DAD’S STORY

(The following memories were written by my father in 1998)

In an effort to inform and enlighten anyone interested; I have decided to set down some of my memories of life. Elsewhere you will find my wife, Angelina Louise Mongelli Ray, better known as ‘Ann,’ has put down her memories. Also, I intend to list our family tree.

I was born William James Ray, on 1 May 1922, at Fraser Lake, BC, Canada, to American parents who were residing there temporarily. My Father, James Marion Ray, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 18 December 1897, the youngest of four brothers. He had traveled to Canada with his parents, who were following the wheat harvests. In a small town, called Riverhurst, he met and married my Mother, Hazel B. Hulbert, born 14 August, 1896 in San Francisco, California. She had been married previously, in 1913, at Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada, to a man named Danill McDonald.

She had two children with him. My brother, Earl Norman Chester Ray, was born 1916 and my sister, Gladys Margaret, was born 1917. After my birth, my parents moved to Prince Albert, Sask., where my brother Joseph Edward was born on 3 February, 1925. Throughout our younger life, he was called Edward. Upon entering the military, he had to produce a birth certificate, which indicated that his first name was really Joseph. Thus he became ‘Joe.’ All my parents and brothers and sister are deceased.

The family moved back to the United States in December of 1925 and settled in Aunt Elva’s and Uncle Charlie Hansen’s summer home in Florence Acres, approximately five miles east of Monroe, Washington. This was near my Grandfather James William Ray and Grandmother Dora Francis Ray’s new home. They had lived in the Hansen house while building their new home. The land in that part of the state had been logged, that is, all the old growth timber had been cut, in 1923 – 1924. The railroad ties used to lay the railroad tracks, on which the log trains ran, were left when the loggers moved, but they took the rails with them. Many early settlers used these ties to build their homes with. When they were stood on end or laid down flat, they were strong and made fine weather resistant homes. During that period, there was no electricity available out in the country. We used kerosene and gas lamps or lanterns. Not ever having experienced anything else, this life was perfectly normal to me.

In 1927, my Dad, who in his youth had been nick named “Bill,” (What a confusion that caused in my life.) purchased 20 acres of logged off land on an old logging road, across Woods Creek and up on the hill, above the Hansen property to the south, about one mile, as the crow flies. The only way to get to it was to go back toward Monroe, one and half miles across Woods Creek, to the Greenfield’s property, turn left on the old logging road, through the Greenfield’s gate and follow it another one and a half miles back up the hill. At the time, the Woods Creek crossing was by way of an old railway trestle, covered with planks, instead of rails and without guardrails. This was high in the air and upstream from the present bridge.

I recall coming home with Dad in our Model T Ford to find the gate locked and Mr. Greenfield waiting with a shotgun, refusing to allow us to cross his property. As a child, this made quite an impression on me. We went back to town and got the Sheriff, who talked Mr. Greenfield into letting us pass. Sometime later, a road was cut through from what used to be highway #2. It is now called old Owens Road. The road that was cut through is called Van Brocklin Road. Mr. Van Brocklin and his wife, Nellie, lived near us at the end of the road. My Mom and Dad and the Van Brocklins were very close friends. I have some pictures taken at some of their parties. Also at the end of the road lived the Gilliland Family that included Jack, Dolly and their son Calvin, who was like a brother as well as a friend.

A few years after we moved from the Hansen house, Dad’s oldest brother, Chester Ray, brought his eight, great kids down from Canada. They also moved into the Hansen house that we had vacated earlier. Needless to say, there were a lot of Rays around. Since it was a short distance down the hill and across the creek, we communicated often. We had different trails that led to crossing points, such as, log jams and shallow water. Downstream and toward town about ½ mile lived our Aunt Ella and Uncle Tom Green. Aunt Ella and Aunt Elva and Grandmother Dora were sisters. Their maiden names were Day. Of course, we were all close. As Uncle Chester’s children grew older, they married and the family separated. Their mother had stayed in Canada. Some younger ones went with sisters and some went with other relatives. Helen stayed with the Greens. She and I were the same age and in the same class at school. We saw each other often, dated once in a while and were close friends as well as first cousins.

As mentioned earlier, the entire area had been timber and was logged off a few years before we came down from Canada. The farms were called stump ranches and for good reason. The average stump was from four to six feet in diameter. Many were larger. Much of my early childhood was spent playing but as we grew older these stumps, limbs, logs and so forth had to be cleared and burned. It seemed that for many years the sky was always smoky from burning wood, night and day. I have some old photos that bear this out. (more to follow)