Hiram had a colorful life. Born and raised on a farm in Sycamore, he, four siblings (three were out of the house), his mother and her new husband, Daniel, moved to Rockford, Iowa when Hiram was seven years old. In 1890 Hiram entered Iowa College (renamed Grinnell in 1909) where he majored in science, became president of the lawn tennis association and excelled in track and field. He was also a baseball pitcher, telling his grandsons that he never played a game for which he was not payed.
He met his wife Bessie either at college or in nearby Marengo where she lived with her parents. In 1906, Bessie and Hiram married in Oregon City, Oregon, where Bessie's parents - Dr. and Mrs. William Schultze - had relocated. In 1910, we find Hiram and Bessie with their first child, Robert - aged two - in the sea coast town of Marshfield, Oregon (later to become Coos Bay) where Hiram worked as a railroad conductor on a short-line. Their second child, Betty Marie, was born in May of 1910.
At the time, pomology was becoming popular in Washington State where the climate was particularly suited for growing apples. News articles in the Coos Bay Times touted the work of a group of young scientists in Hood River, Oregon who met regularly to discuss the art of growing apples. Within a few years Hiram and Bessie bought a farm on the White Salmon River in Husum, Washington where they planted an apple orchard, built a dirt tennis court in the middle of it and constructed a swinging bridge over that raging river (which terrified their grandchildren). Hiram would regularly take on the local tennis players of which there were no doubt few.
Hiram, a man of few words but many stories, told of transporting his apples from Husum, in an old Ford with a wooden bed built into the back, to Portland, Oregon where he sold them. With lousy brakes and poor steering, it was always an adventurous trip down the Columbia Gorge on twisty roads, through tunnels carved out of the mountains, from Husum (400 ft elevation) to Portland (50 ft).
I played tennis with my grandfather when I was 12 and he was 84. He was always up for a game and never complained about his grandson's play but continually whacked his arthritic knee with his racket, muttering, "Ah, thunder!".
We loved the guy.
He met his wife Bessie either at college or in nearby Marengo where she lived with her parents. In 1906, Bessie and Hiram married in Oregon City, Oregon, where Bessie's parents - Dr. and Mrs. William Schultze - had relocated. In 1910, we find Hiram and Bessie with their first child, Robert - aged two - in the sea coast town of Marshfield, Oregon (later to become Coos Bay) where Hiram worked as a railroad conductor on a short-line. Their second child, Betty Marie, was born in May of 1910.
At the time, pomology was becoming popular in Washington State where the climate was particularly suited for growing apples. News articles in the Coos Bay Times touted the work of a group of young scientists in Hood River, Oregon who met regularly to discuss the art of growing apples. Within a few years Hiram and Bessie bought a farm on the White Salmon River in Husum, Washington where they planted an apple orchard, built a dirt tennis court in the middle of it and constructed a swinging bridge over that raging river (which terrified their grandchildren). Hiram would regularly take on the local tennis players of which there were no doubt few.
Hiram, a man of few words but many stories, told of transporting his apples from Husum, in an old Ford with a wooden bed built into the back, to Portland, Oregon where he sold them. With lousy brakes and poor steering, it was always an adventurous trip down the Columbia Gorge on twisty roads, through tunnels carved out of the mountains, from Husum (400 ft elevation) to Portland (50 ft).
I played tennis with my grandfather when I was 12 and he was 84. He was always up for a game and never complained about his grandson's play but continually whacked his arthritic knee with his racket, muttering, "Ah, thunder!".
We loved the guy.
Hiram had a colorful life. Born and raised on a farm in Sycamore, he, four siblings (three were out of the house), his mother and her new husband, Daniel, moved to Rockford, Iowa when Hiram was seven years old. In 1890 Hiram entered Iowa College (renamed Grinnell in 1909) where he majored in science, became president of the lawn tennis association and excelled in track and field. He was also a baseball pitcher, telling his grandsons that he never played a game for which he was not payed.
He met his wife Bessie either at college or in nearby Marengo where she lived with her parents. In 1906, Bessie and Hiram married in Oregon City, Oregon, where Bessie's parents - Dr. and Mrs. William Schultze - had relocated. In 1910, we find Hiram and Bessie with their first child, Robert - aged two - in the sea coast town of Marshfield, Oregon (later to become Coos Bay) where Hiram worked as a railroad conductor on a short-line. Their second child, Betty Marie, was born in May of 1910.
At the time, pomology was becoming popular in Washington State where the climate was particularly suited for growing apples. News articles in the Coos Bay Times touted the work of a group of young scientists in Hood River, Oregon who met regularly to discuss the art of growing apples. Within a few years Hiram and Bessie bought a farm on the White Salmon River in Husum, Washington where they planted an apple orchard, built a dirt tennis court in the middle of it and constructed a swinging bridge over that raging river (which terrified their grandchildren). Hiram would regularly take on the local tennis players of which there were no doubt few.
Hiram, a man of few words but many stories, told of transporting his apples from Husum, in an old Ford with a wooden bed built into the back, to Portland, Oregon where he sold them. With lousy brakes and poor steering, it was always an adventurous trip down the Columbia Gorge on twisty roads, through tunnels carved out of the mountains, from Husum (400 ft elevation) to Portland (50 ft).
I played tennis with my grandfather when I was 12 and he was 84. He was always up for a game and never complained about his grandson's play but continually whacked his arthritic knee with his racket, muttering, "Ah, thunder!".
We loved the guy.
He met his wife Bessie either at college or in nearby Marengo where she lived with her parents. In 1906, Bessie and Hiram married in Oregon City, Oregon, where Bessie's parents - Dr. and Mrs. William Schultze - had relocated. In 1910, we find Hiram and Bessie with their first child, Robert - aged two - in the sea coast town of Marshfield, Oregon (later to become Coos Bay) where Hiram worked as a railroad conductor on a short-line. Their second child, Betty Marie, was born in May of 1910.
At the time, pomology was becoming popular in Washington State where the climate was particularly suited for growing apples. News articles in the Coos Bay Times touted the work of a group of young scientists in Hood River, Oregon who met regularly to discuss the art of growing apples. Within a few years Hiram and Bessie bought a farm on the White Salmon River in Husum, Washington where they planted an apple orchard, built a dirt tennis court in the middle of it and constructed a swinging bridge over that raging river (which terrified their grandchildren). Hiram would regularly take on the local tennis players of which there were no doubt few.
Hiram, a man of few words but many stories, told of transporting his apples from Husum, in an old Ford with a wooden bed built into the back, to Portland, Oregon where he sold them. With lousy brakes and poor steering, it was always an adventurous trip down the Columbia Gorge on twisty roads, through tunnels carved out of the mountains, from Husum (400 ft elevation) to Portland (50 ft).
I played tennis with my grandfather when I was 12 and he was 84. He was always up for a game and never complained about his grandson's play but continually whacked his arthritic knee with his racket, muttering, "Ah, thunder!".
We loved the guy.
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Hiram C. Wright 1872 - 1962
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