Page 4 - SUMMER 2020 SWHS Newsletter revised (1)

family with another six children born account), while ice skating on thin ice.
to them. Oliver died just shy of his 85th In their grief, the Olivers tried in vain
birthday in 1915. Jane Johnson Oliver, to drain the lake that sits on the Double
known in the community by then as Bluff plateau.
‘Grandma Oliver’ died in 1942, outliv-
ing all but one of her 12 children. Louisa Johnson & Nathaniel
Perhaps the greatest tragedy to befall E. Porter
her was on New Year’s Eve in 1889
when her eldest son George Johnson, Louisa Johnson, eldest child of Wil-
age 11, and 9-year-old daughter Fran- liam and Zah-toh-litsa, was married at
ces Johnson (erroneously spelled as age 16. Her husband was 51-year-old
Francis on census and Snohomish Trib- Nathaniel Ellemoor Porter, and like her
al records), plus 9-year-old Edward Ol- mother’s new husband, he too was a
iver’s namesake son with his first wife, neighbor. His farm, Porter Place, was
all drowned in Oliver’s Lake (referred located at nearby Mutiny Bay.
to as Johnson’s lake in the Seattle P-I Nathaniel was born Oct. 11, 1837 to

Nathaniel Ellemoor Porter came to South
Whidbey in 1859 at the age of 22 and cre-
ated a prosperous farm at Mutiny Bay.
Photo courtesy of the Porter family.

parents living in Boston, MA (though
some sources claim he was born in
Nova Scotia, Canada). His parents
were from Nova Scotia where they lat-
er returned and died.
Just like Ed Oliver, Porter began his
working life at the young age of 10 as
a cabin boy or waiter on ships. First he
worked on the schooner Vine, then the
brig Mickmac, and later the bark Eliz-
abeth. He went to exotic places such
as the West Indies and Europe.
At age 17 he returned to Boston and
determined to strike out for the gold
fields of California. He went by rail
as far as he could at a time before the
transcontinental railroad was begun.
The Austin Tigers baseball team in a photo taken July 28, 1910 shows left to right, Then he went by boat up the Missouri
back row: Alfred Oliver, Martin Oliver, manager Jed Denniman, Raymond Augenbough River and then on foot to Fort Bridger,
and Clifford Hilton. where he enlisted in the Fourth Com-
Central row: John (Jack) Finn, Neal Stoddard, Charles (Charlie) Johnson, John Croyle, pany of Bridger Volunteers. There he
and Ernie Darlington. served for five months before transfer-

Mascot Raymond Cookson is in the foreground. ring to the Quartermaster’s Department
where he hauled provisions to Salt Lake
Martin Oliver (born 1888) and his brother Alfred (born 1892) were half-brothers to City and helped in construction of a fort.
teammate Charles Johnson (born 1883). Their mother was Zah-to-litsa (aka Jane The year 1857 in what was then Utah
Johnson Oliver). Territory was a tumultuous time. Federal
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