Merritt, Clarence D. “Don” – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Clarence “Don” D. Merritt, 81, a longtime Baker City resident, died Feb. 4, 2004 at St. Elizabeth Health Services. A memorial service will be held in his honor at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, at Gray’s West & Company Pioneer Chapel with Pastor John Goodyear of the Baker Valley Church of Christ officiating. A celebration of life at Settler’s Park Assisted Living Center will follow the memorial service at 2 p.m., with a snack tray potluck reception. Clarence was born June 25, 1922, in Baker City to David and Grace (Srack) Merritt. He attended school in Baker … Read more

Derksen, Helen Mae Martin Mrs. – Obituary

Helen Mae Derksen, 93, a resident of the Baker City area for the past six years, died Jan. 13, 2006, at Pendleton, where she was living temporarily. Her memorial service was today at the New Bridge Church of the Nazarene near Richland, where she had attended regularly for the past three years. Her cremains will be buried later with her husband at the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. Mrs. Derksen was born on Nov. 17, 1912, in Dayton, Ohio, to George and Louise McClelland Martin. She was educated in Ohio and graduated from Davis Business College there. She also graduated … Read more

Burcham, Ruth – Obituary

Enterprise, Oregon Ruth G. Evans Burcham, formerly of Enterprise, died in Arlington, Wash. on March 28, 2006. She was 91. Mrs. Burcham was born in Duncan, Ariz., on Feb. 27, 1915 to John Evans and Minnie Lloyd. She was raised in Duncan, and attended high school there. She became a nurse’s aide in a Catholic geriatrics hospital. On November 14, 1931, Ruth married Orville Jay Burcham in Riverside, Calif. They had two children. After living in Enterprise and Pomona, Calif., the couple moved to Pendleton in 1961, where they resided for 35 years. Mrs. Burcham was a member of the … Read more

Biography of William B. Sawyer, M. D.

William B. Sawyer, M. D., occupies a prominent position in the medical circles of Riverside, and has for many years been well known in the business and social circles of the city. Dr. Sawyer is a native of New England, born in Hampshire County, Massachusetts in 1854. His father, Edmund H. Sawyer, was a descendant of an old colonial family whose first advent in the New world was in the days of the Puritans; he was a manufacturer and prominent citizen of Hampshire County, a member of the Assembly and Senate of his State, at the head of banking institutions, … Read more

Biography of William C. Carlton

This worthy gentleman is one of the substantial citizens of Malheur County and one of the thrifty stock men and farmers of the vicinity of Rockville, his estate of two hundred and twenty acres of good land lying seven miles west from that place. Mr. Carlton was born in Maine in 1834, being the son of Amos and Mary Carlton. He received his education from the County in the schools of his native state and there remained – until 1854 when he came via Panama to San Francisco, and thence to Indian valley in Sierra County, where he at once … Read more

Lawson, Lela E. McCready Mrs. – Obituary

Lela e. McCready Lawson, 93, a former Baker City resident, died Jan. 24, 2005, at Ventura, Calif., after a long illness. Her graveside service will be Thursday at Santa Maria, Calif. Lela was born on Nov. 7, 1911, in Weskan, Kan. At the age of 18 months, she traveled by covered wagon with her mother, Edna, grandparents, Samuel and Mattie McCartney, and her Aunt Dorothy, age 6, from Weskan, Kan., to Baker City. A year later, the family moved to Delta, Colo., where Lela received her schooling. She married her life’s companion, Carl Lawson, on Aug. 19, 1929, in Delta. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of A. Shay

A. Shay, of San Bernardino, was born in Maine, May 1, 1812, but reared principally in Nova Scotia. He learned the cooper’s and carpenter’s trades. When a young man he went to New Orleans, where he was successful for three years. Seeing then a specimen of gold from California, in 1849, he at once set out for the gold fields, coming by water and the Isthmus of Panama. He worked in the mines for a time and made and lost a great deal of money-lost heavily by the floods in the upper country. Then he carried on a large sheep … Read more

Biography of Hon. Allen Weir

HON. ALLEN WEIR. – This universally known and universally respected maker of public opinion and founder of pioneer institutions in Washington Territory, of whom we present a portrait, was born in Los Angeles county, California, April 24, 1854, and is therefore in his thirty-sixth year. In 1860 the family removed from California to Puget Sound, arriving at Port Townsend June 1st of that year. They located on government land in the Dungeness river bottom in Clallam county, and there resided and “grew up with the country.” They were among the early pioneers of that section, moving in when there were … Read more

Biography of Joseph Benjamin Henderson

Joseph Benjamin Henderson is a native son, born in San Bernardino County, in 1856, and is the son of David Henderson, who emigrated with his family from Scotland and settled in San Bernardino County, in 1853, where he and his wife, also a native of Scotland, still reside. He learned the trade of stonemason in early life, and has divided his time between that and mining and farming as his chief occupations. Joseph served three years apprenticeship at the tinner’s trade, and worked at it as a journeyman in San Bernardino, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco over thirteen … Read more

Biography of Relf Bledsoe

The days of chivalry and knighthood in Europe cannot furnish more interesting or romantic tales than our own western history. Into the wild mountain fastnesses of the unexplored west went brave men, whose courage was often called forth in encounters with hostile savages. The land was rich in all natural resources, in gold and silver, in agricultural and commercial possibilities, and awaited the demands of man to yield up its treasures, but its mountain heights were hard to climb, its forests difficult to penetrate, and the magnificent trees, the dense bushes or the jagged rocks often sheltered the skulking foe, … Read more

American Baker Genealogies

The following page consists of short genealogies of American Baker families. Genealogy of Daniel Baker Genealogy of Eber Baker of Marion Ohio Genealogy of Edward Baker of Saugus Massachusetts Genealogy of Edward D. Baker of Salem Massachusetts Genealogy of Elleazer Baker of Dutchess County NY Genealogy of George Baker of Pownal Vermont Genealogy of Howard Baker of Solon Maine Genealogy of Joseph Baker of Marshfield Massachusetts Genealogy of Nicholas Baker of Scituate Massachusetts Genealogy of Thomas Baker of East Hampton Connecticut Genealogy of Alexander Baker L156 ALEXANDER BAKER: b. 1607; d. ?; came to America in 1635 and settled in … Read more

Satterwhite, Norma Jean – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Norma Jean Satterwhite, 62, died Aug. 6 at her home in La Grande. A celebration of life will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at Loveland Funeral Chapel, 1508 Fourth Street, La Grande. The Observer – August 8, 2008 ______________________________ Norma Jean Satterwhite, 62, of La Grande, died comfortably at her family’s home Aug. 6 in La Grande. A gathering of friends and family will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at Loveland Funeral Chapel. Norma was born in Los Angeles in 1964. She lived and attended school in Lancaster, Calif., graduating from high school in 1964. Norma lived … Read more

Biography of William McIlroy

WILLIAM McILROY. – The active and capable gentleman whose name appears above, is one of Union county’s progressive and enterprising stockmen and agriculturists, having wrought here as well as elsewhere with display of ability and sagacity that commend him to all lovers of thrift and industry and which have resulted in the accumulation of a goodly portion of property and the placing of our subject among the most prominent and influential men of this section, while his integrity and uprightness are commensurate with his other characteristics. Iowa City, Iowa, is the birth place of our subject, and July 27, 1861, … Read more

Cross, Evalyn Lois – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Evalyn Lois Cross, 92, of La Grande, died Oct. 1 at a local care center. A funeral will begin at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center, 1502 Seventh St. in La Grande. Burial will follow at the Cove Cemetery. A viewing will be held today from 4 to 6 p.m. at Daniels-Knopp. Evalyn was born April 11, 1917, to George and Olive (Haak) Kirkpatrick in Mount Vernon, Iowa. She moved to California in 1938 and married Harry Cross in 1943. They lived in Lawndale, Banning and then San Diego. Evalyn was a … Read more

Reich, Ellen Mae White Mrs. – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Ellen Mae Reich passed away April 26, 2000, at her home in Enterprise. She was born August 5, 1928, in Los Angeles, California. She married her husband of 53 years, William James Reich, who passed away April 13, 2000. She was preceded in death by her parents, William Elvin White, and Ester Obling (Thompson) White. Survivors include two sons, Terence J. Reich of Enterprise and Randall J. Reich, Central Point; one sister, Barbara Murray White of Oahu, Hawaii; two brothers, Harold White, Fallbrook, California, and William White, Carson City, Nevada; and one granddaughter, Brook Reich. Graveside … Read more

Biography of Fred Roscoe Sutton, M. D.

Dr. Fred Roscoe Sutton, physician and surgeon of Bartlesville, has been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine in Oklahoma since 1898. The passing years have chronicled the steady growth and progress of the state and in keeping with the trend of change and advancement is the record of Dr. Sutton, who at all times has kept abreast of the latest researches and discoveries relative to the laws of health. He was born in Emporia, Kansas, January 14, 1874, and is a son of Dr. George W. Sutton, a native of Kentucky, whose birth occurred just across the River from … Read more

Bell, Jean Gardner – Obituary

Imnaha, Oregon Jean Gardner Bell, 84, of Carlsbad, Calif., died May 13, 2004, at home. She was born Feb. 29, 1920, in Los Angeles, Calif. After graduating from John Marshall High School, she attended Glendale Junior College and University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) before marrying Franklin Bell II, a union that lasted 50 years until his death in 1992. They founded Bell Pipe and Supply Company in Anaheim, Calif., and raised their family in Tustin, Calif. In 1975 the couple bought a ranch on the upper Imnaha River where they spent springs and summers and Mrs. Bell worked … Read more

King, Mary Mae Marshall Staley Mrs. – Obituary

Mary Mae Staley King, 88, of Blackfoot, Idaho, a former Baker City resident, died June 18, 2002, at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center at Idaho Falls. Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Blackfoot Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Stake Center, 1650 Highland Drive. Gerald Humphreys will conduct the service. Visitations will be from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Thursday at the church. Interment will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Mount Hope Cemetery. She was born April 16, 1914, in Nez Perce, Idaho, the daughter of George Allen and Molly Gertrude Humphries Marshall. … Read more