From K is for Kidnapping the County Seat by Sydney Stevens

Research is not my long suit.  I’m not an expert in that department like my friends Michael Lemeshko and Ellen Wallace and Cuzzin Ralph Jeffords.  I am constantly amazed at their tenacity in sussing out information and mentally putting it in the right spot, historically speaking, to be of use in their quests.

Thanks to the big surge of interest in ancestry.com, almost everyone has some degree of research skill, at least with regard to people and, in particular, family members.  But getting a handle on the history of places and properties or, perhaps, on artifacts and keepsakes can be a bit harder.

Oregon Historical Society, Portland

This time around (and for the first time), Community Historians have been “assigned” research projects — all to do with the “Grand Hotels of the North Beach Peninsula” at the turn of the last century.  I attend their Wednesday morning sessions at the Columbia Heritage Museum and try to be useful in pointing  the researchers in the right direction.  (Or, maybe I should say in a different direction.  The “right” part will depend on whether their questions can be answered or not.)

Yesterday, several of the researchers were lamenting their lack of progress about something-or-other, even though they had gone to all the right Pacific County and Washington State sources.  “Have you tried the Oregon Historical Society?” I asked.

Portland Hotel, Long Beach c.1900

I was met with a bit of a blank look so I plunged ahead with a reminder that Pacific County was a part of Oregon Territory before Washington Territory was created.  Plus, in the early days, our connections were  more likely to be with Portland (or even San Francisco) — they were easier by far to get to than were Olympia and Puget Sound.

I hope they pursue that suggestion and I hope it’s helpful.  Meanwhile, I’m pursuing a quest of my own — an easier one than theirs.  However, the difficult part for me is not in finding the sources for information but in recognizing what might be important down the line and then — hardest of all! — remembering it for later.  But that’s another issue entirely!  Lawyers have paralegals as research helpers and some writers (the best-selling ones who can afford it) have research assistants.  I have helpful, generous friends and relatives.  Thank goodness!