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Showing posts with the label south King County

Civil War Soldier Found in the Woods

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By Valorie Zimmerman This is not April Fools joke! A few years back, my husband was walking through the forest near our cabin outside Mt. Rainier National Park when he came across a grave for a Civil War soldier. Henry C Allen grave site Astonished, he took us there to honor the soldier and find more about him. Just a hundred feet or so off Highway 410, we saw a beautiful grave site with a headstone of marble, covered with flags and other remembrances. Reading part of his story on signs at the site was fascinating, and Bob created a web page about the site and the man:  http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~bobofwa/family/HCAllen_grave.htm Henry C. Allen, 16 Wis. Inf. 1848-1896 Last year there was a notice in the Washington State Genealogy Blog about a group gathering information about all Civil War soldiers buried in Washington State , so I wrote to report this grave site in case they had not heard of it. They had not, and asked me to find out more about this ...

Spring Forward into April

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By Barbara Mattoon Longer, lighter days beckon us outside to enjoy spring flowers, sunshine and warm breezes, but there are still many opportunities to advance our genealogy knowledge and practice.  March 31 is World Backup Day.  One small accident or failure could destroy all your important stuff, including your genealogy research.  Genealogy pundits recommend backing up three ways.  There is plenty of information online on how to do it. Watch for Valorie Zimmerman’s April 1 blog post titled Civil War Veteran Found in the Woods.  Is it an April Fools’ joke? The Board of Directors will meet Tuesday, April 2, at the Valley Regional Fire Authority, 1101 D St. NE, Auburn, at 7:00 pm.  It will be preceded by  a 2020 Seminar Committee meeting at 6:00 pm.  All members are encouraged to attend both meetings.  There are several open committee assignments for the seminar. Saturday, April 6, Winona Laird will present Family Tree Maker’s new ...

MEMORIES OF SOOS CREEK PLATEAU PIONEERS

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By Barbara Mattoon Soos Creek Wetland  Photo courtesy of Scott Smithson A plateau rises between the valleys of the Green and Cedar Rivers stretching from the Springbrook area of Renton to an area near the salmon hatchery south of Auburn, an area of approximately 70 square miles.    The plateau is drained from Renton in a southeasterly direction toward where it empties into the Green River by Soos Creek and several smaller creeks. The first white settlers claimed land in the valleys because it was more suitable for farming than the land on the plateau.  Later arrivals had to content themselves with the rockier soil on the plateau which being less suitable for farming, was better suited for dairying, raising poultry and livestock. Early settlers on the plateau were primarily from Scandinavia.  They were driven to emigrate by severely depressed economic conditions in Europe in the latter half of the 19th century.  The Puget Sound area was attrac...