President’s Message: Merger With Bigelow House Association In the Works, by Mark Foutch
(Re)Discover Bigelow House! by Ed Echtle, President of Bigelow House Preservation Association
Support the Annual Historic Home Tour, Sunday, Dec 8, 2013
History of Egbert-Ingham House
Meet the Dohms and Sherwood Press by Deb Ross
Lanny and Deb’s Excellent Adventures by Deb Ross
Origins of the Olympia Historical Society: Chapter 4 by Mark Foutch
Ed Echtle, President of Bigelow House Preservation Association
As those familiar with local history know, the Bigelow House Museum on Olympia’s east side is the oldest surviving home in town. Tucked away in a residential neighborhood, more recent homes now obscure its former prominence overlooking the town. What many don’t know is the home not only showcases original antique furnishings and décor, it also holds the personal records of the Bigelow family, offering a window into more than 150 years of local, state and national history. To better understand the significance of these materials, a brief overview of Bigelow House Museum is in order.
Daniel Bigelow and Ann Elizabeth White traveled the Oregon Trail separately in 1851. Twenty-eight year old Daniel came on his own as a recent graduate of Harvard Law School, looking for opportunity. Ann Elizabeth arrived with her family at age 15. By 1854 she was working as one of the first schoolteachers in Washington. That year she met and married Daniel and they began married life together on Daniel’s claim, across the bay from downtown.
Daniel’s time in the Boston area exposed him to many social and political causes he adopted as his own. He became a lifelong advocate of female suffrage, public education and equal treatment under the law for non-whites. Together, Daniel and Ann Elizabeth worked throughout their lives to ensure their community and their government embraced these values as well. While Daniel served in the first three legislatures—and later for a term in 1871—Ann Elizabeth was active in the Methodist Church and other social organizations, including the Olympia Women’s Club, the first founded on the west coast. As key participants, they kept extensive documentation of their part in these activities.
By the time Daniel passed away in 1905, the Bigelows were venerated pioneers, consulted by the press and historians for their insights on the founding of Washington and their opinions on current affairs. After Daniel’s death, Ann Elizabeth, an accomplished businesswoman in her own right, managed their extensive land holdings until her death in 1926. The eight children they raised in the house also went on to become prominent in local affairs. Their youngest son, George, followed his father into law practice and served as Olympia’s city attorney. Among his many accomplishments, George Bigelow was instrumental in securing Priest Point as a city park for Olympia.
George’s son Daniel was born in their home just above the old Bigelow place in 1911. He too became a lawyer and in 1935 married Mary Ann Campbell. In their early married life, they lived upstairs in Bigelow House, while Daniel’s aunts Margaret and Ruth lived downstairs. After their passing, Daniel and Mary Ann modernized the house to make it their own. However, by the 1950s, people interested in the history of the house began asking the Bigelows for tours. Mary Ann and Daniel graciously opened their home and many individuals, school classes, church groups, and others visited to learn stories of the past. Mary Ann especially embraced the family’s history and used her talent for storytelling and music to bring the past alive.
As Daniel and Mary Ann aged, it became increasingly difficult to maintain the house. By the 1990s developers were offering them substantial sums for the homestead. In response, the Bigelows partnered with friends and neighbors to preserve the house as a museum. While the city was reluctant to manage a museum, it facilitated a loan for the purchase of Bigelow House by the newly formed Bigelow House Preservation Association (BHPA). After BHPA purchased Bigelow House, it undertook a year-long renovation, returning the home to its territorial era appearance inside and out. The Museum opened for tours in 1994. Within a few years BHPA repaid the loan from the city as well.
Meanwhile, Daniel and Mary Ann retained a life-estate in the house where they continued to host visitors and tours until their deaths in 2005. Since then, Bigelow House is fully open as a private non-profit museum, providing visitors a look into middle-class domestic life in the Pacific Northwest prior to Washington statehood.
As OHS and Bigelow House move toward a merger in 2014, not only will OHS finally have a place to call home, but Bigelow House will take on a larger role, beyond the story of one family. In coming years, records stored in the house will become a part of the growing OHS collection of materials that will be available for researchers through the new organization. As the combined Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum enters their next phase, the Bigelow House will continue the role established by its builders Daniel and Ann Elizabeth as a place where community can look to its past to gain perspective on its present and future.
Note: you can also find more information on the Bigelow House and the White and Bigelow families on our website at Where Are We?
Ralph Blankenship not only personifies Olympia history in his family connections to several pioneer families, he has worked tirelessly to preserve and promote local history by serving on the OHS board and through his support of the Sandman and other maritime heritage resources. President Foutch noted, “Even with all his other community service commitments, Ralph Blankenship served our Olympia Historical Society in exemplary fashion for six years as a Board member, including one year as President and three as Treasurer. We’ll miss his commitment and enthusiasm for local history, his long corporate memory with OHS, and his always-positive contributions to Board issues. Thanks, Ralph!”
And Ralph himself adds, “It has been a great pleasure for me to be on the board for the past two terms serving as trustee, president, and for the last few years as treasurer. Particularly it has been exciting this last couple of years seeing OHS nearly double in size and become involved in so many community activities. And now the pending merger of OHS with the Bigelow House Preservation Association hopefully will bring all that is great from both organizations together. I see a wonderful future for the combined group and more fun historical education and promotion. I wish the best to the collection of some of the best historians in the county into the new organization’s board of directors.”
Ralph promises to stay active as a member, so when you see him at events and meetings, thank him for his long service to Olympia history.
Introducing Debra Jackson as a prospective new Board member:
Debra (Cain) Jackson is a lifelong resident of the Olympia area and her local roots go back several generations. She was in the very first graduating class of Timberline High School and her parents both attended Olympia High School. Her grandparents on her father’s side homesteaded a large farm along what is today known as Cain Road. Grandparents on her mother’s side moved from Tenino to Olympia in the early 1930’s where grandfather owned a grocery store on 4th Avenue called Metter’s Market Basket and was Commodore of the Olympia Yacht Club in the 1940’s. Debra is the great, great granddaughter of Alexander Yantis – an original pioneer of Thurston County. Her hobbies are working on her home, hiking, and most importantly, her four grandchildren – the loves of her life.
Debra purchased a home registered on the Lacey Historical Register in 2007. After buying her home, she attended the annual Olympia historic home tour and became even more intrigued with local history in Thurston County and knew she wanted to be more actively involved.
Debra is well known for establishing exceptional working relationships having been a member on several local boards in the last few years and in her role as VP/Lending Manager at Olympia Federal Savings. She takes the time to develop lasting relationships with community members throughout Thurston County with a variety of backgrounds and interests.
Two of Debra’s most important goals & objectives for the Olympia Historical Society are to support the existing programs & events already established and working well, and to introduce new events that encompass and foster more community involvement and increase awareness of our beautiful historical community. She is excited to be a part of the team of the Olympia Historical Society and will work to guarantee that our precious heritage will be shared with all generations.
Introducing Sam Reed as a prospective new Board member:
“Having served as first the territorial capitol and then the state’s capitol, Olympia has a long, rich history. When serving as Secretary of State, I chaired the territorial sesquicentennial commemoration and had the responsibility for the State Archives, State Library, and the state’s oral history program/Legacy Project. I became more passionate about our Washington’s history. It struck me, though, that the public doesn’t know enough about our capitol’s history. So, one of the first things I did upon retirement was volunteer to help OHS. From the Bigelow House to the future Heritage Center, our future is rich with opportunities for getting out Olympia’s remarkable story. I believe it would be an honor and privilege to serve on OHS’s board.”
Mark Foutch
The boards of the Olympia Historical Society and the Bigelow House Preservation Association have been discussing a merger of our two organizations. Our boards, and others in the community, see advantages for both organizations in the proposed merger. We have a shared mission to preserve and promote local history. Many of our members already support both organizations. We anticipate synergies and efficiencies from a merger.
Approval of both memberships is necessary to proceed. Members will vote on the proposed merger December 14. Both boards have agreed on general provisions of a final draft agreement. They will review a final draft of the agreement and supporting documents on October 26.
Formal notice of the December 14 meeting, including all documents, will be sent November 14 to all members “currently in good standing” as of that date. That term includes having paid 2013 dues. This is a legal requirement. No one besides members in good standing as of November 14 will be allowed to vote December 14. Legal counsel for our proposed merger is being provided pro bono by Katherine Robinson of Graham & Dunn PC, Seattle.
This will be our most important meeting since OHS was first formed in 2001! Please mark your calendars now for December 14, and make sure your 2013 membership is up to date. More details, including time and location, will be provided in the formal meeting notice.
Watch for more information in bulletins concerning docent volunteer opportunities, ticket sales, and other details.
The annual tour of historic homes is by now a cherished tradition, kicking off the holiday season. It’s a fun way to support the preservation of one of Olympia’s oldest existing homes, the Bigelow House, as well as an opportunity to see inside some of our city’s most intriguing and storied homes. This year has on offer five private homes and two former homes that have become community gathering places: the Schmidt Mansion in Tumwater, built in 1904 and home of the original Olympia Brewery family, and the Bigelow House itself, built by 1860. The pioneering families of Olympia are also represented by homes owned by two of the Talcott brothers and one by Robert Yantis of that extended pioneer family, all built in the early twentieth century. Another home, designed a few decades later by local attorney Trena Belsito Worthington, who built a series of stately brick homes inspired by a plan in Architectural Digest, is an example of Colonial Revival style. Each of these homes present a different example of what was popular in Olympia over the years and what has survived through continued care and attention to preserving historic structures and features.
To further encourage tour participants’ curiosity, we feature here the history of the fifth house to be open for this year’s tour. All houses have history, but the story of the Egbert-Ingham house has drama as well. Present owner David Goularte relates its happy times and near-tragic loss, not once but three times. It’s a reminder of how close we can come to losing historic houses and how important it is to save and appreciate our local storied homes.
David Goularte [this article originally appeared in the Fall 2013 Olympia Historical Society Quarterly bulletin and has been updated by the author in 2023, 2024, and 2025]
The [Egbert-Ingham] house first appeared in print in the forerunner of The Olympian on December 20, 1914 as having been completed that spring. Called “one of the finest homes in the city,” it cost $6,000. to build. The same article noted that the Carnegie library was also completed that year for $21,000. The average bungalow cost $1,200 in 1914.
A wealthy industrialist from Shelby, Ohio, Joseph A. Seltzer, built the house as a wedding present for his daughter. He owned 5 factories, one of which manufactured the first bubble gum in America. The daughter, Dana Seltzer Egbert had married Dr. Curtis Egbert, a dentist who had come to Olympia in 1902. They married in 1912 and bought the lot from the Mottman family. They had Tacoma architect Luther Twichell design the house. His firm built Stadium High School in Tacoma. Building began in 1913. Move in day was in May of 1914.
Dana Egbert’s first party was in 1915 for ladies to knit mittens for the Belgians who were suffering during the First World War when Germany overran Belgium. Dr. Egbert entertained lonely soldiers from “Camp Lewis” in their home in 1918.
