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Home My WebLink About2022-Issue 4 - Logging Off, The Beil Family of Timber Harvesters.pdfSap In Their Veins on exhibit soon at RHM! Board Report by Jessica Kelly, President. Collections Report by Sarah Samson, Curator. Museum Report by Elizabeth P. Stewart, Director. When we look at the Renton Highlands and other hills east of the city, it is hard to imagine them completely covered in old growth forest, nurtured for millennia by Pacific Northwest rain and rivers. When white settlers arrived here from back east, these trees had been untouched by humans except for the Duwamish people’s annual harvesting of bark and branches for houses, clothing, and baskets, with an occasional tree felled for canoe-making. The new settlers carried their experiences with them and these shaped their vision of this land; depending on where they had come from, they might see giant trees impeding farms or they might see dollars locked away in the timber. The Beil family (pronounced “bile”), who arrived in 1901, saw this forest as a fresh start. In 1901 when the Beils arrived from Nebraska—father John P., mother Clara, and their four sons, Bert, Emmon, Orrie, and Art—whatever trees lived on the lowlands of Renton had already been cleared for Erasmus Smithers’ platted lots. Henry Tobin operated the first sawmill in the Renton area in the 1850s. In the late 1870s David Parker and his sons Leroy and James built a sawmill at what is now Third and Mill. As quick as trees came down, Parker’s mill processed lumber that would be transported by river Also In This Issue... RENTON HISTORICALSOCIETY & MUSEUM Fall September 2022 Volume 53 Number 4 Continued on page 5 2 4 83 QUARTERLY LOGGING OFF: The Beil Family of Timber Harvesters by Elizabeth P. Stewart 2 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM THANK YOU L & L! In June two of our highly experienced Board members retired from the Renton Historical Society Board. Lynne King joined us fresh from the Library Advisory Board in July 2016. Since then she has been a key member of the Fundraising Committee and instrumental in drafting policies. Laura Clawson has served on the Board for more than 20 years, as Treasurer, Vice President, and President. Laura presided over three museum assessments conducted by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and was a key leader in the strategic planning process. We can’t thank these two Board members enough for contributing their time and talents to the success of the Renton History Museum. DON PERSSON HONORED In September the Renton Senior Activity Center will be renamed in honor of longtime City Councilmember Don Persson (1942 – 2021). Don served the City of Renton in the Police Department for 33 years and then Councilmember for 20 years. But he put his heart and soul into volunteering in the community, including at the Renton History Museum and many other organizations, using his culinary talents as a volunteer chef. He helped launch the annual Thanksgiving meal at the Senior Center and the Renton River Days fesitval. His name will live on and his example will continue to inspire others to serve their community. S ap in Their Veins, a Moscow Gallery traveling exhibit, features the photography of David Paul Bayles. In the late 1980s the Pacific Northwest was deeply divided in the Spotted Owl Wars. Rural logging communities fought to protect their multigenerational way of life. Urban environmentalists sought to save the endangered owl by stopping the clear cutting of old growth timber. Bayles created personal portraits and collected oral histories from loggers in the event and again fifteen years later, hoping to bridge the divide. Sap in Their Veins offers a unique artistic perspective on ongoing environmental debates. COMING SOON!From OCTOBER 11 to DECEMBER 9 Lynne (L) & Laura FALL QUARTERLY, 2022 | 3 MUSEUM REPORT QUARTERLY Fall 2022 A re you as amazed as we are that the summer is almost over? It has been an incredibly busy season at the Renton History Museum as we continue to put in place post-pandemic innovations. A few of our accomplishments: • Adding online donation and membership renewal to our web site. Thanks, Office Aide Stephanie Snyder, for the hours and hours you put into working out the bugs! • Completing renovation of the north gallery—thank you, City of Renton and 4Culture, for your assistance with this project. We unveiled this room as gallery and community meeting space with a meet-and-greet for a new City of Renton staff member on July 21. • Securing new temporary collections storage space, with the assistance of the Board’s Collections Committee. Our collections are growing by leaps and bounds. • Restoring Tuesdays back to our open hours, with special morning “masks required” hours for vulnerable people. • Exhibiting a timely collection of photos from Ukraine by Anna Mia Davidson in the exhibit, Ukraine: Carpathian Mountain Villages. Thank you, Renton Municipal Arts Commission, for making this connection to this artist! Our focus this fall is on rebuilding our volunteer team so that we can reopen on Saturdays. We know you’re all waiting for Saturday hours, but our tiny staff needs the help of volunteer Saturday greeters to provide the best possible experience for visitors. In addition to making visitors feel welcome, greeters will now also have the opportunity to interact with visitors in the gallery, sharing special objects and stories. We’re also recruiting volunteers as tour leaders, oral history assistants, collections helpers, and special events and exhibit assistants. Check out the details and an application on our web site. (QR code link at right.) by Elizabeth P. Stewart, Museum Director Elizabeth P. Stewart Director RENTON HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Sarah Samson Graphic Design & Layout Karl Hurst City of Renton Print & Mail Services RENTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES Jessica Kelly, President Colleen Lenahansen, Vice Pres. Dan Clawson, Secretary Daryl Delaurenti, Treasurer Amy Elizabeth Gorton, 2023 Maryann DiPasquale, 2024 Rhea Kimble, 2025 Mike Lennox, 2025 Elizabeth Stewart, Board Liaison MUSEUM STAFF Elizabeth P. Stewart Museum Director Sarah Samson Curator of Collections & Exhibitions Stephanie Snyder Volunteer & Member Liason RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM 235 MILL AVENUE S RENTON, WA 98057 P (425) 255-2330 F (425) 255-1570 HOURS: Tuesday - Friday 10:00am - 4:00pm ADMISSION: $5 (Adult) $2 (Child) The striking black and white photographs of Anna Mia Davidson are on exhibit in the north gallery. "Hutsuly Woman at Home," photograph by Anna Mia Davidson. 4 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM RHS acknowledges we RHS acknowledges we are on the unceded are on the unceded traditional land of traditional land of the Duwamish people. the Duwamish people. A people forced to A people forced to relocate, but who have relocate, but who have persevered.persevered. The Museum views the history of Renton to include since time immemorial to today and is committed to exploring that through its partnerships, exhibits and programs. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE A s time moves forward and changes come, we work to do our best to support the Renton History Museum! The Board of Directors continues to meet monthly, and we extend an invitation to each of you, and the public, to attend our Board Meetings. They occur on the last Tuesday of every month, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Contact us to determine the meeting location, as some are hybrid meetings (both in person and virtual), but a virtual option is always available for each meeting. What Have We Been Doing? Strong Committees continue to work on their goals set forth from our five-year Strategic Plan. The Collections Committee has successfully found a new space for our extensive and growing collection (we have more items than fit in the museum building itself). Congratulations on this milestone as we work to protect a great collection of Renton history artifacts! Additionally, we continue to update our policies, working documents, and agreements to keep the Renton Historical Society strong and current. We are excited that we are making progress on renegotiating the Museum Management Agreement between the Renton Historical Society and the City of Renton. We look forward to continuing the solid relationship and updating it to create new opportunities for the museum, and for the community. Our committees enjoy the time spent with each other, working to achieve the goals we set in our Strategic Plan – and welcome Renton Historical Society members and/or community members to join us in our efforts! Contact us at RentonHistoricalSociety@gmail.com if you are interested in any of the Board committees, becoming a Board Member, or if you are interested in joining us for a Board Meeting. We appreciate your time, talents, and treasure! Thank you for what you do to support our educational, diverse, and modern museum. by Jessica Kelly, President Jessica Kelly President UPCOMING EVENTS ARTIST'S TALK WITH DAVID PAUL BAYLES October 20 7:00-8:00 pm Join the artist as he talks about the exhibit Sap In Their Veins, his collection of photographs documenting the lives of PNW loggers during and after the Spotted Owl Controversy of the 1980s. THE HERITAGE APPLE PROJECT WITH DAVID BENSCOTER November 10 6:00-7:00 pm David Benscoter of the Whitman County Historical Society Lost Apple Project joins us to share his work locating and identifying lost apple varieties in Washington state. For more info, check out The Lost Apple Project Facebook page. FALL QUARTERLY, 2022 | 5 to market or used to shore up mine walls in Renton, Black Diamond, Coalfield, and other nearby mining towns.1 Loggers gradually moved up into the hills to the east and west of Renton, obtaining timber rights to 40 acres at a time and clearing the trees as quickly as they could, but it was tough work. They worked with handsaws and axes and hauled the felled timber with oxen or teams of horses. “The ‘by-hand’ methods of clearing land practiced by the eastern farmers[,] which were perhaps adapted to the sparsely timbered eastern sections[,] have been brought here and adopted by our farmer emigrants without consideration of the inadequacy of such methods when applied to the enormous local forest,” observed one economist. “The Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan logger was practically helpless in the Puget Sound forests with the ‘by-hand.’”2 By the 1890s, however, the steam donkey engine revolutionized tree removal. These engines replaced beasts of burden; they were relatively portable and able to power winches and cables to haul the largest trees to skid roads, where their own weight could slide them to Lake Washington or the Cedar River for transport. The Beil family arrived just as this technology became affordable for small logging operations like those prevalent in Renton. Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania to German-American parents, patriarch John Peter Beil (1855 – 1940) hopscotched across the country before settling in Renton. As a young man, he moved with his parents and three brothers to Indiana where his father was a farmer. Sometime before 1880 he went off to Nebraska, where he started working as a carpenter. He met and married Clara Continued from page 1 Cover photo: Beil family & friends, 1914. Standing (L-R): John Beil, Hattie Berg Nelson, Clara Beil. On log: Jim Duffy, Orrie Beil, Emmon Beil, unknown, Nellie Berg (later Emmon's wife), Della Berg, Carrie Berg, Art Beil. (RHM# 1966.045.0179) LOGGING OFF Logging crew at Orillia, 1920. The machine at right is a steam donkey engine. L-R: Orrie Beil, unknown, Al Erickson, Bill Fournier, Frank Mackie, Harry Erickson, Jack Brattus. (RHM# 1966.024.0199) 6 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM the land for roads and farms was also an inexhaustible source of income at the beginning of the 1900s. The Beils made money in several ways: they purchased the timber rights and profited from the wood, or they were paid to clear the land of trees and they could negotiate to keep the cleared timber, especially if the trees were considered too small or too young to sell to mills. When they were not handling the “Giants of the Forest” in mountain passes, they could still earn money closer to home on land where the substantial trees had already been taken down. As the area around the Puget Sound was logged off, clearing land was still lucrative. “Four young men, practical loggers,–a donkey engine clearing outfit,–a good-sized tract of logged-off fertile land, well located, is a good combination,” advised one expert, “A practical logger, upon much of our logged-off areas, will find shingle bolts, cedar poles, wind-falls and small logs enough to go a long way toward, if not entirely[,] paying out the land clearing operations.”7 The four Beil brothers worked together early on in the woods of Hilcrest, Kennydale, May Creek, and tracts further away. In 1909, oldest son Bert D. Beil (1886 – 1956) joined together with his three brothers and neighbors Fred Marr and George Banderet to clear the land of trees for Naches Pass. At age 35, George Banderet had more than a decade of logging experience on Bert and his brothers, and George may have shown them the ropes.8 One of the Beils’ earliest projects was clearing the trees from the slopes around what would become Greenwood Cemetery. They purchased rights to 40 acres of R. Smith and they had their four sons there. By 1896 the family was living in San Bernardino, California, where he continued to work as a carpenter.3 Historical documents do not always reveal what motivates families to move from one place to another: perhaps a friend talks about job opportunities in a place or touts the health benefits of a climate, or a family member settles there and others follow. John Beil seemed determined to strike out on his own, but by the time he settled in east Renton in 1901, he had a ready-made support system of four healthy sons. He must have earned his nest egg in San Bernardino, because almost immediately he bought 40 acres of land across from Greenwood Cemetery on what was then known as the Old Renton-to-Issaquah Road and began building a large Victorian farmhouse. By this time John was approaching 50, but he had a lot of life left in him.4 Beil was remembered as “an enterprising, hardworking citizen, and a good and kindly neighbor.”5 When he and his family settled in what would become the Renton Highlands, the area was a transitional neighborhood between the larger cities of Renton and Issaquah. Some of his near-neighbors were Black families who had left the South in the 1880s or 1890s for mining jobs; they were all small farmers together who knew how to take advantage of opportunities.6 The Beils followed the model of many loggers in this period: they put together small crews of men right-sized for a particular tract of timber and then cut and sold the timber to nearby mills. Since these loggers held only the timber rights, most clearcut the trees, leaving the stumps and unsellable timber for the landowner to dispose of. Clearing Beil home north of Greenwood Memorial Park, n.d. (RHM# 1985.055.2066) FALL QUARTERLY, 2022 | 7 “school timber”—timber set aside to benefit local school systems—and later bought 40 more acres. As Emmon Beil told journalist Morda Slauson later: “This was all prime No. 1 fir and cedar… Some of the trees were seven feet across, but most were a little smaller.” The brothers set up a sawmill right there on the hill. Emmon reckoned they harvested one million feet of timber from the first claim, starting in November 1911 and working off and on until 1918.10 After serving in the U.S. Army during WWI, youngest son Art Beil (1893 – 1984) left the family business to open a garage and service station at Bronson Way and Meadow Avenue North. His wife Mabel kept the books for the business and was the first woman gas station attendant in Renton. They operated Beils’ Garage until Art joined Pacific Car & Foundry as a mechanic; he worked there until his retirement.11 The Beil family was in constant motion, taking down trees, milling them, building houses, and most interesting, inventing labor-saving devices. Emmon Beil (1888 – 1985) also built a special gasoline-powered drag saw for their work at Greenwood Cemetery.12 John Beil built and patented an automatic gate, so that drivers of wagons or cars would not have to leave their seats to get onto a gated property. Beil’s “Automatic Gate” could be purchased for $27.50 or $38.00, depending on features; for $12.00 a stock gate could be operated from further away, so that a cattleman could open a gate from behind the herd for the lead animal to go through. John installed one in his own fence on Issaquah Road, complete with motorcycle trap for son Art to operate the gate from his bike.13 Bert Beil invented the Trolling Spinner fishing lure, patented January 16, 1934.14 John continued to work as a carpenter in addition to farming. Together with son Emmon, John built some of the early houses in North Renton, including homes for the William F. Bennett Sr. family (later a City councilmember), James and Hattie Butler (Renton’s first woman Councilmember), and miner Harry L. Fuller.15 John and Emmon built these one-story five-room wood bungalows on their own; the only extra labor needed was a brick mason to set chimneys. The father-son team may have also built the honeymoon cottage that Emmon brought his new bride, Nellie Berg, home to in 1916.16 By 1918 he had made the transition to full-time carpenter, in San Diego for a few years and then returning to Renton.17 Bert Beil also started out in the woods with his brothers and, as logging work dwindled, diversified into other timber-related ventures later in life. In the 1910s he often drove logging trucks, a complicated job in which the driver learned how to properly load a truck and navigate logging roads safely. He worked as a lumber mill laborer in San Francisco in 1930, at the peak of the Great Depression, then returned to Renton to work on WPA projects like repairing riverbanks. He and his wife Cora Smith Beil struggled to start a family, but finally welcomed two daughters and a son, Nettie, Daisy, and John Wesley.18 Orrie Franklin Beil (1891 – 1952) became the jack of all trades of the Beil family. From 1909 to about 1920, Orrie worked in the lumber industry as a teamster and a millman.19 He married Lottie Mackey in 1915 and regular Continued on page 10 Art & Bert Beil chopping down a tree, ca. 1915. They are standing on springboards. (RHM# 1985.055.2065) 8 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM I am now at the front-end of my seventeenth year working at the Renton History Museum. It feels like a long time, but in other ways I still feel like I’m just beginning. I am privileged to get to research history (nearly) every day, and one of the best parts of my job is sharing the stories we uncover here. Several times over the years, Liz and I have had discussions about certain historical topics, and then new information will suddenly fall into our laps. It’s happened enough times now that we joke about saying things out loud so that we’ll get a breakthrough in our research. Well, it just happened again. And this time took a commanding lead for the most exciting example of serendipity! In July, Liz and I were discussing the article in this newsletter about the Beil family. John Beil invented and patented Beil’s Automatic Gate, and I said, “I wish we had a model of the gate!” Two days later, Diana Postlewait, great-granddaughter of John Beil, called us. Guess what she had! She had the original model of the automatic gate, as well as so much more. Diana and her husband Herb were visiting from COLLECTIONS REPORT by Sarah Samson, Curator of Collections & Exhibitions Sarah Samson Curator Bert Beil (left) and Cora Smith Beil (back, right) with family, 1918. There are three photos with this tree. (RHM# 2022.009) Dog resting on porch, ca. 1915. This might be my favorite image; the dog just looks so happy! (RHM# 2022.009) Spokane and we were able to meet for about an hour and a half. For a curator, it was Christmas in July. Diana talked me through all the boxes she had brought: photographs, glass plate negatives, a handmade graduation dress, ration cards, blueprints of the automatic gate, and on and on. The excitement I felt going through those boxes with Diana (and possibly doing at least one happy dance) reminded me of how much I love local history. I get to investigate these amazing stories, hear more about them from living family members, and I am entrusted with caring for the physical remnants of history. Then I get to write articles and exhibits to share our discoveries with the rest of Renton. After sixteen years of researching and sharing Renton’s history I know much more about my adopted city than the town I was born and grew up in. I know I’m not “from” Renton, but I love this city and its history. Thank you for trusting me with your history and its artifacts and for giving me the opportunity to get excited over and over. Model of the Beil Automatic Gate, ca. 1915. The model orignially had more superstructure pieces showing the opening mechanism. (RHM# 2022.009) FALL QUARTERLY, 2022 | 9 MEMORIAL DONATIONS May 21, 2022 - August 10, 2022 Bill Anardi Lucy Miller Marion Lee Baker Leo R. Griffin III Harold“Hab”Bruce Darlene Bjornstad Don Camerini Barbara Dengel Linda Venishnick Moore & Kim Nordquist Wanda Capellaro Linda Venishnick Moore & Kim Nordquist Angelina Della Rossa Vicki Dallosto & Rob Elliott Doug Franceschina & Family Roberta Logue Terry, Lori & Arlene Zanga Wyman Dobson Al & Shirley Armstrong Darlene Bjornstad Dwight Felton Al & Shirley Armstrong Shorty & Ada Luft Al & Shirley Armstrong Don Maletta Darlene Bjornstad Richard Oliphant Nancy & Paul Duke Randy & Willa Rockhill Al & Shirley Armstrong John Suzick Al & Shirley Armstrong GENERAL DONATIONS OF $100 OR MORE Norm & Carol Abrahamson Shirley Y. Custer Maryann DiPasquale & Steven Lavender Jerry Fornelia Valerie & Mike O’Halloran Vicky Persson Janice Tanner NEW MEMBERS Tracy Banasky Ashley Wetherbee Kimberly Elder Samantha Wetherbee Tabatha Kannier BENEFACTOR MEMBERS Linda Della Rossa Kate Dugdale GIFT MEMBERSHIP DONORS Diana Postlewait GENERAL DONATIONS Patricia Auten Donna Bausano Dan & Laura Clawson Phyllis Davey Mike Dire In honor of the Class of 1958 Kate Dugdale Linda Della Rossa Jeff & Cathy Dressler Joy Garner Charles & Karen Jones Bruce & Darlene MacDonald Sally Rochelle Basil Simpson FEATURE ARTICLE IS PREVIEW FOR NEW EXHIBIT The Beil story in this issue helps introduce our newest temporary exhibit, opening in October. Sap in Their Veins is a remarkable set of photographs by David Paul Bayles. The stimulus for the exhibit was the 1980s controversy known as the Spotted Owl Wars, in which the logging industry was pitted against environmentalists over the protection of a tiny endangered owl. Using oral interviews and photography, Bayles documented the lives of those most deeply affected: the (mostly) men who made their living cutting down trees. As Bayles describes it, “the divisions were deep, passionate and mostly unyielding… I believe in the power of stories that reflect our shared humanity to help bridge those divides.” Sap in Their Veins is just one in a series of exhibits the Renton History Museum hopes will help us all think about how historically we MEMORIAL DONATIONS OF $100 OR MORE Donna Kerr Nelson Orville Nelson James Klepach Fran Klepach MEMORIAL DONATIONS OF $500 OR MORE Judith & Marion Lee Baker Bill Young IN-KIND DONATIONS Howard Snyder weigh human needs against environmental imperatives– just one more way that history can be useful to you. Photography from Sap In Their Veins 10 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM Continued from page 8 ENDNOTES 1 Morda C. Slauson, Renton—From Coal to Jets (1976; Kent, WA: Olympic Reprographics, 2006), p.41. Millwright David Parker built another sawmill in North Hilcrest in 1898, but he died in 1899. 2 Daniel Lincoln Pratt, “Logged Off Lands—The Snohomish County Idea,” The Ranch, 15 Nov 1907, p.3. 3 1870 Clinton, IN Federal Census; 1880 Kearney, NE Federal Census; 1896 California Voter Registration Records; 1898 California Voter Registration Records. John P. and Clara Beil had two other children who did not live to 1910, as recorded in the 1910 Cedar River precinct census. 4 “Daisy Mae Morris,” Renton Pioneer Register (Collection of the Renton History Museum). The Beils’ Victorian home still stands at 475 Olympia Ave NE, Renton. 5 “Prominent Pioneer Dies,” Renton Chronicle, 18 Apr 1940, p.5. 6 Tom Monahan, “Renton’s Black Pioneers,” Renton Historical Society & Museum Quarterly (March 2007), 1+. 7 “Answering R.B.B.,” The Ranch, 15 May 1908, p.21. This was in answer to a questioner interested in “The Snoqualmie Idea,” a proposal in which mountain cities would purchase donkey engines and lease them to would-be farmers to clear their lands. As early as the 1880s, observers were lamenting the end of logging in the Puget Sound, but inland trees and land clearing were still seen as opportunities. “Lumbering Interests,” Daily Intelligencer (Seattle), 9 Aug 1881, p.4. 8 George Banderet (1874 – 1951) had already worked for the Maple Valley Shingle Co. as a faller since 1900. He was a member of the eccentric Banderet family that included several visionary famers and South American adventurers. "Road Contract Let," Seattle Times, 22 Apr 1908, p.10. Frederick John Marr (1886 – 1943) was a sawmill loader who lived in Earlington in 1910. 9 Slauson, Renton—From Coal to Jets, p.42. 10 Slauson, Renton—From Coal to Jets, p.42. 11 1920, 1930, 1940 Renton census; WWII Draft Registration Card, 1942; “Mabel Beil Rites Held,” Renton Chronicle, 29 Oct 1970, p.19; “Arthur Elmer [sic] Beil,” Record-Chronicle, 6 Jul 1984, p.C4. Arthur’s actual middle name was “Edmore.” 12 Slauson, Renton—From Coal to Jets, p. 42. Emmon was proud enough of his gas saw that he made sure that a census-taker recorded in 1910 that he was a “wood-sawyer with a gasoline saw.” Brother Bert was also recorded that way. 13 “Beil’s Automatic Gate,” poster, ca. 1915-1916 (RHM# 2017.001.026); Renton Herald, 10 Sep 1915, p.1; Renton Herald, 26 Feb 1916, p.3. Thanks to a recent donation from Diana Morris Postlewait, the Museum now also holds the blueprints for these inventions and the patent model. 14 “Bertie” Beil, “Trolling Spinner,” Patent Application #US1943283A, U.S. Patent Office, accessed at https://patents.google.com/patent/US1943283A/en, 28 Jul 2022. 15 Slauson, Renton—From Coal to Jets, p.43. 16 Renton Herald, 4 Mar 1916, p.3. Nellie Berg was the daughter of two of Kennydale’s earliest settlers John Henry Berg and Julia Spurgeon Berg. 17 1920 San Diego, CA census; 1930 Renton, WA census (as Emmons “Beels”). 18 Renton Herald, 27 May 1916, p.3; 1930 San Francisco, CA census; 1940 Renton census. Bert and Cora lost their first son, Freddie Lee, to colitis in 1913, and their second child was stillborn in 1914. 19 1910, 1920 Renton census; WWI Draft Registration Card, 1917. 20 1930, 1940 Renton census; WWII Draft Registration Card, 1942. 21 1947 Renton City Directory; "11 Meatcutters Finish Training," Seattle Times, 12 Jun 1950, p.12. Orrie W.’s French wife. Claire Quefeulou, also worked as a clerk at the meat market. The two met while Orrie served overseas in WWII. 22 “Shop Window of Forestry,” Seattle Times, 26 May 1940, p.85; “Miss Mary Gordon Weds Kenneth Beil,” Tacoma News-Tribune, 6 Oct 1946, p.18; “Steady Crop of Timber Vital to Tacoma Mills,” Tacoma News-Tribune, 14 Feb 1950, p.71. (and less dangerous) employment looked important as they started their family. Their first child, Dorothy, was born in 1917, followed by daughter Irene, and sons Leonard Wesley and Orrie William. Around this time, Orrie F. began working as a truck driver for lumber mills and the Savage Lumber Co. 20 In the mid-1940s, he made a complete career change, opening Beil’s Meat Market in the Highlands, just as war workers created a readymade set of customers. In 1950 youngest son Orrie W. finished his meatcutter’s training and the business became Beil & Sons Locker Meats at 13209 SE 128th. The elder Orrie worked at the meat market until just a few months before his death in 1952.21 The second generation of Beil sons gradually moved away from the lumber industry as the big trees around Renton passed into history; their commitment was to their Renton home where they had put down roots, not to following the forest. Father John and son Orrie farmed in addition to other work, and all were active in various community organizations. Emmon was a founding member of the Renton Volunteer Fire Department and Orrie was Assistant Fire Chief for the Kennydale Fire Station, Fire District No. 25. Several were active in the Eagles and the Grange, and their wives participated in the Lady Eagles and the Rebekahs. The Beils were Renton community fixtures. But the Beils’ logging involvement did not end with the second generation. Emmon and Nellie Berg Beil’s son Kenneth (1920 – 2005) graduated from Renton High in 1938 and then went right on to the University of Washington’s Forestry School. Kenneth took advantage of every opportunity to build on his family knowledge: he worked as a Forest Service employee during college summers and joined Xi Sigma Pi, the national forestry honor society. After graduating from UW, he served in the U.S. Navy for three years. On his return he plunged into professional forest management, working for the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Forest Service, and finally serving as a principal partner of International Forestry Consultants in Seattle.22 Three generations of the Beil family brought their expertise to bear on Renton’s and then Washington state’s early timber industry. Like many logging operations, the Beils did their best to keep their work all in the family and remained flexible to take advantage of any opportunity. They innovated where they needed to, so that they could help clear the way for the Renton we see today. Beil family, ca. 1915. Front (L-R): Cora, Clara, John, unknown, unknown. Back row: Bert, Emmon, Art, Orrie. (RHM# 2022.009) FALL QUARTERLY, 2022 | 11 MEMBERSHIP FORM Please select a membership level: Individual $30 Student/Senior $20 Family $40 Benefactor $75 Patron $150 Business/Corporate $175 Life membership $750 Basic memberships Sustaining memberships Name: Address: Phone: Payment information Please make checks payable to Renton Historical Society OR call the museum with your credit card information OR scan the QR code to the right and pay online. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation! Your donations help us provide new exhibits and exciting programs. Donation: $ ME M B E R S H I P L E V E L S Ba s i c m e m b e r s h i p s Ty p e An n u a l C o s t B e n e f i t s In d i v i d u a l $3 0 • F r e e a d m i s s i o n t o t h e M u s e u m • F r e e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r s • F r e e a d m i s s i o n t o t h e C u l t u r a l E v e n t s & S p e a k e r P r o g r a m s • I n v i t a t i o n s t o e x h i b i t o p e n i n g s a n d t h e a n n u a l m e e t i n g • 1 5 % d i s c o u n t a t t h e M u s e u m s h o p St u d e n t / S e n i o r $2 0 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p St u d e n t s : a n y o n e w i t h a s t u d e n t I D S e n i o r s : a g e 6 2 + Fa m i l y $4 0 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p p l u s : • F r e e a d m i s s i o n f o r t w o a d u l t s & c h i l d r e n Su s t a i n i n g m e m b e r s h i p s Be n e f a c t o r $7 5 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p p l u s : • a f i f t h q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r o n l y f o r S u s t a t i n i n g M e m b e r s • 2 f r e e v i s i t o r p a s s e s • R H M p i n • R e c o g n i t i o n i n t h e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r Pa t r o n $1 5 0 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p p l u s : • a f i f t h q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r o n l y f o r S u s t a t i n i n g M e m b e r s • 5 f r e e v i s i t o r p a s s e s • R H M p i n • 1 f r e e d i g i t a l i m a g e * ( a n n u a l l y ) • I n v i t a t i o n t o a “ B e h i n d t h e S c e n e s ” e v e n t • T h a n k y o u c a r d a n d r e c o g n i t i o n i n t h e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r Bu s i n e s s / C o r p o r a t e $1 7 5 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p , t h e b e n e f i t s o f a Pa t r o n m e m b e r s h i p , p l u s : • O n e t i m e 2 0 % d i s c o u n t o n r o o m r e n t a l Li f e $7 5 0 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p p l u s : • a f i f t h q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r o n l y f o r S u s t a t i n i n g M e m b e r s • 5 f r e e v i s i t o r p a s s e s • R H M p i n • 5 f r e e d i g i t a l i m a g e s * ( l i f e t i m e ) • I n v i t a t i o n t o a “ B e h i n d t h e S c e n e s ” e v e n t • O n e t i m e 2 0 % d i s c o u n t o n r o o m r e n t a l • T h a n k y o u c a r d a n d r e c o g n i t i o n i n t h e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r *C o v e r s t h e $ 1 5 u s e f e e p e r i m a g e . I t d o e s n o t c o v e r t h e r i g h t s f e e w h i c h i s c h a r g e d s e p a r a t e l y . Renton History Museum 235 Mill Avenue South Renton, WA 98057 Phone: 425.255.2330 Fax: 425.255.1570 rentonhistory.org Total: $ R enton has a unique relationship with the sky. Beginning with little Bryn Mawr Airfield in 1922, Rentonites have been confidently putting planes up in the air and fearfully watching the sky for invaders (of human and non-human origin), all of which makes our city a microcosm of America in the aviation age. Whether successful—1119 B-29 bombers produced during WWII—or unsuccessful—Wiley Post and Will ill-fated 1935 attempt to fly over Siberia— Renton’s relationship to the air has made us modern, innovative, and forward- looking. Look! Up in the Sky! explores the many stories of Rentonites aspiring to flight (and we leave out the kryptonite). Exhibit Opens JANUARY 2023 LOOK! UP IN THE SKY! RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM 235 Mill Ave. S Renton, WA 98057 Poster for Beil's Automatic Gate, ca. 1915 (RHM# 2017.001.026)