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Everette Winston Noel

Male, #17937

FatherBoyce Winston Noel b. 17 Feb 1905, d. 16 Aug 1970
MotherWilma Gertrude McDonough b. 10 Aug 1902, d. 10 Oct 1969
Everette Winston Noel||p1122.htm#i17937|Boyce Winston Noel|b. 17 Feb 1905\nd. 16 Aug 1970|p1121.htm#i17928|Wilma Gertrude McDonough|b. 10 Aug 1902\nd. 10 Oct 1969|p1121.htm#i17929|Walter W. Noel|b. circa 1878\nd. Mar 1931|p855.htm#i13679|Martha A. M. Carlisle|b. 11 Feb 1876\nd. 30 Jun 1965|p855.htm#i13678|||||||

 He is the son of Boyce Winston Noel and Wilma Gertrude McDonough. 

Family
Children

Charts Sarah Culpepper Elliott Descendants
Last Edited 9 Jan 2000

Margaret Holmes

Female, #17938

Family
Children

Last Edited 9 Jul 1999

Everette Winston Noel Jr.

Male, #17939

FatherEverette Winston Noel
MotherMargaret Holmes
Everette Winston Noel Jr.||p1122.htm#i17939|Everette Winston Noel||p1122.htm#i17937|Margaret Holmes||p1122.htm#i17938|Boyce W. Noel|b. 17 Feb 1905\nd. 16 Aug 1970|p1121.htm#i17928|Wilma G. McDonough|b. 10 Aug 1902\nd. 10 Oct 1969|p1121.htm#i17929|||||||

 He is the son of Everette Winston Noel and Margaret Holmes. 

Charts Sarah Culpepper Elliott Descendants
Last Edited 22 Jul 1999

Marianne Holmes Noel

Female, #17940

FatherEverette Winston Noel
MotherMargaret Holmes
Marianne Holmes Noel||p1122.htm#i17940|Everette Winston Noel||p1122.htm#i17937|Margaret Holmes||p1122.htm#i17938|Boyce W. Noel|b. 17 Feb 1905\nd. 16 Aug 1970|p1121.htm#i17928|Wilma G. McDonough|b. 10 Aug 1902\nd. 10 Oct 1969|p1121.htm#i17929|||||||

 She is the daughter of Everette Winston Noel and Margaret Holmes. 

Charts Sarah Culpepper Elliott Descendants
Last Edited 9 Jul 1999

William Abner Coker

Male, #17941, (2 June 1913 - 26 November 1977)

FatherAbner Coker b. Feb 1882, d. 18 Aug 1929
MotherCoral Lee Carlisle b. 22 Aug 1885, d. Jul 1983
William Abner Coker|b. 2 Jun 1913\nd. 26 Nov 1977|p1122.htm#i17941|Abner Coker|b. Feb 1882\nd. 18 Aug 1929|p856.htm#i13684|Coral Lee Carlisle|b. 22 Aug 1885\nd. Jul 1983|p856.htm#i13683|||||||Broxon Y. Carlisle|b. 23 Dec 1851\nd. 7 Apr 1924|p2030.htm#i32467||||

Birth*2 Jun 1913 William was born at Roanoke, Randolph Co., Alabama, on 2 Jun 1913. 
 He was the son of Abner Coker and Coral Lee Carlisle. 
Death*26 Nov 1977 He died at LaGrange, Troup Co., Georgia, on 26 Nov 1977. 

Family
Children

Charts Sarah Culpepper Elliott Descendants
Last Edited 21 Sep 2007

Virginia Lee Boyles

Female, #17942

Family

William Abner Coker b. 2 Jun 1913, d. 26 Nov 1977
Children

Last Edited 20 Sep 2007

Katheryn Larue Coker

Female, #17943

FatherAbner Coker b. Feb 1882, d. 18 Aug 1929
MotherCoral Lee Carlisle b. 22 Aug 1885, d. Jul 1983
Katheryn Larue Coker||p1122.htm#i17943|Abner Coker|b. Feb 1882\nd. 18 Aug 1929|p856.htm#i13684|Coral Lee Carlisle|b. 22 Aug 1885\nd. Jul 1983|p856.htm#i13683|||||||Broxon Y. Carlisle|b. 23 Dec 1851\nd. 7 Apr 1924|p2030.htm#i32467||||

 She is the daughter of Abner Coker and Coral Lee Carlisle. 

Charts Sarah Culpepper Elliott Descendants
Last Edited 25 Jan 2000

Glover Emerson Bryant

Male, #17944, (17 June 1895 - April 1979)

Birth*17 Jun 1895 Glover was born on 17 Jun 1895. 
Death*Apr 1979 He died at LaGrange, Troup Co., Georgia, in Apr 1979. 

Last Edited 25 Jan 2000

Earl Kermit Coker

Male, #17945

FatherAbner Coker b. Feb 1882, d. 18 Aug 1929
MotherCoral Lee Carlisle b. 22 Aug 1885, d. Jul 1983
Earl Kermit Coker||p1122.htm#i17945|Abner Coker|b. Feb 1882\nd. 18 Aug 1929|p856.htm#i13684|Coral Lee Carlisle|b. 22 Aug 1885\nd. Jul 1983|p856.htm#i13683|||||||Broxon Y. Carlisle|b. 23 Dec 1851\nd. 7 Apr 1924|p2030.htm#i32467||||

 He is the son of Abner Coker and Coral Lee Carlisle. 

Family
Children

Charts Sarah Culpepper Elliott Descendants
Last Edited 25 Jan 2000

Margaret Ruth Knighton

Female, #17946

Family
Children

Last Edited 25 Jan 2000

Ella Mondorah Haralson

Female, #17947, (31 October 1867 - 2 December 1891)

FatherJames Fletcher Haralson b. 23 Jul 1848, d. 16 Jan 1891
MotherSarah Jane Culpepper b. 17 Jan 1844, d. 24 Jul 1925
Ella Mondorah Haralson|b. 31 Oct 1867\nd. 2 Dec 1891|p1122.htm#i17947|James Fletcher Haralson|b. 23 Jul 1848\nd. 16 Jan 1891|p2030.htm#i32472|Sarah Jane Culpepper|b. 17 Jan 1844\nd. 24 Jul 1925|p2030.htm#i32471|Jonathan A. Haralson|b. 22 Sep 1822\nd. 30 Jul 1854|p2030.htm#i32479||||Rev. William H. Culpepper|b. 17 Oct 1813\nd. 22 Mar 1909|p2005.htm#i32073|Sarah Leslie|b. 15 Feb 1808\nd. 22 Jan 1849|p2005.htm#i32074|

Birth*31 Oct 1867 Ella was born at Alabama on 31 Oct 1867. 
 She was the daughter of James Fletcher Haralson and Sarah Jane Culpepper. 
(household member) 1870 Census25 Aug 1870 Ella listed as a household member living with James Fletcher Haralson on the 1870 Census at Miller Valley PO, Clay Co., Alabama. 26 m-p. 268 hh 164. 
(daughter) 1880 Census1880 Ella was listed as a daughter in James Fletcher Haralson's household on the 1880 Census at DeKalb Co., Alabama. 31 m-ED59 sht 14 ln 35 twp 7 range 6. 
Death*2 Dec 1891 She died at Vance, Lewis Co., Washington, on 2 Dec 1891. 

Last Edited 4 Aug 1999

William Elias Haralson

Male, #17948, (17 January 1870 - 21 April 1894)

FatherJames Fletcher Haralson b. 23 Jul 1848, d. 16 Jan 1891
MotherSarah Jane Culpepper b. 17 Jan 1844, d. 24 Jul 1925
William Elias Haralson|b. 17 Jan 1870\nd. 21 Apr 1894|p1122.htm#i17948|James Fletcher Haralson|b. 23 Jul 1848\nd. 16 Jan 1891|p2030.htm#i32472|Sarah Jane Culpepper|b. 17 Jan 1844\nd. 24 Jul 1925|p2030.htm#i32471|Jonathan A. Haralson|b. 22 Sep 1822\nd. 30 Jul 1854|p2030.htm#i32479||||Rev. William H. Culpepper|b. 17 Oct 1813\nd. 22 Mar 1909|p2005.htm#i32073|Sarah Leslie|b. 15 Feb 1808\nd. 22 Jan 1849|p2005.htm#i32074|

Birth*17 Jan 1870 William was born at Alabama on 17 Jan 1870. 
 He was the son of James Fletcher Haralson and Sarah Jane Culpepper. 
(household member) 1870 Census25 Aug 1870 William listed as a household member living with James Fletcher Haralson on the 1870 Census at Miller Valley PO, Clay Co., Alabama. 26 m-p. 268 hh 164. 
(son) 1880 Census1880 William was listed as a son in James Fletcher Haralson's household on the 1880 Census at DeKalb Co., Alabama. 31 m-ED59 sht 14 ln 35 twp 7 range 6. 
Death*21 Apr 1894 He died at Vance, Lewis Co., Washington, on 21 Apr 1894. 
Biography* William Elias Haralson was born and raised in Alabama. When he was 16 years old, his parents decided to move west, ending up in Chehalis, WA. Willie was 19 when his father became ill with La Grippe and it fell to him to get the family moved to the Island in Cora P. O. District, near Vance, now Randle, in the Big Bottom area of the Cowlitz River in Washington. Over a three week period in the fall of 1890, William used a team of oxen to haul household goods from where the family was camped on the Cowlitz River about eleven miles below what is now the Nesika Bridge to the house which his father had had built on the Island in the Cowlitz River.1 Since William's father could no longer walk, he rode the pony, Beaver, and the family put on two suits of clothes and carried pails and packages weighing about twenty pounds each and walked four miles to the Island. The family then crossed the slough by canoe to the Island arriving the evening of October 11, 1890 in the pouring rain.1 During the next week, William sowed four acres of timothy.1 The family also began slashing down vine maples and, as there was time, William returned to where the family had camped to bring in the remainder of the household goods.1

William turned 21 the day after his father died. Ten months later, William's older sister died. Less than a year and a half later, William's younger sister, Sarah Leslie Haralson, died. Rev. William J. Rule, a Methodist circuit rider who met the family in January of 1894, described William as "big bodied," thoughtful and a comfort to his mother.2 Then William contracted tuberculosis.2 One of the things that was weighing on William's mind was how to ensure that the family did not lose the land after all that had happened. The early Big Bottom settlers held their lands by squatters' rights.3 In 1892, the first official U. S. Government survey was completed for the Big Bottom area and President Benjamin Harrison signed papers allowing settlers to claim their land as homesteads.3 On his deathbed, William told his mother how "prove up" the claim so that her land would become a homestead and, with this burden lifted, he died.2 William was 24 years old. 

Last Edited 4 Aug 1999

Citations

  1. Mrs. J. (Clara Haralson) Moorcroft, "The Pioneering Experiences of James Fletcher Haralson and his wife - Sarah Jane Culpepper," three typed sheets, 27 Feb 1960
  2. Rev. William J. Rule, Riding the Upper Cowlitz Circuit, 1893 -- 1896
  3. Walker Allison Tompkins, "The Big Bottom (Lewis County) 1833-1933," 1933

Fanetta Missouri Haralson

Female, #17949, (31 January 1872 - circa 1883)

FatherJames Fletcher Haralson b. 23 Jul 1848, d. 16 Jan 1891
MotherSarah Jane Culpepper b. 17 Jan 1844, d. 24 Jul 1925
Fanetta Missouri Haralson|b. 31 Jan 1872\nd. circa 1883|p1122.htm#i17949|James Fletcher Haralson|b. 23 Jul 1848\nd. 16 Jan 1891|p2030.htm#i32472|Sarah Jane Culpepper|b. 17 Jan 1844\nd. 24 Jul 1925|p2030.htm#i32471|Jonathan A. Haralson|b. 22 Sep 1822\nd. 30 Jul 1854|p2030.htm#i32479||||Rev. William H. Culpepper|b. 17 Oct 1813\nd. 22 Mar 1909|p2005.htm#i32073|Sarah Leslie|b. 15 Feb 1808\nd. 22 Jan 1849|p2005.htm#i32074|

Birth*31 Jan 1872 Fanetta was born at Alabama on 31 Jan 1872. 
 She was the daughter of James Fletcher Haralson and Sarah Jane Culpepper. 
(daughter) 1880 Census1880 Fanetta was listed as a daughter in James Fletcher Haralson's household on the 1880 Census at DeKalb Co., Alabama. 31 m-ED59 sht 14 ln 35 twp 7 range 6. 
Death*circa 1883 She died at Alabama circa 1883. 

Last Edited 16 Jan 2000

Sarah Leslie Haralson

Female, #17950, (7 May 1873 - 18 May 1893)

FatherJames Fletcher Haralson b. 23 Jul 1848, d. 16 Jan 1891
MotherSarah Jane Culpepper b. 17 Jan 1844, d. 24 Jul 1925
Sarah Leslie Haralson|b. 7 May 1873\nd. 18 May 1893|p1122.htm#i17950|James Fletcher Haralson|b. 23 Jul 1848\nd. 16 Jan 1891|p2030.htm#i32472|Sarah Jane Culpepper|b. 17 Jan 1844\nd. 24 Jul 1925|p2030.htm#i32471|Jonathan A. Haralson|b. 22 Sep 1822\nd. 30 Jul 1854|p2030.htm#i32479||||Rev. William H. Culpepper|b. 17 Oct 1813\nd. 22 Mar 1909|p2005.htm#i32073|Sarah Leslie|b. 15 Feb 1808\nd. 22 Jan 1849|p2005.htm#i32074|

Birth*7 May 1873 Sarah was born at Alabama on 7 May 1873. 
 She was the daughter of James Fletcher Haralson and Sarah Jane Culpepper. 
(daughter) 1880 Census1880 Sarah was listed as a daughter in James Fletcher Haralson's household on the 1880 Census at DeKalb Co., Alabama. 31 m-ED59 sht 14 ln 35 twp 7 range 6. 
Death*18 May 1893 She died at Vance, Lewis Co., Washington, on 18 May 1893. 

Last Edited 4 Aug 1999

Clara LeBertha Haralson

Female, #17951, (27 February 1876 - 25 February 1964)

FatherJames Fletcher Haralson b. 23 Jul 1848, d. 16 Jan 1891
MotherSarah Jane Culpepper b. 17 Jan 1844, d. 24 Jul 1925
Clara LeBertha Haralson|b. 27 Feb 1876\nd. 25 Feb 1964|p1122.htm#i17951|James Fletcher Haralson|b. 23 Jul 1848\nd. 16 Jan 1891|p2030.htm#i32472|Sarah Jane Culpepper|b. 17 Jan 1844\nd. 24 Jul 1925|p2030.htm#i32471|Jonathan A. Haralson|b. 22 Sep 1822\nd. 30 Jul 1854|p2030.htm#i32479||||Rev. William H. Culpepper|b. 17 Oct 1813\nd. 22 Mar 1909|p2005.htm#i32073|Sarah Leslie|b. 15 Feb 1808\nd. 22 Jan 1849|p2005.htm#i32074|

Birth*27 Feb 1876 Clara was born at Gadsden, Etowah Co., Alabama, on 27 Feb 1876. 
 She was the daughter of James Fletcher Haralson and Sarah Jane Culpepper. 
(daughter) 1880 Census1880 Clara was listed as a daughter in James Fletcher Haralson's household on the 1880 Census at DeKalb Co., Alabama. 31 m-ED59 sht 14 ln 35 twp 7 range 6. 
Marriage*16 Mar 1893 She married Job William Moorcroft at Vance, Lewis Co., Washington, on 16 Mar 1893. 
Married Name16 Mar 1893  As of 16 Mar 1893, her married name was Moorcroft. 
Death*25 Feb 1964 She died at Kelso, Cowlitz Co., Washington, on 25 Feb 1964. 
Biography* Clara was born in Alabama; but, when she was ten years old, her parents moved the family west, to the Territory of Washington. Clara's father had claimed land in the Big Bottom valley of the Cowlitz River and had the land cleared and a house built for the family. Washington became a state in 1889 and, in October of 1890, since no road had yet been built into the valley, the family packed in on foot and by canoe to their new home.

Clara was 14 when her father died and her oldest sister died a few months later. Clara's mother and oldest brother got the family settled on their land. The first schoolhouse in the valley was built of hand-hewn cedar logs on the Job William "Joe" Moorcroft place near Mountain View and this is where Clara and her younger sister and brother along with Clifford, Charles, Albert, Addie and Ora Blankenship and Walter, Leona, and LeilaYoung and George Charles, Bird Walter and Florence Stevenson were taught by Miss Zona Dodge. 1

When Clara turned 16, she was courted by "Joe" Moorcroft. Clara later recalled this experience:2

One Sunday afternoon my boy-friend and I went horseback riding on two Indian ponies or Cayuses as the Indians call them... It took my boy-friend at least two hours to round them up for our trip. We crossed the river in an Indian canoe to get on the trail. This was long years ago when I was only sweet-sixteen and he was a young Irish bachelor.... In those days the girls and women rode side-saddle and never thought of riding astride as they do now. I was riding on a man's saddle; but sitting as if it were a side-saddle. This was not very comfortable to sit in sideways.

We went on and on for some miles and had started back for home when suddenly, my old grey mare ran away with me.... We came to a place where a fallen fir tree was leaning against a rock cliff above the trail. There was just room enough to pass under by ducking ones head. By this time my horse was going like the wind and my boy-friend, later my husband, felt sure I would get my head knocked off as my horse passed under the tree. As it happened, I ducked my head at just the right time to pass under the tree; somehow I managed to stay on the horse and in the saddle, too.... When Joe caught up with me he was surely frightened.

The experience apparently did not deter Clara and she would later write:

In the year of 1893 - March 16th at 4:00 p.m; on a Thursday - Joseph Moorcroft and I were married at the home of my mother (Mrs. Sarah Culpepper Haralson.)3

The couple settled down to raise a family near Randle, WA. Together, Clara and Joe planted and did the other chores necessary to run the farm and keep the cattle and other livestock fed. Life in the valley was not easy, within ten years, all but Clara's mother and her youngest brother died and Clara, Joe and their children survived a major flood and other calamities. Clara wrote to A. S. Koons, the manager of the Montgomery Ward store in Portland, OR about one such incident. For Christmas of 1897, for $19.50, Joe had purchased a sewing machine for Clara and Clara recalled the experience:4

In those days we were far removed from towns and all conveniences. Chehalis, 70 miles away, was the nearest town and could be reached only over rough corduroy roads, composed mostly of logs and poles which had been thrown in the mud holes so that wagons could be pulled through safely. I had no sewing machine, and with two little children and such a promising future ahead of us in this new pioneering country, I was in dire need of one. My husband decided this would be the finest gift he could give me for Christmas, so he made out an order to Montgomery Ward in Chicago.

In due time, we received notice that my machine had been shipped to Chehalis. In a few days we started on our journey to Chehalis to pick up my new machine and several other supplies we needed. My mother and young son were with my husband and myself. My husband was the only one outside on the wagon seat. The rest of us rode inside our covered wagon.

We spent one day in town to purchase and load our supplies and the Montgomery Ward sewing machine, which was in a crate 12 inches higher than our wagon box. Among our groceries and other supplies was a cross-cut saw which my husband had stood on edge in the wagon. The next morning we started for home.

It was early November, and the fall rains had set in. We had been traveling with our horses and wagon for most of a week, and were within six miles of home, with the heavy rains and darkness surrounding us, when suddenly the outside edge of the road broke off and the wagon turned completely over. My husband was thrown clear of the wagon. The rest of us were not so fortunate. We were underneath the overturned wagon--but surely, God must have been looking over us. That wonderful sewing machine crate was just the right height to hold the wagon-bed up enough so that I could slip out on my stomach. My husband and I scraped away enough dirt with our hands to pull out my mother and son. They were in grave danger of being suffocated, for the groceries and the cross-cut saw were slipping down on them, shutting out their air.

Much water has run under the bridge since this incident, but I am still using the sewing machine, which sews as well as it ever did through these 62 years. I will treasure this machine the rest of my life, as it was the means of saving our lives....

Clara was later a member of a Ladies Aid group and she wrote the following for a meeting in July of 1914 during which each member was to donate a dollar to the group after telling how the money was earned:

TEN HOLE-LY GRAIN SACKS

Ten hole-ly grain sacks--and they are all mine, Attacked the first one with vim, and then there were nine.

Nine more sacks, which I berate-- Decided I'd do that one anyway; then there were eight.

Eight more--there sides ripped and uneven, Counted them again and found only seven.

Seven more of the horrid old things to fix, Counted them over again, and oh! Joy! there were only six.

Six more! Will I ever survive? But I patched the old thing and that left--was it but five?

Five gunny sacks--mouse eaten and tore, Put some fancy stitches in that one--then there were four.

Four sacks more before I am free, Won't I be glad when there are only three.

Three more to fix--will I ever be thru? 'Twill not seem very many when I have only two.

Two sacks left--both looking so bum, Shut my eyes and grab--then there is one.

One sack left--couldn't have no fun, Took that one with me; then there were none.

Clara was 77 when she lost her husband of 60 years. She wrote several articles about pioneering life in the Big Bottom valley and she celebrated her 87th birthday in Glenoma, WA.5 Clara died a year later, just two days short of her 88th birthday. 

Family

Job William Moorcroft b. 12 Apr 1860, d. 14 Sep 1953
Marriage*16 Mar 1893 She married Job William Moorcroft at Vance, Lewis Co., Washington, on 16 Mar 1893. 
Children

Last Edited 26 Jan 2000

Citations

  1. Walker Allison Tompkins, "The Big Bottom (Lewis County) 1833-1933," 1933
  2. "I Rode a Runaway Horse" typed sheet
  3. Mrs. "Joe" (Clara Haralson) Moorcroft, "Clara Haralson and Joseph Moorcroft: Our 'Start' when we got Married" typed sheet, July 1961
  4. Mrs. "Joe" (Clara Haralson) Moorcroft, "Washington State Pioneer Tells How Wards Sewing Machine Saved Three Lives in 1897," For-Ward Feb 1960, p. 7
  5. "Mrs. Joseph Moorcroft, Pioneer To Celebrate 87th Birthday" Daily Chronicle 27 Feb 1963, p. 5

Job William Moorcroft

Male, #17952, (12 April 1860 - 14 September 1953)

Name Variation  Job William Moorcroft was also known as Joe. 
Birth*12 Apr 1860 Job was born at Longford, Ireland, on 12 Apr 1860. 
Marriage*16 Mar 1893 He married Clara LeBertha Haralson at Vance, Lewis Co., Washington, on 16 Mar 1893. 
Death*14 Sep 1953 He died at Randle, Lewis Co., Washington, on 14 Sep 1953. 
Burial* His body was interred at Silver Creek Cemetery, Lewis Co., Washington. 
Biography* Job William Moorcroft was one of the pioneers of the Big Bottom of the upper Cowlitz River in Lewis Co., WA. Big Bottom is an area which runs along a 30 mile stretch of the upper Cowlitz River from Tumwater Falls to Clear Fork.1 What is now the state of Washington originally belonged to Britain and Indians from the area are known to have taken wolverine, marmoset, lynx, beaver, bear and deer skins and furs to the Hudson's Bay Company trading post at Jackson's Prairie from 1833.2 The area then was included as part of the Oregon Territory.

A separate Washington Territory was created March 3, 1853. Lewis County was named for Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. When James Longmire and William Packwood came through the Big Bottom area in 1854, looking for a low route from the Puget Sound to the Oregon Trail, they found a Cowlitz Indian village.1 The low route was not found and the area was left mostly undisturbed until 1882 when William Joerk (now York), a German merchant from the upper Sacramento River in California, trekked north and found only two Indian families remaining; the rest had been wiped out by smallpox.1

York returned in 1883 and became Big Bottom's first white settler.1 A few other white men followed and finally, in 1886, L. A. Davis, brought his wife into the valley.2 This was the same year that Joe Moorcroft arrived.1

James Haralson also came that year and claimed land but did not bring his family in until 1890 after he had the land cleared and a house built. Washington became a state November 11, 1889. All the settlers started from scratch, clearing and leveling the land for planting and building houses and a 36 mile road which met the road at Mossy Rock and in 1893 the first wagon was driven into the Big Bottom on its own wheels.2

After the Haralson family settled in the valley, Joe courted Clara Haralson and they were married in 1893. Clara later wrote:3

Joe took me to his "homestead" about one mile from "Mama's" home - where he had built a nice little house from "split" cedar lumber; which he had planed by hand. The house had a living room with a "rock" fireplace - one bedroom - and a lean-to kitchen with a dish-cupboard built with the cedar lumber. In fact, he had made all of the furniture, himself - of cedar boards. There was a hand-made bedstead with a straw tick for a mattress; and a pair of pillows made of "cat-o-nine tails" which he had gathered from the lake that was on his land. To make this stuffing for the pillows; he gathered the "heads" from the stalks of the "cat-o-nine tails;" then, pulverized them - and this was then used in place of feathers. (They were so slippery, one could hardly keep a pillow under his head). Two "bachelor" chairs which he had made were so high - I was unable to sit on them; when I wanted to sit-down, I would sit on the floor.

He had borrowed a cook-stove from a bachelor neighbor as he had had bad-luck with his - when he tried to bring it from Chehalis, Washington - by horseback. He had gone to Chehalis and purchased the cookstove, and a wash-tub, and wash-board and a broom. We had everything packed on his horse when she decided to "buck" everything off. The cast-iron stove got broken into many pieces, so he left it in Chehalis to be repaired.... We used a 5-gallon kerosene oil-can - cut on the long side, for a wash-boiler to heat water on the stove, to wash the clothes.

We planted a vegetable garden and also a "plot" of rutabagas for cattle-feed for ensilage which was used years later. We cut the timothy-grass for hay; and used the "old-time" hand scythe. I helped with that, also. We "shocked" the hay; and, hauled it in to a good-sized barn which he had made with cedar posts and long cedar-boards which stood on end. To haul the hay in - to the barn -- we laid two small poles down - three feet apart. We nailed shakes to them leaving enough room on the ends (for handles). We would then pile as much hay as would stay on; and with Joe at one end, and I at the other - we would head for the barn. (A slow-but-sure way to haul our hay).

At one end of the barn - Joe had built "stanchions" where he fed his "beef-cattle." He had begun to raise a herd before we were married. He and another bachelor neighbor had gone to Oregon and each had purchased several head of cattle - and shipped them by boat to (at that time Monticello) but now called Longview. From there, they drove them on foot to their homesteads in the upper-Big Bottom Valley.

That first-fall we went to Chehalis and picked hops - to buy our winter-supplies and clothes. People in those pioneering-days depended on hop-picking for a money crop. So ended our first year on the homestead....

In 1896, Cowlitz River flooded and Joe had to release the farm animals and pack his wife, two year old son and three week old daughter on a horse and quickly move them to higher ground. Clara wrote:4

We unloaded at the neighbor's door and everything was confusion and excitement. Their house and barn were on higher ground so the water wasn't over six inches on the floor. The men put chunks of wood on the floor and laid planks on them for us to walk on. There was very little sleep and rest that night with the flood waters gurgling around the house.

The neighbor had put his little pigs on the front porch, thinking he would have them above the water, but the water rose over the porch, so most of them were drowned while fighting and squealing for dry places. Everyone in the valley lost nearly all of their cattle and sheep. In fact, all of their stock--even the horses that were in the pastures drowned. A farmer below us on the lower ground had his barn washed against his house. When morning came his porch was full of dead cattle and horses.

Their house was built of logs, and the water rose so high, they were forced to go upstairs; they expected the house to go most any minute, as the water had risen almost to the second floor. One family were all drowned except the husband and father. The mother and five children lost their lives and only two bodies were ever found.

When morning came, those that had Indian canoes were out to hunt and rescue those in danger. Some, they found in trees where the waters came so fast they were cut off from their homes. The flood waters stayed on for four or five days; then the weather turned bitterly cold, and the ground being full of water froze 8" deep.

When we returned to our home we found the house had almost washed away. The rock fireplace was what had held it fast. One end of the house had floated up and the mud was 6" deep on the floors. The soiled clothes that were in the bedroom were scattered all over the floor. When we tried to pick them up we found they were frozen solid to the floor. We couldn't find a stick of wood in the shed or on the place.

Most of our cattle were dead--only seven head survived, and they had climbed on top of the hay mow. All of our potatoes and apples had been washed away. It looked so very discouraging to see everything gone. Two dozen lovely Plymouth-Rock hens; which we had, were frozen on the floor under the roosts where they had drowned in their sleep.

But the family picked up and started again. In 1961, Clara wrote:5

SO PASSED the years; and Joe lived to the good age of 93 years and "passed on" in September 1953. I am now left-alone to mourn like a turtle-dove on the corner of the house-top. WE had a good life together - for 60 years. I am now 85 years of age. 

Family

Clara LeBertha Haralson b. 27 Feb 1876, d. 25 Feb 1964
Marriage*16 Mar 1893 He married Clara LeBertha Haralson at Vance, Lewis Co., Washington, on 16 Mar 1893. 
Children

Last Edited 10 Sep 2003

Citations

  1. Walker Allison Tompkins, "The Big Bottom (Lewis County) 1833-1933," 1933
  2. Walker Allison Tompkins, "The Big Bottom (Lewis County) 1833-1933," 1933
  3. Mrs. "Joe" (Clara Haralson) Moorcroft, "Clara Haralson and Joseph Moorcroft: Our 'Start' when we got Married" typed sheet, July 1961
  4. Mrs. J. (Clara Haralson) Moorcroft "The 'Great Flood of '96' on the Cowlitz River in Eastern Lewis Co., State of Washington" typed sheet
  5. Mrs. "Joe" (Clara Haralson) Moorcroft, "Clara Haralson and Joseph Moorcroft: Our 'Start' when we got Married" (typed sheet, July 1961)