Albert Tozier and the New Year’s Bell

Mr. Albert Tozier was proudly a man of Hillsboro, and for 64 consecutive years he carried out a very special task. Beginning in 1872, at age twelve, he rang the bell at the First Methodist Church at the stroke of midnight every New Year’s Eve, announcing the new year to the citizens of Hillsboro. He traveled from as far away as New York City and South America over the years just to keep his streak alive.

I like the story so much that I just may visit the Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery on New Year’s Eve, and if I can find his headstone, I’m going to place a bell on it.

The Tozier family traveled overland from Nebraska to Oregon via the Oregon Trail in 1863, with a team of oxen, settling in Washington County near Hillsboro. The family at the time consisted of Charles, Zerilda, and children Rozella and Albert.

Albert’s father was Judge Charles True Tozier, who served as county sheriff from July 1872 to July 1876. In 1876, he was elected to a two-year term in the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican, representing the county during that year’s legislative session. He served on Hillsboro’s first city council from 1876 to 1877, and in 1877 was elected the city’s second mayor, serving from December 10, 1877, to December 3, 1878. He later served as county judge for four years, and also helped build the First Methodist Church in Hillsboro. Charles died in 1899 and is buried at the Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery.

In 1883, Albert founded the Lewis County Nugget newspaper with his cousin, based in Chehalis, in Lewis County, Washington; the paper was later known as the Chehalis Nugget. In 1885, he became editor and part owner of the Hillsboro Independent (which later merged into the Hillsboro Argus), remaining in that role until 1887. That same year, he also helped found the National Editorial Association, later serving a term as the organization’s president.

Albert went on to serve as secretary of the Oregon Press Association for fifteen years. By 1906, he was working for The Farmer, a paper based in Portland. An early area historian, he collected a great many artifacts related to Oregon’s history, working alongside his sister Edyth, and served as curator of the museum at Champoeg, later part of Champoeg State Park, when it was operated as a museum of the Oregon Historical Society.

In the early 1930s, Albert donated his collection of historical items, books, pictures, maps, and other artifacts, to the Washington County Historical Society. That collection became the foundation for what would grow into the Washington County Museum.

In 1937, poor health finally kept him from ringing the bell at the Methodist Church, ending the 64-year tradition. Tozier died on June 27, 1937, at age 77, and was buried at the Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery.