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Alaska Quilt in Oregon A Blog by 2 |
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Quilt Block Collections - 1 |
Updated 12/15/07 14:27 |
| QBC-1: Book One | QBC-2: Book Two | QBC-3: Book Three | QBC-4: Other Collections |
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QBC-1: Book One
Two Quilters Havin' Lotsa Fun Collections
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Elspeth's Alaskan Adventures CollectionsBeing a series of quilt block collections suitable for either a lap quilt (lap- rug), or a full sized bed quilt.
Elspeth's Quilt BlocksShe tires to capture this wonder and awe by the creation of a quilt blocks as she travels along the trail in the wagon. Thus the blocks she creates become a very special log of her new life and adventures in Alaska. Elspeth's 11 Quilts
Elspeth came from AmericaBorn in America's heartland Elspeth (b. 1901) in Calloway County, Kentucky west of the Tennessee River. Family was old New England stock Her family originally came from New England. They were from old stock that come over on one of the first boats and suffered through those first brutal years. According to her great-great grandfather, her bloodline also includes some Native American Algonquin or Iroquois. Grandparents met in Oregon in the late 1880s Elspeth Martha Walker (Elspeth's grandmother) came to Oregon in the late 19th century. William had done some time on the river William, Elspeth's husband. came from a family in southern Missouri. Originally his family came from the Georgia seacoast. William has done some mining in Colorado and Utah before coming back to Kentucky and meeting Elspeth. BOGGS — WARREN Wedding Announcement in Murray Times & Ledger Newspaper
Going to Alaska... Sidetrip to CaliforniaBefore coming to Alaska, the young newlyweds had traveled to meet William's uncle in the gold mining country of the Sierra Nevadas in northern California. There they also visited with Elspeth's very old aunt (she was in her late 80s) who worked in a house on the Barbary Coast in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush (c. 1849-1860). |
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Letter One Blocks |
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Dear Friend
Can it be mid week already? This road is hard and so steep I fear we shall roll head over bottom all the way back to the ship from whence we came! So weary have we been each night we have stopped to make camp, that I have quickly prepared our meal while William tends the team and soon thereafter slept soundly 'til morn with no time to write nor stitch.
The sites have been beyond magnificence and all the more wondrous because it is the land of the midnight sun. We must be careful to plan a time to rest, lest we go on through the night and not realize. William says that we shall soon be out of these peaks and if the wagon wheel holds. I shall be able to spend more time with my needle. For this, I shall be glad. My dear friends, quill and needle, have I missed dearly.
Your dearest,
Elspeth
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Letter Two Blocks |
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While at the same time, as a quilter, you will be able to modify the blocks to record your own, special Alaskan journey.
This sampler includes many different blocks. Thus you can try to discover the ones that Elspeth chose or you can select blocks to represent your own trip through Alaska.
For some added fun, every one should try to discover the block and order in which Elspeth make her quilt. If you discover the correct blocks, in the correct order, stop by the real ACQC (Alaskan Chocolate Quilting Company)in Delta Junction, Alaska and we will give you a small prize.
Chronology (Working)Updated 2007, Nov 24 |
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1851 |
Elspeth Martha Cobb (Grandma El), (E's grandmother), born, Christian county, Kentucky |
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1859 |
The Cobb family comes to Linn county, Oregon via Oregon Trail |
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1863 |
James Douglas Warren, Elspeth's father born in New England |
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1868 |
Elspeth Martha Cobb marries Franklin Walker in Linn county, Oregon |
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1870 |
Mary Jane Walker, Elspeth's mother born Linn county, Oregon. She was born on a farm 12 miles south of Albany, Oregon |
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1871 |
Elspeth Martha Walker sees sternwheeler Calliope attempt to ascend the South Santiam River to Lebanon, Oregon. The Calliope failed. |
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1888 |
The Franklin Walker family moves back to Christian county, Kentucky |
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1889-1891 |
Mary Jane Walker attend Bethel Female College, Hopkinsville, Ky |
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1891 |
Elspeth's parents married (James 27, Mary 20) |
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1892, Jan |
Seth Lloyd Warren, born Calloway county, Kentucky |
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1892, Dec |
Daniel James Warren, born Calloway county, Kentucky |
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1893, Sep |
Mary Jane Warren has a miscarriage |
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1894. Aug |
William John Boggs, born New Madrid county, Missouri. He was from a well-to-do family. His father was a banker. |
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1895, Jan |
James Douglas Warren, born, died Jun |
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1897, Dec |
Dawn Elise Warren, born Calloway county, Kentucky |
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1899, Oct |
Margaret Ann Warren, born Calloway county, Kentucky |
| 1899, Oct | Jóhan Jóhannsson, born Reykjavik, Is´land (Iceland), but grew up in the north country on a farm, Hvitárbakki, on the Hvitá (White) River. Hvítárbakki is in the middle of Borgarfjör<eth>ur in the west of Iceland, near the Reykholtsdalur Jóhan traveled to central Canada when he was 18 and lived for a time in Mountain, North Dakota. In 1924 he, his older brother Halldór, “Brother” & younger brother Ingólfur, “Inggie,” sailed to Valdez from Vancouver, British Columbia. Not having much cash left, they walked up the Richardson to Big Delta on the Tanana. They spent time learning to be trappers, guides, panners, and working as miners in the Creeks north of Fairbanks. In the summer of ‘27 they went up river with William Boggs |
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1901, Jan |
Elspeth Martha Warren, born Calloway county, Kentucky |
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1903, Jan |
Dauphine Mattie Warren, born Calloway county, Kentucky |
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1903, Dec |
Cleopatra Marie Warren, born Calloway county, Kentucky |
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1904, May |
Some of El's family attended the St. Louis World's Fair–The Louisiana Purchase Exposition |
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1904, Nov |
Jonathan Eric Warren and Benjamin Eric Warren, twins, born Calloway county, Kentucky |
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1907, Jun |
Daniel James, El's 2nd oldest brother, joined U.S. Navy. At the time, Daniel, only 14 and a half, was almost six feet tall. |
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1907-1909 |
Great White Fleet, Theodore Roosevelt, World Tour—16 December 1907 — 22 February 1909. |
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1917-1919 |
Elspeth Martha Warren attends Bethel Woman's College, Hopkinsville, Ky. Studies included Music, English, and Nursing |
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1919, June 16 |
Elspeth Martha Warren (181/2) and William John Boggs (almost 25), married Calloway county, Kentucky |
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1919 |
Travel to California |
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1920 |
Go to Seattle, take steamship to Valdez, travel to Fairbanks |
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1921, Jany 6 |
Jon William Boggs, born, St. Joseph's hospital, Fairbanks, Alaska |
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1921, Octbr 15 |
Mikel John Boggs born, St. Joseph's hospital, Fairbanks, Alaska |
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1923, Novbr 4 |
Dane James Boggs and Jeanne Marie Boggs, twins, born, St. Joseph's hospital, Fairbanks, Alaska |
| Panning & gardening at 2 below, west fork Goodpasture | |
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1926 |
Elspeth begins teaching her children. She “home schools” all up through 8th grade. Then children went to Fairbanks for high school. |
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1926, Jul. |
William & his new friend, Jake Jóhannsson, travel up the Tanana to Big Delta on the steamer Atlas. From there rode on John Hajdukovich’s flatboat up into the Goodpasture country to look for gold. Finding good “color,” they staked claims & went back to Fairbanks to filed their claims. |
| 1926, Late summer | William, Jake, Brother & Inggie build a Boggs cabin & a smaller Johannsson cabin on the claims at 2 below & 4 below, west fork Goodpasture river. During the winter, they mush back up to the claims hauling mining gear & living goods. |
| 1927, May 15 | Boggs family moves to cabin on Goodpasture |
| 1929, summer | William dies on Goodpasture claim |
| Life begins with Jake | |
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1930 |
Elspeth marries Icelander "Jake" Jóhansson |
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1930 |
Erik Ingólfur Jóhansson born at St. Joe's Hospital in Fairbanks |
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1931 |
Elspeth Martha Jóhansson born on in Richardson Roadhouse on Richardson Highway |
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1933, summer |
Family moved to a cabin near mouth of Delta Clearwater. |
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1933, winter |
Skara Bríet Jóhansson born in cabin on Delta Clearwater |
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1936, Winter |
"Jake" Johansson and baby Skara (she was almost 2 years old) die of influenza. Virgil James's original wife and 2 youngest children die of influenza. |
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1937 |
Elspeth meets Virgil James near the Hajdukovich trading post in Tanana Cross (later Tanacross). |
| New life further upriver with "Brown eyes" | |
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1938 |
Elspeth marries Virgil James. Virgil was an Athabaskan from the Mansfield-Ketchmenlunk village. |
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1940-42 |
Four oldest children had joined the military for the war. Jon was in the Army in England, Mikel was a Marine somewhere in the Pacific, and Dane was a Navy sailor. Jeanne Marie had become a flight nurse in the Army Air force. |
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1942 |
Family moves to Tok, Alaska. Virgil works on building ALCAN |
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1943 |
Virgil begins working at a gas station and garage. He eventually buys the station. Erik and little El stay in Fairbanks for high school. |
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1945, late |
Jeanne Marie dies in a plane crash at a base in Sciliy. |
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1946 |
Jon, Mikel, Dane come back from war. Live in Fairbanks. Come down to Tok to help Virgil and Erik Jóhansson build a big, two-story log home with 9 bedrooms and two inside bathrooms. (They still had an outhouse out back.) |
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1947-1949 |
Soon thereafter, the older boys left for outside to go to college on the G.I. Bill. With five empty bedrooms, El and Virgil begin renting rooms to the increasing numbers of travelers driving up the “Alcan”. Thus they were among the first Alaskans to run a bed and breakfast. |
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1970's late |
Virgil has died. Elspeth is living in Fairbanks with one of her children. |
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1996 |
Elspeth Martha Boggs- Jóhannsson- James (née Walker) passed in Fairbanks ( Actually Two Rivers) |
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1998, July. 16 |
Old Richardson roadhouse, near Banner Creek, Richardson Highway—Five of Elspeth's original 1920 quilt block patterns were found by Dawn Grossmann. While exploring the old Richardson roadhouse ruins with her husband Bruce, Dawn found an old Blazo box under some logs. As they pried the box open, they discovered the patterns packed with some of El's letters form her early years. The patterns were—moose tracks, spawning salmon, bear paws, raven tracks, and single wedding ring. Some of these were El's original designs; others were her modifications of traditional block patterns. El's original 1920 Richardson letters were used by Dawn & Peggy in their mystery quilt game in fall '98. One long letter, written in 1928, included a recipe for wild, high bush cranberry yam bread. |
| Ed. note | Elspeth was a very hardworking woman—In addition to living in pioneer Alaska, raising a large family & quilting—She also made copies of all the letters she wrote! |
Dear Friend,
William and I spoke with a gentleman, much gnarled in his appearance from his life here in this rugged land I suspect. He lives in a small log cabin in the hills below the pass. Having lived here long before this road was in; he is a true pioneer of this land. He says the beautiful mountain blooms I have gathered are called lupine. They are similar to what Mama grew along the porch rail in Kentucky.
Already my hands must whirl as I piece together my ninth block. My imagination needs no prodding to supply my needle with its task. This land the old man calls the Copper Valley looks to stretch forever and we are just following a wanderer's path in the wilderness. I must remember to thank Mama for extracting from me such quantity of handwork that makes me proficient at my skill. I shall have a cover of beautiful memories for William and me to lie beneath by journeys end.

Yours dear one
Elspeth
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Letter Three Blocks |
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Dear Friend,
Much excited were the animals this day when we came upon the sight of a huge black bear, slapping spawning salmon onto a bank for its young with huge bear paws. We gave it wide berth and continued on through the bent and broken black spruce. Odd isn't it that in this land of such grandeur it's trees are so small and corrupted. "Ugly" William says. Above us today the sky was full of geese in flight. They, like us, on their way north to a better life. This land is wild and fraught with untamed life.
No longer do I see the beautiful lupine, now it is a taller stalk of pink blooms, fireweed I am told by the keeper of the Sourdough Roadhouse. So short are the roofs of these dwellings I fear my towering William shall strike himself senseless on the door lintel. It is good to take food with in this day.
Square number fourteen was added to my precious pile this eve. Tomorrow I start another.

Good sleep dear friend,
Elspeth
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Letter Four Blocks |
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Dear Friend,
We have come through another mountain pass. To our left and our right, beautiful peaks covered with snowflakes, it seems I can see forever. Earlier there was a vicious wind from which I sought shelter inside the wagon as poor William sat along in front, wind blown and anxious. For soon we come to a ferry crossing at Rika's landing.
I have finished my sixteenth square...one for each year of my life before William and I were betrothed.

Fondly,
Elspeth
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Letter Five Blocks |
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Dear Friend,
With the help of new friends in Big Delta, we and our team have come over the Tanana aboard a cleverly contrived crossing ferry. The tenacity and ingenuity of these wilderness folk is inspiring. We are proud to be among their number. Reports from the Fairbanks gold fields have been promising. William is anxious to stake us a claim.
Two more travelers we met here. Not trodding the road as we but have crossed canoes lying ashore behind Rika's Roadhouse. They were trappers dressed in beautiful skins and with fur trim. Their talk was rough and striking to the ear and their adventures worthy of a volume itself.
On through the flat lands of water and moose. The creatures are towering and odd looking at best. We have heard they can be deadly though ones we have seen ignore us or cantor off. The mud on the trail is covered with moose tracks hence William has tasked me to keep watch for any that may encumber our way.

For now dearest,
Elspeth
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Letter Six Blocks |
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Dear Friend
It has been fifteen days since we last saw Valdez harbor. We are nearing our destination. I have been watching the bold black birds that resemble crows from home. They have been brazen in their ventures toward our wagon. This morning as we loaded up, one landed on the wagon rail and stole a thread and needle. I was indignant. William laughed aloud and explained these were not enormous crows as I had thought, but ravens. He pointed out that raven's feet are black unlike crows. It was good to hear him laugh even at the expense of a precious needle. I must remember to keep my thread and needles hidden. I know not what supplies can be had in Fairbanks though I hear it is a booming town.

Excitedly,
Elspeth
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Letter Seven Blocks |
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Dear Friend,
We have arrived! Fairbanks! It has been a long journey to our new life. Today I finished my last block. I have twenty now which will make a wonderful quilt. Once we have staked and established our claim I hope to have time to join the squares and begin the quilting. There will be much work to do, but never were two hands more happy in their work. Now on to our search for the golden nugget.

Farewell for now dear friend,
Elspeth
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Letter Eight Blocks |
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