westernmost quarter of his quarter section for $600. With the cash from this sale he was able to acquire sawn lumber from the Dietrich. With the materials purchased, he began construction of a new home for his growing family. He used cedar bolts from his own property to rive shakes for the roof. He built a picket fence around the chicken yard and discreetly placed the new backhouse inside that enclosure. Indoor plumbing was still a future luxury. 7 Mailed my enumerating report for Dist. 45 in the morning before I left St. Helens. Thursday, May 5, 1910 Did not do much of anything in the forenoon. Bert Mills came down in the morning and enumerated me. This is his last day’s work. It took him 18 days to enumerate the Auburn Precinct. The population of the precinct was about 415 and 93 farms. Cloudy all day. Saturday, May 7, 1910 Sowed the ash field with timothy seed the first thing in the morning. Then went over it with clod masher. Finished at 4 P.M. Awful hot all day. Jack Ray and I went up to the dance at Swords in the evening in the buggy. Started up at 9:15 and got to Vernonia at 11. Lizzie McPherson was there so certainly had a great time. Dance broke up at 4 A.M. and I got home at 5:30. From Virgil Powell’s Diary Virgil was an enumerator for the 1910 census but covered the St. Helens area. His diary entries show how much the population of the Auburn Precinct (Vernonia and the surrounding area) had grown since the Spencers’ early days. Sunday, May 8, 1910 Got home from Sword dance at 5:30. Monday, April 25, 1910 Done up the things and did not get any Finished the enumeration of St. Helens sleep. Started up to Woods at 11:30. about 9 P.M. Enumerated the hotels in Walked up got there about 1 P.M. Came the afternoon and had a lot of fun. Done down to old school house for a walk. a terrible big day’s work. This is the Certainly had a fine time. Something end of my enumerating Dist. 45. Will go very important to remember about today home tomorrow. Very warm all day. The so guess I won’t forget. (Ed. Note: Don’t population of St. Helens was 774 and we wish we knew what it was?) Awful Houlton 348. hot all day. Got back home at 5 P.M. Tuesday, April 26, 1910 Started from St. Helens for Nehalem at 8 A.M. Walked over and got here at 2:45 P.M. George also came over on horseback. Pretty warm in the morning but rained a little in the afternoon. Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each month on the 1st and 3rd Thursday. Our next issue will be out June 5th. Mariolino’s Pizza & Grill Serving breakfast, lunch & dinner Ice cream - cones, shakes & sundaes Daily Specials Family owned and operated for over 40 years. 721 Madison Avenue, Vernonia (503) 429-5018
