January 15, 2024
Fred McClellan
A Scottish-Irish Immigrant Building a Good Life in Oregon
[Based on a brief mention of some memories from Judy]
Grandpa Fred married Grandma Nonnie and started building their life in the Gold Hill area. They owned a gold claim there, although there is no record or rumor of them making money from it. Chuck mentioned Nonnie had told of how Fred had used a shotgun to shoot some gold nuggets /dust into the side of the mine before selling to the late Gold Rush crowd… haha.
Judy related that in addition to starting a significant, Myrtle Point lumber mill that employed a number of people in Coss County, Grandpa would help many. Unfortunately, the mill was lost to a fire (see below). Fred always continued to wear overalls. He would come home and play his violin in the evening after a long day of hard work. He would make stew and take it to feed the hobos along the railroad tracks in the evening. Although a big, logging type personality, I (George) remember at age two crawling over to have him pick me up onto his lap while he watched the latest boxing match on one of the neighborhood’s first televisions.
A “partner” in the mill, Albert Watson, lived in the house with Fred and Nonnie. He was Uncle Albert to us all even though he was not a blood relative. He owned a large cabin on the Rogue River where the family spent time fishing this great river. Judy mentioned Albert bought her, and Sheila, western outfits and took them to the Roseburg rodeo.
