New Beginning: Isaac L. & Hester Burgard Myers

Isaac L. & Hester Burgard Myers in front of their new residence, about 1906.
The house was newly completed, and stood at the SE corner
of Gold & Locust Streets in Centralia, WA.

     Among my grandmother's collection, was this photo of her maternal grandparents, Isaac L. and Hester (Hetty) Burgard Myers.  They are standing in front of their house in Centralia, Lewis County, Washington.  The house was very neat and trim, and the background shows a rural flavor.  He would have been about 65 at this point, she 62.  They were life-long members of the Church of the Brethren.  

     One story I know of their time here is that Grandma Myers had a white cat named Pearl, with whom Isaac had a strained relationship.  My grandmother said she remembered as a little girl, when  the cat and grandpa would be in one room of the house glowering at each other.  Hetty would call out from the kitchen, "You're not bothering that cat, are you?"  Isaac would make my grandmother laugh, by adopting a sugary sweet voice and replying, "Oh, NO, dear!"  This was said with a wink at my grandmother.

     The house was very close to the north-south railroad tracks running through town.  Hetty was known as a "soft touch" to the men who rode the rails.  It's thought that they might have carved symbols into the fence, indicating to other nomads that this was a woman who could be counted on to provide something to eat.

     Fast forward to the late 1990s, when the house had fallen into a sad state of collapse.  In 1998, I took these photos of the exterior and interior.  My sister Mary is standing before the front door.  It had been moved forward, flush with the rest of the house, when the porch had been enclosed.  Ignoring the no entry signs, I climbed in through a side window.  Not smart, as part of the roof had collapsed, but when did that ever discourage a genealogist?  I had worn steel-toed shoes for the occasion.  I dug down through the layers of wallpaper to the first one.  While it may not have been chosen by the Myers, it was certainly old.

     By 2003, the house had been torn down, but a couple of nice trees remained.  On my last trip, in 2012, I saw that they'd been taken down.  For every new beginning, there's sometimes a sad ending.  However, I feel quite fortunate to be able to call on these memories, and to have seen the site of my ancestors' daily experience.