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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 Issue 2 - Early Empire, the Heirs and HeiressesPioneers, Professionals
& Politicians currently
on Exhibit at RHM.
Visitor Experience
Report by Colleen
Lenahan.
Collections Report
by Sarah Samson.
Collection Manager.
Museum Report
by Elizabeth P.
Stewart, Director.
AUTHOR’S NOTEThis is the second of two articles tracing the history
of the Erasmus and Diana Smithers family. In this
article we follow the three Smithers children’s
stories through adulthood and briefly trace the lives of
their descendents.
THE SECOND GENERATION
The three Smithers children—Ada, Edwin, and Fred—
grew up among relatively few white families on a
homestead in the valley between the Black and Cedar
Rivers. All three children were educated; this was rare
at the time, although less rare in wealthy families. The
discovery of coal on their land and the subsequent sale
of land elevated the Smithers family into the upper
echelon of society in the greater Seattle area. The family
moved into a grand new house and the children suddenly
enjoyed a new way of life. They found that wealth,
however, was no guarantee of a happy life.
Also In This Issue...
RENTON HISTORICALSOCIETY & MUSEUM
Summer
June 2014
Volume 45
Number 2
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)
tv
EARLY EMPIRE:
The Heirs and Heiresses
by Sarah Samson
QUARTERLY
1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation
members of the Smithers family
on the Smithers Farm, ca. 1891.
(RHM# 1990.054.3157)
2 | R E NTON H ISTORY MUSEUM
CURRENT EXHIBIT
TITLE GOES HERE
P I ONEERS , P R OFESSIONALS &
P O LITICIANS: GR OUNDBREA k I NG
WO MEN F ROM R E NTON’S PAST
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. This exhibit showcases historic artifacts and photographs from the Museum’s
collection to tell the story of how Renton’s women helped make it the place it is today.
From
J U NE
3
To
AUGUST
30
WELCOME, LAURIE!
When you have a
chance, please come in
and welcome our new
Museum Office Aide,
Laurie Lent. Laurie
joined us in mid-April.
She comes to us with
extensive experience in
office administration
and customer service,
including over seven
years in the office at
Foster Furniture. We
knew we’d made the
right choice when one
of her references said
she dreamed of a day
when she could steal her
away from us! Laurie
AMAzONS AND WARRIORS
From Wonder Woman to
Buffy Summers, Emma
Peel to Sydney Bristow,
Charlie’s Angels to
the Powerpuff Girls,
superwomen are more
than just love interests or
sidekicks. In Ink-Stained
Amazons and Cinematic
Warriors: Superwomen in
Modern Mythology, pop-
culture historian Jennifer
K. Stuller explores how
the female hero in modern
mythology has broken
through the boys’ club
barrier of tradition. Using
comics, television and
film, we discuss female
action and super heroines
from the 1930s to present
day. We examine women’s
representations in media,
inspiring us to think
deeper about pop culture,
media, gender images and
storytelling. The program
is June 10 at 5:30pm.
will be handling member
services, donations,
memorials, and all the
other administrative tasks
that keep the Museum
running smoothly.
S UMMER Q U ARTERLY , 2014 | 3
MUSEUM REPORT
QUARTERLY
Summer 2014
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Director
Four years ago when we embarked on our Museum Master
Planning process, the Renton History Museum had
some stereotypes to overcome, and we’re amazed at the
progress we’ve made! In the challenging process of surveying
opinions about the Museum, we heard a few Renton opinion
leaders describe us as “inward-looking” and “disconnected from
the community.” Ouch! We quickly launched a campaign of
reaching out to everyone who might work with us, by looking
for areas in which our mission and needs overlapped with those
of other organizations in Renton. A few of our partnerships:
• Our annual exhibit collaboration with Renton High
teachers Derek Smith, Brea Lawson, and their students. For
four years we have worked with Honors English sophomores
and ARROW Magazine editorial staff on exhibits that bring a
youth perspective to bear on historical topics like family, sense
of place, and favorite objects. These students have lives as rich
and difficult as our 19th-century forebears, and their willingness
to share has given us new friends, new ideas, and an award!
• Our exhibit collaborations with Renton Technical
College’s ESL Program. The Basic Studies Department’s desire
to showcase student work at the Museum provided us with the
opportunity to make new Renton and King County residents
feel welcome and introduce their cultures to our visitors. We
hope these ESL exhibits have instilled a greater tolerance and
understanding in our community.
• Projects with the Renton Municipal Arts
Commission. For those who think they’re not interested
in history, projects that combine history and art—like The
Infinity Loop at the Renton Mine Hoist—offer the chance
to enjoy what the Museum has to offer. As our city’s only
cultural organization with regular open hours, the Museum’s
collaboration with RMAC just makes good sense.
These alliances can be challenging and they are
constantly changing, as we’re learning. Derek Smith is taking
a sabbatical year in 2014–2015, and RTC President Steve
Hanson, a strong Museum supporter, will retire at the end of
the year; changing personnel pushes us in new directions, and
we’ll be looking for STEM students, GIS people, and ethnic
communities to work with in the coming years!
These collaborations are not only the right thing for a
community museum to do, they represent a way to strengthen
and improve our organization, by nurturing a diversity
of opinion, by helping others meet their missions, and by
introducing new people to Renton’s history.
by Elizabeth P. Stewart,
Museum Director
Museum staff with teachers
Derek Smith and Breanne Robirds
at the opening of Deep Roots.
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
Laurie Lent
Office Aide
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)
RTC staffers Liz Falconer and
Jodi Novotny at the 2010 ESL
exhibit at the Museum.
4 | R ENTON H I STORY MU SEUM
In order to reach a younger generation of Rentonites,
I formed “RenTeens,” a Youth Advisory Council for
the Museum. The purpose of the Council is to be our
connection to the teenage community. The RenTeens will help
us test out ideas, promote our exhibits and programs to their
peers, and bring a younger voice into the Museum through a
project of their own. The Council will also provide its members
with community service, civic engagement, teamwork, and
networking skills and experience.
So far the RenTeens have met twice. In our first
meeting getting to know each other, the teens went into the
galleries to look for things they found interesting, things they
found surprising, and things they would like to know more
about. I sent them home with a survey to ask one of their
friends with questions like, “What does history mean to you?”
In our second meeting, we established goals and
brainstormed what the group could do for its big project. Some
of the ideas they came up with included a show of teen art from
young Renton artists, a poetry club, and a history workshop for
elementary school kids. They are exceptionally bright young
people and I look forward to working with them more.
ORAL HISTORY TEAM
Last month, the Museum held an Oral History Training with
MOHAI’s Public Historian, Lorraine McConaghy. The event
drew volunteers and members from all over the Puget Sound.
McConaghy demonstrated passion and vast knowledge in her
training and in the techniques she espoused. The session closed
with an exercise during which attendees shared their stories
about personal photographs and objects. It was an incredibly
moving experience that demonstrated the power of the human
stories behind these items.
This training is part of a larger initiative to reboot
our Oral History Team. Using the strategies gleaned from
McConaghy’s training we, as a staff, plan to standardize and
formalize the Museum’s oral history procedures so that we
can maximize our capacity to collect the invaluable stories of
Renton residents before they are gone.
We need more volunteers to be able to continue
capturing Renton’s living history in a more systematic way, so
I hope that you will consider joining us on this journey. This
is an excellent opportunity to get involved in a project that
directly involves the community and does an immense service
to the Museum and its historical collection.
Colleen Lenahan
Visitor Experience
Coordinator
UPCOMING
EVENTS
RENTON HISTORICAL
SOCIETY ANNUAL
MEETING
June 4
6:00-8:00pm
Join us for dinner, an update on
the Museum, the George and
Annie Lewis Custer Award for
Heritage Citizenship, volunteer
awards, and a raffle drawing!
RenTeens explore the Museum
exhibits.
Lorriane McConaghy explains
the finer points of oral history.
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.
RENTON RIVER DAYS
July 25-27
Visit us at our booth in Liberty
Park for children’s activities
and come to the Museum all
week for free!
VISITOR EXPERIENCE
REPORT
by Colleen Lenahan, Visitor Experience
Coordinator
SU MMER Q UARTERLY, 2014 | 5
ADA SMITHERS THORNE (1857-1940)
As a young woman Ada Smithers attended the Territorial
University in Seattle. She put her education to use and
became a teacher in Renton for a brief spell around 1875.1
It was also around this time that Robert L. Thorne began
courting Addie, as her family called her.2 Not much is
known about Thorne except that he came from New York
and switched between working as a surveyor/engineer and
a merchant most of his life. The couple married in 1878 at
her parents’ home.3 Thorne partnered with his brother-in-
law, Edwin Smithers, to form Smithers & Thorne General
Merchandise in the early 1880s.4 The store may have been
located on Walla Walla Avenue (now Houser Way).
Ada and Robert had four children: Robert
Maxwell “Max” (b. 1879), Herbert “Bert” Erasmus (b.
1882), Jeannette (b. 1887), and Vivian Diana (b. 1889).
The children grew up in the grand new house located
near present-day Safeway at 3rd and Rainier. Many
photographs survive of the children at the big house.
They are always shown especially well-coiffed and well-
dressed, indicating their wealth.
Continued from page 1
EARLY EMPIRE:
The Heirs and Heiresses
Smithers & Thorne General
Merchandise, ca. 1884. Robert
L. Thorne is 5th from left.
Ada Thorne and her sons
are standing in the doorway.
(RHM# 1966.017.0020)
Ada Smithers Thorne, ca. 1878.
(RHM# 1990.054.3060)
Robert L. Thorne, ca. 1878.
(RHM# 1997.007.4291)
6 | RE NTON H ISTORY M USEUM
By 1900 Smithers & Thorne General
Merchandise was defunct, and Robert was listed in the
1900 census as a real estate agent. It is very likely that
this merely meant he was living off the sale of Smithers
family property rather than actually engaged in real
estate. A comment from Smithers family descendant Ada
Lou Wheeler gives this theory credence. “Nobody had to
work,” she remembered. “Every time they needed some
more money they sold another piece of property.”5
Robert Thorne unexpectedly died of pneumonia
in November of 1901.6 Ada Thorne and all four children
remained in Renton for some time, with the younger
three still living at home in the big house. Max worked
as a building contractor and Bert as a carpenter’s helper.7
Sometime between 1914 and 1919 the Thornes moved to
Seattle, where Ada remained until her death in 1940.
EDWIN MONROE SMITHERS (1861-1937)
Like his sister Ada, Edwin attended the Territorial
University.8 He probably studied finance or a similar
field, since his obituary indicates that he held jobs
The children of Robert L.
Thorne and Ada Smithers
Thorne, 1894. R-L: Max,
Vivian, Bert, Jeannette.
(RHM# 1990.054.3152)
L-R: Ada Smithers Thorne,
Jeannette Thorne, Ella
Smithers, Edwin Smithers,
1927. (RHM# 1990.054.3070)
SU MMER QUARTERLY, 2014 | 7
like timekeeper and treasurer for railroad and mining
companies. Census records list him as a merchant, shoe
salesman, and coal salesman, however.9 All the records
indicate that he held jobs rather than relying solely on
the family money to survive. He lived and worked in
Renton, yet somehow Edwin managed to meet and marry
Spokane heiress Jennie Ziegler. Jennie was the daughter
of Louis Ziegler, a hardware businessman and one of the
elite of Spokane.
Jennie visited the Seattle area in May 1885
and may have met Edwin then.10 Their courtship was
long-distance and/or short in duration; they married in
September 1885 in Spokane. Both children of wealthy
titans, the two seemed like a perfect match. The Spokane
Falls Review touted Edwin as “an estimable young
gentleman and worthy of the lady he has won.”11 Their
romance was cut harshly short just four months after
marriage. Jennie died suddenly while the couple was
visiting her parents in Spokane.12
With Jennie entombed in Spokane, Edwin left
for home alone. For a while he was vice president of a
Seattle coal company before he headed north in 1898
during the Klondike Gold Rush.13 After a brief time in
Alaska, Edwin returned home to Renton, before finally
moving to Yakima. There he met his second wife, Ella D.
Heckman, a school teacher. Edwin and Ella married in
1902 and lived in Yakima before moving to California,
where Edwin died in 1937.14 They had no children. Ella
later moved to Seattle and lived in the same apartment
complex as her sister-in-law, Ada.15
FREDERICK GILMAN SMITHERS (1865-1924)
The youngest child of Erasmus and Diana Smithers, Fred
led a heady public life that was privately tumultuous.
Fred does not appear to have gone away to college and
as a young man he continued to live in Renton with
his parents in the big house. Census records list no
occupation for him; he was certainly being supported
by family money. That changed in 1884, when Fred
suddenly eloped in Seattle with Annie Dillon. She was
17; he was 19.
Continued on page 9
Home of Fred Smithers, n.d.
The house was built on 3rd
Street, just east of the large
Smithers home which was
located at 3rd and Rainier.
(RHM# 1990.054.0114)
8 | R E NTON H ISTORY MUSEUM
O ur newest exhibit, Pioneers,
Professionals & Politicians,
tells the story of Renton’s
women. After scouring the Museum’s
collection, we realized that telling
this story wouldn’t be as easy as we
thought. Research for the exhibit took
more digging than most of our past
exhibits, but we managed to unearth
some great stories. We didn’t have
much trouble choosing photographs
for the exhibit, though there are certain women not
represented in our collection. It was really artifacts
where we ran into trouble.
How is it possible that we don’t have artifacts
in our collection to tell this story?! This refrain was
heard at many an exhibit meeting. It is a sad fact that
women are often faceless and nameless in history. Their
lives and work often simply fade away after their death
without any record they ever existed. Women, especially
historically, have often dealt with the parts of life seen
as ordinary or mundane, such as preparing food or
cleaning clothing. The artifacts they use daily are not
seen as anything special and are thus discarded. That is
the main reason our collection is sparse in the area of
women’s history.
COLLECTION
REPORT
by Sarah Samson,
Collection Manager
Sarah Samson
Collection Manager
Ada Thorne’s inscribed wedding ring will be displayed in the new exhibit.
We do have a sizeable clothing collection at
the Museum and several pieces of it will be present in
Pioneers, Professionals & Politicians. A fair portion
of this collection was donated in the early days of the
Historical Society and, sadly, by the time the Museum
began professionalizing, much of the information about
who donated the clothes was lost. This left us with
many great garments representing the 1880s through
the 1960s, but we have absolutely no idea who wore
these clothes. Having that information—who wore the
clothing and what their lives were like—allows us to
make the collection come alive in exhibits.
We hope that visiting the exhibit will inspire
people to think about preserving the history of the
women in their families and perhaps that will lead to
donations to our collection. But along with the artifacts
and photographs themselves, we need the stories: Who
owned this item? What was her life like? What was
her experience in Renton like? The answers to those
questions, alongside artifacts and photographs, are the
building blocks of a great collection that we can use to
create vibrant, intriguing exhibits.
So how did we solve our lack of objects
problem for Pioneers, Professionals & Politicians?
Well, you’ll just have to come down to the Museum this
summer to find out!
This waist is so small we cannot find a proper mannequin to display it.The exhibit features Barbara Shinpoch, Renton’s first female mayor.
SU MMER Q UARTERLY, 2014 | 9
MEMORIAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
February 22, 2014 - April 30, 2014
Fred Bowen
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Alice Caraccioli Bucher
Laureen Ross
Phyl Carroll
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Pauline See Celigoy
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Shirley Phinney
Sandel DeMastus
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Ninfa Gregoris
Pamela Dean
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
In memory of Auntie Nee:
The Goodman Family
Roberta Johnson
Lucille Miller
Nancy Monahan
Laureen Ross
Scherie Martin Hart
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Olga Caraccioli Lewis
Laureen Ross
June L. Morrow
Mario Tonda
Marge Peretti
Richard Lucotch
Mark Prothero
Tom & Margaret Feaster
Nancy Feaster Lowery
Cenza Caraccioli Smith
Laureen Ross
Mary Monaghan Williams
James D. Williams
MEMORIAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $100 OR MORE
Ninfa Gregoris
The Ballestrasse Family
Dennis & Penny Nielsen
Elizabeth Smith
The Dalpay Family
ENDOWMENT
CONTRIBUTIONS
Bill Gaw
GENERAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
April Alexander
Sarah Jane Hisey
GENERAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $100 OR MORE
Theresa Clymer
Inez Edlich
Lisa Wivag
MATCHING GIFT
CONTRIBUTION
Microsoft Matching Gift
Program (matching volunteer
hours of Steven Thomas)
NEW
MEMBERSHIPS
ACH Homes LLC
Stephen W. Gardner
Ray & Lynn Peretti
Sue & Jerry Lenahan
IN-k IND
DONATIONS
Décor Carpet One Floor
& Home
Wil Samson Design
Annie was the daughter of an Irishman working
the coal mines in and around Renton; she was certainly
not someone his parents considered a suitable match.
They married at the St. Charles Hotel in Seattle on July
31, 1884, without the consent of either set of parents.16
The young lovebirds lived happily together in Seattle
with her parents for 3 ½ months before Margaret Dillon,
Annie’s mother, caught Fred sneaking out of the house
in November. Fred’s family had informed him that if he
chose to stay married to Annie he would be disinherited
and he apparently found the pressure irresistible.
Margaret recalled telling him “you need not run away.
But you may just go home.” “Whereupon he commenced
to cry,” she remembered later in a divorce proceeding.
“He is a very child-like person, and said himself he had
no mind of his own.”17 The threat of losing out on the
Smithers fortune was too much for young Fred; he went
home to Renton.
Over a year after he abandoned her, Annie
filed for divorce, stating that she had “married that
boyish hoodlum for love” and not for money as was
intimated during the trial.18 Renton merchant Charles S.
Custer testified in the divorce proceedings. Custer had
Continued from page 7 been privy to discussions between Erasmus and Diana
characterizing the marriage as unacceptable due to
Annie’s lower class and lack of wealth. He also believed
that Fred was “too lazy to do any work, as he never does
anything except when obliged to.” Fred had turned down
a job as a clerk in a store in Newcastle after Custer had
secured the job for him.19 Fred was absent at the trial and
the divorce was granted in 1887.
Fred Smithers (back row,
bow tie), ca. 1908.
(RHM# 1980.010.0966)
10 | R ENTON H I STORY M U SEUM
Fred moved on from this messy affair. In 1892
he married Ellen Owen, the daughter of another early
white Renton pioneer, Dr. Abijah Beach.20 Ellen was
also divorced and had a twelve-year old daughter, Mary
“Mamie” Owen, but apparently her status as Dr. Beach’s
daughter made her more acceptable in Erasmus and
Diana’s eyes. After his marriage Fred embarked on a
campaign of public service. He served as Police Court
Judge, City Councilman, and even Mayor for a term in
1912. His tenure as Mayor was quite successful, with the
papers praising him for “seeing Renton put through some
of her most important improvements…and retiring from
the office of mayor with fully as many if not more friends
than he had when he took the oath of office a year ago.”21
Fred and Ellen had no children together and
lived in Renton in a large home next to the grand
Smithers house. The family wealth allowed them to
travel extensively, including one trip to Europe which
the local papers reported was to last a year.22 Sister Ada
and her daughters also travelled to Europe and may have
accompanied Fred and Ellen on more than one occasion.
Fred retired from public service in 1921 and died in 1924
at age 58.23
ADA’S DESCENDANTS
With Edwin and Fred remaining childless, only Ada
Smithers Thorne provided heirs for the family fortune.
Three of her four children gave Ada five grandchildren,
but that is where the family tree ends; the entirety of
the fourth generation either died young or remained
childless.
Max Thorne, an architect, married his first cousin
by marriage, Mamie Owen, and had two children, Thelma
and Robert.24 Max passed away in 1941, outliving his
mother Ada by only one year. Bert Thorne had no known
profession and is listed in one census with his occupation
as “own income,” indicating that he may have been
living off the family fortune.25 He married Ruth Farrar in
1908 and had a son, Robert Converse Thorne, in 1909.26
Bert’s life, however, turned tragic: by 1910 his wife and
son were no longer living with him and in 1911 his baby
boy died.27 Around this time he accepted a job as purser
on a Pacific Coast Co. coal steamer, during which he
contracted an unnamed illness.28 Bert passed away in
1915 at the age of 32.
Ada’s daughters, Jeannette and Vivian, both
became nurses. In 1920 they were working at hospitals:
Jeannette as the Assistant Superintendent of Nurses at
Seattle Children’s and Vivian in a medical laboratory.29
Jeannette’s career was cut short in 1922 when she
married George C. Wheeler. She and George had two
children, Ada Lou and John. Vivian lived in Seattle all
her adult life and never married.
POSTSCRIPT
Almost the entire Smithers family is buried at Lake
View Cemetery in Seattle. There is a family plot in the
southwest portion of the Seattle “pioneer cemetery”
marked by a huge obelisk. (Photo on page 12.)
Ellen Beach Smithers, ca. 1900.
A divorcee with a child, she was
Fred’s second wife.
(RHM# 1981.117.1511)
Mary “Mamie” Owen Thorne, ca.
1900. Fred’s step-daughter, she
married her cousin, Max Thorne.
(RHM# 1990.054.3156)
ENDNOTES
1 Angie Burt Bowden, Early Schools of Washington Territory (Seattle: Lowman
and Hanford Company, 1935), 210-211.
2 Transcript of Alura Brown’s journal Vol. 1, (Brown Family History file,
Renton History Museum), 14.
3 Thorne, Robert L. and Ada Smithers, King County Marriage Records, 1855-
1990, WA State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/,
accessed 19 Feb 2014.
4 1885 Seattle City and King County Directory, http://www.ancestry.com,
accessed 6 Mar 2014.
5 Ada Lou Wheeler Oral History, 20 May 1991, p.2 (RHM# 1991.113.001).
6 Thome (sic), Robert Laurence, King County Death Register, WA State Archives,
Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/, accessed 3 Mar 2014.
7 1909 Renton City Directory, p. 314.
8 “Death Takes E. M. Smithers,” Seattle Daily Times, 21 Feb 1937 (Obituary
Collection, Renton History Museum).
9 1883 Washington Territorial Census, 1900 Federal Census, 1910 Federal
Census.
10 Personal correspondence, Jennie Ziegler letter to Uncle Jake, 25 Jun 1885
(Smithers Family History file, Renton History Museum).
11 “Mated,” Spokane Falls Review, 3 Oct 1885.
12 “Death of an Estimable Lady,” Spokane Falls Review, 30 Jan 1886.
13 “Death Takes E. M. Smithers,” Seattle Daily Times, 21 Feb 1937.
14 Smitters (sic), Edwin and Ella Heckman, Yakima County Auditor, Marriage
Records, 1896-2008, WA State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.
digitalarchives.wa.gov/, accessed 3 Mar 2014.
15 Ada Lou Wheeler Oral History, 20 May 1991, p.1 (RHM# 1991.113.001).
16 Smithers, Frederick G. and Annie M. Smithers, Divorce, King Frontier
Justice, 18 March 1886, p. 5.
17 Smithers, Frederick G. and Annie M. Smithers, Divorce, p. 6.
18 Smithers, Frederick G. and Annie M. Smithers, Divorce, p. 14.
19 Smithers, Frederick G. and Annie M. Smithers, Divorce, p. 17.
20 Smithers, Fred G. and Ellen E. Owen, King County Marriage Records, 1855-
1990, WA State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/,
accessed 4 Mar 2014.
21 “Ex-Mayor Smithers,” Renton Herald, 10 Jan 1913, p. 1.
22 Renton Journal, 16 Oct 1909, p. 2.
23 Smithers, Fred G., Washington State Death Records, WA State Archives, Digital
Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/, accessed 4 Mar 2014.
24 1920 Federal Census, 1930 Federal Census.
25 1910 Federal Census.
26 Thorne, Herbert E. and Ruth Farrar, Pierce County Marriage Records, 1876-
2013, WA State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/,
accessed 27 Feb 2014.
27 Thorne, Robert Converse, Washington State Death Records, WA State Archives,
Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/, accessed 27 Feb 2014.
28 “Herbert Thorne Passes,” Renton Herald, 28 May 1915.
29 1920 Federal Census.
S UMMER Q U ARTERLY , 2014 | 11
Y our donations to the Renton Historical Society’s Endowment will make it
possible for us to meet our mission of documenting, preserving, and educating
about Renton’s rich history. When planning your estate, please consider a gift
of cash, real estate, insurance, or other financial instruments, which can lower your tax
burden and leave a legacy for your community. Consult with your estate planner or our
Edward Jones representative, Shane Klingenstein, for more information.
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
Student/Senior $20
Family $40
Benefactor $75
Patron $150
Business/Corporate $175
Life membership $750
Basic memberships
Sustaining memberships
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Please make checks payable to the Renton Historical Society.
Please consider making a tax-deductible
donation! Your donations help us provide new
exhibits and exciting programs.
Donation: $
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RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
235 Mill Ave. S
Renton, WA 98057
IN HINDSIGHT...
Smithers plot at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle.