The Educator’s House

I started out with a postcard from around 1910 showing Washington County School Superintendent M.C. Case at his desk in Hillsboro, Oregon. Papers stacked high, a typewriter on the desk. His business card has office hours listed as “Wednesdays and Saturdays.” Just another piece of ephemera from Oregon’s past.

But when I started researching Melvin Cyrus Case, I discovered something much richer: the story of a Michigan farm boy who became one of Washington County’s most dedicated educators, and a Hillsboro house that sheltered teachers for over seven decades. It is a story about resilience and reinvention. A farm boy who lost his father at birth, pursued education despite poverty, endured a failed marriage, came west for a new beginning, and dedicated his life to building Washington County’s school system.

As County Superintendent, he personally examined and certified hundreds of teachers, maintaining high standards. In 1908, more than half of applicants failed his examinations. “Writers allege that the questions are getting more difficult each year,” the Argus newspaper reported. Melvin believed that children deserved the best-trained teachers, and he refused to lower his standards.

But it’s also about legacy. Melvin and Josephine were both educators. Their daughters became educators. For over seventy years, the house at 356 SE 6th Ave. was home to teachers who shaped young minds in Hillsboro and beyond.

When we talk about historic preservation, we often focus on architecture. But houses tell human stories. The Case/Megargel house wasn’t just a good example of T-shaped farmhouse architecture. It was where Washington County’s School Superintendent raised two daughters who became teachers. It was where Clara Megargel lived for 73 years, teaching second graders while tending the Douglas Fir tree in her yard.

That house is gone now, demolished sometime after Clara died. But the story remains. This is their story.

The House Before the Case Family

The house at 356 SE 6th. Ave. was already old when the Cases came to live in it. Built around 1875 in the T-shaped farmhouse style common to early Hillsboro, by the time Melvin and Josephine walked through the front door, it carried nearly four decades of Oregon pioneer history within its walls.

The family who occupied it just before the Cases were John and Leodisa “Disa” Landess and their story was as Oregon as stories come. John Landess was born in Kentucky on January 25, 1823, the last descendant of a famous Kentucky pioneer family. In 1847, he came to Oregon with his parents, the wagon train enduring several fights with Indians along the way. He was 24 years old. He took up a donation land claim near Scholls embracing several hundred acres, and with a brief interruption, eleven months in the California gold fields in 1849, he remained in Washington County for the rest of his life. In 1862, he married Miss Disa Ingram in Washington County.

Leodisa Ingram had her own pioneer credentials. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 26, 1847, she came to Oregon at the age of five with her parents, crossing the plains by ox-team in 1852. She grew up in Washington County and joined the Christian Church at age 14. Her husband John was a descendant of the Boone family of Kentucky, the family made famous, as her obituary put it, “by the deeds of Daniel Boone, the pathfinder and warrior.”

John and Disa farmed their Scholls land claim for decades, raising six children. In 1894, in their later years, they moved from the farm into town, to the house on Sixth Street in Hillsboro. John died there on September 29, 1904, aged 81. Disa continued living in the house as a widow for four more years, until she died on October 9, 1908, aged 61. Her funeral was held at the late residence on 6th. Ave., with interment at the family cemetery in Farmington.

With Leodisa’s passing, the house passed to her heirs. The Cases purchased it later that same year or in early 1909, the Hillsboro Cultural Resource Inventory gives the purchase date as 1908, though a later passage in the same document erroneously says 1907. Given that Leodisa was still living at the house when she died in October 1908, late 1908 or early 1909 is the most likely date of transfer.

A Michigan Farm Boy

Melvin Cyrus Case was born on April 14, 1859, in Dundee, Monroe County, Michigan. His father, Cyrus Case (originally from New York State), died the same year Melvin was born, leaving his mother Matilda Morse Case to raise her children alone.

The 1870 census shows 13-year-old Melvin living in Dundee with his widowed mother Matilda (age 44) and his sisters Elizabeth (17) and Ellen (9). He was attending school, learning despite the hardship of growing up without a father in post-Civil War Michigan.

By 1880, at age 23, Melvin was still pursuing his education. The census that year found him living in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, with his new in-laws, the Cutler family. He had married their daughter, Mary E. Cutler, on December 23, 1879, when she was 19 and he was 22. His occupation? Student. Even as a married man in his early twenties, Melvin was determined to finish his education.

After finishing high school, he attended two terms at Michigan Agricultural College in Lansing (now Michigan State University) and then graduated from the State Normal College at Ypsilanti (now Eastern Michigan University). This was ambitious for a young man from his background, but Melvin understood that education was the path forward.

First Marriage, Twelve Years of Teaching

In 1886, Melvin and Mary welcomed their son, Raymond Albert Case. By then Melvin had already begun what would become a twelve-year teaching career in the Ypsilanti schools, a substantial professional life built in the same community where he had trained as a teacher and married into the Cutler family.

But the marriage didn’t last. Sometime between 1886 and 1892, Melvin and Mary divorced, an uncommon but not unheard-of occurrence in that era. Raymond, just a young child, almost certainly stayed with his mother. That was the near-universal practice of the time, and nothing in the record suggests otherwise. Mary E. Cutler would raise her son in Michigan and live until 1910. Raymond eventually made his way to Los Angeles, where he was living as a grown man of 29 when his father died in Oregon in 1916.

For Melvin, the divorce meant the end of the life he had built over twelve years in Ypsilanti, his career, his marriage, and daily life with his young son. By 1892, he was ready for a fresh start somewhere else entirely. He came west to Oregon, leaving behind the Michigan chapter and the son he would not raise.

A New Beginning in Oregon

In July 1892, 33-year-old Melvin Case arrived in Oregon and began teaching in Washington County schools. He taught at Hillsboro, Cornelius, Beaverton, Centerville, Dilley, and at various other points throughout the county, spending his first years building a new reputation in a new place. He also taught in St. Helens. He had arrived with nothing but his education, his experience, and his determination and he would spend 24 years turning those into something worth leaving behind.

Around 1896, Melvin married again. His bride was Mary Josephine Shearer, a fellow teacher who had come to Oregon as a child. Born in Kansas in October 1867, she moved with her parents James and Eliza Shearer from Atchison County, Kansas to Forest Grove around 1880. She grew up in Washington County, attended local schools, and became a teacher herself. By the time she met Melvin, she was teaching in Hillsboro’s grade schools. They found common ground in their shared dedication to education.

The 1900 census shows them settled in Hillsboro, married four years, with their first daughter Mattie Elizabeth, age 2. In 1904, their second daughter Clara Matilda was born. Both girls would follow their parents into teaching.

The Superintendent

By the early 1900s, Melvin C. Case had become one of the most respected educators in Washington County. He served first as Superintendent of the Hillsboro public schools for three years, then went on to serve two terms as Superintendent of Washington County, a county-wide position overseeing all the rural schools scattered across the region. It was a significant progression, from managing a town’s schools to managing an entire county’s educational system.

This was no small responsibility. As County Superintendent, Melvin coordinated teachers, managed budgets, dealt with school boards, and worked to improve educational standards throughout the county. But one of his most important duties was examining and certifying new teachers.

In August 1904, newspapers reported: “BOARD GRANTS 27 LICENSES TO TEACH – Superintendent M. C. Case Hands Out Papers to Successful Applicants.” The Washington County Examining Board had completed testing applicants, and out of the class, 27 were granted certificates to teach.

Melvin took this responsibility seriously. In 1908, another examination showed just how rigorous his standards were. The headline read: “APPLICANTS RECEIVE PAPERS TO TEACH – Three in County get First Grade – Half Dozen get Thirds. Over half of the Visitors Failed.” Of the 36 who applied for teaching certificates, only 19 passed. As the newspaper noted, “Writers allege that the questions are getting more difficult each year.” The examination board consisted of School Superintendent M. C. Case, Professor J. W. Marsh of Forest Grove, and Miss Helen Murray of Hillsboro.

The postcard from around 1910 shows him in his Hillsboro office, surrounded by the paperwork of running a county school system, office hours limited to Wednesdays and Saturdays because he spent the rest of his time visiting schools throughout the county.

His wife Josephine continued teaching in Hillsboro’s public high school, and together they embodied the progressive ideal of the educated professional couple working to improve their community.

The House on 6th. Avenue

In late 1908 or early 1909, the Case family purchased the house at 356 SE 6th. Ave. from the heirs of Leodisa Landess. The pioneer widow had died in that house just weeks or months before, ending forty-plus years of Landess family presence in Washington County. For the Cases, it was the beginning of something new. For the house, it was a transition from one kind of Oregon story to another, from pioneer farmers to professional educators.

The house was solidly built with square nails (hand-forged, pre-1890s construction), featured stained glass windows, and sat on a brick foundation with later concrete additions. But it needed updating for a modern family.

The Cases got to work. They remodeled extensively, replacing the old outhouse and wooden sink with a gabled “ell” addition that housed a proper kitchen with indoor plumbing. They updated the interior, making it suitable for a family of educators who would need space for books, papers, and the quiet necessary for grading and lesson planning.

The address became more than just a house. It became an educator’s home, where two teachers raised two daughters who would themselves become teachers.

The Final Years

By 1910, Melvin had completed his terms as superintendent, owned his home free and clear, and was raising two daughters (Mattie, 11, and Clara, 5) with Josephine. His son Raymond, from his first marriage, was grown and living independently in Los Angeles, the boy he had left behind in Michigan when he came west in 1892 had become a man Melvin barely knew.

Alongside the house on 6th. Ave., Melvin had also accumulated significant rural landholdings in Washington County, an undivided half-interest in over 400 acres in Section 26, Township 3 North, Range 5 West of the Willamette Meridian. For a man who had arrived in Oregon with nothing but his education and determination, this represented remarkable achievement.

Around 1912, Melvin’s terms as County Superintendent ended. He continued working in education for a few more years, but his health was beginning to fail.

On June 12, 1915, a year before his death, Melvin sat down and wrote his last will and testament. He directed that all his just debts be paid. To his son Raymond he left the sum of five dollars, a token bequest that acknowledged the son he had not raised while directing the bulk of the estate elsewhere. To his daughters Mattie and Clara, he left all the residue and remainder of his property, to be divided equally between them.

But there was a careful provision for Josephine. Melvin directed that his wife have the full use of all his property for her support and maintenance during her natural life, so long as she remained single. Should she remarry, her right to use the property would immediately cease, except for her dower right in the land. It was a provision that protected both his widow and his daughters’ future inheritance. He named Josephine as Executrix and gave her the power to sell any property without requiring a court order. He trusted her completely to manage what they had built together.

In late 1915, Melvin began experiencing the symptoms of what doctors would diagnose as heart trouble, augmented by Bright’s disease. He was attended by physicians for many months, but there was little they could do.

On Tuesday evening, August 8, 1916, at 9:30 PM, Melvin Cyrus Case died at his home on 6th. Ave. He was 57 years old. He had spent 24 years building Washington County’s school system, from his arrival in July 1892 to his final breath in the house on Sixth Street.

The Hillsboro Argus newspaper memorialized him: “WELL KNOWN EDUCATOR DIES HERE THIS WEEK – Prof. M. C. Case Passes at Home; After Many Months’ Illness – SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT FOR YEARS – Also Principal of Hillsboro and Other County Schools.

His funeral was held at the family home at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, with Reverends Myers and Smith officiating. He was buried at Hillside Cemetery in Forest Grove, his wife Josephine’s hometown, where the Masons conducted the burial service. Their shared headstone reads simply: JOSEPHINE S. 1867–1934 / MELVIN C. 1859–1916, with the square and compass of the Masons carved at the top.

He left behind his widow Josephine, two daughters (Mattie, 18, and Clara, 12), and his son Raymond (29). He was a member of the Elks, the Masons, and the Knights of Pythias.

Josephine’s Long Vigil

When Melvin died, he left behind a substantial estate for 1916. The estate held over 400 acres of rural land and the house on 6th. Ave. Josephine managed the estate carefully. She published notice to creditors in the Hillsboro Independent, as required by law. She paid the debts, funeral expenses, doctor bills, taxes, administration costs.

And she never remarried. Whether from grief, from practicality, or from devotion to the terms Melvin had set, Josephine remained a widow for 18 years. In doing so, she preserved intact the daughters’ ultimate inheritance: the land, the property, the home on 6th. Ave. that Melvin had entrusted to her care.

She continued teaching in Hillsboro’s schools. She watched Mattie grow up and marry, becoming Mattie Litch. She watched Clara grow up and follow both parents into the classroom. On July 27, 1934, Josephine Shearer Case died, 18 years after the man she had been married to for two decades. She was buried beside him at Hillside Cemetery in Forest Grove.

The Estate Finally Settled

Josephine’s death created an unusual legal situation. Melvin’s estate, opened in 1916, had never been fully closed. The land holdings remained, technically still in the estate. With Josephine gone, someone had to finish what she had started.

Clara Case Megargel stepped forward. In December 1935, she was appointed Administratrix de bonis non with the Will Annexed of her father’s estate, a Latin legal phrase meaning she was appointed to administer goods not yet distributed after the original executor could no longer act. Nearly twenty years after her father’s death, Clara was officially closing the chapter.

The final accounting confirmed that Raymond’s bequest had been paid by Josephine on March 2, 1918. All claims, funeral expenses, and administration costs had been settled. There were no inheritance taxes owed. The remaining property consisted entirely of real estate, and Clara petitioned the court to decree that it pass to her and her sister Mattie Case Litch as the sole residuary legatees named in their father’s will.

The estate of Melvin Cyrus Case was finally and fully closed of record.

The Legacy Continues

Clara inherited the house at 356 SE 6th. Ave. from her parents. She lived there for the rest of her long life, continuing the tradition of educators her parents had established. She made her own additions to the property, constructing apartment spaces at the northeast and southeast corners (appearing to date from the 1940s-50s) to provide rental income.

In 1948, Clara attended a meeting of the National Federation of Woman’s Clubs and brought home a Douglas Fir seedling. She planted it in the yard of the old house, and it grew into a magnificent tree that became something of a local landmark.

Mattie Elizabeth Case (1898–1983) became an educator and married, becoming Mattie Elizabeth Litch. She would live her entire life in Washington County, dying at age 84 in Hillsboro and being buried at Fir Lawn Memorial Park.

Clara Matilda Case (1904–1992) married and became Clara Megargel, teaching second grade in the David Douglas School District. She was the last living link to the educator’s household on Sixth Street, and she kept that link alive for 73 years.

The House Is Gone

The house at 356 SE 6th. Ave. no longer stands. It was demolished sometime after Clara died in 1992, and the lot is now occupied by a nondescript commercial building, metal siding, flat lines, no memory of what came before.

But we have a photograph from the early 1980s showing the house as it was: a modest Victorian farmhouse with a front porch, wood siding, and mature trees. It is a quiet, dignified house. The kind of house two teachers would build and keep. The kind of house where a 12-year-old girl would grow up after her father died, watched over by a widowed mother managing an estate and a salary and a household and a grief she never spoke of in the public record.

Before the Cases, it sheltered Oregon pioneers who had crossed the plains by ox-team and wagon train, who had farmed donation land claims and panned for California gold and watched Washington County grow from wilderness into farmland into town. After the Cases, it was gone.

When the physical structure is gone, the documentation becomes the legacy. The probate records, the will, the census entries, the newspaper obituaries, the postcard of a man at his desk on a Wednesday or Saturday morning in 1910, these are what remain of Melvin Cyrus Case, the Michigan farm boy who came to Oregon in July 1892 and spent 24 years building something worth passing on.

Research Sources: U.S. Census records 1870–1910 • Michigan marriage records • Oregon death certificates • Birth certificates • Washington County newspaper archives 1904–1916 • Washington County Probate Records, Estate of Melvin Cyrus Case (No. 2149) including will, inventory and appraisement, petition for allowance, court order, and final account • City of Hillsboro Cultural Resource Inventory (1980) • Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1921–1948 • Polk’s Directory • Find A Grave • Real Photo Postcard from author’s collection