HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 Issue 1 - Early Empire, the Story of the Smithers FamilyDeep Roots
currently on Exhibit
at RHM.
President’s Report
by Theresa Clymer,
Board President.
Visitor Experience
Report by Colleen
Lenahan.
Museum Report
by Elizabeth P.
Stewart, Director.
For an untold number of years, the Duwamish
called the land now known as Renton home. But
that began to change with the promise of free land
made by the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850. Whites
streamed into the Pacific Northwest and the first white
man claimed a piece of Renton as his own. The first
whites in Renton didn’t leave many traces; we have to
piece their stories together from censuses, court records,
and second-hand family legends. The names Tobin,
Smithers, and Thorne are still present in Renton as street
and building names. Who were these people and why were
they here? What was life like for them 160 years ago?
“THE WONDERS OF THE PUGET SOUND”
Henry Tobin’s arrival in the Pacific Northwest marked
the beginning of vast change for the land and inhabitants
of the area just south of Lake Washington. Tobin,
hearing “of the wonders of the Puget Sound,” arrived in
Washington Territory in April 1853 after leaving his wife
Also In This Issue...
RENTON HISTORICALSOCIETY & MUSEUM
Spring
March 2014
Volume 45
Number 1
Continued on page 5
2 4 83
Captain Burrows Summer
and Winter Pleasure Resort,
view looking north into
Lake Washington, ca. 1900-
1910. (RHM# 1990.085.3048)
QUARTERLY
EARLY EMPIRE:
The Story of the Smithers Family
by Sarah Samson
2 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
CURRENT EXHIBIT
TITLE GOES HERE
DEEP ROOTS: STUDENTS EXPLORE
RENTON FAMILIES
The Museum’s fourth collaboration with Renton High School takes center stage beginning in
February 2014. Sophomore Honors English students, under the direction of teachers Derek
Smith and Breanne Lawson, visited the Museum three times in October to learn and prepare
for this exhibit. Deep Roots compares Renton High sophomores’ family experiences to those of
Renton’s historic families. The exhibit features photographs from the Museum’s collection as well
as the students’ own family portraits. Join us to see how students weave together the stories of today
with the stories of the past!
From
FEBRUARY
26
To
MAY
26
NEW EXHIBIT WILL FOCUS
ON RENTON’S WOMEN
Since the beginning of
our country, women have
been fighting for equal
representation alongside
their male counterparts. It
has taken bold, confident
women to blaze a trail for
later generations, each one
expanding what society
deems to be “acceptable”
womanly pursuits. Pioneers,
Professionals, and
Politicians: Groundbreaking
Women from Renton’s
Past (June 3 – August 30,
2014) uses historic objects
and photographs from the
Museum’s collection to tell
MILT SWANSON’S
LEGACY
Newcastle historian Ernest
Milton “Milt” Swanson
died on January 20, 2014,
at the age of 95. Milt was a
founding member and past
President of the Newcastle
Historical Society, a
preservationist for the
Newcastle Cemetery, and a
collector and documenter
of all things relating to
Newcastle coal mining.
Milt was unfailingly
generous in sharing what
he knew about Newcastle’s
past, which was
considerable; he regularly
spoke with students, led
tours of Newcastle mining
sites, and worked with
volunteers and staff of
other historical societies,
including this one. His
passion for heritage will
live on through all those
he inspired.
the story of how Renton’s
women, both individuals and
groups, helped make it the
place it is today. While we
cannot honor all of Renton’s
influential women, we hope
to capture the revolutionary
spirit that unites them.
SPRING QUARTERLY, 2014 | 3
MUSEUM REPORT
QUARTERLY
Spring 2014
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Director
The month just past, February, has been designated Black
History Month since the 1960s and the Museum has
previously commemorated it with a variety of speakers
about Harriet Tubman, slavery in the Pacific Northwest, race
riots during WWII, the Civil Rights Movement, and more. This
year we decided to commemorate Black History Month with
something a little different: a musical performance by Global
Heat that incorporated spoken word, rap, hip hop, and, yes,
breakdancing in the Museum. The audience’s overwhelmingly
positive response made us think more deeply about what
Renton’s inclusive history really looks like.
Global Heat’s performance used music to explore
issues that divide us and ones that bring us together. MC Draze
explained their performance to a mostly white audience: what
an “MC” is and what they do, how breakdancing started, and
most importantly, why some of us may find rap and hip hop
music intimidating or scary. If we think it’s hostile and hard to
listen to, Draze said, it’s because the young people who sing or
speak it are “burning” with the desire to make themselves heard
to a world that sometimes seems to ignore them. And, indeed,
he and other rappers in the group shared very moving songs
such as “We All Miss Our Fathers,” about how much all kids
need their fathers, and “The Hood Ain’t the Same,” about how
gentrification impacts low income people of all races. Other
songs, like “Contact” and “Water on the Moon,” were beautiful
interpretations of the values we all share: the need for human
interaction and understanding.
As a group, the audience discussed Black History
Month and what its purpose is. One visitor wondered aloud,
“why do we need a special month for African Americans?” and
another asked why Black history isn’t better incorporated into
American history all year round. Together the audience came
up with a list of reasons to commemorate African American
history: to acknowledge people whose contributions may have
been ignored, to create a more accurate and inclusive American
history, to provide historical role models for young people, and
many more.
With over fifty people in attendance, the Global
Heat performance was one of the Museum’s most successful
programs. In all other measures, too, this Black History Month
program was off the charts. One attendee called it “a wonderful
cultural event—bridging the gaps between generations, color,
culture.” If the Renton History Museum can bridge those gaps
and educate about history, we have done our jobs well.
by Elizabeth P. Stewart,
Museum Director
Draze in “The Hood Ain’t the
Same”: “When you gut my
community, it’s hard to build a
legacy.”
RENTON HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Sarah Samson
Graphic Design & Layout
Karl Hurst
City of Renton Print &
Mail Services
RENTON HISTORICAL
SOCIETY BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
Theresa Clymer, President
Andy Sparks, Vice President
Laura Clawson, Treasurer
Elizabeth P. Stewart, Secretary
Vicki Jo Utterstrom, 2014
Alexis Madison, 2014
Sandra Meyer, 2015
Stefanie McIrvin, 2015
Susie Bressan, 2015
Alice Stenstrom, 2016
Lisa Wivag, 2016
Amy Rayl, 2016
Meris Mullaley, 2016
Terri Briere, City Liaison
MUSEUM STAFF
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Museum Director
Sarah Samson
Collection Manager
Colleen Lenahan
Visitor Experience
Coordinator
Pearl Jacobson
Volunteer Registrar
RENTON
HISTORY MUSEUM
235 MILL AVE. S
RENTON, WA 98057
P (425) 255-2330
F (425) 255-1570
HOURS:
Tuesday - Saturday
10:00am - 4:00pm
ADMISSION:
$3 (Adult)
$1 (Child)
Alejandro breakdances in the
Museum.
4 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
The Museum’s Board of Trustees has been working
hard as usual during the past several months with a
focus on re-drafting the Renton Historical Society’s
By-Laws. This activity was our effort to help refresh the
level of understanding and to strengthen the overall function
and efficiency of the Board. During this process the Board
also revised our committee structure. The Board now
works in four main committees in addition to the Executive
Committee. These committees are: Board Development,
Outreach, Events and Fundraising, and Finance. We have
put four months of energy and effort into these changes
which we are confident will result in serving the Historical
Society more efficiently and will improve our level of
effectiveness to the greater community.
The Board continues to look for ways in which
they can be supportive of the efforts of the Museum and the
Historical Society. In a very generous agreement the trustees
have pledged to each donate a monetary gift annually to the
museum above the required membership dues. An annual
cash gift is standard operating procedure for most nonprofit
Boards, and it will help provide a floor of support for
Museum operations. In addition to this worthwhile gift, the
trustees have made it a priority to attend as many museum
functions and activities as they can. This would be above the
monthly Board Meeting and Committee Meetings, as well
as all the committee hours donated.
As you can see, the Museum Board is truly a
giving group of people who care about our Renton History
Museum. I am very grateful to work with this caring group
and with the dedicated Museum staff. It makes my position
as Board President most enjoyable.
If you are interested becoming a member of our
Board, please contact the Museum for information. We
currently have a few positions open and waiting to be filled.
We especially need those who may have some background
in law and/or fundraising, and we are always interested in
those who want to give back to their community. Also, if
you are interested in attending a Board Meeting, they are
always open to the public. Board meetings are held at 5:30
pm on the fourth Tuesday of the month; please call ahead
for the location. Come visit and see what new things are
happening here.
by Theresa Clymer, President
Theresa Clymer
President
UPCOMING
EVENTS
DEEP ROOTS AND
GOOD VIBES: FAMILIES,
COMMUNITY, AND MUSIC
OF THE PAST 150 YEARS
May 22
5:30-7:30pm
Learn about how families
today aren’t so different from
those of Renton’s history while
being serenaded with musical
selections from the past and
present performed by local
high school students.
INK-STAINED AMAZONS
AND CINEMATIC
WARRIORS: SUPERWOMEN
IN MODERN MYTHOLOGY
June 10
5:30-7:30pm
Author Jennifer Stuller’s
program on pop culture
women examines women’s
representations in media and
women’s roles as media makers.
Trustees help the public learn
more about the Museum.
RENTON HISTORY
MUSEUM OPEN HOUSE
May 17
10:00-4:00pm
Enjoy a turbo-charged free
third Saturday: docent tours all
day and hands-on activities for
all ages!
Trustees get to exercise their
creativity at Museum events.
SPRING QUARTERLY, 2014 | 5
and baby boy in Maine.1 He scouted the area, and by
November, Tobin obtained two adjoining land donation
claims covering 318 acres at the confluence of the Black
and Cedar Rivers.2 Tobin immediately partnered with
other early white settlers Dr. R. H. Bigelow, Obadiah
Eaton, and Joseph Fanjoy to form the Duwamish
Coal Company in response to the discovery of coal
on Bigelow’s land.3 In order to supply timber for the
coal mine, Tobin, Eaton, and Fanjoy built a dam and
sawmill on the Black River.4
Once established, Tobin sent for his wife
Diana and their young son Charles. Twenty-six-year-
old Diana Gilman Tobin left Maine sometime in 1855
and headed west with her young son in tow.5 They
travelled on a ship and over the Isthmus of Panama
and finally, in June 1856, the weary travelers arrived
in Seattle.6 Their family reunion was not happy; Tobin
was seriously ill and Native Americans had burned his
sawmill to the ground during the Indian Wars of 1855.7
It is not clear if Tobin was living on his claim when
Diana arrived or if he was in Seattle. It seems unlikely
Continued from page 1
EARLY EMPIRE:
The Story of the Smithers Family
Smithers’ Landing on the
Black River, ca. 1880. Several
unidentified people float
in a Duwamish-style canoe.
(RHM# 1990.054.3150)
Cover photo:
Portraits of Erasmus and Diana
Smithers, ca. 1870 and ca. 1890,
respectively.
6 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
his associates would have left him unaided. His illness
progressed quickly and by August, Diana was a widow
all alone with her young son in an unfamiliar land.
“ONE OF THE VENTURESOME PIONEERS OF THE
NORTH WEST”
Erasmus Monroe Smithers of Virginia had
already made his way west to Iowa when he paid $50
to secure his passage to the Pacific Northwest.8 He
arrived in November 1852 and secured a land donation
claim of 160 acres next to the Tobin claim.9 It is
unclear what intention Smithers, a bachelor, had for
his land. Between 1855 and 1856, Smithers fought as
a militia soldier during the Indian Wars.10 After the
fighting died down, Smithers met his new neighbor,
the widow Diana Tobin. Diana, now the heiress of a
sizable land claim, was a very desirable woman in a
territory with few white women of marriageable age.
For her part, Diana was in a rough spot: she was alone
with her son and no income in what was, at that time,
very much the Wild West.
The original Smithers
homestead on the bank of
the Black River, ca. 1880.
(RHM# 1990.054.3151)
Original plat map of the
Town of Renton, 1875.
(RHM# 1970.006.001)
SPRING QUARTERLY, 2014 | 7
On January 8, 1857, Erasmus and Diana married
in Seattle.11 Their union brought together nearly 480
acres of prime real estate. The land was farmable,
had access to two rivers, and also proved to bear
coal deposits. Legend holds that Smithers discovered
the coal seam on Renton Hill in 1873 while walking
with local Duwamish man Jimmy Moses.12 The story
varies as to whether or not Jimmy knew of the seam
and showed it to Smithers. The discovery of the seam
meant investors and railroads were soon sniffing around
looking to make a profit. Smithers quickly sold the
property for the mine and also platted the new town of
Renton on his land in the flats below the coal seam. The
sale of property piece by piece, not farming, is really
where the Smithers’ fortune was born.
Smithers’s new money elevated his social
standing considerably. He was now a major player
in the area and circulated in Seattle’s social scene.
Almost immediately Smithers landed a spot as a King
County Commissioner, serving from 1874 to 1875.13
Later Smithers also served as trustee of the Territorial
University of Washington.14 At some point, Smithers
became acquainted with Charles C. Terry. Terry was
a member of the Denny landing party at Alki Point in
1852 and also opened the first store in what would later
be called King County. Smithers and Terry’s friendship
apparently grew quite close; their daughters were
friends and Smithers was listed as an executor of Terry’s
will in 1867.15
THE SECOND GENERATION
Initially the Smithers family lived in a single-story farm
house nestled in a curve of the Black River. This home
was referred to as “the old homestead” and was southwest
of what later became Renton. It was at the homestead
where Diana’s son Charles and the three Smithers
children, Ada, Edwin, and Fred, grew up. In 1875,
Smithers used his new fortune to build a newer, “more
pretentious” house just west of the newly platted Renton.16
This house sat roughly at the present-day location of
Safeway on the northeast corner of 3rd and Rainier.
Continued on page 10
The Smithers family’s
new home at present-day
3rd and Rainier, ca.1892.
(RHM# 1990.054.0114)
8 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
A s most of you may know by now,
I am the new Visitor Experience
Coordinator at the Museum. After
first working with the Museum as a guest
curator last year, I am very excited to now
be a more permanent part of the Renton
community.
In case you are wondering what a
Visitor Experience Coordinator does, here
is a brief explanation of my duties:
• Volunteers - recruitment, screening,
placement, and maintenance of the
Museum’s volunteer force;
• Public Programs - all events offered to the public at the
Museum or elsewhere;
• Interpretation - ways for the public to interact with the
Museum’s subject matter, both in its exhibits and online;
• Education - any of the Museum’s activities pertaining
to the relationship between Renton-area schools and the
Museum’s content; and
• Exhibits - research, writing, design, installation, and
deinstallation of exhibits, responsibilities shared with Sarah
Samson, Collection Manager.
After taking stock of everything, I went about identifying
areas for improvement and, working with staff and
volunteers, I formulated the following goal statements for the
coming years:
VISITOR
EXPERIENCE
REPORT
by Colleen Lenahan,
Visitor Experience Coordinator
Colleen Lenahan
Visitor Experience
Coordinator
Volunteers:
1. Create and restructure volunteer opportunities to
accommodate a variety of interests and commitment levels.
2. Create volunteer marketing and recruitment efforts that
actively attract higher numbers of volunteers that are well-
suited to our organization.
3. Create volunteer training that is consistent, effective,
efficient, and replicable.
4. Evaluate and continue improving the volunteer
engagement effort regularly.
Public Programs:
1. Create public programming that consistently attracts a
diverse audience.
2. Create programming that is intimately tied to the mission
and current exhibit offerings of the Museum.
Interpretation:
1. Work with Docents to set clear communication goals for
each section of the museum and ensure that these goals are
shared with all volunteers.
2. Give visitors a forum for discussing relevant history- and
Renton-related issues.
3. Supplement the visitor’s self-guided experience in the
galleries with engaging materials.
Schools:
1. Increase visibility and popularity of School Tours.
2. Form and strengthen ongoing, lasting relationships with
area schools.
3. Create traveling Curriculum Kits for other grade levels
and topics.
Exhibits:
1. Continue offering a wide range of diverse exhibits that
present the history of Renton in new and surprising ways.
2. Continue partnering with local area organizations and
groups to bring diverse voices into the Museum space.
Overall, my vision is to give the visitors and volunteers more
of a voice in the Museum and to give all people a variety of
ways to interact with Renton’s rich history. I want to do this
to help the Museum support its mission to be a place where
everybody feels welcome to explore, learn, have fun, and get
inspired. I hope that you all will join me on my quest to fulfill
these goals.
Global Heat, a hip hop music & dance group performs at the Museum.Volunteers at the 2014 Volunteer Luncheon.
SPRING QUARTERLY, 2014 | 9
MEMORIAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
November 1, 2013 - February 21, 2014
Lee Anderson
Florence Murray
Ken Baker
Connie Baker
James Barei
Pam & Louis Barei
John & Eleanor Bertagni
Larry & Jeannie Crook
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Louise George & Gloria
Duffey
Carol E. Botts
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Ambrosina Breda
Olga Azzola
Virginia Busato
Jim & Fran Bourasa
Ann Angelina (Usibelli) Carter
Mary Sutter & family
Bob & Olive Corey
Janet Henkle
Florence Delaurenti
Robert Richter
Patricia Dickinson
Louise George
Milton Fiamengo
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Richard Lucotch
Gilda & Robert Youngquist
Diane Ford
Florence Murray
Joe Gates
Larry & Jeannie Crook
Diane Galliano
Olga Azzola
Ann Hamlin
Florence Murray
Louise & George Hannah
Florence Murray
Nancy Hoben
John & Eleanor Bertagni
Celesta Huff
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Thomas Kerr
Connie Baker
Mary E. Knight
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Frances Jean Cain Larsen
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Olga Lewis
Wanda Capellaro
Ninfa Gregoris
Carl Malnati
Al & Shirley Armstrong
Carole Matta
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Rosemary McCaffrey
Louise George
Rita M. Hendrickson McCoy
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
James Murray
Florence Murray
Shirley Newing
Peter & Hazel Newing
Maurice J. Quesnel
Carrie & Greg Bergquist
Bertha Faull Russell
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Laura Shook
Jim & Fran Bourasa
Joyce L. Sterling
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Ernest Milton “Milt” Swanson
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Leo Zanga
Louie & Pam Barei
MEMORIAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $100 OR MORE
Ann Angelina (Usibelli) Carter
Dorlene Bressan & family
James C. Graham
Janet Rae Graham
Rose Mary Greene
Olga Azzola
Theola Harris
Olga Azzola
GENERAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
John & Eleanor Bertagni
Dorlene Bressan
Karen Boswell
James & Mary Lou Burdulis
Don & Pearl Burrows
Ron & Sharon Clymer
Trudy & Robert Dasovick
Phyllis Davey
Charles Divelbiss
Paul Dromgoole
Diana Durman
Gerald & Carole Edlund
Don & Judy Gunderson
Ila Hemm
Jean Hobart
Kathy Lyons
Judith Matson
Sharon Moats
Paul G. Monk
Hazel & Peter Newing
Barb Nilson
Ralph & Peggy Owen
Vernon & Jonelle Petermeyer
Owen Proctor
Marsh & Fran Remillard
Rentonites, Inc
Alice Stenstrom
Elizabeth P. Stewart
George & Frances M. Subic
Mary Sutter
Dave Thompson
Louis Traverso
Betty Warren
Gilda & Robert Youngquist
GENERAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $100 OR MORE
H. A. Blencoe
Laura Clawson
Richard Lucotch
Sandra Meyer
Meris Mullaley
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Mario Tonda
Victor Tonda
Marlene & Roger Winter
GENERAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $500 OR MORE
Nancy Fairman
MATCHING GIFT
CONTRIBUTION
Microsoft Matching Gift
Program (matching volunteer
hours of Steven Thomas)
THE BOEING
COMPANY GIFT
MATCH PROGRAM
Richard Kennedy
Ralph Owen
NEW
MEMBERSHIPS
Michael Delaurenti
Lynne King
Kathy A. Lyons
Wayne R. Matta
Meris Mullaley
Shannon Nelson
GIFT MEMBERSHIP
DONORS
James & Mary Lou Burdulis
Kurt Hanson, John L. Scott
Derric & Irma Iles
IN-KIND DONATIONS
Wil Samson Design
In the feature article
Home Away From Home:
Vall’Alta Transplants in
the 1900s in the March
2013 issue of the Renton
Historical Society &
Museum Quarterly, I
mistakenly wrote that
Leno (or Lino) Azzola
was the brother of Frank
Azzola. Frank and Leno
were not brothers; Leno’s
brothers were Luigi,
Battisto, and Antonio,
and Frank’s were Alessio,
Lorenzo, and Joseph.
Thank you to Leno’s
daughter, Olga Azzola,
for pointing out this error.
--Elizabeth P. Stewart
CORRECTION
10 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
Charles Tobin was the first white child to live in
the area. His upbringing was likely a lonely one as he
lacked any siblings until he was five years old. Charles
did not leave much of a trace other than sparse entries in
census records. Once grown, he worked as a boatman,
engineer, and farmer.17 When he was nearly 30, Charles
married Mary Harden.18 Their marriage was short and
childless; Charles died at age 33 in 1885.
Erasmus and Diana’s first child, Ada, was
born in Seattle in 1857.19 She was surrounded during
childhood by the many Duwamish who still lived along
the Black River. She learned to speak Chinook, a hybrid
language of Native languages combined with some
French and English words.20 Ada’s writings indicate that
her father’s farm employed Duwamish who lived nearby
in longhouses. She recalled that they “made wonderful
canoe[s] and paddles of cedar.”21
As a few other white families took up residence
in the area, a school was built on neighbor Christian
Clymer’s property.22 Addie Smithers, as she was known
by family and friends, was one of the first pupils. She
continued her schooling at a convent boarding school
in Victoria, Canada and later attended the Territorial
University in Seattle, making her a very well educated
woman for the time.23
Edwin and Fred Smithers were Ada’s younger
brothers. They were both born at the old homestead
(in 1861 and 1865, respectively) and attended the
Clymer school.24 They had a few more playmates than
their older siblings as more and more whites streamed
into the area attracted by jobs in the coal mine and
other burgeoning industries. Their family’s economic
status, however, separated them from many of the later
immigrants and shaped the path that each Smithers
child took.
POSTSCRIPT
The story of the Smithers family will continue in next
quarter’s newsletter, as we follow Ada, Edwin, and
Fred’s stories through adulthood.
Continued from page 7
Ada Smithers (L) and
Nell Terry, ca. 1875.
(RHM# 1966.019.0290)
ENDNOTES
1 Ada Smithers Thorne, Smithers Geneological (sic) History (Smithers Family
History file, Renton History Museum), 1.
2 Copy of Land Donation Claim 0-486 (Smithers Family History file, Renton
History Museum).
3 David M. Buerge, Renton: Where Water Took Wing (Chatsworth, CA:
Windsor Publications, Inc, 1989), 22.
4 Buerge, Renton: Where Water Took Wing, 22.
5 Ada Smithers Thorne, Smithers Geneological (sic) History (Smithers Family
History file, Renton History Museum), 2.
6 Ada Smithers Thorne, Smithers Geneological (sic) History (Smithers Family
History file, Renton History Museum), 2.
7 Alan J. Stein, “Renton: Thumbnail History,” 14 January 1999, http://www.
HistoryLink.org; accessed 24 February 2014.
8 Ada Smithers Thorne, Smithers Geneological (sic) History (Smithers Family
History file, Renton History Museum), 1.
9 Copy of Land Donation Claim 0-408 (Smithers Family History file, Renton
History Museum).
10 Buerge, Renton: Where Water Took Wing, 24.
11 Ada Smithers Thorne, Smithers Geneological (sic) History (Smithers
Family History file, Renton History Museum), 2.
12 Buerge, Renton: Where Water Took Wing, 25.
13 Emily Lieb, “King County Commissioners,” 25 September 2006, http://
www.HistoryLink.org; accessed 24 February 2014.
14 Ada Smithers Thorne, Smithers Geneological (sic) History (Smithers
Family History file, Renton History Museum), 1.
15 Clarence B. Bagley, History of King County, vol. 1 (Seattle: S. J. Clarke
Publishing Company, 1929), 72.
16 Renton Chamber of Commerce, Renton: The City of Possibilities, 1 Aug
1901 (RHM# 1994.053.001), 18.
17 Washington Territorial Censuses: 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1885.
18 Tobin, Charles H. and Mary F. Harden, King County Auditor, Marriage
License Registers, 1880-1894, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives,
http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/, accessed 19 Feb 2014.
19 Copy of Smithers family Bible (Smithers Family History file, Renton
History Museum).
20 Ada Lou Wheeler Oral History, 20 May 1990, (Oral History Collection,
Renton History Museum), 4.
21 Ada Smithers Thorne, untitled manuscript (RHM# 1997.009.003).
22 Angie Burt Bowden, Early Schools of Washington Territory (Seattle:
Lowman and Hanford Company, 1935), 210.
23 “Oldest Native Of City Marks 80th Birthday,” Seattle Daily Times, 3
November 1937, (Smithers Family History file, Renton History Museum).
24 Bowden, Early Schools of Washington Territory, 211.
SPRING QUARTERLY, 2014 | 11
Join us for the Annual Meeting of the Renton Historical Society and enjoy dinner with us! The
meeting is open to Society members, prospective members, and museum volunteers. Introduction
of new Renton Historical Society trustees, an update on the Museum Master Plan, awarding of
the George and Annie Lewis Custer Award for Heritage Citizenship, volunteer awards, and raffle
drawing will all be a part of this exciting event. Reservations required. Please RSVP by May 30
(425.255.2330). No regrets, please.
On
JUNE
4
at
6:00 PM
Renton Historical Society
235 Mill Avenue South
Renton, WA 98057
Phone: 425.255.2330
Fax: 425.255.1570
Email: estewart@rentonwa.gov
rentonwa.gov/rentonhistorymuseum
Renton Historical Society
235 Mill Avenue South
Renton, WA 98057
Phone: 425.255.2330
Fax: 425.255.1570
Email: estewart@rentonwa.gov
rentonwa.gov/rentonhistorymuseum
MEMBERSHIP FORM
Please select a membership level:
Individual $30
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SAVE THE DATE: RENTON HISTORICAL
SOCIETY ANNUAL MEETING
RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
235 Mill Ave. S
Renton, WA 98057
IN HINDSIGHT...
Students at a May Day ceremony at Renton High School, 1932. (RHM# 1985.058.10859)
