Idaho Meanderings

This blog contains history, photos, etc. related to Idaho from the late 1800's/early 1900's. My mother, Brenda Steunenberg Richards, was born in ID. Much of it pertains to the assassination of my great grandfather, Gov. Frank Steunenberg, the trial of Bill Haywood & grew out of the 100 year commemorations of those events. Along the way I toss in a bit of the Wild West, old guns, radios, military, etc. Your comments are welcomed. If using my images, please just ASK. Thank you.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Mom at the Frazier Farmstead Museum

While reflecting today about my mother, Brenda Steunenberg Richards, I was reminded that one of her favorite childhood experiences was visiting family at the Frazier Farmstead in Milton, OR. The photo of the Frazier home below comes from the Frazier Farmstead Museum website. I had been exploring the website recently as it was being updated.

Frazier Farmstead in Milton (now Milton-Freewater), OR. Former home of our Frazier kinfolk. Photo above comes from the updated Frazier Farmstead Museum website.

Mom proudly displaying her copy of Whither Thou Goest

A favorite book of mom's (and mine too) is Whither Thou Goest by Patrick Simpson. It is an account of the Beardsley family journey by covered wagon in 1878, and Patrick's retracing of that trip in 1996, from Wells Bridge, NY to the Wallowa Valley and Milton, OR. Mary Jane and Theo Beardsley made this long cross country trek with their two young daughters, Eva and Frankie.

Frankie & Eva.
Photo Frazier Farmstead Museum.

To help make the family connections, Eva Beardsley would marry Ralph Maxon Wood and their daughter would be Francis Beardsley Wood Steunenberg—my grandmother. Hence, Ralph and Eva were my great-grandparents, Theo and Mary Jane would be my great-great-grandparents and Patrick's great grand-aunt and uncle. Hopefully I got that right and it makes Patrick and I cousins of one kind or another.

The photo below to the right is of my mother in circa 1925 at the Farmstead. The cross in front of her came West with the Beardsley family in their covered wagon. If you compare the photo to the modern day view of the house, you can see mom would have been kneeling on the grass just behind the Frazier Farmstead Museum sign with the window seat over her right shoulder. The cross now resides inside that same window seat. To find out more, read The Cross Story written by Museum Director Diane Biggs about our visit to the museum in 2005 (link below).

Brenda Steunenberg circa 1925. JTR Collection.

I have always been pleased that my mother was able to enjoy Whiter Thou Goest and rekindle her connections to those memories of childhood before she passed away. I treasure our time spent reminiscing about the history of the Farmstead and all the good times she enjoyed during family visits.

Happy Mother's Day mom.

The Cross Story

Frazier Farmstead Museum website

Facebook: Frazier Farmstead Museum - Milton-Freewater Area Historical Society

More fun at the Farmstead circa 1925.

Related Blog Posts
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Happy Mother's Day. We love you Mom.

Sunday, July 29, 2012
Where is Stonewall's Arm?

Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Frazier Farmstead Museum

Saturday, August 16, 2008
Private Justus Simpson, Company G of 152nd NY Volunteers

Saturday, August 16, 2008
Private Lewis Simpson, Company K of the Eighty-ninth New York Volunteers

Photo taken in 2005 during our visit to the Frazier Farmstead.

No comments:

Idaho Meanderings Update

Although still posting and checking this blog from time to time, I am not as active as I was in its earlier years. I have ventured out a bit into some Facebook History groups but will have to see how that goes. The jury is still out. However, please do not hesitate to comment, contact me directly or to pass along historical notes of interest. I started the blog over a decade ago and I do apologize for the many links that are no longer active and some formatting changes by Blogger that scrambled a few posts. I try to update pages when I am linking or utilizing them for other sites but correcting every link is a near impossible task. Enjoy the history.

GUNS, WARS, MILITARIA, WILD WEST, GUNSLINGERS

Lawmen (?). Guarding/ protecting the star witness.

True West. "A Case for Murder" "Mass bombings, revenge and labor upheaveals come to a head at a murder trial 100 years ago"-Mark Boardman
The West. The Regeneration of Harry Orchard. Oct. 1969
The American West. The Bomb at the Governor's Gate. Winter 1965
The American West. Portrait for a Western Album-"Big Bill" Haywood: Champion of Western Miners. Sep/Oct 1979
Old West. The Middle Years of Bob Meldrum. Spring 1970
Frontier Times. Wyoming's Mysterious Badman (Bob Meldrum). Winter1961
Frontier Times. Martial Law in the Coeur d"Alene. Nov. 1971
American History Illustrated. The Lion & the Fox-The Story of the Big Bill haywood Trial. April 1978
American Heritage. Shootout in Burke Canyon. Aug. 1971

Hallicrafters S-40A

QUOTES

"If you destroy the labor unions in this country, you destroy liberty when you strike the blow, and you would leave the poor bound and shackled and helpless to do the bidding of the rich."
Clarence Darrow

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
Robert F. Kennedy

"History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former days."
Winston Churchill