Lafayette Oregon

Biography of Hon. A. R. Burbank

HON. A.R. BURBANK. – Mr. Burbank, a founder of society and business upon the Pacific coast, was born April 15, 1817, near Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the son of Major Daniel Burbank, an American officer in the war of 1812, who came with his family in an open boat down the Alleghany and Ohio rivers as early as 1814, and made a home on its northern shore near the present metropolis. The Major was from Williamstown, Massachusetts. His wife, Margeret Pinchen, was from Atica, New York. In 1818 a further move was made in the family boat down the Ohio … Read more

Biography of Daniel Johnson

DANIEL JOHNSON. – Among the pioneers of Oregon, no one bore a better reputation than the subject of this sketch, whose doors were always open to the homeless stranger, and whose memory will be fondly cherished by the many who have been sheltered and fed by him. Daniel Johnson was born in 1812 in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and at ten years of age removed with his parents to Onondaga county, New York, remaining with them some thirteen years, and doing any kind of work he could get to do. However, during the latter part of this time, he labored at … Read more

Biography of James Johnson

JAMES JOHNSON. – James Johnson, a pioneer of 1844, son of James Johnson of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, was born on his father’s farm in 1814, and as a child moved with his parents to a new home in Onondaga county, New York, living there until he attained his manhood. In 1836 he gave rein to the desire for change and adventure and freedom, which ultimately made of him one of the early pioneers of Oregon, going in that year with his brother Daniel to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and engaging in work as carpenter near Lafayette. In the winters, when there … Read more

Biography of Miss Eva L. Burbank

MISS EVA L. BURBANK. – Miss Burbank, the only child of Honorable A.R. and Mary E. Burbank, whose memory is still cherished with regretful interest by the people of our state, was born in Monticello, Washington Territory, January 22, 1861, where her parents were at that time keeping the Monticello House. At the age of five and a half months she was christened (as an offering) in the Taylor Street Methodist Church, of Portland, by the Reverend T.H. Pearn. At the age of five years she began attendance upon school, and developed unusual quickness and ability of mind. In August, … Read more

Biography of Francis Fletcher

FRANCIS FLETCHER. – Mr. Fletcher was among the very earliest of the settlers of Oregon, being here two years before the establishment of the Provisional government, and has consequently seen the great development of this state and coast form its earliest inception; and he has himself been one of the most active to induce the progress of the last fifty years. He was born in Yorkshire, England, March 1, 1814, and, at the age of fourteen years, crossed the water to Ontario, Canada, and afterwards to Peoria, Illinois. In 1839, in company with Amos Cook and others, he started for … Read more

Belden, Helena Jane – Obituary

La Grande, Union County, Oregon Mrs. Helena Belden Dies at Age of 78 Helena Jane Belden, 78, for many years a resident of Union county, died Sunday, in her home, 2403 North Depot street, after a short illness. She was born October 12, 1886, in LaFayette, Yamhill County. Survivors include one son, Charles Fredrick Belden of La Grande, one foster daughter, Mrs. Helen Sandoz of Portland and other relatives. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday in the Snodgrass funeral Home with Rev. Floyd White officiating. Burial will be in the Masonic cemetery beside her husband who died … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Kineth

JOHN KINETH. – This pioneer of Oregon and of Whidby Island, Washington, is a native of Bavaria, Germany, and was born in 1828. At the age of ten years he came with his parents to American, and passed his early life in Springfield, Illinois. He there obtained the practical education of the West, and learned as his resource for the livelihood the trade of a harness-maker. As early as 1849 he felt the impulse to go West. Joining a company of emigrants at Springfield, he crossed the plains, arriving at Milwaukee, Oregon, November 3d. Seeing that there was an abundance … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Mary E. Burbank

MRS. MARY E. BURBANK. – The wife of Honorable A.R. Burbank was born near Milford, Delaware, January 14, 1827, and is the daughter of Jesse E. and Ellen Eckles. While but a child of sixteen months, she was bereft of her mother by death, and was intrusted to the care of her sable nurse until three years old. At this date she moved with her father and his family of three daughters and two sons to the far West, crossing the Alleghany Mountains in wagons, and settling at Clarkesburgh, Ohio, in the fall of 1830, residing there five years. As … 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

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

Biography of Mrs. M. Weatherford

MRS. M. WEATHERFORD. – Of all the pioneers of Oregon, none have performed a more devoted part than this now venerable lady, who is well known and esteemed in our chief city. She was born near Beaufort, North Carolina, September 22, 1822. In her fifth year she accompanied her father Josiah Harris and family to Indiana, making a new home. In 1839 she was married to William Weatherford, a young physician from Richmond, Virginia. Thus united they entered upon various scenes, and made their home in a number of different places in the old West, selecting New Haven, Illinois, as … Read more

Biography of J. R. Bayley, M.D.

J.R. BAYLEY, M.D. – Doctor Bayley, to whom has fallen an unusual portion of public labor and honor, was born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1820. His mother dying, he was cared for by his grandmother, through whose liberality he received an ample education. In 1839 he moved to Clay county, Missouri, but two years later returned to Ohio, and in 1847 began the study of medicine in South Charleston with Doctors Skinner and Steele. He also attended the medical school at Cleveland in 1849, and the next year studied at the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati. Upon graduating from this … Read more