A Tehachapi pioneer

I never cease to be amazed at the things I find in closets. Recently I had a whole patio full of old timers laughing and talking and remembering.

They had all come home for the weekend for the Old Timers Picnic and they always land on my patio when there is nothing else to do except laugh, eat, and maybe have a beer or two.

One of my late husband’s friends said he remembered that Ed had some old photos which, of course, everyone had to see. Up on the closet shelf was a box I had forgotten about. I had never once opened it and had no idea what was in it.

It was an old banker’s box that was a mottled black with white dots and when I opened it I discovered it was a treasure trove of old, old legal documents of Ed’s family – Wiggins, Dutys, and Wefferlings.

I did not share it with everyone, and upon searching briefly, did not find any old photos. Later after everyone had gone home, I sat on the floor and felt like a little girl about to open a secret treasure chest – and boy was it!

It contained all of Ed’s father and grandfather’s legal documents including birth and death certificates, deeds to land, paid off bills from Tehachapi Hospital, obituaries, and more.

I took the box to Ed’s brother Larry so that it could stay in his family. Larry exclaimed, “I remember this old box!”

He and his wife Ellen had a joyous time going through all the old paperwork. To some it would seem like just a bunch of receipts, but to them it was a history of their family who were some of the first settlers here. I kept one document, which I promised to return, and that I am going to feature here today.

I came across a power of attorney giving Ed’s father, Edward Marion Wiggins, power over the Summit Hotel, which was owned at that time by Ed’s grandmother, Luella Wefferling.

It was dated in June 1950, three months after I was born. No day of the week was listed, but left blank to be filled in later. What I found the most interesting was that it was signed by W.L. Woods, City Judge. I knew Judge Woods when I was in high school and served as a Rainbow Girl. He was one of my advisors in the late ‘60s.

The power of attorney’s description states that Edward M. Wiggins was appointed “for the purpose of conducting that business of my hotel, known as the Summit Hotel in the township of Tehachapi, County of Kern, State of California, including the right to examine the books, collect rents, manage and hire employees, if necessary.”

When you stand almost anywhere in the city of Tehachapi, you can see a giant cedar tree planted by Mrs. Wefferling’s husband, to celebrate their marriage. It towers above everything else downtown.

Ed told me that he spent the night with her once at that house and was really scared all night, “because she was old.” I looked at her photo and thought she looked like my great grandmother. Funny how our attitudes change the older we get.

He also told me that after she died Ed and his best friend snuck into the old house and “borrowed” some of her jewelry so that Ed could give it to his little girlfriend.

Needless to say, they got caught, and their punishment was they could not play with each other for a whole year!

Through that year Ed and his best friend still saw each other at school and would sometimes go to the movies and sit by each other. Later they went through high school together and even played football together. They remained friends until Ed’s passing in April of 2014.

I love old history and was really happy to have seen these records. The Summit Hotel was mostly destroyed two years later in the Tehachapi Earthquake, but that’s another story.