The INDEPENDENT, September 5, 2012
50 Years Ago This Month
The September 27, 1962, is-
sue of the Vernonia Eagle in-
cluded the following news story
on page 4:
The Vernonia Evangelical
United Brethren church, which
observed its 75th anniversary Sep-
tember 16, is the outgrowth of the
desire of the first settlers here for
spiritual nurture and growth.
The first settlers in this part of
the valley were Mr. and Mrs.
Clark Parker and family who came
in the early spring of 1874. They
settled abut a mile below the pres-
ent site of Vernonia on the place
known in later years as the Andy
Parker place. Later that same year,
the Van Blaricom families came to
the valley. This group included
John Van Blaricom, a widower,
and his sons, Henry, Phillip,
Joseph, Hiram and John Jr., part of
whom were married and had fam-
ilies, and daughters, Sarah Ann
Sheeley and her husband Sol and
Drusilla Baker and her husband
Frank. They homesteaded in vari-
ous parts of the valley, with Henry
taking up land where the Guy
Thomas place is now and Joseph
taking up what is now a major part
of the city of Vernonia. Hiram
took land up Rock Creek and
Phillip homesteaded up the Ne-
halem toward Kist. His daughter
Anna was a small girl when the
group came to the valley. After she
was grown she became the bride
of Hans Christensen and when she
passed away this year at the age of
93, that took from this earth the
last one of the original group to
come to the valley. Many of their
descendents (sic) still live here,
however.
Other families that soon fol-
lowed the Parker and Van Blari-
com families were the Adams,
Tuckers, Campbells, Spencers,
Wilsons, Pecks, Hesses and oth-
ers.
The earliest families came by
way of Mountaindale, over trails
down Pebble Creek with their few
possessions on horses and the
family members walking. Pebble
Creek was forded 13 times by the
early trail.
In 1874, soon after the first
families arrived, they began get-
ting together for prayer meetings
in the homes of Clark Parker and
Henry Van Blaricom as leaders in
the activity.
In 1876, A C. N. Plowman, a
United Brethren minister, came
into the valley and homesteaded
and he organized a class and held
regular services, first in the vicini-
ty of Vernonia and then at other
Page 9
Bits & Bites
points in the valley.
Rev. Plowman was followed by
a Mr. Parmer who lived on a
homestead a mile south of town.
He continued the work here. He
was followed by a Rev. Black. A
United Brethren elder, Rev. A.
Bennett, frequently visited this
area.
One preaching point of interest
was the Harding house which was
located two miles south of Ver-
nonia on the place now owned by
the Ed Crawfords. Sunday school
was conducted there regularly.
In the middle eighties, the work
of the United Brethren church de-
teriorated due to trouble in the
general conference. In 1887, Mr.
Plowman and Holford Jackson at-
tended the conference of the Evan-
gelical church with the purpose of
persuading them to take over the
work of the church here. The con-
ference responded favorably and
established a mission in Vernonia
in 1887 and assigned as the first
minister, Holford Jackson.
In 1888, James W. Ray was
named as pastor and in 1890, the
church was supplied by A. Mar-
cham.
It was during the pastorate of
Mr. Marcham that the building of
a church was undertaken. Land
was donated by Joseph Van Blari-
com and subscriptions were so-
licited. A pledge of $10 was large
for those who pledged it had little
idea where it would come from
but before the building was com-
pleted, most of them had given
many times that. Labor was donat-
ed and the building constructed
served as the only church here un-
til in the 1920s. It was used until
1924 when the new church on
State avenue was built and the old
church building was sold and con-
verted into what is now the Cherry
Tree apartments. The old parson-
age, remodeled but still much the
same, is now the home of the
apartment manager.
At the anniversary observance,
some of those who attended the
old church recalled the long shed
to the north of the church in which
horses were stabled while their
owners attended services. Oral
Spencer Faulkner, sister of Bob
Spencer, recalled the first little or-
gan which she began playing for
services when she was 11 years
old.
In 1891 a Rev. M. Burlingame
was assigned here. Some of his de-
scendants still live in the St. He-
lens area. During that summer, a
camp meeting was held on the
banks of Rock Creek with Rev. L.
S. Fisher as evangelist. At this
meeting, many were converted
and 28 joined the church.
This represented the permanent
establishment of the church.
In 1892 another camp meeting
was held at the same spot. Joseph
Van Blaricom donated land for a
camp grounds which was used
each summer for many years. It
was at the point where the James
Caywoods now live, but the creek
made a big bend there at that time
so the contour of the land was en-
tirely different. It was covered
with maple and alder and some fir
trees to make a beautiful grove. A
tabernacle was built and some
families erected cabins to live in
during the camp meeting. Others
used tents on the grounds. The
meetings were held each summer
until about 1920.
The grounds were also used for
community affairs, such as Fourth
of July picnics.
There was a nice gravel bar at
the bend of the creek and bap-
tismal services for the church were
held there in connection with the
meetings.
As the years passed many oth-
ers came into the valley who were
associated with the church and ac-
tive in keeping the work going. In-
cluded were the Malmstens, the
Keaseys, the Dallases, the Norths,
and others whose efforts were un-
tiring.
The “little church on the hill”
served the community and congre-
gation well until the coming of the
“big mill” brought a great influx
of population. About that same
time, other denominations began
to seek a foothold here and some
who had worked in the Pioneer
church but had been raised in oth-
Please see page 18
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By Jacqueline Ramsay
Hello, are you there? I’m here. Home
from my vacation, ho, ho. How do I feel?
Being a smarty with my fingers, of course.
But honestly, I feel lousy most of the time.
My friend MRSA has returned and caused
all kinds of fun with me and my well being.
This time the boil showed up on my left
cheek (and I do not mean on my face). I
put myself in the hospital this time. I didn’t
need anyone to tell me I needed a doctor.
Thank goodness I got the same doctor for the surgery, btu there
was an extra hitch this time, a Baker’s Cyst in the right knee. I
hope none of you ever have a reason to enjoy the excruciating
pain I did when it showed up during my surgery. That is a chap-
ter to be forgotten. I’m week, tired, pooped, not hungry, and real-
ly have no desire to work on my several knitting projects. I must
be sick. I can say for a fact that “Murphy’s Law” followed me into
and out of the hospital and home because if it can screw up it
sure does. And has.
I did catch the cutting of the blue tape at the new school com-
plex. I just had it proved again that we live in a very small world.
I lived in Vernonia for 23 years. Met lots of people, knew lots
more by running into them at different events in and about town,
churches, food bank, senior center, grocery store, and different
meetings and gatherings one just gets involved in, but this just
takes the cake. One of my Home Health Care ladies lives in Ver-
nonia (she worked on me last January but we never exchanged
small talk then). But, this time I mentioned it because the phone
rang, I said I’d get it later because it was probably a call from a
friend in Vernonia. “Oh,” said she and we had quite a jolly remi-
niscing party. We probably crossed paths many times in all those
years in the grocery store.
The nights seem to be getting sort of chilly, guess I’ll have to
dig out my heavy jammies pretty soon.
Got to run now and get my lunch – Blah. Get to go see the
Doc’ this afternoon.
Artists sought for Salmon Fest
Vernonia Hands on Art is
looking for artists and crafters
interested in sharing their tal-
ents during this year’s Salmon
Fest. The event takes place on
the first weekend of October.
Indoor and outdoor space is
available at the Scout Cabin at
Hawkins Park. Join the crowds
in celebrating the season.
Please let us know your in-
terest by September 14. For
details contact: Erika Paleck
503-704-5970 or epaleck@
gmail.com.
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11 a.m.
Biker Friendly
Sept 8 th Texas Hold’em
Sept 22 nd Third Member
Sept 29 th Step Child
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503-429-9999