Genealogy Help (GenHelp) has just released a History of Portland, Oregon as part of their ongoing emphasis on the history of Oregon Genealogy. The new manuscript for History of Portland, Oregon can be found on the Access Genealogy website, and a list of associated surnames can be found on the announcement page.

They also have a “Men of Portland” article.

Our ties to Portland, Oregon, in Multnomah County, are flimsy at best. We know that Grandfather Walter West was involved with Louella Brunner Pinder, though whether they married or not is still in question. His son, Howard, was born in Portland, or Michigan, Washington, or Canada, as no birth certificate was ever found during his lifetime and after. We do know, however, that Louella, known also as Lula and Lulu, lived the rest of her life in Portland after Howard’s birth, marrying at least one more time to Lewis S. Parrett, who survived her death in 1930.

Her son, Howard W. West, was abandoned as a child along with his baby sister, Carmen, and the two spent their childhood raised by the nuns at St. Agnes Baby Home in Portland.

Louelle B. Brunner Pinder West Parrett is one of our research brickwalls. We just can’t find out much information about her other than she appears on the Portland census for several decades and we recently succeeded in finding her death certificate listed under Lula Parrett. If you have any information about her, please let us know.