Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Wooden Washing Machine |
Object Name |
Washer, Clothes |
Description |
Wooden washing machine used on Travis Creek, off Lump Creek; half oak barrel with hand operated agitator on top and wooden wringer, operated by a foot pedal on a four legged wooden stand. |
Provenance |
This item used in the Leu house on Travis Creek. The lenders are Ed & Ruth Leu, long-time residents of Clancy. Ed Leu grew up on a ranch by Travis Creek, about nine miles up Lump Gulch Road, near Clancy. After leaving this vicinity for many years, Ed and Ruth returned to Clancy by 1980 and have resided in this area until 2019. Ruth DeBree Leu's mother, Bernice Swan DeBree, also grew up in the Travis Creek area. Bernice's parents, Charles ad Mary Swan owned a ranch on Travis Creek, near the Leu Ranch. Ed worked as a meat cutter and the Leu's owned their own butcher shop for 40 years. They have four children. The Leu Ranch was homesteaded by Jacob Leu in the late 1890s and the family was residing there by the 1900 census. Jacob's son Herman worked the Leu Ranch his entire life. Herman is Ed's father and Jacob is his grandfather. Jacob Leu was born in 1865 in Switzerland. He arrived in the Clancy area with his wife, Mina, in the late 1890s. They homesteaded on Big Buffalo Creek (Travis Creek). They had two children, Herman (1897-1974) and Karl (1901-1993). Herman married Hilda Guettler and they had two sons: Harold (1926) and Edward (1928-2019). Ed and Harold attended the one-room Travis Creek schoolhouse (still standing). In the eight years at that school, there were only ten different children. The teacher lived in a cabin on their ranch. Ed's brother, Harold, married Ruth DeBree Leu's sister, Joanne. Harold continued to work the Leu Ranch until his retirement when he and his wife Joanne moved closer to Clancy. Information based on notes compiled by Jamie Guenther from an oral history interview with Ed Leu in 2014, along with newspaper clippings, census date, etc. Leu homestead land patents and photos in museum files. Also see globlm.gov survey map for 9N4W surveyed in 1912, depicting the Leu Ranch location by name. |
Collection |
Household |
Caption |
Washing machine from the Leu Ranch in Clancy. |
People |
Leu, Edward |
Used |
Leu Ranch |
Catalog Number |
L2019.251.1 |
Year Range from |
1900 |
Year Range to |
1940 |
Date |
1900-1940 |
Search Terms |
Clancy, MT |
Subjects |
Hand operated Washer Washer Washing Machine Wooden Washer |