Lynden is an undeniably special place. I grew up in Iowa, and when I moved here in my mid-20s, visiting Lynden felt like being back home, where my extended family grew up on farms and in charming small towns.
Every 25 years, beginning in 1916, Lynden has commemorated the 1891 incorporation of the town — but its history wends back further than that. And at the heart of the story is Phoebe Judson.
I recently talked with Gary Vis, Executive Director of Lynden’s Chamber of Commerce and a lifelong resident, to learn Phoebe’s story and also the ways the community plans to celebrate Lynden’s 125th birthday throughout the year.
“I can remember when Lynden was a town of 3,800 people,” Vis says. “And I didn’t know it then, but I had an opportunity to meet some of the historical figures in our community.”
To a young Vis, these were simply kind folks who good-naturedly teased him or helped him pump up his bike tire. But they, like Phoebe Judson, were centrally tied to Lynden’s earlier days — and the community it has grown into.
Phoebe Newton Goodell was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1831 and moved to Ohio as a young girl. At the age of 17, she married Holden Allen Judson, and in 1853, the couple made the daunting wagon train trek to the Washington Territories.
(Very late in her long life, Phoebe would pen her memoir, “A Pioneer’s Search for an Ideal Home,” recounting the trip and the experience of settling into the Pacific Northwest.)
“Phoebe was truly an incredible woman,” Vis shares. “Not only the fact that she came out here — but when she came out, they stopped so she could give birth.
They stopped for a day, she gave birth, and then they continued on.”
The couple first claimed land in Grand Mound, but moved a year later, in 1854, to nearby Claquato, along the Skookumchuck River. Judson was elected to the Washington State Legislature in 1858 and the couple moved to Olympia, where they became friends with John Tennant, a Whatcom County homesteader.
Always in search of “an ideal home,” the Judsons — who now had four children of their own and one adopted son (they would later lose a daughter in infancy) — moved to Whidbey Island in 1866.
In 1869, the couple met James Alexander Patterson, who owned land in Whatcom County’s Nooksack Valley.
“They met this gentleman named Colonel Patterson — nobody knows if he was a real colonel or not,” Vis recounts with a laugh. “He was a pioneer up here who had married a Lummi member.”
The couple had two daughters, but historians believe the wife, Lizzie, left Patterson for another man and died soon after of tuberculosis.
“So he’s left with a farm, a house and two daughters,” Vis continues. “He made a deal with the Judsons: You get my land if you’ll take care of my two daughters.”
The Judson family agreed and moved to the Nooksack Valley in March of 1870.
“As you can imagine, it was a little more of a journey from Bellingham up to Lynden back then,” Vis says with a chuckle. “It was a two-day trip by steamer on the Nooksack, and then they had to take canoes.”
Two large logjams on the river made the trip even more arduous, requiring that canoes and all cargo be taken out of the water and moved around the blockages on foot. Later, Holden and Phoebe would raise money to hire folks to clear those logjams, so the area could enjoy an easier time getting in and out, and better trade.
In 1874, the Judsons opened the area’s first post office, in their home. “That’s why they had to choose a name,” says Vis.
Phoebe chose the name Lynden, inspired by a Thomas Campbell poem. She changed the spelling from “Linden” to “Lynden,” thinking it looked prettier that way.
Lynden was not officially incorporated as a town until 1891, but the Judsons were instrumental in the area’s development in the years between their arrival and incorporation. Holden Judson was elected the town’s first mayor on March 16, 1891.
“Phoebe valued education and started the first school in her home with one of her own children, another settler’s child, and three Native American children,” Vis says.
The couple eventually decided to build a proper schoolhouse, donating the land and some building materials; they raised money to complete the project.
“She then went on to start the Northwest Normal School, the predecessor to Western Washington University,” Vis continues. “The school was a way to teach teachers that very much included women — in a time when women weren’t even allowed to vote.”
Phoebe also reached out to the Native Americans in the area and made sure pioneer bachelors always had a place to go. It was a highlight for these men to come to the Judson home at Christmas time, as the Judsons always had freshly spun wool socks to give them, as well as a warm meal.
Phoebe was also a midwife, known to hike for two days through woods and swamp to help anyone in need.
“There are lots of incredible little stories of this special woman caring about her neighbors, caring about education, making sure the community came up right,” Vis says.
Phoebe Judson passed away in Lynden on January 16, 1926. All schools and businesses closed on the day of her funeral so everyone could attend the service.
“Phoebe is very much what we in Lynden — and everyone in Whatcom County — holds dear,” Vis says. “She’s truly inspirational.”
A black walnut tree, planted by Phoebe in 1889, still stands right outside Vis’s office.
“For a long time, I thought Phoebe was called ‘the mother of Lynden’ because she was the first white woman up in this neck of the woods,” Vis says. “But then you see everything she did for people and realize it’s much more than that; this is a woman who took care of people, regardless of their station in life. If you needed a hand, you needed a hand.”
Lynden has planned several events throughout 2016 to commemorate the town’s 125th birthday: from a beard-growing contest to old-fashioned games during this year’s Raspberry Festival, and other fun events at the Farmers Day Parade.
Visit www.lynden.org for more information about Lynden’s 125th and the events planned to mark the occasion.
