Holly Street Part 2: Ashland’s Faith Healer and Daffodil Paradise

Article Highlights:
(1) Ashland’s Famous Faith Healer
(2) Daffodil Paradise

541 Holly Street: Former home of Ashland’s Famous Faith Healer

Mrs. Susie Jessel (photo from Jessel, no date, title page)

541 Holly Street was the home of nationally renowned faith healer Susie Jessel. She and her family moved to Ashland in 1932, and she lived here until her death in 1966. Her daughter wrote that Susie Jessel treated as many as 300 people a day at times, people who came from all over the country, as well as Canada and Mexico. She treated babies, the elderly, those with tumors, people who were crippled and many more.

Cars parked on Holly Street in the 1940’s, of people going for treatment from Susie Jessel (photo from Jessel, no date, page 62)

The photo above stimulated a memory for my friend Terry Skibby. He told me: “My folks would tour Ashland by car and see the sights when company came. One location was the Susie Jessel place with the large crowds of people. They were in the trailer park and street at the corner of Holly and Idaho Streets. This was in the 1950’s.”

How did she become a healer? Here are Susie Jessel’s own words.

“On April 2, 1891, I arrived. I was born with what they then called a veil or caul over my face. This was to indicate a special gift in a child. I believe now it is just termed a membrane. Mother noticed my gift immediately. She had trouble with her breasts, and she noticed that when my hands would touch them, the pain would leave and before long all pain and fever was gone.

“During the war Daddy’s eye had been injured and had a whitish scum over it. Before I was two years old I started noticing that eye and I would reach up and touch it. Soon the scum started disappearing and the sight returned to that eye. From that time on Daddy called me his ‘little bundle of magic.’

“I can’t remember when I wasn’t carried at all hours of the night to the ailing. Mother would place my hands on the person, and before long they would get relief from pain. And so my healing career started before I was out of the cradle.” (Jessel, no date, page 8)

“After all my research, I’m convinced she was the real thing, a true spiritual healer….” That quote is from author, lawyer and retired SOU business professor Dennis Powers, who researched Jessel and was quoted in John Darling’s 2014 Mail Tribune article. Powers said that she healed by laying on of hands and prayer. She did not ask for payment, but some people would leave money in her apron pocket. She insisted that she did not “do” the healing, that it was entirely God working through her.

People waiting to receive treatment from Susie Jessel (photo from Jessel 1950, page 7)

Time Magazine 1953

Time Magazine even featured Susie Jessel in a 1953 article. It said: “‘Susie,’ as her patients called her, moved to Ashland 23 years ago, and she has brought a boom to the town. Thousands of hopeful patients keep the cash registers ringing in motels, hotels, restaurants, drug stores and movie houses.”

Unlike Dennis Powers, the author of the Time article was very cynical when it came Susie’s healing powers, as shown by this line from the article. “Says Clarence Litwiller, a local undertaker who claims that last year he buried 18 of Susie’s patients: ‘She’s the biggest business in town for everybody.”

Here is another way to look at Litwiller’s statement. If Susie Jessel treated thousands of people in a year, many of whom their doctors said were near death, and only 18 of them died in Ashland, that could be seen as quite amazing.

Mrs. Jessel did not say that she could heal everyone who came to her. She made no promises. However, she stated that there was “a big improvement in at least 80% of them.” (Jessel, no date, page 49)

Was the healing only psychological?

Skeptics said that healings, if anything happened at all, were only psychological. Mrs. Jessel addressed this attitude:

“Some may feel that the healing is merely in the minds of the patients; however, when one thinks of the skeptical and the tiny babies and animals who with no knowledge of psychology receive so much and in some cases more help faster than adults, I don’t believe this theory applies.” (Jessel, no date, page 66)

Susie Jessel had a fascinating life story, but I can’t tell all of it here. If you want to read more, you can find many of my references for this article in the Ashland Library.

Ashland, Susie Jessel — Susie Jessel treating someone by laying on hands (Jessel, no date, page 55)

The Gardener

I will end this part of my Holly Street article with the emotional closing lines from H.K. Ellis’ 1943 magazine article about Susie Jessel.

I was packing things away in the car, getting ready to leave Ashland, when I was told that a patient wished to speak to me. He was pointed out, a short, stocky figure laboring in the nearby truck garden.

I went over, walking across soft red loam. The young fellow wore grimy dungarees, a faded blue shirt and a ragged straw hat pulled low over his eyes. I did not offer to shake hands with him for he seemed desirous of overlooking any sympathy.

‘How’s the de luxe gardener?’ I asked.

‘Just swell!’ he exclaimed. ‘Look!’

He raised his face to mine. His eyes were two circles of blotchy white. ‘Look!’ he repeated. ‘These cataracts are thinning. For five years I’ve seen nothing farther than a yard away. But now, for instance, look at that robin over on the cowshed fence. It’s about 50 feet, I’d say.’

‘You’re right,’ I agreed, following his gaze. ‘But somehow, it’s hard to believe.’

‘Not when you’re behind the eight ball,’ he said grinning. ‘Things Mrs. Jessel once told me are beginning to come true. I know. Why, only last night I caught a glimpse of the moon!’

541 Holly Street is still called the Jessel House, though it is now a vacation rental.

541 Holly St, former home of faith healer Susie Jessel

Do any of the readers of this article know someone who was treated by Susie Jessel?

Now let’s walk the rest of Holly Street until it ends at Liberty Street.

500 Holly Street: Artistic Fieldstone

Ashland, stone wall — 500 Holly Street has a natural fieldstone wall anchored by two huge boulders.

I always appreciate creative stone wall building, especially natural fieldstone walls like this one. I look at a stone wall like this and I think of words like patience, right-brain, strong visual sense, trust and nature.

558 Holly Street: Lush Wisteria vine

558 Holly, trunk of the huge Wisteria vine

This is not the longest stretching Wisteria vine I have ever seen, but it is close. I think this is the largest Wisteria trunk I have ever seen. As shown in the photo above, from the trunk at the corner of the front porch the vine has been trained to grow towards the street.

There it takes off along the front fence line, all the way to the property line in both directions (as shown in the photo below). I look forward to coming back in the spring to enjoy this Wisteria’s magnificent blooms.

Mrs. Susie Jessel lived here at 558 Holly Street for about two years before settling at 541 Holly Street.

645 Holly Street: Artistic Facade

Ashland, architecture — 645 Holly Street has a beautiful stone facade

My artistic eye likes this stone-facade garage with upstairs studio. The beautiful wood garage door adds to the charm and a little design help from afternoon sun and tree shadows completes the artistic package.

750 Holly Street: Magical Japanese Maple

750 Holly Street: This was my attempt to capture the magical afternoon light through Autumn-color Japanese Maple leaves.This house has a lovely front yard, but the afternoon sunlight shining through these Japanese Maple leaves really got my attention. This little tree was absolutely stunning. I captured a bit of the magic, but no matter how many photos I took, I couldn’t capture all of it.

826 Holly Street: Daffodil Paradise

Ashland, flowers — 826 Holly Street, daffodil paradise, planted by Carol

Here at the Liberty Street end of Holly Street is one of the most spectacular Spring gardens in Ashland. If you love daffodils, you must walk or drive to 826 Holly Street in March or April. I had the pleasure of walking by in March of 2018, so here are two photos I took then of the daffodils (and lavender) in all their glory.

I met Carol, the owner of 826 Holly Street, as I was walking in the springtime. She explained to me that she started planting daffodil bulbs 24 years ago. She liked them so much that she has continued to plant more every year since then, as well as separating the clumps of bulbs.

Carol told me her secret was to dead-head the flowers as soon as they stop blooming. She told me: “I want all the goodness to go back into the bulb.” I think you’ll agree that she has plenty of “goodness” to show for her 24 years of hard work and loving care.

Two Dramatic Trees on Holly Street

I will close the Holly Street walk and article with a look at two trees that stand out.

Trail Marker Tree?

Ashland, tree — Is this Ponderosa pine at 558 Holly Street a “trail marker tree?”

When I spoke with Gary Pool, who lives on Holly Street, he pointed out this dramatic Ponderosa pine on Holly Street as a possible Native American trail marker tree. I had never heard of the term “trail marker tree” and I did some research. I found this interesting insight and explanation online.

“Trees have been used as signs for centuries. Between 2002 and 2005 I had the privilege of being involved with the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. During that time period, I worked with several native Americans, including a Native American ethnobotanist who taught me many interesting things about Native American Culture including the practice of using Marker Trees to show the way. Native Americans used to use trees to tell in which direction they should travel. These were called Marker Trees.

“Favorite tree selection for these trees were oaks, maples and elms. These species were selected for their flexibility in youth, but hardwood in maturity. Marker trees were bent in the direction of a frequently visited destination such as a water source, campsite, or a safe river crossing.” (Ronda Roemmelt 2015)

The photo below shows a tree identified by experts as a Native American trail marker tree.

(Photo on Great Lakes Trail Tree Society website)

After my research, I have concluded that the Ponderosa Pine on Holly Street is not a trail marker tree, though it would be romantic to call it one. Here is my reasoning. Nearly every trail marker tree photo I saw online shows the bent branch that “points the way” only 3′ to 6′ above the ground (like the photo above). The lowest bent branch on the Holly Street pine is more than 10′ above the ground. I think it is a case of unusual artwork by Mother Nature.

Massive Oak Tree

Ashland, oak tree — 541 Holly Street is home to an historic oak tree, in addition to having been the home to an historic faith healer.

This oak tree is not quite as dramatic as the Ponderosa pine, but it has a massive and beautiful presence on Holly Street.

If you have thoughts about this article, or if you have a Holly Street story to add, feel free to leave a comment below.

References I consulted while writing about Holly Street:

Anon. “Medicine: Straw for the Drowning,” Time Magazine, September 7, 1953.

Darling, John. “A History of Healing,” Medford Mail Tribune, July 1, 2014. (link here)

Ellis, H.K. “The Story of Mrs. Susie Jessel,” TRUE magazine, Country Press Inc., 1943

Jessel, Mary Jane. The Story of Mrs. Susie Jessel, 1950.

O’Harra, Marjorie. Ashland: the first 130 years, 1986

Roemmelt, Ronda. “The History of Marker Trees,” Deeproot.com, October 5, 2015

Sanderson, Mary Jessel. Healing Hands: The Story of Susie Jessel, as told to her daughter Mary Jessel Sanderson, no date.

Holly Street Part 1: 101-Year-Old Mrs. Fader and the Pool’s Pool

Article highlights:
101-year-old Mrs. Fader tells me stories, plus…
The Pool’s bought a pool with help from Poole

Holly Street starts at Terrace Street just a few blocks from downtown, and goes downhill about nine blocks to end at Liberty Street. When I start walking a street, taking photos and talking with people, I never know what I will find. I found so many fascinating stories (including history) as I walked Holly Street, that I decided to divide my article into two parts. This is Part 1.

101-year-old, 75-year Holly Street resident Mrs. Fader tells me stories

I met 101-year-old Mrs. Clara Fader at 338 Holly Street. She told me that she and her husband Joseph bought the house (photo below) in 1943 or 1944. Though her husband passed away in 1980, she and her daughters Louise and Mary still live there.

Mrs. Fader impressed on me that she and Joseph were in education for 84 years between the two of them! She taught school for 40 years and he was a teacher and principal for 44 years.

She attended Southern Oregon Normal School (now SOU), where one of her teachers was Angus Bowmer, who founded the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1935. I couldn’t coax any Angus Bowmer stories out of her, just the statement: “He was really a character.”

Angus Bower, founder of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, in 1948. (photo from Julie Cortez of OSF)

Lincoln Elementary School was purposely built next to Southern Oregon Normal School to make it easy for student teachers to walk back and forth. Mrs. Fader taught for a while at Lincoln School, and then for many years she was a First Grade teacher at Walker Elementary School. This led to a good story.

The boy with the “big worm”

She described one of her students as a “bashful young boy” who came to her toward the end of lunch recess one day. He told her: “I hope it’s okay that I went in the classroom and found an empty jar, because I caught a big worm and need something to put it in.”

Mrs. Fader had her teacher-intuition working, so she asked the boy to bring her the jar with the “big worm.” When he did, she looked in the jar and saw a baby rattlesnake!

Baby Pacific rattlesnake (photo by Kristen Lalumiere)

Mrs. Fader told the boy: “Recess is almost over so go out a play for a few minutes, and I will keep the big worm.” She found another teacher in the hallway, who offered to take the rattlesnake to the College science department a few blocks away. After the science department did some investigation of the rattler, they reported back to Mrs. Fader that it had enough venom in its glands to potentially kill a child.

Another under-the-radar super-hero teacher at work!

Mrs. Fader remembers that day as one of three times that the children found rattlesnakes on the Walker School playground during her time teaching there.

The Fader house

The house was built in the 1880’s, according to Mrs. Fader. She and her family have made very few changes to the house, so it retains its historic character.

She recalls that after she and her husband bought the house, they started paying the City for utilities: water, electrical, sewer and more. Well, it took about seven years before they realized that the house had its own septic system and they weren’t even connected with the city sewer system. At that time, their house was still a bit “in the country” and the City had to install sewer pipes ¼ mile or more to connect with the City lines. This was quite expensive.

It seemed logical to Mr. and Mrs. Fader (and to me as I was listening to her story) that they would get credit from the city for seven or so years of sewer payments for service they didn’t even use…makes sense, right? Then that credit would be applied to the cost of linking their house with the city system. Who knows the bureaucratic reasons, but according to Mrs. Fader the credit was not given, and it’s a sore spot with her to this day.

Mrs. Fader’s barn at 338 Holly Street (with a visitor in the photo that is not a family pet)

The Fader family pets

When the children were young, the Fader’s had a number of pets, including rabbits, goats and dogs. Here are two pet stories Mrs. Fader told me.

Goats: The baby goats grew up with her children and would follow them around the acres of orchards and gardens around the house. During the school year, the goats knew what time the kids were due to walk home up Holly Street. They would wait in the street keeping an eye out for the Fader children walking home from Lincoln School. When they spotted the children several blocks away, they flew down the street to meet them. Then they would accompany the children for the rest of their uphill walk home. Mrs. Fader told me her neighbor down the street loved to go out in her front yard after school let out just to see this sight.

The Black Lab: Among the dogs they had as pets, the college-educated black lab whom she adopted later in his life was the most memorable to Mrs. Fader. Yes, I do mean college-educated.

The black lab, named Christopher, made a home for himself at Southern Oregon College (now SOU). Students would take care of the dog, and so he thrived from year to year. Christopher had a habit of trying to visit classrooms during the day. Most of the teachers closed their classroom doors or kicked him out, but one professor had an “open door policy” when it came to Christopher.

This was Professor Arthur Taylor, one of the most distinguished professors on campus. He taught Social Science at Southern Oregon College from 1926 until 1963, and was Chair of the Department for many years. He was so respected that the social science building Taylor Hall is named after him.

Taylor Hall at Southern Oregon University

Now…back to the dog named Christopher. According to Mrs. Fader, Professor Taylor left his classroom door open so that Christopher could sit with the students, as he often did. When Christopher was forced to leave his “home” at the college, and Mrs. Fader adopted him, Professor Taylor had words of high praise for the dog. He told Mrs. Fader (with tongue firmly in cheek): You won’t find a better educated dog than this. Christopher has attended college for six to eight years, sitting in class with my students.

Mrs. Fader confirmed to me that he was the smartest dog she ever had!

* * * * *

Let’s mosey on down Holly Street for more photos and stories.

357 Holly Street

I call this photo: “The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye, and it looks like it’s climbing clear up to the sky.” Do you recognize the song these lyrics are from? Hint: It was an Oregon Shakespeare Festival musical in the 2018 season. Yes, the song is from one of my favorite musicals of all time…Oklahoma.

384 Holly Street

I enjoy finding beautiful and unusual yard art, and this house number sign qualifies as both beautiful and unusual.

Ashland, door, art — Royalty or Prince? 397 Holly Street welcomes with a purple door and colorful art.

Purple door and colorful art makes a welcoming entrance, in my book.

* * * * *

The Pool’s bought a pool with help from Poole

Got it? No? Let me translate.

Life brought Gary and Debbie Pool a surprise, as Debbie explained to me: “When Gary and I got engaged, we thought we would sell my house and live in his, but we saw a flyer for the pool house [at 414 Holly Street] with a huge photo of the pool area with all the light and we had to see it!”

Realtor Eric Poole was Debbie’s neighbor, so they asked him to arrange a tour of the house for them. They went, toured the house, made an offer the same day…and as the saying goes, “the rest is history.”

So in summary, the Pool’s bought a pool with help from Poole. Crazy, fun and true.

414 Holly Street, Gary and Debbie Pool’s entry recently rebuilt by Gary

Gary is just putting the finishing touches on an attractive new front entrance (above) and a front yard deck (where I took the photo below of Gary and Debbie).

Ashland — Debbie and Gary Pool on their almost-finished new front entry deck Gary is building at 414 Holly Street

Gary received his Bachelor’s degree at Utah State University in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning. That skill set took his career in a variety of directions, including doing city planning in the 1980’s.

Today he has a small landscape design and architecture business (GWPool & Assoc). He told me that he finds his work creative and fulfilling when he is able to design and build “personal parks.” These are designs that turn a client’s yard into a delightful, relaxing oasis.

I have known Gary and Debbie for many years, and they graciously allowed me to share some photos (and a video) showing the inside of their dramatic home.

The afternoon brings garden reflections to the water and water reflections to the interior walls of the two-story house.

414 Holly St, water reflections on the walls at Gary and Debbie Pool’s home

Enjoy the 13 second video of water reflecting on the walls at the Pool’s pool house

This is only Part 1 of the Holly Street story.

In Part 2, I will introduce you to Ashland’s famous faith healer, who in her day brought as many people to Ashland as did the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Then we will meet Carol, who has created what I call “daffodil heaven,” one of the most spectacular springtime gardens in Ashland. Finally, we will learn about two dramatic Holly Street trees.

Article Highlights: (1) Ashland’s Famous Faith Healer (2) Daffodil Paradise