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8587. Leann Jean Gildersleeve
was born on 4 May 1900 in Pampa, Whitman, Washington. She died on 1 Oct
1956 in Baker, Baker County, Oregon. She was buried in Colfax Cemetery, Colfax,
Whitman, Washington. Extracted from obituaries: Mrs. Lena Jean Lang, 56, 2530
5th St., died Monday
evening at St. Elizabeth hospital after an extended illness.
She attended Cheney normal school near Spokane and lived for several years in
Portland. Mrs. Lang worked as a practical nurse in Los Angeles for 23 years
before moving to Baker five years ago. She has been an invalid for the past
five years.
Spokane Daily Chronicle, Spokane, Wash, Oct 3, 1956, Memorial Obituary:
LEANN JEAN LANG
Colfax, Wash., Oct 3.- The Rev. Martin Anderson conducted funeral rites
this morning i n Bruning's chapel for Mrs. Leann Jean Lang, 56, who was born
at Pampa near LaCrosse. She di ed Monday at Baker, Ore. The Rev. Martin T.
Larson officiated and burial was in Colfax cemet ery.
Surviving are two brothers, Walter and Delbert Gildersleeve, Baker Ore.,
and a sister, M rs. Irma Rau, Spokane.
Letter to Misses Lena and Erma Gildersleeve, From Herschel H. Brown, M. D.
Medico Y Cirujano, Guasave, Sin., Mex.. Jan. 24. de 1912.
Misses Lena and Erma Gildersleeve,
Washtucna, Wn, USA
My dear little friends: Do I owe you a letter? - or do you owe me one? (I'm
so forgetful! ) - No - by the Beard of the Prophet! - I believe YOU OWE ME TWO
LETTERS! - Come now, 'fess u p - don't you? - well, at any rate I'll go ahead
with this one. I'm like an engine on a dow n grade - when I get started, I can't
stop.
I was looking at that automobile picture of "you all" (as they
say down south): Gee! bu t you do look highfalutin (No. that's not Spanish.
That's Missouri language) - now, I Haven' t seen an automobile since Goodness
knows when - No. down here we have carretas. (yes THAT' S Spanish) Why, don't
you know what a carreta is? Well, I'll tell you. It's a two-wheele d concern
- sort of a cross between a road-cart and a turtle - only it's wheels are made
of p ieces sawed out of a big cottonwood tree like this 0, and the whole bloomin
carreta is made o f WOOD. Not a tire nor a bolt nor a tap nor a nail in it!
Yes: Sure! That's true. What : You're from Missouri? Well, if I can find
that carreta picture, I'll "show you".
And they hitch two oxen to the thing - two oxen with a wooden yoke lashed
to their horn s - yes sir, to their HORNS, no collars, no harness, no lines,
no bridles - nothing but a ma n with a long sharp stick who walks along prodding
the oxen and yelling at them - and when th e carreta gets stuck in a mud hole
he jabs those oxen and beats them and shouts and whoopsw a t them worse than
Jack Crabb on the Fourth of July. Only yesterday I met one of those carret as
with a big Mayo Indian prodding and shouting at the oxen and in the carreta was
his espos a (wife) and six little Indians about the color of your papa's saddle
- that is, if it's an O LD saddle - and all the little faces as solemn as an
owl. A Mayo Indian wouldn't smile fo r a dollar. The carreta wheels on one
side souzed(?) into a mud hole and the other wheel cli mbed over a stump at the
same time, and all those little Indians spilled out like potatoes ou t of a basket,
but they hit the ground running and in less time than you could say Jack Robis
on they were all hid in the brush at the roadside.
Are you going to school now? And who is your teacher? And which study
do you like best , Arithmetic or Grammar? -Grammar! Shade of old Harvey! It
gives me the rheumatism yet t o remember that grammar! Say, did I ever tell
you about the schools in this country? Why it s better than a circus. They
all study out loud - and such a hub-bub and hoo-rah - and scree ching as you
never heard! - Why a Democratic convention wouldn't be a side show to a big Mexi
can school in session. xx And how are you all? Give my best wishes to all the
family. Remem ber me to your papa and mamma, and Walter and the little fellow
- ann all of 'em - and - writ e me all about everything you know.
Very Sincerely Yours -
Herschel H Brown
(Envelope from Herschel H. Brown, M. D., Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. Addressed
to Misses Len a and Erma Gildersleve, Washtucna, Wash, Adams Co., c/of G. W.
Gildersleeve. E. U. A.)
(Postcard with a photo of [I assume] Herschel H. Brown, M. D.) To my little
friend Lena Gild ersleeve, Washtucna, Wash, USA, Very sincerely, Herschel H.
Brown, Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico.
*******************************************
Letter to Edith Raatz Gildersleeve after Jean's death:
Los Angeles, California
November 26, 1956
Dear Edith:
Thank you so much for your letter telling me more about Jean. I agree
with you tha t those strenuous diets were injurious. I remember she used to
do that when she was still i n Los Angeles. It always seemed to help her arthritis
when she got thinner, but, as you say , it would have been much better if she
had watched her diet constantly. However, that is ea sier to say than to do,
as I well know. I have high blood pressure and should keep my weigh t down but
I, too, enjoy eating too well and like all the fattening foods. Is is much easie
r to gain than to lose. With the approaching holidays it will be difficult to
keep from putt ing it on.
I not your comments about Jean's will. I doubt that she ever had in
mind leaving e verything to Irma. When I talked to her many years ago about
her will she seemed to be worri ed about Delbert as she said he had so many losses
with his cattle and all and she felt tha t he needed help perhaps more than the
rest. I know she always wanted Irma to buy hersel f a little home so she would
have that much - she felt that Irma like to spend money pretty f reely. Anyhow
I am glad that she changed her will and that you folks will get a portion of
i t. As to the Rieder inheritance, offhand I would think Jean got between $30,000
and $35,00 0 out of that. There is no more money coming from the Rieders unless
by some miracle the Gul f Oil Company should decide to drill on some worthless
(or practically worthless) Texas land . They have had a lease on it since 1950
and the lease runs for 10 years with a yearly payme nt of $60. They can terminate
the lease at the end of any year if they wish so there is no a ssurance that
they will make the payments until the termination of the lease in 1960. I hav
e never held any high hopes for oil because I know how these oil companies do
- they lease ev erything in sight but that doesn't mean they are going to drill
on your property. This lan d is in Reeves County near Pecos, Texas. I know
that Jean was quite excited about the possib ility of striking oil there but
I have never given it a second thought. The bank thought i t would be a good
idea to hold it since scarcely nothing can be realized from its sale. Befo re
their death, the Rieders formed a corporation called the "Live Oak Springs
Corporation" in to which they put all of their out-of-state property to
avoid ancillary proceedings in othe r states, which was a good idea. this corporation
is still in existence and it cost quit e a bit of money to make the arrangements
so that stock could be issued from this corporatio n to the many, many beneficiaries
under the Rieder trusts. As it is now, we all own a certai n number of shares
of this stock, but it is my belief that short of a mircle this stock wil l never
be worth anything. I hope I am wrong but I certainly am not planning on it.
Jean wr ote me several months ago or maybe over a year ago, that she had bought
the following stocks : 90 shares of California Pacific Utilities, 75 shares
of Texas Eastern Transmission, 200 sh ares California Water & Telephone,
437 shares Investors Mutual, 100 shares Pacific Power & Li ght, 50 shares
California Oregon Power, 100 shares West Coast Telephone, 100 shares Tennesse
e Gas Transmission and 100 shares of Puget Sound Power and Light and 100 shares
of Portland G eneral Electric. You will note from these stocks that she invested
heavily in utility stock s and she said the income from them was very good and
that they had a good future. You proba bly know what she got out of the aunt's
estate. she had always thought her aunt was extremel y wealthy but she told
me after her death that her fortune had decreased considerably. Anyho w, I would
think each of you will receive quite a substantial sum when the probate proceeding
s are completed. Of course, there will be probate administration expenses, executor's
and at torneys' fees and there will also be inheritance tax charged against each
one of you. If Jea n's estate should happen to reach over $60,000, then it will
also be subject to Federal tax . Anyhow, there is nothing you can do about any
of this and no doubt your banker friend wh o is acting as executor is very capable
and trustworthy. It all has to go through court an d everthing approved by the
judge, etc. so I am sure you will have no difficulty.
I hope you aren't getting bored with my rambling on with all this chitchat,
but I j ust thought I would tell you what I knew about it.
We have been having unusually warm weather here for several weeks now
- bright an d sunshiny every day. We need rain very badly but so far haven't
had any.
I am planning to go to Florida in January sometime for a little vacation.
I have neve r been there and have heard so much for and against it that I want
to see for myself. I als o want to go either to Havana or Nassau on this trip
as it isn't very far from Miami. Of cou rse I will fly from here as it would
take too long to go any other way.
Let me hear from you if you feel in the mood to write or if I can help
you with any thing about Jean's affairs.
With best wishes to you all, I am
Sincerely
Annabe lle
She was divorced from Louis Lang.
Louis Lang was born on 15 Apr 1894 in Gassendorf, Austria. He died
in 1991. He was buried in Riverview Cem., Mausoleum, Portland, Oregon. Obituary
in The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon.
Obituary in The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon.
Obituary in The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon.