The saga of the Cornelius, Wallace and Rudene families Part 1 of 2 ...

Site founded Sept. 1, 2000. We passed 3 million page views on Feb. 10, 2009The home pages remain free of any charge. We need donations or subscriptions to continue.Please pass on this website link to your family, relatives, friends and clients.Skagit River Journalof History & FolkloreSubscribers EditionThe most in­depth, comprehensive site about the SkagitCovers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered:Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolvinghistory dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindnessNoel V. Bourasaw, editor 810 Central Ave., Sedro­Woolley, Washington, 98284Home of the Tarheel Stomp Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town BugPioneers Nellie Canavan and Mabel Meins, who moved here with theirfamilies while Washington was still a territory, rode the TerritorialDaughters covered wagon in the 1939 Sedro­Woolley Fourth of Julyparade. This is similar to the wagon that the Cornelius family wouldhave taken across the Oregon Trail in 1845.The saga of the Cornelius,Wallace and Rudene familiesBy Noel V. Bourasaw, Skagit River Journal of History & Folklore, copyright 2002Part 1 of 2:Funerals and plans for moving westRuthinda was introduced to a new bachelor in town. He was of even temper andshe was willing to see more of him. William Wallace was a gentleman who worked fast.He had to, for women were scarce in those parts and Ruthinda was a pretty little thing.She already had two sons and was a good catch. That most horrible year of 1847ended well for Ruthinda Mounts Browning Cornelius. On Christmas Day she becameMrs. William Wallace in Clackamas county, [in what would soon be] Oregon Territory.William was thirty­six and Ruthinda was twenty­nine. It was her third marriage and,under the circumstances, it was a good match.—My Ruthinda , Christopher BarnesThe Northwest history of Ruthinda Mounts Browning Cornelius Wallace and her daughterBessie Jane Cornelius Rudene goes back more than 150 years. Together they suffered heartwrenchinghardships, disappointments and family tragedies, but bounced right back, moving theirgrief to the back of the wagon as they carried on their responsibilities to their frontier families andcommunities. Consider that the scene above happened just months after Ruthinda buried her second husband and after she heard the news that her dear friend, NarcissaWhitman, had been brutally murdered in a massacre at the Whitman mission. But her life had barely begun. In the years ahead, Ruthinda would be the first white settlerwoman on Whidbey island and Bessie would be the first settler woman on mainland Skagit county. They are two of the most important women in Northwest Washingtonhistory.This whole chain of events started back in 1842 in Iowa when a widow and a widower met when they were both grieving. Ruthinda Mounts Browning's husband diedin his 20s before she could have children, which she dearly wanted. Meanwhile, Isaac C. Cornelius married Elizabeth I. McDonald on Valentine's Day, 1839, near DesMoines and lost her after she delivered a baby boy, John Absalom, on Nov. 26, 1839. She never recovered from the rigors of childbirth. Young John's first memory waswalking hand­in­hand with his father up to her gravesite on a hill. Father needed a wife and the son badly needed a mother. Early in 1842, Isaac visited the Mounts familyand Eli Mounts suggested that his widowed daughter, Ruthinda, could care for the boy while his father traveled on business.A life­long love story started that day, but it was between the boy and Ruthinda. She was short of stature, described ashaving a round face with a complexion of peaches and cream. Her radiant smile captivated the boy and he soon played cupid forthe two adults. Ruthinda and Isaac married on Nov. 15, 1842, just before John's third birthday. She wanted to have a babyimmediately but her wishes were put on hold as Isaac organized a wagon train to take his parents and family friends across theplains to the Northwest corner of the United States. Letters from people who had moved there appeared weekly in the localpress and the U.S. Congress was fashioning what would be called the Donation Land Claim Act, under which 320­acre parcelsof government land out there could be claimed. Wagon trains started traveling west in 1843, but only lately had women startedemigrating with them. Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding were among the small handful of women who traveled west before1843; they went with their husbands to establish religious missions. In 1843, nearly 800 people left in wagon trains; 1,500 in1844 and 3,000 would travel in 1845. Many who departed had tearful farewells with family who feared that their loved oneswould move so far away that they would never see them again — or even worse, that they would die on the trail. But Ruthinda,who was born in Ohio in on March 8, 1818, looked forward to a better life. She was the second eldest in a family of six childrenand her baby brother Eli was born in the past year after his father married again following the death of Ruthinda's mother, Sarah.The Absalom Cornelius family embarked on the first leg of their journey to St. Joseph, Missouri, in late April of 1845. Therethey joined an ox­team caravan of 50 wagons of emigrants from Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. They chose oxen in favor of horsesbecause — even though horses were faster, oxen were both less expensive and could haul heavier loads. Isaac's wagon wasThis is a "place­holder story." Itwas originally posted back in 2002on our original domain, and sincethen we have discovered many moredetails about the families whosestories are interwoven. We plan tocompletely update and extend thestory by 2010. For now, we leave itin its original state. We hope thatreaders and descendants of thefamily will suggest ideas andprovide copies of photos anddocuments that will illuminate thestory when we update it.furnished sparsely, carrying Isaac's tools and a bedstead and a wagon box that contained a bare minimum of items to make the trip less onerous. They heard the stories ofhow some families before them packed treasured furniture and bulky items that now littered the plains after they were forced to dump them to ford rivers or crossmountain passes. Ruthinda noticed that the Cornelius family was the largest of the family groups with 25 and seemed to be the nucleus of the train. The 13 survivingchildren of the 15 they had together accompanied Absalom and Elizabeth Cornelius, Isaac's parents. Many of the family had children with them and some of those wereinfants, two of whom would die on the way. Isaac was the oldest surviving son of the family, having been born in North Carolina in 1820. Absalom's relatives, theBenjamin Cornelius family, added to their numbers. Ben's son Thomas R. would eventually found the town of Cornelius, Oregon. They soon fell in with another familyheaded by Josiah Osborne from Illinois; the two families would be bonded by common experience over the next three years.

future Skagit county. Nor did she know that her beloved stepson John would come back into her life in a very big way.The first white settler family of Whidbey islandWilliam and Ruthinda Wallace took their children, Isaac — then four, and Betsy — thenjust over one, north from Olympia in 1851 on a slow route. Their destination was Whidbeyisland, but they made a stop or two along the way. The first recorded stop was at what wouldbe known soon as Alki point, on the west side of the peninsula that is now West Seattle. ChiefSealth welcomed them to his campground there, and he showed them land on Elliott Bay thatwas on a series of seven hills. Bessie recalled many years later that her father politely refusedthe offer:I have often heard my parents tell of their visit at the Indian village . . . how kind andhospitable the chief was, generously offering all the land they would accept if they wouldonly stay; but they were still under the spell of Col. Ebey's enthusiasm and proceeded ontheir way.They continued in a scow and canoes through the maze of islands in the San Juanarchipelago until they reached Whidbey island in the summer of 1851. Capt. George Vancouveroriginally named the island for his sailing master, Joseph Whidbey, when they explored the John Cornelius survey crew circa 1872, Cornelius in the center. Photocourtesy of the 1906 Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Countiessound for the British in 1792. But Joseph Wilkes, a U.S. Navy captain who drew maps duringa West Coast expedition in 1841, spelled the name, Whidby, and Ebey and some newspapersadopted that spelling. At the time, that island and others in the chain were being advertised as far away as London as the "land of dreams." for the good soil, excellentstands of timber and open plains ready for farming. Vancouver named Deception pass by mistake because he thought that the narrow passageway at the north end of theisland was a cul­de­sac. Whidbey discovered that the land was actually an island and he and his men landed in a cove that would later be named for Granville Penn, whowitnessed Vancouver's last will and testament back in his native city of King's Lynn, north of London.Penn Cove Indian camp. Photo courtesy of a great website about Whidbeyhistory: http://www.nps.gov/ebla/adhi/adhib.htmSettlement of Whidbey islandThe Donation Land Claim Act, passed by the U.S. Congress on Sept. 29, 1850,accelerated settlement of the islands and William staked one 320­acre claim in his nameand another in Ruthinda's name. That act was one more step by the U.S. government toencourage brave people to settle in the territories that had been added since Jefferson'sLouisiana Purchase of 1803. The Preemption Act of 1841 allowed people to purchase 160acres of land in American territories for $1.25 a acre, as would the later Homestead Act.But the Donation Act went even further and granted a half section, or 320 acres, to anymale citizen who was 18 or older if he arrived in the territory before Dec. 1, 1850. ThisAct also marked the first time that the government recognized the unique contributions thatwomen could make, but not as individuals — only if they were married. If the settlermarried before Dec. 1, 1851, his wife could claim another half section in her own name.The act also authorized people who settled after the 1850 deadline to acquire 160 acresuntil 1854 and they were only required to live on the land and cultivate it for four years toown it outright. The claims of people already residing in Oregon territory when it wasrecognized in 1854 were also covered under this Act. When the 1850 Act expired on Dec.1, 1855, the Preemption Act remained in effect. Whidbey island settlers were allowed tostake claims that had irregular boundaries, as opposed to the rectangular, checkerboardeffect of claims elsewhere that were based on the township and range system imposed bythe Oregon Provisional Government Land Act of 1844.Whidbey is the third largest island in the continental United States. At 168 square miles, it was behind Long Island at 1,723 and Isle Royale, Lake Superior, Michigan,at 209.9. The island is 33 miles long, with a very irregular horseshoe shape. The Wallace claims were at the north end of Crescent Harbor, just east of Oak Harbor. Theirclaims were among the first half dozen on the island and much of the combined 640 acres later became the U.S. Navy seaplane base. Their neighbors to the west onCrescent Bay were Ulrich Freund, Martin Tofteson and C.W. Sumner, who settled there in 1849. Unlike most adjacent land that had forests of giant trees, the Wallaceland was at least partially a level, open prairie, according to family memories. According to historian Dorothy Neil, the later townsite was named Oak Harbor because ofthe large stand of Garry Oak trees there. Colonel Ebey's claim was on the west shore of the island, south of Penn Cove and Coupeville.Ruthinda thought she would have Mrs. Ebey as a friend on the island but when they arrived she discovered that the colonel had not yet moved his wife and daughterup from Olympia. The Wallaces were the second family on the island. Back in the spring of 1848, Thomas W. Glasgow built a cabin on the island after exploring PugetSound in a canoe. He then cleared his site and planted a garden before taking an Indian wife, whom he called Julia Pat­Ke­Nim. Soon thereafter, he rowed a canoe downto Tumwater and convinced Antonio B. Rabbeson to return with him. A month later, more than a thousand Indians from various Puget sound tribes met at Penn Cove anddiscussed plans that included the possibility of raiding white settlements. Within a few months, Glasgow and his wife and Rabbeson left the island. There were only 15settlers on the island at the time that the Wallaces arrived. William used his carpenter skills to quickly put up the first woodframe house on the island. Although she wascertainly disappointed that she would not have any women friends nearby, Ruthinda marveled at the waterfront and the magnificent view they had of Mount Baker on themainland to the northeast and set about creating a home for her family. She asked about Mrs. Ebey, but discovered that the colonel's wife was not there yet. Severalsettlers were "squaw men,' meaning that they had taken Indian wives, but Ruthinda still harbored ill feelings about the Indian massacre of the Whitmans.The nearest store was at Port Townsend and flour often cost $40 a barrel, so the families on the island learned to be self­sufficient as much as possible. Ruthindalearned to prepare meals for her young family from the plentiful salmon, venison deer and elk. Potatoes grew there easily and they soon had cows to go with their horsesthat they brought to the island first. Rebecca Ebey finally joined her husband on the island in 1852, just in time to help Ruthinda as she gave birth to her second daughter,Mary, on April 20, 1852. Mary was always called Polowna, the name of her mother's younger sister. Polowna was the first settler child born on the island just as Bessiewas the first settler baby living at the crossroads of Olympia.South across Crescent bay was another settler, Thomas Coupe, a sea captain, who became famous for a romantic daredevil voyage that is the stuff of legends. Bornon the Isle of Man in the Irish sea, he married Martha White at Bath, Maine, in 1840. As the young city of San Francisco grew, following the gold rush of 1849, Coupewas lured West, where he sailed back and forth from San Francisco to Puget sound to get lumber for the new wharves in California. He found Whidbey island and sentfor Martha and their four children to join him on the island in 1853. The legend goes that, after a six­month trip around Cape Horn on the clipper ship Thomas Church,Martha took one look at future Coupeville and agreed to live there only on the condition that Coupe give up his full­time sailing career and become a farmer. He decidedto go out with a bang, so he became the only captain to ever sail a fully rigged ship, the Success, through Deception pass, quite a feat since the waterway is less than 100feet wide at some points. He took up a claim southeast of Penn Cove sometime in 1852, about a year after the Wallaces arrived. The town of Coupeville soon grew onpart of his property and is one of the oldest towns in the State of Washington. After Coupe's feat was communicated far and wide, other captains started sailing upAdmiralty inlet alongside the island. One of the ships brought the Thomas P. Hastie family in June 1853 and they staked a claim northwest of today's Oak Harbor. Theyalso crossed the plains by wagon train as Ruthinda and Wallace did, so they had a lot of common experiences to discuss. William probably joined Hastie in cutting woodnear Penn Cove for the steamer Mary Ellen that year.Ruthinda's brothers join the familyTwo of Ruthinda's Mounts brothers also joined the Wallaces on the island that year. James Mounts claimed 320 acres directly west from them on April 17, 1853 and

part of his property and is one of the oldest towns in the State of Washington. After Coupe's feat was communicated far and wide, other captains started sailing upAdmiralty inlet alongside the island. One of the ships brought the Thomas P. Hastie family in June 1853 and they staked a claim northwest of today's Oak Harbor. Theyalso crossed the plains by wagon train as Ruthinda and Wallace did, so they had a lot of common experiences to discuss. William probably joined Hastie in cutting woodnear Penn Cove for the steamer Mary Ellen that year.Ruthinda's brothers join the familyTwo of Ruthinda's Mounts brothers also joined the Wallaces on the island that year. James Mounts claimed 320 acres directly west from them on April 17, 1853 andMilton Mounts claimed another 320 farther west on April 29. They were musicians and loved to play instruments for the family and other settlers at the drop of a hat. Allthe early settlers had just barely enough to live on and in the early years the children could only attend school for a few months out of the year. Ruthinda had beeneducated in the common schools of Iowa and she insisted that William build a school for the island kids; he finished it in 1855, according to Ruthinda's memory. GeorgeKellogg, historian of the island, refers to a log cabin school built and taught by John Wilson a half mile north of the county road in the Coupe field and does not mentionWallace's school.A Methodist minister also came to the island during that period, which made Ruthinda especially happy. Again, George Kellogg's record differs; he said that Rev. A.C. Fairchilds was the first Methodist minister and he arrived in 1864 or 1865. But, as historian Theresa Trebon points out, Kellogg's record contains many errors and hedid not actually settle on the island as did his father, pioneer Dr. John Coe Kellogg. So we will continue researching these disputed items. Meanwhile, in 1855, Ruthindagave birth to James Mounts Wallace. Interestingly, William had kept his promise that he would treat Isaac as a full son, so no one noted that James was the first son byWilliam. Ruthinda formed a close friendship with 30­year­old Rebecca Ebey and helped her friend deliver a daughter in 1854 but Rebecca died soon afterwards, onemore pioneer woman dying from the rigors of childbirth. So, once again, Rebecca had to adjust to not having a female confidante. In 1856 Ebey married again to thewidow, Emily Palmer Sconce, and Ruthinda welcomed her and her daughter Anna to the island.Although she feared Indians after the Whitman massacre, Ruthinda remembered the kindness of Chief Sealth and she finally began making friends with some of theIndian wives on the island. She learned from them that Indians of the Haida tribe and others on Vancouver Island often conducted raids on Indians living on Whidbey andother islands of the archipelago. In 1856 soldiers Naval troops at Port Gamble killed 27 Indians in a battle, including their chief. Over the next year the marauding tribeseethed in resentment and in October 1857 they came to Whidbey and beheaded Col. Isaac Ebey in retribution. William was away at the time and Ruthinda fled her homewith her children. She displayed the stoic spirit of the other islanders as they buried Ebey and got on with their lives. Meanwhile, William got work along with Thomas P.Hastie at the Cranney­Grennan mill on Camano island and had to row eight miles over there every day, regardless of the weather, but the $1.50 he made every day wasmost welcome. A primitive wagon road was dug in during 1857 when a post office was established at Coveland, a village formed by Richard Lansdale at the head ofPenn's Cove in 1852. At the first meeting of the new county commissioner, they approved a road that led west from Coupeville past Ebey's Landing and then up to theWallace homestead. Up to then, they depended on freight steamers for mail, so Ruthinda was pleased that she now had direct mail communication her family and friendsback home in Iowa and in Oregon. At age 40, Ruthinda gave birth in 1858 to her last child, Sarah, the year that gold was discovered on the Fraser river in the Englishcolony called British Columbia. Ruthinda was determined that Sarah would be her last because she was feeling very tired. Oregon became a state in 1859 and althoughRuthinda still loved Oregon the best of any of her homes, she had planted her roots firmly on the island. She and the children both marveled every time a deer wanderedup to the porch. Wolves still caused scares in the woods around the settlements, but settlers eventually killed most of them off by lining the carcasses of dead deer withstrychnine. Bears remained a common sight on the island up until at least 1935.John A. Cornelius. Photocourtesy of Christopher Barnes.William's wanderlust leads to an answer to Ruthinda's prayersAlthough it had lain dormant for nearly nine years, William's wanderlust struck again in 1860 when he decided to take a chanceand follow the Fraser River gold miners as they worked their way up past [Mortimer] Cook's Ferry to the Cariboo gold fields ofcentral British Columbia. The prospect of riches convinced Ruthinda to take a chance on the new town of Whatcom on BellinghamBay and William secured a place for her and the children near the homestead of town founder Henry Roeder. Roeder and SedrofounderMortimer Cook led pack trains to the gold fields from 1858 on. Like the argonauts before him, William discovered that therewas no real trail north to Hope, B.C., but rather a jungle full of brush and forests with no roads or bridges in northern Whatcomcounty. Imagine William's surprise when he discovered on the trail one day that a young man in charge of a packhorse train had the lastname of Cornelius. It was John, the stepson that Ruthinda still missed. Now almost 20, John was full of questions about Ruthinda andfamily, but he was heading north and Wallace was going south. William told Ruthinda about the chance meeting when he returned andshe was indeed thrilled, but the hoped­for meeting did not materialize . . . yet. When John returned from British Columbia, he rushedback to Oregon to train to be a surveyor, a badly needed skill throughout the new territory.Later in 1861, after Ruthinda and the family returned to Crescent Harbor, one day a man she didn't recognize rode up on a horse.As he came closer, her heart pounded because his features brought back memories from 12 years before. It was John, the stepson shestill thought of every day, and they spent hours catching up. Ruthinda learned that after Absalom Cornelius moved to the town ofTurner in Marion county, Oregon, Isaac's brother George Cornelius became John's legal guardian. After awhile, he asked to see his"baby sister" Betsy, who was just a month old when her parents left Oregon. She was just 12 that summer but she reminded him verymuch of how beautiful Ruthinda was in her 20s and the family says that they fell in love at first sight that day. John had to return to Oregon where he had become animportant young man in his community, but he promised to return as often as possible. He kept his promise and returned often. As Chris Barnes recounts in My Ruthinda,they were often "seen riding on his horse, as lovers do, through the forest. . . . As the days passed it became apparent to her parents that his was no mere puppy love."William was determined that they would have to wait to marry until Bessie was past girlhood. John must prove his love by showing the virtue of patience anddemonstrate that he was ready for the responsibility of a family. Although people now might raise their eyebrow over the couple's family relationship, you have toremember that potential spouses were proverbially few and far between on the frontier in those days. Besides, they had never lived together and had no blood relation.Bessie was born after John had been taken away from Ruthinda, who was only his stepmother, no matter how deep their affection was for each other. Eventually, in 1865,Ruthinda convinced William that four years was a sufficient testing period. The lovers married on John's 26th birthday, Nov. 26, 1865, while the eastern half of the countrywas still reeling from the civil war. Justice of the Peace James Busby officiated at the wedding. Back during the courtship days, William kept another promise to Ruthinda.He always told her that if a family man explored the island and wanted land, they would sell part of their claim. In August 1862, James Busby impressed them as a goodcandidate, so they sold him and his wife the eastern half of their claim, 320 acres, for a badly needed $1,500. William was pleased with his new son­in­law, both becausehe brought such great joy to Ruthinda and because he promised to be a good provider to Betsy, if he would just concentrate on farming and forget his "hobby" ofsurveying that he had learned in Oregon.The Wallaces and Mounts all leave Whidbey islandLittle did William Wallace know that John Cornelius's "damn­fool surveying" would become the longest lasting legacy of the family. Not content to till the fields onWhidbey or row across to Camano to work at the mill as had his father­in­law, John obtained the federal commission to survey the soggy delta swamps of the Swinomishflats. He was gone for long stretches of time, part of which he spent exploring the Swinomish flats. Meanwhile, Bessie was now the focal point for the extended family asshe became pregnant. She had begun to detest her given name more and more. As Chris Barnes notes in My Ruthinda:It seemed to her that every farmer had a cow called "Betsy" and she could not stand the thought of it any longer. Being a married woman, she decided,gave her the right to change her name. She let it be known that henceforth she wished to be known as BessieBessie soon gave birth to her first child on Sept. 10, 1866, and they named him William John. John was amazed how tiny the baby was, not having seen many infants,and remembered that the last time he had a baby so lovingly was when he held his future wife when he was ten and she was just a few days old. About that time, the socialevent of the decade occurred that year when James and Milton Mounts decided to move off the island. They planned to travel far away to Argentina where the newpresident had opened up the Santa Fe area north of Buenos Aires to immigration. People from many European countries flooded in to carve out large cattle ranches andthe brothers wanted to be there at ground level. James and Milton had become beloved fixtures in their 14 years on the island and some families traveled by horse andbuggy as long as seven hours to see them off with a party at William's house. Milton Mounts sold his 320 acres to Thomas J. Bruce for $1,500 on Feb. 13, 1867. James

Bessie soon gave birth to her first child on Sept. 10, 1866, and they named him William John. John was amazed how tiny the baby was, not having seen many infants,and remembered that the last time he had a baby so lovingly was when he held his future wife when he was ten and she was just a few days old. About that time, the socialevent of the decade occurred that year when James and Milton Mounts decided to move off the island. They planned to travel far away to Argentina where the newpresident had opened up the Santa Fe area north of Buenos Aires to immigration. People from many European countries flooded in to carve out large cattle ranches andthe brothers wanted to be there at ground level. James and Milton had become beloved fixtures in their 14 years on the island and some families traveled by horse andbuggy as long as seven hours to see them off with a party at William's house. Milton Mounts sold his 320 acres to Thomas J. Bruce for $1,500 on Feb. 13, 1867. JamesH. Mounts retained his acreage until Sept. 24, 1878. He sold it for $1,600 to Peter McDonall.Within a month after William's birth, new­father John was investigating how to set up his own homestead, after learning from the government that the flats would soonbe opened to homesteading. The old Donation law that allowed his parents to claim 320 acres apiece was superceded by a Preemption law that allowed a pioneer 160acres of government land if he "proved up" on his claim, built a minimal structure on it and cultivated part of the land. After five years, the pioneer could purchase theacreage for $1.25 per acre. Bessie recalled the beginning of their momentous move in a conversation with her grandson, Phil Cornelius, towards the end of her life:In rather early womanhood I married a young pioneer, John A. Cornelius, and for a year lived at Oak Harbor but during that time Mr. Cornelius wasinvestigating rumors regarding the possibilities of [homesteading] a low­lying flat northeast on the mainland and finally decided to settle on a claim in the midstof that somewhat desolate region. Despite the ridicule of friends and neighbors, in September 1867 he moved his wife and baby to that place that is still myhome.When Bessie announced that she would accompany John as a dutiful wife, William lost his temper with them andthought they must be stark raving mad. Ruthinda was amused by the stubbornness that both father and daughterexhibited as true Scottish Wallaces, and she must have been tickled by the irony that Bessie wanted to move on toless­crowded spaces just as William did 20 years before.The young couple debated if they should lay claim to land where LaConner was eventually located, but insteadthey chose the Swinomish flats. At that time in 1866­67 there were no settlers in the immediate area; the only whitepermanent resident was the telegraph operator on the Indian reservation on the western side of the slough. SettlersMichael Sullivan and Sam Calhoun had taken up claims on the flats but they only rowed over for short periods toplant crops while they kept their jobs at the Cranney­Grennan mill at Utsalady. Sullivan slough at that time meanderedaround the north end of a moraine formation named Pleasant Ridge and then south and west through the salty marshthat extended almost to the Skagit river. They paddled upstream until they came to a high spot that John had found atthe foot of Pleasant Ridge. John then staked out the northeast corner of section 32 of Township 34 north and Range3 east. At first, in the winter of 1866, only John spent long stretches on the flats while surveying. Bessie would rowover on the days that the many bachelor farmers pitched in to help with crops and wanted home cooking. As 1867dawned, she could be seen paddling up and down the future Sullivan's slough by herself.One day Bessie was shocked when she returned to the island to find that her parents had moved away withoutsaying goodbye. Ruthinda had lately been wanting to return to Oregon, which she saw as the seat of refinement andculture compared to the rough frontier of the island, and her son and daughter, James and Polowma, had put downroots there. William figured they might as well move to Oregon if it made Ruthinda happy; besides, John and Bessiewere moving to the mainland and would not farm the island land. Ruthinda looked and acted older than 50 andmaybe the move would slow the aging process for her. Ruthinda also worried about Isaac Jr., who lit out withoutleaving a forwarding address the year before. The family heard vague rumors that he had gone to Nebraska. HeBessie Wallace Cornelius Rudene. Photo courtesyof Christopher Barnes.wound up back in Oregon but carried some heavy baggage with him. He caused the first scandal in the family when he was convicted of larceny and served a two­yearterm at the Oregon state penitentiary in Salem starting in December 1868. The Wallaces sold the west half of their original property to William B. Engle on July 15, 1867,for $4,666. They had no regrets about leaving. Engle was a friend of Captain Coupe and settled on the island back in 1852. Finally, on Sept. 10, 1867, William John'sfirst birthday, Bessie and John moved to the Swinomish homestead permanently, in a canoe stacked high with their possessions.Continue on to part two, which includes: John A. and Bessie Cornelius marry and homestead on the mainland of future Skagit county; Bessie becomes thefirst settler woman there; John surveys the coastline, swamps and forest of Northwest Washington; William and Ruthinda Wallace move back to Oregon; JohnCornelius dies at their Pleasant Ridge homestead; Bessie marries J.O. Rudene, Swedish immigrant; Rudene clears and dikes land in Beaver Marsh and PleasantRidge and becomes a state legislator.• Our portal section to all west­county features from Hwy 99 west to the sound.• Alphabetical links to biographies and obituaries, countywideLinks, background reading and sources• Memorials and obituaries by John Conrad, memorialist for the Skagit County Pioneer Association from 1949­73.Story posted on Jan. 18, 2003, last updated Feb. 11, 2009Please report any broken links so we can update themThis article originally appeared in Issue 11 of our Subscribers­paid Journal online magazineReturn to the new­domainhome pageLinks for portals tosubjects and townsNewest photofeaturesSearch entire siteSee this Journal website for a timeline of local, state, national,international events for years of the pioneer period.Did you enjoy this story? Remember, as with all our features,this story is a draft and will evolve as we discover moreinformation and photos. This process continues until weeventually compile a book about Northwest history. Can youhelp?Remember; we welcome correction & criticism.Please report any broken links or files that do not open and wewill send you the correct link. With more than 550 features, weYou can click thedonation button tocontribute to therising costs of thissite. You can also subscribe toour optional Subscribers­PaidJournal magazine online, whichhas entered its seventh year withexclusive stories, in­depthresearch and photos that areshared with our subscribers first.You can go here to read the

this story is a draft and will evolve as we discover moreinformation and photos. This process continues until weeventually compile a book about Northwest history. Can youhelp?Remember; we welcome correction & criticism.Please report any broken links or files that do not open and wewill send you the correct link. With more than 550 features, wedepend on your report. Thank you.Read about how you can order CDs that include our photofeatures from the first five years of our Subscribers Edition.Perfect for gifts.rising costs of thissite. You can also subscribe toour optional Subscribers­PaidJournal magazine online, whichhas entered its seventh year withexclusive stories, in­depthresearch and photos that areshared with our subscribers first.You can go here to read thepreview edition to see examplesof our in­depth research or readhow and why to subscribe.You can read the history websites about our prime sponsorsWould you like information about how to join them?Oliver­Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro­Woolley, 86 years.Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20, day, week or month, perfectfor hunting or fishingPark your RV or pitch a tent by the Skagit River, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro­WoolleyJoy's Sedro­Woolley Bakery­Cafe at 823 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro­Woolley.Check out Sedro­Woolley First section for links to all stories and reasons to shop here firstor make this your destination on your visit or vacation.Are you looking to buy or sell a historic property, business or residence?We may be able to assist. Email us for details.Looking for something special on our site? Entername, town or subject, then press "Find" Searchthis site powered by FreeFindFind!Site MapDid you find what you were seeking? We havehelped many people find individual names orplaces, so email if you have any difficulty.Please sign our guestbook so our readers will knowwhere you found out about us, or share somethingyou know about the Skagit River or your memoriesor those of your family. Share your reactions orsuggestions or comment on our Journal. Thank youfor taking time out of your busy day to visit our site.Tip: Put quotation marks around a specific nameor item of two words or more, and then experimentwith different combinations of the words withoutquote marks. We are currently researching some ofthe names most recently searched for — check thelist here. Maybe you have searched for one of them?View My GuestbookSign My GuestbookEmail us at:skagitriverjournal@gmail.comMail copies/documents to Streetaddress: Skagit River Journal, 810Central Ave., Sedro­Woolley, WA,98284.