Papa and Aunt Dora, circa 1896

According to my uncle Willard Espy, raconteur, wordsmith, author and lover-of-scotch, there were two sorts of people who lived in Oysterville in its heyday.  There were the saints and there were the sinners.  Also, according to Willard, his father often talked about the saints but his Aunt Dora was more interested in the sinners.  Willard tended to side with the Aunt Dora and I find that I do, too.

Aunt Dora’s recollections (she was born in 1872 –, ironically, the same year that the first church was built in Oysterville) often centered on the saloons, their owners, and the colorful men and ‘ladies’ who frequented them. One of my favorites is:

Methodist Church (1872-1922) drawing by Fitzpatrick

There was a Methodist church on one corner and a saloon on the other.  There were 7 saloons…The Methodist church across the street would hold revival services.  Carruthers at the saloon would go to the service and get converted.  People would go around saying how nice it was that Carruthers was saved.  Then he would back slide again.  As a kid I would wonder what God would do with him after he got him saved.

Papa (Willard’s father, Harry Espy) was more likely to talk about the circuit-riding preachers who came to town during his childhood.  One of his early memories goes like this:

From 1878 to 1880 Reverend W.F.M. James, with his home in Centralia (then ‘Centerville’) was pastor, making his quarterly trip by trail up the Chehalis valley, down the Willapa horseback, and by boat to Oysterville, taking three days for the trip.  As though it were yesterday I can remember his taking from his saddlebags several copies of Gospel Hymns No. 1, passing them out, and illustrating the new ‘swing’ of the tunes, which by many were considered then as too giddy for church.  I, less than four years old, always called for “Pull for the Shore Sailor” and “Onward Christian Soldiers” because they had more ‘go’ than those the grownups thought rather too fast.

Richard Carruthers’ Pacific House and Saloon by Charles Fitzpatrick

With all this great material, it’s no wonder that so much has been written about Oysterville.  Curiously, though, most of the books about the village have been factual – there are only two historical novels set here as far as I know, both by Perry Perkins.

Maybe another will be underway shortly, however.  Yesterday my email brought a query from novelist Ocieanna Fleiss who said:  A few years ago, my family and I visited Oysterville. At the time, my mind raced with novel ideas! I was engaged in other projects, so I never pursued it, but the charming, historical town won’t let me go…  I’m thinking about starting a novel about the area, and in the course of my research, I found your amazing blog and website.

I must admit to mixed emotions about Ms. Fleiss’s proposed novel.  I wish, of course, that I could write one myself – preferably a best-seller! – based on the historical information available about Oysterville.  But since that isn’t my milieu, I am eager to see what she comes up with and what bits and pieces of my blog she might find useful.  Will it be about the saints?  Or the sinners?