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Note: y and place. I have a letter postmarked 28 April 1931 (Great Depression) to J L from H. C. Brunyer, 644 E 7th St, Long Beach California. It wasaddressed to Rt 2 Box 92 Kirkland Wash. Letter dated same To whom in may concern. The bearer J. L. von Gohren was employed by us as an operator on one ofour Marion 480 electric shovels for over a year and a half on Denny Hill,Seattle. We found Mr von Gohren a very capable, dependable and agreeable operator. Yours very truly Nevada Contracting Company H. C. Brunyer, Supt. J. L. also worked for Morris and Knudson (?) on Stevens Pass highwayconstruction. He manned an air compressor on the east side of thetunnels under construction for the first floating bridge in Seattle. Heworked on residential construction on Capitol Hill. He worked forseveral years for Mr Hudson, Olive Creek Mines in Livengood Alaska, heoperated a cherry picker at a shipyard near Kirkland durning WW2 buildingminesweepers. He operated a floating crane lifting rolling stock fromships onto rail tracks at Skagway also during WW2. (From the memory ofEd) JOHN LEWIS von GOHREN Letter dated same day. J. L. also worked for Morris and Knudson (?) on Stevens Pass highwayconstruction. He manned an air compressor on the east side of thetunnels under construction for the first floating bridge in Seattle. Heworked on residential construction on Capitol Hill circa 1910. He workedfor several years for Mr Hudson, Olive Creek Mines in Livengood Alaska,he operated a "cherry picker" at a shipyard near Kirkland during WW2building minesweepers. He operated a floating crane lifting rollingstock from ships onto rail tracks at Skagway also during WW2 in 1942 insupport of the Alcan Highway construction. (From the memory of Ed) The Denny Hill project mentioned above was a major undertaking. DennyHill rose just N. of then downtown Seattle. The hill was completelygraded down with the earth used as fill at the Seattle waterfront. Thislevel ground now contains the remains of the Seattle Worlds Fairbuildings and was one terminus of the monorail. Locally, this projectwas known as the Denny Hill regrade. J. L. graduated in the first decade of the 20th Century from Central HighSchool in Seattle. This wooden building was the only high school inSeattle and no longer stands. He also built houses on the end of CapitolHill nearest downtown. He could work as a plumber, carpenter, operate locomotives, steamshovels, draglines, etc. He supposedly workedas a bank guard during the Great Depression. He and Lela retired toSpokane where Marge (Lela's daughter) lived with her family. He workedfor several summers as caretaker at a YMCA summer camp on a lake north ofSpokane. He was a man of few words, and could mope for days when he was unhappy.He was short, maybe 5ft 4, of stocky build. He liked to hunt and fish, mainly troll for Salmon. Dad occasionallytook me with him. Only once hunting deer. We camped overnite at DennyCreek, now Ashel Curtis Campground. Early the next morning we took thetrail up Granite Mountain to a saddle near the top where an Alpine meadowwith stunted trees sat below the additional rise to the fire tower.There he bagged a young mule deer buck. After field dressing it, heremoved the bones from the lower legs to the joint and used the hide tomake a back pack. He then started packing the deer out. It was a longand arduous journey. It obviously tired him. (He was about 58/59 yearsold.) Eventually, once below the tree line he cut two poles and make adrag to finish the haul. I was not of much help because I was about 13years old at the time. We did go steelheading once. A cold, rainy dayon a river along Stevens Pass Highway. No fish. It was a joy to gosalmon fishing in Shishol Bay, or off Edmonds/Mukelteo area across toWhidbey Island. He built a meeting hall for Boy Scout Troop 49 at Alderwood Manor,parallel to but across a gravel road from the Interurban right of way,now the Interstate. He taught me to drive when I was 15. He designed and helped me buildrabbit hutches for my rabbit farm that I had while living at Martha Lake.However, I did not know Dad as well as I would have liked. The 1930 census shows John L von Gohren living at Rose Hill, King Co,Washington with Lela, Lenard Carlson, Margery Carlson, Melvin Carlson andsurprisingly to me: Ernest L and Mary E von Gohren, his parents. Thiscensus reminds me that our next door neighbor was related: Dan and SarahMcGinnis with children. The children were William, Dorothy, Molly,Walter, John, and Amy. Ernest L is listed as a civil engineer and John Lis shown as a shovel engineer. Ernest was born in Tennessee of Germanparents while Mary E was born in Iowa of New York born father andMichigan born mother. Lela was born in Iowa of Wisconsin born father andIowa born mother. I note that Dan McGinnis was born in Virginia ofScotland born father and Virginia born mother. Sarah was born inWashington of Tennessee born father and Iowa born mother. This is thesame combination as John L and most likely is Dad's sister, my aunt. The 1920 census places John L von Gohren in Bellingham, Washington, age31. His wife is Sinia and Kenneth age 9, Eugene age 6, and Bobby age 1are sons. He reports that his father was born in Colorado (not so, butcame from there), mother born in Iowa. Sinia was born in Iowa of fatherborn in Ohio and mother born in Iowa. A conversation between Kenneth andEugene on Orcas Island just after we buried Dad was about Bobby. Theythought that Bobby was illegitamate. I strongly believe they were wrongbecause when I met Bobby in Renton prior to Bobby's death, I noted thathis face carried an extremely strong evidence of descent from Dad. Onthe other hand, the family rumor was that Dad divorced Sinia forunfaithfulness. The homestead was supposidly sold in early 1900s and I think that I wastold that Earnest and Mary spent some time in California. Correction: Using Soundex feature, I found Ernest and Mary in Seattle in1910. John L was also there but shown as Jon ? Age 22 with wife Mary,age 20. Are this Mary and Sinia the same person? Michael Adams (Mike Adams) is living with Ernest and Mary. John andNellie Barnes are living adjacent to Ernest and Mary with two children:Helen L. and Ernest F. In the 1900 census, Mary Emma is shown as Emma. Earnest L (misread byindividual digitizing records as "Emme"), Sarah A. and Louis J. areresiding there. I find John and Nellie Barnes adjacent. This is inSeattle, Washington. Emma says both father and mother were born in NY, acontradiction to 1930 report. Earnest is shown as landlord and Louis isshown as at scool. John Barnes is a house carpenter, unemployed for 2months. They are living on East Pike.
Note: Have his application for social security Nov 18 1936. Lists his parents name and his birthda
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