Clackamas County OR

Biography of Hon. John Bird

HON. JOHN BIRD. – This venerable pioneer of our state comes from that stock of state-makers and town-builders who have ever been at the front. He was born in 1810 in Boone county, Kentucky, and lived there with his father until the year 1827, thereafter making Illinois his home until 1847. In the latter year he joined the train of Captain Sawyer, and set forth for Oregon, starting from Missouri about the 1st of May. Upon the trip nothing was more notable than the appearance of about one hundred Pawnee Indians, who laid a blanket on the ground for the … Read more

Wilson, Ruth M. Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Ruth M. Wilson, 93, of Lake Oswego, a former longtime Baker City businesswoman, died May 2, 2003. Her memorial service was May 17 in the chapel of River View Cemetery at Portland. Ruth was born on Aug. 8, 1909, at Schofield, Wis. Her mother, Mrs. Durkee, owned a knitting shop in Baker City for many years. Ruth and her first husband, Bill Stofft, had two children, Paul William and Lois Elaine. In 1935, the Stoffts opened a corner grocery store at Sixth and Broadway streets in Baker City. It was this family owned and operated business that … Read more

Biography of Francis W. Pettygrove

FRANCIS W. PETTYGROVE. – The greatest respect and admiration is due the memory of the men and women who came to the Pacific Northwest when it was the home of Indians, and mountain men and a few traders, almost as wild, to plant homes and lay the foundation of the empires of Oregon and Washington, now so prosperous, and in fact fast verging into the garden spots of the union. They dared much when they accepted the role of pioneers. Among those who came in the earlier emigrations was the gentleman whose name heads this brief sketch. He was a … Read more

Alexander, Susan – Obituary

Elgin, Oregon Susan Alexander, 57, of Elgin, died Oct. 25 at her home. Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center is in charge of arrangements. La Grande Observer – October 26, 2009 ________________________ Susan L. Alexander Elgin 1952-2009 Susan Lorraine Alexander, 57, of Elgin, and formerly of Wallowa, died Oct. 24 at her home. A graveside service will begin at 1 p.m. Friday at the Wallowa Cemetery. Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center in La Grande is in charge of arrangements. Susan was born Sept. 3, 1952, to Ardeth and Patricia Spruill in Oregon City. She was raised in … Read more

Biography of Samuel Kimbrough Barlow

SAMUEL KIMBROUGH BARLOW. – Samuel Kimbrough Barlow was born in Nicolas county, Kentucky, January 14,1795. He was of Scotch origin, and inherited many of the sterling qualities of his ancestors. His race was remarkable for an unswerving fidelity to principles of right; and on every occasion these principles were disseminated or defended by courage which sometimes almost amounted to audacity. Freedom of speech and will and progression in all things were also marked characteristics of the ancestors of S.K. Barlow. Illustrative of these features of disposition in the Barlow family, a story is told of the fearlessness of the paternal … Read more

Biography of Archbishop F. N. Blanchet

ARCHBISHOP BLANCHET. – The Most Reverend F.N. Blanchet ranked among the apostolic men who laid the deep foundations of the Catholic faith in this country. He was born at St. Pierre, Riviere-du-Sud, Quebec, Canada, September 5, 1795, was educated in the Petit Seminaire, Quebec, and was ordained July 18, 1819, by Archbishop Plessis. At that time Oregon was simply the name given to a territory extending along the Pacific coast from latitude forty-two degrees to fifty-four degrees, forty minutes north, until finally, in 1846, – the year of the accession of Pius IX. to the see of Peter, – all … Read more

Zurlinden, Marie J. – Obituary

Gladstone (Special) – Marie J. Zurlinden, 165 West Clarendon street, died at an Oregon City hospital Wednesday night following a long illness. Mrs. Zurlinden had lived in this vicinity for the last 18 years and had spent all her life in Oregon. She was born April 29, 1887 in North Powder. She was a member of the First Baptist church at Gladstone and was a life member of the Women’s Auxiliary of DAV, Chapter 4. Survivors include the husband John; two sons, Stewart W. Goldsberry, Beaverton; Virgil S. Goldsberry, Brookings; two sisters, Mrs. Cleo Lowe, Glendale, Calif.; Mrs. Nola Miller, … 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

Jack, Robert “Bob” – Obituary

Robert “Bob” Jack, 88, a former longtime Baker City resident, died March 25, 2008, at Clackamas. Bob was born on Dec. 25, 1919, at Baker City. He was a 1938 Baker High School and worked at the mill in Pondosa out of high school. He was a member of the Oregon Army National Guard. He enlisted on May 27, 1941, with Company F 2nd Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Division during World War II. On Jan. 24, 1942, at Fort Lewis, Wash., he married Lola A. Randall on a number of 15-minute leaves provided by his company members. He … Read more

Franklin, Sarah Lucinda Gibbens – Obituary

Franklin, Mrs. Sarah L., February 1, aged 82, late of Molalla; [step] mother of Effie Bathurst of Richardson Springs, Cal.; Myrtle Warner of Multnomah; Viola Looney and Oscar B. Franklin, both of Molalla. Funeral services 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Everhart Funeral Home, Molalla. Interment Miller Cemetery, Silverton. Oregonian, February 3, 1949 Contributed by: Shelli Steedman

Lewis, Pauline Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Pauline Lewis, 84, of Baker City, died June 6, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. Her graveside memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Pine Haven Cemetery in Halfway. Pastor Roger Scovil of the Baker City Christian Church will officiate. Friends are invited to join the family for a potluck at Geiser Pollman Park after the service. In case of bad weather, the potluck will be moved to 2750 College St. Pauline was born in a farm home at Onarga Township, Ill., on May 25, 1920. Her mother died when she was young so she … Read more

Biography of Mrs. C. B. Cary

MRS. C.B. CARY. – This refined woman and intelligent lady, one of our earliest pioneers, comes of one of the old Virginia families of English or Cavalier origin; whose members, in the early days of the Old Dominion, took and held an advanced social position. She was born at Richmond in 1815, and at the age of four moved to Kentucky with her father, William Taylor. In 1831 she was married to Miles S. Cary, one of the pioneer sons of Kentucky, with his full share of southern chivalrousness and western energy. In 1835 they moved to Missouri, and were … Read more

Calavan, James Madison, Jr. – Obituary

James Madison Calavan, well-known resident and pioneer of Oregon, died at the family home, 804 Taylor Street, Friday night [February 8, 1924], after an illness of several months. James M. Calavan, son of Mr. and Mrs. James M. Calavan Sr., was born in Kentucky, October 24, 1845 and crossed the plains with an ox team to Oregon in 1863. He settled in Linn County where he made his home with a brother who preceded him. He took up a homestead which he cleared and later engaged in farming. For a number of years Mr. Calavan has been a resident of … Read more

Brownell, Jean Taylor Mrs. – Obituary

Jean T. Brownell, 87, of Wilsonville, formerly of Haines and Baker City, died July 18, 2006, at an Oregon City hospital. Her memorial service was Saturday at Marquis Care at Hope Village in Canby. A date and time for graveside inurnment at the Haines Cemetery will be scheduled later. Canby Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Jean was born on July 22, 1918, at Bend. She grew up near Richland, and graduated from Eagle Valley High School at Richland. She earned her teaching certificate at Eastern Oregon Normal School and a bachelor’s degree at Eastern Oregon State College (now … Read more

Biography of Joseph Buchtel

JOSEPH BUCHTEL. – The peculiar composition and make-up of this man is that of only one in a million. He is noted for his daring deeds of adventure, if they may be so called; and his whole life is made up of daily events in rescuing others from their perilous positions; indeed, so much so that he is known far and wide as the “Oregon Life Saver.” Hundreds, if we may not say thousands, who are living to-day directly owe their lives to him. The natural daily routine of circumstances seems to have brought him upon the scene just in … Read more

Biography of J. L. Stout

J. L. STOUT. – The proprietor of the townsite of Sea View on the weather beach, a city which boasts of a population of from five to eight thousand during the summer bathing season, is from the Buckeye state, having been born in Ohio in 1824. During his boyhood his father took him to Illinois; and he passed his early life on the frontier. he came up with a generation of men whose natural force and enterprise led them into the most exalted position in the great West which their energies had developed. While in Illinois he was ever restless, … Read more

Biography of George E. Wells

GEORGE E. WELLS. – The subject of this sketch is a man of great energy and power of adaptability, as is manifested in the occupations that have been engaged in by him during the years in which he has been in this western country, and it is pleasant to remark that during all of these varied undertakings, some of which have been exceedingly arduous and fraught with hardship and danger, he has manifested a stanch and unflinching courage, marked industry and enterprise, with excellent personal qualities of integrity and upright principles, while a good success has attended his efforts, both … Read more

Biography of Dr. W. C. McKay

DR. W.C. McKAY. – One by one the pioneers who braved the wilderness and its dangers, in order that their posterity might enjoy the fruits of their hazardous conquests of the domain of the savage are passing away. As the poet sang of the valorous knights of the days of chivalry, “Their souls are with the saints, we trust,” so, at no distant day, will the same be sung o’er the graves of the last of the pioneers. So, while yet alive, let us honor them as they deserve to be honored; and when dead let their deeds be recorded … Read more

French-Laird, Hester M. Holden Mrs. – Obituary

Hester M. French-Laird, 87, of Oregon City, a former Baker City resident, died March 5, 2006. Her funeral Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Thursday at St. Luke’s Catholic Church at Woodburn. Interment will be at Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in Portland. Visitations will be until 5 o’clock tonight at Cornwell Colonial Chapel in Woodburn. Hester was born on Jan. 22, 1919, at Baker City to Ward and Gwendolyn Holden. She was raised at Baker City and married John “Jack” French in 1938. He died in 1979. In 1995, she married Richard Laird. She lived at Woodburn from 1981 … Read more

Biography of Hon. Zenas Ferry Moody

HON. Z.F. MOODY. – Zenas Ferry Moody, ex-Governor of the State of Oregon, was born on the 27th of May, 1832, in Granby, Massachusetts. His father was Major Thomas H. Moody. His mother was Hannah M. Ferry, an aunt of ex-Senator T.W. Ferry, of Michigan, formerly vice-president of the United States. Governor Moody comes of good old New England Revolutionary stock, his grandfather, Gideon Moody, having borne arms as a soldier during the Revolutionary war. He has proved himself worthy of his lineage; and the principles which he imbibed on New England soil have been the guide of his whole … Read more