Notes
I'll bet this one reminded every one of you that Mother's Day is this weekend.
This is Grandma Wishart at age 80 in 1914, I believe at her house in Dee. Someone very thoughtfully attached a newspaper article about her to the reverse, so we have plenty of biographical details. She was born in Scotland in 1834, and came to the US in 1871. She traveled to Nebraska with seven children (did I mention Mother's Day?) to join her husband who arrived two years earlier. She eventually had 11 children, and as of 1914 had 27 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
According to the article she passed through Chicago two days before the great fire, which delayed her luggage. She made it to the northwest in 1886.
I'll quote a few paragraphs from the newspaper biography:
Has been through the hardship of pioneer days, helping with her own hand to clear trails and land and has seen the forest move away to produce the fruit of toil. There were no bridges in those days, and the streams had to be forded by the old Mount Hood school house. Supplies were brought in twice a year from Hood River and mail was carried once a month on horseback. The deer were so plentiful in those days they would come in the night and eat all garden stuff up and game was the meat of the day. She remembers the day when large salmon were speared on the West Fork and was plentiful for all.
The teas served by the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Upper Valley church at Parkdale and Mount Hood Saturday for the ear trumpet benefit fund for Grandma Wishart, were liberally attended by her friends, among whom she numbers many of the Japanese and Italian residents, who have learned to respect her because of her age and the life she lives. The tea room was decorated with American and Japanese flags and lanterns, which were furnished by Japanese friends in Hood River. The decorations made a very pretty setting for Mrs. Wishart, who wore a gown of white trimmed with tatting. Isabelle Craven, Alice and Helen Bailey, little girls at Parkdale, dressed in Japanese costumes, helped serve refreshments. The refreshments consisted of sembi cakes and tea imported from Japan. The tea at Mount Hood was conducted by Mrs. Sheldrake, assisted by Mrs. Rood and Mrs. Kitchel, members of the Ladies' Auxiliary.
Have a happy Mother's Day.
Category: [Dee]
Comments
Beautiful old picture. Wonderful that there is such a write up with it. I am in awe of that dress and we know it was not something she ran into K-Mart and bought. It is obvious that she is of another era, with the cap she is wearing and we know that the book in her lap is the Bible.
Her hands tell a story of hard work and arthritis in her fingers.
A very patriot woman with an American flag on her wall. I can't get a good count of the number of the stars. Maybe some one with better eyes can figure it out.
charlott on 9th May 2014 @ 7:08am
What a treasure!!
And Arlen.....with the name Sheldrake mentioned, this might be better than a train.
Is an ear trumpet those horned looking things that you see old pictures of people holding up to their ear?
l.e. on 9th May 2014 @ 8:19am
So much valley and personal history here.....in a few years the Japanese were treated quite differently. Thanks Arthur for another bit of history about my grandmother Ella Sheldrake. I wish I had known her at this earlier age.
Arlen Sheldrake on 9th May 2014 @ 8:21am
And yes, better than a train as I continue to learn about my family from Arthur's postings...... What might a "sembi cake" be?
Arlen Sheldrake on 9th May 2014 @ 9:56am
Thank you for a perfect Mothers Day photo Arthur. We all need to look at the era in which our families grew up and how they handled it. Can we match what they did? This is truly what made our country great.
nels on 9th May 2014 @ 12:11pm
Back in the late 1940's, I got to meet a 90 year old woman who had come across the country to Oregon in a covered wagon in the 1870's. I particularly remember her showing me how to make a figure-4 trap for catching small animals.
Bill Seaton on 9th May 2014 @ 2:11pm
We need a history of Mrs. Wishart. Was she mother of Frank Wishart, grandmother of Jim Wishart ( author of 'A town called Dee'?
Happy MOM"S DAY to all of you Histerical contributers.
Bill P.
Bill Pattison on 9th May 2014 @ 9:52pm
I just noticed those vases, the one on the table and the one on the floor. Bet they just might be worth a pretty penny now.
charlott on 10th May 2014 @ 4:12am
Here is a little information on "Grandma Wishart.
Her name was Jane Jean (Thomson) Wishart. She was born in Forfar, Angus, Scotland on 26 March 1824 and died here on 19 July 1926. In Muirside of Kinnell, Angus, Scotland she married David Wishart on 12 March 1856. He was born on 6 November 1834 in Mcduff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and died here on 19 February 1904.
Their children were:
William Thompson
Elizabeth
David
Jessie
Jane
James
John Taylor
Emma M.
Margaret Ellen
Ernest
Frederick Thomson
charlott on 10th May 2014 @ 4:42am
I think she was born in 1834, not 1824. This would make her 80 in 1914.
Jeffrey Bryant on 10th May 2014 @ 9:09am
Great Great Mom's Day Pic- !!
Could that be a possible cloud covered reflection of Mt Hood in the window ?
Is that perhaps a rosary around her neck- ?
The pillow under her feet ... well deserved it appear... ( 11 children- )
Her shadow...
Steve r on 10th May 2014 @ 11:03am
She is my Great, Great grandmother. Pretty cool to see here picture posted here.. Thanks
Michael Spring on 2nd February 2019 @ 5:01pm
Very interesting as she was my great, great grandma. The dress is wonderful and tatting is a lost My mom rose Wishart and sister Louise used to do it.
Rose Wishart Spring on 2nd February 2019 @ 9:22pm
This is my great grandmother an. Stan Hess is my cousin and she is his great grandmother and we both live in Bremerton Washington. I remember my mom tatting sister Louise Mitchell and myself tried to learn but failed. My sister Louise Wishart Mitchell lives Great Falls Montana and is 86 years old.
Rose Wishart Spring on 3rd February 2019 @ 8:58pm
The Hood River Glacier, November 19, 1914, page 4
Parkdale
The Ladies Auxiliary of the Upper Valley church met November 18 at the home of Mrs. O. M. Bailey. This was regular work meeting. The society is raising funds to purchase an ear trumpet for Grandma Wishart whose hearing is failing fast. Her photograph, with autograph, was on sale at this meeting and refreshments were sold. Another photograph and refreshment sale will be held at Mount Hood and Parkdale libraries Nov. 21. Everybody invited.
Jeffrey W Bryant on 17th April 2020 @ 4:56am