A treasure trove of 8mm films were re-discovered at the Tenino Depot Museum during the pandemic. They were home movies made by Dr. Frederick W. Wichman. The reels were cleaned and digitized. Some were compiled (along with an old wooden money newsreel) to make this film about Tenino in the 1940’s-1960’s.
Dr. Frederick William Wichman was born in Illinois in 1877. As a young man he served in the Spanish American War and the resulting Philippine Insurrection.
He became a doctor in 1906 and started his practice in Seattle. In 1909 he become a country doctor and moved to Bucoda then later Tenino. His office was a small place on Sussex which sits there still today. Residents who lived there later discovered medicine bottles when they dug a vegetable garden years after Wichman’s retirement.
Dr. Wichman again served when the United States entered WWI and but this time in the Medical Corps.
During his 40 years of practicing medicine, he delivered more than 1,500 babies.
During the 4th of July Parade in Tenino a mock battle was waged each year called the Battle of Pea Soup. During the battle tall men carried short rifles and short men carried long rifles. The motley crew of soldiers marched down Sussex and when the cannon fired one would drop from his injuries. After being loaded on a stretcher and deposited in the medic tent which brought up the rear, Dr. Wichman was called on to perform field “amputations”. Usually the amputation resulted in a length of 2 x 4 with a boot attached being thrown out the back of the tent. The soldier was then given his medicine, a fortifying pull of whiskey off the communal bottle, and sent him off to fight once more.
During the Great Depression, as member of the Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Wichman became one of the three signers of Tenino’s famous wooden money. He also assisted in the Tenino Welfare Program. Times were tough during the Great Depression and Tenino saw its fair share of hardship amongst its citizens but also for displaced transients. Folks in need could stop by the Doctor’s office and get a prescription for a sandwich and coffee at the Jiffy Lunch café, or lad could get a note for free pair of shoes at Campbell and Campbell store, so he could go to school.
Dr. Wichman was a charter member of the Tenino Lion’s Club, an organization that is alive and well in Tenino today. He also attended the First Presbyterian Church of Tenino. He was a Mason, a member of the Tenino Eagles Lodge, the American Legion, and the Violet Prairie Grange.
Many of Doctor Wichman’s possessions are on display in our Doctor’s Office at the Tenino Depot Museum.
Pictured Left to Right: Dr. Frederick Wichman at his radio, daughter Jane at her piano, Alma Wichman, and their son John.
