Come join us on this date and time as the Native Daughters of the Golden West, Tahquitz Parlor #333, will place a marker on the Patterson House Museum grounds marking the house as a California Landmark. A special pedestal has been erected by Chris Forcier, our contractor, for the placement of the marker. The pedestal is made from old bricks from the two story brick building built in 1890 and from chimney bricks from the Patterson House. To top it off he made a carrier to place the marker in from a 100 year old bed frame which is spring steel. We invite all to join us as the house gets this special recognition. Punch and cookies will be served and tours of the house will be conducted.
Rummage Sale Successful
We are very happy with the results of our Spring Thing Rummage, Arts & Crafts, and Bake Sale in conjunction with The Winchester Woman's Club in June. We took in $162.80 from the sale of rummage, $140.00 in donations, and the Woman's Club gave us $102.50 from their Bake Sales. Thanks to all who helped out and bought items. Also thanks to the Woman's Club for their donation.
Museum Happenings
First lets give out some thank you's to those who gave a little extra to furthering our endeavors. To Bob Domenigoni for his hours of weed wacking the property and removal of dead wood and broken tree limbs. Next a special thanks to Julia Young for washing the windows of the Patterson House in preparation of July 8th. To Chris Forcier for getting the rest of the front windows in place and shutters up so the museum is secure and the little extras he does. A special thanks goes out to Ed Kinney for his donation of a marvelous display case that now houses many of the artifacts we have been given.
History Donated
Artifacts continue to return to the museum. Among those items donated were some harness' from the Nicolas/Pourroy Ranch by Irene Ledbetter, a photo of Thomas Milholland, an early photographer, by Ellen Milholland, and an aerial photograph of the valley from about 1964 by Tom and Pat Laughlin.
Additional artifacts also arrived this past month via a sad passing of one of our members, Lona Graham Steves. Through her granddaughter, Ruth Blume, we received pictures and artifacts including may related to Own Graham. Also was Lona's diploma from Winchester School in 1918. Thanks for the artifacts.
Additional items also came from the Hemet Area Museum Association. They donated pictures from the Lindenburger place, a stock certificate from the old Irrigation District, other photos, and a copy of the original Ploughshare & Pruning Hook from July 1891. Also was a great photo of the old two story brick building. Once again the local museum groups are working together to put our local history in the museums where they belong.
Also this past month the museum received a piece of old track that was from the line going through Winchester from Wayne Van Horn. Also we have a rather unusual piece of history donated by Bob Domenigoni, a support for a pipe from the Irrigation District. It is a heavy chunk of concrete with an indent for the pipe to rest on.
Thanks to all for your generous support.
Diary Transcribed
A few issues back we mentioned a diary that had been sent to the San Jacinto Museum. Well thanks to Mary Whitney it has been transcribed. This diary shows life of one man and his experiences in Winchester and surrounding areas and his eventual departure to Arizona to teach school. One thing that we are sorry to announce is that he failed to give his name. We have some clues and will follow up on them. Thank you Mary for doing this work. It makes some very interesting reading and opens up the late 1800's to us to look at today. As space permits we will include excerpts from the diary.
Condolences Offered
We mentioned earlier in this issue the death of Lona Steves. Sadly in the last two months we have also lost three others significant to the history of the area. The first was Susan Chestnut who worked with the San Jacinto Museum and could often be seen manning the desk to greet visitors and provide help. Her ready smile and assistance will be missed.
The next one was significant to the many people who have lived in Winchester for many years. Ethel Montigue, who many remember as Ethel Terry, died in late May in Riverside. Ethel and her husband ran the Winchester Store for many years and Ethel was Winchester's Postmaster for many years. She also was a member and past President of the Winchester Woman's Club.
The last passing we found about as a letter came to the society to remove a name from our mailing list. Mrs, Ann R. Davis, the sister-in-law of Helen Rheingans, passed away last week in Los Osos, California. She was very interested in the local history and will be missed.
Our condolences go to all the families and friends of these people who cared about local history.
"There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot." -Steven Wright
