July 22, 1940 - Ernest Birge

Seymour Manufacturing Company

Scythe Snaths, Grain Cradles

Post Hole Diggers, Etc.

Seymour, Indiana

July 22, 1940

Mrs. Sarah Johnson

1506 – Y Ave

La Grande, Oregon

Dear Mrs. Johnson:

I am getting your branch of the family n a little better shape all the time but it is still far from complete as there are a number of lines that I have not been able to bring down to date. I have tried not to bother you with too many questions at one time for I know that it is difficult for you to write and if I can get some other member of the family to share in the work it would not be so difficult for you.

Can you again give me the address of your brother Albert in Oklahoma? Either I have not read the name correctly or I did not get the right address of any members of his family so that I could write to them.

I have written to your son Will and will try to get from him all the names of your children, the date of their birth and to whom married but as yet have not heard from him. It is undoubtedly a busy time of the year for him and I will write again in the fall when work slackens up some.

I forwarded your pictures up to my wife and she could not believe that you are s old as the records show. If I ever got to 88 I would be happy, say nothing about looking young.

Very sincerely,

Ernest N. Birge

ENB:VS

Oct 23, 1954 - Nellie LaRosh

Osborne, Kans

Oct 23 1954

Dear Archie & Mable

After so long a time we are writing to you to tell you how much our visit at your place added to our pleasure and benefit of seeing so many wonderful things besides feeling a sense of being at home with you and we were there long enough to learn so much of conditions and then meeting your mother was a lasting joy – I expect to meet her again.

We got home 630 PM Oct 6 – after taking Albert home from Alton – Albert Sr was milking when we got there & we visited a while and he gave us a dressed chicken for our supper, but we were to tired to fry chicken so we had it later.

From Seattle we went to Portland – thru Van Canver ect.  Right down the inner coast Hi wa – till we were well in Ore – then turned west to coast Hi wa 101 and that is on the coast sure enough and its an old road & Im glad we got to travel it for they are already making a regular four or six lane Hi wa to take its place, and its curves & ups and downs are marvelous – I said to Jr “I like this” & he said, “I don’t.” seemed he didn’t like driving on it – one felt as tho we might meet ourselves coming back on some of it. Jr. said “I know now where the carnival people got their idea for the roller coaster.” The new road just moves the Mts and hills & fills the valleys We stopped many times for a closer look. One was at sea lion “roast” I don’t know what to say – but where they congregate on the rocks there were hundreds of them & such a continuous roar almost like the sea its self.

We stopped at Couse Bay for a little to see something of where Shirley would be living but did not see a thing to indicate there was any army camps or grounds of any kind so we knew they were back on the bills at DePot Bay we went into the aquarium where they had a lot for unusual sea varmints of so many kinds a octopus was most interesting to me – I had been there twice before and he was always sprawled all over the rocks. With those suction cups against the glass & this time he was exerasing, I guess, for he changed so much & findly went up into the highest corner & started for apposite end & all stream lined to a beautiful feathery form.  Something like this (**nothing there**) It taught me how the most dangerous & deadly sins can be made beautiful & deceit feel beyond belief – the anonires are so very beautiful & such decently colors one can hardly thing they are alive – I hope you get to go there  some time don’t miss the aquarium at Depot bay – or on down along Cal coast are many wonderful things. T confussion Mt for instance you will be more than confused – for there is a bout 100 ft along there that has a magnetic pull that makes you walk 7 ½ degrees from straight up and then they built the shed over with a slanting floor that makes it work much more so – I sent a picture Jr & Laura went in. I stood & had to hold onto a post to keep from falling, at them trying to keep from falling – Laura never did let her baby loose & just stand - & forget she wasn’t straight up – but Jr, move arsed to choppy walking soon did & he was so graceful & looked a perfect picture (see the picture enclosed) its just as he looked when walking straight a head. The door frame is made standing to deceive one more. Lay a bottle down at lower level & it would start rolling slwly up hill, a marble also that a 35 lb weight steel rot was standing on its chain. I was & is a marvelous thing the most plausible reasm is that a meter has fallen & penetrated the sat & has the magnetic force in itself. A car will roll backwards right up that hill. It’s a spookey thing indeed – Its on Red Wood Hi wa 101 – so. Of Garberville, Cal.

We took pictures along the way & will send you some when we get them made.

We went on down as far as Palo Alto to Stanford University campus for a few hours pleasure, they were just coming out of stadium after they had pummeled Ill St at foot ball & was they a happy bunch.  Made us feel glad too. I was glad to see the Hoover memorial & to know he can enjoy seeing it himself.

We didn’t stay long at Linetas Mento Park as Jr was thinking of his father working alone getting wheat in (it was all done when we got here) & I was getting worse with my cough. I think I was coughing quiet a lot at your place but was not sick and could eat but I lost my appetite & then my heart bothered. I could hardly walk when I got home, and it will be three weeks Wed - & I’m a lot better but I can hardly trust myself to come down stairs & I wo’nt be over it for a long time – I eat good now & by to build up – I was sorry but so very glad I had my good times first I have so many pleasant memories to help & we have written many letters & read so much of magazines piled up & letters & birthday cards – was 83 Oct 4 – AND NOT MANY COULD TAKE THE TRIP - & Laura had so much to do – altho we made a special effort to have everything in order when we left home there was dust every where & it made me cough worse – but we got a woman to come & help wash windows & put up storm windows & now we are ready for cold weather which was foretold yesterday, even to snow & sleet but then was 58 & 60 now 10 am. & it being first part of month all the “olds” & WSCS etc. move on & she went & she has done work in yard – we got bulbs alongte way but she has them all in - & a big washing & I slept all thro it & she said “was I ever glad”? I wanted to help some Laura left at 833 this am for Smith Center where the women society of Christian serving (WSCS) has a convention & will be late getting back – it has worried us not to have written to you & she said she was going to start a letter this am but I had made up my mind to write & so she will write later It will take you a while to read this & we went to be remembered to the Taylors, Boedekes, & any others who might be interested we will go to all Grandmother Boedecker as soon as I fl well enough –

May God bless you all. Love & best wishes, Nellie A LaRosh

Every body likes our hats & Frances wants mine!

Nov 5, 1956

Dear Archie and Mable,

It seems mother didn’t get her letter addressed right and it returned so thought I would write a little note.

I was up to Ira last evening watching TV as first it wasn’t much good but later good. It came from Hutchings.

We are having fine weather temp each morning around 26 one morning was down to 13. We have just about finished our fall house cleaning some times we feel as though we have to much house.

It seems we have to go to a funeral about twice a wek. Harley Newton will be buried in the morning out at Kill Creek. I think by now you have heard about Vern Cronk shooting himself. He was found near his car and at the enterance of the covert cemetary was such a shock to every one. His time was up next march on Ira’s place, and Ira had taken the wheat land last fall so some other fellow could put it out.

It was so hard on LeRoy and Roberta the children. Both are married and Roberta has four little girls and LeRoy one.

Albert and Jr. brought cattle in to the sale last Frida and didn’t sell until four in the morning got a pretty good price for them. Albert Jr has been up holstering a big rocker I havn’t seen it yet but Lucille said it sure is nice.

Well how are you two making I with out your little girl. I’ll bet the baby gets lots of loving. Id be glad to have Shirley’s address to send Christmas Cards.

Hope to hear from you some time. Laura

I forgot to say that Aunt Maud was very pleased with her cake & samples of dress & we told her every thing about the wedding & took her for a ride out in the country. She seems real well – but is so very frail & thin – dresses as nice as ever & what did she say but “You know” I have always hoped there would be a “match” of Jr & Shirley we told her of Shirley telling people that “he was the only brother she ever had.” Iras are having a TV pu in now. All care very well – it’s in & we still don’t ever want on here.

Nellie

Dear Mable,

You will think we are ungrateful but we are not, but yesterday here came my letter back – wrong address – Laura will write today. Many thanks

Have you had your money blessed? Ha Ha

Poor Aunt Maury

(Had N.W. instead of S.W on letter)

Marion Wineland - 2/12/1964 - Re: Irvin Wineland

514 Woodcrest Lane

Failbrook, Calif.

February 12, 1964

Dear Mabel and Archie:

Many thanks for your letter and birthday card. Lou Scoville and Wilcox’s had me over for a cake and icecream for my birthday in spite of not feeling very festive.

Am enclosing the newspaper clipping card of thanks so you will know your name was on it.

Its cold today tho its been so beautiful and really warm outside but still isn’t as cold as when you were here. I have a fire in the fireplace tho and its nearly 2 in the afternoon. Its windy that is what makes it cold. I got another load of wood and its easy to handle. Sure grateful to Archie for cutting me up that other.

Am advertising for a woman companion so don’t know what success I’ll have.

The cats are all fine and Frank cut a hole in the door for wood and they can go in and out and I can lock the doors when I go out.

Mrs. Simmons, the young woman who drove us is sick with a cold so haven’t begun to take lessons on the car. Frank Scoville had to have a man familiar with the Simca show him the gear shifts as its so different from the regular kind being a foreign car and said it would be hard for me to learn on it. Well time will tell. Just as well Archie didn’t attempt it.

We haven’t picked avocados yet as decided they could wait and get a little bigger for a better market but Lou insists on helping me tomorrow pick some.

Mrs. Simmons father had bought several of Irvin’s carvings and a ad came today from out of town who had bot some of Irvings carvings when they were at the hardware store more than a year ago so is coming for two more Friday. She liked the kind you like – like that hardfaced one of Archie’s of Mansanita wood. How do people like that old hussy face?

Tell Archie I had a big envelope come from the White House and it was a certificate honoring the memory of Irvin signed by Lyndon Johnson the President.

Had a nice letter from Shirley which I will answer. Did your package get there yet?

My brother in Canada called me long distance from there one night last week and said they might be down in the Spring.

I seem to be so busy what with wood, people coming and had to prune roses.

It looked like rain but disappointed everyone and is sunny today tho cold. It may rain over the weekend. Have had to water all the avocados and plants. Mrs. Wilcox where you had supper that night you expected to leave with your sister has a job from 3 to 7 cooking over at the rest home run by the Morman Bishop who talked at Irvin’s funeral. She loves the job tho she doesn’t need it.

How is the egg candling. Suppose you are hard at work. Maybe when I get things attended to and get adjusted I might be able to get something especially when it warms up here. Its hard to go off for long and leave a fire burning.

Hope this finds you both well including the dog.

Love,

Marion

Had cards from people I don’t even know who thot lots of Irvin. 

unknown Poem

She will learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud...or kiss dogs,....or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms...or watch ants scurry across the cracks in a summer sidewalk....

Today, who will begin to learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends...That "the group" can be a demanding mistress....

And I'll stand on the porch and watch her start out on the long, long journey to becoming a women....

So World, I bequeath to you today one little girl in a crispy dress...with two blue eyes...

And a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I trust you'll treat her well.

To Sarah Johnson from Ernest Brige 3/21/1940

Seymour Manufacturing Company

Incorporated

Scythe Snaths, Grain Cradles

Post Hole Diggers, Etc.

Established 1872

Seymour, Indiana

March 21, 1940.

Mrs. Sarah Johnson,

1506 Y Ave.,

LaGrande Oregon.

Dear Mrs. Johnson:

I received your letter of March 10^th some time ago and have been intending to answer it more promptly. Answering some of your questions, my father’s name was Julius and his grandfather and your grandfather were brothers. His grandfather was one of the younger children in the family. Someone in the Oklahoma branch of the family wrote that they thought their family was largely Irish, meaning that the Birges had married people f Irish descent. This is true of our family as my mother’s name was Mary Patrick. In my own family I have five children and six grandchildren.

I notice that your grandmother wrote the family a letter in 1875. There seems to be some little confusion as to the name of your grandfather Elijah’s wife, possibly because he married twice. I am trying to clear up this part of the record but it is rather hard to do as no one seems to have a written record of early dates or names. I am wondering if someone in your family had records such as might be in an old family Bible. The trouble seems to be that both your family and mine were pioneers and in moving about such records were lost.

Some time before long I am going to try and get over to Centralia, Ill, as I go near there quite frequent, and see if I can locate any early records of the family while I am there. I will be glad to have the record of your family and their children at any time that you can give them to me.

You ask about my being able to read your writing. I can do very well in reading it and think for a person of your age that you have quite a firm, legible handwriting. I do have some difficulty when it comes to names as it is a little more diffcutlt to make out some particular name whereas words are easy to read, depending on the word that comes before or after them. I am

S.J.                                                                               -2-                                                                          3/21/40

Not nearly as old as you are, yet my wife tells me that she cannot always read my letters and I sometimes have to pass up some words in hers.

Do you happen to know where I could locate any of Manuel’s family, who was one of your youger half brothers, or where I could locate the family of your brother, William? I note that he lived in Centralia, Ill.

I note what you write about pictures of Mrs. Birge and me. We do not have nay real photographs but I have some Kodak pictures that I am going to have printed as soon as I can find the films and will be very much pleased to send these to you.

Very sincerely,

Ernest N. Birge

ENB:DF

Irvin Wineland - Dec 1, 1957 Hawaii

Dec 1, 1957

Dear Archie and Mable,

Was pleased to hear that you go a deer with Forest. I have not had a gun out of the case, only to check whether it is in good condition.

We’re having a hurricane coming up. From the south, they said at first that it would hit our land of area but later it veered off south of us by 70 miles but, we have had high trade winds and lots of rain since last night and I just heard over the radio that we’ll still have heavy winds and rain tonight but will subside tomorrow. Honolulu was hit with pretty hard winds last night, there’s quite a mountain range between our side of the Island and Honolulu so it broke quite a bit off the wind.

We had only o banana tree blow over, we are quite sheltered at our place, we have large Kamania trees there & four feet thick in our back and the people to our other side have a row of cocoanut trees that break a lot of wind coming from the east and south.

Give the chap where you work our address and tell him we live about three blocks south of Chings store at Hauula toward Honohilu were a block off Kam Highway that’s the highway that circles theIsland. We live at 53-018B MaKao Road.

We had a friend of Marion’s sister from Vancouver, B C she spent a few days with us, Marion’s sister wrote us adsaid she had a wonderful time, as it’s more like old Hawaii out here and Waikiki is all modern especially for the tourist trade and too commercially for a person to get the real feel of Hawaiian atmosphere.

I made a few trips here in ’21, and 22 & 23 and things are lots modern now but still life is at a lot slower pace then in the states.

We traded in our old TV this past summer and got a new RCA deluxe – it sure is OK clear as a bell, except when they have a tropical storm over o he Island of Maui, from where they relay it. Glad to hear Shirley and family is O.K. give them our helo and we’ll try to get some gift off this week for Christ.

We have quite a few orchids in bloom also Hibiscus, roses also another plant with pinkish lavender flowers that has new flowers on it 365 days a year, surely the finest blooming plant I’ve ever seen by Xmas we’ll have quite a lot of orchids in bloom, so we’ll have some to show your friend.

I worked at Hawaiian Electric all summer till in Sept, we installed a new steam trubolectric unit, I was working 10 hrs a day 6 days a week too darn much for me, so I am going to take it easy till 1^st of year and if there is no work through our union I’m going to draw unemployment to heck with Killing your calf off, I’ll take it easy, Marion wil write some too – I was just interrupted by Puki, our mamma Siamesee cat I head her calling outside so just went out and she had a mouse she had caught chi one young male tom just 7 mo old oday, he catches rats and mice about every day and he’ll bring them in to show us and he’ll play with them for quite a spell before he kills them. I hope you folks had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a small turkey and finished it off today.

With love from Irv.

Marion will write a few lines. (Note: no writing from Marin with this letter)

Irvin Wineland - July 1938

Noyes Island Via Ketchikan Alaska

July 26, (1938?)

Dearest Bro and All:

Well I sent you a card from Ketchikan some time ago but I didn’t hear from you. I cam up here to Ketchikan along in April and looked around for work so I finally decided to buy a boat a fishing boat there that was the quickest way to get a job – so I bought a 40 ft by 10 ft beam Trolling boat it has a 100 gal cooking water tank and 2 banks – stove cupboards and storage space and a 30 hourse power Palmer marine engine and a large hold back aft to store things or to pack fish when using Ice we made 2 trips this spring and carried 2 ton of ice each trip and packed one salmon in to market but we had bee out here on the west coast among the numerous islands the past mo and have sold each day that we fish. The old man who I but the boat he is a old boat builder and he built it in Seattle he hs shown me me how to handle it and I have been doing all the fishing and practically all the work, he wants to sleep and take it easy so the work has been up on me, some days we ran as high as $28 and we bare have some $25 days but he won’t put in the hours, we get up at 3 am and sometimes quit 10 or 12 oclock am but if 2 fellows would work together and put in the hours they could make some real money here in the summer & Fall especially as prices are double than in the spring and summer.

It has rained and blew here now for over a week and it makes it darn hard to handle 24 to 32 lbs of lead on each line we have 4 poles and a gurdie or reel run from the engine to handle the lines and boy how these big King Salmon do fight, you have to put them in and knock him in the head and goff him and throw him aboard a the boat keeps going all the time and some weigh up to 40 to 45 lbs dresed, we or I have to clean each too.

I sure wish you were here with me Archie – Maby I’ll fish out of Seattle up at Cope Flattery as to mil and swift True next spring & summer so I think I’ll move the family up to Seattle and I’d like to have you to work with me. Will make some real money Archie then in the fall we could come up to Alaska only 5 or 6 days run with the boat and fish here in Sept & Oct and I think we could make a years wages in 5 or 6 mo.

Pearl is coming up here on her vacation the 20 of Aug she leaves Seattle and then reaches Ketchikan Aug 22 and will stay till Sept 31. She wants to see the boat and have a good rest – she nees it too, that’s darn hard work on the nerves where she works.

They trap a lot here in the winter lots of wolves, wolverines, mink, other, fox martin, beaver, one fellow who is a hand troller here said he made 500 last winter on martin, he got #35 a piece you could do fine here, Archie.

The only transportation one has here is by boat or airplane  My boat is named Jewel. I am going to rebuild the Gallry or Kitchen part I Seattle this winter I am going to make a couple more banks and better cabinet space and fix it a bit different.

Now write me and tell e all the news and if you, Mable & Shirley have been all OK. Write me at Ketchikan, as I have my mail sent out by some packing boats.

Your loving Bro, Irvin