The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., April 26, 1945, page 7
GLENWOOD WOMAN CELEBRATES 90TH BIRTHDAY;
TELLS OF EXPERIENCES
On Sunday, April 15th, Adeline Howe, of Glenwood, celebrated
her 90th birthday. She is a pioneer of this county, having lived here since
July 3, 1885.
An open house and potluck party was given in her honor
when 45 guests came to help her celebrate the occasion and to extend
congratulations. Mrs. Howe, is still active and enjoys good health. She is
a member of the Glenwood Ladies Aid.
Mrs. Howe is a staunch Grange member, being a silver
star member of Glenwood Orange No. 94, having joined in 1903. She has held
various offices, her favorite being Lady Assistant Steward for seven years.
At this time she holds the office of Ceres. Mrs. Howe is also a member of
the 7th degree of the National Grange.
In telling of her life adventures, Mrs. Howe said: "I
left Germany at the age of 16 years with my parents in the spring of 1872.
At Bramahafen we boarded a sail ship for America. We sailed on the Atlantic
ocean for six weeks. An epidemic of smallpox broke out and many passengers
died, Their bodies were wrapped in sail cloth and burial made at sea. I did
not contract the disease. One night our ship sprung a leak. All men were
called out of bed to help pump water out in order that the ship may be repaired,
Women and children were left asleep, not knowing the peril our ship was in.
"We came to Chicago on May 19, 1872, the next spring
following the big Chicago fire. Places were still smoking in the ruins of
ashes and charred buildings. I lived in Chicago for 13 years and married
Herman Schultz in 1812. When the government opened up homestead lands in
the west a lot of our friends were coming west and we followed suit, my husband
coming first with Charley Feller Sr. to Washington Territory. Our homestead
was taken on the Outlet in Camas Prairie. I came in July of the same year.
My husband was busy building a small log cabin. It had a native rock fireplace,
the ground for a floor and a few pieces of home-made furniture. We lived
there until a bigger and better log house could be built.
"Hundreds of Indians and their horses in colorful parades
passed our home every summer going to and from the huckleberry fields in
the mountains, often slopping in to beg for something to eat or trade. They
were hearty eaters and cleaned my table more than once and would demand more.
At one time a couple of Bucks tried to trade me an old overcoat for the only
sack of flour we had. It took a lot of talking to keep my sack of flour.
Another time they insisted on taking my husbands gun and leaving an old Indian
blanket in trade, but I hung onto the gun.
"I had the experience of getting lost, I took a short
rut through the woods to Glenwood. I finally came out by the old McCumber
farm.
"We always traveled on foot. Times were hard, especially
for city folks to make a living In the country, so one or the other of us
would go to Portland, Oregon, and work out to make a few dollars to live
on.
"I also recall seeing the first automobile that came
to Portland. It was owned by the late Henry Weimmer, who boarded in the place
where I was housekeeping. He owned the big tent and awning establishment
in Portland. I still own a dress in Gipsy costume he gave me, made out of
the colorful awnings from his shop. At that time I lived on Taylor and 7th
street, now called Broadway, across where now stands the Y. W. C. A.
In 1592 my only child, a daughter, was born in the new
log house. We named her Thusnelda Corneila. Everyone knows her as just Nelda
now. Her father passed on in 1915.
I married Jacob Howe in 1904. He died in 1921. My home
is now with my daughter and her husband, Ferdinand Markgraf and my hobby
is to play a good game of pinochle occasionally and keep up with world events
on the radio."
The Enterprise, White Salmon, WA., April 23, 1943, page 7
GLENWOOD GREETS SENIOR RESIDENT ON 88th BIRTHDAY
Mrs. Adeline Howe, Glenwood's oldest resident, observed
her 88th birthday at her home at Glenwood Thursday of last week. Friends
called all day long to express felicitations to the elderly woman, who has
lived there continuously since 1885, the year in which immigration of persons
from Chicago settled in Camas Prairie.
Settlement that year was due to efforts of Henry Restorff,
who wrote back to friends of the marvelous country he had discovered up in
the plateau section; so fine that pine-apples grew upon the pine trees, a
mistaken impression the city man had obtained from viewing the exceptionally
large pine cones.
His glowing descriptions brought results, for many families
from Chicago settled here in 1888. Among these were Mrs. Howe and her family.
At the age of 88 she still prepares the family meals and is interested in
the flowers which are kept blooming in profusion about the family residence,
summer and winter. An active Grange member, she has worked in that organization
for many years. Jacob Howe, her late husband, for many years was Master of
Glenwood Grange No.94.
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© Jeffrey L. Elmer