Library News

Denny Ashby Library recently added a new collection to the Washington Rural Heritage: Garfield County Heritage digital collection. The Baldwin Family collection contains 122 new items preserving the history of one of the county’s early pioneer families.

The Denny Ashby Library partnered with Jennifer (Baldwin) Ashby, the director of the Asotin County Library, who upon the passing of her father, Merle Baldwin, inherited her Grandmother Alta Morris Baldwin’s trunk. The Zenas Baldwin family arrived in 1875 and settled just south of Pomeroy where they raised their family of 10 children. Alta’s husband, Ralph Baldwin, was the youngest son of Zenas and Martha Baldwin. His older brother N.O. Baldwin served as postmaster and was sheriff for a time, presiding over the only hanging to take place in Garfield County. Another brother, Charles, served in the Washington State House of Representatives from 1921-1926 and in the Washington State Senate in 1941. The Baldwin family trunk contained the courtship letters of Ralph and Alta, postcards, photographs, and assorted memorabilia pertaining to Garfield County, especially the Ping area where the Ralph Baldwin family farmed. The new collections also contain items shared by another Baldwin descendant, Charles Woody, whose Grandmother, Martha Baldwin Woody, was a sister to Ralph Baldwin.

To encourage visits to the new collection, the library is offering an online scavenger hunt. The Baldwin Scavenger hunt questions can be downloaded from the library’s Facebook page or picked up in person. The first five people to correctly answer all scavenger hunt questions and return them to the library will receive a $10 gift certificate to a local eatery.

Garfield County Heritage documents the early culture, industry, and community life of Garfield County, Wash. The collection is a project of the Denny Ashby Library and local partners, supported by a grant from the Washington State Library with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.