Thurston County WA

Thurston County WA, located in the western part of Washington State, is steeped in rich history and geographical diversity. Established on January 12, 1852, from portions of Lewis County, it was originally named after Samuel R. Thurston, the Oregon Territory‘s first delegate to Congress. The county seat is Olympia, which also serves as the state capital, highlighting the county’s central role in Washington’s political landscape. Thurston County is characterized by its varied topography, ranging from the southern reaches of Puget Sound to dense forests and the fertile Nisqually Valley. It has played a pivotal role in the state’s history, serving as a hub for trade, governance, and cultural exchange. The county’s formation and development were significantly influenced by its strategic location along the Puget Sound, facilitating maritime trade and settlement.

Biography of George D. Shannon

GEORGE D. SHANNON. – This well-known contractor, banker and successful farmer is a man whom Nature fitted with qualities that inevitably guide their possessor to success. He was born in what is now Schuyler county, New York, December 20, 1832, and is the son of Thomas and Mehitable (Corwin) Shannon. At the age of sixteen he entered upon business for himself, and with an abundance of self-reliance began railroading, following that and other employments until 1854. Soon afterwards he came to St. Paul, Minnesota, accepting employment for a large lumber company. In 1858 he was appointed superintendent of construction of … Read more

Stuth, Albert E. ‘Stubb’ – Obituary

Albert “Stubb” Stuth died at an Olympia area nursing home Friday morning [July 21]. Mr. Stuth was born in Olympia, April 24, 1890. He attended Washington State College where he played baseball and he later played for the Olympia Senators baseball team in Olympia. Mr. Stuth served in the Army during World War I and later he and his brothers operated the Stuth Brothers Fuel Company in Olympia. Stubb sold the fuel company and became an employee of the Olympia Brewing Company. He retired several years ago. His home was at 3030 South Central Street. Mr. Stuth was a member … Read more

Champ, William – Obituary

Large funeral state pioneer-William champ dies at Winlock and funeral held on Sunday-Baptist church would not hold nearly all the mourners-organized many Masonic lodges in the west. Sunday afternoon from the Baptist Church at Winlock were held the funeral services of William Champ of that city who died Saturday. The church would not begin to hold the people who were present to pay their respects to the memory of this old pioneer who came west and who first located in Olympia in 1860. Born in Kentucky in 1825-he would have been 88 year old in about one month-Mr. Champ joined … Read more

Nisqualli Tribe

Nisqualli Indians. A Salish tribe on and about the river of the same name flowing into the south extension of Puget Sound, Washington.  The Nisqualli Reservation is on the Nisqualli river between Pierce and Thurston counties.  The name has also been extended to apply to those tribes on the east side of Puget Sound, speaking the same dialect as the above.  Such are the Puyallup, Skagit, Snohomish, Snokwalmu and Stilakwamish.  Mitsukwick was a former Nisqualli village.  The Nisqualli made a treaty with the United States at Medicine creek, Washington, December 26, 1854, ceding certain lands and reserving others.  The Executive … Read more

Fix, Clara Jane Harris – Obituary

Mrs. S. E. Fix, 78, former Pierce County resident, died Tuesday in a hospital at Olympia. She was born at Rockford, Ontario, Canada, and came to the United States with her parents in 1884. The family made its home at Auburn, and prior to her marriage, Mrs. Fix taught in Orting schools. She was married January 28, 1903 at Auburn and for many years the couple made its home at Kapowsin, later moving to Olympia. She had been ill the past few years. Mrs. Fix was past matron of the Narcissus Chapter, Order of Eastern Star. Besides her husband, she … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Alexander C. McClelland

ALEXANDER C. McCLELLAND. – The present registrar of the United States land-office at La Grande, Oregon, is a native of Indiana, having been born there in 1842. He received his education at the Berlin High School, Wisconsin, and in 1863 came west to Montana as a gold-seeker. He found the employment of his intellectual acquisition more profitable, however, and for a number of years engaged in school-teaching and educational work in the Willamette valley. In 1867 we find him in the mines at Baker City, looking after “lodes” and “leads,” and also in 1870 engaged in the stock business with … Read more

Beam, Delilah Lillian Siegler Mrs.

Baker City, Oregon Lillian S. Beam, 83, a longtime Baker City resident, died July 13, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center. Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Gray’s West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave. The Rev. Ed Niswender of the Calvary Baptist Church will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will be until 8 o’clock tonight at Gray’s West & Co. She was born Delilah Lillian Siegler on Sept. 1, 1920, at Kulm, N.D., to John and Katherina Weisser Siegler. After finishing her schooling, she traveled West with her sister, Viola, to … Read more

Goldberg, Charles – Obituary

Charles Goldberg, proprietor of Charley’s Hamburger, a restaurant on East Fourth Avenue, died in an Olympia hospital Thursday evening [June 19, 1947]. Mr. Goldberg had resided in Olympia for fifteen years and had been in the restaurant business for many years. He was a member of the Eagles Lodge here. He is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Opal Williams, of Tonasket, and by two sons in Eastern Washington. Time of funeral service will be announced by Mills and Mills. The Olympian, Jun 20, 1947 Contributed by: Shelli Steedman

Biography of Hon. Clanrick Crosby

HON. CLANRICK CROSBY. – This gentleman, of whom an excellent portrait appears in our work, was born in East Brewster, Massachusetts, January 6 1838. He is a son of Captain Clanrick and Phoebe H. (Fessenden) Crosby. In 1849 he came with his parents via Cape Horn on board the brig Grecian, of which his father was captain and part owner. The father was a sea-faring man until his arrival in San Francisco in the above year. After a short stay there, he brought his vessel to Portland, and there selling her quit the sea. The family remained in Portland, Oregon, … Read more

Biography of Rev. John F. Devore, D. D.

REV. JOHN F. DEVORE, D.D. – Doctor Devore was a native of Kentucky, being born near Lexington, December 7, 1817. He was of French descent, as the name indicates, and owed very much to the pious example of religious parents, who urged him with their last words to be “faithful to his God.” The “Life of Bramwell” fell into his hands at an early date, was read with great relish, and had much to do in molding the shape of his after life. Entering the ministry, he joined the Rock river conference in 1842, Bishop Roberts presiding. He was ordained … Read more

Ormsby, George William – Obituary

Services for George W. Ormsby, 85, formerly of Nampa, who died Tuesday, June 10 [1986], in Olympia, Wash., will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at the Fissel Chapel of the Brown Mortuary Service, Chehalis, Wash. Burial will follow at the Claquato Cemetery, Chehalis. Mr. Ormsby was born Sept. 30, 1900, at Sams Springs, Iowa. He married Edith Roberts Oct. 8, 1924, in Mountain Home. They moved to Nampa, where he worked for the Pacific Fruit Express, retiring after 20 years service in 1945. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Engineers in Idaho. He then operated a … Read more

Biography of William Billings

WM. BILLINGS. – The name Billings at once suggests the picturesque hills and valleys of Vermont; and we find that the subject of this sketch is indeed a Green Mountain boy, having been born in Ripton in 1827. He lived upon his father’s place until 1846, and in that year went down to New Bedford and shipped before the mast. This step brought him to Washington Territory; for, in 1849, he was left at Honolulu, from whence, in the bark Mary, he came to California, the gold of the Yuba mines detaining him but a few months. Indeed, the best … Read more

Nichols, Lucia Anabel “Annie” Calhoun Mrs. – Obituary

Lucia Anabel “Annie” Nichols, 79, of Yelm, Wash., died March 9, 2004. Her memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 20, at the Yelm Senior Citizen Center, 201 Yelm Ave. There will be a reception afterward. She was born on Dec. 1, 1924, in West Virginia to Clarence Otto and Fannie Calhoun. In her spare time she took in foster babies and anyone else who needed a hug. She leaves many good, close friends. Annie was a little woman of great determination. She was able to overcome many obstacles that got in her way, including a stroke that … Read more

Biography of Hon. R. O. Dunbar

HON. R.O. DUNBAR. – It is not always an enviable distinction to be made eminent for political preferments. The exceptions are in the cities where office is held as the currency of political services, and as the opportunity for public plunder. In the smaller communities, however, where personal acquaintance extends to all citizens, and an honest public spirit precludes fraud, one may well feel pride in that confidence of his friends in his ability and probity which selects him as a public servant. Preferment at the suffrage of the citizens of a place like Goldendale, noted for its correct sentiment … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Thomas M. Alvord

THOS. M. ALVORD. – Mr. Alvord was born in Homer, Courtland county, New York, February 26, 1832, and is the son of Sylvester and Lucy Hull Alvord. His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving under General Washington, and took up a Donation claim on the present site of Homer, New York. His father was born on the place, and died in 1864. He resided at his birthplace until 1853, when with his brother, Henry S., he left New York on board the Prometheus, via Nicaragua, and on the Pacific side took the Cortez, arriving in San Francisco … Read more

Defrees, Margaret Elayne Rice Mrs. – Obituary

Margaret Elayne Defrees, 71, died Dec. 1, 2005, at her home in Sumpter Valley. Her funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2625 Hughes Lane. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Bishop Jeff Daniels of Baker City 1st Ward will conduct. Margaret was born on Feb. 6, 1934, at Yakima, Wash., to Dallas and Kathryn Rice. She lived her first 13 years at the White Swan Christian Indian Mission where her parents were superintendents of the mission school. Her high school and junior college years were spent at Yakima … Read more

Tumwater, Vancouver, Port Townsend, Washington

Tumwater, the initial point in the ‘history of the settlement of Puget Sound, was incorporated in Nov. 1869. In time it numbered more manufactories than any other town on the Sound. Vancouver and Early Settlers Vancouver was the fourth town in size in western Washington, having in 1880 about 3,000 inhabitants. It was made the county seat of Clarke County by the first legislative assembly of Washington, in March 1854, its pioneers, both English and American, long retaining their residences. Among the early settlers were James Turnbull, born in England, came to Washington in 1852, and with him William Turnbull, … Read more

Biography of Hon. Charles H. Mason

HON. CHARLES H. MASON. – Mr. Mason was born at Fort Washington, on the Potomac river, Maryland, in 1830. At the age of seven, with his widowed mother, he removed to Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated in 1850 with distinguished honors at Brown University, and was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island in 1851. On the election of President Pierce, he was recommended by the Rhode Island bar for the office of United States district attorney for that state. On the declination of the secretaryship of Washington Territory by Major Farquaharson, in September, 1853, Mr. Mason received the appointment … Read more

Thurston County, Washington Cemetery Records

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 Thurston County, Washington Tombstone Transcription Project) Calvary Cemetery, Tumwater P art 1 A-K P art 2 L-Z Calvary Cemetery, Tumwater Cogdil Cemetery , Bucoda Delphi (Stoney Creek) Cemetery Deschutes Cemetery , Deschutes Falls Forest Grove Cemetery, Tenino P art 1 A-L P art 2 M-Z Forest Memorial (Mt. Tabor) Cemetery , Olympia Grand Mound Cemetery , Rochester Johns Indian Cemetery , Elizan Beach Laramie Cemetery , Vail Linklater Cemetery Masonic … Read more

Biography of Charles Biles

Charles Biles was born in Warren County, Tennessee, in Aug. 1809, and reared on a farm in North Carolina, removing when 19 years old to Christian County, Kentucky. In 1832 he married, and in 1835 removed to Illinois, soon returning to Hopkins County, Kentucky, where he resided until 1853, when he emigrated to Washington Territory in company with his brother James, their families, and C. B. Baker, Elijah Baker, and William Downing, and their families, being a part of the first direct immigration to the territory, via the wagon road through the Nachess pass. Mr Biles settled upon Grand Mound … Read more