L. Olson

L. married L. Mulford. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Roy married I. Sickles [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

While Jonathan Burnett and wife, Myra Catherine Watt were moving
from New Providence, Iowa, to Harrison, Arkansas, Harry Mulford was born
in the back of the covered wagon crossing Decateur County, Kansas.
The Mulford homestead is still there, where Edgar
Mulford resides presently. Also a cementary where many Mulfords are
found, exists there.

The following was submitted as
the first entry for inclusion in a family history book of Lewis County,
Washington, by Clyde Mulford.

By Clyde Mulford

Winlock
My father, Harry Mulford, came to Chehalis from Harrison,
Ark., in 1908. He met Florence Towner while working at the Carnation
[milk] plant in Chehalis, and they were married in September, 1909.
Harry had four brothers who came to Chehalis about the
same time. He and his brother Arthur went together in what they called
"Mulford Bros. 2nd Hand Store" at 960 Chehalis Ave. in 1909. After a year
or two, Art got a job carrying mail, so Harry bought out his brother's
interest and continued to run the store until 1927. He bought used
furniture and household goods and reconditioned them to sell, and filed
saws and re-covered umbrellas.
In those days the milkman delivered milk in glass bottles
using a horse and wagon. The water wagon and the fire wagon were both
pulled by horses.

One day there was a fire in the rooming house above the
store, but most of the damage to the store was from the water coming
through the ceiling. What I remember most about the fire was that the
people who came to watch the fire brought the kids along in baby buggies
and little wagons. In those days you could tell where the fire was by the
number of chimes of the fire bell, as the different parts of town were
numbered for that purpose.
I [Clyde] am the oldest of our family of eight boys and
one girl. Four of us were born in Chehalis. In 1908, the folks bought an
80-acre farm four miles up Coal Creek, where we raised our meat, milk
and eggs and always had a large garden.
My dad, who used crutches all his life because of
childhood T.B. of the bone, continued to run the store until 1927. He
drove back and forth to work with a horse and buggy, taking a sack of
hay which he fed to the horses in Hayseed Park, which was between the
streetcar tracks and Market Street.
Streetcars ran between Chehalis and Centralia for many
years, but later buses were used. There were two cars, one going each
way, passing at the fairgrounds using what is now North National and
South Gold. The electricity for the streetcars came from a coal-fired
plant on Coal Creek.
H.H. Scribner's Harness Shop was next door to the second
hand store, and along the curb, there were several rings where you could
tie your horse.
I finished grade school in the one-room Lower Coal Creek
School. To get to high school the first three years, I had to walk or bum
a ride, but the fourth year I had a bicycle. I graduated from Chehalis
High School in 1929. That fall, they put on a school bus, which my
brother Basil got a job driving for $20 a month.
I worked 10 years for the Department of Natural Resources
on state lookouts. Then I moved to Longview, where I spent 11 years on
the planer gate selling Presto Logs for Weyerhauser Co. I am now retired
and live in Winlock.
Two brothers, Roy and Ervin, are living just north of
Centalia. Basil is up near Olympia, and Don is just east of Vancover. The
rest of the family is out of state.

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1910 Washington Census, Chehalis City , Lewis County on April 2 1900
Ward of City - South
Supervisor District #2, ED# 136, Sheet 12 B
Mulford, Harry H. 29, married for 6 months Born in Kansas, Father in New
York, Mother in Iowa, Occupation Merchant, Second Hand Store.
Florence, 22 born in South Dakota

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1920 Washington Soundex

Vol.27, E.D. 133, sheet 14, Line 81
Lewis County
age
born

Mulford, Harry H. 39
Kansas
race - White
Mulford, Florence Wife 32
South Dakota
Clyde Son 9
Washington
Basil E. Son 7
Washington
Roy E. Son 6
Washington
Ervin H. Son 4 and 4/12
Washington
Mildred E. Daughter 2 and 8/12
Washington
Donald Son 1 and 1/12
Washington

Harry married Florence Rose Towner on 18 Sep 1909 in Chehalis, Lewis County, Washington. Florence (daughter of William Ezekial Towner and Frances (Fanny) Johnson) was born on 28 Jan 1888 in Wessington Springs, South Dakota; died on 17 Feb 1974 in Centralia, Lewis County, Washington. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Flonnie Towner
• Census: 1900, Salzer, Lewis County, Washington; 1900 Federal Census

Notes:

OBITUARY OF LON'S GRANDMOTHER

MRS. FLORENCE R. VINCENT

Mrs. Florence R. Vincent, 86, a lifetime resident of Centralia, died
at a nursing home Sunday.
Mrs. Vincent was born January 28, 1888, in South Dakota. Her family
moved to Centralia early in her life and she attended Centralia schools.
She was a retired registered nurse and a member of the Alder Street
Baptist Church, Centralia.
Survivors include a daughter, Mrs. Samuel ( Elaine) Byrd, Lebanon,
Oregon; eight sons, Clyde Mulford, of Castle Rock, Basil Mulford,
Olympia, , Roy and Ervin Mulford, Centralia, Don Mulford, Toledo, Marvin
Mulford, Springfield, Oregon, Kenneth Mulford, Seattle, and Harry Mulford
Jr. address unknown; a sister Mrs. Lily Shore, Tacoma: 20 grandchildren
and numerous nieces and nephews.
Services will be Wednesday at 2 P. M. at the Newell- Hoerling's
Centralia, with the rev. M. Holt Sodeman officiating. Interment will
follow at Mt. View Cemetery, Centralia. Casket bearers will be her sons.
Dated February 18, 1974.

Florence was born in a covered wagon, in South Dakota, according to
her daughter Elaine.

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*********

Florence Rose Towner was born in South Dakota January 28, 1888 in
Wessington Springs. She went one year to Centralia High School. Married
Harry Hayes Mulford and lived in Chehalis. Harry died of Bright's Disease
when their youngest child was about a year old and left her with nine
children. She studied and got a Practical Nurses Degree and raised her
family of 8 boys and 1 girl.

Census:
1900 United States Federal Census Record
about Flonnie Towner
Name: ´tabªFlonnie Towner
Home in 1900: ´tabªSalzer, Lewis, Washington
Age: ´tabª12
Estimated Birth Year: ´tabªabt 1888
BirthPlace: ´tabªSouth Dakota
Relationship to head-of-house: ´tabªDaughter
Father's name: ´tabªWilliam E
Mother's name: ´tabªFrancis
Race: ´tabªWhite
Occupation: ´tabªView Image
Neighbors: ´tabªView others on page