Dear Medora: Child of Oysterville's Forgotten Years

By the time Medora Espy moved to Oysterville as a toddler in 1902, the quaint, remote village was long past its heyday. The population had dwindled and times were hard. Dependable, devoted, and tender-hearted, Medora was the oldest child of Washington State senator and dairy farmer Harry Albert Espy.

At various times throughout her life, she endured long months of separation from her parents, especially her mother. Whether the absence was due to the birth of a sibling, her father's political duties in Olympia, or her own attendance at Portland Academy, their remarkable bond was reflected in a continuous stream of letters until a sudden, devastating tragedy soon after Medora's 17th birthday. Practical and sensible, yet full of both laughter and heartache, the contents of the almost daily communiques lend insight into early 20th century rural America, and offer a rare view of history through the eyes of a child. The lively correspondence and diary entries, interspersed with family photographs and additional background on the time period and Espy household, bring Medora's generation and the Oysterville of those forgotten years back into sharp focus.