Milford chronicle., 1955-08-12
OUR AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE
Address by
HERBERT HOOVER
On the Occasion Of his Eighfy-frsf Birfhday
Celebrated by fhe ssofe of Oregon
- at Newberg, Oregon
on Wednesday,, August 10, 1855
on Wednesday. August 10, 1855

IT is indeed great honor 10 have
been invited by the Governor anc
Legislature of Oregon TO spend my
birthday on the scenes Of my boy.
hood.
Also, 1t is a pleasure TO take part
In the dedication of this cottage. It's
restoration and this occasion are
due TO the effort of my boyhood
friend Burt Brown Barker with the
cooperation of Reverend Levi Pen
nington and this community. Mr.
Barker has risen high in the service
of this State and the nation. DIR
Pennington has given this COM
munity years OF spiritual leadership
This is a time and place of stimu-
lated affections and recollections. In
this cottage and orchard, with its
cherries. it's apples and its pears,
spent formative years of my boy
hood. Here / roamed the primitive
forests with their carpets of flowers,
their ferns. their never forgettable
fragrance. There were no legal
limits on the fish you could catch.
No warden demanded to see your
license. From those impressions on
Oregon boys comes always the call
to return to her again and again. /
have omitted any reference to my
boyhood contacts with poison oak
that is not part of the call.
I was brought here 20 years ago
to live in the family of my Uncle DR..
Henry John Minthorns country
doctor.
My first day in Newberg was
spent in making acquaintance with
lovable Aunt Laura. My Aunt was
rather a stern person with disci-
pInarian ideas. She had few words
and they were mostly devoted to
moral requirements. But she re-
laxed at moments when | needed to
go fishing or to explore the woods.
When | arrived on the Oregon
scene she was busy with my girl
cousins making the winter store of
pear butter, from pears which grew
prolifically in this yard. | had never
eaten pear before as my family
circumstances in the Midwest did
not permit that exotic luxury. She
showed me how to stir the kettle
and indicated that / had to keep
going without any stops. But at the
same time she said, "Thee can eat
all the pears thee likes" | liked the
idea. and | liked it too much. And
then she tucked a sick. small boy
into bed. / ceased to eat pears-for
q while.
One of my chores was to split the
wood for stove-size current use. /
have had little opinion of split wood
as a household fuel ever since. But
/ can still hear Aunt Laura calling
me from much more desirable oc-
cupations. ut is time thee gets in
the wood"
My activities hereabouts did not
make any great transformation of
human society. But something else
does warrant the restoration and
dedication of this cottage. That is
expressed in the plaque you have
put upon ii.
This House was the Home of
DR.. Henry John Minthorn,
beloved physician
in this Community"
| am honored to be mentioned on
the plaque.
What you have done here is to
pay a tribute to all the pioneering
country doctors of our Nation.
There are thousands of cottages in
this land which should be marked
with plaques recalling their devo-
ton
John Minthorn was one of those
devoted men. He was born 110 years
ago in the Quaker faith. He prac-
ticed his healing profession mostly
In this State for as years and he
lies buried in this village.
As boy he witnessed the under
grounds in the Midwest, where dur
ing the nights the Quakers trans
ported Negroes escaping from slav-
cry northward to the freedom of
Canada. He reached maturity during
the Civil War and joined the Union
Army out of conviction in the mat
ter of human slavery. Quaker paci-
fism did not extend into that area of
thought. Returning from the War.
he graduated from the medical
schools of Iowa, of Pennsylvania
and OF Ohio. He was equipped with
the full medical skills of his day.
In those early days the patients
often could not pay the doctor. and
Uncle John at intervals in his life
taught school or did missions TO the
Indians for the Government i'm order
TO make ends meet. But even along
with these duties. he was still the
incarnation of the country doctor.