| Documents
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 | Obituary: Lewis Roberts, The Osage County Chronicle, 25 Mar 1915
Lewis Roberts, pioneer settler, aged 92 years, died yesterday at the home of his son William in the Prairie Center neighborhood, about eight miles west of town, and the funeral occurred this afternoon. His wife died some years ago but he leaves several children. We could not get further particulars. |
 | Obituary: Lewis Roberts, The Osage County Chronicle, 1 Apr 1915
The Late Lewis Roberts
Lewis Roberts, whose death at the age of 91 years, was briefly mentioned in these columns last week, was born near Legonier (should read Ligonier-ed), Westmoreland county, Penna., February 21, 1824, and died at his home eight miles northwest of Burlingame March 23, 1915. He married December 3, 1850, to Miss Clara Fisher and ten children were born to them of whom five survive as follows: W. F. Roberts, Mrs. Ella Satzler, Mrs. Emma Henry, Mrs. Ida Forest and Mrs. Harriet Smith. Mr. Roberts and family came to Kansas in 1867, settling on the farm in this county where he died. All the living children reside near Burlingame. He also left 27 grandchildren and several great grandchildren.
Mr. Roberts was for forty years a member of the M. E. Church. Funeral services were conducted at his late home by Rev. Mr. Holt, Baptist pastor here, the internment being at Prairie Center cemetery. |
 | Marion Fisher birth 1896
"Mr. and Mrs. Joe Fisher are the proud parents of a new boy." |
 | Joe Fisher mutilated fingers 1901
"Joe Fisher has a couple of mutilated fingers....Joe was hunting and fishing. He held the rod and line and the gun at once. He saw a turtle and went to shoot it. Just then a fish got hold of his line, pulled good and strong, yanked Joe's hand down in front of the barrel just as it went off. Some of the discharge went into two fingers, and it took the doctor's help to put them in condition to mend." |
 | Fred Peters buys Fisher pool hall 1915
"Fred Peters is back in the billiard hall business, having bought out Joe Fisher." |
 | Joe Fisher dislocates shoulder 1916
"Joe Fisher dislocated one of his shoulders last Friday and when it was being readjusted by the doctors "cussed" loud enough to be heard a block away." |
 | Mrs. Joe Fisher ill 1908
"Mrs. Joe Fisher, who has been quite ill for some time, was taken to Christ's Hospital Saturday....Dr. C. W. Stahl, of Auburn, and her husband accompanied her." |
 | Edith Fisher marries Otho Moon 1914
"Miss Edith Fisher, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mre. Joe Fisher, and Otho Moon were married in Topeka Sunday afternoon." |
 | Marion Fisher ill w tonsilitis 1913
"Marion Fisher has been very ill with tonsilitis, but at this writing is improving rapidly. His throat was lanced." Sadly did not prove true. One day after this article was written he was diagnosed with diphtheria and died suddenly. |
 | Sad death of Marion Fisher 1913
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 | Hoskinson land purchase 1871
"NOTICE is hereby, given that I will offer for sale at public auction, at the door of the Court House in Burlingame, on the 11th day of March, between the hours of 10 o'clock a m and 2 o'clock p m the following real estate to wit: the s w qr (1-4) of s e qr (1-4) of sec seven (7) of t 14 r 14 taken as the property of A W Akers, on an execution in favor of S F and R M Hoskinson, for the sum of $67,66, and $10,75 costs, for work and labor done, and improvements made up on said real estate...Given ander my hand on this 8th day of February, A D 1871. A. W. HOOVER, Sheriff." |
 | Riley Hoskinson weather report Osage Co., KS 1874
Riley apparently began taking measurements and reporting the weather Osage Co., KS in the early 187Os. "Through the kindness of Mr. R. M. Hoskinson, we are enabled to give our readers the following meterological report for November: Maximum heat during the during month. (6th and 7th, at noon.) 76° ; greatest cold. (20th) 29. at sunrise; total rain fall. 1.55 inches. Three snows fell during the month-in all, 18 inches--making 3.05 inches of water. The average temperature during the month was 41.90." When he moves to Kitsap Co., WA, Riley becomes the first observer/reporter of the weather in the Pacific Northwest. See example of his reporting from his homestead at Port Blakeley, WA below. |
 | A bumper crop of peaches 1871
"R. M. Hoskinson left a twig of a peach tree hanging in the book store, which held 67 well formed peaches. He has forty trees, with every branch as full as the above specimen." |
 | Hoskinson farm for sale 1876
R. M. and Martha Hoskinson put their farm up for sale in preparation for move west. The place sounds almost magical. The land is the same in part purchased at auction in article above. "This farm is situated seven miles northwest of Burlingame, and consists of 108 acres. (se ½ of s7, t14, r14.) 12 or which is timber land; the Wakarusa creek runs through the north end; has two good wells of water and any amount of water can be got at from 10 to 20 feet; has about three miles of excellent hedge fence around and through it, 96 acres enclosed; about 70 acres under cultivation; about 600 apple trees. mostly bearing: 200 bearing peach trees, all of the best of fruit; besides these there are plum, cherry, pear, quince, grape, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, and numerous other trees, vines and shrubbery too tedious to mention; also an extensive and excellent stone quarry, easy of access; large and commodius coral for cattle enclosed with stone wall; some 2,000 ornamental trees, such as Cottonwood, Maple, Ash, Box, Sycamore, Elm, Silver Leaf and Willow; also good log dwelling house, 20x20 feet, 1 1/2 stories high, with one-story frame kitchen, 15x20 feet attached; cellar under the whole with rock bottom; stone chicken house. 10x20 feet; log stable, 15x20 feet; stone pig pen; frame corn crib, 9x18 ft. Said farm has a public road on east and south sides. Has now on it about 30 acres in corn, all mature, part of which will make 50 bu per acre; also 1 good wagon; 4 plows; 1 harrow; 3 sets harness, besides hoes, shovels, spades, rakes, forks, axes, stone tools, &c, also our half of the increase of a lot of cattle, and 5 horse beasts; some 15 tons of Hungarian and 40 tons of prairie hay, together with all our household and kitchen furniture, excepting only bedding clothing, books and pictures. Will sell the whole for $2,700....RILEY M HOSKINSON, MARTHA HOSKINSON" |
 | R M Hoskinson sells farm 1876
Took almost a year to find a buyer after posting for sale in Nov 1875. Also appears the buyer, Mr. Beckus, only wanted the land, not the household goods, equipment and livestock which the Hoskinson's had to auction: "-Mr. R. M. Hoskinson, living seven miles northwest of Burlingame, has sold his place to F. B. Beckus, of this county, and will shortly leave for Oregon, where he intends to make his home hereafter. He will offer for sale on the 10th of October all his household goods, farming implements and stock at reasonable terms. |
 | The grasshopperized people of the Hoskinson neighborhood 1874
"A car-load of provisions, consisting of corn, flour, the generous gift of friends in Illinois. arrived at. Burlingame a few days ago tor the grasshopperized people of the Hoskinson neighborhood." |
 | Plague of grasshoppers 1874
Riley Hoskinson relates the impact of an plague of grasshoppers on Burlingame Township and his beautiful farm. Suspect this plague caused the Hoskinson's to sell heir farm and move to the West Coast in 1876. "They came to this neighborhood on Wednesday, Aug. 11, in countless millions: and such is their voracity that in few hours time desolation reigns supreme. Having had but one and a half inches of rain since the 1tth of June, the corn crop, (what little was left by the chinch bugs,) was very light, and now there none; all is gone, even the stalks that would have made winter feed are being devoured. Their mission seems to be expressly the destruction of man's labor, they pay little or no attention to any thing growing wild. "Their whole nature seems bent on the destruction of fruit trees, grain and vegetables. Nearly all the young fruit trees are now as bare of leaves as if it were mid-winter. The peach and apple crop is being rapidly devoured, while all the cabbage tribe, parsnips, onions, sweet and Irish potatos, and all kinds of cultivated flowers, are now gone or rapidly going. All the northwest portion of this county is in ruins." |
 | Hon. D. L. McCabe and Clarissa Garrison wed 1871
"MARRIED. - on Friday, the 6th inst. at the Methodist parsonage, in this place, by Rev. J. W. Stogdill, Hon. D. L. McCabe, of Butler county, to Mrs. C. A. Garrison, (that was Clarissa Hoskinson,) of this county. We congratulate Mc. in carrying off one of Osage's fairest women, and Mrs. G. in netting one of the wealthiest and most substantial men in Southern Kansas." |
 | Letter from California 1876
Written to his hometown newspaper, The Osage County Chronicle, Riley Hoskinson tells of his and wife Martha's journey from Osage Co., KS to a new home in Cloverdale, Somona Co., CA. The trip cost the two of them roughly $70 and was quite pleasant: "From Topeka to Omaha, $11.00; from Omaha to San Francisco, on the Emigrant Train, $45.00; from "Frisco" by steamer and railroad to Coverdale, $4.25 each. The arrangements for emigrants are admirable. At Omaha the Railroad Compa- ny have a large house called the Emigrant House, where all are cared for in excel- lent style, at $1.00 per day. Here the names of all are taken that have procured tickets: and then all are mustered near the cars, and as each family or individual is called, they, or he, are placed in one of the cars, and each passenger allowed one entire seat, which must be kept till they reach Ogden, when they are changed into cars from California, in the same manner as before. On reaching Sacramento, Cal., the same nice arrangement takes place in the transfer from cars to steamer. Plenty of food, dry wood, and excellent water are furnished the entire route. Provisions plenty, to be had at most all the stopping places, and mostly at reasonable rates. Where two or more persons go together they can purchase a kind of cushion that just fills the space between the seats, and thus make a comfortable bed. Thus we found the trip quite pleasfortable (the last word likely a typo by the editor)." The final stage of the journey "...we took stage 65 miles to Albion, situated on the Ocean shore; went by wagon 10 miles out into the Red Wood region; found our children all well, and busy making railroad ties out of those monster trees, many of which are 14 feet in diameter, and 300 feet high. I helped measure one that was 45 feet around.....Splitting out and hauling railroad ties pays tolerably well, but is very hard work."
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 | Letter from California - 2 1876
In this letter published in The Osage County Chronicle immediately following his first letter to the editor, Riley Hoskinson describes the community and state of agricultural in his new home of Cloverdale, Somona Co., CA: "I find everything OVERDONE. Most all the trades and professions are in this condition. Merchandising in all its various branches is quite overdone. Vine culture is entirely overdone. Grapes by tons, and of the finest quality are now wasting in the vineyards, and are common stock to any one who wants them. Excellent apples sell at 1 1/2 cents per lb. The best of wine sells at 20 cents per gallon. Provisions of all kinds are as cheap as with you, except butter, eggs and chickens. Butter is 50 cents per pound: eggs, 45 to 60 cents per dozen; chickens from $6 to $9 per dozen....Farming here pays well, as there are but few destructive insects to disturb the crops. Wheat is being sown now, and I am told, will be sown all winter. Some are planting out trees, some making garden, etc. The weather is most delightfully pleasant - no freeze - no wind - flowers of all kinds in profusion. We have excellent church and school privileges. Society of the best. The kindness so far shown us has exceeded all our expectations. We feel perfectly at ease. We have no need to be homesick. In short, we are contented and happy as it seems possible for human beings to be." Riley's opinion of California would swing very negative over the next 4 months. In May 1977, he and wife Martha would leave California for the Washington Territory. |
 | Married half a century 1891
"Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Honkinson, of Eagle Harbor, celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding Monday evening last. A very merry company met with them, and after offering congratulations and partaking of delicious refreshments made the worthy couple several costiy presents, a gold lined silver cup and saucer, s gold-headed cane and gold pen being among the gifts." |
 | Hoskinsons move to Washington Territory 1877.
Riley's first of many letters to The Osage Chronicle from Washington Territory after leaving California. "We left California on the 18th of last May and reached Seattle, in Washington Territory, in four and one-half days. Came on board an ocean steamer. Seattle is a live town of 4.000 inhabitants; business driven with a rush, lumber and coal being the principal article of trade. These, and especially the coal, seem inexhaustible...Work is plenty and wages good; society of the best. Good schools and good churches well attended. More there is a Sabbath, at least to the majority of the citizens (In his letters to Kansas, Riley was very critical of Californian's neither resting nor attend church on Sunday)...,The soil is deep, rich sand, water of the best, towers on every hillside, climate very mild and the temperature equal. It makes me feel that to live is a pleasure. We have bought 33 and 68-100 acres of excellent land two and one-half miles distant from Seattle, for 8325.00 and expect to build us a shanty and move into it at once....One item of interest I notice is that nearly everybody seems to be in good health and fine spirits, while in California the healthy looking ones were the exception, not the rule." The land here is almost certainly the same land Riley offers for sale six months later in Jan 1878 in preparation for moving to Bainbridge Island. |
 | Early days in Seattle 1877
In this second letter to friends in Kansas dated Aug 27, 1877, Riley talks about his early days in Seattle, particularly his agricultural success on their land in Smith's Cove. Riley's letter suggests a paradise: "This is truly a pleasant place to live; society of the best, business brisk, climate very equable, temperature rarely in summer descending below 50° or ascending above 80°. No storms of any kind and seldom wind enough to carry a sheet of paper. Light rains all the summer at intervals of a few days. Vegetation green and lovely all the time. Things in the vegetable line grow as if by magic. In twenty-seven days from planting we had lettuce and radishes fit for the table. In six weeks potatoes and turnips, sown June 19, are now six inches in diameter, and all other vegetables are growing in like manner. The fruit crop is enormous; it must be seen to be realized. Nearly every kind of fruit tree must be propped or break. Some specimens of sweet cherries measured 1-1/2 inches in diameter, strawberries from 5-1/2 to 9 inches in circumference. Most of the apples are now big and are very large, and those now ripe are very fine. Peaches and grapes do not thrive here, but are shipped in large quantities from California." The only downside he writes of..."The land is hard to clear, as the timber crop is very large and dense..." |
 | Corn dying in Osage Co 1868
There was apparently a corn blight in Osage County, KS in 1868. Riley Investigates and reports his findings to the Osage County Chronicle: "I pulled up eleven hills of wilted corn and found the roots all cut by the white Grub, of which I took one hundred and ten from the eleven hills. Also, near the roots of much of it are countless thousands of chinch bugs, many of them so small as barely to be discernable." Other crop infestations follow ultimately causing the Hoskinson family to leave Kansas for the West Coast in 1876. |
 | Railroads and murder in Washington Territory 1887
Another letter home to friends in Kansas. This letter talks of the rapid pace of railroad expansion and of a strange series of murder trails. Of the railroads he writes: "The branch railroad across the Cascades is so far completed that cars run over the mountain top on what they call a "switch back" until the completion of the tunnel now being bored through. The other railroad from Seattle eastward is being pushed day and night as fast as man and means can make it. Another from Seattle, northward to the Canadian Pacific, is being surveyed and located and still another is being built as rapidly as possible from the head of Puget Sound to Gray's Harbor, on the Pacific ocean. All these are only a part of the improvements in progress in this great and growing territory." Regarding the murder, "...on the 8th of February 1886, two men were shot to death on Lake Washington while on their way to Seattle. The man that did it was arrested, tried and discharged for want of evidence. Several days thereafter the bodies were found sunk in the lake. The same man was again arrested, tried and the jury disagreed. He was tried the second time with the same result. At his third regular trial he was convicted of murder in the first degree and now awaits sentence." This would be illegal today. You cannot be tried more than once for the same crime. |
 | Washington Territory in depression 1885
In this letter to The Osage Chronicle, Riley writes of an economic depression in the Washington Territory. "this region (in common with all parts On of our country) still suffers from financial depression. Business of all kinds is dull and the price of labor low. In the logging camps, men that formerly got $75 per month, now work for $50, or in other words, all kinds of labor has suffered a reduction of about one-third. The prices of wheat, flour, and feed have advanced about ten per cent. Dry goods and groceries remain about the same as usual. The prices of fruits of and vegetables were never before so low as at present. As a sample, strawberries opened at three dollars per gallon and now sell at thirty-three and a third cents and some as low as twelve and a half cents per gallon; cherries and raspberries are also much lower than usual. Eggs have been as low as thirteen cents per dozen, now (June 22nd,) twenty cents. Butter has fallen from seventy-five cents (per roll of two pounds) to fifty cents." |
 | Washington Territory's march toward statehood 1878
In this letter to The Osage Chronicle Riley writes of the Washington Territory's march toward statehood. Of note, his population estimate of 60,000. Recall that when he arrived in Seattle two years prior in 1877 he stated the population was only 4,000. While the 60,000 is for the territory as whole, the majority would certainly live in Seattle suggesting very rapid growth in Seattle's population from 1877-1878. Washington did not become a state until 11 Nov 1889, roughly ten years after this letter. "We now have a state constitution, adopted at the November election by a majority of 3,321, and a Republican Delegate to Cengress, whose majority is 1,301. We expect soon to knock at the door of Congress for admission into the great sisterhood of States. How we shall fare remains to be seen. You will soon hear from us. We now number about 60,000, and, as the figures show, largely Republican. Out public school system is equal to that of any State in the Union. Where ever there are fifteen children of school age, they are allowed a school district." |
 | The "mineralogy" of Washington Territory 1879
Here Riley follows up on his promise in his 9 Jan 1879 letter to The Osage Chronicle to write about the "mineralogy" of the Washington Territory. "It is generally conceded by experts that the whole Puget's Sound basin is one vast coal field of from six to nine feet in thick- ness, and besides all this, coal, in vast quantities, exists on Bellingham Bay, on the north, and around Gray's Harbor on the west, and is said to exist in every county in the territory. Of this last statement I am not posted. Coal also exists in endless quantities in British Columbin, on Vancouvers' Island and at the mouth of Puget's Sound, or Straits of Fuca, as it is sometimes called." He adds: "Quoting from the San Francisco Journal of Commerce. we find that city alone, imported from the coal mines near Seattle, during the year 1878, the vast amount of "113,000 tons," and the demand is greater than the supply. With present facilities for shipment, the Seattle mines can export about 13,000 tous per month. This coal in San Francisco is worth about $7.50 per ton." The reference to the San Francisco Journal of Commerce again shows Riley was very widely read for a man living on the frontier of the U.S. |
 | The weather in Washington Territory 1878
Everone for reporting on the weather, in this letter Riley shares the climate of Washington Territory with readers of The Osage Chronicle, climate very mild when compared to the extremes of Kansas. A few interesting nuggets from his letter: "Sun stroke and frozen fingers are not heard of on Puget Sound." There is also "No use here for lightning rod peddlers.I have not seen a lightning rod since I have lived on the Pacific coast." Recall the Hoskinson's left Kansas after two of three years of crops failures due to weather and insects. By comparison he writes: "Such an event as a grain or fruit failure is unknown on Puget Sound. This season fruit is very abundant, and many of the small fruits remain long in bearing. We now have, September 9th, raspberries and strawberries in full bearing. Vegetables of almost all kinds grow here luxuriantly, and this might appropriately be called the land of flowers. Their size, color and beauty seem to intensify in this lovely climate." I'm sure Riley's Kansas friends were envious. |
 | Update on the Washington Territory 1880
In this letter to The Osage Chronicle Riley gives a general update of the region's climate, population, finances, and schools. Of note: "Financially, our Territory has never before been so prosperous. Emigration and capital are pouring in; improvements on every hand; not an einpty house in Seattle, and the demand for more is so great that a multitude of artizans are constantly busy." Seattle is is growing rapidly and is expected to "...bound forward into a city of thirty-thousand inside the next tie years. The city is now laid out eastward to lakes Washington and Union, one and one-half miles and along the Sound for nearly four miles." Washington's first university has been built. "Work is plenty, wages good and cash paid for everything. Mr. Willard has contracted for two immense steamships to help carry away the coal brought to Seattle." And of special note to his Kansas readers: "Quite a large number of the Kansas colony are now located at Turnwater, near Olympia, and are about to purchase that splendid water power, and start a variety of manufactories at that point." He ends with encouragement for Kansas prohibition and reveals himself to be anti-dog: "It is very gratifying to us to read of the rapid strides your noble State is making on the high road to prosperty. As you appear to be about to kill out that dreadful curse, the liquor traffic. I think you need another law of equal stringency, and that is to kill off all the worthless dogs in the State..." |
 | Mills of the Puget Sound 1881
Riley updates The Osage Chronicle on employment and the growth in saw mills in the Puget Sound: "All the mills on the Sound except one are running on full time and are worked to their fuil capacity. Port Blakely, already an immense concern, is adding a third gang saw capable of cutting twenty-four boards at a time. Its cutting capacity with this addition will be 100,000 feet every twelve hours. The mill at Port Gamble is still larger, and the mills at Port Madison and Tacoma are about the size of that at Blakely No one coming here need remain an hour idle. Common laborers get one dollar per day and board; carpenters, $3 per duy, without board." He also writes about the weather, noting a more severe winter though still the "...greatest cold was twenty-four degrees above zero," which Im sure his Kansas readers would have enjoyed. |
 | Riley writes in favor of women's suffrage and prohibition 1883
In this letter to The Osage Chronicle Riley reveals he is 1) a huge supporter of women's suffrage: "Our Legislature, just adjourned, has conferred the right of suffrage upon the women of the Territory, and it only wants a little time to test this great question whether or not, it will prove a benefit in the way of purifying the filthy pool of politics. One thing is certain, It is a just and righteous law, and the sooner equal suffrage is adopted in all the states, the better it will be for our great country." and 2) he very much in favor of temperance and prohibition: "A bill almost passed the Legislature to greatly increase the license for all intoxicants, but this eternal tinkering with so grave an evil, is only to acknowledge we are too weak to cope with so formidable an enemy, and strengthen its advocates...There is only one way out of this difficulty, and that is present and eternal prohibition." |
 | History recap of Port Blakely 1884
Another update on the Washington Territory. Riley writes against the railroads seeking land grants and right-of-ways, again voices his support for women's suffrage and prohibition, and notes the Puget sound mills are back running at capacity after a downturn. He ends with a recap of Port Blakely's history: "Six years ago, James Ryan, his family and mine were the sole occupants of this beautiful region around Eagle Harbor; no roads, no church, no school, while now we have all of these, together with twenty-six families and two steamboats each making two trips a week to and from, carrying passengers each way between this and the city of Seattle, at fifty cents per capita. Large manufacturing establishments are expected soon to be erected on this water, the necessary lands having been secured sometime ago. Weather splendid, Emigrants still pouring in, and still there is room for all those who are willing to work." The expected large manufacturing establishments became the Hall brothers shipyard. Built by Winslow and Henry Knox Hall, the Hall brothers shipyard was by the late 1880's "the world's largest sawmill under one roof." (Port Blakely Mills & Mill Town - Historical Buildings/Cultural Resource Survey, Port Blakely Mill Company, Apr 1992) "Between 1881 and 1904, the Hall Brothers launched 77 vessels of every size and rig, including barks, barkentines, three-, four-, and five-masted schooners, steamers, a tug, a government revenue cutter and several yachts. Hall Brothers was largely responsible for building most of the schooners for the Pacific Coast lumber trade" (White, Gary M, "The Port Blakely Years," Hall Brothers Shipyards, Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2008, pp. 8–9) |
 | Riley reveals himself to be racist toward the Chinese 1886
Writing to The Osage Chronicle, Riley reveals dislike of Chinese immigrants, first expressed in 1877 in his "gloomy picture of California" (see above), is undiminished: "We have the Chinese excitement still on hand. Most all of them have gone from Seattle, but that does not satisfy the demand for there is a constant fear of their return. There are about one hundred and fifty of Uncle Sam's soldiers quartered in Seattle to make us behave decently, but they can't make us employ Chinese heathens to do our work for us." Elsewhere in the letter he refers to them as leeches. Riley also laments the impact of international trade in coal and lumber on the Northwest: "British ships come to San Francisco ballasted with coal from England and Australia, which they can sell at less cost than it can be produced and carried from here, and it is also of a better quality than ours. Added to all this there is an effort being made to admit Canadian lumber and coal, free of duty; or so nearly so as to work ruin to this region, that is almost entirely dependent on these industries...Some of our largest coal mines are already shut down, and the great saw mills are running on three-fourths time." |
 | Shipbuilding at Port Blakely 1886
This letter confirms that the shipbuilding operations expected in his letter of 16 Oct 1884 to The Osage Chronicle are complete and producing ship of very large scale: "This county (Kitsap) is mostly a lumbering region, having four giant sawmills, Port-Blakely, Port Madison, | Port Gamble, and Seabeck. Port Blakely has also an extensive ship yard attached. Ships are being built here at all seasons. One ocean steamer is just completed and there are two more on the stocks. The business prospect for this region is rapidly brightening. Wages are good, and work becoming more plenty. Every ocean steamer brings from twenty to fifty newcomers, beside all that come by way of the North Pacific railroad." This new immigration created an incredibly diverse community in Port Blakely as explained in the video Port Blakely - Memories of a Mill Town produced by Islandwood in 2010. |
 | Questions from Kansas 1886
In this lengthy column, Riley responds to 21 questions asked by friends in Kansas about the Washington Territory. A few if his responses are comically crabby: "Would it be best to ship furniture from here?" Riley, ever promoting the the Territory's goods, answers: "No, sell or burn it there is much better, cheaper and finer furniture manufactured in Seattle. Also: "Is it windy there? People raised here don't know what is meant by the term wind." He refers further questions to a Dr. A. W. Hover "who was just here a few days since to see for himself...." |
 | Riley resigns from signal service 1876
"R. M. Hoskinson has resigned his appointment as observer and reporter, from this section of country, for the Signal Service of the U. S. army and Department of Agriculture, and has recommended the appointment of B. F. Beckus, living northwest of town, as his successor." |
 | Update on railroads and women's suffrage 1887
Riley gives an update on the status of Washington Territory railroads: "he frst forty miles of the Seattle & Lake Shore railroad are now nearly completed and another forty miles under contract, which will reach the summit of the Cascade mountains, passing through immense beds of coal, iron marble and other valuable mineral products and one of the finest bodies of timber in the world....The railroad from Seattle to British Columbia is progressing tinely People from the east can now come here direct by way of the North Pacific or Canadian Pacific steamers constantly running between Seattle and New West Minister B. C." He also comments of the status of women's suffrage in the territory: "Politically, the woman suffrage question again comes to the front and there will be a bitter contest in the incoming legislature on this subject. Many of the politicians have found out that they can't control the women's vote and so they throw off their mask of friendship and unite with the whisky element to prevent a re-enactment of the equal suffrage law." |
 | Obituary: Mary E. Amy 1875
This news traveled slow. Mary's death note reported in her home town until two months after the fact: "Died in the parish of St. Mary, Louisiana, August 1, 1875, of malarial fever, Mary E. Amy, wife of Charles Amy, and daughter of R. M. and Martha Hoskinson. Mary was a pious, good girl and died in hope of a blessed immortality beyond the grave." |
 | Marriage of David Evans and Ida L Hoskinson 1875
"The marriage ceremony was performed publicly, in the schoolhouse, in true granger style, and the occasion was a very pleasant one to those present. Samples of the wedding cake and a beautiful bouquet of flowers were sent to us, which we ate and smelled to the health of the happy couple. Ida was a good girl and we hope her Patron of Husbandry will fully appreciate her good qualities. We wish the newly wedded ones much joy." |
 | Stewart Hoskinson begins selling farm 1873
"The subscriber being desirous to leave the country for a while, offers for sale cheap for cash the following named fruit trees and other articles, to-wit: Apple trees, three years old, $8.00 per hundred; peach, cherry and plum trees, grafted, one and two years old; grape-vines, Concord; new breaking-plow, 3 corn plows, 2 stoves, bedsteads, chairs, &c., a lot of garden tools, a new wheel barrow and dinning (dining) table, new. These articles will be sold at a bargain for cash. Apply at my farm, 7 miles north-west of Burlingame, near Beckus school house." |
 | S. F Hoskinson continues trying to sell his farm 1874
"The undersigned will sell at private sale the following property: One matched three-year-old team, sixteen hands high, and a set of new harness. Nine milk cows; Three spring calves; One Thoroughbred Durham bull, six months old: pedigree given. A new Kerby Mower and Suldy Rake used only one season. Three plows - one a breaking plow. A quantity of furniture and other household goods. A bargain to any one who wants to buy the entire property together Any further particulars furnished by mail on application to S. F. Hoskinson, Burlingame, Kansas. S. F & A. E. (Ann Eliza, 1st wife) Hoskinson, seven miles northwest of Burlingame, Kas." |
Fisher Family Genealogy