Remembering remittance men in Cannon Beach

Published 5:00 pm Thursday, August 29, 2013

The 10th Annual Cannon Beach Cottage & Garden Tour is just around the corner and boy am I ready!

Each year, I feel a little sense of panic and doom. A pessimist at heart, I am always prepared for the worst. Last year, just a week before the tour, I was in a fender bender and got whiplash and a bruised ego. The year before, I lost my mind Im still waiting for it to return.

However, in my third year as head of the Cottage Tour committee, I think I might be getting the hang of it all.

This year, we have more homes and gardens than ever, which has meant more details to be researched and more volunteers to be discovered. Interested? Call me!

This year, I have had the opportunity to work with Cannon Beach Cottages author Jill Grady. Jill has been a gem to work with! Without the certified consent of Jill Grady (Im sure shell forgive me) Id like to give a sneak peek of the presentation Jill will be giving on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Tolovana Inn.

The title is: Remittance Men of Cannon Beach. Heard about them? If you have, you are a step ahead of us all!

The first phone conversation I had with Jill Grady, she asked if I had seen Downton Abbey. I admitted that I hadnt (I havent had cable or a television in almost a decade.)

She explained that the show goes into some detail about inheritance. Remittance men and women were often from British aristocracy.

They were family members that were asked to leave and given a remittance to do so. This remittance was either given as a lump sum or over a period of time.

There were several reasons why these men may have been asked to leave, but the main reason was that they were not likely to inherit.

The first-born of aristocratic British families happened to inherit, while the remaining siblings received a minimal amount of money and were sent away to places like British Columbia and even other parts of America and Canada.

One of the most well-known remittance men of Cannon Beach is Herbert Logan. In 1891 Logan used his remittance money to finance the construction of the famous 111-curve road from Seaside to Cannon Beach to open up this area to tourism. He also constructed the first hotel on the north end of Cannon Beach, the Elk Creek Hotel.

The remittance men not only brought their money with them, but their habits and ideals. Logan enjoyed his formal candle-lit dinners served by his Chinese servant, and others, like Astbury, introduced rugby to the area.

Some remittance men in the area did not fare as well as others. Stories abound of Joe Walsh and his drunken treks back from Seaside. For the most part, these men were ostracized and taken advantage of.

Few were able to make names for themselves and achieve any kind of success.

Nevertheless, they impacted Cannon Beach in many ways. They were different characters who saw the beauty of a quiet and secluded Cannon Beach. As Cannon Beach resident Peter Lindsey says in his book, I guess every small town has had its characters, but Cannon Beach has been blessed with a particularly rich vein, a mother lode.

Want to hear more? Join us at noon Saturday, Sept. 14 in the Tolovana Inn. This is a catered event, though, so get your tickets in advance. Just $20 for food and a great lecture.