Document text
Pee -Ors 4"J er,i7vAls -retA",10**ErS,
Amnion no. WPA L. C. PROJECT UNIT
Form -3
/J-F'd
Date received
47,
Consignment no.
Shipped from
Label
AV:al-4 514
Amount
olv
Collection (or Type)
Title
Date...11,4/
Place of origin
Project worker__.elet4P-1:6 ae-e---11014,
Project editor
Remarks
Form A Federal Writers' Project
Circumstances of Interview Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker Claire W. Churchill Date March, 1938
Address 509 Elks Building, Portland
Subject Early Portland Folkwaya.
Name and address of informant
Anne Abernethy Starr.
Monroe, Washington (visiting Portland)
Date and time of intervieW Noon hour 11 AM to 1 PM
Place of interview Office Myler Bldg.
Name and address of person, if any, who put you in touch with informant
Through informant's sister, Miss Camilla Abernethy.
Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you None.
Description of room, house, surroundings, etc. Federal Writers' Project office roam.
(Note. This interview was obtained before the folklore survey was begun.)
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the proper heading
and the number to which the material refers).
w 13890
Form B Federal Writers' Project
Personal History of Informant Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLXPURE STUDIES
Name of worker
Address
Subject
Claire W. Churchill
509 Elks Building, POrtland, Oregon.,
Early Portland Folkways.
Date March, 1938.
Name and address of informant
Anne Abernethy Starr.
Monroe, MashinE.!,on.
Information obtained should supply the following facts:
1. Ancestry 6. Occupations and accomplishments with dates
2. Place and date of birth 7. Special skills and interests
3. Family 8. Community and religious activities
4. Places lived in, with dates 9. Description of informant
5. Education, with dates 10. Other points gained in interview
1. American ancestry.
2. Born in Portland, Oregon, 1869.
3. Sarah Fidelia Gray (daughter W. H. Gray, pioneer missionaries) and William
Abernethy (son George Abernethy, 1st provisional governor Oregon country).
4. Portland, 1869-1890.
5. Portland public schools.
6. One of the first telephone operators in Portland. Later worked as draughtsman
for Park Lacey Machinery Co., Portland.
7. Seamstress, where "stitches could not be seen." in expert knitter, where
three pair of socks was no unusual output for a day's work. Draughtaman or
draughtswoman.
8. No religious affiliations mentioned, presumably Congregational.
9. None given.
10. An exceptional personality.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the proper heading
and the number to which the material refers).
Form C Federal Writers' Project
Text of Interview (Unedited) Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker Claire IC Churchill
Address
509 Elks Building, Portland.
Subject Early Portland Folkways.
Name and address of informant Arnie Abernethy Starr.
Text:
Monroe. Washington.
(See succeeding pages)
Date March, 1938
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the heading given
above).
INTERVIEW
with
Anne Abernethy Starr
Mrs. Anne Abernethy Starr, who now lives in Monroe, Washington, is the
daughter of Sarah Fidelia Gray and William Abernethy. She was born in Portland
in 1869. Sarah Fidelia Gray, her mother, was born at Salem, Oregon, November
1843. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Gray, pioneer missionaries
to the Oregon country. W. H. Gray was the author of Oregon History. This
book, according to Mrs. Starr is now worth $25.00. William Abernethy, her
father, son of George Abernethy, was born in New York State, New York City,
1831. George Abernethy, who arrived with the Methodist mission contingent,
became a merchant at the Falls of the Willamette (Oregon City) and was elected
the Provisional governor of the Oregon country, an office to which he was re-
elected.
After the flood of 1861 George Abernethy removed to Portland where
he again engaged in merchandising. His establishment at the Falls WAS furnished
merchandise by his own ships which brought supplies from the east and from the
Sandwich Islands. Abernethy money, a kind of scrip issued by the Abernethy
store, was commonly used during the pioneer period when U. S. coins were scarce.
Abernethy was prominently identified, according to Mrs. Starr, with the provision
for and the coining of Beaver money, the gold five and ten dollar pieoes minted
by the Oregon Exchange Company at Oregon City.
Mrs. Starr spent her early life in Portland. Being the oldest of
eleven children she found many things to occupy her hands. Children in those
days learned to knit at an early age, so young, in fact, that Mrs. Starr cannot
remember a time when she could not knit. When questioned as to whether an
output of three socks a day was not very large, she replied that it was not,
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explaining that the hand spun yarn used in those days was soft and large, and
knitted very fast. Mrs. Starr was taught to sew by her Grandmother Abernethy,
a wonderful seamstress who required that any stitches that could be seen must
be ripped out.
Material was bought by the bolt, rather than by the yard. As a girl,
Anne made dozens of pairs of panties, dozens of petticoats, aprons, and dresses
for her younger sisters. Her family did not have one of the hand -turned sewing
machines, but they did have one of the earliest sewing machines used in this
country. William Abernethy, son of George Abernethy, had the first sewing
machine agency in the Northwest. His agents, as far north as Walla Walla,
found a ready market for the old Wheeler -Wilson machines. Some of the correspon-
dence relating to the sales of sewing machines is still in the possession of
the family. Before they had a machine, all sewing was done by hand. Anne made
a complete hand -sewn dress for herself when she was eight years old.
She attended school at the old Central school in Portland. Miss
Fannie Holman was her teacher advancing with the grades. The recent visit of
President Roosevelt to Portland recalled to her the visit of President Hayes in
1878. The children of old Central School, lined up on the sidewalk and street,
greatly excited over the appearance of so distinguished a caller as President
Hayes. He addressed them from the steps of the schoolhouse.
The Portland George Abernethy residence was at the corner of 7th and
Salmon Streets. It was moved back from its original location, and then, several
years ago, WAS dismantled entirely. About 1868 William Abernethy bought 163 acres
of land at what is now known as Abernethy Heights, not far from Oswego on the
River Road. The house built there is still standing, but it has been consider-
ably remodeled, presenting today the appearance of a colonial structure.
Originally it was of two-story construction with a balcony along the second floor
and a porch on the first. The kitchen was at the back, either in an addition
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or under the extended roof. Elk Bluff and Elk Rock are both on the old Abernethy
property. This farm was on the first macadam road out of Portland, a toll road,
with the toll gate at the Red House, a tavern on the river road. Some distance
farther up the river, and nearer the Abernethy place was another road house,
the White House, near which there was a race track where horse races were held.
A bachelor named Leonard owned the White House. Mrs. Starr says she can remember
when this road was built, and recalls seeing the chain gang of prisoners breaking
rock for construction purposes. Mr. Bader, 316 Railway Exchange Building, Portland,
can tell something of the present owners of the Abernethy place or at least oan
give directions for reaching it. Harvey Starkweather can do the same. The
Abernethy place was occupied by the Summervilles, then by Will Ladd and later
by the McKay family. They may own it now.
Anne Abernethy WAS a niece of Caroline Gray Kamm and used to make
trips on the river boats owned by Jacob Kamm, her uncle by marriage, and Captain
Will Pope, a cousin of her father, lba. Abernethy. She said that one of her
happiest memories WAS taking a trip up the Columbia, accompanied by a girl chum,
Anne Pope. They were the only passengers. That evening at dinner the crew amused
their guests by telling tall tales. When the engineer, who was supposed to be
the greatest liar of them all had finished his tale about the fish that flipped
right out of the frying pan and into the sea, Anne Abernethy told her tale. It
happened that she had considerable experience as a narrator, being trained from
youth to entertain her younger brothers and sisters with folk tales. The story
she told concerned a cat that couldn't be killed. After trying innumerable
means of death, the irate owner took the cat into the woods and chopped its head
off with an axe. Well satisfied that he had at last killed the animal, he
returned home. Imagine his astonishment when he reached home to discover the
cat sitting on the doorstep, holding its head in its moutht
The Abernethy children were a healthy lot. Ten of them lived to
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maturity. For fifty years their circle was not broken. Then, in January, 1937,
one of the ten died. The others, still living, are as follows:
Mrs. Ocia Swanton, Eugene; and her twin, Mrs. Sarah Hahn, University,
Va.; Mrs. Pearl Miller, Dora, Oregon; Mrs. Frances Hahn, married to
a man with the same name as her sister's husband; with even the same
initials, but no relation to him; Miss Camilla Abernethy, Forest
Grove, Oregon; Mrs. Mizpah Waterman, 2222 S.E. 19th St., Portland,
Oregon; William Abernethy, Route 4, Tacoma, Washington; and Edwin
Abernethy, Dora, Oregon.
In pioneer times, even a merchant such as George Abernethy did not
have white sugar for daily use. White sugar, packed in blue paper in cubes,
was brought from the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands and was served only on feast
days, special occasions, or for company tea. Brown sugar, coarse -grained, was
used for daily fare. Both brown sugar and flour were always bought and soli
by the barrel. "Bread and butter with sugar on", as the children said, was a
favorite for lunch and for those in-between meals that youngsters love.
"Grandma always does".
Anne Abernethy was one of the first telephone operators in Portland.
The exchange, located down toward the present waterfront, WAS operated by four
girls. They not only had to know the names of all the phone patrons, but had
to memorize the exchange numbers as well. Directories were not used at first,
and patrons rang central and asked for the party they wished by name. Pat
Bacon, now prominent as a telephone company official, retired, worked for the
company when Anne Abernethy did.
Later she worked as a draughtsman for Park and Lacey Machinery Co.
It WAS her responsibility to go into the yards, measure the various patterns
and then make drawings of them. She was so adept at this work that when she
quit the firm to be married the foreman was greatly chagrined.
She was married to Benjamin Wallace Starr, in the old Congregational
Church in Portland, Septamher 17, 1890. Rev. Walker performed the ceremony.
Mr. Starr WAS descended from the Massachusetts Starrs, who were the common
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ancestors of the other Oregon Starrs who lived in Benton County.
Dr. Comfort Starr awned (1632 date he arrived) a farm on the present
site of Harvard University. What the students identify as the college "yard"
was formerly the front yard of the Starr farm. Benjamin Starr was born 1860
in Missouri, although his people had formerly lived in New York State. He
grew up in California, came to Oregon in 1887. Aka. Abernethy went from Oregon
to California in 1849 during the gold rush. He reported that the mosquitos in
the Sacramento Valley were so large and so vicious that they could drill holes
in iron pots, and that their stingers were so long they could be clinched on
the other side of the pot.
Play parties were frequent in the early days, and once a year at least
"balls", which were real social occasions, were held. The Governor's Ball and
the Pioneer Ball, were specially fine. Singing schools were held in an earlier
day. Mrs. Starr says that her grandfather Gray led and taught singing by
playing upon his flute, but that he never sang a note. Birthdays were festive
occasions in the Abernethy family, and Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth
of July were always observed.
When queried about pioneer foods, Mrs. Starr recalled the cracked
wheat "gems", hot bread now generally called "muffins" and a kind of sour milk
biscuit or hot cake made of stale bread. Stale bread was soaked overnight in
sour milk. The next morning soda was added for leavening, and perhaps an egg
for binding the mass together. It was then fried in cakes or baked in iron
gam pans.
Governor Abernethy was originally buried in the Lone Fir Cemetery but
his body was later removed to the Riverview Cemetery where it is guarded by a
shaft on which the D.A.R. has placed an appropriate plaque. Other members of
the family are also buried there. W. H. Gray and his wife are buried now at
the site of the Waiilatpu Mission, near the Whitmans. They were buried origi-
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nally on Clatsop Plains. A tall shaft on a small hill commemorates all the
workers at the Mission.
Among documents which the family has preserved is an original James
Douglas letter. It was once published in the Spectator many years ago. The
family also has letters signed by Peter Skene Ogden and some by Douglas and
Ogden. Douglas and Ogden, she says, were joint factors at Fort Vancouver,
following Dr. McLoughlin's retirement.
The family also has a piece of printed material, a special newspaper
or bulletin issued as a call for volunteers when the Whitman massacre occurred.
They also have several printed papers, but there may be duplicates in the
Oregon Historical Society.
There is also an old account book, kept by George Abernethy, but Mrs.
Starr is not positive where it is now kept. It should show the transactions
of a pioneer store, what was bought and sold, and the general trend of business
and price levels and changes, and should be of considerable importance.
There are probably a good many letters written by Grandmother Gray
in the archives of the Connecticut D.A.R. Mrs. Gray kept a diary, but it was
burned when the house in which they lived in Astoria, was burned. She wrote
her letters in a diary form and sent long ones to relatives in the East. It
took from one to three years to get an answer.
One of the incidents told about Grandmother Gray was that concerning
the removal of the Gray fanny from the Whitman Mission to the Willamette Valley.
When the family, Mr. and MrS.Gray, and three small children, reached a place
near The Dallas, the snow fell so fast they could not go on. Threatened with
death by exposure, Mr. Gray sent an Indian to Vancouver for help. Dr. McLoughlin
sent a boat. Ascending through the storm, the pilot was at loss to discover the
people he was sent to rescue. Then across the wind-blown water, he heard a meet
voice singing hymns. Mrs. Gray Was undaunted in her faith in the Lord. Guided
by the song the boatman reached the family and took them to safety.
Fc,rm D Federal Writers' Project
Works Progress Administration
EL:tra Comment
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker Claire W. Churchill ,Date March, 1938.
Address 509 Elks Building, Portland, Oregm
Subject Early Portland Folkways
Name and address of informant Anne Abernethy Starre (Mrs.)
Comment:
Monroe, Washington.
Descendant of one of Oregon's prominent early families,
Mrs. Starr remains an outstanding personality.
Alert, intelligent, very cooperative. Has some material
on imprints, I believe. Informant read interview and
verified details.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the heading given
above).