Harbor History Museum Blog: November 2015

Sheldon L. Stutz was another one of the men that contributed much to our community. His arrival in our town was not as early as many of the business leaders but that does not diminish his service, or his legacy.

A mailing to sent to all current and prospective clients by Stutz Fuel Oil Service

Unfortunately in the 27 years since his death his time in Gig Harbor has been overshadowed by the disarray and unkempt condition of his property on the corner of Soundview and west side of Harborview Drive across from The Tides.

It is true that the Light Pole Park on the SW corner of Key Bank’s Property on Pioneer built by the members of the Gig Harbor Roatry Club and given to the City of Gig Harbor in 1998. This park was dedicated to him and to Galloping Gertie after his death in 1988. Regrettably the information contained on the base entitled “The First Crossing” is not true.

This is the incorrect information, as explained below that we are working with the Gig Harbor Morning Rotary Club to correct

Cover of Program Dedication of Light Pole Park from HHM files

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, known as Galloping Gertie, was not built in 1930. The construction did not begin until 1938 so it would have been impossible to drive across it in 1930 on the way to deliver oil in Tacoma and then go to a Husky game at the University of Washington.
In 1930, Sheldon was a high school student in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, age 16 turning 17 in October of that year according to the 1930 US Census.
Following his high school graduation, Sheldon attended Wester Washington State College in Bellingham, WA where he received his Bachelor’s Degree. He then enrolled in the University of Washington in Seattle and earned his Master’s Degree.
After graduation from university he taught school in PeEll and in Raymond, WA (According to 1940 US Census, he was in Raymond.)
Sheldon married Betty (Elizabeth)and their first child, Del, was born in 1935.
Sheldon bought the Gig Harbor Shell Oil Distributorship facility from Harold Rehn in 1943.

I think it is important to bring this information to light based upon the numerous questions I have gotten from visitors and residents alike. I have contacted the City of Gig Harbor regarding the misinformation and received the following reply: “Thanks Tomi, I highly doubt anyone at the City fact-checked the information on the plaque when it was installed since the project was all through Rotary. I’m glad you are in touch with Rotary since they are the ones who would need to change the information!” I also contacted the Gig Harbor Morning Rotary Club who is also working towards correcting the plaque, and I received a note from their president on November 17, 2015, that their Community Service Team will start working on it immediately. I’ll check back with them later this year.

Now that is out of the way, let’s concentrate on Sheldon and his contributions and leadership to our town. Unfortunately my search revealed little, but what I found follows.

Sheldon was born in Farmington, Utah on November 10, 1913 but by the time he turned 6 the family moved to Heybrun, Idaho, and of course as we mentioned before, 10 years later the family was living in Pleasant Hill, Oregon.

Sheldon had two brothers, Del LeGrand Stutz who was 2 years older and Rex L. Stutz, 5 years younger. His father, Orson Stutz was a bricklayer in Oregon and his mother, Aurelia (Miller) Stutz was a home maker to the best of my knowledge. Sheldon was the only member of his family to move from Oregon, first to continue his education, and then to live, teach school, and eventually own and operate a very successful business.

After high school graduation where “he excelled in academics and sports” according to his obituary, he left Pleasant Hill for Bellingham where he attended Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University). After receiving his Bachelors Degree he attended the University of Washington (UW) where he earned his Masters. While attending UW he taught school in Raymond and coached their basketball and baseball teams.

While a student he and Elizabeth (Betty) Hortense Holcomb (1918/2004) were married. Elizabeth grew up in Eugene, Oregon, approximately 12 miles from Pleasant Hill and was living with her parents in 1935 before joining Sheldon in Raymond that same year.. They had two children, Linda Stutz Durham (1942-1969) and Del L. Stutz (1935-present).

In 1940s Sheldon moved his family to Gig Harbor, and in 1943 bought the Shell Oil Distributorship from Harold Rehn. He owned and operated this distributorship and Stutz Fuel Oil until his his in 1988.

As well as his business operations, Sheldon served as Board member of the Peninsula Light Company for 25 years, and at the time of his death was the president. He was also active in the Eagles Post #2809, and their first past president. He was a past president of the Gig Harbor Lions Club, past master of John Paul Jones Lodge #271 and a member of Affifi Shrine Temple.

Obituary from Peninsula Gateway

I have often been asked if at the end of the Civil War did any Confederate soldiers settled in the greater Gig Harbor area. My answer has always been not to my knowledge but we had a fair representation of Union veterans. After a search through the Civil War veterans I found living in greater Gig Harbor, I found none from the South. But, again, does that mean no Southern Confederate Veterans came to our area. No!

A brief reading about the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition’s Dixie Day celebration honoring southern hospitality was held in Seattle on what is now the University of Washington campus, tells us it was well attended by several Confederate fraternal societies and their members. I just have not been able to discover if any of them were Gig Harborites.

The Union soldiers also had their fraternal societies. The Grand Army of the Republic (G. A. R.) was formed after the Civil War ended mutual support and to stay in touch with their fellow soldiers and share their experiences. In 1895, Joe F. Campbell, J. F. Campbell, Robert Miller, Miles B. Hunt, John Atkinson, William J. Duley, William Bishop, William Kimball, P. O. Allen, Annie Campbell, Annie Dow, Emeline Atkinson, Laura M. Allen, R. C. Allen, Chesney Dow, D. B. Atkinson, A. W. Young and H. W. Woodworth were granted permission to organize the H. R. Loomis Post, Grand Army of the Republic. In 1904, Miles B, Hunt Aide de Camp of the H. R. Loomis Post, Grand Army of the Republic.

The first G.A.R. Hall was built in 1892 on the waterfront. Around the turn of the century it was moved to land donated by Sam Jeresich at Pioneer Way and Tarabochia and the structure expanded at that time. After the G.A.R. disbanded, the building had a varied life-used for community center, dances, even funeral. The first Masonic Lodge met there until they built their own building. The Diocese of Olympia bought the building and it is where the Episcopal Church in Gig Harbor began, and the building’s name changed to St. John’s Hall.

In about 1944, Lee Thrash and Judge Thurston bought the building, renamed it Town Hall. It was then used as a real town hall, and drivers licensing headquarters. Judge Thurston sold his interest in the building in 1958 and Thrash used it as a warehouse.

A short list of Gig Harbor area veterans includes Miles B. Hunt (NY), Thaddeus Waters (NY), Joseph Allen (NY), William Peacock (MA), Joseph Goodman (Bohemia), Alexander Wroten (Germany) and William J. Duley (IN), all of whom belonged to the H. R. Loomis Grand Army of The Republic (G.A.R.) Chapter #80.

Before 1922: GH members of the GAR, pose for photo in road by downtown church. Included is Miles B. Hunt (5th from right), who served in Michigan Cavalry & discharged after receiving a head wound. His friend & fellow member of Michigan Cavalry, Thaddeus Waters (4th from right). Other veterans are Joseph Allen (1st from left), William Peacock (5th from left) and Joseph Goodman (10th from left-front row)

The Women’s Relief Corps, an affiliate of the GAR Veterans group and local women belonging included Mrs. Kingsbury, Mrs. Wroten, Mrs. Shyleen, Mrs. (Hunt) Patrick, Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Atkinson, Mrs. Gillerman, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Cruner, Miss Wroten.

Women Relief Corps Auxillary to GAR. Front row: Mrs Kingsbury, Mrs Wroten, Goldie Wroten & Mr. and Mrs. Shyleen. Second Row: Unk, Mrs. Lillie (Hunt) Patrick, M. B. Hunt, Martina Hunt, Unk, Mrs. Atkinson, John Atkinson; Third row: Unk, Unk, Unk, Unk, Art Kellermann,Unk, Unk, Unk, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. L.C.Cruner, Ukn, Mrs Wroten

A much longer list of Civil War veterans in our area includes the following. But the listing does not designate Union or Confederate on the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society list of Veterans Graves in Pierce County. However they all appear to have been born in a northern state or 3 in Canada which in my mind indicates allegiance to the Union cause. But I am aware that there were a few Northerners who did not support the Union.

In the following listing I’ve placed the birth state next to the cemetery name.

Jethro Bale - Artondale Cemetery, England
Joel Bever, Fox Island Cemetery, Ohio
Hannibal Bickford, Gig Harbor Cemetery, Unknown
Alfred M. Burnham, Gig Harbor Cemetery, New York
Willard Carney, Bayview Cemetery, Vaughn, New York
James Cole, Artondale Cemetery, New York
J. H. Deal, Bayview Cemetery, Vaughn, Pennsylvania
William B. Fairbairn, Longbranch Cemetery, Canada
Henry Fry, Artondale Cemetery, Indiana
Charles R. Gary, Artondale Cemetery, Wisconsin
John W. Gillerman, Artondale Cemetery, Wisconsin
Johannes Hofer, Artondale Cemetery, Unknown
Frederick F. Jacoby, Bayview Cemetery, Vaughn, New York
Hiram H. Rust, Artondale Cemetery, Canada
William H. Smith, Bayview Cemetery, Vaughn, Unknown
Alfred Van Slyke, Bayview Cemetery, Vaughn, Canada
There are others who may lived in our area but have been buried in the Old Soldiers Home in Orting or elsewhere that I could not identify.

A long list of names tells us very little about how the Civil War affected these men, and later, their lives in Gig Harbor.

So I thought I would tell you a little bit about one of the lesser known Union veterans, Thaddeus Lewis Waters who for a short time lived in Gig Harbor. Why did I pick him? Flip of a coin? No, he just intrigued me because the only I knew about him was he wrote a book about his experiences as a POW of the Confederacy.

He is incorrectly listed as Thaddeus J. Waters on Images of Michigan Newaygo, Michigan Civil War Veterans Stories and Biographies. However the biographical information appears to correspond with other information that I have been able to discover in my research.

The Peninsula Gateway, May 28, 1966

Thaddeus was born in New York on June 29, 1835, and shortly after his birth the family moved west to Ohio. Eighteen years later the family moved to Hillsdale County, Michigan where his parents, Harvey and Sarah Dunning Waters lived the rest of the lives.

Thaddeus taught school his last year in Ohio and after moving to Michigan he continued to teach. In his 20s, he purchased 40 acres of forest land which he cleared before building the first log house on the property. It was used as hotel, store, post office, school house. But later that summer he married Laura Jane Weaver, (May 27, 1855), and they lived in the house. Thaddeus and Laura had three children: Alpha Franklin (1856-1929), Theron Daniel (1858-1915), and Albert Joseph (1860-1933) before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.

On August 15, 1862, Thaddeus enlisted in Co. G, 2nd Michigan Cavalry as a private. His battalion entered the war at Clarksburg, Virginia and fought their first battle at Perryville, Kentucky and then Thompson’s Station in Tennessee. Unfortunately the third battle he was in at Chickamauga (River of Death)12 miles south of Chattanooga he was taken prisoner on September 20, 1863.

He served for three years although the later part of those years was as a prisoner of war.

As a prisoner his interment began with two months at Richmond ,Virginia, then transferred to Danville Virginia for six months and it was here a hostile rebel guard wounded him in the hip with a bayonet. The Confederate Army then decided to transferred him, along with several other prisoners, to Andersonville Prison in Georgia where he remained until the war ended. When the Civil War ended the Union Army moved all their prisoners to Camp Chase, Ohio. Thaddeus was discharged on June 16, 1865 from this camp.

Thaddeus returned home to his family and he and Laura had two more children: Frank Elmer (1868-1888) and Hiram Joseph “Jay” (1878-1947).

In 1865 Laura’s father, Daniel Weaver, traveled slightly west of Fremont to the White River looking for better power source and easier access to the logs he processed. At his Fremont sawmill he had to haul the logs from where timbered to the mill. At this location he could float the logs directly to the sawmill. The area here was much flatter and drier than Fremont where the land was very marshy. So, in 1866, Daniel Weaver and another man, John Cook, built a sawmill on the White River where Oceana and Newaygo Counties met. A dam was built on the river allowing his new sawmill to be operated by steam, and by 1911, electric power to be produced for the village. In many ways, Thaddeus’ father-in-law is credited with creating a thriving lumber and logging town. But Thaddeus played a big part working with his father-in-law.

That same year, 1866 after returning from Andersonville Prison in Georgia, Thaddeus and John Cook platted the new village, and it was named Hesperia. The next year a post office was established in Weaver’s store; the following year, Weaver, Cook and another man, Hoskins, deeded blocks “O” and “P” to the public for the Hesperia Public Park. By 1871, Weaver expanded his holdings by building a flourmill next to the White River. Of course like all growing, thriving villages and towns they needed a newspaper which was founded by none other than Weaver’s son, Daniel L. Weaver. During this time Thaddeus continued to practice surveying, became the Township Clerk (City Clerk) and following that position by becoming the Drain Commissioner.

Thaddeus and Laura belonged to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and Thaddeus was a member of the political Greenback Party. According to Wikipedia, “the Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party, and the Greenback Labor Party) was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology which was active between 1874 and 1889. The party filed Presidential tickets three times-in the elections of 1876, 1880 and 1884, before fading away.”

Fremont and Hesperia Michigan adjoin but from what I can tell, maintained their separate names. Laura and Thaddeus continued to live in their house in Fremont. It was there when on December 22, 1879 Laura died,but did she? Here is where it becomes difficult to decide what is true and what isn’t. The book, Portrait and Biographical Album of Newaygo County, Mich: states Laura died on December 22, 1879 in Hesperia, MI. The 1880 and 1900 US Census, shows her as alive: living in Michigan in 1880 and in Gainesville, Hall, Georgia according to Ancestry.com. The Ancestry.com shows on her sons: Hiram “Jay”, Theron “Daniel” and Albert family trees that Laura died on September 10, 1901 in Coalgate, Atoka, Oklahoma. I’ve found some additional information about this “mystery”. In notarized statements by both Albert and Hiram made on different days in November 1923 relative to Thaddeus’ estate.

Both say that their mother died on September 10, 1901 in Oklahoma. They go on to state that following Laura’s death, Thaddeus returned to Michigan where he married a former neighbor, Hannah A. Holcomb in Berrian, MI. This was confirmed in an oral history given by his grandson, Leon Waters, Albert’s , son in November 1979. “Well, not long after that (Laura’s death added by me) my grandfather went back to Michigan and he married somebody there and it was acquaint — not acquaintance — not an —we — no acquaintance of ours. But I’ve seen her picture and know that she looked, well, substantial sort. And, but, someway or other it didn’t last long. I don’t know who, what, nor how — what happened. But grandpa went out to visit his old comrade and friend Miles Hunt from Michigan. They were close friends in the service. And while he was there he took up a homestead and there spent the rest of his life there. And, but, he was always busy with berries and small fruits and …”

Thaddeus came to Washington in 1903. Leon goes on in his oral history: “…And — so now, that was after that that, in 1910 Hiram got acquainted with a widow in western Colorado, at our place, and wrote grandpa about it. And grandpa wrote to this widow, Diana Sell. And she accepted — she accepted it, and he sent her a ticket, and went out there and took care of him the rest of his life.”

Another comment made by Hiram’s son, James Elmer stated “Thad was afraid of her (Hannah, added by me) and came out west alone, but always sent money to her until informed of her death.”

Thaddeus and Diana were married in 1910; Diana’s husband Valentine Sell had died before Thaddeus met her. Following their marriage Thaddeus and Diana lived together until his death. (Diana was born +/- 1856). The Waters buried at Artondale are Thaddeus, Diana’s daughter, Bessie Nelson, Hiram J., Albert J., and James Elmer.

I pick up the trail again in the 1910 US Census which reveals that a Phaddeyous T. Watters is living in Gig Harbor, faming berries. Is this our Thaddeus Waters and his name spelled phonically by the census taker? If I put Phaddeyous Watters in Google search, it tells me the name does not make any book results: do I mean “Thaddeus” Watters.

The 1920 US census shows Thaddeus living in Gig Harbor remarried to Diana Sell and they the sole members of the household.. The US Census also shows Hiram Joseph “Jay”, the youngest son living in Schneider’s Prairie, Thurston County in 1930, his draft card for WWII shows him living in Olympia in 1942 and his death in Seattle in 1947.

Two sons never left Michigan. Only 3 did, Hiram as mentioned above and Alpha Franklin who moved to Colorado, Kansas and died in Arizona. And Albert Joseph who moved to Tennessee, Colorado, and died in California. But surprising, Albert, Hiram, grandson James Elmer and step-daughter Bessie Nelson are all buried in the same plat at Artondale.

Let us close this blog by reproducing the Preface to Thaddeus’s book “The Terrors of Rebel Prisons” published by E. O. Shaw in 1891.

THE STOCKADE OF ANDERSONVILLE

An Old Andersonville Prisoner.

Of all stories which cause the blood to flows

Hot in the arteries of life to go;

Which arouse the passions, Stir up the ire,

Give stress to Liberty, our hearts desire;

Very few can compare, few fill the bill.

Like the great stockade of Andersonville

It's ghastly horrors of death and shame,

And human misery, beat every name

Written in history try, save that of him

Who built in Rome the Coliseum.

E'en Nero's cruelty can scarcely fill

The picture of death In Andersonville.

To Nero's cruelty is set as a foil.

The gladiators fight on the sandy soil;

The thousands who viewed the scene below,

Who jeered and shouted at human woe,

Nothing like this did our pulses thrill,

In the tall stockade of Andersonville.

Of human misery, it seemed the sum;

With it's wails of woes it's horrors glum,

It's starving thousands with hollow eyes,

Their bed the earth their roof the skies;

Could only cry to Him whose will

Was scarcely known at Andersonville.

Had the demons of Hell hold council below,

Their hatred vent, their HELLISHNESS TO SHOW:

They never could give to mankind a curse,

To kill and destroy, like the inhuman Wirz.

His face was the foil the picture to fill,

In the grim stockade of Andersonville

This story was written in order to prove,

Who was the patriot, his country to love;

Jeff Davis--or those whose blood has boon shed

On the fields of the South, and who are now dead;

Who endured the woe, whose hearts-blood did chill;

In the great stockade of Andersonville. --THAD WATERS.

References:

Ancestry.com
wikipedia-Grand Army of the Republic; Greenback Party
The Peninsula Gateway - March and April 1965
FindaGrave.com
Hesperia Centennial Souvenir Book
Images of Michigan-Newaygo, Michigan Civil War Veterans Stories & Biographies
Portrait and Biographical Album of Newaygo Count, Michigan
Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society of Veterans Graves in Pierce County
The Terrors of Rebel Prisons by Thaddeus Lewis Waters
Harbor History Museum Research Room

Harbor History Museum Blog

Pages

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Emmett Hunt's Diary Entry for December 17, 1884

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Sheldon Lorenzo Stutz (11/10/1913-10/27/1988)

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Emmett Hunt's Diary Entry for December 10, 1884

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Emmett Hunt's Diary Entry for December 3, 1884

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Thaddeus Lewis Waters (6/29/1835-6/28/1923)

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Emmett Hunt's Diary Entry for November 26, 1884