The Higleys of Lake Quinault, WA

From the files of Stephen M. Lawson

Family Album Contents    Northern Kin Index

From The Higleys and Their Ancestry, by Mary Coffin Johnson
(1896, reprinted 1963), page 607:

ALFRED V. HIGLEY, the fifth child of George W. and Nancy (Smith) Higley, was born in East Hebron, Potter County, Pa., January 30, 1849. He enlisted in the Civil War in the spring of 1864, when a beardless boy but turned of fifteen; he was, however, tall and muscular, and appeared older than he was. He belonged to Company G, 46th Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was severely wounded on the 15th of June, 1864, at Dallas, Ga. After lying for some weeks in an army hospital, he recovered, and went with Sherman's army on its march to the sea, continuing in the ranks till he received an honorable discharge when the war ended.

At eighteen he married Eliza C. Campbell, December 25, 1866. She was born April 14, 1837. They emigrated to Kansas, settling at Ness City. Here young Higley, with a courage that could not be questioned, bent his energies to make a beginning in life, and prospering in his efforts he was able in time to become the proprietor of the Ness City Flour, Grain, and Feed Mills. His wife, Eliza Campbell Higley, died September 10, 1888. Their children:

Edz O., born June 9, 1868, died March 24, 1869; Orte L., born September 28, 1870; Susie C., born April 17, 1878, died April 24, 1888.


Alfred V. Higley
(1849-1915)
Photo taken 1910 or 1911

The story continues in "The Higleys, Lake Quinault Pioneers," by Rowena L. and Gordon D. Alcorn (1966):

In 1885, Alfred Higley purchased a windmill-powered feed and flour mill at the County Seat. He was prospering when his wife and daughter died in 1888. He sold the mill and purchased a covered wagon and the following spring, Alfred Higley and his son Orte, then 19, headed westward.

They worked awhile in Pueblo, Colorado, then decided to come to the Pacific Northwest by train. It was Christmas Day, 1889 when thay arrived in Seattle, Washington. Finding no opportunities here, the Higleys went on....

On October 7, 1890, Alfred V. Higley and his son Orte, arrived at Lake Quinault, Chehalis County (now Grays Harbor), Washington. They had hiked over the Olympic Mountains from Hoodsport on the lower end of Hood Canal. Perhaps more than any other family, the Higleys, Alfred, Orte and Ransom, Alfred's nephew who came in 1901, were responsible for much of the development of this Quinault area.

Images scanned from "The Higleys, Lake Quinault Pioneers," by Rowena L. and Gordon D. Alcorn,
published in The Aberdeen Daily World  as six weekly articles in beginning Jan. 27, 1966.


Ella and Orte Higley, with children Helen and Orlo
Photo taken about 1908.

Ancestral Higley Family

The family of Nathaniel Higley and Abigail Filer,
3-great grandparents of Alfred V. Higley as follows:

Nathaniel Higley and Abigail Filer
Solomon Higley and Lydia Holcomb
Roswell Higley and Sarah Garnsey
Daniel Roswell Higley and Polly Widger
George W. Higley and Nancy M. Smith
Alfred V. Higley and Eliza Catherine Campbell
Orte L. Higley and Helen 'Ella' Fairbain


Lake Quinault Hotel

Built by Alfred and Orte Higley on the South Side of Lake Quinault in 1891. The Higley family was evicted when Mount Olympus National Monument was created by Presidential Proclamation in 1909. The Lake Quinault Hotel burned on Aug. 23, 1924.

The present "Lake Quinault Lodge in the rare and beautiful Rainforest" now occupies the site. "Lake Quinault Lodge is considered one of America's grand lodges." - from a Lake Quinault Lodge brochure.


Higley Hotel

Shown in 1912, the year it was completed by Alfred and Ransom Higley, the Higley Hotel was on Canoe Creek on Lake Quinault's North Shore, where the Higleys had moved after the Lake Quinault Hotel was taken from them. The Higley Hotel burned in March 1932.

Thanks to Raola Giles for sharing information concerning the Higley articles.

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