in other words
april16
2020
15
The Good Ol ’ Days
By Tobie Finzel
Two Corrections
A writer’s bane is trying to piece
together history from various sources
and having to bridge the gaps with a bit
of speculation. When other information
is found later, the story can be corrected,
but the original version is still in circula-
tion. All we can offer here are correc-
tions. In last month’s column on the
Pringle family, this writer managed to
confuse the various generations of Prin-
gle men who had the same first names
and variously went by Sr. or Jr. or I, II
and III depending on the time the infor-
mation was written. Two of them were
also married to Marys that added to the
confusion!
We noted that William Sr.’s
wife, Mary, died in 1897. In fact it was
his father, John (Sr.) whose wife, Mary,
died in 1897. John Sr. moved into Ver-
nonia and built a general store in town.
He subsequently sold the property in
1909. His son, William Sr., was active
in community affairs and was also mar-
ried to a Mary who lived until 1941. It
was he who built the Pringle Building
(no longer standing) on Bridge Street
near the Vernonia Eagle office. It had
a meat market, a naturopathic physician
and other businesses as tenants. When
Vernonia was rapidly growing due to
the new railroad and big lumber mill in
1924, he acquired the Nehalem Hotel at
the corner of Grant and Bridge from the
McDonalds who took a long vacation
before returning to build the McDonald
Hotel where the R&S Market parking lot
is today.
Our January article on the Berg-
ersons noted that Charles Bergerson do-
nated part of his Keasey Road property
to create the Vernonia Pioneer Ceme-
tery, but the original land for the cem-
etery was donated by William Mellinger
in 1900. Bergerson donated additional
land in 1916 to expand it to the present
size. The 120 acre parcel that Charles
owned was purchased in 1904 from Mel-
linger who was the original homesteader
of a much larger parcel. The Bergerson
property was the last of his holdings.
With spring cleaning now in
progress, in part due to the current “stay
at home” mandate, we asked permission
from Mildred “Millie” Thacker Graves
who was born here to share one of her
stories. Millie (VHS 1953) married the
late Selwyn Graves (VHS 1947). Mil-
lie grew up in Treharne; Selwyn’s fam-
ily had the meat locker on O-A Hill and
also the Pebble Creek Dairy which we
discussed in an earlier column.
Clothesline Speculations
by Millie Graves
In these days of clothes dryers
and all the modern conveniences, instant
this and instant that, I am yearning for the
era of clotheslines, such as it was when
we were living on O.A. Hill in Verno-
nia, Oregon, a mill town with company
housing. Most of the housing was simi-
lar in appearance and the houses were
very close. There were no fences and
the clotheslines were very visible. The
clothesline told the story to anyone who
was observant. It announced everything!
So-and-so had their baby…there were
the flannel diapers and small clothes and
other items displayed as the proof. Such
and such had company over the week-
end, the extra sheets told the tale, even
to the approximate number of visitors.
It even announced the status of the visi-
tors, whether they were the “white linen
table cloth type with cloth napkins” or
perhaps the more casual type who would
be served on a colorful or embroidered
luncheon cloth, sometimes with napkins,
other times without any napkins hung,
meaning they were served informally
and used paper napkins.
If during the middle of the week
there were dresses of the fancy sort or
white shirts, which were washed by hand
or hung on hangers, it was surmised they
had been to the city of Portland or to a
wedding or a funeral or some such event
of greater importance than normal. If
the white shirt and dress were hanging
on Monday “the usual washday,” it was
believed they had only been to church.
The clothesline even became somewhat
of a status symbol with a certain type of
woman. Some women would even resort
to devious means to try to prove a point,
such as when she missed church, she
would still hang the dress and shirt so
her neighbors would not think she was
shirking her duties; therefore it would
not be debatable.
In early spring the “see-through”
curtains came down and appeared either
on the clothesline or on curtain stretchers,
a wooden square or rectangular frame
with nails very close together along all
edges with which to attach the edges of
the curtains in order to make them all
square or rectangular and of the exact
size. Other curtains and draperies soon
followed. When the curtains appeared,
it meant it was now the time for spring
cleaning, an important ritual in the life
of a stay-at-home housewife. This could
also turn into a way to improve your sta-
tus about who was the most organized
(or the best housekeeper). After curtains
were re-hung at the windows of the liv-
ing room and all was in order, next came
all the bedding, the quilts, blankets and
bed spreads. Following the bedding, the
washable rugs were washed and hung on
the clothesline to dry. The other kind of
rugs, braided or hooked rugs of wool or
some such material were lugged out and
wrestled onto the clothesline to be beat-
en, removing dust and dirt with a wire
rug beater, designed especially for that
purpose. If at some point, the neighbors
spotted rags hanging from the clothes-
line, it was speculated and surmised that
the owners of the clothesline now had a
clean car. Finally they had washed their
car and none too soon! Such was life on
the Hill where every little detail of living
was of interest to someone.
While living there when my
Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each month on the
1 st and 3 rd Thursday. Look for our next issue on May 7.
daughter was a baby I hung a chenille
bedspread on the clothesline to dry. Our
neighbor directly behind us had a lady
staying with him. She had a big hound
dog that roamed the hill creating a bit of
havoc wherever he roamed. He tore the
bedspread to pieces in trying to remove it
from the clothes pins holding it in place.
I did not want to cause a problem with
my neighbor therefore I said nothing to
them about it. Two days later I hung sev-
eral dozen gauze diapers on the clothes-
line and the dog must have tried to catch
them as they flapped in the breeze. Dia-
pers were strung all over the neighbor-
hood with some even decorating the yard
of the home where the dog’s owner was
staying. They came over that evening
and paid for the diapers. Later they re-
turned again after hearing from another
neighbor that the dog had also ruined our
bedspread. Word traveled fast on the Hill
and people tried to make things right. It
wasn’t long until the dog disappeared,
and I heard through a neighbor that they
had found a new home for the dog. They
had apparently decided that paying for
the damages had become too expensive.
From Virgil Powell’s Diary
Virgil Powell (1887-1963) was a long-
time resident whose family had a farm
in the Upper Nehalem Valley between
Natal and Pittsburg. Each year from
1906 until 1955, he kept a regular di-
ary of his activities. In 1910 he was a
census taker (enumerator). Here his
entries before he began the process.
Next month we’ll finish the census, so
to speak.
Friday, April 1, 1910: Run
the disc harrow till noon
and finished below the
ditch. Rained awful hard
all morning so went up to
Vernonia in the afternoon
and took my oath as Census
Enumerator. Did not come
back till after the mail came
in. Got home at 7.30 just
soaked.
Thursday, April 7: Did not
do much of anything in the
morning because it rained
so hard. Went up to Vernonia
about 1 P.M. to get my papers
and supplies for taking the
census. Got back home about 5.
Some of the McAboy boys came
down after a bear trap in the
morning. Jack Ray came up
and stayed over night. Rained
terrible hard all day.
Friday, April 8: Started up
to the doings up at the Keasey
School House on Rock Creek at
11.15 A.M. Gaynell and I went
up in the buggy. Got up there
at 1.30 and the doings was
over about 4 P.M. Had a dandy
time coming back. Rained
terrible hard all day. Got home
at 6.45. Done some studying on
my Enumerating book in the
evening.
Saturday, April 9: Did not get
up till pretty late. Did not do
much of anything any of the
day. Done a lot of studying
on my census work in the
afternoon. Boothe Hall and
Jack Ray were here a little
while in the afternoon. Pretty
fair day and looks like it is
going to clear up.
Tuesday, April 12: Was
studying up on my census
papers most all day. Rained
quite a bit in the afternoon.
Suppose I will go out to St.
Helens tomorrow. Had a long
talk with Central girl at Mist
in the evening.
The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is cur-
rently closed in compliance with State
of Oregon COVID-19 restrictions The
museum, located at 511 E. Bridge Street,
is normally open all year from 1 to 4 pm
on Saturdays and Sundays (excluding
national holidays, Easter and Mothers’
Day.) There is no charge for admission
but donations are always welcome. Be-
come a member of the museum for an
annual $5 fee to receive the periodic
newsletter, and if you are a Facebook
user, check out the Vernonia Pioneer
Museum page and our page on Vernonia
Hands on Art website, www.vernonia-
handsonart.org. The museum volunteers
are always pleased to enlist additional
volunteers to help hold the museum open
and assist in other ways. Please stop by
and let one of the volunteers know of
your interest in helping out.
Don‛t worry.
We‛ll go to Meyer‛s Auto Body.
I hear they‛re out of this world.
Meyer’s
Auto Body
493 Bridge Street
VERNONIA • 503-429-0248