Hartsucks' historic home has been restored

Originally published Saturday, January 12, 2002

Carolyn Wright was the youngest child in the Hartsuck household, and is now the last surviving member of her generation.

Though she does not carry the Hartsuck name -- and no one who is descended of pioneer Mark Evans Hartsuck will, unless one of her three sons adopts it -- she did inherit a love of genealogy that is carried along her family tree.

Hartsuck came west in April 1852, making his way to Chambers Prairie by 1859. He owned property all over Olympia, such as the original house where the Mills and Mills funeral home is and the lot where Les Schwab sits.

He also started a 160-acre farm near the present-day 93rd and Tilley intersection. His brother, Benjamin Franklin Hartsuck, of whom Carolyn is a descendant, came west in 1887.

For a time, the farm was the heart of the family, though business interests pulled the men of the family into town frequently. The children went to school in Olympia, too.

"My dad grew up on the farm, but when school time came, he went to Olympia High School and played football," said Wright, who now lives in Lacey.

Wright credits her father with being the central force of the Hartsuck family for many years.

But when David George Hartsuck died in 1969, his four children started selling the land that made up the original farm. By that time, the 160 acres had been divided among them.

However, the current owners of the 35-acre parcel with the house David George built in 1912 have restored the house, which stands as a reminder of his family's heritage.

Though she no longer resides on the original homestead, and follows no specific traditions handed down by her pioneer predecessors, Wright has found a strong bond with some of her female descendants.

In 1987, when county officials began a push to study the area's pioneer roots, Wright began looking through the genealogical material she'd inherited from her aunt Jessie, who was a diarist. Her great grandmother, Lavina Kernahan Hartsuck, also was a diarist.

Thus, Wright had plenty of material at her disposal as she delved into her new hobby, including the fact that her line came from the Palatine region.

Wright also treasures family artifacts that have been handed down, like two sheep covers made by family members who lived in Pennsylvania before the push west.

"It puts you into history. It is the history of our country and how it changes from generation to generation. How customs changed, how laws changed," Wright said of her hobby.

Prior to taking up genealogy, Wright worked for the U.S. Census Bureau from 1973-79.

After her stint at the bureau, Wright became a social worker and had three children, all boys.

Wright didn't always live in the area where her pioneer roots are strongest. Though born in Olympia, she was raised in Hoquiam before attending college at the University of Washington. She then moved to Eastern Washington because that's where her husband Richard's job took the couple. Richard, also a social worker for the state Department of Social and Health Services, was transferred to Olympia in 1973.

Through her study of genealogy, Wright has gained an appreciation for the relatively easy life people live today.

"Things now are a whole lot softer. You don't have to scrub clothes on washboard, boil them to keep white," she said.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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