Ralph Lundberg: Pursuing Dreams in a Changing America

Ralph Charles Lundberg was born on February 3, 1895, in Wausau, Wisconsin, to Friedericke "Ricka" Emilie Kufahl and Frans "Frank" Gustaf Emil Adamsson/Lundberg. He was the eldest of their four children and had one younger brother, Dell Frank, and two younger sisters, Margaret Frances and Sylvia Emily. His father had immigrated from Sweden and worked in a Wisconsin sawmill, while his mother was a homemaker and raised the children.

Swedish settlers came to the Wisconsin area to work in the densely wooded northern and central parts of the state, with the industry dominated by Weyerhaeuser. However, by the turn of the century, logging in Wisconsin began to decline, forcing Ralph’s father to relocate his family to Virginia, Minnesota, where logging the plentiful white pine rivaled the iron ore mining business.

Ralph Charles Lundberg's ambition for a life beyond that of a laborer first gained recognition in the July 7, 1911 edition of The Virginia Enterprise, when he was just 16. The announcement read: “Names of Pupils Who Passed the State High School Board Examinations with the Number of Certificates Received.” Ralph's name topped the list with ten certificates—the highest of any student. He excelled in his Latin Science Course and performed in the Senior Class Play.

Roosevelt High School, Virginia, Minnesota

June 1912 marked Ralph's graduation from Roosevelt High School in Virginia, Minnesota, with the school's largest graduating class yet—27 seniors. Fourteen of them, including Ralph, took part in the closing exercises, delivering speeches on one of two subjects. Ralph's subject was “The Great Destroyer,” for which he presented his oration entitled “Abstinence and Efficiency” (eight years before Prohibition).

At 20, Ralph worked alongside his father at The Virginia & Rainy Lake Company sawmill as a tally man, counting and tagging lumber for shipment. But life took an unexpected turn on March 13, 1917, when his father, Frank, died of a ruptured appendix at 52. With his brother, Dell, incarcerated in the Wisconsin State Reformatory, Ralph had to take care of his mother and 9-year-old sister, Sylvia. (His sister Margaret had died of polio six years earlier.) And then, the following month, the U.S. entered World War I.

1st Army Artillery Park Truck Company C. Ralph is in the front row, sixth from right. 1918.

Ralph enlisted as a corporal with the 1st Army Artillery Park, Truck Company "C." During WWI, these truck companies were responsible for transporting ammunition from supply depots to the front-line artillery batteries, ensuring the guns kept firing. It was a perilous job, often moving forward with advancing troops and setting up temporary ammunition dumps near firing lines.

USS Chicago, Protected Cruiser

Ralph was deployed to Europe on June 29, 1918, departing from New York on the SS Chicago, a French mail boat, without a convoy. Constantly on the lookout for submarines, they arrived in Bordeaux, France, on July 11, 1918, where they met with Truck Companies A and B. From there, they were ordered to a village called Neuf-Chateau, which was 18 miles behind enemy lines.

 

In September, Ralph and his unit moved to Domgermain, the site of crucial ammunition dumps for the Toul Sector—a strategic region where the U.S. Army's Air Service was based. They set up headquarters in Ippicourt, but by October, orders sent them to the bustling town of Recicourt. From there, Ralph's company tirelessly hauled ammunition from two major dumps, ensuring the front lines were always supplied and ready for action.

USS Canonicus

World War I ended on November 11, 1918, and 18 days later, Ralph and his unit began their journey home. They embarked on the USS Canonicus at Pauillac, France, for the return trip to New York on April 19, 1919, finally arriving in New York harbor on May 2, 1919.

Helen Maxson Miller

Back at the Virginia & Rainy Lake Company lumber mill, Ralph met Helen Maxson Miller, who worked as a clerk in the office. Helen was born on September 5, 1896, in Ironwood, Michigan, to Jennie May Baker and Orrin Lexis Maxson. Orrin was a railroad brakeman, and Jennie was a homemaker. Helen was the youngest of the Maxson children, with six older brothers and sisters.

 When Helen was three years old, her mother, Jennie, died from complications of childbirth, and both her mother and the baby passed away. A year later, her father succumbed to typhoid pneumonia, leaving Helen and her siblings orphans. The children were sent to live with various aunts and uncles in the Maxson and Baker families. Helen and her sister, Gussie, went to live with their mother's sister, Katherine, and her husband, Frank Miller, in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Uncle Frank was a machine salesman, and Aunt Kate was a homemaker. Helen took the name "Miller," and in the 1910 U.S. Census, she is listed as "adopted."

When Helen met Ralph, a dashing Army veteran, at work, she was smitten, and they married on June 25, 1920, in Duluth, Minnesota. They settled in with Ralph’s mother and sister, Sylvia, while Ralph supported the family as a shipping clerk for The Virginia & Rainy Lake Company. But by the turn of the decade, the prime stands of white pine were vanishing, and so were jobs. As sawmills began to close, Ralph had to search for work elsewhere. By October 23, 1921, his search had taken him to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where the oil boom had nearly doubled the population in that decade. It was here that their son, Ralph Donald (Don), was born. Three years later, he was joined by a sister, Geraldine Katherine (Geri).

Ralph C. Lundberg, Date unk.

By 1926, the family had moved to Topeka, Kansas, where Ralph worked as a draftsman for a prominent architecture firm that designed many of the city's buildings. By 1928, he was working as an architectural engineer for the renowned architect David S. Castle, Sr., whom the Abilene Reporter-News described as “the West Texas skyline maker.” Ralph worked for Castle’s firm, designing buildings for Abilene and the surrounding area through 1931.

Ralph and Helen, both of whom had childhoods without one or both parents, finally seemed to have achieved a modicum of social and financial success. Ralph was employed by a well-known architectural firm and was a member of the local businessmen’s association and rotary club. Helen was a member of Eastern Star and attended various other women’s clubs. However, it was not to last. 

Abilene State Hospital, Abilene, Texas

Abilene State Hospital, Abilene, Texas

Blueprints for the Abilene State Hospital, Abilene, Texas

The stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression caused jobs to disappear and architectural contracts to dry up. Ralph’s health also suffered due to heart problems and, presumably, heavy alcohol use. With no opportunities left in Abilene, the family moved back to Minnesota, where Ralph found work as an engineer with the Works Progress Administration (WPA), part of FDR’s New Deal that employed millions of out-of-work men to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings.

Around this time, Ralph's doctor discovered he had pancreatic cancer. He had also been suffering from chronic pericarditis for several years. It was time to go home. Ralph and Helen moved back to Duluth, Minnesota.

In Duluth, their last daughter, Judith Helen, was born on January 26, 1938. Sadly, less than a year later, Ralph died, leaving Helen alone with their three children—just as her parents had left her as a young child 40 years earlier. He was buried with military honors at Greenwood Cemetery in Virginia, Minnesota. Helen remained in Minnesota through 1940, during which time Don finished his first year of college at 18.

In 1940, Helen moved to Oregon, where her sister, Gussie, lived. She settled in Buena Vista, Oregon, and worked at the Blue Lake Packers Company. Her daughter, Geri, married and lived about 20 miles north in Salem, Oregon. Her son, Don, married and settled in Albany, Oregon, about 10 miles to her south. On May 14, 1970, Helen Maxson Miller died after being hospitalized for an illness. She is buried at Restlawn Cemetery, west of Salem.

Reuben Coleman Hill: Pioneer, Physician and Preacher

On the west side of Albany, Oregon, near the banks of the Calapooia River a tall, ornate headstone overlooks the overgrown and ill-kempt Masonic Cemetery.  That headstone memorializes the life of Reuben Coleman Hill, Oregon pioneer, preacher, schoolteacher, physician, legislator, and your 3^rd Great Grandfather.

Reuben, one of seven children, was born to Reuben and Sarah Joyce “Joiasy” Hanks. His father, also named Reuben, served as a Baptist minister. People described him as “a leading man in society,” who read extensively and earned the respect of his neighbors for his sound judgment. Reuben’s mother was “a well-read, well-informed lady, firm in her beliefs and always ready to give a reason for the doctrine she advocated.” (Joiasy was a first cousin of President Abraham Lincoln!)

Reuben Coleman Hill

At the age of 24, Reuben met Margaret Graham Lair, the daughter of a prominent local family. Her father, the local Justice of the Peace, hosted their wedding in the fall of 1821 at his home in Kentucky.  After about a dozen hard but enjoyable years as a farmer, Reuben felt a calling to religion and soon became a deacon of their Baptist church. His mother’s brother, Rev. Elijah Hanks, baptized him. Reuben, Margaret, and their family settled near Purdy, Tennessee, where they joined the Clear Creek Baptist Church. Reuben served as a deacon for ten years and was ordained as a gospel minister.In 1848, the California Gold Rush captured the nation’s attention, and Reuben was no exception. By this time, he and Margaret had seven children: six sons and three daughters. The youngest was your 2x great-grandmother, Addie Hill. Reuben and his friend, Dr. Clemmons, decided to send some men to the gold mines to work for two years, with Reuben overseeing their efforts.

Leaving his family in Purdy, Reuben and the men set out in wagons on the Oregon Trail. They began their journey in 1851 in Independence, Missouri, and headed to Ft. Laramie, Wyoming. There, they left their wagons behind and continued with pack mules for the remainder of the trip west.

Margaret Graham Lair

“The cries of those stricken with cholera in the tents and around the camps almost every night, and the fresh graves caused us to want to leave the regular trains, making the trip with pack mules.  But because of the fact that the trains were broken up into so many small parties, we were with some train or other most of the way across the plains.

“On the way we had great discouragements.  People had made a great mistake.  We with the rest left a large portions of our provisions behind us.  It was said to be the heaviest emigration that had ever gone to California, consequently feed became scarce, many head of stock dying, and that which remained got very poor.

“On the way we crossed a desert place.  About midway from the starting in of this desert to the water, there was a high point of rocks. This point was not more than twenty feet high but was several hundred feet long.  The shade of this eminence was the means of saving the lives of several of us.  Many were exhausted.

“Several miles from this place there was a stream of water which we could see clearly, and we had it in our guide laid down.  The stream was considerably shaded with willows and a grassy plain on the other side.  We started a short time before day and we made the trip to the water before night.  There we had plenty of water and grass for the mules, and there was shrubbery under which we might rest.  We remained there two days to recruit.”

It is hard to imagine the harrowing conditions faced by Reuben and his companions. They encountered disease, starvation, and many other dangers during their journey. Yet, their resilience and determination remind us of how their hardships paved the way for future generations.

Reuben and his men arrived in Weaver, California, nearly out of provisions and in poor health after enduring the punishing trip. Reuben himself had been very sick and couldn’t eat any of the strong meat they had brought for the trip.

“I saw a pancake in the dust.  I got down from my mule, picked it up, rubbed it on my pants to get a little of the dirt off, and then ate it with great relish.”

Many of their mules were close to death after the journey, but they managed to sell one to buy fresh provisions so they could continue. Upon arriving in Mud Springs (now called El Dorado), California, they prepared quarters for the winter and began prospecting for the gold that had led them west. Reuben preached under a large tree on the Sabbath to the many men who had come from the East in search of their fortunes.

During his time in Mud Springs, Reuben worked side-by-side with the physicians there and began practicing medicine with them. Although he had no formal medical training, he was soon introduced as a preacher and physician. By this time, Mud Springs had grown to nearly 3,000 people, and Reuben was asked to be their minister. He was provided with a house in which to preach, and a church of about 30 members was soon organized.

In 1851, Reuben moved to Oregon, stopping briefly in Shasta to prospect for gold. He then traveled to the Willamette Valley, stopping in Marysville (now Corvallis), and finally settling in Albany. There, he worked as a physician, visiting Linn, Benton, and Polk counties, as well as a teacher and a Baptist minister.

In the spring of 1852, Reuben returned to Missouri to bring his family to Oregon.

“In the spring of 1853, with my family and company in the train strong enough to feel secure from the attacks of Indians, we started out, and crossed the plains without serious loss or without experiencing more than usually befalls emigrants on a trip of that magnitude.”

Reuben and his family settled in Albany in 1854, where he organized the first Baptist church. As a minister, he was a fluent speaker and was held in high esteem by those who knew him, both as a good counselor and a successful physician. It was said he was “a doctor to the body and soul.”

Between 1857 and 1858, Reuben served on the Oregon Territorial Legislature as a representative for Benton County. He had strong educational convictions, believing that education and religion were the cornerstones of life. Drawing the charter for McMinnville Baptist College (later McMinnville College and now Linfield College), Reuben worked tirelessly to ensure the institution's success. He served on the Board of Trustees until his death. In 1870, he was named Financial Agent for the college, demonstrating his deep commitment to its future.

 

Reuben believed so strongly in the importance of education that he made a third arduous trip back East to promote and raise funds for the college. This journey was not without its challenges—traveling such long distances during that era was grueling. His dedication, however, was unwavering. Instead of receiving pay for his efforts, he accepted four perpetual scholarships to the college. Remarkably, nearly 150 years later, a relative discovered three of these scholarships unused in a trunk. Linfield claimed them void and attempted to buy them back. After a heated legal battle, the college agreed to honor them for 50 years, making them available to family members and administered by the R.C. Hill Trust.

Reuben’s limitless energy allowed him to be a life member of several important organizations, such as the American Bible Union, the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and the Oregon Baptist State Convention. His involvement in these societies underscored his dedication to both his faith and his community. These memberships were not mere formalities; they reflected his active engagement and leadership within these organizations, which sought to spread religious teachings and provide support to various communities.

Rev. Reuben C. Hill, MD, and his wife, Margaret, c. 1890

Despite the decline in his physical energy in later years, Reuben's mental stamina remained robust. He continued to inspire those around him with his wisdom and steadfast commitment to his values. His death on the last day of 1890 marked the end of a life filled with service and dedication. His wife, Margaret, and three of their children had preceded him in death, but he left behind four sons and one daughter, each of whom were very successful and well-respected in the Albany, Oregon, community.

Reuben's legacy is a testament to the profound impact one individual can have on multiple generations. His efforts in education, medicine, and religion continue to resonate, demonstrating how a life devoted to these pursuits can shape the future.