Lewis County WA, located in the southwestern part of Washington State, is distinguished by its rich tapestry of landscapes ranging from the western lowlands’ fertile agricultural plains to the eastern rugged terrains of the Cascade Mountain Range. Established on December 19, 1845, it is one of the original counties of Washington Territory, formed from the northern part of the Columbia District by the Oregon Provisional Government. Its creation predates the establishment of Washington Territory itself, showcasing its historical significance. Named in honor of Meriwether Lewis, of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition, the county’s historical roots are deeply intertwined with the early exploration and settlement of the Pacific Northwest. Throughout its history, Lewis County has evolved from a fur trading and logging hub to a diverse economy that includes agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism, reflecting the broader economic transitions of the region. The county seat, Chehalis, situated in the heart of Lewis County, serves as the administrative and cultural center, further emphasizing the county’s role as a pivotal area in Washington’s development.
Marie Belle Layton, 101, Toledo, died Friday, March 23, 2007. Visitation will be from 1 to 7 p. m. Friday at Fir Lawn Funeral Chapel, Toledo, which is in charge of arrangements. Funeral will be held at 11 a. m. Saturday at Fir Lawn Funeral Chapel. [Wife of Oren Layton. Interment Lone Hill Cemetery] The Chronicle, March 26, 2007 Contributed by: Shelli Steedman
Mrs. Edna W. Champ, 82, a long-time Tacoma resident, died Saturday [April 5, 1980]. Mrs. Champ, of 7235 Pacific Ave., was born in Winlock and resided in Tacoma almost 60 years. She was a member of First Baptist Church. Survivors include her son, Stanley of Tacoma, two grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. Mountain View Funeral Home was in charge. Contributed by: Shelli Steedman
Mrs. Cora A. Champ, aged 78 years, and a resident of the Winlock community for the past sixty-four years, passed away at her home in Winlock Tuesday morning, October 13, following an illness of two weeks. She was born March 3, 1864, in Spring Valley, Minnesota, and came to WA Territory with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Darwin Eels, in 1879, settling near Toledo. She was married May 1, 1881 to John H. Champ whose parents came by covered wagon from Indiana in 1861. Mr. Champ died in 1915. They were the parents of ten children, only three of whom … Read more
Ruthella Chaplin Lee, 95, died Wednesday, May 10 [1989], in Providence Hospital in Centralia. She was born Oct. 3, 1893, in Brownsville, Ore., and was the daughter of Ralph and Sarah [Coshow] Chaplin. Lee attended Bellingham Normal School and was a teacher in the Chehalis School District until her marriage in 1917 to Virgin R. Lee. He died in 1986. She was a life member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a long-time member of the St. Helen’s Club and the Pioneers of Washington. Surviving are a son, William R. “Bill” Lee of Chehalis; three granddaughters; and three … Read more
Graveside services were to be held at the Cowlitz Mission Cemetery this afternoon for Mrs. Catherine Morrow, 85 whose death, occurred in Portland, Wednesday [July 18, 1934]. Mass was said in St. Agatha’s Church in that city this morning. The Morrow family settled on Cowlitz Prairie in the early days. After her husband’s death, Mrs. Morrow moved to Portland, where she has resided many years. She is survived by the following children: Mrs. Belle Frazier, L. P. Morrow, Mrs. C. J. Kryger, Mrs. Nellie Miller and Mrs. Irene Moore, Portland; Harry Morrow, Oregon City, and M. J. Morrow, Sacramento. A … Read more
Death came to Mrs. Champ, 87, Wednesday [November 22, 1944] at her home, 802 South Gold Street, in Centralia. She was born on Layton Prairie, March 18, 1857, and had resided here the past 16 years. Surviving are five children, 12 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren. The children are James Champ and Mrs. Louisa Gowen, Centralia; Mrs. Catherine Snodgrass and Mrs. Viola Lampitt, in California, and Mrs. Dora Baker, in Arizona. Funeral services have been set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Pontious-Cattermole chapel. The Rev. Erle Howell will officiate, and burial will be in the Winlock Cemetery. Contributed by: … Read more
Medical Springs, Baker County, Oregon Olive D. Bieber, 82, of Port Angeles, Wash., a former resident of the Medical Springs-Pondosa area, died Sept. 7, 2005, at the Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, Wash. Funeral arrangements will be announced later. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Mrs. Bieber was born on Sept. 7, 1923, at Montpelier, Idaho, to William and Daisy Grunig. She attended Union High School. She was a farmer’s wife and worked as a school bus driver, a bookkeeper for Tide Water Oil at Mossyrock, Wash., and retired after working for 25 years as a clerk at Johnson … Read more
This history of Winlock was written in 1951, at the request of the Winlock Community Development Association. The Community Development came into existence as a result of a 21-week study of our community, under the direction of the Bureau of Community Development of the University of Washington, with Professor Dick Poston as our weekly leader and consultant. This history was made into book form by commercial classes of the Winlock High School under the direction of Mrs. Sylvia Haapala.
“Centralia: The First Fifty Years, 1845-1900,” authored by Herndon Smith and published by the Daily Chronicle in 1949, is an accounting of Centralia, Washington history during its formative years. This work captures the essence of the community’s early development, providing a narrative enriched by diverse anecdotes and some pictorial representations.
Charles Champ, 36, known among Harbor loggers as “Big Charlie,” dropped dead at the door of the cookhouse of Camp 10, Humptulips Logging Company, immediately after the evening meal at the camp yesterday. Death was ascribed to heart trouble. Champ had engaged in woods work in the Harbor country for the last 10 years, coming here then from Winlock. His mother and brothers and sisters reside in Winlock. A nephew lives in Hoquiam, and an uncle, Willis, resides in Aberdeen. The body is at the local Whiteside parlors pending completion of funeral arrangements. [Interment Winlock Cemetery, Lewis Co.] Aberdeen Daily … Read more
Wallace Arnold Champ died Monday, Feb. 6, in St. Helen Hospital at the age of 82. A lifetime resident of Winlock, Champ was born there on March 17, 1901. He was preceded in death by his wife, Della, on Jan. 9 [same year]. Survivors include a son, Arnold Champ of Minneapolis, Minn.; a daughter Doris Ojala of Winlock; a sister, Erma Holten of Longview; six grandchildren; three great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. By request off Champ, no funeral will be held. Remembrances may be donations to the Winlock Ambulance Fund. Arrangements are under the direction of Cattermole Funeral … Read more
Clarence Champ, 89, of 127 S. Excelsior, retired manager of the Butte General Electric Co. office, died Wednesday [November 13, 1974] at a local hospital. Born Nov. 19, 1894, in Winlock, Wash., Mr. Champ attended Washington schools and graduated from Washington State University with a degree in electrical engineering. He later went to Schenectady, N.Y., where he took the GE test training course before entering the Navy during World War I. After the war, he spent a short time in the GE Chicago office before being transferred to Butte in 1919. He became manager of the office in 1924. Mr. … Read more
Most of these are complete indices at the time of transcription, however, in some cases we list the listing when it is only a partial listing. Following Cemeteries (hosted At Lewis County, Washington Tombstone Transcription Project) Boistfort (Harris) Cemetery Butterworth’s Cemetery Doss Cemetery Dryad-Doty (Sylvan) Cemetery Dunn (Harmony) Cemetery Ethel Greenwood (Clements, LaDue, Olson) Cemetery Fern Hill (Chehalis, Phillips, Urquhart) Cemetery Finn Hill (Independence Valley, Finnish) Cemetery Greenwood Masonic Cemetery Klickitat Cemetery Lone Hill (Layton Prairie) Cemetery Napavine Cemetery Newaukum Hill Cemetery Owery (Wilson Pioneer) Cemetery Rainy Valley Cemetery Riffe Cemetery Roberts (Howe, Cowlitz Prairie) Cemetery St. Francis Xavier Mission … Read more
WILLIAM M. URQUHART.- This gentleman, the son of James Urquhart, whose biography is immediately preceding, was born at the family residence near Napavine, Washington Territory, on the 22d of December, 1855. He remained on the farm till he had attained his majority. He then entered his father’s tore at Napavine, where he attended strictly to business and became thoroughly acquainted with trade, remaining there until 1880. In that year he removed to Chehalis, and began merchandising for himself. In this independent venture he was eminently successful, and had one of the largest mercantile houses in Lewis county. The confidence reposed … Read more
Lora (Polly), 77, Chehalis, passed away August 1 [1958] in a local hospital. She was born in Toledo on January 28, 1881, and had been a resident of Lewis County for her entire lifetime. Surviving is a grandson, Gordon Anderson, in California; a nephew, Wallace Champ, Winlock. Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at the Boone Chapel with Rev. Fred T. Lucas officiating. Interment in Winlock Cemetery. Contributed by: Shelli Steedman
HON. MELANCTHON Z. GOODELL. – The family of which this pioneer is a member has ever been prominent and influential in the Pacific Northwest since its arrival hither. Jothan W. Goodell, the father was a pioneer of Ohio; and it was at Vermilion that Melancthon was born in 1837. In 1850 the family crossed the plains, the eight children being deemed no serious hindrance. A stop-over was made at Salt Lake one winter; and it has been thought that they missed but little a great calamity from Mormon treachery. Reaching Portland in 1851, they made their first home in Polk … Read more
Another of the old pioneers of Lewis County passed away Wednesday afternoon, August 3, when Henry C. Layton died suddenly, at his home in the Hanaford Valley. Mr. Layton became violently ill while picking blackberries near a slashing burning, from the heat, and died a few hours after being taken sick. He was 64 years of age and was born in Toledo, this county, May 26, 1857. He is survived by his widow, Amanda Layton; two daughters, Mrs. Amanda Prince of Hanaford Valley and Mrs. Clara Hovies of Onalaska; one son, Roy Layton; his mother, Mrs. Sirilda Layton of Toledo; … Read more
Requiem mass for Mrs. Nevada L. Kryger, 73, resident of the Sellwood community for 60 years, will be held at 9 a.m. Friday in St. Agatha Catholic Church. Interment will be in Mount Calvary Cemetery. Rosary will be said today at 8 p.m. in McGinnis & Wilhelm Chapel. She was a native of Lewis County, Washington. Survivors are her husband, Cornelius J. Kryger, whom she married 46 years ago; daughter, Mrs. Alice Katherine Jones; a grandson, and sisters, Mrs. Irene Nolton and Mrs. Nellie Miller, all of Portland. Contributed by: Shelli Steedman
Mrs. Ralph J. Champ, 59, succumbed Sunday [October 2, 1955] at her home on route 1, Winlock. Mrs. Champ, born Sept. 22, 1896 in Arlington, Wash., is survived, in addition to her husband, by a daughter, Mrs. Lynne Pope, Algona; sister, Mrs. R. D. Campbell, Winlock; three brothers, Robert Wallace [Wallis], Spokane, and William and Hugh Wallace, Arlington, and three grandchildren. The deceased was a member of the Presbyterian Church. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m., at the John W. Boone Chapel in Chehalis with the Rev. George Shuman officiating. Cremation will follow. [Interment in Winlock Cemetery] … Read more
Died—At Vader, Washington, Monday, August 9, 1926, Andrew Wilkinson, age 84 years, 7 months and 14 days. The funeral took place from the Methodist church, Union, Friday, August 13, 1926, at 2:30 o’clock p.m. Word was received at Union early Monday morning of the serious illness of Mr. Wilkinson, and his daughter, Mrs. Webb, left that morning on No. 17 for Vader, but her father passed away before her arrival at Vader. Mrs. Webb returned with the remains Thursday, and the funeral took place as above noted. “Uncle Andy” Wilkinson was one of the old settlers of this section, and … Read more