Ancestor Search Day
To start our day off well energized, we stopped at the Pig 'n Pancake for breakfast. Dave had potato pancakes and I had blueberry crepes. YUMM.
Next stop was to mail some packages back home and then we were off to begin our search. As usual on these searches, we headed for the courthouse first. But, that ended without gaining us any information, except to be told that most likely the death certificate is in Olympia, Washington. And, of course, we have already driven by that city days earlier.
We were also told we might find some information in Cathlamet, WA, across the bridge. This is where the newspaper is located that ran the article about his death. I called the courthouse there to see if they had death records. I understood her to say they had records from 1907. So, we are excited and headed that direction.
In order to get there, the shortest route was across the Columbia River, eastward about 30 miles. From there we had to take a ferry to Puget Island and then a bridge across the river.
We drove up to the ferry loading area and found we had about 10 minutes to wait for its arrival. While we waited, Dave spotted some Oregon blackberries, so out of the car he jumped. He fed his face until the ferry arrived.
I was surprised to see such a small ferry. It only carried about 10 cars. For our ride across the river, there was only our car and one other. So, it was cool to get out and walk around this small vessel and not be crowded.
Yup, that's Dave peeking out from in front of our car.
This is a picture of us docking at the ferry ramp.
After driving off the ferry, you drive on an island called Puget Island. From the island, you drive across a bridge to get to the Washington side of the river into Cathlamet.
First stop, again, was the courthouse. I had misunderstood about the year of their records. What she said was that they had records before 1907. So, none were there. But, the staff was most helpful and really tried to find records in town for us, like from the Catholic Church or the town historian. But, none were found.
We drove to the museum to meet the woman that sent the newspaper article to Dave about Antione's logging accident. She wasn't in until Thursday. Bah Humbug.
We were getting hungry, but the ferry only runs back across to the Astoria area on the hour. So, we decided we'd boogie back as it was now 1:50 PM.
The ferry was nearly loaded when we arrived. They took us, and only 2 other cars could fit on board. So, we were packed going back.
This 30-mile drive back to Astoria proper is quite desolate--no food establishments. We decided to have a picturesque lunch at a restaurant in Astoria along the Columbia River. It was quite lovely and peaceful. We were next to the Pilot House for the tug boats, so that kept us busy watching them.
Our last hope for finding some information about Antione's death was to search for a funeral home in Astoria that might have kept records. A slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.
It so happened that when we entered the restaurant, Dave spotted a stack of small phonebooks that are available for anyone to take. So, after ordering, he made a phone call to a funeral home in town. As luck would have it, they had all the records from E.B. Hughes, the undertaker. The funeral director invited us to come and look for the records after our lunch.
Phil, the director, was very helpful. He found an index card that had Joseph Migneault's information. By this time in Antione's life, he was known as Joe or Joseph. His given name was Antione Joseph Migneault. However, the index card did not list the number of the record book in which the individual records are kept. Phil tore through all the cabinets to locate the records from 1918. But, they could be found. He called his partner to help him look. And, still no records. Finally, Phil looked in a file cabinet and there were all the records dating back before 1925. Jackpot! Phil gave Dave a copy of the funeral home's bill for preparing and shipping Joseph's body to Lambert, MT. So, we now suspect that his body did indeed go to Lambert. We suspect that he is buried in the Catholic Cemetery, which we quickly walked through when we were in Lambert--we didn't find a headstone for him.
We also know that Antione Joseph Migneault's daughter (Alice) was married to a man named Sam Wells. Dave met Sam Wells when Dave was a boy and he visited their home some years ago in Lancaster, CA. On the bill from the funeral home, the name and contact information of Sam Wells appears. So Sam was contacted about the death and we feel he may have paid for some or all of the transportation. In addition, there was a telegram from a hospital in Portland that guaranteed payment of up to $75 for shipment of the body. But, we don't know why that hospital was involved. Phil (at the funeral home) thought that was odd. So, another question. Did the body get shipped instead to Portland, Oregon?
Here's a picture of what the funeral home would have looked like around the time of Antione's death.
Dave felt really lucky to have copies of this original information. So, we could now leave Astoria feeling that we had some success in our search.
Our next stop was to drive to the Astoria Column.
On the way up the hill to the column, we saw these beautiful deer just munching on the grass, unconcerned for passing cars.
The column depicts the history of Oregon. The history pictorial is etched in bands into the stone column. Dave, the kids, and I had visited it in 1974 when we came to Astoria after going to the World's Fair in Spokane. But it was raining that day and we didn't get a good look. So, I really wanted to see it again.
So, today we saw its magnificent beauty and details.
Close-up view of some of the detailed etchings.
Because it was raining the day we visited in 1974, I had no idea of the views from that vantage point. I was in awe again at the magnitude of the Cascade Mountains and the Columbia River.
Cascade Mountains in the distance.
View of the Astoria Bridge and the town of Astoria.
After taking in the beauty and splendor of the column, we drove around town sightseeing. We also drove by the school where Kindergarten Kop was filmed. So, here it is.
We drove to Safeway to get some ice cream as our stash was all gone. Our day was a great success and we enjoyed the beautiful town of Astoria. We have always loved this town with its quaintness and beauty.
We headed back to the RV and settled in with a bowl of ice cream for dinner.
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