Mrs. Eliza Bernier, Lewis Pioneer, Dies at Big Lake
In the passing of Mrs. Eliza Bernier, 78 years, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Annie Springsteen of Big Lake, Wash., November 3, 1930, the community lost one of its earliest pioneer women. Mrs. Bernier was born in Indiana in 1852. One of her earliest memories was when the family crossed the plains in acovered wagon and settled on her father's donation claim near the present site of the city of Walla Walla.
Mrs. Bernier's father, Marcel Bernier, was the first white settler in Lewis county and was a member of the early Hudson Bay Company. She received her educaiton in a convent in Vancouver, Wash., and was an accomplished musician. She lived on Newaukum prairie in Lewis county, from 1871 up to the pst ten years, when she lived in Skagit county, making her home with Mrs. Springsteen. Surviving relatives are her two daughters, Mrs. Annie Springsteen of Big Lake, Wash., and Mrs. Nellie Sandstrom of Oakland, Calif.; and one son, M. Bernier of Los Angeles, Calif.
Source: The Chehalis Bee-Nugget, Friday, 12 Dec 1930, p. 21.
[Editor's Note: Eliza Martin married Peter Bernier in 1871.]
Transcribed by Jenny Tenlen. She has no further information on this individual.