Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, August 17, 1950
Funeral Held for Pioneer McCollom, 78
Longtime County Official Dies In Seattle Hospital
Funeral services were held Wednesday for one of Ritzville's most widely-known pioneers, George N. McCollom, 78. A man who spent 29 years in Adams county offices, McCollom died last Saturday in Swedish hospital in Seattle.
The Rev. Clifford Knight of Trinity Methodist church officiated at the rites in the Danekas and Duncan funeral home chapel. Burial was in Ritzville Memorial cemetery.
The Adams county courthouse was closed in McCollom's honor from 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday.
McCollom's daughter, Mrs. Lola Clifton of Seattle, and son, Col.Loren McCollom, who is stationed with the air force at Laughlin Field, Virginia, both were present for the funeral.
A brother, Ike, who lives in California was unable to attend.
One of Earliest only a handful of present day residents of Adams county arrived here before McCollom, who came to Ritzville with his father in 1886 - 64 years ago.
McCollom had lived in this area ever since...taking part in its colorful and trying development from a land of sagebrush and bunch grass to the fertile, prosperous wheat-raising center it is today.
Not Feeling Well
He had been feeling in ill health recently and was spending most of his time under care in Seattle.
Reprinted here is an article written by County Treasurer Maude A. Thiel in 1947, the year McCollom departed from the Adams county courthouse after 29 years of service in county offices:
George N. McCollom, 76, who recently left the courthouse at Ritzville after 29 years of service, was born on a farm near Carthage, Ill., in 1871.
In 1886, when Washington state was still a territory, he came west with his father, W. P. McCollom, landing first in Tacoma. The father, hearing of homestead land in eastern Washington came after only three weeks on the coast and took up homestead land 14 miles northwest of Ritzville.
Later, in the same year, his mother, two brothers and a sister followed, arriving here on the day of George's 15th birthday.
They lived in a one-room shanty with four-inch batten nailed
over the cracks to keep out the weather. There were six in one room andwater had to be hauled four miles for household and stock use.
The country was raw, the land uncultivated, covered with sagebrush and bunch grass and it required untiring effort to get it in shape for a crop of wheat.
George recalls the first field of wheat his father planted was mowed to the ground by squirrels and was a total loss.
The country was full of wild and howling coyotes and George
remembers this same year, though they had no wheat, they did raise some fine and luscious watermelons and that coyotes would come at night and eat them, always picking out the ripes ones.
Times being hard and work scarce, the next spring, George and his brother, William, walked to Dayton, a distance of 80 miles, to obtain work. They worked on a farm at the foot of the Blue Mountains for $12.50 per month.
It was while there he had a bout with pneumonia and after having paid his bills for his sickness, had only $1.65 for his summer's wages when he got back to the homestead.
The next year they again went searching for work, this time
finding emplopment near Waitsburg, again walking the distance.
In speaking of the early homestead days, he well recalls the
1890 blizzard all the old timers talk about.
"It started on New Year's eve, and blew all night, all the next day and all the next night.
"I had a little old Indian cayuse that I had bought from an
Indian down on the Snake river. I paid only three dollars for him and
at that got cheated out of $2.95, for he was worth about five cents.
"Anyway, he was out in the storm and I got worried and braved
the wind and snow to search for him. I found him down and unable to
stand, and almost dead. I couldn't get him home alone, so had to leave
him."
That was the only casualty they had. They had no water and
melted snow to drink and use for cooking. Fortunately they had fuel
for they had hauled in a lot of sagebrush from what is now Ruff in Grant ounty.
An epidemic known as the Spanish flu struck the McCollom family in 1891. It was during this epidemic his mother died, leaving the boys and his sister, who was only 12 years old.
The whole family was ill at one time and had to be cared for
by neighbors.
In the early days of homesteading, one could have was called
a "timber claim quarter," in addition to a regular homestead. It
required 10 acres be broken and planted to timber, and it took seven
year to prove out instead of five.
The elder McCollom also had a timber claim and they planted
box elder and locust trees, but without water the trees would not grow. As timber claims they were unsuccessful, but if one complied with the law in planting the trees, the claim could be proved, and thus additional land was gained for the homesteader.
In summers (1893-94) Mr. McCollom drove a dray in Ritzville for J. M. Kaufman. At that time the Northern Pacific railroad had no spur to the mill and everything had to be hauled by wagon and horse.
The dray man handled the flour and feed shipped and all the
lumber shipped into town.
In 1897 he took up a homestead for himself about 10 miles west of Ritzville. Today he still has the same place with two more quarters added, making a farm of 480 acres.
He married Mabel Woods in 1904. Her folks had come from Nebraska and had taken a homestead west of him.
To this union were born four children, two of whom are living - Mrs. Lola Morgan, assistant postmistress at Fairbanks, Alaska, (now Mrs. Lola Clifton of Seattle) and Lt. Col. Loren McCollom.
The McCollom family moved from the homestead to Ritzville in
1908, and George became a special deputy to A. J. Coss, who had been
elected sheriff. He was elected sheriff in 1916, serving two terms. He said that it was open saloons when he went into office, but during his office prohibition went into effect, and he and his two deputies were kept busy running down bootleggers and moonshiners.
Again the flu epidemic hit the family in 1918, and George lost his wife. Lola was 12 years old and Loren only 4-1/2.
Impossible to find a desirable housekeeper, he tried to be both mother and father to his children. That he succeeded in that there is no doubt. While his son was confined to a prison camp in Germany, and month and month went by with no word from him, George's indomitable faith did not falter, for he believed his son would return safely and he did.
In 1939 McCollom became deputy assessor and held that office
until his retirement at the age of 76.
He spent almost 30 years in the county offices, and served many years on the state inheritance board as land appraiser and during World War I was a member of the draft board.
He is a staunch and fiery Democrat and has served as precinct
committeeman for that party for many years.
Thank you Sue Gardner for this transcription.
Funeral Held for Pioneer McCollom, 78
Longtime County Official Dies In Seattle Hospital
Funeral services were held Wednesday for one of Ritzville's most widely-known pioneers, George N. McCollom, 78. A man who spent 29 years in Adams county offices, McCollom died last Saturday in Swedish hospital in Seattle.
The Rev. Clifford Knight of Trinity Methodist church officiated at the rites in the Danekas and Duncan funeral home chapel. Burial was in Ritzville Memorial cemetery.
The Adams county courthouse was closed in McCollom's honor from 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday.
McCollom's daughter, Mrs. Lola Clifton of Seattle, and son, Col.Loren McCollom, who is stationed with the air force at Laughlin Field, Virginia, both were present for the funeral.
A brother, Ike, who lives in California was unable to attend.
One of Earliest only a handful of present day residents of Adams county arrived here before McCollom, who came to Ritzville with his father in 1886 - 64 years ago.
McCollom had lived in this area ever since...taking part in its colorful and trying development from a land of sagebrush and bunch grass to the fertile, prosperous wheat-raising center it is today.
Not Feeling Well
He had been feeling in ill health recently and was spending most of his time under care in Seattle.
Reprinted here is an article written by County Treasurer Maude A. Thiel in 1947, the year McCollom departed from the Adams county courthouse after 29 years of service in county offices:
George N. McCollom, 76, who recently left the courthouse at Ritzville after 29 years of service, was born on a farm near Carthage, Ill., in 1871.
In 1886, when Washington state was still a territory, he came west with his father, W. P. McCollom, landing first in Tacoma. The father, hearing of homestead land in eastern Washington came after only three weeks on the coast and took up homestead land 14 miles northwest of Ritzville.
Later, in the same year, his mother, two brothers and a sister followed, arriving here on the day of George's 15th birthday.
They lived in a one-room shanty with four-inch batten nailed
over the cracks to keep out the weather. There were six in one room andwater had to be hauled four miles for household and stock use.
The country was raw, the land uncultivated, covered with sagebrush and bunch grass and it required untiring effort to get it in shape for a crop of wheat.
George recalls the first field of wheat his father planted was mowed to the ground by squirrels and was a total loss.
The country was full of wild and howling coyotes and George
remembers this same year, though they had no wheat, they did raise some fine and luscious watermelons and that coyotes would come at night and eat them, always picking out the ripes ones.
Times being hard and work scarce, the next spring, George and his brother, William, walked to Dayton, a distance of 80 miles, to obtain work. They worked on a farm at the foot of the Blue Mountains for $12.50 per month.
It was while there he had a bout with pneumonia and after having paid his bills for his sickness, had only $1.65 for his summer's wages when he got back to the homestead.
The next year they again went searching for work, this time
finding emplopment near Waitsburg, again walking the distance.
In speaking of the early homestead days, he well recalls the
1890 blizzard all the old timers talk about.
"It started on New Year's eve, and blew all night, all the next day and all the next night.
"I had a little old Indian cayuse that I had bought from an
Indian down on the Snake river. I paid only three dollars for him and
at that got cheated out of $2.95, for he was worth about five cents.
"Anyway, he was out in the storm and I got worried and braved
the wind and snow to search for him. I found him down and unable to
stand, and almost dead. I couldn't get him home alone, so had to leave
him."
That was the only casualty they had. They had no water and
melted snow to drink and use for cooking. Fortunately they had fuel
for they had hauled in a lot of sagebrush from what is now Ruff in Grant ounty.
An epidemic known as the Spanish flu struck the McCollom family in 1891. It was during this epidemic his mother died, leaving the boys and his sister, who was only 12 years old.
The whole family was ill at one time and had to be cared for
by neighbors.
In the early days of homesteading, one could have was called
a "timber claim quarter," in addition to a regular homestead. It
required 10 acres be broken and planted to timber, and it took seven
year to prove out instead of five.
The elder McCollom also had a timber claim and they planted
box elder and locust trees, but without water the trees would not grow. As timber claims they were unsuccessful, but if one complied with the law in planting the trees, the claim could be proved, and thus additional land was gained for the homesteader.
In summers (1893-94) Mr. McCollom drove a dray in Ritzville for J. M. Kaufman. At that time the Northern Pacific railroad had no spur to the mill and everything had to be hauled by wagon and horse.
The dray man handled the flour and feed shipped and all the
lumber shipped into town.
In 1897 he took up a homestead for himself about 10 miles west of Ritzville. Today he still has the same place with two more quarters added, making a farm of 480 acres.
He married Mabel Woods in 1904. Her folks had come from Nebraska and had taken a homestead west of him.
To this union were born four children, two of whom are living - Mrs. Lola Morgan, assistant postmistress at Fairbanks, Alaska, (now Mrs. Lola Clifton of Seattle) and Lt. Col. Loren McCollom.
The McCollom family moved from the homestead to Ritzville in
1908, and George became a special deputy to A. J. Coss, who had been
elected sheriff. He was elected sheriff in 1916, serving two terms. He said that it was open saloons when he went into office, but during his office prohibition went into effect, and he and his two deputies were kept busy running down bootleggers and moonshiners.
Again the flu epidemic hit the family in 1918, and George lost his wife. Lola was 12 years old and Loren only 4-1/2.
Impossible to find a desirable housekeeper, he tried to be both mother and father to his children. That he succeeded in that there is no doubt. While his son was confined to a prison camp in Germany, and month and month went by with no word from him, George's indomitable faith did not falter, for he believed his son would return safely and he did.
In 1939 McCollom became deputy assessor and held that office
until his retirement at the age of 76.
He spent almost 30 years in the county offices, and served many years on the state inheritance board as land appraiser and during World War I was a member of the draft board.
He is a staunch and fiery Democrat and has served as precinct
committeeman for that party for many years.
Thank you Sue Gardner for this transcription.
Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, August 17, 1950
Funeral Held for Pioneer McCollom, 78
Longtime County Official Dies In Seattle Hospital
Funeral services were held Wednesday for one of Ritzville's most widely-known pioneers, George N. McCollom, 78. A man who spent 29 years in Adams county offices, McCollom died last Saturday in Swedish hospital in Seattle.
The Rev. Clifford Knight of Trinity Methodist church officiated at the rites in the Danekas and Duncan funeral home chapel. Burial was in Ritzville Memorial cemetery.
The Adams county courthouse was closed in McCollom's honor from 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday.
McCollom's daughter, Mrs. Lola Clifton of Seattle, and son, Col.Loren McCollom, who is stationed with the air force at Laughlin Field, Virginia, both were present for the funeral.
A brother, Ike, who lives in California was unable to attend.
One of Earliest only a handful of present day residents of Adams county arrived here before McCollom, who came to Ritzville with his father in 1886 - 64 years ago.
McCollom had lived in this area ever since...taking part in its colorful and trying development from a land of sagebrush and bunch grass to the fertile, prosperous wheat-raising center it is today.
Not Feeling Well
He had been feeling in ill health recently and was spending most of his time under care in Seattle.
Reprinted here is an article written by County Treasurer Maude A. Thiel in 1947, the year McCollom departed from the Adams county courthouse after 29 years of service in county offices:
George N. McCollom, 76, who recently left the courthouse at Ritzville after 29 years of service, was born on a farm near Carthage, Ill., in 1871.
In 1886, when Washington state was still a territory, he came west with his father, W. P. McCollom, landing first in Tacoma. The father, hearing of homestead land in eastern Washington came after only three weeks on the coast and took up homestead land 14 miles northwest of Ritzville.
Later, in the same year, his mother, two brothers and a sister followed, arriving here on the day of George's 15th birthday.
They lived in a one-room shanty with four-inch batten nailed
over the cracks to keep out the weather. There were six in one room andwater had to be hauled four miles for household and stock use.
The country was raw, the land uncultivated, covered with sagebrush and bunch grass and it required untiring effort to get it in shape for a crop of wheat.
George recalls the first field of wheat his father planted was mowed to the ground by squirrels and was a total loss.
The country was full of wild and howling coyotes and George
remembers this same year, though they had no wheat, they did raise some fine and luscious watermelons and that coyotes would come at night and eat them, always picking out the ripes ones.
Times being hard and work scarce, the next spring, George and his brother, William, walked to Dayton, a distance of 80 miles, to obtain work. They worked on a farm at the foot of the Blue Mountains for $12.50 per month.
It was while there he had a bout with pneumonia and after having paid his bills for his sickness, had only $1.65 for his summer's wages when he got back to the homestead.
The next year they again went searching for work, this time
finding emplopment near Waitsburg, again walking the distance.
In speaking of the early homestead days, he well recalls the
1890 blizzard all the old timers talk about.
"It started on New Year's eve, and blew all night, all the next day and all the next night.
"I had a little old Indian cayuse that I had bought from an
Indian down on the Snake river. I paid only three dollars for him and
at that got cheated out of $2.95, for he was worth about five cents.
"Anyway, he was out in the storm and I got worried and braved
the wind and snow to search for him. I found him down and unable to
stand, and almost dead. I couldn't get him home alone, so had to leave
him."
That was the only casualty they had. They had no water and
melted snow to drink and use for cooking. Fortunately they had fuel
for they had hauled in a lot of sagebrush from what is now Ruff in Grant ounty.
An epidemic known as the Spanish flu struck the McCollom family in 1891. It was during this epidemic his mother died, leaving the boys and his sister, who was only 12 years old.
The whole family was ill at one time and had to be cared for
by neighbors.
In the early days of homesteading, one could have was called
a "timber claim quarter," in addition to a regular homestead. It
required 10 acres be broken and planted to timber, and it took seven
year to prove out instead of five.
The elder McCollom also had a timber claim and they planted
box elder and locust trees, but without water the trees would not grow. As timber claims they were unsuccessful, but if one complied with the law in planting the trees, the claim could be proved, and thus additional land was gained for the homesteader.
In summers (1893-94) Mr. McCollom drove a dray in Ritzville for J. M. Kaufman. At that time the Northern Pacific railroad had no spur to the mill and everything had to be hauled by wagon and horse.
The dray man handled the flour and feed shipped and all the
lumber shipped into town.
In 1897 he took up a homestead for himself about 10 miles west of Ritzville. Today he still has the same place with two more quarters added, making a farm of 480 acres.
He married Mabel Woods in 1904. Her folks had come from Nebraska and had taken a homestead west of him.
To this union were born four children, two of whom are living - Mrs. Lola Morgan, assistant postmistress at Fairbanks, Alaska, (now Mrs. Lola Clifton of Seattle) and Lt. Col. Loren McCollom.
The McCollom family moved from the homestead to Ritzville in
1908, and George became a special deputy to A. J. Coss, who had been
elected sheriff. He was elected sheriff in 1916, serving two terms. He said that it was open saloons when he went into office, but during his office prohibition went into effect, and he and his two deputies were kept busy running down bootleggers and moonshiners.
Again the flu epidemic hit the family in 1918, and George lost his wife. Lola was 12 years old and Loren only 4-1/2.
Impossible to find a desirable housekeeper, he tried to be both mother and father to his children. That he succeeded in that there is no doubt. While his son was confined to a prison camp in Germany, and month and month went by with no word from him, George's indomitable faith did not falter, for he believed his son would return safely and he did.
In 1939 McCollom became deputy assessor and held that office
until his retirement at the age of 76.
He spent almost 30 years in the county offices, and served many years on the state inheritance board as land appraiser and during World War I was a member of the draft board.
He is a staunch and fiery Democrat and has served as precinct
committeeman for that party for many years.
Thank you Sue Gardner for this transcription.
Funeral Held for Pioneer McCollom, 78
Longtime County Official Dies In Seattle Hospital
Funeral services were held Wednesday for one of Ritzville's most widely-known pioneers, George N. McCollom, 78. A man who spent 29 years in Adams county offices, McCollom died last Saturday in Swedish hospital in Seattle.
The Rev. Clifford Knight of Trinity Methodist church officiated at the rites in the Danekas and Duncan funeral home chapel. Burial was in Ritzville Memorial cemetery.
The Adams county courthouse was closed in McCollom's honor from 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday.
McCollom's daughter, Mrs. Lola Clifton of Seattle, and son, Col.Loren McCollom, who is stationed with the air force at Laughlin Field, Virginia, both were present for the funeral.
A brother, Ike, who lives in California was unable to attend.
One of Earliest only a handful of present day residents of Adams county arrived here before McCollom, who came to Ritzville with his father in 1886 - 64 years ago.
McCollom had lived in this area ever since...taking part in its colorful and trying development from a land of sagebrush and bunch grass to the fertile, prosperous wheat-raising center it is today.
Not Feeling Well
He had been feeling in ill health recently and was spending most of his time under care in Seattle.
Reprinted here is an article written by County Treasurer Maude A. Thiel in 1947, the year McCollom departed from the Adams county courthouse after 29 years of service in county offices:
George N. McCollom, 76, who recently left the courthouse at Ritzville after 29 years of service, was born on a farm near Carthage, Ill., in 1871.
In 1886, when Washington state was still a territory, he came west with his father, W. P. McCollom, landing first in Tacoma. The father, hearing of homestead land in eastern Washington came after only three weeks on the coast and took up homestead land 14 miles northwest of Ritzville.
Later, in the same year, his mother, two brothers and a sister followed, arriving here on the day of George's 15th birthday.
They lived in a one-room shanty with four-inch batten nailed
over the cracks to keep out the weather. There were six in one room andwater had to be hauled four miles for household and stock use.
The country was raw, the land uncultivated, covered with sagebrush and bunch grass and it required untiring effort to get it in shape for a crop of wheat.
George recalls the first field of wheat his father planted was mowed to the ground by squirrels and was a total loss.
The country was full of wild and howling coyotes and George
remembers this same year, though they had no wheat, they did raise some fine and luscious watermelons and that coyotes would come at night and eat them, always picking out the ripes ones.
Times being hard and work scarce, the next spring, George and his brother, William, walked to Dayton, a distance of 80 miles, to obtain work. They worked on a farm at the foot of the Blue Mountains for $12.50 per month.
It was while there he had a bout with pneumonia and after having paid his bills for his sickness, had only $1.65 for his summer's wages when he got back to the homestead.
The next year they again went searching for work, this time
finding emplopment near Waitsburg, again walking the distance.
In speaking of the early homestead days, he well recalls the
1890 blizzard all the old timers talk about.
"It started on New Year's eve, and blew all night, all the next day and all the next night.
"I had a little old Indian cayuse that I had bought from an
Indian down on the Snake river. I paid only three dollars for him and
at that got cheated out of $2.95, for he was worth about five cents.
"Anyway, he was out in the storm and I got worried and braved
the wind and snow to search for him. I found him down and unable to
stand, and almost dead. I couldn't get him home alone, so had to leave
him."
That was the only casualty they had. They had no water and
melted snow to drink and use for cooking. Fortunately they had fuel
for they had hauled in a lot of sagebrush from what is now Ruff in Grant ounty.
An epidemic known as the Spanish flu struck the McCollom family in 1891. It was during this epidemic his mother died, leaving the boys and his sister, who was only 12 years old.
The whole family was ill at one time and had to be cared for
by neighbors.
In the early days of homesteading, one could have was called
a "timber claim quarter," in addition to a regular homestead. It
required 10 acres be broken and planted to timber, and it took seven
year to prove out instead of five.
The elder McCollom also had a timber claim and they planted
box elder and locust trees, but without water the trees would not grow. As timber claims they were unsuccessful, but if one complied with the law in planting the trees, the claim could be proved, and thus additional land was gained for the homesteader.
In summers (1893-94) Mr. McCollom drove a dray in Ritzville for J. M. Kaufman. At that time the Northern Pacific railroad had no spur to the mill and everything had to be hauled by wagon and horse.
The dray man handled the flour and feed shipped and all the
lumber shipped into town.
In 1897 he took up a homestead for himself about 10 miles west of Ritzville. Today he still has the same place with two more quarters added, making a farm of 480 acres.
He married Mabel Woods in 1904. Her folks had come from Nebraska and had taken a homestead west of him.
To this union were born four children, two of whom are living - Mrs. Lola Morgan, assistant postmistress at Fairbanks, Alaska, (now Mrs. Lola Clifton of Seattle) and Lt. Col. Loren McCollom.
The McCollom family moved from the homestead to Ritzville in
1908, and George became a special deputy to A. J. Coss, who had been
elected sheriff. He was elected sheriff in 1916, serving two terms. He said that it was open saloons when he went into office, but during his office prohibition went into effect, and he and his two deputies were kept busy running down bootleggers and moonshiners.
Again the flu epidemic hit the family in 1918, and George lost his wife. Lola was 12 years old and Loren only 4-1/2.
Impossible to find a desirable housekeeper, he tried to be both mother and father to his children. That he succeeded in that there is no doubt. While his son was confined to a prison camp in Germany, and month and month went by with no word from him, George's indomitable faith did not falter, for he believed his son would return safely and he did.
In 1939 McCollom became deputy assessor and held that office
until his retirement at the age of 76.
He spent almost 30 years in the county offices, and served many years on the state inheritance board as land appraiser and during World War I was a member of the draft board.
He is a staunch and fiery Democrat and has served as precinct
committeeman for that party for many years.
Thank you Sue Gardner for this transcription.
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