By Richard Sly
Our family happened upon an ancient trunk a couple years ago. Opening the cover, we discovered a treasure trove of saved family memories. The trunk contained, legal documents, letters, holiday cards and over 200 historical photographs dating back to 1890s, over 125 years ago. We know for certain these were saved by our great-grandparents, Susan and August Zoellner. They arrived in Oregon 1875 to homestead on the foothills of the Cascade Range near Mehama.
The Zoellners raised nine children born between 1876 and 1893; five girls and four boys. The Zoellner family were well known in the Santiam Canyon. They had friends in Stayton, Jordan Valley, Elkhorn and neighboring Lyons. The last local surviving son, Gordon Zoellner, was a bachelor farmer and keeper of family memories. He saved family photos, informal snapshots and studio portraits belonging to his parents. A few of the snapshots have handwritten notes on the reverse, most do not. There are pictures and family artifacts belonging to an older brother, William Zoellner who died in 1917 from complications with miner’s black lung disease where he worked near Kellogg and Wardner, Idaho. Also in the trunk are personal effects belonging to a younger brother, Gus Zoellner, an American soldier killed in France during the Great War in 1918.
We’ve been able to identify all Zoellner family members with the assistance of aged family members. A few lifelong Mehama area residents have helped identify a few neighbors and friends pictured in the collection. We’ve confirmed photos of the Titze family, Sam and Lizzie Burdick, Nicholas and Maud Wagner and their children, Minnie and Frank Zimmerman and their family.
We believe people living in the Santiam Canyon area or families with historical photographs may be able to spot a familiar snapshot from a similarly ancient set of photos.
If you see someone you know who is not identified in the caption, please let Our Town know so we can update our records.
Editor’s note: We will share the photos pulled from the Zoellners’ collections as space allows. We’re hoping our readers can help with identifications.
