MARY NOEL "MOLLIE" EDDY

Mollie was born July 8, 1871 in Eugene, Oregon to Isaac and Sarah Eddy.  She died at 1630 Chestnut Street, Baker, Oregon on March 11, 1938.  She had a number of brothers and two sisters, but, at this time, only the following names are known: Milt, Perry, Newton, George, Bill and Florence.  She was known to her friends as "Mollie" and to her immediate family she was known as "Dammy".  We have only sketchy information about Mollie.  Apparently her father, and some of her other family members were miners.  Oregon, Washington and Idaho had scores of people with the last name of Eddy.  Eddyville, not far from Corvallis, was named after an Eddy who may have been related to our Eddy family.  The 1870 census shows an Isaac and Sarah C.Eddy living in Lane County (Eugene area), Oregon.  The 1880 census shows the family, including Isaac (b.1837), Sarah C. (b, ca, 1845), Milt (b.1869), Mary (b. 1870...actual is 1871) and Newton (b.1877).  This census show them living in Wasco, Oregon which is about 20 miles east of The Dalles.  The 1900 census shows Isaac and Sarah C. Eddy living in Idaho (City), Idaho, which is not too far from Boise.  By this time, some of the older children have married and no longer lived with the parents.  Some of the Eddy's moved into the Burnt River/Malheur City area. Milt became a prominent rancher on property located near Bridgeport.  In about 1890, Mollie married Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Lurchin.  Frank was the only surviving child of Lemuel and Amelia Koontz Lurchin. (Frank had two younger sisters --Ida and Minnie--, both of whom died while very young.) He was born and raised in Clarksville (near the Burnt River).  Frank was a prospector (looking for gold as an independent operator) and a miner (working for larger established gold mines).  For reasons unknown - but possibly because Mollie's parents may have been in Idaho - Frank and Mollie were in Long Valley, Idaho in 1891 when their only child, Claretta ("Etta") was born.  they almost certainly lived in Sparta during a portion of the 1890's.  School pictures show Etta attending school in Sparta in the late 1890's.  Store records in Sparta show B.F. Lurchin as a customer  In 1900, Frank, Mollie, Etta and Frank's mother Amelia resided in Union, Oregon.  That same year, they all moved to Homestead, where Mollie operated a boarding facility for miners.  It is thought that Frank's mother, Amelia was quite ill in 1900.  Frank apparently remained with the family and they had two teenage girls living with them working as servants.  In the fall, Amelia passed away and was buried in the Koontz family cemetery near the Burnt River.  It is conjecture, but it is likely that Frank and Mollie may have relied on Amelia for financial assistance during the first decade of their marriage.  Their daughter, Etta, is always shown in the old photographs as very well dressed.  In the school pictures, some of the children are without shoes and are shabbily dressed.  Etta was always very properly dressed.  Sometime in the early 1900's, Frank and Mollie were divorced and Mollie moved to Baker.  The 1914 Baker City Directory shows her residing at 135 Bridge Street.  This is somewhat of an ominous sign because that exact area from Resort Street  to the bridge over the Powder River, was where a number of brothels were located.  The stories as told by Etta and Etta's children, were that Mollie was a high-spirited woman and that Frank's life style was just too slow for her.  We do know for a fact that one of Mollie's sisters, Florence, was a "lady of the night" in Baker, and that she later went to Nome, Alaska, where she became the Madame of a house of prostitution.  Florence later married the Territorial Marshall of Alaska and became quite wealthy.  She and her husband (last name of Anderson) are buried near some small town in Alaska. The 1917 City directory shows Mollie at 2016 Main street as a "dress maker".  Again, this address does not bode well.  It is not known at what point in time this address became known as the Imperial Hotel, but in the 1930's, 40's and 50's, the Imperial Hotel and the Rex Rooms (located directly across from a business now known as Davis Computers), were houses of prostitution.  In later years, some of the family mentioned that at one time, Mollie had been the "manager of a hotel for men". The 1920 City directory shows Mollie living at this same address.  Interestingly, it is a crowded apartment as it also shows a Kit Carson Harpham along with Elmer and Etta Blankenship and children living there as well.  Etta's daughter, Louise often told  about living with Mollie in the old hotel on Main Street. Louise also related that some of Mollie's brothers were hell-raising outlaws.  One of them was identified as a rustler and had hid out in some shack or cave not far from Baker.  Mollie used to pack up a big basket of food and drive out to his hide-out with it so he would have food to eat. Kit Harpham was a prospector, dynamite expert and an accomplished gambler.  In the spring, summer and fall, he would hire out to the various mines to do the tricky explosives projects and do some prospecting on his own,  Then, in the winter, he would don a suit and tie and play poker at the various saloons in Baker.  He was, by all accounts, a true western gentleman.  He was tall, exceptionally courteous  and quite dignified.  Kit was born in Minnesota July 5, 1868 and died at 1630 Chestnut Street, Baker,Oregon, September 4, 1936.  His father had served in the Union Army during the Civil War and then moved about the Western Frontier (New Mexico, etc), while raising his family.  Kit was very much a gentleman, but not a man to be trifled with.  By 1928, the City Directory shows Kit and Mollie as man and wife.  It is known from accounts related by Etta's son, Frank Blankinship, that Kit and Mollie continued Kit's habit of working in the mining industry during the good weather and then returning to Baker for the winter.  Through the years, they lived briefly (usually camping in a tent) at scores of mines around Bourne, Sumpter, Granite and numerous other areas.  In 1935, they purchased a house at 1630 Chestnut Street.  Mollie was the matriarch of the family.  Etta and her children kind of flocked around Mollie.  In 1936, Kit was diagnosed with cancer.  He suffered mightily.  According to Etta's daughter Louise, the family contacted the aged Dr. Biswell and asked if he couldn't do something.  Dr. Biswell consulted with his son (a doctor just beginning his practice) and they administered a shot to Kit.  Shortly thereafter, Kit passed away.  Mollie continued on and Etta, her second husband Merle Perry and some of the younger children moved in with Mollie.  Later, Mollie began to show signs of dementia.  She was basically confined to the house the final year of her life and she died in March, 1938.  Mollie N. Harpham was buried next to her husband Kit in Baker's Mt. Hope Cemetery.