More Grace

I'm developing a relationship with Grace Bowers, steaming apart her wallpaper and trying to research her family. I found a lovely article about her 100th birthday, which was in 1986.

She lived in that house on 12th street, or one near it, until she was 96, and grew up on the Vaughan Dairy which was in the area of 12th and Van Buren. One of the houses around here might be the original dairy house, or other buildings from it, including mine. I don't think it was all that successful, though, as there were many dairies in the area, and though they bought the land I researched around 1908, the neighborhood was built up rather quickly after that and they were probably pushed out.

Other things might have happened, like World War I (Elmer Van Orden was in the Navy then) and the big flu epidemic, and of course the Depression. At any rate I haven't found any news articles about them. I may be able to find an advertisement if I look through all of those old newspapers, which is fun and fascinating but takes way too much time.

I found pictures of William T. Vaughan and his wife Phoebe (Hazlett), and they look like pretty normal farming people of the time. I think William led his wagon train in 1847, which was in the same time frame as the Donner Party, if that gives you chills. Floyd G. was born in 1832 so he would have come with them, at the age of 15 or so, and made his life here. They settled in Coburg at first.

Grace was an avid gardener so I will have to go down to my neighbor's house and see what kind of trees and plants she has, and ask her what she knows about Grace, if anything. That house isn't as old as mine.

In fact, I think my house is really old, maybe even 1880-1900. The original construction was of that style, so it could easily have been here before F. G. Vaughan bought the property, built by some earlier settler, possibly even the Huddlestons. It isn't fancy, though, so it could have been built as some kind of outbuilding, a barn even, or a servant's or worker's house. I think the clapboards and front porch were put on when the foundation was put in, I think possibly under the existing house. Houses were often built without foundations by people who were poor or didn't know how to build in a wetlands. The foundation blocks can probably be dated by style, as they are fairly distinctive.

I actually think the place was remodeled in someone's approximation of the Craftsman style, and I think the geometric wallpaper was supposed to carry that theme.

So I have this kinship now, that of gardeners and homebuilders, and it's vital. I sent a Facebook message to a woman who might be one named in the article about Grace. I'll see what I can find out in histories of Coburg and other cemetaries.

I think one thing I'm finding is that these were just ordinary people, so they don't show up in the newspaper just like I don't show up much (though times have changed, that's for sure.) Phoebe Vaughan looks a bit grim and self-righteous, but maybe she just needed dentures. It couldn't have been easy to stand by a husband who dragged the family from Missouri to the wild west. I suppose it was a wonderful dream to farm in the Willamette Valley but it couldn't have been easy. They worked themselves to the bone, most likely.

Think I'll hike up to Mulkey and see who's there. I need to step away from the keyboard. I should also pull some more weeds while the weather is decent...and I will think about Grace and whether or not she planted my apple tree. She probably would have shot or poisoned that squirrel that is living up there, eating the buds so I will get no apples again this summer.

"Frank, go get the shotgun. It's either squirrel stew or another year without applesauce."

Also, there used to be a Pig Club. They had socials. We live in a funny place.