Report of 1997 Western Reunion
Under the capable organizing baton of Mrs. Lavonne Willard, Willards converged on the South Umpqua Valley at Roseburg, Oregon in mid-October last year to renew acquaintanceships, forge new ties, and to explore the lives of the children of Nancy Willard Feathers, herself a daughter of Alexander-6 Hamilton Willard.
Friday night we gathered for dinner at the Sandpiper restaurant. Our featured speaker was Margaret Templer-Carter, Nancy's g'g'grand-daughter thru Ellen Clara Feathers Sanderson. Margaret brought a double handful of historic pictures of the Sanderson family to share with us. She wove the patriotic and inspiring words of Judge Joseph Willard (author of the Willard Memoirs) into her story of the doings of the Sanderson family in Oregon, beginning with the establishment of a home in Myrtle Creek, Oregon by Ellen Clara (Feathers) and her husband William Charles Sanderson Jr., and showed how family characteristics first noted by Judge Willard have cropped up in our Oregon branch.
Saturday morning after breakfast we visited the Douglas County Museum there in Roseburg, which has displays of the early times in the valley, thus allowing us to better understand what the Feathers and Sandersons times were like in Oregon.
We met for a picnic lunch at the park in Myrtle Creek just south of where the Sanderson famiy city lots were, and had a group picture taken at the covered bridge
The rest of the day was taken up with visits to Canyonville and its pioneer museum, Riddle, the Riddle Cemetery, and Willis Creek Cemetery.
The town of Riddle came about through the efforts of John B. Riddle, whose first wife was Nancy Willard Feather's daughter Jane A. Jennie died tragically with her infant son in 1865. Buried in the Riddle Cemetery, established in 1864 or earlier, are Lewis Willard Feathers (Nancy's son), George David Sanderson (Nancy's grandson), Ellen Clara Feathers Sanderson (Nancy's daughter and mother of George), and most of the Riddle clan -- though not Jane. Her grave, said to be in Roseburg, has yet to be located. The Willis Creek Cemetery has another Feathers grave.
Saturday night we met for dinner again at the Sandpiper restaurant and listened to Karen Willard tie the Sanderson family in more detail to the Willards, tell the story of how Nancy Willard Feathers got from Wisconsin where she was born to her grave on the westward trail during the Feathers family's final trip to California, how her children wound up in Oregon, and the full story of Jane's life with John Riddle and his career after her death.
The lecture was marred by the failure of the overhead projector to adequately show the many pictures and graphics Karen had prepared. But this lack has been remedied for those with web access, as all of the pictures brought by Karen and by Margaret are on the WFA website.
Throughout the weekend, the photos and the actual original letter written by Nancy Willard Feathers just days before her death (transcribed in the Henry-2 Supplement Genealogy book) were available for the participants to view. Thanks go to L. Spencer Leister for the loan of the precious letter.
Sunday morning the clan assembled in a meeting room and the doors were locked; released only when all agreed we'll meet again in October 1999 at Yuba City, California to celebrate the life of a non-Henry Two Willard, with Louella Kennedy as our organizer.
All praise and thanks have been showered upon Lavonne Willard for the wonderful planning and many hours of hard work that made our 1997 Western Reunion such a success.