Phoebe Goodell Judson (October 25, 1831 – January 16, 1926;HistoryLink sometimes called Phoebe Newton Judsonudson (1984), p. 288) was a Canadian and American pioneer and author. Along with her husband, Holden Judson, she founded the city of Lynden, Washington. In 1886, she started the Northwest Normal School , which would become Western Washington University.
Judson kept a diary of her experiences following March 1, 1853 (the day she and her family left for Washington Territory), which she later abridged and rewrote into A Pioneer's Search for an Ideal Home: A Personal Memoir, published shortly before her death.
Because of the large role she played during the 1870s through 1890s in the development of the Nooksack Valley (including giving Lynden its name), she is often referred to as the "Mother of Lynden".
Life
Background Born Phoebe Newton Goodell on October 25, 1831, Judson was born in Ancaster, Canada, the second eldest of eleven children with her twin sister Mary Weeks Goodell, and named after her father's sister, Phebe Goodell.Judson (1984), p. 231Judson (1984), p. 10Judson (1984), p. 72Judson (1984), p. 80Judson (1984), p. 81 Her parents were Jotham Weeks "J. W." Goodell, a Presbyterian minister descended from British colonists, and Anna Glenning "Annie" Bacheler.Judson (1984), p. 23Judson (1984), p. 54Judson (1984), p. 83 In 1837 her family emigrated to Vermilion, Ohio, where she and her siblings were raised.
On June 20, 1849, at the age of 17, Judson married Holden Allen Judson (born mid-1827Judson (1984), p. 8), with whom she had grown up. (Holden's only sibling, Lucretia "Trecia" Judson, had been a close friend of Phoebe's in Vermilion.) The Judsons lived in Holden's parents' home in Vermilion. Their first child, Anna "Annie" Judson, was born the following year.Judson (1984), p. 9
Following the Donation Land Claim Act, the Goodells traveled to the Oregon Territory in 1851, leaving Phoebe and her elder brother William behind. Judson's twin sister Mary and her fiancé Nathan W. Meloy settled in Willamette, Oregon (today part of West Linn) and J. W. Goodell named and established the town of Grand Mound, Washington, with his wife and younger children,Judson (1984), p. 86 where he took up a job as postmaster and part-time minister alongside George F. Whitworth (who would later found Whitworth University).Judson (1984), p. 142
Inspired by her family, and Holden's desire for independence from his parents, Judson set off for the month-old Washington Territory with Holden and Annie on March 1, 1853, a few days following her brother William's wedding to Maria Austin,Judson (1984), p. 11 both of whom would take the same Westward route the following year and witness the Ward Massacre.Judson (1984), p. 61
Overland Trail
Upon the outset of Judson's emigration to the American West, she laid out the criteria for her "ideal home":
Boarding a train to Cincinnati, Ohio, they reached St. Louis, Missouri by steamboat,Judson (1984), p. 12 where they transferred to a smaller steamer headed for Kansas Landing (now Kansas City, Missouri).Judson (1984), p. 13 Here they traveled to West Port, Missouri (now part of Kansas City), where they roomed in a hotel for five weeks, making preparations for their journey and building their wagon.pp. 14–16 Having read Uncle Tom's Cabin, Judson disapproved of the hotel's use of slaves and even argued on behalf of them with the landlady.
In West Point they allowed a "young Scandinavian" named Nelson to ride with them, and in turn were invited to join the wagon train of Rev. Gustavus Hines, made up of six covered wagons (including the Judson's) and a carriage. Phoebe and Holden traveled with four oxen (Tom, Jerry, and Nelson's—Berry and Buck) and a cow.Judson (1984), p. 18 The parties who made up the caravan were:
Holden and Phoebe Judson, Annie Judson, and Nelson. Gustavus and Lydia Hines (née Bryant), Lydia's sister, and Lucy Ann Lee, their adopted daughter. Jeddadiah "Diah" Hines, his wife, and his daughter. Harvey K. Hines, his wife, and his wife's sister. Mr. Bryant, his wife, and their children Alta Bryant (3) and Lee Bryant (1). Mr. Leonard, his wife, and possibly children.Judson (1984), p. 16–17
The Hines–Judson Wagon Train left West Point of May 1, 1853, and by the following Sunday (May 8) the Leonards abandoned the train because Gustavus Hines insisted on resting on Sunday, which they felt was dangerous and wasteful (the Judsons were inclined to agree, but stayed with Hines because they had elected him captain).Judson (1984), p. 22 Incidentally, the Hines–Judson Wagon Train surpassed all the caravans which did not rest on Sunday (including the Leonards'), because their oxen could keep their strength. On June 26, 1853, Judson gave birth to her second child, Charles La Bonta "Bonta" Judson (named after La Bonta Creek in Wyoming, where he was born, upon the suggestion of Gustavus Hines).Judson (1984), p. 39
The wagon train reached Independence Rock on July 3 and Devil's Gate on July 5,Judson (1984), p. 42 soon after which they were joined by an Irishman and his family.Judson (1984), p. 58 While fording the Snake River in Wyoming, Diah Hines (elder brother of Gustavus Hines) drowned, after which his wife tried to commit suicide.Judson (1984), p. 62
When the wagon train finally reached the Columbia River, the Judsons left their caravan (including Nelson) and headed for Willamette, Oregon, to see Judson's twin sister, Mary Meloy. Leaving their cattle with the Meloys till spring,Judson (1984), p. 77 the Judsons hired American Indians to canoe them to Grand Mound, Washington, where they claimed the adjacent to the Goodells.Judson (1984), p. 78 Along the way Judson began to learn Chinook Jargon, which she would eventually speak fluently.
Grand Mound and Claquato While living in Grand Mound, the Judsons became well acquainted with the native Chehalis Indians (who lived in various parts of the Judson acreage), striking a friendship with one called Dean Clark, who taught them Chinook Jargon while they taught him "Boston la longe" (English).Judson (1984), p. 111 The Chehalis practiced minor head flattening, a practice then common throughout all Coast Salish Indian tribes.Judson (1984), p. 113
After an orphaned 10-year-old Chehalis boy named Skoqualamooch escaped execution by his tribe in the winter of 1853, the Judsons adopted him and gave him the name "Jack Judson" at his own request.Judson (1984), p. 115 That same year, Grand Mound was visited by Isaac Stevens, the newly appointed first governor of Washington. On the advice of the Grand Mounders, Stevens set up a temporary capital in Olympia (which would eventually become the official state capital).Judson (1984), p. 94
After building a log cabin in Grand Mound, however, the Judsons discovered that the ground was gravelly and infertile.Judson (1984), p. 88 In 1854 they moved south to Claquato, Washington, along the Chehalis River. Here the ground was fertile, but the scenery did not meet the criteria for Judson's "ideal home". The ground was so fertile, in fact, that the Judsons could not efficiently store their harvested crops before the rainy season. Additionally, they were forced to purchase two dogs (Lion and Tige) to keep bears from eating their crops and livestock.Judson (1984), p. 136
That same year Judson's brother William Goodell, with his wife and three children, came across the plains to Claquato with Holden's parents and sister Trecia (who married U.S. Marshal George W. Corliss and moved to Olympia soon after).
Puget Sound War
In 1855, at the outset of the Puget Sound Indian War, Holden's parents moved in with the Judsons. While the native Chehalis Indians were not openly hostile in Claquato, they began touring each of the settlers' homes, taking inventory of their possessions, so that in the event of a takeover the spoils would be evenly split.Judson (1984), p. 159–161 When a small band of Indians led by "Pug Ugly" tried to take over the Judson's land, Judson prevented her husband from killing them, feeling that such an action would only increase tensions.
Eventually the inhabitants of Claquato were evacuated to the Claquato Stockade Fort (commanded by Edwin Davis), some of whom suffered attacks of hysteria.Judson (1984), p. 161 The Judsons hid most of their possessions near their house, taking only what was necessary. Though nights were spent in the stockade fort, Judson, along with Holden, Jack (who had refused to join the Indian resistance), and Holden's father, spent the day harvesting their acreage while Annie and Bonta stayed with Holden's mother.Judson (1984), p. 162
Many of Judson's friends and neighbors were ambushed and massacred during the Indian War. Judson's sister-in-law, Trecia Corliss, and her husband George Corliss were spending the evening with customs-collector Isaac N. Ebey when he was beheaded by a band of Haida Indians. Trecia survived by faking death, and George escaped out the back window of Ebey's house.Judson (1984), p. 175–176
After the end of the Puget Sound Indian War, Judson witnessed the execution of Chief Leschi (the war's instigator), which she deeply opposed, feeling he had been deceived into starting the rebellion.Judson (1984), p. 167–169 That same year, in 1858, Holden was elected by the Democratic Party to the Washington State Legislature.Judson (1984), p. 178Judson (1984), p. 180 The Judsons temporarily moved in with George and Trecia Corliss (who lived in Olympia) while the legislature was in session.
Olympia and Whidbey Island While in the legislature, Holden became friends with John A. Tennant, a homesteader from Whatcom County. Inspired by Tennant (who later gave his name to Tennant Lake in Ferndale, Washington) and the influx of shipping in Bellingham Bay, Holden, with George Corliss, invested in Whatcom County lots and donated money for the construction of a small trail to Whatcom (the town which would eventually become Bellingham).Judson (1984), p. 179
In 1859, Holden sold the Claquato acreage for $4,000 plus other provisions. The Judsons rented a frame house in Olympia with the intention of eventually buying more acreage, and Holden's parents bought a home near Olympia and lived by themselves.Judson (1984), p. 180–181 Holden himself opened a grocery store as a source of income. When Olympia was incorporated on January 28, 1859 (the first incorporated town in Washington), the Judsons were among its first citizens.Judson (1984), p. 183
On December 17, 1859, Judson gave birth to George Judson (named after Judson's brother-in-law, George Corliss). Three years later, in 1862, Judson gave birth to her fourth unadopted child, Mary Judson.Judson (1984), p. 185 Mary was raised in part by George and Lucretia Corliss, who had no children.
Lucretia, weakened by her fear of American Indians ever since escaping during Isaac Ebey's beheading, was removed by her husband to Las Cruces, California (in Santa Barbara County) near the end of the Civil War in 1864.Judson (1984), p. 189 In Las Cruces she made a full recovery and invited the Judsons and her parents to emigrate.
Judson believed that Las Cruces might be the "ideal home", and she and Holden planned to leave their unprosperous grocer business.Judson (1984), p. 191 However, on January 16, 1864, Mexican bandits robbed the Corlisses, trapped them in their home, and burned them alive.Judson (1984), p. 192 The Judsons moved instead to Whidbey Island in 1866. Judson gave birth to Carrie Judson in 1869, but the child died of pertussis a month later.