The Grant County Historical Society will hold it's monthly board meeting Tuesday, May 10 at 10:30 a.m. at the Ephrata American Legion Post Number 28. The Heritage meeting will follow with Jim Bennett as the featured guest speaker.

The Grant County Historical Society has compiled several volumes of Grant County history. The books are available for purchase at the Historical Society Museum gift shop in Ephrata.

I bought the series in 2009 and secured permission to relay some of the history through this column.

Memories of Grant County, compiled from taped interviews by the Grant County Historical Society.

Today we backtrack a bit and continue the story of Coulee City, by Alfred Twining recorded July 30, 1975:

Jap Garland said, "Ben Hutcheson learned me how to ride. The first bucking horse I ever got on I grabbed the horn. Ben came along with his quirt and he came down on my hand and he pretty near broke it, but, I never grabbed a horn after that."

He was a rider and a good one.

And I guess you have heard about the Hutcheson boys, Ben and Bill. They used to live down in the Lind country and Connell and them places. They were big fellows, almost seven feet tall.

Well, Alfred Pierpoint, I think he come from Indiana or someplace there, and he was the captain of a wagon train that come across the plains somewhere in the early 1880s and he landed over at Waterville first. He took a homestead over close to Badger Mountain and he lived there for a few years. I think he was one of the first sheriffs of Douglas County.

Wilson Creek history

The Rev. David H. Crawford compiled and published a history of families in and surrounding Wilson Creek titled, "Family Memories of Wilson Creek Area." The book was printed in 1978, which was the 75th anniversary of the town. David's son, John Crawford, has given permission for those memories to be a part of this column.

Today we backtrack a bit and then continue the story of The Helmke Family, By Eva, daughter of Frank Helmke.

Christian Helmke died on or about· May 17, 1906, at Jackson Minnesota, while on a visit there. He was still a resident of Douglas County Washington.

He left a will but had not provided an administrator. His son Fredrick Christian was appointed by court. Another son, William, had preceded him in death. Mr. Helmke left his farmland to his son Fredrick C. with all other property to be divided equally amongst his daughters Reka, Emma, and the children of Minnie. His daughters had married and remained in Jackson County, Minnesota. With the exception of Emma, Mrs. Adam Hirschel.

William Helmke, younger son of Christian, also immigrated to the Hartline area, B. 1874. He married Amelia Henrietta Jagodzenski, also known as Hattie. They had one son C. Reuben Helmke. William died Sept. 29, 1902 of Typhoid Fever. He was residing at the time on the farm eight miles north of Wilson Creek, Douglas County, Washington.

His widow, Hattie, married Ernest Hausfeld. They had a daughter named Hulda May.

Reuben and his wife Julia had no children. They Jived in Redondo Beach, California. He passed away in the early 1960s.

Fredrick Christian Helmke married Sophia A. Peterson of Esterville, Iowa, on October 5, 1892. After about 17 years a resident of Jackson County, Minnesota, he and his wife came to the Big Bend Country in the fall of 1901. They traveled west on the same immigrant train as the Adam Hirschel family and settled on a farm 10 miles south of Hartline, where they resided until his death on June 4, 1927.

Mr. Helmke was a gentleman of quiet manner and had long endured ill health. His honesty and friendly disposition won him a large circle of friends wherever he went. He led a good Christian life and was a member of the Evangelical Church.

Sophia, Aunt Sophia as she was known, was a large strong woman. She did much of the field work, because of her husband's ill health. She was always generous and helped many neighbors when illness or sorrow struck. She taught Sunday school at the Old Timm School and took part in many potlucks and butchering bees.

When she and Mr. Helmke first settled on a Railroad section, they planted an orchard and lived in a dirt floor cabin until the family home was built. They hauled water until they had a well hand dug. They had two children, Mabel, B. Dec. 29, 1895, and Frank Roy, B. Dec. 4, 1905. Mr. Helmke died in 1927 after a long illness.

Mabel married Arlie Harold and they had one son, Elwood. They lived near Coulee City. Mable died in 1958 and Arlie in 1976. Their son Elwood married Bertha Thrombruce and they had two children Karen and Howard.

Frank Roy, Fredrick and Sophia's son, took over the work on the farm when a young lad, and helped neighbors on a threshing crew in exchange for cutting their crop. He married Esther Hirshel and they had four children, Wilbur, B. 1928, Eva, 1932, Arthur, 1937, Irma 1938. Frank served on the school board for a time. He and his wife boarded teachers as was the custom. They lived near the school.

Frank died in Aug. 1939, suddenly after a short illness. His widow and young children moved to Latah. The family farm was disposed of to settle the estate of Frank and his mother. Frank's widow, Esther, lives in Rockford, WA. His children are all married and have families of their own.

Sophia, widow of Christian had moved to Salem, Oregon, where she had a fruit and nut orchard and many lovely roses. She always remembered her loved ones on Memorial Day by sending a box of roses and wild fern she had picked on her place. She married Ernest Hausfie1d and lived in Oregon until her death in 1943. She perished when fire destroyed her home and possessions.