GHOST AT WHITE EAGLE TAVERN, PORTLAND, OREGON - WHO WAS THE REAL SAM WOREK?

It isn't often we have enough information about a ghost to try to find out more about them -- even to find out if they really existed. We have that opportunity with Sam Worek, one of the ghosts suspected to haunt the White Eagle Tavern in Portland, Oregon.

Legends of Sam abound. Sam's demise is reported in various formats on numerous websites: Did he live above the White Eagle from the time he was a boy of 10 until his death?? Did he commit suicide in his upstairs room in the 1930's? Was he found dead in his room in the early 1950's? Did he in his hotel room in 1955? Did he in Multnomah County in 1963? Or, did he die in Salem, Oregon in 1974? Just who was this man?

Public records can help us find more on Sam WOREK. In addition to Sam WOREK, I located and researched four Sam WORK families because of the surname similarity. That research tells us the following: First, our Sam had not lived above the tavern since he was 10 years old. This part of the legend states that the owner at that time 'adopted' him when he was a boy of 10 and gave him a room, meals and a job. He lived the rest of his life in this room. The truth is that when Sam WOREK was 10 years old, he was still living in Hungary, not arriving in the United States until he was 22 years old, in 1907.

He is also not the Sam WORK who died 30 December 1974 in Marion County Oregon. That Sam, surnamed WORK not WAREK, with a wife named Dorothy, is most likely to be, but has not been proven to be, the same Sam WORK who was born 25 Oct 1894 in Colorado, son of Harold/David WORK and Mollie T. BURNS. This Sam received his Social Security card in Colorado before 1951. Sam WORK and his wife Dorothy are buried in Bethany Pioneer Cemetery, Bethany, Marion, Oregon.

CONCLUSION: The Sam WOREK who worked at the White Eagle Hotel is the Sam WOREK who was born 15 October 1885 in Hungary, emigrated to the USA in 1907, and died 11 Dec 1963 in Multnomah County, Oregon. Sam WOREK's Social Security card was issued in Oregon before 1951. Sam WOREK is first located living in Virginia, Madison, Montana in September 1918, when at age 33 he registered for the draft in World War I. He was a Cook and worked for Frank McKern, also of Virginia, Montana. Sam's nearest relative at that time was Joe Worek in Indiana, but the relation is not listed. The physical description of Sam is tall, stout build, gray eyes, (lt?)gray hair. Sam WOREK is next located in 1920, boarding at the Mt. Hood Hotel on Cascade Avenue in Hood River, Oregon. Sam was a restaurant cook. Sam has not yet been located on the 1930 US Census.

Some of the stories say that Sam died in the upstairs of the White Eagle Cafe hotel. However, the saloon was closed from the mid 1950's until 2000. The last record I located on the cafe was an newspaper add in 1953 for White Eagle Cafe, at 836 N. Russell St. The confusion is likely because Sam died at age 78 on 11 December 1963 next door at 832 N. Russell St, according to his death notice in the Oregonian on December 14, 1963. Funeral services for Sam were held on December 16, 1963 at Zeller Chapel of Roses, Portland. Sam is buried in Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Portland.

According to Portland, Oregon street address system, 832 N. Russell was likely the current empty lot next to the White Eagle Cafe. Had Sam lived above the cafe/tavern, his address, again in keeping with address traditions, would either have been the same as the cafe, 836 N. Russell, or would have been something like 8361/2 N. Russell.

That does not eliminate the possibility that Sam's spirit returned to the hotel for reasons only he would know.......

SOURCES OF INFORMATION used for Sam WOREK (1885-1963)

• World War I Draft Registration Card, 12 Sep 1918. (Sam WOREK, born 15 Oct 1885. Permanent home address Virginia, Madison, Montana on 12 Sep 1918. Age 33. Born Austria-Hungary. Cook. Employer Frank McKern, of same location. Nearest relative Joe Worek, Indiana. Description: Tall, stout build, gray eyes, lt. gray hair.)

• 1920 US Census, East Precinct, Hood River, Hood River, Oregon. (T625-1494) Page 115 ED 77 Sheet 10A Line 21
Sam WOREK, boarder at Mt. Hood Hotel, Cascade Ave., Center Pct., Hood River, white male single, age 35, immigrated 1907, naturalized, born Hungary/speaks German.  Restaurant Cook  Enumerated 13 Jan 1920.

• Oregon Death Index (Sam WOREK, died 11 Dec 1963, Multnomah County, OR. Age 78, Cert 17229)

• Social Security Death Index (Sam WOREK, Died Dec 1963, last residence Oregon. Born 15 Oct 1885. SSN issued in Oregon before 1951)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION used for Sam WORK (1884-1974)

• Oregon Death Certificate 74-19407, Sam WORK (Oct 1894 - 30 Dec 1974, Marion County, Oregon)

• Social Security Death Index, Sam WORK (25 Oct 1894 - Dec 1974. Last residence Salem, Marion, Oregon. SSN issued before 1951 in Colorado)

• 1900 US Census Denver, Arapahoe, CO. WORK, Sam, male, age 5, born October 1894, Colorado.  Son in HH of David E. and Mollie T. WORK.  Father David born Illinois, mother Mollie born Missouri) Also daughter Grace, born 1892, Colorado.

• 1910 US Census, Ward 15, Denver, Denver, CO. T624-118 ED 194, Sheet 3A. Samuel M., 15, born US, son in HH of Harold E. and Mollie T. WORK. Parents married 19 years. Father Harold born Illinois, mother born Missouri. Also daughter Grace, 13, born US. [NorthwestHauntings Staff note: enumerator called Sam's father David in 1900 and Harold in 1910, uncertain which is correct]

• California Death Index 1940-1997 and Ancestry Family Trees. Hurtzig Relatives Friends and Acquaintances owner William M Hurtzig. Grace WORK born 15 May 1892, Colorado, died 8 May 1893, Stanislaus County, California. Husband Albert Hudelson.

SOURCES USED FOR THE LEGENDS OF SAM'S HAUNTINGS
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• Ghosts of North Portland "Legend is that in 1955 it was decided to close the upstairs of the building - Sam was asked to vacate but he was ill. A new dwelling was found for him but when his friends went upstairs to tell him the good news, they found Sam dead."

• A Haunted Tour Guide to the Pacific Northwest, Jefferson Davis, 2001 pp 145-147
Empty and uninhabited from 1950s to 2000. Sam Worek worked in the kitchen for years.

• HauntedHouses.com "Another source of the hauntings is that of the entity of Sam. Sam was the housekeeper who lived upstairs since he was 10 years old. The kind-hearted owner at the time sort of adopted him when he was 10, giving him a room, meals and a job. He stayed in this hotel his whole life and died in his room."

• Wee Ghosties - A Beginner's Guide to Ghost Hunting
"Another spirit that haunts the upstairs is that of Sam. Taken in as a child, he worked in the saloon the length of his life. When he died an old man, his shade continued to watch over his home. His belongings remained in his room though they have been found moved to other rooms on the second floor. Passersby have reported seeing the image of a man gazing from the second floor windows as they pass by, perhaps he's watch over them too"

• White Eagle Tavern Ghost @ everything2
"The other is the ghost of Sam, who lived a solitary existence in the rooms until his death in 1955"...

• Portland Tribune "The White Eagle Saloon has spirits on the rocks" Paul Duchene 21 Dec 2001
Sam Worek lived and died in one of the rooms. Found dead after a bender in the early 1950s

• Haunted Places: The National Directory: Ghostly Abodes, Sacred Site, UFO Landings, and Other Supernatural Locations, by Dennis William Hauck, 2002. page 448
"Two ghosts haunt this place. One is named Sam, a man who committed suicide in an upstairs room in the 1930s.....Some say Sam killed Rose before he shot himself..."

© 2010-2011 Researched and compiled by Northwest Hauntings Staff <http://home.comcast.net/~northwesthauntings/index.html>