Friday, February 16, 2014

Fireside Evenings — Perfect!

I’m not crazy about the wind.  Especially the east wind.  It’s always in a such a great hurry to rush across the bay and through the cracks and crannies of this old house.    Our “state of the art” heat pump doesn’t have a chance.

The outside thermometer says it’s 46°  and the online wind chill report says it’s 42°.  Which only goes to show, you can’t trust technology.

The best quote about the East Wind:  “There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat!” (James Russell Lowell.)

Actually, it’s my warm, plushy bathrobe I have on over all my clothes!  On days like this, I often think of my grandparents living here in the years before electricity.  There were fireplaces in the living room and library, a wood cook stove in the kitchen, and a pot-bellied wood stove in the most easterly room in the house — the room they called “the nursery” for it could be kept the warmest (probably with the exception of the kitchen) and was where the youngest children slept until they were old enough to go to school.  “Even so,” my mother said, “Papa kept the fire going all night and we rushed downstairs to dress by that old woodstove on winter mornings.”

On Friday, January 15, 1916, my grandmother wrote to her oldest daughter who was away at boarding school in Portland:

Medora, 1915

My Dear Medora,
     We had not had any weather before you left, compared with this week – It has been fierce!
Papa and I have been worried about your health and comfort. We were quite relieved to hear that Ruth had let you have scarf and sweater. Papa was disgusted to find your rubbers. We certainly hope you are keeping dry feet and taking care of yourself. The “town” has been coasting every night and of course Sue has gone. We will be glad when this unusual spell has passed, tho it shows no signs of leaving yet. In fact, snow is falling at intervals today and the wind howls.
 I have a pair of papa’s underdrawers over mine today. Papa insisted and I am glad he did, for I feel warmer.
We certainly miss you. It was such a comfort having you home. Don’t do any risky things dear. Remember what you mean to us and take no chances with your precious self.
                                                                  Always with love, Mama

As it turned out, this would be Mama’s last letter to Medora who died two days later of a cerebral hemorrhage,  It had nothing to do with the weather, but may have a lot to do with my dislike of that cold east wind,

Brother and Sister Ed and Dora Espy at their graduation from Grace Seminary in Centralia, 1892

February 15, 2024

The highest compliment that my Great Aunt Dora Espy Wilson could pay to another woman was to refer to her as “a fine double-breasted sort of woman!”  As a youngster, I always wondered exactly what she meant by that, but it was certainly clear that it was praise of the highest order.

I thought of that today when I received a note from a woman in Lake Oswego, Oregon who wrote: …I am a volunteer at the Oswego Heritage Council in Lake Oswego, Oregon.  I am working on an exhibit about women in Oswego history and came across your website while researching Dora Espy Wilson.  As you likely know, she was born in Oysterville in 1872 to Robert and Julia Ann (Jefferson) Espy.  She moved to Oregon by 1895 and to Oswego by 1910.  Here she was active in the women’s club and served on the school board.  Though she was prominent in our town, we have no image of her either in the collection of the Heritage Council or the Lake Oswego Public Library. 

Dora Espy Wilson, on her return from Hawaii aboard the S .S. Lurline, c. 1951

I have a number of photographs of Aunt Dora, a few of which even give a hint as to her larger-than-life personality.  I sent them on to the volunteer and hope that she will find them useful.  I also asked for more information about the exhibit.  We have a good many relatives in the Portland area who might be interested in seeing it and learning a bit more about that era of her life.

I only know that her husband, King Wilson, was the Mayor of Lake Oswego but I’m not surprised that she was on the school board,  She had attended McMinnville College and Bellingham Normal School and had taught school for two years here in Pacific County before marrying King in 1895,  In addition, they had three children during their years in Lake Oswego, so I’m sure that she had a great interest in the schools both professionally and as a young mother.

Although she asked me for pictures, the volunteer did not ask for any of the particulars about Aunt Dora’s background or personality.  So perhaps this will be a totally “new look” at Aunt Dora.  Stay tuned.