Saturday, November 20, 2021

Liz Writes Life - November 24, 2021 -- History of John P Valin

Liz Writes Life

11-24-21

It feels like it is time for some more Scott Valley history. I wanted to follow-up on the book that Tery Timmons Drager wrote and published this past year. Can’t believe it was as far back as April 28, 2021, when I wrote about her Irish Davidsons, who were early-1850 pioneers to Shasta and Siskiyou counties and settled in Fort Jones.

One ancestor, James A. Davidson, was born 1838 in Indiana, and after traveling by covered wagon with his family across the U.S. settled in Fort Jones and married Amanda Quigley in 1867. They raised eight children and an orphan girl. James, a Democrat, served as district supervisor for 32 years (beginning in 1925) and worked to preserve the history of the county by helping to found and maintain the Fort Jones Museum.

So, this time we will delve into the Portuguese side of Tery’s family. John Simas was born in the Villa de Santa Cruz of the Azores on the 6th of November 1854. He came to the United States at the age of 17 and made his way to Siskiyou County, where he married Mary Elizabeth Davidson in 1881. In their early marriage they lived in a log house at McAdams Creek. The couple had 15 children.

Their oldest child was Etta Pearl Simas born in 1882. She married John P. Valin and they had seven children. This is the direct genealogical line for Tery as one of their daughters, Marion, is Tery’s mom.

John P. Valin was also born in the Azores, but in Ribeirinha Parish in 1875. Although an only child, (his father died when John was one-year old) many of his relatives also immigrated and settled in the Sacramento and Modesto area of California. Tery had quite a bit of history on John Valin. He certainly worked his way up in businesses and owning property. Yep, America – the land of opportunity!

Here are a few stories about John. He came to the U.S. through Ellis Island at the age of 15, possibly recruited to work on cattle dairies with a group of other teen boys. Somehow John journeyed north to Siskiyou County and worked on the Bernard Davidson Ranch in Fort Jones, which was operated at the time by his soon-to-be father-in-law, John Simas. So this is probably around the 1890s. He also worked in the box factory at Upton, near Dunsmuir, for a year and then worked at Shasta Springs (Shasta Retreat), where he cut 600 tier of wood that he sold for 62 and a half cents per tier.

Still a young man, he worked on the McBride ranch in Scott Valley for several years and then rented the gardens at the Hartstrand Ranch, the Costa Ranch at Moffett Creek and the John Simas ranch; and peddled his produce throughout Scott Valley and down the canyon to Scott Bar.

On May 10, 1905, John married Etta Pearl Simas, the daughter of John Simas. First the couple lived at the Costa place on Moffett Creek at the bottom of Forest Mt. and within a few years they bought the Moxley place in Greenview, where they farmed and made and sold cheese. (Hum, I wonder how many cows they milked?)

John and Etta, while raising a family of seven, moved, rented, purchased and sold ranches and homes in Greenview, near Yreka, back to Scott Valley on Holzhauser Lane and around 1920 purchased the Johnson ranch on Johnson Creek, which now a major part of Etna including the high school down to the rodeo grounds. They farmed and ran a dairy. In 1930, John convinced the Edgewood Creamery to drive a truck to Etna to pick up his cream. There were likely other small dairies that were able to sell their cream as well.

During World War II, the Valins sold their Johnson Creek ranch and moved to the corner of College Ave and Diggles Street in 1945. John planted seven apple trees on the property – one for each child. In 1999, three trees were still alive and three children were also still alive. As the couple began to have health problems, Tery’s mom, Marion, spent quite a bit of time helping her parents. Etta died in 1950 and John in 1952.

The book Tery put together is embellished with sidebars of short stories and info. Many photos are also enticing and bring the history to life. She included a photo of Grandpa John Valin holding her as a toddler, the family gathered on a house porch, cemetery headstone, even the ship manifest for John, when he returned to Portugal and brought his mother to the states. There are also pictures of the SS Queen Mary and SS Teraimanlar ships that John sailed on crossing the Atlantic.

Interestingly, in the 1950s, a letter addressed to John Valin arrived from Ribeirinha, Portugual at the Etna Post Office. The postmaster remembered him and gave the letter to daughter Marion, who had married Jack Timmons. The letter was in Portuguese and was from the parishioners of the local Holy Ghost Chapel church. It had been built on Valin property. A local land developer was going to tear down the church as he thought that the land owners had died.

Marion found someone to translate the letter and had legal paperwork drawn up to have the church’s property turned over to the parishioners. The church still remains in the Parish of Piedad, Municipality of La Jes do Pico. And, yes, Tery was able to include photos of this little church.

Sure hope this bit of local history may inspire you to write, video or audio record some of your life stories. There will be descendants that will appreciate learning about your life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

May peace and calm be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Saturday, November 13, 2021

Liz Writes Life 11-17-21 --- Hornbrook is rising from the fire

Nov. 17, 2021

Liz Writes Life

Rising from the fire

There is good news for Hornbrook!

As community members huddled in a shelter during the Klamathon Fire in July 2018, a unity began to blossom sparking hope and a plan to rebuild Hornbrook and the surrounding community of about 650 residents.

“From the ashes of the Klamathon Fire came the beginning of a new era for Hornbrook,” explains Pat Miller, who united with friends declaring that Hornbrook was not going away. “We decided to build back a clean, safe, vibrant community.”

Pat serves as president of the Hornbrook Community Association, which has been improving the old J & D Diner for their community building. Previous to the July 5, 2018 Klamathon Fire, the Hornbrook Grange served as the center for community activities. But, the old Grange building was destroyed, along with the historical part of town, as high winds pushed a garbage can fire into an inferno.

Improving the bathrooms is the major project that must be completed before the building can be opened to the public. It must meet American Disabled Act regulations. They have held several activities outside the building. A Halloween Trunk or Treat was especially successful with over 70 children, with parents, showing up to participate.

This is a success story, because many people, groups and the county government jumped in to help Hornbrook, which also lost much of its water system in the fire. The county has aided the town in restoring the water system with Siskiyou Co. Dist. 5 Supervisor Ray Haupt working through red tape and supporting the residents in their desire to rebuild. Pat says that Ray is their advocate and he let the group know that the county could help and support their rebuilding efforts.

Rick Dean, the Siskiyou Co. Community Development Director, and his staff have been invaluable, according to Pat. They encouraged the creation of a Memorandum of Understanding with the county to apply for a state Community Development Block Grant. The biggest need was to purchase a building to serve as a hub for the distribution of community services, activities and hold events. The grant of $99,072 was received earlier this year and recently $97,000 went to purchase the J & D Diner located at 15439 Hornbrook Road.

As part of the MOU and the state grant, the community association will report to the county throughout the next five years with their activities and services that aid Hornbrook. Other leaders of the Hornbrook Community Assoc. are: Belle Sloan, Bett Peterson, Lorrain Sargent, Jodi Fitzgerald and Doreen Bellach.

“We are so thankful for all the help we have received from so many people,” said Pat after a recent board meeting. The group is cohesive and determined.

With the weather getting colder, the association hopes to complete the ADA regulations for the bathrooms and ramp as soon as possible. Maybe a Christmas party will christen the building as the new community center in December. What a great gift that would be for Hornbrook!

Super duper rain!

A friend checked out the NOAA weather site to see how the October rainfalls looked in Scott Valley and sent them to me. My goodness they were great. Well worth sharing! It seemed like we had much more rain than normal here in Callahan and we did. It measured 4.96 inches, which is 382 percent of average. Wow!

Fort Jones was at 193 percent of normal with 2.32 inches and Quartz Hill came in a bit lower at 2.11 inches, which is 144 percent of average.

Then, NOAA reported 8.9 inches of snow in Middle Boulder on Nov. 9. This is great news. Maybe this drought will be over – as long as this weather pattern keeps up!

Christmas tree permits

Klamath National Forest has announced that Christmas tree permits are only available online through “Recreation.gov” and are valid from November 13, 2021, to December 31, 2021. Permits cost $10 per tree plus $2.50 service charge.

Garden

Sure have enjoyed the many rains this fall. It makes for a good excuse to put-off-for-another-day the pruning and cleaning of the garden. So, I appreciate picking up my grandson, Bryce, (after school) to help me work at cleaning up the garden. Boy, those dry hollyhocks are a pain to cut-down and haul-off. I shouldn’t let so many grow! But, they sure add to the lusciousness of the summer garden. Need to get the yucky zucchini vines cleaned up and then start cutting back the perennial plants like tansy, yarrow, Shasta daisies and the annual flowers. Should cut the comfrey (it has already fallen over) and use it as mulch over the potatoes, but need to dig 10 pounds or so to store in the house, first.

And the one job that I really need to do is cut back most of the huge lilac that keeps sending up suckers so close to the house foundation. Oh, and the two extra tall rose bushes that haven’t been pruned for three years! Yep, might take all winter to get these jobs done!

Some friends tell me they are still eating tomatoes that are ripening from their boxes of green tomatoes. I didn’t store many green tomatoes and they have all ripened. Darn, should have stored more.

Want to remind gardeners -- now is a good time to plant your garlic. Yep, I need to clear-off a spot for my planting. Also, remember to get manure on your rhubarb during these winter months. Just pile it on several inches deep. Last year, I learned that horse manure really does produce a huge batch of rhubarb – all summer long!

May peace and calm be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Keith Bradley is honored



 


    Pastor Keith Bradley served as Grand Marshal of the 20th Etna Veterans Parade on Nov. 6, 2021

Keith Bradley served as Etna Parade Grand Marshal

October 29, 2021

For Siskiyou Daily News

By Liz Bowen

ETNA – Keith Bradley is known throughout Siskiyou County as the sheriff’s chaplain. To honor Keith for many years of service to law enforcement and the military, he has been chosen to serve as the Etna Veterans’ Parade Grand Marshal on Nov. 6, 2021. Start time for the parade is 11 a.m. – rain or shine!

It was 25 years ago, when Keith joined the chaplain group that works with the Siskiyou Sheriff’s Dept. His missionary and pastor work began back in 1974 after he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army. Keith was drafted during the Vietnam time-period serving from 1969 to 1971, but he ended up in Korea instead of Vietnam.

“Korea was pretty routine,” Keith said. He was in charge of supply parts that were sent to various troops, but there was some tension as he was stationed near the DMZ.

In 1967, Keith married Virginia Mason, but like many soldiers he had to leave his wife and young son, Darren, while serving in Korea. They were waiting for him, when Keith was discharged at Fort Sill, OK. During the next three years, he was able to complete his college business degree.

It was then that Keith decided to go into the ministry, so he and Virginia moved out to California to study at the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. After graduation, the First Baptist church in San Rafael called him as pastor. That was in 1976 and a second son, Hoyt, had joined the family. He served there for 12 years. Then he and his family moved to far Northern California, to Mt. Shasta, where he was an area missionary for the Southern Baptist Church for another 12 years.

In 1996, it just seemed natural to join the chaplain group that supports the Siskiyou Sheriff’s Department. Then, in 2000 Keith retired from missionary work and became the sheriff’s senior chaplain. But, retirement doesn’t last long in Siskiyou County and he was asked to pastor the Callahan Community Church that same year. He is still there! And during that time, Keith also served as pastor for the little community church over the mountain in Cecilville. They met on Sunday afternoons after his morning service in Callahan. Keith and Virginia live in Mt. Shasta City, so for 17 years while serving both churches, they traveled 160 miles round trip every Sunday.

Keith explained the various aspects of chaplain service for the sheriff’s dept. Right now, there are five chaplains in different areas of the county.

“Our priority is the deputies themselves. We are there for counseling if needed and to help during difficult situations,” he said. “The job is to keep them from getting stressed – wellness is the key.”

Some of those situations include supporting deputies, when they make death notifications and to also help those families. Then there are bad traffic accidents, lost individuals to find, drug busts and, lately, a lot of fires to work.

Within law enforcement, Keith sponsors a peace officer memorial each May, where they remember those who have given their lives during duty. And for more than 20 years, Keith has done a lot of cooking, barbecuing and catering for law enforcement activities and other community activities. When the officers go on drug and marijuana busts, they need to be fed. Keith is typically there anyway, so why not feed them as well. He has had good friends partner with his cooking and catering.

When asked what keeps him grounded, Keith responds that he has his own support group, including his very supportive wife, Virginia, and family. Both sons were involved in law enforcement; in fact Hoyt is retired from the Siskiyou Sheriff’s Dept. and lives in Mt. Shasta with his family. Four of Keith’s six grandchildren also live in Siskiyou County.

Keith has served as M.C. of many military veterans’ activities and programs and also does funeral services when asked. He was born in Chadron, Nebraska on Dec. 13, 1944, but soon after his cowboy father moved the family to Washington to work for a gas company. Yes, Keith is in his 70s, but he just can’t seem to truly retire. Serving is in his blood and he likes to do it.

So, be sure to attend the 20th Annual Etna Veterans’ Parade on Saturday, Nov. 6th and wave a big “thank you” to Keith for his years of service to his community and veterans. To join the parade, call Heather Ford at 1-530-467-3193.

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Liz writes her last column

June 1, 2022 Liz Writes Life Well, I have some news – don’t know if it is good or bad? I have decided to end my newspaper column “Liz Wr...