Linn County OR

Taylor, Terry Grant “Shorty” – Obituary

Baker City, Baker County, Oregon Terry Grant “Shorty” Taylor, 41, of Albany, a former Baker City resident, died Dec. 29, 2002, at Samaritan Albany General Hospital. At his request, there will be no funeral. Mr. Taylor was born on Nov. 7, 1961, at Baker City to Kenneth and Roberta Miles Taylor. He lived in Baker City until he was 17 and then lived in various places before moving to Albany about 11 years ago. He enjoyed drawing and writing poetry. He served in the Oregon National Guard. Survivors include his father, Kenneth Taylor of Baker City; brothers, Bob Taylor of … Read more

Bilyeu, George Washington – Obituary

One by one those sturdy old pioneers who crossed the plains with a plow ox team and endured privations almost equal to death itself, and by their untiring labors and horrendous efforts laid the foundation for this grand and glorious country, are passing into the land beyond from whence no traveler returns. The last to join this numberless multitude was George W. Bilyeu. Mr. Bilyeu came to Oregon in 1852, crossing the broad plains with the regulation ox team. He settled with his family on a donation land claim a few miles from this city, and there spent the greater … Read more

Biography of Hon. Edward Hirsch

HON. EDWARD HIRSCH. – Someone has written, “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may;” and the subject of this sketch is a living exemplification of it. When, away back in “the fifties,” he landed a poor boy in the city of New York, among strangers in a strange land, and looked about him for honest employment in any capacity, how little he dreamed that as years passed by he would hold the purse-strings for the then almost unknown territory of Oregon, when a few years later she should lay aside her swaddling clothes and … Read more

Weber, James S. “Jim” – Obituary

Richland, Oregon James S. “Jim” Weber, 85, died Jan. 1, 2002, at his home in Richland with his family by his side. His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Richland Methodist Church. The Rev. Bill Shields will officiate. Interment will be in the Eagle Valley Cemetery at Richland. Jim was born on March 19, 1916, at Brownsville. He was a 1938 graduate of the University of Oregon at Eugene and shortly afterward married Florence Staggs. They moved to Baker County in 1940 and became partners in Staggs and Weber, a prominent cattle and sheep ranch in the … Read more

Fisher, Sarah J. – Obituary

Sarah J. Fisher Pioneer, Passes On Here Today Sarah J. Fisher died about 1:30 o’clock this morning at 1501 U avenue. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Summerville chapel. The body was taken to the Snodgrass and Zimmerman mortuary. Mrs. Fisher, born in Sullivan county, Missouri, March 2, 1859, was 77 years, 11 months and seven days of age, and was among the early pioneers of Oregon. She crossed the plains with her parents, Mr. And Mrs. Hiram McDonald with ox teams in 1864, landing in Linn county where they lived until 1872. She moved … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Thomas K. McCoy

THOMAS K. McCOY. – The gentleman whose name heads this sketch was born March 9, 1827, in Sangamon county, Illinois, and there was reared and educated. On October 12, 1848, he was married to Margaret A. Kendall, who was also born and raised in Sangamon county, the date of her birth being October 4, 1829. The fruits of their union were seven children, three daughters and four sons. Mr. McCoy came to Oregon in 1851 via the “ox-team route,” and settled in Linn county. The following year his wife joined him in his new home, she having come in 1852 … Read more

Jewell, Marie Mildred Bilyeu – Obituary

A funeral for Marie Mildred Jewell will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the chapel of Skyline Funeral Home. Burial will be in Skyline Memorial Gardens. Mrs. Jewell died of pneumonia Saturday in a Portland hospital. She was 66. Born Dec. 30, 1925 in Silverton, she was raised and attended school in Lebanon. Her maiden name was Bilyeu. She married Ray Evan Jewell on June 20, 1943. Mrs. Jewell worked for the Milwaukee Box Factory for several years and was employed at a gift shop at Union Station for about five years until 1970. She then operated the utility pay … Read more

Biography of Henry M. Thatcher

Throughout the greater part of his life Judge Henry M. Thatcher has resided on the Pacific slope, and as one of the honored pioneers of this section of the country has been prominently identified with its development, progress and up-building from an early day. He was born in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1833, and is of German lineage. His grandfather, Samuel Thatcher, was born in Germany, and when a young man emigrated to the United States, settling in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Hannah Smith. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and lived to … Read more

Collins, Debrah Rae – Obituary

Debrah Rae Collins, 50, died at her home in Enterprise on Dec. 20, 2004. She was born Nov. 2, 1954 in Lebanon to Ray Albert Davenport and Dorothy Louise (Ruggles) Davenport. Debrah worked as a kitchen helper at the hospital. She is survived by her sister, Patricia Davenport, niece Melissa Jarrad, and her great niece Josie Jarrad, and her great nephew Damien Jarrad. At her request there will be no service. Donations may be made in her name to a charity of your choice. Wallowa County Chieftain – Thursday, December 30, 2004

Biographical Sketch of Fred D. Cleaves

FRED D. CLEAVES. – Although among the young men, Mr. Cleaves has for a number of years held responsible public positions. He was born in Stockbridge, Wisconsin, in 1852, residing in that village and at Fond du Lac until ten years of age, and coming in 1864 to this coast with his father’s family. Here is one of the few cases in which we find one of the early settlers returning to the East. After a year’s residence at Whidby Island, and two years at Albany, Oregon, the elder Cleaves recrossed the plains to his old home in Wisconsin. The … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William M. Blakeley

WILLIAM M. BLAKELEY. – The subject of this sketch, a prominent citizen of the rapidly developing upper country, was born in Missouri in 1840. In 1846 he crossed the plains with his father, who located near the present site of Brownsville, Linn county, Oregon, where he still resides. Mr. Blakely was here favored with the educational advantages afforded by the public school, and assisted his father on the farm until 1860, when he moved to a point near the present site of Prescott, on the lovely Touchet river, in Washington Territory. In the spring of 1861 he tried his fortune … Read more

Silven, Kathleen “Kay” Duffy Mrs. – Obituary

Kathleen Duffy “Kay” Silven, 90, a longtime Baker City resident, died April 9, 2006, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Services. The recitation of the rosary will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral. Mass of Christian Burial will celebrated after the rosary at 11 a.m. The Rev. Julian Cassar will celebrate the Mass. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will be Tuesday from noon until 7 p.m. at the funeral home. Mrs. Silven was born on April 4, 1916, at Prineville. She was raised at Bend by her parents Timothy E. J. and Katherine … Read more

Crume, Cecil A. – Obituary

Cecil A. Crume, 80, 3595 Bernard Ave., Albany, died suddenly Friday morning (Aug. 23) at the Albany General Hospital from a heart attack. Services were held today at 2 p.m. at the Fisher Funeral Home with interment at Waverly Memorial Cemetery. The Rev. William George Hooper officiated. Mr. Crume was born at Scio, March 12, 1888 to Charles Crume and Matilda Leeper Crume, and lived in the Albany vicinity since 1914. He was a retired farmer. He married Ada Crystal Bilyeu at Albany, May 27, 1907. She died Sept. 24, 1947. Mr. Crume and Fay Wokoloughlin Crume were married at … Read more

Bilyeu, John Long – Obituary

At his residence in Bilyeu Den on Sunday Dec. 18, 1892, John Bilyeu, age 68 years. John Bilyeu was born in Overton County, Tennessee, July 23 1824. While young, he with his parents moved to Indiana, thence to Illinois where he was married to Miss Nancy Workman, March 9 1848. In the fall of the same year, they moved to Missouri where they resided till the spring of 1853, when with two children they started across the plains, arriving in Oregon, August 10, 1853, and resided in Linn County the most of the time since. He raised a large family … Read more

Wire, Sedonia M. Davis Mrs. – Obituary

Sedonia M. Wire, 93, of Lebanon died Sunday May 11, 2003, at Twin Oaks Care Center in Sweet Home. A graveside service was held Thursday, May 15, 2003 at Providence Cemetery near Scio. Huston-Jost Funeral Home handled the arrangements. She was born Oct. 21, 1909, in Portland, the daughter of Leroy and Anna (Burghardt) Davis. She was raised on a farm in the Lebanon area and graduated from Albany High School. During World War II, she worked at Fort Lewis, Wash. On Oct. 8, 1943, she married Walter Wire. The couple moved to Lebanon then settled in Sumpter. Her husband … Read more

Biography of Thomas J. Huff

One of the pioneers of the northwest and one of the old residents of Caldwell is Thomas Jefferson Huff, the present assessor of Canyon County. He is a man of the highest integrity and ability, and stands well in the estimation of all who know him. A lifelong Democrat, and devoted to his party, he has never occupied a public office before, and has not been an aspirant for political honors and emoluments. In his business career he has met with success, and by well directed energy and good judgment he has amassed a comfortable fortune. Philip Huff, the paternal … Read more

Biography of Hon. L. M. Ringer

HON. L.M. RINGER. – There is moral earnestness about a man who is able to hold his own convictions in the face of his neighbors and friends. We find such a man in Mr. Ringer. Born June 17, 1834, in Washington County, Maryland, he moved as a child to Amherst County, Virginia, there receiving his education, but later making his home in Stoddard  County, Missouri, engaging in the mercantile business. When the war broke out in 1861, that community was strongly for secession. Mr. Ringer was obliged either to enter the rebel army or to leave. He chose the latter … Read more

Biography of W. F. Courtney

W.F. COURTNEY. – This veteran among the Indian fighters and earlier pioneers was born in Illinois in 1832. At the age of thirteen, he crossed the plains with his parents in 1845. They reached The Dalles during the latter part of October of the same year; but before proceeding down the river they had to construct a flat boat as a means of navigation. This was attended with considerable difficulty, as there were no lumber mills in the country, and ever plank had to be whipsawed. The passage from The Dalles to the Upper Cascades was made without any event … Read more

Calavan, Virgil L. – Obituary

Virgil L. Calavan, 75, former Albany mayor who was active in civic affairs here for many years, died Friday morning in a Corvallis hospital after a long illness. Mr. Calavan was the former owner of a drug store in East Albany which is now Lammers’ Pharmacy. After selling the East Albany store he operated Mason’s Drug Store in downtown Albany, which is now owned by Gerald Steele. He had lived in Corvallis since 1946. A 1911 graduate of Oregon State College, Mr. Calavan was a school principal in eastern Linn County before he opened his first drug store in Albany. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John J. Peebler

JOHN J. PEEBLER. – Mr. Peebler was born in Iowa in 1837, and while but a boy of six years met the irreparable loss of his parents, who died within twenty-four hours of each other. With an uncle, David Peebler, he crossed the plains in 1853, and made his home at Harrisburg, in Linn county, Oregon. During the Indian disturbances of 1855, he went to Umpqua valley and served with the volunteers on Rogue river. He continued his journeys to Yreka, where he mined for eighteen months, returning thereafter to the Umpqua valley. In 1859 he was married to Miss … Read more