LIFE CAN BE difficult for many people. In the 19th century, life could be hard on the Olympic Peninsula. Homesteading alone was hard. Add in children and spousal abandonment, you get hard times.
I have become intrigued by one woman who went through such trials and tribulation, Ida May Barker.
Ida grew up on the Barker homestead in Gettysburg. Where is Gettysburg, you ask? It was a village and steamboat landing a half-mile east of the mouth of the Lyre River. Logging was the primary industry at the time.
Ida May Barker was born on Oct. 15, 1874, in Neah Bay. Some records indicate Ida was born in Dungeness, but those may be less reliable records. Her parents were William F. Barker and Katie Stevens. It appears that Katie was a Makah Indian.
In July 1884, Ida was enrolled in the Forest Grove, Ore., Indian school. Ida was later transferred to the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Ore. She was enrolled as a Makah.
Ida graduated in 1888 and chose to return to Chemawa in 1890 for advanced schooling. Her return seems to indicate she preferred school to the homesteader’s life.
Around 1898, Ida married David Newton Simmons. I did not find any information about how they met. They had two children. Catherine was born on June 20, 1899. A son, Euland, was born July 31, 1901. Ida and her children are listed on several Makah census records.
In 1906, Ida became the Postmistress of the Gettysburg Post Office. Her father, William Barker, died in 1907.
It is recorded that David and Ida sold 33 acres of their homestead for $330 in 1908. Soon after, David abandoned Ida and the children. It seems David did not get along with Ida and lit out for new horizons.
The 1910 census places David in Snohomish County. The 1910 census places Ida, Catherine and Euland in the Gettysburg Precinct of Clallam County. It became very difficult for Ida to support herself and her children.
Ida attempted to get some support from her husband. That failed. Ida had an idea. She could support her family with a chicken business. But Ida did not have the money to purchase the necessary equipment.
I believe it was out of shear desperation that compelled Ida to use Post Office money to purchase several incubators and hundreds of chickens. She was certain she could make enough money to repay the Post Office within six months. That was all interrupted by a postal inspector who discovered the embezzlement.
On Aug. 2, 1912, a warrant was issued for Ida’s arrest. The Post Office Inspector had declared Ida short $796.30 in money order accounts and $7.92 in postal funds. A total of $804.22.
At this time, Ida was removed as Postmistress. Though her salary was only a stipend, the loss of income was devastating.
Ida was determined to return the money. She mortgaged her property and repaid the Post Office. Of course, the charges still remained.
Circumstances elsewhere took a bit of an odd turn. On March 11, 1911, David married Maude Campbell in Everett. David was 39 and Maude was 17 or 18, even though there was no official divorce from Ida.
But in the course of events surrounding Ida’s indictment, David’s second marriage was discovered. Soon Maude was aware of the allegation of bigamy. In late 1911, Maude visited Ida’s attorney, William B. Ritchie. After a visit with Ritchie and Ida, her fears were realized. David had another living wife.
In 1912, the attitudes were significantly different than today. What may garner little more than an indifferent shrug today was shameful in 1912. Though Maude was not at fault in any way, her world must have collapsed around her.
Maude may have separated from David. David worked near Monroe. Yet, Maude was living at the League Hotel (Third and Pike, Seattle).
On Nov. 3, 1912, Maude could no longer bear it. Surrounded by hundreds of letters signed by David, Maude committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid (phenol). Maude’s death certificate lists despondency and dissipation as contributing factors. Maude was only 19 years old.
On Dec. 13, 1912, the day of reckoning had arrived. Ida was in Federal Court before judge C. W. Howard. Ida pleaded guilty to the charges against her. Now it was up to her attorney, William B. Ritchie, to plead for a light sentence. Ritchie was eloquent and had recently been elected Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney.
Ritchie spoke for more than an hour detailing the events leading up to Ida’s transgression. He detailed Ida’s life, including being “Honest Bill” Barker’s daughter, her attendance at the Indian school in Oregon and her marriage to David Simmons. He also noted that Ida had two children with David before he deserted her. Though she had a small tract of land left to her by her father, she only had a small stipend from the Post Office to live on.
I certainly wish Ritchie’s speech had been recorded. It was reported that everyone, including the district attorney, was moved to tears by Ritchie’s eloquent plea. District Attorney B. W. Colner said, “he too was sorry it was not the husband who stood before him in order that he might assist in giving Simmons the full limit of the law.”
It was now in the hands of the judge. The judge agreed with the district attorney regarding David. He stated, “If it were possible for the court under the law to impose a fine of $1 without costs, I would do so with a clear conscience and feel that the ends of justice had been satisfied with the defendant.” Don’t forget, Ida had already paid the money back to the Post Office.
The sentence was issued. “Without further comment, and with a clear conscience, the court sentences the defendant to imprisonment of one hour in the custody of the United States Marshal, without costs in this case.” This was clearly one of the most unusual sentences ever given in federal court.
Ida was taken to the marshal’s office to sit for an hour. Ida left the courthouse a free woman around noon that day.
It is uncertain whether Ida ever returned to Gettysburg. We know that, by 1920, Ida had moved to Seattle. In 1930, Ida was in Seattle and lived with her son, Euland.
In the 1930 census, David listed himself as widowed. David Simmons died on Feb. 18, 1944, in Seattle. David died of heart failure. He was 74 years old. Remarkably, Ida was listed as his wife on his death certificate.
Ida died in Seattle on April 9, 1965, from intestinal cancer. She was 90 years old. In an era of few social safety nets, she had a full life and overcame so many obstacles.
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John McNutt is a descendant of Clallam County pioneers and treasurer of the North Olympic History Center Board of Directors. He can be reached at woodrowsilly@gmail.com.
John’s Clallam history column appears the first Saturday of every month.
