Site founded Sept. 1, 2000. We pass 3.5 million page views in October 2009
These 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 Journal

of History & Folklore
Free Home Page Stories & Photos
The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit
Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness

Noel V. Bourasaw, editor

810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284
Home of the Tarheel Stomp

Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug

Biographies and obituaries of Skagit county
Pioneers and their descendants: D-E

Continually updated, last time: Sept. 21, 2009 You will find the type of story in brackets [ ] behind the file link. [Bio] indicates a Journal story link. [Obit] leads to an obituary on this page. [Old Domain] indicates that the file is from our old Yahoo domain from 2000-2003. If you have suggestions for people you want to read about, please email us and we will add them to the list. Meanwhile, just click on the link and it will take you to the obit for each person, along with our notes, if we have more information, or a link to another page that will tell you more about him or her. Please note that if a woman was the descendant of a pioneer family, her link will sometimes be listed under the first letter of both her maiden name and her married name at the time of her death. And please email us if you have family memories or copies of documents or photos you would like us to include. We never ask for your originals.

Lucinda, Glee and Frank Davis family, Marblemount, Cedar bar, Sedro-Woolley [Bio]
Juanita Napoleon Dallaire, Skagit County [Obit]
Joseph Dannenmiller, Skagit County [Obit]
Mary E. Davis, Lyman and Everett [Obit]
Adam Davison, Sedro-Woolley [Obit]
Joe DeBay [also spelled DiBay], Sterling and Duke's Hill [Obit]
Capt. David Decatur, Mount Vernon [Bio]
Harry Devin, old Sedro, Sedro-Woolley [Bio]
Daniel Dillard, Concrete [Bio]
Mollie Dowdle, Darrington and Hamilton [Obit]
Dr. Horace Downs, LaConner, Mount Vernon [Bio]
Mrs. Mable Downs Norris and Mrs. Agnes Downs Horn, western Skagit County [Obit]
Sherman Leroy "Sherm" Drake, Sedro-Woolley [Obit]
Marjorie May [maiden Mahaffie] Dreyer, Sedro-Woolley [Obit]
Edna Drummond, Sedro-Woolley [Obit]
David M. Duffy, Sterling and Bellingham [Obit]
The Duke — Frederick George, of Duke's Hill, Bottomless Lake [Bio]
A.I. "Tide" Dunlap, LaConner [Obit]
Isaac Dunlap, LaConner [Bio]
William Dunlop, old Sedro [Bio]
Kate [maiden Dwelley] Maloy, LaConner [Obit]
Charles M. Dwelley, Anacortes and Concrete [Obit]
Art Dwelley, Concrete and Tenino [Obit]
Harriet E. [maiden Guddall] Eaton, Sedro-Woolley [Obit]
Elliott and the Jarman family, Bessemer, Birdsview [Bio]
Ambrose B. Ernst, Woolley [Bio]
Amasa Peg-Leg Everett, LaConner, Concrete [Bio]
William C. Ewing, Mount Vernon, Mt. Rainier [Bio]

Juanita Napoleon Dallaire, Skagit county Unknown newspaper, October 1954 Juanita Napoleon Dallaire, who was born in Skagit County on Dec. 29, 1907, died Thursday at the Matthews General Hospital in Burlington. She is the daughter of the late John and Mary Napoleon.
Funeral services will be said at Lemley mortuary in Sedro-Woolley and burial will follow at the Jones cemetery at Sauk. Mrs. Dallaire, who was a member of the Pentecostal church of LaConner, is survived by her husband, Philippe, a brother, James Conrad, of Concrete, and numerous aunts and uncles.
Journal Ed. note: John Napoleon, a well-known Skagit River Indian, died at his modest home on the slough at the south edge of Sedro-Woolley in August 1936. At his funeral on August 12, 1936, quite a number of the townspeople paid their respects, including many of the surviving pioneers and their grown children. As they waited for the service, the women of the community discussed an idea for a pioneer group that led to the formation of Chapter One of the Territorial Daughters later that month at a picnic on the old Van Fleet homestead in Skiyou. After Napoleon's service at the Lemley Mortuary, the mourners followed the casket to the Concrete Indian Shaker church where another service was held followed by interment in the Indian cemetery at Sauk. For more information about the funeral and the Territorial Daughters, see this website.

Joseph Dannenmiller, Skagit county Skagit Valley Herald, March 3, 1938 Joseph Dannenmiller, one of Skagit county's oldest pioneers, passed away this week after a long illness. Mr. Dannenmiller had been bedfast for the last four years. Death came at the home of a nephew, Leo Dannenmiller, at Stanwood. He was 84 years of age.
Survivors are a brother, Will Dannenmiller, who resides near Mount Vernon; another brother and sister, Frank Dannenmiller and Mrs. Elizabeth [last name not given] of Ohio; two nephews, Leo Dannenmiller of Stanwood and Paul Dannenmiller of this city. Rosary was said for the deceased today at the Henry Dunham chapel. Funeral services will be held at the Catholic church here Friday morning.
Journal Ed. note: Historian John Conrad wrote that Joseph's brother Henry Dannenmiller settled in West Mount Vernon where the future Memorial Highway touched the river dike. The worst dike break in county history happened there in 1894, destroying Dannenmiller's orchard. The family had to move their house 75 feet up the slope as the former site was in the river. Sand covered many acres of his and his neighbor's land and the entire LaConner Flats was under water. Henry's wife was the daughter of Nick Riplinger, North Fork settler.

Mary E. Davis, Lyman and Everett Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times, Nov. 26, 1959 One of the best known pioneers of Sedro Woolley and the upper valley died this week in an Everett hospital when Mrs. Mary E. Davis passed away. She was the widow of Sherman "Shorty" Davis, who died in 1926, at Sedro-Woolley. Mrs. Davis has many friends in Skagit county, who will mourn her passing. She was 83 years of age. Funeral services will be held November 28 at the Purdy and Walters Funeral Home in Everett, followed by interment in the Lyman cemetery.
Mrs. Davis came to Sedro-Woolley in 1883 from Indiana. After a short time the davis family moved to Lyman where they resided for many years. Shorty Davis was superintendent of the skagit Mill Co. logging camp and later was county road supervisor.
Mrs. Davis has made her home in Everett for the past 28 years with her son, Don Davis, who is a member of the Everett Daily Herald staff. Besides Don, she is survived her son, Iver Jack Davis, former Sedro-Woolley banker, and for many years manager of the Mount Vernon branch of the Seattle-First National Bank; and also by a daughter, Mrs. Ella Duchene of Seattle; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Journal Ed. note: An earlier Courier-Times article by Mrs. Cecil McDougle from Oct. 12, 1956, noted that Mrs. Davis was given a party in Lyman that month by her old friends, Mrs. George Robinson, Mrs. Ona Cooper, Mrs. Ettie Meyers and Mrs. Wallace Crawford.

Ad Davison

Adam Davison, Sedro-Woolley Sedro-Woolley Courier-TimesJuly 22, 1943 Sedro-Woolley lost one of its earliest pioneers and most picturesque characters, when Adam W. Davison passed away at his home here on July 18 at the age of 88 years. He was active up to the last and spent hours working in his big gardens. Funeral services were held on Tuesday afternoon from the Lemley chapel with members of the local Masonic lodge conducting the services.
Ad Davison was born in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 17, 1955, and had lived in Sedro-Woolley and the upper Skagit Valley for 54 years. He is survived by seven children, 14 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. His surviving children are R.L. Davison of Seattle, Lexie M. Sharpe and Olive C. Fahey of Sedro-Woolley; Hazel Topping of Glendale, Calif.; Mary Nelson of Montborne; Adam Davison Jr. of Sedro-Woolley and Bessie Davison of Tacoma.
Ad Davison came to Sedro-Woolley with his bride in 1890 and established himself in the lumber business, operating a sawmill at Sauk for years. He was the first depositor in the Bingham bank [in Sedro on July 30, 1890] and throughout the years, put away a nice sum, with which later, he went into the automobile business. after selling his garage, he carried the mail on a star route between here and Mount Vernon district for many years. He was remarkable for his energy and his ability to work long hours. His six acre farm on Township Street was a show place in this community. He had fine crops of peas.
Until a few years ago, he got up at 1:15 every morning, took his mail to Mount Vernon, waited until 4:15 a.m. for a return load to Sedro-Woolley and during the day carried mail from the local post office to the station, with hours of work in his garden, and fishing as a sideline. He leaves many friends and relatives and died as he would have wished, at work, without any long illness.
Journal Ed. note: The obituary leaves out many details of Davison's long, hard-working life. He came to Woolley from the San Juan islands where he quarried limestone; in fact, his oldest child was named Roche, after the harbor. There on Dec. 24, 1882 he married Betsy Firth, whose Scottish father Robert Firth, Scot, who sailed to Victoria in 1851 as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Co. Once here, Davison cut ties for the Fairhaven & Southern railroads and then sold his mill to Shrewsbury & McLain. He and his partner, W.W. Caskey, became partners with George Green, Emerson Hammer and F.A. Hegg in the Union Mercantile store and Davison also served as treasurer for John Anderson's Sedro-Woolley Iron Works.
He developed his stagecoach mail business because his auto business went bankrupt in 1915. After several years of long ours on the route, he sold out the business to Stone & Webster Co. and liquidated all his debts. Betsy died on Feb. 14, 1937. Jean Lisherness of Sedro-Woolley is a granddaughter of the Davisons.

Joe DeBay [also spelled DiBay], Sterling and Duke's Hill Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times, Nov. 26, 1942 Funeral services for Joe DiBay [usually spelled DeBay], who died Nov. 23 at his home here, will be held on Nov. 27 in the Lemley funeral chapel. The Rev. Rhodes of the Seventh Day Adventist church will officiate. Burial will take place in Union cemetery.
Joe DiBay was born March 7, 1863, in Barnelli, Italy. He has resided in this community since 1888. Survivors include his widow, Bridgette; two daughters, Mrs. Andrew Nemo and Mrs. Rose Barbo, both of this city; and five sons, Albert, Sam and...[cut off here]
Journal Ed. note: Read the entire DeBay family story at this Journal website, updated with the story of how the island formed and then unformed. From there you will find links to more of our exclusive research on very early Sterling and the Jesse B. Ball family.

Mollie Dowdle

Mollie Dowdle, Darrington and Hamilton Skagit Valley Herald, Jan. 15, 2003 Mollie Dowdle, a resident of Hamilton, for the past 55 years, passed away Monday, January 13, 2003 at the Mira Vista Care Center in Mount Vernon, WA at the age of 97 years.
She was born October 3, 1905 in North Carolina. She resided in Darrington for many years prior to moving to Hamilton in 1948 and was married to Ralph Dowdle in 1929 and he preceded her in death in 1953. Mollie enjoyed gardening, fishing, and she also wrote articles for the Skagit Valley Herald and Redbook magazine for many years.
She is survived by her sons: Walley Dowdle of Hamilton and Barney Dowdle of Seattle; 4 grandchildren and a half sister, Phyllis Boulton of Twisp, WA.
Graveside Services will be Friday, January 17, 2003 at 2:00PM at the Hamilton Cemetery with Pastor Ron Schenk of the Lyman Baptist Church officiating. Arrangements and Services are under the care of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley
Journal Ed. note: At this Upriver Section website, you can read more about Mollie Dowdle and read some of her stories about upper Skagit River pioneers and especially her fellow tarheels. Both obituaries had a typo, stating the year of 2002. We have not been able to reconcile the difference of dates.

Mrs. Mable Downs Norris and Mrs. Agnes Downs Horn, western Skagit county This brief story is from the 1970 obituary notes that John Conrad prepared for the annual Skagit County Historical Society August picnic. Conrad prepared the profiles from 1949-73 and we have transcribed them from his handwritten notes.

Two sisters of an old family passed on during the past year, Mrs. Mable Downs Norris, 80, of Mount Vernon, and Mrs. Agnes Downs Horn, 76, of Snee-Oosh, both daughters of John and Leona Downs. Their father [John Downs] came to Skagit County with his parents, Dr. Horace P. and Sylvia Downs, in 1878, when John, an only child, was 13 years old. In 1891, John married Leona Moore of Skagit city, sister of George Moore, who was a well known, highly respected citizen around the county for many years [their last name has sometimes been listed as Moores]. Both George and his sister died 20 years ago. The sisters' mother, Leona Downs, originally came to Washington Territory in 1866 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Moores, by sailing vessel around Cape Horn. Leona was born at Port Discovery in Clallam County in 1872. She moved on with her parents to Skagit County when only six months old.
The sisters' paternal grandfather, Dr. Horace P. Downs, graduated [with a medical degree] in medicine from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in 1863. After 15 years of practice in Boston, he longed for the West and came to Skagit County in 1878. An unusual chain of migration brought him and his family to this particular valley. His wife, Sylvia, had taken a trip to California and with her spirit of adventure, sailed up on a ship to Puget sound and was directed to the Skagit flats delta where land could be taken by homestead near the mouth of Dry Slough. She fell in love with the beautiful view of Mount Baker and surrounding areas and could foresee the rich farms that would ultimately be developed from this un-diked, foreboding, wet, muddy clay tidelands, swept by raw winds off Skagit Bay in the winter. Yet she loved the surroundings and wrote to the Doctor back in Boston to come out here for his future life and promptly filed at [the state] land office for power of attorney for her husband. The tract of land involved was that known today as the "Wylie place," but to all of us old timers, we have heard our parents so often mention the "Downs place."
Back to 1878, the newly transplanted doctor entered into the pioneer spirit of his new homeland and soon after his arrival he was appointed as tideland appraiser by the [state] legislature. In 1883 he was also called on as a member of the Whatcom County commissioners board to effect the reorganization of the new Skagit County from the south half of Whatcom county. He was also asked to help complete the details of setting up the new county government in 1884 and at the first election he was chosen as the first county auditor. He was reelected to two more terms. Moving into Mount Vernon after renting out his farm to his son John, he was twice elected Mayor of the town. He also served three terms as Deputy County Assessor.
John Downs's hobby in life, besides farming, was boat building and cruising and many early day neighbors and businessmen from Mount Vernon were frequent guests on his launches for cruises to British Columbia and Alaska waters. He was known as a very gracious host. In his later life, he retired to live at Snee Oosh beach, near LaConner, where he met a tragic death. Driving his car on a narrow road that led to his home, the motor stalled. John, driving alone, leaped out as the car coasted backward, pushed the car to hold it, but was crushed to death against a stump of a tree. Agnes Downs Horn spent her later years at the old Snee Oosh home.

We add to this Conrad account some comments from researcher and author Tom Robinson, whose aunt Isabel was the third daughter of John and Leona (Moore) Downs. First, he insists that she was Isabel, not Isabella, as some histories have written. He also points out that the girls' grandmother Sylvia Downs was not just gallivanting about the west when she discovered the Skagit valley. She was visiting her father, William N. Guptill, who was also a practicing physician in Boston before her husband practiced there. The gold bug bit Dr. Guptill and soon after the 49er discoveries he boarded a ship for a voyage around the horn when his daughter was barely in elementary school. She was visiting him in California, where he had stayed and continued his practice, when she heard about what was then the southern part of Skagit county. She was 35 when she visited him and we are uncertain if he had ever returned to Boston in the interim. Tom also remembers Horace Downs's diploma from Bowdoin because it was framed and hanging in Isabel's bedroom when Tom was young. In the near future we plan to transcribe the biographies of both Horace and John Downs from two old books from 1906 and 1889.

Sherman Leroy "Sherm" Drake, Sedro-Woolley Skagit Valley Herald, March 25, 2002 Sherman Leroy "Sherm" Drake, 92, a longtime Sedro-Woolley resident, passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, March 23, 2002. Sherm was born on January 18, 1910 in Fort Rock, Oregon, one of eleven children of Lyman Bert and Viola Frances (Osborne) Drake.
He was raised in Fort Rock until 1920 when the family began a trek to Skagit County, arriving in the fall of 1922. He grew up in Sedro-Woolley and graduated from Sedro-Woolley High School with the class of 1928. Sherm worked as a clerk for Parker's Grocery in downtown Sedro-Woolley for several years.
On May 1, 1938 he was married to Betty Chambers. In 1948 they purchased a grocery store on [West] State Street in Sedro-Woolley, changing the name to Drake's Grocery, which they operated for many years. Betty passed away in 1982 and on October 9, 1983, Sherm married Mary Sackman and they had over 17 years together until her death on February 1, 2002.
Sherm was a whiz with numbers and worked as a bookkeeper, maintaining the financial books for businesses such as Oliver-Hammer Clothing for over 50 years and Skagit Steel, along with several other businesses. He also prepared personal tax returns until just recently. Sherm was a 50 year member of the Knights of Pythias, a 35 year member of the Sedro-Woolley Rotary Club. He was also a longtime member of the Mount Vernon Elks and the Trinity United Presbyterian Church. He enjoyed playing golf and baseball and going pheasant hunting with friends.
He is survived by a step-son, Gary Sackman and his wife Nanci of Shawnee, OK; one brother, Ivan Drake and his friend Doreen Rothwell of Bur-lington, WA; one sister, Rosemma Cole of Auburn, WA; one nephew, Jim (Nancy) Drake; eight nieces: Lorna (Wayne) Shuler, Nancy Jordan, Diane (Ronald) Franz, Marilyn (Marvin) Hepola, Annette (Gerald) Johnson, Connie (Lynn) Faulk, Janice (Bob) Riese and Sally (Rick) Hann; and a host of other family members and friends. Besides Betty and Mary, Sherm was also preceded in death by five brothers and three sisters.
Memorial services will be held Wednesday, March 27, 2002 at 11:00 a.m. at Lemley Chapel in Sedro-Woolley. Pastor Wendy Tingley of Trinity United Presbyterian Church will officiate. Inurnment will be in the Sedro-Woolley Union Cemetery. Memorials to the Fort Rock Valley Historical Society, Fort Rock, OR 97735 or the Sedro-Woolley Alumni Association are suggested. Services and cremation are under the direction of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley.

Marjorie May [maiden Mahaffie] Dreyer, Sedro-Woolley Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times, April 2, 2003

The Henry Harms Dreyer family and their house west of Sedro-Woolley in 1899
Photo courtesy of Dreyer-Osborne descendant Jeanie Bond

Marjorie May Dreyer, a longtime resident of Sedro-Woolley, passed away Wednesday, March 26, at the Life Care Center of Skagit Valley in Sedro-Woolley at the age of 80 years. She was born May 16, 1922, in Tacoma, the daughter of Elmer Dewey and Allie Rood Mahaffie.
Marjorie grew up in the Saxon area and was united in marriage to Harry Dreyer on Nov. 25, 1938, in Saxon. They came to Sedro-Woolley in 1940 where they raised their family. Marjorie formerly belonged in the Rebekahs and enjoyed bowling, but most of all she loved her family and home.
She is survived by her children, W. Ed Dreyer of Sedro-Woolley, Harold H. Dreyer and his wife Carolyn of Aylette, Va., Charles C. Dreyer and his wife Echo of Bremerton, Wash., Daun A. Dreyer and his wife Linda of Ferndale, and Midge Dreyer and her companion Dave Hruby of Wickersham; 12 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and 11 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Harry, March 13, 2000. Arrangements and cremation under the care of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley.
Journal Ed. note: We are researching for a profile about the pioneer Henry Harms Dreyer family, of whom Marjorie was a daughter-in-law. We plan to post the story after descendant Jeanie Bond finishes her family research In the meantime, you can see Dreyer information included in the story on this website about the Osborne family.

Edna Leona (Bjerstedt) Drummond (wife of Greer), Sedro-Woolley Skagit Valley Herald, March 25, 2009

Edna Leona Drummond, age 91, a lifetime Skagit Valley resident, passed away on Sunday, March 22, 2009. She was born December 10, 1917 in Burlington, Washington the daughter of Harry and Etta (Bainter) Bjerstedt. Edna grew up in Burlington where she attended school and was active in 4-H and graduated from Burlington-Edison High School in 1936.
She was united in marriage to Greer Drummond on September 2, 1939 in Mount Vernon and they would have celebrated 70 years together this year. Edna and Greer resided in Sedro-Woolley from 1939 to 1964 until moving to the District Line Road in Burlington. She worked at the telephone company until she got married and during WWII she was an airplane spotter in Sedro-Woolley. She worked at the Oliver- Hammer Clothing Store while Greer was in the service during WWII until purchasing the Valley True Value Hardware store in 1956.
Edna enjoyed golfing, gardening and dancing and she was actively involved with Girl Scouts for many years, and later with the Silver Spurs 4-H with her children as they were growing up. Her true love was being a member of Soroptimist International for 40 years as well as being a past president from 1972-1973. She was an active member and especially enjoyed working at the Walnut Tree thrift store.
Edna is survived by her husband, Greer Drummond of Burlington; her son and daughter-in-law, David and Sally Drummond of Burlington; her daughter, Linda Stakkeland of Clear Lake; four grandchildren, Seth Stakkeland and his wife Megan and Sam Stakkeland all of Clear Lake and John and Michael Drummond of Burlington; 2 great-grandchildren, Siara and Shonnie Stakkeland of Clear Lake; 2 sisters, Faye Schmidt of Sedro-Woolley and Peggy Rhoades of Mount Vernon; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her son-in-law, Tom Stakkeland; a grandson, Scott Stakkeland and a sister, Irene Bjerstedt. Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 1:00PM at the Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Sedro-Woolley with Pastor Wendy Tingley officiating. A reception will follow the services with interment to follow at 3:00PM at the Sedro-Woolley Union Cemetery. Arrangements and Services under the care of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley. Please share your memories of Edna and sign the online guestbook at www.lemleychapel.com
Journal Ed. note: Edna and her husband, Greer, held down the fort at Valley Hardware in downtown Sedro-Woolley for more than a half century, on both sides of Metcalf Street. She helped three generations of friends and neighbors in their search for parts and items that other stores often did not stock. Her passing at the same time of another long-time Woolley retailer holds some interesting coincidences. She and Bus Jungquist were both 91, both would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary later this year and both graduated from Burlington High in the same class. We will all miss her smile.

David M. Duffy, Sterling and Bellingham Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times, December 1942 David M. Duffy, 33, died in a Bellingham hospital on Christmas Day. He was born March 28, 1909, in Sedro-Woolley and attended Sterling grade school and was graduated from high school here. He was a St. James Episcopal church member and was a member of the Shingle Weaver's Union.
Besides his widow, Opal, he is survived by a daughter, Shirley, his mother, Mrs. Emily Duffy, a brother, George, all of this city; a brother, Henry, of Seattle. Funeral services were held December 28 from Lemley chapel, with the Rev. O.D. Smith, Mount Vernon, in charge. Burial was in Clear Lake cemetery.

A.I. "Tide" Dunlap, LaConner Mount Vernon Herald, May 25, 1938 A.I. "Tide" Dunlap, 75, pioneer LaConner businessman, dropped dead in his hardware store about 11 o'clock this morning where he was attending to his business as usual.
Mr. Dunlap was named after Alexander, Idaho, where he was born in a covered wagon when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Dunlap, were en route to California. After living there for a time they moved to Pleasant Ridge in this county in 1877 and five years later the father purchased the old Calhoun place consisting of 300 acres which the family still owns.
A.I. Dunlap, after working on the farm, got his first business training as a clerk in the pioneer [Polson] Implement Company which he later purchased and continued to own at the time of his death.
Mr. Dunlap was a staunch Republican and a member of the I.O.O.F. He is survived by his widow, Lillian, a son, Frank L., and a daughter, Mrs. Arthur Ring, all of LaConner.

Charles M. "Chuck" Dwelley, Anacortes and Concrete (1908-1993) Anne Williams, Skagit Valley Herald, Undated 1993 Skagit County lost more than just an old-timer last week with the death of Charles M. "Chuck" Dwelley. It lost a part of history.
Dwelley, longtime publisher of the now-defunct Concrete Herald and champion of many local causes, died Sept. 30 after a lengthy illness at his home in Tenino, where he and his wife moved three years ago. He was 85.
Friends remember him as someone who truly had his finger on the pulse of the county.
"Chuck was a real interesting person, very sharp," said former [Skagit] County commissioner Howard Miller of Sedro-Woolley, who met Dwelley in the 1930s. "He was a good citizen, a good pioneer and a heck of a newspaperman," Miller recalled. "I feel I was very fortunate to know him."
Dwelley's grandfather, Joseph F. Dwelley, was one of the first settlers in the Skagit Valley and co-platter of present-day Mount Vernon, said his widow, Helen Dwelley." [Journal Ed. note: Actually, he staked a claim on the site of future Mount Vernon in 1870, seven years before the town formed, but moved permanently to LaConner in 1873.]
Born in Mount Vernon, Charles Dwelley began his newspaper career with the Anacortes Citizen, and later worked for the Courier-Times in Sedro-Woolley. At the insistence of his Courier-Times editor [Frank Evans], Dwelley headed up to Concrete at the age of 21 to rescue the failing Concrete Herald, Helen Dwelley recalled. He single-handedly made the weekly paper a going concern — no small feat, apparently.
"To make a living at a small paper like that in a small town like concrete was quite a trick," said former state representative Sim Wilson of Marysville, publisher of the Marysville Globe and the Arlington Times. Wilson knew Dwelley through the Washington State Publishers Association, of which Dwelley was a life member and president for a time.
During his 40 years running the newspaper, Dwelley used his editorial status to push for many improvements in Skagit County and the upper valley, most notably the campaign to build the North Cascades Highway [now Highway 20].
"He was one of the men who really spearheaded that drive," Helen Dwelley said. "It really was one of his main interests to get that through."
Dwelley's editorials, which his widow described as mainly political satire, "very pithy and to the point," were reprinted in several local and national publications, she said.
The only interruption to his newspaper career was during World War II, when Dwelley served with the U.S. Navy in the Philippines. Dwelley was also an avid historian, serving as his father and grandfather did as president of the Skagit County Pioneers Association. He was also a longtime member of the Skagit County Historical Society. After selling the newspaper in 1970, he devoted his time to writing and publishing books.
Journal Ed. note: see a whole section on Chuck Dwelley, his family and his newspaper and books.

Arthur Gilbert Dwelley, Concrete and Tenino (1930-2000) Undated Olympian newspaper obituary 2000 Arthur Gilbert Dwelley, 70, long time Tenino resident and former publisher and editor of the Tenino Independent, died on Oct. 10, 2000, at this home, from a brain tumor.
He was born Feb. 6, 1930, in Anacortes, WA, the only child of Mr. And Mrs. Charles Muth Dwelley of Concrete, WA, members of a pioneer Washington family. His mother was the former Helen L. Grubb of Anacortes. His father was the publisher of the Concrete Herald, where Art Dwelley learned the newspaper business. He attended schools in Concrete.
Art married Anne Pyatte, July, 1950, in Concrete. They were the parents of four daughters. They were divorced in 1962. His marriage to Eilene Chesterfield took place on Mercer Island in October 1963.
Art worked for several newspapers, including the Ferndale Record, Oak Harbor News and Edmonds Tribune-Review, as well as the Seattle Times, before purchasing the Thurston County Independent in Tenino in August 1966. The name of the newspaper was later changed to the Tenino Independent. The Dwelleys sold the paper in February 1993 [the same year his father died] but he continued to write his popular "Coffee Break" column until July 2000, when his illness became acute.
Art Dwelley was very active in civic affairs, serving s the president of the Tenino chamber of Commerce for several years, and was chairman of the first Oregon Trail Days. He and his wife were Grand marshals of the parade in 1993. Art was president of the South Thurston County Historical Society in its second year and was a lifetime member. He was also a board member of the Thurston County Historical Commission.
Art was on the board of directors of the Washington State Historical Society for nine years and on the board during the design and construction of the new museum located in Tacoma. Several of his historical articles were accepted and published in the Society's magazine, The Columbia. He also seved as secretary and treasurer of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and was on the board of directors.
Art was an ardent researcher and author of numerous historical articles, not only for his own paper, but other publications as well as the Olympian for many years. He wrote and published Prairies and Quarries, a history of Tenino, while publishing the Independent. He was a member of several civic organizations, and served on the Centennial '89 Committee for Thurston County and was named one of 80 prominent citizens in the county for the the 1980s by the Olympian.
Art's many hobbies included the collecting of books, military insignia and coins. He was also interested in photography and genealogy. The Dwelleys were also avid travelers. He and Mrs. Dwelley have spent winters in Arizona since 1994.
Survivors include his wife, Eilene, daughters Judith Dawe of Lacey, Jill Chase of Bothell, Jeri Child and Jolene Cetak, both of the Olympia area; two stepdaughters, Sandi Beecher of Spencer, Iowa, and Christine Chesterfield of Tacoma; ten grandchildren; his stepmother, Helen Dwelley of Burbank, California, and several cousins. Internment will be in the Tenino Forest Grove Cemetery. Arrangements by Bleitz Funeral Home.
Journal Ed. note: Many thanks to Dan Royal and Doris Pollack for providing copies of the obituaries.

Harriet E. [maiden Guddall] Eaton, Sedro-Woolley Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times or Skagit Valley Herald, October 2000 Harriet E. Guddall Eaton, 90, a longtime Sedro-Woolley resident, passed away on Oct. 7, 2000, at Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon. She was born in Thor, Iowa, on June 1, 1910, a daughter of John and Elsie Springer Guddall. She came to Sedro-Woolley as an infant, attended schools here and graduated with the class of 1928. She attended Washington State College in Pullman where she was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority.
Harriet was employed as a bank clerk at her father's bank and later at the C.E. Bingham bank, both in Sedro-Woolley. She was united in marriage to Willard Eaton in Sedro-Woolley on June 7, 1936. Harriet was a member of the PEO sisterhood in Sedro-Woolley for more than 50 years. She was dedicated to her husband, her home and graden and to her many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Willard, in 1972; her brother, John Guddall; and sisters Elaine Guddall and Ethel Lemley. She is survived by her only remaining sister Helen French and her husband, Irwin, of Seattle; nine nieces and nephews and their spouses; Robert and Judy Lemley and Richard and JoAnna Lemley of Sedro-Woolley, LouAnn and Denny Davis of Mount Vernon, Shirley Lemley of Bellingham, Craig Leibrand of Everett, John and Julie Leibbrand of Seattle, Julie and Terry Hope of Bellingham, Connie and Rick Rian of New York and Chris and Bob Henke of Arizona; also numerous grand and great-grand nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at Lemley Chapel in Sedro-Woolley on October 10 with Rosalie Robles of the Federation of Christian Ministries officiating. Services will conclude at the chapel, followed by a luncheon and fellowship at the Three Rivers restaurant. Entombment will be at Acacia cemetery in Seattle.

Return to this main page for a full list of profiles and obituaries on file. And please consider adding to our list if you have articles or scans. We especially want copies of very old newspapers, and those from the Pioneer Picnic week [first Thursday of each August] issues of the Puget Sound Mail of LaConner are worth their weight in gold.

Story posted on Sept. 1, 2003, last updated April 5, 2009
Please report any broken links so we can update them

Getting lost trying to navigate or find stories on our site? Read how to sort through our 680-plus stories.
Return to the new-domain home page	Links for portals to subjects and towns	Newest photo features	Search entire site
Our new weekly column, Puget Sound Mail (but don't call it a blog) debuted on Aug. 9, 2009. Check it out.

See 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 more information and photos. This process continues until we eventually compile a book about Northwest history. Can you help?

Remember; we welcome correction & criticism.

Please report any broken links or files that do not open and we will send you the correct link. With more than 550 features, we depend on your report. Thank you.

Read about how you can order CDs that include our photo features from the first five years of our Subscribers Edition. Perfect for gifts.

You can click the donation button to contribute to the rising costs of this site. You can also subscribe to our optional Subscribers-Paid Journal magazine online, which has entered its ninth year with exclusive stories, in-depth research and photos that are shared with our subscribers first. You can go here to read the preview edition to see examples of our in-depth research or read how and why to subscribe.

You can read the history websites about our prime sponsors
Would you like information about how to join them?

Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 88 years.

Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20, day, week or month, perfect for hunting or fishing
Park your RV or pitch a tent by the Skagit River, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley

Joy's Sedro-Woolley Bakery-Cafe at 823 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley.

Check out Sedro-Woolley First section for links to all stories and reasons to shop here first
or 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.

Did you find what you were seeking? We have helped many people find individual names or places, so email if you have any difficulty.

Tip: Put quotation marks around a specific name or item of two words or more, and then experiment with different combinations of the words without quote marks. We are currently researching some of the names most recently searched for — check the list here. Maybe you have searched for one of them?

Please sign our guestbook so our readers will know where you found out about us, or share something you know about the Skagit River or your memories or those of your family. Share your reactions or suggestions or comment on our Journal. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to visit our site.

View My Guestbook
Sign My Guestbook

Email us at: skagitriverjournal@gmail.com

Mail copies/documents to Street address: Skagit River Journal, 810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, WA, 98284.

Skagit River Journal

Biographies and obituaries of Skagit county Pioneers and their descendants: D-E

Biographies and obituaries of Skagit county
Pioneers and their descendants: D-E