CHARTER 2

MORE ADVENTIST COME 

          George and Nannie told everyone about the Oregon Coast in such glowing terms, that everyone wanted to move there. George went to the Seventh Day Adventist Camp meeting at Forest Grove, Oregon and told everyone. In every letter to friends and relatives they wrote. “Come to the Oregon Coast“.  It is great! Come one, Come all! And come they did.

          In the spring of 1898, George and Nannie went to Tillamook to care for a sick man. While they were away, a letter came from Nannies brother, Walter Ball. He wrote that he and his family were moving to Oregon and would be in Sheridan on a certain day. Hoyt hitched up the team, traveled two days to Sheridan to meet the Balls, and returned with them in April of 1898. The Balls thought the roads were awful and wished themselves back in Kansas. The night they arrived Myrtle cooked rice for supper but with out sugar on it the three little girls would not eat it.

                                                       Margie,        Essie,           Lena            Edith                                      George,           Emma,              Juley              Luty

                                                  Walter                             Virginia.                                      Parmeles

                                                     Ball Family

           Walter “W.E.” Ball and his family moved to a homestead on Drift Creek in 1898. Walter and his wife Virginia had three girls when they arrived from Kansas, Margie, the fourth daughter, was born on the new homestead.

           Walter Ball became the Lincoln County assessor in 1919 and moved to Toledo, the county seat. His daughters married into the fabric of Lincoln County history. Lena and Essie each married a son of B.F. Jones. Margie married Frank Wade, son of Lee Wade. Miss Edith Ball and Fay Plank surprised friends and families by slipping over to Vancouver, Washington and getting married.

          Fay Plank worked as a logger, commercial fisherman out of Depoe Bay, tugboat operator, candy store proprietor, and construction company owner. Many of the docks in Newport, Toledo, and Waldport were built by him. He drove piling into the bays of the Yaquina, the Siletz and the Alsea. His cranes and his crew drove the pilings that support the Georgia-Pacific Corp. pulp mill in Toledo where he served as a city councilman.

          In November of 1898, Mrs. Ball’s sister and husband Clinton Gordy, and their two daughters came. Clinton Gordy and Walter Ball built a small house across Drift Creek from Parmeles where both families lived until spring. The men then built houses on their homesteads up Drift Creek. Before long wild berries were ripe and the families picked huckleberries where Cutler City is today.

           Because the Parmeles thought, a post office should be up Drift Creek, on March 11, 1899 the Johnson post office was started in their home. The Johnson name was for Jakie Johnson, the Indian who owned the land where Taft is now.

          The Parmeles had to carry the mail for six months without pay. Archie Stephens took the contract to carry the mail to and from Kernville to Johnson.

          The Balls and Gordys wanted a school for their girls, and for a few dollars each, they hired Myrtle Parmele to teach the four girls in the Parmeles front room that winter.

          I do not think the Balls were Adventist, but it was not long until more members started coming. You see Adventist do not believe in sending their children to public schools, but non-Adventist can attend church school. The church school would come later.

          In August of 1899, Hoyt Parmele helped Joe Stephens and his family move into their log homestead cabin up Drift Creek. George Parmeles brother, Lucius Parmele “Luty” came in 1900 to a homestead joining George’s on the east. Luty built a house across Schooner Creek from Taft on what was later called Longcoy’s Ocean view Park; afterward he sold to Hiram Longcoy. Jack Wick had a store there; later in 1910, Wick’s building was used as Taft’s public school.

 When Luty Parmele went to the valley to pick hops, he became acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. George E. Cutler who bought the Parmeles home and in 1911 or 1912 bought what is now Cutler City from Indian Depoe.

          Depoe was one smart Indian. He also claimed Depoe Bay and Depoe Slough near Toledo; at least the places were named after him. I do not know if he really had owned the properties or not, I doubt that any paper work was ever recorded when the Indian claimed the places. Lincoln County did not really care as long as the deal was settled fairly and both parties agreed

          Salmon River needed a teacher for their school. They hired Miss Maggie Hampton, who was teaching at Newport. Ralph Winter was to meet her at Siletz Bay with a horse for her to ride. When Ralph got to the bay, no boats were there because the Indians had taken them and gone to Siletz Agency. Ralph crossed Schooner Creek and walked up to the Parmele home for help. Clarence Parmele helped him ferry the teacher across the Siletz bay in Parmeles boat.

          Myrtle Parmele went to Toledo, reviewed her school subjects, took the teacher’s examination, and got a certificate so she could teach at the first school up Drift Creek. Later Myrtle Parmele taught at the mouth of the Salmon River for three months.

          Word came that a moving picture would be shown at Nestucca. No one had seen or heard of such a thing before. Myrtle and her three brothers, along with Ella Calkins and Melvin Burton, rode horses over the Slab Creek trail to the schoolhouse. When they arrived the show was over, but they showed it again just for them. By that time, it was too late to head home so they stayed the night in the Slab Creek Hotel and came home the next day. 

          Movies became a paying business by the 1890’s. But, Movies became a sin as soon as their Prophet, Ellen White, saw one. She wrote: 

“Among the most dangerous resorts for pleasure is the theater” (Messages to Young People, pg.380) 

           It was a waste of time and the money was needed for the spreading of “The Three Angels message “Which was:  

1. The seventh day Sabbath was the, “Seal of God.” Present Truth. Jan.31, 1849 

2. Sunday keeping was the “Mark of the Beast“. EW. pgs. 29, 47, 55,143,145   1882

3. The Pope was the “Antichrist” Ibid

4. The Investigative Judgment Began in 1844. EW pg. 229-249 

          Riding bicycles was a waste of money too. Playing sports like baseball or football were out!  No, competitive games at all! No, dancing! No card games! You could not read fiction. No strong drink! No smoking! No coffee or tea! No sugar! No pepper! No meat! No milk, ice cream or cheese! And no eggs! No sweets! And it would be better to eat only two meals a day. No, Jewelry! No, makeup!  The ladies had to wear a long dress with long pants under it. No corsets, as that would make your babies have wasp-like waist. No wigs, as that would heat up the back of the brain and cause the animal passions to be aroused. Go to a web site called    www.ellenwhiteexposed.com 

          If you think I am lying, read it for yourself, it is all there! Never take my word for it. Better yet, I asked the White Estates for a copy of this stuff. I know it is hard for those of you who have not heard of this stuff before to understand why, anyone would allow themselves to be controlled by such nonsense. It happens in many cults who claim to have a prophet of God as their leader. Look at the Muslims.

          Adventist have no idea what people think about them until they are outside of the group for awhile, it is sad! As children, we were taught that we were very special. The Adventist were smarter. We were like Daniel and his three friends who did not eat the king’s meat and were 10 times smarter than the rest of the king’s court.  We could tell who was a Christian by the way they dressed. If you saw a ring on a person’s hand, you knew they were sinners, even if it was a wedding ring. All other churches were BABYLON! She said:  

          “Satan has taken full possession of the (other) Churches…..Their prayers are an abomination to God.” Spiritual Gifts V1, pgs 189-190.  

          We of course were the “Remnant Church“. All I can say to you Christians of other faiths, I am very, very sorry. Please, forgive us.  

CHURCH SCHOOL AT LAST

            The summer of 1903, the Parmeles decided to build a church school on Drift Creek. They hand sawed lumber by manpower. One man on top and one underneath. They spit shakes for a roof, made a good size one-room schoolhouse, and furnished it with tables and chairs. They hired a teacher, Charles Butterfield. His wife taught music on a pump organ.

          All the Parmele young people, Hoyt, Clarence, Edgar and even Myrtle were there. At that time, Carrie Lockwood had moved from Kansas City to live with the Parmeles. She had her eye on Clarence. Two years later, she would marry him. Also present were Olive and Ethel Parmele and the Polander children. All toll there were thirteen students.

                                                          THE STORE PARMELE’S BUILT

          In the summer of 1904, the Parmeles built a house on tideland for a store. Charles Ray and Charles Nelson of Cloverdale Mercantile Store agreed to furnish goods to sell in the store, and to bring the merchandise in on the Della, a sea-going vessel. Nelson and Ray fulfilled their promise, and Parmeles had that store two years, and then built a larger store near where the highway bridge crosses Drift Creek now. The new building had three rooms in the back for living area; later they built on a kitchen and lived there. Parmeles ran the store for six years. He sold it to Jack wick.

           Not being able to open the store on Sabbath made it hard to always satisfy the customers.           

          In 1905 Mr. Parmele bought a sawmill near Dallas, Oregon about a hundred miles inland. Someone said they thought Hoyt Parmele’s lead team would climb a tree if Hoyt told them to. It took good drivers to haul a load that heavy over the Salmon River road.

          They set the mill up, along side Drift Creek, near the little store building. They began sawing lumber and for 14 years, they hauled lumber, with a four-horse team, to many homesteaders all along the coast. Bert Lockwood is leaning against a six feet log ready to enter the mill.

          The mill was not a small portable mill; they cut logs as big as six foot in diameter. It was run by a steam engine; it had two six-foot circler saws, one on top just ahead of the bottom saw.

                 A GOOD LOOK AT A STEAM SAWMILL LIKE THE PARMELE’S HAD.

                                                Mill at night                             Steam Engine                             Boiler at 140psi                            Governor

                                     Double Saws                                Engine running                         Sawdust burner                  Cutoff saw engine                                                                                   

                                                  Log going in                        Log coming out                             Cutting to length                            Cut lumber

           They built new houses to replace their shacks. They built a tool shed, and barn. The barn was a big three-story affair. The barn sat next to Drift Creek road. The road was about one story higher than the base on the barn, so a ramp was built from the road into the second floor on the barn. It was in the second story that the equipment was stored. The first floor was where the milking stanchions were. It had about 30 stanchions in a row, with hayracks in front of them. The hay was dropped from the third floor haymow down a hay shoot. The hay was cut loose, as there were no bailers in those days. The main hay field was down on the tideland. The hay was cut with a horse drawn mower. After it dried, it was raked into rows, with a horse drawn ten foot wide, trip rake. The rows of hay were then piled in 5-foot piles by hand with pitchforks. The hay was then loaded with pitchforks on to a horse drawn hay wagon, a four-wheel affair, with eight-foot high-end gates to hold the hay front and back. The sides were low so you could load from both sides, as the horses pulled the wagon between the stacks of hay. One person sat on a seat at the front of the wagon to drive the horses, while two people pitch the hay on the wagon from both sides. We kids rode on top of the hay to pack it down. It was fun! At the barn the hay was unloaded, and put in the haymow. A set of hay hooks descended from a track that ran over the haymow and hung four feet out side the hayloft doors at the peak of the barn.

          The hay hook was the shape of an upside down U with fold out barbs to grab the hay. You had to push the hook down into the haystack and set the barbs out. As the hook was pulled up by a horse, on the ground, at the other end of the barn, a good size load of hay would pull loose from the stack and start its climb to the top track. As it reached the top, it snapped into a set of rollers that ran it into the barn over the haymow. A man in the barn would then trip the load by pulling on a rope that hung from the set of rollers; the barbs would drop down and down the load would come. You then backed the horse up and started the whole process over again.

          The cows were milked by hand at that time. The milk was poured into galvanized metal 20-gallon milk cans, with tight metal lids pushed in the top. Cold water ran through a trough in the milk house to cool the milk. It came from a spring up the hill behind the barn.  It kept the milk cold until it was shipped by sea going schooner to the Tillamook Cheese factory, or made into butter to be sold locally.

          Things began to change a lot around Drift Creek, roads, bridges, towns, stores, schools etc. 

      Schooner Creek Bridge on road to Parmele               Drift Creek Bridge to Schaffer’s ranch                                    Taft Bridge

                           Rose Lodge                                                Boyer station                                                       Otis Junction

                Ocean Lake                                                                                       Nelscott                                                                          Devils Lake     Delake      

                                    Willamina                                                        Taft from the air                                                              Taft

          Clarence Parmele, my grandfather, built a small house, with the help of his brothers, near the saw mill. Then he and Carrie Lockwood, my grandmother, went to Toledo the county seat and got married. 6/4/1905.

                                                                                                                    Mr. and Mrs. Clarence and Carrie Parmele

          He brought his beautiful, 20 year old wife, home on horseback to an almost empty house with so little furniture. She borrowed a hammer and saw from the mill and made a chair, a bed, a cupboard and anything else she needed.  

          My grandmother was that way until she was in her late 70’s. She would buy a house and remodel it, sell it and buy another one. I helped her while I lived with her in Salem Oregon. It was my first year out of Academy. She wanted me to go into a partnership with her, buy houses and fix them up. I should have taken her up on it, but I wanted to go to college, take theology, get married, (which I did) and become a Seventh Day Adventist preacher, which never happened.

          It was a long way going to Toledo, the county seat at that time; you had to go up the Siletz River and cross over to Toledo. The trip was about 20 miles. The coast highway to Newport wasn’t built yet and you can see why from these photos. 

           The rugged coastline at Otter Crest stopped construction of a suitable highway until about 1936 just before the war. Then it was very curvy and steep. We kids usually always got very carsick.

 GO TO CHAPTER 3