IIFPPNFR OHF.. liAZKTTFTIMFS, Thun.day. March K,
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lone 's historic Woolery House being restored by the Ladds
iw n TivK u t-4Tiii. iinmD the supplit needed during the with us about the furnishings n (V tr W '"TT U j ""
By Jl'STINF. WF.ATIIFKFORD
lone is a city of many
attractive homes with nice
yards-some are modern, some
are quite old. One older home
that is very eye-catching is the
large Victorian house built by
J.A Woolery in 1900. Mr. and
Mrs. Elmer Ladd who now own
it are working at restoring some
of the original glory of this
home, that like people has had a
varied life experiences. Both
the Ladds had World War II
service: Lorraine as an army
nurse and Elmer as a sea going
marine.
Assistance Coming
The Ladds will soon be
assisted in the restoration by an
older daughter. Christine, and
her husband, Donald Thomson,
a building and decorator of
Phoenix, Az., who are expected
to reach lone in a few weeks.
The Thomsons will live in the
Morgan house (formerly occu
pied by the Herb Ekstrom
Srs.) which was built in 18.
Son-in-law Don will be learning
the cattle business in which his
wife has already had some
experience. The family plans to
restore this fine old home also.
This year they purchased the
old Victorian type doors which
were used as partitions in Dr.
McMurdo's office to possibly fit
into the restoration.
In the Woolery House
The Ladds and their children
Richard 10 and Sylvia Marie 7,
are the latest family who have
shared the many rooms and
enjoyed the sunlight coming
through the stained-glass sec
tions of the lovely old windows.
Mrs. Victor Rietmann who
played in that house as a little
girl and who lives across the
street from its front door today
says she believes eight families
have shared its rooms:
Woolerys, Mallorys, Casons,
Loren Hales, Laxton McMur
rays, Oscar Lundells, and Mary
Holtz Dabbs, from whom the
Ladds purchased the house.
Mrs. Rietmann played with the
daughters of the builder and
still counts the youngest as a
special friend.
An Original Occupant
The writer's recent visit with
Mrs. D. J. Conway of King City
near Tigard, who was born in
the house in 1902, brought forth
a fund of information about the
first family there and the
original condition of the house.
Josephine Conway is the fourth
of the Woolery daughters. Her
sisters were Audrey, Edna and
Velmaleta. She has pictures of
the house with her family on its
porch which prove that the
house was not always white. Its
siding was green and its
porches and trim were a light
tan or cream. The high roof -line
was accented with iron work
that has since disappeared. A
picket fence surrounded the
yard and vines and shrubs grew
beside the porch and large trees
were spaced about. In the back
lot there was a barn for the
horses and buggies. Mrs. Con
way mentioned that her father
kept some racing hounds.
The Builder
The big, old "History of
Umatilla and Morrow
Counties" printed about 1900
when the house was being built
praises the builder Joseph
Augustus Woolery : "Prominent
among the leading citizens of
Morrow County, a leader in
everv movement which has for
its object the advancement of tains" a thriving little town,
lone, a large land owner and a surrounded by good farming
rescue and cleanup.
"l-argett Funeral Ever"
The Heppner Times in its 1
story following his death on
March 5 tells that a special tram
was run from Heppner the
Sunday morning of the funeral
"carrying from 150 to 2iK)
persons, at Lexington a large
crowd boarded making in all a
Uwc coach load." It was
estimated that "almost a thou
sand people gathered." The
lodges to which he belonged
took part and "contributed
largely to the beautiful floral
decorations which were very
elaborate." Refore his death in
1908. J.A Woolery and Mrs.
Woolery gave the City of lone a
large park block. In I960 a
memorial plaque at the park
was dedicated to him by
Willows Grange. The Times
estimated his holdings at
"20.000 acres, making him the
largest individual taxpayer in
Morrow County."
His widow took over the
management of his estate with
the aid of Mr. C.E.Woodson. In
1909 she married Joseph T.
Knappenberg, an attorney from
Buffalo. N Y. who had corre
sponded with Mr. Woolery. He
died in 1942, and Mrs. Knappen
berg died in Portland at 96 in
1961
Woolery Treasures
Josephine Conway has many
family treasures, including an
impressive set of Royal Iron
stone China in the Oak Leaf
pattern which she uses every
dav. Mrs. Emile Groshens, who
accompanied this reporter to
the Conway home, sat at their
unusual old spinet style pump
organ and made a little soft
music during our visit. There
are delightful family pictures
and momentos throughout the
home. Josephine showed us a
book which fascinated me. It is
Dr. Chase's "Recipes and
Household Remedies" publish
ed in 1892. She loaned me a 24
page pamphlet "Oregon Wheat
Lands" printed at Portland in
1905 in which her father extols
the virtues of Morrow County's
"cheap and fertile lands, where
even the poorest may own a
home."
Mr. Woolery's Writing
On the first page he states,
"The writer came to Morrow
County 21 years ago. He worked
as a farm hand, as a sawmill
man, at farming for himself, at
mercantile business, and as a
banker. He is thoroughly ac
quainted with the county and is
making no second guesses and
taking nothing second hand. He
has large interests in the county
and wants to see it filled up with
an industrious and progressive
people. He has endeavored to be
conservative and to answer just
such questions as a prudent
man, seeking a new location,
would ask. Any further informa
tion will be gladly and promptly
furnished upon application to
the writer."
On page 13 he has words of
praise about the four incorpor
ated towns: Heppner "a pros
perous place of 1,500 people";
lone on the same branch of the
railroad "a substantial and
rapidly-growing town of 800",
Lexington "midway between
Heppner and lone; "a prosper
ous and growing town and a
large shipper of grain and other
products"; Hardman off the
railroad and near the moun-
they have installed and atwiut
their plans for the restoration
which they have already begun
They added an ornumentul iron
section to the top of the brick
fence and have a new custom
made gate marked with their
initial. On the sidewalk beneath
the front gate the name
"laindell" is cut into the
cement. Mr. Thompson of
llermiston made and installed
the new iron work. Reside their
son-in-law. Donald Thomson,
and Mr, Thompson of llermis
ton. There is a nice lByr.-old
grey cat which came from Calif,
with them that is named "Mr.
Thompson"; so one must he
alert as to which Mr. Thompson
they are speaking alut.
Spurious Entrance Hull
As we entered through the
ample front door, we stepped
into a large foyer out of which
rises the stairwav with its
carved new el nos! tt.irncfLrnils
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The new iron grill gate marks the front entrance of the Woolery
hiutie in lone now in stages of restoration b the Ladds. "Mr.
Thompson" is the cat who came with the Ladds from California.
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country"; Irrigon on the
Columbia River and main line
of the O.R. & N "in the midst of
an irrigated district and rapidly
growing into a substantial
town." He includes many pic-
wide-awake merchant
Born in Missouri in 1859, he
moved to Texas and the Indian
Territory as a young man. In
1884 he came to Morrow County
to work for Parker and Gleason
at their sawmill for three.years, tures of farms and towns,
then became the first stage various statistics, and several
driver between Heppner and pages of questions and answers
Monument, then went in the that give a very factual picture
sheep business. He married of the county at that time. Mr.
Helen Vilott of a pioneer Grant Woolery's top-hatted portrait
County family in 1888. He and a picture of his residence
operated a general store at appear on the final page. Mrs.
Hardman until 1890 when the Conway gave the museum a
Woolerys moved to lone. large print of the same portrait
At lone which is dated 1901 and thus
He was a successful merchant shows Mr. Woolery as he looked
who carried many farmers in his early forties. He was 48
during hard times. He served as years old when he succumbed
Ione's postmaster and later as to typhoid pneumonia.
its mayor. A Democrat, ne josi
a close race for the state
legislature. He was prominent
in IOOF, Knights of Pythias,
Masonry, and the "progressive
and flourishing" BPOE. In 1903
he established a private bank
which his sister Lee operated in
the building that the lone
Branch of the Bank of E.O. still
uses- .
In the great 1903 flood, Giles
French's book says that Mayor
Woolery very efficiently moved
Ione's population to high
ground. No one was hurt and
there was little damage there.
His daughter Josephine re
members hearing that the
water came into the basement
of their home. Mr, French
further reports that soon after
Heppner 's ravishing experience
of June 14. 1903, "J.A.Woolery
came up from lone to manage
and dark wainscoating. which
passes a stained glass border
ed window as it starts up. In the
large semi-circular floor space
of the foyer, the Ladds have
placed a large, 110 year-old,
square, grand piano which they
acquired in Ca. and hauled to
Oregon in their truck. The three
large windows with their
borders of stained glass fit
around the piano which is just
one of the exciting features of
the entrance hall. Between it
and the outside door is a very
old and interesting German
wall clock of carved wood which
was given to the Ladds by
Elmer's aunt. (Mr. Ladd's
family were Portland pioneers.
William Sargeant Ladd built the
first brick building in Portland
and operated lumber and flour
mills. He also built the Ladd and
Tilton Bank, the first bank north
of San Francisco. For a time his
widow was known as the
wealthiest woman in. Portland.
Elmer's immediate part of the
family migrated south.)
The Table, Silver and Picture
Across from the piano,
against the wainscoated wall
space between the stairs and
the hallway door, there is an
impressive arrangement. Lor
raine Ladd says the heavy
Mexican table is supposed to be
over 200 years old. The silver
service on it was a Christmas
gift from Mr. Ladd to his wife.
The oil painting above the table
is a Madonna, a Belgian
peasant woman and is a
prize-winning effort of a Euro
pean woman painter, De Winne,
which they found in San
Francisco. Its size, warm
colors, and composition blend
nicely with the surroundings.
The Living Room
To the right of the front door,
on the north side of the house,
the living room holds several
davenports, chairs, tables and
bookshelves. Its most interest
ing furnishings, to me. are the
paintings on its walls. Two large
oils in lovely old frames, are
landscapes painted by Albert
Bierstadt. an American painter
of the 19th century-one shows
Mt. Hood and the other the
Yosemite Valley. We stepped
out of that room through the
high. wide, framed opening that
has large doors hung in it, and
turned right to walk through the
hallway to the dining room.
The Dining Room
A fireplace framed with
ornamental iron and built with
. small glazed tiles is this room's
outstanding feature. Lorraine
has found other parts of the
metal stove inside the fireplace
and plans to restore the doors to
it. and to replace the present
mantel with the original ornate
mantel and mirror. The pillars
at each side of the fireplace are
very pleasing. This room is
furnished with a large maple
hutch, dining table and chairs
which match it, and several
comfortable lounge chairs. It
has a bay of three windows on
the side opposite the fireplace.
There is a builtin China
cupboard on the kitchen side.
Other First Floor Rooms
To the right of the fireplace is
the entrance to a good-sized
room that the Ladds use as a
family room. It is the room in
which Josephine Woolery was
born. I wish I had asked her if
there were once large doors
between it and the living room.
There is a bathroom and closet
off this room which other
residents have used as a
downstairs bedroom. In both
dining room and the family
room there are more interesting
paintings, each of which has a
story about its discovery.
The Kitchen
At the back of the house is the
kitchen with its own porch and
entrance and with signs of
several remodelings. It is the
most "modernized" room in the
house, and its outstanding
feature is the pair of gold
electric stoves near its center.
Lorraine says she likes plenty of
cooking space and finds two
stoves are better than one.
I'pstuirs
We were then conducted up
the stairs which turn at a
landing about two-thirds of the
way up. The long upstairs hall is
sort of a temporary library, and
I would liked to have lingered
and looked at the shelves of
books of all ages. Our hostess
told me she has many volumes
sPjp Home
Mj Improving?
8
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The fireplace in the dining room to be restored to its original
ornate mantel and mirror.
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of old Harpers Magazines, and I
could see many years of
American Heritage. Someday
the family hopes to gather its
books out of temporary posi
tions in every room and in the
hallways and arrange them all
together in a library room.
One of the remnants of the
house's "boarding house" days
is the "Ladies" sign outside one
of the upstairs baths. There are
five bedrooms upstairs. Sylvia
Marie has the tower room at the
front with a doorway to the front
balcony. Her parents use the
north side of the hall. Richard's
room is above the dining room
on the south. So far little change
has been made upstairs, but
there again are many special
pictures and plenty of suitable
furniture.
i
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We Leave
As we three went down to the
front door, Lorraine Ladd was
saying how eager she is to have
Christine and Donald Thomson
come and to get on with doing so
much to both of the old nousesrr..T Photo
they have bought. We stepped
onto the laree porch and the Shades of the past.
furry, grey Mr. Thompson
escorted us to the front gate
where Dorothy caught him with
her camera. She stepped out to
the middle of the intersection to
get the larger picture of the
house.
Just before we drove away we
noticed the little iron hitching- m
post boy at the bottom of the ,
side stairway to the porch. He
came with the Ladds from their
Rancho El Robledo in Carmel
Valley, California.
I hope that after the restora- m
tions are completed at the
Woolery and Morgan houses
that we can bring you another
story and group of pictures of
their new, old appearance.
Through the fence: an iron
hitching post similar to those seen atfiiji l.mmj o-T Photo
most southern mansions. This one came from Rancho El Robledo
in Carmel Vallev.
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The old grand piano that came to California around the Horn
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J.A
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. WOOLERY 1901
The House Today
Mrs. Ladd graciously con
ducted Mrs. Heard and me
through the house and talked
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A fcal point, rich in color and old world feeling.
The Woolery House as it appears today. The Ladds have added
the iron grill at the top of the fence. In the original pictures, an iron
grill is along the ridge on the left of the cupola.
I