| During her 102 years, Luella Charlton has lived
in only two houses. She was born in the three-storied, cupola-crowned
mansion built across Court Street from the Capitol by her great-grandfather,
Edwin Cooke, which was razed in 1938 to make way for the state
library. Her second home was built by Luella and her husband
Carl on 23rd. Street and she has lived there for 73 years. A
scullery table from the basement of the great old house, refinished
many years ago by her husband, is still in use. Her piano is
more than a century old, having been brought to Salem by ship
after a journey around South America.
The Salem of her youth is remembered by many other sites
that no longer exist. One was the ornate East School, located
east of the 12th Street railroad track, between Marion and
Center Streets where a Safeway store stands today. She remembers
a schoolmate caught on the track and losing a leg to a passing
train. "What a terrible place to build a school!"
she remarked in an interview of January, 2000. Luella remembers
Civil War veterans sometimes visited the school. "In
those days, we'd have the old soldiers come and tell stories."
Although Luella excelled in the school, she was like most
other girls her age and did not go on to college.
One teenage experience Luella can share with those of today
was her love of driving a car. A car salesman took the Patton
family on a test spin and then told Luella to get behind the
wheel. "I slid into the driver's seat and it started
to snow!" She chuckled as she told the story. "I
was a brave kid!" After a minimal written driving test,
she drove the family everywhere on the unpaved, bumpy roads.
But not very fast: "Once I got up to 35 (mph). Mother
said, "You get back down there where you belong!"
When the family visited her maternal grandmother in Gresham,
Luella drove the open Studebaker. "We'd wrap hot bricks
for our feet, take extra coats and a lunch. It was an all
day trip." In this car she drove her parents and sister
through downtown Salem streets to celebrate Armistice Day
in 1918. "Everybody tootin' and yellin'! How happy we
were"! She did not give up driving until she was past
90.
Luella's husband Carl was working for the State Penitentiary
when their son Robert was born in 1927. Carl later joined
the Salem police force.
He died in the 1950s, having served as a Salem City Councilor
following his retirement as Assistant Chief of Police. Luella
lives alone, has some help, but does much of her own housework.
She uses a cane, but spurns a walker. She does admit that
her knees hurt, and told her interviewer, "I should have
had knee replacement surgery 20 years ago. If I were a few
years younger, I'd sure go at it!" She feels it's too
late now: "I'd waste a year getting over it - I can't
spare the time!" She never expected her knees to become
101 year old: both her parents died before they were 60. Her
sight is good, however, and she still reads magazines without
her glasses. She has never smoked and enjoys eating fresh
fruits and vegetables. She says she owes her long life to
"work and determination".
Luella has a busy life, even today. Her telephone rings twice
as she is being interviewed and appointment of all kinds are
made, including one with her hairdresser. " I look pretty
darn good. I'll admit that," she said. She told about
weekly visits with a next door neighbor: "We watch television
until the weather comes on and then go home. You don't get
bored with each other in an hour and twenty...One drink and
a little cracker...And you know, that's nice!"
In her living room are photographs of Luella's seven grand-
and great-grandchildren. She lives surrounded by the love
of her family, her friends, and a century of Salem memories.
On February, 2002, Luella celebrated her 104th birthday -
other than that, nothing much has changed!
Compiled by Virginia Green
Bibliography:
"Lady of Three Centuries", Darlene Strozut, Northeast
Senior News, Marion-Polk Edition, January 2000, page 21
"Centenarian keeps history alive", David Kravets,
Statesman Journal, Salem, OR 1999
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