The Newcomer

Looking Towards Heaven (Pictured above is a well-loved man, named Dad and Grandpa.)


**Note** My Grandpa, Alfred Tennyson Vaughn, wrote several articles that were published  before his death July 25, 1999. We didn't know they existed, until I did some family searching on the net and they came up. They were published in 2000 after his death and are no longer available/searchable.  Recently, My mom gave me a stack of Grandpa's poems.  There are literally hundreds of them.  In that stack are several continuing stories about his growing up in Entiat and his family

Needless to say, since I didn't know these were out there, I was in tears when I saw them. They are a cherished gift from Grandpa, who was a wonderful writer and poet! We love and miss you Grandpa!

You can find the first parts of these series here:
Entiat #1
Entiat #2
Entiat #3
Entiat #4
Entiat #5
Entiat #6 
That Old House 
Entiat Pioneers

                                           Joseph & Eva Jennie Stanley Vaughn family
                                                                   Approx 1915

      Being the youngest of a family of nine, may have it's advantages, but it was many years later before I would know it.  So I grew up in the blissful innocence of childhood (so the older ones said).  Sibling rivalry taught us a lot more.

                                                                      Alfred Vaughn
                                                                             Age 1

                                                             Alfred Vaughn w dog Rags

      What can a baby remember of that first year?  Only a few hazy images come to mind-the pinkish glow of my mother's presence in the dimly lighted room, the pleasure of nursing and being loved and cared for by both parents.

                                               Joseph George & Eva J Vaughn family
                                                                      1925

      Learning to feed myself was a slow mixed up process with the help of my older brothers.  Playing inside an area fenced by chairs sat on their side limited my choices.  It seemed forever before I could sit at the table.

                                       Above is Grandpa Joseph George Vaughn (far right)
                                                 on his homestead in Entait, Washington

       I will remember one morning, I woke up between father and mother in the bed in the living room.  The house still cold before a fire was started.  My folks teased me to choose who to push out of bed to start the fires.

                                                    Joseph & Eva J (Stanley) Vaughn family
                                                                            1935
                       

      Near the end of WW1, several of our family were sick with the flu.  Most of us were in beds in the living room.  The older boys took turns with the outside chores, even while still sick.   My mother nursed us the best she could.

      For years, our main mode of transportation was by horse and buggy or wagon.  In winter, we used sleds for both.  It was ten miles to Entiat and another twenty miles to Wenatchee to buy basic grocery items like flour and sugar.

      Each Christmas, Dad put sleighbells on the harnesses and hitched up the sled, filled with straw, and too up the young folks of our neighborhood for a sleigh ride.  Often other neighbors joined us, stopping at homes for fun and games.

      Silver coins and rare copper pennies were "coin of the realm" in use in the early twenties until WW2.  We boys collected some coins, minted in the 1800's.  Indian head pennies and buffalo nickles were quite common.

Next installment is Neighbors in the Valley