Made by William James: Descendant of Colfax pioneer donates furniture to Perkins House

Roderick and Hsiuchih Gale pose next to Rod’s great-great-grandfather’s, William James hand-made furniture. James was a Colfax pioneer.

More than 110 years has not dimmed the intricate workmanship of three hand-hewn wood pieces made by William James, a pioneer at Colfax.

James’ great-great-grandson, Roderic Gale, drove from Seattle to Colfax Tuesday with the three pieces in tow and left them at the Perkins House.

A chest of drawers, a straight-backed chair (likely made from trees grown in Colfax), and a footstool have now joined other historic items at the mansion.

“You can only pass from family to family for so long before it has no meaning,” said Gale.

Gale left the furniture at the Perkin’s House because he wants the history behind it to be treasured and preserved.

A fifth-generation ancestor of James, Gale is moving to Sacramento from Seattle with his wife Hsiuchih, and didn’t want his children or their children to one day give the furniture away.

“So this [furniture] sitting inside a home of the era means something,” he said.

Whitman Historical Society archivist Ed Garrison recounted the story of James settling in Colfax in an interview with the Gazette Jan. 15.

James, born in Nebraska, eventually worked his way up to secretary of state. After the Nebraska governor and lieutenant governor were impeached in 1871, James was appointed governor and served for the next 18 months.

Then, for reasons unknown to Garrison, James decided to head west with his wife and five children to Colfax. James took a job as registrar at the Colfax land office.

Garrison, who has been a member of the historical society and worked on the Perkins House since 1978, said he was going through old relics at Perkins and found an old wooden mug that looked out of place.

“Nothing else looked like this wooden mug,” he said. Inside was a note from James to James A. Perkins, with the words, “From the governor of Nebraska.”

Apparently the two pioneers had become good friends, Garrison said.

James and his family settled in Colfax in 1877, and he lived the rest of his life in the town, until 1921.

Each relic has a story behind it. The footstool has a graying wrap of tooled leather covering a finely carved wood base.

Gale said a relative of James was getting married and was given a buckskin for a present, so the story goes. James offered to beautify the skin and use it on a piece of furniture, eventually creating the footstool.

James left a small signature on the bottom of the footstool, dated 1915.

The chest of drawers, dyed a deep, rich, red hue, is actually cut from old shipping crates, used in the late 1800s.

An inspection of the interior boards on the drawers reveals some of them were from shipments to Colfax, Gale said.

And family legend has it the chair was made from trees grown on James’ 80 acres of land.

Gale said he was more than happy to be donating the furniture to the Perkin’s House.

“I feel really good,” he said.