Wilson Creek area 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 begin the R.H. Lee, C.W. Davis and George Lee history by Macil Lee:

R.H. Lee came to Wilson Creek from the Ritzville area in 1900. He was born in Ohio. He operated the local Drug Store and was known as Doc Lee. In 1901 he married Marie Benson. George was born in 1903.

The old channel of Wilson Creek came down the alley back of the Post Office. The Lees lived in a house north of the creek and crossed on a little foot bridge.

Mr. Lee used to laugh and tell a story about Mrs. Lee making bread one day. It turned out to be a flop, so she took it up the creek and dumped it. When he came home to lunch, there was the dough lodged against the little bridge.

When he went in the house, he told her there was some bread dough lodged against the bridge and he wondered where it came from? She finally told him what had happened and of course he told everyone he saw about it.

Mrs. Lee passed away in 1914 after a short illness. Mr. Lee sold his drug store to a Doc Eastman, and he, Mr. Lee, became postmaster. He continued in that job until his death in 1937.

My dad, C.W. Davis, was born in Tennessee and come to the Harrington area as a young man. My mom, Amelia Chandler was born in Missouri, and came to Mohlar where her father, C.H. Chandler was the local blacksmith.

After they were married, they farmed for a short time, then they bought the grocery store at Lamona, where my dad was also the postmaster.

We lived there until the early spring of 1916, when he sold his store and bought the Pastime Confectionery Store and Pool Room in Wilson Creek, which was located west of the Legion Hall.

One time he came back to Lamona on the evening train and the next morning, when he went back to Wilson Creek, there was 16 inches of water in his new store. One of our famous floods had taken place during the night.

My mom, my sister, Audrey and I stayed in Lamona until school was out, then we moved to Wilson Creek.

Our mom was really full of fun and there was always some smart cookie coming into the soda fountain and ordering a gooseberry sundae. So one year she made some gooseberry preserves and took some down to the soda fountain. One day a fellow came in and said he would like to have a sundae. When she asked what kind, he very smugly said, "Oh, I think I will have gooseberry," and that is just what he got. When he was through eating, he paid for it and said that he had gotten away with that for years, but he did not plan to try it again.

Wilson Creek was the Division Point for the Great Northern Railroad, and my dad started working as hostler helper.

Later he sold the Pastime to a Chris Christofferson. When the Great Northern moved the division to Wenatchee, dad started working on the section and worked there until he retired.

George, Audrey and I all graduated from the Wilson Creek High School. I went to Spokane and entered the St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing. I did not finish the course, which I have always regretted, but I would not take anything for what I learned, and have done a lot of practical nursing through the years.

E-mail from Cheryl

Facts from the past gleaned from the Moses Lake Herald, Columbia Basin Herald and The Neppel Record by Cheryl (Drig vgs) Elkins.

From the CBH on Thursday, July 16, 1953:

Racing boats return Aug. 23

Speedboat pilots of Washington, who staged a two-day program of races on Moses Lake two weeks ago, will return for more races on Sunday, Aug. 23, according to Norman Woods, president of the junior chamber of commerce.

Woods said Harry Woods of Spokane, an official of the Spokane Power Boat Association, confirmed the date Thursday and Reported there will be more boats here than before.

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 continue the story of Ephrata by Thelma Billngsley Nicks:

My parents had planned at first to only have a one story house, but the Waller boys talked them into building an upstairs. They said it would not cost much more. It really proved a good investment for it helped my mother when my father was ill for so long to make a living then and afterwards, also keeping roomers.

When I was in the fifth grade the house behind our house burnt down. Some of we kids were staying after school to make up some work. We were in one of the upstair rooms. The teacher looked out to see where the fire was after hearing the fire bell. She called us to look.

The house that was afire was the home of one of the boys. He made a mad dash for the fire escape and ran home. I was close behind him. The water pressure in those days was not good and on the roofs of both our house and Wilsons the sparks were dropping and catching the shingles on fire.

Our fathers, and men helping, used little garden hoses to take water to the roof and then fill tubs and buckets to use to put out the sparks. There were large trees on the alley, which helped protect our house. They were able to save both the Wilson's and our house. There has never been a building built on that lot since then. Also a block south of us the Tolliver house burnt because of the lack of water pressure.

When the fire bell rang we were supposed to turn off all water outside to help, but even that did not always help.

My father was in the post office until 1922. He served a little over eight years. Those jobs were political plums then. He was in during President Wilson's adminis?tration. When Harding was president, Levi Niles, a brother of Billy Clap's wife, got the job.

My father then sold clothes and suits for a Utah woolen mill. Later he started selling land that would come under irrigation, if the country got water. He sold the Hypothick Bank in Spokane, on commission. He set up an office in Wenatchee and later in Seattle. This was land the bank had obtained from the county on tax sales. The farm unit we own now was some of that land, we got from him.