HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012 Issue 2 - The Alura Brown Cutler StoryDuwamish Journey
Currently on
Exhibit at RHM.
President’s Report
by Sandra Meyer,
Board President.
Collection Report
by Sarah Samson,
Collection Manager.
Museum Report
by Elizabeth P.
Stewart, Director.2 4 83
“A bird was calling and calling ‘a-lu-ra, a-lu-ra ’”
THE ALURA BROWN
CUTLER STORY
by Sarah Samson
I n December 2011 the Museum received an amazing
donation. Four descendents of Capt. Robert Wilcox Brown
travelled to Renton to donate two of Alura Brown Cutler’s
journals. Dating 1873-1878 and 1887-1898, the journals offer a
firsthand glimpse into the life of the area in the late 1800s. Alura
was the sixth daughter of Robert Brown, a whaler and rancher
who travelled the world before he became one of the first white
settlers in the Renton area. He settled in late 1870 on an existing
ranch along the Cedar River where present-day Liberty Park is
located. The following is the second of a two-part account of the
Brown family.
FROM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS TO RENTON
Leaving behind a string of misfortunes, Capt. Robert Wilcox
Brown arrived in the Pacific Northwest and purchased the Daniel
Pierce homestead, known as the Brook Farm. The Brook Farm
was nestled on the northern bank of the Cedar River, very near
the burgeoning town that would later become Renton. Robert
immediately set about making the homestead suitable for his
family. He had four young men working for him, at least two of
whom sailed with him from the Sandwich Islands.1
Continued on page 5
Also In This Issue...
The Klikitat, the ship
captained by Roswell Cutler
and often the floating home of
Alura Brown Cutler.
RENTON HISTORICALSOCIETY & MUSEUM
Summer
June 2012
Volume 43
Number 2QUARTERLY
2 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
CURRENT EXHIBIT
TITLE GOES HERE
DUWAMISH JOURNEY WITH
JOHNNY MOSES
J ohnny Moses, a Tulalip Native American, was raised in the remote Nuu-chah-nulth village
of Ohiat on the west coast of Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. He is part Duwamish and is a
member of other tribes. He is fluent in eight native Northwest languages. Johnny is a visual
artist, master storyteller, oral historian, traditional healer, and respected spiritual leader. The Renton
History Museum is proud to present the very personal and rarely displayed drawings of Coast
Salish Native American life by Johnny Moses.
From
JUNE
12
To
AUGUST
24
You will notice that our
quarterly newsletter has a
fresh new look. While we
loved the old newsletter, we
all agreed that it was time
for a change to go along
with our Museum Master
Plan. Graphic designer Wil
Samson worked with a small
committee of Board members
and staff to develop this
slightly more contemporary
format. Wil will also be
taking over the regular
design duties on a volunteer
basis, for which we are very
thankful. Susie Bressan has
been our dedicated newsletter
designer for many years,
and we thank her for putting
up with late submissions,
historic photos, and those
crazy footnotes. We believe
this format will make it easier
for you to find the Museum
news and information you
are looking for. We hope you
enjoy the new style. Next
stop: e-newsletter!
OUR NEW LOOK!CONGRATULATIONS TO
CECELIA MAJOR
Cecelia Carey Major
celebrated her 100th birthday
in March. She has been a
Life Member of the Renton
Historical Society since 1986
and is a former volunteer for
the museum. At the Renton
High School Centennial in
2010, it was determined that
she is the school’s oldest
living graduate. Cecelia
was part of the graduating
class of 55 students in 1930.
During her senior year at
RHS she was editor of the
school newspaper, president
of the Torch Honor Society,
and was voted “Popularity
Princess.”
LIKE US ON
FACEBOOK
&
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER
SUMMER QUARTERLY, 2012 | 3
RENTON HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Wil Samson
Graphic Design & Layout
Daisy Ward
Text Input & Copy Editor
Karl Hurst
City of Renton Print &
Mail Services
RENTON HISTORICAL
SOCIETY BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
Sandra Meyer, President
Theresa Clymer, Vice President
Phyllis Hunt, Treasurer
Elizabeth P. Stewart, Secretary
Lay Chan, 2012
Susie Bressan, 2012
Ruth Capriles, 2012
Andy Sparks, 2013
Larry Sleeth, 2013
Vicki Jo Utterstrom, 2014
Anne Melton, 2014
Alexis Madison, 2014
Shasta McKinley, 2014
Terri Briere, City Liaison
MUSEUM STAFF
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Museum Director
Sarah Samson
Collection Manager
Dorota Rahn
Education & Volunteer
Coordinator
Daisy Ward,
Administrative Assistant
Pearl Jacobson
Volunteer Registrar
RENTON
HISTORY MUSEUM
235 MILL AVE. S
RENTON, WA 98057
P (425) 255-2330
F (425) 255-1570
HOURS:
Tuseday - Saturday
10:00am - 4:00pm
ADMISSION:
$3 (Adult)
$1 (Child)
MUSEUM REPORT
QUARTERLY
SUMMER 2012
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Director
H istory shows us that change is a constant of life; as
much as we like to think back on the “good old days,”
in truth they were usually very brief in duration. One
exception to this has been our Administrative Assistant Daisy
Ward. Daisy has been with the Museum for almost 17 years, and
at 80 years old she has decided to retire.
Her retirement feels like the end of an era for the
Renton History Museum. When Daisy first came as a secretary
as part of an AARP training program, the Museum was run by
volunteers. She had had secretarial training, but now she was re-
entering the workforce smack in the middle of the computer age,
and surrounded by people more passionate about doing research
and caring for collections than keeping track of members or
donations.
Daisy’s task then was to pull together the efforts of
these dedicated volunteers—Stan and RoseMary Greene, Ethel
Telban, Louis George, and others—and make them harmonize as
a fully functioning museum. All these years later, Daisy is still
the stable center of the turning wheel that is the Renton History
Museum; while the rest of us are spinning round, she is keeping
everything steady and smoothly functioning.
Daisy has adapted to two Directors and paid staff, a
computerized collections database, and many new ideas about
what a Museum should be and should do. Through all these
changes, Daisy has been unfailingly cheerful, with a can-do
spirit we all want to emulate. We have never heard her say “I
can’t do that” or “that’s not the way we do things here.” She
has been the face of the Museum for so many members and
volunteers, remembering their names and family connections.
And, although she’s too modest to admit it, she has become so
expert at Renton history that she is a boon to every researcher.
Daisy has her own history, with joys and sorrows,
that we hope she will share in an oral interview someday. A
Montanan by birth, Daisy came to Renton shortly after WWII;
she remembers when City Hall was on the present site of
Community Center, and she recalls her first Renton home in
wartime housing. She raised three beautiful daughters here—
Ruth, Janice, and Nancy—and now has two sons-in-law, Ralph
and Bill, and two grandsons, Nick and Brennan.
We will miss having Daisy with us at the Museum, but
we will enjoy knowing that she’s spending time with her family,
her friends, her church group, and her dog and cat, without
worrying about us. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you
for your service, Daisy—everyone who has worked with you is
richer for the experience.
by Elizabeth P. Stewart,
Museum Director
Daisy & Louise George.
Daisy & her family.
4 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
This winter and spring the Historical Society and Museum have
continued to collaborate on producing programs and activities,
with the Board of the Historical Society focusing on raising the
profile of the Museum in the community. The Society continues
participating in community activities, most recently staffing a
booth at the Renton Piazza Spring Festival and preparing for
our Annual Members Meeting, the Farmers Market, Renton
River Days, and neighborhood picnics. Master Plan briefings for
community leaders are continuing and our first members’ survey
is about to be launched.
In addition, we’ve selected a recipient for the George
and Annie Lewis Custer Award for Heritage Citizenship. We
have also interviewed and selected new trustees to serve on the
Board. Our prospective trustees are all Renton residents, have
an interest in history and/or event planning, and bring other
management skills to the Board. The Custer Award and the new
trustees will be announced at the Annual Members Meeting on
June 6. Please mark your calendar to join us!
As these changes take place we have trustees moving
into new positions of leadership. Alexis Madison will be serving
as both Membership and Endowment Committee Chair. Anne
Melton recently started as the Museum Committee Chair. Also
at the June Members Meeting we will be saying goodbye to
outgoing trustees Lay Chan, Endowment Chair for the past two
years, and Betty Childers, who served as our Fundraising/Events
Committee Co-Chair. While we know trustees may choose to
move on after their three-year term is completed, we hope they
all remember their work on the Board with great satisfaction.
We also hope they remain Museum supporters.
I will be stepping down as President of the Historical
Society in June, and Theresa Clymer, Vice President of the
Society for the past two years, has agreed to take on the
Presidency. Andy Sparks, past Membership Committee Chair,
has agreed to serve as our new Vice President. As for me, I
intend on focusing my efforts toward moving our pre-capital
campaign forward so that once we do solicit contributions,
contributors will know without hesitation what we are doing
and how we will be phasing the plan. Although we are moving
forward with the Master Plan, there are important aspects
waiting for adequate funds.
Thank you all for supporting the Museum and
participating whenever you can. We all love this little gem
and intend to make it more relevant to our ever increasing and
diverse community.
by Sandra Meyer, President
Sandra Meyer
President
UPCOMING
EVENTS
RENTON HISTORICAL
SOCIETY ANNUAL
MEETING
June 6
6:00-8:00pm
Join members and prospective
members for a barbeque
get-together, short business
meeting, and awards ceremony.
RENTON RIVER DAYS
July 27-29
Visit us at our booth in Liberty
Park for children’s activities,
and come to the Museum all
week for free!
5TH ANNUAL BENEFIT
DINNER & AUCTION
October 24
5:30 - 9:00pm
Support Renton’s past and
promising future! Tickets are
$40 per person. See page 11 for
more information.
Historical Society VP Theresa
Clymer talks to festival-goers at the
Spring Festival in May.
SUMMER QUARTERLY, 2012 | 5
In late July Charlotte arrived with all of the children except the
oldest two, Annie and Charlotte, who stayed behind with their
husbands. The children quickly settled in and began attending
school. There were so few people in the area at that time that
only five families had children of school age. They all attended
school together at the Christian Clymer homestead, sometimes
crossing a Duwamish fishing weir over the Cedar River to get to
school.2
“EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD TODAY”
The sixth child of Robert and Charlotte was named Alura Eliza
Brown. She began keeping a journal on her eighteenth birthday,
just over two years after she came to live at Brook Farm. Alura’s
name originated on her father’s side of the family. Her ancestors
were in the first group of white colonists in Connecticut. When
the first baby was born there, the mother heard a bird “calling
‘a-lu-ra, a-lu-ra’”; beginning a family tradition, the mother
named her daughter “Alura.” 3 Alura lived at Brook Farm from
1871 until 1878. Her journal documents her and her family’s
lives during this time period.
After the family’s arrival, Brook Farm grew to include
several buildings, a herd of dairy cattle, an orchard, pigs, and
chickens. Daughter Alura described looking down on the farm
THE ALURA BROWN
CUTLER STORY
Continued from page 1
Alura Eliza Brown, age 16, ca.
1871. (Photo courtesy of Ruth
Rice and Michael Rice.)
Dairy cows on the Brook Farm, 1883 (RHM# 41.0065)
6 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
from a nearby hill: “The white green-blinded house nestling
among the fruit-laden orchard looked pleasant and home-like.
I saw the lazy cattle sauntering over the pastures in search
of the late grasses.”4 In addition to farming, Robert, ever the
entrepreneur, built a saw mill on the Cedar River. Sometime
between 1871 and 1874, however, Robert’s bad luck found the
family again and the Cedar River flooded and destroyed the mill.
Robert continued farming, and by 1874 became convinced
there were mineable coal deposits under his land. The Renton
Coal Mine was already in operation on the hill above the farm
(Renton Hill) and Robert prospected his own land relentlessly
for three years, driving the family deep into debt. “Father is still
prospecting. O, when will he give it up!” lamented Alura. “It is
such an expense, and all for an uncertainty.” The prospecting
only stopped when Robert’s brother, Theophilus Brown, came
to town in 1877. Theophilus paid off Robert’s debts by making
deals that included forcing the family to move out of the big
house on the farm in order to rent it out.5
Alura accepted an offer to teach school in Maple Valley
during the summer of 1887. She used a pony to ride the fifteen
miles home on the weekends. During the week she stayed with
the families of her students, often in smaller homes than she was
used to. “I was rather surprised to find we all had to sleep in one
Beth Cutler, Roswell Cutler,
and Ruth Cutler, ca 1898.
(Photo courtesy of Ruth Rice
and Michael Rice.)
SUMMER QUARTERLY, 2012 | 7
room… The man of the house ‘turned in’ while we ‘wimen [sic]
folks’ went out or looked the ‘tother’ way.”6 In August, Alura
turned 22. She was still single and had been under pressure for
some time to find a suitable husband. She rebelled against these
expectations, writing in her journal, “Well, I am twenty-two.
Think of it. All my sisters were married before that, that are
married, and Edie will be. And here I am and not a beau. It is my
own fault, I know, and am willing to let it be so.”7
“I WAS MEANT TO BE A SAILOR’S WIFE”
The following summer, Alura found herself on board the Rainier
with her mother Charlotte and nephew Robert en route to the
Sandwich Islands. Believing that a change in climate would aid
Charlotte’s declining health, the little trio set out with only a
week’s notice. The trip was Alura’s first journey home in seven
years and she took to the sea again with great anticipation. “Oh,
this grand old ocean. How I love it,” Alura wrote. “I was meant
to be a sailor’s wife.”8 They stayed the whole summer, visiting
family and friends and staying mostly with Alura’s older sisters,
Annie and Charlotte.
Leaving her mother behind, Alura and nephew Robert
boarded the Camden to head back to Renton in September
1878. In her journal Alura mentions having conversations with
a “Mr. Cutler,” the first mate on the ship.9 Her journal abruptly
ends two entries later, leaving the course of her courtship a
mystery. Alura’s granddaughter, Ruth Rice, recalls that in 1936
when Alura knew she was dying of cancer, she removed and
burned the rest of the journal. Mrs. Rice surmised that those
pages contained Alura’s feelings about Mr. Cutler and were too
personal for others to read after her death.
Charlotte Brown returned to Renton and died on July
11, 1879. Alura and Roswell Cutler were married a few months
later, on November 12, 1879, at Brook Farm. Roswell became
a captain soon after and Alura alternated between sailing with
him and staying around the Seattle area with family or in rentals.
They had three children: Ruth, Gilbert (stillborn), and Alura
Elizabeth (called Beth). Ruth and Beth always accompanied their
mother when she accompanied Roswell onboard the Klikitat as it
sailed to Hawaii, San Francisco, and back to Seattle.
Alura’s second journal picks up well into their
marriage. She wrote in it much more sporadically than the first
journal with sometimes more than a year between entries. Most
of Alura’s journal entries during these years describe where she
was, amusing things her daughters did, and the state of health of
her various family members.
Continued on page 10
Roswell and Alura Cutler in
their cabin aboard the Klikitat.
(Photo courtesy of Ruth Rice
and Michael Rice.)
8 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
A lmost one year ago, an obscure
piece of agricultural history found
a new home at the Renton History
Museum. This large odd-looking contraption,
the “Magic Egg Cleaner,” was invented and
patented in Renton by the National Poultry
Equipment Company in the mid-1930s. The
machine features two large rotating cylinders
that are covered with small loops of abrasive
paper. The eggs ran through the machine on
a conveyor belt and the abrasive paper buffed
the dirt off the surface of the eggs.
Patent No. 2,018,967 notes that the Magic Egg Cleaner is “a
machine which will clean eggs by abrasive action, without the
use of any liquid, and without the application of force sufficient
to break, check, or in any way injure the egg, and which will
accomplish this end without attention on the part of an operator
other than to position the eggs and to remove them when they
are cleaned.” The patent records place the head office of the
company at 615 Wells St. N. in Renton.
The National Poultry Equipment Company is still in
existence and is currently based in Osage, Iowa. Their website
states that brothers Clyde and Walter Powell designed and built
COLLECTION
REPORT
the machine. The patents, however, were awarded to a team of
three men: John E. Powell (the brothers’ father), and father and
son team Edward E. Miller and Vere C. Miller. Census records
indicate that all the men besides Vere Miller had experience on
farms, though he probably grew up on one. All three Powells had
experience with mechanics and machinery.
After the invention of the Magic Egg Cleaner, a
company salesman sold the Powell Brothers on the idea of
using water to clean eggs. At the time, the use of water was
not approved by the USDA as an egg cleaning method. The
USDA later changed the rules and the Aquamagic Egg Cleaner
became a popular seller for the company. Certain models of the
Aquamagic also included candling and grading functions.
The Museum’s Magic Egg Cleaner was found in the
basement of a farm near Renton by Big Haul, a junk removal
company in Bellevue. They thought the machine was far too
interesting to sell for scrap metal and, thankfully, they donated it
to the Museum.
by Sarah Samson,
Collection Manager
Magic Egg Cleaner, ca 1938. Large rotating cylinders covered with loops of abrasive paper are hidden beneath the lid. (RHM#2011.028.001)
A close-up of the abrasive paper loops covering the rotating cylinders.
Sarah Samson
Collection Manager
SUMMER QUARTERLY, 2012 | 9
MATCHING GIFT CONTRIBUTION
Microsoft Matching Gift Program
(matching volunteer hours of Steven Thomas)
GENERAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Judith Peters
Elaine Wells
Sally Rochelle
GENERAL CONTRIBUTIONS
$100 AND OVER
Sandra & Rex Meyer
Norman & Carol Abrahamson
NEW MEMBERSHIPS
Alex & Mindy Gillespie
Kevin Poole & Bryce Miller
Virginia Hartman
Judith Peters
MEMORIAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
February 15 - May 15
Robert Bianco
Betty Sipila
Joe Bridgeman
Wendell & Cleo
Forgaard
Conrad Brodie
Robert & Margaret
Wicks; Wendell &
Cleo Forgaard
Craig R. Callen
Wendell & Cleo
Forgaard
Mary Chamblin
Louise George,
Gloria Duffey &
Florence Delaurenti
Karen Irene Delaurenti
Louise George,
Gloria Duffey, &
Florence Delaurenti
Kathleen McCann
Duncalf
Wendell & Cleo
Forgaard
Bruce Edmonds
Ron & Sharon Clymer
Aaron Goodwin
Patricia Sell &
Joyce Peterson
Charles Goodwin
Patricia Sell &
Joyce Peterson;
Judith Peters;
Ruth & Fred Balstar
Daisy Goodwin
Patricia Sell &
Joyce Peterson
Donald Goodwin
K. Lorayne Goodwin;
Patricia Sell &
Joyce Peterson
Eva Goodwin
Patricia Sell &
Joyce Peterson
Lorraine Goodwin
Patricia Sell &
Joyce Peterson
Robin Goodwin
Patricia Sell &
Joyce Peterson
Kristine Bergquist Groth
Greg & Carrie
Bergquist
William J. Henry, Jr.
Wendell & Cleo
Forgaard
Marvin D. Hurtgen
Sarah Jane Hisey;
Don & Carmel
Camerini;
Betty Sipila;
Wendell & Cleo
Forgaard
Janice Lehman
Betty Sipila
Lois Donckers Matthai
Greg & Carrie
Bergquist
Bertha Righi Miller
Christine Grubesic;
An anonymous donor
Ivan Nass
Greg & Carrie
Bergquist;
Inez Peterson
Pauline O’Dell
Al & Shirley
Armstrong
Richard O’Dell
Al & Shirley
Armstrong
Armand Pelletier
Greg & Carrie
Bergquist
Melvin Simpson
George & Frances
Subic
MEMORIAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $100 OR MORE
James A. Toman
Olympe Babe Toman
Henry, Carolina, &
Ernie Tonda
Mario Tonda
Zena Feltrin Cochran
Shirley Moretti;
Olympe Babe Toman
David C. Dobson
Karen Jo Dobson
Martha O. Dobson
Karen Jo Dobson
Arthur R. Kenyon
Karen Jo Dobson
Karen Delaurenti
Craig Preston
IN-KIND DONATIONS
Pritchard Design
Wil Samson Design
CORRECTION OF DOBSON MEMORIAL
Listed in the February 1995 Quarterly:
The memorial contribution made in 1995 by John W.
Dobson was in memory of his youngest brother DAVID
C. DOBSON and their parents THOMAS & GRACE C.
DOBSON.
10 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
Occasionally, though, she wrote of historic events. She described
the Great Seattle Fire, for example: “Seattle has gone through a
dreadful fire and there are thousands without food or shelter or
would be but for the timely help of her sister cities. Thursday last
a fire broke out on front street [sic] and did not rest until it had
burned every business house in Seattle… I never saw a grander
sight than that fire at about 8 P.M. The streets were a sight with
fleeing people with what household goods they could save and
things from the stores and such. It was a sad sight and full of
excitement.” 10
Alura also makes note through the years of her father’s
estrangement from the rest of the family. In late 1889 eighty-
year-old Robert married the widow Margaret Crosby, his son
Theophilus’ mother-in-law. Though their father had been a
widower for ten years, Alura and her sisters did not approve of
the union. By early 1891 Robert had separated from his new
wife and was living on Whidbey Island.11 Later that year the
children collectively sued Robert after he attempted to sell all
the Renton property without their consent.12 They dropped the
lawsuit a short time later but hard feelings remained. Robert died
at his son Tom’s house in August 1894 and Alura’s sister Mary
refused to allow their father to be buried in Seattle’s Lakeview
Cemetery next to their mother. The rest of the children did not
agree with Mary, but apparently had no choice but to bury their
father by himself in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Renton.13
Alura continued going to sea and taking care of her
daughters. Sadness found their small family in January 1899
when oldest daughter Ruth died of typhoid fever at age 16 while
Roswell was away at sea. Alura’s diary ends almost exactly a
year before Ruth died and as far as we know she never again
kept a journal. She continued sailing with her husband into the
1900s. Roswell died in Seattle in 1916 and Alura eventually
moved in with her daughter Beth in Utah where she resided until
her death September 14, 1936.
POSTSCRIPT
The rich history of the Brown family is well documented, but it
comes alive in the pages of Alura’s journals. Alura’s first person
narrative about her family and her life in Renton is a treasure and
the Renton History Museum is proud to be the caretaker. The
author would like to thank Ruth Rice, Michael Rice, and Larry
Miller for their donation and assistance in researching the Brown
family.
(ENDNOTES)
1 Washington Territorial Census, King County, 25 Jul 1871, 25.
2 Angie Burt Bowden, Early Schools of Washington Territory, (Seattle: Lowman
and Hanford Company, 1935), 211.
3 Eunice A. Spencer, “The History of Captain Robert W. Brown Who came to
Cedar River in 1870 From Hawaii,” unpublished article, 5 November 1961, 1.
4 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 1, vertical file Captain Robert Brown,
Renton History Museum, 2.
5 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 1, vertical file Captain Robert Brown,
Renton History Museum, 23.
6 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 1, vertical file Captain Robert Brown,
Renton History Museum, 18.
7 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 1, vertical file Captain Robert Brown,
Renton History Museum, 20.
8 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 1, vertical file Captain Robert Brown,
Renton History Museum, 26.
9 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 1, vertical file Captain Robert Brown,
Renton History Museum, 33.
10 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 2, vertical file Captain Robert
Brown, Renton History Museum, 25.
11 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 2, vertical file Captain Robert
Brown, Renton History Museum, 34.
12 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 2, vertical file Captain Robert
Brown, Renton History Museum, 34.
13 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 2, vertical file Captain Robert
Brown, Renton History Museum, 43.
Roswell Cutler’s ship, Klikitat, wrecked off the coast of Hawaii in 1912. On November 9, the
Klikitat was reported as being stranded at Honlii Point. It is unclear whether Roswell was still
captain of the vessel when it wrecked. We know that he sailed at least until 1910 (as he is listed as
a “sea kaptain” in the census of that year), but we do not know exactly when he retired. Roswell
Cutler died in Seattle on December 28, 1916.
Wreck of the barkentine Klikitat,
1912. (Courtesy of University of
Washington Libraries, Special
Collections, UW31175.)
SUMMER QUARTERLY, 2012 | 11
5TH ANNUAL RENTON HISTORICAL
SOCIETY BENEFIT DINNER AND
SILENT AUCTION
G et your tickets now for the Annual Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction on Wednesday,
October 24, 2012 at the Renton Senior Activity Center. The event will feature a silent
auction, fantastic meal, entertainment, and will be hosted by an emcee. Please support the
Renton History Museum by celebrating Renton’s past and promising future! Tickets are $40 per
person or $300 for a table of eight. Call the Museum at 425.255.2330 to reserve your space now!
On
OCTOBER
24
At
5:30 PM
Email: estewart@rentonwa.gov
RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
235 Mill Ave. S
Renton, WA 98057
John Sedlacek Confectionery, summer 1909. Located on the north side of Walla Walla (now Houser) between Wells and Main. (RHM# 2006.043.002b)
IN HINDSIGHT...