CPHM ASnnual Meeting Poster
Judge John Briscoe lived right next door to my great-grandparents here in Oysterville. Of course, that was a long time back – more than a century ago – and, until very recently I’ve had only a hazy notion of him. Still, I think I have held him in high regard. After all, he was a judge and, by virtue of that fact alone, I believe his memory commands respect. But… maybe not.
My mother’s good friend Lucille Wilson was Judge Briscoe’s great-great granddaughter and, between Lucille and her mother, Beulah Wickberg, I had heard a number of ‘Judge Briscoe Stories.’ That was back in the 1970s when we ladies all were founding members of the Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington State, Shoalwater Bay Chapter. In retrospect, I wish I had paid more attention at those monthly meetings. But, I must say, that they sowed the seeds of my abiding interest in the early history of this area.
The Briscoe Residence, Oysterville c. 1900
It was Lucille who told about the Briscoe Cemetery north of Long Beach. Although it is clearly visible from the highway, most of us had never noticed the neat white fence surrounding the two gravesites there on the hill. (And, even now, very few people are aware of it!) Still, I had only a vague impression of the Judge and his family members who were buried there.
But that was before Mike Lemeshko decided to find out more about the Judge for his Community Historian project. Since January 2014 when Mike expressed interest in the Judge and I shared with him the few bits and pieces I knew, Judge John Briscoe has become a three-dimensional personage in my mind. As Mike has kindly kept me abreast of his research process, I have been amazed at the paths he has followed and the information he has gleaned about this interesting Oysterville pioneer.
Briscoe Cemetery
Mike has put together a program about Judge Briscoe and will be presenting it at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum’s Annual Meeting on Saturday at 2 o’clock. I am SO looking forward to it – not only to find out “the rest of the story” about this contemporary of my own ancestors, but to learn more about how Mike managed to create a clear picture of the Judge from the limited information he began with. I think that anyone interested in early Peninsula stories or in finding out how to unravel the threads of their own history will find Saturday’s presentation well worth-while. Whoo Hoo! See you there!
Do share what you learn! I first spotted those graves riding in the car with my dad. We were driving up the Peninsula from Seaview to Ocean Park. There were fewer trees and the graves and fence more prominent. “Why are there graves in that yard,” I asked my dad. “It was common in the old days to bury family on the property. Maybe there wasn’t a cemetery yet. Those graves are old. I stopped and looked once.” I would love to hear the story of them and be able to share it with my grandchildren!
I don’t think there is anything unusual about the story of the graves. Your dad was right. Mike will probably touch on that part of the story but what he has been researching goes far beyond those two lonely graves! I wish you could be there Saturday.