Thurston County WA, located in the western part of Washington State, is steeped in rich history and geographical diversity. Established on January 12, 1852, from portions of Lewis County, it was originally named after Samuel R. Thurston, the Oregon Territory‘s first delegate to Congress. The county seat is Olympia, which also serves as the state capital, highlighting the county’s central role in Washington’s political landscape. Thurston County is characterized by its varied topography, ranging from the southern reaches of Puget Sound to dense forests and the fertile Nisqually Valley. It has played a pivotal role in the state’s history, serving as a hub for trade, governance, and cultural exchange. The county’s formation and development were significantly influenced by its strategic location along the Puget Sound, facilitating maritime trade and settlement.
JOSEPH BRANNAN. – Mr. Brannan was born in Union county, Ohio, near Marysville, September 13,1825, is the ninth child of a family of twelve children, and the son of Joseph and Jane Huls Brannan. On his nineteenth birthday he left his father’s farm and came west to Winnebago county, Illinois, where he resided for six […]
FRANCIS H. COOK, – Mr. Cook was born in Marietta, Ohio, in 1851. He went with his parents to Iowa at the age of twelve. His father was a farmer, and have his attention to agriculture and to sawmilling; but it was decided to make a printer of the boy. He was accordingly apprenticed to
HON. R.O. DUNBAR. – It is not always an enviable distinction to be made eminent for political preferments. The exceptions are in the cities where office is held as the currency of political services, and as the opportunity for public plunder. In the smaller communities, however, where personal acquaintance extends to all citizens, and an
DR. ALDEN H. STEELE. – “Olympia will always be a place for pleasant homes,” says one of her citizens well qualified to render an opinion, – the gentleman whose name appears above. The wide streets, magnificent shade-trees and comfortable residences of the capital of Washington Territory, together with her delightful climate, an extensive view of
HON. ROBERT C. HILL. – Mr. Hill, one of the most responsible men of Washington, and a pioneer of an early day, was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, September 14, 1829, the son of Doctor John Hill, his mother’s maiden name having been Eliza L. Davis. At the age of seven he moved with his parents
HON. E.L. SMITH – Although these sketches deal mainly with men who came hither in the forties and fifties, we are yet occasionally reminded of the fact that length of residence does not constitute the only just claim to recognition in our annals. Every decade has its pioneers. Nearly every year has seen added to
THOS. M. ALVORD. – Mr. Alvord was born in Homer, Courtland county, New York, February 26, 1832, and is the son of Sylvester and Lucy Hull Alvord. His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving under General Washington, and took up a Donation claim on the present site of Homer, New York. His
Death calls F. M. M’Cully, Passes away after a sinking spell yesterday morning Funeral Thursday Frank M. McCully, Deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruction, died at 5:30 o’clock yesterday morning…underwent an operation for removal of gall stones about ten days ago. The operation was successful but his condition was so enfeebled by the progress of
HON. JOHN B. ALLEN. – “I think Walla Walla is destined to be the central and commercial city of that large area of country in Eastern Washington lying south of the Snake river, and of much of Eastern Oregon. Probably no city of its population in the Northwest equals it in wealth. It is just
EDWARD THOMAS YOUNG. – Young’s Hotel, at the capital of Washington Territory, is a conspicuous building, well known to the traveling public and to the members of the legislature, and is the pride of the city. Its proprietor, whose name it bears, is a native of London, England. He was born in 1846. At an
Nisqualli Indians. A Salish tribe on and about the river of the same name flowing into the south extension of Puget Sound, Washington. The Nisqualli Reservation is on the Nisqualli river between Pierce and Thurston counties. The name has also been extended to apply to those tribes on the east side of Puget Sound, speaking
Baker City, Oregon Lillian S. Beam, 83, a longtime Baker City resident, died July 13, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center. Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Gray’s West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave. The Rev. Ed Niswender of the Calvary Baptist Church will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount
REV. JOHN F. DEVORE, D.D. – Doctor Devore was a native of Kentucky, being born near Lexington, December 7, 1817. He was of French descent, as the name indicates, and owed very much to the pious example of religious parents, who urged him with their last words to be “faithful to his God.” The “Life
Joseph, Oregon Esther Elaine Akes of Milton-Freewater died June 27, 2006, at Evergreen Nursing Home. She was 86. Mrs. Akes was born August 23, 1919 in Pendleton to James Wallace and Lucia Mae Tilton Spencer. On February 27, 1943, she married Charles Leonard Akes, Sr. at Olympia, Wash. She worked at Boeing Aircraft in Seattle
HON. MELANCTHON Z. GOODELL. – The family of which this pioneer is a member has ever been prominent and influential in the Pacific Northwest since its arrival hither. Jothan W. Goodell, the father was a pioneer of Ohio; and it was at Vermilion that Melancthon was born in 1837. In 1850 the family crossed the
Biographical Sketch of Hon. Melancthon Z. Goodell Read More »
GEORGE D. SHANNON. – This well-known contractor, banker and successful farmer is a man whom Nature fitted with qualities that inevitably guide their possessor to success. He was born in what is now Schuyler county, New York, December 20, 1832, and is the son of Thomas and Mehitable (Corwin) Shannon. At the age of sixteen
ALEXANDER C. McCLELLAND. – The present registrar of the United States land-office at La Grande, Oregon, is a native of Indiana, having been born there in 1842. He received his education at the Berlin High School, Wisconsin, and in 1863 came west to Montana as a gold-seeker. He found the employment of his intellectual acquisition
