Heppner gazette-times., August 08, 1974, Page Page 3, Image 3

Page 3
Heppner, Ore., Gazette-Times, Thursday, Aug. 8, 1974
100th birthday party for Phebe Bartholomew
',., By
JUSTINE W EATHERFORD
Phebe Thomson Bartholo
mew had a rousing 100th
birthday party Sunday after
noon at the Hermiston Service
Center in Hermiston.
Three hundred friends and
relatives attended the unusual
affair. They came from New
York, Virginia, Utah, Califor
nia, Idaho and British Colum
bia, with Oregon and Wash
ington well represented.
Five generations were re
presented, from the 100-year-old
Phebe to the six-week-old
great-great-grandchild, Ryan
Higgenbotham of Boise.
She has lived through most
of Oregon's history, has been a
part of it all, and has made
some herself.
At 100, she is still young in
mind and spirit. She's no
stay-at-home. She has travel
ed a great deal and loves to
fly. She has seen most of the
U.S. and Canada and has
flown to Australia and Alaska
within the last 10 years.
' Phebe has always had
a way of instant friendship
and a multitude of her
relatives, friends and ad
mirers, some of whom come
long distances, congratulated
her on her 100th birthday in
Hermiston Sunday.
All call her "Phebe" and
some even have to stop to
think what her full name Is.
She recently re-emphaslzed
that the spelling of her first
name is without an "o." "It is
spelled according to the King
James Bible, RomansXVM.
Phebe In Greek mythology
wii the moon goddess, some
called her Artemis, and the
Romans called her Diana.
Heppner was hardly alive in
vait Western Umatilla County
when Phebe Ann was born on
the Butter Creek farm of her
parents, Oscar Fitzallen
Thomson and Susan Almyra
At wood Thomson. She has
watched Morrow County's
birth, Heppner's and Echo's
growth, the rise of Hermiston
and big changes in Umatilla
and Pendleton.
The history of Phebe's
family In Oregon goes back
seven generations from her
little great-great-grandchild,
It began with the arrival of her
grandparents, the B. C.
Atwoods, in 1863 with their
children, including Phebe's
mother, Almyra. Her father
Oscar F. Thomson, arrived
at Umatilla in 1865. and he and
Almyra Atwood were married
in 1867.
The United States is ap
proaching its bi-centennial
and all things historical are
beingstressed especially re
gional and local history.
Every state and almost every
county has an historical socie
ty. In Morrow County's
written "white man's history"
very little pre-dates the ar
rival of Phebe's family. Look
ing back, the Thomson-At-wood
and Bartholomew-Coe
families have been carefully
researched and written about
by Phebe's daughter, Mary
Bartholomew Sether, Seattle,
whose books, "The Thomson
Family" and "The Judge's
Family," are both in the
Morrow Museum and the
Heppner Library. Both are
personalized histories.
Let's look again at Phebe's
family before continuing with
more Bartholomew lore.
Her father, Oscar F., be
came an early leader in
Umatilla County. He was the
second elected sheriff. He was
a charter member of both the
Heppner and Echo Masonic
lodges. "He was a good church
man a Methodist and his
home was a gathering place
for miles around on occasions
of basket suppers and camp
meetings... He was involved in
the reclaiming of many acres
of sage brush into grazing and
farming lands which was the
beginning of the prosperous
farms of the region today."
Phebe tells of her father'i
death at 79 In 1909. "They
called Dr. Swinburne (who
lived In what ii now the
Gilliam house) from Heppner
toHelpDr.Boyden with a post
mortem and found he had
cancer at the top of hli
atomach." Moat of the
Thomson family graves are In
X-the cemetery at Echo.
. Her daughter writes,
"Phebe made welcome count
leas numbers of weary travel
ers at her hospitable home on
the creek. In horse and buggy
days and even at the time of
the early automobiles, her
home stood half way between
Heppner and Echo 20 miles
from each. Those 20 miles
were a good journey for any
team.-so that the Bartholo
mew home was often the
stopping place at noon and
overnight. Herders trailing
their sheep from summer to
winter feeding grounds often
stopped overnight to make use
of the large corrals and to
enjoy a good meal in a well
kept home."
Phebe is still telling, "Oh
how I loved to put out a big
meal for those homesick lads
fresh from Ireland and how
eagerly they ate!"
A note about Mr. Bartholo
mew's distinguished family
whose story is traced in "The
Judge's Family." His an
cestors came to Massachu
setts in 1635. Over 200 years
later Phebe's father-in-law,
Alba G. Bartholomew, was
born in Illinois in 1845. He
married Mary Ann Coe in
1867.
"It was the coldest winter
ever known (the thermometer
was frozen at 36 degrees below
zero at the home of O.F,
Thomson on Butter Creek) in
February of 1883 when the
Bartholomews arrived in Mil
ton, Ore., from Elmwood, 111.
They traveled In two railroad
cars to Walla Walla livestock
and furniture in one and the
families in the other (more
than 18 persons Coes,
Bartholomews and Parsells).
Samuel Coe, Mary Ann
Bartholomew's brother, had
preceded the party by
several years and had pur
chased a farm three miles
outside Milton on Mill Creek
where he lived with his wife,
the former Susan Fraser."
Gail Coe Hughes (Mrs. Allen
Hughes, Heppner) and her
cousin, Gaudia Coe Hughes
(Mrs. Merlin Hughes, Butter
Creek), are great-grandaugh-ters
of Samuel and Susan
Fraser Coe.
The newcomers were taken
to Sam's farm and some of
them stayed there the rest of
the winter. "By spring, some
arrangement had been made
whereby Sam and his family
moved to Milton where he
conducted a business of his
own, The Bartholomews re
mained on his ranch raising
wheat, hay. livestock and fruit
for three years." -
Then Alba took his family to
Sand Hollow where he came to
be known as an outstanding
livestock man. One of the
stories from those years
concerns the horrible winter
of 1889. "This was later known
as the double winter when a
heavy snow and below zero
temperatures had caused the
owners to feed out all their hay
during the first storm. After
this weather was gone, there
came a season of warmer
weather which was followed
by another freeze and snow so
that there was no feed. Some
hay could be hauled from
Echo by wagon on the frozen
Umatilla River, but it was not
enough and the cattle from the
ranches in upper Sand Hollow
drifted north with the deadly
wind. As the snow deepened
and the cold increased, most
of them died and there were
hundreds of carcasses every
where. Mr. Bartholomew con
tacted owners and obtained
the job of skinning the dead
animals for the hides so that it
provided much work for his
boys as long as the cold lasted.
"Hay was hauled 24 miles
from Echo with four-horse
teams by the boys, Ed, 17, and
Charlie," 13, so that the
Bartholomews lost very few
cattle. However, Price and Al
Florence, who lived on Hinton
Creek, lost all their livestock.
These were the ones skinned
by the boys. (Price and Al
Florence were the uncle and
father of Norman Florence
who lives on upper Willow
Creek and whose daughter,
Mary Eleanor Gilman, an
officer at the First National
Bank, is well-known in Hepp
ner.) In 1896 Mr, Bartholomew
was elected county judge and
the family home was moved to
Heppner. "Alba and hit
family had bought the large
house owned by William Ayen
which was retained as the
family home until the death of
Mary Ann In 1935. (Most of
this historic home is still
standing on Chase Street,
beside Shobe Creek. It has
changed considerably through
the yean because of flood
damage.)
Mrs. Sether s writing covers
the judge's life. along with
Heppner history In the seven
chapters of her book. Her
accounts of the devastating
flood of 1903 In which no
Bartholomew died and of the
tremendous fire which wiped
out much of Heppner In 1918
are most exciting.
Two members of Phebe's
family did die as a result of the
1903 fiood. Mary tells about iL
"Of course, there was a great
deal of cleaning up to do after
such a terrible event and
througout the summer many
cases of typhoid developed in
the city from the contaminat
ed water. Everyone worked
very hard to salvage what
they could and to give
assistance to those in need.
Judge Bartholomew was a
very busy man and on the
following Nov. 3, 1903, he died
of overwork and strain
brought on by his indefatig
able and tireless attempts
to help those about him. Parts
of his obituary in the Heppner
Gazette-Times states, "While
he was very enterprising and
progressive, his first con
sideration was for public
welfare. The building of Mor
row County's fine stone court
house was largely due to his
enterprise. He was one of the
promoters in the building of
the IOOF stone block and
other substantial monuments
that stand today to his
memory. (Murrays and
Elma's are located in that
block.) Mr. Bartholomew was
a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church of Heppner
and his life was an example
that commanded the most
profound respect. He was a
member of Willow Lodge No.
66. IOOF and also a member
of Rawlins Post G.A.R."
Phebe's brother, Shirley H.
Thomson, died in October
1903. "Shirley never married
and died at the age of 27 a! his
father's home only four miles
from his own ranch he had
farmed with the assistance of
his sister, Phebe, until her
marriage. He died of typhoid
contracted while working
amidst the wreckage left by
the disastrous Heppner flood
of that June."
Mrs. Sether traces the
Thomsons from 1315 when
Robert Bruce was the first
king of Scotland, and the
Bartholomews from 1500 In
Warborough, Oxfordshire.
England. Her visits to Scot
land and England confirmed
these histories. She writes, "I
have been greatly encouraged
and greatly helped in my
writing by my mother, Phebe
Bartholomew. Her memory
has filled many gaps for me
when my memory has failed
and most of all, of course, for
those years of early childhood
and those before I was born. I
am indebted to her for the
knowledge of Judge Bartholo
mew and the activities of the
Bartholomew family in those
years on Sand Hollow and
early Heppner days. The early
days of cattle branding, horse
round-ups. homesteading,
timber claims, and pioneer
days on Butter Creek have
been enlightened for me by
her remarkable remem
brance of events, and her
persistence in pushing me on
has made possible the finish
ing of this work. Without her
help, this work could never
have been accomplished."
A few days ago Phebe
recounted childhood trips to
Heppner, "It was a good long
day's drive. We always stayed
overnight with the Elisha
Sloans. They had an early
store in Heppner. They were
very special friends who had
been attendants at my
parent's wedding in 1867. Do
you remember my brother
David Sloan Thomson, called
i Mi'
f t n
I ID '
PIIKBK THOMSON
Sloan, who was named after
them. Every New Year's
time my family and the Sloans
and other old friends would
gather at Umatilla for a big
ball. What excitement!"
Another story concerns the
1878 trip via riverboat to The
Dalles with many women and
children who were sent there
at the time of the big Indian
scare. Word had come that a
large party of Indians was
coming to the Butter Creek-Stanfield-Umatilla
area, and
as uprisings had provoked
killings not too far away, the
settlers sent their wives and
children to Fort The Dalles.
(A complete account of the
assembly of persons from
Morrow, Gilliam, Sherman
and Wasco counties at The
Dalles is given in. Mark V.
Weatherford's "The Bannack
Piute War")
way, the boat tied up for the
night as it was considered
very dangerous to try to shoot
the rapids after dark. They
happened to tie up near a ford
over which an Indian war
party passed one night. If the
red men had been more alert
or the passengers noisy
enough to attract the Indian's
attention, a massacre could
have taken place and none of
us would have been here
today."
The Oscar Thomson child
ren attended the old Thomson
School right on their Butter
Creek Ranch (now owned by
Phebe's grandson, Jerry
Myers.) Phebe became an
avid reader. "I've cut down on
the number of books. I do keep
up with several newspapers
still, though."
While in their teens, Phebe
and her older sister Lucy went
off to Oregon Normal College
at Monmouth. Phebe gradu
ated in the bchool's fourth
class, 1895. and has been
honored as the school's oldest
alumnae. After she came
home from college she taught
two years in the big school at
Pine City and one year in the
little Thomson School before
marrying Charles Herbert
Bartholomew, the son of
Morrow County Judge Alba G.
Bartholomew, in October,
1901.
The young couple lived
several places with their
growing family of four child
ren before they settled at Pine
City and began to build up the
fine ranch there that is now
operated by the Jasper Myers
(their youngest daughter Lila
and her husband) and their
son, Jerry Myers, and his
family, the Bartholomew's
c'her children are Mary
Almyra Sether (Mrs. Arthur
Sether, Seattle), Faye Amary
llis Finch (Mrs. Marion Finch,
Hermiston) and Oscar
Fitzallen Bartholomew (call
ed "OF."). "O.F. was a soil
analyst in the U.S. Depart
ment of Interior and with his
wife Beulah and their
daughter, Nora, lived in Salt
Lake City," he has been
retired for several years now.
Charles Herbert had two
sisters and four brothers. He
was the fourth son of Alba and
Mary Ann Bartholomew. He
came to Oregon with his
family in 1883 and worked at
ranch chores from an early
age. An account of his
accomplishments fills Chap
ter 6 of "The Judge's
BARTHOLOMEW
Family." One interesting
section tells of his long
involvement as a school board
member. Mrs. Sether writes,
"It was the custom in those
days for applicants for the
teachers positions to apply in
person to the board,
"It was never unusual in the
hot summer months for lovely
young ladies to drive 20 miles
to our place from Heppner or
Echo to make application to
my father for the job. They
usually arrived at dinner time
about noon because he was
nearly always at home then,
and also because 20 miles was
all a team could make in a half
day. So they always had
dinner with us and many
times we children had to be
content with stewed fruit as
we watched those young ladies
eating the piece of pie we had
marked out for our own.
"If they were beautiful and
gay, we didn't regret it and
hoped they would be our
teachers; if not, no. The
consent of two of the three
board members was neces
sary to hire one, so they had to
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August 22
Morrow County
$2375 IN PURSES
Full Schedule of RCA Cowboy
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In Three Great Shows
Morrow County Open
HORSE SHOW
Friday, August 23
PLAN
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interview all three. Of course,
the members of the board
changed frequently, but for
several years it seemed the
same three held the positions.
Two of them were very
cautious, or shall we say
stubborn, and were deter
mined in their views of the
qualifications for a teacher.
The scholastic requirements
didn't seem to bother them,
but they were determined
never to hire a married
woman.
"What this had to do with
the ability of a women to teach
such a small school is a
mystery, but to them it was
important. I well remember
the time a lady applied and
was hired, but when she
arrived at the first of Sept
ember to begin school, It was
learned that she had been
married just two weeks be
fore. That made no difference
to these men she was a Miss
when she was hired and they
would not employ a Mrs., so a
search had to be started for a
new teacher and the beginning
of school was delayed until one
was found."
Tim. To Get Ready
For The
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and FFA
10:00 A.IY1.
BOOKS AVAILABLE
August
PfXom
Wranglers'
COWBOY
BREAKFAST
Sunday,
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- Many, Many Prizes -
Madge Thomson (Mrs. Jim
Thomson, Heppner, he's not
related to Phebe's family)
was a substitute teacher at
Pine City in 1935, not too long
after her marriage to Jim.
Madge recalls, "Jim would
take me out Monday morning
and come pick me up Friday
afternoon during the few
weeks I taught there. I stayed
in the Bartholomew's big
home. Charlie and Phebe were
lovely, warm people. Phebe
always such a happy, busy
woman. I enjoyed staying in
their fine, friendly home.
Phebe was such an excellent
cook."
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Hecip Printed
AT COUNTY AGENT'S OFFICE
22
Rodeo Grounds, Heppner
Morrow County Entries
will close at 5:00 P.M.
Thursday, August 22
Pit Cooked Beef Barbeque
Saturday, August 24
August 25
FOR THE BIG
CONTACT RANDALL PETERSON.
HEPPNER. POl INFORMATION
Madge remembers several
friends from Pine City days,
such as Mary White who was a
teacher there and Levy
Howland, a dear friend of
Phebe's young years. Madge
had become friendly with the
Jarmans (Phebe's sister's
children) during their years
together at Oregon State
College, and she and Phebe
had this friendship as a starter
in their friendship when
Madge came to stay in the
Bartholomew home. (Madge
Thomson retired this year
from her last school work as
librarian at Heppner High
School.)
Hermiston, Ore.
Heppner
In Premium Book
Booths
Aug. 24-25
RODEO DANCES
Friday and Saturday
Nights
August 23 and 24
PARADE