Working on opera house events; PDA elections held; Congresswoman visits

HOHS events meeting

The Harrington Opera House Society’s events committee met January 21 at city hall with Robert Vierschilling, Heather Slack, Kris Moritz, Ellen Evans, Mark Stedman, Karen Robertson and Linda Wagner present. In preparation for the meeting, an Excel workbook was prepared for viewing on the DropBox website showing some of the possible future events being considered.

Robertson said: “The meeting was very productive with several more ideas, performers and presenters added to the list of potential events. Before selecting, confirming and finalizing the calendar for 2020, additional input will be sought at the annual Harrington community meeting that has been rescheduled for February 9 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Harrington Memorial Hall. Viershilling will ask Harrington students what activities they would like to see or participate in at the Harrington Opera House.

The events committee will meet again on Feb. 25 to begin selecting performers for the main events for the year. As additional upcoming events are added, they will be posted on the HOHS website http://www.harringtonoperahouse.org and on the HOHS Facebook page.” The first confirmed item on the schedule is Bridges Home on March 20. Another attendee added, “Several genres were suggested, including country groups, a spring gala and possible lectures. Viershilling booked the elementary band (pre-schoolers through fourth-graders) and guitar class.” Readers with an opinion regarding types of events are asked to contact Karen Robertson at 509-253-4683 or Linda Wagner at 509-253-4719.

Public Development Authority

The Harrington Public Development Authority elected new officers for the year 2020 at its January 21 meeting. Current president Heather Slack, Jay Kane, Nathan Luck, Maddy Peterson, Jay Gossett, Bunny Haugan and Paul Charlton were present. Following the election, new officers are Gossett as president, Luck as vice-president, Charlton as treasurer and Haugan as secretary. The date for the community forum was rescheduled for February 9, after bad weather caused cancellation of the prior date.

Veterans Town Hall

U.S. Fifth Congressional District Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers will be in Harrington for a Veterans Town Hall question-and-answer session January 31 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Post and Office.

Finding the lost

Having recently found a misplaced stack of old death certificates, the typing began to ensure that each of the deaths were recorded and placed in a corresponding file. If the burial was shown to occur in Hillcrest Cemetery, the certificate is typed into that cemetery file. A copy is then pasted into the surname file if the family was in town long enough to become a name cited frequently in news items. One of these certificates presented a unique obstacle in that the name on the death certificate was Laura Elizabeth Phillips. Hillcrest Cemetery has quite a number of Phillips burials, but there was no Laura Elizabeth. These are the details from the certificate: Laura Elizabeth Phillips (sic). Female, White, Married. Birth: Feb. 10, 1869, age 52. Birthplace: Oregon. Father: I.R. Hodgen, born Kentucky. Mother: Louisa Boydston, born Kentucky. Informant: C.E. Keeran, Harrington, Wash. Died: Nov. 2, 1921, 5 a.m. ’This person was in moribund condition and unconscious when I saw her. I do not know the cause of death.’ R.G. Nelson, MD, Nov. 3, 1921, Harrington, Wash. Burial: Harrington, Wash, Nov. 5, 1921. Undertaker: J.E. Turner, Harrington, Washington.” (WA State Board of Health. Register of Death)

If this woman is in Hillcrest, how would you find her with this incorrect name? When the computer was given the task of locating Hodgen, the surname of her father, the file that was shown was “Harrington surname Keeran.” The surname Phillips does occur in this file, but it is not Laura. “Phillips-Keeran.—Miss Mary E. Phillips of Mohler and Mr. John Keeran of Harrington were married in Mohler on Sunday, Nov. 2, Rev. E.C. Scott officiating. The bride is the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. A.J. Phillips. She finished the Mohler schools and then took a course at Cheney Normal and has since been teaching. The groom is an old Harrington high school athlete, orator and debater who later attended the University of Montana, graduating two years ago. He was a star football man on the Montana team for years. The wedding occurred at the bride’s home in Mohler, the home being beautifully decorated for the occasion with yellow and white chrysanthemums. Only the near relatives were present. Those attending were Mr. C.E. Keeran and son Foster; the bride’s parents and five brothers, the eldest one, John, of California; George and Elbert and families from Sprague; Jacob of Mohler and Thomas, who was recently discharged from the navy; Mrs. Killian, an aunt, from Wheeler; Mr. & Mrs. Joe Yarwood; Agnes Snider; Kathryn Conklin and Mrs. E.C. Scott. After a short trip to Spokane, the newlyweds will be at home on the Keeran ranch near Harrington.” (Citizen: 11-07-1919) As will be seen, Mrs. C.E. Keeran was too ill to attend the wedding with her husband.

Reading further in the Keeran file, the following item answered the question as to who Laura really was: “The funeral of Mrs. Laura Elizabeth Keeran, who died Wednesday of last week at her home west of Harrington was held Saturday afternoon at the Baptist church. The funeral service was directed by Rev. E.C. Scott and burial took place in the Harrington Cemetery. Laura Elizabeth Hodgen was born in Jackson County, Ore. on Feb. 10, 1869; died at Harrington Nov. 2, 1921, aged 52 years. Her parents moved to Calif. when she was three months old, where more than half of her life was lived. She was married to C.E. Keeran at Willows, Calif., Oct. 31, 1892 and nine years later they came to Lincoln County, settling at their present home west of town. To them two sons were born, John and Foster, both of them being present today. Mrs. Keeran was converted when 12 years old and has led a full life of real trust and devotion, being all these years at Harrington, a faithful Sunday school teacher and church worker when her health permitted. She has been an invalid for several years, her disease baffling the skill of the best physicians to the very last. Besides her much loved husband and sons and loving friends, she leaves to mourn her loss three sisters, Mrs. J.G. Wolfe and Mrs. W.H. Kirk of Almira and Mrs. C.E. Fells, of Maxwell, Calif .; two brothers, Robert B. Hodgen of Fallert, Nev. and Geo. B. Hodgen of Rollins, Wyo., and little granddaughter Mary Elizabeth Keeran.” (Citizen-11 Nov 1921) Mistakes in legal documents can be time-consuming as well as exasperating.

From that same stack of death certificates, another dead end occurred. Wonder who this was? “Female. White. Married. Birth: March 29, 1856, Germany. Age: 59 yrs 3 mos 21 days. Housewife. Parents born Germany. Death: July 12, 1915, 12:30 p.m. Cause: heart trouble; contributory: Indigestion. H. Mitchell, MD, Odessa. Burial: Spokane, July 14, 1915. Undertaker: J.E. Turner, Harrington, Wn.” (Reg. of Death) This type of omission makes the person nearly impossible to identify; as the burial was not in Hillcrest.