I may not have thought so at the time, but one of the enduring gifts that my uncle Willard Espy gave me was a sense of stewardship of "the family papers." That's what we all called those boxes and boxes (about 100 of them eventually) of documents,...
Among the many people in my life whom I never fully appreciated was my mother's older brother, Ed. For one thing, we lived on opposite sides of the country, so we didn't see him very often. For another, he had the rather imposing name, Robert...
Horseshoe nails are not something most of us think about on a regular basis. In fact, when I ran across my great-uncle King Wilson’s description of their manufacture, I was momentarily surprised. But then I reflected a bit about the letter I was...
Our old Bosc pear tree is in full bloom right now – a sight to behold, for sure. I think it is close to sixty feet high and I know for a fact that it is over 100 years old. One of the favorite condiments of my mother’s generation was my...
DATELINE January 1, 2016. One hundred years ago today, my mother’s oldest sister, Medora, wrote this in her diary: The first day of the New Year – May 1916 accomplish more than 1915 did in building my character! Though I feel far better satisfied...
As I age and I begin to have trouble accessing information on my personal ‘memory chip’, I am increasingly thankful that I have kept “documentation” of important decisions and transactions. And, specifically, I’m glad that I keep “hard copies” of...
It came as a sort of epiphany to me recently to realize that I’ve always enjoyed history. I thought that it was one of my least favorite subjects in school – right up there with geometry and chemistry. It was all those battle names and dates that...
Lately, Tucker has been talking about how it must have been to come ’round Cape Horn back in the days of sailing ships. It was the route that many of the early Oysterville pioneers took as they headed out from the East Coast to the gold fields of...
Among the bits and pieces of “stuff” in our house that are yet to be turned over to the Special Collections Department of the Washington State Historical Society is an account ledger for the Oysterville Baptist Church. It spans the years 1879...
In the summertime, there is no question that all roads lead to Oysterville. Houseguests and visitors and tourists by the gazillions seem to converge and there is something going on all the time. The rest of the year isn’t much different except...
The morning mail in this household was always a big event in my childhood. My grandfather would go to the post office sometime in mid-morning and he and my grandmother (and any of the other family members who happened to be here) would gather...
Oliver Jeffords is my second-cousin-once-removed-in-law (I think) – related to me by his marriage into the Espy family long years ago. He is an amazing man, not only because of his longevity but because of his totally positive attitude. His...