We hope you have enjoyed reading about items from the Benton County Historical Society's collection at this site in the past. From now on, you can find similar stories on the museum's web page https://bentoncountymuseums.org/stories/, under "stories" and "research-featured finds".
Holiday time has often met events such as concerts, parties, and weddings. Until the late 1920s, a well-dressed man attending these events would need these items from the Benton County Historical Society's collection.
Army-issue gaiters from World War II
During the late 19th and early 20th century, spats became an item of men's fashion and a symbol of elegance. They came in different colors- primarily black, white, and gray-- which fashion dictated should match the color of one's gloves.
After 1926, when England's King George first appeared in public without spats, their use gradually declined. Increasingly, they were reserved for special occasions. The spats shown above were worn by donor Dwight Curtis Mumford on his wedding day, September 28, 1929.
Although generally associates with male fashion, spats were also worn by women, especially when needed to protect from mud. These “Tweedies Bootops” date from around 1915.
December 21 is the shortest day of the year. For many years, candles were one of the few
sources of light during these dark days.
Today, candles retain an important role in many wintertime holiday
celebrations. The Benton County Historical Society's collection includes a few
such candles.
Honeybees are not native to the Americas so the missions in New Spain (including Mexico and California) had to import beeswax and candles from Asia for use in church services. The Spanish galleon Santo Cristo de Burgos left the Philippines in the summer of 1693 loaded with a cargo that included Chinese porcelain, beeswax, and candles. It was never heard from again. But from the blocks of wax, candles, and other items that washed up on the Oregon shore near Nehalem, researchers have concluded that the ship wrecked somewhere off the Oregon coast later that year.
This candle is very likely from that ship: pollen in the beeswax has been identified as being from Luzon Island, Philippines and carbon dating puts its origin in the late 1600s.
It was also in the 1600s that German Christians began putting decorated Christmas trees in their homes. Some were lit with candles wired to the branches. Moravians brought the tradition to the United States in the early 19th century but the tradition only became well-established here in the late 1800s. In 1878 Frederick Artz invented a clip-on candle holder which made lighting the tree easier.
These holders and candles may have been used on trees decorating Philomath College. It wasn't until at least the 1920s that most people began to switch to strings of electric lights instead.
One hundred years ago, the Oregon Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) purchased 245 acres north of Corvallis from Harry Ashbahr in order to build the Children's Farm Home. Mary Powers of Shedd initiated the project. The oldest of nine children, she had to find homes for her siblings after her parents died. The memory of the sorrow caused by the separation of her siblings led her to propose a home for bereaved children. Ill health prevented Mary and her husband from converting their own farm for this purpose but she was able to appeal to the WCTU to take on the project.
The farm home's mission was to provide a healthy, home-like
atmosphere for “normal” children age 3
to 17 who had been abandoned or whose parents had died, divorced, or
were disabled. Until the farm home was established, the state had no provision
for the care of dependent children except for those deemed “feeble-minded” or
who had been sent to reform school.
After acquiring the land along highway 20, the WCTU funded construction of the Willard Cottage; money from the state funded the Oregon Cottage. An additional donation of $50,000 from the Oregon Klu Klux Klan also helped establish the farm.
Cottage at Children's Farm Home
The first child, a nine-year old boy from Multnomah County, moved in during July of 1923. In 1925, the WCTU built a school and hired teachers for grades 1 to 7. Older children attended Corvallis public schools.
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| Children's Farm Home School, 1953 |
By 1939, there were eight cottages, each of which housed 17 to 20 children and a house “mother” or “auntie.” Each house provided family-like activities.
Children were assigned chores. Boys typically did landscaping or worked on the farm. They maintained a dairy with a herd of 35 Holsteins, raised pigs, vegetables, and fruit trees, Girls typically were assigned to some gardening or housework.
The Children's Farm Home changed yet again in 1998 when it merged with several other organizations to form Trillium Family Services. Once the state began removing children and teens from state mental hospitals to community treatment centers, Trillium began operating the Farm Home as a residential treatment center for children with mental health disorders. It now takes in up to 60 youth.
By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon
As I recently needed new eyeglasses, I was curious about the styles that were popular in the past. The Benton County Historical Society's collection contains numerous pairs. I was surprised that many of the older eyeglasses had much in common with my new ones.
The eyeglasses in the photograph above have gold tone metal
frames and date from the 1860s. The metal frames are similar to my new ones
except mine do not have a metal bottom rim.
That change was made possible by the development of plastic lens which
replaced glass ones in the 1980s. Also, the eyeglasses in the photograph, like
most of the older pairs of eyeglasses in the museum's collection, have straight
temples that do not curve around the ear.
I wondered if this style of eyeglasses slid off more often but then
learned that the small loops at the ends of the temple pieces would have held a
ribbon which would be tied around the wearer's head.
1860s spectacles 
1950s cats-eye spectacles
Although this style of thin metal frames is still available, the real change in fashion took place after the development of plastics allowed for more varied colors and shapes in frames. The 1950s saw cats-eye frames decorated in gold, silver, and rhinestones. In my youth I had glasses with blue frames but never ones with such an exaggerated shape as these from the museum's collection.
Now that I'm older, I wear trifocals. The idea of bifocal lenses was invented by Benjamin Franklin. He cut two different lenses in half and inserted them in a frame. The museum's collection includes on pair of bifocal eyeglasses made in this fashion. Fortunately, modern bifocals and trifocals have a less visible demarcation than that dark line across the middle.
Bifocal eyeglasses, circa 1880s
By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon
Benton County Historical Society Exhibitions Curator Mark Tolonen suggested the item below as the subject for the blog saying, “there are probably a lot of stories that could be learned from this one note.” He was certainly correct.
This tattered paper is a two-thirds dollar note issued by the colonial assembly of Maryland. British policy kept the American colonies chronically short of money which made transactions difficult. Colonists resorted to using native wampum and tobacco and tobacco notes (certificates of inspection). Finally, in 1733, the colony began to issue paper money, denominated in shillings and backed by tobacco and securities of the Bank of England. In 1767, Maryland began issuing currency in dollar denominations instead of shillings. Although the term “dollar” was in common use, this was the first official dollar currency. Two-third dollar seems like an odd amount but it was chosen because it equaled 3 British shillings. The note shown above was issued in 1774, the last time colonial Maryland printed any currency. The note is tattered because currency was still scarce in the colonies so each bill was kept in circulation for a long time.
The front of the note says “Two Thirds of a Dollar. / [No. 10365 / This Indented BILL of Two thirds of a DOLLAR shall entitle the Bearer thereof to receive Bill of Exchange payable in LONDON, or Gold or Silver at the Rate of four SHILLINGS and SIX PENCE Sterling for the said Bill, according to the Directions of an Act of Assembly of MARYLAND.” If you look closely at the image, you can see a caret under the “h” in first appearance of the word “Third.” This was one of many “secret” marks the official printers use to try to discourage counterfeiting. There are several others but they are hard to see. The idea was that counterfeiters would assume these were errors introduced by other counterfeiters and correct them. It didn't work.
The reverse shows a practice, introduced by Benjamin Franklin, which was also designed to deter counterfeiters. A wet cloth was placed over a smooth plaster and then leaves or other plant material put on top. The plaster hardened under pressure to become a mold for a copper printing plate. The fine lines and detailed patterns were difficult for counterfeiters to duplicate.
The reverse also notes that it was printed by A.C. and ____ Green. What is noteworthy is that A. C. Green was a woman: Anne Catharine Hoof Green.
Anne Catharine Hoof was born in the Netherlands around 1720 and later emigrated with her parents. In 1738 She married Jonas Green, the son of printers, in Philadelphia. They moved to Annapolis Maryland and set up a print shop in their home which published a newspaper, the Maryland Gazette. Jonas also had a contract with the Maryland Assembly to publish official documents.
After Jonas died in debt in 1767, Anne Catharine took over, continuing to
publish the newspaper and completed the work the government had commissioned.
She made a success of the business, paying off the debt and winning the position
as official printer. The unreadable other initial is probably an F for her son
Frederick who helped his mother in the business and took over after she died in
1775. She was the first, or at least one of the first, women printers and
publishers in America.
By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon
The last post contained Edna Finley Buchanan's memories of childhood in the Irish Bend area. This post will continue those recollections with her descriptions of the operation of the warehouse owned by her father, Hugh McNary Finley.
Hugh Finley had entered the warehouse business after purchasing it and thirty acres of land from a man named Hamilton. Edna recounts:
“We had come to a grain growing section to live. Wheat and oats were the principal market crops and from Monroe east into the Bellfountain section and north for miles, grain was stored in warehouses to await shipment by river steamers that plied between Harrisburg and Portland throughout the winter season.”
“From early morning until at night, the long line of wagons and teams waited their turn to unload. They came from Bellfountain, the Starrs, the Waggoners, the Barnards, the Edwards, and many more. The Graggs came driving their heavy team of matched bays, carrying a decorated harness set with cold [gold?] colored rivets and rings. They brought their loads of wheat, oats, and barley from above Monroe and near Junction City. Those were busy days.”
“One of the functions of the Finley warehouse was to furnish sacks to the growers. To do this, several journeys to Corvallis, fifteen miles away, with wagon and team was necessary. My Father made these trips, returning with a load of 3,000 sacks, two bales of 1,000 each and one opened bale stored under the high seat and in crevices. As five hours was consumed on the return trip, it was toward evening when he reached home.... The team consisted of one black and one white horse. After traveling twelve miles on the now West Side Pacific Highway No. 99W, then a road inches deep with dust, made the black horse light colored as the white horse and both be ground with the Good Earth.”
“For some time the power used to elevate the grain was Bill, the black horse, which was faithful and true to every duty.... Bill was hitched to a pole and patiently walked hour by hour around a circular post, the horse urged on by a boy driver carrying a hazel stick as a threat.... He traveled round and round and round the beaten dusty path. I remember feeling great indignation when visiting boys seeking to “show off” would climb upon old Bill's back as he trudged around the circle.”
“In winter the boats came to load and carry the grain to
Portland-- large river boats. The
Occident, the Bonanza, the Champion.
Later these were replaced by smaller boars, the Three Sisters and The
Ruth.
The Ruth was in charge of Captain Raab, related to the Bradleys of Bellfountain. Often the boats reached Finley's Landing in the evening and took on their load at night.”
“In our quiet lives, it was a matter of great interest when the boat whistle broke on the air, especially the blast that meant the boat would load at Finley's Landing. This was three long blasts. In a short time, neighborhood men and boys would arrive on horseback ready to help load the boats. For this service, father paid his helpers twenty-five cents an hour and mother served a bountiful meal when the work was over. It was a real social event as well as a money-making event. We children stood and watched the men haul the sacks on their truck, six at a time, to the chute and slide them to the boat where they were gracefully dropped from the chute platform into trucks handled by the “deck hands” and wheeled away into the hold. If the boat loaded in the evening, it remained at our landing overnight. Sometimes the purser would buy milk or eggs from us.”
“Soon after the grain shipment was made, father would hire a
crew and sack more grain from the bins that held the loose grain.”
“Time passed and a new storage building was erected...the grain was sacked from the bins, trucked through the long room into the large room and stacked eight sacks high by such stalwart men as George Houck, Tom Richardson, or Martin Grimsley....George Houck was a tall, loose-jointed man with big nose, feet, and hands, and had a big heart. He was a batchelor [sic] and had a cabin of his own but fitted with our needs so well, he became like one of the family. The warehouse work was heavy work, but he was strong and willing. He could handle a sack of wheat as though it were a toy....
“The greatest improvement in the business occurred when Old Bill was replaced by an [steam] engine.... This was not a traction engine, but a stationary one so Bill and Ben hauled it from Corvallis one night. When morning dawned, we two children were treated to an unusual sight for the big black engine stood by the yard fence. It was installed in a building joining the warehouse. A young engineer from Corvallis, Johnny De Munion, was hired to run the machine and this he did with painstaking pride. This boy, Johnny, was also full of pranks and sometimes amused himself at the expense of an inquisitive visitor or two.... Suddenly, and without warning, he would release the steam with a loud, loud sound. Since engines were not common and considered rather dangerous, the men rushed from the room speedily to save their lives. Johnny would settle down in his chair and enjoy the joke greatly and have something to relate to the family at the supper table....
“The warehouse industry had competition in mills. New mills were being built in towns or on
highways by railroad tracks for trains were replacing steamboats. Millers
stored grain free of charge so the need of warehouses ended. As Father's business gradually folded up, he
set out an orchard consisting largely of prunes and so became a pioneer prune
grower.”
