Benton County OR

Biography of Hon. E. B. McElroy, A.M., Ph. D.,

HON. E.B. McELROY, A.M., Ph. D. – Among the institutions of our country, none more deservedly attract the attention of all lovers of law and order than do our public schools. It is all-important, therefore, that each commonwealth should have some men of learning and ambition at the head to represent, as it were, in a single individual, the individual interests of very child in the state. Especially is this the case in our state, where we are in reality but just laying aside the swaddling clothes of self-government, and endeavoring to lay broad and deep the foundations of a … Read more

Larkin, Alice – Obituary

Alice Larkin died in her home at MooreCare in Kent, Wash., March 9. A memorial service will be held Saturday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 19030 Eighth Ave S., SeaTac, Wash., at 1 p.m. Burial will take place in Island City at a future date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Alzheimer’s research, hospice care or charity of choice. Alice was born June 28, 1913, in Canova, S.D., to Lizzie and B. A. Schierholz. As a young woman, Alice owned and operated a beauty shop in Corvallis. While in Corvallis, she met and married Earl Herrmann … Read more

Wright, Marinda Jane – Obituary

Marinda Wright, One of Oregon’s First-Born, Dies Mrs. Marinda Jane Wright, 97, of lower Cove, one of the oldest native born Oregonians in the state and a resident of Union county for 73 years, died Saturday in a LaGrande hospital after a long illness. Mrs. Wright was born in 1850 near Monroe, Ore., and moved to Union County when she was 24 years old in 1874. She was a member of the Christian Church. Surviving are four sons, George W. Wright of Troy, Ida., L. F. Wright of LaGrande, Willis Wright of Beaverton, Ore., and Willie Wright of lower Cove, … Read more

Biography of Charles B. Bellinger

Judge Bellinger was born in Maquon, Knox County, Illinois, November 21, 1839, and at the age of eight years came to Oregon with his parents and grandparents. After receiving the advantages of a common school education, supplemented with some two years at the Willamette University, he began to read law at Salem, in the office of B. F. Bonham; at present United States Consul. at Calcutta, and was admitted to the bar at the September term of the Supreme Court, in 1863. He immediately thereafter engaged in the practice of law at Salem in partnership with J. C. Cartwright, since … Read more

Huffman, Estella C. – Obituary

Elgin, Oregon Estella C. Huffman, a resident of Corvallis, died at the Corvallis Care Center Thursday, September 10, 1981. She was 84. The daughter of Julius and Mary Breshears Bendshadler, she was born January 31, 1897, at Elgin, where she received her early schooling. She graduated from Northwest Christian College in Eugene in 1922. She was married to Fred M. Huffman in 1927 at Elgin. Afterward the couple lived in La Grande for many years prior to moving to Corvallis. He preceded her in death in 1966. She is survived by her son, Wallace of Portland; brothers Ben Bendshadler of … Read more

Courtney, Pinkney L. – Obituary

Mrs. B.T. Long received word Thursday evening of the death of her father, P. L. Courtney at Payette, Idaho and left for that place Friday. M. O. Courtney of Lostine accompanied her. P. L. Courtney was one of the earliest settlers of the valley and lived here until recent years when he was compelled to try a different climate to relieve asthma from which he was a sufferer. He spent the past year in California from there going to Payette only two weeks ago and on the trip contracted the influenza to which he succumbed. Pinkney L. Courtney was born … Read more

Ball, Margaret Ann Carroll – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Margaret Ann Carroll Ball, 80, of La Grande, died July 2 at her home. The funeral will begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday July 6 at the First Baptist Church, at Sixth Street and Spring Avenue, with Pastor Kent Hug officiating. Graveside services will follow at Grandview Cemetery. Viewing will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday July 5 at Daniels Chapel of the Valley, 1502 Seventh St. Mrs. Ball was born April 27, 1926. to Mr. and Mrs. J.P. McCann of Hattiesburg, Miss. She married Herb Carroll in March, 1946. They lived in Corvallis and Valley Falls, … Read more

Talich, Sylvia Nelson Mrs. – Obituary

Sylvia Talich, 95, of Phoenix, Ariz., a former longtime Baker City resident died May 23, 2005, at her home. Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Agape Christian Center at 650 Highway 7. Pastor Aaron Oglesbee of the Agape Christian Center will officiate. Burial will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will be from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Agape Christian Center. She was born Sylvia Nelson on March 15, 1910, at Bristow, Neb. She lived on a farm on the Niabrera River and attended school at Bristow. When she was about 10, she was … Read more

Whitt, Ivan Jim – Obituary

Ivan Jim Whitt, 86, who lived in Baker City before moving to the Tri-Cities area, died December 16, 2005, in the loving arms of his family. He was born April 7, 1915, in Leander, Texas, and resided in Tularosa, New Mexico, until going into the Army in October 1942. Jim served with the 690th Replacement Company throughout the Luzon campaign during World War II. He was discharged in February 1946 and served as an Air Force reservist until January 1960. He lived in Baker City several years before moving to the Tri-Cities. He was a lifetime member of VFW Post … Read more

Conklin, Albert – Obituary

Cove, Union County, Oregon Albert C. Conklin, 57, Cove, died unexpectedly at Salem today, his family at Cove reported today. Funeral services will be held from the Cove Episcopal church Saturday afternoon at 2 with Rev. Clarence A. Kopp in charge. Burial will be in the family plot in Cove Cemetery. Arrangements are by Snodgrass Funeral Home. Conklin was born at Cove June 10, 1896 and had been a resident of Union county nearly all his life. He is survived by two brothers, Tom, Cove, and Philip, Phoenix, Ariz., and other relatives. Observer La Grande, Oregon Wednesday, July 22, 1953 … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James P. Atwood, M.D.

JAMES P. ATWOOD, M.D. – One of the most successful physicians of Baker City, Oregon, is the gentleman whose name appears as the heading of this sketch. A careful and conscientious gentleman of temperate habits, and thoroughly reliable in all public and professional as well as private matters, he enjoys the confidence of the public, and has a large practice. He was born in Wisconsin in 1846, but was educated in Oregon, at Sublimity and at Corvallis, and took his degree in medicine from the medical department of the Willamette University at Salem, and from the medical department of the … Read more

Biography of Haman C. Lewis

HAMAN C. LEWIS. – This dauntless pioneer of the earliest times in our state was born in New York City January 31, 1803, and was the son of a ship carpenter. He early was apprenticed to learn the trade of a cooper, but while only a boy of fourteen went to sea, serving six months as cabin boy, and later was apprenticed to the ship carpenter. At eighteen he went as sailor – or perhaps more strictly speaking as “fillibusterer” – to the Gulf coast, taking service on a Mexican privateer. For a number of years he followed a most … Read more

Biography of Hon. John Burnett

HON. JOHN BURNETT. – Among the prominent self-made men of Oregon is the subject of this sketch. He was born in Pike county, Missouri, on the 4th of July, 1831. He lost his father at the age of fifteen, and was turned out in the world to fight his way as best he might. He first engaged as an errand boy in a store, but, becoming tired of the confinement, at the end of a year hired out to work on a flat-boat on the Mississippi, boating wood to St. Louis. His early education was obtained in the common schools … Read more

Hansell, Delmar A. – Obituary

Delmar A. Hansell, 85, of La Grande, and a former Baker City resident, died Aug. 1, 2002, at his home. A celebration of his life took place Aug. 2 at Loveland Funeral Chapel, with Pastor Gary Hood of ioneer Park Church officiating. Mr. Hansell was born Feb. 3, 1917, in Corvallis to William Henry and Lydia L. Bullis Hansell. He attended Corvallis and Newport high schools. He married Ernestine (Teen) Gardener on Nov. 12, 1947, in Caldwell, Idaho. They lived in Corvallis, then moved to Baker in 1950 and to La Grande in 1956, where Mr. Hansell was a custodian … Read more

Biography of J. C. Avery

J.C. AVERY. – Mr. Avery, the first owner, and, in almost every respect, the founder of Corvallis, was born in Punckhannock, Pennsylvania, in 1817. He received his education at Wilksbarre, and thereafter studied medicine, but, preferring a less confined life than that necessitated by this profession, went as a pioneer to Illinois in 1837. Engaging in the land business, he at length undertook the life of a farmer, and was married in 1841 to Miss Martha Marsh. Farming upon the prairies at that early day did not prove remunerative; and in 1845 he came alone to Oregon, bringing an ox-team … Read more

Biography of Col. John Colgate Bell

COL. JOHN COLGATE BELL. – Colonel Bell, enjoying a wide reputation from Southern Oregon to Idaho, and back again to the Pacific seashore throughout the state in which he has successively lived and made a multitude of personal acquaintances, merits a special recognition on account of his public services in official relations and in the early Indian wars of Southern Oregon. He was born at Sterling, Kentucky, February 24, 1814. His parents were from Virginia; and among his ancestors were those distinguished in the early history of the nation, his father having served with General Harrison in the war of … Read more

Biography of Hon. A. G. Hovey

HON. A.G. HOVEY. – The reputation of Mr. Hovey, the present mayor of Eugene, Oregon, is co-extensive with the limits of the state, in the affairs of which he has ever taken an active part. His aggressive pushing disposition indicate the stern qualities of courage and self-reliance which lie at the basis of his character, and displace the more ephemeral qualities of a purely sentimental hopefulness or ambition. He is an example of the adage that “God helps those who help themselves;” and his whole life has bristled with instances of the truth therein indicated. He is a man of … Read more

Larkin, Alice Herrmann – Obituary

Alice Herrmann Larkin, 94, formerly of Union County, died March 9 in Seattle. A graveside service will begin at 10 a.m. Aug. 8 at Island City Cemetery. A reception will follow at the First Christian Church in La Grande. Loveland Funeral Chapel and Crematory is in charge of arrangements. La Grande Observer – June 26, 2008 _________________________________________ Alice Larkin died in her home at MoorCare in Kent, Wash., March 9. A memorial service will be held Saturday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 19030 Eighth Ave. S., SeaTac, Wash., at 1 p.m. A graveside service will begin at 10 a.m. … Read more

Biography of Milton Canterbury, M. D.

Milton Canterbury, M. D., of Redlands, was born in Greenup County, Kentucky. His father, Reuben Canterbury, a farmer, was born in North Carolina. The name originated in Kent County, England, from the estate of a man by that name, and for whom the city of Canterbury was named. Reuben Canterbury married Miss Elizabeth Lycaas, a native of Kentucky. The union was blessed with thirteen children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eighth. He first attended the common schools of his native county and afterward attended a short time the college at Marietta, Ohio. From there he went … Read more

Biography of Werner A. Wrenn

Among the agriculturists and business men of Wallowa County, the subject of this sketch stands as a leader, having manifested capabilities that justly entitle him to that position, while also he possesses an adaptability and perseverance coupled with energy, that have enabled him to handle large interests and manipulate them in a manner that brings success, while also his characteristic integrity and stanch principles of truth and uprightness have given him a prestige enviable and commendable. Mr. Wrenn was born in Benton County, Oregon, on March 3, 1866, being the son of John and Elizabeth (Watt) Wrenn, natives respectively of … Read more