southtillamookcounty.com
History
"Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers" written about South Tillamook County, Oregon
The page below was written by Mrs. Hardy Rock (Alexandria LEY Rock) and published in 1949. NVMS students have retyped her history so that many may read it. Although some punctuation errors have been corrected the text remains as written by Mrs. Rock.
Note that Alexandria LEY Rock's "Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers" has been republished in book form as of January 2007 and is now being offered for sale by the Tillamook County Historical Society!
(This page was typed by ? during the fall of 2002 and edited by Dean Bones.)
In 1901, Tommy Fraser, two year old son of Alex and and Pearl Penter Fraser, died from being scalded in almost boiling water into which he had backed while his parents were cleaning and scrubbing their milk house on their farm in Meda District.
In 1904, Lois Christensen, daughter of Will and Stella Commons Christensen, and Goldie Franklin, 4 year old daughter of Frank and Jane Bozley Franklin,died from a fatal malady which hit several small children at Oretown. The three children of John and Gertie Porter Redberg, also another daughter of Will and Stella Christensen survived. All the afflicted children had eaten sprayed apples brought from the Willamette Valley.
In the spring of 1905 the family of Al Bowman, who owned the farm now owned by Rose Bauer, contracted Black Diphtheria from some unknown source. Despite all efforts of the best doctors from Salem, five of the family of ten died within a week. Mrs. Condessa Porter and Mrs. Jessie Taggart volunteered to go into the home as nurses. Neither of them nor Mr. Bowman contracted the fatal disease. After the first funeral, no one attended the burials except two men. The caskets were hastily made from material at hand. The mother and infant were placed in one box. She was Minnie Page Bowman, a daughter of Henry and Sarah Page.
In 1906, a family named Hoskins moved from near Vancouver, Washington, to a homestead near Bear Creek, a tributary of Little Nestucca River in the timber above Meda. The parents left the children at home in a cabin near the river until they could build a cabin on the homestead. This was a long distance away. One evening, on arriving home tired from a hard day's work, the smallest child, a boy aged two, was missing, and the children didn't know where he was. Neighbors quickly responded and a thorough search was continued all night. It was feared he had fallen in the river or been killed by a cougar. Arthur Coffey of Cloverdale, who resided in Meda at the time, found the child dead beside a large log where he had scratched a hole and cried himself to death. His name was Walter.
April 6th, 1916, Dall Winters, who lived a few miles up Slab Creek accidentally shot and killed himself climbing over a log while on a hunting trip. His small son was with him. They had become separated from other members of the hunt. His widow, Laura Sutton Winters, later married Frank Martin who has since died.
In 1925 or 1926, Mrs. Melinda Paton, a widow living on Meda Heights whipped her young grandchild to death. She had in her care, four small children of her daughter who was divorced and lived in Portland. Mrs. Paton had to carry all water used up a steep hill. All food she wheeled up another hill in a wheel barrow. A wide leather strap around her neck and fastened to the handles of the barrow aided her some. She was unable to " break " the child of diapers and whipped it each time it soiled a garment. Having an uncontrollable temper and being very tired, one morning she hung the child by its feet and whipped it to death. She sent the eldest boy to a neighbor to tell them the baby was dead. A phone message to the sheriff of Tillamook County brought him in haste to arrest the woman. She was declared insane and sent to Salem where she soon died. The parents of the baby became reconciled beside its body. Persons who saw the corpse said it had been beaten all over its body.
Dec. 29, 1925, Rex M. Briggs was instantly killed near the home of Will Christensen when the car in which he was riding at a high rate of speed, failed to negotiate a sharp turn and landed in a field. Harry W. Black, who was with him, escaped with minor injuries.
Continue to page 45 of "Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers!"