George and Aquilla (O'Dell) Dye

A number of years ago, our stake president asked us to find out how our family came into the church.  My mom joined the church when my sister was about nine-years old.  I thought I knew about my dad's side.  My grandmother had been a member all her life.  Her mother was the child of pioneers.  My grandfather joined the church when my dad was a boy.  In all of this, I had forgotten my maternal great-grandfather's story.  This story, miraculously, found me.

Tonight, as I was going through some papers, I ran across the story again.  I thought I'd share it here just for the mere fact that I want this saved for posterity.

Here's a little bit of background....When I started this blog back in December of 2007, I was corresponding with a cousin.  She, Mary, is a cousin of my mom's and lives in Montana--where my dad's family is from--the Bitterroot. 

While on her computer one day, Mary decided to search my dad's family names to see what she'd find in Montana.  She sent me three different stories including this article from the newspaper.  Of course Mary, who isn't of the LDS faith had no idea that I'd be searching for such a story.

"Most people who were not Mormons were unintereseted in the missionaries' message, but occasional contacts with those who were receptive, like George and Aquilla Dye, ranchers in Corvallis, restored their enthusiasm.  Having recently dreamed of two men who vistied her ranch with an important message, Aquilla welcomed the two missionaries who approached her home seeking lodging and food one evening.  Within a short time the Dyes had embraced Mormonism, providing the nucleus for a Sunday School in Corvallis that would eventually grow into a branch congregation.  In their sermons and in reports they sent to the mission headquarters, the missionaries also related accounts of faith-promoting healings following priesthood blessings.   For instance, one missionary who visited the Dyes' home in 1898 shortly after their conversion 'found a house full of sickness.'  Aquilla requested a priesthood blessing for each member of the family, following which each claimed that they 'were instantly releaved [sic] of pain.'  The telling and retelling of such stories nurtured a sense of identity among local Mormons as a divinely favored people caring for each other."

Maurine Hughes, interview by author, August 11, 2004, Hamilton, Montana, transcript in author's possession; Young diary, April 3, 1898.


A nice little tender mercy.

My Mother's Work - Pt. I

Joseph Andrew Stegner

Born in Lomira, Dodge County, Wisconsin, on June 12, 1858. 

He married Matilda Greenfield Johnson, whom I have listed was called “May,” on November 17, 1880 in Faribault, Rice County, Minnesota, by Reverend Edwin G. Hunter at St. John’s Episcopal Church.


As you can see by the link, Rev. Hunter spent his time in Indiana, not Minnesota--I'm checking on this.  Also, unless it no longer exists, There are two St. John’s Episcopal Churches in Minnesota neither of which are in Faribault—one in Mankato and one in Minneapolis.  In Faribault, there is only The Episcopal Cathedral of our Merciful Savior, which was built in 1862.  Could this be the place?  I have written an email to inquire.

Matilda was born in Okaman, Waseca County, Minnesota (Okaman seems to no longer exist though it is found mentioned in historic documents.  There is, however, an Okaman Cemetery and an Okaman Lake in Minnesota) on April 10, 1861. 

On the back of the page my mother kept on the Joseph and Matilda it says the following:

  “Joseph Andrew Stegner attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minn.

“Occupations:  Salesman, Farmer, Merchant, Postmaster at Trent, Wash.  
          ["A few Spokane Valley townships were developed for residential and/or business purposes. Trent was originally platted as a residential area for Northern Pacific railroad workers in 1881…."]

“Farmer at East Castle Rock, Minn., Merchant at Fulda, Minn; Salesman for the Singer Sewing Machine Co. at Latah, Trent & Spokane, Wash.

“Arrived in Spokane Falls, Washington Territory in Aug. 1889."

["The city of Spokane (then known as "Spokane Falls") was settled in 1871 and officially incorporated as a city in 1881."]

"Matilda Greenfield Johnson (“May”) went to Public School in Albert Lea, Minn. Started school at Wells, Minn. And finished at St. Mary’s, Faribault, Minn.  She moved to Wells when 7-8 yrs old and to Janesville when 15-16.  Went to school at Albert Lea, Minn.
And then to St. Mary’s Hall (Episcopal Girls’ Boarding School) at Faribault, Minn. Where she won a Cathedral Cross.  

The Stegner home in East Castle Rock.

At 19 she married and they moved to Fulda; then to East Castle Rock where they spent 6-7 yrs on a farm, with the exception of one year in Fulda.  Then they moved to St. Paul where Mr. Stegner was foreman for Lockwood, Allard & Co., wholesale feed and fuel.  In Nov. 1889, they moved to Latah, Wash. Where they opened a small notions store. 

The store in Trent.

In May 1890 they moved to Trent, Wash. Where they had the only general merchandise store between Spokane and Spokane Bridge.  Mr. Stegner was an adjuster and collector for the Singer Sewing Machine co. and was on the road most of the time, leaving the store to his wife.  He died of appendicitis, age 37.  She died at the home of her daughter Catherine, in her sleep, age 71 yrs, 10 mo. And 2 days.

“Here is a copy of a handwritten “character study” of Joseph A. Stegner by his friend, Monroe Denman.  This is one of Grandma Narup’s treasures:

State of Washington
County of Spokane

Monroe Denman being duly sworn on oath says that he is 36 yrs of age.  That his Post Office address is Hillyard, State of Washington.  I have known J.A. Stegner for 19 (nineteen) years, that he has always been honest and upright in all his dealings and that his character is irreproachable.  I have known him intimately and he is all that I have stated above so far as I know or have heard.

Signed—

Monroe Denman

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 

17^th of January A.D. 1895

Fred. L. Prescott

Notary Public.  

Residing in Spokane.

"(This was written only six months before his death, July 18, 1895)

Joseph Andrew Stegner - 1895

“Son, Conrad says of his father:

Honesty was his middle name, somewhat stern at times but with a fine sense of humor and a hearty laugh.  He was a life-long enemy of liquor and secret societies, like his father.

Under his mother’s influence, he became more liberal as he grew older and was fast becoming a power in the community.  He once ran for the legislature on the “Populist” ticket, but lost to a man named Trent, thru a mix-up over his residence address, which was Trent, and the name of the other candidate whose name was Trent.  Father died before the next election."

The Pedicord Hotel.

Joseph Andrew Stegner suffered an appendicitis and was operated on in the Pedicord Hotel.  My mother said that he died of an appendicitis but I've also heard it said that his was the "first successful appendectomy" in the valley, so most likely, he died during recovery from the surgery in Spokane, Washington on 18 July, 1895.  He was buried four days later in the Pleasant Prairie Cemetery in what was then known as Trent, but is now Spokane, Washington.

Matilda died in Glendale, California on February 12, 1933 and was buried two days later in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Joseph and Matilda had five children.  More on them later….

Click this link for more about Matilda 

NOTE:  On Matilda's “christened” line on the family group sheet, there is no date, but under “where” there are the words “Episcopal Church by Rev. Geo. Tanner, D.D.”  There is a book written by this gentleman, so I’m assuming that it doesn’t mean that Matilda was christened by him but that it serves as a reference of her birth information.  I will find this out also.

The First Day

I didn't write about the first day we spent in Spokane.

We arrived at 8:22am.  It was an hour long flight.

We went to breakfast near the airport and then drove off to the Hillyard part of Spokane to meet up with a Holz cousin at Holz Fuel, which we understood was still family owned.  We were correct.

With the Holz descendants at Holz Fuel in Hillyard.

Holz Fuel was started by my grandmother's oldest brother.  These are his grand, great grand and great-great grandchildren in the photo.

We met up with the Stegner's at my cousin Carol's R.V.  I knew each of their faces from photos I'd seen as a child.  Sometime I'm going to post the current face with the photo face.  It was pretty great to meet them and listen to their voices.

After visiting for a little while, we checked into our hotel.  Before this, we felt like we were running in circles, so we needed to get organized.  We then went to dinner with the Stegner cousins.

Stegner's at dinner on Monday night.

Highlights of the Day

Went to Greenwood Cemetery today.  We found the family graves right away, which is pretty amazing considering this is a huge cemetery.  It helped that we had my cousin, Jeff, around who lives in Spokane and had just been to this cemetery for Memorial Day.

My grandmother is buried near a tree.  Her grave was looking pretty nasty.  I took my bottle of water and tried to get it clean, but just water wasn't going to cut it.  Here's what it looked like when we first got there:

HaHa!  You can tell by the lighting on this photo how much time I took scrubbing it.  The sun had come up a bit higher in the sky.  At first, I used my hands and fingernails.  I know...nasty, but I had nothing else, and I wasn't going to leave it looking like that.  My cousin, Mary, found a paperclip in her purse, so that was very helpful.  Jeff got out some baby wipes, and that did the trick for the flat surfaces.  Mary also went at it with a pine cone.  We joked around that that's what God made them for.  It worked wonders for the scroll work.

I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but it looked markedly better when we left.

One of the funny things, I thought, was that the Holz's and the Stegner's are buried together in this cemetery.  I don't have to wander far to find both sides of my mom's family.   They're all around the periphery of the same tree.

This was my grandfather's house in Spokane.  My mom grew up here.  I was glad I caught it when I did.  They're putting through a new highway, and all the other houses on the street have been taken out.  Theirs is honestly the ONLY one left.  Sad.

About six blocks away was my mom's junior high.  She loved this place and had reunions with friends from this school for years after she left it.  We got to walk in and walk around.  I talked to one of the teacher's aids there.  He said that he went to school there and his grandmother did too--probably about the same time as my mom.  Sounds like she may have been one of my mom's neighbors too.  Wonder if they knew each other.

This house was lived in by my great grandmother and step great grandfather back in 1926.  I need to get home and look through the information my mom kept to find more information, but when I scanned this photo years ago, I also searched googlemaps because the photo had an address on the back (very helpful).  I found that it was still standing and was so excited.  Tonight I got to see it in real life.  One of the guys who lives there let us in his apartment (the downstairs one where the large turret is.  It was so cool!

This was the carriage house out back:

These were the doors to the parlor (which is now shut off), just inside the entrance:

This was the fireplace in the guy's apartment:

This was the radiator in the guy's apartment, which he says still works:

This is my lovely cousin, C.J. on the stairs going up.  The detail work on this house is fantastic!

This has to be the original flooring near the servant's stairs:

We think this is the original gate.  It was hanging on the wall downstairs:

This is the utility room:

The railings on the first floor stairs:

The front door from inside (sorry about the yellow.  My camera was having issues):

The radiator between the two entrance doors (what the Japanese would call the "genkan":

Sideways view from the front porch just leaving the apartments--the large turret area:

Can't wait to get home to find out more about how my family ties into the history of this house.  Such a beautiful piece of work!

Wonderful Day!

Met up with cousins at the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum this morning at 10, but guess what.  I first got to sleep until 8:15am. Yes!  You read that right (do you know how long it's been since I got to sleep that late?), and I got to take as long as I wanted in the bathroom including a bath.  It was pretty darned heavenly!

I started a blog post but didn't finish it, so I will, and I'll post it later.  For tonight, I couldn't go another night without writing, so here I am.

I ate coffee cake with pecans in the hotel lobby, and then we headed for the museum.  While waiting to leave, a man passed me on the street and said, "Well, hello pretty lady."  Ugh!  Pretty funny.  I had books in my hands and a doorknob.  I should have just whacked him with the doorknob.  That would have taught him a thing or two, huh?

At the museum, I loaned a scrapbook of my grandfather's, the doorknob from the old Stegner house from the 1800s, a pair of baby shoes of my mom's from 1927, and a number of other items.  Had lunch with the cousins out back.  Some of the Holz cousins showed up too.

One of the Holz cousins, Jeff, waited around for us and then played tour guide for the day.  It was so fun!  We went to Spokane Falls. Amazing!

He also took us to meet his mom and aunt at their place of business.  Great people.  Funny how connected you feel right off.  I invited them to join us for dinner.  We also went to my great grandfather's place of employment and invited the cousin who runs the business now to join us at dinner.  We found the old family house in the town blocks away from the family business.  I'll post photos later.

We went to the cemetery and took photos of the family graves.  I forgot the flowers, so we might go back again.  We go to another cemetery tomorrow morning.

Tonight, though, was what I came for.  We all met up at the Elk's Lodge and had dinner.  We had to keep pushing tables together.  As I sat down and looked up, there they all were--my mom's people.  One side of the table was the Stegner's, the other was the Holz's.  I was surrounded by family.  I think my mom would have been so happy.

Everyone I invited today came.  The Stegner's were all here and planning on it, but the Holz's showed up.  Wonderful!  I think this is just teaching me that everybody wants to be connected.

I looked and saw the similarities in looks between one family and then the other.  I saw my features in many of their faces and the features of my sister and brothers in those faces.

Yes, my mother would have been pleased.

Not Coincidences...More Like Twilight Zone Moments

Okay cue the music:



Two other things happened as I was scanning photos tonight that I think are amazing....

1.  I found a photo that said, "Henry and Lena," but no last name.  Since I was scanning the Holz photos, I assumed they were Holzes.  I went to the genealogy book that my mom kept and turned to the section that I felt would be the Holz section.  I missed by just a few pages, but the page I turned to was Henry Hanson and Mabel Lena Holz.  Wow!  In a million years, I'd never be able to turn to just the right people again.

2.  In the photo album are a number of other kinds of papers.  On one particular page was a birth announcement.  That baby, I'm meeting on Monday.  Her daughter and I have been close allies in the most recent months.  I'm very much looking forward to meeting them.  I told the daughter that I had found her mom's birth announcement.  She replied, "Very cool!!  Today is her birthday that is too funny!!"  So, I sent her her birth announcement, via facebook, for her birthday. 

I'm not one who believes in coincidences, so this is all very...well....Sorry to be redundant, but....

Stegner Stories

Well the brownies are in the oven and the house smells heavenly. Kids are upstairs cleaning their rooms, and I'm furiously scanning photos.



I realized yesterday that some of these pictures are from the late 1800's. I guess that made me realize the responsibility of this task. I've had these photos in my possession for the last number of years, but it wasn't until I received an email from someone wanting copies of them, that I felt it was important to do something with them. I'm scanning them to put them on CDs for my siblings for Christmas.



The woman who wanted the photos is a second cousin. I didn't even know she existed, but I offered these pictures on a genealogy website awhile back, and she ran across it. Since, I've been writing to her, I've learned all kinds of interesting facts about my mom's family. Some of them are facts I didn't want to know, but it's been fun getting to know and understand better some of the stories my mom told me.



The woman who's writing me lives in Montana. Her grandfather was my grandfather's brother. Her grandfather used to invite my mom (an only child with rather serious parents) to the family cabin at Liberty Lake with him and his three sons each summer. My mom told me that these were some of the best memories of her childhood. Of the three boys, the oldest was farthest from my mom's age. She didn't know him well. The middle son accidentally chopped off the end of my mom's thumb one summer while she was holding a piece of wood for him to cut. The wood slipped, and you can guess the rest. The youngest son was closest to my mom's age. She told me how sad it was one summer because he wasn't there. He had passed away from scarlet fever. He was seven years old. So sad!



These are just a few of the stories I've been able to corroborate with her. She also shared the story of Mary Stegner who died leaving two young children behind. She said it shouldn't have happened. This story is too sad to share here right now. Mary asked her sister to raise her children, and her sister agreed, but then declined to do so after Mary's death. The children were raised by their grandmother, I believe.