William Jenner Worthington Family

Will and Grace

William Jenner Worthington was born on August 21, l863, in San Francisco, California. He was the son of Mr. William Worthington, Cheadle, England, and Ellen Jenner Worthington of Ohio. He came to Quilcene with his brother, Edgar Kirk Worthington, in 1890. A self-educated man with a great love of books, Will had an extensive collection in his personal library, and all his life he borrowed books, which he faithfully returned, to read from friends and family members.

Will married Grace Amelia Legg on February 4, l892, in Seattle. Grace was born on December 23, l869, in Speedsville, New York. The daughter of a teacher, she received a good education at Ithaca Academy to become a teacher. She came out west to visit her brother, Louis Henry Legg, and to look for a teaching position, but soon married Will who had proposed marriage on their second date.

The newlyweds moved at once to Quilcene, where William and his brother, Edgar, had built a mercantile store in 1890. Will had spent 5 or 6 years selling groceries and provisions out of his 31 foot sloop, Mary Elizabeth, sailing up and down Hood Canal. Will later became involved in the logging industry, owning many acres of timberland in the Quilcene area and some real estate in Seattle. In 1907 the Worthingtons purchased the M. L. Hamilton house (built in l890) with acreage on the Little Quilcene River from Squire McArdle. They were active members of the First Presbyterian Church in Quilcene and donated the land where the church is now located. Will Worthington was a firm believer in a good education and served on the local school board. His daughters, Grace and Mariette, were in the first class of Quilcene Union High School which was formed in 1907. Grace went on to teach in the Quilcene schools, and Mariette taught high school in Idaho, Wyoming, and Washington.

William Jenner Worthington died on February 28, 1936 and is buried in Quilcene Cemetery beside his wife, Grace, who died the year before on May 4, 1935. Their oldest son, William Jenner Worthington, Jr, died of blood poisoning on July 13, 1909, and is buried beside his parents. Their sons Robert, Norman, and John are there, as well.

Children of Will and Grace

Grace

Born 22 October 1893, Quilcene
Baptized 10 March 1903
Graduated Quilcene Grade School, 1907
Quilcene Union High School, 1911
Wellesley College, 1917
University of California Berkeley, 1926, MA in Economics
Worked Taught schools in Tarboo, Quilcene, Port Townsend, and Portland
Married Laurence A. W. Swabey (1892-1985) of Essex England, 1937. He worked for Pope and Talbot as an accountant and a timber buyer. Later they enjoyed retirement living on a small farm near Juanita, WA.
Lived Quilcene, Port Townsend, Portland, Juanita
Died 29 April 1984
Buried Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle


Mariette

Born 11 December l894, Quilcene
Baptized 10 March 1903
Graduated Quilcene Grade School, 1907
Quilcene Union High School, 1911
University of Washington, Phi Beta Kappa, in Latin and Greek, 1916
Attended University of Chicago College of Education, 1926
Married Merritt Benson Major (1893-1986), a teacher, Chicago IL, 1926
Worked Taught Latin and English in high schools. Merritt taught science in high schools in Sheridan and Kirkland. He also worked for the US Forest Service in the Olympic National Park during the summers.
Lived Quilcene, Brinnon, Twin Falls ID, Sheridan, WY, and Kirkland, WA
Child Merritt Worthington Major, 1931-2018, dentist and orthodontist, Bremerton, WA
Died 1 August 1988, and was cremated with ashes at Worthington Park, Quilcene


William Jenner, Jr.

Born 1 November l896, Quilcene
Baptized 10 March 1903
Graduated Quilcene Grade School, 1909
Died 13 July 1909, of blood poisoning from a cut on his finger, soon after graduating from grade school
Obituary 14 July 1909
Buried Quilcene Cemetery


Robert Edgar

Born 27 January 1900, Quilcene
Baptized 10 March 1903
Graduated Quilcene Grade School, 1913
Quilcene Union High School, 1917
University of Washington, BA in Forestry
University of Washington, MA in Forestry, 1932
Attended Yale University for a PhD in Forest Economics, 1932-5
Married Janet Main Izett (1909-2001), 1932, daughter of James A. Izett and Mary Forsyth Izett, a logging pioneer family in Brinnon
Worked Forestry research for US Forest Service in Washington, DC, Southeast USA, and Ohio. He returned to Quilcene in 1944 to work as forest engineer for Buck Mountain Logging Company and as a land surveyor.
Lived Quilcene, Seattle, New Haven, CT, Washington, DC, New Orleans, LA, Columbus, OH
Children Ellen, 1943- , elementary school and yoga teacher, Seattle and Brinnon
James Norman, 1945- , engineer, Chicago, IL, and Pt Townsend
Divorced 1966
Remarried Marie Eilleen Miller Criscuola (1919-2012) on 8 April 1974, a widow from Coupeville with grown children and grandchildren
Died 10 November 1995, and was cremated, headstone in Quilcene Cemetery


Harold Legg

Born 16 November 1901, Quilcene
Baptized 10 March 1903
Graduated Quilcene Grade School, 1915
Quilcene Union High School, 1918
University of Washington, Civil Engineering, 1923
Founded Prominent structural engineering firm Worthington, Skilling, Helle, and Jackson in Seattle, WA
Married Doris Alexandria Seibert (1900-1974), November, 1934
Children Stephen, 1935- , businessman, Seattle, Woodway, Port Angeles, Sequim
Barrett, 1939- , banker, Seattle and Sequim
Remarried Mary Jane Potter (1914-2008), 1977
Died 28 October 1994, Edmonds
Obituary 6 November 1994
Buried Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle, WA


Norman Parker

Born 27 December 1903, Port Townsend
Baptized 3 September 1904, Presbyterian Church, Quilcene
Graduated Quilcene Grade School, 1917
Quilcene Union High School, 1921
University of Washington, BA in Economics, 1926
Yale University, MA in Forestry, 1937
Married Trena Selvidge Belsito (1908-2003), a lawyer and widow in Olympia, 1958
Worked Industrial forestry in Washington and Arkansas, and then in forest research with the US Forest Service at Southern Forest Experiment Station and Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station in Olympia; an expert in commercial thinning of Douglas fir and growth of red alder
Died 7 February 1991
Buried Quilcene Cemetery


John Clinton

Born 30 December 1905, Port Townsend
Baptized April 1907, Presbyterian Church, Quilcene
Graduated Quilcene Grade School, 1918
Quilcene Union High School, 1922
University of Washington, BA in Business, 1931
Built A log cabin on East Quilcene Bay in 1929 which was enjoyed by all the family for 80 years, and a 24 foot sloup
Married Elizabeth (Betty) Harriet Hart (1913-2009), in Seattle, 1938
Worked For the tax commission in Seattle and shipyard on Bainbridge Island. He operated two farms on Bainbridge Island from 1942-1968. They retired to their cabin in Quilcene and then to Sequim.
Children Douglas Haines, 1940- , engineer, Seattle and Bellingham
William Jenner III, 1941-2014, mining engineer, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
John Hart, 1944-2021, auto care business, Bellingham
Willadee Grace (Mrs. James Tallman), 1949-2012, PUD and banking business in Sequim
Died 2 May 1988, Sequim
Obituary 25 May 1988
Buried Ashes in Quilcene Cemetery and summit of Mt. Worthington


Kenneth Taft

Born 15 February 1909, Port Townsend
Baptized April 1907, Presbyterian Church
Graduated Quilcene Grade School, 1922
Quilcene Union High School, 1926
University of Washington, BA in Business, 1930
Married Zoe Bayne Lees (1902-1963)
Worked For his uncle Edgar K. Worthington and then for Kenworth Motor Truck Company, which his uncle founded, where he was treasurer of the company until 1965
Child Richard Kenneth, 1947-2021, real estate broker, Seattle and Cathedral City, CA
Remarried Alma Alvina Gans (1915-2006) in 1964
Died 16 March 2008
Buried Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle



Ellen Worthington Jenner, September 7, 2021

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