Told by the Pioneers - Washington Secretary of State

Told by the Pioneers
Here is something good for people to think about now-a-days. There
were no relief agencies and neighbors looked after neighbors when
ever possible. In rare cases the county commissioners were called on
for help. I recall once the commissioners gave a widow the lump sum
of one hundred dollars. She went out and bought herself a very nice
dress, nicer than any other woman in that commuity had and she paid
five dollars for a hat, an unheard of price then. All the ladies in the
neighborhood criticized her extravagance. But say, do yon know that
was the best investment the county ever made, for in just a few months
she married a fine man and went to live in ('lark County. In my opinion,
that woman used good judgment.
FAMUX IlISTORr OF MA['DE B['RR BASSE
Thurston County
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My grandfather, Capt. Nathaniel Crosby, J L, arrived in Portland,
Oregon, in 1847, on the brig O. C. Raymond, which he owned. He was
sent out by the government with a cargo of supplies for emigrant:;
who were making their way across the continent in covered wagons.
He took a small boat and sounded over the Columbia Rinr bar and up
the river and his vessel followed. He took his crew ashore, had them
fall trees, and built a log cabin in which to cache the supplies. This
building was at First and ~Iorrison Streets and ,,-as used for man~'
years as post office. He was a senior partner of the firm of Crosby
& Smith, between First and Second Streets. At the time he arrived
in Portland, there were only a few log cabins there.
Capt. Crosby remained on the coast for three years, trading between
San Francisco, Portland and the Sandwich Islands and he made
at least one trip to China with a cargo of spars. He finally went into
a general trading business at Portland, Oregon. His store was on
Morrison Street between First and Second Streets. He built the second
frame house in Portland on the cornel' of Second and Morrison
Streets. It was a quaint structure one and one-half stories in height,
with a wide veranda across the front and hard finish inside, which
was unusual in those early days. It was stilI standing away in the
suburbs of Portland a few years ago and was used as a Chinese laundry.
(I believe now, though, in 1937, it has been torn down.)
Capt. Crosby had tried for some time to have his family, living ill
Wiscasset, Maine, join him. He finally sent to his brother, Capt. Clanrick
Crosby, alld together they purchased a small brig, 274 tons, called
the Grecian. They sailed in September, 1849, from the East Binr,
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