Biography of Henry Martyn Chase

HENRY MARTYN CHASE. – This gentleman was born March 28, 1831, in Philadelphia, from whence he moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1844. He is a descendant of Aquila Chase, one of the early settlers of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and also directly descended from the famous Hannah Dustin, who killed her Indian captors in the Indian war of 1689. Mr. Chase sailed from Boston for California January 11, 1849, in the brig Forest, and arrived in San Francisco July 6th of the same year. He earned his first money there by painting a ship. In August, 1849, he sailed for Oregon in … Read more

Biography of Daniel Chaplin

DANIEL CHAPLIN. – The subject of this sketch was born in Niagara county, New York, in 1823. He was educated in his native place, and became a surveyor, removing to Michigan. Honest, upright and much respected, he was one of those men of broad ideas and indefatigable energy who create prosperity for any community in which they settle. Having heard much of Oregon, its boundless resources and delightful climate, he crossed the plains in 1854, settling near Champoeg in Marion county. From there he moved to where Sheridan, in Yamhill county, now stands, and thence to Dayton, Yamhill county. In … Read more

Biography of Gen. John H. Stevens

GEN. JOHN H. STEVENS. – This hero of a hundred Western adventures, and a pioneer of the great Inland Empire, was born on a town line in Windham County, Vermont. The son of Asa Stevens, a miller and farmer, he learned to use his hands and brain in practical affairs, and at the village school obtained a good working education. In his youth he followed business in Boston, and was engaged in lumbering in Pennsylvania. In 1832 he came west to Michigan, and at Coldwater, Branch County, kept a hotel, advancing his business also by taking mail contracts, and in … Read more