If Mr. Briggs could see his old home now, he would find many changes. The little pines, firs, and cedars are giant in size, real patriarchs of the forest. English ivy covers the farm buildings, and the box hedges are broad and rambling. The nursery stock forms a rose-garden lawn with panels of the same old-fashioned roses that were planted seventy-five years ago. Filbert, walnut, and holly orchards have replaced some of the original trees. In those early days, there were two entrances: a large gate for the carriage, and a small picket gate leading to a narrow walk between the hedge and the driveway. At another corner, near the farm buildings, was a secondary entrance designed for farm vehicles and delivery wagons. Woe to the misguided laborer who, inadvertently blundered through the wrong gateway! Much of our knowledge of the early activities was gained from Mr. Briggs’ widow, who lived only a short distance from us. From her we acquired a floral language of technical titles for trees, shrubs, bulbs, and flowers. We ourselves made a special contribution to the time-honored Pacific Coast flora by adding a cutting from the rosebush that our Great-grandfather Chase had brought to New York State, a century and a half ago. We are not pioneers. We are not Webfoots. We are not Oregon mossbacks. We cannot claim relationship to a native son or a native daughter. We simply adopted a friendly Oregon community, which is still animated by the courage and industry of former beauty-loving Oregonians. History of Early Albany Schools _Mary Myrtle Worley_ [Illustration: (uncaptioned)] The account of perhaps the first instruction given in Albany, dates back to the 1840’s. Since there were not enough children in the community for organization of a school, it cannot be classed as one. Mrs. Abraham Hackleman gathered a few small children into her home, a log house which stood in Hackleman’s Grove, and taught them reading, writing and numbers. The following incident illustrates the very busy life of these pioneers: When it came time for the geese to be picked, Mrs. Hackleman did not want to neglect the children, so the geese were brought in, and the picking went on with as little interference with spelling and writing as possible.