Walden History
The following information is very sketchy and I got it by talking to my sister, Janis Schneider, on the telephone while taking notes. She, in turn, got it by talking to an aunt, Rose Purcell, living in Weston, Oregon. We knew a lot of the information already from family verbal history, but Rose Purcell helped put it into better perspective. Rose Purcell is a daughter of Bertha Walden. Bertha was the older sister of my grandfather, Theodore Roosevelt Walden.
Walden Family History as told to Janis Schneider in December 2002, from Rose Purcell, daughter of Bertha Walden, who at this time is living in Weston, Oregon, at the age of 82 in the house she and her husband originally built. Janis then relayed the story to Tom:
Theodore (Ted) Roosevelt Walden's sister Bertha, has a daughter named Rose, who is first cousin to mom (Verna McCubbin), but about 82 years old. Rose is the oldest grandchild of Rose Walden.
Rose Purcell's brother was Dale (Rose and Dale lived in Weston).
Rose married a Purcell, so she's Rose Walden Purcell. Her sone is named Rodney. He lives in the house next to her in Weston.
John Walden owned the house next door. The mayor of Weston now lives in it.
The ranch they homesteaded is seven miles up the road. There were several little homes on the ranch that family members stayed in from time to time. They'd stay on the ranch in the summer, and stay in town in the winter.
John Walden grew "timothy" hay and sold it to the cavalry in Walla Walla to feed their horses. He also grew potatoes, peas,.
Rose Walden's mother is Ellen Bell. Her maiden name was Shadden. Her roots have always been a family mystery. Ellen's parents (Jasper and Maria Shadden) were killed by Mexicans while in California (?) (a state owned at that time by Mexico). The US Cavalry brought Ellen back to Oregon City where her grandparents (both sets) lived. She survived the attack. One set of grandparents was liberal, one was strict.
Ellen got pregnant by somebody, we don't know who. Rose was the first born, but was not accepted by the Bells, but by the Shaddens. Ellen had a mixed-up childhood, stressed from the different points-of-view of her grandparents and by the brutal death of her parents. Ira Bell married Ellen and raised Rose, but she was considered a "step-child". Ellen was pregnant with Rose when Ira married her.
John Walden knew who Rose's father was, but would never tell.
Rose Walden's brothers and sisters (children of Ira and Ellen Bell) were Franklin and Martin, sisters were Ann, Lena, Alice, and Mona. rose was sort of kept separate from them.
John Walden left Bertha the old house at Weston. She inherited it and lived in it. Rose Purcell lived there, til she got married and built a house next door. They moved around, then came back there to retire.
When John Walden died, Rose Walden moved to Monterey. She took her three sons with her: Lowell, Roy and Virgil. She had high-blood pressure, didn't take her meds after the first prescription, and died.
She would take the bus each summer to collect rent on John Walden's pea ranch. She would put the money in a little purse that hung around her neck.
Up at the ranch they had a summer house.
Sarah Cummin's husband, Benjamin, decided Oregon city was too damp and settled in Weston. Benjamin Walden was John Walden's dad. They're the ones that got the land grant and had son John who had son Ted.
John Waldewn was married before he married Rose. His first wife was named Staggs. She had a nervous breakdown and died. They had a son named Ernest Walden. He was 11 years old when John married Rose. Rose was 18. Ernest went to college in Weston and started a radio station in Pendleton and moved it to Hood River, and had a son named Greg Walden, who is the US Rep for Oregon in Washington DC. Ernest's family lived in Milton-Freewater Valley. He has diabetes so they think diabetes came throug the lineage of John Walden's son.
What did John Walden look like? Long white beard and large. Nathan Haines has a picture that's the wrong one of John Walden. It's somebody else. John looked like Uncle Fay, Mary Lou's brother. John and Rose were real hard workers. They plowed, chased cows, mended fences, etc. Tough ranch chores.
Rose worked in pea cannery.
There is a new railroad in Weston that hauls canned goods to Walulla on the Columbia River.
Nard Jones wrote several books about people in Weston. Rose Purcell has them.
The pioneer picnic is either the last week of May or first week of June. Rose will be there. Longbranch Restaurant in Weston has walls 24 inches thick to protect people inside from Indian arrows coming through the walls.
Aunt Lola and Uncle Fay lived on the ranch. Dick and Roger were born in John Walden's kitchen in Weston because Uncle Fay couldn't get Lola to the hospital in time.
Orvill was in WW1. Lowell was career army. Roy was in WW2 and worked on Alaskan highway. Virgil moved to San Diego. Ted studied to be a minister and nearly married a minister's daughter before he met Dora. All Walden boys played instruments by ear and sang and danced and partied in mountains.
Rose Pucell still drives (2003). Her phone number is 541-566-2344.
Ira Bell was a riverboat Captain on the Willamette River. They had propery next to the golf course, by the bridge to Canby.