Pacific Grove's IL Oldest House , (Continued) N iii the deal, and then sold the property to the Pacific improvement Co. in 1881. That company, a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad Co., then began work t on such projects as th, city's Chatauqua Hall, which still stands. - 41 The oldest district of the city is known as the Pacific Grove Retreat, and subsequent annexations are de- scribed as "additions," as in "the first addition to the retreat, etc. There was "almost nothing" on the books for Pacific 1 Grove, he noted, as he and fellow researchers, includ- h ing his wife, Jean, Marjorie and Brad Smith of Pacific -1 Grove and others, poured over the old records. It quickly became apparent that the assessor's clerks, who wrote in elegant if sometimes in- decipherable Spencerian script, had no apparent sys- tem for record entries. Names, places, properties were jumbled together from Mission San Antonio to San Juan Bautista, and King City, Salinas and Mon- terey rubbed shoulders with remote Big Sur ranch lands and the Pacific Grove Retreat. :=4 ·41 r I 1 * ll-' · Tr 7,11 1 .1 i. 1 11 1 T , ' · 94 4 d 1 1 1 4 S 1 -.'ti# .SL,Wi-TI'l 1 ,4 / , ' · , 4,11111 - 141 ! 111411 '111 % * 4$ - i ·% 11 1 11 - .'* !11,1 1 - 1. 11,9111* Iii ' '!/.5- 1 - * 41 #·#41 I -T. 41 _. · ··i- --,t·1 1 ·r L . Ir ./ ,.*.' i ··i, 1 7" 004/. 7 ' -9 I " . 4 - ., ,--i I ' illl - LI|1 ' I 1- - 1 '. *'''1.A FAI...1.--LL--- 1- 1....1.lit»!11 :I. 1#110¥- ?411,9.:*1=*r. P 1 - . .. 1 * ftiom!. .9,1, 4 1 9 . 1 Ar - 1 1 . .,1 1.1 i 4% .. '111.14-11 14/ 1 1 - < f. t T 41 - 1 .F r /1 $ 7 .d'| I! ' I 1 1. - 1 1.1 1 .1 - r 1 l.... 1 L - - 1 1 S \ -- 41· - -- .- 11 -r - 1- -- 4 1 it -1.. 0 1 % 23 4,1 -6.... Il*_ 1 fy#*(24444- & :9134 ' ,/ I "I . "1 ·p-, i-4.,9. '.= 15.9$44)/L.* 2-0,414#1* !1211 -r-*1. 1 .«Mit IKi Side view of the house shows additions made many years ago. Old roof line can be seen above the windows at center. If nothing else, Mills noted, the society members began learning things that were NOT true. Claims of houses built in the 1840's in Pacific Grove just couldn't be so; the assessor showed virtually no buildings in P.G. before 1875 and the records were wont to list a man's every asset, down to the last cow, bum and horse. Since Dr. and Mrs. Mills were members of the Meth- odist Church, they studied church records for a "Scotch pastor" who might be the man Stevenson met during his sojourn through the deserted retreat during that off season of 1879. creek once flowed through that area, and its ghost still makes Caledonia Park soppingly damp during the rainy season. A year 'round resident would need a nearby source of water. In addition, the property abut- ted David Jaeks' old dairy farm, now the Pacific Grove Golf Course, and Jacks, who donated the land, may have had his own reasons for choosing a small part of the farm. - Why wasn't the property assessed? Did Jacks have influence with the asssessor, or was the min- ister's cottage considered church property and thus not taxable? W i (forJ R. Holman, 95, and the late John Orchard, once the postmaster of Pacific Grove, both knew him as William Furlong, a P.G. banker, Mills said. Mrs. Sefton and Miss Goldsworthy said a man they remembered as "Grandfather Furlong" had told their mother the Stevenson story, and the fact that a Fur- long had lived across the street from their girlhood home added credence to it. "The geography, the time, the name on the assess- or's records, all pointed to it," Mills said. It was time for a field study of the house. An inspection of the house showed that some :hanges had been made in the form of additions to the original building, but since Mrs. Sefton and Miss Gold- sworthy said the house was unchanged from the time they lived in it as children, the remodeling had to have -6¥e. f t.eQ mt,dblt- k'ta:t¢ cl:' -44&3:er 4 7- Ikals: 0, 4-<4 tu a:_M,•t•lu u., 2 Church records showed provisions had been made for a house to allow a minister to live in at the retreat year 'round, and that a Rev. A. C. McI)ougal, who died in 1879, had been a minister. The assesser's records show no house in MacDoug- al's name prior to 1883, but among those listed was one for an Ann MacDougal at 142 Pacific /Wak® eu The name MacDougal rang a bell, yet it could have been a coincidence. At about the same time, Edna Goldsworthy Sefton joined the heritage society. She told Mills the house at 142 Pacific was, indeed, the very same house Steven- son referred to in his journal. Her mother, Louise Goldsworthy, bought the house in 1906, and told her and her sister, Philoma Goldsworthy, that the house was visited and described by Stevenson. Did the story jibe with the historical record? Mills said the Goldsworthy sisters' story launched what became a three-year search for the truth. Among the unanswered questions, he said, were: - Why was the first house, if it was, indeed, first, built so far from the center of town? The answer could have something to do with the fact that a good-sized - Did the cottage appear on the rolls afterward because his widow became owner and it was no longer ' tax exempt? Back at the research project, the microfilms yielded the name of a man named Furlong who also lived on Pacific Ave. across the street from 142 Pacific, in a Victorian house that has since burned down. "Facing down the main .....p,.....Mgm, thoroughfare -ten- LE#@f_rrfil;#PJ 94#wa. tral Avenuet as it was 6 -Jft . ticketed - I saw an m. J,Ii Ki ;411*# .* .,0- open-air temple, with *4,14, benches and a sound- m*IE¥£ -4- 74! ing board, as though 1/.£/46 J #f€,.. for an orchestra," wrote Robert Louis Ste- mdia,6. venson of one ofthe .lima,1* to. sights he saw on his vis- . ¥*33 it to Pacific Grove. 79 'S 4 4 .1- ·· . i 1 · · b 1 1 *231 1.1 THE HERALD WEEKEND MAGAZINE, MAY 18, 1980. ) 46* / I TIy 11 ·4 4 4:l , OCR Text: Pacific Grove's IL Oldest House , (Continued) N iii the deal, and then sold the property to the Pacific improvement Co. in 1881. That company, a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad Co., then began work t on such projects as th, city's Chatauqua Hall, which still stands. - 41 The oldest district of the city is known as the Pacific Grove Retreat, and subsequent annexations are de- scribed as "additions," as in "the first addition to the retreat, etc. There was "almost nothing" on the books for Pacific 1 Grove, he noted, as he and fellow researchers, includ- h ing his wife, Jean, Marjorie and Brad Smith of Pacific -1 Grove and others, poured over the old records. It quickly became apparent that the assessor's clerks, who wrote in elegant if sometimes in- decipherable Spencerian script, had no apparent sys- tem for record entries. Names, places, properties were jumbled together from Mission San Antonio to San Juan Bautista, and King City, Salinas and Mon- terey rubbed shoulders with remote Big Sur ranch lands and the Pacific Grove Retreat. :=4 ·41 r I 1 * ll-' · Tr 7,11 1 .1 i. 1 11 1 T , ' · 94 4 d 1 1 1 4 S 1 -.'ti# .SL,Wi-TI'l 1 ,4 / , ' · , 4,11111 - 141 ! 111411 '111 % * 4$ - i ·% 11 1 11 - .'* !11,1 1 - 1. 11,9111* Iii ' '!/.5- 1 - * 41 #·#41 I -T. 41 _. · ··i- --,t·1 1 ·r L . Ir ./ ,.*.' i ··i, 1 7" 004/. 7 ' -9 I " . 4 - ., ,--i I ' illl - LI|1 ' I 1- - 1 '. *'''1.A FAI...1.--LL--- 1- 1....1.lit»!11 :I. 1#110¥- ?411,9.:*1=*r. P 1 - . .. 1 * ftiom!. .9,1, 4 1 9 . 1 Ar - 1 1 . .,1 1.1 i 4% .. '111.14-11 14/ 1 1 - < f. t T 41 - 1 .F r /1 $ 7 .d'| I! ' I 1 1. - 1 1.1 1 .1 - r 1 l.... 1 L - - 1 1 S \ -- 41· - -- .- 11 -r - 1- -- 4 1 it -1.. 0 1 % 23 4,1 -6.... Il*_ 1 fy#*(24444- & :9134 ' ,/ I "I . "1 ·p-, i-4.,9. '.= 15.9$44)/L.* 2-0,414#1* !1211 -r-*1. 1 .«Mit IKi Side view of the house shows additions made many years ago. Old roof line can be seen above the windows at center. If nothing else, Mills noted, the society members began learning things that were NOT true. Claims of houses built in the 1840's in Pacific Grove just couldn't be so; the assessor showed virtually no buildings in P.G. before 1875 and the records were wont to list a man's every asset, down to the last cow, bum and horse. Since Dr. and Mrs. Mills were members of the Meth- odist Church, they studied church records for a "Scotch pastor" who might be the man Stevenson met during his sojourn through the deserted retreat during that off season of 1879. creek once flowed through that area, and its ghost still makes Caledonia Park soppingly damp during the rainy season. A year 'round resident would need a nearby source of water. In addition, the property abut- ted David Jaeks' old dairy farm, now the Pacific Grove Golf Course, and Jacks, who donated the land, may have had his own reasons for choosing a small part of the farm. - Why wasn't the property assessed? Did Jacks have influence with the asssessor, or was the min- ister's cottage considered church property and thus not taxable? W i (forJ R. Holman, 95, and the late John Orchard, once the postmaster of Pacific Grove, both knew him as William Furlong, a P.G. banker, Mills said. Mrs. Sefton and Miss Goldsworthy said a man they remembered as "Grandfather Furlong" had told their mother the Stevenson story, and the fact that a Fur- long had lived across the street from their girlhood home added credence to it. "The geography, the time, the name on the assess- or's records, all pointed to it," Mills said. It was time for a field study of the house. An inspection of the house showed that some :hanges had been made in the form of additions to the original building, but since Mrs. Sefton and Miss Gold- sworthy said the house was unchanged from the time they lived in it as children, the remodeling had to have -6¥e. f t.eQ mt,dblt- k'ta:t¢ cl:' -44&3:er 4 7- Ikals: 0, 4-<4 tu a:_M,•t•lu u., 2 Church records showed provisions had been made for a house to allow a minister to live in at the retreat year 'round, and that a Rev. A. C. McI)ougal, who died in 1879, had been a minister. The assesser's records show no house in MacDoug- al's name prior to 1883, but among those listed was one for an Ann MacDougal at 142 Pacific /Wak® eu The name MacDougal rang a bell, yet it could have been a coincidence. At about the same time, Edna Goldsworthy Sefton joined the heritage society. She told Mills the house at 142 Pacific was, indeed, the very same house Steven- son referred to in his journal. Her mother, Louise Goldsworthy, bought the house in 1906, and told her and her sister, Philoma Goldsworthy, that the house was visited and described by Stevenson. Did the story jibe with the historical record? Mills said the Goldsworthy sisters' story launched what became a three-year search for the truth. Among the unanswered questions, he said, were: - Why was the first house, if it was, indeed, first, built so far from the center of town? The answer could have something to do with the fact that a good-sized - Did the cottage appear on the rolls afterward because his widow became owner and it was no longer ' tax exempt? Back at the research project, the microfilms yielded the name of a man named Furlong who also lived on Pacific Ave. across the street from 142 Pacific, in a Victorian house that has since burned down. "Facing down the main .....p,.....Mgm, thoroughfare -ten- LE#@f_rrfil;#PJ 94#wa. tral Avenuet as it was 6 -Jft . ticketed - I saw an m. J,Ii Ki ;411*# .* .,0- open-air temple, with *4,14, benches and a sound- m*IE¥£ -4- 74! ing board, as though 1/.£/46 J #f€,.. for an orchestra," wrote Robert Louis Ste- mdia,6. venson of one ofthe .lima,1* to. sights he saw on his vis- . ¥*33 it to Pacific Grove. 79 'S 4 4 .1- ·· . i 1 · · b 1 1 *231 1.1 THE HERALD WEEKEND MAGAZINE, MAY 18, 1980. ) 46* / I TIy 11 ·4 4 4:l , Heritage Society of Pacific Grove,Historical Collections,Names of People about town,Q through R File names,Rev A.C. MvDougal,REV. A.C. MCDOUGAL_011.pdf,REV. A.C. MCDOUGAL_011.pdf 1 Page 1, Tags: REV. A.C. MCDOUGAL_011.PDF, REV. A.C. MCDOUGAL_011.pdf 1 Page 1