Lynna Banning (25 page)

Wildwood Times,

July 24, 1868

B
enning Larimore Kearney and Jessamyn Irene Whittaker were joined in matrimony July 5 in the rose garden at Miss Whittaker’s home in Wildwood Valley. The bride wore her mother’s wedding gown of white moiré silk, refashioned by Miss Addie Rice with insets of Belgian lace.

Joining the couple at the altar were Mrs. Cordella Boult, who served as the bride’s sole attendant, and Mr. Carleton Kearney, who stood as the groom’s man. Roses grown by Mr. Daniel Gustafsen were distributed to the guests by Miss Alice Kearney, niece of the groom.

Also in attendance at the ceremony were Mrs. Ella Kearney, Dr. and Mrs. Rufus Bartel, Mr. and Mrs. Otto Frieder, Miss Adelaide Rice and the Messrs. Silas Appleby, Zedediah Marsh and Amory Fitzpatrick, the new editor of the
Umpqua Ensign
in Scottsburg.

Of particular note was the guard of honor provided by Chief Black Eagle of the Klamath Indian nation
and three of his braves. The bride and groom were escorted to their nuptials under a ceremonial arch of lances decorated with feathers and dried wildflowers.

Following the ceremony, wedding cake and iced lemonade were served by Mrs. Boult and the Ladies Auxiliary Circle under the direction of the Reverend Harve Lindstrom, who also performed the service.

Mr. and Mrs. Kearney are at home at 9 Boult Lane Thursdays from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Wildwood Times,

March 27, 1869

Sheriff and Mrs. Benning Kearney announce the birth of a son, Thaddeus Whittaker Kearney, on March 14. Named after Mrs. Kearney’s father, the late Thaddeus Whittaker, the new citizen of Wildwood Valley weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces and strongly resembles his father.

In honor of his son’s entry into the world, Mr. Kearney presented his wife with a gold heirloom locket in the shape of a heart, an ivory-handled Smith & Wesson revolver and a keg of printer’s ink.

Journal of Jessamyn Whittaker Kearney August 1874

A letter came today, in care of the
Wildwood Times.
The postmark read Stark County, Ohio. Inside I found only a faded photograph of a bearded man in a droopbrimmed hat with a rounded crown, standing with a beautiful Indian woman. The man held a printer’s type stick in one hand, and he was smiling.

In front of the couple stood three lovely little girls, all with the same large, dark eyes. The tallest looked to be about six years old. On the back of the picture was written their names—Serena, Jessie and Mary
Irene. Below that, a single word was printed in capital letters: T
ROUBLOUS.

I showed the photograph to Ben at dinner. He stared at it for a long time, then put it down on the table and laid his hand over it. When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes.

This evening I told my husband I am expecting another child next April. If it is a boy, we will name him Jeremiah.

* * * * *

Contrary to modern stereotypes of the helpless Victorian female on the American frontier, courageous and articulate women abounded in the Old West. Many of them rode horseback as well as any ranch hand, raised families, managed careers, spoke out on important issues of the day and worked alongside the men to settle and help civilize the frontier. Among these energetic ladies were some notable journalists.

Abigail Scott Duniway, known as the mother of equal suffrage in Oregon, published the
New Northwest
newspaper in Portland from 1871 to 1887.

Catharine Amanda Scott Coburn, Mrs. Duniway’s younger sister, edited the Portland
Evening Telegram
from 1883 to 1888. After that, she spent a quarter of a century as associate editor of the
Oregonian.

In Colorado Caroline Romney started
The Durango Record
in 1880. Mrs. Laura DeForce Gordon issued the
Daily Leader
in Stockton, California, in 1874, and in Wyoming the
Platte Valley Lyre
of Saratoga was published by sisters Gertrude M. and Laura C. Huntington.

In 1897
The Idaho Woman
was published in Caldwell,
Idaho. The ladies of Caldwell operated the paper on behalf of suffrage and temperance.

And in Topeka, Kansas, Mrs. Carrie Nation promoted her prohibition and women’s suffrage causes in the
Smasher’s Mail,
which began publication in 1901.

(Preceding information from
Newspapering in the Old West
by Robert F. Karolevitz, Superior Publishing Company, Seattle, Washington, 1965.)