Stories of Ridgefield

Excerpt from April 24, 1974 Interview with Ben and Henry Meuler:

When was the first Dr. in the area?

When my bre. Carl passed away from scarlet fever in 1900 old Dr. Chalmer, who was in Vancouver for a number of years, he was Dr. down here, then. They had a couple of so-called Drs. before that. There was a pretty good Dr. there that Doctored Will - his name was Dr. ______. He killed himself putting himself to sleep. He worked so hard, he has a horse & buggy them days in Vancouver, and he was the kind of a guy who would work until he couldn't go no more and he go out in his barn in a little room and rest. He had trouble getting to sleep and put a pad of chloroform over his nose until he got to sleep, and it killed him. He lived in Ridgefield a short time. 

Then there was another Dr. that was a joke for a Dr. He didn't know nothing. He got clobbered over the head with his own lantern. He would make some crazy hooch he sold for $1 a bottle. It made one awfully drunk, but the women in Ridgefield got together and made things pretty hot for him. Old Pete McNeill, he lived on Kennedy's place here. They had the Dr. pretty scared and he wouldn't sell no more. But Pete had $1 and wanted to buy some whiskey. "No, no, no", the Dr. kept pushing him back out. The Dr. had his lantern on the porch where he could grab it in a hurry if he went out on a call; Pete picked up the lantern and let the Dr. have it right over the head. 

Didn't have nobody in Ridgefield for Justice of the peace. They had to come out here on the Roy Garrison place, Frank Young? He used to live there. He had a squeaky voice and they nicknamed him "Squeaky". He was J.P. They fined Pete $1 for it! 

Excerpt from "An Account of Life on Bachelor's Island, Spring of 1913 to October 1937" by Rosa B. Hare, dated May 1976:

The RIdgefield School District contracted for motor boat transportation to pick up school children along Bachelor Slough, as well as Lake River. We were never required to furnish our own transportation or to walk to school. During the early and mid-1920's there were as many as 12 children to be picked up, plus those living on houseboats at the north end of the island and some on Lake River to the south of Ridgefield. The winters in the 1920's were cold, and snow and freezing lakes and rivers could be expected. For several weeks each winter there would be too much snow and the river would freeze so one could walk over it. The school boat could not come to get us and we would have to walk to the Ridgefield dock where the school boat owner would meet us to see we got across the ice. Sometimes it also got so bad we could not go to school. As the farms became vacant and fewer fishermen stayed on the slough there were fewer and fewer children to go to school. The Davis children were only on the farm a few weeks in the spring and fall to ride the boat. By the time I graduated from high school I was the last child permanently living on the island. The school boat was terminated at the end of the school year of 1935.

Excerpt from Shobert Family history, undated:

Barn raising was one of the big events of the area. Whenever a newcomer would move in, the neighbors would all turn out and help them build. It always wound up with a dance. William Henry played the fiddle.

"Ridgefield"
Edward G. Barger

There's a sweet little town that I like best,
The prettiest spot in the whole northwest;
Where the Fruit Valley Road winds round and round,
Where there's fruit on the trees and garden ground;
Where Lake River goes just meandering by, 
Where there's fish in the river and clouds in the sky;
Where there's mills along the river and cows on the grass,
Where there's beautiful homes and the railroads pass.

Where the Fruit Valley Road winds over the hill,
Where you look down on a town that is peaceful and still;
Where the water is pure and there's often a bereeze,
Where there's green things a growing and redwood trees;
Where the big bus stops at homes along the way,
Where you meet folks smiling and see children at play;
Where you hear the cheerful greeting among folks you meet,
There's real joy in living along a Ridgefield street.

Excerpt from "History of Bethel Evangelical Methodist Church, Ridgefield, Washington" circa 1969:

What seems to be the first crises experiences of the church was brought on more by world affairs than by local affairs. In order to understand it, it is necessary to see the background of the people who lived around Ridgefield, and who attended the church.

When settlements were being established in the Northwest more than a century ago, one of the first areas to be settled was the area North of Ft. Vancouver. This would take in the Ridgefield Area. As history reveals, many of the people who settled in the Northwest were immigrants from other countries, people looking for a new start in life and an opportunity to enjoy the life that can be lived in a free country. Ridgefield was not unique but was like many other communities and was settled by German speaking people. Many of the people could speak some English, too, but almost all activities and conversations were carried on in German. When the church began, it held services in the Garman language and belonged to the Pacific German Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. No one objected until the outbreak of World War I. The feeling of hatred against the Germans spread throughout the great country, affecting even the most removed places, including Ridgefield.

Opposition soon arose to the German language being used in the church as well as in the community. It seems that it was considered a very evil thing, almost of the devil. Some people were threatened that if they would not refrain from using the German language, something serious would happen. With such pressures from people within the church and outside the congregation, the transition was soon made from German services to English services. It took only a few months and seemed to have transpired without any violent results.

This situation could have been one which would cause dissention among the members, causing a tear to come in the young church, a tear that perhaps would have been almost impossible to men. Many churches have lost members, lost face, and have lost their faith because of the inability of its members to see the need of the transition from a foreign language to English. Instead, the members of the church pulled together, made the necessary adjustments and continued on in the high calling of spreading the gospel. In time it has proven to be more of a blessing than a burden, and today the church is able to reach out to the community because of it.