My Father's Story

My father recently sat down to write his memories from childhood.  These are his words:

The Beginning

by Eugene R. Rutland

I do not know when Gholson and Annie Ford moved with their family, Pearl, Delpha and Harry, from Oklahoma to Tacoma, Washington.  Gholson Ford was quite a bit older than Annie and was unable to work.  I do not know how or when he was injured.

Annie had a brother, Elmer Barnhart, who had a small fuel distribution business in Tacoma.  I suspect that hope of financial support from him was the basis for this migration.

In Tacoma they lived in the south end of town.  Mom (Pearl), their oldest child, dropped out of school at the age of sixteen, and went to work at Seiyers Lumber Mill in the Tide Flats area of Tacoma.