Kathyryn Ann [Soule] Wright was born on 27 April 1917, in Lebam, Pacific, Washington. Her parents were Elmer Mert Soule and Mary Anne Guggenbickler. Her grandparents were pioneers in Frances, Pacific, Washington. Having come from Germany to start a dairy farm in Marion County, Oregon. After it was stolen from them. The Guggenbickler family in a few years found good land along Fern Creek and on both sides of the railroad track just west of Frances, Pacific, Washington. It was purchased from the railroad. The boys started by cutting down the virgin forest and burning the trees to make space for the future dairy farm with it's large barn along with a two story home. When they first lived in the home the upstairs was not finished as snow would blow in through all the small openings. Also, in the winter when it was very cold and snow was on the ground Joseph would saddle the plow horse for the children to take to school in Frances. Being Catholics they soon got together with other local families and started building a beautiful little, Holy Family Church, with its grave yard that our still in use today. The first parents and some of their children are buried there.

The family name dates back to the middle 1300s where a dairy farm was first started and has continued to this day. In 2010, there was a Guggenbickler daughter and her husband living in the old Frances home place and operating a small dairy farm with a newer barn. It looked to be back breaking work that few could stay with.

When I was a little boy my mom would make arrangements with Aunt Margaret (Maggie) Guggenbickler and Aunt Klara Anna Wood to spend part of our summer vacation with them, first at the old home stead, later in the homes they bought in Frances next to the highway and the the Catholic Church. It was there that we could hear the cow bells echoing off the hillsides. The steam engine with its cars making stops down through the valley picking up milk cans and dropping off empties at platforms built for the purpose near the farms. My brother and I never tired of all the new people to meet and places to visit. Like the town's old school.

Back then there were buildings in the town along with a general store with a post office. There was also a old water tower in town to service the steam engines. Most all of Frances is gone now. There once were several sawmills that kept men busy cutting old growth trees and a paycheck to support their families. Now the track has all been removed to make way for a walking trail that few use. The trains were often seen loaded with lumber headed for cities and needs for more homes. More mills and towns were located both up and down the track. The really big saw mills and fish cannery's were down at Grays Harbor. They are gone too as their supply of fish and trees dried up and trucking became easy to use with the work what was left.

Bio Courtesy of Contributor Martin Burrell, #46932334